Preparing for a Worst Case Scenario: The 10-Week Plan, Part 1

by DTG | May 7, 2018

Note: This series was originally published on Defensive Training Group several years ago. This expanded, updated 2018 edition has been designed specifically for AP readers; this is the first installment of a 10-week series meant to walk you through the steps needed to prepare for what’s commonly called SHTF, or literally “sh– hitting the fan.” This could be anything from a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, an economic meltdown, or any other dire situation. If you’re new to preparing, this plan will help get you where you need to be. If you’ve already been doing it, the plan will help you ensure that your plan is well-rounded and correctly set up.

Right now, there are a bit more than 2 years remaining in the administration of a populist/nationalist president that has, so far, rhetoric aside, left things pretty much alone, in regard to ‘normal’ life. Anything perceived as a positive measure, such as the ‘tax roll back’ should really be viewed as a temporary measure, adding a slight benefit to you on the prepping side because of the reprieve given when the Hildabeast wasn’t inaugurated. As everyone knows or should know, it made the Transnational Globalist Marxists insane, and they’re not letting go. Evidence of this are perceived ‘false flag’ attacks as well as calls for an outright civil war by groups such as antifa (little ‘a’ on purpose) that would necessitate the suspension of Constitutional protections from government interference (what’s left of them) in your life according to the powers that STILL BE, albeit somewhat in the shadows. That being the case, YOU, yes, YOU, the so-called, ‘Normie’ who’s just been awakened, have until 20 January 2021 to get yourself and your family’s ducks in a row. Follow this outline for 10 weeks if you can, and add something else in it for the rest of the time available:

Study and training. Across the board.

After completing the basic plan, which gets you at least somewhat self-sufficient, your priorities should be–in this order:

First Aid/Medical training.
Food storage.
Survival.
Tactics & weapons.

This is not contradictory; the order is deliberate. Yes, you need to know how to effectively use a weapon, but you also need, desperately, how to tend to wounds, injuries, infections, and disease not typically seen in a ‘normal’ setting. Here’s one of many resources on the topic.

You also need to know how to purify water; how to put up food so it will last, how to effectively communicate in your neighborhood and how to listen to more distant sources of information. AP’s own NC Scout is one of the best resources for that. You’ll even find opportunities to attend classes that will quickly bring you up to the speed you need to be at for effectively communicating. You’ll also need to learn about the subject of intelligence. AP will be an excellent resource for that as well.

Bottom line: Your entire existence from now until the point where you’re adequately prepared needs to be one of study, exercise, training, study, frugal purchasing, setting up your home or ‘hidey hole’ so your family can make it, and so on. You can do this; it’s not that difficult. It takes discipline and resolve.

When it comes to recriminations later, during an emergency, when something you could have done to better prepare wasn’t accomplished due to your own procrastination, remember, there’s an old saying that I live by: “There are no victims, only volunteers….”

I first did this post about 12 years ago under my since retired ‘nom de guerre,’ and a very good friend of mine (Concerned American from Western Rifle Shooters Association, and now AP) and a couple others asked me if I’d mind updating it again for 2018. Remember, the days we’re living in RIGHT NOW demonstrate things are spinning faster in the vortex than ever before, and this might be the your last chance to get in gear. Feel free to add or take away from this plan as your situation and local area conditions may require. This is by no means the best or only plan; rather, it’s one that may help someone with no knowledge or skills. There are other good perspectives on this subject out there, and they shouldn’t be discounted.
Part II: A Scenario

You may be thinking, “WORST case?? What could POSSIBLY get any worse than how things are now?? There’s nothing I can do. Things being the way they are, it’s basically over; all we can do is wait for the hammer to fall.”

Well, for one thing, that’s not true! Many folks just like you don’t agree with or believe that perspective in the slightest! There’s a lot you can do! And, if this plan helps get you thinking of what you can do instead of what you can’t do, we all might just benefit from your action! In fact, if enough folks begin to think about what they can do, we just might avert the “worst case,” and many more of us may live through these ‘interesting times’ that are certainly headed our way! So, while you’re reading this, keep that thought in mind, ok?

The plan itself is divided into two parts: The items required and the timetable to do it in. Remember, prudent people see danger coming and prepare, while the foolish do nothing (or just sit at their keyboard and ENDLESSLY COMPLAIN about how terrible things are) and suffer for it. To put us all on an equal footing for the case presented, let’s get ready to plan by using the following scenario as a back drop:

The time frame: To be sure, ten weeks, especially today, when national and world tensions increasing by the hour, can seem to be a very, very long time in terms of ‘getting prepared/trained/fit/mentally ready’ to protect and defend your family, neighborhood, community and country from marauding apocalypse zombies coming from whatever direction or source you care to focus on. For now, rather than looking at a fictional futuristic even, let’s look at what’s happened in the last 9 years incrementally.

