ARE YOU A SURVIVALIST?

[Rhuga]

This is just another way of looking at some of the many Threads that this thought encompasses.

I have heard a many great ideas and philosophies on this site. Our Rights under the Constitution and Bill Of Rights, et all, are supreme. The most precious is The Second Amendment followed by all the other amendments in personal order.

Do you have what it is going to take to be able to live after a collapse of our life style as we know it?

There are many categories of Survivalist in a catastrophic situation. Which are you?
1. A gun collector.
2. A person that is going to wait for the government or other people to help.
3. A person that is going to organize a group.
4. A member of a family group.
5. Someone that is going to just stockpile their resources and wait.
6. A weekend camper with some supplies.
7. Someone that is going to wait to be told what to do.
8. A diehard guerrilla.

This is just a few in a long list of the people types that will emerge in a survival mode situation.

Can you think of others?

[jack404]

I'm Australian
i stock and stash
i prepare
Deo duce, ferro comitante

but i do get ready

not so much for me but for those who will follow
so i really dont fit those groups

but short answer ., YES

[ryan42]

Ive been thinking of this often,I dont want to sound like a crackpot,but Ive been stocking up on ammo,water,nonperishable food,and I have a unique situation.My wife is on the heart transplant list.She has a device called a heartmate II Lvadd keeping her healthy why shes waiting a heart.I runs on electricity,during the day it has batteries and at night shes plugged into a machine so she has to have electricity constantly to charge her batteries.She has 3 days worth of power then she has to charge up.I have a generator and power inverters for the car so I have that covered.I just have to plan more.

[Brisk44]

I have what I need and the means to keep it.

[76Highboy]

I thought thats what we were all supposed to do, but some of us are the minority. But that's ok.

[RYANINMICHIGAN]

I grew up with a big garden. We canned everything. I have a smaller garden as an adult but still can, like most country folk guns are a way of life. We eat fish and game 4 nights a week now. I am a carpenter by trade, grew up fighting golden gloves. I grew up hanging out in one of the most dangerous cities in the world aggression and violence are not new to me. the last time we went camping with another couple it was raining and the other wife commented about not having a fire, my wife's response was " I have never been camping with Ryan no matter the weather that we did not have a fire." I having been running around the woods since I was a kid. I would like to think I have a pretty good skill set to live through just about anything..

[cycloneman]

I am someone who lived thru the aftermath of Katrina. I dont live in NO but north of there some 50 miles. Our power was shut down for a long time. Lines to the grocery were very long and only one person at a time guided by a store clerk was allowed to go. Fuel was in short supply.

Listen and listen good. YOu can have all the weapons you want. Fighting is something you want to stay away from. Heavy work is something you want to stay away from. Heavy work means you can hurt yourself and there is no one there to fix broken bones. YOu must use your head. No power means hot and cold temps, muggy nights.

You must be able to resort to using things that people used before power was avaliable. Candles for example.

Now even if you have supplies believe me take your time and raise some chickens and rabbits. Just do it. learn what it takes to do it. chickens will give you eggs and rabbits reproduce very fast. get to raising them now. Especially if you have some acreage to let them free range. You will not be able to buy feed. A water well is life. a solar powered water is real nice. better get to know your neighbors too.

a vehicle that does not have all that electronic bs under the hood is nice to have.

something i have been wanting to do is learn how to make alchol. alchol is fuel that you can make and can use it for a number of things. I think the key is to have some land with trees on it. trees are fuel too.

once shtf many people will not know what to do even if you think you are prepaired. You will be stunned for a while.

[ryan42]

I agree

[Rhuga]

Boil 10 gallons of water, add 10 lbs of sugar, let simmer for 10 minutes and stir. Put into sterile crock or plastic garbage can and let cool. Add yeast, then cover with plastic sheet and place a rubber band rope around it to let the gasses out and no air gets back in. Let sit at 70 degrees and in 2 to 3 weeks you have 14% alcohol ready for distilling. See the home brew sites on the web for the still and other materials, and recipes.

