M.D. CREEKMORE

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Wisconsin Knife Laws: A Simple Cheat Sheet With All You Need To Know

wisconsin flag - knife lawsEven for a legal expert trained in understanding weapon laws, Wisconsin knife laws are often difficult to understand. The primary reason for the confusion stems from the ambiguous wording of statutes that lead to protracted legal battles inside civil and criminal courts.

Legislative leaders in Wisconsin have made an effort to clear up the ambiguous language by passing laws defining the meaning of a number of knives, as well as clarify the intent of unclear knife statutes.

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A thorough review of Wisconsin knife laws leads to the conclusion the state does not consider knives to be labeled as “dangerous weapons” as defined by state law. Let’s review the important components of Wisconsin knife laws to determine where residents and visitors stand.

Recent Changes in Wisconsin Knife Laws

On April 14, 2015, the Badger State passed a law that provides visitors and residents with more legal freedom to own and carry knives. Senator Terry Moulton and representative Kathleen Bernier sponsored the landmark knife law, with Governor Scott Walker a persuasive supporter of the new law.

Governor Walker played an instrumental role in lobbying legislators that sat on the fence during the extended debate that at times turned confrontational.

The governor made a statement that tied the new law to the fundamental meaning of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. “Wisconsin citizens have the fundamental right to defend themselves and feel safe and secure in their homes and we remain committed to protecting those rights,’ remarked Governor Walker during an emotional speech.

AB 142 removed every restriction placed on switchblade knives, which the state categorizes as a type of automatic knife. The lifting of restrictions includes the concealed carrying of a switchblade.

State lawmakers made an exception to the new switchblade rules by stating “person who is prohibited under state law from possessing a firearm may also not go armed with a concealed knife that is a “dangerous weapon.”

In February of 2016, legislators removed additional restrictions when it comes knives, concealed carry, and how the state views municipalities that pass more onerous knife laws that what is mandated by the State of Wisconsin.

With myriad lakes and plenty of wilderness to provide homes for wildlife, the reform of Wisconsin knife laws came about primarily because of the strong support demonstrated by the anglers and hunters living in or visiting the state.

Here are the types of knives that are legal to own in Wisconsin:

  • Dirk
  • Bowie
  • Ballistic
  • Dagger
  • Disguised
  • Switchblade

Wisconsin Defines the Meaning of Concealed

In a monumental 1993 Wisconsin Court of Appeals case, State v. Keith ruled there are three criteria for defining what is a concealed weapon. First, the weapon must be completely hidden, Second, the defendant in a criminal case must be aware of the presence of the hidden weapon.

Finally, the weapon is within the defendant’s reach, attached to a part of the body, or stored in a clothing pocket.

Another case litigated by the Wisconsin court of appeals ruled a person was guilty of carrying a dangerous concealed weapon in situations where all the three of the following criteria are met:

  • Defendant was aware of the presence of the weapon
  • The weapon was located inside a car and within the defendant’s reach
  • The weapon was hidden from ordinary view

Subsequent court rulings defined the ambiguous term “ordinary view” to mean a person could not see the weapon standing outside a vehicle or within a vehicle.

Concealed Carry Knife Law in Wisconsin

Knife laws in the Badger State allow residents and visitors to conceal carry a legal to own knife.

“Unless other facts and circumstances that indicate a criminal or malicious intent on the part of the person apply, a person is not in violation of, and may not be charged with a violation of, this section for loading, a firearm, or for carrying, or going armed with a firearm or a knife, without regard to whether the firearm is loaded or the firearm or the knife is concealed or openly carried.”

AB 142, Act 149, Section 11 prohibits a person from possessing a firearm, if the person is also prohibited from conceal carrying a legal to own knife.

Additional Wisconsin Knife Laws Information

State preemption language for Wisconsin knife laws is highly ambiguous.

“With regard to state preemption of local regulations, political subdivisions are prohibited from enacting or enforcing an ordinance regulating the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing, transportation, licensing, permitting, registration, or taxation of any knife, unless the ordinance or resolution is the same as or similar to, and no more stringent than, a state statute.”

AB 142, Act 149, Section 2 also prevents local regulations from prohibiting a person’s right to open or conceal carry a legal to own knife.

Here is where the state preemption statute for Wisconsin gets muddied.

Although there is a state preemption provision written in AB 142, local governments can forbid the possession of knives carried into a building that is owned, occupied, or controlled by the local political entity. Note the Wisconsin legislature uses the word “building” instead of the term “real estate” to create a narrower restriction for knife prohibition. Knives remain outside the definition of a “dangerous weapon.” However, Wisconsin law has not changed the law that forbids dangerous weapons on school property.

Other Important Provisions of Wisconsin Knife Laws

In the Badger State, minors are not allowed to own a weapon or receive a weapon that was transferred to a minor by an adult. Wisconsin does not place a restriction on the length size of a knife blade. The lack of a blade size restriction is relatively rare among American states. Most states place blade restrictions that range from three to five inches.

Where Do Wisconsin Knife Laws Go from Here?

In a show of unity, both prominent Democrats and Republicans in the Wisconsin statehouse have publicly stated the importance of further clarifying state weapons statutes. State preemption language especially needs more work to unify state and municipal knife laws. Expect some type of law to pass in 2019 that merges state and local knife ownership interests.

Please note: None of the material in this article should be interpreted as legal advice.  I am not a lawyer.  Never take any action with legal consequences without first consulting with a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.  This article should not be relied upon for making legal decisions.  This information is provided for scholarship and general information only.

You can read my other knife law articles for other states here…

And check out these related articles:

Missouri Knife Laws: A Simple Cheat Sheet With All You Need To Know

missouri-flag-knife-laws

As one of the leaders in preserving constitutionally guaranteed rights, the Show-Me State not only recognizes the right of residents and visitors to bear arms, but the state also preserves the rights of residents and citizens to own and bear all types of knives. The Missouri Constitution closely resembles the language written into the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

  • 23.
    Right to keep and bear arms-exception

“That the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms,  ammunition, and accessories typical to the normal function of such arms, in defense of his home, person, family, and property, or when lawfully summoned in aid of the civil power, shall not be questioned.

