When I was a classroom teacher, I could always spot the troublemakers no later than the second day of school. They were the ones who didn’t bother trying to make a good impression, while everyone else was clean, shiny, and overly polite.  In due time, this small number of kids would take up a good portion of my time as I worked to keep them focused on learning and out of trouble.

Looking back, I’d say that roughly 20% of my students caused about 80% of classroom disruptions.

This breakdown, 80/20, turns up over and over again, almost eerily so.  It was Vilfredo Pareto, an Italian economist who lived in the early 1900′s, who first observed that 80% of the peas he harvested from his garden came from 20% of the pea plants.  Looking beyond his own backyard, he noted that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the population.  In time, Pareto’s Principle, as it came to be called, was noted to have applications far beyond a harvest of peas or distribution of wealth.  In fact, it has implications for how survival-minded individuals can allocate their time, money, and energy.

Spot the 80/20 Rule in your own life

When I was preparing material for the webinar, “5 Survival Rules You Can’t Afford to Ignore,” I collected together all the knives in my kitchen.  I had quite a pile of bread knives, steak and santoku knives and many, many others.  When I set aside the knives I actually used on a regular basis, it was quite apparent that the 80/20 Rule was at work in my own kitchen!  I reach for the same 6 or 7 knives over and over.

My daughter loves to paint and has a large collection of acrylic paints in every color of the rainbow. However, when it’s time to buy new paint colors, the list is almost always the same: white, black, yellow, red, and blue.  In other words, about 20% of the colors in her paintbox!

In what ways do you see the 80/20 Rule in action in your own life and home?

image by HVargas

Applying the rule to survival

So what does all this have to do with preparedness and survival? Quite a lot, actually!  Consider first the collection of tools you have collected.  In your tool box or garage, you probably use the same 20% far more than the other 80%.  When you go camping or hunting, only about 20% of your supplies are most vital to the success of your trip.  When you go to the shooting range, you likely take the same firearm(s) every time!

I have a large box of various over-the-counter medications that I’ve been collecting, but you know what we use most often? Ibuprofen, cough syrup, and Benadryl.  Among my essential oils, I use lavender and eucalyptus most often.  Clearly the lesson here is to stock up on these items far more than any of the others.

The important point about the 80/20 Rule and these tools and supplies is that it helps you identify what you use most often and, possibly, what is most likely to break or be consumed most quickly.  With that in mind, those are the items that need back-ups and back-ups to the back-ups!  (See Rule of 3.)

Survival skills and vital knowledge

The 80/20 Rule has been called the rule of, “the vital few and trivial many.”  When it comes to skills, knowledge and survival, there certainly is an 80/20 breakdown with a few skills being most vital to survival and the rest, not so much.

Consider the skills that you have mastered.  If you could pass down only 3 or 4 to your children or grandchildren, and you knew those skills could make the difference between life and death, which would they be?  Classical guitar?  Hunting and field dressing game?  Cooking from scratch?  Scrapbooking?  Identifying wild plants that are safe to eat?

Knowing which skills are most important will improve the survival odds of your family now and teaching them to the next generation will do the same for them.

Here’s what’s most important…

Regardless of where it’s applied, the real value of the 80/20 Rule is that it reminds  us to focus on the areas, the people, the knowledge that is most important.  None of us have unlimited time, money and energy.  Each day we have to determine what steps to take to become better prepared for an uncertain future.  Each day we have to decide how to allocate our time.  The smartest way to do that is to look for ways to apply the 80/20 Rule in your  own life and home.

The video

I’ve recorded a short video that shows how to apply the 80/20 Rule to other areas of preparedness, including food storage and establishing a “survival community”.  You can watch it right here!

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by dirt licker

It’s not my imagination.  Angry groups of people are gathering together more and more often, protesting perceived injustice, failure of leadership, the financial malpractice by our government and banks, and just about any unpopular decision made by a governing body.  Sometimes these groups go so far as to cast their anger, and blame, on those far from the source of their original complaint. They may even show up at the private homes of individuals they have targeted for one reason or another.

