How prepared are you right now?

[Acdoctor]

My wife and daughter went to Tractor Supply today and guess what the baby chicks are in now, thought I would never hear the end of it. I made it out without any but my 17 year old wanted almost every chick that had in the store, She already has 10 white leghorns and 10 Issa browns, she is already getting 18 to 20 eggs a day but it was still hard to tell her no to the chicks. Selling eggs and using them as hard as I can.

 

[Schattentarn]

https://www.firmanpowerequipment.com/shop/t07571/
I paid $699.99

The FIRMAN T07571 tri fuel generator is a 9400 watt trifecta with the ability to run off of gasoline, propane, and natural gas with an electric starting system. Including a 5.5ft LPG hose for convenience using larger tanks, the T07571 is also California emissions certified. Its 8gal tank runs for 12hrs and at 74dB. Our Max Pro Series 439cc engine runs cool and efficient thanks to its Phoenix Fat Head Block. With a built-in 10” wheel kit and folding handle, the tri fuel T07571 can go anywhere and perform however you like.
Note: Available only at Costco. Everything you need is in the box including: oil, funnel, operator’s manual, and spark plug wrench.
FEATURES

• 439cc Tri fuel engine with low oil shut off and cast iron sleeve
• 8 gal tank provides 12hrs of run-time. Propane tank not included
• Multi feature control panel with covered outlets
• 10″ Heavy Duty Wheels and High Folding Handle
• Includes 5.5 ft LPG regulator hose
• Outlets:
  • (2) 5-20R 20A-120V
  • (1) 14-50R 50A-120/240V
  • (1) L14-30R 30A-120V/240V Twist Lock
  • (1) L5-30R 30A-120V Twist Lock
• Gross Weight – 239 Lbs
• Unit Weight – 212 Lbs
• Carton Measurements – 32.1″ x 22.2″ x 24.6″
• 3 year warranty

Thanks Dr. Prepper. That is quite a generator. I am going to look into it. Thanks again for your work posting this.

 

[Schattentarn]

You are se

I have city water and also have a well and a pond on my many acres. I have public electricity and a 22kw propane generator and a mobile 6.5kw gas/propane generator. We have 2 1000 gallon propane tanks and 6 20 gallon portable tanks. 150 gallons of gasoline stored in 5 gallon cans that I rotate. 40 gallons of diesel in 5 gallon cans for my tractor. 2 250 watt mobile solar panal systems with battery banks.
Have about 300lbs of charcoal. More wood than I can calculate. 16 acres of all woods.

We have all the motor oils, hydrolic fluids and filters, etc.. that we will need for 10 years.

Have all the medical supplies and equipment needed for many years. All the tools, hardware to repair about everything here.

All sorts of weapons and ammo that would be needed and the means to reload and make arrows.

We have 2 ham radios and many bofangs and personal radio's.

Have chickens, both egg layers and meat.

We have about a half acre of gardening space, less than a quarter currently used. Have about an acre of fruit trees and berry bushes.

What we don't have are bees, would love to have a hive. No cows, no goats. I would love to have both, but we have limited pasture.

My property is in a remote area off of a country road, off of a dead end road, down a private gravel road that can be camouflaged and blocked off. It borders a creak, swamp and dense woods. No one will be coming here unless they already know im here.

You have a great set up. Congratulations

 

[Mountain trapper]

We are completely snowed in right now. Had high winds and heavy snow all yesterday and last night. The wind and snow finally let up early this morning, but more is expected today. Our 2 mile long driveway is drifted in. It'll take days to clear it.
We have plenty of food in the pantry and in 3 freezers, plus livestock (chickens, cattle) and several thousand acres of timber for firewood. We have 5 generators; 12kw Perkins diesel, 6.5kw Honda, 3.5kw Honda, 8.7kw Lifan and a 12kw Miller (also a welder). 400 gallons of diesel, 100 gallons of gasoline and 600 gallons of propane. A deep well with the best tasting water anywhere. Large garden and orchard, of course its buried under 6 feet of snow.
We've got a 65 hp JD tractor 4WD with chains and calcium chloride filled tires (extra weight), front snow plow and rear blade, a CanAm with tracks and a 25 hp, 72 inch snow blower, 2 atv's with snow plows and a track mounted walk behind snow blower for clearing around the house.
We're 100% off grid with solar and generator backup. Our well has a separate generator for pumping water and the pump house has a wall mount propane heater with thermostat to keep everything from freezing. Makes a good warm-up shack when I'm out plowing or refilling the stock tank.
We have a shop full of tools and maintenance items for all of our equipment. Also a barn full of tools and equipment for livestock. 2 corrals for working the cattle; squeeze chute, calf table, etc plus a small feed lot for finishing the beef before butchering.
We're pretty well set for most things that could go wrong around here.

