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Preparedness Pop Quiz
Instructions: Give yourself points according to the following list. This list is not a comprehensive list of preparedness strategies. There are far more things you can do beyond what you see here. However, this list covers the basics, and if you haven’t covered the basics, you’re probably not going to make it anyway.
MEDICAL SKILLS AND GEAR: (9 points possible)
+1 point if you know basic first aid skills such as CPR.
+1 point if you are trained as an EMT.
+1 point if you are trained as a paramedic.
+1 point if you are a practicing surgeon.
+1 point if you own spare antibiotics.
+1 point if you own at least one tourniquet.
+1 point if you own at least 2 gallons of antiseptic liquid.
+1 point if you know how to stitch up a wound and have practiced it.
+1 point if you own a “medicine chest” of essential oils for first aid, including tea tree oil, oregano oil and thyme oil.
Your total points from this category: ____
COMMUNICATIONS: (5 points possible)
+1 point if you own an emergency hand-cranked radio that needs no electricity.
+1 point if you own at least one functioning pair of consumer-grade radios (hiking radios).
+1 point if you have a functioning satellite phone.
+1 point if you own a HAM radio; +1 additional point if you know how to use it and hold a current HAM radio license.
Your total points from this category: ____
PROXIMITY TO CHAOS: (8 points possible)
-2 points if you live within the city limits of a major metropolitan area; -1 point if you live within 50 miles of a major metropolitan area; +1 point if you live more than 100 miles away from any major metropolitan area; +2 points if you live more than 300 miles away from any major metropolitan area.
+1 point if you have already mapped out and practiced an escape route ON FOOT.
+1 point if you have basic compass and navigation skills and can read a paper topo map (i.e. basic hiking navigation skills).
-1 point if you are so reliant on GPS that you can’t even navigate your own city without relying on it.
+1 point if you already have a bug out bag prepared.
+1 point if you have at least 20 gallons of extra fuel stored.
+1 point if you keep your bug out vehicle at least 75% fueled at all times.
Your total points from this category: ____
CASH AND COIN: (3 points possible)
+1 point if you have at least $500 in cash on hand right now.
+1 point if you own at least 100 oz. of silver or 5 oz. of gold and have it in your physical possession.
+1 point if you have substantial savings in any currency other than U.S. dollars.
Your total points from this category: ____
HEAT AND SHELTER: (6 points possible)
+1 point if you have an alternate bug out location (i.e. cabin in the woods).
+1 point if you have your own source of off-grid winter heat (such as a wood stove); +2 points if you also have a local supply of wood to heat with.
+1 point if you have reinforced the entry points of your location, resisting break-ins via doors and windows.
+1 point if you have a safe room in your existing home.
+1 point if you have a metal cross-bar installed to block entry via your doors.
Your total points from this category: ____
FOOD: (13 points possible)
+1 point if you have at least 30 days of stored food on hand; +2 points if you have six months; +3 points for a year or more.
+1 point if you have at least a portion of your stored food hidden in such a way that it would not be easily discoverable by a search of your home.
+1 point if you own an off-grid camp stove (any kind) that can boil water without using electricity.
+1 point if you’ve stored at least 100 pounds of salt.
+1 point if you have a home garden.
+1 point if you practice sprouting.
+1 point if you own and use a non-electric food grow system like the Food Rising Mini-Farm.
+1 point if you own and know how to use a food dehydrator.
+1 point if you possess food canning skills AND have canning equipment on hand.
+1 point if you know how to process animals into food (chickens, deer, cows, etc.)
+1 point if you know how to smoke or salt meat in order to preserve it.
Your total points from this category: ____
WATER: (5 points possible)
+1 point if you already practice rainwater collection as your primary water source; +2 points if you also have at least 2500 gallons of water stored right now.
+1 point if you live within walking distance of an open, year-round water source (such as a lake or stream).
+1 point if you own a gravity water filter such as the Big Berkey; + 2 points if you’ve already set it up and tested it.
-3 points if you live in a geographic region that’s actually a desert. (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc.)
Your total points from this category: ____
FIREARMS AND GEAR: (17 points possible)
+1 point if you own any functioning firearm; +2 points if you actually remember how to use it and have proficient skills for doing so.
+1 point if you own a functioning rifle of any kind (hunting, battle or otherwise).
+1 point if you own any night vision monocular such as a PVS-14.
+1 point if you own 1,000 rounds or more of any ammo (any kind).