Riots and mobs have long been a part of life in second and third world countries, and as America’s fortunes continue to spiral downward, it’s highly likely that, at some point in the future, you will be confronted with surviving an encounter with a mob.

Just recently a small group of self-identified, “anarchists” attacked a Starbucks in New York City.

“Mob of Anarchists Attack Starbucks”

Reading the article, a few facts jumped out at me.

• Only 25 people were involved in the group.
• Those inside Starbucks must have been terrified with no place to go and probably no forms of self-defense.
• The anarchists advertised their event.
• Some were wearing masks, increasing their anonymity.
• They were willing to attack private property and law enforcement alike.

The problem with people

People are unpredictable and as a general rule, the larger the group, the lower the overall IQ.  How else can you explain the crazy college students who go out and burn police cars to celebrate winning a championship game?  Think about it.  These young people had to present their high school transcripts and take at least one admissions test in order to be accepted.  Then, they set cars on fire because their team won or lost a game.  A large group of people with a lower collective IQ and fueled by alcohol is an even deadlier combination.

Another issue when it comes to protests and demonstrations is that it increases the cloak of anonymity that people believe they have. They feel free to do what they have always wanted to do but felt constrained by the fear of being identified.  Look at this photo of a protest that took place in Iran and you’ll see what I mean.  How likely will anyone remember the dark-haired guy in the white shirt a third of the way from the front?

image by FreedomHouse

Many of these groups are made up of cowardly bullies who would never confront a police officer on his/her own or break windows or strip innocent bystanders, but when they are part of a larger group, they’re emboldened to do things that they would never do alone.

A final issue with mobs of people is that they adjust their behavior to that of those around them.  You can see this occasionally in photos and videos when one protester will glance at others around him and raise his voice, increase his level of anger, raise his fist, etc.  The mob, not the individual, is in control.

Where does law enforcement come in?

I spoke with a few individuals in various law enforcement departments, and here is the gist of their advice: You’re pretty much on your own if you are ever caught in a riot or other violent demonstration.

That’s right.  Police and other law enforcement departments have multiple plans for dealing with angry mobs.  What they don’t have are plans for rescuing you if you are caught in the middle.  You absolutely must have a plan for staying safe.  Not for taking on a hundred people single handed,

image by Kashklick

just staying safe and getting away.

Information can be your best defense

It’s vital to know what is going on in your town as well as national trends.  The protests and violence following the Trayvon Martin incident spread far beyond Sanford, Florida.  Listen or watch local news and sign up for email and/or cell phone alerts from local TV and radio stations.  Very often they will send out alerts far more quickly than law enforcement.

Staying informed is especially important if you live or work in a high-profile area, such as an urban area with many government and corporate buildings.  If this describes you, you should also have a Get Home Bag and multiple routes for getting to a safer place.

Groups such as Communist Students and sites such as Protest.net publicize their grievances, plans, and protest locations.  Law enforcement keeps tabs on these groups, so why not you?  Follow them on Twitter, sign up for their emails (establish a separate email address for this), and track them down on Facebook.  If you hear of a protest scheduled near you, at least you’ll have advanced warning to be prepared or to be somewhere else on that day.

What about real self-defense?

One friend in law enforcement told me that he would want to have a concealed handgun if he were ever caught in a mob.  I have no problem with being armed but would definitely think twice about the circumstances and my plan for self-defense.

For example, firing a gun would immediately identify me as a target, especially if my appearance didn’t fit in with the crowd.  I’m not so sure facing down dozens of angry people is my idea of a good survival plan.  As well, stray bullets could hit innocent people or a police officer.  A firearm might be a better choice for back-to-the-wall self-defense among a smaller mob or if caught in a building that provides a degree of cover.

It’s important to not underestimate the force and combined anger of a large group of people and how rapidly it can amplify.  The smartest self-defense weapon in this scenario is your brain and previous planning.

