Comments on: How To Get Started

By: Ricardo's Law

Ricardo's Law — Thu, 15 May 2008 23:54:11 +0000

In terms of short-term, yep, you want the food, the water, and maybe something to go bang. Them’s the basics, and they’re the most immediately needful.

Longer-term, however, we all need to make sure that we can take care of ourselves once (or if) the freeze-dried stuff runs out, or the spring in the rifle breaks, or, in general, when things start falling apart.

This is where a skill, a real skill, is necessary. We all need to develop our skill-sets NOW, not with the hope that we’ll never use them, and not even with the grim satisfaction of knowing that someday, we can live while those who didn’t prep fall by the wayside (or under our power), but rather with the intent of actually doing these things NOW, so that doing them later won’t be such a shock.

Prepping should be just another part of life, not something for TEOTWAWKI.

By: fallout11

fallout11 — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:33:56 +0000

Starting/Early prepping can be done entirely with a trip or two to Chicom-mart or similar. Canned goods (soups, veggies, meat, fruit), crackers, couple of large containers for water, camping gear, shotgun and shells, basic first aid supplies, all right there. One stop shopping, and you won’t break the bank. Best of all, it’s mostly stuff you’ll end up using eventually anyway.

By: Rushman

Rushman — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:19:44 +0000

P.S. Keep up the good work!!!!!!!

By: Rushman

Rushman — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:19:16 +0000

I agree with most of what you are saying but the cheapest and fastest what to stock up on food is when you go to the store instead of buying the one can of whatever you are buying get two. This even has been mentioned by Rawles for people that are on a budget. You can buy all the freeze-dried food in the world but when you body is under stress it is best to transition slowly to a different diet. Nothing worse then a case of the runs while your house is under attack by MZB’s The other thing is firearms. Unless you practice regular with a hand gun you not going to hit the broad side of a barn in a SHTF. A shotgun is a lot more forgiving. Yes you still have to aim it but long guns are easier to aim. Also a stock mossberg 500(not tricked out) is a lot more politcally correct when dealing with the “officials” when it is all said and done. Look at where you live what would the police respond better too. “I shot the intruder with my old skeet/bird shotgun” or “I shot him with my 9mm.” Shotguns are also cheaper then pistols and you can get less then lethal loads (rubber balls or bean bag). You drop someone even in self defense and you will have your day in court. But hey what do I know……

By: minaqua

minaqua — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:41:07 +0000

This is just what I have been looking for a… a nice starting point. Thanks SP… you are doing a world of service for us that is just starting to see the writing on the wall. Keep the blogs coming.

By: theotherryan

theotherryan — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:10:53 +0000

I think areas that have a significant organized crime element or are near one cold infact fact those evil biker gangs. Also consider that we prep not for the best situation but for the worst and organized well armed groups of criminals is the worst case situation in that area.

By: Quietly

Quietly — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:12:43 +0000

>>I am a firm believer that for most SHTF scenarios we are NOT going to see roving biker gangs and organized thugs.

That really depends where you are. I live in a nice section of a southern city, but it’s walking distance from gang houses. For historical reasons, much of the south has this sort of patchwork layout. Turn the power off for just a month and make food scarce and they’re going to do what they do.

I was here for a hurricane that had the power off for 10 days and the grocery stores ran out of ice. It got pretty tense. The city had curfews and a “no unecessary travel” rule. Another 10 days of that and it could have gotten bad. At least in that case everyone believed the power would be back on soon.

It’s something the suburban prepper has to think about — what are you going to do when there are 20 gang bangers going through your neighborhood, breaking down doors and taking food? Add in the fact that most of your neighbors in suburbia are gun fearing liberals and the idea of organizing your neighborhood to provide defense goes out the window.

Worse, how about when the police decide they need to feed their families and start going door to door to confiscate food for “redistribution”? Or take away the guns? You going to open fire on guys with body armor and backup? Notice that no one in New Orleans resisted while their weapons were taken.

Myself, I plan to bug out to my hunting camp. There’s plenty of food and water, it’s quite defensible, and the neighbors aren’t going to put up with people coming out of the city that they don’t know.

It’s really just a question of knowing when to go. Is it a temporary problem, or will it be bad for a long enough time to devolve? I’ve wondered if the gang bangers will be smart enough to set up roadblocks on the obvious exit routes. That’s probably the biggest consideration of when it’s time to get out — if you have to fight your way out, it’s too late.