Energy: The Boring Logistical Stuff

[Music] um [Music] [Music] hello again everyone and welcome back to the underground let's face it we live in a world of gadgets whether it's in a front-line combat unit or simply going to pick up a kid from school electronic devices play a major role in our lives and now more than ever we can plainly see that the devices we use present significant vulnerabilities everyone from hostile governments to authoritarian companies can and do use your data against you now there are options to enable you to use your devices to your advantage rather than your adversary's benefit but regardless of whether the data inside a device is a liability or a force multiplier there is one very important vulnerability to the device itself electricity being able to actually power your devices in environments that are non-permissive is a huge factor to consider especially for modern combat operations but this is also becoming a major factor for daily life as well with political regimes turning off the power and shutting down the utilities of their political enemies and with the whole country turning a blind eye to this we can only imagine how much energy will be a powerful tool in the future to put it blun nemies and with the whole country turning a blind eye to this we can only imagine how much energy will be a powerful tool in the future to put it bluntly we are absolutely heading towards a situation where many americans will be living off-grid right in the middle of the grid essentially being homeless in their own homes in effect being forward deployed to your own living room in fact on a national level our energy sector has already been weaponized against the american people in some cases remember the colonial pipeline cyber attack that resulted in over 90 percent of gas stations on the east coast being without gas for six days we certainly remember it and also remember the highly suspicious actions of federal law enforcement agencies during this incident which to analysts like ourselves indicate with a high level of confidence that there was more to this incident than we can see what about the drone attack on a pennsylvania electrical substation remember that one how about the vehicle-borne ied detonation in nashville on christmas day last year an explosion that killed no one but managed to sever the internet and 9-1-1 capabilities in the area for several days sure this was an a day last year an explosion that killed no one but managed to sever the internet and 9-1-1 capabilities in the area for several days sure this was an attack on communications networks rather than power generation but the lesson is pretty much the same if a communications network goes down or is intentionally severed because you said the wrong thing or don't have the right papers you have to create and build your own communications network and that requires significant amounts of electricity but in any case the lesson that everyone should have learned from this or any of the other cyber attacks and actual attacks that we have seen over the past couple of years is how directly and how quickly these things can affect the average person for us we learned of the colonial pipeline attack and pushed out an alert immediately and within two hours there was not a drop of gasoline diesel or aviation fuel for hundreds of miles around us it happened just that quickly so take these extreme vulnerabilities that are rampant throughout the entire energy sector and couple that with political regimes that control both the investigations of these vulnerabilities but also the taps themselves well this p y sector and couple that with political regimes that control both the investigations of these vulnerabilities but also the taps themselves well this presents a clear and immediate vulnerability to the average person but since it isn't as cool to prepare for a lot of people overlook their energy needs nowadays with more and more energy chugging devices examining one's energy needs is something that would be a very good idea to do and here's why we have a lot of devices that require a lot of power much more so than in previous years for most people their primary and only communication device is their smartphone which must be charged daily if the power were to go out most people simply would not be able to communicate for very long before their batteries died and their power banks ran out in recent years solar energy has become really one of the only reliable relatively covert and decently cheap options for charging small devices during emergencies but since we have so many devices to charge and realistically people are only going to have so much solar charging capacity we've really got to think about what our needs are in fact let's take a look at this on a chart as we can see the lo e so much solar charging capacity we've really got to think about what our needs are in fact let's take a look at this on a chart as we can see the longer we go without a reliable source of power the more demand we place on alternative systems like solar panels to replenish our power needs but it's not a straight line imagining a scenario where there is a power outage in an area for several days on the first day the requirements for your solar panels won't be too bad but after a while as your devices start to run out of power your need for solar capacity increases in other words if you've got a family all with smartphones you can probably rely on small solar panels on day one to top up a couple of devices that might be running low but by day three or four you'll have a household full of unhappy people because your small solar panel can't keep up with the increasing demand as everyone's devices start to run out of power this gets even worse if we're talking about a more tactical use the ability to generate power in the field has a direct impact on survivability imagining the same scenario of a simple power outage we realize that in today's world a power outage is anything but simple ct impact on survivability imagining the same scenario of a simple power outage we realize that in today's world a power outage is anything but simple when we think about the threats that we face in today's world and considering these threats in the context of a several day-long power outage we know that our power needs are not just confined to charging people's phones