"WHAT" will it take for you to "SHIFT into OVERDRIVE" and Floor-it.....???

[LadyLocust]

Agreed. And the fact that they have never struggled is why they think like that, "it won't happen to me".

When things have always been a plenty it severely impacts the thought process.

My young ones are not listening about setting food back, they have always been provided for, for which I am grateful I was able to do, but I sure wish they would listen.

Your friend Eva's statement has stuck with me, "When everyone feels it." More and more are and will feel it.

 

[ClemKadiddlehopper]

My SIL just paid a visit. Because we had to pick her up at the airport 3 hours away, we used the truck and trailer. I think her head almost exploded. Mostly just picked up lumber, plumbing, and hardware supplies. She knows nothing about my food stash other than the kitchen cupboards which she finds crazy already. Hubby doesn't know about most of it either. He has no clue how much it really takes to go for five years fortunately he has no interest in counting canning jars.

 

[LadyLocust]

My SIL just paid a visit. Because we had to pick her up at the airport 3 hours away, we used the truck and trailer. I think her head almost exploded. Mostly just picked up lumber, plumbing, and hardware supplies. She knows nothing about my food stash other than the kitchen cupboards which she finds crazy already. Hubby doesn't know about most of it either. He has no clue how much it really takes to go for five years fortunately he has no interest in counting canning jars..

I heard him telling his sister that they (her DH and 30 yr old mooch, basement dwelling son and his girlfriend) can come stay with us. I said that was the day I load up the big trailer and leave. I am the producer here and it's not getting any easier for me. I am not taking them on as well. My slave days for others is over.

I am a selfish 'Karen' to put it mildly.

This should probably be in the rant section. Bad hair day is my excuse.

I read an article years ago called, "You Can't Come to My House." In it, the author spoke of trying to get her boss to prepare for hard times. His response was, "I'll just come to your house." She said he wasn't welcome & explained that it's like paying for insurance. You can't file a claim on someone else's insurance which is what he was suggesting. Her food stores were her family's insurance against starvation. He could pay his own insurance. Thought that was a great analogy.

 

[LadyLocust]

Thought this fit here quite well.

 

[Caribou]

Some of us are new to prepping, others are lifelong preppers. "Preppers", a word so new my spell checker doesn't recognise it. My parents and grandparents were preppers but they never heard the word. Most previous generations were preppers, they had to be.

I don't go into overdrive but every time there is a public outcry I evaluate my preps and sprint. After Y2K many were bemoaning how stupid they were to prep and even sold or used up their preps. I thought, "Wow, that was fun, look at how many preps I have. Better get more."

I'll shorten this parable as most have heard it. A flood was coming and the cops came around to tell everyone to evacuate, he said God would take care of him. A boat came by to evacuate him and then a helicopter tried to pick him off his roof, yeah time he said God would take care of him. Finally the house was washed away and he drowned. At the pearly gates he asked God why he hadn't provided for him. God said, "I sent a cop to warn you, then I sent a boat, and a helicopter. What more did you want?" Some people are never going to get it. Unfortunately I'm married to one of them.

 

[Tootsie]

I do think that there is a little of this going on. I belong to an LDS Preparedness group on Facebook. The Bishop's Storehouses have been short of food. They have to not be as bothered by interference as other food producers. I've been reading comments which just make me shake my head. Most of us are not LDS. How is it that we got it and get it, while many members do not?

This woman is a new convert. At least she can use that excuse for a minute. And she is absolutely right about a garden not doing well in Wyoming. I also don't understand how a single mom has 5 children! She was not a good planner in that!
" New here… im a single mom of 5 and recent convert… does anyone have any tips on where i should begin in regards to storage? I'm on a really tight budget as is but i know this is important especially now.. i started a gardening and i got a book to teach myself how to can. I live in Wyoming so the chances of my garden growing aren't great. I'm just a little nervous with everything going on. "

I like that thread. Lots of info out there from knowledgeable people, but I do see more and more posts from people just starting, and a sense of fear rising. The mods seem to censor the fear factor, but not so quickly now. Are we allowed to name the site? I think that many folks here would like it.

 

[Amish Heart]

Our young ones don't prepare, either, but as our middle child says, "I was raised by preppers", and he does know alot. He knows more than I do about growing food, and he's my go to when I have questions. Actually, I'd expect them to all come to me. Could use the help anyway, and we have the land to do it.

