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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Staying Safe Tips

Hiya Ferfal,

I know you're always featuring products on your website, and as a woman, I really liked the items featured on this website: http://www.ilasecurity.com/

Their "Staying Safe" tab also has some really good tips. I'm not associated with the company, and I haven't tried their products yet, but I love the ideas they have.

Faith

1. THINK AHEAD
Take a few minutes before you go out to think through and plan your journey, particularly if it's not a regular route.

It may sound obvious but try and avoid poorly lit or very quiet areas if possible - even if it is the quickest route.

Check public transport journey times and look for alternative options should your plans change or a bus/train is cancelled - have a contingency.

2. CARRY A MOBILE PHONE
This can be a lifeline when stranded but when you need it most you can guarantee you'll have forgotten to top up your credit or the battery will be flat! If nothing else, make sure you have change for a call box. Some phones have an SOS message facility - check yours.

3. LET SOMEONE KNOW
Keep in touch with a member of your family or a friend, particularly of you're feeling nervous or a little vulnerable on a new route. Phone or text just before you start your journey and let them know what time you should be arriving.

4. CARRY PERSONAL SECURITY ALARM
This could give you the opportunity to stop any attacker in his tracks. Attaching the ila Dusk to the outside of your bag also provides you with the additional feature of using a woman's scream.

So many of us are literally 'struck dumb' with fear when confronted by an attacker - the ila Dusk gives you back a voice and valuable seconds to escape. Sad to say these days there aren't many knights in shining armour about to come to your rescue unless you're really lucky, but using the few seconds to put as much distance between you, could stop you from becoming a victim.

5. WALK WITH CONFIDENCE
Following all these tips will give you confidence and there's no doubt that striding out, head up, oozing confidence is one of the best ways of putting off a potential attacker. He won't want to raise his risk of being caught, so if he thinks you're going to cause him trouble he's likely to be put off. When you arrive at your front door have your key ready to go straight in. Try to wear flat shoes (or have spares with you) and walk with traffic coming towards you so a car can't creep up and surprise you from behind.

6. DON'T FLASH YOUR CASH OR VALUABLES
If you stop at a cash machine or shop on the way, try to conduct transactions as discretely as possible. Carrying your bag with the clasp facing inwards is a good idea, but keep your keys and phone separately in your pocket if possible.

7. TAKE OFF THOSE HEADPHONES
It's sooo tempting to lose yourself in your favourite music when walking home or to work, but being aware of your surroundings and the other people around you will sharpen your senses and provide an early warning system of any potential trouble.

8. ALWAYS USE LICENSED CABS
When your feet are sore, you're tired, fed up and desperate to get home it's oh so tempting to get into a car when the driver says 'Want a cab, love?' Please don't - licensed cab drivers are only allowed to ply for hire in a regulated cab rank. Would you willingly get into a stranger's car under normal circumstances? Well that's exactly what this is.
Book a cab through a known cab company and make sure the driver tells you the name it was booked in - before you get in. Programme a couple of reputable cab numbers into your phone before you go out.

9. IF YOU THINK YOU'RE BEING FOLLOWED
I know - our worst nightmare. But it needn't be if you keep your wits about you and act fast. First try crossing a road or turning back on yourself. If they continue to follow, assume your suspicions are right and get help. Try pretty much anywhere there are people - pub, bar, cafe, shop, service station etc or knock on the nearest door where the lights are on. If the worst happens and you think an attack is imminent set off your ila Dusk alarm and run as fast as your can towards an area where you know there will be people. Leave your shoes behind and even your handbag if that's what he's after - you are far more valuable than property.

10. TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS
Well all develop instincts or intuition for danger as we gain more experience of life. But it's easy, particularly under influence of alcohol or peer pressure to ignore what they're telling you. Trust them and you'll invariably stay one step ahead of the criminal.

http://www.ilasecurity.com/


Hey Faith, those are good tips to follow. Also carry a: 
1)Handgun if legal (along with the training to use it)
2)Bigest folder knife you can leglaly carry 
3) 100+ Lumen Flashlight with strike crown.
That's the head of the flashlight with a teethed crown,it can do considerable damage as a striking and tearing weapon. 
Legal in most places so specially consider this if you can't carry other self defenese tools. 
If you cant or wont carry a gun or a knife, go for the best defensive flashlight light you can get. In terms of quality Surefire has always been king of the hill. I've got a couple Surefires and I know why its the standard by which others are measured. Construction is superb, you'll want that in your one and only weapon, so that's why I linked it. 


I believe these things weren't mentioned for politically correctness reasons but since I have no concern for such a thing and understand how important it is to actually have the tools do defend yourself I cant avoid mentioning it.


FerFAL

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Security as you grow older: Dogs

I visited a friend a couple weeks ago and was reminded of something.
As he notices himself, the local street thugs seem to detect when his body hurts more than usual and has a bit more trouble than usual moving around. But they also notice the big white dog next to him, that looks just like a Dogo Argentino but is actually a white Pitbull and Boxer mix.

On a different note, during the tactical entry course I took last weekend, dogs where also mentioned. Unfortunately we couldn’t bring along the dog they had, the instructor thought it wasn’t wise to introduce the dog to new “team members” during a thundering storm (it was pouring rain). We were told that the Rotty works well in teams, even with new guys, given that it differentiates good guys and bad guys based on the body language and the way you move.

Too bad we couldn’t try it out but again, I was reminded of the importance of having a canine partner for security both at home and on the streets.
This is a pretty good idea and something worth thinking about seriously, specially as we grow older in an increasingly violent society.
We’re not going to be young forever, and eventually we lose speed, strength and reflexes. A canine partner can compensate for that on the streets.

Its of course better if you get started now, learn how to handle big dogs, have at least a couple around at home.
You need to find a breed that is both intimidating and capable of developing a defensive/security role.
Also very important, you need to have the right “alpha” personality to handle these strong animals well, so that they understand their place in the “pack”.
Too many accidents occur because old women (or sometimes sissy guys) treat the dog like a person. You can get away doing that with a French poodle, the dog taking a leading position in the family, but do that with a big strong dog and it will attack family members or others when it feels they aren’t obeying him.
Certainly not for the novice, but well worth considering and investing some time. You also get to have some company, and an excellent excuse to walk more and exercise.

FerFAL

Relocating to Argentina (or elsewhere)

One of the interesting things about living outside one's native country is the opportunity to meet people from many different walks of life, with many different motivations to move outside their comfort zone to live in a foreign country. I moved here for family reasons, as many others have. I found this conversation between a guy I call 'Bob' and a group of expats on an Argentine expat website that I thought was interesting... it shows the misconceptions about what is important in deciding to become an expat. A lot of people are SO TERRIBLY UNHAPPY with their current life circumstances, they are seeking a quick fix.

That never works, guys... sorry. You carry your problems with you and run face first into a whole new set of serious life debilitating issues if the move is not completely researched and carefully orchestrated. It took us over a year to get all our documents ready for the relo, and we already owned a home in Argentina. Also, my wife is a citizen of Argentina AND the USA. It took me over a year and a half to get a DNI: Documento nacional de identidad after we got here, without which I was denied a bank account in my name and a local driving license.

