Pepper Spray, Body Armor, Best States in U.S. and Upcoming Book

I have been reading your website for a few years. Money is tight and I thought whatever was on the website was the same as your book. My wife gave me Your survival manual for Christmas. I was mistaken about the book. I highly recommend it to regular web viewers. I am now giving it a second reading.
I notice no pepper spray in you ECD. Why not and what do you think? Please address your view of US states for relocation? Still deciding On body armor and would welcome a video. Also would like to hear of religion as relating to modern survival.
Thank you for your outstanding work. Best regards,
Manny
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Hello Manny,
Thanks! I’m glad you like my book and thanks for recommending it. In my book, “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse”, I do go into more detail on each topic in ways I can’t simply address in a 10 minute video or a blog post. My books are the best tools I have so as to share my knowledge and experience with you. Although I cover numerous topics in my website and youtube channel, it really doesn’t replace either one of my books.

SABRE RED Pepper Spray - Police Strength - Compact $9.97

About pepper spray, whenever I’m in a country that I can carry it, I will do so. OC spray is a great tool for self-defense, even when carrying a firearm. Pepper Spray gives you a non-lethal option to work with and avoids bringing a lethal weapon into the equation and potentially escalating the violence without need. Pepper spray is a powerful tool on its own right. It can catch an attacker by surprise, turning the surprise factor against him, it burns, blinds and makes it hard to breathe. All this can be used to escape and put more ground between you and your attacker. For the money that it costs, well under 10 bucks in some cases, it’s a no brainer. Pepper Spray makes a lot of sense both for men and women, armed or unarmed.
Regarding the best States to live in, that’s something that I address in “Bugging Out and Relocating”. I recommend countries, U.S. States as well as strategies both for quickly bugging out or relocating or bugging out abroad due to a large scale disaster. In my book I mention Texas and Colorado among my top choices, but to be honest most States in The United States have areas that can work very well. Keep in mind that the network of friends and family is of great importance and you shouldn’t be too quick to sacrifice it.

Body armor is important to own. It gives you a great tactical advantage and its literally a life saver. If you have a few seconds to put it on, you’ll be glad you bought it.
About religion and preparedness, I’m actually working on my third book and it does cover that in a chapter to some extent. I’ll keep you guys posted!
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Advice for Concealed Carry in magazine restricted States

Hello Fernando
My county in California is starting to issue concealed carry permits. However, magazines with more than 10 rounds are illegal. What concealed carry handgun would you recommend with that restriction in mind?
Regards
Cody
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Hello Cody,
First of all, congratulations on the good news. Whenever you can legally do so, you should get your concealed carry permit and carry a firearm. It´s important to get proper training before doing so, but you should exercise your right to be armed and capable of defending yourself and your loved ones whenever possible.
Regarding your question, 10 rounds isnt that bad. It would be better to have full magazine capacity, but with 10 rounds you can still do plenty, especially given that you can carry other spare magazines.
My advice will depend on your situation and how many guns you plan on owning. If you’re getting your first gun, make that a 9mm Glock pistol, either Glock 17 or Glock 19, with Glock 19 usually being favored for concealed carry as they are a bit more compact. I wouldn’t go for anything smaller than that myself, given that you start to compromise on grip and sight radius, which in most people that I know of will negatively affect their shooting. There’s nothing wrong with 9mm and loaded with premium brand ammo such as Gold Dot it should perform well enough. 9mm is also cheap enough so that you can afford to take enough training classes so as to be proficient with your weapon.

If you’re planning on getting a second handgun, maybe then I’d go for something a big more powerful, such as a Glock 31 or 32 in 357SIG. With a Glock 32 you have the exact same exterior dimensions as a Glock 19, but shooting a more powerful round. Is the stopping power worth it? Depends, for some people it isnt, for others its worth just so as shoot something with a slightly greater chance of incapacitation. Some people will go for even bigger or more powerful rounds such as 45ACP or 10mm, in an attempt to compensate for the reduced capacity. I think this isnt always a good idea if shooting a bigger or more powerful round means you’ll be less accurate, or even more relevant, lose accurate follow up shot speed.
So, Glock 9mm for your first gun, Glock 357SIG if you want something that shoots ammo a bit more expensive but that also has a more power.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Year Long Trip Around the World on a small 20lb. Backpack

There’s an interesting article posted over at artofmanliness.com about a person that traveled for 12 months all over the world with just a small backpack, taking a just a laptop computer, camera, couple spare set of socks and underwear and little else, focusing on high quality, lightweight gear. I think it’s a great exercise on minimalist travel and it goes to show how in today’s world you can basically live and travel all over the planet with a passport, credit card and some cash to move around. Of course this means you’ll be sleeping mostly indoors, eating out and sticking to urban areas. Such a minimalist approach obviously doesn’t include much in terms of preparedness, but given that in our community so many people stuff massive backpacks full of gear, in many cases items that aren’t needed, this would be a great place to start and only then build up from there.

Although not as minimalistic, I have backpacked in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, taking a 45L backpack. I did need to bring along a tent, sleeping bag, food and cookware since I spend most of my time outdoors, but I did learned to appreciate the freedom of not having a huge, heavy pack.
One of the things I liked the most about the article was his focus on quality, light weight gear. A lot of his clothes are made of merino wool, which is an excellent material for this kind of task. Carefully selected clothes go a long way.

In terms of shelter he went for a Sea to Summit Silk Liner, which isnt much and you sure can’t sleep outdoors in cold climates with this alone unless you work hard in improvising better shelter. It is better than nothing but a something along the lines of Naturehike Outdoor Sleeping Bag would be better if sleeping outdoors is expected.
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What I Would Take
I completely agree on going for high quality clothes. Merino Wool base layers make a lot of sense given that merino wool is comfortable to wear, warm enough in winter, keeps you fresh enough in hot climates, wicks most away from your skin, reduces odor and has antibacterial properties.

Arc'teryx Alpha FL Jacket
I’d go for Icebreaker base layer top and bottom. For a midlayer, a good softshell such as Arc'teryx Epsilon LT Jacket. A waterproof hooded jacket such as Columbia’s Watertight II Packable Rain Jacket or Arc'teryx Alpha FL Jacket would complete the setup to deal with most climates.

5.11 TacLite Pro Pant
As for pants, no question about it, 5.11 TacLite Pro Pant are what I would wear if I could only have one pair. They are tough, repel water, dry quickly, comfortable and with big enough pockets. They aren’t very warm but would do well with long underwear.

Salomon Men's Quest 4D GTX

One of my few criticisms would be his choice of shoes. Light hiking shoes may be enough for walking from airports to hotels and walk around the city some but such footwear wont last when used extensively in more rugged terrain. Personally I would have gone for Salomon Quest with Goretex.
Oh, and an Iphone? For traveling around the world?? Hell no. I’d go for a waterproof Samsung Galaxy S5 Active.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Safest Counties from Naural Disasters in U.S.

This is an interesting resource. The interactive map lets you click for additional information. Check out your area and see how it rates regarding natural disasters.
http://time.com/safest-counties/
FerFAL

Predictions and Advice for 2015

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.