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*What is the 3-Percenter Report... and why should you care?

*The tipping point, and why we’re dangerously close to having our freedoms ripped from our hands...

*The best survival gun combination...

*How to choose the best tactical knife...

*Gear Review: CRKT M16 Series Knives

Welcome to the first issue of The 3- Percenter! But what is that, you may be asking. What is the three percent?

It’s about American history.

The story dates back to 1775. During the American Revolution, you might be surprised to learn that those men and women fighting against the King’s tyranny were the tiniest of minorities. The revolutionary forces never amounted, in fact, to more than three percent of the colonists. Those who actively fought for independence had the nominal support of perhaps ten percent more of their fellow colonists.

Of the remainder of Americans, maybe twenty percent more were at least sympathetic to the cause, but did little or nothing to support it.

Then there was another third of the colonist population who remained loyal to the King. By the end of the revolutionary war, there were actually more American colonists fighting FOR the King than were actually in the field fighting against him.

If my math is correct, that leaves roughly one last third. These people took no side. They simply rolled with the winds of circumstance, ready to accept whatever resulted from the tumultuous events around them. They were, essentially, dead weight, carried into the future by whichever side won the war.

Does that sound at all familiar to you?

If you’re a “traditional” American, if you believe in the founding principles of liberty on which our nation and its Constitution were built, you may be noticing something lately. That is that you’re now considered, by your government and a growing population of useless, dead-weight “Americans,” to be one of the enemies.

Your government has, in fact, named you a potential domestic terrorist -- you, and anyone else who might vote for a third party, who thinks the

Caleb’s Rant: What is the 3-Percenter Report?

Tea Party might have a thing or two right, who have served in the military, or who just plain doesn’t hold with the left-wing nonsense that has invaded so much of our popular culture these days.

Let me ask you this: What do you think when you hear news stories about six-year-old boys being arrested for “sexual harassment” because they kissed a girl on the cheek? Or kids told they can’t wear green and red in school during December because someone might be offended by a reference to Christmas? Or what about the kid who got expelled because he chewed a toaster pastry in the shape of a gun? Does your stomach churn when you hear stuff like that? Does it make you angry? Does it make you wish you had some way to prepare for a future in which, a right-thinking American with traditional morals, are considered the “enemy” by your government and by a huge portion of your useless fellow citizens?

But wait; we’re not done. Remember the Obamaphone lady? This was the woman who screeched into some idiot news person’s camera that Republicans were terrible and Obama was wonderful. She didn’t really know WHY she was voting for Obama, except that she was the recipient of a free cell phone through some government program. The program existed before Obama, but now it’s actually called the “Obamaphone” program. Since when it is the government’s job to hand out free cell phones to people? And why is it okay to buy votes that way?

It sounds cliché, but have you ever been in the grocery checkout, mentally ticking off the hard-earned dollars you’re about to spend on increasingly expensive food (after paying for the increasingly expensive gasoline to get you there in a car that you’d like to replace but can’t afford to), when you noticed the person in line ahead of you paying with an EBT card? I hate to sound like the sort of person who beats dead horses, but the idea of the “welfare queen,” the citizen

who lives well on money that YOU earn, isn’t just a story or even a convenient exaggeration. There are now more Americans on welfare than work full time. Can you imagine that? Do you realize what that means?

Then there are the illegal immigrants swamping the nation. Our borders to the SouthWest are practically porous, and a huge percentage of the violent prisoners now occupying space in our jails and prisons are illegal immigrants. Every time our government contemplates giving amnesty to this group of illegal occupants of our nation, what they’re REALLY saying is, “Hey, let’s legalize a bunch of new citizens who will vote for the party that gives them free stuff.”

Do you know what a tipping point is?

Sooner or later, the folks who “vote for a living” are going to outnumber the citizens who work for a living. When that happens, there isn’t going to be any election that traditional, hard-working Americans can win. They’ll be a minority no matter what they do, and we are rapidly approaching that point.

But this isn’t just about economics. The party whose useless voters just do what their televisions tell them to do also wants to control your children in “public” schools (which really ought to be called government schools, because that’s what they are). There they fill your kid’s head with all kinds of ideas about how awful this country, its founders, and its history are supposed to be. Gone is pride in country, the Pledge of Allegiance, the idea that we are a great nation whose citizens have fought hard to get here. Instead your kids learn basically to love every culture EXCEPT the one in which they’re living, which they’re taught to hate. And they and their pediatricians, among many others, are taught to inform on you, their parents, to the authorities, in case you have any guns in the house.

