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Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #222

Writer's picture: Butch ErskineButch Erskine

Greetings and welcome to the Patriot Express Newsletter Edition #222. Welcome to July and the downhill race to 2024. Wow, what a year it has been so far. I hope you are healthy and safe as we transition into another month. Thanks for being here with the HFS family.


If technology works the way it is supposed to work, this edition of the PENL will post to you as scheduled and the world will continue to rotate as hoped for. Ms. Lucy and I will be on a short vacation to a place unknown and far from the insanity plaguing society. A break is needed and we look forward to it.


If you don't have your tickets yet to Heritage Life Skills-Lite in Clyde, NC on July 21-23, what are you waiting for? These events are great fun and a good time to hang out with likeminded professionals, retirees, and really smart people. You can find more information below on this years event, schedule, dates, location, and a link to go buy your tickets. Hope you will join us.


Lett us move along....


Communications: You can now follow HFS social media on the following outlets:


Facebook – Hope for Survival -Join us for daily posts on preparedness.

YouTube Channel – Hope for Survival

MeWe: - //mewe.com/p/hopeforsurvival2


HFS Thursday Zoom Session - No zoom this week - holiday week.


Check out HFS YouTube. - The two newest HFS YouTube videos:


Happy Fourth of July - From our community to yours. July 4th, 2023



Chat from the garden - June 26, 2023



If you have not, please consider subscribing to the HFS YouTube channel by hitting like and then subscribe. Connect and give me a shout. Again, hit subscribe and share with family and friends.


Upcoming Training Opportunities -


Heritage Life Skills - Lite July 21-23, 2023

- Haywood Community College - Hope for Survival will be teaming with Carolina Readiness Supply (CRS) to put this event together and offer some mid-summer preparedness training in Clyde, NC. You can find the class schedule below on many preparedness topics. Get your tickets at the following link. Heritage Life Skills 2023 Event – Carolina Readiness or call 828-456-5310


NOTE: We added classes for Friday, July 21, 2023 in the 4 - 530 pm slot. Please take a close look at the schedule below to note a couple class changes in order to add additional classes.


HLS-Lite Instructors and courses available:


Instructor – Kerry “Gabby” Alzner – Home Defense (2) (Bring $5 and a flash drive for a copy of the notes)

Brief Description – You will learn how to harden your home to prevent bad guys from breaking in, you’ll discuss deadly force. You will discuss the best weapons to use when defending your home and pros and cons of each weapons system.


Instructor – Kerry “Gabby” Alzner – Building a Cache (Bring $5 and a flash drive for a copy of the notes)

Brief Description – You will learn and understand caching techniques, how to plan for them, types of cache you need, methods of emplacement, special packaging, site selection, reporting, and recovery.


Instructor Eric Bellin – How to collect, cleanse, and store water

Brief Description - Most citizens ignore the importance of water and believe public water access will always be available. What if it is not? Do you know methods to collect, clean, and store water?


Instructor Eric Bellin – Grid Down Housing -

Brief Description – Is your home set up and prepared with the assumption you will have electricity ongoing during a disaster or grid down? Can you convert it easily? Come and learn more in this class.


Instructor Billy Bond – (2) Perma Pasture Preparedness and Farming

Brief Description – Learn how to turn your farm from a simple homestead to one that is well-protected. You will learn simple yet effective techniques to secure your farm. Join us to gain the confidence and knowledge to keep your homestead safe and secure.


Instructor Cecilia Burress – Poultices, Tinctures, and Salves –

Brief Description - Learn how to make your own poultices, tinctures, and salves for when a doctor is not available.


Instructor Stephen Cantrell – Nuclear Preparedness

Brief Description – Learn the foundation of Nuclear Preparedness. How would you survive the threat and reality of a nuclear detonation that impacts your life?


Instructor Kevin Caraway – Off-grid Guerilla Logistics

Brief Description –Building logistic systems in bad times.


Instructor Kevin Caraway – Logistics for Preppers (2)

Brief Description – Family Logistics considerations


Instructor David Danner – Comms/Portable Repeaters – (2)

Brief Description – Learn about a portable repeater and how to use it.


Instructor Jan Emore – Supplies to always carry to keep you safe

Brief Description – This course covers recommended suggestions for one to consider to keep safe from unexpected events in the world we live in today.


Kim Fletter – The United Nations and its many Trojan Horses (2)

Brief Description - Class covers U.N. Treaties, agencies, organizations & vehicles used to implement U.N. Agenda 21/2030. Are you ready for Technocracy and the Globalist’s End Game – the “Great Reset” for the New World Order (Governance vs. Government)?


