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When I mention the importance of having extra car keys, I speak from experience.

GM Key Fob

Last year I had a problem with my car’s clutch and had to pick it up late after work.  The shop was closed and my mechanic locked the set I gave him inside the car.  I was going to use the second key to open my car, start it up, drive it home, and use it to get to work the following morning.

That’s what I thought at least.

What I neglected to do was test both keys *before* I dropped my car off.  You see, I switched the keys and had the dealer reprogram one of the fobs when I was going through my divorce five years ago.  My goal was to ensure my ex would not suddenly decide to drive off with my car, which I was able to successfully prevent.  However, in doing so I messed-up my second set of keys.

Fast forward to a dark night in the late fall of 2012 with a fixed car but a non-working key.  Oops, had to go home and get the plastic emergency key to finally get into my car.  That weekend, I went to the GM dealer and had both key fobs reprogrammed and two brand-new keys cut so everything matched.  Oh, and I tested both sets at the dealership before I left.

The moral of the story is even an ostensibly prepared individual can make mistakes through oversights.  Learn from me, test your additional keys and fobs to ensure they work before you need them to.  Testing your preparations is a key component in making them so don’t forget this step.

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How fast does it take for societal collapse to take place?

Credit: Getty Images

If the recent history of Libya is any guide, the answer is very fast.

Think about it, less than three years ago Libya was relatively stable and a major oil exporter.  Its former leader had given up supporting terrorism and foreign investment was starting the flow back in.  Libya was in decent shape for an African country, all things considered.  However, the combination of an Arab Spring, simmering tribal disputes, and deep social divides produced a civil war that exploded with almost no warning.  The results are a collapsed society, destroyed infrastructure, and lingering violence that has no clear end in sight.

With this in mind, how prepared are you for a descent into chaos?

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You remember a while back I wrote about the importance of redundancy?  Well, here’s a story that will emphasize the importance of it in a harmless yet illustrative fashion.  It start with an automobile, kinda like this one:

Mazda MX-5

My girlfriend and I were going to take her car up to Flagstaff a few weekends ago to get out of the heat.  We figured it would be fun to go to the mountains, drop the top, and drive in the cool pines for a while.  It didn’t happen that way because of a little mistake that caused unnecessary stress and frustration.  Thankfully, the story has a happy ending…but let me describe what happened first.

Its a Saturday morning and we are getting ready to leave.  As we are preparing to load her car, both of us notice that the keys to the Mazda are nowhere to be found.  When she purchased the car, she only received one key from the dealer.  This wasn’t a problem…until now.  For the next three hours we searched in vain for the key, we even drove to a Mazda dealer to attempt to get a duplicate key.  Because of the programming of the key however, even if we were able to purchase one, it would have required programming to start the car.  We decided that since we couldn’t find the key it was best to take my car and salvage what we could out of the weekend.

My girlfriend and I were stressed, both of us were frustrated at the situation and each other.  The looming problem was getting her car working so she could get to work on Monday and the expense of getting her car operational again.  She was looking at several hundred dollars out of pocket to resolve the situation.  Having a second key would have prevented all of this, which is why locksmiths recommend you have at least two keys for each automobile.

Despite the rocky start to our weekend, we had a great time in Flagstaff.  Both of us needed time to relax and we took advantage of the cool weather to be outside and active.  As the weekend drew to a close though and we started heading back to Phoenix, the question of what to do about the missing keys came up.  We decided to do one last search together to see if we could find the one and only set of keys.

…and we found them.

Luckily, it took us only about five minutes of searching before we recovered the keys and breathed huge sighs of relief.  Later that week, she got a second set of keys so this wouldn’t happen again.  Both of us were glad things turned out alright in the end, but the moral to this story is to have two of everything you might need.  Redundancy comes in handy both during emergencies and in weekend getaways.

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In between traveling and work, I’ve made time to do some more reading.  Last month, I reviewed The Prepper’s Pocket Guide and encouraged everybody who didn’t already have a copy to buy it.  This month, I had a chance to read an even more in-depth book on the subject and will encourage everybody to pick up a copy as well.

The Prepper’s Instruction Manual covers a lot of material but focuses on fewer subjects.  The result is more detailed and in-depth information that can be used to become better prepared.  I really liked this book and thought it struck a good compromise between being thorough detailed on the subject matter yet broad enough to cover a wide range of preparation-related subjects.  The result is an advanced-beginner to intermediate-level book on the subject.

The author is a NASA Engineer and has thoroughly researched the subjects he covers in his book.  Like me (and you?) he is a normal person who lives in the real world, not one who lives “off the grid” on some remote retreat in the forest.  That said, he isn’t afraid to tackle some serious subjects (ex. burying dead bodies) in his book.  The writing makes it easy to read and the chapters are short and sweet.  This book is worth the time and money.

So if you have a few spare dollars, buy a copy and start reading.

Overall Rating:  8/10

Click here to buy the Prepper’s Instruction Manual

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For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction.  Newton’s Third Law may also apply in the political realm with respect to the Syrian Civil War.  While I hope this does not happen, a US attack against the government of Syria could lead to increased violence.  This could come in the form of increased terrorist attacks in the US, Europe, and Israel along with the risk of a wider war with Iran.

