GPS Phone tracker for Family members

Don Williams said...
It's somewhat Orwellian but GPS beacons will let you track your child's location if he is kidnapped. Some of the products let you define a geo-fence and sends you a cell phone alert if the kid wanders outside the defined area (e.g., his school's boundaries)

http://www.friendshipcircle.org/blog/2014/01/15/7-tracking-devices-to-find-a-lost-child-with-autism/

http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2008/05/the_ultimate_gps_child_trackin.php

The SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker is used by Big Kids also. Uplinks distress calls to satellites overhead. If you go hiking in the Amazon and annoy the natives it will help your family find your remains.

And some of these devices have been used by suspicious wifes to track where hubby's car goes after work. heh heh

Hint: Spy shops sell a scanner to locate such a beacon on your car -- the CIA's Clandestine Service are amateurs conpared to some philandering husbands.

http://www.spyguysecurity.com/collections/bug-detectors/products/vm-3-gps-tracker-detector

 .
I recommend downloading the App GPS Phone Tracker Pro for all family members.

Yes, it is kind of creepy but then again it does work and we do use it in my family.
Sometimes my oldest son comes back with some smartass remark about his rights. My reply usually goes along the lines “oh, you though this was a democracy.. I see the confusion. Its not. Think of it as a benevolent dictatorship where you do as I say”. All joking aside, it makes perfect sense to have the GPS turned on and know where your loved ones are at all times. It gives you a lot of peace of mind and during an emergency its much easier to know everyone’s whereabouts.
The NSA is already spying on all of us and that won’t change any time soon. Each family member knowing where everyone else is, that we consider an asset rather than an intrusion.
FerFAL
Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre is the author of “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” and “Bugging Out and Relocating: When Staying is not an Option”.

Dog/Park Safety

Ferfal,
I'm a longtime follower of your blog... good stuff my friend, keep it coming!
I lived in Portland Oregon around 2004 and there was a vicious dog attack
where a young child was being attacked (I believe there were 2-3 dogs) and
then an older woman tried to help her and she was attacked as well. If I
recall correctly it took several other people to finally chase off these
dogs.  Both the child and woman sustained serious injuries, hers taking a
long time to heal.
Since then I've kept a can of bear spray in the glove box for just such an
occurrence. This kind of pepper spray shoots about 30 feet and has the
capacity to address multiple threats.  It's available at most sporting
goods stores.  I carry this when hiking on my waist belt and keep it handy
when camping.
Parks that have fenced in dog areas for people to use will still have
people who think it's okay for their dog to be unleashed elsewhere.  My
two boys are naturally fearful of dogs that come right up to them and I
always keep in mind that animals can be excited by fear.
With this in mind, I have stood between them and dogs off the leash
several times without it escalating by using this method:   We usually
stop in our tracks, I step in front of the boys and I give the owner a
look that if they don't get their dog back it's going to get hurt.  One
hand is holding my boys back behind me and the other hand is near my
pocket knife.  This stance shows the owner that I'm concerned and ready to
react.  If the dog gets near I would do exactly as you did, especially if
it's ignoring a command from its owner.
Dogs are a threat and so are strangers hanging around playgrounds watching
kids.  I always take an assessment of who is there and if they have kids
associated with them or if they are just watching other people's children
which makes me a little suspicious.  There are often homeless people
sleeping in parks and camping there too, usually a short distance away
from facilities but out of site.  It's surprising where they are able to
set up unnoticed.  These things can't be controlled so being aware and
ready to react is all a person can do.
When I go to the park/playground with my family in summer months I carry
my Glock 23 in a little red fanny pack that also holds a water bottle(half
full or empty to keep weight down.)  This never gets a second look.  It
holds the gun and 2 spare mags and I can climb all around without issue.
When it's not so hot I go IWB or OWB with jacket.  Spare mags are handy in
a pocket.  Quick enough for me and keeps weight off the waist.  I totally
agree with you that it's imperative to have a gun large enough to shoot
accurately and with significant capacity.  Learn to shoot AND carry the
same gun you use for home defense!
Hope this info is helpful for other people like myself who frequent parks
with their children.  Many people live in condos or apartments and don't
have play space available without going into public where there are
unknown people and animals around.  These things I mentioned are just some
of the basics that I follow to keep my family safe.
You're welcome to share any portion of this with whomever you'd like but
please exclude my name if doing so publicly.
Thanks again for all your hard work in sharing your important messages.

