Posted on 10/24/2014 8:03:16 PM PDT by Kartographer
I tried to persuade you to prepare for what’s coming and, in the process, revealed that to you that I’m preparing. You realized that I have food, guns, etc., and ended up saying, half kidding but half serious, “I’ll come to your place when SHTF.”
No you won’t. I will shoot you. If you threaten me and my family, I will use force to defend against any threat. And showing up at my place hungry and unprepared is a threat to me. You will eat my food and use up my medical supplies, generator, firewood, etc. That’s less of these life-saving things for me and my family. That’s a threat.
Is this greed on my part? No. I will take care of the truly needy – those who cannot take care of themselves. But you are different. Very different. You had plenty of chances to prepare for yourself.
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfplan.com ...
there is no point in surviving shtf
In other words, eat what you can and what you can't, you can.
I know plenty of survivors who would tell you different, but it takes a certain amount of backbone and guts to make it, something that seems to be in short supply nowadays.
Pool shock keeps forever if properly stored—plus it’s much lighter if you have to bug out. Plus you can mix it from mild disinfectant to burn your face off strength.
Here’s a free site to get you started and get your brain going so that you can plan your own.
http://readynutrition.com/resources/52-weeks-to-preparedness-an-introduction_19072011/
For myself, I asked the question, what is absolute necessity, and what would I miss the most. Made the list, then asked how would I provide this for myself, and then prioritized my lists.
Better than Bleach: Use Calcium Hypochlorite to Disinfect Water
http://survivaltopics.com/better-than-bleach-use-calcium-hypochlorite-to-disinfect-water/
It is your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo and maybe you can even get your picture as you stand there on the national news.
The world is dry tinder just awaiting the right spark maybe mother nature has decided it is time to shuffle the deck.
So listen to what the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV Proverbs 22:3
Selco covers this in this article many times people just can not except that a breakdown is occurring even as they watch it happening before their eyes. Why don’t they realize it? It’s caused by a condition called ‘Normalcy Bias’ a mental state people enter when facing a disaster.
It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.
A good article on ‘Normalcy Bias’ is on our own ChocChipCookies Blog The Survival Mom:
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/
You either prepare and stand on your own beholden to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become their ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.
Just getting started or an old hand you might find my Preparedness Manual helpful. You can download the manual at:
http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!
For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, cash (I myself have been putting up change for the past few years both for the metal content and the fact that using change places to make what purchases you can will move you down the the list of possible marks during shtf), tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.
As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”
Again I like to recomend FReeper’s ChocoChipCookie Blog The Survival Mom (Please Blog Police let this one slide!) Where you can get lots of useful information like:
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/11/20/8-morale-boosters-for-any-worst-case-scenario/
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/02/02/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three/
And More
Also there is Ferfal’s Blog a survivor of Argentina’s first collapse:
And there is Selco’s Blog a Bosnian War survivor at:
“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”
Thinking you can survive long term with just your family is not any more realistic than not prepping at all. Sure, you can survive a few months, maybe a year or more. But when things break down, people and animals get sick, or any of a dozen further disasters strike, you will need some help.
It’s not as if anyone has all the skills required in any situation. Barter and charity need to be part of any plan. Yes, people are stupid, and yes, tough decisions have to be made, but people are more than worthless eaters. There is a reason children were once valued. If you’ve ever really worked the land, you know what I’m talking about. Many hands make light work, and if it comes to fighting, superior numbers are almost always better.
Tough talk and selfishness are not going to rebuild a society that anyone would want to live in. If your plan is to hold out till the bitter end, have at it. My plan is to do more than survive. A couple verses from men much smarter than me:
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help.him up!
One cannot prep to survive a total TEOTWAWKI event alone, or for one family. It is necessary to form a group, a community, to work together. One could prepare for solo survival in a small or local emergency - say three days, or even three weeks - but longer than that, one will need “outside” or collective assistance. The larger the disaster, the longer the disruption of normal social and economic relations and activities, the larger the communal cooperation and effort will have to be.
Great Links. Thanks for all you do.
Jesus spells this out in the parable of the Bridesmaids.