We did all the paperwork ourselves without legal representation, which had no effect on the time required. I am not trying to work here, depending upon my US dollar retirement and investment income from the US. The cost of using an ATM machine at my bank's local branch just increased 40% a month ago. It takes a minimum of 5 days and a USD$30 fee for our daughter to go to our bank and do a wire transfer. In the event of a 'corralito' (Google this) we would have to depend upon the amount of cash and junk gold items we have ratholed around the country... hoping we will never have to use it.

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION a plan to skedaddle out of your native country needs to be fairly well set up NOW for the remote future possibility where staying put would be life threatening. I agree that everyone with the capability to get a foreign passport should do so. I will be applying for an Argentine passport when I have spent the requisite amount of time here. My brother's Italian wife and half-Italian sons will be carrying EU/Italian passports. My wife'z kids from a previous marriage will be carrying US and Spanish passports as well as Argentinian passports. For those of you looking to qualify, I recommend you consider Chile, where I understand the residency requirement is only 2 years.

BUT... it is veryveryvery important to get your short term survival, G.O.O.D. situations squared away FIRST and worry about a foreign safe haven ONLY after taking care of the local stuff.

The Expat site info follows:


BOB: Hey, guys! I enjoy reading all the posts here. I visited Argentina several years ago and really enjoyed it a lot. I am considering relocating to Argentina. I am hoping that those of you who are already in Argentina will share info on recent prices/cost of living vs. those of, say, four years ago. Obviously, economic reasons have a lot to do with my desire to relocate.

EXPATS: Personally I think moving here for economic reasons is not a very wise decision at all. There are other reasons that are much more valid and reasonable such as change of scenery, life style, midlife crisis, family, etc. But economics? No way. Not even if you are living on US$. Don’t believe everything they tell you in the travel guides and websites. imho


BOB: Obviously pure economics is not a good reason to move ANYWHERE. But I recall about 4 years ago in BsAs a great steak dinner for 2 with malbec (of course) and dessert was about 90 pesos, which at that time was about $30 U.S. I am just trying to get some feel for how much prices have gone up.
At this point I am coming to spend about 3 months, but may decide to move in the near future...I'm on kind of a home-hunting expedition. I'm also looking at Uruguay.



EXPATS: Forget the 90 pesos!! Maybe is 90 pesos each these days. I think Uruguay is more expensive than Argentina, but not sure.


EXPATS: Moving to a Latin country for economic reasons is not a smart thing to do. Latin countries have crazy economic cycles, Argentina is one of them. When we moved here in 2000 it was more expensive then living in California, we did not move here after the economic meltdown of Dec 2001 because it was cheap. Move here because you want to experience a Latin lifestyle, culture, excitement, great friends.

From my www.argentina-info.net website:

Cost of Living - Healthcare
http://www.argentina-info.net/relocating_and_living_in_argen4.html#CostofLivingHealthCareCostofLivingHealthCare

Cost of Living - Inflation Percentage Changes - 2003 to Present
http://www.argentina-info.net/relocating_and_living_in_argen4.html#CostofLiving2003toPresent

Cost of Living - What things cost in July 2004
http://www.argentina-info.net/relocating_and_living_in_argen4.html#costofliving

Why I love Argentina!
http://www.argentina-info.net/relocating_and_living_in_argen24.html#whyiloveargentina

Good luck! Suerte! -CapnRick



Thanks Rick, we had a terrific time by the way, say hi to the family for us.
A good example of how things not always end up being what they looked like can be found in the price of meat. There's a link there that mentions buying two "2 HUGE filet mignon steaks in the supermarket for 5 pesos (USA $1,81)". That was in 2006, today the price is 8 to 10 times as much in supremarkets and neighborhood buthcer. 
Pay special attention to that, regaridng prices of living in Argentina. Today with two kids, I'd be spending less money living in Miami than living in Buneos Aires. Same for living in Spain or most other European countries. This is mostly because school for kids has to be private, and most of teh expenses tipical for kids, clothes, toys, social activities when they grow up , etc, are all pretty expensive here.
When considering other... shall we say... favorable exchange rate countries, may it be in Latin America or Asia, check the stability of such currency durign a span of several years so as to have an idea of what to expect.
No use in relocating somewhere that looked cheap only to have hiperinflation eat up your funds.
 Also, like Rick says, some people seek a quick fix , and make mystakes. A frined of my family came back to Argentina after getting divorced, she had been living in USA for over 30 years. Now in Rosario and in her 50's, she asks herself why she ever came back here and wishes she could go back. 
Plan carefuly, get to know the places. RENT and live on your plan C location for a few months before rushing and regreting it later on.


FerFAL

Monday, March 29, 2010

Doug Casey's opinions of Argentina?

you seem (http://ferfal.blogspot.com/) to differ much from Doug Casey's opinions of Argentina?

http://www.caseyresearch.com/displayCwc.php?id=40

http://www.caseyresearch.com/displayCwc.php?e=true


Hi! Yes, that would be because I’m not buildings condos in Salta, Argentina, to sell to Americans and I don’t need to lie about it! :-)


Salta is beautiful (I’ve been there) but you know what, its in the middle of nowhere. Certain things are cheap, food and wine, half the price compared to similar places in Europe or USA.
Now the part your buddy isn’t telling you: Cell phone? 3x the price you’d find in USA or Europe, TV? Maybe x4 the price. A car? Easily x4 or x5 the price. Golf instructor? Sure, that would be pretty cheap. Food and services in general will be very cheap. You’ll be able afford a maid, gardener, and pool guy for the price of cable in NY (so to speak)
I doubt any of the real estate this man is pushing would be cheap. You sure would get MUCH better deals contacting local realtors directly, and you’d get the same benefits as well. Gated neighborhoods with private security are all over Argentina for those that can afford it, and given the crime situation, more are being built.


It’s a small town, tranquil place, it’s a also one of the many unchecked borders where tons of drugs, slaves and God knows what else goes in all directions. Oh, don’t take my word for it.
“Salta is the Argentine border with the most drug smuggling in the country” (sorry, its in Spanish)


Smuggling of all kind if part of Salta’s culture. If you’re not ok with that, maybe its not the place for you.
“Drug trafficking stalks Salta”




I wouldn’t last a year before going nuts in that place. I wouldn’t want my kids to grow up there and have such a narrow minded vision of the world. I lived in Cordoba for a couple years, which is a much larger city. Still, people have a much limited perspective. Its like living 20 years in the past.


Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t. I can assure you its NOT the best place to live in the world. And the amount of people LEAVING Argentina, compared to the amount of Europeans coming to live here is laughable. There’s no political stability here guys, no legal security for companies or individuals. Anyone that isn’t retired would be hard pressed doing business here. The minute you make a buck, you have the socialist government redistributing it one way or another. Sure, bribes make Argentina go around. But it’s fragile ice to step on, not the way I want to live.


But don’t take my world for it. If you’re in doubt that Salta is the best place to live in the world (give me a couple minutes while I stop laughing… there) just go there. Spend a few months there and see how you like it. Don’t jump at a nice looking photo and sweet talking.
"Also, why have you not moved out of Argentina? Are there no better options which are safer for your family?

Thank you for all you thoughts and time!."

I’m doing my best to move to USA as soon as I can. Turns out its not as simple for those of us that wont make a run for it across the Mexican border! :-)

FerFAL

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Guns and kids: How to avoid Accidents



I think this was asked before and given that we’re talking about the ownership of guns lately its important to look into it.
The best thing to do is of course keep your guns secured in a safe.
A small one to keep a handgun in doesn’t cost much, there’s some with electronic locks that cost around 100 USD. Kept in the closet you’ll have your gun within easy reach and safe from kids and unauthorized users.

