I know that eating right in America is very difficult. But this country is blessed with prosperity and an abundance of good food and clean water. What a great blessing that is. Being prepared, self-defense, and self-sufficiency depend on a good foundation of health and fitness.
Burn
I don’t like the word diet. It brings terrible thoughts to a person’s mind that now I have to be deprived to lose weight. Everyone is on a diet. A diet is what we are eating at the time. Each culture has their own types of diet depending on the area of the world we live in. The American diet is filled with fat, preservatives, and lots of sugars which are not good. Let’s not forget the fast food diet. I think of eating fast food as Satan’s banquet table. It is totally opposite of the Word of Wisdom.
I think our thinking needs to change. Going on special diets is useless because we lose weight, go back to eating what is so available in America, fast food, frozen dinners and processed foods. I feel that our diets need to be changed to reflect good health and right choices, living the Word of Wisdom. This can be done and we can still live in the world and stay healthy. Eating healthy gives a person many choices. Eating a programed diet, I feel is more restrictive and people will eventually fail.
Americans have their plates in reverse. When looking at your plate there should be 75-80% vegetables, 10% grains and 10% meat. We do the opposite, a huge portion of meat, potatoes or some veggies.
Purchase fresh or frozen fruits and veggies. Canned produce has less nutrition. Purchase true whole wheat bread. Not the cheap stuff at the grocery store. Go to a special place that makes it from fresh ground wheat. It has more fiber and better nutrition.
When changing your diet and starting to eat healthy, your body will be hungry at first because it is craving proper nutrition. It usually takes a little over a week or two and then the hunger pains stop. It is better to eat 6 small meals a day then one big huge one. Don’t skip meals. If you eat one meal a day or skip meals, your body goes into famine modes, which causes fat storing. Also eating a diet that is not nutritional, you will find yourself hungry because you’re not getting enough vitamins and minerals. This also causes you to eat more because your body is wanting proper health and nutrition. This also causes someone to put on weight.
I think buying diet foods can be disgusting. For example mayonnaise. I use regular mayo but in smaller quantities. This is what I do with tuna fish.
Put the following in a bowl. Drain tuna. Add chopped onion, celery, pickles and be generous with the veggies. Get tuna in water, NOT oil. Add mayo slowly and stir. You just want a nice light layer for flavor and to pull it together. Cut thin slices of cucumber. Place tuna mix on real whole wheat bread. Then put cucumbers on top of tuna. It makes a great sandwich. Very healthy and nutritional because of the extra veggies. You could make up a big batch at the beginning of the week and have it for lunches 3 times a week. It would be fast and easy.
Another healthy sandwich is whole wheat bread, turkey slices and lots of veggies. You could use onion, cucumber, tomato, bell pepper, lettuce, avocados. Put a light coat of mayo on each side of bread. Avoid cheese, it has too much fat. I only have cheese every so often.
Purchase virgin cold press olive oil, real butter and avocados. These are healthy oils. They are a little more expensive but they taste better.
Some snack ideas:
You can take plain yogurt (I prefer the Greek kind, it is thicker) mix it with a package of ranch dressing mix. Dip veggie in it.
Yogurt with grape nuts cereal in it. Put a small amount of grape nuts in a bowl and pour in flavored yogurt. Sometimes I do this for breakfast.
I like taking a mixture of fresh fruits, (mix any combo together) I may do strawberries and kiwi. Or apples and bananas, cut in a bowl and mix in vanilla flavored yogurt.
Raw almonds or pecans. Not roasted. Chew them slowly. I will eat about 10 of them and they satisfy my hunger.
On the go: take an apple, bananas or cut veggies.
If you want chips with your lunch every once in a while, eat the baked chips and only about 10. It doesn’t sound like a lot but as you start eating healthy your appetite change. Plus you will be satisfied with that amount. Don’t eat baked chips or any chips as a snack by itself. Not healthy.
Remember the Word of Wisdom teaches us moderation in all things and having control over our appetite. It should be a way of life. If you are living the Word of Wisdom, the positive aspects of it, you can have things from Satan’s banquet from time to time and it will not cause damage to your body.
These are just some ideas and tips. I think if you stick to it, you will see a difference in your health, mind and body. It takes the fog off the brain.
Keep going forward and don’t give up.
FLAG
PS
Our health affects all of our lives. If you strive to eat right and exercise, you will be prepared for whatever may come. A self-defense situation can be mentally and physically taxing. Also, don’t deprive yourself of sleep. Proper eating, exercise, sleep, and training will keep us sharp, prepared, and happier.
My dear FLAG is a pro at this and I appreciate her experience, ideas, and thoughts!
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, April 28, 2017
.38 Special: Love/Hate Relationship
As is usual, I go to the range and come back with a story. The other day I went to shoot .357 and .38 Special revolvers. I like to do this about once a month in my training program. I shoot exceptionally well with a wheel gun. But I don’t really like them for EDC (everyday carry). It’s nothing but personal preference.
We flew to visit my in-laws several years ago. I didn’t want to take a gun because I knew my Father in-law would let me borrow something to carry. He has been around guns, shooting, and hunting his entire 70 plus years. He told me I was too modern for him. He knew I was an instructor but what he didn’t know was when I was in the military they were in the process of leaving .38 Special revolvers and moving to the Beretta M9. I taught the use of, and qualification course for, the revolver, M9, M16A2, and M60E3.
First introduced way back in the early 1900s, the world-famous .38 Special is but one of the tools that helped propel America to where we are today. The Special was once the primary law enforcement round used by police. It still has a place today in certain hunting applications, with both revolvers and rifles, and is still used in self-defense over 110 years later.
Something that is little known about the .38 SPC (or SPL), is that it doesn’t actually fire a “38” caliber bullet as you’d think about modern bullet measurements. Rather, the .38 is a “35” caliber bullet, which is why you can fire it through a .357 Magnum revolver. I want to point out here, however, that while you can shoot a thirty-eight through a gun chambered in the .357 Magnum cartridge, you should never shoot a .357 Magnum through a .38 Special chambered gun.
While they share many similarities, the Magnum’s cartridge is loaded to much higher pressures and cannot be fired in a gun only chambered in .38. The Magnum is a bit longer so they might not even fit in your gun. Either way, don’t try it.
Even though the .38 Special is as popular as ever, it lacks terminal ballistics associated with many of the other modern self-defense cartridges on the market. In a world where you and I defend ourselves with a gun, .38 Special is one of the least powerful you would want to use (to include .32 Mag, .380 ACP, and .327).
I can almost hear you thinking, but it has such a huge case! How could such a big round be so “eh” in its performance?
Well, things aren’t always what they would seem. Sure, the case is big. Much bigger than many of the semi-auto self-defense pistols on the market. But, just because it has a big case, doesn’t mean it’s filled all the way to the top with gun powder.
Because the .38s are only rated for 17,000 PSI (which is really low), it can only hold so much powder, safely.
There are essentially two trains of thought for self-defense guns. They are as follows:
1. Big, slow bullets create a bigger wound channel, and, are thus better for self-defense even though they move much slower.
2. Small, faster moving bullets do more damage because they travel further into the body.
There are positives to both. The .38 Special packs a slow moving, medium sized bullet. Generally speaking, they can be found from 110 grains up to 158 grains. They move at lackluster speeds, with most, if not all of them (including the +P rounds) staying below the 1,000 FPS mark.
Many of the more popular thirty-eight loads move much slower than that in the 750 FPS range. Again, in terms of self-defense, this is the lowest you’d want to go. If you don’t believe it, keep in mind a Defensive Gun Use story where a mother stopped a would be attacker in her house to save her kids. She used a .38 Special revolver, and seemingly placed 5 shots on her attacker.
He walked back to his car and drove off before needing medical attention, and lived to tell the tale.
On the other hand, she did stop the attack with the gun. Had she not had it with her, the outcome would have been remarkably different.
I was in a gun store the other day and when some other customers found out I was an instructor they asked the eternal question: “What gun should I buy for home defense?”
I hate this question! First of all it’s loaded one (excuse the pun). It’s a loaded question because a gun for home defense will be different for me than it would be for you. I’m pretty confident in my shooting. Not to boast but I feel I would not miss if ever confronted in my home with a threat. I guess it’s possible, but not probable. But then again I’ve been shooting guns for almost 40 years. I have been a military and civilian instructor, have competed, and have carried a gun for almost 25 years. I’ve had many years of training and when I point a gun at something, I usually hit what I’m aiming at. So for me, an AR with a light and laser sight is a perfect home defense weapon. But if you have little to no experience with a gun, I’d suggest quite a different weapon. This couple did say that the guy had carried a Glock 19 for a year. I asked about their experience, it was as small as their training. I first suggested a home defense course. Then I suggested whichever gun they chose for home defense, to practice at a range at least monthly, or more if they could. Then I suggested a short barreled (at least 16 inches to be legal) shotgun loaded with bird shot. When they asked about the ammo load, I said, “Trust me, that is the load for you.” I’ve personally tested shotgun loads on real world house building materials. Anyway, then they asked about a carry weapon for her. I asked similar questions and then suggested a .38 special or .357 magnum revolver like the Airweight Smith and Wesson, or a quality auto loader in .380 or 9mm.
In my honest opinion, double-action .38 Special revolvers may not be “state-of-the-art” but they are stable in the art. To me, it’s a no brainer. Double-action .38 Special revolvers are easy handguns to train with. Opening one for loading consists of no more than pressing a latch or button and swinging the cylinder out. There’s no trick to getting chambers charged since cartridges can only fit in one direction. I’ve actually seen novices try to load semi-auto magazines with the rounds backwards. Then the cylinder is pushed closed till it clicks in place. That’s all there is to it.
A double-action revolver requires merely pressing the trigger to fire. There’s no safety to remember, and no moving slide to bite hands. Most double actions can also be fired single action, which is an aid when gaining familiarization with the handgun, or weak hands, even if not optimum for a potentially deadly situation.
Then there’s the ammo factor. Some semi-autos can be amazingly finicky about ammo.
Conversely, a .38 Special double-action revolver always works if it’s in good repair. They’re about as foolproof as a handgun can get. Good quality factory ammo ranges from very light full wadcutter loads meant for target shooting, to +P types meant for personal defense. The .38 Special might have a bad rap among those who see nothing less than big bores as effective, but effective only counts if hits are made. Almost anyone can learn to handle a .38 Special with proficiency. That’s not true of big-bore handgun calibers.
So there you have it. My little promotion of the .38 Special/.357 Magnum. Enjoy it because you probably will never see me talking about again. I know I didn’t dis the caliber or type of gun. I would never do that. But it’s just never been my favorite type of gun or caliber. I shoot them to stay proficient and sometimes I do enjoy them. Not the same as a 1911 in my hands, but on occasion I enjoy them. The down side of them to me is lack of number of rounds, non-ease of reloading, even with a speed loader (I’m not Jerry Miculek, ok?) It really comes down to my personal preference. Much to my father-in-law’s non-surprise I love autoloaders.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
We flew to visit my in-laws several years ago. I didn’t want to take a gun because I knew my Father in-law would let me borrow something to carry. He has been around guns, shooting, and hunting his entire 70 plus years. He told me I was too modern for him. He knew I was an instructor but what he didn’t know was when I was in the military they were in the process of leaving .38 Special revolvers and moving to the Beretta M9. I taught the use of, and qualification course for, the revolver, M9, M16A2, and M60E3.
