The

Lamplighter
Report

February 2013

Volume III, Issue 2

Family Preparation
for a Crisis

Inside This Issue

Family Preparation for a

Crisis

Real Life Dragnet

Doomsday Preppers

10

Interview with Gaye Levy 13

of Backdoor Survival

by Janet Lee Voss

Prepping takes on a different
kind of urgency if you have
children. It isnt simply your
own wellbeing that you have
to think about, but also that
of dependents. The age of
the children matters in terms
of how much they should be
involved in planning, but they
should be involved in some
planning. And you arent just
involving them in planning
because theyre an extra set of
hands. Letting them help you
plan will help them understand
what youre doing, why youre
doing it, and will (hopefully)
allow them to be calmer when
its time to enact the plan.
When thinking about prepping
with children, you need to
consider the following areas:
Creating and practicing the child-specific bug out plan in advance of
the crisis.

If you want to know more about the

40 Days of Survival Course and why
you should get signed up, please watch
our free presentation at

AbsoluteRights.com/GoneBeforeGridlock

Gathering supplies that are child-specific for your current children

(taking into account that they will grow and have different needs
throughout the years).
Practicing new skills related to prepping.
Prepping for future children.

The Bug-Out Plan

All of the above suggestions are geared toward one

thing: making an unfamiliar situation as familiar as
possible to the children. The more prepared they are,
the easier it will be for you to do what you need to do
when SHTF.

Every family needs a bug out plan that includes the

following:
Out of area contact person
Place to meet

The Bug Out Plan:

Children Included

Ways out of the house (practice three ways to

get out of the house)
Designated go bags (that are always in the
same place) for picking up for a fast exit from
home

Every family should have an emergency plan. Where

will you go when SHTF? How will you get in touch
with each other? If youre dispersed in different areas
where will you meet? How long will you wait for
each other? You should practice different scenarios
so that your children feel comfortable (as much as
possible) getting from where they are (school, ball
fields, gymnastics, etc.) to your meeting place (home,
somewhere away from home).

A plan for the family pet. (Is the pet staying or

going? The kids will ask you. Dont wait until
the last minute to decide.)
As part of your emergency planning, make sure that
your children know where they can go if they cant
find you. Point out places such as schools, police
stations, fire stations, churches, and hospitals as safe
places where they can find a responsible adult if they
cannot find you.

Theres disagreement about how much you should

talk to your children about prepping. Talk too much
about end of the world scenarios, and you will
frighten children. If you can couch your practicing
and learning as something for school (if you homeschool your children), or as a hobby, youre less likely
to raise the red flag.

Another part of the emergency plan is your family

code word. This should be a word that you wouldnt
use in normal conversation (you dont want it to
come up inadvertently), but something easy to
remember. If you live near the ocean, your code word
could be skiing. If you live in the mountains, your
code word could be desert. The code word will act
as a password. If someone is trying to take your child
somewhere, saying they are under your direction to
do so, they had better know the code word. The code
word can mean time to bug out and meet at place
xxx. Determine what this word is and what it means.
By having a simple one word code, if you have limited
time and resources to communicate, you can still get
the message across.

You can also discuss disaster preparedness as a

general fact of life. Almost everywhere theres
something that could happen that would cut power
and disrupt supply chains for a week or more:
tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires, ice storms,
etc. Things happen that would require children to
find their way to you and for you, as a family, to
change the way you normally do things. Rather than
feeling worried, if you prepare as a family for these
types of situations, the children will feel better, not
worse. (Theres always anxiety about potential bad
things happening, but explaining that youre doing
what you can to prepare so that everything will work
out okay will help with their anxiety.)

Small Bug-Out Kits

Do your kids go to school? Its worth placing a small
bug-out kit at the bottom of their backpack to help

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
2

them feel more comfortable and navigate the time

between the incident and when they find you. The
pack should include:

Plan not just for the things you need when you get
where youre going, but also for the things youll need
to get there.

A laminated card with instructions for the bug

out plan, including the alternate location and
the phone number of an offsite contact. Do
NOT put copies of documents such as birth
certificates or social security cards with the
bug out kit. The parents should keep those on
their person.

Prepping Supplies for

Families
Supplies fall into two categories: essential items such
as food, clothing, and shelter options, and quality of life

A squeeze tube of peanut butter and some

granola bars

items such as school or educational supplies and toys.

An emergency blanket

Dont forgetchildren are still growing and what they

A collapsible cup

need now wont be what they need as they get older.

While you have the time, its worth gathering both.

