How does someone with few funds prepare for SitX

Get involved with Knappers, lots of PPl gots of elite BOB's ....
Go to a knapp-in, its spring just google it there will be one close to you to attend!
www.watercreekknapin.com...
is a good example!

Great PPL, great fun, isn't that what life should? be about......
In short fire pouch, flint for knives tooling weapons, knowing the propper, bark, from sapplings, and/or yucca to make cord.........ect.ect. for snare traps, "squirrles" and such "evan turkey and deer" what goods a gun if you starve to death, cause the only food became nocturnal.
Or are you the guy that wants a bunker under his house flinging hot lead, to keep whats left(lawnmower and swingset?)......Just depends on how intense TSHTF.
Everyone has there own idea, just found the one, that you can do in reality!
Start with simplicities, "family'? just you? citizen of a like cause?
Find where you would truely fall, in this type of situation.

Or Arnold Schwarzs on parade....

reply to post by Trayen11



Spend a little time surfing around here. There are some excellent threads with lots of ideas.

I've been a thirty year old student, fortunately not with a family, so I empathise in part with your situation.

My advice is start small. You have family, that's the best place to start. No point in running out and buying "all the gear" if you can't put food on the table. Even if it amounts to only a couple of space blankets this week, fire-lighters next week. A decent knife next month. At least in two months you'll have more than you did today. If SitX happens tomorrow you will be more prepared than you were today.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

reply to post by Trayen11


There are quite a few others here including myself in a similar situation, so your in good company

Personally, I've found that its NOT having all the gear you think you'll need that makes this forum interesting. Adopt a mindset of looking at everyday stuff and thinking up alternate uses and workarounds...such as (attempting) to make a bug-out hammock from seatbelt webbing from the scrapyard, or using a catapult to fire arrows as a basic archery weapon (don't laugh, it works!)

Getting into the scavenging and adapting habit now will give you a miles headstart on the majority if the time comes, and you'll be riding high

reply to post by Trayen11

The biggest thing you need, and it's free, is knowledge.
Knowledge of survival skills.
Knowledge of useful plants in your surrounding.
And knowledge of your area and how to get out safely if you have to leave.

Originally posted by Anuubis
reply to post by Trayen11

 

The biggest thing you need, and it's free, is knowledge.
Knowledge of survival skills.
Knowledge of useful plants in your surrounding.
And knowledge of your area and how to get out safely if you have to leave.

That is very good advice. And lucky enough when it comes to my surroundings at the moment I am very knowledgable. I know how to survive in the bush if need be. My father has worked in the bush his entire life, and was very smart to bring his children with him during the summer months to teach us how to be self reliate in the bush, should the need ever arise.

About the only thing I've never bothered to learn was how to hunt properly, but that i will be looking to fix this summer. A friend of the family is an avid Bow hunter, and after reading some of the responses here last night I decided to call him up and ask if he would be willing to teach me how to hunt. He was nice about it and even offered me his old Bow, as he just bought himself a new one. So things are looking up. He even offered to bring alone my oldest daughter should she want to at least see what it is i'll be learning. she is only 8 years old, but my wife thinks it would be a good idea for her, I happen to agree.

As for the plants.....well I know what to avoid for the most part, thats a start. I'll be heading to the local library today to look for plant life books for my area and go from there.

reply to post by citizen smith


I would have to agree, just being apart of this site has helpied me in many ways. People may scoff at me where I am, But i truely belive I am more open and more prepared(mentally if nothing else) To what could possible happen very soon.

I'm not one for doom and gloom, but i'm alos not stupid either. The world is not all sunshine and rainbows as many where I live seem to think. I am glad I was directed to this site froma mutual friend, it has expanded my knowledge ten fold. And in doing that I've been able to at least get my immediate family to open thier eyes.




Totally unrelated but can anyone tell me why my avatar is not showing up anymore???

Get your famly and yourself in shape.

What happens when you have to ditch the car and walk?

You can have all the stuff you want but if you don't have the strength to carry it then your gear will get left behind.

Get your family used to walking at a steady pace with something on their back.

I personally spend a bare minimum on survival gear, we have two back packs, some good shoes ( which we have made sure to "wear in" ), a few VERY basic items such as fishing hooks and a plant guide and a compass with a good map of the surrounding areas.

The most important thing we have done however is to get our bodies ready for prolonged physical activity.

And, it's free.

As has been stated Knowledge is the key. From there you can build with planning. What situations can I prepare for? What are the basics? What is my plan? Do I bug in, or bug out? Who can I rely on? Who will help? Where will we go? The plans must be thought out. You will get a lot of good advice here, there are many good suggestions. Take what you need from that. Go to the websites and places suggested. Talk with like minded people that you can trust. Start a tribe of sorts. You said you didn't hunt, find a hunter. Is there someone you know with medical knowledge? There are things to keep in mind too. If you can't take care of yourself, how can you care for your family? Who will watch over you while you sleep? When you realize what people are capable of any Sit-X is far more scary than a Stephen King book.

Spiritowl

I just wanted to thank everyone for thier reply's, It has been very informative and i learned quite a bit.

I also recommend storing up some of those small cans of tomato sauce...see my husband lost his job this winter and we went 2 months without anything coming in...even food stamps were delayed and food banks were out of food. Well, I had done some prep over the year and was glad of it. The first thing I ran out of was tomato sauce because I used it in everything! To make ketchup, enchilada sauce, bbq sauce, pasta sauce...etc. I used it to add variety to our rice and beans diet.