First introduced way back in the early 1900s, the world-famous .38 Special is but one of the tools that helped propel America to where we are today. The Special was once the primary law enforcement round used by police. It still has a place today in certain hunting applications, with both revolvers and rifles, and is still used in self-defense over 110 years later.
Something that is little known about the .38 SPC (or SPL), is that it doesn’t actually fire a “38” caliber bullet as you’d think about modern bullet measurements. Rather, the .38 is a “35” caliber bullet, which is why you can fire it through a .357 Magnum revolver. I want to point out here, however, that while you can shoot a thirty-eight through a gun chambered in the .357 Magnum cartridge, you should never shoot a .357 Magnum through a .38 Special chambered gun.
While they share many similarities, the Magnum’s cartridge is loaded to much higher pressures and cannot be fired in a gun only chambered in .38. The Magnum is a bit longer so they might not even fit in your gun. Either way, don’t try it.
Even though the .38 Special is as popular as ever, it lacks terminal ballistics associated with many of the other modern self-defense cartridges on the market. In a world where you and I defend ourselves with a gun, .38 Special is one of the least powerful you would want to use (to include .32 Mag, .380 ACP, and .327).
I can almost hear you thinking, but it has such a huge case! How could such a big round be so “eh” in its performance?
Well, things aren’t always what they would seem. Sure, the case is big. Much bigger than many of the semi-auto self-defense pistols on the market. But, just because it has a big case, doesn’t mean it’s filled all the way to the top with gun powder.
Because the .38s are only rated for 17,000 PSI (which is really low), it can only hold so much powder, safely.
There are essentially two trains of thought for self-defense guns. They are as follows:
1. Big, slow bullets create a bigger wound channel, and, are thus better for self-defense even though they move much slower.
2. Small, faster moving bullets do more damage because they travel further into the body.
There are positives to both. The .38 Special packs a slow moving, medium sized bullet. Generally speaking, they can be found from 110 grains up to 158 grains. They move at lackluster speeds, with most, if not all of them (including the +P rounds) staying below the 1,000 FPS mark.
Many of the more popular thirty-eight loads move much slower than that in the 750 FPS range. Again, in terms of self-defense, this is the lowest you’d want to go. If you don’t believe it, keep in mind a Defensive Gun Use story where a mother stopped a would be attacker in her house to save her kids. She used a .38 Special revolver, and seemingly placed 5 shots on her attacker.
He walked back to his car and drove off before needing medical attention, and lived to tell the tale.
On the other hand, she did stop the attack with the gun. Had she not had it with her, the outcome would have been remarkably different.
I was in a gun store the other day and when some other customers found out I was an instructor they asked the eternal question: “What gun should I buy for home defense?”
I hate this question! First of all it’s loaded one (excuse the pun). It’s a loaded question because a gun for home defense will be different for me than it would be for you. I’m pretty confident in my shooting. Not to boast but I feel I would not miss if ever confronted in my home with a threat. I guess it’s possible, but not probable. But then again I’ve been shooting guns for almost 40 years. I have been a military and civilian instructor, have competed, and have carried a gun for almost 25 years. I’ve had many years of training and when I point a gun at something, I usually hit what I’m aiming at. So for me, an AR with a light and laser sight is a perfect home defense weapon. But if you have little to no experience with a gun, I’d suggest quite a different weapon. This couple did say that the guy had carried a Glock 19 for a year. I asked about their experience, it was as small as their training. I first suggested a home defense course. Then I suggested whichever gun they chose for home defense, to practice at a range at least monthly, or more if they could. Then I suggested a short barreled (at least 16 inches to be legal) shotgun loaded with bird shot. When they asked about the ammo load, I said, “Trust me, that is the load for you.” I’ve personally tested shotgun loads on real world house building materials. Anyway, then they asked about a carry weapon for her. I asked similar questions and then suggested a .38 special or .357 magnum revolver like the Airweight Smith and Wesson, or a quality auto loader in .380 or 9mm.
In my honest opinion, double-action .38 Special revolvers may not be “state-of-the-art” but they are stable in the art. To me, it’s a no brainer. Double-action .38 Special revolvers are easy handguns to train with. Opening one for loading consists of no more than pressing a latch or button and swinging the cylinder out. There’s no trick to getting chambers charged since cartridges can only fit in one direction. I’ve actually seen novices try to load semi-auto magazines with the rounds backwards. Then the cylinder is pushed closed till it clicks in place. That’s all there is to it.
A double-action revolver requires merely pressing the trigger to fire. There’s no safety to remember, and no moving slide to bite hands. Most double actions can also be fired single action, which is an aid when gaining familiarization with the handgun, or weak hands, even if not optimum for a potentially deadly situation.
Then there’s the ammo factor. Some semi-autos can be amazingly finicky about ammo.
Conversely, a .38 Special double-action revolver always works if it’s in good repair. They’re about as foolproof as a handgun can get. Good quality factory ammo ranges from very light full wadcutter loads meant for target shooting, to +P types meant for personal defense. The .38 Special might have a bad rap among those who see nothing less than big bores as effective, but effective only counts if hits are made. Almost anyone can learn to handle a .38 Special with proficiency. That’s not true of big-bore handgun calibers.
So there you have it. My little promotion of the .38 Special/.357 Magnum. Enjoy it because you probably will never see me talking about again. I know I didn’t dis the caliber or type of gun. I would never do that. But it’s just never been my favorite type of gun or caliber. I shoot them to stay proficient and sometimes I do enjoy them. Not the same as a 1911 in my hands, but on occasion I enjoy them. The down side of them to me is lack of number of rounds, non-ease of reloading, even with a speed loader (I’m not Jerry Miculek, ok?) It really comes down to my personal preference. Much to my father-in-law’s non-surprise I love autoloaders.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Thursday, April 27, 2017
And More Self-sufficiency: Preparedness In The Burbs
The suburbs. Rows of houses just about all the same. I have fond memories of growing up in the suburbs. Most of you live in some sort of suburb. Living there brings with it challenges to becoming self-sufficient. Usually a home in the burbs has a yard. Hopefully enough room to throw a baseball with your kids. Look at your yard in a new light. Plan to use the room you want to devote to self-sufficiency with a garden. This should be the top priority. There are few things we can do that are more important to being self-sufficient. Being self-sufficient does not preclude preparedness in the area of food storage. Your one year supply of food, and water storage are the most important things you can do to become self-reliant and prepared. Learn what works for you in your climate, in your soil, and especially what your family will eat. Talk to others in your area who garden to find out what works. Talk to farmers you may know. The county or university extension centers offer lots of literature and advice on gardening. The Internet also is a good source. If you don’t have the net, find a friend who will let you use it or possibly your local library has public access. The library can be an excellent resource as well. Check for garden clubs in your area or your local nursery may have some helpful advice. A recommended book on gardening with space in mind is “Square Foot Gardening”, by Mel Bartholomew, Rodale Press, Pennsylvania. Gardening in small spaces or indoors is possible and available for those who are really limited on space. Next could be fruit trees. There are many nurseries that sell dwarf fruit trees. Dwarf trees are always more expensive but when you consider that they take less space, are easier to harvest, and are easier to maintain, the price difference is of no consequence. Many of the same sources cited above can help you with a small orchard as well.
Learn to can and bottle so that you may enjoy the fruits of your labors. Canning is a dying art. Growing up in an LDS home I thought everyone knew how to can. I’m learning now that many didn’t teach their sons or daughters this valuable skill. Many children weren’t interested in learning and so the art seems to be dying. I think it stems from the fact that most women are back in the work force. I realize some must work and some want to but...that’s another article. There is a great website concerning canning, at http://www.freshpreserving.com/home. This site has recipes, and a home canning videos othat deal with the fundamentals of canning.
The suburbs bring limitations on your self-sufficiency but these problems are not unsurmountable. Check with your local laws and don’t forget to check with neighbors even if it is legal. You don’t want to damage relationships. If you can have some animals inform your neighbors of your intentions and also of your plans to make keeping this animal a good experience for everyone. Chickens can be kept with a low impact on your neighborhood. A family of six can get all the eggs they will need from only three to four chickens. Both my wife and I grew up in the suburbs of a large city and both our families had gardens, fruit trees, small vineyards, and chickens. My Father-in-law even kept bees. So, we’re living proof that it’s possible. When living close to neighbors, do not keep a rooster. They are noisy. You don’t need a rooster for eggs unless you want fertile eggs.
Keep the chickens in a small, well-made yard and coop. They don’t require a lot of room. If you do keep them in a small space, you’ll need to feed them. A small yard will also be cleared of vegetation in a hurry. They also take care of bugs. Be aware of predators, too. There are cats that may try to get to your chickens when they are small. Dogs take over after that but if you have a good backyard fence this won’t be a problem. You can always put a top on the small chicken yard. There are many mail-order game bird catalogs that sell a netting to go over yards. You can get rid of most of your table scraps if you don’t compost for your garden. Chickens will eat almost any food that we will. DO NOT give them chicken. They will eat chicken but then will peck more than usual at each other. Don’t let them have any raw eggs in any way either, because they will start breaking their own eggs.
Other animals are possible if legal and if you have the room. A cow requires either a lot of feed or a pasture. Goats require the same, but better fencing. Sheep require less room than a cow but will need pasture or feeding. Feeding these animals can get expensive. Rabbits are great for fur and meat, and require little room. They only require cages and separation of sexes unless you want them to breed, because they will breed like, well... rabbits. Exotic birds are really not that difficult to care for either. Emu & Ostriches (Ratites) don’t require much room but like all large animals, require feeding or pasture. Ostriches will graze but Emus don’t do much grazing.
Ostriches are temperamental and sometimes aggressive while Emus are much more docile and smaller. If you have room for a cow (maybe a second fenced-in lot). Maybe even a water buffalo would interest you. They are larger than cattle and easier to handle.
Alternative energy or fuels are another way of becoming self-sufficient. Most homes have electricity but what if it went out? Could you still cook, keep warm or run simple things like lights? Consider alternatives. Light is easy to supplement. There are many lamps that run off a variety of fuel. Always be careful with liquid fuels. Store them properly and always use them with caution. Check with laws in your area for fuel storage. Keep extra wicks for kerosene lamps. Some camp lanterns require mantles so don’t forget a supply of them. There are always barbecues or campfires for cooking. Have sufficient wood and charcoal briquettes on hand and also stored properly. Learn to cook on camp stoves or campfires or even a woodstove if you have one. Warmth can be found in fireplaces, wood stoves and campfires. Plenty of blankets and quilts are a good idea whether in a survival situation or not. We have a quilt for each bed in our house. My wife makes them and gives them as Christmas, birthday, wedding or mission gifts. This is another art that is slowly dying. Quilting is more popular than canning though, so maybe it won’t die out.