Add chemical weapons to the mix and you have a recipe for disaster.

Serious question, what is the status of your preparations as of today?  Who knows, tomorrow may bring unexpected events without warning.  Pro tip:  be ready for a rough ride if and when the US and/or European countries get involved in the Syrian Civil War.

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According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the coming winter could be a cold one.

Credit: Farmer’s Almanac

If the predictions are correct, most of the US will experience a cold and snow-filled winter this year.  As you can see on the map, some areas are projected to receive less snow than others but the overall prediction stands.

Now whether the weather predictions come true or not is secondary to a key preparation principal.  One must be prepared for all weather conditions, especially as winter draws near.  Having extra firewood, fuel, blankets, food, and other supplies is a matter of survival for most of the country.  Its always better to have more supplies on-hand and not need them than not have enough.  Winters can be cruel, especially for those who aren’t prepared.

Keep another thing in mind too.  Even if you live in the Southwest or West Coast, you can still be impacted by severe cold.  During extreme cold, energy demand can spike as heating demand increases.  This will impact the price of fuel and other goods in areas not affected by winter weather.  Also, manufacturing and agricultural production could be affected by interruptions in the supply chain when bad weather hits.  As I’m fond of saying, plan accordingly.

Regardless of what this winter’s weather will be, take steps now to prepare for it.

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For about three hours on Thursday, there was a NASDAQ trading interruption that affected the entire exchange.

Credit: The Wall Street Experience

As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir.

In time, the exchange will know what caused the problem and will take steps to prevent it again.  However, if a robust and secure system like the NASDAQ can go down, what does that mean for other mission-critical systems?  Other financial markets have been hacked in recent years so a deliberate attack would not be unprecedented.

Think for a moment about the electrical grids, oil and gas pipelines, banking, air traffic control, water treatment and distribution, hospital systems, and other systems that millions rely on to keep our society functioning…

If today’s events demonstrate anything, its evident that systems can fail at any time.  Whenever possible, take precautions and make preparations for these events.  Some may call them “unforeseen” or “unexpected” but an astute observer knows that interruptions will happen.

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For the last several months, I haven’t done much reading other than reading various websites and occasional magazine articles.  However, I did have a chance to purchase and read The Prepper’s Pocket Guide recently and decided to share my thoughts on it.  After all, there are many sources of information out there and sometimes it can be a real challenge determining which ones are worth your time.

This one is worth your time, especially if you are new to preparation.

The book has a lot of good information and is very easy to read.  Bernie Carr is a technical writer and she does a good job of clearly explaining how to prepare for many different scenarios.  I was able to get through it in three days so it won’t take up too much of your time.

However, because it is so light and easy to read, the book sometimes only touches on some topics.  This leaves the reader wanting to learn more and get more specific information on what to do.  Generally, the content is light fare and doesn’t deal with many of the harsher realities (ex. armed and unarmed confrontations) that accompany many disasters.  Given the range of topics though (101), this is understandable given the limited number of pages and small book format.

So get this book, read it, and start applying the knowledge you gain from it.  The Prepper’s Pocket Guide represents a starting point in your journey towards greater preparation, don’t consider it to be the definitive or ultimate guide in that regard.  For less than $15, its a great investment that will help you now and in the future.

Overall Rating:  6/10

Click here to purchase The Prepper’s Pocket Guide

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If you have Kwikset Smartkey locks installed, you may want to read this article from Wired about how easy they are to pick.  The Smartkey has a slightly different internal mechanism than most other locks which makes it invulnerable to lock bumping, however it can be picked with relative ease.  As one of the lock hackers wrote:

It’s very clever because the consumer can instantly reprogram the key, but it’s also insecure,” Tobias says. “There’s a lot of positives for Kwikset, but the problem is they can be opened in 15 seconds with a screwdriver and a paper clip. It’s not a pin-tumbler lock so that it doesn’t have the inherent physical strength to block the plug from turning when you do certain things.

This is one of the risks posed by common door locks and hardware that are available from major home improvement retailers.  The deadbolts may be inexpensive and ostensibly secure but as the article showed, there is a weakness in the design of the lock.  My suggestion is to immediately replace this hardware if you have it installed.  Contact your local locksmith and see what high-security alternatives they can provide.  The hardware may cost a bit more, but the benefit of more robust home security is worth far more than the incremental cost of higher quality components.

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Imagine this city without power or fiber optic data connectivity…

San Francisco, CA

I was reading Bob Owens’ blog when I read this story about a power substation attack back in April and a widespread outage that took place a couple of days ago.  These events may be totally random, isolated incidents.  Another possibility is that somebody is deliberately targeting vulnerable electrical and data nodes in the Bay Area.

…and these are the events that are publicly known.

Now ask yourself what you would do if you suddenly lost power and/or data connectivity.  Do you have flashlights, candles, or other light sources?  How about food that can be prepared without an electric stove?  Have any battery-operated radios that you can use to get information on an outage?  How about your smartphone, do you follow your utility on Twitter?  Think about these and other steps you can take now to prepare for a power outage.  It could happen without warning and really cause a major disruption in your life.  Get started now!