 

[GaRp58]

We're 100% off grid with solar and generator backup.

We are much smaller Arctic but our needs are very reduced now. Only thing we need from the city is gas for heating and electricity. We could do with the wood and the generators and small solar for lighting but for an extended time frame...don't think we have enough yet for an "off grid" claim, I'm jealous. Gary

 

[Kevin L]

I just got another pair of combat boots (with much criticism from my GF, as I already have 3 pairs) to round out my prepping stuff. They are Corcoran jump boots with a lug sole. They just came yesterday, so I haven't tried them on yet.

I picked up a taste for Corcoran jump boots when I was a paramedic, and they worked very well in the f----ked up environments that I worked in, so I believe in them for after SHTF.

The only problem is tbat I got the kind with a side zipper, which I don't feel is practical, as it's a point of mechanical failure.

I still got them, as I was feeling nostalgic about my EMS days. I used side zipper combat boots because I could get them on quickly when the alarm went off at 3:00 AM in the station, and I could just throw them on. See below:

I had a pair for 4 years, until a junkie's needle went into the sole, and it broke off when I tried to pull it out.

I wasn't comfortable with the idea of walking around with a dirty needle that might work its way into the boot and into my feet.

So . . . it felt like I was getting rid of a good friend when I discarded these boots.

 

[GaRp58]

My march across America in '76 was accomplished in a pair of Vietnam issue jungle boots with drain holes in the arch and nylon tops. Good in slippery areas, grip on rocks and quick dry in the wet. Lasted almost 3 years nonstop use and I now have a pair of steel toe jungle boots next to my BOB. Great wearing after they are finally worn in.

 

[Kevin L]

My march across America in '76 was accomplished in a pair of Vietnam issue jungle boots with drain holes in the arch and nylon tops. Good in slippery areas, grip on rocks and quick dry in the wet. Lasted almost 3 years nonstop use and I now have a pair of steel toe jungle boots next to my BOB. Great wearing after they are finally worn in.

I agree.

It does take time to break in a pair of boots.

I have 2 pairs of Macrae jungle boots, a pair of Corcoran 975 jungle boots, a pair of brown Corcoran jump boots, and now the side zipper ones.

When I've been researching survival, prepping, and so on . . . it seems that feet issues (like "jungle rot" [whatever the hell that is], leeches, frostbite, and infected blisters) were always a major factor in screwing up a survivor's day. Socks--for example--are the most requested clothing item at homeless shelters, and a soldier can face a court martial for derelection of duty if he or she doesn't take care of his or her feet. Foot issues and bad wooden clogs were part of the reason why people were not able to escape from concentration camps in WWII.

So, I've spent a lot of money (much to my GF's disgust) and time on boots and other foot products.

 

[GaRp58]

it seems that feet issues (like "jungle rot" [whatever the hell that is]

When your feet never get to dry out and see some sunlight, the skin turns white, starts to peel away and just go bad. It dies off and peels off like a sunburn. The whole idea of the drain holes in the jungle boots were to get the water out and with every step, suck air into the boot to dry it and all contents faster. Good liners, extra socks and baby powder in the boot and/or over your socks and feet helps a lot. Keeps you dry, smells good and actually lets your foot slid a little bit instead of getting blisters so bad. Also take off one boot, the sock, powder it well and rub the sweat and dirt away like dry cleaning. Only one foot at a time so the sweat is still there and the foot is not already dry tho...
Break boots in one day...
put them on, stand in bucket of warm water till you feel it coming into the boots and getting your socks wet, walk and wear the boots until dry again. They will shrink or stretch to fit your foot where needed and never give you blisters again...GP

 

[user 7704]

This has some good info .

 

[backandbeyond]

This has some good info .

Yes, a good watch thanks. I just wish they wouldn't harp on and on as every prepper channel does about the absolute NEED to grow your own food. This is great psychology for the percentage of preppers on rural land but doesn't serve the prepper community at large where many live in the cities or rural on a small block as I do. I wish they would temper it with other ideas, such as setting up a network of contacts with local producers.

That is the basic downside of most prepper info today, they just recycle and expand on the same old tropes and don't think outside the box. The world is changing and preppers should change with it.