If you have several children they can share and use

Water purification tablets

hand me downs as they age. Childrens clothing

Rechargeable flashlight

can potentially be useful as trade items when your

Pocket first aid kit

children grow out of them altogether. They can also

be repurposed into other items including quilts,

Whistle

linings for coats, as rags, or anything else you can

Glow sticks

make from pieces of fabric sewn together. Waste

notwant not!

A small pouch with those items will fit inconspicuously at the bottom of a backpack and could mean the
difference between your child being safe and able to
get to you or being lost.

Clothing and Shoes

Children grow and grow and grow and grow. The
biggest issue with prepping for children is having

The Bug Out Relocation Process

enough clothing to last as they grow. Start now and

buy summer and winter clothes for the children from

How are you going to get where youre going? You

now until they are 18. If your children are a range of

might be able to use your car, and you might not. Part

ages, you can count on the younger ones to inherit

of planning includes knowing how youre going to get

from the older ones, but clothing will also wear out.

from point A to point B with your children. Are they all

Select sturdy items such as:

old enough to walk? Will you push the younger ones in

stroller or carry them on your back? If bicycles are part

Jeans

of your plan, do you have a bicycle accommodation for

Hooded sweatshirt

the kids, such as a trailer that attaches to the back of

Heavy-duty jean shorts

the bike, or a bike seat that is in front of you? If your

Socks, socks, and more socks.

bug-out plan includes paddling over water, do you

T-shirts

have life jackets for the kids?

Heavy-duty flannel button-down shirts

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
3

School Supplies

Underwear
Shoelaces

While most of your time will be taken up with meeting

Bras

your daily needs, you will want to make time for

Long Underwear

helping your children continue their education. Math

Bandannas

takes on a new meaning when it involves measuring

Hat

pieces of wood for carpentry projects or calculating

Gloves

fractions for cooking. Communicationwriting and

speakingwill be key for interacting with others.

Scarf

Stock up on homeschool curriculum books for your

Coat

children through at least high school. Invest in the

Instead of a rain coat, get several ponchos. These

classics, as wellthe Norton Anthology of English

can be used for a variety of sizes and the kids wont

Literature packs a lot of reading in a compact volume.

grow out of them. They can also be used as tarps for

If you want books around, now is the time to get

emergency shelter.

them. You might also want to invest in some survivaltype books for kids like A Kids Herbs Book, The

Food

Dangerous Book for Boys, The Dangerous Book for

Girls, etc.

The biggest question regarding food for children

actually involves food for infants: formula. You can

Other supplies to gather include things like crayons,

stock formula, but you need to rotate it frequently, as

paper, scissors, glue, paint, paint brushes, pencils,

it expires faster than almost anything else you might

colored pencils, pencil sharpeners, tape, and any

gather as part of your prepping stock. If you prefer to

other art supplies. They wont last forever, but theyll

stock formula, do so, just keep an eye on expiration

be fun while they last. You might want to invest in

dates. For feeding infants in a survival situation, breast

slates and slate pencils. Of all places, you can actually

feeding is going to work the best. If you havent had a

buy those from somewhere like Colonial Williams-

child but are considering, or are pregnant now, start

burg (they have them in their online store). You can

out breast-feeding from the get-go. You cant decide

write, wipe, and re-use a slate for things like math

not to and then take back that decision later on.

and spelling over and over again.

Other food considerations include: dealing with

Other Supplies

allergies, making sure that you have enough

rainbow in your diet (for vitamins), and learning to

There are child-related supplies that dont fit neatly

into the food/water/shelter category. Here are some
items to add to your list:

cook food that your kids will actually eat. We would

recommend actually trying out recipes with your kids
that are made from dehydrated or stored ingredients,

Childs potty seat: You can put this on top of

a bucket. Can your child pee in the woods? A
potty seat will make it easier.

as well as wild-caught game or foraged greens. If you

can get them used to eating that way now, youll have
an easier go of it later. Your kids will also be healthier

Childs life jacket or pool floats. If you have

to cross any body of water it is safer for the

from eating safe, non-toxic, wild-foraged greens.

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
4

younger kids to have a personal flotation device.

canned and dry goods by checking the dates. Ask

them to tell you how many years before something
expires. This is helpful and educational.

Blankets and sleeping bags: Assigning each child

his or her own will help create a safe place
cocoon and will make them more comfortable.

Counting: When you go shopping to buy items

in bulk, have the kids help you count the
number of each item that matches your coupon.
This works on reading (the coupon) and math
(counting) skills.

Stuffed animal: You cant put the favorite

stuffed animal in the prepper pile now, but
dont forget it when you go!
Pacifiers: If you have babies, put some extra
pacifiers in your supplies.