Instructor Dr. Dan Gentry - Medical Pearls”

Brief Description – 40 years of medical pearls in one hour


Instructor Tim Glance – Communications, Planning for Emergencies

Brief Description – Just like food, water, shelter, and security, planning your communications is critical to your survival. Learn the steps to this process in this class.


Instructor Tim Glance – Prepping on a Budget

Brief Description – Limited finances to prepare? This class is for you.


Instructor Jonathan Glauser –Colloidal Silver for Emergency Preparedness

Brief Description - Colloidal Silver is one of the most invaluable items to have on hand in an emergency situation. It can be extremely useful for medical first aid, as Colloidal Silver heals the skin better than anything else can. It rapidly speeds the healing of cuts, scrapes, punctures, burns, infections, etc. Colloidal Silver can be taken internally as a natural antibiotic to fight infections, and is crucial to have it on hand in the case of a biological attack. Colloidal Silver, when made correctly, can be applied directly in the eyes, ears, sinuses and even lungs. In addition, Colloidal Silver can be used to disinfect water and preserve food.


Instructor Stephanie Holoday (RN) – Medical Check Points

Brief Description - Nurse Steph will offer check points for students to rotate point to point for medical information and an abundance of health information in a single class.


Instructors Linda and John Jones – Get-home/Bugout Bag and EDC Bag

Brief Description – Why we should have them and what should be in them, along with skills that could make a difference if you find yourself on foot in a SHTF situation.


Instructor Dave Krzemien – Simple Prepping

Brief Description - Prepping isn't just all tactical gear, guns, and gas masks and it isn't just canning, goats, and homemade soaps. The reality lies in between with a balance of simple things that will save your life, and actually allow you to thrive not just survive. What are the things you didn't think of in your prepper supplies?


Instructor Dave Krzemien – Tactical Vehicle

Brief Description - We'll explore bug out vehicles. Their types, considerations, expectations, limitations and their reality.


Instructor Dave Krzemien - Bugging Out and Getting Home, Gear and Bags.

Brief Description - When do you bug out? Do you bug out? How do you bug out? Ideas for how to get from work to home or to your retreat. What to expect, and what you do and don’t need to do it.


Instructor Darren Isbell – Fermenting Vegetables

Brief Description – Learn why fermented vegetables are so good for you and so easy to do. In this class the instructor will go over how to ferment vegetables and why fermented vegetables are important in your diet. You will see the easy process to use for carrots, garlic and green beans and will receive several recipes to take with you. The instructor will also pass around samples for the attendee to taste.


Instructor Matthew Littleton – This is a radio:

Brief Description So many people want to know how to get started in emergency/preparedness comms, but it is hard to know where to start. This class will provide a basic fundamental understanding of Emergency/Preparedness Comms. At the end of this class, the student will know how to talk on a radio, as well as what radio(s)/systems they should consider. **If you like, I can also do a class on having secure communications. This class would not be for the beginner as it is fairly technical. But, it will teach students how to have secure communications in a non-permissive environment. *


Instructor Matthew Littleton – Building a Secure Communication Plan

Brief Description – With so many communication classes out there, how do you build a secure communication plan to operate in a non-permissive environment. How do you tell somebody you are alone and need help over the radio without telling the bad guys where you are and that you are alone? This course will help you build a comms plan to support having secure communications between you and others. This course will focus on Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPS’s) as opposed equipment. You’ll learn how to build a P.A.C.E. Plan and how to use basic principles to secure your comms without significant investment.


Instructor Matthew Littleton – Basic Communications for the Homestead

Brief Description – This class is a very basic overview of how to setup a communication plan for the homestead. Simply put, “this is a radio”. You will learn how to talk on a radio, where you can talk and where you cannot, and understand a few various communications systems. This class is for beginners and will only cover basic communication concepts.


Instructor Skinny Medic - How To Build an IFAK/Trauma Kit

Course Description – Do you own an IFAK/Trauma Kit? Learn what should go in the IFAK/Trauma Kit for your home and/or vehicle.


Instructor Chris Milner – Torniquet Applications (Hands On)

Brief Description – Do you own a torniquet? Have you been trained on it’s usage and when to apply one? Do you keep a spare torniquet around your home and car? Learn how to use the torniquet in this course.


Instructor Chris Milner – Wound Packing and Compression Bandages

Brief Description – This is a great opportunity to learn additional medical steps that may be required at a moment’s notice. Could you, do it? Here is your chance to learn how.


Instructor Raymond Mohr (Kilted Prepper) – Dehydrating from a unique perspective

Brief Description – Learn great information on dehydrating taught from his new book, A prepper’s Hints, Tips and Bizarre Recipes for your Dehydrator.


Instructors Kathryn and Mike Sparks - Building an input free homestead.

