[Leonard D Neubache]

(01-10-2019 02:42 PM)HighSpeed_LowDrag Wrote:  

The example of Venezuela shows that the best tools for prepping are foreign assets, a second passport, and a plane ticket.

Ideally second citizenship and a fairly bulletproof way to get out of the country. When the time comes it may not be as easy as simply strolling to the airport and booking a flight out. War, a massive terrorist attack (or false flag) or a serious natural disaster might render all travel plans moot. Having the things listed above are definitely good but they aren't a silver bullet. A catastrophe could have national and international implications that invalidate leaving for greener pastures, or it could be a local calamity that swoops in so fast you simply don't have time to get out before things get ugly.

Recall the airports being locked down on 9/11, and that was just a terrorist attack. If a proper war starts then you're going nowhere. Not even the Greyhound buses will be in service.

On to bugout bags and some of the stupid shit being peddled today.

If a disaster occurs that causes you to leave your comfy home and hit the road for good then you better have a specific destination in mind, and you better be able to achieve getting there with only what you can carry on your back.

Reasons:

Calculate honestly how many day's worth of food and water you can carry while hiking. Simple, really. Can you carry ten days of food and water? Twenty? Forty? If the cause of the disruption doesn't resolve quickly, what then? Forget fantasies about hunting or foraging for food. If you can't do those things proficiently in good times then you're not going to learn them on the fly in hard times.

If you're leaving your home then you need a realistic destination that you can reach without resupply. The only exception (hesitantly made) is if you're willing to set up caches of supplies to be drawn on along the way.

This destination has to be somewhere solid. "My Uncle's Farm" is good. "That cabin I rented for a weekend two years ago" is not. Lots of people rented that cabin. It will already be inhabited by the time you get there and if you're willing to kill people over a roof and a continental breakfast then you have better options available to you anyway. By the way, have this conversation with your uncle and establish a protocol for your arrival so you don't get shot crossing his fence line, then be a sport and offer to store some food, meds and ammunition at his house. If he tells you "don't worry about it" then at east it's on his head to feed you with minimal grumbles.

Don't have a location to bug out to?

Stock up on the essentials now.

Don't bug out.

It's that simple.

Unless fire or flood or plague or pestilence forces you from your home, stay there. If something that bad pushed you out then you're going to be part of a refugee column, not some maverick going solo on the road, in which case you should build a "refugee bag".

Get home bag.

Get to my uncle's farm bag.

Refugee bag.

You can imagine that all these things would have variations, right? What you start with is a plan. The bag evolves from the plan.

So let's move on to the next sacred cow to slaughter.

This is not directed at Turnus...



...but what is this bullshit?

This is a prime example of how survivalism has long since devolved into a niche of the fashion industry. Personally I know the exact place I want to store a knife is on the front of my backpack. It's the hardest place for me to reach in a hurry and the easiest place to reach for someone coming up behind me. I know the guy in the video says he wouldn't keep it there if he was actually wearing it but it's a prime example of the clickbaity shit that survivalism has degraded into.

But you can't drag in Youtube hits with what I'm going to say here, which is why you wont hear it anywhere but an honest forum where nobody has much to gain selling bullshit.

You need to look poor. Destitute in fact. Preferably long-time homeless if you can manage it.

Who are the bad hombres going to shoot in the back and loot the corpse of?

This guy?



Or this guy?



No $300 brand-name bags in olive drab. No flags. No dumb badges. No stupid fucking loops all over the thing. You're not occupying Kandahar for fucks sake. You're trying to keep a low profile and...



No visible guns.
All clothing dirty.
All bags dirty.
Garbage-bag smock for rain protection, even if you have a proper one for use later.
Ugly-ass trolley to make life easier until you're off sealed roads and paths.

It's not Fashion Week: Survivalista!

It's the opposite.

View the entire survivalism industry with that lens and you will start to sift the real from the bullshit.

[Greyman]

I didn't state anything my friend; I just plucked a random article outlining the rhetoric I enjoyed while also conveying some truth from a former SF guy that has a wealth of info on many subjects pertaining to the 'prepper' movement. Equipment, tribe building, and most important thing he emphasis...do your fuckin' PT. I liked his no nonsense way of putting shit that he apparently puts to practice by TEACHING those that want to learn some fundamentals of medical TC3 or practical shooting to people.