Checking the bug out bags: Type up a list of

everything that should be in the bags. Have the
kids go through each bag and check items off
the list. They can make notes of anything that is
about to expire and tape the list on the outside
of the bags. This is most suitable for older kids,
but can be a valuable exercise in building familiarity with supplies, looking at the list, counting,
adding, and thinking.

Baby wrap: Put a Moby wrap or two in your

stash so that you can easily carry the infant.
This wrap can be re-purposed after the child
grows up.
Games: Any board games, puzzles, and, especially card games will be welcome diversions.
Sheet music and musical instruments: No
power = no radio music. If you have room/time,
invest in portable instruments and music to go
along with them.

Practicing Survival Skills

If your children are of the right age, now is a good
time to have them get involved with Boy Scouts or

Think about your own childrentheir personalities and hobbies, likes and dislikes. Add to this list
anything that would make your kids more comfortable. Theres no harm in making room for a
memento, a frivolous item or two (as long as they
arent bricks!).

Girl Scouts. The Boy Scouts do much more in the way

of practicing useful survival-type skills. If theres no
troop in your area, you can consider starting one. You
could also consider starting a Girl Scout troop that
focuses on more wilderness skills as opposed to skills
that are less practical for survival. If there are troops

Enlisting the Kids while you Gather

Supplies

that your children can join, and if you think you could

Kids can help with various aspects of prepping. Here

are some things your kids can help you do:

It isnt just organized group activities that will teach

dust up on your skills, volunteer to help with the

troop so that you can learn from others.

your children the skills they need to knowyou

can, as a family, learn them. Just as youd have your

Prepper I Spy: While at garage sales or thrift

stores, give the kids one or two things to be on
the lookout for. Theyll think its a game. Youll
spend half the time you normally would looking
through the sale.

little ones help with folding laundry or setting the

table, have them help in the garden. Take the family
camping and let the younger children help gather
kindling for the firedont forget to teach them fire
safety skills.

Date checking: Have the kids help you sort your

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
5

In addition to practicing survival skills, get your

opinions about this. Find one that works with your

children used to a world without electrical power

life philosophies.

and modern conveniences by having them read

Supplies

books like the Little House on the Prairie series,

Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson, and for

There are the supplies for the birthing process and

little children, books like The Ox Cart Man, and

supplies for the baby after birth. Stock up on cloth

others with pioneer themes. If you have a living

diapers. Lots and lots of cloth diapersthe old-fash-

history museum near you, visit it and learn about

ioned kind. These are useful for a variety of other

things like cooking and candle making in a fun and

things besides diapering.

educational environment thats not your home.

Towels are another thing youll need in copious quantities.

You will find, over time, that children enjoy learning

self-sufficiency skills and enjoy the fruits of their

A large pot for boiling water, stainless steel clamps

laborwhether they are wearing clothing made from

and scissors that can be sterilized, and a pair of

leather they tanned with help from mom or dad or

forceps should also be added to the kit. You can use

eating fresh produce they picked from the garden.

dental floss or thread to tie off the cord. You can

read about more specific supplies in the books.

Prepping for Future

Children

Help
When things settle down, meet another mother,

You dont have children now, but you know you

or meet a midwife or doula. They can help you more

want to eventually have children. Or, you arent sure

than any books can. Just be aware than unless you

that you want to have children, but you want to be

completely abstain, a new baby could be in your

prepared if you or your spouse becomes pregnant.

future.

Dealing with pregnancy and childbirth is a topic

in and of itself, but its worth mentioning here. If
theres even a chance you could become pregnant,

Prepping with Children

spend time now stocking up on some basic supplies

It bears repeating: the reason you should think

and information to help you when the time comes.

about child-specific prepping and child-specific

crisis preparation is to help your child remain calm

Information

in an emergency situation and to make them better

The best thing you can do is to learn as much as

equipped to handle a crisis.

you can. If you have the chance, talk to a midwife

Preparing by stockpiling things wont be enough

or doula. You need to know how to deliver your

if you dont work on survival skills, character-build-

own baby. One book that can help with that is

ing, a sense of responsibility, and decision-making

Dr. Bradleys Husband Coached Childbirth and

abilities with your children. There are two parts to

Emergency Childbirth: A Manual. You will also

prepping: the mental and the physical. Dont focus

need to know what to expect while caring for the

on one at the expense of the other.

baby. Look for books that explain child development and baby care. There are lots of different

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
6

Real Life Dragnet:

How the Government
is Collecting Even More
of Your Personal Data
by Eric Pickhartz
The unprecedented level of government surveillance in America
has just been increased.
According to a report first published by the Wall Street Journal,
entire government databases of information are now free to
be copied and kept by the National Counterterrorism Center.
Anything from financial transactions to flight records and nearly
everything in between will be analyzed for crimes or suspicions,
even without the reason to do so.

