$Two Thousand Dollars$ to spend on supplies -

reply to post by ViperFoxBat



I thought the same thing. Water is the most essential function to our human life and therefore should be priority number one. I'd like to have multiple systems in place for water treatment and storage. I've heard things about iodine tablets but worry about an expiration date.

reply to post by eleven:eleven


Survival I know, animal husbandry - not so good. My thinking was that you could take a goat with you should you have to bug out. Pigs are easy to feed as well but no milk and can't travel.
Chickens? Heck yeah!
Note: I'm like Doc Holiday, I don;t think electricity will be around in sitx, we need to adapt to life without it.

Nice Dog Holiday Reference
I feel the same about electricity, which is why I am being selfish about having my own (albeit small supply) to use in those few instances.

I'll investiage the goat tip and see what I come up with.

I'd also like to open the discussion up to you, and those who may be interested, into two segments.

1) Seed type and storage.

2) Sanitation. Kinds of soap and storage.

.22 caliber Ruger would not be a bad way to go with only $2000 to spend
I would probably think about a Bolt Action more reliable that way
If you want unregistered buy used

any pistol would just be a useless waste in my opinion

with an acre I would consider some livestock. Avoid cows and look at sheep, goats, chickens and rabbits. Among those I would consider rabbits the easiest to handle successfully. You could manage a self sustaining herd, get it going now and you will have yourself a nice food supply.

reply to post by eleven:eleven


Sounds nasty but soap is easily made from fire pit ash, and animal fat bring to boil, or heat it real good and pour into a box type mold, let cool/firm up, and cut like cheese.

There are many recipes available online, and you can add anything from fragrance to honey.


I tend to think that there will be many nomadic animals/livestock in sit-x and have no plans on goats/pigs or livestock "I really think that there will be no one notice one missing calf or goat if it ever gets that critical", between live game, fish fruit, nuts berries mushrooms and sweetpotatoes

Thank you Doc Holiday, good words for bad times. Any more is appreciated. The reason we are spending the 2K now is that we may not have this large of a sum to invest in critical items. We do not have the luxury of spending this initial 2K over time. We will however have bi-weekly purchases after this initial invesetment. But we want a strong foundation when the winds of changes shift.

We currently reside 20 miles south of a capital city in the midwest, in a small rural community. Sadly, our neighbors may be our enemy, true. We belive no ammount of long term food and water amounts to squat if you are unarmed.

I would like to create some security system or surveilance. For example I have thought about a system of bells for the fences, but haven't quite found a good enough idea that makes me smile hard.

Animals are essential for long term survival I would think. If you want fat for soap, cooking, food preservation a pair of small non-commercial pigs (think potbelly here) is going to be your best bet. Plus in many places you can pass them off as pets and keep them in town. They will get fat on anything, scraps from your garden, the leftovers from butchering, hay, grass, even manure from other animals (gross, I know). If you can't keep chickens, quail are the next best thing. 3 quail eggs = 1 chicken egg, they don't eat much, are quiet, don't take up much room and make a fine meal. They will not set their eggs though, so you would have to have a way to incubate their eggs if you wanted to keep your flock going yourself. Rabbits are good too. Goats are good, but you would have to also keep a billy around unless you have a neighbor with one nearby (within walking distance) for them to realistically be of any use to you in sitx.

I can almost feel the heat from the PETA crowd now at the thought of EATING a potbelly, lol.

reply to post by eleven:eleven


Remember money will most likely be worthless, water will be far more valuable. The more water you got the more rich you would be. I would recommend getting very large water holding tanks.

reply to post by Doc Holiday


I disagree with no one missing a calf or goat if things get that critical. `Sounds like a good way to get yourself unnecessarily shot in these parts. They say that during the depression you were hard pressed to find a stray cat or dog...stories of people bringing their livestock into their homes to protect them from rustlers. Commercial livestock won't last long once the supply lines of endless grain and antibiotics is shut down. I would guess in many places neighbors will be working together and that entire communities will be guarding the livestock that is left, not just individual farmers...and I would imagine they will be shooting first and sorting it out later.

Originally posted by iforget
any pistol would just be a useless waste in my opinion

You seriously cannot forsee having the need to carry a concealed pistol during a sitX?

