Survival and prepping

Seems this place has a good variety of forums and sub-forums with a lot of views and does paint a ever changing climate. I was wondering why no sub forum for survival or prepping. This kinda goes hand in hand given the world today and is mutual ground regardless of ideology or faith.

Maybe I missed it being new and the coffee is still perking.

 

I've thought about this for years. I've reached the conclusion that I have no intention of regressing (i.e. living off of canned food and bottled water). I even decided to go back to work and pay taxes instead of moving to the mountains. My survival has no real societal value. I'll go down with the ship when it sinks.

 

I don't consider myself a prepper like those on television but I do have livestock, a garden,and plan a small fish farm this summer.

I figure if it gets as bad as some people think its all over anyway.

 

No hiding living off canned goods and puddle water. I am thinking of more in line of canning, dehydrating, BOB's, alternate power source, medical, map reading and so on.

I have a rotating pantry with almost a year of food for a family of three, stored water, alternate heating/power for when things go bad, medical supplies, Garden each year. Made BOBs for the family that they have with them in the vehicles. A place to talk about equipment and what works.

Built a chicken coop and have 7 chickens, love the eggs. Live in a small city and my House sits on 3 lots.

I look at it as insurance that helps me sleep at night. Nothing extreme and I know it is not for everyone but the writing on the wall looks dim. The plus side is it is neutral ground for ideas and solutions.

 

Thanks Bear, just some common ground and ideas.

 

We have a few acres and have two cows, a few chickens, a very large garden, and three pigs.

The chickens ain't layin so we will eat them and get more about March. We buy chicks and raise em up. Our boar hog (Bruno) is up to about 250 lbs, and our two gilts are at about two hundred a piece. We will cull one for pork and we are trying to get piglets from at least one. The first one that gives us piglets will survive.And our large cow is about 600 lbs and out small one is about 500lbs. We will be getting beef from one in March...if not both. We want some good Angus cattle. The two we have are not good producers.

I just tripled the size of the garden because pig food is expensive and we are about out of produce to feed them. Here we can garden year round.

Have you thought about goats??? They don't take up much space.

 

What I see here are logical thoughts. Your are hedging cost constraints (i.e. a fiscal benefit) against societal collapse. No tinfoil hats and no conspiracy theory. Just preparation for the one in a hundred (and growing) possibility of societal collapse in the USA. If it doesn't happen, you learn a skill and lower your food costs.

 

There are some good ways to prevent against effects of global warming, with the disasters that hit far up north it is rational to have survivalist preparations in store. New Jersey was without petro and power for months, it caused a lot of problems.

Save from nuclear problems, simple things like getting a stand by generator helps a lot. While everyone is waiting for the government to turn power back on you'll be running on propane.

No need to stand in lines at the gas station for portable generator, those are useless when it gets bad. Have a big propane tank you can have power for weeks.

 

I work and pay taxes and I do not live off canned food and bottled water. I would even venture to say that the quality of home raised livestock and fresh eggs and produce increase the quality of life rather than diminish it.

I have been buying groceries for about two months now because I want to get baby piglets and have not butchered a pig. My cows just ain't old enough yet. But when the garden starts to come in and the cows are in the freezer I will pay very little for groceries and have very good meals at the house. We will eat for quite a while for next to nothing in cost.

If I can get the fish ponds going I should have most of it covered...produce, beef, pork, eggs, chicken, and fish.

From the pork we get cooking oil (lard) along with all the cuts of pork. We will probably have to buy milk and bread because I can't talk my wife into grinding wheat for flour or milking cows.

 

Would love to have goats but living in a small city they are against it. This year we will expand the garden also. Canning food last year really paid off.

I have 4 dehydrators and it seems to always be running mid summer throughout fall. Made some peach and Mellon jelly that was lip smacking. As far as alter. power I have 2 Honda Generators for back up and propane/wood heaters.

Our Bobs get switched out for the seasons. Hows everyone medical kits? You can get good deals for some meds at Vet. web sites.

 

The two options are bug out or dig in. I live in a condo, so digging in is not an option. So my plans for a natural disaster, are to bug out.
I have access to a Cessna 172, and if the airport is open, I'll have the advantage of avoiding traffic clogged roads. Grab a bug out bag, and head for the airport...weather permitting. Other than that, I'm more likely to die of heart disease or cancer...given the statistical probabilities of mortality. Worrying too much will give you a heart attack.