That’s right: The same party hates your guns, hates the idea of you own guns, and does whatever it can to work around the Second Amendment and disarm you. Maybe you’ve noticed more and more laws being passed that restrict what you can own. These are laws designed to make you a criminal through some legislative fiat, not because you actually did something wrong. And when they can declare you a criminal, they can justify sending militarized police forces to your door to kick it in, kill your dog, and drag you away in cuffs after putting a knee in your back in front of your screaming family.

What it all boils down to is that traditional Americans, the kind of men and women who took up arms to fight the tyranny of the English monarchy, are a vanishing minority. If even three percent of your fellow citizens would consider joining the 3-Percenter Report, I would be shocked. We, the 3-Percenters, the patriotic Americans, the men and women who believe in liberty and in the Constitution, are an endangered species. We’re fighting a losing battle. We’re climbing uphill and all the odds are stacked against us.

And yet, that’s exactly what the Founding Fathers faced. The majority of their fellow colonists were against them. They faced death, imprisonment, poverty... and they fought anyway. When they signed the Declaration of Independence, they truly did pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause.

Your reading this because you’re like them. You’re reading this because you want to find a way to prepare and to take a stand against the forces slowly eating away at our nation. You’re reading this because, like the Founders, you have the mettle, the grit, the spirit to live as free people in a genuine state of Liberty.

Thank you for joining us at the 3-Percenter Report. We are honored to fight alongside you.

********************The Best Survival Gun Combination

One of the more ridiculous gun debates, arguments, hypothetical scenarios -- call it what you want -- that makes the rounds online and in gun stores is, “If you could only have one gun...” Typically the people who have these arguments will pick their favorite gun, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no particularly compelling reason you SHOULD have to pick just one gun for the rest of your life, is there? It does, however, make for a compelling mental exercise if you ask yourself what you would carry if you truly needed it in a given scenario.

Specifically, if you consider a survival scenario, you won’t always be able to hunker down in your well-equipped survival retreat with your vault full of guns and your stockpile of ammunition. “Survival” implies a certain flexibility. You may be at home, with the hatches battened down, sure, especially if the problem causing an emergency is civil unrest or a temporary power outage. But what if you’re called on to use your survival skills because a wildfire is forcing an evacuation? What if your government mandates an evacuation for one of any number of reasons, and all you can have with you in terms of supplies and equipment is what you can carry?

Realistically, you’re going to be able to carry a long gun, maybe two if you’re feeling youthful. More than that just isn’t going to work out unless you want to struggle to move and wear yourself out quickly.

You may think you can “cheat” these limitations by carrying a handgun or some sort of short-barreled weapon, such as a handgun fitted into a personal defense weapon stock (essentially producing a short-barreled rifle or even a semi-

automatic “submachinegun” envelope). The problem is that “survival” firearms needs aren’t usually “combat” firearms needs. Combat takes place at relatively short ranges, especially in urban environments. That is where any sort of short-barreled weapon shines. But “survival,” especially survival in any sort of long-term capacity, implies longer distances. You may need to hunt game; you may need to fend off hostile parties from a distance. “Survival” also implies you’ll be alone or working with a small group of fellow survivors. You’ll be outnumbered by the myriad hostiles you could face, from government forces to looters to rioters and other citizens who want what you could be carrying.

What all this adds up to is that, yes, you may well be carrying a pistol or personal defense weapon, but that’s your fighting and self-defense tool, not your survival weapon. Your survival weapon is a long-range tool, a means to reach out and get someone or keep someone off you.

Survival weapons can also be used for long-range destruction of personal property. You may be wondering how this is a “survival” function at all, but it may be the case that you need to make it more difficult for people to track you or for authorities to intercept in you a full-blown, collapse-of-law-and-order emergency. In that case, your survival weapon can be used to strike everything from cameras (a particularly pesky issue these highly monitored days) to electrical transformers and a variety of other equipment.

You might choose to go with a shotgun as your general-purpose survival weapon. The shotgun has a lot to recommend it. A good pump-shotgun is very simple and readily available. In a time when there are more and more unconstitutional gun laws hemming in your ability to purchase and own a firearm, pump shotguns offer decent firepower that is usually quite legal (given the pump shotguns traditional

standing as a hunting weapon, one of the few firearms the political left will still grudgingly allow you). A typical pump gun holds five rounds or so, which is more than enough firepower for limited engagements.