we've got other devices to charge as well batteries for flashlights or batteries for optics that might be needed to maintain security such as night vision or thermal systems drones are handy in situations like that for gaining a situational awareness of your surroundings but again they require batteries to be charged even medical needs like cpap machines or electric fans for cooling off wounded or sick people during a heat wave these medical power requirements will be compounded in a situation where patients are being openly denied medical treatment based on their race and creed which is already happening in some areas communications devices like radios strobes lasers and even electronic warfare devices all require significant amounts of power generation capability as with everything else these days problems tend to nd even electronic warfare devices all require significant amounts of power generation capability as with everything else these days problems tend to compound at the worst times echoing murphy's law at the most inopportune moments you can bet that at the exact moment you will need your radio the most you will have a low battery and right when your demand for solar power is at its height that's the moment when you won't be able to put your panels out in today's world contingent circumstances are now a part of daily life for many people we're not speculating what will happen in an emergency we're living in one right now in this case it will become even more important to squeeze out every milliwatt of power you can because the challenges of living in an shtf situation make it necessary so even though 99 of the solar panels out there on the market are geared towards people who want to charge their smartphones while taking some selfies there are much more significant problems that arise from not having enough power generation capability it is not a good feeling to be sitting on a mountaintop alone and having to decide what device to charge because your small solar panel will only handle is not a good feeling to be sitting on a mountaintop alone and having to decide what device to charge because your small solar panel will only handle one thing the radio or the batteries for a night vision device for us here we also have some additional requirements for solar panels most people do not know that there are really three kinds of solar panel technology monocrystalline polycrystalline and thin filmed polycrystalline is kind of outdated and you don't see that so much anymore the overwhelming majority of all solar panels on the market are monocrystalline which is not great the internet is full of these kinds of panels which is perplexing because they they really suck in a portable roll monocrystalline panels are perfectly fine for a whole home solar setup or something like that but in a mobile setup or for like hiking or something these panels usually perform very poorly unless they're in direct sunlight and even then they're really inefficient oh and usually these kinds of panels end up melting or delaminating at some point due to being used in the sun for any longer than a 15 sponsored video on youtube when many people realize that they need solar panels they end up lo t due to being used in the sun for any longer than a 15 sponsored video on youtube when many people realize that they need solar panels they end up looking up reviews online which is a very wise thing to do but inevitably whenever someone buys a solar panel for the first time and tries it out their response is almost always that did not perform as well as i expected what almost no one reviews is the other kind of solar panel technology like thin filmed panels thin filmed panels by their very nature are lighter they're flexible vastly more efficient and work very well in partial shade or in indirect lighting conditions which for us is very important for camouflage purposes but these kinds of panels don't get talked about a lot for a few reasons for one there's really only one main company that makes them power film so the market's kind of small but power film is located here in the u.s which is opposed to every other solar panel on the market which are all made in china as one might expect this makes thin filmed panels more expensive per watt hour than other panels however since the cheap chinese-made panels do not last long the theory of buy once cry once is certainly in place when er watt hour than other panels however since the cheap chinese-made panels do not last long the theory of buy once cry once is certainly in place when it comes to solar panels power film as a company doesn't seem to have much of an advertising budget and probably doesn't need advertising due to their significant military contracts so not that many people consider power film as an option even though thin film panels are a much better option in many circumstances along with power generation we also have to consider power storage in other words batteries usually this is the most expensive part of your setup solar panels are really the only reliable way to get power with no effort and expending no other resources but putting out the panel but they obviously only work during the daytime so having a healthy amount of battery storage will allow you to store that energy for later use in recent years devices like solar generators have become more of a consumer item at least in the prepping world and these kinds of devices are pretty good to have but there are some downsides as well plus it's far cheaper to just build your own solar generators if you have a little bit of electrical know-how ve but there are some downsides as well plus it's far cheaper to just build your own solar generators if you have a little bit of electrical know-how which we can cover at some point later on but getting back to our chart the goal for solar panel is maintaining capabilities so your solar needs are going to depend on what capabilities you want and in what environment you are trying to operate if you are doing cool guy stuff out in the woods for a couple of days and only need to charge up a camera a smartphone and maybe a drone battery you can probably get by with a smaller solar panel and a smaller battery but if you're trying to live in your own house after your power got shut off because you refused to get a medical procedure well you're going to need a lot more power