PrepperBro's Picks

This posting is something I hope to do regularly here on the blog. As you start to see the need to prep in your life you will come to a point where you think "gosh this is going to cost me a fortune!" not to worry. We all hit that wall and as a prepper I'd like to share with you some places you can get great deals on good things to stock up on.

I plan to add several different companies to my list to check through but today I'll just be showing you five awesome preps from The Sportsman's Guide. (And for you trolls and morons, I am not affiliated with this company and not responsible for price changes or shortages.)

1. 8 Pack of LED lights. $17.97

Like ammo you can never have to many small flash lights. Even in everyday life it's just nice to have some extras to keep in the car, bathroom cabinet, or other strategic places throughout the house.

2. 12 Wool Blend Blankets. $55.97

They look like a cross between moving and refugee blankets. But hey if you live in the North having 12 extra blankets could be a life saver. Again stash one in the car, box the others up and save them for when those relatives you don't like show up.

3. Spy GearTM Night Vision. $49.97

Ok, ok, so it's technically a toy. However if you are on a poor mans budget and want to beef up your defensive strategy with night vision this might be a diamond in the rough. It only goes out to 50 feet but that's still 50 feet farther than the guy without. And when you can finally afford a nice set give this to the kids and they'll love it.

4. Kaito (R) Voyager Weather Radio. $44.97

This is dual solar/crank operated radio. Receiving both FM/AM, NOAH, and a few other frequencies. It's got a few extra lights and bells and whistles on it. Definitely another addition to the car.

5. Portable Camp Stove. $69.97

This is the best find of the whole catalog. It's small, breaks down easily and has a nice dual flip out rack to accommodate different size pan/pots. It has a small smoke stack that, with a little creativity and a trip to the local hardware store, could easily be adjusted by adding two 90 degree elbows for inside use by running the smokestack out a window.

Number 5 is without a doubt my favorite find of all. It is more than another knife or case of Campbell's soup. It brings lasting value and a multitude of functions with it. This is going on my personal need to get list.

The Acronyms

Yesterday was the beginning of something I am a little hesitant about and that, that is this blog. I feel as if perhaps I am no the best qualified person to tackle many of these topics that I will write about in the coming weeks but I have been asked by different people, prodded, and almost blackmailed into it. Ok blackmail is a little strong, maybe. But in my life I have found that multiple people (People who's opinions I highly value and respect. They are few and far between.) start saying I should do something, it generally means I should stop making excuses and just shut and do it. So here we are!
This blog is something I hope will become more than just my own thoughts and rants. From time to time maybe I will find guest authors and link to other informative sites or blogs that you might not have time to find, searching through the digital cesspool of the Internet. Or perhaps (And this what I hope is really why you might come back and read this again.) you never thought of that particular subject before.
Before we begin our journey down the rabbit hole (There is still time to take the blue pill) let me introduce you to some acronyms and phrases that you will need to know.

SHTF - Shit Hits The Fan, it is the most common phrase in the prepping world. It simply means anything that can disrupt your life significantly. Unofficially the term has two "camps" Macro: Hurricane, Nuclear Bombs, Economic depression, and Micro: getting laid off at your job, foreclosure/eviction etc.

WROL - Without Rule of Law, this is normally a consequence of a SHTF situation. The veneer of society is stripped away and it become dog eat dog everybody for themselves. This is for most Urban/Suburban preppers a worst case scenario. Hurricane Katrina caused this type of disorder in parts of LA.

BOB - Bug Out Bag, this means different things to different people. For some it is a 24 - 72 hour survival bag filled with all the cool survival gear you could ever think of. For others its just a suitcase with a couple changes of clothes in case of overnight evacuation.

BOV - Bug Out Vehicle, for most people it's whatever is sitting in your driveway. For others its the converted 4x4 that can go 500 miles and climb 6.4 inch straight vertical with run flat tires in case of a shootout on your break from the urban death trap.

BOL - Bug Out Location. Where you plan to "ride out" the SHTF. Maybe Grandma's place maybe your cabin in the woods.

TEOTWAWKI - The End Of The World As We Know It. This was coined by Mike Medintz, a survivalist author and is not used that often. It is the king of acronyms, not just because it's so long, but because in almost all cases an SHTF situation will end. This one does not end and you never return to "normal" or at least not in your life time.

GOOD - Get Out Of Dodge. It means leave, leave now. You're life is endangered (or very soon could be) by staying.

So at some point in the future we might experience SHTF and have to GOOD because of the impending WROL. So we'll grab our BOB's and throw them in the back of the BOV and drive to the BOL and hope it's not TEOTWAWKI.
Some additional phrases, some you probably won't see here but I'll include them in case you should run into them letter.

Running and Gunning - This is another phrase that means different things to different people. In some cases it is a type of firearms practice where you "run" a course mimicking targets in real life scenarios. For others it's this mythical utopia where they will run through the chaos following SHTF and loot and shoot all who stand in their way.

Spray and Pray - Spray the target and pray one round hits it. This is what happens when you give an untrained person a fully automatic weapon and tell them to go fight the enemy. They point and pull the trigger. More people die from the bullets falling from the sky than anything else. Think African rebels with AK-47s here.

Sheople/Zombies - Sheople or Sheeple are the masses of people who follow the crowd. In some circles these people are referred to as "zombies" because they mimic the same kind of destructive behavior. While in real life these people may not be out to eat you they may well still take everything you own and shoot you to get it. This term is often used to describe welfare and addicts as well as other "dependent" types of people.

Bugging In - Staying put. Sometimes not moving is safer than moving. This could be riding out the storm by putting plywood over the windows or maybe you've got the perfect bunker under your house and can survive the apocalypse in style.