The pseudo-survivalist thread

[cheshire]

How do you find the people you want to force to do the shitty work for you? You act all nefarious while the most badass thing youve ever done was report a mean competitor to google. Chances are the world becomes a lot more uncivilized the day the lights go out, but I wouldnt count on WF being the guys who come out on top.

You make a bunch of broad assumptions considering you don't know me, or anything about me.

How do I find people? There are 7 BILLION people on this planet. In my smallish town there are 200k. In my county there are well over a million. I'm pretty sure it'll be simple to find people with the skills necessary to accomplish what I want. Since I have the guns (and thus the food and resources) I will have no problem getting people to join my merry band of men.

Unless you're talking about a catastrophic extincion event it'll be pretty easy to find people. If there is some sort of extincion event then we all have more problems than your stock piles of food and ability to dress a wound can ever fix.

 

[DewChugr]

How do you find the people you want to force to do the shitty work for you? You act all nefarious while the most badass thing youve ever done was report a mean competitor to google. Chances are the world becomes a lot more uncivilized the day the lights go out, but I wouldnt count on WF being the guys who come out on top.

Agree.

Unless it's short term, a big stash of guns aren't going to keep you on top, brains and skills are. Not that guns would not be a good thing to have, but, I'd take a small group of people, everyone has a pistol, one has a shotgun, one has a 30-06. A small group of people with skills will be better off than a large group of people with guns, less competition, less opinions, fights, less food to gather, smaller shelter needed, etc. It's going to be the backpackers, hunters and outdoor savvy types with the best odds in the long run, not the pasty kids that live in moms basement.

Having watched bear grylls isn't going to cut it either, it's much more difficult to start a fire with sticks, a camera lens or in pouring down rain than it appears, much more difficult.

 

[efeezy]

Here is my plan...

If society collapses I am stealing a sail boat and using a salt to water osmosis filter. While everyone is going crazy I will be sailing and hanging out at abandoned island beaches.

Take that suckers...only problem would be zombie sharks.

But how will you possibly transport all of your handguns, shotguns, AR's, hand grenades and millions of round of ammunition?

 

[geomark]

So how about someone take a crack at a list of essential skills to develop before the SHTF? Emphasis please on skills useful even in normal times or minor emergencies for us pseudo-survivalists.

Also a list of how-tos ordered in the same way. For example, how to store rice and beans long term. It's a problem where I live because the weather and pests make them go bad in not many months. It's useful even in normal times because I like to stock up at opportune times.

 

[dsiomtw]

I'll bite. How about rational thought?

 

[Andrew Scherer]

Also a list of how-tos ordered in the same way. For example, how to store rice and beans long term. It's a problem where I live because the weather and pests make them go bad in not many months.

Same here.

Go to the grocery store and pick up drinking water in those 5 - 10 liter jugs with the screw caps.

When you finish the water, fill the sucker with whatever you want with a funnel and screw the cap on. Store in a dry place.

 

[amateursurgeon]

All good seeds are hybrid, it's the non hybrid seeds you should be watching out for.

True hybrid seeds are heirloom/legacy seeds, passed down from generation to generation adapted to your local soil. Much of what you see at the store from the GOOD seed companies are these very things with the exception that they're not adapted to local climates.

The BIG myth is that field-grade seeds can not reproduce - These myths come from people who have never been to a farm in their life. I can attest that they grow just fine.

Not quite correct... a lot of seedstock is heterozygous f1 hybrid. All although f1s aren't sterile, they don't breed true. If you use the seed from the plants germinated from f1s, you'll get a load of homozygous traits that the parent stock had, which often increase disease susceptibility and decrease yield.

If you want a sustainable crop over multiple seasons (assuming you can't just buy more seed), you need a seedstock that breeds true. Which means NOT F1 Hybrid.


@geomark : The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Complete-Book-Self-Sufficiency/dp/1405345101/"]Amazon.com: New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (9781405345101): John Seymour: Books[/ame]

is a good introduction to self-sufficiency. It includes things like making a clamp for crop storage. It's more of an overview book, but worth getting as it will give you further reading ideas.

