[vinman]

(06-08-2015 09:24 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

How many preppers have lived In hostile places before?
Not even war.. But extremely bad neighborhoods where it's actually unsafe to go out at night?

How many have been shot at?
How many have dealt with the clean up of human remains after trauma?


How many have grown their own plants before.

How many people even use their stocks for as practice.
You can stock pile a bunch of stuff but if you never use it or test yourself, how do you know if works

Been shot at a few times. Hit once (by a pissed off chick of all people).
Hosed down the sidewalk in front of my house after a shooting.
I've practiced with most of my stuff at one time or another.

[Easy_C]

Been blown up in an attack that killed another member of my team.

Your welcome. It so happens that I'm a little bit more familiar with violence than most, which is why my "survival" plan is predicated on escape and evasion of a bad situation rather than trying to build an arsenal and a safehouse.

[el mechanico]

Other than the obvious like Zillow is there any sites that specialize in selling large tracts of land and cabins/alternative housing?

[H1N1]

(06-08-2015 09:24 PM)Sourcecode Wrote:  

How many preppers have lived In hostile places before?
Not even war.. But extremely bad neighborhoods where it's actually unsafe to go out at night?

How many have been shot at?
How many have dealt with the clean up of human remains after trauma?


How many have grown their own plants before.

How many people even use their stocks for as practice.
You can stock pile a bunch of stuff but if you never use it or test yourself, how do you know if works

I currently live entirely off the land, except for a few tinned supplies, and some rice. All of my meat, vegetables, fish, honey etc comes from my own set up. I live like a king for under £10/week.

No human remains after trauma, though I am a trained soldier and a life long countryman. I don't honestly see dealing with human remains being any more remarkable than skinning and gralloching a deer. Hollywood makes these things out to be far more significant for the most part than they most likely are - blood and guts is blood and guts. There is no place for squeamishness in a country upbringing.

I had a brief stint in London, in the back of a housing estate they made a film about gang violence on, and boxed in the local club where many shady characters also trained.

It would be a mistake to assume that because you do not know how to survive and thrive in less luxurious surroundings, that knowledge must necessarily be beyond all others. I live a life that you might regard as austere by comparison with your own (pure speculation), but I am far happier and more fulfilled than I ever was with all the distractions a major capital could throw at me.

[el mechanico]

^ where and how?

[H1N1]

(06-10-2015 06:44 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

^ where and how?

I'll PM you on this one.

[Easy_C]

(06-10-2015 05:39 PM)H1N1 Wrote:  

No human remains after trauma, though I am a trained soldier and a life long countryman. I don't honestly see dealing with human remains being any more remarkable than skinning and gralloching a deer. Hollywood makes these things out to be far more significant for the most part than they most likely are - blood and guts is blood and guts. There is no place for squeamishness in a country upbringing.

Not coincidentally one of the best soldiers I ever met worked as a butcher when he was a teenager. I remember him saying that one of the problems with American soldiers is that most grew up without any exposure to death, gore, or violence.

[el mechanico]

   

Live the dream!

   

[Mr. Wolf]

Beyond a basic sustenance food and water supply for your family, and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a cross-bow, and a good hunting rifle, what you really need is anti-biotics. Anti-biotics will be the only real currency if the shit goes down. If you need something, and you happen to bump into someone with a sick kid, whose fever just won't break, they'll give you anything for a bit of Amoxicillin.

[kruger41]

(06-01-2015 05:44 PM)TheWastelander Wrote:  

All you have to do is look at New Orleans during Katrina or parts of FL that get hit by hurricanes to see why it's a good idea to have an emergency supply of some essentials on hand.

I don't think anyone here is advocating living in a lead-lined bunker full of ammo and gold coins, but having a way to get water, food, and to protect yourself when the utilities aren't available and the cops aren't around is important.

^ This.

I think there's a tendency among "preppers" or survivalists or whatever you want to call them to prepare exclusively for an apocalyptic event, when something more along the lines of Katrina or Ferguson is much more plausible.

Similarly, I think much of the stigma involving preparedness as a general strategy is due to the influence of the more, erm, histrionic perspectives of a vocal minority of preppers. People see them talking about some kind of "One Second After" scenario (great book, btw), and write it off as wish fulfillment and fantasy, which it is, to some extent. A lot of these guys probably don't have much going on in their personal lives so they project themselves into a grandiose survival fantasy in which they're well equipped while their immediate peers are not.

Whereas natural disasters are rather common, particularly in parts of the U.S. like the Gulf Coast and Tornado alley, adequate planning for emergencies like nasty weather is only good common sense. Not to mention, with the current social climate, taking steps to insulate yourself from economic shockwaves and "teens blowing off steam," is simply responsible on the individual level.