The rights guaranteed by this section shall be unalienable. Any restriction on these rights shall be subject to strict scrutiny and the state of Missouri shall be obligated to uphold these rights and shall under no circumstances decline to protect against their infringement.

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Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the general assembly from enacting general laws which limit the rights of convicted violent felons or those duly adjudged mentally infirm by a court of competent jurisdiction.”

Are Any Knives Prohibited in Missouri?

Since 2012, state law § 571.010 does not include a switchblade on the list of prohibited knives. However, anyone that uses a switchblade to commit a crime is in violation of a long-standing federal law. The United States Congress passed the Federal Switchblade Act in 1958 to regulate interstate commerce. Confusion as to which switchblade law applies to each case has bogged down court proceeding involving the ownership of switchblade knives.

Concealed Carry of Knives in Missouri

Missouri knife laws forbid the concealed carrying of any type of knife, except for “an ordinary pocketknife” that does not measure more than four inches in length. As with many legal definitions, the meaning of “an ordinary pocketknife” has undergone intense judicial scrutiny in several highly publicized civil and criminal cases.

The state law applying to concealed carry reads like the following:

  • Carries concealed upon or about his or her person a knife, a firearm, a blackjack or any other weapon readily capable of lethal use.

In summary:

  • You are not allowed to conceal carry a pocketknife that is more than four inches in length
  • You are allowed to open carry any type of knife that state law mandates as legal to won
  • You cannot conceal carry any other type of knife outside of a pocketknife measuring fewer than four inches in length

As one of the legal pillars of Missouri precedent law, the case of State v. Dowdy rules that a paring knife Dowdy had concealed qualified as a banned conceal carry knife as written into state knife laws.

Concealed Carry Further Defined in Missouri

Missouri law considers the meaning of concealed to be a knife that “is not readily and practically visible to approaching persons under ordinary circumstances.” As another case that set Missouri knife laws in stone, State v. Rowe declared a six-inch bladed knife hidden in the driver’s side door of Mr. Rowe’s vehicle met the legal definition of concealed.

Although Mr. Rowe’s knife handle was easy to see, state court ruled the knife was concealed and thus, a banned knife under Missouri knife laws. Moreover, the court’s decision in State v. Rowe states that in order to convict a defendant for the concealed carrying of a knife, the person owning the knife must have easy access to controlling the knife.

A Few Exceptions to Missouri’s Concealed Carry Provision

Missouri knife laws when it comes to concealed carry do not apply to government employees, as well as professionals that serve legal papers to Missouri residents. Hunters that legally carry an exposed bow and/or firearm also are allowed to conceal carry a knife in the Show Me State.

Anyone “peaceably” traveling through the state are allowed to carry a concealed knife. Numerous defendants have submitted legal challenges in court to request definitions for the terms “peaceably traveling” and “continuous journey.”

Here are a few of the cases:

State v. Mason ruled in 1978 that you do not have to travel entirely through the state of Missouri to be considered on a “continuous journey.” The ruling opened the door for residents that concealed carry certain knives from let’s say Rolla to St. Joseph.

Not surprising, a court ruled in 1990 that transporting a “considerable quantity” of narcotics violated the “peaceable traveling” clause of Missouri knife laws.

Eleven years later, a Missouri Appellate Court rules in State v. White that possession of a small quantity of marijuana does not exempt a defendant from the meaning of “peaceably traveling.”

Missouri Statutory Definition of a Knife

 (12) ‘Knife’, any dagger, dirk, stiletto, or bladed hand instrument that is readily capable of inflicting serious physical injury or death by cutting or stabbing a person. For purposes of this chapter, ‘knife’ does not include any ordinary pocketknife with no blade more than four inches in length;

Remember the term “ordinary pocketknife remains a contentious topic among both defense and prosecuting attorneys.

Miscellaneous Missouri Knife Statutes

Missouri represents one of the few states that does not place any restrictions on the minor age ownership of knives. There is not a statewide preemption allowed for Missouri knife laws. The lack of statewide preemption has given major cities such as St. Lois and Kansas City more legal wriggle room to enact stricter knife laws. The critical dimension mandated by Missouri knife laws is four inches. No blade on any type of knife can exceed four inches.

Missouri Knife Laws Moving Forward

In 2019, Missouri appears to be a state that will address legally ambiguous language written into the state’s knife laws. Lawmakers are also poised to address the legal conflict between allowing minors to own knives and the tough knife laws passed by a few cities that prohibit the carrying of any type of knife on school property. Nonetheless, Missouri should remain one of the most knife-friendly states in the country.

Please note: None of the material in this article should be interpreted as legal advice.  I am not a lawyer.  Never take any action with legal consequences without first consulting with a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.  This article should not be relied upon for making legal decisions.  This information is provided for scholarship and general information only.

You can read my other knife law articles for other states here…

And check out these related articles:

Should a Faraday Cage Be Grounded?

Should a Faraday Cage Be Groundedby blogRot.

Yes, a Faraday cage should be properly grounded to be more effective at preventing damage to electronics as grounding provides a discharge path for EMP. I’ll cover the why and how below so read on…

Electromagnetic Pulse (aka EMP) or a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from our sun produce high-powered electromagnetic ‘rays’ that are very damaging to electrical and electronics based equipment. Rubbing your bare feet across the carpet generates a significant electrostatic potential that you feel when you then touch something metal like a door handle – that spark is a discharge of roughly 4,000 volts to 35,000 volts.

Lightning cracks across the sky are 10,000 volts and more.  YES, the voltages created from you rubbing your feet and lightning is roughly the same but there is an ‘umph’ factor behind the voltages that I could explain but do not want to have anyone’s eyes cross.

Ever tried to heat up some Earl Grey with your DW’s gold trim porcelain tea cups in the microwave?  Did you notice the fireworks from that boneheaded move?  For comparison, EMP is both similar and different to the above but much more powerful the closer to ground zero one is, and CME could not only be up to EMP powerful but is also sustained – the Earth could be in the sun’s blast zone for hours or days whilst an EMP burst is milliseconds.  EMP from a nuclear detonation can still be higher than 100,000 volts hundreds of miles away.