I also ran out of oils (butter, olive oil, shortning, coconut oil) so I need much more of that than I thought.

Another thing if you have kids is store a few cheap sweets...it helps there morale. I store cocoa powder and other supplies to make brownies, cakes etc. But I also keep a few packages of cheap cookies, crackers, candy. So that they don't feel like they are suffering.

Start learning how to make bread items (bread, tortillas, pita bread, crackers, sourdough bread) because for one it will save you money and it's healthier, but also your kids need to be used to eating homemade food that tastes, feels different than store bought.

I discovered my 5 yo hates homemade bread...so I found a different recipe and got her involved in making it to change her mind.



[edit on 2-4-2009 by justagirl]

Originally posted by justagirl
I also recommend storing up some of those small cans of tomato sauce...see my husband lost his job this winter and we went 2 months without anything coming in...even food stamps were delayed and food banks were out of food. Well, I had done some prep over the year and was glad of it. The first thing I ran out of was tomato sauce because I used it in everything! To make ketchup, enchilada sauce, bbq sauce, pasta sauce...etc. I used it to add variety to our rice and beans diet.

I also ran out of oils (butter, olive oil, shortning, coconut oil) so I need much more of that than I thought.

Another thing if you have kids is store a few cheap sweets...it helps there morale. I store cocoa powder and other supplies to make brownies, cakes etc. But I also keep a few packages of cheap cookies, crackers, candy. So that they don't feel like they are suffering.

Start learning how to make bread items (bread, tortillas, pita bread, crackers, sourdough bread) because for one it will save you money and it's healthier, but also your kids need to be used to eating homemade food that tastes, feels different than store bought.

I discovered my 5 yo hates homemade bread...so I found a different recipe and got her involved in making it to change her mind.



[edit on 2-4-2009 by justagirl]

Bloody hell I am used to hearing tales like that coming out of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but the US of A !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, The stories coming out of the US about food banks, 45 million without access to health care, cases of malnutrition etc I thought it was hype, but it appears there is a disaster going on in the US ?
Greatest Respects
NR

Yes, it is true and about to worsen......I disagree with the poster that felt weapons weren't necessary. The human, no matter who or how educated, becomes an animal when it's family or itself is out of food. Raping and pillaging have been around for hundreds of years.

reply to post by Trayen11


I went online and spent about 1500 dollars to buy all the food I need for a year. I went with the basics like rice, beans, & wheat. Everything is in buckets and sealed really tight which should last ten years. I wouldn't go the canned route because its just plain stupid if You ask me. Go with the base things and You should be able to do it on the cheep.

Canned food is ok. Just make sure it's undamaged and it'll last 5 years or so

Originally posted by WatchRider
Canned food is ok. Just make sure it's undamaged and it'll last 5 years or so

The Americans have a damn neat way of storing tinned food.

They build shelving units with slightly sloping shelves leaning about 5 degrees towards the front.

They have ledges at the front to stop tins rolling off.

They buy the tins then write on the lid with a marker pen exactly what it contains incase the label falls off.

They store the tins on the sloping shelves ON THEIR SIDES.

As they use tins from the from the rest of the tins roll foward which keeps the contents of the tins well mixed up.

New stock is always added to the rear of the shelf to ensure complete stock rotation.

dont forget your second hand stores, and dollar stores. You can pick up quite a bit there, sure its not top quality but it will work.

i was going to mention tomatobob.com but someone already did, i order every pay day, go through and pick everything that is on sale, and then grab other stuff that i want, i average about 1500 seeds a payday, usualy runs just under $20 with shipping. A little at a time and before long you have a good supply built up. Dont forget to pick up some miracle grow for veggies, or something like that, never know what the soil is going to be like, better to have it than to need it.

As far as weapons, i would definatly want one, if you cant get a real pistol or rifle, look at the .22 cal air rifles, not a big bang but you can take down small game with them. Also surf ebay , you can get 50lb and 80 lb cross bows for under $40, sure not powerful, but will take down small game easy enough. and lets face it in a situation like that you realy dont want a big game animal unless you have a lot of people to feed. To much will go to waste and it will draw attention of the local wild life, here in montana we have lots of critters to worry about when it comes to food in the wild, i'm sure you have the same just north of us.

Plastic... Lots of plastic, big sheets/ rolls.. you can build a log shelter, if needed, but you need something to keep the water out so you stay dry.
build a log shelter leave a hole in the middle, so you can build a fire in the middle and have the smoke escape, cover it in plastic then throw some dirt etc on top of the plastic to keep it there, espicaly in our climate, keeping dry is very importnat since it can be up in the 50's during the day and down below freezing at night.

Check out local store and pick up a cheap machetti they are around $5 or so, nothing great, but could come in handy.

Lots of places to look and think about, but you are on the right track.

Originally posted by WatchRider
Canned food is ok. Just make sure it's undamaged and it'll last 5 years or so

It'll last far longer than that if kept rust free...I found a tin of Campbells Tomato soup in me grandads cupboard whilst renovating his house last summer...it was 27yrs old!

I opened it, heated it up and had it for lunch, and tasted as good as if I'd just bought it that day