 

[lonewolf]

the trouble is post collapse you will need to grow your own food as the stores will be empty, looted and ransacked.

 

[backandbeyond]

Yeah I'm banking on that, but I'm also banking on the fact that the hundreds of small farms in my area will still be producing food and I can source it there. I have a years supply on hand and if I can't arrange something in that timeframe I deserve to die!

 

[lonewolf]

I wouldnt guarantee getting any food from a farmer post collapse. or from anyone else come to that. self reliance is the only way.

 

[Amish Heart]

I agree with that, too. I live in a producing farming community. It's first come, first served IF someone wants to sell. With a collapse, don't count on it. I know this year my excesses are in butchered chicken, live chicks, eggs, vegetable plants/seedlings, live roosters. I use and store all I want, then the next goes available to family and neighbors. Outsiders are dead last, and I wouldn't even consider it if we had an economic collapse. Right now I trade with family and friends and no money changes hands. I always get wheat, straw, hay, raw milk because I do not produce those things. There isn't anything I would need from a city person that I could think of.

 

[Randolph]

"Outsiders are dead last, and I wouldn't even consider it if we had an economic collapse."

Security.

In a SHTF scenario, the false assumption most well prepared rely on is being left alone. In America today, we have tens of millions living basically paycheck to paycheck, government check to government check. Do you really think most of these people will just lie down and die when their food runs out? The smart ones will head to the producing rural areas to find a place for themselves and their loved ones.

They will move on, until they figure out if they are to survive, they will have to start taking what you have.

Isolated pockets of preppers cannot survive long term without regional security, and yes, this will have to include your local townsfolk.

There was a paperback book from back in the 1970s, cannot remember the title, however what I took away from it was regions, to be self-sustaining, must cover 12-13 basic industries.

Personally, I am doing my best to prep for a year out on my wages. I figure that will be long enough for a new arrangement for us good folks to come up with.

There is an old saying, no man is an island. Look for the good people, even if they are strangers now. You are going to need them when we will begin to rebuild our nation after the SHTF.

As for the shiftless, shoot them for all I care.

 

[lonewolf]

I have heard this talk about countless millions heading out of the city into the rural areas for years and years and most of it is rubbish.
most people that live in cities have no idea where their food comes from, unless its all wrapped up in plastic they wouldnt be able to recognise it, as for killing and butchering an animal forget it.
then there is the question of water, how many city folk even know that water from streams and rivers has to be filtered and boiled? and how many have any way to do this?
most people wont go anywhere until the lights go off by which time its far too late .

 

[Brent S]

I have heard this talk about countless millions heading out of the city into the rural areas for years and years and most of it is rubbish.
most people that live in cities have no idea where their food comes from, unless its all wrapped up in plastic they wouldnt be able to recognise it, as for killing and butchering an animal forget it.
then there is the question of water, how many city folk even know that water from streams and rivers has to be filtered and boiled? and how many have any way to do this?
most people wont go anywhere until the lights go off by which time its far too late .

For us that live in the rural areas I hope your right Paul. I would imagine there will be some well armed folks that think surviving means stealing and will not just lay down and die so easily.

 

[lonewolf]

For us that live in the rural areas I hope your right Paul. I would imagine there will be some well armed folks that think surviving means stealing and will not just lay down and die so easily.

even in a country as small as Britain without power and fuel that means a very long walk!! especially as most are unfit and obese.

 

[GaRp58]

without power and fuel that means a very long walk!! especially as most are unfit and obese.

QUESTION!!! how many of you all here even take the time to carry your BOB around and STAY FIT enough to get anywhere with it??? I have 5 Bags ranging from 5lbs. up to 75 lbs. and still can carry all of them for an unlimited time of walking, the weight is not my problem, I only need to watch out for my 63 year old knees which are not overly prone to problems with carrying the weight but more of bending down too low and having to get back up after a prolonged period of time...
How often do you put your bag on and walk the dog or go shopping with the extra weight to stay fit???

 

[lonewolf]

I dont have a BOB as I'm not bugging out, I live in a rural location and have no intention of heading for the woods.
I have a GHB which lives in the car permanently and its as light as I can make it, only the bare essentials enough to get back home asap.

 

[GaRp58]

Tried to carry it while shopping to keep a feel for it? Tried to walk a few miles with it to "practice" G-etting B-ack H-ome???

 

[lonewolf]

unless all the rural roads are blocked or its an EMP I wont need to walk, I'm only ever about 20 miles maximum away from home-usually a lot less, and its a very basic very light kit, wont even know I'm carrying it, "less is more!".