What this electromagnetic energy does is to create (‘induce’) energy potential (voltage) in equipment even when it is not plugged in.  This is bad, as not only is this not controlled (like plugging something in backward the energy doesn’t go in the correct pathways and it burns up) but also that energy could very easily exceed tolerances of the components of the equipment – something as low as 30V inducement could irreparably damage electronics.

And electronics are everywhere and are needed for/included in electrical systems like your car, generators, central air conditioners, etc.  If that electronic control goes kaput it is hard if not impossible to get that electrical system it controls/manages to work.

Furthermore, the susceptibility of electronic memory components needs to be considered: even if the electronic memory component physically survives the inducement there is a strong chance that the critical programming codes it contains may be altered enough to ‘break’ it!

Your Kindle or laptop may survive undamaged but the software it needs to power up and run would be corrupted enough to make it useless and its data irretrievable.

To be honest, until there is a detailed study of a modern-day nuclear detonation near a population center I do not believe the magnitude of EMP effects are truly understood, anticipated or expected – I can only fantasize about what the results are and believed that most experts just don’t know every cause-and-effect nor the true extent of the damage (the good-stuff data is Classified).

Yeah, there was Project Starfish Prime in Hawaii, but that was more of an incidental byproduct and not specifically set up to be monitored – “ugh… Honolulu just called and said their streetlights all went out; did we just do that?  Yes, but let’s call it part of a study so Congress will fund it. Ka-ching!”  I do recognize EMPs and CME events as being catastrophic no matter what.

So how does one protect his precious ham radio, her dc/ac inverter, or their computer from these high energy discharge events?  While some special equipment can be ‘hardened’ by design the chances of you acquiring this military-grade engineering or old-school manufacturing is not expected.  Automobiles and airplanes used to be made without electronics; today nearly everything is and today’s products are soundly engineered using the least amount of material necessary in its construction.

Great for cost savings, but no wiggle room for extra capacity.  Grandpa’s wire wound antenna I inherited in his vacuum-tube based radio weighs more than my entertainment center – this is the old-school manufacturing that I am referring to.

The wiring in those old electrical systems would be considered over-engineered in today’s standards; they were bigger back then and those bigger wires can conduct more power through them before overheating and burning out.  Hardening and modern RF shielding is a whole ‘nuther bag of beans topic-wise, and this is just a brief snippet to show contrast to the other option.

…and that other option is to Shield it.  There is a reason UFO nutters wear tinfoil hats – it is actually sound physics in shielding from electrical waves; however, unless it is properly Grounded then it is useless.  So do you truly know what ‘grounding’ is?

Earth ground is special in that it is ASSUMED to be able to absorb an unlimited amount of Current without changing its potential (Voltage).  Another way of saying it is that earth ground is always ASSUMED to have zero volts, no matter how much current/power it is subjected to.  Electromagnetic radiation continues to propagate until dissipated through earth ground… err… it travels until stopped by the earth.

Let us assume the equipment is plugged into the wall outlet and is exposed to EMP.  This means that is being zapped and induced with ~100,000 volts of energy, more than likely turning whatever was plugged in into a heavy paperweight.  Light bulbs will explode, electronics will pop n fizzle, and if it was already running then it may catch fire.

Not to mention that the power lines are already saturated with its own induced energy, causing further mayhem and destruction.  “But I had it turned OFF” you say; well, unfortunately most On/Off switches only opens one leg of the circuit loop so that induced power will flow through the ‘neutral’ just like if it was running (and destroying it) or it will flow at the speed of light through the ‘hot’ and then to another piece of equipment you have running and THEN back to earth ground.

It still goes ‘poof’.  Or it may even arc the distance across the leads of the On/Off switch.  Multiply this effect by all of the items you have plugged into the walls of your house, then all of the houses tied into your electrical grid.  Many, many ‘poofs’.  Even if the mains breaker on your house trips you’re still left with 100,000v inducement in the house wiring.

“So just leaving it unplugged will protect it, right,” you ask?  Not really.  Let us say you’ve got a nice 1000W dc inverter tucked away on a shelf.  It will still get zapped by 100,000 volts, but that induced energy potential doesn’t go anywhere until that energy potential is great enough to overcome the resistance of air(!) to get to Ground.

And since we know from the paragraphs way up there at the beginning that lighting can arc through the air at somewhere around 10,000, we’re still turning that nice 1000W inverter into a paperweight as that induced energy somehow, someway discharges itself to ground.  Or it might not immediately, and stay at 100,000 volts potential, but then you touch it… ouch, or plug it in.. ‘poof’.

“But I want my eyes even further crossed – what else you got?”  You are masochistic, my friend.  Let us continue to Shielding.

Electromagnetic radiation wants to go to earth Ground – it is its destiny, that’s its sole purpose in the universe, its feelings would be hurt if it couldn’t.  To protect equipment we either need to “hide” it ten feet or more underground or “shield” it before the energy waves find it.

Hiding doesn’t mean putting it in the basement or the storm cellar – you need at least ten feet of earth above your abode; we’re talking underground bunkers here.

By surrounding it with – but not touching – a grounded conductive enclosure the electromagnetic waves and/or static discharges are harmlessly shunted around the sides of the enclosure.  Some dead dude name Benjamin Franklin (I’ve never heard of him either) noted as the discoverer of this but some other dead dude named Faraday codified it, thusly the Faraday Cage.

Almost anything can be made into an effective Faraday cage, provided it is:

  • conductive (“Yay!” screams the tinfoil hat crowd),
  • properly Earth Grounded (“Hissss!” boos the tinfoils),
  • adequately surrounds whatever is trying to be enclosed (“Hey, we need to breathe yo!” the tinfoils’ excuse is),
  • whatever is inside is sufficiently insulated from this cage. (“I got nothing.” Me either.)

Microwave ovens are designed and built as faraday cages and continue to function as such even if it doesn’t work anymore.  Ever loose cell phone reception in an elevator?  That is the Faraday cage effect, my friend.  A grounded safe or vault.

Properly grounded tinfoil around a box.  You can use a military surplus ammunition can, drill and tap a hole, screw in a lugged ground wire and clip it to the metal shelf support next to the other ammunition cans you’re using as such, and tie that shelf into earth ground.