Wind, solar, turbine or generator power is also making a comeback. All are technical, but possible to learn. There are solar and wood burning water heaters. These save money and will help us to become independent. Solar panels can run anything from simple lights to whole households. We have electricity and propane in our home. I like the idea of being able to cook and heat water in our home without depending on electricity. A small propane tank is not really expensive nor hard to install. We want to get a second water heater that runs off of our propane in addition to our electric one. There are kerosene stoves, refrigerators, freezers and of course lights and lamps. These additional appliances will be something you acquire slowly over time.
The above suggestions I know are vague and not detailed, but I just wanted you to be aware of many things you can do in the suburbs to become more self-sufficient. You can probably think of many others I haven’t mentioned here. Pick one of these items, or one of your own, and set a goal to acquire these items and skills. One area at a time will eventually make us all self-sufficient for the uncertain times we face and help us save money. Remember the Boy Scouts’ motto, “Be Prepared.”
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Learn to can and bottle so that you may enjoy the fruits of your labors. Canning is a dying art. Growing up in an LDS home I thought everyone knew how to can. I’m learning now that many didn’t teach their sons or daughters this valuable skill. Many children weren’t interested in learning and so the art seems to be dying. I think it stems from the fact that most women are back in the work force. I realize some must work and some want to but...that’s another article. There is a great website concerning canning, at http://www.freshpreserving.com/home. This site has recipes, and a home canning videos othat deal with the fundamentals of canning.
The suburbs bring limitations on your self-sufficiency but these problems are not unsurmountable. Check with your local laws and don’t forget to check with neighbors even if it is legal. You don’t want to damage relationships. If you can have some animals inform your neighbors of your intentions and also of your plans to make keeping this animal a good experience for everyone. Chickens can be kept with a low impact on your neighborhood. A family of six can get all the eggs they will need from only three to four chickens. Both my wife and I grew up in the suburbs of a large city and both our families had gardens, fruit trees, small vineyards, and chickens. My Father-in-law even kept bees. So, we’re living proof that it’s possible. When living close to neighbors, do not keep a rooster. They are noisy. You don’t need a rooster for eggs unless you want fertile eggs.
Keep the chickens in a small, well-made yard and coop. They don’t require a lot of room. If you do keep them in a small space, you’ll need to feed them. A small yard will also be cleared of vegetation in a hurry. They also take care of bugs. Be aware of predators, too. There are cats that may try to get to your chickens when they are small. Dogs take over after that but if you have a good backyard fence this won’t be a problem. You can always put a top on the small chicken yard. There are many mail-order game bird catalogs that sell a netting to go over yards. You can get rid of most of your table scraps if you don’t compost for your garden. Chickens will eat almost any food that we will. DO NOT give them chicken. They will eat chicken but then will peck more than usual at each other. Don’t let them have any raw eggs in any way either, because they will start breaking their own eggs.
Other animals are possible if legal and if you have the room. A cow requires either a lot of feed or a pasture. Goats require the same, but better fencing. Sheep require less room than a cow but will need pasture or feeding. Feeding these animals can get expensive. Rabbits are great for fur and meat, and require little room. They only require cages and separation of sexes unless you want them to breed, because they will breed like, well... rabbits. Exotic birds are really not that difficult to care for either. Emu & Ostriches (Ratites) don’t require much room but like all large animals, require feeding or pasture. Ostriches will graze but Emus don’t do much grazing.
Ostriches are temperamental and sometimes aggressive while Emus are much more docile and smaller. If you have room for a cow (maybe a second fenced-in lot). Maybe even a water buffalo would interest you. They are larger than cattle and easier to handle.
Alternative energy or fuels are another way of becoming self-sufficient. Most homes have electricity but what if it went out? Could you still cook, keep warm or run simple things like lights? Consider alternatives. Light is easy to supplement. There are many lamps that run off a variety of fuel. Always be careful with liquid fuels. Store them properly and always use them with caution. Check with laws in your area for fuel storage. Keep extra wicks for kerosene lamps. Some camp lanterns require mantles so don’t forget a supply of them. There are always barbecues or campfires for cooking. Have sufficient wood and charcoal briquettes on hand and also stored properly. Learn to cook on camp stoves or campfires or even a woodstove if you have one. Warmth can be found in fireplaces, wood stoves and campfires. Plenty of blankets and quilts are a good idea whether in a survival situation or not. We have a quilt for each bed in our house. My wife makes them and gives them as Christmas, birthday, wedding or mission gifts. This is another art that is slowly dying. Quilting is more popular than canning though, so maybe it won’t die out.
Wind, solar, turbine or generator power is also making a comeback. All are technical, but possible to learn. There are solar and wood burning water heaters. These save money and will help us to become independent. Solar panels can run anything from simple lights to whole households. We have electricity and propane in our home. I like the idea of being able to cook and heat water in our home without depending on electricity. A small propane tank is not really expensive nor hard to install. We want to get a second water heater that runs off of our propane in addition to our electric one. There are kerosene stoves, refrigerators, freezers and of course lights and lamps. These additional appliances will be something you acquire slowly over time.
The above suggestions I know are vague and not detailed, but I just wanted you to be aware of many things you can do in the suburbs to become more self-sufficient. You can probably think of many others I haven’t mentioned here. Pick one of these items, or one of your own, and set a goal to acquire these items and skills. One area at a time will eventually make us all self-sufficient for the uncertain times we face and help us save money. Remember the Boy Scouts’ motto, “Be Prepared.”
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Self-Sufficiency
My children grew up in the country. We’ve always had chickens, bees, a worm farm, goats, and a big garden. We built our own house and so there was always something to do and something to learn. Our children learned how to work and how to not waste anything.
We worked hard to be self-sufficient and prepared.
Consequently I have a Vegetarian daughter with hippie ideas. But she still can outshoot most guys! She’s really not a hippie but does understand and strive to be self-sufficient and independent.
The following are ideas on how to be self-sufficient.
Growing your own food. Gardening/composting. A base level of knowledge regarding the hows and whys of growing food is needed to really understand how labor intensive small-scale agriculture is. Getting a good book on permaculture is a good head start on the intellectual side of things, but starting with even one indoor tomato plant can get you hooked. Eating game meat you shot with potatoes and a salad you grew is a pretty rewarding meal. Side bonus, you’ll learn how fruits and vegetables are actually supposed to taste. It’s noticeably different from what you buy at the store! This is a very serious area of dependency. Even in an apartment you can have a garden in pots. My daughter uses a small kiddie pool for their garden in a town house.
Preserving food. Canning foods is a great place to start when it comes to preserving the bounty of your harvests. I’ve eaten moose and vegetables 10 years after they were canned and they tasted great. Canning being far from the be-all-end-all though, learning the basics around smoking meats and dehydrating all manner of edibles will keep you and yours fed long down the road. Even an afternoon spent learning some food preservation techniques can give you a huge advantage if you’re ever found needing to stock up for a winter. Bonus points if you can your foods using a hot water bath on your wood stove. Preserve the harvest. Can it. Dehydrate it. Freeze it. Drypac it. Vacuum pack it.
Forage for wild foods. Research local wild plants and find out which ones are edible.
Get off the grid or just use less power. Produce your own electricity. Collect rainwater. Get a composting toilet. In some areas you can collect free firewood. Make your home as energy efficient as possible – insulate properly and seal drafts. If no one is in the room, turn off the light! Air dry clothes. Plug your electronics into a power bar and turn it off when you’re done– all those little ‘On’ lights use power. If you are super-self-sufficient you could even produce your own beeswax and make candles! No electric lights needed. There are many small ways you can be energy independent.
Reuse. A little imagination leads to greater self-sufficiency. A bicycle wheel becomes an overhead pot rack. Stacked magazines and an old belt become a chair. Bent cutlery becomes a key holder. Newspapers become seedling pots. A tennis racket becomes a jewelry hanger. Horseshoes become handles. The old school bus becomes a chicken coop. Wooden pallets become….just about anything. There’s a saying my Mother used to use all the time, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
Fix it or clean it. Learn skills. Sharpen your tools. Replace the screen on the door. Sew the hole in the pants. Apply a fresh coat of paint. Glue the sole back on the shoe. The internet and the library are abundant with DIY instructions for fixing just about everything. Thanks to Youtube I was able to fix anything.
Make your own. It only takes simple ingredients to make cleaning products (baking soda, vinegar) and personal care products (aloe vera gel, shea butter, cornstarch). Although you have to purchase raw ingredients, in the long run, they will be cheaper and last longer. My wife makes our laundry detergent.
Be frugal. Buy second-hand clothes, furniture, kitchen gadgets, hand tools, toys, housewares, and electronics. Borrow books, CDs, and movies from the library. I like to avoid malls, big box stores, chain stores, franchises, and boutiques. That way there is no temptation. I once heard an Amish woman who was taken through a mall for the first time, say, “I was fine before I came in here but seeing all this stuff makes me think I need it.” The internet has great places to get used things at a deal. E-bay, Craig’s List, Let It Go, and others are out there. Facebook has many local places to buy and sell.
Stay healthy. You can’t be self-sufficient if you are sick or injured. Stay safe – use mechanical equipment and tools safely. Eat well – avoid junk food. Stretch everyday – your joints will thank you. Brush. Floss.
Walk, bike, or ride your horse. Isn’t it time for the hitching post to come back into style? There are times that living off-grid means living far from town but if you can, use your legs instead of a car. You won’t need as much money for gas, insurance, or maintenance. When I plan it right and I’ve got the time, I can do my grocery shopping in town, pay bills, and do other errands in the same trip. You have to plan and make lists.
Go paperless. Replace paper towels with rags made from old clothes or towels. Replace toilet paper with cheap homemade toilet paper.
Install a wood stove. Even if you don’t use it as your primary heat source, keeping a functional wood stove in your home means you’ll always have the ability to keep your house warm and cook food. Having a stack of seasoned wood available and the implements to cut and split wood is key. Side bonus, good exercise cutting and stacking firewood.
Learn all you can. Every community has resources to help you to learn self-sufficiency skills. The Fire Department and Hospitals can offer medical training. Red Cross. Boy Scout Troops. Schools. Cultural centers. Garden clubs. Churches. There are endless places to learn new and important skills. Skills trump gear every time.
The theory of a self-reliant life really just asks “What am I totally reliant on other people for that I can’t do without”? It always comes down to the survival pyramid. Ask yourself what aspect of your life you could get closer to the roots in and find a way to incorporate a little of that into your daily life. I think you’ll find it’s enjoyable as well as satisfying.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
We worked hard to be self-sufficient and prepared.
Consequently I have a Vegetarian daughter with hippie ideas. But she still can outshoot most guys! She’s really not a hippie but does understand and strive to be self-sufficient and independent.
The following are ideas on how to be self-sufficient.
Growing your own food. Gardening/composting. A base level of knowledge regarding the hows and whys of growing food is needed to really understand how labor intensive small-scale agriculture is. Getting a good book on permaculture is a good head start on the intellectual side of things, but starting with even one indoor tomato plant can get you hooked. Eating game meat you shot with potatoes and a salad you grew is a pretty rewarding meal. Side bonus, you’ll learn how fruits and vegetables are actually supposed to taste. It’s noticeably different from what you buy at the store! This is a very serious area of dependency. Even in an apartment you can have a garden in pots. My daughter uses a small kiddie pool for their garden in a town house.
