Preppers/Survivalists

Off Topic
41

On a scale of 1-10 with ten being full blown prepper I consider myself a 6 just due to my interests.

I have always liked the idea of living off the grid and recently bought ten acres up in the mountains. The closest town/stop sign on the blacktop is 2 miles from my gate entrance and they have a general store/cafe and the town has 1 gas station. Just to put things in perspective I liked that fact that the closest grouping of people within 50 miles was of low population.

Like LoRez said back on page 1, I have done things on my property just because I find them fascinating. It started with a garden, that the local wildlife immediately ate and has morphed into survival type activities. I have water stored on sight in case I can’t get the generator running. Small cabin on sight since I didn’t mention that. Generator and an outhouse.

Anyways, I basically cruse prepper sights and find cool things I would like to know how to do. Do some research and try to implement the ideas on my property. One person mentioned that people waste their lives prepping when they should be living but I disagree. I like the outdoors, camping, hunting, cooking on a camp fire or pot belly stove. I go up to my cabin to get away from the rat race and unwind. I can’t imagine a hobby being better for me than this.

42

It pays to have a plan in place no matter where you live. I have natural gas, so my hot water heater works as long as the pilot is lit. I really need to get a CNG generator to power up a few things in the house. I was lucky with Sandy and I’m close to the ocean. I lost power for about 6 hours, took a few days off from work to clean up and keep an eye on things. But people were totally freaked out about the gas situation and the stores were low on food.

My wife has a rather selfish well-to-do brother. He and his wife just quietly slipped out of town for the boonies where they have a huge house about 2.5 hours away. Plenty of free firewood all around, we would join them if something like Sandy happened again. Pack the SUV with food, etc and GTFO before the storm hits. And he’s not really strong or handy, so they could use a little extra help.

Rob

43

[quote]Captnoblivious wrote:
Everyone should have an emergency preparedness plan. However, some of those people are kooks.

[/quote]

Very broadly what kind of things have you planned?

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:

[quote]Captnoblivious wrote:
Everyone should have an emergency preparedness plan. However, some of those people are kooks.

[/quote]

Concur.

These people are going off the deep end, but a couple weeks of food, water, medicine, etc. can be bought in ready-made packages and don’t take up much space. Bottom of the hall closet kind of thing. And, yes, a weapon for each able-bodied member of the household.

The odds of a one-off or limited nuclear attack or equivalent occuring in our lifetime is rapidly hitting “more likely than not” so some basic prep would be the difference between life and death.

Oddly enough, I think the reason zombie movies are so popular is people knows this in their mind and zombies are a good way of thinking about it without really thinking about it.

I live in the boonies (as in, my property backs up to the Lincoln National Forest) and I’ve been stuck on a mountain for two weeks due to snow and floods that washed out the bridge before — finally hiked it out because I ran out of wine — so I’ve kind of always done this.

But city folk, in particular, need some bug-out plans and some shelter-in-place plans.[/quote]

Glad to have you in this thread Ruffian - and great to see you got a Defender in the end, would make for a handy vehicle in the apocalypse haha.

When you say that people in general all need some bug-out plans and some shelter-in-place plans what do you think the fundamentals are that everyone should cover? Also when you say there should be a weapon for everyone in the household, what kind of things do you think would be best?

I was thinking about this earlier and thought some sort of basic club would make for a very reliable and low maintenance thing to have around (and I guess those qualities would be most important), though obviously without the stopping power of a firearm or bladed weapon.

44

[quote]JLone wrote:
On a scale of 1-10 with ten being full blown prepper I consider myself a 6 just due to my interests.

I have always liked the idea of living off the grid and recently bought ten acres up in the mountains. The closest town/stop sign on the blacktop is 2 miles from my gate entrance and they have a general store/cafe and the town has 1 gas station. Just to put things in perspective I liked that fact that the closest grouping of people within 50 miles was of low population.

Like LoRez said back on page 1, I have done things on my property just because I find them fascinating. It started with a garden, that the local wildlife immediately ate and has morphed into survival type activities. I have water stored on sight in case I can’t get the generator running. Small cabin on sight since I didn’t mention that. Generator and an outhouse.

Anyways, I basically cruse prepper sights and find cool things I would like to know how to do. Do some research and try to implement the ideas on my property. One person mentioned that people waste their lives prepping when they should be living but I disagree. I like the outdoors, camping, hunting, cooking on a camp fire or pot belly stove. I go up to my cabin to get away from the rat race and unwind. I can’t imagine a hobby being better for me than this. [/quote]

I totally understand this, and I agree. There’s a lot of cool stuff on those sites, and I enjoy reading them, and learning those skills. I love backpacking and hiking and the outdoors as well, and it’s a great way to spend…well, a life.

I just meant the people that were psychotically obsessed with “TEOTWAWKI”… .there’s a big difference between that and just being self-reliant.