“But what about using bird cages, chicken wire, and/or DW’s heirloom spaghetti strainer bowl?”  Depends, and this is where the lack of public information comes in to play.  The spacing of the electromagnetic permeable conduits acts as a wave-guide of sorts and determines what frequency of electromagnetic radiation is rejected, attenuated or passed.  WAIT- Please don’t leave, I didn’t mean to get too technical!

Think of an EMP burst as a golf ball passing through a Faraday minefield of putting holes of different sizes – too small a hole and the ball will roll over it and too big a hole the ball will bounce out and continue on.  Complicate that further by not knowing what size of the golf ball is to begin with.  So it might just be that the hole spacing in a birdcage and chicken wire won’t be able to shield out enough of the EMP.

I can’t say for sure that these materials would be 100% effective against EMP or CME events, but something is better than nothing and this something is *significant*.  I use chicken wire over certain things I’ve got in the shed; if you think the holes are too widely spaced then add another wrap around it.

There is no Prepper Law that says you can’t have DW’s spaghetti strainer covered by chicken wire over a birdcage.  Solid cage is best, next is the smaller the spacing of the holes the better off you are.  Just make sure whatever you use is properly grounded to earth ground.

“So what does properly earth grounded mean?” A good earth ground is a conductive rod that is driven into the ground 10 feet or so – and the depth is dependent on where the damp earth starts; Texas building code is 10 feet so that’s what I stuck to.

The licensed electricians I work with say some houses have copper plumbing that acts as the earth ground.  The shield has to be connected to it and you need to make sure the grounding wire is thick enough to handle the ‘funneled’ energy (if you’re covering an entire safe room then tiny 24ga speaker wire will not be sufficient – use a battery jumper cable) and makes a good, solid contact to whatever earth ground you are using as well as the shielding material.

“Properly insulated?” If the equipment you want to shield is actually touching the cage then there is a conductive path for the energy burst to follow that could compromise your equipment; it becomes part of the shield, therefore, it is fully exposed.  Put that inverter in a cardboard box, wrap it in a garbage bag, then put it in that properly grounded junky microwave.  Throw in a desiccant bag for good measure.

“’Conductive’; you keep using this word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.”  Copper is the best common material that conducts electricity and the higher the content of the copper in the conductor the better it does that job.  Aluminum (probably the worst), steel, brass, tinfoil and other commonly available alloys do work but are not as efficient as copper.  But those *do* work as conductors, so don’t disregard them if that’s what you’ve got available.

EMP or CME related puns welcome in the comments; I enjoy electrifying conversations.  (<- see what I did there?  Hah! I kill me!)

How to Escape New York During a Catastrophe

How to Escape New York During a Catastrophe

by K.C.

About two years ago, we moved our family to New Jersey so that my wife and I could pursue jobs based in New York City. Our commute is about 23-25 miles each way and as a result, we use public transportation to bring us back and forth from work.

Since our move, we have experienced an earthquake, a “snowpocalypse” and two hurricanes; the most recent being superstorm Sandy, which wiped out key transportation and electrical grid infrastructure; some of which is still being repaired like Hoboken station.

Additionally, New York is the unfortunate target of terrorists, even as recent as this past October, a Bangladeshi man was charged with trying to blow up the Federal Reserve building in New York.

About a year ago, my wife and I took a long overdue “couples getaway” and as we were driving along the California coast, we were listing to the radio and one of the stories was about 9/11. Our conversation turned to that fateful day and how would we have managed to get home if we were working in the city, remembering the pictures of thousands of New Yorkers walking out of the city across the myriad of bridges.

It’s easy to forget that Manhattan is an island with restricted access dependent entirely on a system of tunnels, bridges and water taxis to access the city. Couple this with the fact that there are about 66,000 people per square mile and you find yourself in a potentially difficult and dangerous situation should a disaster occur.

With this realization, we decided that we needed to assess the situation and determine an emergency plan with the objective of getting us off the island and to our home 23 miles away without access to personal vehicles. Like any large, complex problem, we decided to break it down and create a critical path to make a plan. We netted out 6 key questions to explore:

  1. How will we find each other?
  2. How will we communicate with one another and/or family?
  3.  What modes of transportation can we plan for?
  4. What are the best exit point(s) off the island to get us to our home in North NJ?
  5. How long will it take us to get home; the best and worst scenarios and how will we navigate home?
  6. What should our get home bags (GHB) contain and what are the legal restrictions we need to be mindful of?

Below, I will outline our conclusions, but I will be leaving out certain details for obvious reasons. However, I hope that the questions and conclusions might help other folks that are in similar situations. Also, it will be great to get your collective perspectives on the plan that might help us refine/upgrade, etc.

How will we find each other?

My wife and I work in different parts of the city. I work in the Flat Iron district and my wife is up past Grand Central Terminal. The total distance between us is around 1.5 miles so not too far. However, a lot of times, either one of us are out and about meeting with clients all over the city and neither of us would know that we were out of the office should an emergency ensue.

As a result, we realized that we should predetermine meeting a meeting spot should a situation arise where we needed to evacuate the island. As we started to evaluate a meeting spot, we realized that we needed more than one due to the fact that the spot needed to be predicated on when and where an event occurs. For example, what if we picked Times Square and that is exactly where an incident or emergency occurred?

As a result, we segmented Manhattan into two zones, North and South, with the rule that if an issue or event happens in one zone, we would meet in the “safe zone.” If no actual event occurs in either of the zones, and we are facing a general evacuation, then we would meet in the north zone, assuming our exit points are still operational (more on that later). Within these two zones, we have picked a spot to meet.

At first, our inclination was to meet at some popular tourist attraction. After thinking about it, we realized that this was a bad idea and that we should identify two places close to the river but away from popular tourist attractions. From this spot, we would assess our exit options off the island.

There is the reality that one of us might not be able to make the meeting point for a myriad of reasons. The cold truth is that it could be a reality and that our highest priority is getting back to the kids. With that in mind, we established a “waiting window” that if one of us didn’t show up within that window of time, the other would start navigating towards home alone with the hope that the other would make contact later and rendezvous along the route home, assuming we are able to.

How will we communicate with one another and/or family?

When the earthquake hit in August of 2011, it was impossible to make calls with your cell phone. Texts had a 50/50 chance of getting through. The landlines seemed to work fine but if you were calling a cellphone from a landline, odds are you would get a busy signal.

