“Who” is ModernSurvivalOnline?

ModernSurvivalOnline is owned and run by John Rourke. He pays the bills, edits, publishes – and everything else involving the upkeep and maintenance of this website. In addition to Rourke – several Contributing Editors provide great information whenever they find the time in their busy lives.

So….this is who ModernSurvivalOnline is:

rourke

My name is Rourke and I have been interested in survival, preparedness, and weapons for over 20 years. I have some very strong opinions on the state of the world today – as well as a true conviction that we all have a responsibility to prepare for what lie’s ahead.

The world is an everchanging place and threats exist at all levels. It is my belief that preparing for possible emergencies and disasters is the best way to combat that threat and keep your families safe.

With the current world economic troubles, risk of pandemics, trouble in the Middle East as well as the increasing threat of nuclear terrorism – NOW is the time to start getting ready. Don’t get caught in a situation where you are saying “I wish I had prepared for this when I had time…..I wish I had done something to protect my family.”

Preparing for bad times ahead in order to protect yourself and your family is becoming more and more important. I would like to use this blog to communicate some of my beliefs regarding survival and preparedness – as well as provide information in my download area to help you out.

If you find my blog to be helpful and enjoy it – please subscribe so you can receive site updates when they occur.

All comments are welcome….as long as they are respectful and on topic.

– Rourke

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 Contributing Editors

The Coach – The Coach may not be unfamiliar to long-time readers as he has already contributed several articles in the past. As I continue to solidify experts in a variety of prepper-related subjects and fields I am pleased that The Coach has come on board.

Here is a short bio:

The Coach was in the U. S. Coast Guard for four (4) years. While in the Coast Guard he was a Coxswain in command of a 40 foot patrol boat with a three (3) man crew. He conducted search and rescue and law enforcement missions in southeast Louisiana area.

The Coach then went into law enforcement. He was a street police officer, full time state certified firearms instructor, detective, S.W.A.T. Team Leader, rescue team member and worked with the Community Relations Division. After forty (40) years, The Coach retired from Law Enforcement.

The Coach enjoys camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, boating, traveling, photography, writing, reading and teaching his two grandsons all of the before mentioned activities.

The Coach has been an avid survivalist/prepper for over forty-five (45) years. He enjoys teaching friends and family about prepping.

The Coach also enjoys writing articles on his prepping and survival experiences.

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 Wolf

ModernSurvivalOnline has a new Contributing Editor – Wolf. I am very thankful and encouraged to have Wolf on board. I know Wolf personally and he is a Patriot, a Sheepdog, and the epitome of what being a Minuteman is all about..

Wolf is a native of NC. After graduation high school, he joined the US Army where he qualified for his “Jump-Wings” and Air Assault Badge.  He also qualified as an “Expert” with the Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun, and Grenade, just to name a few types of firearms/weapons.

After two years, he crossed over into the US Air Force, where once again, he qualified as “Expert” with the Rifle and Pistol. Wolf also worked with and along side of the Emergency Response Teams(ERT), the military’s version of SWAT as well as Combat Search and Rescue Teams while stationed in different overseas locations.

Currently, Wolf runs a Firearms Instruction company based just north of Charlotte, NC where he teaches some of the skills he learned while service his country.  The courses he offers range from Basic Firearms Instruction up to full Tactical Response and a WROL/SHTF Weekend Courses.

Welcome Wolf!

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Archer Garrett

Hi, I’m Archer.  First off, thanks to Rourke for inviting me to contribute to MSO.  I’m honored, my friend.  I’ve followed your blog long before we ever spoke.

John has given me freedom to write about whatever I see fit, so chances are we’ll cover a lot of ground.  I intend for my posts to be colloquial and informal, like a couple of old friends and a pot of coffee on a back porch, listening to coyotes yip and trading thoughts.  The forecast surely calls for a storm, but all that means is we should enjoy the time we have – and be ready, of course.

Oh yeah – so who am I anyways?

In 2012 the muse hit me.  I started writing fiction, collapse fiction – or as Jim Dakin called it, “militia porn.”  Heh.  Touché, Jim.  The Western Front was my first book, and eventually became the namesake of the series.  Part 1 of that book is free, by the way.  There’s five books total in the series, and if I catch the muse again, maybe more.  I’ve written other books, too.  There was some zombie fiction, a short story or two, and my favorite – a steampunk novel that never seemed to get off the ground.  But enough about that…

About a year ago, work became more demanding.  We’ve got this depression goin’ on, ya know.  (As I’ve heard it said, a recession is when it affects folks you know.  A depression affects you.).  Creativity is a finite thing, and if you spend the day’s allotment at work, there ain’t none left for you when you get home.

