I’ve had an unsettled feeling about what is going on in this country and around the world for the last month. More unsettled than normal. I know that is what has spurred me to write multiple short articles over the last couple weeks as my outlet for dealing with my increasing feeling of dread. But I’ve also begun to take some action steps to be better prepared for whatever is coming.
I’m not a true doomstead prepper. I would say I’m more prepped than the average person, less prepped than many of the people who read TBP, and certainly not prepped enough to survive what could be headed our way. During the time frame from 2009 through 2012 I bought a significant amount of equipment, firearms, and food for what I thought was an imminent SHTF moment coming our way. As usual, my timing was off by a mile. But still, the supplies are in my storage area, awaiting the day that will come.
My location isn’t ideal, but it isn’t terrible. It is basically a suburban community nestled among numerous farms, far from any urban ghetto shithole. Most of my neighborhood is occupied by liberals, Karens, and vaccine supporters. I know of three or four neighbors who I could count on as support, if things go sideways. Two of them are engineers who have skills I do not have. I would trust them in a crisis situation.
I had a backup natural gas generator installed a couple years ago, which came in handy a few weeks ago when a transformer blew up the road. Over the last few weeks I’ve been methodically taking small steps to get better prepared. I’ve been withdrawing cash from my credit union. My old propane grill has rusted away and ignition has been iffy for a while. I bought a new one last week. In the near future, I’ll be getting rid of our 13 year old Honda Insight with 250,000 miles and replacing it with a used Honda HRV with under 40,000 miles. Converting fiat into useful things seems like a good idea at this point.
Yesterday we bought a new firearm and ammo. What a fascinating process. It is pretty clear to me that all gun dealer employees and their customers are of the same mindset as TBPers. We got to know the gentleman helping us select the gun pretty well because the god foresaken state of PA makes it as difficult as possible to legally purchase a firearm. After filling out pages of paperwork and answering questions online, it took the state drones about an hour and half to approve the purchase, even though I’ve never had anything more than a speeding ticket in my entire life.
Not only did the guy selling us the gun have to triple check the paperwork, he had to get the owner’s wife to double check all of his work. I asked why they had to go through such a tedious process. They said the ATF is crawling up their butts and will shut them down in a split second if any paperwork is slightly off. He said they have been harassing every gun dealer in Bucks and Montgomery County with surprise audits, trying to put them out of business. So, Philly and every other urban shithole is experiencing massive gun violence from illegal guns used by black men, but the ATF harasses legal gun shops selling legal guns to white people for protection. This is how it rolls in Biden’s America.
I’m a little more prepared than I was a month ago, but surely not enough. Let’s open this up to everyone as a learning exercise. What preparations have you taken and what do you recommend? Especially for those not able to move to a totally rural homestead. My backup plan is to fuel up and make the seven hour trek to Hardscrabble’s Farm and learning to chop the heads off chickens.
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Me trying to make my way to Hardscrabble’s
LOL…that was worth going on a search.
Here’s the result.
I have been feeling ill-prepared.
Hopefully, you are not sitting on yer arse lamenting about it and instead, making the run to Costco, Sam’s Club, or your local Aldi’s.
I’m better prepared than the average bear (been at it for about ten years), and I still feel ill-prepared.
It is impossible to feel fully-prepared since we don’t know what we are preparing for.
Food, water, shelter, a means to defend oneself, and a mindset to employ them all usefully. When you feel comfortable in those 5 categories then you are prepped.
Keep one important thing in mind; your physical preps are simply going to buy one time to get accustomed to the new reality that will face each of us when the thing that we are all prepping for actually happens. Your mental preps are what will make life meaningful.
Supplies Will Run Out. Skills Won’t.
One of the best real-life survival stories from the Bosnian war is called One Year In Hell and published at Personal Liberty. The author gives a detailed account of how he and his family (most of them) were able to survive the brutal war.
One thing, in particular, stands out:
“I was a paramedic. In these conditions, my knowledge was my wealth. Be curious and skilled. In these conditions, the ability to fix things is more valuable than gold. Items and supplies will inevitably run out, but your skills will keep you fed.”
It is all fine to stockpile food and supplies for a disaster scenario, but in a real SHTF situation, those supplies will quickly run out (or be stolen from you).
The best thing you can do to prepare for SHTF is to learn useful skills like how to make a generator, how to treat wounds, how to make candles…
You Will Eat Anything
They say that you can survive up to 30 days without food, but hunger will get the better of you long before then. When hunger sets in, you will eat anything.
Bosnian war survivors tell stories of eating pigeons and rats. They ate stinging nettles and other urban edible plants. When no food was available, they ate grass and leaves.
One of the most poignant stories of hunger that I read is from a girl named Maja, who was 16 when the Bosnian war broke out.
“As I walked into the apartment, I could smell the soup and bread, and my stomach grumbled. I knew that the soup was made from the last of the meat from my pet rabbit, but hunger knows no loyalty or sentiment.”
numerous weeds are very nutritious and completely unknown to most. The stinging nettle and dandelion are two very common weeds that both are nutrient dense. Another that is known as the path weed, the plantain is also a good one, our rabbits just loved these plants.
Handling stinging nettle is a dicey situation … but it does make excellent tea …
Dandelion is great for salads and such … some cultures even make dandelion wine …
If you’re into cultivating … make sure you cultivate lots of garlic … one of the most beneficial plants in existence …
You nailed it.
i started pre 2k. the whole hype over the end of the world had me stack a few tons of gear in multiple locations falling back to the family farm should the need arise to vacate the suburban location. not sitting on a great amt of food but once the dust settles i will be able to survive every thing but a prolonged winter after a nuke exchange and the sun is blocked out. when i look at it that way theres not much you can do short of a semi load of stuff and a underground place to hide. but any thing else comes around theres so much to eat locally folks dont look for but walk buy it every day. a walk at dusk and predawn shows huge amts of white tails cotton tails and other game where a second year boyscout would not only survive but thrive. the thought of 80 percent of the population gone and returning to the 19th century is better then the ice age. as a wise man once said. hope for the best prepare for the worse and you will never regret it. as fortune favors the prepared
I went all out prepping with the election of Obama in ’08 , but these day’s I could give a rats ass, and casually sit back and await come what may….hopefully it will be a blaze of glory.
First of all, I don’t share my preparations with anyone on the internet.
I have made peace with my higher power and have determined that (excluding instantaneous surprise death) I will leave this earth being grateful for my life on it. The only thing we can control is our minds and how we mentally prepare, everything else is a crapshoot.
Good luck to us all.
You just told the ABC agencies that you do prepare.
Make no mistake; there is not one single person on this platform that is not on a list, or multiple lists, in the databases of these agencies.
Now, I don’t think anyone should make it easy for them but, to believe you are exempt from scrutiny is only fooling yourself.
I am at a stage where I would like to see as many people wake up, and prepare, so that they are not one of the golden horde that is going to be roaming the streets looking for what they can steal to save themselves and their family.
I am at a stage where people that need a list of things to deal with what is coming down the road are probably beyond help.
Brewer – The “golden horde” as you call them will become prey quite quickly. The worst place you can be is roaming the streets because many will see you as competition.
or a potential belligerent at your door one. in fact any visibly armed roaming bands would make fair game as they pose a threat . will be pretty easy to take hardware from the morons not qualified to hold them. as a public service of course and in preventing harm to yourself and others.
Or game.
saddly the roaming hoard of neysayers and karens will be the first ones to rob you, claiming a democratic use of your food. i say they can have a booster of minerals and no soup for them…and that will be the reality. the ones that will pose the most risk to you and yours are those around you especially the sheep who are oblivious of the impending doom ahead.
Yeah, probably on some lists but so are millions of others. The govt is so inept I don’t worry about them. They generate so much info it turns into morass. They will have better things to do, like take of their own.
No need to prep , Uncle Schlomo ain’t tapped out yet. Matter of fact the money-lender mafia is doing quite well and can afford forever wars , forever.
Unfortunately no one can adequately prepare to survive for years without being part of a small army of like minded people.
No preparations are going to be for a very long term. However, one should at least think of preparing long enough to get past the hump of weeks/months, to see what comes out on the other side.
I’m not interested in dying a slow death of starvation or of thirst.
Of course, if this is indeed the end times…
Small update from Russia:
I moved into a room inside the new-built house of an early-retired lady, in her late 50s.
