Real World Survivalism for the coming Depression

I've read some pretty scary things here on ATS, but for some reason this thread has been the scariest.

I've been gradually buying a few extra can goods, and extra rice, but I've started to realize that I'm nowhere close to being prepared for a disaster like WWIII.

I think what was so compelling about this thread is thought of losing contact via Internet and TV.... Not knowing what the hell is going on during complete panic.. Thanks for the advice.

I'd also like to remind people that there will be some serious panic for those that are diabetic and can't get to their insulin. (the amount of Americans that insulin is in the millions)... Same for asthma. If people can't get their medicine... Than we will see heel unleashed.

I'm starting to think that gold, diamonds, silver and money will hold absolutley no value for the average person, if WWIII does in fact occur.

Well... One last thing ....

How are you guys prepared spiritually for the upcoming Disaster we are about to see?
Keep God close to you.

anything for us up here in canada

im planning on making a large survival kit, but guns are hard to come by in this country and even harder to keep.

reply to post by tankthinker


For guns you just have to pass the safety course which takes an hour or two?
Once you pass, you are good for 5 years at which point you renew your license. So, not that hard to get.

Check LeBarons for a wide variety

reply to post by Doomsday 2029


It never hurts to be prepared Doomsday, I would hate to see anything terrible happen but like the OP and guys like myself Im prepared to defend my loved ones and whats mine...Your not alone buddy

reply to post by warrenb


great more studying, i guess you have to be 18 to get this, luckily im turning in a month

so i just do this test and i can legally get any gun i want, in Canada (Toronto)?

Ive never heard of this before, but ill look into it, thanks for the info.

Noticed my posts were long winded and not enough real info.
Bad times are drawing nearer, Dow drops 5% today. Closed below 8000.
Went to an investing class yesterday as part of my preparation?education.
The instructor (Eric Prentis PHD., author Astute Investor) said he believed the market was still 20% overvalued based on current price compared to 10yr AAA Bonds. Said we are far from the bottom in real-estate (2010-2011) and rise in market is temporary until it’s based on a fundamental change in our system.

Quick preparation guideline:

1. Develop Family unit teamwork
2. Personal Finances
3. Food stockpiling
4. Sustainable Water supply and storage
5. Securing Home and possessions
6. Preparing Defense of Home and Possessions
7. Increase size of family unit

Develop Family unit teamwork
Some families work well as a team, others do not. Make yours work, give everyone “missions” you want accomplished. Use this to develop your leadership skills. Failure of the team is failure by the leader to create a team strong enough to survive. Let everyone know what needs to be done and why, listen to input but be firm in your leadership position. One person needs to be in charge, if you’re not the best person for the position, accept the position you are best suited for.


Personal Finances
Take your income and subtract your expenses, you need to be cash positive. If not, do what it takes to get there. Your goal is to have 20% excess income over expenses a month. Set it aside in accessible cash/cash equivalents in cash of job loss, etc. Take 20% of that excess income and use it to prepare. That is your preparation budget, do not exceed it. It’s probably a lot less than you are willing to spend on preparing but, stick to it. This will teach you to scrounge or trade for things you need but that exceed your budget. It will give you advance training at a skill that will be necessary in the future.

Food Stockpiling
Avoid fancy freeze dried, vacuum packed foods or MRE’s. Total waste of money. Bulk rice, flour, beans, salt, sugar, powdered eggs, powdered milk, vitamins all represent a longer-term solution at a lower cost. Because of this, any excess stockpile you have will be more valueable in trade than MRE’s.
Proof: Sams Club limits rice sales
Spices like pepper, oregano, cinnamon and sweets like chocolate, candy will be handy and trade very well. Tobacco will be one of the most valuable things in trade. Store everything in sealed metal or plastic containers. Make sure they’re sealed so you don’t lose it to rats, ants.

Sustainable Water supply and storage
50 gallons of water rationed for drinking/cooking/hygiene, will last a family of 4, 1 week or less. You will need access to water to live healthy or you will suffer from dehydration and sickness. If you have a well, creek or pond access you’re good. Just buy a gallon of bleach as a back-up to kill germs and have a system to gather and store the water.
WARNING: For people on city water, they don’t have to “Force” people to the camps, all they have to do is shut off or contaminate the city water supply and the masses will be begging to go to the camps to get water. You need some type of water supply and storage. Somewhere you can go once a week to fill a drum of water for the week. This will be the most dangerous errand you will have to do. It’ll be the same as National Geographic around the watering hole (lots of predators, lots of victims), go in numbers and armed. Diverting gutter downspouts through a pool filter and into drums is helpful but unless you live in a area with reliable rain, this will fall short of your needs.