Brief Description - As food and feed prices soar, we will discuss ways you can develop an input-free homestead. Some things will need to be stockpiled, but others you can grow and store. We will share how we are attempting to build an input free homestead for both our animals, garden, and us.


Instructors Kathryn and Mike Sparks – Food storage requirements for our Homestead for humans, animals, and garden

Brief description - We will share our shelving design to increase your storage, difficulties with root cellars and mold, different types of canning lids and why we use different kinds for different products, fermentation redundancy, animal feed storage, medicinal herbs that we store, raise and forage. We will share our inventory and record system to help you know what you actually have stored and where you stored it! This inventory will include medicinal storage, feed storage, seed storage, and our food storage ideas. All of this we have been building for years and we will share what we have learned and mistakes we have made along the way.


Instructor Kathryn Sparks – Post Grid Homesteading

Brief Description - We have all considered what might happen if there no longer was a supply chain. What are the first things to do on a homestead when the grid goes down? How can you prepare your growing space in the event of nuclear fallout? What do you need to have in place?


Instructor Joseph Stejskal– Upright Gardening

Brief Description – Are you limited on space? Maybe you live in a urban environment or you lack the ability to till a garden or use raised bed gardening? Maybe you are physically limited? Upright gardening is a fantastic method to grow food without the traditional space and equipment.


Instructor Danica Stellaria – (2) Fire Cider, Elderberry Syrup, and More

Brief Description - Natural remedies are the best. In this class you will learn how to make your own cider and syrup and more.


Instructor Bill Sterret (Carolina Readiness Supply) – Packaging Food for Long Term Storage

Brief Description – Is part of your food plan packing dry goods for long term storage? Beans, rice, flour, wheat, sugar…… This is your class to learn the best process and methods to ensure you do it right the first time.


Instructor Lori Valone – DIY Food Storage Alternatives

Brief Description - Many of us started our prepping journey by buying commercial freeze-dried and dehydrated foods. While these #10 cans are a great way to supplement your food storage, you can preserve food yourself and dramatically lower your costs or enabling you to store more with the same spend. This session will examine do-it-yourself alternatives to increase the calories on hand to sustain those you care about.

We’ll cover a basic overview of canning, dehydrating, and home freeze drying as alternatives to increase food security. Whether you have a garden or you are using store-bought goods, you can lower your storage costs and increase your food security by preserving food yourself. We will discuss preservation techniques for both on and off-grid scenarios and discuss the pros and cons of each method.

Instructor Lori Valone - Writing your Food Security Plan

Brief Description - Not since WWII have concerns about food security affected so many Americans. The ongoing shortages of basic food items on grocery shelves are a wake-up call for many who previously have never worried about feeding their families and well as established preppers who are re-examining their food supplies.

This course will share a step-by-step method to create your own written food security plan based on the answers to four simple questions:

· Why am I storing food?

· Who am I storing food for?

· How much food do I store?

· What kinds of food do I store?


Instructor Paul Valone – Projecting Power in Politics: Beating the Woke Mob

Brief Description - The fact that you are at Heritage Life Skills says you take preparedness seriously. But are you prepared to defend your rights before, during, and after what may come?

Taught by 29-year gun rights leader and author F. Paul Valone, “Projecting Power in Politics” will teach you how to defend against leftists bent on running your life not in just state and federal governments, but also on school boards, city councils, county commissions, even HOAs. If you are sick of getting pushed around by the “woke” mob, this course is for you.

Using the playbook written by Saul Alinsky, leftists have spent 50+ years hijacking our media, our cultural institutions, and our schools. Your children are taught to hate America. Your speech is controlled. Your employer is “woke,” and you are being called “racist.” You can hide, hoping they won’t come after you or your children, or you can fight back. This seminar will teach you to fight.


Instructor Paul Valone - Getting Ready, Not Arrested: Gun Laws for Preppers

Brief Description - If you own guns, you are probably an accidental felon many times over. With more than 30,000 arcane, sometimes nonsensical local, state and federal gun laws on the books, it is nearly impossible to carry a firearm outside the home without violating more than one. Those who say, “I’m going to do what I need to, regardless of the law” should understand that government has the most control over those it can brand as law-breakers. To help you better navigate the vagaries of ATF rulemaking, the course includes not only the latest ATF-induced hazards of popular AR-15 pistols but also short-barreled shotguns that aren’t shotguns and how you can legally create un-serialized guns whose existence is unknown to anyone but you. For 2023, the course will also include, “Navigating gun rights under the Biden administration.”


Instructor Les Ward – GMRS Radio Alternative

Brief Description – This class provides the attendee with an overview of the GMRS radio.


Instructors Rhonda and Larry Wright – Preparedness 101

Brief Description – Why prepare? Learn the when, what, where, and how, in this class.