She gives most preppers a run for their money, me thinks.
self-grown:
– apples (huge harvest this year), cherries, raspberries
– potatoes (lots), tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini,
– carrots (lots), cabbage, peas, onions, garlic, radish, parsley, dill
self-raised:
– milk (1 cow)
– goat milk (2 goats)
– eggs (12 hens)
– honey (4 bee hives)
self-made:
– butter
– cheese
– compote
– preserves (120 glasses, half of them 3 Liter others smaller)
self-gathered, in the forests nearby:
– mushrooms (buckets)
– wild cranberries (one bucket)
– wild strawberries (few)
That’s one person, with half a hectare of land behind the house! (She does have to buy cow feed.)
In an area where the growing season lasts 5 months.
I’m stunned.
And I probably still missed a few things she has/does…
You should marry her.
Take your pick, nice Russia lady
OR, beautiful murikan aaahhh.. something
good one, moose…lmbo
that top picture was part of an old meme, where a side-by-side picture showed 3 or 4
Marines in boot camp struggling to hold up a similar size tree trunk that Svetlana has over her rugged shoulder.
Bet she makes a mean borscht.
She will sit you on her lap too I bet.
Got a few AKMs?
well, for one thing. get extra magazines for your rifles and pistols. 2-4 is not enough. if you have a ar platform.
you would do well to take a look at Duramags in stainless steel. I get mine from SG ammo. by the 10 pack.
they are like 12 bucks each that way. and I NEVER had a problem with them.
most of my pistols can use MecGar magazines. I get those from Bereli again in a 10 pack- best price each.
ammo goes a lot faster than most people think it will/does. and ball ammo will work just fine on assholes if you do your part- shot placement. 22LR ammo and weapons are good to have on hand. easy to shoot, easy to teach with.
and, again. if you do your part are lethal. 2-3 hits with a 22lr is better than a miss with anything.
hope you never need this “stuff” but history shows and tells us different.
food- a must have item. I not going anywhere, so canned goods are the way for me to go. do have some freeze dry
meals I keep in the truck bag. fuel- ALWAYS tank up your ride before going home.
try to get and keep some NON corn gas on hand around the house- add Stabil or something to it. good for 6months to a year. MEDS- you best have some gear on hand- cuts and whatnot.
you have seen people fighting over a toaster or TV, what do you think they will do over the last can of baked beans ?
you are going to need friends/allies if shit gets bad. find them now. talk to people, find out they feel about things.
I moved into a area where there are a lot of liked minded people and a lot of Vets. about 7 years ago.
used to live in philly. I seen it get bad. I wanted no parts of that shit show and left.
the cities will burn if things get really bad. the burbs are not much safer really.
why do you think carjacking has gone up ? they get wheels and a way to go hunting. yes. that is what they are doing hunting for prey/goods/stuff they can take. how long do you think it is going to take your average gang to figure out
there is nothing left for them to take in the city and go elsewhere ? not long at all.
we already seen groups in cars going from one place to another to loot and leave before the cops get there.
this can and will get bad. and most people have no idea how bad it can get or how to stop it.
remember this, handguns -you can protect yourself and maybe a few others.
shotguns are good for 25-50 yards at best. unless you using slugs
rifles- best choice overall. with this you can depending on your skill with it 3-500 yards easy
good optics are a must have item- if you can’t see them, you can’t shoot them.
anyway, my 2 cents for what it is worth.
A lot of good points there. I would add that ‘PRE-G’ is a better stabilizer for gas than Stabil. It will last at least twice as long (up to 2 years or longer) and, it will actually turn stale gas into ‘fresh gas’.
I’ve tested the PRE-G in 100% gas (no ethanol) that was almost 2 years old and it was as good as when I filled the jerry cans.
Recently, I had my wife test out pinto beans that were stored in mylar, with O2 absorbers, in 5 gallon plastic buckets. She had to soak them longer than a freshly bought back but, they were just as good as when they were packaged.
Regarding Optics, I can’t yet pull the trigger (pun intended!) on purchasing night vision optics. A real force multiplier but, $3,000+ is just too much. I may live to regret this.
I think you mean PRI-G. The company is Power Research. They make PRI-G for gas and PRI-D for diesel. Awesome stuff. Also works with corn infused gas. Brings back garbage fuel from the dead. Excellent for marine applications to remove water.
Thanks for the heads up guys!
Correct. I hadn’t look at the label in quite some time!
The PRI is great stuff,they also make a version for deisal.
I keep rotating all fuel in cans and gennies every 6 months anyhow,just keeping the stuff up to date as reasonable.
If you use a pressure cooker on the beans, you shouldn’t have to soak them. I’ve got chickpeas that have been sitting in a plain old bucket for 5 years, and do just fine in a pressure cooker for an hour.
These guys had some rebuilt thermals on sale a few days ago…
https://cameralandny.com/daily-flash-sale
Hi Brewer55-
checkout Menards-they have Barska Night Vision Binoculars for $89(i just checked their web). better than nothing
Thank you, sir!
There’s a few on Amazon under $200. Better than nothing.
Look into the SWFA fixed 12X scope. I shoot PRS and have this optic on my 6 creedmoor and have shot out to a mile. Very sturdy, great glass and under $300
https://www.swfa.com/swfa-12×42-ss-30mm-riflescope-105770.html
Brewer look into NV100. They cost about $300 and are good for they say 300 yards. I’ve seen some YT vids and they are decent. They at least get you in the game on night vision. I’m getting one.
NV100=$300
Thanks, Steve. I’ll check it out.
So, you are just buying the monocular?
I run my gen three as a monoc(cap mounted)to keep one eye in the for lack of better word”present”.With the white phosphorous really takes a few to get the monoc eye back in to the local game,but,some folks love the binocs but would get a second mount as if needed they can be split into monocs ,just my opinion,others may vary(and are probably wrong!).
I practice a lot with 22 cal, hand gun and rifle. Cheap to run, keeps the skills up, easy to teach the grandson the skills he needs. The only thing I take out the big guns occasionally is for recoil memory.
It all comes back to having not only the tools but the skills to operate the tools, when and as needed.
I can hear my knees popping already crawling around in the woods! Hehe
10+ years ago I bought this book, ‘How to Survive The End of the World as We Know It” by James Wesley, Rawles (survivalblog.com).
It is as relevant today as it was then for what is important to have to weather the storm that is coming. The only things in the book that are dated are the specific recommendations on some of the equipment as they are now outdated but, simple searches online will lead you to current, like products.
That being said, a source of water is critical. Store, at minimum, I gallon of water, per day, per individual. Much more for cleaning, toilets, etc. I would also have a water purifier (Berkey, pool shock to sterilize water and to use for cleaning at higher concentrations).
I’ll start their and add more later if someone else does not already post it.
shit, I forgot water filters. have a Berkey myself and couple sets of spare filters. and pool shock as well.
also a Katadyn portable water filter with a spare filter I keep in the get home bag in the truck.
Remember the 5 survival “Gs”–God, Gold, Guns, Grub, Guts.
The govt is currently trying to shut down Berkley and filters may become non-existant
Buy a bucket of chlorine that comes in the pellets. It keeps forever. Btw, Berkey Water Filters had to sue the EPA because the EPA forced them to stop selling their filters as they classified them as a pesticide. You can’t make this stuff up.
This guy lists some basics in prepping:
https://paultmartin.com/blog/f/blueprint-for-spooling-up
I figured I’d make my post and then do this one afterwards.
Everyone over 40 should be trying to get in their best shape of their life…
the average american male, over 40..if overweight, out of shape, and on any BP/Cholesterol/ meds… will probably meet his end within the first 2 weeks of a SHTF situation , not by marauders or mobs, heart attack or stroke, on the side of some ditch trying to hike few miles back home
It took me like 3 years of being sore before I started to have days I wasn’t sore and I was an infantryman in my past life.
40lb is 163k calories you don’t have to store or 65 days of energy. Clearly too much but an extra 5-10 lbs (5-10 days of calories) won’t hurt anything as long as you are mobile.
Learn from nature how to store calories.
Using Pool Shock as a Water Purifier
When it comes to water purification, it’s important to have more than one way to insure you have clean water. Boiling water and using bleach for water purification are tried and true, but both have drawbacks. Boiling water requires a source of heat, which can use up extra fuel in an emergency, and bleach has a shelf life of just a year or so.