 

[Neb]

We are in high gear with an occasional switch to overdrive. The Princess had collected what we can store. Watching what is happening with inflation often kicks us into overdrive. She spotted a deal on freeze dried steaks with a discount code that made about $1 more than fresh stuff!

If God smiles on us and gives reason to celebrate post SHTF we will have steaks.

Ben

 

[Amish Heart]

Steaks are good to have!

 

[Weedygarden]

I agree with much of what you said. I've talked to a lot of people and I don't think that society has the mindset necessary to be steadfast and determined to make it to the end. We are living in a land of quitters, no one loses, no one try's to be the best they can be. There are 2 generations out there who believe that the world owes them a living and that the government is going to give it to them.....

I talked preparedness to people 40 + years ago. One person told me that if things get bad, they would just as soon be dead, so they were never going to prepare. She died last year of cancer. I guess her desire came true.

Same here. I have actually given up on discussing shortages with people and that they should prepare.

Most times it's ho hum and change the subject for them. Oh well.

After I tried talking to people 40 + years ago, and heard the responses of me being crazy, I realized that what I was actually getting was an understanding that I was one of a very small minority. I decided to stop talking to people about it, because when they got desperate, they would come to me and expect me to take care of them. Many miles between them and me now.

I'm suburban, on the edge of urban, people know, people are doing, people are keeping their mouths shut about doing. Unless they need or want to connect.

I believe that there are people out there preparing. I am always looking for 5 gallon water jugs. Last weekend someone post that they had 7 and I reached out as soon as I saw their ad. They were already spoken for. I am glad that others are aware and doing what they can, and especially are doing so quietly.

My problem is my hubby. He can't see that the mass quantities aren't unlimited and that care should be utilized in their use. It doesn't matter how well one prepares if you treat it like you just won fifty dollars on bingo night. It seems to me that people don't prep because they are riding someone else's coat tails and feel that will work forever.

People who have never struggled cannot acknowledge the pain that is coming their way.

Hubby is running his mouth because he doesn't get it. I'd bet there are many spouses who are doing the same thing--not doing the work, but offering to give it away in times of need.

 

[Magus]

If you just HAVE to give away food out of the goodness of your heart or religious conviction, make SURE its only staples, meal, flour, grits, rice, potatoes, maybe home dried fruit. it will keep you from getting mobbed when the world hears you have "good stuff" make the meals good and filling, but at the same time look like you're scraping by.

 

[Magus]

Polk salad comes to mind, as does plantain and fish.

grow a few tubs of beefsteak and portbella mushrooms in a dark place, nobody turns down fried mushrooms and they replenish every two weeks or so.

 

[Magus]

Welp...gasoline (the 0bama stuff.) is now on average 5$ a gallon, that's about 20-25 cents on the dollar increase in the price of EVERYTHING! Are you ready for this ****? did you get ready? FAMINE BY FALL!

 

[Bacpacker]

My parents and grandparents were preppers but they never heard the word. Most previous generations were preppers, they had to be.

I don't go into overdrive but every time there is a public outcry I evaluate my preps and sprint. After Y2K many were bemoaning how stupid they were to prep and even sold or used up their preps. I thought, "Wow, that was fun, look at how many preps I have. Better get more."

This is pretty much where I am and have been. I've worked at this since the late 80's, slow and steady. faster at times, trying to learn more all the time. I try and learn to do more and more for myself as time goes on. I expect to see conditions similar to the mid to late 1800's in the next 20-40 years, maybe sooner. I may not be here to see it, or at least too old to do much about it. But I'm still gonna learn and prepare as if I was 20 and will be in the middle of it.

 

[Magus]

I'm a survivalist, back when the term "prepper" came up, I thought it was a survivalist without an assault rifle or maybe a preppie survivalist? No matter. survivalism is in my blood, I was born into it, I will likely die doing it. storing back for bad times is as natural as breathing.

 

[JustMe]

For me, it's been a lifestyle to have extra put away and for many years I was like the town crier hoping to get others interested in things like gardening, canning, etc. Nobody was interested or serious enough to teach them.