The Fourth Amendment calls for probable cause

of a committed crime. Now a loophole makes the
records that are created in normal operational
business available for scrutinizing, and the American
government has taken advantage.

which the NCTC already owns. This collection of

TIDE names includes those suspected of terrorism,
friends of families of assumed terrorists, and even
loose affiliations or acquaintances. This is the basis
of the watchlist system, leading opponents of these
newest measures to argue there are repeat offenses of
privacy violations.

Have you recently submitted forms seeking federallybacked mortgages for that new house youre looking to
buy? Did you or a family member ever receive treatment
at Veterans Administration hospitals? Have you ever
hosted a foreign exchange student? If so, consider
yourself warned: the government knows about it, and is
investigating anything, suspicious or not

If anything, expect something similar to 2002s Total

Information Act, which fizzled out after public opposition. The new measures will push the data collection further than weve ever seen before.
Its scary to think about how far we as a country have
come since the dawn of this new age of security.
What price are we willing to pay to allow the government to act as though they are protecting us?
What needs to take place for these secret decisions,
uncovered by the media and unbeknownst to the
general public, to start having more transparency?

But theyre investigating it to an unfocused extent.

Therein lays the problem: this new category of data
being collected has never before been classified.
Doesnt this sort of thing sound like the FBIs terrorist
list, or the no-fly list for airports? It does, because
they are all directly related. The report noted the
Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment database,

Im asking these questions not as arbitrary space

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
7

At this point in his life, he had secured a good job and

Hes begun to think about whats most important to
him, like his growing family and his newly-purchased
home. Like most Americans, he considers purchasing a handgun to have in case someone or something
tries to take any off that away from him.

fillers, Im asking them because I truly dont know the

answers. These are supposed to be hypothetical. As a
free nation, we shouldnt have to waste time thinking
about this sort of thing.
Instead, the government is slowly peeling away more
layers of the right to privacy, and is picking up steam
with each new law or restriction.

And with that, a little yellow warning signal with a

black exclamation point popped up next to his name
on a computerized database being analyzed in an office
at the Liberty Crossing complex in McLean, Virginia

Valuable Information
Lets take the latest conversations surrounding guns,
and think about how any and all information could be
used against law-abiding gun owners. Well toss a few
other variables into the mix, and create an imaginary
situation. It will seem imaginary, but in reality this
exact course of events could come true.

More Than Just a

Background Check
This young man had no idea, but just the process of
trying to purchase a handgun set off warning signs in
the NCTCs database. A background check produced
some on-the-surface suspicions, but had they been
taken with full context there would have been no
reason to raise a flag.

A young white male in his late 20s has just reached

the final few steps to adulthood after marrying,
buying a home, and expecting his first child. He
comes from a middle class suburban upbringing, and
his parents taught him to be cultured, respectful, and
above all else ethical.

He had bought chemicals to kill weeds in his lawn,

and bought a timer to set up his sprinkler system.
He joined a Muslim club in college to learn about
the religion. His parents hosted an exchange student
from China when he was in high school. He had a
passport punched in all seven continents. He had
submitted paperwork to secure his 30-year mortgage.
He had business associates from Saudi Arabia, Japan,
and Turkey.

Those parents wanted to give him a rich childhood

experience, so they traveled to nearly every corner
of the globe, hosted exchange students, taught him
multiple languages and encouraged him to be nonjudgmental with the people he associates with.
Maybe his high school days were mixed with some
shenanigans, and maybe he had an encounter or two
with local police in his small hometown. Perhaps he
was at a party or two that involved underage drinking
and drugs, a common occurrence in just about
anyones youth. He couldnt help it, he was genuinely
personable, and hung out with a diverse crowd.

He used cash for a lot of transactions, he had

emergency preparations in case of a flood or hurricane,
and he believed in his Constitutional Rights
I think youre beginning to see where this is going.
From a counterterrorism agencys perspective you
can maybe understand how this would look. But from
that young mans perspective, you can see how unbelievably unfair this alert could be.

Then by his college years, he was finding friends in

all kinds of places, including different foreign and
religious groups. He joined every club he could and
worked hard to develop a strong network of diverse
friends and acquaintances.

And so, continuing on with our story, that attempt to

buy a gun has now drawn attention to this man, and

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
8

when he tries to board a plane for a business trip,

TSA holds him up and causes him to miss his flight.
He fails to make the business deal, and losses a huge
chunk of that years income.