A women once mentioned me the problem she had regarding owning guns and a suicidal family member living with them at the time.
Tough call, but if your gun stays with you at all times like you should do when carrying concealed (perfect excuse to get your carry permit and pack at all times!), and stays in the safe while you sleep, I’d say its pretty safe. I doubt a suicidal person would try to put a grinder to the safe while you sleep a few feet away.

When it comes to kids, you have to see for yourself and make your own call regarding when you feel they are responsible enough to handle firearms under the close supervision of an adult of course.
Explain to your children that whenever they want to see or handle a gun, all they have to do is ask you. Make sure you make the time to keep your word. They’ll ask you a few times, after handling the empty gun they’ll eventually lose interest but if you don’t do this, they’ll make it a personal mission to get hold of such gun on their own.
That’s a kid spending his entire spare time and imagination planning on how to get to a firearm, you sure don’t want that.

There’s no such thing as a perfect plan so you always have to have a plan B. Plans B are pretty much the essence of preparedness. So, what happens when you leave a gun within reach of a child by accident?
Don’t say it will never, happen, it will.
Even if your Mr. Perfect, what happens when your kid is playing at the neighbor’s and the guy commits a mistake himself or happens to be one of the many irresponsible gun owners?
What I did was this, and I believe it’s the best solution:
1)Want to see a gun? Dad will show it to you every time you ask.
2) What if you FIND a gun lying around or a FRIEND brings a gun or finds one?
In both cases, you DON’T TOUCH IT, leave the room and find an adult to explain what you found. If you’re home that would be the parents. If its someone else that found it, a friend for example, find the nearest responsible adult. Tell your friend not to touch it, LEAVE the room or the house if you have to but don’t EVER stay in a place where friends are playing or fooling around with a gun.

After talking about this several times I put it to test. I purposefully left a gun on a table and waited near by, keeping an eye on it (do I need to remind you the importance of such gun being empty? better yet, remove the barrel just to make sure).
When my son found it he did as I was told, he didn’t touch it, came looking for me and told me what he had found.
Its important to repeat these rules to your children, then test it again a few weeks and a few months later on.
I found out that children can learn this at a very early age, as soon as they can follow basic instructions.

Just like everything else in life, its work and training. Train your kids not to touch guns without the supervision of parents and to go looking for an adult if they ever find one on their own and that’s exactly what they’ll do. Do nothing and if such an incident ever occurs it’s a potential tragedy.

FerFAL

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Arm Thy Neighbor

Arm Thy Neighbor

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2481166/posts

If you don’t presently own any firearms, you may have been considering taking that step in order to protect yourself and your family. Or perhaps you already have what you consider to be an adequate home armory, but is it really enough? In the event that our economy tanks, one certain outcome will be much higher levels of criminal violence. Read Fernando Aguirre’s excellent “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse,” based on his experiences in Argentina after 2001, to see what happens to civil society when a national currency collapses and the banks are closed. Today’s career criminals will be that much more desperate and willing to use violence against their victims. The feral youths who need little encouragement to bust heads for sport in times of relative plenty may be starving, and no moral consideration will keep them from sticking a gun in your face or a knife in your back.

At the same time, the federal government may define this surge of criminal violence as civil disorder and enact emergency decrees, especially if armed citizens begin to fight back on a wide scale. One need look no further than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to see how officials react toward ordinary people with firearms during a period of civil disorder. A freeze on gun sales and/or ammunition is a predictable outcome during government-defined “emergencies.”

Most of the readers of this column probably don’t need to be convinced of the wisdom of owning and practicing with firearms. You may even believe that you already possess all of the guns you need, whether a .38 caliber revolver in your bedside table or a small battery of handguns, shotguns and rifles in your closet or gun safe. You may even own one or more of those liberally despised so-called assault rifles. In any of these cases you may think you don’t need to consider any more gun purchases.
There is, however, one reason to purchase at least a few more weapons: to arm thy neighbors. I can hear you saying, “What is Bracken talking about? If that foolish grasshopper of a neighbor didn’t bother about his security when guns were readily available, why should I worry about him now? Besides, he may even be an anti-gun liberal, so the hell with him!”

This reasoning is short-sighted on several levels. First, we have all heard the old saying that “a conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.” When violence explodes during an economic collapse, millions of new conservatives will be created from former left-wingers. And besides philosophically anti-gun liberals, many folks simply grow up in families where guns are not present and reach adulthood having never touched a firearm. But no matter why they don’t own firearms, when the ultra-violence breaks out your neighbors down the street will deserve a way to defend themselves from criminal predation. Simple charity, Christian or otherwise, suggests that we should not leave the elderly couple, the widow or the single mom with young children defenseless against evildoers bent on rape, robbery or murder.

When the incidence of home invasions, carjackings and “express kidnappings” skyrockets, some of your neighbors will discover a sudden interest in acquiring firearms, just when firearms may not be available through normal channels. These unarmed neighbors may then ask if you have any extra firearms to lend to them. Which one of your carefully considered collection of guns will you hand over to arm your defenseless neighbor? Your high-end “concealed carry” pistol, which fits your hand like a glove? Your wife’s? Your pump-action shotgun? Your AR-15 Sport Utility Rifle? The fact is, you will be loath to give away any of them, not even to a neighbor in need. You have acquired each of them for a carefully thought-out reason! But your neighbor is still defenseless.

That is why I encourage you to buy a few extra firearms in anticipation of this future need. I would suggest that a revolver is the simplest entry-level firearm to provide to a non-shooting neighbor. There are no magazines, safety catches or slides to learn to manipulate. You simply open the cylinder, insert the bullets, close the cylinder and the revolver is ready to go. A revolver has the shortest “learning curve” of any firearm. Anyone can learn basic gun safety and effective close-range self-defense with a revolver in one afternoon. In dire extremes you could hand a revolver to a non-shooter after a five-minute period of instruction and dry-firing. Revolvers are intuitive; you can even see if they are loaded or unloaded simply by looking at the cylinder.

Of course, a much greater level of firearms training is highly desirable if there is time for it. If possible, take your non-shooting neighbor to a gun range now, in advance of a period of “civil unrest.” Training a non-shooter in the safe operation of firearms also shows your own overall knowledge of security issues. This demonstrated firearms proficiency will stand you in good stead when your leadership skills and tactical knowledge may benefit your overall neighborhood security posture.

Beyond the simple morality of providing a means of self-defense against criminal violence, there is another reason to be prepared to arm thy neighbors: the force multiplying synergy of multiple fields of fire. Recall the old cowboy movies when the gang of black hats rode into a town where the citizens were forewarned and prepared. As an historical example, consider what happened to the vaunted James Gang on the Northfield Minnesota Raid when they lost the element of surprise. Only Frank and Jesse escaped unhurt. The rest of the armed gang were killed by the townsfolk or captured shortly after, badly wounded.

An armed and alert neighborhood is a very dangerous environment for criminals. In a time of rampant violence, with the ever-present threat of home invasions, more armed neighbors mean more angles of fire for the criminals to confront. Instead of focusing their evil intent on a single home, selecting one sheep in a helpless flock, they will be threatened by fire from many directions and their retreat may be cut off. This compounds their risk compared to attacking a neighborhood where most folks are unarmed and cringing in corners, praying to remain unmolested.

