Not a prepper, but… I was thinking about preparedness.

[*zap*]

good luck, the blue book was printed in '69 it is a binder book that allows removal of pages so I can copy them...some get copied onto rite in the rain paper. Very good listing of edible plants with decent descriptions.

 

[eamyrick]

That's a pretty ignorant, broad brush statement.

My wife calls be ignorant all the time. I apologize for any hyperbole. It would probably have been best to articulate that my experience is based on living in or near the costal USA and the suggested preparations of 99% of the folks on the internet/high priced training courses focus on preparation for an event that very well could happen but in the meantime folks will likely face a disaster of much smaller scale of which most folks are completely unprepared for. I absolutely keep preparations well past what I suggested but most people start with stockpiling and gear and completely overlook the basics.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Maybe this has been mentioned, but a highly useful skill is to have a thorough knowledge of meat preservation (curing, smoking, drying, canning, etc) and having the products on hand to do it. The first thing that would happen at our house in a true SHTF scenario is our canners and dehydrators would run 24/7 to preserve the contents of our freezers before the gas/propane ran out.

 

[Warmsy]

I read an article about what happened after the collapse of the Soviet union. There were accounts of people trading running cars for a few razor blades, a bottle of vodka, condoms...

 

[Marbles]

Read some of Selco's bog. https://shtfschool.com/blog/

It is eye opening, from someone who has been though it. I used to be a prepper, his blog shifted my perspective. A prepper is someone who fetishizes SHTF. A prepared person is one who has first addressed more likely threats like having working smoke/CO detectors and fire extinguishers, then moved a bit further. I get the need to say you are not a prepper.

1. Community
-look at New Orleans post Katrina.
-look at the aftermath of hurricane Sandy (which arguably caused more devastation) the difference was how the community responded. The same will hold on a longer timeline.

2. Have enough food to buy a few months of breathing room.

3. Have durable goods you can trade (bic lighters, coffee, alcohol, supplies).

4. Learn some medicine, pick up some books on wilderness medicine as it focuses on austere environments. NOLS has one that is good for the lay person. Take a wilderness first responder course. Take a stop the bleed course. Take a CPR course.

CPR is for daily life, it is of questionable utility in the wilderness, and short of hypoxia is a wast of time and energy if no medical help is coming.

5. Be flexible. A year of food ties you down, it invites theft and violence (as do durable supplies). If you feel better having it, that is fine, but you may have to leave it.

Ernest Shackleton concluded that expeditions failed when things went bad because people took too much with them. The survival feat pulled off by his crew says he knew a thing or two.

6. Having books is not bad, but it is not a replacement for learning before you might need it.

7. Don't count on vehicles if you have an alternate location. In the worst case scenarios, traffic jams or road blocks or people who just want to spread chaos will make them a poor choice.

8. Already established that this does not apply to you, but be prepared for life. Money in the bank, a little cash on hand, appropriate insurance, Etc.

 

[Will_m]

I don’t know when the term ‘prepper’ came about.

All I know is I grew up with being frugal and making things last.

When I was a kid, my parents raised me and my 2 sisters on a rural farm with no running water.
There was a well to water the cattle but it wasn’t fit to drink.

My mom would wash diapers in the creek when it thawed in the spring.

We had a big garden and canned the veggies and the meat my dad shot in the fall.

It can be done. Not much has changed in the technique, only the mindset of what you need in day to day living.

What about diapers in the winter time?

 

[TheCougar]

We have a garden and fruit trees. My wife already cans stuff. We have about 2 dozen chickens. We are on about 4 acres up in the hills, away from town. I was looking at other livestock that might be useful, but low maintenance and easy. Maybe a potbelly pig or goat…. We don’t have much useable land.

 

[Marbles]

We have a garden and fruit trees. My wife already cans stuff. We have about 2 dozen chickens. We are on about 4 acres up in the hills, away from town. I was looking at other livestock that might be useful, but low maintenance and easy. Maybe a potbelly pig or goat…. We don’t have much useable land.

A pig, get one every spring and butcher one every fall (the one you got the previous spring). A goat could give milk, so it will turn grass into human food year round, rather than just at time of slaughter.

If I had a touch more land, I would have a pig to cut into my game meat when making sausage. Pigs are great for getting something out of food waste (though compost works too).

 

[Forestryguy]

For a quick start on food. What are preferred dried meals. I would keep some at house and few in vehicles and bags. Rotating them to use on hunting and camping trips as the expiration dates came up.

I saw that Costcos brand wa already mentioned.