generation capability also if you're operating in an urban environment you're likely going to have to deal with things like less than ideal placement or limited sunlight due to buildings and if you are operating in a remote environment camouflage will be a huge consideration as well just ask the taliban how it worked out for them to put up solar panels on extremely remote mountain tops far from where people are suppo ation as well just ask the taliban how it worked out for them to put up solar panels on extremely remote mountain tops far from where people are supposed to be living in remote areas you can have the most perfectly camouflaged position but panels point the way right to your doorstep at the end of the day what we are trying to do is shift the line it would be nice to be able to run one hundred percent of our energy needs off of solar energy at any point in time and in any situation but that is not feasible for most people and certainly not possible at all if you are living out of a rucksack and constantly on the move from position to position being able to prolong the amount of time that your devices function is a seriously massive force multiplier if you are running around in the woods and trying to not just survive the dystopias that are popping up around the world but also thrive in these situations you will not be able to do so unless you take all of your needs into account and the stark reality is that yes electronic devices are in many cases a liability but they also allow a lone person to increase their capabilities far beyond what one person normally can do and today being a n many cases a liability but they also allow a lone person to increase their capabilities far beyond what one person normally can do and today being a force multiplier being able to use technology to your advantage is going to be necessary for us to make it through the next decade let's face it logistics is boring it's not fun to think about living daily life logistics is often a case of people not being able to see the forest for the trees we spend so much time trying to increase our capabilities in other areas so we completely neglect the basics for daily life on the long term and if we cannot survive we cannot thrive buying a solar panel is not as fun as buying a rifle and learning to build your own batteries and solar generators is not as fun as learning things like small unit tactics but you are fooling yourself if you think that all of the boring stuff like logistics won't be a factor energy is already a weapon and the lessons that history has provided are quite clear those who are able to meet their logistical needs no matter their disadvantage or how powerful their foe will always have a significant advantage so rip off the band-aid and start thinking about your energy need heir disadvantage or how powerful their foe will always have a significant advantage so rip off the band-aid and start thinking about your energy needs and what kinds of systems you need do you need a mobile power generation capability that can be a long term setup or do you want to do the opposite building a more or less permanent solar setup that can be moved quickly if necessary do you need larger panels because you live in an area where there isn't much sunlight or do you want to carry larger batteries to make up the difference do you live in an urban environment and as such might need something that doesn't look too tactical so that you could use it at the coffee shop or do you live in a remote area where you might have to carry your power generation capability over rough terrain can you use your solar generation capabilities in your daily life to reduce your dependence on the grid or do you plan to only use your solar panels during a power outage emergency and if you only plan to use your solar panels during a power outage how long can you keep that capability up before becoming overwhelmed with devices to charge or fatigued with constantly deploying and redeploying your pane ong can you keep that capability up before becoming overwhelmed with devices to charge or fatigued with constantly deploying and redeploying your panels during the best times for solar collection can you keep this up especially when your workload will increase due to the power outage can you maintain an intelligence capability having enough power to run night vision and thermal devices all night long or being able to power up a reconnaissance drone or power a radio indefinitely now on top of all of this factor in the difficulties of just living in today's world if i lose my job would it still be worth it to buy expensive solar panels and batteries what about if i lost my job and my power was cut off would it be worth it then if so what's the balance is it worth it to buy a small solar panel with an already stretched budget or is it worth reducing your power needs so that you can spend that money on food as we can see when bad things happen problems tend to stack up and overwhelm your plans quite quickly especially if you have no plan to begin with so that's the first step figure out what electronic devices you need and then figure out what you need to meet those requirements there to begin with so that's the first step figure out what electronic devices you need and then figure out what you need to meet those requirements there is no one answer to this question and even the generally given advice on the topic of solar panel is up for debate with our societal problems is it worth it to spend 100 bucks on solar panels when you're having trouble affording food in past years of course not spend that money on food instead but what if your power is cut off and you have vulnerable family members located far away that you need to keep in contact with depending on how severe the problems are and what your obligations are it might be worth it to spend those precious and rapidly inflating dollars on a small solar panel so that you can maintain contact with a part of the outside world that matters to you again there is no one answer to these problems there are lots of people out there that might say well buy this and buy that and you'll generally be okay this might have been good advice in years past but times have changed and we need to be realistic about what life has already become today and what it will continue to become into the future [Music] me [Music] you