Again, I cant figure out the answers to these

questions. I think we need to be able to live our lives
without the threat of privacy or freedom violations,
but we continue to get further away from that ideal.

The man gets a notice in the mail that says he was

sold a handgun by accident, and that he should never
have had access to one. Hes outraged, but a knock
at his door days later reveals government agents
asking him to come with them, because they need to
ask some questions. His neighbors see him being led
into a black SUV, and forever ostracize his family for
assumed wrongdoing.

By implementing the recent changes in storing data

on Americans thought to be domestic terrorists, our
country has taken a big step backwards from where
the land and the free and the home of the brave is
supposed to be headed.
Disagreeing with these measures is obvious, but
educating yourself about the details is one of the
few methods you can take to protect yourself. Here
at Absolute Rights, we often talk about using cash
to avoid paper trails, and staying prepared for any
disaster with emergency supplies and weapons. It just
so happens that these are now the types of activities
the NCTC will be watching out for.

His business continues to suffer, and his family

begins to break apart. He cant provide for his wife
and child, and they leave him when he begins to drink
away depression and anxiety from his crumbling life.
The man has nothing but a lifetime of shame and
misfortune ahead, and none of it was deserved.

Thats not to say you should stop preparing, or stop

living your life the way youd like to live it. As long as
you arent doing anything illegal, you should have the
freedom to do whatever you want.

The Lesson to Learn

Okay, perhaps that example began crossing into the
extreme, but you get my point. During the entire
story, there was never once a mention of a real crime.
The man merely lived an eventful life, and felt as
though he should take personal and family protection
into his own hands.

Stay informed and up to date with these types

of privacy restrictions, and write to your local
and national government officials to voice your
concern. Keep a level and objective viewpoint in any
arguments, but also stay true to the kind of live you
know Americans should be able to live.

What are we supposed to do to prevent this sort of

thing happening? How can we truly feel our country
is safe from danger, when every piece of suspicious
information is kept on every person, accused or not?

And of course, keep reading Lamplighter and

Absolute Rights, because we care about your personal
privacy as much as you do.

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
9

Doomsday
Preppers: No
such thing as bad
publicity?

general public. The criticism of preppers has rapidly

increased in the recent months, and it will likely
become even worse in 2013.
Often, hit pieces on the prepper movement are
disguised as articles or shows that are supposed to
be balanced looks at the movement; but the reality
couldnt be further from the truth.
This is especially true of shows such as Doomsday
Preppers. This show has become the highest rated
show that that network has ever known, but their
success comes at a price to us. This series has only
served to make us a modern day carnival freak show
and if there is one thing people love its a freak show.

by Above Average Joe

Over the last 50 years or so being prepared and selfreliant has seen a major ebb and flow in the media
spotlight. What started out as a government funded
cold war campaign to prepare citizens for possible
nuclear fallout has evolved into so much more.

Even if you go on such a show and try to do your best

to explain your reasons for prepping in a rational
and coherent manner, the final judgment falls to the
shows editors. They must chose ratings over rationality and regardless of your efforts, if they feel the show
will get more views by removing your reasoning, it
will be left on the cutting room floor, and you will end
up as another nut job prepper.

Every decade or so since the 1960s, some form of

disaster or doomsday prophecy has occurred to bring
prepping and survivalism to the forefront of mainstream media before it sinks back into obscurity.
While the spotlight may have faded, the number
of preppers has never declined. In fact, it has been
estimated that there are now approximately 3 million
preppers in the United States alone.

These shows are trying to make it clear that prepping

is not a serious lifestyle and deserves to be mocked.
The underlying implications that this series instills in
the general population is that we are crazy and what
we are doing is stupid.

Personal preparedness has reached critical mass

and is now too large to be ignored, but instead of
embracing the movement as a practical way of life,
the mainstream media has decided that mocking the
movement will net them better ratings.

At the end of each segment, the producers of the

show make sure to include as many reasons as they
can think of that will show why the featured prepper
is irrational and why the things they are preparing for
are extremely unlikely to happen.

Major networks are cashing in on preparedness with

new Survival based shows which is great for them,
but where they could address the real issues that
have caused millions of Americans to prepare for the
worst, they have chosen instead to put the focus on
only the most extreme individuals.

Just in case you missed the message they have been

trying to communicate the entire time, they come
right out and spoon feed you the conclusion that they
were trying to hammer into your skull throughout the
entire episode.

