Convergences: A Call To Action For the Non-Prepper

Just what the title sounds like...a rundown of my thoughts on the stormclouds that are gathering on the horizon that seem to be aligning for a colossal shitstorm. If you aren't prepping, now is a really good time to start doing SOMETHING. Not being an alarmist, just seeing the writing on the wall. Bad juju is afoot. Get your houses in order, my friends. Prep Hard. Pray Harder. ---Matt

Product Reviews: Wardens Supply Company Compressed Towels and Paracord Bracelet

The good folks at Wardens Supply Company recently sent me out some items to check out and do some review videos on. This is the second of 3 review videos. The items reviewed here are their line of compressed towels and their paracord bracelet. Compressed Towels: 10X10 towels, compressed into an individually wrapped small "tablet". Don't take up a lot of space...a capful of water is sufficient to expand them. Good for a bugout bag as a multipurpose towel...it WILL tear without too much effort, but it is not made to be a "permanent" towel. Paracord Bracelet: 7 strand cord. Dimensions when in bracelet: 8"x 3/4" x 3/8". When unraveled, 8.2ft of 4mm diameter paracord. Rated for a pull strength of 430 lbs. Comes with a fast clip buckle, allowing easy on and off of the bracelet. It meets 1931N SGS standards. Available in a number of colors. Working on a review of the Hydration System. Should have that completed by the end of the week. In the meantime, until September 15th, there is a discount code at Wardens Supply Company for viewers of this channel. Just use the discount code PREPPER at checkout for 10% off any purchase. Prep Hard. Pray Harder ---Matt

LA Police Gear Product Reviews

Recently, the good folks out at LA Police Gear sent me out some products to review over at the YouTube Channel. They sent me out their 3-Day Backpack and a pair of their Urban Ops tactical pants. Both products are amazing and are at an incredible price point.

The 3-Day Backpack:

• Made from 600 Denier Nylon
• Hydration Bladder Compatible (up to 3 liters)
• Ergonomic padded shoulder straps
• Dual Compression Straps
• MOLLE-compatible exterior
• Removable 2" waist strap
• Main compartment has interior organization system
• 19" tall 13" wide 12" thick at bottom, 9" at the top
• 2590 cubic inches of space.
• 2.8 lbs empty

The 3-Day Bag can be viewed on their website here.

The Urban Ops Tactical Pants:

• 60% cotton, 40% polyester---ripstop
• Black, brown, coyote brown, charcoal, khaki, navy, OD green, and sierra
• Cargo pockets w/passthrough
• Front pockets optimized for a flshlight or knife clip
• Locking brass zipper
• Brass stud closure
• 6 belt loops
• Gussetted crotch
• Cargo pockets are slanted allowing access while seated

The Urban Ops tactical pants can be viewed on their website here.

BIG Announcement!!!

The Georgia GeoPrepper YouTube Channel and blog is happy to announce an association with LA Police Gear. I have been communicating with them for the past few days and they have agreed to send me one of their bags (The 3-Day Backpack) to do a review of and include in my 45th birthday giveaway that is ongoing right now. They are also sending me a pair of tactical pants (Shrike Tactical Pants) to try out and review as well. They have been a great company to work with so far and I am anxious for their stuff to arrive next week so that I can begin working on my reviews.

Channel Updates/Giveaway Update #3

Get Home Bag/Bug Out Bag-Part 1

Check out part 1 of a "guided tour" of my Get Home Bag/Bug Out Bag. Enjoy and please feel free to comment. Thanks!

Update!!!

I just went on an REI and Dollar Store run to pick up some stuff for my family's preps and also stuff for my 45th Birthday Giveaway over on my YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ67lbq1k2DeHHM2UKF4liQ). I will probably shoot a video tonight showing at least some of the swag...Stay tuned!!!

Ukraine is coming absolutely unraveled

Guys, it appears the situation in Ukraine has gone from very bad to much, much worse. Odessa has totally erupted into violence. Russia has requested an emergency UN Security Council meeting "as soon as it can be convened" and are supposed to make a major announcement. I think the Russian invasion we all have known was coming is about to arrive. Check the link below for a Ustream feed from Odessa. Be warned, though, it is not pretty.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/o1odessa

What's Ahead

Hey all. I have not been the best at updating and maintaining this blog up to this point. That is all about to change. This blog is going to be linked very closely to activity on my YouTube channel as well as my other social media outlets (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest). On the YouTube front, lately I have been focusing a lot on trying to support giveaways that my friends are doing and have been doing so many VRs lately that I feel almost like a VR-only channel. That is not the direction I want to take things, so I am trying to find a balance.

