how prepared are you for a SHTF scenario

I recall watching a documentary on people struggling to survive in a village somewhere in a third world country and their solution was for everyone to share what food they had or found and it was put into one pot, and the soup or stew was then stretched out to feed everyone equally. I see why there were and still are very good reasons why people congregate together in tribal/village type scenarios.

Learn how to make "hardtack"

In America most people won't have survival skills, thus human predators will outnumber survivalist 100 to 1.
In any shtf event the roads will be choked almost immediately and thinking you can live some hippy back to the land lifestyle in the woods is the height of stupidity. You can run but you can't hide.

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy will seem like a boy scout Jamboree, but still a great piece of fiction for those interested in shtf literature.

www.youtube.com...

a reply to: zerbot565

Yes, that may be the best option at the beginning of TSHTF scenario. For the flour, one could also use cattail rhizomes maybe mixed up with nut or bark tree flours (in a survival situation it's you or the tree), but salt would be a necessary addition in preservation, so I offer this video about using what some term a weed because it's found almost everywhere, that being coltsfoot.

Coltsfoot would be the go-to plant for me for the salt component and to get the salt one would simply roll up the leaves then burn them to ashes (where the salt is concentrated), but it also has many medicinal uses.

Video shows Western Coltsfoot, whereas Eastern Coltsfoot leaves are smoother more arrow shaped with both leaves having whitish undersides, and both have flowers that look like Dandelions.

originally posted by: offensive
I mean how prepared can you really be ?

Im screwed if the S### hits the fan . I live in the suburbs of a big city , II have a generator but it hasnt been started in years and last time I tried wouldn't start
I Have one 5 gallon gas can about half full. My freezer is pretty well stocked but alot of good that does if we lose power. No fireplace or wood burning stove.

I have some canned goods but minimal lol. I couldnt start a fire without matches or a bic, I know nothing about gardening and growing food .

Never been a hunter dont even own a gun ATM. I could fish But Im no where near a lake or river.

I am just effed if the SHTF

ok so you know what you lack, now fix it. Gardening is not going to save you AFTER SHTF.. you have to start gardening now. things take time to grow lol

originally posted by: KMGR81
a reply to: LSU2018

Thanks for being the only one who even responded to my concerns.

Now, barring motor travel, how do you get back to your preps?

I walk 30 miles if my engine doesn't work. I carry, but that's very risky if I end up having to brandish it. I would have to decide, initially, whether or not walking all the way home with my wife and 6 year old would be safe enough. I'd assume the immediate journey would be filled with people like me who want no trouble and just want to get home. I would probably make the assumption that the gangs would take a few days to form and spread so that would give me enough time to get home. I'd then get my dad and we'd take the 76 Jeep back to get my other boys. This would be the whole reason we decided to buy and restore an older offroad vehicle.

originally posted by: TrulyColorBlind

originally posted by: LSU2018
Y'all must be neighbors...

I certainly hope not!

On an unrelated note, did I mention that I moved to Peru recently?

And on another unrelated note, I read where cannibals say that humans taste like pork.


TCB

I've only had women on my menu, but that's a dirty conversation I better leave out of this

originally posted by: olaru12
In America most people won't have survival skills, thus human predators will outnumber survivalist 100 to 1.
In any shtf event the roads will be choked almost immediately and thinking you can live some hippy back to the land lifestyle in the woods is the height of stupidity. You can run but you can't hide.

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy will seem like a boy scout Jamboree, but still a great piece of fiction for those interested in shtf literature.

www.youtube.com...

Just in America?

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

Yes, there are other ways to survive besides the armed prepper doom scenario.

I think we all should get into a 'commune' type of mindset where your neighbors are part of your tribe for foraging, farming, hunting, protection, resource/food management and medical help (nurses/doctors/dentists) etc. Perhaps a barter system along with helping the elderly, sick and young with compassion and charity.

It's certainly easier to do this in a rural setting, but why not in a city or town setting? All the resources could be pooled and portioned and if any people (not gangs) wander in for help, they can be assimilated into the tribe and many hands make short work of making molatov cocktails. Should gangs roll in they will be eliminated.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
Or buy the book as mention before that part. But learning knots now is better than in the thick of things. Also you can buy a solar charger, crank charger or other devices for power generation as you get back on your feet.

Not all situations are permanent. Take the earthquake in Turkey, very bad now and maybe as much as month down the road for survivors that lost everything. But things will get back to normal in time. So ditching equipment that is useless now isn’t always wise in the long run.

Yes, having real books is always recommended. I also have lots of books for related themes like these. Those solar charger, crank chargers and other devices sound like very good ideas. Who's in charge of buying things like that for the cell towers that your cell-phones operate off of? And who gets to crank them? I'm thinking that a whole lot of people are very dependent on things that will be the first to stop operating in a dire situation like no electricity.