Just throwing some resources out there for ppl.



[quote='ChicagoFire' pid='1919897' dateline='1547159123']
@greyman
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with what you just posted. It's interesting to say the least. Bottom line with what you just stated is we're in the middle of civil war and the left can kick the right's ass even with President Trump in power. I think at bare minimum everybody that posts here better be ready one way or the other. Even something as basic as attending boxing classes or learning to do CPR, anything is encouraged. I'll just throw the following high liked posts from the civil war thread..."

[Leonard D Neubache]

If I'd had the time when I started the thread I would have posted this in the OP.

In my opinion it's the most important advice I can give on this subject.

Do NOT center your planning around predicting the day/month/year of a disaster or the form it will take.

Doing so will cause you to make stupid decisions that will prove harmful in the end.

I'll relate this to a personal example. A decade ago I was certain that a financial collapse was imminent. All the so-called experts were saying "6 months, tops". 6 months later? Same. 6 more months? Same.

They're still going.

Now fortunately I didn't trust them implicitly or the best option would have been to max out five credit cards buying food, water and guns before everything went Mad Max, but the reality is that I did push some of my plans for relocation too severely and afterward did not do as much as I should have to invest in a non-collapse world that still exists to this day.

Do not stop investing in the non-collapse world.

Don't quit your high paying job to go live in the sticks on the premise that it's all going to shit in 6 months anyway.

Don't buy 10 years worth of MREs that you're not going to eat in a pre-collapse world.

Don't sell your economical car to buy a Dodge Ram on the premise that in a week or two you're going to have to bulldoze your way through hordes of suburbanites-turned-cannibals on the road to safety.

Wherever possible, invest in survival strategies that do not affect your bottom line.

If your family will eat 100 cans of beans over the course of 2 years then functionally it costs you nothing to buy the 100 cans of beans and replace them as they're used. If shit goes south you have 100 cans of beans.

Simple.

Don't throw money at your fears. Adjust your hobbies if you like. Expand your knowledge. Take advanced first aid courses of learn wilderness survival if that sort of thing interests you but don't impoverish yourself and make yourself miserable on a breakneck journey towards survivability for a disaster that might not arrive for another ten years or at all.

The Leonard that stayed put in the city with his decent job and invested in the stock market would currently own both his city home AND his country home, and although I prefer living in the country for personal and family reasons that was just a lucky outcome.

Don't fall for the hype. Don't get caught up in the panic.

Make smart, sensible decisions that will serve you well whether a catastrophe befalls your region or not.

[ChefAllDay]

(01-10-2019 02:55 PM)Oberrheiner Wrote:  

Yeah, a bug-out bag is a funny idea.

If you're in an urban area your best best is situational awareness. You need to know a day or two in advance of everyone else that shit is going down. Good thing is most city folk are oblivious. You need to be slightly less.

For me personally my home is my bug out area. If shit goes haywire my house and property are rural (like banjo territory) and self sufficient for an extended period, years if needed. My emergency kit is in my vehicle and designed to help ensure I get home where I can fortress up.

Lets hope it never happens, but be ready if it does.

[RatInTheWoods]

Have a month or three food supplies in the house - just stock up and rotate tinned foods.
Have some containers to store a lot of water, a few big barrels, bottles and a few slabs of bottled water. (you will have time to fill the water and bathtub)

With a petrol stove, a few torches, candles etc you can hole up for three months in an emergency situation, if you home is secure (like high rise apartment etc)

[Bluey]

(01-10-2019 10:22 PM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

(01-10-2019 02:42 PM)HighSpeed_LowDrag Wrote:  

The example of Venezuela shows that the best tools for prepping are foreign assets, a second passport, and a plane ticket.

Ideally second citizenship and a fairly bulletproof way to get out of the country. When the time comes it may not be as easy as simply strolling to the airport and booking a flight out. War, a massive terrorist attack (or false flag) or a serious natural disaster might render all travel plans moot. Having the things listed above are definitely good but they aren't a silver bullet. A catastrophe could have national and international implications that invalidate leaving for greener pastures, or it could be a local calamity that swoops in so fast you simply don't have time to get out before things get ugly.