R

Hi R, thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

I think the same way as you do. Unfortunately it’s the people that are the true problem, not the dog, but we have to sometimes act a certain way to protect ourselves and our family because of their lack of respect. 

I have a dog, in fact I just walked it not 30 minutes ago. I kept it on a short leash and even crossed the street when I saw two young girls coming my way and my English Bull Terrier showing too much interest. If I put myself in their position I wouldn´t want a strange animal that is almost as big as I am, definitely stronger and with big teeth jumping and pulling towards me. Out of respect for others, I keep a good distance, keep the leash short or even cross the street if I feel its called for. These people that simply let their animals run loose, not worrying if the dog bites someone or not, let along worrying if it scares a  kid or even a person that just happens to not like dogs as much as them. The way I see it there’s just no excuse for that, and a half rational person knows its simply disrespectful to others, even dangerous.

I’ve heard different reports about spray for dogs. In general it does work very well. Dogs having such a sensitive nose, it will react to OC spray. In some cases with certain terrier blood breeds like Staffys, English Bull Terriers,  American pit bull terrier and Dogos Argentinos, when blinded by the rage of the fight they don’t react to OC at all. In fact I know of many cases where even shooting the animal wasn’t enough and entire mags where shot into them. I know of a Dogo that took all 7+1 rounds of 45 ACP before dyeing (still killed the person, in this case a carjacker) and similar cases with Pitt bulls. It seems that terriers with a fighting instinct are very tough when driven like that.

You’re right about strange people in the park. Sometimes a homeless person is just that, but others its people with mental problems and it wouldn’t be the first time  a person living on the street pushes someone into the bushes of a park to abuse them. 

People that look out of place too, maybe adults looking at the kids play but don’t seem to have kids of their own that justify their interest would be another sign to watch for. Perverts can be founds everywhere in the world, there’s really no place safe from that sort of crime.

I like your choice of gun too, cant go wrong with Glock. I carry a bottle of water as well. My kids often need a drink so its one of the things I clearly use the most of my EDC bag.

FerFAL

Child Abduction After the Collapse

It is said that the worst thing that can happen to a man is to outlive his children. Having kids of my own I have little doubt that this is true, but an even worse outcome would be to have your children simply missing forever. What fate did they meet? Are they ok or have they suffered a horrible end? Not knowing and simply being left to fear the worst forever can be worse than simply losing them. As I write this there´s yet another child missing in Buenos Aires. Eleven year old Candela was last seen waiting at a friend”s house just a block away from here home. Its been almost a week now and there´s no news. Usually after the first 48hs, if the child wasn’t found the chances of finding him alive go down considerably. If you´re wondering whats this got to do with an economic collapse or crisis, you should know that these things only get worse during economic down turns. With the degradation of society in general comes along more perversion, more organized criminal activity combined with a tighter budget that has an impact on the police capabilities, both in terms of prevention and investigation.
Why Should you worry

You may think that perverts only kidnap kids from careless parents, or that kidnapers only go after kids with money. Studying these events you see that kids can be kidnaped during a distraction that lasts seconds, and that often your financial status has little implication: The child itself is the motivator. Even if they are looking for ransom, one of the changes seen after the economic crisis is that anyone can be a victim of this sort of crime. A business that went well, a car that got sold, even if your financial situation isn’t that good any child can get kidnaped and a couple thousand bucks asked for his safe return. Anyone will find the way get hold of a couple thousand through friends or relatives if your child’s life is at stake, you don’t need to have money, they are counting on that.
As the economy gets worse and more people become desperate, as the society continues to degrade, we will continue to see even more child abduction in the US and world wide. The situation in US regarding the amount of children that go missing each day is already alarming.
Why are they abducted

Sexual Exploitation: This is one of the most common causes in Argentina. After the 2001 collapse it became more and more common for children to get abducted so as to be exploited in one of the countless brothels along the country. With the social degradation that follows an economic collapse comes depravation of many kinds. The network and connections with both local police and political power makes it extremely hard to rescue children or adults from these organizations and they usually move them often from one brothel to another across different provinces to make identification harder. It not only happens with children. These groups have been known to abduct women in their 20´s and 30´s on broad daylight right from the sidewalk. Kept drugged, threatened, locked and incommunicated its very hard for them to contact the outside world.
Sexual Abuse/Murder: Perverts of all sorts abound, and it only gets worse when they feel the police can’t stop them and when police fail to properly investigate the cases.