Using pool shock, specifically calcium hypochlorite, is an ideal way to have a reliable water purification method on hand, using a substance with a very long shelf life. You can buy 100% calcium hypochlorite at http://www.inyopool.com A one-pound bag can purify up to 10,000 gallons of water.
Here are the directions you’ll need.
Add one heaping teaspoon of granular calcium hypochlorite to two gallons of water, or 5 ml. to 7.5 l. of water. This mixture produces a solution similar to bleach. Great for cleaning and sanitizing.
Use one part of this solution to 100 parts of water to be treated. Allow the mixture to sit for at least 30 minutes before drinking. If the smell of chlorine is too strong, pour the pure water from one container into another several times to allow the chlorine to dissipate.
WARNINGS: Do not breathe the toxic fumes from the pool shock. Store away from anything flammable, including paper, gasoline, oil, oily rags, and paint solvent. Additionally, do not store near any type of ignition sources, such as lawn mowers, generators, etc.
I store mine in plastic, like a Tupperware container. Pool Shock is very caustic and will eat away at cardboard or other objects placed near it if not in a sealed container.
One teaspoon of the poolshock mixture to one gallon of water.
Prepping can be overwhelming I know it was for me and I started the first time during the last two years of the Carter fiasco.
Having gone full retard in 2012 after The Petulant One was reinstalled I have never stopped. Just put in 4 new fig bushes yesterday, and I already have 9.
Each of the areas below has been my guide and there are many subsets, but I have always thought what is below is a good general Big Picture.
Best to you all! I have enjoyed my time on TBP and have made many friends and learned a great deal from many of you.
PREPPING THE BIG PICTURE
1. Water
2. Stored Food/Food Production
3. Shelter(s)
4. Essentials
5. Guns/Ammo – Training – Defense/Offense Capabilities
6. Medical
7. Barter
8. Community/Tribe
9. Communication
10. Plan B & C
11. Silver (pre 64 junk dimes, quarters, & 1 oz. American Eagles)
12. Gold (only if you have extra wealth) buy it in all values from 1/10 of an ounce to 1 oz.
Past some of No.11 I would not put any serious fiat into 11 and 12 until 1 through 10 were advanced.
Yea 11 and 12 may not be needed at first, but nothing lasts forever, including every single crash in history, and if you don’t have real wealth, and have not completed 1 through 11 in depth you do not spend what you don’t have (wealth) on gold.
Precious metals are not either or they are part of complete Prep…until after the top 10 are secured.
There are countless resources as far as websites, video channels, and books. I found this book to be an excellent guide and it helped me fill in many gaps I had.
Across the ages, in every survival story, a disaster of some sort plays a prominent role. Sometimes the part is played by the government, sometimes it is played by Mother Nature, and other times, the role is taken on by a random mishap. If we have learned one thing studying the history of disasters, it is this: those who are prepared have a better chance at survival than those who are not.A crisis rarely stops with a triggering event.
The aftermath can spiral, having the capacity to cripple our normal ways of life. Because of this, it’s important to have a well-rounded approach to our preparedness efforts.Due to the overwhelming nature of preparedness, we have created the Prepper’s Blueprint to help get you and your family ready for life’s unexpected emergencies. To make a more comprehensive, easy-to-follow program,
The Prepper’s Blueprint has been simplified and divided up in a way to help you make sense of all the preparedness concepts and supply lists provided. We have divided the chapters into layers of preparedness.
Layer 1: Chapters 1-14, prepares you for those everyday disasters that have shorter-term effects: power outages, storms, injuries, and evacuationsLayer
2: Chapters 15-31 help you to get ready for disasters that turn out to be much longer-lasting: economic collapse, long term power outages, and pandemics, to name a fewLayer
3: Chapters 32-56 prepares you for the long haul and a complete change of lifestyle, the end of the world as we know it: providing food and water once supplies run out, security, retreat properties, and long-term plans.
The goal of The Prepper’s Blueprint is to help you find freedom through self-reliance, and ultimately, to get you and your family to a point where you can not only survive, but thrive, in a world that may be permanently altered.
Blast From the Past.
A companion book, the Anarchist Cookbook. 🙂
The TM 31-210 also a good book for that type of thing,and,put out by the govt. for free on the net ect.,oooooooops!
To me that sounds more like stockpiling. I like thinking about production.
Do both…wise long term stockpiling to get you over the hump and production to lead you forward.
The real stockpiling/production problem is obvious…the masses of asses are are not doing either.
Plus not everyone one is in a position were production is remotely possible…they better stockpile and then get mobile.
There are soooooo many ‘WHAT IFS” as far as planning just remember the first time you were punched in the face/mouth.
If you have never been punched in the face/mouth (or nose) you are at a great disavantage…just saying.
(The tip of my nose is flat, and I have had four black eyes…two at the same time…don’t even want to bring up the limb and head/scalp scars).
Learning how to bob and weave is a skill set best taught by not knowing how to bob and weave…or duck…so to speak.
i have become an expert!
Yeah, I’ve said the same thing about being in a fight for some time. Used to walk down to the redneck bars when I was younger, and it became a thing, way before fight club (wonder sometimes if he wasn’t on some of the same forums). Used to recommend getting in one just to know what one is made of, as well being in jail (not prison) and going without eating.
I’ve lived for extended periods of time too without all the modern convenience (probably way more than with), on more than one occasion, and still don’t live what most would consider normal pleasantries of interior decorating, though I do have all the conveniences.
Goat,
I went from 2nd grade to 6th grade chased (and occasionally caught and beaten) by a 2.5 year older enormous vicious bully, then in 6th grade (after training for a full year – with my father’s guidance) I challenged him, got him on the ground with his arm behind his back…then viciously snapped one of his fingers…while screaming at the top of my lungs!!!
Never had to worry about him again after that…nine years later I was the best man at his wedding.
Then Job Corps came into my town and from 12 on (1962) I had to deal with some of the toughest inner city kids…from hoods all over the country brought in by a JFK to learn trades in an old Army base by my home. Multiple fist fights…surrounded once in attempted mugging behind a bowling alley at night…charged one and slammed him to the ground then ran laughing and taunted them all from a safe distance. A year later I beat the shit out of two of them in a blind rage with a pool que!
Then I went to an inner city Vocational HS…all boys…a real blackboard jungle – Lord of the Flies experience for three years. Many fist fights…hit one of the biggest bullies over the head with a chair in health class…he never bothered me again. The brother’s nickname for me was ‘Chicklet’…as I was told by one of them after beating a black guy senseless in a fist fight with 25 witnesses screaming us on, and most of them were black. I asked him why Chicklet? He said cuz you be small, white, and tough to chew!
Then the Marines and Nam.
Then started my retail Loss Prevention career ‘apprehending’ shoplifters…I loved it…by this time I was a serious adrenalin junkie, deep into judo, and loved turning thieves into foot sweeped – choked out pretzels.
Now I’m sneaking up on 74, weigh just 11 pounds more than when I got out of the Marines, and still hit the heavy bag. When I go into the local blue bubble have a 9mm Sig 365 (with 3 12 round mags on me) brass knuckles in each pocket, a fighting knife, and in the pickup is the serious talker.
Oh yea and I carry mace just in case it’s not really serious…maybe just a Karen or Ken, but I can still have some fun.
a bunch of plastic tarps and 50 galon water barrels
Go blue on the tarps…just saying…
How is that going to make a difference underground? I used to tell people that all they needed was a tarp for prepping because with the naive attitude they had, it would come in handy for when the invaders came in so they (the tarp owner) could spread it out and kneel on for the invaders, so the invaders could put one in their brain pan so as to not make a mess in the invaders new house.
Sometimes you have to rattle the cage.
or maybe rain water collection ? a 10by12 tarp will collect a lot of water fast.
pill down the center and punch a hole in it to drain into a CLEAN barrel/bucket/whatever
and you done a good thing. easy to filter and collect drinking water.
back in the city, I set up a rain water collection system. not that hard to do and it saved money watering the garden too. get some 55 gallon plastic barrels and set one up now.
might think about making a first flush diverter too for it. it flushes the first 5-10 gallons off the roof before filling your barrel. made mine with 4 inch PVC pipe and a smooth rubber ball
tennis balls get all funky and crap.
Goat,
I was just kidding buddy…what ya gonna do??? Go Blue!
You simply cannot be sufficiently prepared, ever. There will always be some eventuality that will hammer you back onto your heels. Like ammo, having some is better than none, but more is better.