+1 point if you know how to reload your own ammo and have the reloading equipment to do so.
+1 point if you practice shooting at least once a year to maintain proficiency.
+1 point if you own a suppressor.
+1 point if you own a ballistic vest.
+1 point if you own a chest rig.
+1 point if you own a flashlight with functioning batteries; +2 points if you own a tactical flashlight with more reliable batteries such as CR123; +3 points if you also own a red light tactical flashlight suitable for navigating at night.
+1 point if you own a quality tactical knife and keep it sharp.
+1 point if you own a lightweight, high quality portable sleeping bag.
+1 point if you own a reliable fire starting device (beyond just matches).
+1 point if you own a quality, rugged pair of hiking boots.
Your total points from this category: ____
FITNESS: (6 points possible)
+1 point if you are somewhat physically active; +2 points if you extremely physically active; +3 points if you are actively athletic.
+1 point if you have some familiarity with camping; +2 points if you have strong familiarity with camping or outdoorsmanship; +3 points if you are an expert in wilderness skills.
Your total points from this category: ____
How’d you score?
Total possible maximum points = 72
0 – 20 points: You probably won’t survive. Prepare to line up in front of a FEMA camp and beg the government for food, water and shelter.
21 – 30 points: You have a slim chance of survival, but only if you adapt quickly and improve your preparedness status immediately.
31 – 40 points: You have a solid foundation for survival but need to quickly ramp up your preparedness to be ready.
41 – 50 points: You are better off than most but still have a lot of preparedness tasks to complete. Seek to network with others who possess the skills you lack.
51 – 60 points: You are very well prepared, far better than most, and will likely survive just fine as long as you surround yourself with capable people who share your preparedness mindset.
61+ points: You are extraordinarily well prepared and are almost certain to live through the chaos if you stay alert.
A blunt message to those who scored very low
If you scored under 20 points on this Preparedness Pop Quiz, you’re probably not going to make it.
Even worse, it’s probably already too late for you to do anything about it.
In essence, you are clueless. As part of the non-prepared, you’ve been living in a dream world populated by cultural delusions. You’ve been watching cable TV and thinking you’re seeing real news. You’ve been buying factory foods at the grocery store and thinking you’re eating real food. You’ve been paying taxes, and working a job, and voting for candidates at the voting booths, all while thinking you’re living in a real democracy run by the will of the People rather than the criminal intent of the corrupt elite. You have absolutely no clue of real American history, how politics really works and why all the people at the very top are the most criminally insane sociopaths ever produced by the human race.
And all the while, you’ve completely fallen for the delusion that everything your life has come to depend on will reliably exist, day after day, because it has always been that way in your experience: Water will always come out of the tap in your kitchen; cash will always be available at the local ATM; police will always respond when you call 911; fuel will always be available at your local gas station; your debit card will always work… and so on.
What you fail to understand is that you’ve been living in an artificial construct… an interconnected web of electronics, financial transactions, social contracts, industrial output, food logistics and other artificial layers that have created for you the illusion that everything you need will always be available, day after day, without interruption. You do not grasp the cultural chaos that’s coming… the racial tension… the economic collapse… the ecosystem collapse and food shortages… the climate radicalization that will ultimately lead to mass starvation and mass death.
The day will soon come that many of the things you have come to depend on will experience severe disruptions, outages and in some cases even collapse. You will not be warned about that day from your “Matrix media” news sources like CNN. There will be no official acknowledgement of any problems at all… even as the disruptions begin to take hold and the riots begin to flood into the streets.
You will be lied to by your government and your local news station, both of which will insist they have everything under control (they don’t) and that you have nothing to worry about (you actually do). You will be told to stay put even though you should probably bug out. You will be ordered to obey the commands of government even though you should probably think for yourself. You will be stripped of any means of self-defense even in the moment when you need self-defense the most.
And because you did not prepare, you have desperately few options to do anything other than obey. A year earlier, when your friends were learning how to grow their own garden vegetables and save seeds, you spent your free time clubbing and watching TV sitcoms. Two years earlier, when your friends decided to get fit and practice some long-distance walking so they could carry a backpack, you discovered the Domino’s 2-for-1 pizza deal and began “saving money” by gorging yourself on obesity-inducing fake food. And three years ago, when your friends were spending their weekends learning CPR, emergency medicine skills, handgun self-defense skills, wilderness survival skills or herbal wildcrafting skills, you spent your time playing on your Xbox, the domain where your screen name “BADASSMOFO” announced to the world just how amazing you truly are.
