I have the skills to get by the same way my ancestors did and enough food to get through until I raise more if needed.
My dad, who's 83, didn't live in a house with electricity until he was in the eighth grade when they moved to town. He taught me alot about raising food and the practicalities of butchering meat without the niceties of freezers and such. My grandmother was a wealth of knowledge also.
Chit you can't read in a book.
Kent
Kent,
I agree knowledge is the most important. I doubt if Arizona could support 1 million people these days, 1/2 million was ok when your grand dad (and mine) were running around.
think about the deer hunting around globe and superior and morenci....when there was a strike. not so good.
the number of people that go hunting now is higher than ever, the gear is better than ever, and a lot of these folks are pretty good hunters.
I'm figuring most game is going to be cleaned out pretty quick.
Sycamore
There's always something to eat, if you're willing to eat it.
Originally Posted by Mannlicher
America needs to understand that our troops are not 'disposable'. Each represents a family; Fathers, Mothers, Sons, Daughters, Cousins, Uncles, Aunts... Our Citizens are our most valuable treasure; we waste far too many.
Seems to me that in most areas game like deer and such will take a huge hit quickly. And even more so if no one has refrigeration or preservation skills.
A gill net or box fish trap will likely be more useful.
How good is your well? - What would it take for you to put a well with a hand pump down? LINK
Even in many cities, folk are now keeping a small hen house. If you live rurally, laying hens are the easiest and surest source of meat protein available. Quiet, unobtrusive, cheep...
How much room do you have to store dried staples like beans and rice? How much do you have on hand?
What are your gardening skills and how much garden do you maintain?
Have you any experience or means to can food? The set-up is relatively inexpensive, but experience is priceless.
How well do you know your neighbors? Are their core beliefs and values similar to yours?
I've never had easier living than when I lived next to the ocean.
pretty easy to get a meal from the ocean...
God bless Texas----------------------- Old 300 I will remain what i am until the day I die- A HUNTER......Sitting Bull Its not how you pick the booger.. but where you put it !! Roger V Hunter
One may or may not be able to amass the supplies, but my thinking is that mindset is much more important. These guys give a good representation:
Originally Posted by Steve Timm's Blog
There was one distinct problem. It was now almost dark and there was no way we were going to slip and slide our way down to Snake River at that time of day. If necessary, we�d descend the 4,000 vertical feet of icy hillside the next morning. Like it or not, we were going to have to spend the night out in the wilderness.
The wind was such that we were getting pretty cold, so we walked over to the far side of the ridge and dropped off the top. After we�d climbed down a short distance, I found precisely what I wanted; a nice protective rim rock and a rather large hackberry tree.
The rim would keep the wind off of us and it would reflect both the heat and the light of our fire. Even more important, the hackberry tree would provide us with wood that burns hot and long, even when it�s green.
We did an inventory of our packs and we had all we needed to survive the night. Heck, we�d even eat like royalty because I had the elk�s heart and liver in my pack. It was going to be a cold and very long night, but we�d live to see the morrow and we�d be fine.
Whether it be for one night, for for several months, knowing that you'll make it through is an awfully big part of it actually happening.
FC
"Every day is a holiday, and every meal is a banquet."
I stocked up a few cases of canned goods, some TP, dry goods, etc. Found out a couple days ago the wife uses it whenever she wants something not in the cupboards. Kind of defeats the purpose when we're not on the same page. Also, a packrat mentality leaves little room to store anything important when little white snowman birdfeeders and old seat covers from three cars ago take up the available space. Add the usual daily drama that comes with owning a woman and teenage kids. It's very frustrating to be honest.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
Just two generations ago, my grandparents, they survived and prospered. Are we so pussified it can't be done again.
My grandmother drove mule teams, a model A across railroad ties laid in the sand dunes for a road and later a Cadillac.
There will always be some that can tough it out.
Kent
That nails it. Aside from natural disasters, the BIG,BAD, events in our history were Not of the sort an individual could have foreseen and prepared for.
As a kid growing up, we lived in old houses out in the country that were generally not even considered good enough to rent out. I saw my Aunt and Uncle transform them into livable habitat with whatever was available and free.
And we never really went hungry. The Old Man was a working fool at whatever task was in front of him, and even though he was illiterate, SOMEONE always was willing to pay him to do something they needed done whenever the drilling rigs were stacked.
So I learned the important life lessons from a man who couldn't read and write.
The ones who already know those lessons and can impart them to their extended family will be among the most fortunate in a S HTF scenario.
Those who guessed wrong as to the nature of the catastrophe, and have cut themselves off from society will not fare so well.
This thread reminds me of the "tiny house" documentary I watched last night. 30 year old city slicker and his girlfriend buy a tandem axle trailer, tow it to a friends house with a Toyota, and proceed to learn how to build a house on it. Should be done in 3 months. Not. A year later they tow it out to some land in Colorado with someone else's Chevy Duramax cuz ain't no way that Toyota's even getting it out of the yard.
Fast forward to cozy porch, sunset, young love. No mention of water or septic arrangements, just blissful ignorance. They did have solar panels for power. I figured they make it three days then the tank would need to be dumped and they'll be heading for town.
_______________________________________________________ An 8 dollar driveway boy living in a T-111 shack
I am not assured about my survival or preps but I have thought about it extensively because IMHO stuff seems to be too quiet and we have way more than a sustainable population on our planet. Somebody or some thing is going to change the status quo. As an Alaskan its my duty to endure.
One dedicated BOL that is off the grid with a year's worth of supplies about 300 miles from here. I have enough food supplies here to last a year as well. More than 100,000 rds of 22lr and 100 lbs of silver. My wife has hypothyrodism and I have about 10 years of medication for her. We would have to go to Valdez or Cordova for seaweed but I have family established in those places as well. I have worked an extra part time job at SW for three years and I buy my stuff (ammo+everything else)at such a discount that I probably could last for a long time. I have enough dedicated archery setups that I wouldn't need to use firearms for anything but threat elimination. Right now, I am working on building enough of a base so that I could support my extended family. The house we presently live in(Trailer) looks like a shanty and would not get noticed. The park manager is a good friend with way more preps than me including a self sufficient potato farm with about 10 years of preps in Delta. Everything in the park is monitored by cc video. He is older but very much a gray man. There would be a lot of threat elimination early on but then we would bug in until we could bug out. He has three large unimogs for getting to his place and I would run supports until I got to mine. Basically, with what I have once I get out to BOL 1 I would work to get ready to go completely off the grid for good in about two months. I have property in WSTE national park that I could actually defend against everything except a cruise missile. With the ag potential and the salmon I could live then next thirty years there. It has both geothermal and a huge mountain of coal as fuel resources.
I wouldn't pass this along without the proviso that hardly anybody would ever expect me to have those plans and you probably couldn't find me unless you were Randy. I believe he is equally well prepared but would go a different way. Its been -40F- -50F all week and that is normal weather for us during this time of the year. We thought that EL Nino was going to make us into sissies. I relish this weather because it makes the weak-minded move away.