Plans and tactics when peaceful becomes violent

Here’s the problem with these protests.  They are made up of people, generally angry people, who have a grievance. It takes very little to turn a peaceful protest violent.  In fact, many groups have trained individuals who purposely stoke anger and, hopefully, cause a violent reaction against police, bystanders, and private or government property.  To some, a protest isn’t a success until several of their members have been hauled off to jail.

I recorded this video with more tips for staying safe during a time of civil unrest.  Please add your own suggestions in the comment section and remember to enter this giveaway for a free Big Berkey water filter and a signed copy of my book! 

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

What are the top five or six items you should keep in every vehicle?  I shared my recommendations on “Good Morning Arizona” earlier this week.  Here they are, along with a few tips. (If my book cover looks funky, it’s because they used a graphic of the first draft!)

What would be your top five essential items to always have in the car?

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

It was kind of fun being invited to participate in a story The Today Show was preparing on the topic of preppers and survival.  Naturally, I made sure the house was clean and that the kids had bathed the morning the film crew showed up!

The reporter, Janet Shamalian, was very nice and asked numerous, probing questions.  A couple of them even stumped me for a few moments, such as, “What is the message you’re trying to get across here?”  I don’t know why, but I pulled a blank on that one.  At any rate, none of my answers ended up in the segment, and I believe you only hear my actual voice once or twice.

I disagree with Janet’s statement at the end when she claims that FEMA recommends only 3 days worth of stored food and am not sure where she got her information.  This FEMA document recommends two weeks, which is a lot more realistic when considering not only the length of many severe weather events and natural disasters but the additional days in which a community needs to recover.

Here’s the video from Monday, March 5:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

Marjory Wildcraft is one of my favorite gardening gurus.  You can learn more about her at Grow Your Own Groceries.  Last month I had a chance to meet up with her, and we recorded this video.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by Dharmuti

I love this idea from the GardenGirl, whose videos you can find on YouTube.  Start saving toilet paper tubes, get some potting soil or use what she uses, coco fibers.  Toilet paper rolls are probably the cheapest potting pots I’ve ever heard of.

© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

My son yelled at me today, “Mom!  We need this RV!”  After watching the video, I agree!  What an awesome Bug Out Vehicle! Can you think of anything it’s missing?

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by mattlemmon

At the risk of sounding like Chicken Little, I have to admit that the threat of more terrorist attacks on American soil remains in the back of my mind.  Here in Arizona it’s a well known fact that those crossing our southern border illegally include nationals from countries hostile to our own.  Are they all terrorists?  No one knows, but then, no one can say they are not.

A Terrorism Liaison Officer here in Arizona directed to me a well-made series of videos designed to alert Americans to the 8 Signs of Terrorism.

1. Surveillance
2. Gathering information
3. Testing security
4. Finances
5. Acquiring supplies
6. People who don’t belong
7. Dry run rehearsal
8. Getting into position

I’m reminded of an incident years ago when I was spending a summer in Israel.  I was walking with a friend and two Israeli men down a street in Tel Aviv one evening when the two men suddenly guided us across the street and away from an alley.  I asked what was going on and was told, “It’s just not good for us to be there.”  I never did find out what he saw or heard, but these two were obviously in tune with even the most subtle signs of danger.

Here is the first video in a series of ten that introduce the 8 Signs.  You can view all of them or the complete 22 minute video here.  Thanks, Art, for the heads up!

© 2011, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.

image by akeg

Watch this video and tell me if you can imagine two women doing this out in the middle of the wilderness, just for entertainment and TV ratings!  I don’t mean any disrespect, but, really?

It would appear that Guy #1 lost the coin toss.

Guy #1 inflicts a pretty good size cut on his own arm. Guy #2 pours gunpowder in the wound and then sets it on fire. What could possibly go wrong? How about a permanent, ugly, and unnecessary scar! Sure hope that paycheck was worth it!

P.S.  My mom LOVES this show!

© 2011 – 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.