[agere_contra]

If civilisation does collapse, everybody’s going to be treating Mel Gibson with more respect.

[goodwithagun]

Another thing I’ve thought about is obtaining food without detection. If I fire my rifle to kill an animal, the sound will bring attention to myself. I think I might add a simple fishing rod to my survival stores.

[STONEWALLS]

...thanks for the post Red in Blue PA....besides things already mentioned, my list includes:

1.other armed people...no way my wife and I can survive alone on our isolated farm...we’ll need at least 10 others minimum to pull pickett guard duty 24/7/365...and make no mistake, the biker gangs will definately be coming to murder, rape and take all you own.

2.commo...picket guards at the observation post have to be able to give warning when the looters are coming....so that everyone in the compound can go to their assigned battle stations at once...also a single sideband hand crank SW radio to get news of the outside world.

3.medical....anti-biotics and dental instruments for pulling teeth

4.an old 4x4 vehicle...I say old because I want something with plugs and points....the new ones are too complicated to keep running...a stash of stabilized fuel to go with it.

[servantboy777]

Everyone needs to be prepared, but hunkering down?

I’m kinda of the mindset........Why run and hide?

I want my country back!!! If we all hide, guess what?

They’ll take us all.....one at a time, right where your hiding.

[Lorica]

bookmarking for good advice and ideas

[Bean Counter]

Great article and I thought i would add a thought along these lines. I am not planning on being a member of "The Golden Horde" and we have been "prepping" if you will for years, in that we have consistently upgraded, improved and repaired our home so we can in fact live here fairly comfortably when the power goes off.

Another step I encourage anyone with the space to do so is to add a chicken coop to your property. I built ours between last November and this past February, and the first hens moved in around February 7th. Here is a link to Backyard Chickens dot com where I posted an extensive set of construction pictures while it was being built. There are several threads linked off of that one with details of different coop and run components, including the rainwater collection system that fills that barrel on the back and provides the chooks with a near inexhaustible supply of drinking water.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=283812

And here are some pictures from today of what our coop and flock looks like. We have 2 Rhode Island Reds, two Golden Sex Links, and a pair of Jersey Giants. Three of the girls are in lay right now and we are averaging three eggs a day. When the Jersey Giants lay, their eggs are like goose-eggs, but it will be at least another month before they mature. They are a full 2 months younger than the Reds.









The henhouse and run us based on six four by four posts that support the roof, and the coop. The run is 50 square feet and the coop interior is 20 square feet, and the exterior nesting boxes add about 8.5 additional square feet. The lids open up to harvest eggs.

You can do worse for yourself in a barter economy, than to have fresh hen fruit available every day, and if you select "dual use" birds you have meat on the table when you need it.

Check your local zoning to be sure of the rules; here we are allowed a flock of this size, but hens only and no roosters allowed; and if you are raising hens for eggs you don't want a roo anyway...

The cost was reasonable and we spread it out in cash over several months, so it was easy to pay for it as we went. Give chickens a try in your long-term survival plans.

[GizmosAndGadgets]

Amidst all the talk about getting and storing fresh water, I started to wonder about the waste-water side of the equation. Since all of the preparedness scenarios involve the failure of public services, this also means that sewer service will be disrupted. So, depending on where you live (and if you plan on remaining there during the crisis), you need to plan not only on how to dispose of your own waste, but also how to prevent a backup in the sewer system from intruding into your home.

In our case, we live high enough on a hill that we could probably keep sending waste water down the city sewer without any problems - the neighbors at the bottom of the hill might not be so lucky ;-) Once upon a time, the county had to regularly pump waste from the manhole at the bottom of our street (usually about the same time the school bus came in the morning :-( They have not had to do it that way for years, but it makes me wonder about the need for some sort of pumping "lift-station" to move waste. If that system stops working, the waste water is going to backup to somewhere, so you might want to consider whether your home is at risk, perhaps with some sort of plan to block your sewer line by plugging it through a cleanout-plug - don't let your shelter be on the receiving end of an unexpected sewer surprise!

[pack29172]

There are a bunch of good posts. I think I have read all the posts and don’t want to repeat one, but I don’t think this one has been up yet. When currency becomes toilet paper, then toilet paper becomes currency. I know if I can come up with a roll of real toilet paper, my lady will be real pleased, and that helps things go better right there.

[JDoutrider]

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