The Practical, Everyday Survivalist: An Overview...

reply to post by Xterrain

The Knife is a K-Bar. Standard issue for Marines IIRC, and an all around excellent knife. I prefer the tanto blade K-Bar myself, but it is an excellent choice.

To the felons out there. When our own government violates it's own laws, why should you recognize their laws? I speak specifically of the 2nd amendment here. Try to get your civil rights restored, but even if you can't wtshtf their laws won't mean sh*t anyway. I would consider getting what you need and stashing it somewhere. If you have a friend of like mind, have him/her purchase it and hold it for you.

I've made 2 list of supplies 1.shelter in place - can goods, rice, beans, flour, meal, drink mixes all the basic food essentials stored in vacuum sealed bags in 5 gallon containers. Along with this I store lanterns, spare wicks, kerosene, propane, candles, matches and lighters. There is a large creek that would provide a good source of water and I have a cart to haul the water if driving is no longer possible. Boiling the water would be best in this situation. Firewood is not a problem and I have a woodburning stove and a fireplace to keep my home warm and to cook with. Home protection is another necessity, I don't have an arsenal just a few hunting guns and my family is comfortable using them. I keep a couple of 12 volt deep cell marine batteries charged all the time. I use it with an inverter to charge small batteries for times the power is out, if the power is off for an extended period a solar panel can be used to charge your batteries. I keep a lot of rechargeable batteries and a tester to make sure they are good.

2. Bug out bags - A backpack for each family member and a couple of tote bags. My BOB's are probably stocked like most. One thing I have found out from being outdoors alot, keep a set of good dry clothes. Invest in quality you won't be sorry. Being soaking wet can go from uncomfortable to dangerous in a hurry. Everyone has different things in their BOB, what I've done is practice. Go on a 5 day backpacking trip and carry 4 days worth of food. See what equipment you have and how you can use it and see what would help that you don't have. Next try it with 3 days of food, now I'm down to 2 days of food. I found out I could catch fish with a piece of line and a small plastic jig. This is a short time of practice but it gives you and idea of what workes and what don't. I've added more fishing supplies in my BOB because it works.

reply to post by semperfortis


no matter how the shtf the first thing on my list is always grab my .45 put a clip in and look at the situation

As everyone can see, the list of things you should take, compared to what you really need is significant..

Some people will carry the kitchen sink..Sheesh...

That is why I told you to stay tuned..

The lists you will find here that I post, are practical, and really all you need. Which of course I will explain in detail later.

(Fact is you should be able to survive with a knife and your clothes, but again, that is not practical...)

Next... What exactly to you PRACTICALLY need to put in a bag for survival?

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Thanks for the thread. Looking forward to see your thread develop. Im a 1st Disaster Responder-FEMA-H.S., EOM. Ive included supply lists below. Hope they help people prepare. I just thought throwing these lists into your mix might help someone, somewhere, sometime.
Best

I live on the outskirts of a small town in Missouri. I only say this because if you are in the city and wait for things to get bad where will you go? I believe that venturing out, for any reason, will be the most dangerous thing someone could do (small towns will not welcome you and individuals will rob you). As a hunter I can promise everyone that survival in the woods is not what it is cracked up to be either, you will go hungry. Plan to stay home unless forced out.

Thats very rigorously thinking.. you expect something that we all don't know?

Originally posted by mysterioustranger

 

Thanks for the thread. Looking forward to see your thread develop. Im a 1st Disaster Responder-FEMA-H.S., EOM. Ive included supply lists below. Hope they help people prepare. I just thought throwing these lists into your mix might help someone, somewhere, sometime.
Best

I might as well shoot myself now if I had to get all that crap together by next week.

reply to post by blangger


my thought exactly!!
, i live in a major city,(los angeles) and when the "defication impacts the rotateing occilator" i plan to stay at home for as long as i can and defend myself, citys have the things i need to survive, every, and i mean EVERY house has a water heater with at least 20 gallons of water in it, and food, in the beginning, will be abundant but ive stashed quite a bit of canned food
i plan to hide like a rat, not get envolved with anybody i dont trust and wait it out for as long as i can and hide everything i own!!
my vehicles are awsome 4x4s that go ANYWHERE and i have reserve fuel tanks in both but these vehicles will be hidden when tshhtf!!! i wont need them to survive at home and will need them later

also, most of you people dont know but most cars available run off of computors, what happends if we have massive solar flares? they will destroy ALL computor chips and those fancy 4x4s out there wont be worth spit!!!

i have a 1in thick lead box to shield all the ECMs and sensative electronic equipment in my house so when things start going out i will take all the electronic equipment and put it in the box till things die down


just being safe

and you people be safe also


viperdave

Fergot somepin', OP...

