Brits, If I gave you a 6 fig GR and a date....

OK folks I appear to be getting a bit of interest in survivalism and preparedness from people on this forum who appear to be quite switch on.

People are clearly seeking others of a similar outlook but not wanting to commit themselves to groups, cults or wierdos with strong personalities.

If I was at some point in the future to post a date, time and 6 fig grid ref for a location up north where people with a desire to contact others and met them without any obligation, just to say high, share a BBQ, have a few tinnies, perhaps look at each others Bob kit and BOVs, camp overnight if you wished etc, how many of you would make an actual effort to turn up.

By effort I mean people who will take a day off work if necc or drive a few hundred miles to meet others of a similar outlook.

Please speak frankly

Respects
NR

Sounds like a rave.
Good idea though.
I'll go.

I live in the North-East of England, ive just started to visit this section of ATS because i've suddenly got an awful feeling something terrible is on the horizon. I have zero survival skills and very limited knowledge but i'm definitely going to be on this section a lot more now to prepare myself the best I can.

However I think a lot of people would be reluctant to meet anybody off the internet if they did not chat with them frequently for a while, not just on forums but on instant messaging programs or even telephone to get a feel for them and build trust. It is always a risk to meet somebody that you do not know.

I would be up for a meet, so to speak.
Only one problem, i'm down south.

Me too, down nr Reading. Anything above the Thames is North to me!

The North is chilly and cold, can we not meet in Devon ?

But, interested none the less!

reply to post by Northern Raider



So the first test would be navigating your way to the ERV. Nice idea, count me in.

Only in the UK for approx. 3 months a year, but when I am home I am free to travel anywhere.

How much notice were you planning on giving for the exercise?

Speaking for myself would need only 24 hours notice, if that.

Just throwing kit in the car and taking off is a non starter for me. With kids at school, animals that need feeding and jobs to arrange time off from, plus any other family/sport/social commitments we might have at the time we'd need quite a bit of notice. We also, at this point in time, don't have the kit to cope in very cold weather, and nor do we have the funds to purchase it, so the time of year would be a big consideration.

I appreciate that as a northerner you would choose the north as your ideal venue, but as I'm right on the south coast it would make it quite a trek. If you wanted people to come from all over the country I would have thought that a location somewhere in the midlands would get more takers.

Or is this aimed at just the young and single survivalist with no commitments?

I like the idea in principle, and every time something like this gets discussed I watch the thread like a hawk to see if anything comes of it. I think we could all learn an awful lot from each other as well as possibly making new friends and building networks in our own parts of the country.

I'm not too bothered about camping with people I've only talked to online, after all, if you go to a campsite you don't check out all the other campers before pitching your tent, and if you do get stuck right by someone that bothers you, you just move on.

Cheers

reply to post by Mayacara



Oh Boy I was dreading a post like this . I actually prefer to deal with complete families where possible as its your entire families survival that will be paramount to you, but of course singles with less ties are equally welcome. Now I need to try and phrase the next bit without coming across as bigot or offensive to people from the south. I did actually go through this in depth a few weeks ago but to summerise ( if you will forgive me for making this reply brief) I have organised RZs in the past the first was up here in Co Durham, None of the folks from the south who said they would come turned up.The next one was in Birmingham to try and get more folks to attend, we got people from Belfast, Limerick, Edinburgh, Northampton, Beligium, Leeds, and Lancaster, None of the people from the south east and south west who said they would come turned up.
So the next one was organised by an associate in Somerset, people from Scotland, Co Durham, Wales and the midlands all attended along with the locals, No one from the south east who said they would come turned up.

So to try and encourage as many deligates as possible to come I thought I would try and make it more attractive to them,So after getting firm promises from various parts of the UK I organised 4 x 4 bedroom luxury Lodges ( plus extra beds) at Oasis Winfell Forest ( now part of Centre Parcs) I paid out £2000 of my own money to get top rate acomodation, I even lashed out for a BBQ and some booze. I got a Belgian family, a Scots couple, two from Wales some yorkshiremen and a few from the west midlands, a chap who lives in his Camper van. Not one of those who promised time after time to come up from the south east and south west turned up.

Experience has sadly shown me that most southerners wont make any real commitment to this concept, Even a small gathering at billing Aquadrome a few years ago only pulled in one from Swindon, the rest being from the rest of the UK. Respectfully its easier to work with europeans, welsh, irish, scots and northerners because they tend to take preparedness and survivalism far more seriously.

Being a family man I had had to make often painful and bloody expensive sacrifices to try and ensure the survival plans I developed for my family and mutual support group will work, and that includes moving house 4 times in five years, turning a blasted well paid job down in London among other things.


Survivalism can mean a little or a lot to people, and most people have already decided just how much effort they will make in their own survival plans. I and many of my fellow long term survivalists chose to make it a way of life, including raising my kids as survivalists and encouraging all members of our extended families to learn new skills.

Your opening lines tell me you have your level of commitment and you are happy with that IE "Family/ Sports/ Social commitments" come ahead of preparedness, thats your choice and I respect that, Its one that certainly appears to be dominant in the south east of England.
Respects NR

[edit on 25-11-2008 by Northern Raider]

[edit on 25-11-2008 by Northern Raider]

No need to quote the post immediately above yours, mate.