At relatively close ranges, the shotgun has great knockdown power. A variety of loads are available for it, including “specialty” rounds that let you tailor what the weapon is supposed to do (such as busting door locks). Realistically, though, there are only two loads you should be considering in a twelve-gauge pump gun. The first is double-aught (00) buck shot, which is basically nine metal pellets (each of them about the size of a nine-millimeter bullet without the cartridge case). The second is deer slugs, which are just a single heavy projectile.

At closer ranges the fearsome power of either load should be obvious. (Every other load is a waste of your time; bird shot and other lighter shot don’t penetrate deeply enough for self-defense use, which is why the fellow Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot in the face didn’t actually die from getting hit.) This is why the twelve-gauge shotgun is so well-regarded as a home-defense weapon. It puts immense power and moderate range in an affordable, legal, durable, and reliable package that almost anyone can own.

As the distances get longer, the shotgun looks less desirable as a survival weapon. The farther the distances get, the more 00 buck shot will spread. This means that if you’re shooting at a target that is near anything (or anyone) you DON’T want to shoot, you have no real idea where the pellets are going to go. Even if you have taken the time to gauge different shooting distances and work out the spread zones for each, this is still just a guess.

You can compensate for this problem by loading only slugs, or carrying slugs with the weapon (such as on a sidesaddle or in a bandolier sling) and loading them for when you anticipate

needing them. But this brings us to the other problem of shotguns. They are very loud, and if you are using your weapon to destroy equipment in order to foul pursuit by enemy forces or compromised authorities, your long-term-survival or “bug out” situation could quickly become an active pursuit. The same is true if you are using your survival weapon to hunt game. The boom of a shotgun will give away your position for a long way around.

Before ammunition shortages and skyrocketing prices made the lowly .22 Long Rifle hard to find, it was the easiest thing in the world to recommend a .22 Long Rifle weapon for all-around survival. Provided you take care to stockpile ammunition, this is still the case. A good .22 can handle all the basic utility, hunting, and even equipment destruction needs you might have while surviving, evading pursuit, foraging in hostile territory or non-permissive environments, and even fighting off enemies. While not the most powerful defensive round by a long shot, the .22 LR still takes more lives on an annual basis (or it did, domestically) than any other round simply because it is (or was) so common.

A .22 enables you to carry a lot of ammunition in a relatively small space with low weight requirements. It has long range, is relatively quiet (and can be made more quiet with subsonic ammunition and improvised silencers), and can be very accurate, which is desirable in a survival long arm. You want to hit what you’re aiming at and nothing else, and you want to be able to do this without drawing too much unwanted attention.

A good all-around semi-automatic choice for a .22 survival rifle, which does everything we’ve described and more, is the Ruger 10/22. These are common, accurate, and very well made. Models on the market now include a take-down version that breaks in two for easy storage and transport. Equipped with a scope, the Ruger 10/22 is capable or excellent accuracy, which

makes it ideal for small game, but also gives you ten quick shots with which to take down an adversary. With factory rotary magazines, it is quite reliable. A five-round magazine is available for those states that have draconian magazine limits, too.

Finally, if you have made the decision to carry a .22 Long Rifle survival weapon, there is one more weapon you might choose: The Henry .22 Lever Action. This rifle has a tubular magazine that holds a great many .22 rounds, but that it is not the weapon’s primary advantage. What makes the Henry a great choice is that it can fire .22 Short, .22 Long, and .22 Long Rifle. That means that even in times of ammunition scarcity, you can find some sort of .22 ammo that will fire in your gun. .22 Short is also a great caliber for taking small game and shooting practice rounds while making very little noise.

Finally, in a survival weapon, you could choose to upgrade to what is considered by some to be a glorified “varmint gun” anyway -- the AR15 platform. The 5.56mm / .223 round this weapon fires (and please be careful when selecting ammunition, because the two are not necessarily interchangeable depending on the weapon) does everything that the .22 Long Rifle does, but with longer reach and greater power. This makes it a better compromise if you’re worried about engaging hostile forces or taking heavier game than the .22 Long Rifle can reliably kill.

