Why I Wear A Mask.

OK I want to just jump right in and explain what is going on with the mask and why I have took down all my YouTube videos where I am not hiding my face, so before people start asking why or making up reasons why, like, its a KSI Cosplay! (I never even knew KSI wore a mask in his fight with that Logan kid), or he was disfigured in a car accident, nose job gone wrong or he is just ugly as hell, has a face like a bull dog sucking pee off a nettle. There are a few reasons why I have gone back to hiding my face and the latter are not any of them.. well maybe the last one.. but the main reason is for my kids..



Here in the UK prepping and being a prepper is still seen as something that paranoid, weird people do, my wife and children know that I have a YouTube channel, have a couple of podcasts and write a blog, I don't want people who go to the same school as my kids to know that, that person taking about prepping or Alien life on Earth is their Dad, I also don't want some of the subject matter I talk about to effect my wife and the job she does or the way other kids interact with my kids, they didnt choose to have a Dad who makes videos and blog posts about horror and the apocalypse, that was my choice.

People have a habit of assuming that just because a persons husband/wife does something then the chances are that their partner will as well, which is not always the case.

Next, at the time of writing this I am out of work, yes, I am unemployed but I am desperate to get back into work. I do not want some of the things I post on my YouTube channel or on my podcast to influence any prospective employer or cause me any problems once I do get back into work should anyone find out.

The next reason is more of a prepper “Grey man theory” reason. If my YouTube channel was to gain any traction and become popular, I want to still be able to walk down the street without anyone knowing that “I” am iJim, that guy who has the outdoor and prepping channel and podcast. Should we find our selves in a SHTF situation or if the UK crashes out of the EU in March next year I don't want to have some kind of paper trail where people can see and recognise me from the internet (which has happened a few times) and know that I have been stockpiling food and water. I know that it probably wont happen, but it might happen.

I would rather be known for the things the guy in the black skull mask says, not the things I say, if you know what I mean. I have been playing the YouTuber game for years now, starting my first channel at the start of April 2012, I haven't really gained any ground since, however, I have noticed that since I have stopped appearing in my videos, my videos have started getting more views, which is a good thing as this time I honestly believe that I have something of value to say.

It sounds corny as hell but I think Bane said it best when he said “No one cared who I was, until I put on the mask” That is how I kind of want it to be, people interested in what the mask has to say, not the guy behind the mask.

What Happens To Our Water in a Grid Down Situation.

This post is a guest post by someone who describes himself as someone who has experience in water treatment with a huge electrical bias. He has asked not to be named or credited with this post but has given permission for it to be copied for obvious reasons.

The Government released guidance note today concerning the Electricity "inter connectors", as previously identified on 3 Blokes in a Pub. The likelihood of power interruption will increase post March 2019 on current trajectory. (no deal Brexit). To explain this we must look at how we generate and use electricity. Most people have heard of the National Grid, the pylons and wires we have all seen crossing the country. All grid connections, houses, business, factories etc draw down power from the grid. We currently have very little "storage" in the system which means, that we are generating electricity in Power Stations at the same rate that we are using it. If we all switched our Kettles on together, we would be using a lot more power than when they have boiled. Fortunately, we don't often do this but you can probably see that a certain times of the day, typically 4-8 pm the energy "load" (amount of power required) is higher than other times of day. So we need to either fire up some more Power stations to "balance our load". Now starting up and setting down turbine based Power Stations is not that easy to do on the reactive basis required, so we currently export surplus electricity to Europe and then import it as demand requires. As we all know, electricity costs money, so we sell the electricity exported and then buy it at import. It is this method of "trading" that Brexit denies us.

The result is, that we will be unable to balance our load as effectively as before. we can't just dump electricity, so National Grid will need to direct the generated availability to the areas needing it. If a surge in demand comes about the "grid" will opt for the areas of high population density, mainly because it affects less people, but also because they can be financially penalised for loss of service (check your supply contract).

So for those in Cities, what's the problem I hear you cry, well the Water and Sewage systems are often way out of town, every time you flush the toilet, shower or bath, that waste water may leave your house under gravity, but sooner or later it may/will need to be pumped to get it to the treatment plant.

Equally, this applies with Clean Water, the amounts of electrical energy associated with Clean (Drinking) Water production are huge. The control system, actuated valves, flowmeters, pressure sensors, chemical dosing systems, water quality instruments, final pumps are all electrically powered. Guess what! There is not much storage in that system either.Typically in my experience we are talking hours rather than days....

So an infrequent power supply, leads to Water Supply issues and also Waste issues.....I know little about Gas supply but the need to maintain a pressure, will no doubt be electrically controlled!

My YouTube Channel is Two Years Old

I started uploading videos to YouTube in March of 2012, about a month or so before YouTube opened the doors to its partner program, so that anyone could join. Since then I have had three channels, my current one iJimUK being my third channel, and my last.. I hope..

Since my first upload way back in 2012 I have only ever had two strikes for copyright on any of my videos, the second one was a few weeks back on my Video Noscere`s Call to Action, because I used a clip from the move The Matrix.