I'm not a survivalist per se, but I am very into the idea of self-sufficiency because I believe that our food production system is totally untrustworthy. I avoid supermarkets if at all possible (which it is, 99.5% of the time)

Quality issues aside (most of it is nutrition-free crap), most supermarkets run a centralised just-in-time delivery system. This means that if their logistics were interrupted for more than a couple of days (say due to a fuel delivery strike, like we will probably have here in a couple of weeks), they start running out of food. Even during the (laughable) snow here last year, it was hard to find things like milk and bread.

 

[amateursurgeon]

No but I'm sure you do, and I'm sure my large stash of AR-15's could convince you to do it for me.

In the event of total societal collapse he who has the guns and bullets will be king. The rest can easily be taken by force.

Not if you don't have the skills to recognise a maliciously tainted water supply, they won't.

 

[DewChugr]

So how about someone take a crack at a list of essential skills to develop before the SHTF? Emphasis please on skills useful even in normal times or minor emergencies for us pseudo-survivalists.

Also a list of how-tos ordered in the same way. For example, how to store rice and beans long term. It's a problem where I live because the weather and pests make them go bad in not many months. It's useful even in normal times because I like to stock up at opportune times.

How about get in shape, learn CPR or first aid? It's going to benefit you if there's an emergency or not.

To vague, it's hard to plan for everything, but food water and shelter are key. It's going to depend on where you are located, the event, your situation. Are you going to stay in a city or head into the woods, are you going it alone or in a small group or form your own gun toting gang.

Reading about how to do something doesn't equal doing it.

Probably should stock up on heatmeals.

 

[geomark]

Same here.

Go to the grocery store and pick up drinking water in those 5 - 10 liter jugs with the screw caps.

When you finish the water, fill the sucker with whatever you want with a funnel and screw the cap on. Store in a dry place.

The container has to be dessicated and purged of oxygen to prevent molds and pests. I've had dry pasta noodles in the sealed plastic package that turned into a pile of dust and tiny beetles of some sort within a few months. One technique I've read about is put a chunk of dry ice in the container, add the product, place the top on loosely until all the dry ice has vaporized and purged the container of air, then seal tightly.

How about get in shape, learn CPR or first aid? It's going to benefit you if there's an emergency or not.

In shape - Check
CPR - Need a refresher. Learned it in divemaster training but that's been quite a while. Everybody should know this.
First aid beyond patching up a small cut would be really useful.

 

[Andrew Scherer]

The container has to be dessicated and purged of oxygen to prevent molds and pests. I've had dry pasta noodles in the sealed plastic package that turned into a pile of dust and tiny beetles of some sort within a few months. One technique I've read about is put a chunk of dry ice in the container, add the product, place the top on loosely until all the dry ice has vaporized and purged the container of air, then seal tightly.

Yeah you're right, that's certainly sounds like the way to do it for storage that will last till you're on your death bed.

I've got 6 or 7 of those 10 liter tanks filled with rice and beans under my stairs. They've been there for about 4 years, no signs of unwanted life yet.

I can relate to your story about the noodles. One time I brought home a 20 pound sack of white rice from sams club and just stored it as-is. After about 4 or 5 months bugs got to it and we had to toss it.

So you definitely got to take extra storage measures after you buy it.

I want to get into canning.

 

[crackp0t]

Yeah you're right, that's certainly sounds like the way to do it for storage that will last till you're on your death bed.

I've got 6 or 7 of those 10 liter tanks filled with rice and beans under my stairs. They've been there for about 4 years, no signs of unwanted life yet.

I can relate to your story about the noodles. One time I brought home a 20 pound sack of white rice from sams club and just stored it as-is. After about 4 or 5 months bugs got to it and we had to toss it.

So you definitely got to take extra storage measures after you buy it.

I want to get into canning.

Canning stuff lasts forever and a day. I swear I could probably go into my grand <insert aunt, father, mother, uncle>s cellar and pull out can goods that are still good and they've probably been under there at least before Oklahoma was a state.