Executive orders giving Interpol complete carte blanche to operate within our borders with no restrictions, oversight, accountability, even to the state department or the executive branch. Never mind congress.

A[n]…..election process so corrupted and rigged to be all but worthless in regards to what you and I vote for.

7 plus years of equipping, arming, violently indoctrinating…and militarizing, through federal auspices, civilian law enforcement, and non-law enforcement agencies, even non-governmental agencies.

Creation of a continental internal federal police state with powers that ignore every personal liberty based protection [from government overreach] in the US Constitution.

Numerous executive branch acts of limiting arms, their manufacture, importation and sale [to citizens], void of due process of law. [Current implications from the Oval Office are that a series of ‘Executive Orders’ will further curtail the Second Amendment bypassing Congress as well as the Constitutional amending process.]

The UN International Small Arms Agreement, a foreign treaty signed by the former administration’s Secretary of State. A treaty never having been presented to the Senate for ratification.

States openly calling for the confiscation of semi-automatic rifles in places like Lexington (yes, THE Lexington).

UN troops to be invited into the US for the purpose of assisting the US government in combating violent extremism. Extremely violent criminal gangs and religions with penchants for beheading and burning captives alive are not included in the definition of ‘extremists.’

Daily calls from the state co-opted ‘media’ repeating the message to unilaterally disarm the citizenry, constitutional protections be damned.

So, how do you get ready for an imminent disaster affecting the entire nation like that? Not possible you say? Think for a moment: The Law of Unintended Consequences usually provides extreme results beyond those anticipated or planned in any situation it becomes involved with. So, that being said, let’s examine this, even if only from an academic perspective.

First, consider the description above. It’s certainly beyond possible that events in our country can become catastrophic; these things above have happened, and more are happening. But is it nefarious in design?

Many seem to think so, but what’s relevant as you read this is what you think. Consider current affairs in Eastern, and now, Western Europe. Examine current affairs in our own country. Consider the publicized plans of various agencies to quell ‘civil unrest.’ Think about the publicized military exercises that name military veterans and religious groups as ‘domestic terrorists.’ And then, before you go any further, make a determination: Is this a bunch of paranoid “tin foil hat” crap or maybe, just maybe, is there something to this and you, gentle reader, need to do something positive to take care of your family and friends. If you had the time (which you don’t, believe me), you could do your own investigation from objective sources, file Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIA) and find that it is, in fact, not only plausible, but the stage is being set every day for just such an eventuality.

If you decide the facts don’t support your personal preparedness, just toss this out. Delete. File 13. Trash. Round file. I hope you enjoy your life and are prosperous. Read no further.

However, if you decide facts presented do support getting started preparing, you have much to think about, much to do, and much to gain in the way of putting yourself, your family and your friends in a better position of an increased chance of living through it.

Think about it. I’ll wait.

Preparing for a Worst Case Scenario: The 10-Week Plan, Part 2

Posted by DTG | May 9, 2018

Ok, so you’ve thought over Part 1 and you’ve come back. Great!

Let’s get started.

Before anything else you have to understand that you have very limited time in the way of making purchases (you never know what is going to be banned next by Executive Order or agency decree, or as things get sportier, how much and how fast prices will sky rocket on necessary items) and then learning to use what you’ve purchased, so you need to read this, comprehend it, and take decisive action! No putting this off until after the “holiday weekend” or after you get that new flat screen tee vee (you and your family’s gratification should be realized by getting what you need to survive what’s coming!). Everything mentioned herein will get more expensive by the day (bit by bit, but one day it’s going to take off, then, as time grows shorter, by the hour). Example: Right now you can get a 1200 round case for $ $550, shipped (about .46 cents a round). Tomorrow? One more ‘mass shooting’ could bring a panic like the one after Sandy Hook, and you’ll be paying a dollar a round and be glad if you can find it. When you take into account the old axiom that you have 1,000 rounds per rifle in reserve, and 3,000 per rifle on hand is only adequate for SHTF/WROL scenarios, you might want to start some budgeting. Soon as you finish reading this. The old rule of, “you snooze, you lose” will take on major significance to you personally in this case, because what you lose might just be your life, or at the minimum, what’s left of your tattered freedom!