Some trimmed & filled their lanterns, took extra oil and trimmed the wicks - in preparation for a long journey.
Some just grabbed their lamps but made no extra provisions.
When they ran out of oil in the middle of the night and couldn’t see the path, they asked for oil from those who prepared.
They were told no - because then, those that prepared wouldn’t have enough to reach their destination either. All would fail.
There is another parable where Christ spoke of the opposite extreme:
Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
There’s a book called “Poverty Prepping” that might help. And you can borrow foraging books from the library. If you find some nice wild edibles that are going to seed, grab some and scatter them where you like.
Game meats are all over most cities, but you may need a trapping license. Here in WI, those are cheap, and people might pay you to get rid of their racoons for them.
Just a couple thoughts while my sleepy meds are kicking in.
First thing, change your attitude.
Get one extra thing each week. For example, those packages of dried soup vegetables in the dried beans/rice section. A dollar something - can make a LOT of soup with one package.
For meat, canned ham at Walmark - the DAK brand, very good and very affordable - also Spam. Get one can of pineapple at a time. Get one can of spinach.
Keep it simple with just a few different things, like those above. There you have vegetables, meat and fruit. Top RAman is VERY cheap - get one of those every week. If you mix in some soup vegs with it, it goes a long ways. Get bags of popping corn. Good food and filling.
AT the end of one year, you have at least 52 items - plus lots of Raman soup. Better than none?
Do you have a lawn or a porch? Plant some seeds - even if only in buckets. I get dozens of tomatoes from just two buckets.
Poor and disabled. Describes me to a tee.
Well, lets see. I got a fireplace and a supply of firewood. I got two 4-wheel drive vehicles, both obtained used and so cheap. I have a gun collection I started over 50 years ago, many of them pre -1898 or replicas. When I grocery shop, I try to pick up a few extras, especially if there is a sale. I have been camping since I was about 8. I was a reinactor for about 40 years, so I have lots of ‘primative’ equipment and skills. I bought a couple of rain barrels and set them under the downspouts. I keep an eye out for wild food plants: fruit trees, wild nuts, roots and berries sort of thing.
In short, you do little things, but ones that accumulate.
I don’t care what anyone else wants me to or thinks I should do with whatever resources I have available for my family before, during or after SHTF. Someone shows up unwelcome before, during, or after, they will immediately know that they’re unwelcome. I suppose it will depend on how my family feels about that person and whether we think they can be a contributing member of the household as to whether or not they’ll be made to feel welcome or unwelcome. I won’t apologize for taking care of my own first and others if I think my help won’t be squandered.
If someone thinks I should be sharing my resources during SHTF, why shouldn’t I be sharing them now?
Bookmark
Gone. Disappeared.
Definite PrepperPing! Gobs of Good Info here in this thread, of major interest for those of us who are seriously looking into help for when The Obola Hits The WindTurbine...
By your handle I will assume you have CQB rifle and ammo, yes?
There are so many things to consider and a lot of good information for free on the net, of course discernment and the ability to separate the valuable from the worthless comes with experience. Again, by your handle I will assume you have a modicum of that.
Learn to barter. Determine your needs and trade for things that will serve you well in the future.
Water is your friend,bring some home every trip to the store. You can go a week on very little food. Two days without water and you will be forced to seek it leaving you and yours exposed and vulnerable.
Read as much as you can about nutrition and supplementation. Food must be removed from your mind as a pleasure or comfort center. Food is fuel for the body and mind. You don’t need bread ,cake,soda,cookies cheese, (although a good source of protein is a luxury) Whole milk. Body building sites have very good diet plans all set up for different budgets. These plans will help you maintain muscle while burning fat for fuel. Age is not a factor in this, healthy nutrition will kick in healing of some nagging injuries.
Exercise daily, slow at first.....Easy. Work around your disabilities. I don’t know you and certainly wouldn’t minimize your particular disabilities.The human body is God’s greatest machine and you will be amazed how quickly your mind and body will respond. While a strong body is very important, it is a quick, clear mind that will save your life more times than not.
It’s late and barely scratched the surface. Hope this gives you some things to consider.
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