Casting Call: Survival documentary turns to ATS for experts...

reply to post by nenothtu


If I wasn't a mother of small children I would probably be a partial roamer, but I need a fixed location. One thing to consider while roaming is WATER. Knowing where the water is is the most important IMO. Many people will also be going to the water, like a herd of animals! New settlements will be made just around small creeks and streams....So what do you do? Make sure you have a bicycle to carry that water (in case of EMP or massive solar flare). Or get a pool? A 10,000 gallon pool will last a few years at least, there are solar panel filtration systems available. But how do you defend that when the nun and orphans appear??

Has anybody read the book, One Second After?? That book had me scared to death. The fear of social breakdown and cannibalism has me bugged out. I hate to say this but with the population so high, how would anyone be able to hunt for food after say a few months?? The food chain would break apart unless people were smart enough and new how to breed enough stock, but then you would have to worry about the rogue survivalists who you do not know who come knocking on your door for food or trade. Do you trust him or shoot him? Then eat him?? OMG!!! Even the horrifying thoughts of cannibalism make me sick......

In worst case scenario, I do think neighborhoods would turn into tribes and every person would have a skill and position in the *pack*

Survival is coded into our DNA, we will adapt, we just have to re-educate this generation before its too late....

Has anybody seen the movie Idiocracy????? I love that movie, all the stupid people survive LOL

When and if the SHTF; who is going to maintain all the nuke power plants in this country. The Japanese tragedy bring this to mind. If the nuclear power plants melt down in the US, will all the preparation, food growing and food storage be a mute point with all the plutonium, radioactive iodine, and RZ436 floating around on the prevailing winds and in the water supply.

www.dailymail.co.uk...

Perhaps we should all work together NOW to promote peace, justice and brotherhood, so that a SHTF event like a revolution doesn't occur. Or if a global trauma takes place we can work together to lessen the impact.

Nah, that makes to much sense and "Mad Max" will be so much more fun.

FYI I think it's shameful so many are shooting down this idea without knowing all the details...
Remember it's up to us who know to teach those who dont and have no mentors to teach them....

so you all know I sent SkepticOverlord an IM saying to forward my mail addy to these folks...
dont know if I'll do it but it doesnt hurt to hear what they have to say right????

Hey you think maybe I can talk em into a Survival scenario where I have to stock pile naked dancing girls

reply to post by DaddyBare


If you have food and other don't you get people to do more than dance for food.

All joking aside Whaaa has a very good point. My view is the more knowledge people have the less fear and chaos there will be.
I have found many things to be thankful for during hurricanes - neighbors who come by to check on you or ask if you need anything.
I've had my house burned and flooded and a tree that fell on top of my car. Every time one of these happened somebody was there to see if we were ok.
I doubt any future calamity will be any different. We'll work together and get through fine.
Hopefully, those in charge of nuclear plants and munitions will still be on post or we will all be in for more than a bad case of the measles.
At our community association meeting the other night there was great interest in starting a community preparedness program. Most people are thinking we are looking at hard times if not outright disaster and want to be ready. That is the first step; recognizing a need to organize and plan.
Knowing who in your neighborhood is knowledgeable on what subjects, who has had first aid or military training, what resources you can pool together is the first place to start.

reply to post by Starwise


Excellent observations, and valid questions!

Small children present a quandary. They don't travel well, especially long distance and on foot (STAY AWAY from roads - they're natural "game trails" for the human species). Most have a hard time being quiet, and absolutely NEED the psychological security of a fixed position. In those cases it's better, in my opinion, to pre-position yourself away from urban areas, where they are less likely to draw unwanted attention - if that's even possible. Everyone's situation at the starting gate is different. I'm not talking making camp in the wilderness with them, but rather relocating ahead of time to a smaller, more rural community. Rural communities tend towards being closer knit. They tend to work together better, and the nearest potential for trouble is farther away than in a city. Sure, some city neighborhoods are fairly tightly welded together, but in those cases trouble may only be a few blocks away.

The reason one needs to re-locate as early as possible is to improve the chances of "bonding" into the community, making friends and integrating into it. Otherwise, one runs a risk of still being an "outsider" when adversity hits. I moved from an urban area (Cleveland OH) to a rural area in the Appalachians when I was a kid. It took a couple of months (on average) for us to get knit into the community. Some of us, being more gregarious, integrated quicker than others. My sisters just melted right in to it, like fish to water. My parents were already from that sort of environment (my mother was born there) so they didn't have too hard a time integrating in, either. I was "accepted", but didn't really get integrated in until a good bit later than the rest. Paradoxically, it took a knock down, drag out fight to integrate me. After that, natives all knew where I stood, and just what I'd put up with (and what I wouldn't), and we all got along famously.

One thing that struck me there, and I'll never forget it, was riding down the road, EVERYONE we encountered smiled and waved. I went so far as to ask my folks what was wrong with those people, grinning and waving at people they didn't even know! It was an alien culture to me at the time - I'd never seen that sort of behavior before. Now, it's second nature to me.