Originally posted by americanwoman
reply to post by Doc Holiday

 

I disagree with no one missing a calf or goat if things get that critical. `Sounds like a good way to get yourself unnecessarily shot in these parts. They say that during the depression you were hard pressed to find a stray cat or dog...stories of people bringing their livestock into their homes to protect them from rustlers. Commercial livestock won't last long once the supply lines of endless grain and antibiotics is shut down. I would guess in many places neighbors will be working together and that entire communities will be guarding the livestock that is left, not just individual farmers...and I would imagine they will be shooting first and sorting it out later.

Hey smart lady, you gonna be busy during sitx? bad tine for you , or may I call?

Eleven, and others, don't forget when it comes to fresh water, a gallon of bleach can treat 3,800 gallons of water.
www.thefarm.org...
That will get a family of four 2.6 years of drinking water.

reply to post by Asktheanimals


If I had some extra cash to blow and learned to use it. Maybe. If you have the skills then use them. In Sitx why conceal? Why that little cash got to go with the most useful a pistol is not one of those.

The first poor sucker who showed up here wanting one of my goats would soon donate his pistol anyways.

Guns are a given, everything else is useless without protection.

I've heard the bleach idea before, I'm just not sure of the basic ratio. IF I want to detox one liter or 30,000 gallons, i'm unsure of the exact mixture.

Guns, water, then food. In my opinion, that is the basic formula for survial.

reply to post by eleven:eleven


I agree with your thinking. Night time security is your worse nightmare, most won''t bother to think of the implications as it's going to be extremely hard to guard our homes and outbuilding at tnight.
This is where having a small group can be helpful as you can rotate night watch.

Dogs can be good if trained, also a liablilty if your trying to hide.
Nightvision is a MUST.
I'm trying to rig up a way to mount a nightvision monocular onto a pump shotgun.
The path alerts I meantioned earlier can be very useful at home or in the woods, they;re cheap and worse comes to worse can be rigged for more than just alerts.

A roll of barbed wire and trip wires would be useful as would thick plyboard and a cordless screwdriver to seal up some windows.

The cordless screwdriver is only good for so long. I'm thinking supply of heavy duty long nails for the long haul. I like the trip wires and barb wire, ply wood and such.

I have the dog now, and feel the same way, good and bad...

I'm glad you suggested night vision, what an advantage/edge provided to intruders.

The only reason I'm answering this is because it may help someone:
Winter? - Propane is your best friend. Those insulated mechanics one piece suits are awesome. So is thermal underwaer. You'll sweat in 30 degree freezing temps.
Water? Locate the water tables from the USGS and get a shovel. Use propane to boil it.
Electricity? You dont need it, but it is nice. A 45 watt panel system from Harbor Freight $225, and a good marine battery from Walmart - $80 with an inverter for AC - $50.
Food? - Canned goods - as many as you can buy and transport in a Van - you'll need to get away from the population - possibly multiple times.
Get the cheapest rifle at Walmart but make sure you can buy a ton of ammo for it. It will be scarce later.
Get a trailer for the Van and store nothing but fuel in it - both propane and gas. Lots of fuel.
Start adjusting yourself to 800 calories a day now, so you can be ready.
The only thing you will be able to barter with others is related to Food, Shelter, Clothing and transportation. Be prepared to produce an underground "barter" income to provide for your family. Since many organic things can be used to ferment for alchohol, I plan to build a still. Use your talents accordingly.

Good luck.





[edit on 17-1-2010 by ATS4dummies]

As a side note a still can also extract essential oils from various plants and herbs concentrating them tremendously for medicinal purposes. Holistic medicine will only take you so far, but it uses greatly increase if you can concentrate things like meadowsweet as a pain reliever/fever reducer or echinacea or goldenseal as a natural antibiotic to fight against ear/sinus infections or strep throat. Common illnesses like these can kill you without treatment, especially children or if your body is stressed by lack of nutrition or extreme temps.

[edit on 17-1-2010 by americanwoman]

ATS for Dummies:
You are truly helping more than one, the fam and I thank you for your good words about bad times.
What is your preference for storing propane? A large tub outside draws attention, would it be wise to stock on the smaller ones?

Rock on for the still idea, that is going in the budget.

Morever thank you americanwoman, what book would you suggest that would envelope your use of the still in this manner and what ingredient would/do you keep on hand.

Thank you all!

reply to post by eleven:eleven


Eleven, I left a link in that post that gives bleach to water ratio, but here you go...

Add 1/8 teaspoon (or 8 drops) of regular, unscented, liquid household bleach for each gallon of water, stir it well and let it stand for 30 minutes before you use it.