EDIT:

Yes, I was exaggerating a bit on the shelf life of canned food, but it does last a long long time.

 

[crackp0t]

There's a couple things I didn't see mentioned here. I see people talking about guard dogs, assault riffles, and hand guns. These are good things to have, but don't over look the usefulness of a good hunting dog and a good 22 riffle for small game. Squirrel, raccoon, and opossum are all good eating and pretty easy to hunt. Depending on where you are it's almost impossible to not find one of the 3 especially with a good dog.

Cattle and goats are another thing that's good to have. 3 good milk cows and a Bull can provide you with milk and beef pretty much year round. The same is true with the goats. Between hunting small game, cattle, goats, and chickens there's no reason to ever go without meat.

Here's a tip many of you might not know. You can nurse a calf on a goat. So if for some reason (cow dies during birth, calf can't feed from it's mother or another cow, etc) you can always use one of your goats.

I can't wait to get back out to the country again.

 

[MSTeacher]

One technique I've read about is put a chunk of dry ice in the container, add the product, place the top on loosely until all the dry ice has vaporized and purged the container of air, then seal tightly.

This works very well. I've opened pails of dessicated rice and oats that have sat for three years in a cool basement and they were perfect. Exactly as you described, put a chunk of dry ice at the bottom of the container, fill over it, seal almost all of the cap/lid and let the co2 displace the air, then seal it up the rest of the way. Easy and very effective.

I'll start a list of skills.

Learn how to build a debris hut, snow hut, bow drill, small game snare, splint and sling. Learn how to strip bark or roots to make rope.

Learn how to stitch cuts and gashes. Practice with your dinner before you marinade it (srs). Learn what first aid to give in various circumstances and how to give CPR. Learn how to smoke and salt meat.

Learn the most common edible wild foods in your area. Learn the migratory patterns of edible animals around you. Learn the prints of common animals and learn how to spot signs of recent activity wherever you are.

Learn the properties of whatever wild medicinal herbs are around you. Always be growing plants, even if it's indoors in the off season. Life begets life.

Learn how to leave signals that betray others' presence in your absence.

Learn how to shoot moving targets at a variety of speeds, heights, and distances. Learn to shoot accurately while running. Learn how to strip, clean, and reassemble a handgun. Learn how to counter a gun in your face.

Study SWAT and military combat movements until you can play them out in your mind and visualize ways to counter or preempt them.

Practice analyzing buildings for entry/exit points, cover points, escape routes, etc. Learn how to put out various types of fires and how to escape a burning room.

Learn how to drive a stick. Learn how to drive offensively, minimize injury and damage in a car crash, and how to hotwire a few common cars. Know the shortest routes to important points in your area regardless of traffic patterns or right of ways. Know your evacuation routes and how to get to them from places you commonly stay. Know your AM and shortwave stations.

Practice being able to point to the four cardinal directions without thinking about it wherever you are. Learn how to read a map and orienteer with a compass. Practice guessing the time to within a few minutes from the light in the sky. Practice being able to point in the direction of major geographic and manmade features from wherever you are like ocean, rivers, crops, power plants, airports, highways, rail tracks, etc. Learn how to predict the weather.

 

[crackp0t]

This works very well. I've opened pails of dessicated rice and oats that have sat for three years in a cool basement and they were perfect. Exactly as you described, put a chunk of dry ice at the bottom of the container, fill over it, seal almost all of the cap/lid and let the co2 displace the air, then seal it up the rest of the way. Easy and very effective.

I'll start a list of skills.

Learn how to build a debris hut, snow hut, bow drill, small game snare, splint and sling. Learn how to strip bark or roots to make rope.

Learn how to stitch cuts and gashes. Practice with your dinner before you marinade it (srs). Learn what first aid to give in various circumstances and how to give CPR. Learn how to smoke and salt meat.

Learn the most common edible wild foods in your area. Learn the migratory patterns of edible animals around you. Learn the prints of common animals and learn how to spot signs of recent activity wherever you are.

Learn the properties of whatever wild medicinal herbs are around you. Always be growing plants, even if it's indoors in the off season. Life begets life.

