SurvivalRing

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Fleetwood Family. To all my friends, family, coworkers, and compradres…thank you for your friendship, fun, laughter, tears, and smiles. I hope the holidays bring you joy, laughter, and peace. Remember those who aren’t here anymore, those who can be here but won’t, those who may be away fighting for our right to exist, or those who don’t know they are missed. Remember yourself as well…YOU are important to more people than you know.

Pray for justice, righteousness, and strength to persevere. Lift those who need it to a higher place. Remind those in higher places that they need to lift *us* up. Never give up, never surrender, never waver in a fight for the good. Lead those who will listen to that place where we all can succeed and support one another in good times and bad.

It’s never been about being the last man standing…it’s always been about getting to the finish line together. REMEMBER THAT.

The year of 2011 has been one of major global natural disasters…economic distress…world political upheaval…and personal tragedy for many people. Quakes and tsunamis in Japan, massive quakes around the world, record tornadic outbursts across the southeast USA, record flooding in several states, only a couple of hurricanes of note, record Santa Ana winds, record droughts in Texas and Oklahoma, “Arab Spring” killing thousands, and injuring tens of thousands, in riots across the Middle East, war ending in Iraq, continuing in Afghanistan, and brewing around Iran. I won’t mention Obama, his “destruction” of America, or the evil he brings.

That’s a lot to be going on…all at once. Just ONE event is catastrophic to the affected populace having to deal with the resultant destruction, death, and disease.

Reality TV continues to spread into all areas of awareness, survival, upheaval, potentials, and fears. Dual Survival, Survivorman, Bear Grylls, the Survivor series, end of the world history, 2012 mumbo jumbo , science, pseudo-science, and other documentaries on The History Channel, National Geographic, H2, Discovery Channel, and so many other television infotainment series bring to the masses the Real World of staying alive…or not…when the wind blows, the prairie rolls, or the sun boils.

The news still leads the tops stories of the day with these same kinds of  “human interest” topics. We’ve seen 2011 through the eyes of the few…affecting the lives of millions…almost every day.

Just so you know…there are some major updates coming to the SurvivalRing project after the first of the year. New downloads, daily blogging, sharper focus, and family & community involvement. We’re entering our 15th year on the World Wide Web.  We’re not the oldest survival website, the best, or the most famous…but we’re doing something right…to still be here. We’re very social, too. We’re on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn. We offer live feeds on nearly every potential threat, directly from the news. We have feeds from some of our favorite sites, and offer feeds of our own site.

We don’t make the news…but we do watch it, study it, and think on it every single day. We connect…we consider…and we plan. We prepare for what always happens. Change…hoping for the good…dealing with the bad…but always change. We offer the tools and real information to lead you up or down different paths…from where you are…to where you can be…on high ground. We’re literally offering over a million printable pages of documentation, in thousands and thousands of downloadable PDF files.

We haven’t created many new PDF downloads over the last few years, but we still have bookshelves of never before digitized public domain data in books, manuals, flyers, and training material to get online. We have, however, increased the number of CD or DVD titles that SurvivalRing/SurvivalCD offers to 11 disks, as of 2011. I foresee (meaning they’re getting ready to be finished) as least 6 more disks in 2012. I’m also producing special CD/DVD products for others, most notably James Talmage Stevens of Making The Best Of Basics, and Shane Connor of Ki4u.com.

This website…the key to it all. We’re still here, and still expanding. We educate.  We endure. We persevere. And, we’re looking for guest authors, bloggers, and individuals to share with our readers. Why? Search Google for SURVIVAL WEBSITE. Out of 249,000,000 websites…we’re number TWO (as of 12/16/11). 8 hours later this evening, we’re number FOUR of 253,000,000.  Our traffic fluctuates with the news some days, and our search engine page listing fluctuates as well, but hitting the front page of Google out of that many hits, with regularity, means we’re a leader in content, tools, and resources for learning how to prepare…for anything.

We’ve got great SEO, web longevity, and more downloadable content than ANY other known personal survival/preparedness website. We’d like you to take an active part in making a difference. Join us in helping our friends and neighbors learn new skills, find new solutions and survive all those regular disasters we all deal with every year.

I’ve got new equipment to put to good use this coming year. My Canon HD video camera, my 16 megapixel Panasonic Lumix digital camera, my new Snowball USB microphone, and other gadgetry that I will USE to create content like you’ve never seen. Unlike some preparedness fashionistas, I do like to get my hands dirty. Not just in simple survival techniques, but home repairs and upgrades, vehicle maintenance and repair, frugal living and recycling, emergency and accident response. I get recertified in certain skills each year…to help others, including CPR (adult, child, infant), and AED use.