Sounds like you got a cool spot in general.

45

[quote]treco wrote:
I owned a hardware store during Y2K. Should have seen how many electric water pumps (hehe), single bottles of propane, gas heaters, and 4" pvc pipe (to bury guns, etc) we sold. No one was buying axes, fire starters, chlorine tablets, or water jugs. People are damn ignorant.
[/quote]
See now that’s a cool idea. I’m going to think about hiding some PVC pipe in the ground around my place. I won’t be putting guns in them but I will think of something.

As for the gun situation I wanted a safe on sight but settled for an old sewage pipe I got from a salvage yard. I welded sheet metal over both ends and cut a lid in the top. I basically looks like a smoker and I bolted it to the floor of my cabin. Two paddle locks keep my 7MRM safe with about 200 rounds of ammo.

46

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]Captnoblivious wrote:
Everyone should have an emergency preparedness plan. However, some of those people are kooks.

[/quote]

Very broadly what kind of things have you planned?

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:

[quote]Captnoblivious wrote:
Everyone should have an emergency preparedness plan. However, some of those people are kooks.

[/quote]

Concur.

These people are going off the deep end, but a couple weeks of food, water, medicine, etc. can be bought in ready-made packages and don’t take up much space. Bottom of the hall closet kind of thing. And, yes, a weapon for each able-bodied member of the household.

The odds of a one-off or limited nuclear attack or equivalent occuring in our lifetime is rapidly hitting “more likely than not” so some basic prep would be the difference between life and death.

Oddly enough, I think the reason zombie movies are so popular is people knows this in their mind and zombies are a good way of thinking about it without really thinking about it.

I live in the boonies (as in, my property backs up to the Lincoln National Forest) and I’ve been stuck on a mountain for two weeks due to snow and floods that washed out the bridge before — finally hiked it out because I ran out of wine — so I’ve kind of always done this.

But city folk, in particular, need some bug-out plans and some shelter-in-place plans.[/quote]

Glad to have you in this thread Ruffian - and great to see you got a Defender in the end, would make for a handy vehicle in the apocalypse haha.

When you say that people in general all need some bug-out plans and some shelter-in-place plans what do you think the fundamentals are that everyone should cover? Also when you say there should be a weapon for everyone in the household, what kind of things do you think would be best? I was thinking about this earlier and thought some sort of basic club would make for a very reliable and low maintenance thing to have around (and I guess those qualities would be most important), though obviously without the stopping power of a firearm or bladed weapon.

[/quote]

Yes, the Defender and a snorkle were the direct result of me looking at 100 yards of water covering the road.

Water is first. Figure gallon per person for two weeks. A hot water heater has 50 or so, so figure out how to open and close yours.

Food, your meds, a couple pair of good shoes and layers of clothes.

Cash and, if you think it’s really the end, some gold and silver coins. Not a huge amount; think border guard bribes.

Weapons — well, you need at least a shotgun. Minimal skill is required to use it. And, when all else fails, you have a big club.

Pretty much every country in the world will let you get a shot gun, even England. And, candidly, I used a Benelli that was supposed to be my breaching weapon in Iraq as my primary weapon on entry. And, yes, I killed a few people with it.

I liked it because they dropped dead immediately and did not have time to shoot me. And, having been shot, I will tell you it really, really, sucks and even a relatively minor wound would result in you eventually dying in a SHTF situation. I lived because I had a medic about 10 feet away and was evaced in about 20 minutes to doctors who knew how to treat gun shot wounds.

47

[quote]JLone wrote:

[quote]treco wrote:
I owned a hardware store during Y2K. Should have seen how many electric water pumps (hehe), single bottles of propane, gas heaters, and 4" pvc pipe (to bury guns, etc) we sold. No one was buying axes, fire starters, chlorine tablets, or water jugs. People are damn ignorant.
[/quote]
See now that’s a cool idea. I’m going to think about hiding some PVC pipe in the ground around my place. I won’t be putting guns in them but I will think of something.

As for the gun situation I wanted a safe on sight but settled for an old sewage pipe I got from a salvage yard. I welded sheet metal over both ends and cut a lid in the top. I basically looks like a smoker and I bolted it to the floor of my cabin. Two paddle locks keep my 7MRM safe with about 200 rounds of ammo. [/quote]

Put some bags of dessicant in there to suck away the water. Also oil the shit out of everything. 200 rounds is barely one fire fight, just so you know.

48

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
Sounds like you got a cool spot in general.[/quote]
Thanks.

I was talking about getting a small solor panel for the roof and one of those internet pucks from my cell phone company. My wife put a stop to the idea when she realized it would allow me to work from the cabin. She would basically never see me or the dog again.

49

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
Put some bags of dessicant in there to suck away the water. Also oil the shit out of everything. 200 rounds is barely one fire fight, just so you know.[/quote]
I appreciate the input.