But now, as the proverbial s### is about to hit the fan, instead of having real-world skills, some level of physical fitness, a pantry full of long-term storable foods and a collection of heirloom seeds, you have a high-level character on World of Warcraft, a case of type-2 diabetes, a massive overhanging beltline, a refrigerator full of processed junk food and a couple of bottles of insulin which will quickly run out once the pharmacies are overrun by looters (or burned to the ground as we saw in Baltimore).
Instead of betting on skills and preparedness, you bet on the empty delusion that society’s current practices are entirely sustainable. You are now about to lose that bet, and the cost of losing it is dire. For starters, you now have very little time left to prepare for what’s coming. The skills and resources you need to survive the societal chaos that’s coming take time to put in place, but you spent your time watching TV and trying to impress your millennial friends rather than acquiring real-world skills that might save yourself (and maybe even a few friends, too).
You now face the uncertainty of the near future with the same terrified sense of a domestic poodle dropped into a Louisiana swamp. You have no idea how to survive in the real world, without your ATM, your iPhone, your internet access and your Doritos. You don’t own a knife, you’re afraid of guns and you despise the mere thought of committing any act of violence whatsoever, even in defense of your own life or property.
You, my friends, are the “low hanging fruit” of the criminal gangs who will confiscate everything you own as they sweep through your neighborhoods, looting and pillaging to their heart’s delight. You have no way to stop them, of course. That silly pepper spray canister you bought in 1998 has no pressure left in it, and you don’t know how to aim it anyway. By the time the bad guys have already reached your “pepper spray range,” it’s already too late. They’re in your house, stealing your jewelry, shooting your dog and having their way with your family members. You can’t stop them because you don’t know how. You’re “anti-gun” and “anti-violence” after all. You believe in a civilized society. You fell for the delusion that the government would always protect you.
So you try to dial 911, but the signal is busy. 911 is on overload, didn’t you know? The police have announced they’re only responding to murders now, and even that response time has stretched out to three hours. So you’ve got three hours with zero defense, in a house full of armed gang bangers who aren’t even afraid of the cops, much less defenseless, unprepared citizens like you. If you’re lucky, you might simply get beaten and robbed. If you’re unlucky — and they don’t mind wasting the ammo — they’ll use you for target practice just to shut you up and stop your incessant pathetic screaming.
Or maybe you’re lucky and the gangs don’t find your place. So instead of dealing with armed intruders, you only have to deal with a cut-off water supply, no electricity, no heat, no air conditioning, no local groceries, no functioning gas stations and no 911 response. The ATMs are down, the land lines are dead, the cell towers are out of commission and you can’t get internet access to work. This is actually a “good” scenario compared to what’s happening to other people in other parts of the country. Do you have the skills and state of mind to survive it?
In either case, you have no way out because you don’t have a vehicle with a full tank of gas. You can’t read a map and a compass — for your entire adult life, you’ve navigated at the command of voice-driven GPS — and you have no idea how to leave your city on foot. You’ve never even been hiking beyond a gentle walk in nature followed by a night’s stay in a hotel. You don’t know how to pitch a tent, how to build a makeshift shelter, or how to start a fire without using a lighter. You don’t even own a lighter anyway, because of course you don’t smoke either.
You’ve screwed yourself out of options, essentially. And you didn’t even know it.
But don’t get mad at me for pointing this out. Get mad at yourself for letting yourself become so freaking pathetic and vulnerable in a world run by predators and criminals.
If this Preparedness Pop Quiz pisses you off, then GOOD! Maybe it will get you angry enough to improve your score and have a shot at surviving. On the other hand, if this Preparedness Pop Quiz gives you a large, confident grin, then even better! Maybe you’ll help save lives, restore order in local communities, feed some hungry stragglers or prevent violent criminals from targeting your home or neighborhood. Maybe you’ll be a force for good in a world of chaos, where the police state governments desperately seek to deny you any power at all, stripping from you all your constitutional rights and human dignity. Maybe you’ll rise up and resist the criminal banker occupation of America, seeking to restore law and order, constitutional government and respect for human life.
If so, I hope I run into you one day. I’ll be the guy at the local farmer’s market wearing a loaded Glock on my hip and offering fresh organic lettuce and strawberries for barter. I look forward to hearing your story of how you survived the chaos and came out on top.
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