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I think the soundest advice is to make sure you have the means to move to an unaffected area from the beginning. Trying to prepare for...something that will interrupt the life and comfort-sustaining services we are used to for an extended period is unworkable for almost all people.
I think the soundest advice is to make sure you have the means to move to an unaffected area from the beginning. Trying to prepare for...something that will interrupt the life and comfort-sustaining services we are used to for an extended period is unworkable for almost all people.
If you go on the survivalist boards, there's a lot of back and forth about this. Which is safer, city or country? If you live in the city now, should you have a place in the country that you can run to?
But what if you can't leave the city? Maybe there's a disaster and the roads are blocked by the government. Or, maybe the disaster is a slow breakdown of our society as we know it and it takes many years to reach completion. In the meantime, you're one of the lucky ones who is still employed and you need to stay in the city.
Then there's the other side who says cities are safer. If there's a social collapse, there's good reason to believe that if you can survive the first few weeks and fight off the bad people, the bad ones will move on out and maraud the country where there isn't safety in numbers. It's also entirely possible that you live in the city and your home is overlooked by the bad guys, maybe your whole block is overlooked.
When it comes to self-sufficiency, I worry less about the "why" and more about the "how" and the "now". I live here now, in the city. So I'm going to live as self-sufficiently as I can here.
There's also good reason to become self-sufficient that has nothing to do with social collapse, post-industrialism, etc. The quality and safety of our food is declining. I feel that's reason enough to concern ourselves with growing our own food. There's also good frugality in being self-sufficient.
Reading everyone's posts has been interesting. It posed some good questions for my own self-sufficiency. I have good access to both wood and water in their natural states, so hopefully, even long-term, I'd be able to have the water and wood I needed. Waste disposal is a good one though, I don't know how I'd handle that, and what about my neighbors around me? Hmmm.....
Wow - I'm impressed with the posts....must say I'm a tad bit embarassed, though ~ I thought I was doing good with storing extra batteries for flashlights/radios, drinking water and dehydated food. Oh man, I'm so not prepared ~
Last edited by Wicked Felina; 10-08-2008 at 11:08 PM..
Nobody can prepare overnight. You don't decide on Monday to be self-sufficient and be there on the following Monday. It's a mindset that takes planning and learning. I don't think anyone can pick up a hoe and be a brilliant gardener first time out. It takes practice knowing what to plant and when for continuous production. Then you have to learn how to dehydrate or can to preserve the harvest for use later in the year, or all year long.
When raising livestock, you need to know about the animals you are raising or at least have a means to find out if what you see is normal or a sign of disease - before it becomes a problem. Think small along the lines of chickens and rabbits. Both can be raised in the city and provide you with plenty of food with very little effort.
Start by reading what you can on gardening, raising rabbits or raising poultry. It's really the best way to start any such endeavor. Small steps.
If you go on the survivalist boards, there's a lot of back and forth about this. Which is safer, city or country? If you live in the city now, should you have a place in the country that you can run to?
But what if you can't leave the city? Maybe there's a disaster and the roads are blocked by the government. Or, maybe the disaster is a slow breakdown of our society as we know it and it takes many years to reach completion. In the meantime, you're one of the lucky ones who is still employed and you need to stay in the city.
Then there's the other side who says cities are safer. If there's a social collapse, there's good reason to believe that if you can survive the first few weeks and fight off the bad people, the bad ones will move on out and maraud the country where there isn't safety in numbers. It's also entirely possible that you live in the city and your home is overlooked by the bad guys, maybe your whole block is overlooked.
When it comes to self-sufficiency, I worry less about the "why" and more about the "how" and the "now". I live here now, in the city. So I'm going to live as self-sufficiently as I can here.
There's also good reason to become self-sufficient that has nothing to do with social collapse, post-industrialism, etc. The quality and safety of our food is declining. I feel that's reason enough to concern ourselves with growing our own food. There's also good frugality in being self-sufficient.
Reading everyone's posts has been interesting. It posed some good questions for my own self-sufficiency. I have good access to both wood and water in their natural states, so hopefully, even long-term, I'd be able to have the water and wood I needed. Waste disposal is a good one though, I don't know how I'd handle that, and what about my neighbors around me? Hmmm.....