But I'll agree not to ditch anything that doesn't work right now. Save it because it might start working again in the future.

originally posted by: rickymouse
a reply to: Ahabstar

Those deer eating my garden in the summer will taste pretty good. There are around seven deer that come around in the summer, I will shoot and process them in the early winter after things freeze and put them in an old freezer locked in an out building so they stay frozen.

I could survive, being I don't get badly sick very often...even with a sore back I can drag and process a deer.

I also know lots of edible plants and plants that are good medicine....my biggest problem is having enough western dressing and hidden valley ranch for all the salads I will be eating from the yard full of dandilions. Potatoes are easy to grow, and I like fishing too, we stock lots of salt usually to salt things if necessary, we stock a minimum of forty pounds of salt at all times just in case. Also, we have jars and lids and pectin in stock

You are spot on with your analysis of things. I guess the old adage "With age comes wisdom" is still true.

I have deer that come into my yard and they don't seem too worried about me trying to shoo them off. That might be a good thing if things go south.

I hadn't thought about dressing to go with dandelion leaf salad, because I'm not much for salads. (I know how to make French dressing, if that helps.) But dandelions are multi-purposed and I have used them for several other things as well. You can use dandelion roots to make chais and teas, you have to dry them and ground them up first.

Last year I made some dandelion flower syrup that was fun. I've also got a recipe that I'll probably try this year, as the dandelions in my yard are already blooming - (and in the first week of February!) - and it's a recipe for Dandelion Blossom Cake.

And there's always the perennial favorite of dandelion wine, which I made another batch of last Spring and got 5 gallons from just the dandelions in my own yard! That translated to 24 bottles of dandelion wine, which I give out at Christmas with my cookie and candy baskets. Did you ever see better and clearer dandelion wine?



I call it my revenge on the weeds in my yard by using said weeds for my benefit.

I have prepared some for the last 10 years, carefully rotating my stock of supplies. Not going to lie, I've fed my family expired stuff from time to time.
Top 5 supplies:
firewood
ammo
antibiotics
long shelf life dry goods
iodine flakes
but many, many other things.
And I'm not worried about desperate thieves because I've included my like-minded neighbors. Also, would never turn away a fellow patriot in need.

a reply to: network dude

I say pick one important thing you would need for you and your family, and accomplish it.
If the sky falls, there is nothing you can do overall but you pass the test if you do something.

originally posted by: olaru12
In America most people won't have survival skills, thus human predators will outnumber survivalist 100 to 1.
In any shtf event the roads will be choked almost immediately and thinking you can live some hippy back to the land lifestyle in the woods is the height of stupidity. You can run but you can't hide.

I'm pretty sure that who you consider to be "predators" will not have true predator skills. Those 100 people will probably be more of a "speed bump" than a threat to that one who has true survival skills.

Also, one of the "many, many other things" includes my dogs. Have to take care of all my peeps and I accidentally found out that dogs love millet. Millet has a long shelf-life, is high in nutrition and has a high yield. Its good for you, also not just pets. Tasty, too. An easy way to fill all bellies using a little protein stock of your choice. Relatively cheap right now.

I believe the riff-raff will weed themselves out relatively quickly and I will continue to help my neighbor when I can. Saying that, doesn't mean I won't be guarded. But I would rather die than lose my soul.

originally posted by: Abacus1
I have prepared some for the last 10 years, carefully rotating my stock of supplies. Not going to lie, I've fed my family expired stuff from time to time.

I wouldn't feel too bad about that.

I eat "expired" food all the time. Just because the date on the can says it expired two weeks ago doesn't mean it has gone bad. If you know what goods last longer when they're canned like I do, (lots of experience) you can save lots of money buying stuff that is about to expire or just expired. I've had store-bought canned goods last a decade after the expiration date. That doesn't usually happen to me, but it has happened a time or two. I just opened the can and if it was good, I used it. If it was bad, I threw it away. It's pretty easy to tell when food is spoiled.

I also buy a whole lot of meat that has a "reduced" price on it because the sell-by date is only a day or two away. But the usual sell-by date is probably only a week anyway, so if I buy meat like that, it goes in the freezer anyway, so it remains good. I save lots of money that way.

Another aspect I find truly lacking in prepping is books, paper and writing utensils. Especially books.

Steel, cast iron and glassware. And I'm off.

a reply to: TrulyColorBlind

You are my first reply on here! Agree 100% about the food expiring. Hopefully, we dont have to get used to that. I freeze meat but want to learn how to preserve it by drying/salting. I guess I need to get around to learning that. I'm off for now. Have a good evening.