Thankfully, I haven’t had to use them specifically lately…but in September, I was one of the first on site of a motorcycle/pickup truck collision on the highway on my way home, seeing the collision and cloud of dust from a quarter mile away. I helped keep a man alive who was laying in the middle of the road broken and bleeding. I’ve not been able to find any more info about him since that day, other than he was life-flighted from our local hospital to Casper, Wyoming, and then Denver…still alive two days later. His name is Kenneth Babb, from Alberta, Canada…and I won’t forget him.  I’ll keep trying to learn more about his recovery as possible. The pickup driver? Drunk. Reminds me of September 15th, 1975, when it was me laying in the road, for the same reason.

Another passion…spreading awareness of DUIs and DWI, and how to identify, report them , and get them off the road. This truly is a daily life and death struggle which I feel strongly about…for that very obvious reason of nearly being a fatality because of it 37 years ago.

I’ve got other skills as well, besides the obvious geeky web stuff you see here. I swap engines, I weld, I even do paint and body work. I tear down and rebuild laptops. I adopt pets. I even build furniture. In all these things, are opportunities to learn a skill that can be applied to some life saving, life extending, or life renewing area. And, in each of these, I can show you how, why, and where to do these yourself, and so many other things. It’s just good common sense…something that took me a little longer to get right (according to my dear wife Annie).

Like everybody else, we’re broke. Like everybody else, we often do without. This website makes me a little bit of money, but never enough to live on. It just covers the cost of hosting, domains, hardware, and the like. I work a real full time job, in the middle of nowhere, and live in an extremely rural area. All this facts just add to the need to plan, to prep, to keep plugging along.  After eleven years in the least populated state of the USA, 150 miles from the nearest interstate, I’ve got a lot of good, workable thoughts, facts, and how-t0′s to share. It’s a life style…a choice…a passion…for living.

Finally, thanks to ALL of you for your long time support of my passion for making a difference. It’s why I keep doing it, year after year. Please get involved in taking care of yourself, in planning for your preparedness needs, and in having the basics to survive a weekend without power, and flat tire in the middle of nowhere, or a severe storm that damages your home. Have alternatives, tools, and solutions…before you need them. THAT is common sense.

Rich Fleetwood
Founder / Director of SurvivalRing

I’ve had another request from a media producer looking for willing participants for a future television show about…us.  If you’re willing to assist her, please contact her at the email address below. Mention that you saw it on the SurvivalRing website.

Rich

Hello,

I’m currently casting for a pilot television show about preppers/survivalists. I think you may be a great resource for finding well prepared people, who would be open to appearing on camera. I’m wondering if you would be willing to post this info on your blog or website, or just pass this info along to anyone you think would be interested.

The gist:
It’s a 30 minute show, and we will feature two stories. We are mostly interested in seeing what the person has prepared or prepped, and right now we’re specifically looking for someone with a stocked bunker or extensive prep. The idea is to meet the person and see what they’ve prepared, then bring in a survivalist expert to evaluate how long you could actually live for if a catastrophe were to happen.

The purpose of the show is not to exploit beliefs, we actually want to cast people who the viewers will be able to relate to. We also want to feature someone who has prepped extensively, either in the home, or in a bunker. We really want something visually stunning.

This has been extremely hard to cast because of the secretive nature of the people who are preparing–which is completely understandable. I am contacting you because I think it’s important to get the word out about survivalists/preppers–that they aren’t all crazy people, that most of them are smart, well-informed people who we could take a lesson from. And I am hoping you will be able to pass this info along if you know someone who may be interested in participating.

We can provide full anonymity, and compensation is $1000 for the person who is chosen.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you for your time!

Michelle Reindal | producer | screaming flea productions | mreindal@sfpseattle.com

As we’ve seen the last few weeks, this year’s stormy weather is breaking records across the nation. This week’s storms in Joplin, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas have wreaked havoc with hundreds killed, thousands injured and damage in the billions of dollar range. Sadly, many of these deaths could have been avoided, and potentially most of the injuries, by having adequate storm shelters at home and work places.

On April 27th, the massive outbreak of deadly twisters sent tens of thousands seeking shelter, when over a dozen tornadoes pounded Alabama, killing over 300 people, injuring thousands, destroying thousands of homes and businesses, and doing over $2 billion of damage at last estimate. Other tornadic events across the great plains, the south, and east coast, having taken many more lives, created massive breaks in infrastructure, and caused FEMA to request help from Congress to be able to provide financial assistance and recovery to hard hit areas.

Personally, SurvivalRing.org traffic has spiked immensely with each new major tornado hit, including the St. Louis airport, Joplin, Alabama, and other news stories about them. People who live in tornado country are truly worried what tomorrow’s weather may bring, and are looking for answers.

Thankfully, this website, online for 14 years, provides shelter information and actual plans that can be used SPECIFICALLY for storm shelter. Yes, fallout shelters work GREAT for shelter from tornadoes, high wind events, and can also be used for backup shelter for when a home becomes unlivable because of storm damage.  Here are several plans to start looking at for potential shelter ideas for your home.