I have a counter to your belief "the bad ones will move on out and maraud the country where there isn't safety in numbers". I suggest they stay to the city, as most who live in the country are gun owners. I may not have the numbers of a neighborhood, but I've got plenty of rounds!
The plain and simple truth is that the majority of people simply are not cut out for self-sufficient living, and would be foolish to even attempt it on their own.
Long term is a whole different matter and can be a lot uglier. Those medications your doctor prescribed? Chances are you won't be able to afford them. TV, Internet, phone? Bye-bye. Insurance? fuggedaboudit. Water, food, shelter. Anything beyond that is gravy. Safety and security become big issues. Stockpiles of food and goods can be stolen or expropriated.
Why would you not be able to afford internet, tv, or phone? All can be done over the internet and through satellite. Power for them can be provided by many ways. Especially in the united states southwest. water, food and shelter are all thought about before moving out there. Anyone dropping everything and living in the middle of no where in search of berries and snakes, is stupid. A person that could make it on their own has to be smart, a telecommuter, or in retirement.
Stockpiles of food can be stolen,this is true. But a steal door locked from the inside would be hard to get into. Then you have a few lines of defense called weapons
Having gone thru survival courses in the military ansd then the the after math of several hurricanes ,I don't recommned that for very long.The worse problem can be that you have a accident and no medical aid. You needd to be in very good shape and healthy really.Might want to go to a libary and read thru the Foxfire series of books ;if your thinking about it tho.
Why would you not be able to afford internet, tv, or phone? All can be done over the internet and through satellite. Power for them can be provided by many ways. Especially in the united states southwest. water, food and shelter are all thought about before moving out there. Anyone dropping everything and living in the middle of no where in search of berries and snakes, is stupid. A person that could make it on their own has to be smart, a telecommuter, or in retirement.
Stockpiles of food can be stolen,this is true. But a steal door locked from the inside would be hard to get into. Then you have a few lines of defense called weapons
In a TEOTWAWKI situation, infrastructures break down. In one scenario, it isn't the cost of services being too high, as much as services becoming unreliable. Uplink stations are robbed for metals, and repair personnel can't find proper parts, and businesses go belly up. In another, the value of what money you have becomes pennies on the dollar due to hyperinflation. The point is that you cannot depend on infrastructure in a worst case situation.
Stockpiles of food can be as easily raided by police, national guard and local governments as by starving urbanites. Conscription and confiscation are common in times of civil unrest. Governments have a vested interest in keeping starving masses from rioting. A stockpile of food could be one of the first things to be confiscated, and under martial law people are routinely de-weaponed. Those who don't comply are jailed or shot.
As I said, most people are simply not prepared for a real survival situation. Those wanting to be more prepared would do well to read up on history; such things as "The Diary of Ann Frank," reports of Sherman's march through Georgia, "Dr. Zhivago," "The Killing Fields," and the like. TEOTWAWKI doesn't mean you'll exist alone or not be subject to the prevailing laws. Typical survivalist rantings are taken from the pages of dime novels and have about as much value. An AK-47 might be a liability, while a few patches of potatoes hidden by the sides of fields, or a cache of turnips or nuts might mean survival. A thief or government enforcer is a lot more likely to be interested in a locked door than digging in frozen ground covered with manure.
For those who don't know, TEOTWAWKI stands for The End of The World As We Know It. Still, there is no reason for there to be no phone, no internet or other communications. That's what prepping is all about. You get your ham license so you can still communicate the old fashioned way. Services may be unreliable, but unlikely to be gone completely. Residents are not the only people arming themselves. It's the responsible thing to do.
The real end is going to involve a nuclear blast with radiation poisoning all vegetation which will indirectly cause famine and the death of livestock. That's why you prepare. The norm is to have a year's supply of everything you will use or need - including livestock feed and medications. Don't laugh, there are people already there. And they stay prepared, always preparing further and further to last longer and longer when society breaks down.
Few are the people who can prepare indefinately, but they exist. Copy themj, learn from them and stock your pantry at the very least.
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I thought I was doing good with storing extra batteries for flashlights/radios, drinking water and dehydated food. Oh man, I'm so not prepared ~ 
