What bothers or frightens me the most about prepping.

[SoJer]

What is the distinction. What is the distinction between "fools who don't" and those who do.......?

Well.. My only .02 would be that for those who "prep" (the Wise ones, anyway..) They work to make it a Way of Life, from stem to stern..

..but for the 'Fools', well.. They let 'Life get IN the Way' of prepping for [whatever] (ie: "..B-But I don't have enough Moneeeeeyyy!" they wail... Yah - on their way back from buying 2 Cartons of Cigs, a case of Bud Loser, I mean Light, and the current issue of 'Juggs' magazine..

And, by those who are 'Wise', I don't just mean those 'Having stuff stacked' - No, as @RJ2019 pointed out, that 'Way of Life' is Learning / Crafting / Living Adaptation - withOut that 'Stuff' - Now.. Literally, forging one's Self (by Asking / Learning / Doing...) into a 'Survivalist', from a "Prepper".. What's That 'difference'? Well..

..My .02 therein would be my 'Point' in This post: https://www.survivalistboards.com/t....990340/page-7?post_id=21584133#post-21584133
(..and, I'm Not tryina 'Toot my own Horn' here, it's just that it's an example I can Speak to... ) relative to 'Learning how to "Fix stuff" you are not - 'inherently' (from schooling / training, etc) skilled in.. As-that 'leverage' to mature from 'Prepper to Survivalist'.

Salient snip:

Prepper: "..the clothespins in my stash work to line dry clothes. ...until dryer fix it guy comes tomorrow..." (Good)

Survivalist: "...Just placed an order for a Belt / Roller / Tensioner kit, and a replacement glow-plug / starter for my gas dryer; Meantime, reading up How to change it all out.. Guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.. ...But hey, at least I'll never have to call or spend another Dime on a "repair guy" again - 'specially when there Are no more comin', Lol.. " (MUCH Mo' Bettuh

Point being: the 'Fools' are the ones who - Might even "prep" (ie: Goofus goes and buys a Genny before 'Storm season' rolls in... But - he's a Fool, because After 'Storm season' Passes (and cuz he didn't end-up Needing it) ...he goes and Returns it, because "wasted money"..

'Gallant' however, not only buys - and Keeps - his Genny.. He self-educates (ie: Asks / seeks out the Knowledge from others With the Experience..) on How to convert it into being a Tri-Fuel.. Then, goes about getting as Much of those 3-fuels packed-back as Possible.. Then, studies / learns / Preps for how to live / thrive withOut a Genny, for - when - all that fuel runs out (and it Will..) THAT's the 'difference', IMO..

And, sure - Granted that any 'Survivalist' Must have prepped to Become one.. ie: 'Gallant', there, Ain't gonna achieve all that he Did, without the Proper Tools, spares, and .edu to 'Get there'.

.02
jd

 

[elkhound]

"What bothers or frightens me the most about prepping?"

In a word FIRE. I believe I have done as much as I can to prepare for what may happen, be that man-made or what Mother Nature decides. I have tried to think the scenarios through thoroughly and have plans A,B, and C. One thing for which I have found no solution is fire.

How do you prevent fire? How do you stop fire? As well fortified as you think you may be, could you stop a group from burning you out? Fire is one of the few things that would make me bug out. What solutions do you all have?

i have not explored this particular thing..but it came to my attention late summer....fire crews using the backpack leaf blowers to fight fire.

 

[SoJer]

...maybe I should bribe @Amish Heart into letting me take a crash course on raising foul on her farm...

..She'll Prolly agree to help ya with Fowl, but.. 'Foul' on a Farm just usually gets hosed-off / flushed.. Just teasin, Somebody had to..

jd

 

[SoJer]

...As well fortified as you think you may be, could you stop a group from burning you out? ..What solutions do you all have?

More on this L8r.. Gotta bug (from here.. For now.. But @Aerindel will have some Excellent suggestions / techniques, meantime (if / as he has time..)

jd

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

I don't care if someone preps or not. And if they don't prep for a disaster, well that's their problem.

Agreed. The title of this thread has gotten me a tiny bit curfuffled. I don't understand why I should be bothered or frightened about prepping. Do what you can. The rest doesn't matter. I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

[Magus]

there are firearms we just have a better licencing system. of course "weapons" dont necessarily have to mean firearms.
most people dont grow their own food and dont know how to , they rely on the supermarkets and panic when the shelves are empty.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-8YxOViCn8

Be the hero of the neighborhood.