[edit on 25/11/08 by Jbird]

Originally posted by CallSign
reply to post by Northern Raider

 

So the first test would be navigating your way to the ERV. Nice idea, count me in.

Only in the UK for approx. 3 months a year, but when I am home I am free to travel anywhere.

How much notice were you planning on giving for the exercise?

Speaking for myself would need only 24 hours notice, if that.

Absolutely anyone taking preparedness and survivalism seriously will already have learned how to read a map and use a compass, the UK is standardised on OS 1 : 50,000 Landranger maps which makes life easy. Also doing it short notice ( though normally at weekends to cut folks some slack) shows just how prepared people are to bug out at short notice, Its the ideal test of their own survival preparations, and its shows a willingness and commitment to contact others and hopefully develop stronger links with others. Sharing knowledge is a paramount part of the RZ. Being a bit of a git last time I implied time after time that we would probably gather near Scarborough, then I gave em the GR for a camp site at Hatton near coventry, they had to suddenly trust in their own map reading skills, they thought location A but the details were for location B. All turned up thank christ, but they all felt great about their own navigating skills.

Of course! Sounds smashing. In fact, I eagerly await it.

I'll keep my eyes on the board mr northern rider!

Ben

Excelent idea NR....count me in fella

Hi NR and thanks for your response. No, I don't think you're a "bigot" and I take no offense from your experiences with us southerners - it looks like its justifield!!

You're absolutely right that my level of commitment falls far short of yours, but then I have only started to think about these things over the last year or so. Its going to be quite a long haul to get from slovenly couch potato to fit self-sufficiency, trying to overcome health problems along the way.

I don't feel justified in imposing "survivalism" on my kids to the extent that it affects their education and social lives. I'm not saying that wouldn't change if circumstances changed, but at this point in time I don't see the need. But that doesn't mean that we can't all have fun along the way learning survival skills and putting them into practice when possible.

I read a lot of your posts and have the greatest respect for you. I know I could learn a terrific amount from you.

I'll be watching your threads!!!!

Cheers

Originally posted by Mayacara
Hi NR and thanks for your response. No, I don't think you're a "bigot" and I take no offense from your experiences with us southerners - it looks like its justifield!!

You're absolutely right that my level of commitment falls far short of yours, but then I have only started to think about these things over the last year or so. Its going to be quite a long haul to get from slovenly couch potato to fit self-sufficiency, trying to overcome health problems along the way.

I don't feel justified in imposing "survivalism" on my kids to the extent that it affects their education and social lives. I'm not saying that wouldn't change if circumstances changed, but at this point in time I don't see the need. But that doesn't mean that we can't all have fun along the way learning survival skills and putting them into practice when possible.

I read a lot of your posts and have the greatest respect for you. I know I could learn a terrific amount from you.

I'll be watching your threads!!!!

Cheers

Hiya, I've taken the liberty of sending you a U2U
Regards
NR

Count me in, i'm from the north west and would love to meet others with the same interests for a weekend.
Any day is ok for me.

NR - I am not adverse to a meeting, but as I have said in a U2U - It is not quite so easy for me, especially in this financial climate to justify coming across for a meet - It would cost me £50/£60 just to step onto the same patch of land as you.

Good luck anyway.

Originally posted by Wotan
NR - I am not adverse to a meeting, but as I have said in a U2U - It is not quite so easy for me, especially in this financial climate to justify coming across for a meet - It would cost me £50/£60 just to step onto the same patch of land as you.

Good luck anyway.

No problemo, perhaps at some point the enlightened of the south east will get together in the home counties for their own RZ.

Hi Guys

I am looking to talk to any survivalists that may like to be involved in a documentary series we are producing. If you live on the North Sea coast and want to be onvolved please email me at [email protected]

It would be great to hear from you soon

J

[edit on 27-11-2008 by jonathans]

Originally posted by jonathans
Hi Guys

I am looking to talk to any survivalists that may like to be involved in a documentary series we are producing. If you live on the North Sea coast and want to be onvolved please email me at [email protected]

It would be great to hear from you soon

J

[edit on 27-11-2008 by jonathans]

Folks please be very very careful of ALL journalists, 99% of em will smile sweatly, listen to all you say then crucify you in the sunday edition, Truth accuracy and honesty in journalists come well down the list after circulation figures, sound bites, scoops and shock horror stories. I have dealth with the BBC and other production companies on many occasions and they dont have much to offer serious survivalists. cept the possibility of your best survival plans being outed for all to see.

Sorry if you have had a bad experience Northern Raider. We are making a documentary series about the harsh conditions of the North Sea in Winter and want to speak to survivalists who think they can deal with them. If this is you, please get in touch.

[email protected]

Hmm, good post Raider.
I'd be well up for it but I'm in South East Asia getting away from the madness in the UK.
Will be back in May 2009 time though.
If the poster calling out for survivalists is doing a documentary then maybe he's not one of the survivalist haters that seem to swarm about in the mainstream.
Yes I agree that the southerners (God love 'em) are pretty poor on survivalism in general. However that is mostly to do with them historically having a more 'ivory-tower mentality' of secure established homelands than the north which was more lawless and 'on the edge'. So this is no real surprise.