DON'T go to where "they" say they will have water for you. You may not ever be allowed to leave "for your own safety".

To be continued....




[edit on 20-11-2008 by Exmar]

Securing Home and possessions
Newer American homes are built cheap. Most front doors are easily kicked in. Strengthen doors and windows. Buy and install security window film
www.shattergard.com... but find somewhere cheaper than this!
Position furniture to shield gunfire and slow down intruders in your home. Vikings built the entry to their homes very low so attackers had to bend way over to enter and risk getting their heads cut off. Security lighting works in normal world but lights up your home as a target in “feral” times. Clear bushes and trees where attackers may hide. If your handy, wire in hidden kill switches on your vehicles. IMO, a switch cutting power to the distributor is best but, maybe someone else has a better idea. Main thing is, when things aren’t normal, don’t stand out. Try to blend in and don’t be a target in the first place.


Preparing Defense of Home and Possessions
Remember the first item on the list? Teamwork is your best defense regardless of weapons or situation. If SHTF everyone should sleep in the same area in the home. Pick a secure central area, high ground is easier to defend than low. Firearms should be semi-automatic or pump action. You should have a minimum of 7 magazines for semi-autos and 1000 rds for each weapon. Slings for rifles, holsters for pistols, mag pouches and durable flashlights (go to a surplus store). 12 guage shotguns are great, so great you should have a few boxes of OO buck and slugs whether you own a shotgun or not. (If things really do get bad, I’ll explain in more detail at that time). When driving, the leader does not drive, they direct the driver and navigate, identify threats and return incoming fire. Practicing some of this now will develop the teamwork and trust you need later.


Increase size of family unit
Building numbers is building strength. Your neighbors need to be involved at some point. Wait as long as possible before approaching people on this, basically wait until it’s widely known that the SHTF events are happening. Besides this gives you time to develop your skills/leadership on a small scale before applying them on a larger scale. Every new person in the group brings more skills and resources find out what those are and use them to their full potential. Be harsh on slackers, exile betrayers, make no exceptions. Minimum 24 hour, 2-corner security for a neighborhood block requires 8 people to work 12 hour days. For 2 neighborhood blocks it would only require 12 minimum. The more able people you can get involved the lighter the burden on each person becomes.


Best Resource Ever: Military Field Manuals
Recommend
First Aid (medical services will degrade)
Survival (good general info)
Urban Combat (learn how to fight in the city and tactics which may be used against you)
Marksmanship
Boobytraps
Close Combat
Shoot to Live
Patrolling
Signals in Battle


I will post in detail on each subject above, except for Personal finance. I don’t know everyone’s situations and it is the subject I’m weakest on. I’m addressing mine in a way I’m comfortable with but many would not tighten their budgets as much as I am.


[edit on 19-11-2008 by Exmar]

reply to post by Exmar


Salts, sugar, fats, soap. Where you shall get all of this?

reply to post by Doomsday 2029


God helps those who helps themselves, mate. In the new world asthma is a quick way to death. Natural selection will claim its forgotten place.

Originally posted by mahasvin
reply to post by Exmar

 

Salts, sugar, fats, soap. Where you shall get all of this?

I've been going Sam's Culb. I'm in the U.S., do you have those in the U.K.? Something like a large discount club that sells most of the stuff you buy at grocery stores but in larger sizes at a Perceived discount.

You can buy 50lb bag of rice for like $20. I think the big bag of salt is $5. Personally, I've bought smaller sizes (15lb rice, 4, 1lb bag of salt) waiting til things get a little closer to buy the big ones.

I think things will go down hill quicker after the holidays and keep accelerating into the summer of next year.


Since I'm posting, does everyone think my thread is a bore, too basic, not enough info, or what? Let me know, I'd like to get this thing going more and share good info but, there seems to be little interest so far. I would have thought there'd be a good active response to this but it's been flat. Is everyone in denial still? Even at ATS?

What is coming is systemic. It is a fault in our financial/government system coming to head, now unavoidable.

If this thread 100 SKILLS we ALL need to know is more interesting, then I guess things will have to get worse first. Shame it will leave less time to prepare. It's not my ego talking, read the list
Wax a Car
Paint a straight Line
Shine Shoes
Run rapids in a canoe
Master an air wrench

I guess there is some entertainment value and the OP can pat herself on the back for being able to do EVERYTHING on the list. I believe it except for the parallel parking one. And #'s 7,17,42,53,68,89,93,94,96

["When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. "

nobody has mentioned keeping your cool,staying happy and positive, not stressing/freaking out under the most extraordinary circumstances that you never thought could happen to you.

