Suggestions for a beginning prepper?

[smithe]

Originally Posted by Bushdoctor

Forget all of the lists of crap. First, train your body and mind. All that BOB stuff isn't going to do you any good if you are 100 lbs overweight and can't carry it to the end of your street. Take a good martial arts course like Muy Tai or Brazilian JiuJitsu. Take a survival course or do some rough camping, preferably when it is wet and cold with minimum gear. That is the way to really know what you will need. You might be surprised at how little you will need. I know people who have spent two to six weeks in the Utah desert ( I did two weeks)with only a blanket, poncho, small bottle of bleach for water purification and a small knife. For urban survival, the best thing is a wad of cash.

Regards,
Bushy

Thank you! You hit a point that has been driving me nuts ever since I learned about, and started doing a little, prepping. I read all these threads about what if you had to get home in a shtf situation, or get to your bug out location, yet no ones talks about being physically fit, ever! The U.S. is freaking out of control, roughly 35% of this country is obese, another 35% is overweight (but not obese) 70%! Based on threads I read here, and elsewhere, a whole lot of peppers are dead weight, or good cover.

[prof_fate]

Fat people...hmm, good eatin and they run slower - easy to catch. Gotta have a bullet with good penetration though. LOL

The more I contemplate, seriously contemplate, the issues around survival I'm more inclined to give up.
My life is busy - business, house, spouse, kids, pets, hobbies. Since the last major catastrophe for civilization was what, 1500 years ago (fall of roman empire) I"m not too concerned.

I figure from all I've read/heard that the mayan thing may have an impact - be that instantly it's the 1840s, or 75% of the worlds population is killed in short order or just major electrical disruptions for 6 months or maybe just general prepping/panic, Im gonna have a source of water, 6 months of food (boring canned stuff, pasta, etc) that I can/will eat if things don't fall apart and enough guns/ammo/accuracy to protect it. Might get a generator but I dont' really see how I could stockpile months of fuel.
Should things turn to 1840 I hope to have the skills/knowledge and some tools to survive (i have no horses, wagons, harness, horse drawn plows so it's gonna be interesting).
I'm not sure I'd want to survive if it meant keeping one eye open for danger and an empty stomach for months. call me soft if you want, that's fine.
My kids and wife would keep me going - watching them starve or suffer would suck, but I'm not sure unless I got all of us to focus on survival. Maybe we all could become amish - I'll bring this up with my wife and see.

I mean, I've been trying to lose 25 lbs for years...I have no time to excersize...

Maybe build a tower and get a really good sniper rifle... depopulate everything a 1 or 2 mile radius and scavenge what they left behind. No wait, the town's water tower is 1/4 mile away, all steel, ladder to the roof - ok, just need to secure that and defend it. Got a 10' fence around it now...prolly a valve in there to turn off the water...I'll be the local water lord - bring me food and virgins or you'll die of thirst!

Yeah, that's it!

[ThomasA]

^ great contribution....

[prof_fate]

Hey, what do we fear in a collapse? Raiding hordes - yet nobody ever admits to wanting to be part of the raiding hordes.

So you'll do what"
1 - be a victim - panic, starve, etc.
2 - run away - head for the hills. Been there - unless you know them well the locals will be in charge and you won't know where anything is, need to build shelter, take everything with you. Perhaps you can stash somethings for your arrival...if you arrive.
3 - hide - what, in your basement? How defensible is that? (BTW, this has/is my plan). Long term (say 2 months or more) is that gonna work?

4 - take the high ground, take command of the area. Call this 'the military option' or 'aggressive option' or whatever you choose. So if your house isn't the best choice (you live in densely populatated area, a skyrise, a mobile home, etc) then what? You can move now in prep but how realistic is that for most of us? You live where you do for a variety of reasons (cost, convenience, work, etc).

so why not plan to take what you need? Is that not planning just as valid? I mean if civilization is falling apart and you need a 4x4 or gas why not just commandeer it?

And yes, this isa serious question.

The downside is what if SHTF isn't 'final'? Then your crimes will cause you to go to jail I suppose. But I still maintain it's not going to be easy to decide when to pull the plug regardless of your plan. I remember 9/11 -and I live 400 miles from NYC but they closed the local mall, evacuated downtown (tall buildings...)..it was pretty paranoid and panicy. I just went to work (hungry as the fast food joints are around the mall) but I had absoultely no urge to head for the hills or hideout.

You are preparing your skills for what? Sole survival? Likley not. You'll need a group. Well, I don't have one, so I'll have to join or form one. What skills can I bring to the group? Defense! Let them do the farming and butchering and I'll stand guard.

[ThomasA]

lol wut? your mind goes all sorts of directions simulataneously doesn't it.

[john_bud]

Originally Posted by Bushdoctor

The rule of 3's is:

3 minutes w/o air
3 hours w/o shelter ( this assumes that you are poorly dressed for severe weather ie. freezing and/or hot desert conditions.)
3 days w/o water
30 days w/o food. ( studies have shown that lack of food does not even impare you physically or mentally for 10 days or so and some have survived for more than two months without food. I think that a lot of Americans think that they will die if they do not have food every few hours!)

I thought it was;

3 minutes without air
3 hours without sex
3 days without water
3 weeks without food

[prof_fate]

Originally Posted by ThomasA

lol wut? your mind goes all sorts of directions simulataneously doesn't it.