The tradeoff for stepping up to a .223 from the .22 LR in a survival weapon is noise and ammunition capacity. You can’t carry as much ammo with you for the AR as you can for the .22 LR. The weapon is also louder, raising your profile in a survival setting.

Regardless of the platform you choose, always keep in mind your intended purpose. Your survival gun and your combat gun aren’t necessarily the same thing. Choose your weapon accordingly.

Choosing a Tactical Knife for EDC and

Self-DefenseLet me acquaint you with a little bit of reality right now. You’re going to be tempted to think I’m wrong. You’re going to think you’ve seen and experienced different. But I’m right, and there’s a huge industry behind me that tells me I’m right. That industry couldn’t survive if I WASN’T right.

Everybody’s got a knife.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. You’re used to office buildings, or schools, maybe strictly controlled factories and retail stores, or other non-permissive environments where the rules or the law or the company handbook says you can’t carry a knife. You’ve convinced yourself that you’re the guy people turn to when they need to borrow a knife or open a box, and that’s probably because it’s true -- especially around your workplace.

Out in the world, though, out in the wider universe of fellow survivalists, predators, good-guys, bad-guys, and everything in between, chances are you’re going to meet plenty of people who carry knives. One of my hobbies when I’m out in public is looking for weapons. I’m always interested in what people are carrying and I get really excited if I see something truly new. One of my favorite such “spottings” took place in the restaurant of a roadside rest stop on a busy highway. I was sitting there eating a gulp-and-go burger when I saw a guy wearing a vest. I noticed because it was the kind of vest you’d wear with a three-piece suit, not a Western vest. He looked almost dapper... except for the knife sticking out of his back pocket. The guy had a sheath knife of some kind, like a ka-bar combat knife, sheathed on his belt behind his hip. The knife was inside his

back pocket, for the most part, and the vest concealed the portion that was above his pocket. He had gotten tangled up in something on his way to the salad bar or whatever, and his vest had ridden up to expose his knife.

Most of the time (except for those rare cases when you see a guy with a knife on his belt, riding in open carry for the all world to see) when you see a knife it will be a pocket clip in somebody’s pants pocket. I’m usually disappointed when I talk to somebody about the clip in their pocket. Most folks are happy to show you their knives, but a lot of people carry cheap junk. That’s what disappoints me. You see a guy who cares enough about self-defense and daily utility to carry a knife... and it turns out he’s carrying some fifteen-dollar discount store piece of garbage with a lock that will fail if he looks at it funny.

That cheap piece of junk, though, will still kill you dead. No matter what you read anywhere on the Internet, getting cut or slashed isn’t your biggest worry (although it can be fatal). Your big worry is getting stabbed. When a length of steel enters your body, whether it’s a cheap knife or a screwdriver or a three-hundred-dollar tactical folder or a piece of rebar, it has the potential to penetrate your organs and kill you. Relatively speaking, it takes time to bleed out from a cut (unless you are spurting from an artery). It takes a lot less time to die from the shock and trauma of having a knife stuck in your body.

This is all important because you should be carrying a knife. But you should not think you are special for carrying a knife. Chances are you’ll have put more thought into your carry blade than the next fellow, especially if he’s just a junkie looking to mug you to pay for his next high. But his knife can take your life as easily as yours can his.

The primary purpose of a tactical knife, unless you live in a non-permissive environment where having and carrying a gun is out of the question,

is NOT as a weapon. Plenty of people carry them as weapons, sure, but the very concept of a tactical folder (the subject of this article) is of a knife that COULD be used for self-defense, but most of the time will be used for day to day cutting chores. Because the average tactical folder is built strong to handle the unexpected emergencies that just might accompany a life or death situation, they make great choices for reliable, durable knives with well-thought-out features.

That’s the EDC, or Every Day Carry, concept: Your EDC gear is stuff you carry on your body every day because you think you will use it. If you carry a knife, you figure you’ll use it for utility and, should the planets line up just right, you’ll use it to defend your life. Realistically you know that if you stay out of dangerous places and away from dangerous people, you generally won’t have to worry about getting into something life-threatening. But you can do everything right and danger can still find you. People are minding their own business in their homes every day when home invasion finds them. Other people are mobbed while they’re just out on the street, hurting no one, trying to go about their lives.

