What are you doing at home to survive?

reply to post by jessieg


I struggled with many of the same questions when I first came to the issue of a genuine TEOTWAWKI SHTF situation. I started where you say you are: Who would want to live in a world such as that. Then, like you, I came to the conclusion that if there are not those willing to slog through and do some "heavy lifting" those "bad guys" that were playing large in our considerations *would* win... easily.

I've read most of the EOTWAWKI books, to name a few of the more popular ones: Lucifer's Hammer, The Rift, The Road, One Second After. An existence in such a reality would be even worse than what we could possibly imagine even as bad as what we *can* imagine is.

But ultimately, I decided that if it ever came to it and I was able I would give those "bad guys" I imagined a run for their money. Then, I set about having capacity and ability. But it would be naive in the extreme to entertain the delusion that maintaining a sense of "peace loving kumbaya sentiment huddled around the campfire" increases one's survival chances.



[edit on 11/6/10 by Geeky_Bubbe]

Well, let's see...

We have the biggest garden ever.... have about 100+ tomato plants and will transplant more tommorow. Spent all day weeding and hoeing my garden, with frequent water breaks. Also planted some pumpkin seeds today.

We also have 6 pigs/hogs, several chickens and I'm getting ready to build a new chicken hutch from a heavy metal shelf/display system I got from the dumpster of a local store. We also have ducks, goats, and a horse. The horse does a great job of mowing the lawn and we scoop up his manure to fertilize the garden.

Our peach trees are loaded and the plum trees are now ripening. We had our second meal with new potatoes and onons from our spring garden.

We used an old washing machine with the console removed, monted it on a 5 ft. platform beside the barn and the reain water runoff has turned it into a great rainbarrel, the rinse hose works great for filling buckets for the garden.

We have multiple native grapevines planted along the fence lines...no need to trellis, and they are loaded.

We have stacks of large shipping pallets that I need to disassemble for free lumber and nails. Some are as long as 10-12 ft. and will finish my second barn.

We also have the obligatory arsenal and ammo cache', quarts of canned fruits and veggies left over from last year, and freezers full we haven't touched yet.

My goal in the next 6 months is to start large scale( at least for me) chicken and egg production, all of my female pigs/sows are bred and will have piglets for sale next fall.... I will then cull my pig herd and save the best boar and sow for next spring breeding. also, will have new kidds by September and hope to have more from auction for breeding.

Right now, I'm trying to find ways to supplement our working income with products from our farm..ie firewood, fruit stand, livestock, eggs...

by winter, we want full freezers, full root cellar, full bank accounts...lol

It is sad when we feel afraid to share info
because the Government might come and
destroy our assets of life.
I have written at least 3 or 4 posts and deleted them as I wish
I could explain... what I want to say but should not as it could be used against us all and this site.
And it is simple things like respect for each other that we hide from the Government.
It should not be this hard to share feelings....
Something is wrong......

Why live in fear? I refuse to live in fear or bow down to a tyrrant. If they want to come and burn my house down and seize assets, then fine, but they better make damn sure they kill me too.

I learned a long time ago not to put all your eggs in one basket...same goes for food, guns, assets, supplies, and hiding places.

Why else would I buy a farm that backs up to a ridge with a large abandoned mine, with swamps/wetlands on three sides and across from a big lake with lots of little islands that is criss crossed by abandoned 19th century Civil War era rail lines.

Live your life, say what you believe... don't fear the government. Live life...heck...you might just die tommorow in a car accident

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
Why live in fear? I refuse to live in fear or bow down to a tyrrant. If they want to come and burn my house down and seize assets, then fine, but they better make damn sure they kill me too.

I learned a long time ago not to put all your eggs in one basket...same goes for food, guns, assets, supplies, and hiding places.

Why else would I buy a farm that backs up to a ridge with a large abandoned mine, with swamps/wetlands on three sides and across from a big lake with lots of little islands that is criss crossed by abandoned 19th century Civil War era rail lines.

Live your life, say what you believe... don't fear the government. Live life...heck...you might just die tommorow in a car accident

I have just been watching and if I wave a False White Flag
You that are stronger might come out ahead!

Well, since it can be seen from the road, no harm in saying...

Put 5 dwarf fruit trees in the ground and 14 raspberry/blackberry plants in raised beads. Added additional raised beds. (our ground fill really stinks big time for tilling or growing anything) Adding 2 4x8 strawberry beds this week. Bet my neighbors just love the 6 vegetable beds in my front yard!

Learned to can so that the tomatoes will last though the winter. Waiting for corn to come in at the nearby farms so I can put the kids to work shucking & I can jar that up. Potatoes come in at local farms in the fall. Much cheaper to buy from a Mennonite farm then to try and grow spuds myself.