Yep.
Depends on the crisis. If you lived in New Orleans would staying put be a good option? Prolly not - if civi fails so will the pumps. So running is your best option (whether that is to a fort in the woods or you just become Grizzly Adams and head for the canadian rockies to live alone)

I truly think a very good option is to get a 35ish foot ocean going sailboat and when SHTF go to sea. Security would be great, with some solar you can have enough electricity. You'll have to go ashore at times of course, but you have the world to choose from including remote beaches and inlets where you're not likely to be unsafe. You can go to wherever in the world is 'best', recovery/stability wise. I mean, how bad can tahiti get in a SHTF scenario?

But you need the boat (you could comandeer it but it won't be prepped the way you need perhaps, you can't control condition), you need it stocked of course, and you need the skills to sail the ocean blue, possibly without GPS/LORAN. And you need to get to this boat if / when the need arises. Is this a long term plan, as in years? People DO live on boats and sail the world for years...so yea, I think so. A lot more pleasant than trapping the rockies and surviving the winters there. IMO anyway. And you can enjoy the boat in the meantime for vacations, weekends, etc - it's fun and prepping at the same time. If the crisis passes you can return home - or live on the boat until you rebuild your house.

As for traditional prepping...when will the SHTF? A year - enough time to get ready? 10 years? Will your stored food and medical still be good, or do you need to replace it ever 3, 5, 7 years? Can you afford to do that?
How much do you need? Ammo...kill what, 2 deer a year? 5 turkeys and 20 ducks and 12 rabbits? If you can kill in 2 shots and miss 50% of the time you need ~80 bullets. So 800 rounds should last you 10 years. And since you'll be hunting weekly you don't need ammo for practice. So what are your plans for those other 5,000+ rounds you've got under the bed? You're expecting a never ending "zombie horde"?

[fmfdocsci]

What are you prepping for? Zombie attacks are nice fantasy

My preps are for:

1. Disaster Preparedness. I have lived in places around the country where floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, ans earthquakes have all been a problem, and I have been through them all. Last year where I live in PA we had a hurricane that flooded large areas to the east, south, ansd west of us. We had a tornado that passed about a mile from our house. We had the earthquake which was easily felt by everyone in our area. We have bug aout bags in our cars in case we have to walk home from work or day errands.

2. Financial Hardship. Whether it be personal or societal it is good to save money, have a diverse investment strategy. Stay out of debt whenever possible.

Advice:
a. be realistic
b. start simple
c. don't overextend yourself financially
d. don't act like a crazy person
e. have a network of people you can trust.

[ThomasA]

Originally Posted by fmfdocsci

Advice:
a. be realistic
b. start simple
c. don't overextend yourself financially
d. don't act like a crazy person
e. have a network of people you can trust.

Yes! It's not what you know, it's who you know. Wether you just need a place to stay in an emergency, a hook up on goods/services, or a fellow prepper for when that zombie fantasy actually comes true.

[speedrrracer]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

Hey, what do we fear in a collapse? Raiding hordes - yet nobody ever admits to wanting to be part of the raiding hordes.

So you'll do what"
1 - be a victim - panic, starve, etc.
2 - run away - head for the hills. Been there - unless you know them well the locals will be in charge and you won't know where anything is, need to build shelter, take everything with you. Perhaps you can stash somethings for your arrival...if you arrive.
3 - hide - what, in your basement? How defensible is that? (BTW, this has/is my plan). Long term (say 2 months or more) is that gonna work?

4 - take the high ground, take command of the area. Call this 'the military option' or 'aggressive option' or whatever you choose. So if your house isn't the best choice (you live in densely populatated area, a skyrise, a mobile home, etc) then what? You can move now in prep but how realistic is that for most of us? You live where you do for a variety of reasons (cost, convenience, work, etc).

so why not plan to take what you need? Is that not planning just as valid? I mean if civilization is falling apart and you need a 4x4 or gas why not just commandeer it?

And yes, this isa serious question.

The downside is what if SHTF isn't 'final'? Then your crimes will cause you to go to jail I suppose. But I still maintain it's not going to be easy to decide when to pull the plug regardless of your plan. I remember 9/11 -and I live 400 miles from NYC but they closed the local mall, evacuated downtown (tall buildings...)..it was pretty paranoid and panicy. I just went to work (hungry as the fast food joints are around the mall) but I had absoultely no urge to head for the hills or hideout.

You are preparing your skills for what? Sole survival? Likley not. You'll need a group. Well, I don't have one, so I'll have to join or form one. What skills can I bring to the group? Defense! Let them do the farming and butchering and I'll stand guard.

As was said, this is some serious rambling, but fun to read.

First you say nobody admits to wanting to be one of the bad guys, and then you admit to preferring to be one? Do you mean nobody else?

The problem with being a bad guy is that you end up losing. History upholds this as fact. So most are wise enough to chill their inner bad guy in order to be on the winning side, because survival / prosperity /order is better than jail / death / chaos.

I agree about groups, but being part of a group of good guys is, imho, likelier to contribute to survival than being part of a group of bad guys. If you disagree I'd like to hear why -- I think it's pretty self-evident.

Also, defense is easier than offense. That's why herbivores can survive on lower-energy food than carnivores, and why herbivores are more plentiful.

No, I think taking what you need is not valid planning, because you don't ever know if what you need will be available for the taking. Planning, apart from a dictionary definition, means taking steps to ensure what you need will be present when you need it.