Paragard is FDA aproved for 10 years and studies show it is still effective long after that... it's not forever but dang close. Romoval of an IUD even after SHTF is a simple matter for a medical practicioner that is familiar with them and has minimal tools. Heck, 3" needle nose pliers, a flashlight, and 2 minutes tops. It's not invasive so there is no need for sterile conditions.

A couple more things when it comes to a teen with a BOB. It can be easily misconstrued as preparing to run-away. Who is going to look at this and what might they think? Their perception IS your reality.

My thoughts on an unobtrusive BOB are these. A good pack with a few essentials in it that you use for camping like flashlight, first aid kit, fire start kit, net/hammock and light camp tools you can have around as “just keeping it in one place.” If you have your own dresser, dedicate a drawer to what you are going to pack the BOB with and rotate the stock when you do laundry. BTW that is YOU doing laundry (help Mom, life’s better that way). Stuff like a radio or other things that look out of place with your socks, keep them somewhere else close that is easy to pack.

The point is to be able to have your BOB fully stocked in as few moves as possible.

You know the deal, parents are in charge. Truth be told it’s better that way. As
a teen you have two legitimate routs that I can think of for preparedness. The first is recreation like camping and hunting. The second is disaster preparedness. If you prepare well for these two you will be better off than what I guess to be 90% of people out there.

You handle the first, and here’s an approach for the second: Hurricane Sandy, ‘nuff said right? The federal government states that everyone should be prepared for natural disasters. They even have www.ready.gov to give everyone at least the basic info on how to prepare. You can use that to “mainstream” this idea and take some of the “fringieness” out of this whole prepping thing.

The SHTF and TEOTWAWKI is a bit much for many people to handle. It is so far removed from anything that most of us have experienced. A couple of bad winter storms or the power being out for hours or a day is the most anyone has had to “rough it.” Best not to approach it from that angle to anyone that is not receptive, and in this case, also has some authority over your hobbies.

I seriously do not think anything is going to happen along the way of SHTF or worse. I am probably the most glowing optimist that you will find in this crowd. The reason why I prep is because I don’t want to take the chance of life rolling snake-eyes on me and I end up SOL. Besides, I use all this stuff to have fun camping and enjoying the outdoors. There are worse hobbies to have.

I'll second that! The ballistics on the 300BLK are impressive and are comparable to 7.62 Russian. That's AK stopping power on the AR you already have with all the same parts sans chambering and barrel.

First off, great article Dan! You have put a lot of good information in this that can be practically applied.

With my experience with the color conditions through various military training (combatives, combat pistol, urban ops...) there are important physiological processes to know about with the different states of awareness.

What is described as ORANGE (some charts have white, green, yellow vs. white, yellow, orange and no, that doesn't really matter) full cognitive and reasoning abilities are still present. As you progress up to RED and BLACK the ability to reason decreases. Training and conditioning take over... and if there is none, often panic is what you get.

One of my favorite phrases to my trainees... "when you corner an animal, human or otherwise, they become predictably unpredictable." That is true here if training is not a part of the equation.

In addition to restricted cognitive abilities, there are also changes in physical abilities. With surges in stress hormones, abilities relating to strength can be increased. There is a trade-off in the form of decline in fine motor abilities. Also, with the amount of blood shunting from the outer extremities to the inner major muscle groups and organs, being able to feel what your hands are touching will be decreased. This means precision shooting in condition BLACK ain't happening.

There is an upside to this that Dan mentioned. With training and conditioning you have actions available for you to use should you get into situations where you need them. Those who practice situations that routinely cause conditions RED and BLACK notice that over time it is harder to get their body to reach those states and they remain in ORANGE or up to RED instead.

As a last note, someone is most likely to react the way they were first trained. It takes a lot of effort to unlearn a conditioning and relearn something else. So whatever you learn, learn it right the first time.

I've read over all of the posts again and I have noticed that the AR-15 pistol has been mentioned at a PDW, but nothing has been said about the 300 BLK round.

A PDW is for a specific situation which is fighting from confined spaces and needing added firepower. Add in the added constraints of cost and availability of ammo and you have a limited options. In the SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation, non standard ammo types are out in my book. So that means I'm down to 22, 223/5.56, 308, and 30-06 as the most common commercially available rifle/carbine rounds and 22, 9mm, 38/357, 40 and 45 Auto for pistol. I like 44s and the AE-50 but finding that stuff is going to be tough. If I'm going to acquire a weapon, it is going to be related to one of these calibers.

Putting this together I'm thinking an AR-15 pistol and if I can afford a second upper for it, I'm going with the 300BLK. I am now getting comfortable with reloading and getting brass and is not hard with this puppy when all you do is chop down 223/5.56 brass from 45mm to 35mm and voila, 300BLK (7.62x35mm). I can now use all of the same parts that make the AR-15 but just change the barrel. I also use the same slugs that I would use with a 308 or 30-06. This is truly the reloader's place to be to pack hard hitting rounds in a package that is easily handled in a confined space.