That right there, the “finiteness” (of course it’s a word…) of who we are and what we can produce, and what life has become for an American, is one reason why I think we’ve lost a lot of our ingenuity.  Oh, trust me, there’s a whole lot more to why we’re in the mess we’re in – but that’s a story for another day.

That finiteness (if I say it enough, it becomes real) is also one of the reasons why people literally clock out at 5:00 and figuratively clock out as well.  They chase each other home, like rats.  They plop down on their couches and consume “stuff” that can hardly be considered food, while watching pictures flash before their eyes that can hardly be considered entertainment.  We’ve done an awful fine job of destroying our families with the busy-ness of our lives.  According to Focus on the Family, fathers spend an average of 3.4 hours per week with their kids.  And we wonder why our kids are rurnt (‘course it’s a word)?  Well, who’s raising them?

Oops… sorry.  So life got busy and I’ve had to quit writing for a time.  I’ll pick it up again.  It’s just not the right time yet.

“Life” is the oil and gas industry.  Someone once told me, “If you ain’t in the oil business, you just ain’t in business, son.”  For now, it’s stable enough; more so than most.  If you’re one of those that want a job, but’ve fell on hard luck – go to the Dakotas, or Ohio, or Lake Charles (next year).  Loyalty to a dying career (or a dying region) don’t pay the bills, friend.  “Survivalism” ain’t just a cabin in the woods.  It’s doing what you can, while you still can, with an eye towards that storm that’s comin’.  Just a thought.

Life for me is also a house in that awkward transition between suburban and rural.  Cow pastures and soccer moms – who’d a ever thought?  I can’t go all Rawlesian, not yet anyway.  Maybe I never will.  All I know is this:  where I am is where I’m supposed to be (again, another story for another time).  Take some time and figure out where you’re supposed to be, if you haven’t already.  Get tribe, if you can.  Have some candid conversations with people.  Make the hard decisions now; it might save your life.

One more thing about me before I go:  I don’t talk politics, not anymore.  Now, we can have a conversation about natural law and Jeffersonian liberty and all that jazz – but folks, those concepts don’t exist in our political system anymore.  Some say they haven’t for a hundred years, or since a state tried to divorce itself from this political marriage, but was met with force.  Some say we didn’t really ever have those ideals, and that the establishment of the Republic was ‘nere but a coup.  To quote Lady Macbeth, “At this point, what difference does it make?”

The whys and the whatfors notwithstanding – since you’re reading this, you probably realize it’s broken, too.  Talking politics now is like arguing over the tapestries and the tablecloths on a used-so-often-it’s-a-cliché, famous sunken ship – while it’s in the midst of going down.  So I refuse.  But I like stories; always have.  So that’s what we’ll do here – spin tales.  Tales like this:

When I was a kid, there was this barn out behind our place.  It was one of those barns you see in all those paintings.  You know the kind – the quintessential American barn.  It was also about a generation past its prime.  The older folks had long since abandoned it, but not us kids.  To us, it was something to be climbed through and played amongst.  I can’t tell you how much of my life was spent hopping across rafters and building forts and lookout posts.  Today – heh – today it would be considered child abuse to let kids near something like that, much less turn ‘em, aloose with hand tools (gasp!).  No; today, DHR would call DHS and the BLM would show up and we’d have a weeklong standoff on the ranch.

So one day, I walked outside, and that old barn had finally given up the Ghost.  Collapsed into itself like some great chasm had opened up underneath it (or perhaps a horde of termites and kids…).  Everything we’d built in that barn – all of our castles, and jail cells, and crow’s nests – all of it was gone.  Collateral damage.  Never to be rebuilt.  I’d be lying if I said I didn’t shed a tear for that deathtrap.

I’m rambling, so I’ll leave you with this:  One day, we’re all going to walk out our back door and see our barns in a heap.  Between now and then, we’ve got to figure out how our little systems and structures (our castles, if you will) can survive that great crash that might come all at once or in fits and starts.  And if they won’t survive, well, we better build some new kinds of systems.  Or, perhaps, take our toys and get the hell outta the damn barn.

That’s why I’m here.  And we’ve got a lot to talk about.  So top of my coffee, will ya?

-Archer
Contributing Editor

[Check out the Archer Garrett author page on Amazon – Rourke]

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Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy

It is my honor to announce that Joe Alton, M.D., aka Dr. Bones and Amy Alton, A.R.N.P., aka Nurse Amy have come on board ModernSurvivalOnline as Contributing Editors. I know you will welcome them with open arms.