Two things I personally would like to focus on more involve the economic and "software" side. Having a decent amount of non-fiat currency is probably a good idea for insurance purposes, as Aaron Clarey points out here:

What should young people invest in?

On the "software" side, an understanding of basic day-to-day skills, not necessarily involving combat, is definitely good to cultivate. Other than that, I would personally like to spend more time on unarmed combatives, like Krav Maga, and TC3, in case someone does get hurt.

[vinman]

Most people think that being prepared is unnecessary because we have gubment looking out for us. But like kruger41 said, natural disasters can and will occur. In Chicago we've had small earthquakes to the north, and south of us. What will it be like if that New Madrid fault gives the midwest a monster jolt? Or a large winter blizzard takes down power lines, as well as making roads impassable? I'm not looking to fight cannibal mutants on motorcycles in the wasteland. I'm just looking to hold out for a few days until help arrives.

[BBinger]

(06-13-2015 11:26 PM)Mr. Wolf Wrote:  

Beyond a basic sustenance food and water supply for your family, and a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a cross-bow, and a good hunting rifle, what you really need is anti-biotics. Anti-biotics will be the only real currency if the shit goes down. If you need something, and you happen to bump into someone with a sick kid, whose fever just won't break, they'll give you anything for a bit of Amoxicillin.

You can buy it at most Pet Shops, in the fish section, as Fish-Mox (Amox 500), no prescription needed, though you should pay cash, show no ID, and not purchase too much all at once. Also have a good back story about your beloved elderly uncle's pet fish being sick and he told you to go buy this stuff, and beyond that you don't know shit about fish. You just hope your beloved uncle's fish get better.

http://www.doomandbloom.net/how-to-use-f...of-course/

There's also a great preppers website that sells medical supplies and kits. Get the biggest one you can afford:

https://youtu.be/iTPqq0LBcr8

As far as antibiotics go, if you really are planning for possible use without doctor's supervision the there are two more valuable antibiotics to throw on the stockpile.

The first goes by the brand name Bactrim, but since it is a combination drug the generic names are many. It is taken orally and works well against all kinds of internal bacterial infections. The two active components both work on folate pathways and there are chances of kidney side effects, but it works on an incredibly wide range of bacteria including some beta-lactam resistant stuff the -cillins won't touch.

The other is mucipriocin ointment/bactroban. This is an ointment like neosporin except against vulnerable bacteria it can shrink a boil days. The downside to this is... there are genes which encode resistance to the active ingredient and they spread readily.

For people who question the eventual possibility of getting timely medical care these two can be life and limb savers, but it is as stupid as fuck to use either without medical direction if it can be avoided at all. Bactroban as a neosporin substitute is retarded and incredibly irresponsible. Taking Bactim for an undentified infection is stupid if it can be avoided. Self medicating antibiotics if it can be avoided is generally stupid. Syphillis still dies with doses of good ole penicillin G, and so long as syphillis remains syphillis its essence will leave this true. Even though untreated syphillis can be incredibly debilitating it still falls to the first antibiotic without any clear paths to resistance even though many normally harmless bacteria acquire resistance.

(06-14-2015 06:27 PM)vinman Wrote:  

Most people think that being prepared is unnecessary because we have gubment looking out for us. But like kruger41 said, natural disasters can and will occur. In Chicago we've had small earthquakes to the north, and south of us. What will it be like if that New Madrid fault gives the midwest a monster jolt? Or a large winter blizzard takes down power lines, as well as making roads impassable? I'm not looking to fight cannibal mutants on motorcycles in the wasteland. I'm just looking to hold out for a few days until help arrives.

I'm a few hundred miles south. We've had wind storms in the summer as well as ice storms in the winter case week+ long power outages. Inability to handle a week without at least one regionally important utility is irresponsible.

[spokepoker]

I think the skills are better than the stocking. Sure you can stock up on canned and dry goods. Can you can food yourself with no electricity?
Learn how to fix anything and everything you can get your hands on with little to no new parts, learn to be innovative with what you have.
No gas? Get creative with a double burner to pump hydrogen out of wood to pour into a carb.
Lots of different ways to get by, the skills to do it and innovation to make use with what you have is key.

[germanico]

(06-18-2015 01:59 AM)spokepoker Wrote:  

No gas? Get creative with a double burner to pump hydrogen out of wood to pour into a carb.
Lots of different ways to get by, the skills to do it and innovation to make use with what you have is key.

An ethanol still is fairly easy to make and would be a valuable asset.

[spokepoker]

Just throwing out ideas, the more creative you are, the better you will survive most anything.
You just need to get the skillset down so you don't waste precious resources learning them when you really need to.