 

[old tex]

No one tries to discover a better way, a way not currently known. Everyone believes the exact same "system". The exact same (Prepackaged) prepping theory.

The statement/question kind of confuses me. I really don't understand it. Preppers generally prep by doing general things according to what they "think/guess" might go down. If they knew what was going down then the things they would do would be in much more specific. But not knowing specifics of the future I would assume that someone would think outside of the box & build an underground hardened shelter for "just in case".

 

[Sourdough]

I don't care if someone preps or not. And if they don't prep for a disaster, well that's their problem.

It will be MY problem also. And likely also your problem.

 

[montanabill]

No one tries to discover a better way, a way not currently known. Everyone believes the exact same "system". The exact same (Prepackaged) prepping theory.

The statement/question kind of confuses me. I really don't understand it. Preppers generally prep by doing general things according to what they "think/guess" might go down. If they knew what was going down then the things they would do would be in much more specific. But not knowing specifics of the future I would assume that someone would think outside of the box & build an underground hardened shelter for "just in case".

I had that underground shelter.....it survived the forest fire that came thru but not much else did.
A lot of pursuing different ways and means of surviving depends on time and money.. I do what I can with what I have and I also research what could go wrong right where I live..

 

[Sourdough]

Reading the Replies/Posts in this thread is "PART" of why I doubt that preppers have much (if any) survival advantage over non-preppers.

 

[montanabill]

It will be MY problem also. And likely also your problem.

A group at the gate of starving families with children come to mind...

 

[Pearl]

Too many are Preppers or pretend to be Preppers! And it's fine to be prepared for lock downs, weather disasters, and such! But look at North Carolina, how many watched their homes and preps wash away?!! VERY FEW people are survivalists! When the poopie REALLY hits the fan, how many will ACTUALLY make it as hunters and gatherers??

@Sourdough , I will stick with this post I made earlier! I always say, anyone who thinks they can just sit on a piece of property and be not removed will be in for a rude awakening!!

 

[Mountain trapper]

It will be MY problem also. And likely also your problem.

I'm pretty well prepped for any disaster that may happen around my area. The only disaster that concerns me is forest fire. Not much can be done about that except leave. A few years ago one of my properties burned completely. A couple years ago another fire started about 30 miles south of here and burned to within a mile of our house. That's life.

 

[SoJer]

...As well fortified as you think you may be, could you stop a group from burning you out? ..What solutions do you all have?

Ok, on a Quick break here, so... My .02, Fwiw:

a) First And Foremost - Establish a Defensible / 'Monitorable' Perimeter.. as Far Out / Wide as you can Possibly achieve.. If they cannot 'Get' to yer Place (or, at Least without a) Alerting You, and b) affording You a Chance to 'discourage further ingress' / chucking Molotovs, whatever, then you are Well-ahead of the curve, already.

..That was one of my 'Biggest gripes' with that 'Homestead' flick.. Those Ppl should Never have been ABLE to GET TO that 'Gate'.. Just.. Immediate Sec-Failure..

b) If you just 'Cannot establish a Perim' (ie: in some 'Development' that won't 'Allow' you to put up a Fence, or... say yer House is, like, only a 'Standard Residential Driveways'-distance from the Street / Road, etc, well.. Then you Need to find ways to 'discourage Entry into vulnerable Points' - Doors / Windows / Patio-doors - Attic-Vents, etc.. And I'm not just talking about 'against burglary' - I mean against 'Incendiaries' - Molotovs, 'Flash Bangs', Fireworks, etc, etc..

Whatever 'approaches' there Are, find ways to Discourage / Prevent any attackers from Getting Close to those Entry points.. HD Iron Gate-Door, outside House Door... 'Bougainvillea' in front of Windows... Discourage 'climb-overs', ie: https://www.homesteadingforum.org/t...or-riots-and-civil-unrest.38234/#post-1033307 etc, etc

c) Build a 'Front of House-Length Riot Shield', ie: Make a House-length, (fairly) impenetrable 'sheet' with fiberglass-core 'sunshade' (ie: 'Textilene 80' - Textilene 80 (stuff is Incredibly tough, and pretty-well flameproof..) grommeted top and bottom edges (with a folded / sewn, reinforced 'seam') to allow for roof-line attachment points, ie:

..and ground-side, as well, ie: Ground-Stake Screws ..each with a 'garage-door-type' spring, to create Tension to keep it all taught at a 45° angle, down to the ground, ie: roofline to ground \

..ALL of which acts like a 'trampoline layer', so pretty much anything (short of gunfire, of course..) rocks / Molotovs, etc, will bounce right off, (or at least be 'attenuated'..) and still allow You to see thru it / shoot at threats thru it, etc, as might need-be..