They choose only to shine a spotlight on the strangest

people they can find in an attempt at better ratings.
The goal is to portray preppers as tinfoil hat wearing
lunatics that are a danger to themselves as well as the

If you need further proof that this show is meant

to mock preparedness lifestyle just look at reviews
of the show. For example, the following is from a

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
10

recent Los Angeles Times review of the new season

of Doomsday Preppers

if this was an illegal act in and of itself)

and said that he was very irritated
about the recent presidential election.
Porter had also invested in an underground bomb shelter and had installed
surveillance cameras on his property.

The preppers dont want my pity, of

coursequite the opposite, Im sure. The
joke will be on me, they would say, when I
am expiring from fallout or smallpox, being

Once the investigation into Porter

began, police discovered that he had a
1992 felony drug conviction and was
therefore barred from owning firearms.
On Thursday last week, no less than 150
armed and militarized police and FBI
agents in the guise of tactical assault
teams descended on Porters house as if
they were confronting a terrorist cell.
The raid also included helicopters, SWAT
crews, armored vehicles and even excavation equipment.

carried away in a tornado or torn apart by

the hungry ravaging hordes. (I am not even
prepared for the Big Earthquake that might
more probably get me.)
Would this Los Angeles Times reporter mock other
groups of Americans in a similar manner?
Probably not.
But unlike with other organized groups in America,
the media has made it clear that there is no punishment for this open mocking and as such its open
season on preppers.

After the raid, the claim that Porter was

stockpiling 10-15 machine gun-style
firearms was demolished when police
uncovered four shotguns, a .30-30caliber rifle and two .22-caliber rifles,
hardly a deadly mass arsenal.

After all the show is purely for entertainment right?

Not that any prepper that is thinking clearly would
go on a show such as Doomsday Preppers anyway.
Sure, your 15 minutes of fame might be nice, and Im
sure they probably pay decent enough, but any serious
prepper would not risk destroying their security by
being outwardly known to the public as a prepper.

Had he not been open about his preparedness,

would his irritation still have been met with 150
armed officers?

It appears that being a prepper is now grounds

enough to garner special attention from the authorities. As was experience by Terry Porter, a 46-year-old
prepper in rural Maryland who recently had his home
raided by 150 armed law enforcement officers. The
details of this incident were described in a recent
article by Paul Joseph Watson

I highly doubt it.

But preppers have been labeled as dangerous
and crazy and that is the way that law enforcement
authorities now treat them.
So why are preppers hated so much?
Just by prepping, you are expressing your lack
of faith in the current system. Considering that
prepping was originally promoted by the government
as a way to make citizens more self-sufficient and

According to a charging document filed in

Washington County District Court, Porter
openly admitted to being a prepper (as

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
11

are unprepared for any major natural disaster.

The It wont happen to me, head in the sand, view
that most people have, absolutely astounds me.
The truth is that it isnt the preppers that are crazy.
It is the people who can watch the news and see
events that rattle entire cities, leaving hundreds dead
that still do nothing, that are the crazy ones.
Shows like doomsday preppers may dissuade a few
from prepping, but the stars of that show are not
the majority and should not be the basis by which we
are judged.

less reliant on government systems that failed, this is

quite the turn of events wouldnt you say?
We have moved far away from self-reliance and most
people have now been trained to trust in the current
system. These people that have been trained are the
people who have not experienced hardships in war
and famine. While I have not experienced them
first hand, I have seen the scars that a failure in the
system has left on my grandparents and great grandparents. Most people are not so lucky.

We are not all doom and gloom. Prepping doesnt

consume all facets of our lives. We are mostly
normal, everyday people that go to work, have social
lives, and take our kids to soccer practice.
Keep doing what youre doing. You will be prepared
if something happens and if nothing does, you still
havent lost anything.
You may get mocked a for prepping now, but when
TSHTF your preparedness will keep you and your
loved ones safe while others are scrambling for cover.

Blind faith in the system is a big reason why so many

Americans have not made any preparations at all. In
fact, one recent poll from CBN news discovered that
most Americans do not even have three days worth of
food in their homes and more than 60% of Americans

Ignorance may be bliss but it will never save your life.

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
12

Interview:
BackdoorSurvival.coms
Gaye Levy

food brought in to our community. A disruption can

occur when there is a mechanical problem, staffing
issue, a natural disaster such as a devastating storm
or earthquake or even a terrorist attack or other
manmade disaster.

by Tim Young

Given the logistics and geographic isolation of my

home, it seemed prudent to acquire the gear and
supplies that I would need survive under these and
other circumstances. Learning self-reliance skills was
a natural outgrowth of that.

What made you decide to start blogging about

your knowledge on BackdoorSurvival.com?
A lot of people ask me this
question and the answer is
always the same. In 2009, I lost a
substantial portion of my retirement savings as a result of the
Wall Street meltdown. I had done
everything the proverbial right
way: living modestly, saving my
money, paying off my mortgage and dreaming about
travel and leisure during the golden years.