There are those who choose to carry a dedicated self-defense knife that is never used for utility. You could choose to do this because it preserves the edge of your knife for when you truly need it. But if you never draw your knife, never get used to deploying it and using it, you might fumble it when the time comes. It’s better to carry a knife you will use on a day to day basis, a knife you will become very comfortable with. Then just keep the edge well maintained so you don’t get caught with a dull knife.

There are a few qualities you should look for in a tactical folding knife. First, it must have a secure lock. It doesn’t matter what the locking mechanism is as long as it is strong and reliable. You need to be able to open and close it with one hand, too, because you never know what

you’re other hand might be doing in an emergency.

Second, the knife must be big enough to be useful but not so large that it is unwieldy. A blade between three and four inches, with a handle around four to five inches, is generally as large as you’ll want to go in a day to day carry knife.

Blade shape is really up to you. The most ideal self-defense tactical folder blade shape is one that has some curve to it for slicing and a nice, sharp point for piercing. You could get a tanto-style knife, which has no curve at all, and as long as you keep it sharp it will still do the job (and it is nice and strong for penetrating deeply).

Serrations are a good choice if you want a knife that will continue to saw through what it is cutting even after it is dull. A lot of people don’t like serrations because they worry these will get hung up in clothing or be hard to resharpen. Neither is a huge concern. It’s easy to resharpen serrations with a rod sharpener, and the size of the serrations on most folding knives is not so large that they’re going to hang up in an andrenalized situation. There just isn’t that much “tooth” to the serrations that you wouldn’t be able to jerk them free.

If possible, choose a tactical folder that has one of those “flipper” guards. This is a guard that is part of the blade and sticks through the handle when the blade is closed. It doesn’t matter if you use the flipper to open the knife. What you’re looking for here is a knife that will protect your hand if the lock fails under abuse (such as the gross abuse that would be stabbing a human being). The flipper guard makes contact with your fingers instead of the cutting edge of a folding knife that doesn’t have that flipper guard. Some folding knives have a large unsharpened area below the blade that acts as the same sort of safety feature in the event of lock failure, but the flipper guard leaves no

doubt.Choose a knife that has a pocket clip. You likely won’t carry it otherwise, and the clip lets you put it wherever is most convenient for you. Stay away from plastic clips, though, which can break easily. Metal clips are much better. Finally, your tactical folder must have a means of one-hand opening. It doesn’t matter if it’s spring-assisted or not, as long as you can make that blade snap open and lock positively with one hand. This is much more reliable in a tactical folder than in any “switchblade.” Your thumb power is all it takes, combined with a quick snap of the wrist. Choose your tactical folder wisely. It will serve you day in and day out... and it might just save your life.

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Gear Review: CRKT M16 Series Knives

One of my favorite blades is the Columbia River Knife and Tool M16 series. These come in multiple blade shapes and multiple sizes, some with the LAWKS or AutoLAWKS feature.

(LAWKS and AUTOLAWKS are a means of locking the blade open, either manually or automatically, when the liner lock is engaged.) They all have pocket clips and they all incorporate “flipper” guards. Some past models even feature dual flippers for added security.

What I like about the M16 series in all its forms is how it sums up the concept of “tactical

folder.” My favorite blade type is the spear point, which I think is great for both daily utility and for cutting, slicing, and penetrating in self-defense. The knife can be opened and closed with one hand, locks firmly and securely when open, and has a pocket clip to make it handy to tote around every day.Best of all, the entire series of imported knives is affordable.

No knife can be all things to all people. Your preferences may mean you don’t like the M16 series as much as I do. But the knives are available in different blade styles with and without serrations, at multiple price points and in different sizes. You can pick out one that matches many of your preferences “off the rack,” and once you do you’ll have an every day knife that is a good compromise between price and quality. It’s good enough that it’s not junk, but inexpensive enough that you won’t be shy about using it for dirty jobs or replacing it if it gets lost or confiscated. Check out CRKT at their website, www.crkt.com , and buy the M16 series wherever tactical knives are sold. It’s cheap enough that you have no excuse not to be carrying one of these knives right now.

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Case Study: Grandma Kills

Knockout Game Thugs

Our case studies are generally of American citizens who have acquitted themselves well in self-defense or endeavors of patriotism. One of the stories that has captivated national

attentions recently is that of a St. Louis grandmother who, when “knockout game” thugs came calling, turned her gun on the thugs.

Supposedly she shot and killed a man (some stories say two) who tried to walk up and punch her out.