At the Very, Very Least - d) Get ALL Windows covered in 'Anti-Smash Film', there.. Especially Ground-Level ones.. Highly-unlikely even a 'Molotov' will get thru that stuff...

Again - Sure - these ideas / techniques are Primarily for preventing Entry in the context of burglary, but.. If they cannot Get To yer House / In yer Windows (easily) then yer chances of 'getting Burned-Out' drop a Lot.. At Least these ideas 'Buy you Time to Deal with' the offending little 's

Lastly - if All else Fails - Get some FireFighting Equipment, ie: there are Solid 'Quick and Ready-to-Go' solutions out there, ie: the 'Gold-Standard' Gas-powered Fire-Pumps: Home Firefighting<br>14hp Portable Fire Pump-Primo Supply (..and also, for low-level 'Fire pre-treatment': Fire Foam Solid Cartridge Systems | Primo Supply ..but, Ehh.. Not too sure about How effective those would be (Never tested 'em, but Fwiw..)

If a 'Davey' is "too much money", well These guys Forestry Suppliers Catalogs Wildland Fire - Fire and Rescue 2021 have several decent options, for Quite a bit-less, ie: This pretty-decent capacity 'Entry Level Rig', at what is (Imo..) a Totally-doable Price: Pacer® Deluxe Fire Fighting System ..And if that's Still seen as "too expensive", well.. I mean.. what is a typical 'Total Fire-loss Policy's Deductible - $500-1K?? Well, there ya go..

Can't 'endorse nor deny' it (we got a refirbed Davey..) but even with a 'trash pump' / larger-cap source of water, you've at least got something that will eclipse the output of a garden hose.

Fwiw..
jd

 

[Sourdough]

The statement/question kind of confuses me. I really don't understand it. Preppers generally prep by doing general things according to what they "think/guess" might go down. If they knew what was going down then the things they would do would be in much more specific. But not knowing specifics of the future I would assume that someone would think outside of the box & build an underground hardened shelter for "just in case".

This in my opinion is classic "current" internet thinking. And deeply flawed. Likely fatally flawed.

No need to know exactly what the SHTF will be. Prep to survive anything.

 

[Binky]

How do you prevent fire? How do you stop fire? As well fortified as you think you may be, could you stop a group from burning you out? Fire is one of the few things that would make me bug out. What solutions do you all have?

I'd have to wonder what a group of marauding Huns would hope to achieve by burning me out. What is their purpose? Are they mindless maniacs who get their jollies from travelling around destroying property and murdering other people? Are they cannibals who want to eat me? What will they hope to gain from a pile of burning rubble with nothing to salvage from it?

If it's a large group who have already gotten past my death traps then I'm not sticking around just so they can roast me to death trapped in a fire. My solution would be to take one or another of the escape routes I had prepared and I'd be bugged out and long gone too. Let them burn my place to the ground as a distraction and they can play at digging around in the ashes. I won't be there to see it.

.

 

[Hardcalibres]

The following are some ideas on controlling risk from fire.

1. When choosing where to buy land/live, consider fire risk among your top priorities. Pick a region/climate/land form/vegetation mix that combines to control fire risk for as much of the year as possible. Many places that are great for homesteading are also just about impossible to burn for much of each year.
2. Do the same as point one above for each specific property you consider. Each property will have a different risk from fire.
3. You need either no natural fuel anywhere near dwellings (all year round) or at least distant enough from dwellings to protect them from radiant heat during an aggressive fire. That will be tough for some folks. Many like and build dwellings "among the trees" and "blending in with nature" ............well guess what? Those dwellings are indefensible from fire and will burn down in a fire.........so don't buy or build one of those.
4. In summer, grow, water and maintain/mow a green lawn that acts as a buffer zone around the dwelling. Distance is your friend. Radiant heat is attenuated by distance in proportion with the cube of that distance. That means when you double distance, you decrease radiant heat by 87.5%. Keep doing that with bigger distances until the radiant heat risk is addressed.
5. The dwelling itself needs to be constructed to resist ignition and combustion (from direct flame, radiant heat and ember attack). So that means non combustible materials (brick, concrete, iron/metals, rammed earth, etc for walls and metal for roof). The windows should have shutters (again made of non combustibles). Any domesticated/exotic plants around/near the dwelling should be fleshy/wet ablative types that absorb radiant heat and steam it off (google fire resistant plants). The roof space should be sealed to prevent ember entry and all surfaces inside the roof space should resist ignition (like glass wool insulation).
6. Keep gutters clean and free of leaves. Setup some way you can block the downpipes and flood the gutters with pumped water when a fire approaches.
7. You should have a large amount of gravity fed water stored ready to defend the dwelling - so that means tanks. You should use the tanks to feed several (grid independent) water pumps with at least 30 yards of pressure/outlet hose for each pump (with a proper fire fighting nozzle), of at least 3/4" diameter and be able to pump at least 50 gallons per minute through each of those. You need enough water to do that for at least an hour.
8. You need mobile fire fighting capability to extinguish spot fires. That needs to be at least 100 gallon capacity and you need to be able to refill that fast (say in less than 10 minutes)
9. You need enough knowhow, training/practice and guts to stand down a fire and defend your self.
10. Get some clothing to wear when fighting fire that is specifically fire retardant.
11. When a fire approaches, be ready to backburn from your dwelling back towards the approaching fire.
12. Get friendly with or even join your local volunteer fire fighting group - they can do an audit on your place, assess its defensibility and tell you how to improve that. They know which dwellings burn down and which ones dont - they will have seen that with their own eyes.