When Covid hit and the tp shortages, I tried to get my oldest son to stock up, raise a garden, etc......his response was 'I'm not going to stockpile a bunch of stuff I don't need'..........it's food dude, you always need food. Tried to convince step daughter to learn it as well, but nope. They seem to think life will go back to normal as in pre-pandemic. So I had given up preaching to the choir, though the other day I had put out a feeler......as in offering some tomato starts to anyone that wanted them and got no responses. So that tells me, nobody I know is interested in any of it and still have their heads buried in the sand. I can only shake my head.

I will say that #1 son has enlarged his pantry shelves and got a freezer for some extras, but the way they cook it will only last them maybe a month at most. Probably a week or two. Still very wasteful IMO, but atleast it's a start I guess.


Anymore, I don't want anyone knowing what I have or what I do so I talk less & less about it. Also doesn't help that I can't do as much as I used to either.

 

[Curmudgeon]

I will say that #1 son has enlarged his pantry shelves and got a freezer for some extras, but the way they cook it will only last them maybe a month at most. Probably a week or two. Still very wasteful IMO, but atleast it's a start I guess.

People should understand that when things go bad, food rationing from our reserves starts immediately. No waiting as things dwindle in the stores, no waiting until your supplies get low, immediately.

We are constantly tweaking our meals so we have no left overs. Just enough to eat and that's it. Most times we do pretty good. Practice now and you will be GTG when things fall apart.

 

[JustMe]

People should understand that when things go bad, food rationing from our reserves starts immediately. No waiting as things dwindle in the stores, no waiting until your supplies get low, immediately.

We are constantly tweaking our meals so we have no left overs. Just enough to eat and that's it. Most times we do pretty good. Practice now and you will be GTG when things fall apart.

Yep, already doing that and a few other things similar to rationing the food in meals just so it's not something new or the need to adjust. In my way of thinking, doing that now (and for awhile), my two youngest sons won't notice much of a difference and think nothings changed.....much.

We won't be in the catagory of those that do the all you can eat steak & champagne to bean soup overnight, we've already been doing that

 

[JustMe]

We are in high gear with an occasional switch to overdrive. The Princess had collected what we can store. Watching what is happening with inflation often kicks us into overdrive. She spotted a deal on freeze dried steaks with a discount code that made about $1 more than fresh stuff!

If God smiles on us and gives reason to celebrate post SHTF we will have steaks.

Ben

I don't have any freeze dried foods at the moment, but I've always wondered how you prepare it before cooking it.........is the preparation the same as with regular dehydrated foods, like adding warm water & let sit for a bit??????? Or something different??

 

[UrbanHunter]

I'm not jumping into over drive yet, but I may be downshifting for that hill up ahead.

As part of that I am looking at what I buy every week at the grocery store and asking myself, "why can't I make/grow that at home"? Then I use that list to research what I can do within my existing resources.

The wife asked me the other day if I could build something so we could have chickens? I know that in this area you can have a couple before you get into trouble, but I would have to do within the space I have. I have 1 - 10'X10' patch of grass and a 15'X15' patio covered with growing containers and water storage. I just don't know if I could add chickens into this little space... I keep thinking rabbits, but rabbits don't lay eggs......

 

[Haertig]

So I had given up preaching to the choir

Preaching to the choir means preaching to the already-believers, not the un-believers.

As far as prepping, I buy what I want to stockpile. I buy canned foods, dry foods, whatever - I don't can or grow them myself. I wish I had the knowledge, experience, and space to do that effectively. But I don't. Nor do I want to dedicate all my time to growing, canning, prepping and preparing. I would rather hit the store with a couple hundred bucks every month or so, and after two hours of shopping exit with a crap-ton of long term storage food. If the store shelves are empty, I will rely on the crap-ton of food I've already bought and squirreled away over time. I will not make it through the forever apocalypse with my plan. But I don't want to. Having a bunch of chickens in my back yard wouldn't help much either. Knowing my luck, a tornado would come through and they'd be flung off into the middle of the Pacific. Or a brush fire would take them out. Or the coyotes. We've got so many rabbits on our property that trying to grow anything for sustenance would probably just result in a bunch of obese rabbits. There are things that can foil even the best laid of plans.

 

[Tootsie]

Rabbits taste good. Real good.

 

[Haertig]

Rabbits taste good. Real good.