Of course, it is best if your neighbors have all received a high level of firearms training. Otherwise, the risk of a “friendly fire” accident while repelling an armed gang with shots from multiple directions is increased. And of course, you should not provide a firearm to a drunk, a druggie, or a mentally unstable neighbor for obvious reasons. But the danger of living in an unarmed neighborhood is even greater, because such an area is a magnet for repeated violent criminal attacks.

The best outcome would be to leverage your training of individuals in safe firearms usage into general neighborhood self-defense drills. Then if the “James Gang” rides in…they won’t necessarily ride out! Word will get around, and your neighborhood will achieve an aura of armed strength that deters future criminal incursions. Consider why tiny Switzerland has never been invaded by its much more powerful and often bellicose neighbors. It’s not because of the Alps. It’s because the Swiss have a strong tradition of armed self-defense at every level. Both invading armies and criminal gangs go around “hard targets” that are known to shoot back!

If nothing else, from a strictly selfish standpoint, the humble .38 revolver you lent to that widow might provide you with a critical early warning of imminent danger when she fires it in self-defense. Forewarned is forearmed, even if the warning is a rapid series of pistol shots heard from up the street at oh-dark-thirty. But in any case, I would rather hear the widow’s defiant shots than her helpless screams.

So, consider buying a few extra firearms and ammunition while you can easily and inexpensively do so. A used revolver in good working condition can be purchased for as little as $250, a used pump-action shotgun for not much more. And if you don’t know what an SKS rifle is or what they cost, find out. Then you will have the option of arming your neighbors in a time of extreme peril, without diminishing your own family armory.



This essay was written by Matt Bracken. I often mention his novels because they hit sore spots in many ways regarding watching your country slowly fall into socialism, then a Chavez type communism where the words “redistribution of wealth” are applauded in public speeches. Before you even know it,  your… “president” … is walking around saying “take over!” while pointing with his finger to several buildings.

While today you have to consider the legal consequences of arming another person, specially in Argentina where only people with gun permits can handle guns and you are legally responsible for what gets done with your weapon, the ability to arm others shouldn’t be underestimated.
I once mentioned that I gave my brother a 38 Special snub nose revolver just a couple hours after he landed in Argentina. 

My brother doesn’t know how to perform a tactical reload, he doesn’t know what SUL means or the best way to resolve corners, but I trust him enough not to shoot anything that doesn’t need to be shot. That’s enough in most cases where you end up arming others.

If the situation is bad enough, there no help coming. You have to ask yourself, how long can I stay alert before falling asleep, how long can I stand guard? With some basic instruction you can have a few people doing shifts after some basic instructions, mostly about gun safety handling and when NOT to shoot. 
Later on if the situation goes on you can teach them more but none of this would even be possible if you don’t have the minimum tools. That is, a few extra guns, ammo and holsters.
I have a couple extra 38 special revolvers for this reason. Also a couple more Hi Power 9mms and 45 ACP pistols. 
I have 5 or 6 extra police surplus leather flap holsters. These come with the cross chest sling needed to carry it. You can simply tote it like that.  A belt would add extra stability but you can do without it, and the holster itself has an extra magazine pouch. Space for two mags for the 45 ACP. Not the latest tactical piece of gear, not even the best or the most practical, but its perfect for a grunt newbie and it cost less than 3 dollars each. 

As of right now, there are some towns and districts in Argentina were the neighbors themselves run patrols and stand guard at night, armed. Legal? No it isn’t but it’s the unwritten agreement they made with authorities that simply can’t protect the people. Saw it on the news a couple days ago.
Chile is another good example. People organized and look after each other. There was a man that explained the problem he had, not having anyone nearby to stand guard when he fell asleep.
The chances of this happening may not seem that big, but it does happen and there’s many scenarios where you may need armed neighbors. Recent, real world scenarios.
These are things that can be taken into account when adding more weapons to your collection.

FerFAL

Friday, March 26, 2010

What Does the 2nd Amendment Really Mean?

Hi guys, this is the latest clip for Grab the Apple. Hope you like it and it helps understand what some of the terms mean: well regulated (well equipped) miliita (armed adults)free state (as in contrast to one that isn't free, such as a dictatorship) Keep and bear (own firearms and carry then on you)



FerFAL

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Gun Ownership and Wives

Dear Mr. Aguirre,

Hello and thank you for your blog and book. I read both regularly, and I have come to understand that firearm ownership is essential for my family's protection. However, I am having a great deal of difficulty convincing my wife that a gun is a good idea, as she feels it poses a greater danger to people living in the house than any would-be intruder. If you could give me any ideas and/or persuasive techniques that could help me resolve this disagreement, I'd be eternally grateful. I could easily go out and get a gun myself, but ideally, out of respect for my spouse and matrimonial harmony, I'd like to convince her of a firearm's safety and necessity. I hope you can post my email so I may garner useful advice from your numerous knowledgeable readers. Thanks again for all you do, and I look forward to the day you can come to the U.S. permanently.

Regards,

Drew F.
Hi Drew,
Good question and I’m sure a lot of readers are going through the same.
Let me ask you guys a question: Do you guys drive?
Car accidents kill way more people than gun accidents do but no one is questioning the wisdom of driving to work instead of using public transportation which may in fact be cheaper and less stressful for you.

Statistically, a gun in someone’s house is 40 times more likely to hurt a family member than a bad guys.
Statistically, you should never marry, because statistically speaking you’ll end up divorced anyway.
Statistically speaking, people are so stupid that they shouldn't own guns, drive cars or even use matches.
The question is, are you part of that dumb, almost brain dead mass?
Let me answer that for you: No, you are not.
I’m better than the average person, and so are you just because you read my blog, because you show interest in these subjects, care enough and clearly pretend to rise above this average mass.

We are better than the average person that would willingly resing his/her freedom only so as to not be held responsible for their own well being.
If for some reason, gentle reader, you’re still not sure about this, then make it an undeniable fact: Practice shooting at least once a month, take defensive shooting lessons and train them dry firing every week. Take defensive shooting classes every 6 months, no less than once a year. Finally, make a decision and take responsibility for it.
Do that and you wont be part of the average mass. You’ll be part of the elite that takes for themselves the responsibility of their well being in a serious manner.

My wife didn’t like guns, but it wasn’t something that was up for discussion either. I didn’t ask “look dear, maybe we should probably buy a gun just in case…” wrong approach.
I had a gun with me ever since I assume the responsibility of protecting my family because it’s the tool I need for such a task if something bad ever happens. Its not a matter of “maybes” or “probably”. It’s simply the way it is and if she doesn’t see that then maybe she married the wrong guy. More than enough metrosexual, psychologically castrated excuses of men out there to pick from if that’s what she fancies.

Worried about accidents? That’s what gun safes are for along with training. I can’t emphasize professional defensive shooting training enough. You may think that dad or grandpa taught you all you need to know, but you’re wrong. Do take classes and take your wife with you. Even better have her go separately, so that there’s no pressure or distraction.

Women LOVE shooting, its just that so many never even tried it or are afraid of guns. They like shooting simply because they are better at it than men. Women don’t feel the need to prove how macho they are or how fast they can shoot, they just listen and follow instructions and that’s what shooting is all about.
In spite of not liking guns, my wife listened when I told her how to use the gun we had when we got married. One day when I got back home I found my Glock on the living room table. Someone had rattled the front gate’s door, either trying to break in or see if it was unlocked. She was very scared but remembered what I had told her.

