I'm currently reading my copy of Lights Out by David Crawford aka: Halfast for either the 5th or 6th time since I got it. Each time I read it I learn something new or figure out something I didn't before. I was wondering what anyone else has learned from it as well. This last time reading it I learned/figured out.. 1. If you are a Family Unit then like Mark & Jim in the book, its best to be a Two Family Unit. That way if something happens to the Adult Male of one Family Unit, that Family Unit can still be taken care of by the Adult Male of the other Family Unit. 2. I'm ordering Night Sights for at least one my AR-15s very soon. As in the book they didn't realize until too late about fighting in the dark. So, what has everybody else learned from the book?
Know your neighbors...well. Have lots of ammo. Get friendly with Gunny. Have barter materials. Have an older vehicle? Keep it in good running condition, and have some spare ignition parts.
Be ready. Have plans (plural). Know routes (run them). Have more firepower than anything you may encounter. Be ready. Read his work several yrs ago and a couple times since. Try this: The Long Road Home. It is well researched and I know the author well. It is in the list following about half way down under "long way home". There is an old movie named "Trigger Effect" that you will find interesting. This list is from a previous post: Here's a list of what's in Collected works: 1. 3 Amigos in Iowa = T.O.M. 2. 3 Amigos Ride Again = T.O.M. 3. 4th of July Surprise = fleataxi 4. 60 Days Next Year = C.Haynes (posted by Rasputin) 5. A Babe in the Woods = ur 6. A Boy and His Dog = GhostTiger 7. A Brave New World = T.O.M. 8. After the Big One = T.O.M. 9. After the Fall = TM456 10. Al Qaida = T.O.M. 11. Alea Jacta Est = Viking Rader 12. All About the Weather = T.O.M. 13. All Rise Up = Destro 14. Allakatet Airlines = fleataxi 15. An Alternative 9-11 = Capt Ret 16. And They Served Again = packingup 17. Apocalypse Chimp, The = CAV1 18. Apprentice = BCE 19. Ark I, The = T.O.M. 20. Ark II, The = T.O.M. 21. Arm Chair Survivalist, The = T.O.M. 22. Association, The = GrayBear 23. Back to Basics = fleataxi 24. Battle of the Jakes, The = various 25. Big John = T.O.M. 26. Billy = SharpSquirrelKM 27. Bugged in - in Elko = fleataxi 28. Camelot = Eagle 29. Castaways, The = fleataxi 30. Castle, The = Eagle 31. Chaparral Challenge = Old Bear 32. Charlottesville = Nan Randal (posted by Hollow Poing) 33. Trades People, The = Jerry D Young 34. Cold Camp = Willard 35. Day Houston Fell, The = Jwolf 36. Days of Reckoning, The = HunterPatriot76 37. Debt, The = Whisper 38. Deep Winter = tsherry 39. Diary, The = p3 40. Direction Home = Rock Bottom 41. Do Over = Kabel 42. Do With What You Have = Rhino 43. Doing Freedom = Nathan Barton (posted by Hollow Poing) 44. Domestic Enemies = Travis McGee 45. Down and Out on L-5 Prime = Desert Doc 46. Downward Spiral = Citizen Zero 47. Drifting = Wraith 48. Elko County Chicken Wars = Nevada Cowboy 49. End of Days, The = Thystlemoon 50. End of it All, The = Metalryder 51. End of the Revolution = Pops 52. End, The = Warchild 53. Enemy Within, The = Iron Pig 54. Escape from the Rat Race = fleataxi 55. Fed-up = SAR-1guy 56. Fighting Back = wwglen 57. Financial Dominoes = Gray Bear 58. Founders, The = Gray Bear 59. Four Horsemen of the Post Apocalypse, The = Green 60. Freemen, The = CD2 61. Gathering Darkness, The = Four Deuce 62. Give Me Liberty = IceWaveIV 63. Giving, The = stimpy117 64. Grandma Betsy’s Sewing Circle = ???? – (lost in the ether world) 65. Green and Pleasant Land = MichaelUK 66. Have Gun Will Travel = T.O.M. 67. Hide, The = Eagle 68. Holbrook = T.O.M. 69. Hunter, The = T.O.M. 70. If Happened = kenowee 71. Irish Fury = Irish Jaeger 72. It Happened = Kenowee 73. Just Another Day = FourDeuce 74. Kepeluan = Travis McGee 75. Kids are Alright, The = fleataxi 76. Lager Belt = Magister 77. Last Outpost, The = fleataxi 78. Learning Curve, The = Wulfpak77 79. Letters from beyond the Apocalypse = Desert Doc 80. Lights Out = Halffast 81. Loner, The = T.O.M. 82. Long Rifles = Rambler 83. Long Rifles, The = Rambler 84. Long Road Home, The = puternut 85. Lost = Big T 86. Lost in Alabama = LostinBama 87. Lost in the Sierras = fleataxi 88. Making Tracks in the Moonlight = farranger 89. Mark, The = Big Man 90. Medicine Man = Call 91. Mighty .17, The = Vepr 92. Mime, The = NVCowboy 93. Mine, The = fleataxi 94. Mountain Home = Christian For Israel 95. Mountain Man = T.O.M. 96. Nightfall = Fuchi 97. North to Alaska = fleataxi 98. Northern Eclipse = jeber431 99. Old Man, The = Old Bear 100. On The Cheap = T.O.M. 101. One Last Job = Bad Karma 102. One Last Job = Bad Karma 103. Only in America = T.O.M. 104. Opening Day = bugcruncher 105. Over The Hill = Spyda 106. Patriot Day = RR 107. Pax Americana = Desert Doc 108. Pocket Full of Shells = Code Red 109. Preparations = T.O.M. 110. Preparations II = T.O.M. 111. Preparations III = T.O.M. 112. Quest-1 baby, The = puternut 113. Rabbit = Rambler 114. Raid, The = Travis McGee 115. Ramble On = BobBonnet 116. Reap the Whirlwind = Devilen 117. Reapers, The = Kable 118. Redress = Josh 119. Reluctant Survivalist, The = fleataxi 120. Roaring 2120’s, The = Green 121. Rock River volume 2 = Wraith 122. Rock, The = T.O.M. 123. Ronin in Chaos = pe 124. Saving America = jmurman 125. Serious Disagreements = archy 126. Seven Cities = p7psp 127. Shake-n-Bake = fleataxi 128. Short Road Home = wwglen 129. Silent Days = p3 130. Siskiyou Islands = Siskiyoumom 131. Skyfall = Jujen Kai 132. Soft Footsteps = cmason 133. Sorry = mssgn 134. Sorry Your On Your Own – part 2 = mssgn 135. Southern Tide = Irish Jaeger 136. Spacefarers: The Endless Frontier = slimjim 137. Start of Rock Rivers Idea – year 2012, The = Aries 138. Storm Dawn = Destro 139. Striking Back = John 140. Sunset at Coffin Rock = mssgn 141. Survival = Kernalpanic 142. Survivalist, The = T.O.M. 143. TEOTWAWKI = fleataxi 144. TEOTWAWKI II = fleataxi 145. The Gordian Knot = T.O.M. 146. The Unprepared = T.O.M. 147. Things Change = Unknown1 148. To Build a Land = Gray Bear 149. To Reclaim Our Future = Destro 150 Tomorrow = mssgn 151. UN Day = fleataxi 152. Urban Domino = Jefferson’s Ranger 153. Venganza del Sol = spudgunr 154. Wave, The = panxerox 155. Window War = ???? (lost in the ether world 156. Winds of Change = Old Bear 157. Working Draft = mssgn 158. Letters From Beyond the Apocalypse = Desert Doc 159. Rivercane Arrow = kenowee 160. The Cow Battles = LowDown3 161. The Recapture of St.George = TheStorerFromTheUK 162. A Time Since Passed = T.O.M. 163. Aztlan Invasion = fleataxi 164. A Present Time = T.O.M. 165. A Time Since Passed-PartII = TOM 166. Seven Days = GrayBear 167. A Present Time = T.O.M. 168. Law of the Land = Gray Bear 169. The Vigilante = fleataxi 170. Guys and Dolls 171. Ring of Fire = KellyQ 172. Bugsie = fleataxi 173. Dateline August 2007 = 44North 174. Summer of Our Discontent = Destro 175. The Troublemaker = Jmurman 176. Downgrade = Jefferson's Ranger 177. Title 18 = T.O.M. 178. Route 666 = fleataxi 179. The Rifleman = T.O.M. 180. The Big One II = fleataxi 181. The Big One = T.O.M. 182. The Cold War = T.O.M. 183. The Castaway's II = fleataxi 184. The Rifleman Part II - Charlie = T.O.M. 185. The Wall = Chilli 186. The Wave-Flotsom = panxerox 187. Bug Out! = Jerry D Young 188. Skills Put Away = larry_minn 189. Percy's Mission = Jerry D Young 190. The Long, Slwo Slide = dissimulo 191. TEOTWAWKI, Too! = T.O.M. 192. Joy's Legacy = JoyFilled 193. Summer Vacation = jeber431 194. Dark Ending = HuntingWolf 195. Don Quixote de Palmdale = fleataxi 196. The Long Trek Home = nightfighter4d 197. Awakened = Destro 198. TEOTWAWKI, Too! - Part II = T.O.M. 199. TEOTWAWKI, Too! - Part III = T.O.M. 200. Oh Crap! = kernalpanic 201. Bugging Home = Jerry D Young 202. Brothers In Arms = Dialtone 203. One In A Thousand = Roost 204. Tearing It Down = itgoesboom 205. Paradise = Flight-ER-Doc 206. A Friend of Bill's = T.O.M. 207. Our Changing World = sssarawolf 208. What Will Happen = T.O.M. 209. The Storyteller (Open Story) = Members 210. Frugal's After the Fall (Open Story) = Members 211. Uncertain Future = Citizen Zero 212. The Apprentice = T.O.M. 213. Our Changed World II = sssarawolf 214. A Family Alone = T.O.M. 215. New Beginnings = KellyQ 216. In Times of Trouble = Nobody 217. A New Day of Infamy = Jerry D Young 218. Freedom's