Before anything else you have to understand that you have very limited time in the way of making purchases (you never know what is going to be banned next by Executive Order or agency decree, or as things get sportier, how much and how fast prices will sky rocket on necessary items), so you need to read this, comprehend it, and take decisive action! No putting this off until after the “holiday weekend” or after you get that new flat screen tee vee (you and your family’s gratification should be realized by getting what you need to survive what’s coming!). Everything mentioned herein will get more expensive by the day (bit by bit, but one day it’s going to take off, then, as time grows shorter, by the hour). Example: Right now you can get a 1200 round case for about $450, shipped (about .38 cents a round). That’s better than you could get in the last 2 years of the Obama administration. Tomorrow? Who knows? One more ‘mass shooting’ could bring a panic like the one after Sandy Hook, and you’ll be paying a dollar a round and be glad to do so if you can find it. When you take into account the old axiom that you have 1,000 rounds per rifle in reserve, and 3,000 per rifle on hand is only adequate for SHTF/WROL scenarios, you might want to start some budgeting. As soon as you finish reading this. The old rule of, “you snooze, you lose” will take on major significance to you personally in this case, because what you lose might just be your life, or at the minimum, what’s left of your tattered freedom!

First things first….

One thing you can do that won’t cost you a dime, and can be done immediately is simply this: Start a PT (physical training) program. Your fitness level is the foundation upon which your preparedness plans, tools, and actions must be built to be viable. While you’re at it, get the family off the couch, off the phone, away from the tee vee, and get them moving, too.

There are many PT programs out there; find the one that’s right for you. Make sure, if you haven’t exercised hard in a long time, that you get medical clearance; dropping dead from a heart attack doesn’t do your preparedness planning any good, nor does it help your family. Remember to start slow. It’s no good to bust through a session of hard exercise and hardly be able to walk for the rest of the week. Now, once you’ve gotten into your exercise program and have made some progress getting over the ‘sore muscle syndrome’, start including walks with your ruck (pack) on for varying distances, with very light weight at first, possibly even just the pack with nothing in it, and add to it as time goes on. There will come a time when you’re doing walks of 10 miles with up to 80 pounds.

Now, what’s the first thing you buy? You can argue all you want about it, but the simple answer is to take stock of what you have on hand FIRST, because that will be your determining factor. Yes, weapons for defense are essential, but if you have already possess a pistol or rifle (even a .22) but you don’t have something that will either provide or help you get things you must have to live you don’t necessarily need another weapon first. Like what? How about a worthwhile first aid kit? A water purifier of some sort? How about non-perishable food items? How about hygiene items, such as a year’s worth of toilet paper. Think about going without toilet paper for a day, let alone for a protracted length of time…..

The list can go on, but the point is not to presume that a bigger, better weapon is the first thing. It may very well be the first thing you want, but you must make yourself think in terms of needs based upon what is instead of what may be or is not. For the point of discussion, though, we’ll assume you don’t have a weapon at all and start there, because if you don’t have one, you need a weapon more than any other physical item you can think of. No weapon, no protection…where it counts…at home. Why? In any scenario that you cannot rely on local first responders (which is not the best move in the first place), you are on your own and subject to the ‘mercy’ of those who will be targeting you, your family, and your home.

So, what do you get? A pistol? Shotgun? Rifle? There are as many opinions on the subject as there are weapon choices, but most are influenced by the likes and dislikes of the person you’re asking. We propose to let the purpose of your weapon help you make your determination. Most times, getting a general purpose weapon (something that can do a great many things well, some things good, and only a few things poorly) is the best choice. Especially if you don’t have unlimited funds.

So, simply put: Get a Rifle.

All things being equal and you have reasonable vision and average muscle control and dexterity, if you can only have one weapon, make it a rifle. A rifle has more power, more ability to stop and put down any target at ranges in excess of a pistol/revolver or shotgun’s maximum effective range. A quick example of “knock down” power (aka terminal velocity): A 300 Winchester Magnum with a 200 grain bullet that hits its target at 1,000 yards (to illustrate how far this is, you would have to take 36 inch steps every second for 16 and a half minutes to walk 1,000 yards) with more energy than a .44 Magnum does at “point blank” range. Get the picture? Something or someone hit with a rifle goes down and usually does not get back up. Period. But on the chance they do, a follow up shot will settle the issue. Only after all other basic necessities are acquired should you consider getting a pistol, especially if you’re on a limited budget. And then, if you only have the one rifle, you should buy a second rifle before the first pistol.