As things slowly get worse in terms of crime the probability of having to use your firearm and defensive knowledge increases. As of today, the probability of such things happing in your lifetime is greater than what most people think.
And its not about actually shooting someone either. The most likely scenario is you pulling the gun and the bad guy leaving like anyone that wishes to live a bit longer would. But you need a) to have a gun to draw in the first place b) To have the training so as to not shoot someone that doesn’t require it c) To use lethal force if the situation calls for it.

Have a good conversation with your wife. Explain to her what's on your mind. Maybe you’ll even have to explain that you now see things differently than you once did and she’ll have to accept this, and that you’d appreciate her support instead of being an obstacle. Would you have an ear removed if your wife asks you to? No, right? Its one of those things that simply aren't up for discussion. Same thing here. You can talk and explain all you want but its one of the things you'll do anyway. You'll explain to her WHY you are buying a gun, not IF.

You have a house, a family you’re responsible for, correct? You need a gun and the skill to use it, just like you need to provide for your family in ever other way. It is after all, your responsibility, one you assumed before God when you married. Don’t take it lightly.

Last year there was this incident, a guy forced two women inside their apartment, the boyfriend of one of them was inside. The attacker wasn’t even armed but the boyfriend, scared, laid on the floor as he was told to do while the guy raped both women, ate food from the fridge, then raped them again. The guy stayed on the floor all the time.
Do you want to be that guy?
I’d rather be dead than live with that in my conscience.
But here’s people that will gladly accept that they would have done the same thing. That they are unable to fight, or hurt another person let alone kill someone else in self defense.

You have to make up your mind as of right now, the kind of things you’ll put up with and the ones you wont. Where will you draw the line and what are you capable of doing.
As I usually say during these type of conversations; is there something in your life that you’d kill or die to protect? Then you need a gun and ammo. If the answer is no you need a gun too but just one round is enough.


FerFAL

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Good people gone bad???‏

Ferfal,

Have you known of any good people that you personally knew that just turned into total pieces of trash and started robbing and killing people after the crisis?? Or were most of these maniacs at the lower end of society to begin with and the collapse just sent them over the edge??

Tyler


In most cases violent crime is strongly linked to the poor sector of society as you can expect, with an important amount of increased drug use sprinkled all over it.

Regarding middle class, frauds and scams became much more common and I do know of people that, previously considered respectable members of the local community, just stole from their neighbors.
There was this business man, highly respected, that took money from lots of neighbors and friends, people that sent their kids to the same school this man did. He was giving back good profit rates for the loans.
One day when he had enough people giving him money, he took off with his lover to some foreign country, leaving the wife and kids behind. Everyone was left dumb folded. 

When times get tough people do these things, even the nice guy next door with the well educated kids and the latest SUV parked in front.
Another common crime among middle class and upper middle class was tipping other bad guys about sales, arranging kid kidnappings and such for a share. Having the business partner murdered to keep his share was something that also happened.

In general the lesson is to really trust no one, even if you think he’s set financially (it might all he appearance and he might in fact be broke, capable of anything to save his life standards) and certainly not talk about business, important sales and such with them either.
Recently there was some criminals in their 20’s, they lived with their rich parents in private gated communities and they robbed the houses of their own wealthy neighbors. Who would have thought the rich kid next door did it? 

In some other cases professional criminals rent fancy houses in these communities, spend months doing intel jobs and then robbing in these homes after they leave or organize other crimes as well such as kidnappings or whatever opportunity they may see.

Its VERY common for successful criminals (bank/business robbers, drug smugglers and producers, asphalt pirates) to live permanently among the wealthy under some other identity. You never know if the guy that says he’s into international trade, imports/exports, has a successful company in some other province/state actually does that for a living.
Don’t trust appearances guys and keep you mouth shut!

FerFAL

Problems with the background

Anonymous said...
Can't read your blog with Blue Font on Brown Background.....Can't see it.
Help!

Someone told me about a similar problem some time ago, apparently its becuase of an older Explorer or Firefox edition. You should be able to read it perfectly well since it has a very clear background on the text area.
For some reason, certain older versions aren't loading that background but I assure you its the web navigator, not the blog. I can see it well with my desktop computer and laptop, using the latest Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Try updating your internet navigator with a new version.
Guys, if anyone remembers the exact version that was causing the problem please chip in, thanks.

FerFAL

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Very disturbing news learned this weekend: The K Army

One of the agents that came from a southern province to participate in the CQB class told me something pretty disturbing.
A local Union leader approaching him about what he could do with this card he had been given. The card was a carry permit, simply impossible to get for legal gun owners.
This person said it had been simply given to him and that most local union bosses, community social movement leaders and road blocker bosses were getting it. 3.000 permits have been distributed among these guys, most of them supposedly unemployed and needing a social plan to live and in many cases with an extensive criminal back ground.
http://www.bolsonweb.com.ar/diariobolson/detalle.php?id_noticia=24220

The woman (the one on the left) in this picture standing next to president Kirchner is Miliagros “Mili” Salas, ex drug addict and prostitute. She used to live on the streets and decided to get involved in politics after spending 8 months in prison.

She now gets over 10 million dollars per year directly from the Ks, moves around with at least 6 SUVs all around her full of armed thugs and beats up and intimidates those that don’t comply with the Ks.
She has more power in her province, Jujuy, than the governor, and freely walks into the presidential house in Buenos Aires to insult secretaries or Ministers if she feels like it.
Last year she registered 100 firearms for her crash force. When the local authorities refused to do so because of the dark past of those to whom the firearms would be issued, orders came directly from Buenos Aires to comply.

Her counterpart in Buenos Aires, Luis Delia, has taken some of his people to receive combat training in Chavez’s Venezuela.
Now, this is all confirmed information. I checked on line and found several articles and media websites, and there’s been criminal charges presented by the political leaders of the opposition. Of course, these cases will be shelved and everything will go on as usual.
There’s also reports of AK rifles arriving from Venezuela to Ezeiza international airport and carried away by ambulances.

Information about military officers, police sheriffs, their location and families, even information about legal firearm owners has been given to these groups in case they need to take action against them.

Why is all this happening? The K’s are openly against the military and a large sector of the police. The police they are slowly trying to change with their own people but they’ve always treated the military as enemies so they aren’t counting on them. That’s why the Ks are creating their parallel “social” army.
Oh, yes. This does freak me out as its clear that no good can come from this, an unofficial army across the country that are above the law, ready to strike anyone opposing.

Now, trying to learn from this and drawing parallelisms:

1) You guys don’t have our pitiful 3rd world society but its not crazy to imagine that some … “underprivileged ” groups, organized in social welfare in local neighborhoods, fierce supporters of the nanny state that keeps them financed may end up doing something similar.

2) Do all you can to remain below radar. Firearms should be purchased without paper trail if possible. Don’t become a fat target to hit if such a group ever gets hold of ATF lists. “We promise we wont tell anyone about your guns” isn’t good enough. The list of firearm owners and address do exist. Make sure you’re not in it or that you’re at least not in that address.

3) Talk to people “in the know” to know about these things happening.

4) Get involved politically so that these things never happen in your country!