Organs: Some organizations especially go after the body organs. This is unfortunately common in Latin America because of the high price organs go for in the international black market.

National/International adoption: Also very common, these groups abduct babies, children, even pregnant women to sell their children abroad. In many cases the parent dont know (or dont want to know) where the child comes from. ID and adoption forms are readily provided by people that work in adoption agencies and are in it.

Ransom: This type also boomed after the 2001 collapse. Kids are small and easy to abduct, and parents will do anything for their safe return. In some cases the more expensive schools allowed their pupils to go without their uniforms: The children were specifically being targeted because of wearing it, a clear sign that their parents had enough ransom money.

How they Operate and what You can do to Prevent it

A second of distraction is all they need. maybe your son asked to go to the bathroom, take a look at some nearby store, walk to a friend’s house across the street and you thought it was close enough, that it would only take a second. That’s all they need. One child that went missing in a mall in Buenos Aires was fortunately rescued. The mother immediately noticed he had been taken and alerted security. Having had children abducted in it before and being ready, they immediately closed all doors. The child was found moments later in a bathroom, drugged, his clothes already changed, his hair cut and dyed.

Talk with your children and make sure they understand they should put up a fight, most of all SCREAM for help when grabbed by a stranger, clearly shouting that the person is a stranger. While people dont help adults as often, in average people will help a child that they feel is being abducted. Finally, always keep an eye on your children. The second he is out of your sight anything can happen, and once you lose them its too late. Pay especial attention in parking lots, supermarkets, parks and theme parks, airports and other places where theres either conglomeration of people or easy exit routes for them to escape.

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FerFAL

How to Teach your Kids how to Shoot

This topic was brought up over at the Modern Survivalist Forum and I think it’s a good idea to go over it some for you parents considering taking your kids to the range for the first time.

Shooting is more than a valuable life skill. Of course its important from a strict defensive point of view but besides that there are two aspects you may want to keep in mind as well. First, shooting teaches responsibility and builds up character. There’s no goofing around, no breaking the safety rules and no joking while shooting. We all understand how deadly serious it is (literally!) and it teaches kids how to handle such responsibility.
Second, and probably the best excuse no matter what ends up happening in life, shooting with Dad is without a doubt one of the fondest memories a kid will ever have. Going to the range you and Dad alone for that Father-Son time, the joy of hitting your target and that pat on your back after a particularly good shot leaves an impression in a person. I remember when I went shooting with my own father and now I’m taking my own son to the range. The main objective at least for now is shooting safely and having lots of fun. Groups tighten up on their own in due time.



When to Start

Every instructor has his age but I go more for responsibility rather than age. Last year at age seven, my son didn’t pay as much attention as it would have been desired for safe gun handling. This year though at age eight he’s clearly more mature and more responsible. I can trust him with certain jobs and assignments around the house that I didn’t use to. I can leave a loaded gun by his side and trust that excitement won´t get the best of him, he won’t be touching it unless I say so and he can follow orders. There’s parents that take much younger kids shooting, kids that sometimes can’t even hold the gun they are firing but the father feels good just by letting him pull the trigger. As I said before it’s up to each one to tell how mature your child is. My simple advice here will be the following: If in doubt, just hold on for another year. There’s no sense in rushing into this.


How to do it

Start with a 22LR.  It has little blast and recoil and will work towards improving accuracy. Its cheap too! Shotgun? There are 410 shotguns that a child could use but I’d rather have the minimum blast of a 22LR. A carbine would be a wise choice but you can also use a handgun. The carbine has the advantage though of having a longer barrel that is easier to control by the overseeing adult. The handgun being smaller can be turned in the wrong direction in a fraction of a second so if you’re using a handgun watch every single move your kid makes like an eagle.
My son likes a small Bersa 22 pistol which is nicely customized. The trigger is soft and the small gun fits his eight year old hand very well.