I could probably plan better for things like that. I do oil the piss out of that rifle and I will look into dessicant. I didn’t really have a fire fight in mind but I could start bringing my revolver and shotguns with me when I go to the cabin. When it comes to more than 200 rounds of ammo I was worried about the ammo going bad. This may sound stupid but I thought you had to rotate your ammo every couple of years so I didn’t want to overstock.

50

Every December I go deer hunting for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere, MS. We cook everything by fire and have a handpumped well for water. No cell reception and the closest store is about an hour away. It is absolutely awesome. Just nice to get away from all the hustle and BS of electronics.

But honestly if things did get bad, a little preparation and an isolated place to go can take you a long way. Especially if you know what you are doing.

51

^^^
A country boy can survive
haha

52

[quote]JLone wrote:

[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
Put some bags of dessicant in there to suck away the water. Also oil the shit out of everything. 200 rounds is barely one fire fight, just so you know.[/quote]
I appreciate the input.

I could probably plan better for things like that. I do oil the piss out of that rifle and I will look into dessicant. I didn’t really have a fire fight in mind but I could start bringing my revolver and shotguns with me when I go to the cabin. When it comes to more than 200 rounds of ammo I was worried about the ammo going bad. This may sound stupid but I thought you had to rotate your ammo every couple of years so I didn’t want to overstock.
[/quote]

Ha. We routinely used .50 cal ammo from WWII and Korea in Iraq for the ma-duece.

If you keep your ammo closed, dry, and at a relatively stable temperature (cooler is better, but watch condensation) it should last your lifetime and beyond.

A fair amount of military surplus ammo (especially from the former USSR) comes in “tuna cans” which should last 100s of years under remotely reasonable storage conditions.

53

[quote]furo wrote:

[quote]Quasi-Tech wrote:
Nards your point is sound and is basically my conclusion. If the world ever reaches that point, its not coming back. Good people will suffer and bad people will capitalize. Who wants to live in such a world? Is it really living? Eventually someone will come along and want what you have bad enough to do whatever it takes to get it. I would not want to subject my family to that.

[/quote]

I’m not sure I agree. Life would definitely get much, much more difficult, but humanity achieved civilisation from a very rough starting point, and I don’t see why it couldn’t do so again. If neolithic man shared your viewpoint that life wasn’t worth living because it was so hard, humanity wouldn’t be in a very good position right now.

I think that the basic ingredients for an enjoyable and fulfilling life would still be present - family, love/companionship, exercise/movement, food etc. You’d just have to fight that much harder for them.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t think it would good, but I think it would be much better than death.
[/quote]

This. I am just fine with any and all that ask “who would want to scrape and fight just to survive in a cold, harsh, post-apocalyptic world?”. Me and mine, that’s who. Please do roll over and give up. Just means more resources available for those with the fire to survive. Life might be a real bitch, but I will do all I can to survive and ensure the welfare of my loved ones. That might mean that we start with nothing and work our way up to having very little. But it’s something. If humanity has one universal responsibility, it is to give our children strong shoulders to stand on while they reach higher. Sometimes that means making sure your kid is the first in the family to go to college. In some parts of the world it means being the first in the family to wear store bought shoes. Whatever. We should want better for our kids, and we owe it to our ancestors to do better than they.

I’m far from being a prepper, but if necessary I will fight the wild dogs for old bone to survive.

54

The documentary and this thread in general has inspired me to be a little more prepared. I feel like I have some decent outdoors survival skills due to a very outdoors childhood, but as a student living in a flat in a major city I’m not prepared at all. I’m thinking of using an old tough fishing/hunting shoulder bag as a rudimentary “bug-out bag”. Besides my opinel folding knife, matches and some bottled water does anyone have any ideas of some “survival fundamentals” I should pack?

I’m definitely not anticipating having to use it, but there is no harm in having some basic stuff prepared.

55

[quote]furo wrote:
The documentary and this thread in general has inspired me to be a little more prepared. I feel like I have some decent outdoors survival skills due to a very outdoors childhood, but as a student living in a flat in a major city I’m not prepared at all. I’m thinking of using an old tough fishing/hunting shoulder bag as a rudimentary “bug-out bag”. Besides my opinel folding knife, matches and some bottled water does anyone have any ideas of some “survival fundamentals” I should pack?

I’m definitely not anticipating having to use it, but there is no harm in having some basic stuff prepared. [/quote]

A detailed paper map of you town and surrounding states. The kind that come in a book with a spiral binder.

56

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]furo wrote:
The documentary and this thread in general has inspired me to be a little more prepared. I feel like I have some decent outdoors survival skills due to a very outdoors childhood, but as a student living in a flat in a major city I’m not prepared at all. I’m thinking of using an old tough fishing/hunting shoulder bag as a rudimentary “bug-out bag”. Besides my opinel folding knife, matches and some bottled water does anyone have any ideas of some “survival fundamentals” I should pack?

