How prepared are you right now?

[Randolph]

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.

Anyone paying attention to South Africa?

Video of farmer being looted.

Pays to have security, above and beyond family and friends.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Stay on thread topic.

 

[MOS0231]

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.

Last year, when the lockdowns started, still a lot unknown, I was standing on top of the ridgeline over looking the road.
It was quiet.
Like, a good 30-45 minutes pass and not a car.
No masses from the city, coming into the rural areas, shooting us all and taking our stuff.
I think if COVID had a truly scary mortality rate of say 10% or greater, most people would be too afraid to leave their homes. And if that were the case, those living outside of cities might not be inclined to risk having it come to their communities and do something about it.

 

[MOS0231]

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.

While I agree with the economics side of what you are saying, but if SHTF, and your customer base 60/100/1000 miles away just got cut off due to lack of fuel/transportation, I am not going to be tilling my fields full.
Now, would I till enough to keep me, friends, neighbors going, yep. Might not sell in the traditional sense of exchange of cash, but in goods and services.
I am currently raising two pigs for protein.
Then there are the chickens, ducks their eggs.
Got goats and cows.

 

[MOS0231]

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

That is true, there has been an exodus of city folks to the suburbs and rural areas.
And they have very soft hands.

 

[erqueen75]

Fellow Preparers,
I have read through all eleven pages of your comments and I just have a quick few notes off the top of my head...
*10-15% of us will never acclimate to the hot heat or freezing cold. Just something in our brain says "nope, not changing."
*How many of you have your Mark 1 Kit for Nerve Agent Treatment (ONLY!), let alone full MOPP gear to survive a NBC- Stressing the biological and chemical threat here? And if so, what does this do for your livestock, your crops, your water supply?
*Now onto my "favorite" subject. Nuclear. What can I say- seeing "The Day After" in 1983 as a kid scarred me... As many of you know, you should not take Potassium Iodide after age 40 to try and protect that thyroid... HOWEVER, there are other Prescriptive Medications you can get from your friendly Dr. P.A. or N.P.~Prussian Blue, DTPA, and Neupogen. So after whoever bombs us to hell, call up your GP and drive down to the Walgreens to pick up an IV of Diethylenetriamine Pentaacetate, one for the whole family!
*Many of you mentioned in your First-Aid Kits that you have gear for burns, and that is fabulous. Thermal burns are horrible, whatever degree they are! I COULD NOT even fathom what a radiation burn would entail. Burns cause havoc to the body- unseen smoke inhalation damage, dehydration, malnutrition, bedsores, infections, and the pain. Load up on the single malt scotch, please...
* A GREAT note added by Gary, how many of you stay as fit as possible for your ages/medical concerns so that you don't suffer a stroke or heart attack trying to gather your gear or secure your land if, (God forbid) something does happen to the greatest country the world has ever known...

Thank you for reading. Please comment if you wish. Anyone hear from Maverick?
With utmost respect to you all,
Erqueen75

 

[Captjim_NM]

ERqueen75 has several a good points. Just this year my wife and I have gotten our act in gear, she has lost over 50 pounds, I have lost over 30 pounds. We are both past 65 and weight loss at that age is difficult. This is a quality of life issue as we want to stay mobile and active. Anyone can buy gadgets and gear, what good are they if you are sitting in a chair unable to move.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Great post and prepared questions.

We use Chlorine Dioxide (CD), it Neutralizes Radiation Particulates
and Detoxes the Body of Radiation Poisoning. Its cheap and easy to use. Its already a major part of my preps since it has a vast number of uses.

Please note that CD CANNOT heal you, the same for DPTA and the others. It ONLY detoxes, so the immune system has
a lighter load. Then the body heals itself. Got it?

 

[MOS0231]

Well, I have been to more than a few very hot places.
And a few cold ones too, to include my current location.

You can only take off so much clothing before you are stark naked.
I can always add another layer.

I have yet to hear any of my Amish neighbors dying from the cold.

 

[GaRp58]

You can only take off so much clothing before you are stark naked.
I can always add another layer.