They appear to be really stupid too. I have great confidence that I could acquire most of my yard rabbits with almost zero effort. Dinner plates full of the dimwits. Some days, I have to be careful where I step to avoid inadvertently squashing one.

 

[JustMe]

I'm not jumping into over drive yet, but I may be downshifting for that hill up ahead.

As part of that I am looking at what I buy every week at the grocery store and asking myself, "why can't I make/grow that at home"? Then I use that list to research what I can do within my existing resources.

The wife asked me the other day if I could build something so we could have chickens? I know that in this area you can have a couple before you get into trouble, but I would have to do within the space I have. I have 1 - 10'X10' patch of grass and a 15'X15' patio covered with growing containers and water storage. I just don't know if I could add chickens into this little space... I keep thinking rabbits, but rabbits don't lay eggs......

There are lots of plans available for a small coop build. Really, it doesn't take much. They just need some kind of shelter against the elements and protection from predators. I know of some people that have used a small camper top. Chickens usually only go into the coop to lay eggs and sleep at night. The rest of the time they like to be outside. The point with that comment is that their shelter doesn't have to be very big at all especially for just a couple of hens. I have a prefab coop/run that I bought several years ago. The whole unit is about 3x6ft and the housing unit is about half that and I know many people keep a couple of birds in there full time and provide the birds with food & water and will maybe toss in some weeds or grass clippings or whatever as extras, then just clean it out when things get nasty putting that clean out into a compost pile to be used as future fertilizer.

You could try that on that 10x10 patch of grass, then add on an addition that is also screened to extend their run area to keep them confined and safe, then possibly move that extension to another spot for fresh pickings. OR just build a small tractor that can be moved easily around that patch. If you do that, then you won't have to mow either. LOL just saying

 

[JustMe]

Preaching to the choir means preaching to the already-believers, not the un-believers.

As far as prepping, I buy what I want to stockpile. I buy canned foods, dry foods, whatever - I don't can or grow them myself. I wish I had the knowledge, experience, and space to do that effectively. But I don't. Nor do I want to dedicate all my time to growing, canning, prepping and preparing. I would rather hit the store with a couple hundred bucks every month or so, and after two hours of shopping exit with a crap-ton of long term storage food. If the store shelves are empty, I will rely on the crap-ton of food I've already bought and squirreled away over time. I will not make it through the forever apocalypse with my plan. But I don't want to. Having a bunch of chickens in my back yard wouldn't help much either. Knowing my luck, a tornado would come through and they'd be flung off into the middle of the Pacific. Or a brush fire would take them out. Or the coyotes. We've got so many rabbits on our property that trying to grow anything for sustenance would probably just result in a bunch of obese rabbits. There are things that can foil even the best laid of plans.

Yeah well for the most part, they know and see what's going on. and even have an idea of what's coming.......they just don't seem to want to do anything about it. Very frustrating

 

[LadyLocust]

I'm not jumping into over drive yet, but I may be downshifting for that hill up ahead.

As part of that I am looking at what I buy every week at the grocery store and asking myself, "why can't I make/grow that at home"? Then I use that list to research what I can do within my existing resources.

The wife asked me the other day if I could build something so we could have chickens? I know that in this area you can have a couple before you get into trouble, but I would have to do within the space I have. I have 1 - 10'X10' patch of grass and a 15'X15' patio covered with growing containers and water storage. I just don't know if I could add chickens into this little space... I keep thinking rabbits, but rabbits don't lay eggs......

There is a book by Dolly Freed (an old book) Possom Living about how rabbit was their main source of meat and how they lived on almost nothing. Anyhoo, just more info.

 

[UrbanHunter]

There is a book by Dolly Freed (an old book) Possom Living about how rabbit was their main source of meat and how they lived on almost nothing. Anyhoo, just more info.

This one?

 

[Hardcalibres]

Ensure that your diet is diverse and balanced.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning

 

[Sourdough]

Thanks..........I ordered the book.

There is a book by Dolly Freed (an old book) Possom Living about how rabbit was their main source of meat and how they lived on almost nothing. Anyhoo, just more info.

 

[dademoss]

There is a book by Dolly Freed (an old book) Possom Living about how rabbit was their main source of meat and how they lived on almost nothing. Anyhoo, just more info.

I have that one in my collection of PDF files.