If that wasn't good enough for you, the 300BLK also out performs 7.62 Russian in accuracy, effective range and foot pounds of energy. 7.62 Russian by the way is .311 of an inch whereas SAMMI and NATO 30 cal and 7.62 is .308 of an inch. No AK for me.

Good point Surf. Metal-on-metal wear is a killer of good gear.

You also reminded me of a couple "what if" discussions I was involved with. During a "business trip" in the 'Stan, we had issues getting certain bits of gear including break-away rings. These little loops were made of plastic and held a decent constant force, but with a shock load they broke. This was handy to get your tags lines free when the SKED litter or basket reached the bird hovering over head.

We never had to use this (Army supply always left us "hungry" but never "starving" when it came to material) but we devised a way to use 550 cord guts. We experimented a little with tying loops of one and two strands of 550 guts to produce a functional alternative. We settled on two loops of two strands one bigger than the other with the smaller using a square knot and the larger using a figure eight. The loop with the square knot would break with about 50 pounds of force and the one with the figure eight would break at about 90 pounds (both shock loads, +/- 15 pounds). We had them set up that way as a level of safety with the "Joe-ingenuity" gear.

Just something for the mental cargo pocket.

This is a pretty good review by Bama Bull. There are a few points that I would like to emphasize, from both a common sense point of view, and from the point of view of another guy with some training and experience (US Army Mountain Warfare School, Afghanistan Campus of the School of Hard Knocks).

First: use mountaineering gear... for mountaineering. Now I use snap-links all the time for hooking my stuff together. What I am talking about is using your mountaineering rated static (or god forbid, dynamic) line to tow your beater out of a ditch. The same goes for the metal gear as well. If you gotta do it for some reason, fine. Just don't trust your life on it again... EVER!

Second, I've said this before somewhere and it has been said many times here, "ounces equal pounds and pounds equal pain." Places to cut weight when you've got to hump something will save you misery.

Third is if it's going to get carried, it better get used. I carry a stainless steel D-ring that weighs 14.5 oz. Why... because if I'm going to dangle buddy in a SKED litter and two attendants on class 5 terrain and lower them, I'm going to anchor them with something rated to 65 kN. Heavy it is, but I have put five on one of those things and felt alright with the safety margin. I have a lot of other equipment, but I always have one 65 kN `biener.

So lastly, I have done the math on this item and I'll show my work.

29 kN rating + great functioning + only 2.9 oz + $17 or $18 = a great deal on a D-Ring!

Not a game changer to my setup, but it looks like it's worth the investment.

In 2006 I had my one L and D (birth) experience, and I was the senior medical person there. My take away from that situation... you can't mop a dirt floor. Even in an uncomplicated birth there is a lot to do and keep track of to include questions like did you get the placenta? All of it? All of both of them (fraternal twins)? My hat is off when it comes to OB's and Nurse Midwives.

The "planning" of pregnancy is for everyone. Unfortunately there are a few hangups when it comes to the male side of the equation. First, barrier methods are the only non-permanent, reliable methods available for men. Vasectomies are all well and good, but there is no "maybe later" to that choice, especially after TSHTF.

This puts a lot of the onus on women to control pregnancies. Beyond what has been talked about earlier (sponges, spermicides, OCP's), there is one option that has been mentioned but only in passing.

Intrauterine devices (IUD's) have been around for a while and have safety and efficacy rates on par with tubal ligation. ParaGard® (copper) has been approved by the FDA for use beyond 10 years (I believe it is now 20 years but I need to look at the literature again). Mirena® contains progesterone and has been approved for seven years, although the progesterone is typically depleted by five years. The safety of IUD's is such at empirical treatment of STDs or PID no longer calls for the removal of the device.

The important thing here is that removal of an IUD is not complicated (but get someone familiar with them, like say... a medical professional), and fertility returns almost immediately if not immediately after removal.

There are a few other practices that can be used to help prevent unplanned pregnancies. The rhythm method and early male withdrawal are problematic at best. There are other methods that I have heard of but I don't know a lot about them so I won't go into details. I am looking into it though (right after I get done taking this round of boards).

By the way, I have served with many a woman in combat. There are many whom I would serve with again in a heartbeat and I know would have my back. I liken the female body to a formula one versus the male muscle car. Higher maintenance, but amazing speed and performance.

As a follow-up, I went to the range here recently and put a few hundred rounds through my AR. The ammunition I wasn't too pleased with, but cleanup was phenomenal! The carbon just wiped off of everything and I was done in just a few minutes with a direct gas AR. The Sentry Solution products are amazing and I am a believer.