 

[user 7368]

I personally have not packed anything, everything is in my basement and if a sitaution occurs I decide what I need and pack what I need exactly then.
Packed luggage can have an advantage, if my luggage is packed for a financial crash and there is a change e.g. war with Russia or a terrorist attack it takes me too long to repack.

Preparations are one thing, but you should also think about what to do with the material that you can not take with you in case of escape, it can not be in the end that a possible opponent benefits from your own supplies, especially not if it is weapons or food.

 

[Amish Heart]

I have a car bag and some boots in my car trunk. It weighs a whole lot, but if I'm stuck, I'll just leave what I don't think I'll need in the trunk. I'm already bugged out as I'm going to get.

 

[backandbeyond]

I wouldnt guarantee getting any food from a farmer post collapse. or from anyone else come to that. self reliance is the only way.

There are no true guarantees in life but farmers are in business to sell food, that's what they do now, and after a collapse they will be like everyone else, trying to make an income. I can't even imagine a scenario where a farmer has fields full of food and is unwilling to sell to a local, all you would have to settle on is a currency.

90% of what most preppers grow at home is not protein, it's salad suff, canning tomatoes, canning fruit, and they are off to the shops every few months to buy their sugar, salt, you name it. Protein is the key to life on earth.

 

[backandbeyond]

I have heard this talk about countless millions heading out of the city into the rural areas for years and years and most of it is rubbish.

Well I don't know where you came by that belief bigpaul but you only have to look at any time in history. Today people are fleeing cities in droves because of covid, In Myanmar masses of people are fleeing cities to rural backwaters due to the coup there. When the Japanese invaded China 100 years ago millions fled to the countryside and an uncertain future.

There are countless other examples of the masses fleeing for any number of reasons, probably the abandonment of the Rome and her other cities is the classic case history. Hungry people will move, in cars, on trains, on bicycles or on foot to anywhere they think food and a better life is to be found.

As Inner-City Areas Decay, Blacks Flee to Small Towns
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/04/us/as-inner-city-areas-decay-blacks-flee-to-small-towns.html

 

[Amish Heart]

Farmers do sell/trade with locals. I was talking about newbies coming into the area farmers live and wanting to buy. If an economic collapse has happened, I do believe the farmers will be taking care of their families and neighbors first. People coming in from the suburbs or cities aren't a priority.
You are right about the protein. Most people just garden. Seasonally. And don't put up any of their extras. Most people don't raise protein sources because they refuse to butcher and eat what they raise.

 

[lonewolf]

Well I don't know where you came by that belief bigpaul but you only have to look at any time in history. Today people are fleeing cities in droves because of covid, In Myanmar masses of people are fleeing cities to rural backwaters due to the coup there. When the Japanese invaded China 100 years ago millions fled to the countryside and an uncertain future.

There are countless other examples of the masses fleeing for any number of reasons, probably the abandonment of the Rome and her other cities is the classic case history. Hungry people will move, in cars, on trains, on bicycles or on foot to anywhere they think food and a better life is to be found.

As Inner-City Areas Decay, Blacks Flee to Small Towns
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/04/us/as-inner-city-areas-decay-blacks-flee-to-small-towns.html

you are talking mostly about ancient history, my theory is that modern people will not do this, they dont have the knowledge or skills to survive, and in most western countries they are too wedded to their technology to be able to survive a basic, simple life without modern conveniences and services.

 

[Illini Warrior]

Well I don't know where you came by that belief bigpaul but you only have to look at any time in history. Today people are fleeing cities in droves because of covid, In Myanmar masses of people are fleeing cities to rural backwaters due to the coup there. When the Japanese invaded China 100 years ago millions fled to the countryside and an uncertain future.

There are countless other examples of the masses fleeing for any number of reasons, probably the abandonment of the Rome and her other cities is the classic case history. Hungry people will move, in cars, on trains, on bicycles or on foot to anywhere they think food and a better life is to be found.

As Inner-City Areas Decay, Blacks Flee to Small Towns
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/04/us/as-inner-city-areas-decay-blacks-flee-to-small-towns.html

don't know where you are looking - but the US rural population has been shrinking since the 1930s and the decrease has been accelerating >>>> the urban areas are the population growth areas in the civilized world

and post-Covid the residents that left are coming back in and causing rent & property value $$$ spikes - if CA EVER gets it's **** together - SF will even prosper again ....