Next up, challenge burrough codes about keeping laying hens. Stupid rule, hens are much quieter than my neighbor's dogs!

I just wonder who I could trust and for how long.
I'd hate to see what it would do even to my own family members. I have some people who I know would be very unpleasant to be around, deprived of their alcohol or other addictions.

Most people would go crazy if the internet went down.
Even if they had electricity but for some reason, no internet, it would be a big change for some people.

I could live without the internet. I remember the world before the internet, when people used the library more for research and found entertainment with the people around them.

Some people are so attached to texting or calling others and always being in constant communication with others, that being deprived of this would be unnatural to them. They can't remember a time of being without it, because they were born into a world where kids are given a cell phone at an early age.

I don't text people. I do use facebook but hardly ever really contact anyone to talk. I mostly play game apps and interact with strangers if someone posts something interesting.

I do enjoy forums such as ATS and being able to get the news online. I like to be able to search for interesting stuff or play games. I could live without it, I know. I remember the world before the internet, and it wasn't terrible. People still found ways to entertain themselves.

Some people around here have literally grown up in a world of constant gratification of all needs. If they are hungry, there is fast food or convenience food. They eat almost as soon as they figure they are hungry, and eat when they are not hungry or just eat when they are bored. I do that too, so I am preaching to the choir here.
I'd miss instant food. But as long as I could eat something, at some time, and get enough nourishment to live on, I'd be ok. I'd lose weight, and be in better shape actually. I know I'd be willing to eat bugs if I had to, to survive, it wouldn't be fun, but I could do it. In situations like that it would pay not to be picky. I could get my hands dirty if I had to. If someone is afraid of a little dirt, they would not last in a survival situations. All those fashionista drama queen girls who hate bugs or dirt would not last very long. They'd have to get tough or die.

I like to be able to take a shower every day, or two if I feel like it. Hygiene is important, but remaining hyrdrated is even more important. More than likely everyone is going to be pretty smelly. I'd have to just learn to be comfortable with my own stench, I guess.

If you are in a survival situation, there really isn't time to stand around complaining about being bored. But I can see how many people would stand around complaining instead of doing anything. Eventually they'd realize no one is helping them, and they'd have to do something.


When left totally alone with themselves and without being able to have anything, people are going to go crazy. I don't think I would go crazy and I know complaining would do no good. I know whatever I think about the situation, everyone else is thinking the same thing, and maybe no one wants to hear about how hard it is, especially hundreds of times a day. I know that complaining won't make me many friends.

I'd want to be the type of person who does something, who takes some action, doesn't complain but gets to work doing something.

But I might go crazy myself. I know I need to be prepared for something to happen. I even do think something is about to happen.

But I don't really know if I can prepare. I don't even know if it worth it to have stuff and be a target.

Maybe it is better to have nothing and have no plans. If I have nothing anyone wants, I won't be a target at least.

I'd just head out alone and see how long I could live off the land alone, maybe find a quiet place to meditate.

Me? I'm working towards becoming a "Mad Max Millionaire", with minimal investment. And my urban garden is daily life. Really need to update that thread with new photos...

Originally posted by Geeky_Bubbe
@Gmoneycricket : Loved the "downloading porn" !! Gotta love that thinking outside the box. [No pun intended]

Try bitorrent...

You might also consider games, like the non-video kind. Actually, if you plan to have plenty of power you might check out "emulators". But where I'm really going with this board games and table games. A year ago I copied every single page on wikipedia on every 'known' way to play cards, dice, and so on.

But also check out thrift stores for cheap used board games (and loads of other cool useful stuff).

Originally posted by AlreadyGone
We have the biggest garden ever.... have about 100+ tomato plants and will transplant more tommorow.

DAMN! I thought I was big pimpin with 20+. How many people do you have eating off of those? Every one of my plants are different. I have this daily expanding pile of all different shape/size/color tomatoes. Tomorrow I hope to finally make about 5 gallons worth of salsa.

Check out my urban garden thread for an awesome rain catch tank option.

I finally have my garden optimize enough to have a massive selection, and still room for lots of 'one thing' so that I have enough to go trade to a couple local markets for stuff I can't 'grow'. Just planted 150 more okra plants today. To be able to go to market you need a lot of one thing. Actually though, I have 2 kinds of okra: red & green: heirloom grown organic. And 2 local markets I'm all set to trade with for meat and cheese. Although I have about half the materials I need to raise rabbits and quail... just haven't had time to set it all up lately.