[cycloneman]

interesting. I was more thinking about making alchol from various things that might be avaliable, sugar might not be.

[Rhuga]

Maybe grow some sugar beets or cane. Then dice it up and add to the mix.

[jack404]

if your looking to make Biodeisal or Bio booze , your better off using a starch based mix rather than sugar , yeah you get it fast with sugar but you also need the fuel to lube a bit and do other things ( not make sticky soot like sugars do which gum's up valves exhausts etc)

grass roots make a good base, corn is good ( wastefull but makes good biobooze)
vege peelins with a little sugar and yeast is great save up them tater peelin's and ferment away

reeds and most swamp grasses have a good rep too

but sugar by itself , drink it , your body wont be as damaged as any engine you throw it in

[76Highboy]

My thought...I can get around in the mountains, that is not my plan. Reason being, that is where everybody else is going. The back country is packed enough during hunting season. It would just be a bloody game of survival. I have what I need. I don't need power. I can live in a stoneage setting where I am. I have access to water. I have a great supply of quality food. I have vitamins. I have clothing. I have bedding. I have man made (rambo style) alarm strategies. I can sharpen my knives. I have many hand tools. I can make ammo. I have spare gun parts. I have gas (no, I really do have gas right now). And most importantly, I have my Bible. So, amen, praise the Lord, now pass the ammo.

[Petergunn]

4&5 I like my creature comforts but I've lived without them before could do so again but I'm in no hurry to do so

[prof_fate]

My friends think I'm nuts, my wife will tolerate my actions but makes me stay quiet...I'm not expecting any great govt collapse or anything.

My concern is, ok, call me nuts, that there is something to the 2012 thing. My guess is that a solar flare will hit china-ish (other side of the globe) creating great difficulties for 6 months to a year. So that is what I'm preparing for.

I figure I need 6 months of food, access to water and heat (it gets cold here and I don't like cold), some weapons/ammo for self defense and food acquisition. Since I have a rather narrow time frame to prepare for I can have seeds, prep a garden ( i do some gardening now but not enough to live on), etc. I also don't want to invest 10k and not have the world end, so to speak, and feel like I wasted resources that might have helped toward retirement or kid college. But I'll feel really bad if something does happen and I have to watch my kids starve and freeze.

What I can't rightly conclude is what happens immediately following 'the incident' - assuming a solar flare the likely result is everything electrical worldwide is fried - no radio, internet, phones, elec, possibly no cars either. OK, say it happens at 3 am our time - we all awake to no power...no car, no phone. And it's not coming back for months. What do people do? How long does it take for them to do it? With no news or govt (or police, no way to escape by car either) - what happens and how?

Do I need to create a bunker in my basement and hide there until most folks starve or kill eachother -and how long will that take? Other thoughts?

[prof_fate]

Originally Posted by cycloneman

I am someone who lived thru the aftermath of Katrina. I dont live in NO but north of there some 50 miles. Our power was shut down for a long time. Lines to the grocery were very long and only one person at a time guided by a store clerk was allowed to go. Fuel was in short supply.

Listen and listen good. YOu can have all the weapons you want. Fighting is something you want to stay away from. Heavy work is something you want to stay away from. Heavy work means you can hurt yourself and there is no one there to fix broken bones. YOu must use your head. No power means hot and cold temps, muggy nights.

You must be able to resort to using things that people used before power was avaliable. Candles for example.

Now even if you have supplies believe me take your time and raise some chickens and rabbits. Just do it. learn what it takes to do it. chickens will give you eggs and rabbits reproduce very fast. get to raising them now. Especially if you have some acreage to let them free range. You will not be able to buy feed. A water well is life. a solar powered water is real nice. better get to know your neighbors too.

a vehicle that does not have all that electronic bs under the hood is nice to have.

something i have been wanting to do is learn how to make alchol. alchol is fuel that you can make and can use it for a number of things. I think the key is to have some land with trees on it. trees are fuel too.

once shtf many people will not know what to do even if you think you are prepaired. You will be stunned for a while.