The strategy!!!

Just where are you gonna go, on your own, with all these guns and seeds? Human can only survive through ASSOCIATION with other humans, or else they become totally insane and go to their doom, at best, if it's not to get raided by a SWAT team at 6 AM without warning, under the undisclosed warrant, or simple illegal assumption, that you are an armed right-wing extremist terrorist or something!

Think of a better, more global plan than saving your own butt.

"Strategy without tactics is the slow road to victory. Tactics without strategy is what comes before every defeat." - SunTzu

Thanks for starting this post OP!

I just sold my truck and have some funds, I was actually pricing out my gear on Cheaperthandirt.com, but Im glad I found this post first.

I've been thinking survival for some time now, and at first people laughed and called me paranoid, but with all the BS going on around the world lately, they're starting to "get it."

As someone who lives in a suburb of los angeles, and has several LEO's, active and retired military for neighbors, I plan on hunkering down, fortifying, and possibly banding together with immediate neighbors to ward off any mobs. Needless to say, I'm interested in cheap and simple ways of setting up bobby traps, notification systems/alarms, and fortifying my home without doing a god damned demo job and rebuilding half the house (Im a renter)

Again, thanks for starting this post. I'm pleased to finally see one of my favorite topics make it to the upper echelon of popular posts.

Originally posted by semperfortis

The Practical, Everyday Survivalist: An Overview...

1. Your Bag
2. Vehicles
3. Weapons (Knives and Guns)
4. Basic Skills
5. Practice
6. Areas to go to practice (Fun time)
7. Medicines and Natural cures, herbs, plants etc
8. Food (Gathering, storing, preparing etc)

Everything below fits inside trailer (except truck)...

Bag 1 (Kelty): M6 Survival rifle, Camp axe, bowie, folder, whiddler, multi-tool!, folding shovel, matches, 5 minute firestarters, lighters, machette, knife/blade sharpener, hammer, hand warmers, telescoping fishing rod. paracord.
Bag 2 (Molle ALICE pack): Clothes, rain gear, duct tape, cross draw pistol, molle shotgun scabbard, 12" tactical knife.

Shelter: Tent (19ft across teepee), 10 tarps, bungie cords (invaluable), camp stove (heat), air mattersses (just because its the end of days doesnt mean there should be no luxury) sleeping bags, wool blankets, bells and string trip wire security.

Vehicles: Xterra 4x4 (lifted w/ off-road tires)w trailer, Outlaw 500 quad, Canoe, Mountain Bike, Large Game hauler.

Weapons: Sprigfield M6 Scout survival rifle, 308 bolt action hunting rifle, AK47, Mossberg 500 12gauge pistol grip w/8 shots, Sprigfield XD40 subcom, Kel-Tec 380 w extended clips. Takedown Recurve Bow. AMMO. Lots of AMMO.

Skills: shelter building, fire starting (sledge/axe, wood wedge), tracking/hunting, water aquisition, carpentry, masonry, camp cook of the cenrury!

Practice: all the time! shoot, camp, hunt, (try to go out in the most extreme weather)

Meds: Vitamins, Tylenol, tampons, duct tape, antibiotics, antiseptic, wound care, stitches, ace bandages,

Herbals:trusty manuals and refererance guides (use sparingly unless absolutely sure), seeds for herbs.

Food: ALCOHOL, anything in the crosshairs, chipmunks to moose.
seeds for a full veggie garden.
water filtration/purification.

oh yeah and my Gadsden Flag...

I like this thread. Star and flag.

I would add my 2 cents here - two of the most critical elements you can have in a survival situation are:

1) A sense of humor
2) A belief in a higher power.

Now, these are definitely not as sexy as a black plastic 1000 shot laser-sighted hyper-automatic .600 caliber blastomatic, or a diesel powered 6 x 6 soviet surplus troop carrier with a recoilless rifle on top, but I think they are pretty important.
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A sense of humor buffers a person from a known and deadly killer - a sense of hopelessness, which can kill a helluva lot faster than hypothermia.

A belief in a higher power motivates and energizes. No, you don't have to be a evangelical bible-thumpoing christian, or a buddha-bowing, incense burning monk, but having a belief in ANY higher power - your country, your family, your community, a guiding hatred for your enemy - can fuel you to hike that last 15 miles, or allow you to pick the maggots out of a festering laceration on your arm without puking up your last meal of fire ants.