 

You do realize the move to incrementally put rules in place to stop traditional
freedoms like having a garden in one's yard.Many localities have laws in place
Forbiding Gardens.Even dopey stuff like laws against kids setting up saturday
afternoon lemonade stands.
I kid you not.We are being indoctrinated into an Orwellian - Animal Farm - where
rules change almost weekly.

 

Basic BOB for the car and work. I travel a lot and my bag is suited for me and my lifestyle... State laws being I also have a sidearm and ammo in the bag.

FOOD & WATER
•Minimum of 3600 calories of food per person per day.
•Method of water purification (such as potable aqua or a water filter straw)
•Minimum of 9 water pouches of water per person ( I just rotate a case of water every few months)


COMMUNICATION
•Cell Phone
•Whistle with lanyard
•AM/FM Radio with batteries or alternate power source

LIGHT SOURCES
•Flashlight with batteries
•Lantern and fuel
•Lightsticks
•Candles
•Road Flare(s)

FAK

Basic all around 1st Aid kit for you and family.


Also it is good to have a city and state map with compass. I also have $50.00 cash in each bag. In the trunk we have blankets and a small 2 person cheap tent.

Please consider the season also as it does help. We rotate perishable items twice a year. The bags purpose is to keep you safe for 72 hours until you can make it home.

 

I've always had several months worth of food available around the house, a couple of spare propane tanks for the grill and camp stove, and a couple of bug-out bags just in case. Stateside I have a few guns and usually keep a few hundred rounds of ammunition as well, but those things are a bit harder to get here in Germany. A real disaster will be a bit tougher to properly prepare for and ride out here, but odds are that won't matter.

I look forward to building my retirement house. It will sit on at least five acres, will have a huge garden as well as chickens and maybe a cow or a few pigs. I'm planning on setting up a small wind generator and a propane or natural gas generator as well. Not that I'll actually need any of it, but it is kind of fun putting together the supplies anyway.

 

Ich wohnte in Stuttgart und in Mannheim für 7 Jahre und verstehe

Good for you on the BOB's. Thank you for your service to this great Nation.

 

Yes ...but that is one advantage of living in Alabama. We do not have to "bug out" where I live because we are already out.

Just about everyone down here has a garden and I have seen livestock (cows) right across the shcool and well within city limits. It is kind of a live and let live culture and that is the way I like it. I see cows everywhere...in fact there are two cows for every three people in the State.

The housing additions have rules as far as height of grass and gardens but not here. I guess thats the price you pay for living right on top of your neighbor. For the money they spend on those places you could get 10 acres of ground and a pretty good house in the country. I have been looking at fifteen acres with a pond close by...fenced on three sides.

It seems Alabama has a reputtation of being ignorant hicks ...and we have a lot of them. But we do still have some freedom and most people are quick to help another person in need. If you break down on the side of the road someone will stop and help.

 

It's the little things...

Since I live in Florida my "prepping" is more specific. I'm worried about losing power for an extended period of time and water contamination due to hurricanes.

I have about a month's worth of food for the family, as well as stored water, but I need to get a water purifier and maybe some sort of collection system like a rain barrel.

Also, power. That's an issue that has bugged me. The available generators are too loud and don't really power a whole lot. I would like to use the motors in my car to generate electricity. The only vehicles that I've seen that actually function that way are CUCV's. Does anyone know about any others?

 

How much KW do you need? I found the Honda EU2000 does great and is very quite and fuel efficient. Expensive but well worth it.

 

I need to get a generator...another item on my list.

I need one that runs on nat gas....my cows are full of it!

 

They made it criminal to have those portable generators, or using the automobile engine to power the house from the control panel.

It creates current that travels back to the power lines, and many line men have perished when they worked on the lines from houses that did that.

It has to be a stand by generator that's approved by the government, they come down and make sure the current doesn't run back to the power lines which make it dangerous.

 

That can happen if a person doesn't install a real cutover switch or an unskilled person tries to install the generator panel themselves. A properly installed generator cutover switch won't feed power back through the lines. Unfortunately not everyone will install one properly.