Also, if there was a more dubious situation, a common tactic for police are to shut down cell service as a means of crippling signals that might be used for coordination and/or other outcomes. Walkie-talkies are an option but with all the tall buildings, success for long-range contact will most likely be slim.

Our first objective is to establish contact with each other before obtaining contact with our family at home. With communication being impaired on the island, we realized that we need to start heading to our predetermined meeting place, with an objective of initially cutting straight west over to the Hudson riverbank as soon as possible, regardless of which meeting zone we pick, so that we would maximize the ability of either grabbing a cell phone signal from the NJ side of the river or getting a better signal for the walkie-talkie.

In terms of contacting our family, it is our assumption that we wouldn’t be able to get a line of communication until we got off the island and into New Jersey. We determined that my wife’s sister, who lives between our home and Manhattan would make a great relay and would be our back up plan should we not be able to call home. We do have a set of walkie-talkies at home but we highly doubt that they will be useful 23 miles out.

We have instructed our children’s caretaker to monitor the walkie-talkie but set the expectation that it was possible that they wouldn’t hear from us until we got close enough for a clear signal. The most conservative expectation we decided to set was that odds are that if the situation is really bad, you probably aren’t going to hear from us and that our care taker’s main objective is to contact the children’s grandparents (live just a few miles away) and bring them to our home ASAP so that she can get to her own family.

Also, we can’t expect a non-family person to prioritize our kid’s welfare so we wanted to make it crystal clear that she should get our kids taken care of ASAP. We also set expectations about how long it could possibly take for us to make contact given a worst-case scenario, both to help the family calm and to enable the grandparents with timelines should they need to make critical decisions. More on timelines later.

What modes of transportation can we plan for?

There are three segments to the journey home we needed to plan transportation for:

  1. Getting to the meeting spot
  2. Traveling from the meeting spot to exit point off of Manhattan
  3. Travel from Exit point back to home

Next, we discussed what modes of transportation we might have access to (or could acquire in advance or at time of need) during our journey home, keeping in mind that we take public transportation back and forth to work (e.g. no car):

  1. Feet
  2. Folding Bikes
  3. Good Samaritan with car/Hitch Hike
  4. Limited Public Transportation
  5. Paying off a taxi driver
  6. Paying off a boater to ferry us across the river

Each one of these options is going to be dependent on the severity of the emergency. For example, if the emergency is minor, the odds of leveraging taxis, boats and public transportation are high. If the emergency is major, we will be stuck with feet, folding bike or possibly a Good Samaritan.

A Good Sam is very unlikely if you have spent any time in NYC. Pregnant women and older folks are constantly knocked around on the subway just to take a seat from them. It’s not very often you see a gentleman here in NYC! Anyway, like most folks, we hope for the best but plan for the worst. With this in mind, we came to the following conclusions:

  1. Feet: We will be doing a LOT of walking and we need to take this into consideration with our GHB
  2. Folding Bikes: These mini folding bikes are very popular here in Manhattan. Very common to see in someone’s office by or under their desk. I found 3 folding bikes in Manhattan with small cargo racks for under $175.
  3. We had three major concerns when it came to the folding bikes:
  4. Would the bikes make us a target in a major emergency?
  5. What if one of us didn’t have access to our bike (attending a meeting out of office) and had to proceed on foot? Could two of us fit on a tiny mini bike and would the benefit in speed make up for any gear we would have to leave behind (assuming both GHB’s couldn’t fit on a mini bike with two riders)
  6. My wife is a complete klutz and has no coordination…..

In the end, $300 spent on used folding bikes seemed like cheap insurance to us and provided alternate transportation for normal situations where maybe taxis or subways were undesirable.

You might be asking yourself why I am not more bullish on the subway option. I was at first but that was before the post-Sandy transit experience. People are losing their tempers, yelling, etc and this is over silly things like making room for a passenger to sit.

The thought of being stuck underground, packed like sardines with super aggressive New Yorkers in an emergency situation didn’t seem to be a smart move. So regardless if there is a minor or major emergency, I am avoiding the subways. Plus, for some reason, I prefer the options available above ground vs. below ground.

What are the best exit point(s) off the island to get us to our home in North NJ?

Manhattan is 13.4 miles long and 2.3 miles wide. There are 14 bridges and 5 tunnels accessible by car and in some cases foot (I don’t believe the tunnels allow for pedestrians under normal circumstances). There are another 11 train tunnels and one train bridge. For access directly to NJ, here are our options:

  1. George Washington Bridge (GWB)
  2. Lincoln Tunnel
  3. Holland Tunnel
  4. NY Water Taxi to Hoboken

The best option is the GWB followed by the Water Taxi. The tunnels possess a unique danger; carbon monoxide poisoning. Even though the underwater tunnels are vented, the fumes build up very quickly.

One day, I rode my motorcycle into the city and instead of taking the GWB, I took the Lincoln Tunnel. What a mistake. When I got to the other side, I felt like I had a hangover that would rival a 3-day bachelor party binge in Vegas.

Although these are options, they aren’t the best options in my opinion. You would have to have a pretty good respirator to make it across without getting sick IMO.

If for some reasons our direct routes are inaccessible, we will be facing a very long and circuitous journey home. If we head north, we will be on the wrong side of the Hudson River and the next bridge is very far away, being the Tappan Zee bridge.

If we go south, our options are to go through Brooklyn and find our way back from there. My bias is to go north as populations are smaller and the chances of finding a cab and/or working public transportation will go up. Also, outside of the direct routes, going north is the next most efficient route even though it takes us several miles north of our home.

How long will it take us to get home; the best and worst scenarios and how will we navigate home?

Assuming we have to walk, there are three likely scenarios where we assume the water taxis will be over capacity:

  1. We have to walk north up the island and then across to the GWB where we will have access to cabs and/or public transportation in Fort Lee, NJ. This is about 10 miles and will take between 3.5-5 hours to make it across assuming minor issues or delays. Assuming traffic back home once we catch a ride, other 1-2 hours making it a conservative total of 7 hours
  2. We have to walk north up the island, across the GWB and then all the way home. Assuming only minor issues or delays, this could take anywhere from 10-20 hours conservatively.
  3. We have to take an alternate northern or southern route through New York to alternative entry points into NJ where we had to walk home. These routes could end up doubling our distance to 40 miles which would most likely take 1.5-2 days assuming we have to stop and sleep for a bit. If we are able to get a ride or other transportation after leaving NYC, we estimate this would probably be anywhere from 10-20 hours but that is a wild guess as there are too many variables with this option.