Imo, the preps are good but more importantly is the mindset. If a SHTF scenario materializes in the near future, you may be required to do some hard things. Are you mentally prepared to do this??
I’m not talking about robbing and killing people for their preps. But AM talking about defending you, your family and preps from others willing to kill you for them. Are you willing to put bullets in perhaps neighbours? Deny friends and even some family members of provisions because they really are not on your side. It will be/ is a war and in war nothing matters other than you and your family survives.
So prep the best you can or are able to. Develope those skills necessary to trade and barter with and get mentally fit to do the hard things. Get right with God and meet the day.
What you talked about is what haunts me when I think about it because you are absolutely correct; the golden horde will show up and, will do anything to quell the rumblings in their bellies, and their children’s.
Only men who have been to war and been face to face with death (Mark, for instance) have an idea of what we are looking at.
When things go wrong tis OK to cry/piss yourself/puke,then…….,pick up your sword and keep fighting.
Take advice from Josey Wales. You have to get plum mad dog mean.
This is part of an email I sent to a friend some time back.
The formatting gets a bit hosed pasting it into the comment box.
Food
• Bottled Water (ideally, a permanent water source like a stream, lake, pond, etc.)
Water purification methods
• Rice & Beans (pinto, black beans, etc.)
• Canned vegetables, meats & fruits
• Sugar, flour, salt & spices
• Pasta, tomato paste / sauce
• Soups
• Oatmeal
• MRE’s – IMO, this should not be the main source of food for you and your family. (Ask any vet). If you choose to make it your main source of food, get plenty of laxatives! Seriously, ask any vet who ate MRE’s for more than a few days – serious constipation issues.
o Safecastle –
MRE STAR – MRE Meals
o Buy the membership – you will save especially if you are going to be buying a significant quantity or other preparedness items
• Pet food / pet related supplies
• Cleaning supplies
• Garbage bags
• Personal hygiene (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, etc.)
• Medical supplies (bandages, wraps, alcohol, peroxide, vitamins, etc.)
• Personal defense (handgun & long gun and/or shotgun for every adult + ammo) Training
Medical
Medical supplies (bandages, wraps, alcohol, peroxide, vitamins, etc.) The sites listed below have these types of medical supplies
• First responders tactical medical resource – https://tacmedsolutions.com/
• TACTICAL MEDICAL GEAR AND SUPPLIES – https://www.chinookmed.com/
• Emergency Medical Products – https://www.buyemp.com/
• BP Medical Supplies – https://www.ebay.com/str/bpmedicalsupplies
• Medical Gear Outfitters – https://medicalgearoutfitters.com/
Its late in the game to under take a sudden prep for the coming SHTF. and expensive.
But no preps is a sure way to deep trouble. It doesn’t need to be overly expensive but you DO need to start. When shopping the sales, buy one or two items more than you normally buy. Put the ‘extra’ on the shelve. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you can accumulate a good prep without a lot of financial pain.
Do this with all your normal purchases, obviously produce can’t be stored like this untill processed, ie dried etc. but canned goods or already dried goods.
Just starting is the first step in prepping for an emergency. Brewers list is a great start.
It is VERY late in the game to start but, today is still normal so anyone that has not done anything needs to put other things on hold and make it a priority. And yes, it will be expensive to go out and to try and do everything at once, And, as mark stated, it can be very overwhelming.
For anyone new at this game, I tell them by for 3 days for you and your family members. Water, food, any needed meds, personal hygiene needs, etc.
Then, ramp it up to 3 weeks, then 3 months. Anymore than that is up to the individual.
One other thing. Too many that get into prepping think only of guns and ammo. This is very important but, it is only one tool in the overall toolkit. The TEOTWAWKI book that I recommended has a chapter on each important category. They are not long chapters and it is a great bible for prepping.
Yep, having information on everything DIY is a great resource to have. I’ve mentioned this before but a good resource to have is a tablet with a solar charger.
Download as much DIY info you can, even for things you don’t think you’ll need, like blacksmithing. You never know when such info will be like gold. A tablet can hold a LOT of video and pdf’s, and takes up very little space.
burned up 2 printers doing just that years ago. and god only knows how much paper.
put most of it in plastic covers in 3 ring binders. and I have a bookcase full of binders.
computers are great. but if the power goes out, not so much. Mom always had books on hand about doing stuff. as she used to say, I don’t have to remember everything, just where the book is on it.
if you not bugging out, canned food will be your best bet. it would be better for you if your neighbors did NOT KNOW how much you have stored away. most people do not have 2 weeks worth of anything at home. and having some loose baggy clothes will help you blend
in when others are starving.
A good place (if not excellent place) to download old books on most any subject on old school methods is google books.
I’m not as bad as I used to be, but I hate going there, because I have filled up hard drives and get lost for days DLing.
Yes a tablet (or your phone even) is a nice to have them stored on, but you really want that backed up on something less prone to loss. I use blu ray disk and make two copies. You also want to make sure that you have redundancy in being able to utilize that information once stored (i.e. blu ray players / burners and tablets, etc.) in something approaching an emp proof vault. I really like the large long ammo cans that some of the larger ordnance comes in. I can attest that storing mission critical items that way makes it very easy to pack up and transport too.
Redundancy is your friend.
The issue with a lot of computer hardware, PC’s, disc’s, burner/readers, etc etc is that you need a power source to run them all and blue ray discs will over time become useless or scratched from storage.
The nice thing about a tablet, preferably two or even three, is that they take up little space, are easily transported and power needs can be handled by a small solar charger, redundant on those too.
For addition storage off the tablets you can buy thumb drives that’ll hold 64+ gigs of data that are cheap as borsch. OR, you can buy USB drives in the terabyte ranges for less than a hundred dollars. These hold enormous amounts of video and ridiculous amounts of text/PDF style data.
Anyrate, there is no need to print copious amounts of this stuff out, its on a tablet, why print it?? And if worried about emp’s, all this data storage and tablets will easily drop into a faraday bag.
Just my opinion tho.
So somehow flash drives and tablets are less consumable then blu-ray disk? I have nothing against either one, but you are deluding yourself if you think either one is more durable than Blu-ray disk and the only extra power requirement is the drive itself if you are using a tablet / phone to access it, which is minimal, especially if only using it intermittently to copy data from.
Flash drives shine for storage information in general use, but poor for long term storage. Blu-ray disk have a hundred plus year retention rating. Can you say the same for flash memory either internal to a device or removable?
Way cheaper to burn to Blu-ray too.
yeah, you going to have to watch out for the armed clowns. don’t have any food or water, but they will have weapons. one thing I do keep a lot of on hand is coffee. there has been a few times in my life I would have do almost anything for a good hot cup of coffee.
soups mixes are great as well. nothing like a hot cup of soup when you cold and wet. or starving
the S2 underground has some good videos on Youtube- watch them. there one on iron rations
that is worth watching and making- it not bad at all. split peas and bacon with onion
stores well and can fill up quite a few people on the cheap= make friends/ help others kind of deal.
another thing to have is hard candy. makes the kids behave better for one.
I “try” to keep some candy bars in the freezer but it hard to do with the wife sometimes.
a lot of the time it will be the little things that mean the most.
think like the old C-rations, look them up. they did have the basics covered rather well.
a meal, coffee, sugar and creamer. some sweet item besides the main meal.
they where a big trade item in West Germany back in the day.
S2 underground does great work. And he doesn’t seem to have a have a fragile ego or worry more about the bottom line than to be honest as some do.
I’ve been doing this for a while now, and you’re 100% correct. Need one can of tomatoes for tonight’s meal? Buy 2 or 3 and stash the extras. I’ve been doing this with canned and dry goods for a few years now, and you can stack supplies with a minimum of financial pain.
Canning jars are a great thing to have also. I always check amazon and Walmart for clearance items, and if something is cheap and has value as a prep item I buy it whether I need it or not. You would be amazed just how cheap some of this stuff can get when they are blowing it out. Last year our local Walmart was blowing out fertilizer and weed and feed at $1 for the big bags. This year I saw the same stuff selling for $35 a bag…. I bought enough to last many, many, years.
I have a bunch of jars that belonged to my Mom, who died 25 years ago. Sealer lids are what you need to really stock up on, as I would not recommend you reuse them.
Gotta be careful about which lids you buy now.
Mrs. Ed grabbed a bunch from Amazon, and they’re inferior Chinese-made ones that started to cave in as the mason jars cooled. Had to run to Ace hardware and grab some Ball brand, (they’re now made in China too. WTF?), and rerun the batch in the pressure cooker.
