Network to the Top

Kevin O’Brien is back from season one with a vengeance – and a tent. Having moved from the tsunami zone of Florida, he has successfully transplanted his family to the highlands of Tennessee.

Instead of being an outcast for his prepping, Kevin is now welcomed by a group of preppers including Lucas Cameron and his Seven Trumpet preppers. He is able to facilitate this through a website he set up for networking.

Networking has been described as one of the most important skills to have for a reason. Instead of having to develop an entire skillset with himself and his family, Kevin has effectively gained the skillsets of everyone in the seven trumpets group. Beyond this, he is now part of a more imposing group that can defend itself much more adequately against the threat of gangs.

Have you looked into the local prepper groups in your area? Most of the states have representation through sites like the American Preppers Network. You should check to see whether there are any groups that match your personality and skill set.

“Kevin doesn’t eat rice”

Another offhand comment about rice came up in this episode. Despite focusing his stockpile on rice, Kevin himself does not enjoy rice or even eat it. This presents a number of problems.

First, without the desire to eat rice, Kevin will not be able to rotate his stores. While rice has a very long shelf life under proper conditions,

Learning to enjoy the food you intend to survive on is an important factor to psychological health. Food is a source of comfort and stability in our lives and taking the enjoyment out of that makes an already stressful situation.

Another benefit to rotating your stores is learning different recipes with the limited food you have. Including spices into your preparation can give a boost of antioxidants and other nutrients, as well as keep things interesting. It’ll be a lot harder to pick up curry powder once the poles shift.

In the hurt locker

Kevin describes his financial situation as being in the hurt locker.

The whole practice of prepping is essentially about taking things into consideration. Making a big financial move that prevents following through with a plan fully is essentially a lack of consideration. In order to follow through with a plan completely, financial ‘preparation’ is just as important as physical preparation.

What Kevin is left with is a situation where he might not be much better off. Who can really say whether it’s better to have a secure and organized house in Florida or a small rental and a bug out location made out of canvas?

Wood gasification

Lucas has assembled a crack team for a possible New Madrid earthquake. One of the members of his team is Scott Spence, who specializes in alternative energy. He has an interesting set up including a wood gasification system.

Believe it or not, the process of gasification has been around for hundreds of years, attributed to William Murdoch in the late 18th century. As opposed to simple combustion, gasification uses a much smaller amount of oxygen and a very high amount of pressure.

Under these conditions, any sort of fuel such as wood or coal is turned into a gas – char in the case of coal. The pressure turns this gas into a liquid which is filtered through a cooling chamber and filtered for impurities like sulfur. The end result is a product called syngas which can be used much like natural gas.

Due to the refining process, gasification does not pollute the air like firing a coal stove does. In addition, setting up one at home is fairly easy and many people on youtube have made their own gasifiers. FEMA even released public plans for use in a gas crisis!

“Why isn’t there brown rice?”

This was a comment from one of Lucas’s family members but I think it bears some inspection. Lucas claimed that white rice stored better than brown rice. I haven’t been able to verify, but the numbers on any type of rice stored in an oxygen free environment are roughly 30 years.

While there may not be a big difference in storage time, there are a number of nutritional differences to keep in mind. Mainstream health would have you believe that brown rice is simply the better alternative. Because it includes the husk, all sorts of minerals and vitamins are attributed to be contained within.

There may be more than meets the eye. Rice husks contain phytic acid, which if you recall are responsible for keeping seeds from sprouting. They do this through the binding of minerals. While the minerals contained within brown rice may show up when using a calorimeter, they are not necessarily absorbed.

Moreover, regular consumption of brown rice has been show to affect mineral absorption globally in a number of studies. In addition, phytates  are considered lectins, a known cause of inflammation. It’s a big price to pay for the supposed fiber benefits of brown rice. While a diet heavily based on carbohydrates is not ideal, minimizing phytates can offer some damage control with the rest of the nutrients.

Food dehydration

Another practice that Lucas and his family has taken up is food dehydration. I have had all sorts of fun with my dehydrator so far  and it is an easy way to make your food more storable. Removing water greatly reduces the ability of bacteria to form on your food. Storing in a vaccuum sealed contained can further improve longevity.

Important disclaimer – beef jerky will not keep for much longer than a month without secondary storage. While it is great for portability it is not necessarily shelf stable.

Derek Price is reminiscent of Gus Fring from Breaking Bad. The kind of guy with the brains to run a business and hide ulterior motives in plain sight. That is of course, until he showed his plans on national television.

Good Publicity? Or a Bonehead move?