Recall the airports being locked down on 9/11, and that was just a terrorist attack. If a proper war starts then you're going nowhere. Not even the Greyhound buses will be in service.

On to bugout bags and some of the stupid shit being peddled today.

If a disaster occurs that causes you to leave your comfy home and hit the road for good then you better have a specific destination in mind, and you better be able to achieve getting there with only what you can carry on your back.

Reasons:

Calculate honestly how many day's worth of food and water you can carry while hiking. Simple, really. Can you carry ten days of food and water? Twenty? Forty? If the cause of the disruption doesn't resolve quickly, what then? Forget fantasies about hunting or foraging for food. If you can't do those things proficiently in good times then you're not going to learn them on the fly in hard times.

If you're leaving your home then you need a realistic destination that you can reach without resupply. The only exception (hesitantly made) is if you're willing to set up caches of supplies to be drawn on along the way.

This destination has to be somewhere solid. "My Uncle's Farm" is good. "That cabin I rented for a weekend two years ago" is not. Lots of people rented that cabin. It will already be inhabited by the time you get there and if you're willing to kill people over a roof and a continental breakfast then you have better options available to you anyway. By the way, have this conversation with your uncle and establish a protocol for your arrival so you don't get shot crossing his fence line, then be a sport and offer to store some food, meds and ammunition at his house. If he tells you "don't worry about it" then at east it's on his head to feed you with minimal grumbles.

Don't have a location to bug out to?

Stock up on the essentials now.

Don't bug out.

It's that simple.

Unless fire or flood or plague or pestilence forces you from your home, stay there. If something that bad pushed you out then you're going to be part of a refugee column, not some maverick going solo on the road, in which case you should build a "refugee bag".

Get home bag.

Get to my uncle's farm bag.

Refugee bag.

You can imagine that all these things would have variations, right? What you start with is a plan. The bag evolves from the plan.

So let's move on to the next sacred cow to slaughter.

This is not directed at Turnus...



...but what is this bullshit?

This is a prime example of how survivalism has long since devolved into a niche of the fashion industry. Personally I know the exact place I want to store a knife is on the front of my backpack. It's the hardest place for me to reach in a hurry and the easiest place to reach for someone coming up behind me. I know the guy in the video says he wouldn't keep it there if he was actually wearing it but it's a prime example of the clickbaity shit that survivalism has degraded into.

But you can't drag in Youtube hits with what I'm going to say here, which is why you wont hear it anywhere but an honest forum where nobody has much to gain selling bullshit.

You need to look poor. Destitute in fact. Preferably long-time homeless if you can manage it.

Who are the bad hombres going to shoot in the back and loot the corpse of?

This guy?



Or this guy?



No $300 brand-name bags in olive drab. No flags. No dumb badges. No stupid fucking loops all over the thing. You're not occupying Kandahar for fucks sake. You're trying to keep a low profile and...



No visible guns.
All clothing dirty.
All bags dirty.
Garbage-bag smock for rain protection, even if you have a proper one for use later.
Ugly-ass trolley to make life easier until you're off sealed roads and paths.

It's not Fashion Week: Survivalista!

It's the opposite.

View the entire survivalism industry with that lens and you will start to sift the real from the bullshit.

Have a realistic idea of what you can carry. Trust me, you're going to feel 25Kg/50 pounds pretty quickly if you're not used to it. More? Well....just ask any grunt infantryman.

[JackinMelbourne]

(01-10-2019 11:51 AM)Dalaran1991 Wrote:  

Given how a lot of RVF are expats or having a second base, a good consideration is: How to get out of ground zero and back to my home country / second base?

Valid point.

Keep any "kits" very basic. Food (sports bars), water, med kit, spork and a leatherman multi-tool instead of a knife. A steak or butchers knife can be found in any kitchen anywhere in the world if you need something big when S really does HTF.

Guns? Forget about it. The whole world isn't USA. Think about moving through cities, airports etc. X-rays and bag searches.