This is the “knockout game,” a nationwide trend that has gotten a lot of press recently. True news stories of predominantly black males targeting what are typically white senior citizens or middle aged people have alarmed citizens across the country.

A lot of people have started to wonder if this is the start of a black-on-white crime wave, because so many of the reports involve black criminals and white victims.

If a senior citizen used a legally concealed weapon to shoot a thug like that, to prevent harm to herself while putting a thug in his place, that would make her exactly the sort of person we would want to profile on these pages.

Our case studies are devoted to honoring people who have performed well in the fields of self-reliance, love of country, entrepreneurship in the face of big-government obstacles, and so on.

Sadly, however, we must report that the pistol-packing granny doesn’t exist. We can’t profile her for that reason. But the “knockout game” is very real, despite the fact that several prominent “liberals” and “progressives” have begun repeating the lie that it is a hoax.

You see, there’s a certain political class out there, a certain ideology, that sees your freedom as a threat. You owning a gun, you being able to defend yourself, is the problem, to these people. They don’t want you to have a gun. They don’t

want you to be self-reliant. If you are attacked by thugs because of the color of your skin, they want you to be a good little victim. They hope you’ll get knocked out. They don’t care if you are killed. They don’t care if your family is raped. They only know that guns scare them and the freedom to carry guns scares them. They hate self-defense and aren’t capable of it themselves, so they project their weakness on everyone else.

Any citizen who stand up to this, any citizen who uses legally and morally justified force to stand up to thuggery and political correctness, is standing for his or her rights as an American citizen.

Anyone who does this is worthy of a profile in these pages. In future issues, we’ll bring you true life stories of people who really do deserve to be profiled, and we hope you will benefit from their examples.

The grandmother who defeated the knockout game thugs doesn’t exit... but the threat, and the good people out there on the streets who are just trying to go to work and get home at the end of the day, are no less real than you or me.

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Survival Tips: Cold Weather Car Kit

Ever watched a person struggle to find jumper cables?

It’s a mystery to me how some people can leave the driveway without so much as a pair of jumper cables in their trunk, but the fact is, we’ve all done it.

Maybe you were driving a rental car.

Maybe you just bought a used car and you hadn’t had time to check the trunk yet.

I know that’s happened to me: You buy a used car but don’t think about whether there’s a working jack or an inflated donut in the trunk.

Then when a tire blows you’re stuck unless you can call for help.

Well, if all you’ve got is a blown tire, that’s one thing. But what if you and your entire family were stranded in a snowstorm, fighting frostbite and wondering if help would ever come?

That happened to a family of six people in Nevada not too long ago. The group was driving along a dirt road in their Jeep when it went over and embankment and lanced in some sort of crevasse, miles from someplace called “Lovelock.”

The two parents had children with them ranging in age from 3 to 10 years old. Temperatures were around 21 degrees (Fahrenheit) when the accident happened, but they dipped below zero in the two days that the family waited for help.

Finally, using pings from the couple’s cell phone, authorities and rescuers were able to find them. What they found was a family of 6 who had high morale, were in good health and, despite having run out of food early on, acted like they had been on a camping outing rather than in danger of freezing to death.

Those parents deserve some kind of medal. Apparently they used a tire for fuel (yes, tires will burn, especially if you fill them with gasoline -- in Africa, this is used to kill people and is called a “necklace”) and built a fire. They stayed close to their vehicle, facilitating their

rescue, and they used the shelter of the Jeep to contain heat. The fire was used to heat up rocks that they then brought inside the jeep to keep the interior warm.

I would challenge any family to match the survival performance that family put on. They didn’t panic. They used the resources available to them. They made the right decisions, and They stayed alive and well until help could come and get them to safety.

That’s survival done right.

There have been other stories in which the people involved did NOT make the right decisions.

I remember once tragic tale in which a couple got stuck in a snowstorm in the middle of nowhere. The husband left the car and went for help. He was seized by the urge to DO SOMETHING, and that’s a powerful urge.

But he wasn’t equipped to survive the elements away from his vehicle. He was killed by exposure; his wife was eventually rescued. In other words, he chose... poorly.

Winter is on us, and if you are caught in a car in a blizzard, you had better hope you have the forethought to keep a cold-weather survival kit in the car. Your task, in the event of such an emergency, is to keep a clear head, stay with your vehicle in the hopes of being rescued, and find a way to increase the visibility of that vehicle so that you will be seen and found. There may not be a way to do that, or you may be able to find something.