Instructors Rhonda and Larry WrightPsychological Operations and Brainwashing

Brief Description – Information on what is real, propaganda, and brainwashing.


Get your tickets now!!!


Guest and Newcomers


If you are a guest or newcomer to the HFS journey, please check out this link for additional.


Hope for Survival books and HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents -: You can obtain information on the two HFS books at this link: Survival, Preparedness, Disaster Management for individuals or family (hopeforsurvival.com)


Hope for Survival - How Food, Water, Shelter, and Security Could Save Your Life (Book 1)


Hope for Survival - The Mindset (Book 2)


HFS Thumb Drive for Emergency Documents - We just restocked the HFS Thumb drive and have them available now. Follow this link and you will see the add at the top of the page. Blog | Survival (hopeforsurvival.com)


We must make this brief public announcement to protect the innocent.


Ding, Ding, Ding....Attention HFS readers..... Opinions shared in this newsletter are just that, opinions, and nothing more. Read at your own risk. The owner and author of this site is not responsible for hurt feelings or thin-skinned readers. I do my best to show restraint and respect to the best extent possible. I take as many precautions as possible and try to remain as nonpolitical as possible, however, there are times when I just can't help but point certain things out. Occasionally I use words only Patriots recognize and understand. It's not personal against any non-Patriot. It's just the truth. Sometimes we must pull up our spenders and suck it up. Just saying. Stay the course, read what you want, and avoid the rest. Avoid fear porn as much as possible and the day will be okay. When all else fails… Keep the faith and always have Hope.


Let’s move along and get to some thoughts...


Thoughts for the week


Freedom - As we celebrate our Independence and the 4th of July, I have many thoughts passing through my mind from past and present. As most of you know, I'm a patriotic citizen of the United States of America and I treasure our past, my past, and I have concerns to where things are headed. I get teary eyed when hearing the National Anthem and watching patriotic fireworks filling the sky. They mean something to me. While many enjoy the pops and burst of numerous colors in the sky, I think of the bombs bursting in air. Our famous colors of red, white, and blue, hold value and meaning to me. When I witness another flag of rainbow colors flying above and centered to our nations flag, pushing it aside in meaning and importance, it makes me sad. It doesn't matter what I think of the rainbow flag in this discussion, the American flag has flown through history as our nations symbol above all. It represented our nation and her history, not the ideology of one reigning party in control.


I remember back to a time abroad when host nation young adults would gather around a table and want to know what America was like. What was it like living in the land of the free. I would buy them ice cream like it was nothing and they would tear up because in their world and life, it was a treat to have ice cream from the local McDonalds. The differences of being American and affording what was available to me was different for them. I would hear, "what is it like living in a huge nation where a person had the freedom to move about, shop as desired, educate as chosen, and vote freely for a candidate of choice. Pride in their eyes was entirely different from what we hear spoken as pride today.


Abroad, working hard was not an option but a way to barely get by and survive. Putting forth effort at a young age was a must to survive. There was no basement at home to return to when effort lacked and failure was the result. It was not an option. There was no welfare system to feed those without. They went hungry if neighbors didn't help out. Scholarships was unheard of during this period. Many students worked two jobs to pay for their education. Unlike America where a person applies and interviews for a job and hope to be hired, in these foreign lands a hire simply meant the student would then have to pay the employer for hiring them. They suffered from corruption where America suffered from a growing problem of laziness and dependency on the system.


You see, equal rights for all were nonexistent. They wanted to get educated and come to America where hard work was rewarded with good pay and the chance to excel and have a good life. I do believe the shining light on the hill shined brighter for these youngsters than the ones in America. It was the light than shined bright and delivered hope around the world for millions who loved America and believed in the American dream from thousands of miles away.


Students abroad worked all night busting tables without a break. If a break was taken during a 12-hour shift, consequences would be paid. In America, our government was developing a program to teach adults how to set a clock, wake up, and get ready to go to a job interview. Think about that. In America we paid unemployed lazy people to learn how to wake up and go apply for a job and interview. Far away, students working midnight shift jobs would be punished and lose pay for taking a break. In foreign lands, student workers could not have cell phones on the job yet in America young workers make you wait to order while they play on their phone, film tik-tok videos and film managers telling them to get back to work and then sue the company for some nonsense.


When I was in high school back around the time Lincoln was President, it was unheard of for a young girl to be pregnant. It happened but it was often a secret, and the parents would send the child off to Aunt Mabels for a year to have the baby. Today, high schools offer day care to high school students with a child. This was in a small farming community in rural West Virginia. I understand this is common today to offer such provisions for high school mothers.