[Richard Turpin]

Great thread. I've long been in the habit of buying a few extra tins of beans etc. and storing them in the garage next to the weights rack. With Brexit due in less than 3 months, and the Remainer-controlled media going into 'Project Fear' overdrive I might step up the stockpiling a tad just in case;

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/107052...age-police

'Brexit no deal could spark RIOTS over food shortage – police call for extra security
POLICE chiefs are calling for extra security at high street stores amid fears a no deal Brexit could cause riots over food shortages.

Officials in the Metropolitan Police have advised shops to ramp up security “to minimise demands on policing.” Supermarkets could see an influx in customers panic buying if Britain leaves the EU without a deal causing disruption at ports, it is feared. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico: “In line with similar advice given at a national level to the retail industry, we are suggesting to retailers that they may wish to consider planning for additional security in the event that concerns about shortages of goods leads to a significant increase in customers.”

Since the morning of the referendum result I've been of the opinion that 'if' an actual Brexit occurs, the powers-that-be will spitefully ensure that the aftermath is as painful and traumatic as possible to teach us plebs a lesson and cause a further 'rectifying' referendum a few years later.

There was a fuel strike just a few years ago in the UK and I was amazed how quickly things went south. I've been buying extra (and rotating) ever since. The strike only lasted a few days but there were no deliveries to shops and supermarkets and friends and family were legitimately running short of milk and bread and essentials and couldn't replace them. Everything is so finely balanced now with deliveries to supermarkets.

Just read this timeline;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/924574.stm

'Countdown to crisis: Eight days that shook Britain'
'Food rationing returns to Britain as panic buying shifts to supermarkets. Some shops are bare of bread and milk.

The NHS is put on red alert - which means at a moment's notice, all hospitals must be ready to cancel all but emergency cases.

MTD: Royal Hull Hospital runs out of stitches for use in operations.'

I was a new father at the time with a small baby and this little episode scared the shit out of me and has stuck in my consciousness ever since. It's one thing not being able to feed yourself, but suddenly being unable to feed your baby ....

[Oberrheiner]

Yeah, I was also more thinking about what happens if for instance utilities break down, rather than a full-on war or something.

For instance what do you do if there is no more water coming out of the tap ?
I have wells on my terrain, but the lab said it was contaminated with fecal traces so I need a way to filter it. I'm open for recommendations by the way
Some people I know told me that labs always said that to private customers, so that they don't drink water without paying taxes on it, but I'm not willing to find out whether that's true when I need it myself.

What do you do if there is no more electricity ?
First you need a heat source - I have a fireplace in the middle of my old peasant's house, it can heat the whole place so that's good.
Except you need to know how to start a fire (not easy with wood which is not totally dry), how to fell trees (did this once manually, was broken for a week afterwards), how to cook on said fire (all my pans have plastic handles), etc.

Then food, well yeah tincan stuff which you'd need to rotate.
But first know how to size up how much you need to stock I guess ?

Also I have fruit trees and vegetables in my garden so that's cool, but I have no clue how to store them without energy, for the moment I throw everything I don't eat now in the freezer.
Also I know nothing about tree maintenance, for the moment they just grow and give fruits and that's cool, but I guess that's something I would need to learn too.

In the end if you grew up on a farm you'll probably find all this hysterical
But if you grew up with a useless (or none at all) father like me and I'm sure many others here, you've got some catching up to do !

[Leonard D Neubache]

(01-11-2019 09:07 AM)Oberrheiner Wrote:  

Yeah, I was also more thinking about what happens if for instance utilities break down, rather than a full-on war or something.

For instance what do you do if there is no more water coming out of the tap ?
I have wells on my terrain, but the lab said it was contaminated with fecal traces so I need a way to filter it. I'm open for recommendations by the way
Some people I know told me that labs always said that to private customers, so that they don't drink water without paying taxes on it, but I'm not willing to find out whether that's true when I need it myself.

Beyond staying alive everything is simply a level of comfort.

If you have plenty of wood then you can boil the water for drinking purposes and/or buy enough chlorine to kill the germs chemically. Research sand filters. They're easy to make and will deal with particulate contamination that discolors the water.

Quote:

What do you do if there is no more electricity ?

