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AUTHORS NOTE: This is a work-in-progress from my as of yet untitled book project, to be published at an undetermined future date. I jumped ahead a little bit, skipping the "move" phase and going to "communicate". This is still a somewhat rough draft, and your comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

The Lessons of John Titor, cont'd

Your five friends should live within 100 miles of each other (preferably less). In an extreme situation, you should be able to walk 100 miles within three days assuming you cannot scrounge up better transportation. On a bicycle, you should be able to do 100 miles in about four hours. Your group should be in regular contact with each other, at least once a week if not daily. Face-to-face contact is preferable. You need to be together in order to be able to work together.

A lot has been said about choosing members of your group. One of the best nuggets of pure wisdom I've heard came from Titor who said, “The people whom you can trust the least will be the ones with the most to lose when the system changes.” It cannot be more simple and eloquent than that. Individuals who be the most effected as a result of a status quo change will be the least trustworthy. I feel that you should have personally known an individual for at least ten years before you can make a judgment on their trustworthiness. There are certain indicators however that you can often use for a rough estimation.



Generally speaking family members and (combat) veterans (especially if you personally served with the individual in question) are your first consideration. Titor stressed the importance of the bonds formed by family and military service. How well does the person take care of his/her self? Many people have medical issues, but there is a difference between the person who manages them and the one who lets their medical problems get out of control. Does the person have any addiction problems? Is he or she on any form of state assistance? Is the individual a creator or a second-hander? Those who can effect changes in their sphere of existence by an application of intent and action are more likely to take any change in the status quo in total stride and not be effected by a change, whereas a second-hander needs the status quo to exist. How is the person's attitude? Does he or she consistently demonstrate and espouse negativity, or are they a person who tries to innovate and improve things while maintaining a positive outlook? The former will be of little use while the latter are people you want working with you. “The people whom you can trust the least will be the ones with the most to lose when the system changes.”

Once you have your group of friends together, a system should be put in place where you all meet at prearranged locations should a situation occur. This could be some obscure public place outside the affected area, or the member's house that is the most remotely located, secure, and/or sustainable. Each location can be given a simple code name such as Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc. that you can use over a communications system to indicate the location. This code is secure as you won't be referring to a specific location by its code name unless you have to.

What's the best communications you can use for your friends. They are ham radio and CB. Those FRS/GMRS portable radios only have a 2-5 mile range at most. A well-tuned CB setup can consistently hit twenty miles, and the right ham gear can go much further than that. CB requires no license, but you a limited to a few watts on 40 channels. Hams have a much wider frequency range and power limit to play with, and only requires you to pass a couple simple tests. They don't even require you to learn morse code anymore, although it still is a useful skill.

Everyone should have a good CB or preferably ham station set-up at their home and in their vehicle, and should use it on a regular basis. Setting up reliable and effective communications is one of those things that requires practice to get right. You don't get that practice by buying the gear and letting it sit until something happens. I recommend every group member possess at least a General Class amateur radio license. You need only take two easy tests, the questions of which are public knowledge, in order to get this class of license. A General Class ham ticket gives you not only local coverage VHF/UHF bands such as 2 meters, but also the worldwide shortwave (HF) bands as well.

There are some who say that getting a ham license puts you on “a list”, and I say “So what?” The only thing that getting a ham license will have an effect on is that it will slightly increase you chances of getting a job in the electronic industry. As Titor said, “The enemy will be those detaining and holding people without due process.” Should this ever come to pass, we will be in the middle of a civil war and will have to act accordingly. Should this be a concern, you need to prepare accordingly.In the meantime, you need to practice getting your communications systems up and working in all sorts of conditions. While boot-legging may be good if TEOTWAWKI ever occurs, at present it is a good way to get yourself negative attention, especially on the ham bands.

Some argue that privacy on the ham bands is non-existent, and it is. You're not however using it for privacy when you are learning how to set up communications links. Since you should be meeting your friends face-to-face on a regular basis, and have access to PGP and email, you have a means of privately communicating. The radio is for when that stuff stops working, and in the worst case scenario certain verboten things become more acceptable.

Despite the relative simplicity of the license tests, radio communications and ham radio is a fairly complex field. More in-depth discussion of this topic and especially ham radio modes of interest to fellow travelers will be covered in a future chapter.

One important fact I must point out regarding the writings of John Titor is that he continually stressed that freewill beats predestination. By becoming aware of the potential that the future may hold, you can act to divert or lessen the effects. There is no fixed future, and this has been shown in the behavior of quantum particles when they are placed under observation. The very actions of a mass of individuals who are taking charge of their self-determination, self-reliance, and preparedness may be all it takes to prevent a dark future from occurring, and if it does come to pass, then they are prepared for it anyway.