Look up tattler lids.
Yep, my favorite parts of the stores. Sometimes you can make deals to take it in bulk just because they want it gone.
We have a chain of stores here called marcs, that has a whole closeout section that I used to love going too that I almost made a living out of reselling things from there alone. They were usually pretty good about cutting a deal too to clear the shelve.
Alas, I’m too far out to get to any stores now. I haven’t even been in a store in probably years.
the year after we moved up here and after I put the 2 woodstoves in . was going thru the sale part of Home depot and they had a woodstove at 1/2 price. wanted to pick it up but the wife talked me out of it. smaller size one, but well made. and under 300 bucks a steal too.
since then I always check out the end of season sales and close outs. you couldn’t find a wood stove around here after old Joe got in and heating oil jumped up in price.
my one neighbor spent over 5 grand putting one in his old fire place about 2 years ago.
he was thinking pellet stove until I talked him out of it. he thanks me every winter now.
lots of trees around here and there are lots of fallen limbs you can just pick up and cut and use.
cheapest heat you find anywhere. most people have to fill their oil tanks up at least 2 times each winter. same deal with propane. my 2 oil tanks are full as I hate the damn oil heater. loud, always running every 45 minutes or so and costs a small fortune to refill. wood is just cheaper and better heat. the house stays warmer a lot longer, and it is very quiet too. thinking of putting in some room vents to help it move the heat around easier, faster.
and when the power goes out, we are still warm and can cook on them as well. it not that hard to do really. and having a good coffee pot on the stove is always nice to have. tea kettle for the wife
she like tea a lot more than coffee.
What’s the point of eating like that except to die slightly slower?
So the options are, prep and try to get thru a hardship or don’t prep and guarantee you don’t get thru a hardship.
So if some hardship materializes does that mean you are going to put a bullet thru your brain pan?? Or someone else will when you try to steal THEIR preps?
moos, over the last 10 years, I’ve unfortunately heard from more than one person that they would take what others have, and of course do them in if necessary.
These dirtbags admit this in normal times. How many more out there are of the same ilk?
I was in a group, for a very short time, where on the Signal group chat one guy says “I’ve already done enough things in my life to earn me a one way ticket to hell, I’ll do whatever it takes to stay alive, including cannibalism! What was even worse was 5 other people gave this creep a thumbs up. I left that group so fast I think I left skid marks!
I hear you brother, which is why the need for the mental preparations.
There may come a time to put a bullet into someone elses brain pan and he who hesitates may not get a second chance. It ain’t the movies or COD game where retakes and respawns happen.
Hopefully we never run into it, but best be prepared.
No, it means I keep eating the things the farm already makes, otherwise I might consider a bullet over eating the crap on that list.
My wife and I will eat almost as good as we do right now. I only used the pinto beans as an example of storage life.
MRE’s are about worthless unless you like to eat them. They are stupid expensive and have poor shelf life. Buy the things you normally eat, and just by extra every time you shop. Regular can food lasts between 5 and 20 years. Food in a chest freezer lasts 3 to 4 years. Just have a back up generator, and a dehydrator if things really get bad.
Eating MRE’s for more than a couple of days guarantees you #2 dumps that, if you can get them out, will be the consistency of Georgia red clay during a drought!
C-rats where not much better. when we go back behind the wire, there was lots of salad and 3.2 beer to help you go. Lurp rations where a little better, not by much though.
best thing about them was the weight- lighter than C-rats. early MRE’s where crap. couldn’t eat half of them even when starving. but peanut butter was a life saver ! small jar of Jiff or Skippy
and a spoon got me thru more than one field trip.
a lot of people have asked me what sort of knife I carried all those years the most.
a Swiss army model champion, I think it is. anyway, I carried it for close to 40 years now.
never found much use for the “Rambo” kind of blades.
Jdog, just opened a can of sweet peas yesterday that had an Aug. 2012 expiration date. Tasted just as good as a current can. Keep at 45 to 70 degrees year round for these results.
thanks for that info
If they let you protect yourself, you won’t join the clamor for stringer government.
Lots of good ideas here and the lists are quite inclusive.
I keep chicken and beef bullion cubes on hand. They will add flavor and salt to otherwise bland foods, i.e. rice, grits, dried beans, boiled meat. I also keep several pounds of pasta, oatmeal and grits. They absorb liquids and flavors and provide carbs to fill you up. As I use up a package, I buy a new one and start using the oldest one in the pantry.
I also have lots of herbs in the garden to add flavor to cooked food. Even the dried stems will add flavor.
Water source/purification are mandatory. If the water is cut off, your hot water tank has about 40 gal. of usable water. You will probably have to open the vent to get it out and make sure you do not have any dripping faucets. You can pour creek/pond water into your toilet rather than flushing. A gal, or less is all you need. For an extended period of time without running water, be sure to pour a couple of cups of water/liquid down each drain to keep the sewer gases out of the house.
Good advice all through these comments. One homely item: If you live on a municipal sewer system, or a septic system that needs electricity like I do – i.e. a pump – consider getting to an outdoor store and buying a ‘hunter’s loo.’ Valuable item that can be supplemented with a simple privy ‘pit’ in the backyard. Also paper plates and bowls. Also if there is a garbage transfer station anywhere close, consider taking your garbage cans there now – if SHTF really comes, things like garbage collection could stop. Like most folks on this site, I have been ‘prepping’ for years but I still do not feel ‘ready.’ Went out last night and topped off gas tank plus filled up some gas cans. Just had my 4×4 pickup serviced. I do have a getaway cabin decently stocked and solar powered with wood stoves for heat and cooking, but it is a six hour drive in good weather from where I am now and very remote for one person.
I would add that the plastic emergency containers that can sit in a bathtub will hold a substantial amount of water.
On spices and such, I’ve purchased the industrial / commercial size containers of spices like Montreal Steak Seasoning, as well as hot sauce, and of course salt & pepper and a bunch of other seasonings.
Badia brand spices are my go to. Large containers and cheap.
americans diets are loaded with carbs. to stock up on pasta as a dietary staple leads to metabolic disorders. its epidemic in children and adults. to prep with a reliance on carbs as the majority of calories will just make you fat and shorten your life. as a survival food to avoid starving yes but to eat this outside of a short term emergency is whats behing the poor health of most of the western world. and this is by design. the bankers own the hospitals and pharma stocks as well as own the food producing stocks to such a degree they sell products that set people up to proffit the sick care system they own latter on. and it happens fast just look at the fat children and epidemic of type 2 acquired insuline resistance. cut carbs down to 10 percent of calories and watch triglycerides drop and inches from your waistline vanish over a few months.or eat your pasta and take you lipitor and ozempic so the bankers can pocket more money..
Hot sauce in gallon size.
This is the time of year farm stores and hardware stores are clearing out seed stock. But y all the heirloom seeds you can find. Not just to feed yourself, but also as trade goods. Have a seed bank from hell on hand. Even if the seed is older and you lose some germination rate.
Have hand tools. Work even without gas. Lay in extra clothing, especially cold weather gear. Your own use/ trade good. Heavy duty materials for making things you need/trade. If you can find a cheap treadle sewing machine, buy it. I have had mine for years.
Get ready folks. This mess looks more like the beginning of the end than most people seem to realize, and I have been expecting it for 30 years.
And for those who have the space, ffs, start a garden. There’s a serious learning curve, at least where I live (high desert), and if you don’t learn what works and what doesn’t in your area, trying to learn AFTER the crap has hit the propeller blades, is just going to be ugly. It’s taken me 7+ years to get a decent harvest. Learning pest control is also a must, or the bugs will destroy everything you’ve worked so hard for.
this time it is going to be a lot worse than the 1930’s where. how many people KNOW how to grow food ?
it took me a few years to get a decent garden going. like 4-5 at least. and then there is canning. still learning how to do that part. I learned how in my back yard in philly. took a while but it did produce more food than I could eat on my own. see- canning and drying food- peppers/onions. carrots and spuds ! drying food is easier. you don’t have to stand there and watch it. store in either jars or
bags. jars are better/cheaper.
learn how to save seeds ! a biggie ! pick your best produce for seed stock.
and any onions that start to sprout ? plant them. save the seeds- old pantyhose works great for that part. food will be your biggest problem after clean water.
You can plant the root end of a green onion and it will sprout and grow.