I am planning to start doing product reviews near-term both here on the blog and also video reviews on the YouTube channel. I am in discussions at this time with some companies to see if I can obtain some of their products for review purposes. I hope these discussions will bear fruit and that I can begin to do some reviews shortly. These reviews will focus on “gear” type items (tactical, outdoors, bushcraft, firearms, prepping, etc), movies, music, and other stuff that may be useful or of interest.

In the immediate future, I will be doing an unboxing and initial review of Dollar Shave Club. My wife and son gave me a membership in this for an early Father’s Day present. The package is due to arrive probably today, so I will do an unboxing and give initial impressions of the products this evening. After I have used it for a couple of weeks I will give an update.

I am excited to start producing more content. Thanks to my subscribers and those of you that are hanging with me. This is the start of a fun ride. Prep Hard and Pray Harder!

Convergences

The Russian Bear is On The Move

Hey all. Well, it appears the Russians may be on the verge of a major regional and/or global power play. Reports right now are that armed gunmen (who are believed to possibly be Spetsnaz) have stormed the Parliament building in the Crimea and that the Russian flag has been raised over the building. This is an offshoot of the ongoing crisis in the Ukraine. The Crimea is of strategic importance to Russia because it is a northern peninsula in the Ukraine which provides port access to the Black Sea. The Russians have also placed fighter jets along their western borders on combat alert and have an intelligence gathering ship docked in Havana, Cuba. It is also believed that Viktor Yanukovych, the deposed president of the Ukraine is now being sheltered in the Kremlin.

The situation in the Ukraine is complex, but I am going to try to explain it in a brief nutshell here. This explanation is just going to hit the "high points" and not get bogged down in the minutiae and political intrigue too much.

Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian president, was in negotiations with the European Union (known to some as the organization that would like to be the one world government) to strike a deal with them to create closer ties with the EU, create new trading opportunities and the like. Russia was not too keen on this idea and threatened the Ukraine with trade sanctions and higher natural gas fees if it pursued the deal. Also, the EU was demanding freedom for a political opponent of Yanukovych’s who is imprisoned for largely politically motivated reasons. So, around the end of November, Yanukovych cut off talks with the EU

At that point, the Ukrainian people launched into protest, demanding that Yanukovych sign the EU deal. Instead, Yanukovych flew to Moscow where Vladmir Putin announced that Russia would purchase a sizable amount of Ukrainian debt and lower gas prices for the Ukraine. This did nothing to quell the protests, so Yanukovych enacted an anti-protest law that, among other things, said that people could not gather in groups to demonstrate without police permission. At that point, protestors took over the city hall in Kiev. The anti-protest law was soon repealed, but by that point, the driving topic behind the  protests had morphed into constitutional reform. In short, they began demanding that the constitution be revised to put greater limits on the power of the president and more power in the hands of the Parliament.

Last Tuesday, the plan had been to introduce those measures in Parliament, but the Parliament speaker refused to allow it. This led to the latest bloody clashes. A truce was declared last Wednesday evening, which failed almost as soon as it was declared. Shortly after that, Yanukovych fled Kiev to Moscow.

The problem is, Russia is still not happy with the situation. The Sochi Olympics were a "restraining bolt" of sorts (for all you Star Wars fans out there), preventing the Russians from taking action while all the eyes of the world were focused on Russia as they hosted the Games. Now that the Olympics have come to an end, there is less reason for restraint on Putin's part. And, as noted in the first part of this post, action, it appears, is in progress.

We are now at something of a crossroads. Tension is extremely high on all sides, which contributes to an environment where everyone is kind of jumpy. This creates a situation that is ripe for miscalculation, which could send the whole thing spinning wildly out of control. The problem also is that we currently have a weak president. Probably the weakest in the history of our nation. He is not up to the task of brinksmanship that is required here. Not sure what is going to happen, but the next few days could be interesting indeed. Prep hard and Pray Harder.

Updates and Shoutouts-02/26/2014