Dr. Bones is an M.D.  and fellow of the American College of Surgeons and the American College of OB/GYN. He has contributed to Survivalist Magazine, Backwoods Home, Self Reliance Illustrated, and Survival Quarterly, and has written a chapter on Basics of Medical Survival for Doctor Prepper’s latest edition of “Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook.”  He is a member of Mensa and collects 19th century medical books to gain insight on off-grid medical strategies.

Nurse Amy is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner.  She is a certified nurse midwife as well, and an expert on herbal remedies and essential oils. She has one of the largest medicinal gardens in the state of Florida. She has also written articles on survival gardening and natural remedies for Survivalist and Backwoods Home Magazine.

Together, they’re the authors of the #1 Amazon bestseller in Survival Skills and Safety/First Aid “The Survival Medicine Handbook”well known speakers, podcasters,  and YouTubers, as well as contributors to leading survival/homesteading magazines. You will find over 500 posts on medical preparedness on their website – DoomandBloom.net. Both Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy also have their ham radio technician’s licenses and raise tilapia in ponds as a food fish.

Welcome Dr. Bones and Nurse Amy and thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience, and expertise.

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John Gault 

I am very pleased to announce that frequent commenter and sometime contributor John Gault has joined ModernSurvivalOnline as a Contributing Editor.

So – who is John Gault? What follows are a few words that should provide some insight:

In March of 2011 my wife and I quit our jobs, cashed in our chips and left the big city behind to move to our farm hidden away in northeast Georgia.

It’s not a single ideology, but many ideas, including a reverence for nature and a preference for country life; a desire for maximum personal self-reliance and self-sufficiency and the nurturing of family and friendships. A belief that the primary rewards for hard work should be well-being, security in all matters and a non-dependence on an outside government and it’s bureaucracies , and a simple life well lived.

Grasp strongly those things you hold dear and shed from your life the complexities of the world around you. Live for your dreams and wake up every morning smiling and thinking “another day in paradise.”

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Rex

My life in 100 words or so – 

  • 22 years in U.S.Navy  retired 1988.
  • Teacher industrial arts
  • Lifetime credentials in Welding, woodworking, plumbing and machining.
  • Lived in San Diego 1970-2001
  • Currently living in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
  • Lifelong member N.R.A.

During my checkered life I have picked up what some call skills. From gunsmithing to medical knowledge and leadership skills. I have  contributed to some websites my knowledge and feelings on survival and SHTF skills, mostly on what those that do not have or cannot get to a safe retreat if needed,  but will have to bug-in where they are at with what they have. Currently helping groups set up their neighborhoods to have a safe place to be at.

Lets see….What am I preparing for? Hmmmm that’s a hard question as I feel we can’t prepare for everything. You can prepare for some general things by having a food supply, a means of power, and a way to defend ourselves and to be able to keep my family safe medical-wise. These are things that we must be prepared for no matter what happens so I am preparing to keep my family unit safe, fed and protected so whatever happens we can come through it. 
 
As for medical training beyond military training, I have taken EMT courses and training in basic life saving classes but mostly studying on my own in the basics of what to do as a non professional. I can’t operate but I can plug a hole give the proper antibiotic when needed and most importantly know where to look for the answers.
 
In my time in the Navy I was a welder and a sheet metal man. Most important throughout my career I was either in or in charge of the fire firefighting and damage control (keeping the ship from sinking) as swimming is not my strong suit. As for my teaching career I taught welding and woodworking and plumbing to both high school students as well as adult students.

I guess that about covers my life  and most importantly a lifetime of learning from my mistakes well from some of them.

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…….and lastly all of you. Whether you contribute via comments, articles, do business with our advertisers, or just visit –  ModernSurvivalOnline is successful because of you.

Thanks!!


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3 thoughts on ““Who” is ModernSurvivalOnline?”

  1. Thank You, For thanking us, But I visit here for my own reasons & I do save links back to several items, & downloaded & saved on storage drive other more important survival material. I would Like to see more renewable energy item, or something along that line, even in a private topic area.

    Reply
  2. Thanks for having everyone say something about themselves, it’s really nice to read what folks think and sharing some background info, to me anyway, it helps shed some light on the subject. I have always had an appreciation for ‘the method beside the madness’ as it were!
    Looking forward to reading and learning from everyone!
    Donna g

    Reply
  3. Your website and the “72 Hour Emergency Kit” are fine, but I’m missing something on the checklist:

    Personal medicines (tablets, pills) for diabetic, ill or older persons
    and maybe for ametropic people some eyeglasses as a backup in place of contact lenses.

    A good book, for example a guide for emergencies, would also be useful.

    With kind regards

    P.S.: There is apparently something wrong with the name for “Contact Me”? I’ve tried every way, but nothing worked.

    Reply

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