Pre-SHTF Thoughts Thread

Get your affairs in order ... how many times have we heard this? How about going to the doctor and getting a check-up? Got a bad tooth? Might be time to get it fixed. I read somewhere that a cowboy's lifespan was about 28 years, because their bad teeth would kill 'em. I've gone through some recent trauma, cut 4 times (maybe one more to go) and another root canal. Yee ha!! But, I feel better. It takes more time for an old guy to recover. But, I feel better.

LARPing is a fun pastime, but that Live Action is something you can't practice behind any keyboard. I've dusted off all my wear, resized my belts (chuckle), loaded every magazine in the house, gone through the A&B bags, inventoried my get-home/truck bag. Ready now to hump some of that up the side of the hill a time-or-two. Got a little stash up there to tend to. Always good to check out the egress trails you intend to use ... during Winter. They're real easy to see when there's no foliage. Real easy to clean out the briars and eye-pokers this time of year too.

What else?

a reply to: Snarl

What else?

Why ya' runnin' away??

I'm diggin' in!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Snarl

What else?

Why ya' runnin' away??

I'm diggin' in!

No running. I've got a hilltop with a clear field of fire down onto my property. God help 'em if they show up and I've been forewarned.

a reply to: Snarl

clear field of fire down onto my property.

Funny you should mention that. I have 2 fields of fire looking down on my house. One from the front and another from the back side.

a reply to: CharlesT

I'm stuck in the stuffy suburbs backed up to the Detroit River and Canadian boarder.

In SHTF scenario...none of us here...will get out. Look at a map of Metro D.

No one gets far. Zero.

Gotta a log cabin up in the National Forest. Don't think we could get there unless off road, on foot...200 miles.

Friends? Look on a map 10 miles in all directions from you. Scary...a lot don't realize they'd be running right into the "SHTF" ...coming at us all...from the other way.

a reply to: Snarl

I'm getting a couple more pistols this week that will be "stolen" yesterday if anyone asks. I'm getting ammo as I can, and little by little, buying what I need for a reloader as it becomes available. Other than that, I'm so far out in the country that it'll be months before cities are raided and the thugs come towards my area. I have plenty of meat stocked in the freezer and books on what plants are out there that can be eaten or used for medicinal issues. I've also been stocking up on all of my prescriptions that I didn't need like heartburn meds, allergy meds, and 800mg Advil. I'll be stocking up on bottles of amoxycillin from the feed store, too. I'll stock up on anything else as I can think of it. It also wouldn't be a bad idea to learn how to make a water filter/purifier. There are several different ways to do it, but this is one example. I'd use one of those 5 gallon buckets you get already purified water in and build a catch on top of it for rain and have that going into a wooden barrel.




Also, if you're a member on Gab, there's a group called "Survival Beyond the Basics" that can tell you all about what to do to be prepared. Survival Beyond the Basics

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I know a place you can go where you'll be safe. Most people probably don't even know what this place was, but I do.

It's a place in Auburn Hills, not far from OCC. It's just south of M-59 on the east side of Squirrel Rd. In the woods there's an abandoned house, and if you go inside that house, down to the basement, there's a door which leads into a tunnel. The basement is heavily covered in graffiti and the door is kind of hard to see. Most have never ventured into the tunnel(s) as they were largely untouched when I was last there. One of the tunnels leads to a large underground vault / room which will be safe from all but the worst of scenarios. Food and supplies are nearby.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Just make sure you get extra tubes for your new amplifier!!!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

off road, on foot...

At the end, that's about what everybody will end up doing. We'll be nomadic again folks. Then some will create tribes.

Stay in one place and you'll be spotted and targeted. It'll mean you have food and supplies stored.

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Snarl

What else?

Why ya' runnin' away??

I'm diggin' in!

No running. I've got a hilltop with a clear field of fire down onto my property. God help 'em if they show up and I've been forewarned.

Get invisible security beams that alert you once they've been crossed.

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Snarl

What else?

Why ya' runnin' away??

I'm diggin' in!

No running. I've got a hilltop with a clear field of fire down onto my property. God help 'em if they show up and I've been forewarned.

Soon or later you'll run out of bullets.

a reply to: Snarl

Few handy sites on Youtube, that show a simple way to convert salty sea water into unsalted drinking water, requires two bottles etc. worth a peak or two.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: mysterioustranger

I know a place you can go where you'll be safe. Most people probably don't even know what this place was, but I do.