Excellent advice, Sondra. But, don’t be sad! 😉
I started harvesting my own seeds last year as an experiment. Some of them did quite well and others were a bust
Hi TBP,
As most of you know I have been outlining and detailing my SEA GYPSY TRIBE concept for over 10 years now at my blog. Basically, I argue that an excellent SHTF approach is to Flee to the Sea. I have written over a dozen essays thoroughly describing this approach. Here is a link to the very first one from July of 2013. Starting there and proceeding forward to today one can find all of them and also see how my views changed and improved. I’ll try to find the time this week to collate them all together for easier access.
BTW, forgive my 2013 naivete when I actually thought that Climate Change was a genuine threat and not a NWO deception.
Duck and cover!
Ray
And for us landlubbers who can’t flee to the sea?? Well we can flee to another sea, the bush, back country.
Interesting regarding fleeing to the sea. The guy at SuspeciousObservers YouTube channel specifically moved to some elevation in Arizona because of what he believes is coming meaning, you don’t want to be near the coastal areas.
Fuck that you go into the drink you’re done for. Very difficult to have fresh water. Fuck the seas that’s the last resort.
the only issues with living the life at sea is the lack of fresh water the lack of veggies and the lack of fuel. if all those were suddenly freely available on floating 7/11s id be down for that in a minute. the reality is the haul outs mechanical needs oil fuel food water and other needed items. i have made extended voyages at sea myself. when the cofee runs out life sucks when the water runs out more so and add in an empty fuel tank or hostile port your screwed. much better odds of survival on land in the long term.
And then there are the storms. No thanks.
This has come up before about the preps and what they are for. No amount of stored preps are going to last long term and those preps made are only to buy you time.
Small emergencies happen, you get snowed in or roads washed out, which isolated you for a few days. Most people have a couple days food on hand. But what happens when a fire or storm takes out the local grocery store?? Or some other event cuts you off for a longer term, week or two weeks?? Then what??
Hard times but with some thinking you can get past these. But what about a civil war?? Never happen here, said those living in Venezuela. An event last months, now what?? Do you have preps to get thru or will you be like the vast majority and be out there competing for any available supplies.
Prep’s buy you time, even in the short run. In any event longer than 3 days you WILL see the return to the TP fiasco where panic buying jumps into gear and ALL the stores are emptied of goods. Maybe you are lucky to get some product from the store during the panic buying, but will you be lucky enough to hang onto them thru the parking lot on your way to your car?? Or even AT your car.
What about going to the bank?? Will the bank even give you money, ask Venezuelans about this. Will you make it thru the gauntlet of predators waiting to relieve you of that meager amount??
Preps give you the time to either hunker down and weather the storm until it passes, if it does. Or to decide and plan when to bug out and to where if it comes down to it. Remember, its about survival, not bravado.
One, always rotate your stock. Two, the preps you have made are not just for personal use, they also act as barter to trade. In hard times, things are hard to get, and whatever you have extra, someone will want and trade what they have in return.
one thing I stared doing a few years back was to try to make a meal out of just canned goods
figure I might as well start now and find out WHAT I like and what I don’t.
there nothing worse than having to eat something you can stand, unless you have nothing at all.
canned chicken goes well with almost everything. canned ham is a bit salty to say the least.
I boil mine a bit to get some of the salt out and then reheat it with spices to make it taste better.
pasta dishes will go a long way to keep people happy. pasta is cheap and stores very well.
tuna in oil last longer than in water I think. one time I had some tuna fish sandwiches that came out of 6 oz cans. this was back in the 1990’s at my buddy house. it was his dad’s hunting house. we where doing some rehab and found a false wall with a Ton of canned food behind it. ammo and 2 rifles and shotguns. remember 3 pound cans of coffee ? yup. like 8 of them there.
All preps will run out. I have come to the conclusion that enough preps to weather the short term storm is enough, say 2 or 3 months.
Learn to live off the land. Maintain sustainable preps. Learn to garden, forage, fish and hunt. Read up on how people lived before the invention of a grocery and drug store
.
Kill, prepare and eat some things you wouldn’t in good times. Lot’s and lots of ammo, not to take on the US military but for hunting and self defense.
Learn how to trap and use alternative weapons besides powder driven projectiles. Sling shot, wrist rocket, bow, blow dart gun, are all sustainable, cheap and effective alternatives for game and self defense.
Watch some homesteading videos and learn to preserve and can. Get a pressure cooker and jars. Learn ways to dry meat and fish. what’s really important, is to locate a sustainable water source, without it, your dead.
Stock up on salt, lots of salt (very important). Learn to make a jet stove and to use fuel sparingly.
If your in a city, get out! or have a place to bug out too. Could go on and on, but my point is made.
The real question is, is it that important to survive in a world that has come to that level of existence? For me, the answer is yes.
LOL… not 1 in a thousand people could live off the land. That would be provided they had enough land to live off. It takes some very big areas to sustain a hunter gatherer life, and it requires migration to follow the animals. Most places where living off the land would be possible are up north, and most people would never make it through the winter.
A better strategy is to be in rural farm land where there are lots of acres, and few people. The second best strategy is to be along a coastline where fishing is possible or in the bayou where there are plenty of birds, gators, fish, and snakes to eat…. If you lived around the Amish or Mennonite communities, you may be able to make a deal with them to provide protection in trade for food.
Nope, the world won’t be like it is now. People will drop like flies, months not years. I guarantee you, if you can’t live off the land(which is what your suggesting), your chances are absolutely zero. No more beef steaks for you at your local grocery store. And by the way, if you don’t know how to preserve food, your fucked. I never suggested that you should be in one particular place. I live in the mountains, in a house, with a lot of grocery’s right out my back door and more wood than you could ever burn, water everywhere. It can be done, just takes determination.
I’m counting on only one in thousand living.
Horseshit… You could not survive in the wilderness at all. You would end up like the kid in ” Into the Wilderness” That kid probably knew more than you do.
If the shit hits the fan, and you survive the first week, chances are they will begin to get back to normal within a few months. When I say normal, I mean people doing whatever they know how to do. Farmers will raise crops, Ranchers will tend their herds, people with mechanical abilities will work on getting machines working. People will dig wells and divert water from river’s to their communities.
After WW2 most of Europe was destroyed, and no one went Mad Max, they went to work rebuilding because that is what people do.
The important part is to have enough to make it through the first year or so, until things begin to get going again. There is going to be a lot less marauding going on, and a lot more stupid family and neighbors who are going to need the help of people who were smarter than they were. That is the real reason to prep. Give your imagination a rest and try to think critically for a change.
Hey Admin
I’ve been a prepper for many years, and for the last few money hasn’t been a problem. I’ve prepped everything I can think of that will fit on the premises. I don’t think there are any secret answers I could give you except for possibly one.
When it all goes down, immediately shift into survival mode. The lifestyle previously enjoyed is gone, possibly forever. I’ve always explained to my wife that the preps are to help ease the way while we adapt to a new type of life, not to sustain the old one. For instance, don’t spend your propane running a generator to carry on as usual. It has much more important uses. Preserve any preps you have that you don’t make like you’ll never go to the store again. Like ziplock bags. For most people they are disposable, but if you can’t buy them any more each one is precious.
Anyway,besides any preps one can make there will be a large amount of luck involved in determining outcomes. They just improve your luck.
Best of luck to you and all the group here on TBP
Well said. And, to piggyback off of your statements, having local relationships with not only neighbors (are they going to be a problem or a help?) but also, with cattle ranchers and where you can barter, or buy (pre-’65 silver, silver rounds, etc.) produce and other goods.
I specifically moved to where I live now because everyone around me has acreage and many cases, livestock & farms. And, during the last presidential election, 87% who voted were conservative.
If you are not prepared, you have no one except yourself to blame. It takes years to properly prepare for crisis, both natural and man made. There are 2 needs that you cannot live without, food and shelter. ( Possibly medicine if you have a serious condition) After that, is simply different degrees of comfort and conveniences.
Most people who have not experienced disaster, have really no idea how sideways things can go. Whether natural, manmade, or economic disaster, survival depends on having enough of what you need to make it from one day to the next.
IMO what we are looking at in the not too distant future is economic disaster that is both inevitable and poorly understood. While it is still economically feasible to buy bulk quantities of necessities now, it will probably not be so in the future.. A few years ago, you could fill a full sized shopping cart with $100, today you will be lucky to fill a carry basket for the same price. In a couple more years, it will be much worse.