[SunW]

Anyone here with experience growing trees that produce food, like apple trees, etc? I'm trying to think of some plants that can produce a large amount of food within 10-15 years from being planted, but that also don't need too much water (that could be grown in the Midwest).

So far:
- Electronic well and hand pump (pure manual) well.
- Can produce all of my own electricity to power the refrigerator, well, and freezer. But that's it.
- 8 1000 gallon storage containers for water; 6 of them full.
- Livestock.

I'm working on a system that will allow me to collect rain water and store it easier. I'd like to eventually store enough water to last two decades of moderate use for myself and the animals.

[SunW]

(06-01-2015 03:51 PM)h3ltrsk3ltr Wrote:  

^ look at the gas shortages in the 70's.

If you imagine a politically based disruption of oil flow coming from major superpowers (like russia, china, the EU and USA all vying for control over oil fields or something), and throw in a cuban missle crisis event, you've got fear, lack of fuel, and global panic in one conceivable basket.

That's a hypothetical, but it's not unfathomable. If we see looting and civil unrest, think furguson on a wider scale, we've got a reason to have beans, bullets, and band-aids in the cellar.

Anyone here from the 70s that wants to share their experiences? I know during this time we had high inflation, and in some places, there were food shortages. Unfortunately, I wasn't alive and by the time I was aware of what was happening around me was the beginning of the booming 90s.

I'm kind of weird here in that I loved listening to my grandparents talk about the Great Depression because it took them by surprise and it was a shocking event. What's odd is how many young people couldn't careless what older people think, even though some of these older people have survived some pretty hard times. One thing I learned when speaking to an older gentleman (who survived the Great Depression) was always force yourself to sacrifice. He said that if you get in the habit of forcing sacrifice, when you have to do it, it's easy. He also said that sacrifice was the only thing he ever did consistently that he didn't regret.

You can learn a ton from people who've lived a long time.

[H1N1]

Yes, I do, but only in the Northern Hemisphere/Northern Europe. Here the most important thing is keeping the deer and other pests off them when they are growing and their buds are still at critter height. After that, keeping pigeons etc off them is really all the maintenance the take, as well as an aggressive prune once or twice a year.

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

delete

[LeeEnfield303]

(06-18-2015 06:03 AM)germanico Wrote:  

(06-18-2015 01:59 AM)spokepoker Wrote:  

No gas? Get creative with a double burner to pump hydrogen out of wood to pour into a carb.
Lots of different ways to get by, the skills to do it and innovation to make use with what you have is key.

An ethanol still is fairly easy to make and would be a valuable asset.

I know several friends who run WMO (waste motor oil) in their 1980s-90s non-turbo, non- electronic diesels (Ford IDI, for ex). Seems to work well once the filtering system is set up.

[General Mayhem]

(06-19-2015 08:20 AM)SunW Wrote:  

Anyone here with experience growing trees that produce food, like apple trees, etc? I'm trying to think of some plants that can produce a large amount of food within 10-15 years from being planted, but that also don't need too much water (that could be grown in the Midwest).

So far:
- Electronic well and hand pump (pure manual) well.
- Can produce all of my own electricity to power the refrigerator, well, and freezer. But that's it.
- 8 1000 gallon storage containers for water; 6 of them full.
- Livestock.

I'm working on a system that will allow me to collect rain water and store it easier. I'd like to eventually store enough water to last two decades of moderate use for myself and the animals.

Tree growth varies a lot depending on the type and quality of soil. You also need good drainage. Where I'm at in the midwest the soil can be black, sandy, or clay depending on where you are at. If you are lucky you live in an area with good black dirty and things grow easier without a ton of maintenance. Clay tends to be a bitch.

Some of the best apple trees I have seen were at my grandparent's place. They had nice black dirt and the trees were on the hillside. All they ever did was fertilize once a year and they had more apples than they knew what to do with. Where I grew up we had a couple apple trees in the clay that never grew all that well. We had a hard time getting trees to grow in the clay until we started hitting them with fish fertilizer, after that they grew pretty well.

If you live in an area with sandy soil plant some berries. They seem to grow well there.

[Troll King]

I second the gardening suggestion. Even if you don't have a yard to build a raised bed garden in, you can grow a surprising amount of food in containers. You don't even have to go with fancy containers either. I am currently growing some baby carrots in a flat storage container that is only about 8 inches deep. I also have some big grey rectangle storage containers that I am using to grow potatoes in. I have been harvesting a shit ton of tomatoes from everything from hanging baskets to large barrel type containers that I have been growing basil and red romaine lettuce in along side the tomatoes.