FerFAL

Monday, March 22, 2010

CQB Training Day 2 and Lessons Learned

Yesterday we had rain during the entire training session.
There was an action shooting tournament that got canceled, then it turned into a thunder storm and the guys doing Krav maga next to us left too. It was hard to see with water pouring down the eye protection and with the earmuffs on and running around you sometimes confused the thunder with shots. You also slipped a lot because of the mud and you never knew when there was a foot deep hole in what seemed to be a puddle of water on the trail, so when water covered you boots you had to walk carefully.

After a short review of the room clearing concepts from the day before, we did some target recognition and precision shooting.
Each target had small squares with numbers, about 3x3 inches square with a number inside. Facing at 6 and then 9 o’clock, a number was given and when the whistle was blown you had to go from SUL, kick your right or left leg forward to rotate 90 degrees and shoot. Because of team members being right in front of you during this exercise and then moving all around you the rest of the day in tight quarters, SUL was used a lot and your gun was either holstered, SUL, shooting a target or covering some area.

The day was then completely dedicated to room clearing in teams. Lots of dry fire practice, then with live ammo. We used only 3 rounds per magazine most of the time, so the shots had to be accurate and you did lots of tactical reloads ( not dropping the mags to the ground like in sport shooting) while your partner covered you.

Any mistake, such as going into a room alone, leaving your partner without backup, dropping gear, sweeping someone with the barrel unnecessarily, forgetting to cover your sector, it was all punished with pushups on the spot. When everything was done correctly and we solved the scenarios smoothly… we were rewarded with some more pushups. We ended up doing lots of pushups, sometimes in the soft mud, sometimes on a few inches of water.

We learned how to resolve corners in pairs, L and cross shaped corridors.
The we did all this but this time with hostiles inside with airsoft.
All in all, it was good training and I wish we could do it more often.

Some of the lessons learned:

1)The guns used were either Glocks or Bersas. I did fine with my Bersa, dropped it in the mud, the rain cleaned it up for me, it still worked well and I had only one malfunction because of bad reloads (primer didn’t go off)

2) Don’t mess up your Glock. The only Glock that had problems was one that had been… customized. The only thing that the Glock needs is iron sights if you have the fragile plastic front post. Other than that, lave the thing alone!

3)A revolver in this condition would have stopped firing sooner than later. Try dropping you revolver in the mud, then putting your weight over it and fire a couple shots. Repeat it 5 or 6 times and see how it works.

4)Everyone there had previous training. If you think that you don’t need training because you’ve been shooting all your life you don’t even know what you don’t know.

5)I expected rain but stupid me, I forgot to take extra clothes: It was an uncomfortable trip back home. No that it mattered much after a hard day of training. Being pushed that way puts all things into perspective.

6) Leather may look nice but it sucks when it comes water. Getting caught by rain may be enough to leave your holster damp, and needing a replacement until it dries, and eventually rots. Synthetic fabrics and kydex may not look that nice but will resist water and sweat much better.

7)You need to train at least every six months to keep your skills. Otherwise you get too rusty. Just a visit to the shooting range and spending a good times with friends and buddies doesn’t count.

8) These are extreme high risk courses and with defensive shooting in general body armor is a very good idea. I took my vest and was glad I did. Its during these times as well that body armor becomes a most valuable item, and you realize your life is priceless. Sure worth the couple hundreds bucks worth of armor.

9)Soft body armor gets ruined when wet. I opened my panels, dried them up but I would advice taking hard armor plates to these classes where you might end up soaking wet. When working indoors and there’s no risk of such thing happening, then maybe soft body armor is more confortable and you don’t risk ruining your gear but I’ll get hard plates as soon as I can. When you get armor keep in mind our advertiser, bulletproofme.com, there’s also used vests in good condition that will serve you we’ll if you have a tight budget. Again, your life is priceless.

10) These classes are also good for finding lik e minded individual. Someone said, “Heck, we’ve make a hell of a team if things get totally messed up. Maybe we should share our emails” We laughed for a second, and then stopped laughing and wrote down our contact information.

FerFAL

Saturday, March 20, 2010

CQB-Dinamic Entry Training- Day one




I’m dog tired but as always couldn’t be happier with the world class level of the training.
Along with Baigorria was an instructor that specializes on hostage rescue, with extensive training ranging from US Air Marshals, Israeli Sky Marshals  and pretty much every special force in Latin America and Europe.
It was 9 students, except for 3 or 4, the rest where police tactical team member from the province or federal police. 

We started with some basic drills, failure clearing, tactical reloading, shooting in movement. Then we quickly moved on to working with our partner, shooting in pairs, covering each other while the other reloaded or simulated a failure. Then we worked either in a single line or too, laying suppressive fire as the rest of the team moves, pretty nice. Also evacuating someone wounded while the team provides suppressive fire. You had to be able to carry you partner over your shoulders and run while shooting with the other hand.
Then we did a single file patrolling on some small but dense subtropical wooded area near by, you constantly got bug biting you and thorny vegetation slapping your face as you moved. You couldn’t move there without eye protection, there wasn’t even a trail.

We did this combines with ambushes, several times. We also practiced jumping walls as a team, also the right way to jump a wall quick and not profiling against the skyline.
Any screw up by any individual was punished by 5-20 pushups right there on the spot for the entire team.
We then saw the basics of room clearing individually, pairs and teams. How to resolve different kind of rooms, corridors, doors and corners, one going low and another one high simultaneously.
After that we went to a house with no roof for more room entry , this time we had to organize a quick assault and neutralize anyone inside. 

By now mosquitoes were just killing us and all this was done at night, using our flashlights. We failed miserably the first couple times but the last one we nailed them. This will be more intensely covered tomorrow.
The course is pretty intense, from 8 AM to 8PM, stopping only to rehydrate (not very often) and lunch was a sandwich eaten quickly right there in the range in 10 minutes.
My t shirt broke at some point I cant recall, so did my jeans. I forgot about sun screen since I was rather expecting rain (maybe it will rain tomorrow) and I got burned pretty bad.
I drunk about 2 liters of water and I’m still rehydrating, everything is soaking wet.
Well guys, got to go to bed and be ready for tomorrow for another day of fun.
Take care.

FerFAL

Friday, March 19, 2010

Warning shots: How many do you need?

I’ve mentioned a while back that a good friend of mine owns a 300 ha. farm close to Buenos Aires and that every time I go there I hear a few warning shots being fired to send away those that trespass to steal some wood or crops.

I mentioned then how much sense it makes to have a 22LR for this. You’re not mowing down zombies, you’re just letting trespassers know that you’re armed and aware of what they are doing, so you want the cheapest bang per buck.
A few shots is enough. If they don’t leave, you’re still firing ammo that is quite capable of killing.
Now, a few days ago I saw this article:

Lawlessness after quake in Chile fishing village


and I found this in it:
The harbour has been decimated - first by the earthquake and then by the 15m-high (49ft) tsunami which threw boats and shipping containers out of the sea and into the port with massive force.

Dozens of containers are now strewn around the harbour as though they were cardboard boxes, having crushed several people in their cars in the process.