Derek should have really taken the time to read my article on prepping in secret before deciding to go on Doomsday Preppers. Let’s take a look at the possible pros and cons of this appearance.

There are a few advantages for appearing on the show. As a business man, being featured on TV may give awareness to Deadwood. More business translates to more preps.

However this is a double edged sword. The general population might not take so kindly to an amusement park that they now know is designed with killzones in mind. Moreover, the subterfuge of hiding in plain sight is now over, once the bomb drops everyone with a TV and a tourist attraction map is going to know exactly where to find a fat stash of food and a defensible location.

I’m curious to see what the net effect on profits would be. However unless they are enough to hire a personal army to defend against the hungry droves who now know where the food is, the verdict is: bad call.

Sustainable fuel sources

Derek has one of the best biodiesel rigs we have seen on the show thus far. His advantage is owning an actual restaurant. Unfortunately, it becomes a bit problematic to stockpile fuel as biodiesel is not particularly stable. With a shelf life of roughly 6 months it would be difficult to stockpile even with prudent rotation.

There is a biodiesel train in the mix but it would be inteeresting to see a biodiesel tractor or forklift on the scene. If the worst came to a head before he was ready, construction could continue, or impromptu barricades of dirt could be set up.

Defensive Perimeter

Speaking of barricades. there is a very interesting multi-stage approach. The bamboo that Derek has planted around Deadwood can serve as a versatile and incredibly renewable building material. Bamboo has been reported as growing as fast as 39″ in 24 hours depending on climate. If only it was edible…

In addition to the punji pits (which I’m sure will bring the potential customers flocking to Deadwood), bamboo can be used to fortify existing perimeter defenses and make some interesting traps such as deadfalls. When not hunting the most dangerous game, these could be used to set up a way to harvest wild game.

With a bit of elbow grease and some google-fu, Derek could be on the road to adding some meat to his stores. Considering his flavor of the apocalypse (EMP) aboriginal skills are a particularly helpful skillset.

The Last Retreat

Brent is a real estate agent who has used his considerable wealth to become a true king in the castle. In a twist that seems dramatic even by Doomsday Preppers standards, he promises to give executor status of his million dollar trust to his children pending their performance in a day at the castle. But enough about that, let’s get on to the nutritional consequences of his plan.

The perils of Old MREs

At the end of a hard day’s work, Brent and his clan dig into some 12 year old MREs. With an official shelf life of 3 years, this puts them at 9 years past expiry. Although Brent claims to have eaten them once per year, is this really a safe option to feed your children?

As the food that feeds our soldiers, MREs have been researched extensively by the US army. Given that an extended shelf life would make things considerably easier from a logistical perspective, we can assume they are trying to maximize it. Strangely enough, the tests conducted on MREs were based not on nutrition, but taste. With these parameters, a recommended expiration date of 7 years past the date of manufacture. This is also assuming proper storage at a temperature no higher than 60 degrees farenheit.

What would happen to the nutritional value of MREs past the date of expiry? Due to the wide variety of foods contained within it is difficult to give a conclusive answer. Claims have been made about canned ham lasting indefinitely, but other studies have suggested degradation of the usable amino acids in protein over time. Even SPAM does not recommend eating past the recommended expiry date.

There are some very brave people who like to try this sort of thing. But again, this brings us back to taste and is no indication of nutritional values. Aside from performing a biochemical assay on the food within we can’t conclusively tell whether the nutrients contained within are actually making it into your bloodstream. For my money, I would invest in something a bit more sustainable.

Electricity and the EMP

One of the interesting things about Brents plan is the inclusion of solar panels. At face value, one would assume electrical equipment to be vulnerable in the event of an EMP. However, most solar photovoltaic units are equipped with bypass diodes which would prevent them being fried in the event of a EMP strike.

The children have a difficult time assembling the solar panel. Maybe they should have gotten one from IKEA. Regardless, they seem to have a well thought out source of renewable energy. In order to maintain the use of their devices in the event of an EMP, they have chargeable batteries in all forms of voltage from 9V all the way through to 120V.  A system like this is miles ahead of the gasoline crowd and even the biodiesel types.

Cumbre Vieja

Christine H brings one of the most fascinating disaster scenarios seen on Doomsday Preppers and one that not many are aware of. She is worried about a megatsunami resulting from the eruption of Cumbre Vieja, a volcano near the Canary Islands.

According to geologists, an eruption could trigger the western half of the volcano to slip into the sea. The resulting debris would create an apocalyptic tsunami almost 2000 feet high at some points, cooling down to about 200 feet once they reach the east coast.