I could go on and on with the past and present but I'm sure you understand what I am speaking about. Freedom means being free but years ago freedom also meant we lived in a moral society and most homes, not all, had two parents in the home, and the Father was also in more homes then than today. Public school systems offered education and not hidden agendas for out of the norm sex education and attacks against race, wealth, or privilege. Teachers taught and led by example. Unlike the past 25 years where teachers often had to act as a mommy/daddy to children showing up under clothed and underfed. Children learned morals at home and displayed respect in the classroom or else paid the price. Not today.


There was a time when the government spoke, all voices stopped and listened to the message. Republican or Democrat, the President of our nation was just that. Outside of our faith, the President was at the top of our food chain just under the flag of freedom. We trusted and expected leadership, honesty, morality, and integrity from the President. What happened to the Ray Kroc, Henry Ford, and Lee Iacocca, visionist of the past? Shoot, back when I was growing up in a public school in southern West Virginia, a guy named Jesus was everywhere I went in the school. Until I learned about faith and eternal life, I had wondered who the new guy named Jesus could be. We celebrated Lt. Neil Armstrong for his NASA and Apollo accomplishments while today we have a self-promoted want to be Admiral posing as a female telling us about our mental health and sanity. They want us to believe we are abnormal and racist for not following their logic and accept their level of brilliance.


I have traveled this great nation through 48 beautiful states and enjoyed all she could offer at each point I enjoyed notching a new state on my list. The beauty of the land, the warmth of the people, and the greatness of the food, all built my love for this great nation. Having traveled to nearly 100 countries or more, I always dreamed of my return to America and the greatness she offered to me. A cheeseburger and French fries after 170 days in the Middle East, turkey, dressing, and gravy, after living on Guam a few years, jumbo shrimp, gumbo, and crawfish etouffee after traveling south of the border for duty. After my first visit to the continent of Africa I wanted anything spaghetti with chopped bologna and shite sauce because I had it three meals per day for over a month.


Today, I watch as we discuss food shortage and growing food prices in our local stores. I watch family's journey through the grocery aisles picking and choosing what they can afford to buy this trip. Kids cry or frown when told no by a stressed mother. Yes, we have always had a percentage of Americans who had to pick and choose what they could afford, but not like today. Times are tough for many and getting worse. But, Americans seem to have grown poorer and unable to make proper choices financially because often those who can't afford to eat also carry multiple cell phones and drive cars/trucks newer than ten years of age. We, as a nation, developed a McDonalds syndrome back during the Reagan years. The government was running up debt faster than a fan could spin, and the American populace learned about buying on credit and paying later. Buy now, pay later was the new theme. We have to have it now it seemed. Today, our populace is suffering in a major way because of our financial habits.


As we watch all these things transpire and our national future is unknown, we see a society that is mostly out of control to responsible, moral, and healthy living and choices. Our government debt is more than can be paid and our citizen debt to savings ratio is basically zero for most. Just like when a family doesn't pay payments on a car, it gets repossessed by the lending institution, one must wonder when the lenders to our nation will come calling.


I don't know. But, I do know I am thankful to have lived in America during many wonderful years to enjoy and celebrate so many historical moments and the opportunity to travel and take in our great states and their people. I could wonder into a church in Mississippi, Louisiana, or New Mexico, and be hugged by the attendees. Today, a stranger walks into a church and the locals must be watching for an active shooter. These are sad times we live. But always remember, there are many places around the world that is far worse than the things are enduring today.


Just as many great Americans built this great nation, we the people today still hold the opportunity to stand up and redirect the nation to greatness again. We just have to return to what made the past so successful and lack today. That is, "in God we trust."


Next...


Security Continued - Last week we discussed some security thoughts for inside the home. Because of limited time and space in the newsletter this information is fairly limited and somewhat generic, and it does focus on some points and proven processes and methods. If you lock yourself in your home and don't understand why, what is the point? The greatest resource in preparedness is your brain and understanding how and why you use it.


The Five D’s of Security: Deter, Detect, Delay, Deny, and Defend


The Five D’s of Security are common practice with military, police, and security forces, but the principles behind it can be used to keep you, your loved ones, and your teams safe. With the proper mindset and application of the five steps below, you should find yourself much safer than when you started the process.


1. Deter - First, a building or area must be sufficient to deter unwanted intruders attempting to receive access. Deterrence can be accomplished through making the facility tougher to enter, with parking lot barriers, access cards, and physical or technological security. This is the hardening of whatever you are trying to protect.


2. Detect - If deterrence fails, a system must ensure prompt detection that an unwanted intruder is present. Whether that be the emergency panic button system bank tellers have to silently alert their management and security or a loud fire alarm, a detection system will notify teams of a possible threat immediately. If your system is monitored 24 x 7, the alarm notification does not always have to be audible and can be a silent alarm.