In this scene of devastation, looters have made the most of the chaos. Many of the containers have been opened and their contents, be they bananas, nappies or computer equipment, taken by the desperate hordes.
"I've fired 500 of the 2,000 rounds of ammunition I've got," says Mr Orellana, who works for the Ministry of Public Works, showing off his gun licence.
"I fire over their heads to scare them off, and so far, it's worked."
Rene Orellana has fired hundreds of warning shots to ward off looters

Mr. Orellana deserves the Nobel Peace prize guys!
500 shots and not one dead. Shows yet again that you can usea gun to defend yourself and not kill anyone. Maybe actually dropping a few of these guys would have reduced his ammo spending significantly, but that’s not the point.

Given that he’s shooting shot gun shells, he was lucky enough to have 2000 rounds to being with, most people don’t have more than a box or two, if they have that at all.
The lesson here is, after a given disaster where there’s looters around, a couple rounds over their heads most often works.
But this means you may end up shooting a lot so again, the king of all calibers, good old 22LR becomes very important.

What to have?


22LR is by far the cheapest caliber you can stock up on, you can pick a 500 round value pack every now and then and soon enough you’ll have thousands of rounds ready.
Which brand? whatever works best in your gun. 22LRs tend to be picky. Heavy projectiles at high velocity work best on most occasions.
As for the gun, 22LR are cheap enough there’s no reason not to own one rifle besides your 22LR handgun.
I’d go for semi auto rifle. The reason for this is that since the caliber is relatively weak, at least you compensate with higher capacity and fast follow up shots.

Though it was interesting, these real world encounters aren’t as exciting as the fantasy ones but at least here there are valuable lessons to be learned.

FerFAL

#1 Amazon Disaster Relief Best Seller

Well guys, thanks to you, “The Modern Survival Manual” reached the #1 Top of the list in the Disaster Relief Category and is currently #4 in Survival Skills.


I can’t tank you enough for your help and I hope people do take the content of the book into account. It will sure make life a hole lot easier as things in general get more complicated.
Again, thank you!

PS:The guys from Amazon themselves phoned me a few months ago, they couldn’t understand how a print on demand book, with no publishing company could sell so well. He asked what it was about, I told him to read it. :-)
FerFAL

Market gardening during an economic crisis‏

Hi Fernando,

I listened to Rawles's interview and even if I like his blog, I think he's too radical. I'd like to hear you and I sent an email to C2C as you asked.

I email you today to ask you about veggies during the economic crisis in your country. I'm working for an organic market gardener and I'm planning to run a small scale market garden in two or three years. I wonder what were the availability and prices of vegetables in post-2001 Argentina ? Are there CSA or box schemes ? Do people started to plant private gardens (that's competition for the professionals indeed) ? Is there a strong market for seedlings (which would be a direct result of more people gardening their yard) ?

Regarding security and transportation, I suppose it would be wise to have my garden on the edge of a small town, so that I'm not isolated and I don't have hundred miles to drive to sell my products. What's your opinion ?

Your readers interested in market gardening should buy Eliot Coleman's "The New Organic Grower", it contains relevant informations for those who want to start such a business IMHO.

I read Don Williams's comment about self-sufficient agriculture on the meat prices surge topic and I disagree about fertilizers being a problem. Before we mined phosphate rock, we had to make do with cow poo and other organic matter !! Crop rotation, greem manures, composting grazers' poo : these are the solutions. And don't forget humanure, because it's the only way to fully close the nutrients cycle. China used it for thousand of years (it's like gold in a way xD).

Another thing : you mentioned in your book the availability of game in the city. I can add rabbit to your list as I found some of them on the edge of a half-a-million souls' city. I think they would be wiped out if the push come to the shove but it's interesting thing to know.

Bye,
Etienne


Hi Etienne,

Thanks for sending an email. Every single one helps and I’m sure I’ll eventually get a call. (I aslo so several new 5 star reviews in Amazon, so thanks a lot for that as well guys)

Prices went up consistently but that doesn’t mean gardening will make you rich.
Its usually due to prices in general going up, the middle man’s cost, transportation, rent, power and taxes for the grocery store going up as well, as well as everyone increasing their own profit margin trying to stay up to date with inflation.

The Hollywood survival theory says that you’ll grow your food, feed yourself and your family, and sell/trade what’s left for whatever products and services you need but don’t produce yourself.
Why, according to that logic, half of the poor in Latin America should be rich or at least well off since that’s what they do.
So, it doesn’t work that way in 3rd world countries or after a collapsed economy.
When I say it doesn’t work, I mean that you have several other much more profitable jobs and income generating activities that make small scale gardening for a living in most cases impractical. (there are exception and we’ll talk about that later)

First, its impossible to produce yourself everything you need for a balanced diet. As my buddy Nomad concluded after years of survival and preparedness research and some time in Emergency Response school “Money makes the world go around” , even after SHTF, I might add.
Again the Hollywood based theory says you’ll sell your beans and tomatoes for whatever you need, it’s a perfect plan!
Well… no. 
I’ve even read some comments in forums ( and I’m pretty sure the posters did consider it a joke) say that they’ll trade one of their chickens for a bar of gold. Because that would be HIS price… after SHTF.
Today he would be just a fool for even suggesting such a trade, what on earth makes these people believe that will change with a worse or collapsed economy?
Unless you’re dealing with a guy with a bar of gold in a stranded island, that unrealistic.
Neither you nor I set the price of gold or anything else for that matter, the market does it. You can either accept it or customers will go somewhere else.
But then again, food, just like everything else is expensive when you have hyperinflation.

It was just last year or the year before, that tomato reached a world wide historic record in Argentina, a kilo of tomato cost about 4 dollars in grocery stores and supermarkets. The small producers thoughts they could just grow gold, but as soon as everyone got into tomatoes, the excess of production sent it back to normal prices, even below that. Damned tomatoes where everywhere.
The truth is that, while the price is inflated at the grocery, the guy actually growing and otherwise producing the food isn’t getting rich.
He gets a couple cents for what he does, he needs BULK, and that’s why the great majority of small producers are poor.
Poor as in they would be better of getting a regular job in town.
With the succession of economy crisis in Argentina that’s what most people ended up doing. Buenos Aires got overpopulated and many of the small towns in the country just died.
Another example, milk costs around one dollar if you want one that isn’t shamelessly cut with water. That’s around 3 pesos per liter. The producer? He gets paid 7 cents per liter, that’s pesos guys, so he gets 0,02 dollars per liter of milk produced. The inflation makes it expensive at the shelf. Go with a truck full of milk and sell it yourself? Good luck with that.
 Argentine farmers protest in the province of Santa Fe during the the "Country Crisis"(Crisis del Campo)

  Some people do sell vegetables on the streets or in market fairs. I don’t envy their lifestyle nor does anyone that has at least a minimum wage job.
What I mean by this is the following:
Please, understand I’ve got nothing against gardening, or hard working people, specially farmers which is such a honorable job. What I’m saying is that its only going to be harder to make money out of it, not easier as the couch survivalists that apparently didn’t bother to check their own country’s history seem to believe.

Now, for the good news, you do have options if you know how to market your products well, find several organic stores that may be willing to sell your products.
“Farm chicken” and “Farm butcher” are still pretty popular here and they usually have cheaper prices that supermarkets. That means people will buy. They offer these products supposedly free of all the junk found in the mass produced supermarket meats, but the price is the most attractive thing people notice.
You’ll either need: a) A store somewhere where there’s enough clients b) Store owners, groceries, butchers or organic food stores that may be interested.
If you market it well and the price is right you may do good money.
If you’re planning on getting involved in this type of activity, specially with hard economic times already here and getting worse, I’d tell you that without a doubt the mot important aspect of your business and the key for its survival will be the connections you have to offer your product and how well you market it. You have to be clever regarding doing business. Just producing a good product wont cut it.
Another tip, aim for clients with good income levels.