Originally posted by googolplex
What good will guns do against tanks, our boys will blow us to hell they have been trained very well, and the NATO troops they won't think twice. And have you read the FEMA REX84 document, what to do in economic disaster. Why is there over 600 concentration camps spread out across America, I know that one in Alaska holds 500,000 + but there is a lot of those illegal Mexicans in Alaska. What's a real joke is that things are bad no one working or a lot are not, but there is no real reson for it nothing has changed since 90s except NWO. Thing could be great, where are the flying cars we were to have, it's not in the plan. We have all been sold out, and only a few saw it coming.

Oh I hear this all the time .... Think tanks need fuel to run and without fuel they are useless ... You ambush the fuel sources and fuel trucks and the tanks will useless. This is the only thing to do and its the smartest thing to do. You can only run from these things and live to fight another day.

I have been preparing for the last 6 or 7 months. I have sense purchased these items.

30+ buckets of dried goods and will add more

3 55 gallon water barrels with water treatment chemicals

M1A .308 rifle with the extras

800 rounds had 1000 but had to shot some

3X 20 round 308 mags

AR15 with Leopold MK4 scope & extras

1000 rounds of 223 ammo

6X 30 round mags

SKS

1000 rounds of 762X39

5X 5 gallon metal fuel cans

Heirloom seeds

I will be adding more when I can such as a Berky & possibly solar pannels if I can afford it. I do not plan on sticking around in the city when the violence errupts and will live in a tent if I have too. So I will be ready when the SHTF hopefully. The only sad thing is the idiots that are not preparing for this because I will have to feed a lot of people when I bug out. These people live on my fathers land in a trailer and have no where near the bills that I have and I have to feed their fat asses. Well when I get there i'll have all the guns and the food so their fat asses can get out in the field and earn their keep.

Thanks for this post. Now I know the true power of ATS, not just for looking at the latest chinese lantern er... i mean UFO.

What is the thought on the #10 cans of freeze dried food that have 20+ years of shelf life or 5 year water. I am in a attached townhouse in So Cal so my options are limited. Guess I could fish the pacific.

I have found that it is important to only store food items the family will eat! At one time we had stored a lot of wheat, soy, and some other items. If you do bulk buying, and decide to store certain foods be sure you are familar with cooking and using them. I have now gone to storing more practical items like peanut butter, flour, shortening, rice, beans and so forth. If you find a great bargain on something your family doesn't like remember it can be bartered. I totally agree with not letting the world know that you have storage....I've made that mistake, and everyone that knows me, knows I buy in bulk, and store. I don't believe I could turn away hungry people, so it would be better if they don't know I have it!!!

Now, I do know that getting out of debt is vital.....but we are not in a position to do that totally.............I would appreciate hearing others thoughts on this issue.

What is the best way to buy up ammo? Should I be paronoid about buying it?

Originally posted by mahasvin
reply to post by Doomsday 2029

 

God helps those who helps themselves, mate. In the new world asthma is a quick way to death. Natural selection will claim its forgotten place.

Not neccessarily so, Insulin can be extracted frrom sheep and pigs like in the old days. Asthma will become a minor concern as the main caused for its increase in the amount of people with it, will decrease as its triggers disappear. Most asthma attacks are triggered by atmospheric polutants and particulates from things like car exhausts, sprayed weedkillers, high density crops like Seed Rape, solvent from man made materials such as synthetic carpets, chip board, fibee board and MDF. once a major event has happened most of these irritants and triggers will disappear fairly quickly.

This is pure doom and gloom. No offense OP but in the West the depression will be backed by government programs for food and drinking water. I used to live in Iraq during the US trade embargo. The only people you can trust are your family. Because in a situation like that people bring out the worst in themselves.

In this situation rice becomes your friend. You can eat a little with bread and be good for 5-8 hours. Try eating rice for 2 years straight. Get chickens, and other wild animals that taste good. That is precisely what we did and we did good. Considering Iraq has a worse living conditions then the west.

reply to post by waterdoctor


Where can I find instructions on making the bailer? Or, can you help me out with instructions? Our well has an electric pump, so of course no electricity = no water. Thank you! Sue T

re the value of the dollar while it still has value.
the dollar wont go completely worthless like the Weimar Republic; 1) altho it is and will lose its status as the worlds reserve currency and its monetary role as a "store of value" it will still have practical value as a "medium of exchange". In addition, if (when) they do introduce another currency (amero or world currency) they will have to accept dollars on an exchange (X $ for Y ?).
OK to move this post.