Start shooting at close range with the target just three or four yards away.  I first placed it a bit further and the groups spread, anxiety grew and both of us were getting frustrated. Then I went with the closer approach and noticed much better general results. Of course he was shooting better at closer range, but the most important part was that he gained a lot of confidence and I noticed that his trigger control was much better. Even at such close range shooting the “X” off the target isn’t easy for a kid, so its still a challenge.  I had some hard Aguila ammo and in this gun 1 out of 10 would require a second strike. This proved to be an excellent opportunity to check his finger control. I was very pleased when I noticed that the gun didn’t fire but he didn’t move a millimeter when the hammer dropped. Perfectly still. You can’t ask for much more. I placed a small bit of tape for him to aim at and soon we had a small quarter sized cluster of rounds all over it. This is exactly what you want.

As soon as he looked a bit tired we ended the session leaving him wanting for a quick trip back to the range. We then go to the gunclub’s cafeteria for some hot chocolate and sandwiches and some talking on how great he did!
Take care folks!

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FerFAL

Homeschooling

Hi,
Thanks for the information. I feel like it is quite similar
here. A lot of big companies pay nothing, or even get money back
from the government.
 
Since I wrote I got your book in the mail from Amazon. I notice you
write near the begining to not homeschool your kids. I actually was
thinking about this. My wife was a teacher in a supposedly very
high level public high school here in Mass. which her younger
sister also attends. Her younger sister is supposed to be one of
the best students.
 
But I am continually shocked at how little her sister knows. Her
sister didn't know if Jesus was supposed to be a real person, and
whether Zeus or Jesus was around more recently. Since we have been
having economic problems, a lot of schools have been making massive
lay-offs of teachers and cutting various classes and programs. My
wife was laid off last year. One poor city near me laid off half
the entire teaching staff for the city last month. The high school
my wife was substituting at this year also had substantial lay-
offs.
 
After a real economic crisis/collapse wouldn't the schools become
quite bad?
 
Thanks for the book. I am enjoying it so far.
 
JM

Hi JM,

I can’t tell people to homeschool or not, really depends on each family, the possibilities they have, even what kind of schools are available to them.

What I said in my book is that in a recession economy where both parents have to get jobs and somehow make money, you often see that they don’t have much of a choice in terms of homeschooling or not.

You might think that since there’s so much unemployment its better to spend that time homeschooling. That’s ok if you can make it on a single income, otherwise the other parent has to do everything he/she can to find a job and make money.

It also depends on the schools you have available. I send my kid to a private bilingual school that is pretty good, 8 AM to 4.30 PM, with an hour for lunch. He definitely learns more than any single parent could teach him, he also learns to be competitive both in sports and academic studies. He also learns to handle problems of kids his age such as friends, bullies, girls, adults, etc.

Regarding schools after an economic collapse, indeed, most of them are quite bad, specially public ones. Even the better private ones like the one I send my son to have violence issues and kids have to learn to defend themselves, which I believe is good for them to a degree. Of course the school policy opposes this 100%, but the schoolyard reality differs. Kids don’t stab of beat each other to near death like it so often occurs in public schools but fist fights are still common. My son is just eight years old and he’s already been in many (some pretty bloody), specially in the school I used to send him last year, which is the reason why I changed him.

This may freak out most parents, and it sure worried us, but we noticed a very positive change in him once he learned how to defend himself against bullies.

Its important for a child to learn how to defend himself from kids his age. The first time he left the class bully crying in the floor he was so happy. He gained a new level of confidence and totally changed his personality. Now he believes in himself more, he’s more cheerful, even has more friends. Even the bully told him if he wanted to be his friend instead of fighting. (what a wise decision :-)  )

If home schooling works for you by all means do it. Some people also hire tutors, specially when it comes to learning a second language.

My wife is a stay at home mom, and she takes care of out youngest son, so we don’t pay for daycare. We decided this mostly because she used to work in a dangerous part of town and we were pushing our luck with that. Her sister got robbed in a bank “saliderea” (robbed after leaving the bank, probably marked from within the building). The guy hit her, pulled her hair, dragged her across the sidewalk and left with the money with an accomplice in a bike.

You now see teachers losing their jobs, but starting an affordable private, nonsense school to where parents that work can send them will be a good business opportunity as the economy worsens and parents start looking for alternatives when they can no longer afford to home school.

FerFAL