"Preppers"? are you one?

Yep, and here in the US, we have far more firepower.

In the wealthier countries (South Africa, for example) the animals are protected, and the chosen ones mostly survive. In the poorer countries, not so much. Maybe they would not be driven to extinction (maybe), but they would not remain a viable food source for most of us.

 

If I were convinced we were about to re-enter the dark ages (I'm not), I would first learn a skill that I could market. There are always the wealthy and the poor, and I'd learn a skill that the wealthy want. Construction, equipment repair, welding, and the like.

Next, I would acquire what I need for the remainder of my life, for the life I anticipate. For example, hand tools and garden tools. Go low on the technology scale. Some food and some water are very helpful (and necessary), but it is next to impossible to store enough for an anticipated lifetime of years.

I would be working on building relationships with those close (physically or emotionally) to me. Free trade is benficial for all, and that is built on trust. Start trading now, perhaps firewood for meat or for the use of a tractor. Learn fair trading as a skill.

Be prepared to trade in the "black" (free) market. Know local suppliers and merchants, and how to get to them through the back door, when the front door is not available.

I have no interest in stockpiling gold, ammo, and the usual prepper stuff. Many will disagree with me, but I don't see enduring value in these. Having lived in a hyperinflationary environment, I assure you few wanted gold or ammo. Some trafficked in gold, but that is just one commodity of many, same as corn, gasolene, or cement.

Except for the hard-core outliers, the human race has survived and thrived on mutual cooperaation and trade. This remains true whether times are good or bad. Effective prepping, therfore, will put the emphasis on providing for basic needs, both yours and others'.

 

In terms of hunting and fishing for food, and how long animals will last/be available.... The animals may not last long, I don't know, and that is an interesting thought. But we also have to remember that lots and lots of people do not have the equipment, knowledge, skills or environment to immediately start hunting/fishing, so there is a bit of a "time factor" involved that will play into the next my next thought... Another very important thing to consider is the population (meaning the actual number of people) as we know it right now, which is probably what comes to mind when we start thinking about this happening, will not be needing those resources... Why is that? Because if we get into this much of an "event" or "situation", there will be a much lower population to sustain, cause there will be lots of dead folks. And the number of dead folks will continue to increase as time goes on for various reasons, and will theoretically taper off to some degree at some point. So again the time factor affects the wildlife impact, to some unknown degree...

I know people will argue this and I probably didn't put it into text the best...

 

I’m not trying to steer this into the political realm but I found this to be an interesting take. As a side note, if anyone has been dodging Google and using DuckDuckGo instead, I wouldn’t take your privacy for granted there either. Like it or not, this is the world we live in today. We got to where we are by incremental changes, a little at a time.
https://www.askaprepper.com/72-types-of-americans-that-are-considered-potential-terrorists-in-official-government-documents/

 

Living in Alaska… nope not a prepper. Live 210 miles from the closest Walmart, hospital, Costco… nope not a prepper. I may or may not have replaced arms and ammo after the house fire. I live in a state that averages 20,000 earthquakes a year, has active volcanoes…nope not a prepper. Only one road comes into Alaska….nope not a prepper.

 

I believe, in the 30's, many animals were well hunted. The solution seems to be more along the lines of raising and storing rather than spending hours in the woods......away from home and perhaps security, where resources might be better spent.

Sca

 

We have been buying local grown meat and other food for years. I think that’s important because we will have those contacts when things get bad. Don’t expect just to go to a farmer and get food if you’ve never met one.

 

Let me know if you want some help.

 

Water filters, flashlights, firewood, stored food, trash bags, paper plates, medical supplies, dry bag, lighters, matches, firestarters, respirators, medications, plastic/latex gloves, charged battery packs, animal traps and the supplies to make snares... I actually had a pile of n-95 masks prior to corona. Picked them up for 2.50 for a box of 50. I thought I was crazy at the time but my family all wanted them last year when there were no masks available for purchase.

For batteries / phone charging, a laptop can be connected to your phone and it could be used as a battery backup.

I have some chemicals that I think would be pretty valuable in a bad world scenario and they can all be used on a daily basis for general household tasks.

- 50 lbs of sodium hydroxide (lye) this can be used for soap making or disinfect. Also works great for drains. Much cheaper to buy in bulk. If you get it on wet skin, you have 6 seconds before it will burn like hell.

- Pool shock is a more concentrated version of bleach and can be used for cleaning or mold removal, also it is not very expensive and it is on sale in the fall after pool season(caution- extremely caustic, be careful to make sure the containers don't leak)

- Ammonia (for cleaning, this will break down plastic particles similar to paint stripper. Do not mix with bleach or you will create homemade mustard gas)

- Cleaning vinegar. 10x regular vinegar. Great for regular stuff. Also great for weeds.

- Softener salt - I don't have a need exactly but this might come in handy. Also could be ground for use in drying pelts. Cheaper than the cans of salt, even if they are only 44 cents.

- 30 ish gallons of non-potable water and a spring near by.