I also became alarmed by the state of our economy

as well as the global economy in general. I felt that
these were desperate times and that there was a possibility that things could get worsea lot worse. This
reinforced my interest in being prepared and the
prepper lifestyle.
What were the first steps that you took?
The very first step I took was to walk around my
home, thinking of the activities I do in each room
as well as in the garage and yard. I tried to imagine
what life would be like if there were a disasterin
my case an earthquakeand assuming that the walls
were standing, what I would need to continue daily
life on my own. And on my own I mean without fresh
water, without electricity, without grocery stores full
of goods and without medical care.

As with many in my generation, I was caught in the

trap set by sneaky politicians, greedy corporations,
and bankster crooks. Starting the blog was a catharsis
and I felt if 50 people came to my site during the first
year, it would be a success. When 50 people showed
up the first day, I knew I was on to something.
Was there a specific event or realization that
you had that made you begin preparing?

Perhaps this was an unorthodox approach but being

the pragmatic type, it made sense to prepare for my
own needs and not those defined by someone else.
Plus, given limitations of space as well as budget, I did
not want to waste resources on throw-away solutions
to problems that I did not have.

I started preparingor prepping as we call itfor

a variety of reasons. The initial catalyst was my
move from the city to the San Juan Islands in NW
Washington State. For those of you that may not be
familiar with this area, we are geographically disconnected from the mainland of the USA.

Once I defined what I thought at the time were my

needs, I tackled the obvious: water, food and fire (or
heat). My first purchase was a 55 gallon water barrel.
I was so proud of my purchase and really felt that
I was on my way to doing something to secure my
survival if the big one hit.

For the rank and file, the primary way to get on and
off the islands is by ferry. There are no bridges, no
highways, and unless you have a private vessel or
plane, you are pretty much stranded if the ferries are
not running. In the event of a disruption in the transportation system, there would be no goods and no

After that? As clich as it sounds, I purchased 100

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
13

pounds of both beans and rice and learned to cook

them outdoors on a wood burning cooking source.

Comfort food is a personal thing but since you

asked, I have supplies for making breads and pizzas,
popcorn with butter (well butter powder, actually)
and my favorite, macaroons. With the macaroons,
you just add water, plop them in a covered skillet over
the fire and you are done. Instant gratification.

Can you describe what your personal food

storage is like? What are the critical items
that you have?
I like to eat and I like to eat good food. Having been
a health nut for most of my life, an issue for me was
stocking up on canned goods and processed goods
laden with chemicals, sodium and who knows what
else. I simply was not going to do it.

How often do you rotate your stored food

items?
Here is the way it works in my household. New
purchases go in to deep storage. We shop our deep
storage to fill our panty, taking note of what we take.
Then we replace the used items with new. I cannot
really say how often because this is a weekly process.

From the get go, I sought out bulk foods (beans, rice,
oats, grains) as well as canned items that I knew met
my standards. Over time, I added lots of spices and
condiments that could be used to add variety and
taste to these very basic food items.

The weakness in my system is that I do not have a

complete inventory of everything in deep storage. I
need to work on this to avoid going overboard in one
area while shorting another. Even I am not perfect in
this regard.

These days, my deep storage, as I like to call my

emergency food stash, looks a lot different than it
did a year ago and a year before that. In addition to
those initial items that I packaged myself in Mylar and
buckets with oxygen absorbers, I have an extensive
assortment of #10 tins containing freeze dried meats,
cheeses, vegetables, and fruits as well as staples such
as powdered eggs, milk and butter.

I will say this, when we do shop, we purchase a lot.

For example, if we are purchasing coffee, we might
purchase 20 or 30 pounds at a time. When we get
down to 10 pounds, we will once again stock up.
The other thing worth mentioning is that we definitely do eat what we store. That includes our freeze
dried foods as well. What better way to learn how to
use them than to cook with them daily? Plus, given
the logistics of shopping (which is a twenty mile
round trip in to town), it is more cost effective to cook
with our freeze dried foods that to run to the store for
every little thing. Plus, there is no waste.

I also have meal pouches. These are premade meals

that only require hot water to become edible. The
advantage of these pouches, of course, is that you
do not have to cook them. You do not even have to
think. As long as you have some clean water and
eating utensils, heck, you can even eat them straight
from the pouch. Plus given a bug-out situation, they
are highly transportable. Can you imagine slapping
20 pounds of beans into a backpack while you are on
the run?

What is the most important skill that you have

personally learned since beginning to live the
preparedness lifestyle?