 

[Amish Heart]

Yep, I have shelves on gardening, small animal care, hunting, butchering, cooking, gun maintenance/repair, solar energy, small engine repair, old car repair, household construction/repair, finance, engineering, some military manuals, and a bunch of old scout manuals and field books.

I do need to get some more reference materials on small food animals and fowl, or maybe I should bribe @Amish Heart into letting me take a crash course on raising fowl on her farm. Sometimes I think that developing a network of experts who are willing to train us less educated types, would be a great asset to the community.

Anytime, Urban!

 

[SoJer]

..Get some clothing to wear when fighting fire that is specifically fire retardant.

Yep.. Captain of the WTFD_1 Lol.. WTFD_TurnoutGear ..Totally Doable. Plenty of 'still-Good' (for 'Civvie use') gear out there on the used-market..

'Better to Have it / Not Need it, than Need it...' and, well.. ya'll Know the rest..

jd

 

[Aerindel]

What bothers me the most is the overall extremely low intelligence of most the 'prepping community'. It's as though people who can barely read, do math and who fall for every scam known to man....are attracted to prepping.

Which makes me wonder if I'm just as dumb as everyone else and don't know it.

 

[Michele My Belle]

Part of prepping is planning how to harvest those who come to take your preps.

I can't bury someone. And, cannibalism is completely out of the question. However, I have no problem feeding the alligators.

 

[Aerindel]

The following are some ideas on controlling risk from fire.

1. When choosing where to buy land/live, consider fire risk among your top priorities. Pick a region/climate/land form/vegetation mix that combines to control fire risk for as much of the year as possible. Many places that are great for homesteading are also just about impossible to burn for much of each year.
2. Do the same as point one above for each specific property you consider. Each property will have a different risk from fire.
3. You need either no natural fuel anywhere near dwellings (all year round) or at least distant enough from dwellings to protect them from radiant heat during an aggressive fire. That will be tough for some folks. Many like and build dwellings "among the trees" and "blending in with nature" ............well guess what? Those dwellings are indefensible from fire and will burn down in a fire.........so don't buy or build one of those.
4. In summer, grow, water and maintain/mow a green lawn that acts as a buffer zone around the dwelling. Distance is your friend. Radiant heat is attenuated by distance in proportion with the cube of that distance. That means when you double distance, you decrease radiant heat by 87.5%. Keep doing that with bigger distances until the radiant heat risk is addressed.
5. The dwelling itself needs to be constructed to resist ignition and combustion (from direct flame, radiant heat and ember attack). So that means non combustible materials (brick, concrete, iron/metals, rammed earth, etc for walls and metal for roof). The windows should have shutters (again made of non combustibles). Any domesticated/exotic plants around/near the dwelling should be fleshy/wet ablative types that absorb radiant heat and steam it off (google fire resistant plants). The roof space should be sealed to prevent ember entry and all surfaces inside the roof space should resist ignition (like glass wool insulation).
6. Keep gutters clean and free of leaves. Setup some way you can block the downpipes and flood the gutters with pumped water when a fire approaches.
7. You should have a large amount of gravity fed water stored ready to defend the dwelling - so that means tanks. You should use the tanks to feed several (grid independent) water pumps with at least 30 yards of pressure/outlet hose for each pump (with a proper fire fighting nozzle), of at least 3/4" diameter and be able to pump at least 50 gallons per minute through each of those. You need enough water to do that for at least an hour.
8. You need mobile fire fighting capability to extinguish spot fires. That needs to be at least 100 gallon capacity and you need to be able to refill that fast (say in less than 10 minutes)
9. You need enough knowhow, training/practice and guts to stand down a fire and defend your self.
10. Get some clothing to wear when fighting fire that is specifically fire retardant.
11. When a fire approaches, be ready to backburn from your dwelling back towards the approaching fire.
12. Get friendly with or even join your local volunteer fire fighting group - they can do an audit on your place, assess its defensibility and tell you how to improve that. They know which dwellings burn down and which ones dont - they will have seen that with their own eyes.