Make a very specific list of the things you absolutely need electricity for and write the rest off as a needless luxury. You may already have solar Christmas lights tucked away somewhere. These are good for providing a low level of light at night to navigate the house with. Tacky but effective. Beyond that get a couple of solar chargers with USBout capacity. You can get rechargeable torches that will charge through USB and your phones will be covered. We may mock smartphones as modern crap but with the right apps they can be extremely useful survival tools, even if there's no signal.

In any case if things are so bad that the power is out for long periods cover your windows at night and only use very dim light sources in order to avoid drawing attention.

Quote:

First you need a heat source - I have a fireplace in the middle of my old peasant's house, it can heat the whole place so that's good.
Except you need to know how to start a fire (not easy with wood which is not totally dry), how to fell trees (did this once manually, was broken for a week afterwards), how to cook on said fire (all my pans have plastic handles), etc.

In a genuine crisis I would avoid bothering to heat the whole house. I would seal off the rooms surrounding the fireplace and keep a very small fire. Leave just enough circulation for the fire to draw in fresh air from outside.

1) It's easier to cook with.
2) Your wood supply will last much, much longer.
3) You will not be pumping out as much smoke and thereby not gathering as much attention from outside.
4) You will get in the habit of keeping everyone in the house together for safety's sake.
5) Less wood being burned per/hour = more time for potentially damp wood to dry by the fireplace.

Quote:

Then food, well yeah tincan stuff which you'd need to rotate.
But first know how to size up how much you need to stock I guess ?

Also I have fruit trees and vegetables in my garden so that's cool, but I have no clue how to store them without energy, for the moment I throw everything I don't eat now in the freezer.
Also I know nothing about tree maintenance, for the moment they just grow and give fruits and that's cool, but I guess that's something I would need to learn too.

In most cases the easiest way to store fruit long term is to slice it thin and dry it near the fireplace. You can either use drying racks, or the less expensive but more time consuming option of running a needle and thread through the slices and hanging them from the ceiling rafters.



If your trees are giving fruit and it's not rotten with bugs then there's probably not much you need to do except enjoy what they give you. Messing around trying to maximize fruit growth at a household level usually costs you more in materials than you ever get back in fruit. If you want to invest in that though then it's a whole field unto itself.

All of this is premised on spending as little money as possible. If you have a budget to play with then there are way more options, but remember, beyond staying alive it's all just differing levels of luxury.

[Foolsgo1d]

Leonard, you're forgetting smoke gives away signals. If you're unable to disperse the smoke and it carries the smell of food on it you'll get a lot of hungry eyes coming your way.

I stick to what I know so I wont be shooting off to the woods or some far away land I dont understand nor would I visit any other time.

My experience of people does not fill me with any kind of hope for a good outcome if stuff were to slide. Just go to any large gathering of men such as a sports ground where the fans dislike or even hate each other. Wear a high-vis vest and stand to the side of them at the end of the game and watch how their eyes zoom in on you. I did it a few times in a job I had and if you're not part of the crowd you are easy to spot and anything could happen.

You could take a plane over to France and experience some sort of controlled anarchy to get a feel of things. Watching videos is all well but your body isn't reacting to events around you and you cant really learn much outside the basics.

[Oberrheiner]

Good points Leonard as always.

However this deserves more thinking IMHO :

(01-11-2019 09:49 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

Beyond staying alive everything is simply a level of comfort.

While it's certainly true, you can go camp a week in the woods to try it out for yourself.
You should be able to survive, however honestly ? It's a shit life. Really.

I'm pretty certain most people around here would not want to survive a bad event if this is the life that would await them afterwards.
Whether that would be good or bad is an entirely different conversation of course
For simplicity I would assume it's bad for now.

[Kid Strangelove]

I live in New York City.

I'm pretty fucked in an emergency

[Leonard D Neubache]

There are different levels of societal breakdown and it's hard to build an extremely detailed plan without knowing what Oberr's location is like. If you have to be concerned about roving bands of starving people sniffing you out then by that stage you should have already organised (or more likely simply joined) the local area protection militia. Scavenger/marauder types are literally going to be going house to house, door to door, so it will hardly matter if they can smell food or not. They're not going to ignore a house simply because there's no smoke coming from it or no smells of food.