Lucky for all of us, the quality of these freeze dried

products has increased dramatically this last year. You
can now find gluten-free, GMO free, low sodium and
even kosher foods in freeze dried form.

I have actually learned two important skills. First of

all, I now know how to start a fire and keep it burning
long enough to generate heat and to serve as fuel
source for cooking. Now to some this may sound
simple but for a former city girl like myself, it took
practice. I can make my own fire starter and can use

What items do you have for comfort in your

food storage?

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
14

a fire steel. I can also keep a fire burning for as long

as it is needed to keep me warm and cook my food.
There is nothing sexy about building a fire but the
time could come when my life depends upon it.

Things change and situations change. Perhaps this

most prepared person in the world is strong and
healthy and has a good job. What happens if he or
she gets sick and cannot work? Or is laid off and has
no source of income?

The second skill is something I mentioned earlier. I

learned about gun safety and I learned how to shoot a
firearm. That said, I am still learning and will never
know enough. A day does not go by without hearing
about civil unrest, chaos around the world or crazies
out for revenge or worse. Sure, it may never happen to
me in my neighborhood, but if it does, I will be ready.

In my opinion you are never totally prepared. Stuff

happens. Plans need to be changed and new strategies need to be developed to overcome potential roadblocks that never before existed.
The other thing is that no matter how prepared you
are, you need to reach out to your community to find
like-minded people that will watch your back as you
will watch yours.

Lets say that someone wants to start getting

prepared today and has never done so
before what is the FIRST STEP that they
should take?

Do you have anything else youd like to add?

As world citizens, we are all facing unprecedented
turmoil in terms of the economy, our planet, our
relationships with our neighbors and our ability
to sustain ourselves for both now and future generations. In some small way, I hope that I can help
ease the way with common sense tips and tools for
creating a sustainable and self-reliant lifestyle, regardless of the changes happening around us.

Other than read my blog at Backdoor Survival? I have

a series on my site titled 12 Months of Prepping, One
Month at a Time that is very popular. Each month I
identify tasks, skills, supplies and gear that you should
acquire in a steady, systematic, and affordable basis. I
have just started year two (month 13) of the series and
I envision that I will keep the series going until people
get tired of what I have to say.

I would like to add that as bad as things may seem

at the moment, we still have just a single life to live.
Prepping can become an obsession and all-consuming to the exclusion of other things in life. Just keep
in mind that being happy and having fun is equally
important to being prepared. It is all about balance
and learning to live life with grace and optimism no
matter what.

That said, acquiring a two week (or longer) supply

of food, the means to store and purify water, first
aid supplies and items for self-defense rank right up
there at the top of my list.
Lets say that someone thinks that they are
the most prepared person in the world what
should they do to ensure this?
If I understand correctly, you are asking what the
prepared person should do to stay prepared.

Also, I want to remind your readers that in addition

to my periodic newsletter, they can subscribe to my
RSS feed by email so that they can be notified when
new articles are posted.

First of all, I would re-evaluate potential risks and

hazards annually if not more often. This includes
home hazards as well as those in the community and
of course, with mother nature. What has changed?
What needs improvement? What have I done to
practice the skills I already know?

You can do so by going to BackdoorSurvival.com

Finally, thank you, Lamplighter Report, for giving
me an opportunity to share my thoughts with your
readers.

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
15

Gone Before Gridlock

Training Course

How to Escape Any Disaster in 5 Steps...Before the

Rest of the World Has a Clue Whats Happening

www.AbsoluteRights.com/GoneBeforeGridlock

The New Five Flags

Claim your Freedom Insurance policy while you still can
Get simple, low-cost protection against the bureaucratic over-reaching, police brutality, and out of
control spending that threatens your freedom

www.AbsoluteRights.com/FiveFlags

Welcome To The Lamplighter Report!

Wed like to take a moment to say
thank you for your membership to
The Lamplighter Report. This issue
is packed with some powerful information that will help you to prepare
you and your loved ones in the event
of a terrorist attack, natural disaster,
economic collapse, or a pandemic.

Coming Up In Future Issues...

ESSENTIAL Survival How-Tos (3 - 5 EACH MONTH)
New Off-The-Grid Books, Videos, and Sites
Private Intel Report on Global, National and Local Situations
Real Life Case Studies of How other Families are Preparing
and much, MUCH more...

Until next month, make small forward steps every day in your preparations
www.AbsoluteRights.com/40DaysAnd40Nights &
www.AbsoluteRights.com/WhenTheFoodRunsOut

February 2013

AbsoluteRights.com/Lamplighter-Archives
16