Preserving food. Canning foods is a great place to start when it comes to preserving the bounty of your harvests. I’ve eaten moose and vegetables 10 years after they were canned and they tasted great. Canning being far from the be-all-end-all though, learning the basics around smoking meats and dehydrating all manner of edibles will keep you and yours fed long down the road. Even an afternoon spent learning some food preservation techniques can give you a huge advantage if you’re ever found needing to stock up for a winter. Bonus points if you can your foods using a hot water bath on your wood stove. Preserve the harvest. Can it. Dehydrate it. Freeze it. Drypac it. Vacuum pack it.
Forage for wild foods. Research local wild plants and find out which ones are edible.
Get off the grid or just use less power. Produce your own electricity. Collect rainwater. Get a composting toilet. In some areas you can collect free firewood. Make your home as energy efficient as possible – insulate properly and seal drafts. If no one is in the room, turn off the light! Air dry clothes. Plug your electronics into a power bar and turn it off when you’re done– all those little ‘On’ lights use power. If you are super-self-sufficient you could even produce your own beeswax and make candles! No electric lights needed. There are many small ways you can be energy independent.
Reuse. A little imagination leads to greater self-sufficiency. A bicycle wheel becomes an overhead pot rack. Stacked magazines and an old belt become a chair. Bent cutlery becomes a key holder. Newspapers become seedling pots. A tennis racket becomes a jewelry hanger. Horseshoes become handles. The old school bus becomes a chicken coop. Wooden pallets become….just about anything. There’s a saying my Mother used to use all the time, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”
Fix it or clean it. Learn skills. Sharpen your tools. Replace the screen on the door. Sew the hole in the pants. Apply a fresh coat of paint. Glue the sole back on the shoe. The internet and the library are abundant with DIY instructions for fixing just about everything. Thanks to Youtube I was able to fix anything.
Make your own. It only takes simple ingredients to make cleaning products (baking soda, vinegar) and personal care products (aloe vera gel, shea butter, cornstarch). Although you have to purchase raw ingredients, in the long run, they will be cheaper and last longer. My wife makes our laundry detergent.
Be frugal. Buy second-hand clothes, furniture, kitchen gadgets, hand tools, toys, housewares, and electronics. Borrow books, CDs, and movies from the library. I like to avoid malls, big box stores, chain stores, franchises, and boutiques. That way there is no temptation. I once heard an Amish woman who was taken through a mall for the first time, say, “I was fine before I came in here but seeing all this stuff makes me think I need it.” The internet has great places to get used things at a deal. E-bay, Craig’s List, Let It Go, and others are out there. Facebook has many local places to buy and sell.
Stay healthy. You can’t be self-sufficient if you are sick or injured. Stay safe – use mechanical equipment and tools safely. Eat well – avoid junk food. Stretch everyday – your joints will thank you. Brush. Floss.
Walk, bike, or ride your horse. Isn’t it time for the hitching post to come back into style? There are times that living off-grid means living far from town but if you can, use your legs instead of a car. You won’t need as much money for gas, insurance, or maintenance. When I plan it right and I’ve got the time, I can do my grocery shopping in town, pay bills, and do other errands in the same trip. You have to plan and make lists.
Go paperless. Replace paper towels with rags made from old clothes or towels. Replace toilet paper with cheap homemade toilet paper.
Install a wood stove. Even if you don’t use it as your primary heat source, keeping a functional wood stove in your home means you’ll always have the ability to keep your house warm and cook food. Having a stack of seasoned wood available and the implements to cut and split wood is key. Side bonus, good exercise cutting and stacking firewood.
Learn all you can. Every community has resources to help you to learn self-sufficiency skills. The Fire Department and Hospitals can offer medical training. Red Cross. Boy Scout Troops. Schools. Cultural centers. Garden clubs. Churches. There are endless places to learn new and important skills. Skills trump gear every time.
The theory of a self-reliant life really just asks “What am I totally reliant on other people for that I can’t do without”? It always comes down to the survival pyramid. Ask yourself what aspect of your life you could get closer to the roots in and find a way to incorporate a little of that into your daily life. I think you’ll find it’s enjoyable as well as satisfying.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, April 21, 2017
FLAG's Food Storage Journey
My journey with food storage began many years ago. While on this journey I have made some mistakes, discovered and have created many new recipes, come to understand the importance of grains and beans in a diet and have gained a great appreciation for the nutrition and health benefits that come from using them.
I started putting some food storage away before I got married and would attend classes with my Mother. At first I was just storing red wheat and white rice. As I became exposed to distributors of these products, a whole new world opened up to me. I am excited as trade has continued with other countries, some of the ancient grains have become available in our country. Besides their nutritional value, they taste great.
I guess one of the hardest parts of working with whole grains and beans was getting my husband (Burn), who grew up on meat and potatoes, to entice his taste buds into exploring new territory. This was not only a challenge for my husband but also my first 4 children. They loved the homemade bread, which is another story in itself, but they didn’t care for some of the taste and textures of the grains.
Beans were also a challenge. I grew up with my Father making bean dishes. I loved them. All my knowledge of cooking with beans came from him. He started my love of beans and my knowledge of them has grown over the years. But this too was a challenge when I was first married because my husband didn’t eat a lot of beans growing up.
I decided that my family needed to learn to eat what I stored because there was no point in storing it for emergencies if they couldn’t enjoy the blessing of it on a daily basis. If all of the sudden, I exposed them to grains and beans because there was an emergency, I would be dealing with a grumpy family. Plus I also needed to be familiar with how to cook with them, what spices I should store to enhance their flavors and what grains and beans my family preferred over other ones. (Editor’s note: I think it’s amazing that someone who did not grow up with food storage understood that you must eat what you store. I sure married well!)
This process was not an overnight success. I bombed a couple of times on making bread. Didn’t knead it enough, put too much flour in the dough. Eventually I got down the technique by hand and had a great success. It was the same with beans. I decided that twice a month on my menu I would make a bean dish. This did not go over well with my family and some of my kids went to bed hungry. My husband would eat a small bowl to set an example for the kids. But once they were in bed, he was in the kitchen grabbing what he called “real food”.
It was the same with grains but a little easier. I started to add a handful of millet, quinoa, or barley in soups and stews. If I made hamburgers or meatloaf, I would add grains into that too. Breakfast with grains were my easiest. The kids loved cream of wheat and oatmeal. I can’t say that every meal went forward without a hitch but I didn’t give up. I kept moving forward, DETERMINED!!
Now I can say that my struggling with learning, experimenting and changing my family’s taste buds has worked. My older children were my experimental team. My younger children are benefitting from their older siblings trial and error era. Beans are one of my husband’s favorite meals. Five of our older children have moved out of the house. They include grains and beans in their diet and are always calling home to get advice how to use them in meals and cook them. I have helped them to not make some of the mistakes that I have made.
I find it comforting to know that dealing with my family’s attitude as I exposed them to the world of food storage has finally paid off. My son called from college the other day. He was wanting recipes for beans, a crock pot and a rice cooker. His first few years in school he ate whatever was quick. A lot of frozen products. He is now missing real food and is working on how he can use beans and grains fast during the school year. He is using the summer to learn and experiment so that this coming school year will be more satisfying as far as eating goes. As the conversation came to a close, he said, “Mom, I understand why you bought your food storage in bulk”. He is discovering how much more expensive it is to purchase in small quantities. But the truth about ordering in bulk is that I live in a small town, hours from a big city. So I do a yearly grain order so that I can get the items cheaper and not have to leave town to purchase them.
I am hoping that my writing will help you on your journey with working with food storage. The challenges will still be there with dealing with complaints from your family. But don’t give up. I promise in the end you will be successful. This is a wonderful journey. I have been doing this for over 30 years. I still get excited as I make up a new recipe, try a new one out that I found in a magazine or on line. Most of the time when I find a recipe, I say “What can I do to make this healthy and add food storage items?” So I do a lot of tweaking with recipes to meet the needs of my food storage program.
My food storage program is used daily. It is an integral part of our life. We eat what I store always. So now if there is an emergency in our lives: financial, natural disaster, etc., if we had to live off of what we have stored, our family would not know a difference.
FLAG
I started putting some food storage away before I got married and would attend classes with my Mother. At first I was just storing red wheat and white rice. As I became exposed to distributors of these products, a whole new world opened up to me. I am excited as trade has continued with other countries, some of the ancient grains have become available in our country. Besides their nutritional value, they taste great.
I guess one of the hardest parts of working with whole grains and beans was getting my husband (Burn), who grew up on meat and potatoes, to entice his taste buds into exploring new territory. This was not only a challenge for my husband but also my first 4 children. They loved the homemade bread, which is another story in itself, but they didn’t care for some of the taste and textures of the grains.
Beans were also a challenge. I grew up with my Father making bean dishes. I loved them. All my knowledge of cooking with beans came from him. He started my love of beans and my knowledge of them has grown over the years. But this too was a challenge when I was first married because my husband didn’t eat a lot of beans growing up.
I decided that my family needed to learn to eat what I stored because there was no point in storing it for emergencies if they couldn’t enjoy the blessing of it on a daily basis. If all of the sudden, I exposed them to grains and beans because there was an emergency, I would be dealing with a grumpy family. Plus I also needed to be familiar with how to cook with them, what spices I should store to enhance their flavors and what grains and beans my family preferred over other ones. (Editor’s note: I think it’s amazing that someone who did not grow up with food storage understood that you must eat what you store. I sure married well!)
This process was not an overnight success. I bombed a couple of times on making bread. Didn’t knead it enough, put too much flour in the dough. Eventually I got down the technique by hand and had a great success. It was the same with beans. I decided that twice a month on my menu I would make a bean dish. This did not go over well with my family and some of my kids went to bed hungry. My husband would eat a small bowl to set an example for the kids. But once they were in bed, he was in the kitchen grabbing what he called “real food”.
It was the same with grains but a little easier. I started to add a handful of millet, quinoa, or barley in soups and stews. If I made hamburgers or meatloaf, I would add grains into that too. Breakfast with grains were my easiest. The kids loved cream of wheat and oatmeal. I can’t say that every meal went forward without a hitch but I didn’t give up. I kept moving forward, DETERMINED!!
Now I can say that my struggling with learning, experimenting and changing my family’s taste buds has worked. My older children were my experimental team. My younger children are benefitting from their older siblings trial and error era. Beans are one of my husband’s favorite meals. Five of our older children have moved out of the house. They include grains and beans in their diet and are always calling home to get advice how to use them in meals and cook them. I have helped them to not make some of the mistakes that I have made.
I find it comforting to know that dealing with my family’s attitude as I exposed them to the world of food storage has finally paid off. My son called from college the other day. He was wanting recipes for beans, a crock pot and a rice cooker. His first few years in school he ate whatever was quick. A lot of frozen products. He is now missing real food and is working on how he can use beans and grains fast during the school year. He is using the summer to learn and experiment so that this coming school year will be more satisfying as far as eating goes. As the conversation came to a close, he said, “Mom, I understand why you bought your food storage in bulk”. He is discovering how much more expensive it is to purchase in small quantities. But the truth about ordering in bulk is that I live in a small town, hours from a big city. So I do a yearly grain order so that I can get the items cheaper and not have to leave town to purchase them.