If it’s truly TEOWAWKI toilet paper and ammo will be the new gold.
Read an account of people trying to survive in Serbia after NATO blew the shit out of their country. The guy said that BIC lighters and kitchen matches were the commodities most valued and traded. I would not have thought that, but I guess building fires becomes pretty important when you have no gas or electricity.
yup. I have old coffee cans full of matches. the ones they used to hand out when you bought smokes
always used a Zippo ever since my days in the army. still do. but I saved all of the matches.
there are other uses for matches as well that I will not go into. but you can find out more by reading.
but yes. making a fire is a big thing. I keep a Sterno can in each get home bag, stored in a screw top plastic container along with a “spacer can” to heat water/food with and a box of Diamond strike anywhere matches. it worth it to find them instead of strike on the box type.
all stuff I learned as a grunt. we had to carry everything ourselves. didn’t take long to find out what you NEED to make your life in the field better.
one thing I did pick up a few years ago was a Kelly kettle. very handy item to have in the truck.
a hot meal/drink can really make you see things in a better light. that and a space blanket and poncho liner and you will stay warm in cold weather. worth every dime spent on them too.
Lead is going to be a valuable commodity.
Community – that covers the top 3 in my book.
Assuming limited space – quail (chickens/ducks if you can), rabbits for meat (learn/know how to process/preserve them), rain catchment for water. Filter for the water. We have a cistern in our basement.
Garden and fruit/nut trees (you might thank yourself in 5 years). Grow what will grow in your area and you will eat. My personal take is it is to late to be experimenting. Noting the previous – something like asparagus/rhubarb is good. Plant it weed it in the spring, dump some rabbit shit on it, harvest. Things that are easy.
Don’t let it be known what you are doing/have done.
I hope the Quinn family can have tomato pie during the holidays this year.
I was just telling my son last night that I figure we could make it, unmolested, for two years before we would be in jeopardy of death. However, I don’t any longer believe that an end of the world scenario is in the cards for us; I think that we will be subjected to a slow strangulation by the powers that be. Industry and commerce will carry on as we are enveloped by the digital prison. Those of us who resist the digital world will be bit by bit excluded until we die or capitulate.
Get some have-a-heart traps. Silent, easy to use, and waste no ammo. Mid size one great for catching coons. Make great roasts
Sorry Sticky. I remember your epic tales of raccoon wars those sam critters can be useful, and you still get to eliminate then
If you purchase 25 or 50 lb. bags of rice, beans, etc., make sure you put them in a freezer for at least 3 days (I have a chest freezer for this). This will insure that any pests, like boll weevils, die and don’t eat up your previsions that you’ve got tucked away.
Have methods for lighting and, heating for your home. Solar camping lights are inexpensive and use very little battery power. A hand crack LED lantern is good to have too. Don’t forget clean burning kerosene for any hurricane lamps and portable gas heaters.
Although this article (below) from 2018 is somewhat outdated – the itemized survival segments (in order of priority) remain generally valid.
Since time is surely shorter than it was back then, and since every “baby step” helps, I am reposting here in the event any newcomers may be interested:
Haven’t seen anyone mention this yet, but don’t forget to stock up on extra items to barter (when it can be done safely) … ammo, cigs, alcohol, long term food, medicine, etc.
Plastic fifths of Smirnoff, Jim Beam, Early Times, Segrams 7, Fireball.. they travel great. No they’re not my favorites.
Bic lighters
I offer these suggestions because I believe that the more people who are prepared for the bad times ahead, the fewer people I will have to shoot.
1. The best time to start prepping is 30 years ago. The second best time is today.
2. Rather than buy freeze dried meals, I buy extra of storable things I eat anyway. I buy them when they are on sale and I make sure I rotate my inventory as I consume.
3. A component of prepping is the mental exercise. I’m always evaluating my future needs. Medicine, methods of maintaining the grass around my house to have a viewable kill zone, methods and necessities for growing my own food, I don’t need anymore firearms or ammo but parts and accessories need to be considered (I use rechargeable 2032 batteries in my optics and lasers),
4. Maintaining physical health, emotional health and mental health will be critical. Get ahead of the game on those fronts.
5. Prepare to shelter in place for an extended period of time. If you are in the city you will need more reserves than people in the country.
6. Have a plan for abandoning your shelter should you need to.
7. Train, tribe up and train some more.
I wish you all the best. No one is as prepared as they would like to be but we do what we can.
And lastly, as Cypress Hill says: When The Shit Goes Down, You Better Be Ready.
Palmettostatearmory.com. has their brand PSA 30 round aluminum milspec AR mags on sale $8.99.
yeah. anything metal is better than plastic magazines. I like and stocked up on Dura mags
the ones in stainless steel. if you shop around you can get a better price than most P-MAGS.
I have a few, don’t care much for them though. as a old grunt, I stick with metal magazines myself.
The korean steal mags are pretty good and sub $10 most the time. Just make sure the are the ones with the anti tilt followers. I bought some when they first came in and had to replace the followers because the old style followers that was in them were to short and would not reliably catch the bolt hold open.
You guys who think you are going to go from keyboard warriors to Rambo, need to get a grip on reality.
Self defense is one aspect of survival, but it is pretty far down the list in a real world scenario.
Having a good stock of preparation’s, and skills to repurpose and make things are what is going to count.
Back when I was still living in “The Big City” My wakeup call that got me interested in prepping was the Loma Prieta earthquake in 89. The power went out over most of the bay area and there was no way to know how long it would last. Would it be hours, days, I was completely unprepared. The only good thing was that I had a portable TV that ran on 12v and I plugged it into the car and we sat on the lawn and we were able to watch the news and have an idea as to what was going on.
So we’re sitting on the lawn, wife and I and young son and one neighbor lady when two guys drive up, stop their car and get out and say something about they heard a shelter near by was going to open soon did we know about it and we told them no. Then they told me the gas stations are all closed and they’re about to run out of gas and could I give them some gas. I told them I had no gas. They then started to walk towards the house and said “well let’s go take a look to be sure” – I’m like WTF!!! I then clearly stated “ I HAVE NO GAS – IKNOW WHAT I HAVE AND DON’T HAVE – SO THERE IS NO NEED TO TAKE A LOOK”. I don’t know but maybe my body language said as much because they then turned around and left. After that I was carrying the rest of the day.
That event left a lasting impression on me and I’ve been a prepper ever since.
Today – Location: Rural 20 acres
Power: Solar, grid tied and with battery backup so if the grid goes down everything continues to function as normal. Indefinitely. Also backup generator capable of powering all. Also other standalone backup generators
Water: I had a well drilled despite the fact that area is supplied by a local water company, I wanted to be totally independent. 3K gal water storage tank and yes the well pump is tied into solar and battery system. Endless supply.
Food: Plenty – however my biggest risk is if too many relatives from “the big city” manage to get enough gas to make the 250 miles to my place then who knows.
Security: I’m not going to get into all the details, just a summery.
High res infrared cameras, I can see 360deg day and night
Firearms and ammo Yep
Night vision and scopes yep
There’s lots more but that’s enough for now.
I’m somewhat better prepared than most, I should be able to make it beyond 6 months easily but the reality is there are plenty of holes in my preps, no one is prepared for everything.
Oh and I also have a backhoe – FWIW
Thanks for the info
Sincerely: Homeland Security & The Office of the County Tax Assessor
SBS would seem better than SSS. If you can feed the beast.
start thinking of a garden, and plant some raspberry bushes as a hedge. I live dead center in the city on a small lot, but we still produce and preserve enough to can over 300 jars of jams and vegetables every year. It seems like a lot of work when you begin, but you get better at it every year and the benefits far outweigh the chore aspect. Also, a Bluetti 70 or larger and the proper solar panels are a very good idea.
Are you going to stay dead center in the city when TSHTF ?
Yup. We have a trap door basement, locked from the down side. 3 inch thick hard wood floors…and steel core ammo. Our stores are here…we are way more prepped and secured than anyone within a mile of here…if it is the hill we die on so be it. My wife and I are both in our 60’s…too old for Rambo fantasies…but we will stand our ground. We do have a couple of bug out locations, but that would truly be a last resort.