It's a place in Auburn Hills, not far from OCC. It's just south of M-59 on the east side of Squirrel Rd. In the woods there's an abandoned house, and if you go inside that house, down to the basement, there's a door which leads into a tunnel. The basement is heavily covered in graffiti and the door is kind of hard to see. Most have never ventured into the tunnel(s) as they were largely untouched when I was last there. One of the tunnels leads to a large underground vault / room which will be safe from all but the worst of scenarios. Food and supplies are nearby.

I'm about 20 minutes from there. I also have in-laws that have a farm up in Bruce. Not far enough north, but they already told us that if the SHTF to come up that way, they have everything that we would need, at least for a period of time while we would see what develops. I also found maps of the Michigan rail system, past and present should we need it.

The national forests are also very large in our state which could also be an option should things get really bad. It's nice to hear about like minded people (such as yourself and a few others here) from our area that have very useful information. I appreciate it.

I continue my efforts with planting, seeding my immediate environment with Moringa bushes and trees

the benefits of the plants/trees are many... including a purification of the soil/ water table

What will SHTF look like? Likely an economic crash, dollars become worthless, the power goes out and people become predatory in small groups yet there are varying degrees of how bad things can get. Stories from Sarajevo are probably the most instructive in that type of world. Save the last bullet for your self.

Will whatever remains be worth fighting over? If we have to abandon the sick, the disabled and the elderly then the answer is clearly no. If the SHTF very few would survive lone wolf style anyway. If our goal is simply to live without preserving the things that make us a civil society then forget it. I'd rather be dead than live in a world where no one can be trusted.

“But Ahab, I can’t afford all that fancy gear...”

Hudson Bay/Bed Roll Pack Yes a blanket (wool preferred but you have what you have) and a polypropylene tarp (super cheap plastic tarp)...or your shower curtain if you can’t swing one of those. For a little waterproofing.

Bandanas (can you ever have enough) have more uses than you can think of. A 22” x 22” is about 30” when folded on a diagonal. So folded into a strip (as like a headband) and tied with a square knot you have a handy strap for your bedroll. Feed that strap through a cheap carabiner before tying and it easily clips to your pack if you have one.

Need a handy pack for free? Roycroft packs sure that cordage cost something and that fancy saw too, but you can skip the cut notches and use natural cordage.

Which brings up the question of gear. Gear is anything you carry to make things easier. There are very, very few things that you cannot make or acquire on your own including a knife...you can even make a gun (of sorts) if you really want to do so. But carried gear tends to be superior and infinitely easier to carry than make. Knives, cordage, cookware, lighter, etc make everything easier. Sure you can bow drill every fire...or for the same space and weight you can carry two dozen Bic lighters, a magnifying glass and a dozen fero rods. That is not to knock the bow drill...a very important skill to know and practice, but a Bic beats everything 95% of the time.

originally posted by: Trueman

originally posted by: Snarl

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Snarl

What else?

Why ya' runnin' away??

I'm diggin' in!

No running. I've got a hilltop with a clear field of fire down onto my property. God help 'em if they show up and I've been forewarned.

Soon or later you'll run out of bullets.

They'd have to retire from the field before that happens.

a reply to: Snarl

One thing I thought about, and acted on, is that should the SHTF scenario include and EMP, or loss of power (electric type), then that wonderful base for knowledge (the internets) will be useless. And folks don't really do "books" anymore.

I bought some survival books, first aid books, identify mushrooms, cooking wild game, and trap wild game books. They were relatively cheap, and I don't need to read them now, just have them. Should a bad situation happen, and we are out of power for an extended time, I will have plenty of time to read. And the knowledge gained might do me well.

Just a thought that may help others. You can't google that, when the google is dark.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

read "one second after" if you haven't. The big picture ended up being go to the coast, not the mountains.
But that book brought up a whole lot of issues I never would have thought of.

originally posted by: Asktheanimals
I'd rather be dead than live in a world where no one can be trusted.

This is what my wife tells me. There was a movie I can't recall the name of. The 'mom' decides to throw herself to the wolves abandoning her husband a child. I imagine some people may lose the will to live. Especially people who enjoy a hot shower and a hotter cup of coffee everyday.