[edit on 12-6-2010 by IgnoranceIsntBlisss]

Originally posted by Geeky_Bubbe
that makes societal breakdown so frightening.

i have no desire for power at all and was pointing out that every one, including the rich, young and old will have to work the land like it or not.

Our farming land producess next to nothing without chemical fertilizer and then we have super weeds and without oil more people are going have to work the land than did at the start of 1900's and small little plots where it's everyman for himself would not be anywhere near as productive.

You must be suporting a system of survival of the fittest where all the old die off or think we just need to tend to our little gardens and we can feed the world but it won't be like that unless you can stay awake 24/7 to protect your food and happen to have a football pitch sized back garden.

Originally posted by Geeky_Bubbe
Since this is such a conspiracy-centric forum I found it ironic to see this post asking folk what they are doing. I'm not too much for the governmental conspiracy thought-process but even *I* would not be eager to list out what I may or may not being doing or what I may or may not have done.

I didn't expect this response. I am not asking where you live or how many guns or boobie traps you have set.

I want to stay put and have been thinking of ways to be more comfortable if the SHTF.

I am not much of a gardener so I decided to plant a mini-orchard.

I hope people will share inexpensive, usable ideas I haven't thought about, like solar stoves!

Originally posted by Gmoneycricket
[
It makes no sense to post what you are doing in case of SHTF!

I might be your neighbor. Wouldn't you prefer your neighbors to be self sufficient instead of banging on your door for help?

Originally posted by packinupngoin


Learning how to knit...faster.

Actually that is a useful skill!. I, too, have developed some old crafts that might be handy to know.

Originally posted by NoRegretsEver
when SHTF more people can be aware, and have ideas to save themselves, instead of trying to live off of others.

IMO giving gardening advice or asking for some isn't asking for problems, its people with similar interests discussing better ways to be prepared. Actually I wish some people would discuss these things so that more people can realize that when something bad does happen they can in fact help themselves as well as others, giving advice is a part of helping those who want a better way.

Thank you. If you look at my other threads you will see that I am gathering useful information for areas that I see as problems for my area.

Originally posted by Geeky_Bubbe


And, it's a complicated process that requires a *lot* of research and sometimes stretching those brain cells. It's a shame that to be what I feel is prudent we should not be so quick to "share" which would make the process easier and help others avoid pitfalls we may --- or may not --- know about.

Wow, why not? On another thread I asked about wood. I learned not to store wood against the house. I am glad I learned that because some of the wood I collected ended up having termites. What's the harm it sharing general information on line?

Originally posted by nine-eyed-eel

[ I am really working at cultivating my friend network, emphasizing mutual assistance

I have been looking at people I know in terms of their usefulness or uselessness.

Originally posted by Dr Expired


The mountains I have maps for and have wandered in my childhood, there are plenty of caves few people know of in any mountain range, there are also springs and camaflouge.
People perhaps should explore and find a spot burry some food ect nearby the cave or tent site ect .

I haven't lived here long. I used to have a map of the land where I used to live that showed the elevation and terrain. A local map would be helpful. Thanks!

Exploring your local area on foot is a good idea. It is good to know what resources are around you.

Originally posted by hillbilly4rent
[
I love yard sales you can pick up a lot of handy dandy items for dirt cheep but the main thing I stock up on is knowledge

Great idea about yard sales!
I picked up some books and have been reading them. I figure information is more useful in my head than in a book I might not be able to get to.

Originally posted by Gmoneycricket
I think You All are headed in right direction.
This is an experiment of surviving in a time when
what we share may be used against us.
I just become leery when I see
Show us your gun Thread
Show us your knife Thread
Show us your garden Thread
Show us your pets Thread
Show us your livestock Thread
Show us your etc Thread
That is a lot of info and I have been guilty of showing to much
just trying to keep myself in check.

If you look at my previous threads you will see one one on food, water, wood, and using another person's bunker.

Originally posted by jessieg
I was thinking about this, and as sad as this may be, I wonder how many people like me, would actually probably not want to live? If the s hits the fan and we have some major disaster, social unrest, ice age or something with the climate, wars or whatever...

Well, I am wonder if it would be worth trying to live.

Those that are prepared for it will become the target of those who are stronger and have weapons.

What a sad post.
There is a wide range of disaster. I would like to live through a depression or disruption of power/food.

Originally posted by AlreadyGone


We also have 6 pigs/hogs, several chickens and I'm getting ready to build a new chicken hutch from a heavy metal shelf/display system I got from the dumpster of a local store. We also have ducks, goats, and a horse.

I have thought about animals. Chickens are really dirty and carry disease. I have been thinking about guinea pigs or rabbits - quiet and eat grass.