I am hoping that my writing will help you on your journey with working with food storage. The challenges will still be there with dealing with complaints from your family. But don’t give up. I promise in the end you will be successful. This is a wonderful journey. I have been doing this for over 30 years. I still get excited as I make up a new recipe, try a new one out that I found in a magazine or on line. Most of the time when I find a recipe, I say “What can I do to make this healthy and add food storage items?” So I do a lot of tweaking with recipes to meet the needs of my food storage program.
My food storage program is used daily. It is an integral part of our life. We eat what I store always. So now if there is an emergency in our lives: financial, natural disaster, etc., if we had to live off of what we have stored, our family would not know a difference.
FLAG
Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Stay In The Fight: Freeze, Fight, or Flight
Years ago I was called as a Bishop in our Ward. At the time of the calling I was in the Bishopric so I was on the stand. My wife says when they called my name I went white as a sheet. This shock to the system is called the “fight, flight, or freeze” response to a highly stressful situation. I may have been in the “freeze” state even though I actually stood up and was sustained.
How do you know you will not freeze when confronted by a threat? You don’t really. There are a wide range of possible responses and experiences during extreme high stress events. Sharper focus, visual clarity, slow-motion time, temporary paralysis, dissociation, and intrusive thoughts can all occur. When dissociation (a detachment from physical and emotional reality) occurs, it may be a red flag for the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Loss of bladder and bowel control during moments of intensity is a common occurrence that is rarely discussed.
Dave Grossman in his book “On Combat” he discusses responses that soldiers experienced in combat.
“Studies of World War II show that there were more psychiatric causalities than physical ones. Among individuals participating in combat for longer than 60 consecutive days, 98 percent of them would begin to breakdown emotionally. This can have long term effects. Evidence from the Russian-German battle of Stalingrad suggests that participants died nearly thirty years younger than same aged males who had not endured the fight.
The range in responses to high stress result from changes in the autonomic nervous system, the part of human physiology responsible for automatic response to stimulus (the sympathetic nervous system) and basic bodily maintenance (the parasympathetic nervous system). When one's "fight or flight" response is triggered, the sympathetic nervous system begins shutting down things like salivation and digestion while increasing the production of epinephrine (adrenaline). Once the action is over it is followed by a parasympathetic backlash, the body attempting to calm down. Responses to this can vary depending on how prolonged the violence or stress has lasted. Soldiers fighting for hours find themselves exhausted and falling asleep because they have burned all their adrenaline. People who have experienced only a brief violent instance may find themselves unable to sleep for some time.
Heart rate increase in response to fear is correlated with a deterioration of motor skills and senses like vision and hearing. Eventually cognitive abilities degrade to a point Grossman calls condition black (based off of work done by Bruce Siddle and Jeff Cooper). He gives conditions white, yellow, red, gray, and black, with white being unconcerned and black being overwhelmed. He believes high pressure situations call for condition yellow in which motor and cognitive skills are functioning at peak performance. Condition black is said to be when the heart rate gets above 175 beats per minute because of the influx of adrenaline from stress. At this point vasoconstriction, the tightening of the blood vessels, allows less oxygen to the brain. The mid-brain, the part we share with animals like dogs and bears, takes over. Rational thought goes out the window.
During combat situations there are a variety of perceptual distortions caused by biomechanical changes in the body. "Auditory exclusion" is when sounds like gunfire stop being heard or are muted. "Tunnel vision" is when the field of view is narrowed down, cutting out the periphery. Depending on the environment the body may focus its attention almost entirely on either audio or visual stimulus, as is the case when hearing becomes sharper in low light situations. Sensory exclusion also occurs when adrenaline masks the pain of an injury until after the stress has passed.
Other experiences can present themselves, such as loss of memory and "tactical fixation", during which a person may attempt the same thing over and over expecting a different result each time. There are also memory distortions. People who have participated in extreme high stress situations may remember events incorrectly, believing them to be more negative than they actually were. There can also be an "autopilot effect" during which a person may do things without thought. Distance and depth perception can also distort.”
How do you control these responses as you prepare for a threat response in self-defense?
Tactical breathing is a technique to control your self-regulated sympathetic (Fight, Flight, Freeze) response. Two of the autonomic nervous system that you can control is your breathing rate and blinking of the eye. Special Ops personnel have to demonstrate tactical breathing in their training by intentionally slowing their heart rate from a stress-induced high to a normal resting rate within a few minutes.
If you begin to tremble and find that although you are mentally vigilant and responsive, you are losing your fine motor control, you need to get your heat rate down. If you suffer such a close call that you are literally incapacitated by fear, you will need to bring your heart rate down so that you can get back to a safe condition. Use tactical breathing to reassert control of the overwhelming sympathetic response.
Although the actual ideal frequency and duration of the breaths require further research, Grossman teaches a 4x4x4 technique.
1. Breath in through nose for a slow 4-count.
2. Hold breath for a slow 4-count.
3. Breath out through the mouth for a slow 4-count.
4. Hold breath for a slow 4-count.
5. Repeat cycle 4 times.
Practice this technique until it becomes habit. There is a youtube video for additional explanation and a demonstration of this technique.
https://youtu.be/ShI3wuKQbA4
Having better control when the “fight, flight or freeze” response comes into play may be achieved through some preparation. Being able to control breathing and heart rate may make a big difference.
In all my research I found only breathing to try to minimize the 3 F response. I think, and this is just my thinking, mentally preparing for a fight and running through scenarios would help too. I realize that only experience can prepare you for a fight and the way you will respond, but I feel the better prepared you are, the better you can respond. You may still freeze, but after you are over that your response will be better if you have prepared.
This article is just a small idea of mental preparation for an attack or other self-defense situation. There is much to research on this but I would recommend Dave Grossman’s book “On Combat” to start.
Being able to fight is why we train. Self-defense is hinged on whether you can fight and how you are prepared to fight if the need arises.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
How do you know you will not freeze when confronted by a threat? You don’t really. There are a wide range of possible responses and experiences during extreme high stress events. Sharper focus, visual clarity, slow-motion time, temporary paralysis, dissociation, and intrusive thoughts can all occur. When dissociation (a detachment from physical and emotional reality) occurs, it may be a red flag for the onset of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Loss of bladder and bowel control during moments of intensity is a common occurrence that is rarely discussed.
Dave Grossman in his book “On Combat” he discusses responses that soldiers experienced in combat.
“Studies of World War II show that there were more psychiatric causalities than physical ones. Among individuals participating in combat for longer than 60 consecutive days, 98 percent of them would begin to breakdown emotionally. This can have long term effects. Evidence from the Russian-German battle of Stalingrad suggests that participants died nearly thirty years younger than same aged males who had not endured the fight.
The range in responses to high stress result from changes in the autonomic nervous system, the part of human physiology responsible for automatic response to stimulus (the sympathetic nervous system) and basic bodily maintenance (the parasympathetic nervous system). When one's "fight or flight" response is triggered, the sympathetic nervous system begins shutting down things like salivation and digestion while increasing the production of epinephrine (adrenaline). Once the action is over it is followed by a parasympathetic backlash, the body attempting to calm down. Responses to this can vary depending on how prolonged the violence or stress has lasted. Soldiers fighting for hours find themselves exhausted and falling asleep because they have burned all their adrenaline. People who have experienced only a brief violent instance may find themselves unable to sleep for some time.
Heart rate increase in response to fear is correlated with a deterioration of motor skills and senses like vision and hearing. Eventually cognitive abilities degrade to a point Grossman calls condition black (based off of work done by Bruce Siddle and Jeff Cooper). He gives conditions white, yellow, red, gray, and black, with white being unconcerned and black being overwhelmed. He believes high pressure situations call for condition yellow in which motor and cognitive skills are functioning at peak performance. Condition black is said to be when the heart rate gets above 175 beats per minute because of the influx of adrenaline from stress. At this point vasoconstriction, the tightening of the blood vessels, allows less oxygen to the brain. The mid-brain, the part we share with animals like dogs and bears, takes over. Rational thought goes out the window.
During combat situations there are a variety of perceptual distortions caused by biomechanical changes in the body. "Auditory exclusion" is when sounds like gunfire stop being heard or are muted. "Tunnel vision" is when the field of view is narrowed down, cutting out the periphery. Depending on the environment the body may focus its attention almost entirely on either audio or visual stimulus, as is the case when hearing becomes sharper in low light situations. Sensory exclusion also occurs when adrenaline masks the pain of an injury until after the stress has passed.
Other experiences can present themselves, such as loss of memory and "tactical fixation", during which a person may attempt the same thing over and over expecting a different result each time. There are also memory distortions. People who have participated in extreme high stress situations may remember events incorrectly, believing them to be more negative than they actually were. There can also be an "autopilot effect" during which a person may do things without thought. Distance and depth perception can also distort.”
How do you control these responses as you prepare for a threat response in self-defense?
Tactical breathing is a technique to control your self-regulated sympathetic (Fight, Flight, Freeze) response. Two of the autonomic nervous system that you can control is your breathing rate and blinking of the eye. Special Ops personnel have to demonstrate tactical breathing in their training by intentionally slowing their heart rate from a stress-induced high to a normal resting rate within a few minutes.
If you begin to tremble and find that although you are mentally vigilant and responsive, you are losing your fine motor control, you need to get your heat rate down. If you suffer such a close call that you are literally incapacitated by fear, you will need to bring your heart rate down so that you can get back to a safe condition. Use tactical breathing to reassert control of the overwhelming sympathetic response.
Although the actual ideal frequency and duration of the breaths require further research, Grossman teaches a 4x4x4 technique.
1. Breath in through nose for a slow 4-count.
2. Hold breath for a slow 4-count.
3. Breath out through the mouth for a slow 4-count.
4. Hold breath for a slow 4-count.
5. Repeat cycle 4 times.
Practice this technique until it becomes habit. There is a youtube video for additional explanation and a demonstration of this technique.
https://youtu.be/ShI3wuKQbA4
Having better control when the “fight, flight or freeze” response comes into play may be achieved through some preparation. Being able to control breathing and heart rate may make a big difference.
In all my research I found only breathing to try to minimize the 3 F response. I think, and this is just my thinking, mentally preparing for a fight and running through scenarios would help too. I realize that only experience can prepare you for a fight and the way you will respond, but I feel the better prepared you are, the better you can respond. You may still freeze, but after you are over that your response will be better if you have prepared.
This article is just a small idea of mental preparation for an attack or other self-defense situation. There is much to research on this but I would recommend Dave Grossman’s book “On Combat” to start.
Being able to fight is why we train. Self-defense is hinged on whether you can fight and how you are prepared to fight if the need arises.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Friday, April 7, 2017
After All We Can Do
2 Nephi 25:23
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
What does this scripture mean? My interpretation is faith. We trust in the Lord, after all we can do. So we act in faith and tell our plans to our Heavenly Father. We ask Him to confirm if our plans are the right course and then we leave it in His hands.
To me this is a definition of how to use faith. We do our part, ask for help and confirmation that we are acting right, and then go forward depending on the Father.