England, coastal Africa and the Eastern United States would be devastated. Estimated casualties in New York, Boston and Miami would be in the millions as buildings were leveled. According to studies, the wave would hit the east coast roughly 6 hours after an eruption and be able to flood areas 16 miles inland.

Preparing for the Tsunami

Christine is leveraging an impressive level of OCD to organize her food stores to the point of being portable. She wants to be able to get up and go as soon as possible. With 6 hours to escape following an eruption – no time could be wasted. Her plan is to bug out to a friends house located inland with 3 months worth of supplies.

The getaway plan is by car with a backup of going by boat. There are some obvious problems with this. Paddling at a speed of 1.2 miles per hour would put her within the path of the tsunami’s flood range if they were able to get moving the minute Cumbre Vieja erupted. It beats wearing a snorkel in traffic and hoping for the best but that’s about it.

Personally, if I were committed to redundancy I would invest in a better watercraft than an inflatable raft. I would also get an outboard motor to increase my speed. Solutions like the zodiac are very affordable and available secondhand, my brother purchased one when he was in highschool.

Food preps

Christine was able to get some of her friends within the community interested in prepping by showing easy to make meals. Everyone likes making life easier, so showing a meal that can be made in minutes in a jar is a great gateway to prepping.

She makes a point of low acid food being much longer lasting. This is true, but not necessarily the entire truth. Both low acid and high acid foods can be successfully canned, with different methods required. Water bath canning is required to kill microorganisms with high acid foods and pressure canners can be used to destroy bacteria with low acid foods.

To pick one nit, there was a moment where Christene said there was a great thing to add to protein – carbs! While I staunchly disagree with this logic, it is not entirely untrue. Using carrots, celery and corn is more of an addition of fiber than straight carbohydrates. Celery is ridiculously low calorie and carrots have a relatively low glycemic index of 39-45. I would avoid the corn due to the abundance of fusarium mold and fructose but other than that great meal!

Agricultural production

Brian Smith has set up one of the most impressive homesteads seen to date on Doomsday Preppers. Coming from a background of sharecroppers, he has a level of know how with the land that’s in his blood. He has used this to set up cash crops to increase his economic standing, regardless of the state of the economy.

Defensibility

In the event of a total collapse of the monetary system, reverting to barter would be a best case scenario. In the face of raiders, disenfranchised military units and other strong arm types, Brian would have to be ready. Due to the incredible amount of value he has in his homestead, people would be willing to risk a lot to get a hold on it. It’s simple economics.

With the ability to reload 650 cartridges per hour with the supply for hundreds of thousands, Brian is sitting pretty when it comes to defending over time. However, when it comes staffing his defense, the show does not show manpower on his part. Perhaps he could get some close buddies on his team like Ed Peden or even start a neighborhood defense group like Jay Blevins.

While Brian and his family are relatively safe within the confines of their underground shelter, the resources he has worked so hard to develop can be looted in hours by a mob with the will to do so.

Tons of rice

One of the gripes I have with Brian’s food system is the mention of literally tons of rice and beans. While I like a good burrito as much as the next man, there are  some problems with eating a diet containing heavy amounts of grains and legumes.

While rice is free of bad stuff like gluten, it is still a starch with an incredibly high glycemic index. With a glycemic index as high as 72, white rice will basically turn to sugar as soon as it hits your blood, spiking your insulin. Eating a diet largely composed of high glycemic carbs is the fast track to metabolic derangement, diabetes and heart disease.

And tons of beans

Beans are classified as legumes, another group of foods that is avoided on the paleo diet. The main reason you want to stay away from large amounts of beans is because of lectins, a class of chemicals referred to as an antinutrient.

Lectins like phytic acid exist within legumes to prevent early sprouting. The way that they accomplish this is by preventing the absorption of minerals like calcium, magnesium and  iron. Without being able to take these in, the bean can’t grow until the conditions are right.

Not surprisingly, they will do the same thing in the human body. Eating lectins prevents the absorption of minerals the body needs, many of which are deficient in most Americans’ diets. In addition to this, lectins are highly inflammatory to the lining of the gut. This can eventually lead to leaky gut which we have gone over before.

Margaret Ling is possibly the most prescient person we have seen on Doomsday Preppers. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, she decided that she needed to be prepared for another hurricane to hit New York while the rest of the city dwellers kept their heads in the sand. With the help of frequent cast member Matan Gavish, she is looking to prepare to bug out of the city by foot.