I’m definitely not anticipating having to use it, but there is no harm in having some basic stuff prepared. [/quote]

A detailed paper map of you town and surrounding states. The kind that come in a book with a spiral binder.[/quote]

Great idea, thanks.

57

[quote]furo wrote:
The documentary and this thread in general has inspired me to be a little more prepared. I feel like I have some decent outdoors survival skills due to a very outdoors childhood, but as a student living in a flat in a major city I’m not prepared at all. I’m thinking of using an old tough fishing/hunting shoulder bag as a rudimentary “bug-out bag”. Besides my opinel folding knife, matches and some bottled water does anyone have any ideas of some “survival fundamentals” I should pack?

I’m definitely not anticipating having to use it, but there is no harm in having some basic stuff prepared. [/quote]

Think fire, water, basic shelter, any necessary meds, high calorie dried food. I have become a big fan of those single walled/non insulated stainless steel water bottles with the o-ring seal lids. You can find them just about anywhere and they are great for holding water and as a watertight place to stash meds, fire making supplies, even ammo. Get at least one quality fixed blade knife and a leatherman type pocket tool. Those are very handy. One or two mylar type emergency blankets are good. Some true mil-spec 550 cord. A heavy duty rain poncho. Lightweight rain pants are not absolutely necessary but can be a godsend. A couple pairs of wool socks. Boots that you KNOW you can walk in for hours. If you have ever been truly wet and cold for any length of time you will understand how just being dry can improve your mindset and your chances. Warm, dry feet are at the top of the list. A stocking cap. A walking stick. A compass and a waterproof map of the area and a small road atlas.

If the shit hits the fan, you have to decide how bad it really is. I always come back to worrying about water. You probably can only stock up so much water where you are. If you only have to hole up for a day or three you will be fine. But if things really go to hell, your city supplied water will shut down and you will quickly be up a certain creek without a paddle.

If I could, I would do as Ruffian suggested and have a shotgun available. A simple Mossberg 500 12 gauge pump with interchangeable shot and slug barrels and proper shells for both is one hell of an edge for defense as well as harvesting dinner. If you are bugging out early before things completely fall apart, the shotgun is easy to break down and carry in a dufflebag. If you are on the move when the barbarians are at the gate, the shotgun should be ready in your hands.

Talk to a hunter. Someone who gets out into the wild places for several days at a time.

I am by no means an expert. These are just my recommendations based on a love and a healthy respect for the outdoors, a little reading and a little thought.

58

Hate to break it to you guys who are “prepared” by some means but…

City folk: They outnumber you and will come looking for your stuff once they have gotten out of the cities. Nothing stokes murder in a family mans mind than knowing you have food, water and shelter but wont let him barter for your limited supplies to feed his two kids and wife, if they’re not dead yet.

Rednecks: Well-armed, potential militia issues and will kill on sight. Eventually if the government doesn’t get ahold of itself or instil control over the country you will find bands of well armed and hostile rednecks roaming the country for supplies and women.

Survivalists/Mountain men: Just as dangerous as rednecks but they operate on their own or in twos. They will hunt people for their stuff and you probably wont see them coming.

How many of you guys are in need of prescription medicine? Can you jump to a life of hardship, no grid electric, no AC, no readily available water except for what you can find? Baring in mind water aquifers may be poisoned.

Hunting food now is different to when you have to watch your back. You may be able to hunt and kill animals 300lbs now but would you risk hunting an elk or deer and hoping some guy doesn’t see you doing all the work and waiting?

Majority of people would perish, you either get nasty real quick, have luck on your side that amassing stuff in a certain area was a good idea or you never really needed humanity at all and it wont make a blind bit of difference.

59

I forgot to suggest a basic first aid kit with oversized bandanas that can be used for slings.

60

[quote]furo wrote:
The documentary and this thread in general has inspired me to be a little more prepared. I feel like I have some decent outdoors survival skills due to a very outdoors childhood, but as a student living in a flat in a major city I’m not prepared at all. I’m thinking of using an old tough fishing/hunting shoulder bag as a rudimentary “bug-out bag”. Besides my opinel folding knife, matches and some bottled water does anyone have any ideas of some “survival fundamentals” I should pack?

I’m definitely not anticipating having to use it, but there is no harm in having some basic stuff prepared. [/quote]

I’d have some fly tying materials and fishing line. There are a gazillion different fish you can catch with some very basic nymph patterns, from minnows to bass.

Some thread, size 14 hooks, a little bit of fuzzy stuff and any given feather laying on the ground will get you pan fish for dinner easier than you can imagine.

A simple kit may take up as much as 2 or 3 square inches.