Good advice and experience there. Not sure about making alcohol for fuel as you need to distill it which takes fuel (wood). You can raise 50 lbs of potatoes in a 3 foot circle so perhaps getting the starch/sugar is feasible, but I'm not sure the overall effort will net you with much. Very few cars can run on alcohol anyway (or generators, etc).

I lack a water well (there is an old old one on the property used before city water came through) but having been raised with a well I know what it would take to make it work again...better off to reroute downspouts to tanks of water - it doesn't take much rain collected on a roof to fill a 50 gallon barrel (or old water heater if you want to better 'hide' your water supply). Run a tap off the downspouts to your basement and you can hole up and have water - if you mount the water tanks high (but below the gutters) you'll have gravity fed running water. Add solar water heater system and you have hot and cold running water.

[Country101]

Jack, I really like that bit of latin you posted earlier. I like the full quote as well. I may add it to my signature line. Do you happen to know the origin of that quote? I think I saw a free mason referance to it before, but I'm not sure about that.

[Zane71464]

Re: ARE YOU A SURVIVALIST?
Time'el tell, but a short answer, Yes.

[jack404]

its from the Knights of St John thats its earliest reference anyone can find

i had it as my sig a while back , so help yourself , its something i've tried to live by for a while

the response if used as a challenge is ( challenge can also be a greeting )

Habemus Gladii Duo!
We have two swords!
(See Luke22:35-38)

[jeffadaklin]

THere are quite a few 'experts' on thje economy and such that are predicting- not the end of the world, nothing that bad- but a really bad breakdown in our economy. And if/when that happens, the most immediate threat will be people who are NOT prepared, or people who take advantage by robbing people. they'll be looking for money, cars, and GUNS & AMMO! Then there are the roving gangs, walking thru neighborhoos, 4,5, 6 guys break off and invade a house that looks promising. That's my main area of prep rght now. Ammo, a little food etc. I'm not a nut, either lmao but maybe the nuts are the ones that take NO precautions. Those folks who want to ban guns come to mind.

[rcairflr]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

My friends think I'm nuts, my wife will tolerate my actions but makes me stay quiet...I'm not expecting any great govt collapse or anything

Do I need to create a bunker in my basement and hide there until most folks starve or kill eachother -and how long will that take? Other thoughts?

Thats a very good question and even though I am no expert, I will take a crack at it.

There are countless things that could cause a SHTF scenario. A virus that sweeps through the world and kills billions, a major meteor strike, nuclear holocaust, major volcano eruptions etc. etc. etc......

If you survived, that means that possibly millions of others have also survived. Unless you are out in the middle of nowhere, it would be difficult to survive on your own. There will be people banding together all over the world to survive as groups. Being alone and by yourself would be difficult to defend yourself and yours against these other groups of people. I don't think you can assume, if you stay in your basement long enough, that everyone else will die or kill each other. People who are not survivalists (as being discussed here) will survive, even if it takes killing and taking from those who are weaker.

[prof_fate]

A bunker, or safe room, isn't a terrible idea - anymore than perhaps a gun safe is. Of course I took down the concrete block walls in my basement years ago to open it all up....(had a garage there, coal room, another room). Ahh, hindsight!

There are house invasions all the time- well, not daily in every neighborhood but enough that it's a worthwhile thing to protect against. But how?

From what I've seen on the news the targets are often elderly...I can't stop growing old.
They often come to the front door and appear as utility/census/church folks while someone else goes in a back door. So keep your doors locked helps.

You can open the door 3" and shove a barrel out to greet every knock...and if two well dressed young folks come to the door they're more likely mormons than gang bangers - but if they jump you you've got little chance to react and CCW won't do much good.

[CharlieSW]

ARE YOU A SURVIVALIST?

I sure hope so!

[howlnmad]

No.

I'm gonna sit and wait for the gubment to save me .

[Double D]

No, but I am a bitter clinger.