I am working daily in the garden at temps above what most of you are having at the moment around 38°C to 45°C (115°F) daily, lots of time on my bad knees under an umbrella to help, drinking 8-9 liters of tea and water daily, gonna start the 16ft X 16ft stone terrace next week, re-doing the sheet metal roof on the garage and connect it to the new terrace roof as I finish it. Roto-tilling and mowing weekly. Can't say I am acclimatised to the heat yet, get into the pool a couple of times daily to cool off, but I do prefer the cooler times also. Another pair of long-johns or another jacket is easier than trying to stay cool on the hottest of days.
I did hear that Texas got really hot the other day tho....
But it is keeping me going in the heat, keeping my muscles working, keeping me ready to take on more work if needed, practicing working in the garden and raising my own food and keeping me "ready" for the SHTF days in the future. I am ready but the wife has no resilience to changing temps and stress...

 

[EastenerWesterner]

I am at my BOL. Safe enough to only worry about defending in SHTF. But I do have to be prepared to bug out due to wildfire.
I cleaned out the tack room of the horse trailer today, 15 years worth of filth and stuff for horse shows.
Now what goes back in there is 3 bins I had by the edge of the carport in case of earthquake. Camping gear to some, survival gear to others. Still lots of room to decide what to have readily packed.

 

[Randolph]

"Huge lines for food as supply chains crippled. People are beginning to starve. No one was prepared."



https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/its-war-zone-south-africa-deploy-25000-troops-country-brink-civil-wa
r

 

[Randolph]

How prepared am I?

Finding out this week by not going to any store or gas station and living a normal life. Next month, up it to two weeks. And so on.

If I had to, can go three months. Working on substitution of perishables.

Watching what is going on in South Africa for lessons. A real SHTF scenario right before our eyes.

 

[Illini Warrior]

How prepared am I?

Finding out this week by not going to any store or gas station and living a normal life. Next month, up it to two weeks. And so on.

If I had to, can go three months. Working on substitution of perishables.

Watching what is going on in South Africa for lessons. A real SHTF scenario right before our eyes.

haven't seen absolutely anything from the SA nationwide prepper group - the majority of the correct thinking urban whites belong - been prepping for decades for this kind of situation >>> ready with their stocked trailers to caravan into the bush to establish protected camps ...

 

[lonewolf]

all the rioting and looting in SA seems to be because Jacob Zuma got jailed, most African politicians are crooks, just look at Zimbabwe, it went from "the bread basket of Africa" to being a basket case, all because of the corrupt ruling political party.

 

[Oddcaliber]

Were heading that way to!

 

[Mountain trapper]

I guess this is what happens when the blaks are in charge. They always return to their jungle ways.

 

[Randolph]

Again, local security is very important. Even for farmers who think they are far enough away from the looting hoards.

 

[backandbeyond]

Even for farmers who think they are far enough away from the looting hoards.

Farmers are regularly murdered in SA and the lesson is obvious. Having a remote property far from neighbors is not necessarily the safest choice in a disorderly world. It's why farmers in the darkages clustered together in small villages. But if you wan't to know what really works in that environment have a look at the small town of Orania in SA.

It has a population of around 2500 people and no crime. That's right, Zero crime.
It is the role model as far as I am concerned and I live in a rural Australian town of similar size and makeup. I'll add too that I did have a rural property, 100acres, but the odd walkins and thefts convinced me it would be a bad choice in the long run. This thinking doesn't sit well with those who have followed the prepper mantra that a remote and isolated BOL is the logical endpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania,_Northern_Cape

 

[Brent S]

Well, I have been to more than a few very hot places.
And a few cold ones too, to include my current location.

You can only take off so much clothing before you are stark naked.
I can always add another layer.

I have yet to hear any of my Amish neighbors dying from the cold.

My sister says the same thing and prefers the cold too. My blood has thinned out living in the south. Anything under 60 degrees is freezing to me! Lol

 

[lonewolf]

Farmers are regularly murdered in SA and the lesson is obvious. Having a remote property far from neighbors is not necessarily the safest choice in a disorderly world. It's why farmers in the darkages clustered together in small villages. But if you wan't to know what really works in that environment have a look at the small town of Orania in SA.