The poor guy will find a way to save as much money as he can. Even with inflated grocery prices, you still have places like Mercado Central where meat, milk, fruits and vegetables cost 5 to 10 times less.
Takes time, requires you to go to some dangerous parts of town but people do find away, so aim for the higher income client interested in “organic” “green” “pesticide free””100% natural” “ I read Hamlet to the chickens before cutting their heads off”.
 The “CSA or box schemes” may work beautifully... if you know how to market it well and have the right clients.

Advertising is important, fliers in your target neighborhoods, maybe publicity in local radio, TV or papers, but so is connections, developing friendly business relations and word of mouth reputation spreading in your community.
Edible game does disappear pretty fast when things like these occur. Suddenly everyone feels like hunting instead of paying for burgers. It happened during the Great Depression and it happened here too, anything that can be eaten it hunted almost to extinction fast.

FerFAL

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Items ready for this weekend’s CQB Dinamic Entry course



Bersa 9mm
Extra magazines
Eye protection
BA vest


Oh, and a bunch of ammo! :-)


Just came back from the movies by the way, we saw "The Book of Eli", pretty good movie.

I also wanted to thank all of you that helped with the emails to the different radio stations. I’m keeping my fingers crossed and I’ll let you all know if there’s any news.
I also saw several new reviews at Amazon, thanks so much for your time!

Again, thanks!

FerFAL

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I need your help

Since I started blogging, I’ve been offered all kind of help by caring readers. I thank them for their kindness and explain to them that I’m all set and there’s people that need it more than I do.
This time, I really do need your help, and it will only take a minute of your time, maybe less.

I’m trying to make an appearance in the George Noory’s Coast to Coast radio show.
The idea is to talk about economic collapse survival and all these aspects of more realistic survival situations not often discussed, things people can do as of right now instead of waiting for zombie hordes. Same stuff we talk about here.
I have no doubt it will be a breath of fresh air for most listeners used to the typical doom and gloom speech.

A bunch of emails wont be enough. To get into one of these shows you either need a contact, or hundreds if not thousands of emails asking for your appearance.
That’s why every single email counts.

If you enjoy my blog, do take a minute of your time to help me out. Don’t think others will do it instead.
When that happens no one sends them and all you get is a dozen emails that get lost in the crowd.
I need the help of every single one of you.

Right now I’m going for Coast to Coast AM:
CoastProducer@aol.com
george@coasttocoastam.com
ian@coasttocoastam.com
lisa@coasttocoastam.com
tom@coasttocoastam.com

Other radio talk shows that may be interested as well:
me@glennbeck.com
stu@glennbeck.com
http://www.infowars.com/contact.html

It’s much better if you write your own (otherwise it may look like spam), but here’s an example:

Subject: Interview Economic Crisis survival author, Fernando Aguirre.

I’d like to hear Fernando Aguirre, author of “The modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse”, being interviewed as a guest in your show.

His book can be found at:
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Survival-Manual-Surviving-Economic/dp/9870563457/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268845134&sr=8-9
His website is: http://www.ferfal.blogspot.com/

Fernando Aguirre’s email: ferfal308@hot(remove)mail.com

Regards,
XXXXXXX

Also, if you bought my book on Amazon but didn’t have the time to post a review, this would be a great time!

I don’t like asking for help but sometimes you have to. This is one of those cases.
Thanks guys!

FerFAL

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

My own Argentine experience‏

Ferfal-

It's been a pleasure reading your blog the past couple of years. I have to comment a bit about the Rawles thing - I heard his first charges of anti-semitism on his review of your blog. I had already found your blog and never noticed this. You should know that anyone who reads your postings can plainly see that any charges of anti-semitism are without merit.

I still look at the Rawles blog - but it is with a jaded eye. Your real world experience is a real asset to your readers. I do not think you (or most of your readers) realize how valuable your insight really is - I do believe many elements of your Argentine experiences are coming to America. They need to read about it so they don't have to learn the hard way.

Now for my Argentine Experience! I just thought of this because I just picked up my recently inherited (God bless my mother's soul) double-barreled shotgun from the gunsmith. This shotgun has two notches in it from an attack on my family home in Acasuso. It instilled upon me (at a very young age) the utility of firearms and even rudimentary training when faced with a dangerous situation. In 1970 my father was with the US Embassy in Argentina on a 3-year assignment. That was a tumultuous time even then. I remember my father giving me a 100,000 peso note to buy an ice cream. I thought I was rich, until I used it up on a couple of ice cream cones......

In any case, this was a crazy time there- there was a core of militants intent on gaining American clothes and documents for some nefarious purpose. There were kidnappings, break-ins and fires. One day, when my mother was home alone with my little sister, two guys tried to jimmy the locks on our front door. My poor mom told them in her best broken Spanish to leave her alone. They laughed at her from behind the door and kept trying to work the lock......but they stopped laughing when a shotgun blast came through the window. My father left my mom with a shotgun ready and some basic instruction on how to shoot it. It worked.

We left soon after that, but I loved my time in Argentina and hope to come back one day soon. What is interesting to me is that some of the things you write about happening today, I also remember from 1970.

Seriously though - don't sweat the assholes criticizing you for whatever reason. Keep the information and ideas coming. You are a good man.

Cheers,

Scott

Thanks for your support. There is a plan behind what he’s been doing since I first published my book, which he clearly sees as a threat to his retreat sales real estate business and (flawed in my opinion) survival theories.
I don’t do theories or assumptions here at “Surviving in Argentina”, I analyze what works and what doesn’t, and what other people have done or are currently doing in the real world.

Acasuso is a very nice neighborhood!
These days one of the finest and safest places to live in if you don’t take into account the gated private neighborhoods.
But the 70’s were hard years indeed, everyone here has a good idea because of what our parents told us and you occasionally talk to people that were “missing”, desaparecidos, and spent some time in some of the holes or police stations, tortured in case they had information. The lucky ones where released. The others…

When I was little I remember using the 10.000 Australes note. That bought you a plastic cup of Coke and sometimes a hot dog too.
There were no Coke cans in Argentina, or any other soda cans for that matter. Those were only available abroad and if you traveled to USA you usually brought a can of Coke and showed it around. It was a novelty.
Anything is a novelty in a country with no imports!

500.000 Australes was a lot of money for a kid back then.
If you had a 500.000 Australes note you could actually buy something you liked in a toy store.
I remember that for me it wasn’t a big deal, you just eliminated four zeros to know how much money you really had. That was much closer to the dollar exchange.
When they went to the new Peso currency I remember thinking, “Finally something that makes sense! They eliminated those worthless zeros!”
Kids are so innocent. :-) Man, I’m feeling old.

Those double barrels sure are simple to operate and the simplicity compensates for the lack of capacity when it comes to untrained people needing to defend themselves.
Better to take a few shooting lessons though.

History usually repeats itself, that’s why you see similarities. Hope things never end up like that in USA.
I hope people don’t have to start crossing out zeros in their heads for money to make sense.

Again, thanks for your support. Means a lot to know that my readers are backing me up.

FerFAL