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There's a book out there called "Deep Survival" by a man named Larry Gonzales. His website is here: deepsurvival.com...

It's one of the best books out there about the psychological/inter & intrapersonal aspects of surviving in circumstances that can easily kill you. I would highly recommend it if you really want to dig into how people think through confrontation by life threatening circumstances.

He recounts the story of Julie Koepcke, a high school senior with one of the most amazing stories of survival that I have ever read. A synopsis is here:

www.badassoftheweek.com...

So, while my .600 caliber fully hyper-automatic magnum assault weapon with the 1000 round magazine and my soviet surplus armored 6 x 6 troop carrying marpat camoed assault vehicle are fun to play with, I remind myself that the best survival tool we have is that lump of grey slop that lies between our ears.

have a nice day!!

reply to post by paratus


you got some nice gear!! and it seems like you got everything covered

please read my post above, your xterra sounds like it can tackle any off road situation you might encounter but if you read my post above you will realize that if we have massive solar flares, (or a possible nuke strike near where you live..............just thinking) the ECM in that vehicle wont be worth the metal its made out of, hopefully we will have some indication of future events and you can shield it from electro magnetic interference so it will be drivable later


just trying to cover all the bases


also most cars made after 1975 have at least electronic ignition and may be inoperable if something happends but most american vehicles from the 70s can be retrofitted with an earlyer ignition system quite easy

be safe

Seriously friends. We train with FEMA and HS and prepare.. and NO-ONE has anything NEAR all that stuff. But the OP was kind enough to start this thread, and I had the info...so I just passed it along.

Look at the 12 month guide. For just $10-$20 US a month, you can be in good shape in a year from now for you and your family.

I usually tell people to at least READ it...it will open your eyes, and maybe we all can do a little more prep than we are now for each of our families.

Originally posted by semperfortis
If you personally have a fatalist view on survival, neither I nor anyone else can help you. Maybe this thread, or even this forum, is not for you.

I have personally found myself in survival situations all over the world and the skills I learned in the Marines and on my own have saved me more than once.

In that situation, my can of tuna trumps everything..

Semper

I have to second what you said here just because i have read quite a few post in this thread where people don't understand less is more in a survival situation.

You may have 3 "bug out" packs but when it comes time to survive and you have to hump it for 20 mile you have to learn how to condense and i believe Mr. Fortis would be an excellent person to teach this if you will just listen and learn from him.

I am a bronze palm eagle scout before you start attacking me for saying this I know i can survive if need be. Can you really?

reply to post by Echtelion


Did unt fergit nuttin

I have lived on my property in West Virginia for extended periods of time and I grew up there..It is extraordinarily isolated and is wonderfully suited for farming and cattle as well as horses and other stock animals..It is also clear of the Jet Stream and was listed at one time as the 2nd safest place to be in case of nuclear attack..

I will have friends and family with me

So.. Forget? Nope

Semper

This will be entirely dependent on the particular catastrophic event which kicks off a true SHTF situation, but I would suggest that in cities or suburbs, your automobile/truck won't be going very far before you'll have to abandon it.

Traffic jams caused by wrecks, stalled vehicles, folks running out of fuel, road rage, and even assault and robbery.

Many will be hauling butt without any good, practical reason, but with the feeling that they have to go somewhere else.

In addition, there will be those predators who will kill and take what they are able.

Road junctions, on ramps, and especially bridges will either be blocked or controlled by highwaymen.

The only property you'll have is that amount you can fully defend from all comers.

Smaller communities will likely set up impassible barriers, complete with armed men to keep out trouble-makers and protect their own friends and families.

Due to overwhelming demands on immediate resources, if you don't have it with you, you won't be getting it, and some will die alongside the restricted roads from stress, heart attacks, medical problems, or attack.

I would go so far as to suggest that 95% of the surviving population will not get more than about 45 miles from their point of origin for a vast number of reasons.

Disease will soon be rampant.

Everyone will be frustrated, frightened, desperate, and increasingly ruthless.

Children will be abandoned as men are killed and the women are taken away.

Predators will combine and will take advantage of the weakest first, but as they continue, their numbers will increasingly become fewer as they approach those who are capable and willing to fight them.

It would take years and years for things to begin to settle back out, so you aren't going to be able to rely on others.

He who is most empty, is most complete.

Looking forward to that bag suggestion. I have a feeling I'm envisioning too much, which probably stems from my OCD from the last times I went camping, hehe...

I saw one poster suggest something about the size of a standard backpack (not a hiking backpack), and that sounds about right for a BOB...so looking forward to your suggestions from experience.