Preps for the older crowd‏

Ferfal, your book is GREAT and I love it. I have a question about how best to prepare for the lean financial times when you're older. My husband is 62 and I'm 59 - neither of us is a good candidate for kick-boxing classes. What would be the most important things for us to do to get ready for the hard times that are certainly coming to our country. What would you tell your parents? Thank you.


Deborah

Hi Deborah, thanks for your email and sorry for the delay in replying. Trying to catch up as quick as I can but sometimes, emails like yours are of interest to a good number of people and I cant’ avoid spending some extra time thinking about them, trying to come up with the best possible reply.
Regarding getting by as you grow older, when I think about these things my grandma ( 86 years old ) always comes to mind.



She’s living in Buenos Aires and manages to keep herself safe. How? Being very cautious!
She lives in an ok suburb in Buenos Aires in a small but nice condo.
She walks a couple blocks to the supermarket and has most of what she needs near by, three or four blocks away within walking distance. 



When she needs to go visit her doctor down town she tells either me or my aunt, and we take her there.
When walking on the streets she keeps a few things in mind: Go out during times of the day when there’s a lot of people on the streets, never after the sun goes down. She keeps her purse tight under her arm in case anyone tries to snatch it. She dresses well but leaves any gold jewelry at home or well concealed under the clothes. Doing that and being extra careful given her limitations has kept her safe during all these years.
Now for younger people there’s senior citizen self defense classes, specially oriented for them. You could also take self defense classes if you find a good instructor locally. He will know what would work best for you without trying any stuff that isn’t within your means.



Shooting and carrying concealed is of course highly recommended. You’re never too old to learn how to shoot (specially not if you’re just 59! :-)  ) and it will be a terrific equalizer against numerous attackers. Remember, carrying  a gun doesn’t mean you’ll go around shooting anyone that looks at you the wrong way, you’ll just be using it to defend your life, and a criminal that doesn’t stop when you have him at gunpoint means he want to hurt you bad enough to risk his own life, so be extra glad you were armed to begin with!



Carrying OC spray is a good idea too.  Sabre Red and Fox labs are the bet brands, and its well worth the expense to get a inert training can of spray and train a bit with it until you get used to hitting your target with the spray jet. Here's an interesting link on how to use OC spray. LINK
My friend Captain Rick also relies on Muffin, a big white dog that looks like a Dogo but is a actually a Boxer Pit Bull mix. I think its very smart to have a canine partner with you, and this will be important for your defense as you grow older. Not to mention the fun of actually having a dog, an excuse to go out for walks and work out are added benefits. 



All this combined with good levels of awareness, meaning being careful on the street, careful at home too not to open the door to strangers, have a secured house with good locks, door and alarm, will improve your odds significantly as things get worse.
Other preparedness topics also, apply: A well stocked food stash, water, medicines, it all makes life easier during emergencies.



Hope that helped, take care,



FerFAL