If your willing to help, and to work, and make that known, it helps a lot. I got a "job" my first day of school there. It didn't pay any cash, but it sure had dividends, working in a tobacco field and helping a local farmer. It was a family farm, the kids asked me if I'd come over and help, and I jumped in to tobacco gum up to my elbows, rolling "suckers" off of the plants. Like I said, it didn't pay cash, but I made friends and got fed. That's worth more than gold, since I've said time after time that you can't eat gold. At the end of the day, I was tired, sweaty, and coated with about a quarter inch of tobacco gum that I had to use gasoline to wash off of me, but it paid off all the same.

Bonus: the whole community will help look after your kids, Keep an eye on 'em and keep 'em safe.

Water is another problem, in some areas. In urban areas, most water is delivered via an infrastructure system. If that breaks down, it's game on finding any. Some places have gone so far as to pass laws against private wells, in order to protect the government monopoly on water. I know for fact that High Point, NC has such a law. I had a friend there who bought a house, and they found that there was a well (capped off but workable) right in the basement. The city found out too, and forced them to fill it in with concrete, citing health reasons. I grew up drinking from wells and springs, and am no worse for the wear. Matter of fact, I'm in generally better health than a lot of the natives in that area, so the "health concerns" excuse doesn't wash with me. I believe, and always will, that it was just to protect the government monopoly on water distribution.

Look at a few maps of urban areas, anywhere on Earth, and compare them. You'll notice one thing that almost all of them have in common. At least one river runs through them. Communities grow up around waterways. They have to have massive amounts of water to support a concentrated population, and the rivers also provide avenues of ingress and egress for travel and trade. The first urban area ever was the Indus RIVER civilization.

Another thing to notice is that in nature animals tend to congregate at certain times at watering points, or "watering holes". A subtext to that is that watering holes also draw predators, and they're not there just to get a drink. They know that meals are handy and concentrated at watering points, making for less work in the hunt - dinner comes to THEM there.

From that, we can take it that most large sources of water will be guarded, either by "good guys" who may not be all that friendly when it comes to their water, or by "bad guys" waiting on their next "meal". I wouldn't plan on parking, either permanently or temporarily, near a large water source. In most areas, there are smaller water sources, like springs and creeks, which can be visited at unlikely spots and water carried away from, back to base.

When I was a kid, our spring went dry for a few years during the summer months, and we had to find alternate water. We had a joke back then about "running water", because we had to "run and git it". That was our "running water" in the summer months during those years. There was another spring, about a mile away down on a hollow where water gushed straight out of a cleft in a rock, ice cold and year-round. I saved up gallon milk jugs until I had 12 of them, and tied them together two and two at the handles with baling twine - leaving enough between them to grasp. I'd take all 12 of them down to that spring, fill 'em up, and cross 8 of them (two groups of 4) so that the strings made an "x", and pad my shoulders for the other 4. Two slung over the right shoulder, two over the left, and four carried in each hand by the "x" strings, I'd carry them home 12 gallons at a time, and make sure we had water.

Bath time involved an oblong tin tub that usually hung on the side of the cabin when not in use. A lot more water was hauled up via vehicle for bath times, heated on a wood stove, and good to go. During warm weather, I've been known to bathe in the river, about a mile and a half from the house, or alternatively take a shower in a waterfall that was up a hollow a good bit closer.

My point here is, where there is a will, there IS a way. Seek, and ye shall find. It all depends on how bad you want something, and survival is right up there near the top of the list for some who realize just how fragile it can be. Don't plan on parking at large watering holes, since they will draw others as well, but there are smaller watering points around if you look for them that are less conspicuous.

It's survival, and might not involve just the exact style that folks have accustomed themselves to. Don't visit ANY water without backup if you can avoid it. One to get water, one to guard, and alternate. A few seconds warning may be all you need to get away if it comes to it.

Pools for water: Ever seen one 3 months in to not being chemically treated? 'Nuff said.

I've never read that book "One Second After". Cannibalism will likely be a problem in some areas, but probably not as prevalent as some stories make out. Another good reason to stay away from urban areas - high concentration of people, low concentration of food production facilities. Most will be completely lost when the store shelves go bare, and the water works stop working. In spite of being lost, some will do whatever they think they have to in order to survive, unprepared.

Social breakdown: The way these things usually shake out is a reversion, however temporary or permanent, to some form of tribalism. If it happens that your "tribe" is sedentary, you're likely not to have to worry much about food and water - the group itself will secure that for it's membership in some way, or it will fall apart. If your "tribe" is mobile, watch for signs that it's turning predatory, and slink quietly away in the night at the first sign. However high on the hog they live for a time, it won't turn out well for them in the end, and you don't want to be there for that.

The main thing to realize is that humans are gregarious, social critters. Sooner or later, any social breakdown is going to re-coalesce into some form of group structure. Best to have your community already around you (and already be integrated into it) when it hits, if that's at all possible. Another plus for grouping together is the division of labor - some folks will be dedicated to security functions, and they'll be the ones to make decisions about approaching stragglers, taking that worry off of your shoulders.