3. Delay - After detection, security systems and personnel must delay unwanted intruders from gaining unauthorized access to your areas you are protecting. This could be your home, food storage location, area for keeping your animals or garden, medicine storage, ammunition and firearms, and any area of value. If possible, it would be best to start the delay tactic at your outermost perimeter once detected. Delays can include physical barriers such as entry points and hallways in apartments or barriers, fences, and gates at your outer most security-in-depth location. Delaying the threat would allow your security plan to be elevated and a response force put in place or to delay until other groups you have secured mutual agreements with to respond and help defend your area.


4. Deny - Should delaying an unwanted intruder fail, deny access to your areas being protected until a responder arrives. There are manual door reinforcements that can be used to safely secure people from the inside of a facility using plastic, metal, and even wood. If door reinforcements are not available, you can stack tables, desk, or computers, wrapping electrical cords around the door to create a makeshift lock, or any other form of barricading yourself safely from the intruder. This could be to your home or your safe room.


5. Defend - If the first four D’s can be implemented, the last D rarely comes into play before any type response arrives. In many cases a security element can safely secure the perimeter and begin to isolate the unwanted intruder, then remove them from the premise. If you find yourself in a situation where you need to defend yourself, your family and group, you can use anything small or large to defend yourself. This is where it is important to understand your weapon capabilities and using them in offensive and defensive measures. This should all be understood and decided in your planning phase. Non-lethal weapons may be your best bet initially, especially if sound discipline is critical. Other daily objects that can be used for defense in an unwanted intruder situation could be mace, pepper spray, a Taser gun, a bat, stapler, or coat rack.

If you can apply the five D’s of security to your security planning, it should give you a basic framework to build your security plan around. This will be covered as you continue reading. Remember, these are the steps to keep you alive and your security plan should identify how you plan to do it. The plan must be “evergreen” and adjust to situations you face. Flexibility is key.


When you develop a security plan, the following diagram is an example to consider as a framework: With the right mindset and thinking outside the box, you can apply the below diagram to urban, suburban, and rural living security concepts.



High Security Zone : Living quarters, food-medicine-ammunition-weapons storage, kitchen and food processing, lodging and eating arrangements, 24 x 7 communication cell, and meeting area.

As you can see from the description, this is your inner-most zone, and it contains your most valuable resources. This is the area you want to protect from inner and outer threats the most. You want to establish your security-in-depth around this zone outward to provide early warning and allow yourself time to deploy your security plans, as needed, when threats escalate and time is essential to deploy security forces to defend your area.


Think of this zone as the safe room inside your home. This is the place where you are most protected day-to-day and when threats escalate. All of your family and team members gather here for assignments. Your medical staff conducts medical care here. Your valuable resources are stored here. Your people prepare meals and gather as a family to eat meals. I hope this makes the picture clear as to what this zone includes. You want to protect this zone at all cost until a decision must be made to extract to a pre-identified location outside the security compound or home.


The security zones around the High Security Zone must be planned and equipped to protect all avenues of approach to the area. You also must ensure no adversary can utilize long range weapons from afar to snipe or attack the area. This requires manpower, planning, and the ability to conduct patrols outside your compound. You must plan for it with trusted individuals with multiple skills in weaponry, communications, navigation, survival, and psychological operations in the event they are captured.


When establishing your storage areas for food, medicine, fuel, communications, ammunition and weapons, consider digging down and securing your resources where an adversary outside conducting surveillance on your location will not see your people entering and exiting the secure storage. This step is not only to avoid identifying an important area from an outsider, but also to not allow a person pace count steps to any location


Selecting an extraction route out of the High Security Zone is critical. People must know when to pull the plug and extract, what route to take, who is leaving, and who is the primary and alternate leaders to lead the extraction. What is your plan if the primary and alternate extraction routes are surrounded and extraction is not possible? Do you have a bunker to relocate inside the zone when it appears you are about to be overrun? When developing plans and conducting Risk Analysis, ensure communication lines and your threat matrix alerting levels can communicate across the plan and land.


Operation Zone: This area is your inner security zone. Almost as important as your high security zone. Why? This is the area where you garden and raise food to survive on. Without it, you may starve, right? Your animals will also be in this area. This is your food source as well. You must protect it from people, other animals, and disease. This area gives you food longevity and the manure from the animals will provide fertilization for the gardens. You may also have a water source in this area. Possibly a well will be located in the High Security Zone or this zone. Regardless of the type of source, you must protect the water. Water will be liquid gold during times of a Level 1 – 3 event.


All personnel who are tasked with gardening and tending to animals will be armed. Depending on how your land is laid out, you may be able to seclude this area with trees and terrain as long as it remains defendable and your communications still work. If the Bug In or Bug Out location is fortunate enough to have a garden, animals and a fresh source of water, you better be ready to defend it because you are holding a gold mine for survival. Let that sink in.