The net/net here is that we believe that we could possibly not be heard from for 2 whole days or as little 7 hours. Obviously, the time of day we evacuate will also have impacts into timing and also how we prepare our GHB (get-home-bag).

You will probably notice that I didn’t account for the time it would take if we had our folding bikes. We figured if we used walking as our primary transportation option, we would set a more realistic/conservative estimation for friends and family.

This way, if we are gone for one day after a very serious emergency, friends and family won’t necessarily give up hope. But if day two goes by and we aren’t home, it is probably time to start making some assumptions and making decisions.

What should our get home bags (GHB) contain and what are the legal restrictions we need to be mindful of?

The topic of GHB’s have been discussed ad nauseam and we used these resources to build our bags. We have built our bags around a 2-3 day walk, assuming 1-2 overnights with limited access to food and water. Good shoes, medical, etc are all accounted for in our bags. What we ran into as an issue was in regards to options for protection. New Jersey and New York have some of the strictest rules around defensive weapons.

Forget guns; you can’t carry them anywhere; concealed or not. In NJ, if you have a fire arm in your car and you can’t prove you are heading to a gunsmith or shooting range, you will be arrested. Even BB guns, extendable batons and pepper sprays are illegal or require permits and would/could cause issues with authorities if found in the GHB. There is also no reciprocity. I may have a permit for my pepper spray in NY but it wouldn’t hold in NJ.

I also can’t license the same can of pepper spray in NJ and NY and transport it between states (click here to read MD Creekmore’s article on pepper spray). You also have to assume that your bag can and most likely will be searched by transit police, NYC police or military depending on the location (e.g. Penn Station has military, police, etc).

When I brought my GHB into the city, I put it inside my favorite suitcase just so I didn’t have to go through an inconvenience of a search, even though my bag has no items that would violate any law. So what options do I have? Here is what I have put together:

  1. Big Flashlight: Heavy and useful for light. Would zip tie on the bike for a head light, although we have head lamps in our GHB
  2. Ax: You can buy them at the home depot. This is a gray area that I will explain below. Also allows me to chop wood, etc.
  3. Tactical Gloves: These will help my hands a little bit if I have to use physical force to defend myself and also serve to protect my hands for climbing, riding, etc.
  4. Boots with steel toes: These are very well worn and have many hiking miles on them. Good kick to the head, knee or groin will give me an option to run away or defend my wife.
  5. Tactical pen (you can get a free tactical pen by clicking this link).

As you will see, each item is a multi-tasker which keeps the weight down in my GHB and/or gives me more space for other items. Obviously, I have a pocket swiss army knife but you need to be careful what you carry. Here is an excerpt of NYC law:

A person is guilty of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree when:

(1) He possesses any firearm, electronic dart gun, electronic stun gun, gravity knife, switchblade knife, pilum ballistic knife, metal knuckle knife, cane sword, billy, blackjack, bludgeon, metal knuckles, chuka stick, sandbag, sandclub, wrist-brace type slingshot or slungshot, shirken or “Kung Fu star”; or

(2) He possesses any dagger, dangerous knife, dirk, razor, stiletto, imitation pistol, or any other dangerous or deadly instrument or weapon with intent to use the same unlawfully against another.

Whether a “knife” is a “dangerous” knife may be determined on the basis of three alternative considerations: one, its own characteristics which show that it is primarily intended for use as a weapon; second, a modification, which converts what would otherwise be a utensil into a weapon; and third, the circumstances of the possession which may reveal that the possessor considers it a weapon and not a utilitarian tool.

Read MD Creekmore’s article on Knife Laws in New York City here…

I guess my ax could fall into the camp of weapon if I consider it a weapon. Maybe I will be removing that from my GHB….might be too risky.

Summary

Working in NYC can be a lot of fun and very rewarding. But as I outlined above, it poses some unique challenges should an emergency arise that requires you to get home without transportation. Hopefully, my wife and I have planned sufficiently enough to get us home to our kids.

Our next topic for consideration is evaluating our situation should a bigger storm or something awful like an attack hits the island that requires people to flee NYC for long periods of time. Being less than 30 miles from NYC with limited resources in the area (farms, etc) presents scenarios where we might want to get out of dodge…..

Building a Get-Home Bag and Action Plan

Building a Get-Home Bag and Action Plan

by John R (AKA SickSkilz)

There have been multiple discussions on getting home during a disaster and the contents of a GHB (get home bag).  In the 11/18 weekly preps, I mentioned that I decided to test out my get home plan with the assumption that I would not have my truck available and would have to travel on foot.   Here is how it went and what I found:

I work downtown in a medium to large city.  I drive a bit over 25 miles to work each day and part in a parking lot. In January, I developed my plans to get home from work which included stocking my truck box with the things I thought I would need and keeping other things in my office.

If traveling by vehicle is possible and realistic, I am not too concerned about getting home.  I have a path mapped out that avoids highways at least until I can get to one with a grass medium and shoulder so I could not get stuck.  I also made a rough path to travel on foot.

I suspected that being in really good shape, I could get home in a max of 5 hours.    However, I had never really tested a plan like that.   So, with a day off work that my wife was going to be busy, I decided to test it out.

The route I would take during an actual event involves going near the highway in a north-south direction.  I would not want to do this as a test because the path is more dangerous (and stupid) so I mapped out an east-west path that goes through similarly mixed terrain but not near highways.

I had my wife drop me off a similar 25 miles from home at about 10 am with the things that I carried in my truck and would have on me at work.  I took my phone, but intentionally did not use the GPS on it as something like a solar flare or EMP that would stop me from being able to use my truck could also take out GPS.

The experience was a real eye-opener.   What I thought would be under 5 hours turned out to be 9.5 hours despite the fact that I am in my early 30s and in the best shape of my life.

