kindapointless 22 Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 So thinking about my shtf crates got me to thinking what all preparations people are making and for what? I mean like learning new skills like first aid courses and how to make soap shit like that. What I'm getting at is are people taking steps to insure not only basic survival but maybe even some level of comfort Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 You mean like figuring out how to keep the pumps running at the local water works? Keeping the generators running at the local hospital? How to power up a gas station safely? How to power up 3-phase machine tools and HVAC systems off the main grid? Nah! We are going to bug out to a cave or a tent and forget about anyone who can't make soap from dead animals and firewood. Yeah, some people have taken the prep thing a bit far. They fear "EMP" and the destruction of all things electrical, yet never bother to learn how to go about bypassing or repairing systems that might be damaged. It always struck me as odd as well. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BpS12 512 Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 One of the Myths of the SCA is that "When all the guns and ammo and powder, etc. are gone, we'll be living the good life with all our pre-industrial skills." So I try to explain to my follow Scadians that "If you don't survive the initial crisis, all your pre-industrial skills are worthless." Really, it's simple, the more you can do, the better off you will be in both the short and long run. "Specialization is for insects."-Netchzie It's good to be well rounded though. You may have to live primitive for a bit till you can cobble together all the parts you need to get your modern stuff up and running. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulyski 2,227 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 So thinking about my shtf crates got me to thinking what all preparations people are making and for what? I mean like learning new skills like first aid courses and how to make soap shit like that. What I'm getting at is are people taking steps to insure not only basic survival but maybe even some level of comfort Yep. I trust in the Lord & thank him for everything I have every day & he sees to it that I get by. Same thing if the S hits the F. Honestly... Yes, I have a lot of canned goods & whatnot, but I'm not going to kill my neighbors to keep my hoard. He who eats alone, dies alone. I'll share, hopefully they will too, & tomorrow will come. I'm rather industrious so in a communal society, there will always be a place for me. If the S hit the F, because of a foreign invasion, it would likely be from the west, meaning China & I'll be on the front lines dealing with whatever comes my way. If I should die, so be it. There's worse things than dieing. I'll be damned if I'll ever run. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dad2142Dad 6,559 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 There was a post about two months ago of someone in Egypt when it went south. Lots of good points in that one about what actually worked and what did not. That should be the first sticky in a sub forum. As far as the training goes, I say go get it if you can. Learning new stuff is great, keeps one sharp. Stuff like first aid training is very handy in just day to day life. Specialized stuff like restoring the water pumps for the town, you might want to leave to people who know what they are doing. When I first read the Stand, I laughed my ass of when they spent weeks rewinding a generator only to have it burn up because they did not control the load (Shut off all the shit people left on) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BuffetDestroyer 969 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 All you really need for SHTF preparation is the Man Vs. Wild DVD box set featuring Bear Grylls! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gunfanatic 221 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 I always keep a box of snickers bars under my bead for a rainy day. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YARP 300 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 All you really need for SHTF preparation is the Man Vs. Wild DVD box set featuring Bear Grylls! Can't stand that guy...... "were out here in the middle of no where...." as an FING BUS DRIVES BEHIND HIM! "I'm so lonely out here....." as the camera man says "hey bear, you want...." 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 There was a post about two months ago of someone in Egypt when it went south. Lots of good points in that one about what actually worked and what did not. That should be the first sticky in a sub forum. As far as the training goes, I say go get it if you can. Learning new stuff is great, keeps one sharp. Stuff like first aid training is very handy in just day to day life. Specialized stuff like restoring the water pumps for the town, you might want to leave to people who know what they are doing. When I first read the Stand, I laughed my ass of when they spent weeks rewinding a generator only to have it burn up because they did not control the load (Shut off all the shit people left on) True, but how to power your business, home and repair your car will serve you better than homespun cloth and soaps. Call me weird, but growing up as a farmboy, keeping the equipment running and powering the milk tank in emergencies was a basic necessity. Every good storm we lost power for a couple of days being out on the "end of the line". If something broke on the sawmill or whatnot, you just repaired what was there if you could, not call a repairman or buy new parts. It seems odd to me that so many "Preppers" first plan is to live like a caveman until the local walmart reopens. The Egypt article was good. If you need to get out of a warzone with a family, he has great advice. Varied currency, be armed, stockpile enough of what you need to share, and be mobile when you have to be. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YARP 300 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 so your saying those skills are pretty much useless Heath? How you going to start up the power when the only thing left standing is the silo on the farm after a tornado/hurricane? turn on the light under 10ft of water? Last natural disaster I responded to was 24 hours after the fact, we found about 30 people congregated around one tent that some guy had stashed in his vehicle with no clue which direction to head to get out of there current situation "because there aren't any identifying landmarks left and we only had a half tank of gas"....... Think natural disaster instead of red dawn. For the record I won't be making any soap out of cats ass and tree bark at the end of the world..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Seeing as how we are both in Michigan, I would like you to come up with a scenario where all landmarks are gone other than a direct hit from a tornado or nuke. So the answer would be walk the 500yards from where the twister hit, to where it didn't, or glow scream and die bleeding from every orifice on my body. Even then, if you know where you are, and you can find north, south, east or west... the sun is a good indicator for those who didn't stash a compass and topographical map of your home town... you can find a way out of the area. We have storms take out trees over the roads... you get a chain, a truck, and a chainsaw and you clear it. Repeat as needed until you get to where you want to go. If nothing is left but the silo, I guess I don't have much work to do. So the proper reaction would be "Huh... *open beer*... glug glug glug... " and start walking. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
YARP 300 Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 That's Michigan guy.....I left for a decade and have been to many other places. Members on here are not just from MI. Do you ever travel? maybe natural disaster will take a vacation well your on vacation. Not much sun shows when it's storming like a MFer, such an event usually (even the biggest bad asses) puts people in a daze. In la plata MD I found a guy just staring at what used to be his house....he stared at me like he was an Fing zombie when I talked to him, never said a word, not one physical injury on him. What I'm saying is that as our economy worsens help will be slower and slower to arrive (granted after the whole Katrina thing no president will ever wanna F that up). Again we live in the same AO and are both country boys. We both do the same thing after a storm. For the record I'd probably go with Jack Daniels..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kindapointless 22 Posted April 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 Yeah maybe the soap thing was a bad example. More like how to fix your own shit. Sometimes I forget people can't even work on their own equipment. Maybe repair their own roof stuff like that. It's like that old 8n tractor that someone keeps limping along. You know it well and most the time fix it yourself to keep going. I know some people who if they had anything happen they would be screwed because they know nothing they need somebody to do everything even fixing a leaky faucet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
joebanda1213 59 Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 I'll Be raiding Barnes and nobel and the local library. Great Resources to figure out how to problem solve and then when your done use it for firewood. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Heath_h49008 442 Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 It's a good example, even if you didn't intend it to be. There really are guys who are buying one or two dairy cows, a shack in the middle of nowhere, and learning to make soap. The time and effort they have expended would be better spent learning more useful skills. It's a great observation. Most community colleges have flexible HVAC/electrical/builders courses. Try basic auto mechanics, chemistry, EMT A/B, machine tool, welding as well. These can be VERY useful in everyday life, as well as maybe helping you expand career opportunities and saving money on projects. I really don't have to mention practical shooting to this crowd, but that's a given for any gun owner IMHO. That homemade soap is pretty expensive, when your time is valuable. Hell, work 10 hours of overtime and buy a few cases of soap... it won't go bad... or learn to make soap and do so every few weeks for ever. Which sounds like a better idea? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kindapointless 22 Posted April 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 u hit the nail on the head. The more you know the better you will be. My friend is an accountant he's great with numbers useless with any real world skills. He's one of the ones that is tripping out wanting to buy property and cows. He has been trying to get me to teach him stuff. Up until that point I thought some things were common knowledge. Boy was I wrong. I guess we were just raised different. That's what got me wondering about skills. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dad2142Dad 6,559 Posted April 8, 2011 Report Share Posted April 8, 2011 I guess we were just raised different. Ding, ding, ding those who have learned to be self sufficent will be better off by far.And you are correct Heath that those who can fix things will be in demand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
termite 463 Posted April 9, 2011 Report Share Posted April 9, 2011 You help me and I'll help you, you try to take my stuff, I'll shoot you dead and leave you to rot. If you need clean water, go down to the river, get some water, then bring it up here and run it thru the filtration system, it'll ALL be yours. If you're hungry, I'll give you something to eat, but don't expect it every day. Converted my welder/10kw gen to propane, to get away from gas, it goes bad to quick, and stocking up on freeze dried stuff, just in case. The wife has REAL seeds stored in the deep freeze and more on the way. Canning supplies in the basement to can what we can, but that's only "good" for about a year, after that, nutrition goes down. Have started to clear trees on the back side of our hill to plant more stuff to eat and can. I'd love to die with nothing ever happening and my kids come in here to clean the house out and find all we have stored up, they'd think we wuz crazy. Ain't nothing crazy about taking care of your own ass, it's what you're SUPPOSED to do, at least that's what I was taught. Just my .02 worth 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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