If you're envisaging a situation where you have to control for food cooking smells then by that stage living in a lone, rural house of any description is a death trap.

This is why I advise people against buying rural properties outside of the town boundaries. Hobby farms are functionally indefensible for a typical family unit. You either need to be part of a functioning village or you need to get very very remote, which is not an achievable lifestyle for 99% of people.

But reasonably speaking it's not like the grid goes down and five minutes later you're shooting zombies. Venezuela has been descending into shithole status for many months now and there are no roving packs of cannibals prowling the countryside sniffing the wind for a scent of canned sphaghettios being cooked over an open flame.

It's a good reminder, though. You should have a battery powered local uhf radio running at all times. The frequency the local truck drivers use will almost invariably be the one used by the locals for organising against whatever threats arise. If at any stage you are offered the opportunity to move into the town for your own safety and the benefit of the township (more fighting aged males in one spot) then pack your stuff and move.

Regarding living a terrible life not being worth it, every one of us have ancestors that struggled through unimaginably shit times. Sure, it pays to do better than the bare minimum but if that's what it comes down to then struggle on. How many people alive today have lived through such times and been glad to have come out the other side to live the rest of their lives happily?

p.s. If Oberr's house is outside of the village's line of defense then he would do well to acquaint himself with the town locals to the best of his ability (assuming he hasn't already).

I should hope he has guns and common caliber ammunition to bring to the party. If he's under 40 and physically capable he will more or less be deputized by whatever core group of leadership evolves, and he would be wise to come in under their protection.

p.p.s A decent guard dog may be worth the investment of food it takes to keep it alive and barking. You don't need a government permit to own one and for one reason or another people are often more afraid of a dog than a gun (primal wiring I suspect). Feed it at the break of dawn and keep it hungry overnight. A hungry dog sleeps lightly.



To my mind Belgian Shepherd type dogs are a good compromise between size (amount of food required) and intimidation.

[DannyAlberta]

A lot of great ideas here, so my contribution will be more modest.

Since the Cyprus financial crisis in 2012/13 (anyone remember that) I've been very focused on bank runs, bail-ins, negative interest and frozen consumer accounts.

I think if a banking crisis hits the West, the most likely thing to happen is that accounts will be semi-frozen like they were in Cyprus (a paltry limit per day in withdrawals allowed and no more) to prevent bank runs and to facilitate bail-ins.

As a result, I've been keeping a good portion of cash, in both US and Canadian notes (a few thousand) in my house instead of in a bank.

I've also been looking into storing a portion of my savings in something non-traditional to hopefully escape any such actions. Crypto almost was that place, but it got way too volatile.

Just some things to think about.

[Laner]

Its an impossible event to plan for, as no one knows which event it will be. Based on history, I will have to deal with an earthquake at some point. So my set up is being able to stay healthy for a couple weeks, and that is about it. If the weeks turn into a month or more, then people will be getting mad if there is a lack of disaster relief. Easy targets become vulnerable, so its a matter of staying hidden and blending in.

If things get bad enough that we have to leave home and scout our way to my buddies place, our chance of survival plummets. Especially the young kids. Getting as many trusted men together in one good place like my farm will be the most critical in a true Mad Max scenario where everything that moves gets shot.

Once tribes are set up, there might be a some decent nights sleeps. If things stay sane out there, you will only end up smelly and pretty good at playing Bridge or Rummy.

[Leads]

Been into this stuff since 99. My travels have led to getting into the onebag lifestyle and there is an overlap between that and SHTF prepping. Going off-grid is incredibly fun and brings growth like nothing else. A full-on grid collapse will be better handled with the following:

1. Water filter - Sawyer micro is the lightest option out there and includes a flat water bag. Perfect for packing away

2. Food - I now roll with Sardine Pate' packs from portugal. They are delicious/nutritous with crunchmaster crackers, keep for years and lightweight

3. Shelter - Basic poncho for rain. The Frog Toggs is popular amongst "thru hikers" (the hardcore hikers on trail for 3 to 6 months straight)

4. Fire - have a few options (bic, waterproof matches, etc) I use a UST waterproof butane torch (I'm currently at 10k elevation with heavy snow, -7 degrees and gale force winds up to 100mph) Tender Qwicks firestarters