This scenario is why I keep trying to figure the best on rifle for hunting, etc. There is no way you are transporting a lot of ammo and things will become scarce.

 

[cnelk]

What about diapers in the winter time?

Since we lived in N Minnesota, she just tossed them out in the snowbank and waited til spring.


Seriously, she would rinse them out in the barn and then when we went to town she washed clothes at the laundromat

 

[signing off]

When I get into the SHTF conversation online, people understand the firepower aspect. Some of that will translate into injuries, possibly yours.
Medical supplies and training are the area "PREPPERS" gloss over. Practical, clear thinking adults should get a heavy dose of this stuff.
I bet a 5lb bag of med supplies would trade for much more than that weight in ammo. And is usable in natural disasters as well.

 

[MattB]

how will that prepare you during the dollar collapse? or when your CBDC wallet is locked because you haven't uploaded your vax passport? Cash isn’t king. It’s trash.

99.5%?

 

[*zap*]

if you know how to make water safe to drink your ahead of more than 50% of the people in this country....jmo.

 

[sbaker0029]

We have a garden and fruit trees. My wife already cans stuff. We have about 2 dozen chickens. We are on about 4 acres up in the hills, away from town. I was looking at other livestock that might be useful, but low maintenance and easy. Maybe a potbelly pig or goat…. We don’t have much useable land.

You're already way ahead of the game.

With that plot and what you already have going, I'd definitely pickup that book I recommended in the previous post by John Seymour. Might help you decide what livestock to add and other things to plant in your garden (like medicinal herbs).

Just keep honing skills and gaining knowledge, you'll be fine.

One thing I might suggest too, is if possible build a small building or cabin that isn't dependent on running water or electricity. Use it for canning some and a few other times of year for overnights and whatnot to practice "roughing it"

Remember one is none and two is one, when you stock up on useful supplies.

 

[ozyclint]

I'm on 28 goods acres. Milking cow, pigs, vege garden, wood stove for cooking, heating and house hot water, water gravity feeds the house, we can veges and meat. Got enough ammo for a while, kangaroos are a free source of meat if need be.

Lately I've been thinking about an alternative fuel source for canning should propane become cost prohibitive or non existent. Besides wood I'm leaning towards charcoal. Looking into making my own.

I recently discovered a little charcoal cooker called a 'Cobb'. Looks like a very versatile piece of cooking equipment. super efficient on fuel. Damn thing will cook a chicken or small roast with 9 charcoal briquettes/handful of lump charcoal.

I can't help but think that all the self sufficiency in the world is all for naught if you are forced/displaced from your land. Ask a South African farmer, Ukrainian, etc. Then you need to be a nomad and know how to survive.

 

[Gone4Days]

99.5%?

You don’t remember 2021? Can’t go to restaurant without papers? When the dollar collapses the federal reserve will go to a CBDC. it’s inevitable. The govt will control your money. If you don’t think the government will force you to do things in order to access your money your are the one who is crazy my friend.

Google CBDC.

https://www.cato.org/commentary/central-bank-digital-currencies-freedom-are-incompatible

“The real danger in CBDCs is that there is no limit to the level of control that the government could exert over people if money is purely electronic and provided directly by the government. A CBDC would give federal officials full control over the money going into–and coming out of–every person’s account.

This level of government control is not compatible with economic or political freedom.”

 

[ozyclint]

It's not compatible with humanity. The scope for control is total.

 

[Will_m]

Since we lived in N Minnesota, she just tossed them out in the snowbank and waited til spring.


Seriously, she would rinse them out in the barn and then when we went to town she washed clothes at the laundromat

That’s wild. What’s even more wild is that it probably wasn’t even a big deal then. Probably thought it was luxury just having diapers.

 

[displacedtexan]

What a good book, truly an eye opener. The movie ‘the road’ is along the same premise only a bit darker.

Supplies only last so long. Knowledge and skill is where it is at. Shelter, water, fire, food and I’ll add security; can you ‘build’ them without supplies? I’m not against supply caches, but don’t forget some ‘primitive skills’ too. Lots of schools in the Virginia area.

Cormac is always the darker view!

And I'm with you. Some supplies, more skills.

 

[MattB]

You don’t remember 2021? Can’t go to restaurant without papers? When the dollar collapses the federal reserve will go to a CBDC. it’s inevitable. The govt will control your money. If you don’t think the government will force you to do things in order to access your money your are the one who is crazy my friend.

Google CBDC.

I now realize the question mark was unnecessary.