Midway has some military surplus bags that are super heavy duty. Probably not the best for light travel but for long term storage and durability, they can't be beat. Maybe 14 bucks for 2-3 cubic feet. very happy with the purchase and plenty big. The 34 dollar bag fits an entire wardrobe + supplies, I have one as backup/spare.

I was actually surprised when the corona panic hit. Toilet paper was gone but I was buying butane, motor oil, gas, and durable goods. Tractor Supply had pleanty of stump remover on sale (makes home made black powder) ...

I have some extra coffee but really only a few weeks supplies. I think this would be one of the first things to go off store shelves. Green tea isn't the same but would make do for a while.

I have a scoped Hatsan Carnivore .30 air rifle. Very cheap. Can take down a deer, synthetic stock, no powder, very quiet with a built in suppressor, and rounds are .08 cents each. It isn't technically a gun so it can be directly shipped to your house with no government lists. Highly recommended.

The book anarchists cookbook might be interesting to this crowd. I need to pick up a copy myself.

I don't really consider myself a prepper, just prepared.

 

Interesting perspective. I do believe you're completely correct that in the event of a major event (which I do not believe is on the horizon), our population would quickly dwindle in numbers. Just look at how so many people need technology to survive. Most people can't even read a road map any more, never mind being able to navigate using a compass and topographical map. Even if GPS satellites continued to function for a long period of time, the batteries in a handheld GPS would not. Heck, drive around during any period of inclement weather where visibility is severely limited and you will see how many people are too ignorant to even turn their headlights on because they have become so accustomed to their car doing it for them. Even the reading material that has been mentioned...how many have downloaded them onto e-readers instead of having the actual book? The disadvantages of society becoming so inherently dependent on technology are staggering.

As for what bushpilot was discussing, I think knowing who has medical training in your area would be a must. Most people take it for granted that they can just go to the pharmacy for their meds or to the emergency room if they have the sniffles. Never mind a major excrement hitting the rotating oscillator event, even during an extended period of civil unrest those luxuries could become limited or unavailable. And lets face it, many of us are not spring chickens and already have existing medical issues.

I believe in using common sense to be ready for major weather events, interruptions in being able to purchase necessities, etc., however I am not planning for the "zombie apocalypse." Still, it is interesting to contemplate even a partial collapse of society. With this being a firewood forum, here is something to consider. Many comment that they have an unending supply of firewood. I too have access to that where I live, and I have all the toys and gadgets to make processing that timber into nice 16" pieces of firewood a relatively simple task. But what happens when I run out of diesel for the tractor. What about when I run out of gas and bar and chain oil for the chainsaw (rendered bear fat makes great boot grease but isn't exactly conducive to being bar and chain oil)? What if your file breaks and you can't sharpen your last chain? How many here have a crosscut saw and even then, know how to sharpen one? I have five but have never tried to sharpen them. Have you ever watched your average person even try to sharpen an axe? And speaking of axes, yes you can process your firewood with just an axe...but it is a LOT of work (and I'm talking to make firewood for your interior stove, not a campfire). For those of us who use 4-7 (or more) cords of year, it would be difficult without the advantages of modern tools and equipment.

Just food for thought on Sunday morning.

 

I have to tell on myself for a minute. I just read JackHammer's post. When it showed on my screen my eyes saw "Jack.." but my mind assumed Jack Straw for some reason. I got a paragraph or so in and thought to myself "Holy chit times must be getting tight, this is perhaps the most serious post that I ever recall seeing Jack Straw post!!" A bit later I scrolled up again and realized my error...

 

There's a whole slough of books out there I'd like to get my hands on but I'm pretty sure they'd move me up a couple notches on a watchlist somewhere It's best to buy those sort of things for cash at a hole in the wall used book store somewhere.
Blatantly obvious red flag books aside, I do have a couple US Army books (improvised munitions, combat skills, etc.) although it wouldn't surprise me if purchasing them put me into the "potential threat" category. Maybe I should buy the Communist Manifesto to throw the watchers off

 

Yeah, think about how many people have a meltdown and almost a heart-astroke if facebook/Twitter etc go down. Some will die because of power related medical devices (oxygen etc). Many will off themselves cause they can't handle things. People who are prescription drug dependant (diabetes, heart, blood pressure, clotting, mental etc etc) will have a very difficult time depending on how long events last, and will end up going out sooner if things are upside down for very long. Bad people will kill some good people, good people (who are prepared) will end up killing a lot of bad people. Lots of people who think they have a handle on things will be very tested when the groups and gangs band together and come after resources. Guns and ammo won't solve all the issues...but stating that you won't need them tells me that either you have an unbelievably valuable skillset and a group who will protect and provide for you, or you're probably checking out early.....

 

Yeah, I'd like to add the cookbook to my collection too, but have always "heard" that gets you moved up on "the list".....

 

According to some very bright people that decided to buy it off Amazon of all places, the version they got was abbreviated with a lot of content missing.

 

If I were to get one, I wouldn't know if anything/ what was missing.....