5. Compass/Map/Knife - I carry a nice Suunto compass and waterproof map of everyplace I live. This is on top of your phone, GPS app and battery backup. I have a knife with serrated edge from Walmart ($1.97)

6. Light - As a high powered flashlight freak, I've been through all of them. The Rovyvon A5 is rechargeable, 550 lumen keychain light with a luminescant glow body and weighs 12grams. It has a clip to attach to hat. It has emergency modes. Gotta have backups too. I have a few LRI battery lights as well (modded with glow in the dark tape). The LUCI emergency solar lantern is also great

7. Cash. I have the Thomas Bates Hiker Money Belt (from amazon) which has a zip liner for cash. It's the lightest and most normal looking belt I've found

8. Common Sense - This cannot be purchased, but try to know your area within a 3 mile radius. Roads and trails. Make friends and become part of the community

9. Hand crank radio - the Kaito SB-1059 is an AM/FM NOAA radio. Lightest I've found at 4oz

[Richard Turpin]

(01-11-2019 12:02 PM)DannyAlberta Wrote:  

A lot of great ideas here, so my contribution will be more modest.

Since the Cyprus financial crisis in 2012/13 (anyone remember that) I've been very focused on bank runs, bail-ins, negative interest and frozen consumer accounts.

I think if a banking crisis hits the West, the most likely thing to happen is that accounts will be semi-frozen like they were in Cyprus (a paltry limit per day in withdrawals allowed and no more) to prevent bank runs and to facilitate bail-ins.

As a result, I've been keeping a good portion of cash, in both US and Canadian notes (a few thousand) in my house instead of in a bank.

I've also been looking into storing a portion of my savings in something non-traditional to hopefully escape any such actions. Crypto almost was that place, but it got way too volatile.

Just some things to think about.

Yeah, I've got a little cash squirrelled away, but not too much. Leonard touched on why it's a bad idea to go all-in (if it loses value overnight you're fucked). I've a little crypto but I'm not hopeful about that, but you never know. I've got the urge to get some gold and silver. I know the investors on the forum are split on this as an investment, but surely as a prepper it's prudent to have some? If so, do u go for the proper certified stuff, or will shiny baubles see you through? Oh, I guess some cigarettes (or a few hundred) wouldn't hurt either.

[DannyAlberta]

^ My view? Gold is an absolute minefield. There are more contracts to deliver gold now than there exists gold above ground in the entire world. Possibly more than there is gold in the world even below ground.

If you could get your hands on the physical stuff, obviously that would be far different. That is something that will likely hold value during a time when fiat currency is worthless (in fact it's fascinating how gold has maintained a relatively stable value when measured against items like non-fiat currency, such as a nice suit for a man). I've looked into it and it was beyond my abilities to understand without devoting more time than I was prepared to in order to do so.

Physical silver and copper coins are the more realistic item of opportunity to get your hands on. I'm currently saving up to buy a few. The obvious issues are that they are still expensive although not as much as gold (silver in particular), they will take up a fair amount of space compared to cash, and be a potential target for theft. However, a modest amount to squirrel away makes sense.

I agree you shouldn't go all in against the current financial system. This is a contingency plan and something a hope NEVER happens, nothing more.

[Dr. Chim Ritchalds]

(01-10-2019 10:22 PM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

No $300 brand-name bags in olive drab. No flags. No dumb badges. No stupid fucking loops all over the thing. You're not occupying Kandahar for fucks sake. You're trying to keep a low profile and...

No visible guns.
All clothing dirty.
All bags dirty.
Garbage-bag smock for rain protection, even if you have a proper one for use later.
Ugly-ass trolley to make life easier until you're off sealed roads and paths.

It's not Fashion Week: Survivalista!

It's the opposite.

View the entire survivalism industry with that lens and you will start to sift the real from the bullshit.

This is basically the "Gray Man" concept of urban survivalists where you focus on blending in and fading into the background so you don't become a target of anyone.

[Oberrheiner]

(01-11-2019 11:31 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

Regarding living a terrible life not being worth it, every one of us have ancestors that struggled through unimaginably shit times.

True, our ancestors did that.