So then, which rifle? Simplicity is the key here, especially as you may have only shot a rifle a few times in your life or others who will use the rifle fall into that category. So, you need a rifle that’s easy to learn to operate, doesn’t require a lot of maintenance, is fairly accurate, and won’t take all the money you have available to purchase. Here’s an example that fits those requirements:

The K98 or M48 Mauser (later model) is rugged, can take down anything in North America, ammunition is reasonably cheap, and it’s maintenance requirements are extremely simple! Cost: Depending on if you get a Yugoslavian M48 or go for the WWII German, you can pay as little as $450 (prices are rising!) for a “Service Grade” rifle and about $475 for a 900 round case of surplus ammunition. So, for less than a grand or so, you have the weapon category taken care of. Remember, the K98/M48 is a good general purpose rifle, but it is purely for defense. It’s a bolt action, and as such, aimed fire combined with its large projectile and ability to punch through light barriers is its advantage. These relics have another really good advantage to them in that if all else fails, they are superb clubs and will put down whomever they are hit with. If you have a bit more disposable income, or you don’t need extensive training or are ex-military and therefore are at least familiar with the AR type rifle, and want a more prolific weapon you may want to consider the ubiquitous AR-15 carbine family or its descendants. Try to get one chambered in 5.56mm rather than .223 caliber. The differences are minute, but the 5.56mm chamber can take the differences in pressure from the .223 more easily than the .223 chamber can take the 5.56mm pressure differences. It’s a peace of mind thing. Also consider a longer barreled model if the price is right. The options are endless, and a bit of study will be required, but if you’re going to go that route, it’s time well spent. An excellent primer on the AR 15 type rifle/carbine can be found here.



These will cost you anywhere from $500 to $1500 (no change there, as of today), depending on the source, and the price for a case of 55gr Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) will run $375 and up per 1200 rounds for M-193 55gr. M-855 is still available; get it while you can. That’s the 62gr, heavier bullet with a steel penetrator. Another option at this point might be the 62 or 77gr “Open Tip Match (OTM). It’s barrier blind (means it will go through the barrier) and still do a number on the zombie. You’re going to pay almost twice as much as you will for 55gr or 62gr FMJ (about $700 per 1K shipped – when you can find it) but you get better performance, so seek good advice from friends with expertise and then make your choice. Next, you have to add in an absolutely minimum seven 30 round magazines, so that will be another $88 at the bare minimum, again, depending on your source and type of magazine chosen (Magpuls are more expensive than ‘old school’ AR magazines, but they take more of a beating from some reports, and they have a model with a window in the side along with a ’rounds left indicator’ which is handy). So, at the low end, you’re talking about $1,000 ; at the high end, $1,975 or more. More expensive as the Mauser set up, but it’s your call. And, that doesn’t take into account the time and money you will need to spend on learning the weapon you’ve chosen and range time, which means buying more ammunition. Remember this: The more complex the weapon, the more intricate the cleaning and maintenance requirements are and the increased amount of training required to effectively employ it. (ABOVE ALL: Learn appropriate weapon safety and handling! LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE!!) This estimate doesn’t include necessary maintenance and cleaning solvents, either. A good lube is your friend; we recommend a couple: Frog Lube and Gunzilla. You can find them anywhere. And if you choose the AR, it doesn’t take an awful lot, so a bottle can last quite some time.

To be sure, there are many other fine weapons you could go with, but the two examples cited above give you an idea of the spectrum you can operate in when you are getting your “kit” together. If you know someone who is experienced and knows military pattern rifles well, ask them what they think, but stay focused on ‘general purpose’ in your evaluation and choice. The various blogs in the ‘liberty/preparedness/patriot’ community are a treasure trove of information, but again, stay focused on ‘general purpose’. The 1,000 round examples with each rifle are considered to be a minimum of what one would need to stay viable in a scenario such as described above for an extended period. Something else you need to know: You are your own supply chain. You cannot count on having someone to provide extra, so everything you have needs to be able to fill more than one function. Additionally, when/if things go South, and you are lucky enough to join with others who are like minded, showing up with a good, general purpose rifle and a case of ammunition will go a long way in their determination whether or not to let you stay.

Ammunition: Just like with the weapon category, there are many, many types of ammunition you could elect to purchase. The examples above were military surplus “full metal jacket” or FMJ examples (except for the OTM – it has a small open tip, so technically, it’s not, “full” nor is it a true ‘hollow point’). FMJ is a good, all around general purpose bullet for self-defense purposes. It doesn’t expand like hunting rounds do, but it rarely fails to chamber and can reliably kill any animal or adversary you need it to take down (especially if you pay attention to shot placement, which means learning to become accurate as possible). If you’re just starting out becoming prepared, don’t waste your time and money trying to get several types of ammunition for different purposes; get the FMJ and use the money you have left to get other items you’ll need. As previously mentioned, the standard “rule of thumb” is that for each rifle you depend on, 1,000 rounds should be held in reserve to ensure you have a reasonable supply if ever needed. That means you should buy at least 1,500 rounds, so you can get proficient with your choice as soon as possible. 500 rounds will get you started, so long as you are properly trained. And remember, without ammunition, a rifle is basically an interesting paper weight.

Well, that’s an awful lot of information to consider. See you next time.