Some people think that faith is only believing in Christ and depending only on our Father. Depending on ourselves alone is depending on the arm of the flesh. We must depend on our Father, after all we can do.
It is in this vein that I prepare. It is this way that I look at security. It’s like the story of the man.
A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”
Often the means to save ourselves is right in front of us, but we’re waiting for something else.
I just was given a video about Church security. I watched it and I like it very much. But I also believe the safe, secure principles will never be implemented in my Ward. Often I have watched (and this used to be me as a younger Father) as parents walk into an LDS chapel and let their kids go. Most of the time they don’t know where their kids are. Off playing somewhere. Kids are dropped off to Primary and picked up without anyone thinking “Maybe we should have a system for picking up these kids so the wrong person doesn’t come in here and take a child.” We make sure the building is locked up when everyone leaves but we take very little thought to security when someone is in the building. We make sure a man, priesthood, is in a building when women are in their meetings but I doubt they are walked to their cars, or even that the guy has any idea what to do if something happens on his watch. He knows how to dial 911. If these things are brought up often the person concerned are scoffed at and asked “Don’t you trust in God?” They forget the “after all you can do” part. The Church teaches preparation.
There is one thing I’ve learned about wording in the Church’s manuals and on their websites. If the words “can” or “may” are used, it’s a suggestion. But if you read the word “should”, then you can pretty much call that policy, and you “should” do it.
“Wards and stakes should prepare for natural and man-made disasters that are likely to occur in their respective areas by creating an emergency plan. These plans are prepared under the direction of the bishop or stake president. They should be updated periodically.” lds.org/topics/emergency-preparedness
The “they” in the following paragraphs is referring to the Ward and Stake Councils.
“They develop and maintain a simple written plan for the ward to respond to emergencies (see Handbook 1, 5.2.11). They coordinate this plan with similar plans in the stake and community.”
“They develop and maintain a simple written plan for the stake to respond to emergencies (see Handbook 1, 5.1.3). This plan should be coordinated with similar plans of other stakes in the coordinating council and with plans in the community.”
The only reason I even bring this up is to not be critical of leaders, but to try and educate the members to remind the leaders of another thing they should be concerned about. Many leaders are doing these things. I maintain that if a leader hasn’t done just a basic emergency plan for disasters then they would probably not be receptive to a security plan. Now, nowhere does the Church say that a security plan should be in place. But it would be simple to add to a safety/preparedness plan. The video that I saw was created for any church but you could see it was aimed at Christian churches. Some people have to experience bad things before they will prepare. Also I’ve noticed that some leaders come from their own life. In other words, if they are doing well financially they would think nothing of ignoring Church policy about asking members to bring something to an activity that may cost a few dollars. Some people have financial situations where a few dollars can make the difference between paying a bill or buying basic food. The policy is there so that these members won’t be put in a hardship situation and affluent people don’t always see that because it is beyond their experience. I explained to another member that without a security plan some bad things could happen. They looked at me and said, “You’re a ‘glass half empty’ guy aren’t you?” I answered, “No. I just think the glass is too big!” Actually I answered with a story of a woman trying to take my daughter in a supermarket years prior. “Bad things do happen to good people!” I think it’s a realistic look on the world to be prepared and to be secure.
Here is an example:
Cache Valley, UT Daily.com Jul 8, 2016
Police have arrested a 30-year-old Smithfield man, Jason Summers, who is accused of shooting at someone while trying to break into an LDS Church, Thursday night.
“A man reported he had been shot at by another male who was burglarizing a nearby LDS Church building. The man sustained no apparent injuries,”
Deseret News Dec 27, 2010
SOUTH JORDAN, UT — The man shot and killed by police outside the LDS Church's Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple was heavily armed and running toward a group of people with a loaded shotgun when he was shot, according to police.
KSL.com May 24, 2015
EAGAR, Arizona — An Arizona man is dead and two others injured — including a pregnant woman — after he began shooting at a LDS stake center in Eagar, Arizona, and later at his residence, officials say.
According to Richard Guinn of the Apache County Sheriff’s Office, the shooter, identified as Eric Robinson, 40, of Eagar, began firing at the stake center, which is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on Saturday May 23. A woman inside the foyer called 911 at which point Robinson left in his truck, Guinn said.
East Bay Times Jun 28, 2015
OAKLEY, CA — Two people were shot, and another bludgeoned multiple times, during a large fight between two groups outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while Sunday service was getting out, police said.
The incident began a little before 12:30 p.m. Sunday when two groups began fighting in the church parking lot on the 1400 block of Laurel Road. During the fight, a member of one of the groups began striking someone multiple times with a hammer or crowbar, and in response, a member of the other group began firing shots, said Oakley police Sgt. Robert Roberts.
These are just some recent shootings that have happened at Church properties. There have been many others.
Yet even with evidence to the contrary, many members and leaders think nothing of security. It’s like that bad intersection where a stop light is needed. Once someone dies at that intersection then the powers that be start thinking about putting a light there. Kind of like closing the barn door after the cow has come home.
Preparation is sometimes a hard sell when “all is well.”
2 Nephi 28:21
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
I believe that most of the time “all is well.” But like combat described, "Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror." (That’s actually a description of war from WWI with “months” instead of “hours”.) My point is, all is well until it’s not. Then it’s too late to prepare but only react.
The whole point of this long, drawn out article is as members and leaders of a Church that is global and 15 million strong, we should be concerned enough about safety and security to at least have a plan. Preparedness is important and we should be a prepared people in every aspect of our lives.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.
What does this scripture mean? My interpretation is faith. We trust in the Lord, after all we can do. So we act in faith and tell our plans to our Heavenly Father. We ask Him to confirm if our plans are the right course and then we leave it in His hands.
To me this is a definition of how to use faith. We do our part, ask for help and confirmation that we are acting right, and then go forward depending on the Father.
Some people think that faith is only believing in Christ and depending only on our Father. Depending on ourselves alone is depending on the arm of the flesh. We must depend on our Father, after all we can do.
It is in this vein that I prepare. It is this way that I look at security. It’s like the story of the man.
A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God’s hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbor urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, “I am waiting for God to save me.” The neighbor drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, “God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?” God replied, “I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?”
Often the means to save ourselves is right in front of us, but we’re waiting for something else.
I just was given a video about Church security. I watched it and I like it very much. But I also believe the safe, secure principles will never be implemented in my Ward. Often I have watched (and this used to be me as a younger Father) as parents walk into an LDS chapel and let their kids go. Most of the time they don’t know where their kids are. Off playing somewhere. Kids are dropped off to Primary and picked up without anyone thinking “Maybe we should have a system for picking up these kids so the wrong person doesn’t come in here and take a child.” We make sure the building is locked up when everyone leaves but we take very little thought to security when someone is in the building. We make sure a man, priesthood, is in a building when women are in their meetings but I doubt they are walked to their cars, or even that the guy has any idea what to do if something happens on his watch. He knows how to dial 911. If these things are brought up often the person concerned are scoffed at and asked “Don’t you trust in God?” They forget the “after all you can do” part. The Church teaches preparation.
There is one thing I’ve learned about wording in the Church’s manuals and on their websites. If the words “can” or “may” are used, it’s a suggestion. But if you read the word “should”, then you can pretty much call that policy, and you “should” do it.
“Wards and stakes should prepare for natural and man-made disasters that are likely to occur in their respective areas by creating an emergency plan. These plans are prepared under the direction of the bishop or stake president. They should be updated periodically.” lds.org/topics/emergency-preparedness
The “they” in the following paragraphs is referring to the Ward and Stake Councils.
“They develop and maintain a simple written plan for the ward to respond to emergencies (see Handbook 1, 5.2.11). They coordinate this plan with similar plans in the stake and community.”
“They develop and maintain a simple written plan for the stake to respond to emergencies (see Handbook 1, 5.1.3). This plan should be coordinated with similar plans of other stakes in the coordinating council and with plans in the community.”
The only reason I even bring this up is to not be critical of leaders, but to try and educate the members to remind the leaders of another thing they should be concerned about. Many leaders are doing these things. I maintain that if a leader hasn’t done just a basic emergency plan for disasters then they would probably not be receptive to a security plan. Now, nowhere does the Church say that a security plan should be in place. But it would be simple to add to a safety/preparedness plan. The video that I saw was created for any church but you could see it was aimed at Christian churches. Some people have to experience bad things before they will prepare. Also I’ve noticed that some leaders come from their own life. In other words, if they are doing well financially they would think nothing of ignoring Church policy about asking members to bring something to an activity that may cost a few dollars. Some people have financial situations where a few dollars can make the difference between paying a bill or buying basic food. The policy is there so that these members won’t be put in a hardship situation and affluent people don’t always see that because it is beyond their experience. I explained to another member that without a security plan some bad things could happen. They looked at me and said, “You’re a ‘glass half empty’ guy aren’t you?” I answered, “No. I just think the glass is too big!” Actually I answered with a story of a woman trying to take my daughter in a supermarket years prior. “Bad things do happen to good people!” I think it’s a realistic look on the world to be prepared and to be secure.
Here is an example:
Cache Valley, UT Daily.com Jul 8, 2016
Police have arrested a 30-year-old Smithfield man, Jason Summers, who is accused of shooting at someone while trying to break into an LDS Church, Thursday night.
“A man reported he had been shot at by another male who was burglarizing a nearby LDS Church building. The man sustained no apparent injuries,”
Deseret News Dec 27, 2010
SOUTH JORDAN, UT — The man shot and killed by police outside the LDS Church's Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple was heavily armed and running toward a group of people with a loaded shotgun when he was shot, according to police.
KSL.com May 24, 2015
EAGAR, Arizona — An Arizona man is dead and two others injured — including a pregnant woman — after he began shooting at a LDS stake center in Eagar, Arizona, and later at his residence, officials say.
According to Richard Guinn of the Apache County Sheriff’s Office, the shooter, identified as Eric Robinson, 40, of Eagar, began firing at the stake center, which is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on Saturday May 23. A woman inside the foyer called 911 at which point Robinson left in his truck, Guinn said.
East Bay Times Jun 28, 2015
OAKLEY, CA — Two people were shot, and another bludgeoned multiple times, during a large fight between two groups outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while Sunday service was getting out, police said.
The incident began a little before 12:30 p.m. Sunday when two groups began fighting in the church parking lot on the 1400 block of Laurel Road. During the fight, a member of one of the groups began striking someone multiple times with a hammer or crowbar, and in response, a member of the other group began firing shots, said Oakley police Sgt. Robert Roberts.
These are just some recent shootings that have happened at Church properties. There have been many others.
Yet even with evidence to the contrary, many members and leaders think nothing of security. It’s like that bad intersection where a stop light is needed. Once someone dies at that intersection then the powers that be start thinking about putting a light there. Kind of like closing the barn door after the cow has come home.
Preparation is sometimes a hard sell when “all is well.”
2 Nephi 28:21
21 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
I believe that most of the time “all is well.” But like combat described, "Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of terror." (That’s actually a description of war from WWI with “months” instead of “hours”.) My point is, all is well until it’s not. Then it’s too late to prepare but only react.