High population vs. hunting for food doesn't concern me much. Remember, as has already been observed in this thread, most of that population is urbanized. Most of those will be stuck where they are, and most of the ones who make it out won't have a clue about how to hunt - they'll likely turn to begging or predation. Even the ones who CAN hunt will probably use firearms, rather than any other methods of which they are unaware, and ammo eventually runs out without a reliable method of resupply. I seriously doubt that they'll be able to put a very big dent in wild things, but farmers with stock will have to watch their herds a bit closer for a time.

My apologies for the long, rambling reply.

Originally posted by DaddyBare

Hey you think maybe I can talk em into a Survival scenario where I have to stock pile naked dancing girls

Now THAT'S survival with STYLE!

Can I join your tribe? I don't eat much, and can sleep just anywhere...

Originally posted by Asktheanimals

I have found many things to be thankful for during hurricanes - neighbors who come by to check on you or ask if you need anything.

Another good point. I went out to eastern NC after Hurricane Isabelle devastated the area to do a security gig. I was there because they expected looting and vandalism in the wake of the destruction, and so were security and police from all over the state, and some from other states. We were loaded for bear.

My post was out at a little burg that was nothing more than a cluster of buildings at a crossroad. I had to drive there from a more urban area (where our quarters were) every day for a 12 hour shift, alternating with one other guy. Rooms were at a premium, so we had to stay four to a two person room, "hot bunking" and alternating two in, two out. When the locals at our post found that out, they wanted to set up a camper on site, and keep us both right there, 24/7. We were down for that, but the higher ups nixed the idea for some odd reason. Maybe they just enjoyed renting the SUV's and buying the gas.

The power was out, of course, so the first thing to go was the food in the freezers. Rather than watch it go bad, they had a massive cook out, for the whole community. Everybody chucked in, everybody ate... and ate... and ate.

Everybody looked out for everybody else. They even looked out for us, who were supposed to be there to look out for them.

Some areas did see some looting and vandalism, but we had no trouble at all in our little crossroads, in spite of the fact that it had a bank and a couple of massive generators that were disappearing elsewhere, and food all over (farms).

In contrast, in a city named "Plymouth" there, I saw massive destruction - power lines down in the road, the entire facade of the police headquarters collapsed into a pile of bricks on a cop car parked in front, power poles snapped like twigs and hanging from the power lines in the middle of the road. Even boats had been thrown out of the Albermarle Sound up onto dry land next to the road. In Plymouth, they had no food production facilities. Meals were being distributed out of the backs of semi-trucks 3 times a day to the inhabitants. They were similar to MRE's but in boxes that reminded me of frozen TV dinners, and had the same kind of water-driven heaters for the meal that MRE's have.

If it hadn't been for those food trucks, Plymouth would have descended into anarchy in short order, I believe. As it was, they still had to have a heavy security and police presence there.

reply to post by nenothtu


Hahaha Im an Army vet from Ft. Bragg and after I ETSd, I stayed in NC, live about an hour from Raleigh in nowhere country with some land. Its nice and quiet near some creeks and streams. My *neighborhood* and community has maybe 100 houses, lots of farming and livestock too. Its nice because behind my house there is a forest with a stocked pond that I don't think many people are aware of unless they have google earthed our neighborhood and found it......

Yeah I have a pool and know whatcha mean by not having filtration going after a few months......

I also have a personal well which is nice and the water has been tested and is actually cleaner than the county water which my neighborhood was tired of the sediment and tried to get it changed over, but they denied us because our water quality was too good My only thing is that its an electric pump and if electricity goes out

I too am concerned about the nuclear sites here in NC, I believe there are 3 of them.......ho hum what do ya do???

Dual Citizenship here.. (Japanese / U.S)
But
1. Occupied presently with more important matters in japan.
2. Doubt could shorten a lifetime of knowledge / experience into the short time that they have.
3. Somehow think they want more "colourful" individuals with large stocks of equipment, firearms and food.. Sorry just have my knowledge, experience and custom made randall thats served me well for over 40 years in war zones and disaster areas around the world.
4. Sounds like they want someone stateside - sorry no desire nor interest in returning to the states for many reasons..

Good luck with finding people there to fit the bill.. If done right the program (or one showing techniques) could help.. However no matter how many books people read.. Videos or television they watch .. They need actual hands on experience to fully learn and understand.. And that takes time...

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Does the offer extend to general ATS membership, or are staff also allowed to participate.
If we are, then I would be interested, could be a good idea to have a moderator mixed in with the ATS crowd.

Hey ADVISOR... you didn't happen to scratch awl, then gun blue your set of smith and wesson cuffs to the letters A T S did you?

j/k. your policy is sound, and your mind is whole IMHO, you'd make for a great patriotic note on the ATS ticket... I'm right there with ya brother.

Count me in, I got skillz of a differnt kind that will kick start civilization back into full swing once mankind is ready to begin the rebuild, and I'll be happy to outline it for the masses...

So,did anyone do this show?
There is one on National Geographic now.

channel.nationalgeographic.com...

Originally posted by kdog1982
So,did anyone do this show?

The interest in the potential involvement of our members sort of fizzled... and no data was ever given to the network.

reply to post by Sanjur0


naw thats the guy from sons of anarchy in digital computerized drawn form ron perlman i think is his name hell boy