I’ve been spending every spare hour I have teaching people how to slaughter, butcher, cure, smoke and put up food. I taught seven classes in row at the local high school last week and they were great. I thought these kids would be distracted or bored but they were really into it and about a half dozen have promised to come by the farm to learn more. I’ve also been teaching my youngest son major carpentry for the last six months, from demolition to framing, sheathing, installation of systems, basic wiring, plumbing, roofing, tile, etc. I’m also doing as many things for as many neighbors as I am able because I understand that a tight knit community has a far better chance of sticking together when the wheels come off than a bunch of nod to one another acquaintances. That and the fact that something could always happen to me and there needs to be depth in the number of people who can do things to step up and carry on if I’m not around. I have also been doing a very deep study of the collapse and fall of various cultures and civilizations looking for the commonalities so I can be prepared as each milestone in that decline appears.
I found a curious tidbit listening to the Fall of Civilizations podcast, in that as these societies degrade and the elites are overthrown the guys who seem to emerge as warlords and interim kings/emperors, etc. all have a common previous occupation; pig farmers.
Who knew?
I’ve also been doing a whole lot of soul searching about how to best deal with the reality that whatever comes along is something I can do very little to influence or control. All I have is what I can bring to the table in this very small spot for as long as I have left, but I’m going to do my very best to keep it positive, see the humor in it, and keep my loved ones as calm and reassured as possible because they’re going to have a tougher time of it than I will.
Amen and amen
Community looking out for each other is huge. That will make all the difference. Take a good look at your neighbors, and if you do not feel good about where you are, then make a change….. as fast as you can.
HSF, there is almost no waste when butchering for survival.
All offal is either eaten or used for curing. Sinew and bone is
essential. Marrow is about the most nutritious food in any carcass.
Brains and ashes cure the hide which is clothing. About the only thing
on a carcass that is not useful are hooves unless you are making an
adhesive that isn’t much good. Boiling the head and bones then mixing in some
grains is scrapple. All the butchering scraps stuffed in the intestine is sausage.
Any animal can be almost completely consumed, and should be.
Question #1: What do you do with the bones and sinews?
Question #2: When tanning the hide, why ashes? Brains will not cure the hide by themselves? If ashes are necessary, what kind -hard wood ashes, or any kind of ashes?
Coming from a family of hardcore preppers, I can say that these kind of people want to get their money’s worth eventually…interpret that how you wish.
As for myself, I’m trying to live the best life I possibly can so that when it’s my time to die I can say I LIVED an amazing life and have as few regrets as possible. I certainly won’t be sitting around fretting about end times.
Pro-Tip… Go on Amazon and buy a kit that turns a five gallon bucket into a camp toilet with a sealable lid. Stock up on heavy garbage bags and baking soda. After you do your business, dump a bunch of baking soda on top. That, along with the sealable lid will allow you to poop indoors without stinking up the house. You can get about 2-3 weeks of craps before you have to tie off the bag and swap it out with a fresh one. For guys, just pee in the sink and wash it down with a bit of water. No harm done (your urine is sterile when it comes out of the body). I went without water at my house for about four weeks so ask me how I know!!
I practice and support the practical use of fiat for self sufficiency systems and free energy – for backup, but just as much for the joy of bucking the system, and the prodigious stocking of any storable items due to the current inflated cost escalations now ONLY.
All the rest of the rhetoric feels to me like the zionist cabals’ successful scripting of a fear porn infection designed to agitate crisis addicts – a comical 2023 equivalent of the self-inflicted dread and prep mass psychosis that spread ahead of the ‘imminent’ 2012 disaster.
Pull the rug on every supply industry and stock value of all their buddies? Not going to happen.
I’m only spending fiat, no anticipatory dread on my lifeforce that’s even more valuable to my health.
Watching this again as a reminder of what happens when a central bank prints currency into oblivion.
what a coinky doinky,this newsletter came today —
some offbeat survival items —
several of you mentioned bosnia —
selco is the most prolific of the bosnian prepping teachers that i know of –this was in an email i got from the organic prepper today —
I won’t comment around how prepared other than to say not enough. My family tried to laugh me out of Y2K. F them They never forget to let me know how nothing happened
.
Thanks for posting the shorter posts, Jim.
another thing to have on hand is raw unfiltered honey. it works great on wounds. one summer got a nasty wolf spider bite, went to the ER and got “stuff’ for it. that didn’t do much for it. then I remember my grandmother using honey on the dressing when one of us kids got stung/bit/whatever. so I gave it a try. clean up the wound in 3 days!
also try to plant and grow garlic. another great item for wound care. every time I try to grow some, the damn deer eat it up when I not looking. but the deer will not be a problem once things go south. as EVERYONE plans of killing a deer for food. funny. there is not enough deer in the woods to feed half the people around here.
there was a reason why black pepper was worth a OZ of gold in the middle ages. food was bad tasting for the most part. grow what spices and herbs you can where you are. you will be thankful later.
speaking of spider bites,bee stings,etc. —
keep some ammonia around —
if you get it on the wound fast enough,ammonia will often neutralize or minimize the effects of the sting —
Add a way to boil water outdoors if the propane grill has no eye. Then get and fill half a dozen propane bottles. Practice baking on the outdoor propane grill. (Do that every Summer to save the A/C fighting the oven.) Being able to cook without electricity for a week or two gets you thru the mess after any hurricane or blizzard.
LEARN THE RULES OF THREE as a simple skill set
Water and how to make it drinkable from mud filled ponds
PSALM 91 GODS Promise
Learn it pray it live it
And
MOVEMENT IS LIFE
Something Bad comes our way ,cannot fight everything
Best to learn to keep moving
Own an learn how to maintain a simple bicycle
If it is two people get a Tandem bicycle , built stronger and can be packed better
Life saver Jerry can
A real portable water filter
Phew IDK where to start. Started “prepping” in 2012 while Obama was ruining things. Learned a lot and changed a lot since then. At the time I was just throwing extra canned goods, bags of rice, flour, etc in the shopping cart and storing it. That was a bad way of storing food and since then I have turned to long term storage of #10 cans of freeze dried and sealed food grade buckets. I got into canning and dehydrating what I grow. At any given time I have at least 6+ months of stored food, not including egg laying chickens, pigs, and any wild game I harvest. What that means is if the system collapses I can feed my family for 6+ months (realistically over a year) without having to leave the house.
I was going crazy with guns and ammo at one point. While I am a gun collector and avid shooter I have come to realize that one only needs a few select types of guns to get through. I have also amassed a good amount of ammo. Reloading is what I have focused on the last few years. Also cross bows, recurve bows, bolts/arrows, slingshots, traps, etc for stealthy hunting and protection of property.
For power it was really about the long term. I have a full house diesel generator that can run #2 diesel, kero, and heating oil. I also devised a way to do waste oil if need be, but that is for very extreme situations. I do not have plans to run a generator for months on end. I do have freezers, but I can stretch them out a few months with just running the generator an hour or so a day. If things are bad for the long term I would have to smoke/preserve any meat from freezer or I harvest. I did invest in a 2000w solar system that can give us light and power small things like a radio. I heat and can cook with firewood and have plenty of that.
I am surrounded by fresh clean water. I have plenty of sawyer filters. I have tested “the waters” by going out and collecting water from the stream and running it through a filter. I drank it and lived to tell about it. I also have 100% chlorine tabs and iodine for dirtier water. Water is VERY important and people don’t seem to plan well with it.
There is SO much more.
Good article. I am old enough that I only have prepped for a month. If the situation is so bad that relative normal can’t be restored in a month, I will check out. After decades living in comfort, I can’t imagine spending the rest of my live huddled around a campfire in constant terror that some new barbarian will kill me for a can of beans. Btw, is a shotgun enough or do I need an AR-15?
Agree, I feel the same way. I don’t need to live only to watch killing for food or starve. Fuck that, I’m old and have had a good life.
Buy some slugs for the shot gun, gives you a little more distance.
IMHO, if a situation happens where you actually NEED an AR….you’re probably going to die anyway. It also depends on how much money you have and what you want to spend it on.
Depends on the ammo you use and your skill with the weapon. I’m good enough to just depend on a pistol for protection, thanks to my military training.
I didn’t notice a single word about improving skillsets or training.
All the gear in the world isn’t worth much if you don’t have the knowledge to use it and practice doing so.
Do NOT get a Honda HRV!!! I had one for approx a year and half and it had 2 recalls on it by the time I traded it for a truck. If you are really set on one, PLEASE check for recalls and have thoroughly checked by a mechanic. If you have regular mechanic, ask him what vehicles are easiest to service, easiest for parts, etc.