Road flares are a temporary measure. Fluorescent road markers are better and last

forever. Glow sticks are another method that lasts for a little while.

It’s a good idea to pack food and water in your vehicle, as well as a basic outdoors survival kit so that, if you are lost in the middle of nowhere, you have the means to construct rudimentary shelter, start fires, and so on.

Many emergencies happen at night, too, so make sure you keep ample supplies of light (a flashlight, spare batteries, and a redundant light source like glow sticks) in the kit. A good multitool is always an excellent choice, because if you are handy at all you may need it to work on the car itself to effect basic repairs.

Your cold weather car kit absolutely must include warm blankets. One good choice is a wool/synthetic blend army blanket.

These tend to be very heavy, but not scratchy like 100% wool blankets. They are great for sheltering in cold weather inside a vehicle.

Some food and water is another good choice. The water is less critical because, assuming there is snow, you can melt this to drink. Be aware, though, that you have no idea how polluted it is.

Also, never eat snow without melting it first. The heat loss from your body to melt the snow will cause you problems while you’re trying to endure cold weather.

Carry a shovel in your cold weather kit. A collapsible shovel is okay as long as you test it to make sure it will stay open under stress.

Some of the cheaper ones just collapse again and are useless. A fixed shovel, like the Cold Steel Special Forces Shovel, or any other wooden-handled space, makes a better choice.

This can help you dig your car out of snow and mud and can even be used as an emergency lever, not to mention a weapon.

Make sure to include good road maps in your car kit. These days, with GPS so common, a good set of road maps is almost an extinct species.

The best maps are the laminated kind that fold easily and are not harmed by moisture. Make sure you have some on hand for the local area in which you are traveling as well as the areas around it. These could save your life if you need to plan an alternate route around an obstacle or to avoid a closed highway.

Communication, in an emergency, is your very best means of getting help. If you don’t have a wireless phone, get one.

These days, it’s very rare to meet someone who doesn’t...

Prepaid phones are cheap to keep on hand for emergencies. Keep your phone charged up and keep a car charger in your vehicle. Many vehicles’ lighter plugs will work even if the car is turned off, which means your phone can slowly

charge from the car battery even if the car itself doesn’t run.

Another set of items you should be carrying in your cold weather survival kit is a complete set of boots, gloves, a hat, a scarf or head cloth, and a spare coat. No matter how unlikely you may think it is that you’ll need these things, put them in the trunk and leave them there. Murphy’s Law says that anything that can go wrong will, at the least convenient time.

I guarantee you that the one time you DON’T leave the house fully bundled up for the cold weather will be the time your car fails and you must be able to walk outside to get help, or change a tire in a blizzard, or do some other activity for which you’ll need the winter gear that you left the house without.

A head scarf, also known as a kefiyah or shemaugh, is a good choice for car carry and survival kits. You’ve seen these on “operators” in the military and they are increasingly popular with civilians. They come in multiple colors. You can use one of these to make a scarf, or you can wrap your head with it and protect your

face. They’re as effective for keeping out desert sand as they are for keeping you warm.

They’re cheap, too. Is protecting your face from frostbite worth twelve to fifteen dollars, US? We all take shortcuts. We all think to ourselves, “I’m just going out to grab lunch; I don’t need to be loaded for long-term survival to do that.”

But the fact is that if you take the time to prepare before the fact, you can endure these mistakes because you’ll have already planned for them.

When an emergency finds you, all you’ll have to do is take a quick mental inventory, identify the resources you’ve packed away for yourself, and then step forward to deal with the emergency with a clear, level head.

Save your life. Save your family. Take the necessary steps now. Stay safe, and I’ll talk to you next month.

To your freedoms...

Coming Next Month...You’ll discover the one item you MUST have in your house to survive a home-invasion... a dead-simple secret to making sure you can defend yourself... why you should NEVER punch an attacker in the face... The Torrez Secret for making sure you’re ready for anything... and more!

DISCLAIMER AND/OR LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. Because of the rate with which conditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update his opinion based on the new conditions. The report is for informational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, neither the author nor his affiliates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Any slights of people or organizations are unintentional. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services of a fully qualified professional should be sought. This report is not intended for use as a source of legal advice. You should be aware of any laws which govern the topics discussed herein in your city, country and state.