So when another email from YouTube hit my inbox this week, my first thought was "oh bugger, someone else is claiming copyright infringement but I was wrong, instead it was an email wishing my channel a happy 2nd Birthday.

With everything I have going on at home at the moment and yet another change to my channels format I didn't even realize it had been up for so long. Hard to believe that two years ago I had this idea of making a channel dedicated to the way I see the world, a kind of guerilla journalism channel, which in time changed to a commentary channel where I hid my face, then I decided not to hide my face, to what it is now, a channel about Prepping, Bushcraft and horror movies, where I hide my face.

I am choosing not to celebrate iJimUK`s 2nd birthday because I am not 100% happy with it yet, I still hadn't gotten into the swing of everything yet, maybe by the time it is three years old, we will have to wait and see…

What To Do With Your Preps

So, you have been stockpiling food with a long shelf life and water for a few months now. You have also been working on getting gear for your bug out bag as well as your EDC and you think you have everything.

You are reading every book, PDF and website you can lay your hands on, on the subject of Wilderness and urban survival, bushcraft and foraging, your passed your first aid course top of the class and have started a self defence class.

Not My Stockpile

This is all awesome news, you have been working hard, well done you!

Now that your Bug out bag is ready in case an emergency happens and you need to evacuate, what are you going to do with it? Leave it in the cupboard under the stairs, ready for a SHTF situation?

Lots of preppers have their bug out bag ready just in case, just sat there, doing nothing, this confuses me no end.

Why would you go to all the effort and expense to put a bag together and never use it.

Get your bag out, empty it, check your gear is in optimum condition, replace and look to upgrade some of the items in it (if your finances allow).

Go out camping, even if it is just for one night. This way you will get used to the idea of grabbing your bag and taking to the hills, so to speak, get used to using your knife and axe. Practice building shelters and making fire.

As I said in an earlier post, "Knowledge is Key", it is no good having all that gear if you dont know how to use it, so get your gear out and actually use it, get used to how it feels, you never know, the axe you got last month might not feel right when you use it, it could give you blisters. With a slight modification it could be perfect... or it could need replacing.

Get your gear out and play with it, actually use it. Feather sticks, feather more sticks, practice and practice some more. Make a fire in the rain, if its windy, get out and make a fire in the wind.

Years ago I was a reservist in the British army. My regiments unofficial motto was "Train Hard, Play Easy". in short, train and practice in the worst possible environments, the pouring rain, howling winds and heavy snow. If you are unlucky enough to be caught out in a SHTF situation in these conditions, you have practised and trained yourself in them so you know what to do. Anything less than God awful weather, half way up a hill is easy.

To end, get used to rotating your stockpiles and preps, if those cans of soup are getting close to their use by date, use them and replace them. It would be a nightmare to find that half your food stash has already passed its use by date when you need it.

Practice making fire, finding and purifying water, building shelters and the rest of it, get used to your tools and how your bag feels on your back. Remember: It is better to fail now when you have time to get it right and modify your gear then fail when peoples lives depend on you getting it right. 

A Call to Action

I am Noscere, I have been here since before time, watching, its what I do, I watch. I witnessed the birth of the Earth and marvelled at how it grew, I watched as evolution took hold and life first crawled from the swamps, watched it transform and change.

I was there at the creation of fire and the fall of Rome. I roamed the European dead mans land in the early 20th century and I shed a tear as I watched at the ease that man could kill another man without giving a second thought.

I watched as humans became more and more reliant on technology to do its bidding, smiling at the advent of moving pictures, created for entertainment and the dissemination of news and views
In the year 1999 I watched as Agent Smith from a moving picture named The Matrix said, and I quote

" I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realise that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet."

I watched The Guardian Newspaper published an article in 2017 saying that there are 100 companies who are responsible for 71% of the world's Global warning. 100 companies.

I watched again near the end of 2018 as the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) research released a report saying that we as a species have less than 12 years to limit climate change change the way we live, eat less meat and lower our carbon footprint or our planet is going to change, severe weather conditions will be the new norm..

"until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area".

A few have taken the UN report as a call to action and are looking into what they as an individual can do to lower their carbon footprint, while others continue as normal, as if nothing is going to happen yet, to them, and anyway, 12 years is, well its 12 years away, we have plenty of time..

Except you dont, the longer you leave it the harder it will be to fix. The UN report states that we the maximum global temperature can not rise by more than 1.5 C beyond which even half a degree will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people. [Source]

I put it to you that Agent Smith is right, the human race is a virus, not listening to the warnings, laughing and mocking those who prepare for a possible apocalypse when the apocalypse is already happening, not as a life changing explosion or sudden grid down situation, but slowly, there is no Alien invasion, no zombie infestation and no patient zero.

We, as we stand today are all patient zero, those of you who do not heed the warnings are patient zero we have been since the start of the industrial revolution.

"You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed"

I like it here and I dont want to be standing on top of a hill watching the world burn.. Im pretty sure that you dont either.