• Home Blast Shelter
• Standards for Fallout Shelters
• Local Civil Preparedness Standards
• Aboveground Fallout Shelter
• Belowground Fallout Shelter
• Blast & Fire Resistance
• Fallout on The Farm
• Civil Defense Shelter

Many dozens more fallout shelter files can be found in our many downloads areas.

http://www.survivalring.org/downloads/

If you have specific shelter needs, please use the CONTACT ME page to get with me, and I’ll be glad to help in any way I can.

As site statistics have shown the last few weeks, there is a VERY great need for STORM SHELTERS. Plans, sources, vendors, builders, supplies, ideas, kits, and more are available. I will be creating a few new pages on SurvivalRing in the next week to provide easy and quick access to all the information home and business owners need.

Any questions, comments or suggestions on specifics you would like to see in this new section, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible.

As a side note, while thinking about preparing for storms and disasters such as we’re seeing nationwide, now would be a REALLY good time to prepare and make 72 hour kits, check (and purchase if needed) emergency weather radios (with the ALERT feature), and create or update a disaster plan for your entire family for the most likely disasters in your areas  (tornadoes, flooding, fire, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) including maps, phone numbers, and locations to meet before, during or after a local disaster.

Dramatic video of the OKC tornado yesterday…

Rich

Tuscaloosa Twister 4/27/11

During this historic tornado outbreak, I’ve tried to find several sources for getting the latest news and storm events, so you can be aware of the conditions as this outbreak continues.

Below is the best link, showing the absolute latest tornado warnings on the web

http://www.weather.gov/view/national.php?prodtype=tornado

Here’s one that hit close to where my family and I lived and played, near Tuscaloosa, Alabama. We moved away from this area almost 11 years ago, and while sometimes we miss the warm weather, we do NOT miss these deadly, repetitious deadly storms chasing us away from our home every year.

4-27-11 Tornado Tuscaloosa, Al from Crimson Tide Productions on Vimeo.

Thanks to all who responded to the Media Request. I have been asked to remove it now, since they’ve had a slew of applications. Stay tuned for more details, here on SurvivalRing.

Rich

It is that time of year, where we have to renew the hosting for our website (1,000 gigs of online storage with unlimited bandwidth…which lets you and every other visitor download EVERYTHING we have). We also have multiple domains to renew, program licenses (due semi-annually for forums, downloads and chat features), as well as normal hardware and software updates and repair. We have software that needs upgrading Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop (CS5 package,) Artisteer, dozens of web based subscriptions we gather content from legally, and so much more. Believe it or not, it does take real meat world money to run this place.  Please consider helping with any spare change you may have. Every Penny Helps.

Think for a moment. We have been online since 1997. We’ve placed thousands of files on this site for FREE download. We answer EVERY email that comes to us with specific questions. We (my wife Annie and I) even returned to college at a cost of over $40,000 to get skills and degrees JUST to help make this website better. More than any OTHER website on the internet with a focus on Survival and Self Reliance, we provide GIGABYTES of DOWNLOADS for EVERYONE. Of course, everything we have online is also available on CD and DVD, but for literally JUST the cost of duplication, media, postage to you, and time to make them.

What other survival/preparedness website can YOU name that’s invested this many years, these many downloads, college degrees, and actual CONTENT in this genre? We ARE the leading, bleeding edge of self reliance data on the entire internet. We’ve got BOOKSHELVES of new original government produced survival, civil defense, and self reliance data still to scan in…nearly all of it NEVER online and NEVER digitized…but ready to get started. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been adding several new sections to SurvivalRing the last few weeks, and I’ve got one of these sections ready to go.

http://www.survivalring.org/feeds/

This section of the site features, currently, 29 news feeds from all over the world. Topics included, and updated hourly, are Natural Disasters,  Weather warnings, Hurricane events, earthquakes and tsunami alerts, disaster updates, a few feeds from friend’s websites including SurvivalBlog, Modern Survival, and much more.

Japan’s 8.9 magnitude actually hit 5 minutes after I had setup the first USGS earthquake feed page, and for the next few hours, I was researching all the news about this event, as it unfolded. One of the most powerful quakes in recorded history, the resulting tsunami affected the entire Pacific Ocean. News of this type, updated AS THEY HAPPEN, is now available right here on SurvivalRing.

I will continue work on the other sections of SurvivalRing, and will announce them here as I finish the programming and coding.

If you’d like to recommend news feeds for addition into the SR Feeds section, please let me know via comment, contact me, or email.

Also, I’ve created a SurvivalRing Facebook Group page on SurvivalRing. Visit it here…

http://www.facebook.com/rich.fleetwood#!/group.php?gid=16106490236

I’ve currently got Facebook and SurvivalRing working together with great results. If you have a Facebook account, you can post comments or create a SurvivalRing site account using your Facebook cookie. More features to come in the weeks ahead.

Thanks to all of you for your support.

Rich