I have finally worn out my shoelaces in my favorite hiking boots. I replaced the laces with a good quality paracord. Each one is around a 6 foot length. I'm sure I can put it to good use if I needed it.

MB,

I always replace my laces with 7 strand 550.

Thanks for posting this.

Printed 500 pages of survival information.

I got a platypus bottle and a surefire G-2 delivered today. I'm curious about the platypus bottles.

Nice choices. I use a platypus 1liter with one of those inline Katydyn filters. They screw on perfectly for a quick gravity filter or just to make it easier to suck the water through by squeezing the bag.

If I can get an AR together and a quality H2O set up or two together I will be pretty set.

If I didn't have a house payment I would feel more comfortable too but I am not sure how to get around that anytime soon. Over the next little while I hope to have enough cash we aside to cover 6 months worth of bills.

House, utilities, auto insurance, mobile phones and Internet are my only bills. Home insurance and property taxes are held in escrow.

How much ammo is enough ammo?

Home, car, person?

I use/carry Platypus bottles in my small kits. They're more durable than they look!

Printed another 500 pages of information. I need to set aside 2 hours a night for reading.

I'm glad to hear they are more durable than they look. I bought one just to T&E. I like the properties for its intended use. Very little weight and space until you fill it up.

I've had some folded flat in small PSK's for a very long time. Those PSK pouches are STUFFED with all manner of hard,sharp,pointy gear bits and the Platypus bags survived.

You can attach a Frontier Pro filter to one as an "inline" system that lets you fill the bag with untreated water and:

A) Suck drinkable water out of it.
B) Hang the bag so it gravity feeds into a clean reservoir like a Nalgene or canteen.

Its a great "passive" system.

Debt FREEDOM is the most worthy objective!

When we counsol people we ALWAYS tell them the only acceptable debt is your mortgage, adn that you should pay it off as quickly as possible. We often hear "but what about the taxes we save because we can claim our interest as a deduction?". That's an easy question to answer: You only get your tax percentage back. Example given: You pay $10,000 in mortgage interest to the bank and are in the 25% tax bracket - you only get to save $2,500 in federal income tax. Put another way - YOU ARE SPENDING A DOLLAR TO SAVE A QUARTER! Its stupid, but people have a hard time understanding it.

Six years ago my wife and I started the Dave Ramsey "debt snowball". I can flat out tell you:

1) If you have an "all in - we're sticking with this plan" attitude it ABSOLUTELY works!

2) It is the most empowering feeling to watch your debt shrink.

I can't tell you how good it makes me feel to see someone else mention wanting to get out of debt - stick with it brother as you CAN do it!

HOME

This is an often debated / discussed survival issue. The correct answer is: you can never have enough food, water or ammo.

The manageable answer for those of us not blessed with a Gringots bank vault filled with inherited gold:

1A) The answer depends on the number of firearms you have in each caliber.

1B) You should try to limit the number of calibers you have. Obviously one or two calibers will not cover all of your survival firearms needs (we all have more than one or two tools in our toolbox), but try to limit "overlap" and "hobby" calibers.

1C) Select EXTREMELY widespread calibers like 22LR, 9mm, 40SW, 45Acp, 223/5.56x45mm, 308/7.62x51mm, and 12 Gauge. After the balloon goes up we won't have WalMart to buy from, but there will always be some unsavory characters working for the Government that will be willing to "loose" some 9mm, 223 or 308 for the right price....

1D) I recommend:

1Di) Small Game Hunting / Pest COntrol = 22LR

1Dii) Personal Defense / CCW (which will be very important in a survival situation like having to venture into a foreign town for information) = 9mm or 45Acp

1Diii) Close Quarters Battle / Bug Out Defense = 223.

1Diiii) Large Game Hunting / Distance or Anti-Cover Defense = 308.

1Div) Home Defense / General Hunting = 12 Gauge.

2) I also recommend that you have TWO identical (or nearly identical) firearms. I don't really recommend spare parts anymore as I'd prefer people to have another fully working firearm that can be canabalized if necessary. Example given: one Glock 17 and one Glock 19. Example given #2: M4 with a Trijicon ACOG and M4 with only fixed iron sights.

3) The amounts of ammo I recommend for those people that have "a couple" of firearms in each caliber:

22LR = 5000 MINIMUM
9mm or 45Acp = 1000 per FIREARM
223 = 2000 per FIREARM
308 = 1000 per FIREARM
12 Gauge = 250 Slugs, 500 Buck, 1000 Shot (BB, 4, 8's)

4) I suggest people feel comfortable when they have:

22LR = 15,000 (This is your "do everything round")
9mm or 45Acp = 5,000
223 = 10,000
308 = 2,5000 (low because at $500 a case - its hard to stockpile)
12 Gauge = 500 Slugs, 1000 Buck, 2500 Shot (BB, 4, 8's)

This is more than the typically recommended amounts (1000 rifle, 500 handgun).

CAR

This depends on what you keep in your car, and on your person.

If you carry a handgun then I recommend you keep (2) boxes of ammo for it in your car. This gun is only to get you back to your rifle and home.

If you have a "trunk gun" then I recommend as a MINIMUM(8) magazines and enough ammo to refill those (8) magazines. Many people keep a 22 in their car with 1000 rounds. This gun is only to get you home.

PERSON

I've had a handgun license for around 19 years now. While I would like to carry 100rds on me 24/7 - this just isn't practical because I also EDC:

1) Folding Knife - Spyderco Delica 4
2) Flashlight - Leatherman Serac S3
3) SAK - Vic Hiker
4) Fire Steel - LMF Scout
5) Cellular Phone - iPhone
6) Electronic Information / Records - 1gb Flash Drive
7) Cash - Money Clip
8) Keys - House, Car, Work, etc.
9) Wallet
10) Watch
11) Wedding Ring

The above is what I have on me all the time. I also carry (whenever possible):

12) Fixed Blade - Scrap Yard or Swamp Rat (often a Rodent Solution)
13) Sidearm
14) Reloads

As a result I've found that 3 reloads is about what I can manage.