Walking to Canada

Margaret’s plan is mostly focused on getting out of the city. Her concern is not directed towards the hurricane as much as it is towards the unpredictable human element of any catastrophe. Because of this, and most likely because of the context of the show, her plan is mostly about getting out of the city.

There are some complications once on the road that can’t be ignored, however. Walking to Canada from New York city would take a very long time. A few hundred years ago this would be the sort of voyage you would take in a covered wagon and expect to lose half of your party with. Today there are less Indians to worry about, but in the context of a hurricane it would be very tricky at best.

Some of the most conditioned foot soldiers in history, the Zulu, were reputed to march 50 miles in a day. According to google maps, the closest route to Canada is about 350 miles. So optimistically assuming the ability to maintain a forced march at the highest rate in recorded history, it would take about a week to get out of dodge.

Threat of Exposure 

This is ignoring the effects of inclement weather, of course. The pace of a hurricane is much faster than 50 miles per day and once out of the city, there are assailants worse than muggers to worry about. According to survival instructor Cody Lundin, exposure is responsible for the two most common causes of death in survival situations. These are hypothermia and hyperthermia, related to body temperature.

While overheating would not be a likely problem for Margaret (she is walking as fast as a Zulu warrior, of course) hypothermia is a major concern in a hurricane. Being wet only contributes to the threat of maintaining a core temperature, especially wearing a material like cotton.

Metabolism and core temperature

Core temperature is going to separate the living from the dead in a situation like this. And maintaining core temperature requires calories. The question of where these are coming from is of paramount concern in a situation like this.

Maintaining a fat metabolism would allow Margaret to maintain ketosis, burning bodyfat in order to produce ketone bodies to fuel her exodus. Alternatively, if she is in a state of sugar metabolism she will continue to produce glucose by breaking down muscle tissue. In this situation, she will need all of the muscle tissue she can maintain.

This is a bit of an extreme situation and I understand that the show needed to focus on her bug out on foot but I hope it is a good example as to why dietary choices are important for a bug out situation like this.

Maintaining fitness

Jay is a stockbroker by day and prepper by night. With the help of Mountain Scout Survival Coach Shane Hobel, he hopes to be ready to escape from New York City in the event of a terrorist attack on the scale of 9/11. He is worried in particular about the threats of a dirty bomb, something we have seen before on Doomsday Preppers.

One of the first issues that comes up in Jay’s attempt to escape from the city is his level of physical fitness. Like many Americans (including myself) he works at a desk job that requires little to no movement throughout the day.

While this can be inconvenient for conditioning it is by no means a death sentence. If time is a factor, cardiovascular conditioning can be condensed into what is known as High Intensity Interval Training. While more challenging psychologically, it has been proven to boost cardiovascular health more than steady state cardio for much longer intervals and also increase fat loss.

You don’t have to train like a marathon runner to get your fitness level up.

Charcoal for filtering

One of the interesting moves Jay learns from Shane is how to create a homemade filter. Using only a bandanna and pieces of crushed up charcoal, he is able to take fountain water (steeped in leaves, feet of dirty children, pennies and all sorts of fun stuff) into potable drinking water. Does it hold up?

While carbon based filters like charcoal are the basis for most of the commercially sold filters worldwide, such as brita, there are a few weaknesses to them. First, not just any form of charcoal can be used to filter. While trying to McGyver a way into finding drinking water, we have to take what we can get. But in a situation where we are preparing in advance, the best choice is a form of charcoal known as activated carbon.

Filtration is all about the size of the holes in the filter. Think about using a fishnet versus a butterfly net – the smaller the holes, the less gets through. Using charcoal in this way will be a fine dust, but activated charcoal is treated to make tiny microscopic holes between the carbon atoms themselves. This creates holes so small that dangerous contaminants cannot get through In addition to being used in filters, it can even be taken directly like a supplement to negate toxins! One of my favorite bloggers, Dave Asprey, actually recommends this for detox diets.

Plaintain Pulp and Aboriginal Skills

Much like Chris Nyerges, Shane directs Jay to make use of his local environment as a pharmacy on the go. In this case, he uses a plantain leaf to create an antiseptic poultrice with the bandanna. We see time and time again that the ability to harness aboriginal skills is a tremendous asset to surviving on the run. We’ll close this post off with an old joke:

A Short History of Medicine

I have a headache:

2000 BCE: Here, eat this root.
1000 AD: That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer.
1850 AD: That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion.
1940 AD: That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill.
1985 AD: That pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic.
2011 AD: That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root.

Meltdown at Indian Point

Cameron Moore is a college student concerned about the potential meltdown of the reactor at Indian Point. 38 miles north of New York City, it produces over 2000 Megawatts of electric power which accounts for over 30% of power for NYC and Westchester County. In operation since 1962, the reactor is one of the oldest in the country.

In wake of the Fukushima event, heightened interest has been brought to the safety of Indian point. According to the Natural Resources Defense council, a meltdown on the level of the Fukushima event would necessitate the evacuation of over 5.6 million people. Larger events on the level of Chernobyl or greater could potentially cause the island of Manhattan to become completely uninhabitable for years.

Winds blow south out to the ocean which makes an Indian point meltdown terrifying to the inhabitants of NYC. The plant has the “highest probability of core damage of any unit in the country”. Whether it is earthquakes or a potential terrorist attack, Indian point is the perfect storm of vulnerability and potential damage

Potassium Iodide

Following a meltdown, the NRDC estimates that over 6 million people would need to receive iodine treatment. The consequences for failing to follow this would be a cancer mortality rate ranging from 0.3% to 7%. Scary stuff.

What’s even scarier to consider is the staggering amount of potassium iodide required to protect 6 million people (one out of every 50 in the US). There are no figures on the potassium iodide kept on hand by FEMA and other organizations but it’s risky to bet on them having it covered.

Aton Edwards, Cameron’s mentor throughout this challenge, wisely suggested that Cameron was taking his tablets at all times. As a prepper or survivalist it is your duty to do the same. Make sure to stock up on Potassium Iodide tablets or an aqueous solution like Lugol’s.

Self Defense – Stun and Run

Any Canadian readers will recognize the bear repellent which Aton recommended over pepper spray for self defense. In addition to having a higher concentration of capsaicin, the active ingredient, bear pepper spray has an effective range of 30 feet. Many models are also designed to discharge their entire contents with one trigger pull. No taking chances when it comes to bears.

Likewise, the advice of stun and run comes from a place of not taking chances with attackers. Unlike some who will contend that hand to hand techniques will be enough to keep attackers at bay, he acknowledges that any situation with multiple attackers is life threatening. If the world is really ending, we can be assured that people will be acting crazy as well.

Unfortunately bear pepper spray cannot be purchased in thirteen states including New York.  Ironically, the use of pepper spray on Doomsday Preppers was in fact illegal. While laws may not matter in a true disaster scenario, getting caught with weapons outside of the law can result in losing property or being put in jail.

Kosher Food Supply

Along with Wilma Bryant, Josh is the second person on this season of Doomsday Preppers to be planning his food supply around special constraints. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and situations like this can create some pretty interesting solutions that anyone can use for their preps.

Unfortunately the process has not been efficient. Josh has taken over 2 years to find only 3 months worth of stable kosher food supplies for his family. With special concerns  for a food plan, lead time is even more important.

So far, the food supply has consisted of Kosher MREs, designed for orthodox Jewish soldiers and kosher classics like Matzo bread. According to Josh, these can keep for up to two years.

Matzo for months?

While this may be possible, there are a number of downsides to eating a diet consisting entirely of bread. First, having a consistently high percentage of carbohydrates will be very damaging to the body’s insulin sensitivity. This can cause metabolic derangement, diabetes, and a whole host of other fun things.

Second, kosher or not, there is a much higher risk for mycotoxins with grains kept in silage for any time. And finally, there has been evidence that eating large amounts of gluten can inhibit your body’s ability to absorb vitamins and minerals like iron, B2 and C.

Josh said he was willing to break his kosher habits as allowed by the Torah for a matter of survival. His colony of rabbits is a prudent measure. Keeping a renewable food source on hand is something best learned in peaceful times. Maybe he can feed all the matzo to them…

Psychological Response

One of the most interesting parts of the segment was Josh’s knowledge of psychology. Coming from Israel, a place where terrorist attacks are common, he has a better point of view than most. While preppers may talk about how prepared they are all day long, while the rubber hits the road there are many who will literally freeze.

There is some very interesting work along the same lines by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman. According to him, the majority of soldiers at war never learn to discharge their weapons. There is a distinct urge not to harm others in many of us. The percentage of those willing to do so roughly reflects the percentage of people in the civilian world who have sociopathic tendencies.

Preparing the mind

So what are we to do? Aside from actually getting real life combat experience, drilling like Josh has been doing is the next best thing. Being able to act in the moment under pressure does not need to be limited to firing a gun or rescuing someone. One of the key benefits of martial arts is being able to get used to nerves like this. In addition, getting volunteer work such as first responder training can help acclimate your mind to stress without changing your career.