Learn how to leave signals that betray others' presence in your absence.

Learn how to shoot moving targets at a variety of speeds, heights, and distances. Learn to shoot accurately while running. Learn how to strip, clean, and reassemble a handgun. Learn how to counter a gun in your face.

Study SWAT and military combat movements until you can play them out in your mind and visualize ways to counter or preempt them.

Practice analyzing buildings for entry/exit points, cover points, escape routes, etc. Learn how to put out various types of fires and how to escape a burning room.

Learn how to drive a stick. Learn how to drive offensively, minimize injury and damage in a car crash, and how to hotwire a few common cars. Know the shortest routes to important points in your area regardless of traffic patterns or right of ways. Know your evacuation routes and how to get to them from places you commonly stay. Know your AM and shortwave stations.

Practice being able to point to the four cardinal directions without thinking about it wherever you are. Learn how to read a map and orienteer with a compass. Practice guessing the time to within a few minutes from the light in the sky. Practice being able to point in the direction of major geographic and manmade features from wherever you are like ocean, rivers, crops, power plants, airports, highways, rail tracks, etc. Learn how to predict the weather.

Most people have no clue how to react when they're actually threatened with death. You can train and train and train, but until it actually happens you have no clue how you'll react. I've been in a situation like that and it's scary, but at least I know for a fact I won't freeze, I can stay calm, and defend myself with a weapon if I have to. There was a running joke for a while that I was the deadly guy with a butter knife anyone knew. I got a knock on my door at around 1 am. I thought it was my neighbor, because he'd frequently knock on my door at random times of the night and we lived in a "secure" building so my guard was down. I ended up cutting him up pretty bad with a butter knife and bend a big metal cooking spoon in half over his head.

About hot wiring cars. You can actually buy keys for certain models that will work in most models of that car. I forget what they're called, but having some for different makes and models would be extremely handy to have. If you do end up getting some though don't get caught with them unless you have a really good excuse.

 

[SkyFire]

I love wicked fire because of the hyperbole threads like this

You all have really great ideas about what you'll do when your expected or thought likely event happens. Bravo. Me? I'll adapt - whatever that happens to mean.

 

[geomark]

That's great start on a list by MSTeacher.

Re stitching up your own cuts, the lack of medical care can mean things become pretty dire quickly if you have an injury. Even in a moderately short term crisis things get bad for people who need medical help. During the Thailand floods last year a lot of people got seriously sick from cuts that got infected from filthy flood water. Neighborhoods full of people trudging through knee deep water - easy to get cut because you can't see what you are stepping on. Doubt many of them knew how to take care of their injuries.

I love wicked fire because of the hyperbole threads like this

You all have really great ideas about what you'll do when your expected or thought likely event happens. Bravo. Me? I'll adapt - whatever that happens to mean.

How does that saying go? Oh yeah, good luck bro. If you aren't prepared then events will adapt the hell out of you.

 

[DewChugr]

If you're going to hunt wild animals be sure to know about safe handling and cooking and things like tularemima.

If you're going to learn first aid consider wilderness first aid. They assume there will likely be no immediate access to help. Also, newer CPR classes are designed for city emergencies and don't cover rescue breathing, because they assume help will be available soon enough to take over. Take the healthcare class instead.

 

[dsiomtw]

Keep talking dudes ... I'll have my survive the apocalypse ebook done real soon at this rate. Wonder if you'll notice when I sell your own info back to you lol

 

[geomark]

Something to add to the list is your fuel and transportation strategy in case there is a disruption in distribution. Gasoline does not store well. Diesel keeps for years. Among the most popular vehicles where I live are diesel mini-trucks. I have one. So I can buy a barrel or two of diesel and store it. Now that I have diesel stored I would be sure my generator runs diesel not gasoline - diesel generators are a lot stronger and more reliable anyway, although up front cost is a lot higher. If you are out in the country with a patch of land you probably want to have a small tractor to help with the farming - diesel again. If you are so inclined and have access to some raw materials you can even make your own bio-diesel - just be sure to get good at it before the SHTF so you don't waste resources when they are scarce.