Significant Learnings

  • The constant changes in terrain and rarely stopping was really hard on my feet. I was on concrete and grass and went up and down hills.   The old tennis shoes I had were only barely better than my work shoes.
  • My work route is 25 miles by car which is 90% straight highway. My test route was a similar distance on the main roads.  I didn’t track it, but I presume that my actual travel distance was a bit longer.   I know how to tell which direction is which, but multiple times I either got sidetracked or got to a place where I had to turn around.  Note: for the purpose of this experiment, I didn’t do a lot of trespassing and stayed near a road most of the time.
  • While I did have some food and did not get excessively hungry, I got very dehydrated because I only had two 12 ounce bottles of water
  • Given that it took much longer than expected, my wife now knows not to freak out if I don’t get there quickly.

I also found that there were a lot of things in my GHB that I no longer think I would EVER need in a GHB or are things I could have with me at work or in my truck and only carry with me as needed depending on the specifics of an event.  I figure I could have saved at least another hour traveling lighter.  Below I have listed the contents and some changes I made.

* – would leave in my truck

** – would only take with me as the situation warrants

*** – removed from GHB

 

Get Home Bag

  • Glock 19 with 2 clips and 100 rounds
  • Mace ** – as needed unless I buy a smaller can.
  • Lighter
  • Fire starters *** – I decided this was not useful to carry. 1 lighter could last me weeks
  • Minimal food/water for 1 day – Changed to 2 boxes of granola bars, a 24 count case of water and a few cans of Mountain Dew (my preferred method of caffeine intake. If I leave my truck, I’ll only take 6 bottles of water or so.   Great for bartering as I have extra.
  • First aid kit – It was way too big. I took out a respirator mask and 1 large bandage that I would take with me.  The rest would stay at the truck.  I would not be putting on band-aids and ointment in the interest of time
  • Crank radio/flashlight ** – it’s a bit bulky and weighs almost 2 lbs. Nice to have in the truck but not that necessary to carry on me.
  • Blanket and jacket ** – I wore the Jacket and ended up putting it in my backpack within 15 minutes. Though it was quite chilly, the pace I was moving more than kept me warm.
  • Multi-tool and screwdriver *** – I will probably get some flak for this but I never conceived of a use for it that warranted their weight.
  • Gerber machete – I debated bringing this but I loved loved loved having it. Multiple times I found myself wanting to cut through the woods and it was really nice. For those of you who have never done yard work with a machete, its way better than using pruning shears for clearing thin brush.   The Gerber one has a saw on the back for trimming anything bigger.   Really convenient
  • Pen and Paper *** – Dear diary, I feel stupid that I even thought I needed this at all
  • Rope *** – I only carried this because Boondock Saints told me too. However, not encountering any mobsters, I figure I am safe without it.  Again, the usefulness does not justify the weight
  • Hat and Gloves ** – I could see myself not needing a coat while moving but a hat and gloves would help a lot. Just not if it’s warm out.
  • Medicine – Stress can give me a headache. A few ibuprofen are more than worth their weight
  • Vitamins *** – more for long term well-being than immediate needs
  • Backpack – while this was necessary, it was big enough that things jostled too much inside it. Needed a smaller one

More on Water

Riverrider aptly suggested I use a water purification bottle.  I sort of go back and forth on this but decided to keep the water because the weight of 6 bottles of water would not slow me down as much the time and energy spent looking for water and filtering it.  I could also use the water for bartering or to get out of a bad situation. Another option might be to go with 3 bottles and a water purification bottle.  Water could also likely be obtained on the way home depending on the circumstance. I still debate this but for now, sticking with bringing the water.

Action Plan

  • I got a smaller backpack packed with the bare essentials from above that I can grab quickly.
  • If the plan is needed, the first step is to add anything extra from my stash at work to my backpack
  • I had been keeping old backup shoes in my GHB (since I wear dress shoes to work) but I needed a better pair. So now I keep a much newer pair in the truck.
  • Keep a change of clothes at work. Especially in the summer I will be way overdressed in my work clothes.  Changing will make me faster.
  • I had always kept a coat in my truck but now also keeping a light jacket in the office. I’m pretty warm and it rarely ever gets cold enough that I won’t keep warm constantly moving.

Finally, now that I’ve made changes, I hope to try it again in February.  While I am not very concerned with the cold, traversing snow will definitely make a big difference.

How to Be A Vegan Prepper (and still survive TEOTWAWKI)

how to be a Vegan prepper

by DocJ

I have passed my 70th birthday.  A year ago, I ate lean meat, dairy products, eggs, and olive oil.  It was an overall healthy diet.  I was a controlled diabetic dependent on medication, not insulin, statins for high cholesterol, and an ace inhibitor, blood pressure medication, to protect my kidneys from diabetes.

Last February, two sisters and two cousins contacted me about starting a program developed by Dr. Esselstyn from the Cleveland Clinic to clear a blockage in a sister’s neck and diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure in my brother-in-law.

Knowing I also had the same medical issues, I was invited to join the group and today I can report that neither my brother-in-law nor I have any signs of diabetes, high cholesterol, or high blood pressure and everyone in the group has lost 25-45 pounds.

It also looks as though the blockage in my sister’s neck is decreasing in size.  I now know if TEOTWAWKI (read MD Creekmore’s book on how to survive TEOTWAWKI) happens I am no longer dependent on medication for survival.  The first step to survival; get healthy! Then stay with the program!

Always begin prepping by assessing skills and resources.  I am a long-time gardener now retired from teaching special education of children with more severe disabilities.  I left the classroom at 71 years and began a backyard business of propagating landscaping plants through cuttings, germinating seed and growing herbs, perennials, and vegetable plants.

I broker blackberries, raspberries, jostaberries, currants, strawberries, etc. each January and February which gives me access to affordable additional berry plants when I begin enlarging the garden this year. I am also at home with woodworking and general carpentry.

I bought my “walking, talking, singing, dancing” table saw for my 70th birthday. I love tools.  If I cannot be found in a store, look in the tool department.  My only daughter is like me so the two of us are learning electricity, plumbing, general maintenance, and new woodworking skills together.  But the main skill I have is growing food in the garden and putting back food.