The whole point of this long, drawn out article is as members and leaders of a Church that is global and 15 million strong, we should be concerned enough about safety and security to at least have a plan. Preparedness is important and we should be a prepared people in every aspect of our lives.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Thursday, April 6, 2017
The Castle Doctrine And You
Before I start all this I want to state that I am not a lawyer. My Cousin is and my Son-in-law is going to law school, but that’s as close as it gets. Nothing I say in this blog can be considered legal advice. Each state is a little different and you must know the laws where you reside. Ask a certified lawyer and know your laws and rights.
I talked to a guy in my ward the other day who had just taken some shooting classes. He told me, “Thank goodness for the Castle Doctrine” huh?” I asked what he meant and he told me that if anyone broke into his house he’d shoot first and ask questions later. I told him he had better learn the laws of this state and likely find a good 2nd amendment lawyer to keep on speed-dial. These things aren’t always cut and dry. You should really know the laws in your state. But the Castle Doctrine is similar in most states.
The Castle Doctrine is a self-defense theory which gives a homeowner the right to protect his home with the use of deadly force. The Castle Doctrine originally emerged as a common law theory. Since then, a majority of states have implemented some statutory version of the Castle Doctrine. If a defendant successfully presents a Castle Doctrine defense, then he is completely exonerated of any wrong doing. Read on to learn more about the proof required to assert a self-defense theory based on the Castle Doctrine.
History of Castle Doctrine
As mentioned, the Castle Doctrine first began as a common law theory. This means that it wasn’t a written law, but rather an understanding everyone had of the rule. Under common law, a person could use deadly force to defend their home, but only after using every reasonable means to avoid the danger. Some states still use the common law version of the Castle Doctrine, but most states have passed statutes to codify (or write down) the common law rules. The rules were passed so that everyone would understand what is required or expected of them before resorting to the use of deadly force. Even though the Castle Doctrine statutes differ by state, many states utilize the same basic requirements for a Castle Doctrine defense.
Current Requirements of Castle Doctrine
The statutory definition of Castle Doctrine is far more formal than the common law version. States place limitations on where, when, and who can use deadly force, and the extent of force allowed. As with any self-defense theory, the burden of proof for a Castle Doctrine defense is on the defendant. The first component of a Castle Doctrine defense is that a person must be inside of his home. Home or habitation in Castle Doctrine statutes tend to be interpreted very strictly. The structure must be the place where the person regularly resides, like a house, apartment, or mobile home. The defendant must be inside the structure. Some defendants have attempted to use the Castle Doctrine to defend the use of deadly force in their front yards. Courts have rejected this and said that the statute is very clear: in order to use the Castle Doctrine, the person must be in the home.
The second component is that the victim must be attempting to commit or have committed an unlawful entry into the defendant’s home. Walking across a person’s front yard will not qualify. There must be some actual evidence that the victim was at least attempting an unlawful entry. The Castle Doctrine will not apply to a person who was in the home lawfully, but the defendant decided to force out. Similarly, the defendant cannot be the first aggressor of the confrontation with the alleged victim. For example, if a defendant’s neighbor comes over for a casual visit, but the defendant decides to assault the victim after the otherwise consensual conversation turned ugly, the defendant as the first aggressor could not use the Castle Doctrine as a defense. Many states, like Indiana, prohibit the use of force against peace officers as well. Proving that the victim was engaged in an unlawful entry is critical to a Castle Doctrine defense because the unlawful entry will affect a defendant’s right to use deadly force.
The third component of the Castle Doctrine is proving that the use of deadly force was reasonable. Many states follow Florida and Mississippi, and actually have a presumption in their Castle Doctrines that if a person is entering a home unlawfully, that he is doing so with the purpose to commit an act of force or violence. This means the defendant’s burden of proof regarding the use of force is reduced because he doesn’t have to put on more evidence of reasonable. Some states do not have this presumption. Instead of proving just an unlawful entry, a defendant would also have to show that he was in actual danger of death or major bodily injury from the person trying to enter his home. These states do not authorize the use of deadly force to protect only property. In these few states, if a defendant does not prove he was in real danger of physical injury, then he cannot claim or use a Castle Doctrine defense.
The last major component, and most contested, of the Castle Doctrine is the duty to retreat. Older common law versions of the Castle Doctrine required some duty to retreat or avoid the conflict. However, after writing their own Castle Doctrine statutes, many states no longer require defendants to run from their home or to another area of their home before using deadly force. The states are split on the issue of this duty because of the number of incidents of people using deadly force on what turned out to be serious misunderstandings of the Castle Doctrine. To the extent possible, any person should know and understand the duty to retreat laws in their state before using deadly force
Remember this initials: A O J P. This what needs to be proved to use self-defense as a reason for shooting an intruder.
Ability
Opportunity
Jeopardy
Preclusion
1. Ability – Deals with the capacity to injure. The person we defended ourselves from had the real physical ability to hurt us. To justify lethal force that ability must include the capacity to cause great bodily harm or death. A person with a knife, gun, bat, or other implement that can be used as a weapon certainly has the physical capacity to cause serious harm.
2. Opportunity – Deals with time and distance. The threat must be immediate. A “dirt bag” with a knife 5 feet away has the opportunity to harm us but if we insert a 12′ fence topped with razor wire between us, the threat is no longer immediate. Switch the knife for a handgun and the threat is again immediate.
3. Intent (Jeopardy) – Deals with intentions to cause harm. Every day I interact with and am surrounded by hundreds of people who have the physical capacity (ability) and are within distances where they can immediately cause great bodily harm to me or my loved ones and I could easily cause harm to them. Lucky for them and for me, neither of us mean any harm. We lack intent. We can begin to try to understand intent by looking at body language, words, previous actions or patterns of behavior but we can’t read minds.
4. Preclusion – Deals with exhausting all other options. Using lethal force can only be used as a tool of last resort. You must do anything and everything else that doesn’t put you at risk BEFORE self-defense is an option. Talk your way out of it, run away, etc. If there is a way to avoid lethal force without harming you, you have to give it a try.
Not all situations apply with all of these 4 points. In certain states just breaking into your home may be all that is needed. That’s why it’s important to know your laws.
I don’t want to shoot anyone. But if I have to I want to be sure it is legal, moral, and will stop whatever threat is coming my way. Be very careful with this especially when attempting to defend someone who you do not know. It you come upon a scene and are not sure what is going on, it may be wise to not intervene. You don’t know who the good guy is trying to defend themselves or the attacker is. Be very careful in these situations.
To learn more:
What Every Gun Owner Needs to Know About Self-Defense Law (free download)
This is a free PDF download and has some good information.
Stay safe and learn your rights and laws.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
I talked to a guy in my ward the other day who had just taken some shooting classes. He told me, “Thank goodness for the Castle Doctrine” huh?” I asked what he meant and he told me that if anyone broke into his house he’d shoot first and ask questions later. I told him he had better learn the laws of this state and likely find a good 2nd amendment lawyer to keep on speed-dial. These things aren’t always cut and dry. You should really know the laws in your state. But the Castle Doctrine is similar in most states.
The Castle Doctrine is a self-defense theory which gives a homeowner the right to protect his home with the use of deadly force. The Castle Doctrine originally emerged as a common law theory. Since then, a majority of states have implemented some statutory version of the Castle Doctrine. If a defendant successfully presents a Castle Doctrine defense, then he is completely exonerated of any wrong doing. Read on to learn more about the proof required to assert a self-defense theory based on the Castle Doctrine.
History of Castle Doctrine
As mentioned, the Castle Doctrine first began as a common law theory. This means that it wasn’t a written law, but rather an understanding everyone had of the rule. Under common law, a person could use deadly force to defend their home, but only after using every reasonable means to avoid the danger. Some states still use the common law version of the Castle Doctrine, but most states have passed statutes to codify (or write down) the common law rules. The rules were passed so that everyone would understand what is required or expected of them before resorting to the use of deadly force. Even though the Castle Doctrine statutes differ by state, many states utilize the same basic requirements for a Castle Doctrine defense.
Current Requirements of Castle Doctrine
The statutory definition of Castle Doctrine is far more formal than the common law version. States place limitations on where, when, and who can use deadly force, and the extent of force allowed. As with any self-defense theory, the burden of proof for a Castle Doctrine defense is on the defendant. The first component of a Castle Doctrine defense is that a person must be inside of his home. Home or habitation in Castle Doctrine statutes tend to be interpreted very strictly. The structure must be the place where the person regularly resides, like a house, apartment, or mobile home. The defendant must be inside the structure. Some defendants have attempted to use the Castle Doctrine to defend the use of deadly force in their front yards. Courts have rejected this and said that the statute is very clear: in order to use the Castle Doctrine, the person must be in the home.
The second component is that the victim must be attempting to commit or have committed an unlawful entry into the defendant’s home. Walking across a person’s front yard will not qualify. There must be some actual evidence that the victim was at least attempting an unlawful entry. The Castle Doctrine will not apply to a person who was in the home lawfully, but the defendant decided to force out. Similarly, the defendant cannot be the first aggressor of the confrontation with the alleged victim. For example, if a defendant’s neighbor comes over for a casual visit, but the defendant decides to assault the victim after the otherwise consensual conversation turned ugly, the defendant as the first aggressor could not use the Castle Doctrine as a defense. Many states, like Indiana, prohibit the use of force against peace officers as well. Proving that the victim was engaged in an unlawful entry is critical to a Castle Doctrine defense because the unlawful entry will affect a defendant’s right to use deadly force.
The third component of the Castle Doctrine is proving that the use of deadly force was reasonable. Many states follow Florida and Mississippi, and actually have a presumption in their Castle Doctrines that if a person is entering a home unlawfully, that he is doing so with the purpose to commit an act of force or violence. This means the defendant’s burden of proof regarding the use of force is reduced because he doesn’t have to put on more evidence of reasonable. Some states do not have this presumption. Instead of proving just an unlawful entry, a defendant would also have to show that he was in actual danger of death or major bodily injury from the person trying to enter his home. These states do not authorize the use of deadly force to protect only property. In these few states, if a defendant does not prove he was in real danger of physical injury, then he cannot claim or use a Castle Doctrine defense.
The last major component, and most contested, of the Castle Doctrine is the duty to retreat. Older common law versions of the Castle Doctrine required some duty to retreat or avoid the conflict. However, after writing their own Castle Doctrine statutes, many states no longer require defendants to run from their home or to another area of their home before using deadly force. The states are split on the issue of this duty because of the number of incidents of people using deadly force on what turned out to be serious misunderstandings of the Castle Doctrine. To the extent possible, any person should know and understand the duty to retreat laws in their state before using deadly force
Remember this initials: A O J P. This what needs to be proved to use self-defense as a reason for shooting an intruder.
Ability
Opportunity
Jeopardy
Preclusion
1. Ability – Deals with the capacity to injure. The person we defended ourselves from had the real physical ability to hurt us. To justify lethal force that ability must include the capacity to cause great bodily harm or death. A person with a knife, gun, bat, or other implement that can be used as a weapon certainly has the physical capacity to cause serious harm.
2. Opportunity – Deals with time and distance. The threat must be immediate. A “dirt bag” with a knife 5 feet away has the opportunity to harm us but if we insert a 12′ fence topped with razor wire between us, the threat is no longer immediate. Switch the knife for a handgun and the threat is again immediate.