However at that time it was just the normal way of things to have a hard life and struggle your whole life so that maybe your children's life would be better than yours was.
Since that time 2 things happened :

1. Our recent ancestors basically said fuck it, we're going to stay kids our whole life, reject any kind of responsibility and accept debt on a national level to finance our lifestyle - our children will surely be able to pay it off for us eventually. Or maybe not but it won't be our problem anymore.
Now I don't know whether that was a conscious decision on their part or if someone tricked them into doing it, but in any case it happened.

2. Once this decision was taken well the industry just provided them with the fun they wanted in their life.
And when you have known something good it's hard to accept not having it anymore, harder than if you never experienced it or don't even know it exists.

So yeah, if society collapses even just a bit you can probably say goodbye to the internet, spinning plates, easy shopping, vacations around the world, sports car, you name it ..
Saying it like this sound a bit ridiculous because none of this is really important, but to many people it is their whole life really, so I can only assume it's gonna be difficult for them.

Without giving too many details, my house is in the middle of a small village, headcount in the high 3 figures.
40 and physically capable, no guns of my own (yet) but I can use them and am a good shot, still getting to know my neighbors but most are retirees alas ...

Always wanted a dog but it's complicated when both work.
Once saw a caucasus sheperd when visiting some distant family and totally fell in love with this absolutely ridiculous breed
The guys there said that they were selected so as not require much training when pups, but honestly as a first dog this would be beyond stupid.

[Matsufubu]

Have more than one plan. I have Plan A - E (so far), each with room for slight modification before moving to the next plan. Sod's Law, whatever you have planned will be foiled by whatever happens not being quite what you expect and planned for.

But yeah, Grey Man and form/join a tribe. We didn't evolve to be Rambo and you've no idea how weak you're going to be. Like martial arts, you'll most likely perform at your lowest ability when under pressure, not your highest. That's why you need friendlies to watch your back. When civilisation goes out of the window, so do morals. Beware your fellow man.

UK here so AR-15s and the like are just not going to happen. However, an air rifle will enable you to kill rabbits and birds for food.

Water purification tablets in case there's issues with water supplies. Also a Lifestraw/Sawyer micro. Can't live without water.

Duct tape, and lots of it.

A solid first aid kit and training in how to use it. Open it up and take stuff out - if you don't know how to use it now, you'll have little chance when you're bleeding out.

Heavy duty bin liners have many uses: covering up light from windows, makeshift poncho, substitute tarp, groundsheet, etc, etc.

Psychologically, however bad you think it is, your ancestors had it far, far worse. Suck it up, buttercup.

As a family man with two young children, this is scary shit. Failure is not an option.

But chins up, lads: at least feminism will cease to exist!

[Leonard D Neubache]

(01-11-2019 04:16 PM)Matsufubu Wrote:  

...
UK here so AR-15s and the like are just not going to happen. However, an air rifle will enable you to kill rabbits and birds for food.
...

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

The easiest and most effective self defense gun you're going to be able to acquire legally in the UK is a 12 gauge shotgun. There are several hobby sports that allow you to get a permit to acquire such a gun and from what I understand there's minimal oversight about to what degree you actually participate in those sports.

[BaatumMania]

The main focus of this forum is traveling. Sorry to say but the locals would probably cannibalize me before I could find a ship or an airplane out. I will be that other white meat.

[Matsufubu]

(01-12-2019 12:45 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

In the land of the blind the one eyed man is king.

The easiest and most effective self defense gun you're going to be able to acquire legally in the UK is a 12 gauge shotgun. There are several hobby sports that allow you to get a permit to acquire such a gun and from what I understand there's minimal oversight about to what degree you actually participate in those sports.

Yes, there's no obligation to participate. You do need to store it legally though, so you can't just ride around with a shotgun to hand. The UK is so paranoid about armed citizens that there was a story a few months ago about a woman buying a spoon at Tesco and having to present ID. Perhaps more knowledgeable UK folk could contribute?

The other big point is hygiene. Toilet paper, toothpaste and soap will all become valuable commodities. If you've ever had to wipe your ass with a handful of leaves or go a day without brushing your teeth you'll know what I mean. Times that by weeks if not months and you'll see why hygiene is not to be ignored.