Within this area, you must include outer zone barriers and the ability to conduct the Five D’s of security (Deter, Detect, Delay, Deny, and Defend). Multiple bunkers must be included around the area to ensure personnel can take cover and defend the Operational Zone from intruders. If at all possible, use fences and barriers to defend this zone on both sides. Use all available technology available to support manpower, especially at night.


Perimeter Zone: This area is the Public Access Zone/Reception Zone Security Zone – Listening Post/Observation Post. This may seem to be a lot of “stuff” for one area and it is. First, think about what was discussed earlier in designing your security plan to funnel threats to a central point where you can decrease the threat to a smaller access point. Meaning, this is the point where all vehicles are stopped and only individuals on foot can attempt to proceed through the entry point. Remember, the goal is to minimize potential threats. All visitors, invited and uninvited, will come to this point in theory to enter the compound. You may have others trying to sneak up during the night to cut the fence and get inside your zones.


You must decide in advance how you will handle visitors wanting to gain entry to your area. Are they wanting refuge? Who will you consider entering your protected area for refuge? What do they offer to your group? If the answer is nothing, you may wish to turn them away. If they offer a skill that you need, you may want to consider allowing entry. But how will you know they are not traitors or an individual attempting to collect intelligence on your arrangements inside the areas? How do you know they are not sick and possibly carrying a disease? Consider placing them in a secure area outside your security zones. One where you can monitor and treat as quarantine from others. Test their advertised skills. Set a day limit they must be quarantined such as 15 to 30 days. Test their trustworthiness when possible. Have one of your trusted individuals conduct surveillance of them while they are quarantined.


Place individuals around the perimeter of this zone to conduct Listening and Observation of the outer approach lanes to the compound. When possible, place the LP/OP out of site and as far outside the perimeter as possible. Remember, early warning is the key. Equip these positions with visual observation tools and communication gear. Also, equip with the weapons and ammunition.


The personnel and vehicle access point on this outer perimeter is where you will search all vehicles. Even vehicles owned from within will be searched before entry. Design a sign/countersign method with the friendly drivers from within your team who are driving vehicles. This allows for the driver to pass a duress sign without the threat realizing the driver has sounded the duress alarm. For example, if the number of the day is 5, have the perimeter security guard pass three fingers in the air to the driver. The driver should then pass back two fingers in the air. Three plus two equals five. Pass the code again for safety measures to ensure it was not a lucky guess.


Community Zone: Outer - Intel gathering/Inner - Security Zone. This is our outermost perimeter and all things outside your protected and layered security-in-depth zones. Your outermost perimeter is where the first contact with the outside would be made. Your security plans must focus on defending this perimeter with manpower, weapons, barriers, and gates as well as any available technology. Manpower will be demanding and intense at times, but the return on investment is most rewarding when done right.


Have two person teams leaving the protected areas to journey to the nearest community to collect intelligence and when needed, set up mutual aid agreements for food, medical, and manpower responses as needed to support attempted overruns of your area. These individuals must be well versed in psychological and counter-psychological operations. They must look frail, dirty, and blend with others of the same appearance. They must have a story to tell where they are from and appear homeless, if required. Their job is to blend and collect information and return it to the home compound without being detected or caught. You have placed trust in these individuals, therefore, they must be able to absorb interrogations without breaking and revealing your information and survive for days at a time without returning home.


Every effort should be made to possibly negotiate a deal with someone within the town who will also collect intelligence to share with you. Remember, early warning is key. The sooner you learn of a possible threat, the better off you will be adjusting your defenses to the threat. This could be a gang, motorcycle gang, drifters, a disease, moving looters, asylum seekers and others.


Rear Area or Extraction Location


This is a secondary place you go if your compound is lost and you must start over. A cave or remote shelter can serve as a temporary holding area after extraction from the compound. Ensure extracted personnel maintain communication capability. The evacuated team should have a clear understanding of plans and communication practices (Times, code and frequency). This area will have food, water, and security. You must also have a plan in place to determine actions if no survivors remain at compound after extraction. How long will extracted personnel wait? Plans should identify primary and alternate destination points if departing extraction point.


When identifying and developing the extraction location(s), you want to keep the location secure and do not share with others. Even after development and documentation in your plans, keep the extraction plan private from others. You may wish to only share with one or two of your closest members. Think about it; if you are overrun and you must evacuate your area and head to your extraction point, you could find all of your resources previously cached now gone. Even worse, you could transit through a crossfire and end up not only losing your resources, but also family and members of your team.