3. Intent (Jeopardy) – Deals with intentions to cause harm. Every day I interact with and am surrounded by hundreds of people who have the physical capacity (ability) and are within distances where they can immediately cause great bodily harm to me or my loved ones and I could easily cause harm to them. Lucky for them and for me, neither of us mean any harm. We lack intent. We can begin to try to understand intent by looking at body language, words, previous actions or patterns of behavior but we can’t read minds.
4. Preclusion – Deals with exhausting all other options. Using lethal force can only be used as a tool of last resort. You must do anything and everything else that doesn’t put you at risk BEFORE self-defense is an option. Talk your way out of it, run away, etc. If there is a way to avoid lethal force without harming you, you have to give it a try.
Not all situations apply with all of these 4 points. In certain states just breaking into your home may be all that is needed. That’s why it’s important to know your laws.
I don’t want to shoot anyone. But if I have to I want to be sure it is legal, moral, and will stop whatever threat is coming my way. Be very careful with this especially when attempting to defend someone who you do not know. It you come upon a scene and are not sure what is going on, it may be wise to not intervene. You don’t know who the good guy is trying to defend themselves or the attacker is. Be very careful in these situations.
To learn more:
What Every Gun Owner Needs to Know About Self-Defense Law
This is a free PDF download and has some good information.
Stay safe and learn your rights and laws.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Overwatch: Drill of the Month For April
Daily Dry Fire Trigger Press
If I had to pick just one thing that most affects your shot it would have to be trigger manipulation.
Learn the proper way to press a trigger. Learn sight alignment.
Practice these things in dry fire at least 20 times a day pointing the gun in a safe direction.
When you do this, ensure there are no distractions. Make sure there is no ammunition in the room. Clear the weapon. Clear it again. Clear it a 3rd time ensuring you put your finger in the chamber.
When you do these trigger presses, make sure they are being done right. If you don’t do one right, start again. Ensure 20 perfect trigger presses.
For more drills
See “Overwatch: Drill of the Month” page
If I had to pick just one thing that most affects your shot it would have to be trigger manipulation.
Learn the proper way to press a trigger. Learn sight alignment.
Practice these things in dry fire at least 20 times a day pointing the gun in a safe direction.
When you do this, ensure there are no distractions. Make sure there is no ammunition in the room. Clear the weapon. Clear it again. Clear it a 3rd time ensuring you put your finger in the chamber.
When you do these trigger presses, make sure they are being done right. If you don’t do one right, start again. Ensure 20 perfect trigger presses.
For more drills
See “Overwatch: Drill of the Month” page
State Of The World
Many years ago I met someone who fought in WWII. He told me when he was in school he had a “current events” day. This was a day you were supposed to bring an article from the newspaper and give a little report on it. He can remember cutting out a political cartoon for his report. It was a depiction of a silkworm (Japan) taking a bite out of a maple leaf (China). He said, “Japan invaded China”, and sat down. He did not know at that time that cartoon and that invasion would change the world and he would be part of it.
Syria just bombed its own people with a chemical weapon. The official Syrian line is that they bombed a weapons factory and the chemicals are from the factory. There is a lot of evidence that the government’s line is a lie.
“The attack appeared to be the largest and deadliest chemical attack in Syria since August 2013, when more than 1,000 people were killed in the Damascus suburbs by the banned toxin sarin. Under threat of United States retaliation, Mr. Assad agreed to a Russian-American deal to eliminate his country’s chemical weapons program, which until that time it had denied having, and to join an international treaty banning chemical weapons.”
Reminds me of the Japanese talking about removing U.S. sanctions in negotiations all the while plotting to bomb Pearl Harbor. Assad talks about eliminated chemical weapons all the while planning to eliminate them by using them!
War is horrible and evil. But how long do you let evil have his way? This was the same question asked in 1941. Some were isolationists. “That is not our fight, that’s way across the world and is none of our business!”
Well that’s what we did in 1941 and look where it got us? When do you intervene? Do you wait until it is at your door? These are tough questions.
I want you to know I am not a war-monger. I am similar to Moroni in the Book of Mormon. I do not “delight in the shedding of blood.” But my opinion has been that Syria is a haven for terrorism. I’ve had that opinion for years. I don’t advocate killing non-combatants, woman and children, but let’s make Syria a parking lot! Maybe that is harsh and non-Christ-like, but it comes from a military background I guess. I’d like to change the climate in Syria and the middle-east. I’d like to call the Islamic religion a religion of peace, but I can’t. I know that not every Muslim believes the anti-American crap nor the violence to non-believers. I’ve had members tell me that the Bible and the Book of Mormon has its share of violence in them. The difference is that the violence in LDS and Christian scripture is describing events, not advocating infidel war.
As you may or may not know the difference in the story of Ishmael and Isaac stem from scripture. Isaac being chosen from the Bible and Ishmael being chosen from the Koran. This is the dispute. Was Ishmael chosen over his half brother? To me it doesn’t follow Jewish tradition of the time. Ishmael is from a handmaid rather than Isaac from a wife. But I also believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it translated correctly. In this I can agree with Muslim authority who say the Bible went through a lot of men’s hands and that it is corrupted. This is the reason for continued revelation, modern prophets, and the Book of Mormon.
So, the question that has come up in many of my military classes concerning whether we should be involved in any wars. World War II was fairly clear. We needed to defend ourselves. So what about terrorism? What about 9-11? Does that constitute a war? The question that I’ve discussed at length is a no-win scenario.
You’re walking down the street and see a man slapping a woman around on the other side of the street. Do you yell at the guy? Do you cross the street and intervene? Do you call the police and hope they get there in time? There are many answers and none are right for everyone. My answer is I try to stop the violence after the police have been called. I want this to happen as simply and without any violence as possible. But I’ve made the decision to intervene when I started to carry a gun several years ago. Of course every situation is different and I would have to go by the Spirit and what is developing.
That is the age old question. When should the U.S. intervene in another country’s civil war or problem? When is killing your own people considered genocide?
Before we are so down on problems that this country gets involved with we need to consider all these points. Was Viet Nam worth the lives? Probably not. But in hindsight it is easier to figure out a plan of action than in the moment. The U.S. did change East Asia by its influence and presence for all those years. Can the same be said for the middle-east? We’re still involved so it’s hard to say.
Martin Niemoller was a prominent Protestant pastor who was outspoken against Hitler. He spent 7 years in concentration camps. He wrote:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
When do we act? When do we speak out? When do we commit to defending innocent people who are being oppressed or exterminated? Could anyone had done anything about death camps during WWII?
I know my statement, “Make Syria a parking lot,” is not politically correct. And I don’t want the wholesale killing of anyone, but to do nothing or little is scandalous.
They have already “come for us”. Much terrorist ideology is steeped in “death to America” ideals. The war has been brought to us. What will we do about it?
What does all this have to do with guns and security? Because the powers that be can’t figure out what to do with tyrants, terrorists, and psycho leaders, you and I must defend ourselves in our personal fight against threats to our families. Have a plan. Work your plan.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
Syria just bombed its own people with a chemical weapon. The official Syrian line is that they bombed a weapons factory and the chemicals are from the factory. There is a lot of evidence that the government’s line is a lie.
“The attack appeared to be the largest and deadliest chemical attack in Syria since August 2013, when more than 1,000 people were killed in the Damascus suburbs by the banned toxin sarin. Under threat of United States retaliation, Mr. Assad agreed to a Russian-American deal to eliminate his country’s chemical weapons program, which until that time it had denied having, and to join an international treaty banning chemical weapons.”
Reminds me of the Japanese talking about removing U.S. sanctions in negotiations all the while plotting to bomb Pearl Harbor. Assad talks about eliminated chemical weapons all the while planning to eliminate them by using them!
War is horrible and evil. But how long do you let evil have his way? This was the same question asked in 1941. Some were isolationists. “That is not our fight, that’s way across the world and is none of our business!”
Well that’s what we did in 1941 and look where it got us? When do you intervene? Do you wait until it is at your door? These are tough questions.
I want you to know I am not a war-monger. I am similar to Moroni in the Book of Mormon. I do not “delight in the shedding of blood.” But my opinion has been that Syria is a haven for terrorism. I’ve had that opinion for years. I don’t advocate killing non-combatants, woman and children, but let’s make Syria a parking lot! Maybe that is harsh and non-Christ-like, but it comes from a military background I guess. I’d like to change the climate in Syria and the middle-east. I’d like to call the Islamic religion a religion of peace, but I can’t. I know that not every Muslim believes the anti-American crap nor the violence to non-believers. I’ve had members tell me that the Bible and the Book of Mormon has its share of violence in them. The difference is that the violence in LDS and Christian scripture is describing events, not advocating infidel war.
As you may or may not know the difference in the story of Ishmael and Isaac stem from scripture. Isaac being chosen from the Bible and Ishmael being chosen from the Koran. This is the dispute. Was Ishmael chosen over his half brother? To me it doesn’t follow Jewish tradition of the time. Ishmael is from a handmaid rather than Isaac from a wife. But I also believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it translated correctly. In this I can agree with Muslim authority who say the Bible went through a lot of men’s hands and that it is corrupted. This is the reason for continued revelation, modern prophets, and the Book of Mormon.
So, the question that has come up in many of my military classes concerning whether we should be involved in any wars. World War II was fairly clear. We needed to defend ourselves. So what about terrorism? What about 9-11? Does that constitute a war? The question that I’ve discussed at length is a no-win scenario.
You’re walking down the street and see a man slapping a woman around on the other side of the street. Do you yell at the guy? Do you cross the street and intervene? Do you call the police and hope they get there in time? There are many answers and none are right for everyone. My answer is I try to stop the violence after the police have been called. I want this to happen as simply and without any violence as possible. But I’ve made the decision to intervene when I started to carry a gun several years ago. Of course every situation is different and I would have to go by the Spirit and what is developing.
That is the age old question. When should the U.S. intervene in another country’s civil war or problem? When is killing your own people considered genocide?
Before we are so down on problems that this country gets involved with we need to consider all these points. Was Viet Nam worth the lives? Probably not. But in hindsight it is easier to figure out a plan of action than in the moment. The U.S. did change East Asia by its influence and presence for all those years. Can the same be said for the middle-east? We’re still involved so it’s hard to say.
Martin Niemoller was a prominent Protestant pastor who was outspoken against Hitler. He spent 7 years in concentration camps. He wrote:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
When do we act? When do we speak out? When do we commit to defending innocent people who are being oppressed or exterminated? Could anyone had done anything about death camps during WWII?
I know my statement, “Make Syria a parking lot,” is not politically correct. And I don’t want the wholesale killing of anyone, but to do nothing or little is scandalous.
They have already “come for us”. Much terrorist ideology is steeped in “death to America” ideals. The war has been brought to us. What will we do about it?
What does all this have to do with guns and security? Because the powers that be can’t figure out what to do with tyrants, terrorists, and psycho leaders, you and I must defend ourselves in our personal fight against threats to our families. Have a plan. Work your plan.
Semper Paratus
Check 6
Burn
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