Tears = Walrus2034 (Poem) 219. Lessons Learned = kable 220. Jim and Becky = T.O.M. 221. Shooters Exodus = Greene 222. Catalyst Revolutionary = Chilli 223. Homeland Amerika = UnidenSoup 224. American Nightmare = TomK 225. H.J.J.C. and Associates = Greene 226. The Truth of Scum = Destro 227. Reluctant Warrior = Delta 228. Best Laid Plans = fleataxi 229. Lost = Big T 230. The American Dream = T.O.M. 231. The Last Stand = fleataxi 232. The End of Days = thystlemoon 233. The Family Farm = T.O.M. 234. Three Amigos Part X = T.O.M. 235. Back on The Farm = Delta Six 236. The Carpenter Papers = The Freeholder 237. Special Investigative Unit: Creepshow = Greene 238. A Home of Their Own = T.O.M. 239. The Ark - Extended Version = Raider Nation 240. The Accidental Survivalist = Raider Nation 241. Down the Hole = sssarawolf 242. Oh, No! = Destro 243. The Scavenger = Nobody 244. Lottery = jeber431 245. The Ledgend of Ned Wrecker = test 246. A Single Tear = Tennessee Boy 247. A Million to Nowhere = Raider Nation 248. Dardalus = fleataxi 249. The Boys of '66 = Irish Jaeger 250. Joy's Journey = JoyFilled 251. Threat Assessment = Storm57 252. The Asian Question = T.O.M. 253. A Christmas Fire = panxerx 254. 3 Long Years = SP10 255. Rudy's Prepardness Shop = Jerry D Young 256. In The Aftermath = T.O.M. 257. Man! It's Cold Outside = Jerry D Young 258. Bug Out = Halffast 259. Fired! = Siskiyoumom 260. My View = BuiltBig 261. China Lake = T.O.M. 262. All In Vain = Marine 263. A Knife in the Night = KCTreeguy 264. The Day Ike Feared Most = Kenneth of NC 265. E & E = Marine 266. The Roadrunner = fleataxi 267. The Rod of Aaron = Kable 268. Rainy Daze = antik survivors 269. Shake, Rattle and Roll = Clan DireWolf 270. The Ides of March = wrangler 271. Refining Fire = erl 272. The Mission Field = erl 273. The Water Glass = erl 274. In Harm's Way = Raider Nation & T.O.M. 275. The Fall of the Giant and Rise of the Eagle = Rhino458 276. Reap the Whirl Wind = Devilen 277. Bring Out Your Dead = SP10 278. While Mortals Sleep = erl 279. The Countergroomer = Amberchrome<!-- google_ad_section_end --> Read more: http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/reading-room/50-whats-your-favorite.html#ixzz1Whycixl7
not all survival knowledge comes from EOTW tales there are a lot of simple living skills that are must haves the "foxfire" books have many of these also m.g.kains "five acres and independence" readers digest's "back to basics" is another informative read knowing how to do the basics without power will save your ass when you least expect it, and knowing that you know this stuff gives you an edge over panic
My uncle taught me about applying glow in the dark paint to the sights of my firearms. I kept thinking he would bring that up. This stuff glows for a long time with the quick charge of a flashlight. it really works on all firearms. Back on topic, this was the first SHTF book I had ever read and I cannot tell you all of the things I have learned from it.
Surviving is not just buying a year's supply of food from Mountain House but thinking ahead and buying a manual can opener, having unbreakable dishes/silverware, condiments to accent the food, even napkins, and then TP to dispose of it in style-lol. It is a mind set and way of living so that when you have to there will be NO panic but a smooth transition. It is the ability to communicate with and interact with those nearby or invited in when there is no electricity. It is the ability to protect yours and loved ones and be protected by them. Remember the old country boy song--he should be able to fish/hunt/run a trap line/etc/etc. Surviving is not just about preps but a way of thinking. Preplanning is an essential part of it. What will you do if........ where will you go if........etc. "Crisis is the absence of preparation".
That brings up a good point. I never hear anyone talking about how much TP they need to have. My wife keeps about a two year supply on hand no matter what. You know TP is one of the MAIN things you need to have after food, water, first-aid, ect...
lol, cornhusks, leaves, leather and worn out clothing suffice tp isnt heavy, but it takes a lot of space if youre on the move