I couldn't say it better myself.

The only thing I will add, is a bit of a tangent.

3. is correct.....But it is one of those things where there are pros and cons you have to balance.


A house perfectly protected from natural fuel.....is also very exposed to other things. If your place is in the middle of a big open field, surrounded by forest, bush etc, the easiest thing for any aggressor to do, is wait in cover at the treeline with a scoped rifle for you to step out your door. He can easily be so far away that your dogs, alarms etc, don't know he is there, and still within an easy shot of you.

It also means any random person, walking a line through the woods, with no idea you are there, only has to hit the edge of your clearing to find you, rather than stumbling on your actual place.

 

[Michele My Belle]

What bothers me the most is the overall extremely low intelligence of most the 'prepping community'. It's as though people who can barely read, do math and who fall for every scam known to man....are attracted to prepping.

Which makes me wonder if I'm just as dumb as everyone else and don't know it.

I've read your posts. And, you are definitely slightly smarter than dumb. Don't worry. - - LOL (Just kidding.)

 

[elkhound]

What bothers me the most is the overall extremely low intelligence of most the 'prepping community'. It's as though people who can barely read, do math and who fall for every scam known to man....are attracted to prepping.

Which makes me wonder if I'm just as dumb as everyone else and don't know it.

you did say hold my beer while i build this cannon....roflmao...joking with you of course !!!

 

[elkhound]

I've read your posts. And, you are definitely slightly smarter than dumb. Don't worry. - - LOL (Just kidding.)

read post #54....lol

 

[Michele My Belle]

read post #54....lol

Perfection.
(The leftoids have officially lost. We can all have our sense of humor back.)

 

[montanabill]

I've read your posts. And, you are definitely slightly smarter than dumb. Don't worry. - - LOL (Just kidding.)

Or it takes one to know one.

 

[montanabill]

What bothers me the most is the overall extremely low intelligence of most the 'prepping community'. It's as though people who can barely read, do math and who fall for every scam known to man....are attracted to prepping.

Which makes me wonder if I'm just as dumb as everyone else and don't know it.

I try not to be too judgmental but bless their hearts...some people truly have no idea from real world experience or from doing extensive research what they are doing when the term survivalist or prepper comes up.
It seems a lot of them gained their knowledge from the old preppers TV show...
I used to actively search out others who wanted to get out of major cities and move to someplace less populated with surface water and little in the way of 2A restrictions. Not anymore....
I hope all the aware smart people are out there hunkered down and the ones I have delt with face to face and on some forums are the wackos that will not be a great loss when things go off the edge.
I have to get my head around the fact the uninformed unprepared "preppers" are as or more dangerous than the government that is here to help.

 

[Michele My Belle]

I try not to be too judgmental but bless their hearts...some people truly have no idea from real world experience or from doing extensive research what they are doing when the term survivalist or prepper comes up.
It seems a lot of them gained their knowledge from the old preppers TV show...
I used to actively search out others who wanted to get out of major cities and move to someplace less populated with surface water and little in the way of 2A restrictions. Not anymore....
I hope all the aware smart people are out there hunkered down and the ones I have delt with face to face and on some forums are the wackos that will not be a great loss when things go off the edge.
I have to get my head around the fact the uninformed unprepared "preppers" are as or more dangerous than the government that is here to help.

Bless your heart.

 

[LadyLocust]

We recently lost a significant portion of our “preps” to a fire. That (loss of stuff) was a major blow. That would have been a fear - now it’s happened. The reason we are not stuck is because our lifestyle is such that we can move on. Devastating, yes, but we will be okay and have come to look at it like “We’ll see what happens.” We can’t live in fear or in grief. As far as people, there are only a handful that we trust (not even some family members). We establish boundaries right out the gate which might not be respected in a shtf situation, but we won’t be the first target which should theoretically buy us a little more time to assess the situation and develop a plan.