If your main area is about to be overrun and you give the extraction command to your members, hopefully they look at you like they know what you are talking about, but they do not know the location you will evacuate to shortly. Trust is critical. Once the command is given, monitor all personnel to ensure no one disappears or attempts to make communication transmissions out of the normal procedures. You do not want your extraction command broadcast to adversaries to give knowledge of your upcoming evacuation to another location.


Okay, all of this sounds crazy, right? Let us simplify it for you. Just as you would have an evacuation plan from your home, apartment, workplace, or shopping mall, the concepts are the same. You face a threat and now much have a plan in place to change your location for safety and survival. Again, think outside the box. Do you want the threat knocking at your door or would you prefer the threat being stopped at a perimeter block away from you, or a mile away because you have security-in-depth? You decide.


We live in a society today where you can bet someone is always trying to find a way to take advantage of another. There is no specific rule that says target the weak, the aging, the handicapped, or even a specific race. We are all fair game and the threats are real. It’s the individual mindset and culture which says it will never happen to you. Of course, it will not, until it does, and then it may be too late. Would you rather be the parent or grandparent that is noted as the one who stopped and protected your loved one before the event or explaining why it happened after the event? Only you can make that decision.


Thats all Patriots...


Preparedness News -


1. From Holly Maxwell - M4S - How to Prep for a Nuclear Attack - Mind4Survival - Many of us with some age can remember conducting school exercises diving under our desk for nuclear response training. Looking back on it, doesn't it seem a bit lame to this type of threat?


2. From Tricia Drivets - Homestead Survival Site - Why Every Gardener Should Grow Cover Crops (homesteadsurvivalsite.com) - Good information and perspective of the author.


3. From Michael Major - Ask a Prepper - DIY Off-Grid Battery Charger - Ask a Prepper - Good backup information for your batteries and charging them.


4. From the Survival Mom - Summer PREP School: 48 Survival Skills for Kids to Learn This Summer! - Survival Mom (thesurvivalmom.com) - I always get in my happy place when parents who prepare tell me about including their children.


5. From Ken J. - Modern Survival Blog - Prepping & Preparedness versus That Which We Cannot Control (modernsurvivalblog.com) - Bingo. It is good to know about many things that could impact your way of life, but spend most of your time focused on important skills, steps, and resources to save your life from apparent threats around you.


Other News -


1. From Kylee Griswold - The Prickly Pear - Whistleblower Transcripts Show Deep-State Election Rigging For Biden Was Way Bigger Than A Laptop - PRICKLY PEAR (thepricklypear.org) - Another whistleblower joins the choir to sing the current favorite hit titled "Crickets."


2. From Mike Adams - Townhall.com - Get Out of My Class and Leave America (townhall.com) - This is from the late author, Mike Adams, not to be confused with Mike Adams the Health Ranger. This article was written from Mike's introduction to his criminology class in 2015. (Thanks, Festus, for this submission)


3. From Greg Hunter - USA Watchdog - Cancer is Exploding because of CV19 Vax – Dr. Betsy Eads | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog - With each passing day, more and more impacts of the vaccine are becoming apparent.


4. From Francis W. Porretto - Liberty Torch - Assertions Are Not Evidence – Liberty's Torch (libertystorch.info) - To many this story is a nothing burger and continues to be of no significance. Having a law enforcement background leads me to remain open minded and my belief remains J.E. is not dead or at a minimum he did not commit suicide, period.


5. From J. Stonestreet and T. Padgett - The Stream - Atheists Are More Political Than Other Religious Groups - The Stream - Are you surprised? Remember back a few years ago when M. Romney lost to B.O. in his second term election? Remember how M.R. lost because thousands of Christians refused to vote for M.R. because of his religious beliefs? Don't pay the entry fee then don't complain to the outcome.


That's all my Patriot brothers and sisters.


Prayers - Please keep our great nation, our elected leaders, military and first responders in your thoughts and prayers. We pray for good health and wisdom. Please pray for our leadership to find answers and guidance to the problems facing our great nation. May your faith remain strong and answers to the unknown provided. God is good and may our prayers blanket and protect you and your circumstances. I pray for each, and every one of our Patriots.


The HFS family needs lots of prayers right now. We have several sisters and brothers in great need of uplifting.


May we pray for all the blessings and things in life to be thankful about and continued hope for revival around the world. We must continually pray for the unsaved, our family and friends who live each day without the protection for eternal life and salvation.


As Patriots we must stay strong and never give up. Our home, community, and nation need us now more than ever. Stay focused on your local community and things that will impact you around the nation. Don't allow the events around you to create fear in your life. Build your own self-reliance and focus on faith and hope. Remember we are a blessed nation, and we must continue to be great people today and make a better tomorrow. Keep charging.


Blessings,


Bravo Echo Out,




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