
Episode-314- Planning to Bug In [53:58m]:
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So if the SHTF in most instances you plan to bug in, you have your generator, you have your food, you have a means of defense and you are prepared for whatever may come, or are you. Today we step back a bit from the obvious and from some common thinking that isn’t very realistic to examine how prepared we are for bugging in. Please note even if you “bug out” you are going to another location and once you get there, guess what you are going to be doing, bugging in of course.
Join in today as we discuss…
- Two new eBooks free for Support Brigade Members
- Storing food for everyone possibly even some for neighbors and definitely for your pets and stock
- The need for personal hygiene products, bigger then you might think it is
- Back up power sources both short and long term
- The advantages and failings of generators
- Why you need to plan to keep the garden growing
- The need for and functionality of “security protocols” including during increased threat periods
- Why you need to quickly contact all family/close friends at the beginning of a SHTF especially if you are bugging in
- The importance of taking an inventory and sorting into needs, good to have and don’t need it at all
- How inventory and sorting will help you in barter situations
- Keeping communications up as long as possible including radio, TV, Ham, MURS, etc.
- The importance of maintaining a sense of normalcy during a bug in
- How drills are about more then finding weaknesses, they are also about acclamation
Resources for today’s show…
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show

Episode-298- Starting the Journey from Grasshopper to Ant [72:06m]:
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As we approach the 300th episode I realized it has been a long time since we did a show dedicated to the brand new person. Today will will lay out 20 steps to take as a person who has just decided that it is time “to do something” but isn’t quite sure what that “something” is. Even though today is done with the new person in mind I think it will help everyone sort of recenter on the core of what is the most important things to make sure you have accomplished.
I have also created a special commercial free version of today’s show for sharing with others who you want to get thinking about preparedness. That version can be found on our forum here.
Tune in today as we discuss
- Start with the old fable of the grasshopper and the ant
- The first thing you do is assess the situation and stay calm
- Journal your spending and your eating
- Write a plan for debt elimination and begin creating an emergency fund
- Put together a basic documentation package
- Assemble a BOB for each family member (cheap and fast the first time around)
- Inventory your pantry over a week or two (how much food do you have at your low point)
- Begin storing up a 30 day supply of food you will eat anyway
- Begin assembling a low cost 30 day long term storage supply
- Determine where you would go if you had to leave and go at least 50 miles from home
- Make plans for how you would help elderly parents or other family members
- Update your resume and be prepared to loose your job on any given day
- Avoid focusing on any individual coming event or scenario
- Plan a garden and start getting ready to plant (depending on the season)
- Learn about disaster commonality (it is not about the disaster it is about loss of support systems)
- Learn about disaster probability (Personal-Localized-Regional-State-National-Global)
- Determine your most probable “personal”, “local” and “regional”
- Start window shopping for “country land” or an “urban homestead”
- Think of the children, won’t someone please think of the children (seriously think of your children)
- Assess your “normal preparations”
- Take ownership of your plan and your life
Resources for today’s show…
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.

Episode-289- Bug In or Bug Out - 12 Questions to Ask [46:51m]:
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In the event of a disaster should you bug in or bug out (shelter in place or evacuate) is a big topic in many forums, email lists and among modern survivalists in general. There are times when the question is easy to answer and times when it can be difficult. The key is your life and the lives of those you love can hang in the balance of this decision so today we discuss 12 question to ask before you have to make the decision.
Tune in today as we consider the following questions…
- Which choice gives you the best chance of survival for the scenario at hand? (this is not always clear)
- How well prepared are you to bug in?
- What exactly are you prepared for? (a forest fire is far different from local rioting)
- Have evacuation orders been given?
- What is the nature and probable duration of the threat?
- Well staying put change anything as far as “saving your home”?
- Where will you go and how will you get there?
- Do you own a bug out location or have double up plans or no place to go at all?
- Will you be able to help your community if you stay?
- What will the impact of staying or going be on your family, can they handle what you can?
- What can you take with you and what must you leave behind?
- If you leave what exactly is waiting for you at your destination?
The time to answer these questions is not in the middle of a disaster but right now. At this point you can plan, form contingencies and be prepared for a variety of outcomes. That way if the day comes your mind is ready to act and you can make the best use of the resources you have. As always how you act and how you think is more important then your resources.
Resources for today’s show…
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, (866-658-4465) please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.

Episode-145- Calls from the Audience 2-20-09 [50:55m]:
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Today is the first of hopefully many shows featuring you the audience calling in with your questions, comments and concerns.
Tune in Today to Hear…
- A chance to win a pen from Mystic Wood Turning (forum thread on them)
- Texas joins in on the State Independence movement
- A bit more on the Supporting Members concept (I will never charge for the show itself)
- Hear me in the act of doing business locally
- What this show could become if I did it with a few hours a day rather then 40 minutes at 65MPH
- Listener calls and their answers
- Bug in or Bug Out
- A listener moves and improves his economic life
- Walkie Talkies at 15 miles are bull shit and using text messages when voice doesn’t work
- Using industrial shipping containers for bug out structures or homestead structures
- Increasing storage life of medications
- Worm composting and the worm’s contribution to organic gardening
- A response to a listener who claims I am partisan. In the interest of being non partisan here is a link to kids being taught to speak and tongues and pray for Bush, it makes me equally sick as the Obama video from yesterday. (Video Link)
- My once again strong message to anyone trying to use my site or show for hate speech
Remember to comment, chime in and tell us your thoughts, this
podcast is one man’s opinion, not a lecture or sermon. Also please
enter our listener appreciation contest and help spread the word about our show.
You also now can call in questions or comments for the host at 866-65-THINK, please read the suggestions for calling in before you do for the best chance of getting your comments on the air.

Episode-72- Audience Questions - Bug Out or Bug In and More [38:14m]:
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Today’s show answers several questions from the audience and provides some information about our new survival forum. Tune in today to hear…
- Another update on the Listener Appreciation Contest - We may have a new winner tomorrow
- We have new boards on the forum including a “Swap Meet”, “Around the Campfire”, “Lady Survivors” and more.
- Update on our Five Item challenge - please join it and keep the discussion on track.
- When and where self promotion is OK on our forum and where it is not
- The value of online collective intelligence in survival planning
- Making the choice, bug out or bug in and several examples of each choice
- There is no one right answer to “bug out or bug in” as each individual and threat is different
- Examples of times when you always leave
- More on the “fantasy world” of some fringe survivalists and how to keep it real
- Caching food, weapons and supplies to make it safer
- Remember to keep your prepping to yourself in many areas
- How to not be paralyzed by “what ifs”
- Thoughts on growth stocks in the new economy (not financial advice)
- The real stuff on sale soon (trucks, boats, RVs, Houses, Land)
- Why gas is dropping (the good news and the bad)
- What the rebound from this global depression may look like and what it will do to oil prices
- Where is the best place in the country for setting up a retreat or even to just make a permanent move to
- Think about taxes, land use, cost of living - not just a remote piece of ground
- Some spots that many would not think about to look for remote land
- The area with the best “deals” today, combination, remote, low cost, long growing seasons, low taxes, etc
- Getting a remote real estate agent doing your leg work
Resources for Today’s Show