A fairly small garden as a raised bed can also grow a surprising amount of food. Mine is about 16 feet by 8 feet and I currently have a 10 by 4 patch of corn. If I get the minimum of 2 ears per stalk then that is 80+ ears of corn. In front of that patch I have a net trellis going down the middle of the garden with pole beans, alaskan peas, and sugar snap peas which are starting to mature. I also have cucumbers growing up trellises in the corners, tomato plants, cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, and some sweet and spicy peppers of different varieties. In another raised bed I have mostly the same but also with some bush beans, which I harvested a plastic bag full of the other day, and different types of squash and spinach and some carrots.

I wouldn't want to live on it 24/7, but squash seems to grow insanely well for me. Last year I must have harvested more than 100 pounds of squash and that was only off of about 9 plants. I couldn't eat it or give it away fast enough.

I would also suggest looking into companion planting. There are a lot of plants that you not only plant next to each other to increase their flavor but also their growing rates and to protect from certain pests and diseases.

A great example of this is called 'the three sisters'. It is how native Americans grew their crops and they even looked at it in religious terms.

The three sisters are corn, pole beans, and squash/melons. You plant the corn in rows at least four deep or in a circular pattern about 10 inches apart. Then between the corn you plant the pole beans. and outside of the corn you plant the squash. The squash leaves keep the soil cool and shaded which keeps weeds to a minimum. The pole beans enrich the soil with nitrogen which helps the corn grow fast. And the corn provides a natural trellis for the pole beans to grow up.

Another thing to look into is planting herbs that have medicinal properties. My dad has an aloe plant given to him by a friend. His friend has an aloe plant that is more than 100 years old and he takes cuttings from it and grows them as new plants, which is where my dad got his plant from. Now my dad is taking cuttings from the aloe plant and growing a secondary plant. Aloe is good for burns and other things. I am looking into maybe trying to get some info on medicinal plants, especially stuff that you could grow in a container on the window.

Another thing, depending on where you are and your zone you can garden basically all year round. Here in the fall I will be planting a number of things to grow and some to be harvested right after winter in the spring. Spinach, certain types of peas and beans, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, kale, broccoli, and a number of other plants do better in cooler or cold weather than during the summer heat.

[h3ltrsk3ltr]

(06-14-2015 06:27 PM)vinman Wrote:  

Most people think that being prepared is unnecessary because we have gubment looking out for us. But like kruger41 said, natural disasters can and will occur. In Chicago we've had small earthquakes to the north, and south of us. What will it be like if that New Madrid fault gives the midwest a monster jolt? Or a large winter blizzard takes down power lines, as well as making roads impassable? I'm not looking to fight cannibal mutants on motorcycles in the wasteland. I'm just looking to hold out for a few days until help arrives.

Bro, I did a paper on the New Madrid Fault once in high school. Wish I could find it. I honestly think it was one of the contributing factors to me enlisting. I wanted to be ready with some survival training if it gives us a fair shake.

It's a legitimate, yet unforeseeable danger. Apparently most projections are showing stability for the next 20-50 years...However, it's the kind of disaster that just sort of happens.

[BBinger]

(06-21-2015 09:32 PM)General Mayhem Wrote:  

Tree growth varies a lot depending on the type and quality of soil. You also need good drainage. Where I'm at in the midwest the soil can be black, sandy, or clay depending on where you are at. If you are lucky you live in an area with good black dirty and things grow easier without a ton of maintenance. Clay tends to be a bitch.

I love my clay soil. It's a bitch to dig and it is a bitch to get plants to thrive in, but once you find plants that can take to it they thrive. Clay isn't hopeless at all, but you have to take care of amending the base soil as you plant and for plants with big enough rootballs offering a layer of loam topsoil amenable to further supplementation as the tree works to stabilize.

Once most tree, shrubs, or perennials take to clay soil though they thrive. All of the challenge though is in the window where their roots need to grow beyond their initial pocket which is where plants fail if you don't work on giving them a solid transition zone. While clay isn't great at drainage, stable clay soil does spectacular moisture retention and controlled release. It's also dense enough that excess moisture gets rejected once it is saturated which prevents root rot.

It's not that clay is bad or even hard. It takes technique. I've got a few varieties of rose bush, including some delicate ass tea roses growing in clay. A lot of other people in town do to. A lot of it boils down to local knowledge and talking to people in the know.

[Disco_Volante]

The biggest cataclysmic threat would be EMP from a nuclear blast, rendering anything with an electronic chip useless. I think this is the most likely scenario that would require prepping for.

All the other storm/hurricane scenarios are pretty minor in comparison. I wish banks would insulate their systems from EMP attack but I know they don't. Whatever money you had would be permanently gone.