It has a population of around 2500 people and no crime. That's right, Zero crime.
It is the role model as far as I am concerned and I live in a rural Australian town of similar size and makeup. I'll add too that I did have a rural property, 100acres, but the odd walkins and thefts convinced me it would be a bad choice in the long run. This thinking doesn't sit well with those who have followed the prepper mantra that a remote and isolated BOL is the logical endpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania,_Northern_Cape

your comparing apples and oranges, what happens now is not necessarily what will happen post collapse especially when there is no electricity and no fuel.

 

[Brent S]

Farmers are regularly murdered in SA and the lesson is obvious. Having a remote property far from neighbors is not necessarily the safest choice in a disorderly world. It's why farmers in the darkages clustered together in small villages. But if you wan't to know what really works in that environment have a look at the small town of Orania in SA.

It has a population of around 2500 people and no crime. That's right, Zero crime.
It is the role model as far as I am concerned and I live in a rural Australian town of similar size and makeup. I'll add too that I did have a rural property, 100acres, but the odd walkins and thefts convinced me it would be a bad choice in the long run. This thinking doesn't sit well with those who have followed the prepper mantra that a remote and isolated BOL is the logical endpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orania,_Northern_Cape

That was an interesting article. Will be curious how they fare through all the current upheaval and economic problems. Basically when things go tits up, the have nots have historically taken from the haves. if I lived there I would hope for armed security groups where everyone is mandated to do service in. I really respect Israel’s military model where everyone is trained and can be called upon when needed. There is a storm coming there and likely many other places as economic issues increase.

 

[MOS0231]

My sister says the same thing and prefers the cold too. My blood has thinned out living in the south. Anything under 60 degrees is freezing to me! Lol

That is my parents right there! They live in FL. We have had to have a fire in the kitchen as they were cold. It was late May.

 

[backandbeyond]

your comparing apples and oranges, what happens now is not necessarily what will happen post collapse especially when there is no electricity and no fuel.

You are assuming there will be no fuel. The classic prepper/survivalist collapse assumes total collapse of all infrastructure but that is only one possible outcome. It could be like what we see in SA and Venezuela and a host of other places now, a collapse where most are totally impoverished but where others have access to anything they want. If you are counting total collapse and it doesn't happen...

I think the biggest danger to a prepper going forward is a closed mindset about the future. Anything could happen, and a Total Collapse might be 50 or 100 years away.

 

[Amish Heart]

It could be. Or not.

 

[Mountain trapper]

My sister says the same thing and prefers the cold too. My blood has thinned out living in the south. Anything under 60 degrees is freezing to me! Lol

To me the best weather was where we lived in Alaska. Summer temps rarely got over 70 degs. Since we lived at about 500 feet elevation our winters were more mild than at sea level too. It seldom got below -20.

 

[lonewolf]

there was a paper written in 1972 which has just been republished, that stated social collapse would come around 2040, total collapse by 2050.
I reckon there calculations were a bit off and its already started.

 

[Acdoctor]

there was a paper written in 1972 which has just been republished, that stated social collapse would come around 2040, total collapse by 2050.
I reckon there calculations were a bit off and its already started.

Well on its way for sure.

 

[Brent S]

To me the best weather was where we lived in Alaska. Summer temps rarely got over 70 degs. Since we lived at about 500 feet elevation our winters were more mild than at sea level too. It seldom got below -20.

-20 is hard for me to even imagine. Luckily people can be pretty tough when they need to be. Either that or they move to Florida!

 

[Randolph]

"-20 is hard for me to even imagine. Luckily people can be pretty tough when they need to be. Either that or they move to Florida!"

-24F one morning in Oklahoma this past February. Besides me, none of my friends could get their homes much past 45-50°F.

In an emergency, go to the local newspaper and ask for all the cardboard boxes they have. They have plenty.

Layered the floors in my 100 year old home with drafty floors in cardboard, three layers deep.