As I need a diet based on grains and beans and my garden is in the process of being enlarged, I began buying 25-pound bags of winter wheat, oats, buckwheat, white rice and brown rice several varieties of beans including soybeans for soy milk and tofu.

I prefer Almond milk but if TEOTWAWKI happens, Almond milk will not be available.  In Arkansas, we cannot buy dry ice for treating storage grains and beans.  I layered edible DE in about 6 layers in each 5-gallon tub.

The amount is 1 cup per 5-gallon bucket.  Buckwheat, brown rice, soybeans, and rolled oats are stored in their bags in the deep freeze to prolong their shelf life.  If and when TEOTWAWKI happens, I will not be able to keep the oils in those foods from turning rancid after a while.  From some of the literature, I have been told 6 months to a year in storage is all I will probably get with those foods.

While building my supply of the above staples, I started buying frozen vegetables on sale-mixed vegetables, peas, peas and carrots, baby limas, and corn.  I am the bugout point for the family so I need enough vegetables for a year to allow the year’s garden to replace what has been saved.  I held the vegetables in the freezer until I started dehydrating them.  My Excalibur dehydrator does 9 trays at a time and the 3 round dehydrators can dry 5 trays each.

Stores often have sales on vegetables and fruit in the fall.  I bought lots of potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and dehydrated them as diced vegetables. Coleslaw mixes are dried as.  The dried vegetables are stored in half-gallon containers for soup and additions to any cooking to increase nutrition. I often put a handful of vegetables in many of my bean dishes.

I prefer one-pot meals.   I bought lots of apples and some were given to me.  They become applesauce or dried slices.  Christmas oranges are peeled, sliced, and frozen until I start making apple/orange preserves.  Any fruit I can slice and dehydrate is fair game.  Grapes, I cut in half and dry flesh side up. Dehydrating grapes is much easier that way.

At this time, I am redesigning my garden to increase 20 fold.  I now have the plant stock for apple, apricot, cherry, peach, fig, pomegranate, and nectarine trees to plant this coming spring.  The blueberries are 15 years old, but I want to double the number this spring.

I have some primocane (2-year-old canes ready to produce this year) blackberries and raspberries to transplant into the new area. The strawberry bed will be increased.  I potted up 3 varieties of seedless grapes recommended for growing in NW Arkansas.

They also will be planted this spring.  Plus, I am growing mulberry, elderberries, gooseberries, jostaberries, currants, hardy kiwi, wild roses (for hips), and any other edible plant I can find around the cleared area.  Now for the hard part; growing enough dried beans to feed me and at least four other adults using heirloom seed so I can keep seed for the following year’s crop.

I am opting for pole beans whenever possible; otherwise, I will be planting beans in blocks or wide rows. I have had tremendous production using square foot gardening planting seeds 3 inches each way-9 plants to the square foot.

My raised beds are 4 feet by 8 feet.  I like raised beds as they are more productive and easier on the back.  A good portion of the garden will be for all the different types of beans I like and use-black turtle, pinto, chickpea, navy, northern, small red, Vermont cranberry, etc.  I eat a lot of lentils, but I have never grown them.  My goal this year is to learn how to grow this very nutritional food.  My granddaughter’s new husband is from India and tells me lentils, dal, is the first food of babies because of its protein level.

Tomatoes are vital in prepping.  I plan on using tomatoes at least 4-5 times a week in dishes.  I grow mostly paste/sauce heirloom tomatoes. I want to save all my vegetable seed.  Until things are bad, though, I will continue to use some favorite hybrid seeds, but not depend on them.

I sauce or dice for canning and I dry a good portion of the available tomatoes.  A large number of cherry tomatoes was given to me that was too much to eat right now.  I washed, blanched, sliced in half and then put the tomatoes in the dehydrator.  I just chopped some for a dish a couple of weeks ago and they were quite tasty.

The soup mix as I call them all take to being grown in the raised beds.  These are the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes etc.  I dry most of these including some of the potatoes as this climate is not good for keeping vegetables long term.

I will be growing Irish potatoes for the family, but my diet depends on sweet potatoes and winter squash.  Both keep well in an unheated room in my house.  I also dehydrate and can some sweet potatoes for quicker use.  I tend to be too busy to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking.

I think about what will I do if a disaster is so serious, I run out of grains. As a diabetic, I am better with wheat, buckwheat, and oats than with corn.  Yes, I add frozen, canned, or dehydrated corn to the bean dishes, but I do not eat a lot of cornbread.

The family will eat lots of cornbread so I will need to address their needs.  I am learning about growing grain crops by planting small areas and processing to learn what to do if necessary.

A vegan preparing for TEOTWAWKI is no different except for the increased almost double the amount of beans, grains, fruits, and vegetables that are put into storage.  As I eat no fat added to my foods and no eggs, baking is non-existent except for pancakes made with applesauce for oil and egg replacer for the eggs, whole grain bread, and maybe cornbread.

Grains and root crops are increased or decreased to lose, maintain, or gain weight. The beans, vegetables, and fruit provide the basic foundation to the diet. I eat from my storage daily so everything is always in rotation.  The doctor has been testing me quarterly and is amazed with my bloodwork.   He tells me to continue whatever I am doing so I know this works for me and for 11 other members of the family.

My children and grandchildren want the traditional diet which means I also prep with their needs in mind.  My late husband and I homesteaded on this property for 11 years without utilities.  During those years I raised reject chicks from the local brooder houses supplying chicks to the farmers with the huge broiler chicken houses.  I had no electricity so it was necessary to can the meat.

Also during those years, I worked a 35 doe rabbitry producing 3200-3300 kits a year to a local company.  I also raised a herd of milk goats.  Starting this spring, I will begin growing laying hens for eggs and new chicks and I will get a small rabbitry up and going again.

Starting after the SHTF is not the way to go.  I want a flock of birds and at least 3 breeding does and 2 bucks in the rabbitry well in advance. I learned the hard way; never settle for one breeding buck.  If the buck dies and he might, no more kits!

There is also a one-acre pond with abundant fish, turtles, frogs, etc. and a herd of about 25 deer with loads of small game on this land.  The family will have the meat and eggs to eat with the beans and grains to supplement the meat.  This is the difference between prepping for a Vegan and the more traditional American diet.

Here are a few of the books I go to often for reference: