Let's talk prepping...

[kgd]

one of my points is that it's a gamble...

if shtf, i'll trust that my $300+ knives will serve me well because i know that they will see use.

I didn't put a dollar sign ($) in front of 300 in my post. I meant people who own 300 knives not knives that cost $300. But it is interesting that you took my message that way, a Freudian slip would you say I own some expensive custom knives as well. I don't kid myself that owning the expensive custom knife will help me anymore in a SHTF scenario. I bought it for the same reasons most of us do, its a hobby and I've gotten to the point of appreciating aesthetics and details in cutlery that common man would not see. But, my post was meant to give food for thought. Are we as knife enthusiast's not just as strange and deluded in our fantasies about SHTF as preppers are? I think if you rationalized any purchase of outdoor equipment as 'this would be good in a SHTF scenario' as opposed to, I think I'll take this along with me during my next camping trip...Then lets face it, you got the same problem as the TV-show extreme files do....

 

[four_shore]

I didn't put a dollar sign ($) in front of 300 in my post. I meant people who own 300 knives not knives that cost $300. But it is interesting that you took my message that way, a Freudian slip would you say I own some expensive custom knives as well. I don't kid myself that owning the expensive custom knife will help me anymore in a SHTF scenario. I bought it for the same reasons most of us do, its a hobby and I've gotten to the point of appreciating aesthetics and details in cutlery that common man would not see. But, my post was meant to give food for thought. Are we as knife enthusiast's not just as strange and deluded in our fantasies about SHTF as preppers are? I think if you rationalized any purchase of outdoor equipment as 'this would be good in a SHTF scenario' as opposed to, I think I'll take this along with me during my next camping trip...Then lets face it, you got the same problem as the TV-show extreme files do....

sorry i misread your post.

i do respectfully disagree to one of your statements.

a sebenza (imo) is going to be more useful than a delica for a few reasons (shtf or not).

durability and ease of maintenance.

breaking down a lockback knife in general is a giant hassle (especially in a survival situation).

a fixed blade might outperform both...

that's neither here nor there and i don't want to stray away from the subject...

again, our knives have a purpose and i just can't accept collecting food as a hobby. then again, i've always struggled accepting collecting anything as a hobby. to me (and this is strictly opinion), to justify something being a hobby it should involve some level of skill at the very least.


collecting is just that...collecting, hoarding etc..it doesn't take any particular skill to buy a bunch of stuff.

most of these preppers have little to no knowledge. i refuse to consider their psychopathic obsessions anything remotely similar to being a well informed knife or gun enthusiast.

that's just me. i think the crazies they put on tv are looking for attention more than anything.

as mentioned i believe knowledge is number one, everything else is secondary.

 

[inkynate]

I completely agree with much of the sentiment here. Alot of the stuff out there seems like major overkill to me. I've got plenty of gear, but I also really like to camp. I have some firearms, but I've been shooting since I was around 7 yrs old. I like to have extra food and water on hand, but I actually eat the stuff I store (and grow.) Never thought of myself as a prepper, just being myself...

 

[four_shore]

I completely agree with much of the sentiment here. Alot of the stuff out there seems like major overkill to me. I've got plenty of gear, but I also really like to camp. I have some firearms, but I've been shooting since I was around 7 yrs old. I like to have extra food and water on hand, but I actually eat the stuff I store (and grow.) Never thought of myself as a prepper, just being myself...

+1...

 

[Codger_64]

I lived through two direct hits from hurricanes. I was the one prowling the neighborhood with the shotgun and checking on my neighbors. I went out several times a day to make my rounds. A few neighbors did also. People coming in from outside the community looking for easy victims would have had a tough way to go. We were a week without power each time but got along just fine.

 

[kgd]

a sebenza (imo) is going to be more useful than a delica for a few reasons (shtf or not).

durability and ease of maintenance.

Hey whatever voodoo works for you...I'd prefer to have one of my usual suspect bushcrafters with me in an emergency. Chances are I'll have the SAK camper that I EDC daily. What I do know is that I carry my SAK EDC because I actually do use daily. Use the screwdrivers on urban stuff, the saw on bushy stuff, the toothpick on toothy stuff. Having it during SHTF would be a bonus, but I carry it daily not so much for what might come about, but for what comes about all the time in day to day life. Again, I ask the question of why do you buy a certain knife. Is it purchased because of something that may or may not happen, or do you buy it because you will use it for something it is likely to happen. I bring a FAK with me on every camping trip, but I don't pretend it is going to treat machine gun wounds. I tailor it to the kinds of accidents I'm likely to have and experience has taught me I should have. Over time, I have replaced the SAM splint which is great in bone fractures but not used that much with immodium (a drug to control diarrhea) which is more life threatening (dehydration) and more likely to occur (oh yeah, experience tells me so). I'll just have to make a splint on the fly with a few triangle bandages even if its less convenient then the SAM splint.

I lived through two direct hits from hurricanes. I was the one prowling the neighborhood with the shotgun and checking on my neighbors. I went out several times a day to make my rounds. A few neighbors did also. People coming in from outside the community looking for easy victims would have had a tough way to go. We were a week without power each time but got along just fine.

A morality question Codger. What happens if that stranger coming in is a woman, in her mid-50's in a business suit, torn from the winds (perhaps she is a nurse or a medical doctor?). She has gash over her forehead and looks in need of shelter. Do you point your shotgun her way and say "move along stranger, our community is ours...Too bloody bad for you being here at the wrong time and place"....Or do you invite her home at the potential expense of some of your supplies which for all you know may have to last a disaster that is likely to be only 72 h or one week? I think this is an interesting question and I believe it fits in with the Prepper theme. The default assumption are that strangers = bad...What about trade and recruiting folks with skills? Is the prepper mentality necessarily about self isolation, or does one try to build communities even outside that of their immediate family. Personally, I think it is a fundamental flaw to try and build an isolationist community. The elaborate schemes at defense might just be turning away your most valuable resource - human potential. Not everybody is a bad dude.

 

[four_shore]

Hey whatever voodoo works for you...I'd prefer to have one of my usual suspect bushcrafters with me in an emergency. Chances are I'll have the SAK camper that I EDC daily. What I do know is that I carry my SAK EDC because I actually do use daily. Use the screwdrivers on urban stuff, the saw on bushy stuff, the toothpick on toothy stuff. Having it during SHTF would be a bonus, but I carry it daily not so much for what might come about, but for what comes about all the time in day to day life. Again, I ask the question of why do you buy a certain knife. Is it purchased because of something that may or may not happen, or do you buy it because you will use it for something it is likely to happen. I bring a FAK with me on every camping trip, but I don't pretend it is going to treat machine gun wounds. I tailor it to the kinds of accidents I'm likely to have and experience has taught me I should have. Over time, I have replaced the SAM splint which is great in bone fractures but not used that much with immodium (a drug to control diarrhea) which is more life threatening (dehydration) and more likely to occur (oh yeah, experience tells me so). I'll just have to make a splint on the fly with a few triangle bandages even if its less convenient then the SAM splint.

i'm only stating that a higher quality knife is going to be just that, a higher quality knife. so whether disaster strikes or not, i'd rather have my high end seb than something like a sog flash. im certainly not implying that the sog flash or spyderco delica are cheap by any means but a seb is clearly the better choice in terms of durability.

that's in response to your saying "I don't kid myself that owning the expensive custom knife will help me anymore in a SHTF scenario".

i believe a durable high quality knife will serve you better especially in a shtf scenario but that's not why i buy them.

again, i buy knives to use them everyday. i buy certain knives because my skills (sharpening) and knowledge progressed thus making me feel worthy of not only owning but using "high end" knives every day. that's also why i can call my passion for knives a hobby...

i'm just way off topic at this point haha.

let's get back on track...

 

[Codger_64]

...A morality question Codger. What happens if that stranger coming in is a woman, in her mid-50's in a business suit, torn from the winds (perhaps she is a nurse or a medical doctor?). She has gash over her forehead and looks in need of shelter. Do you point your shotgun her way and say "move along stranger, our community is ours...Too bloody bad for you being here at the wrong time and place"....Or do you invite her home at the potential expense of some of your supplies which for all you know may have to last a disaster that is likely to be only 72 h or one week? I think this is an interesting question and I believe it fits in with the Prepper theme. The default assumption are that strangers = bad...What about trade and recruiting folks with skills? Is the prepper mentality necessarily about self isolation, or does one try to build communities even outside that of their immediate family. Personally, I think it is a fundamental flaw to try and build an isolationist community. The elaborate schemes at defense might just be turning away your most valuable resource - human potential. Not everybody is a bad dude.

Our community was not "isolationist". Anyone appearing to honestly need help would get it. I would have taken your hypothetical woman to the business district where the highway was open and turned her over to the medical personel there. But... to get to my neighborhood from outside, one would have to cross the three mile bridge, then go through the business district, then walk nearly a mile deep into the residential area, climbing over downed trees, roofing materials, downed power lines and poles. No one other than residents and rescue personel had any business being there. Had it been a young dude with a bag over his shoulder that I had caught peeping in windows and trying doors, I would have held him for law enforcement. If it had been a resident or friend of a resident who was caught in the storm, yes I would have given food and shelter, then assisted them getting out. If you look at the picture, you will see that a person would have to be trying to get there in order to wind up there. We were just neighbors helping and protecting neighbors, not isolationists.

 

[tradestar]

i double agree on this and i meant to mention in the thread.

nothing is accomplished by hiding you and your family. you would definitely want to unite and interact with other people to establish some trust within a group. there is strength in numbers.

great posts guys.

Yep. United we stand. Divided we fall.

 

[Facebacon]

got a case of MREs i got cheep and some 5 gallon jugs of water... thats about as far as i preped

 

[lwt210]

Last April, we got hit with F5 twisters that took our Nuke plant's main lines out.

Power was out for over a week.

Cash on hand was king, gas on hand and in the tanks was Queen, and having things like non perishable food, water, cast iron, a grill, and lump charcoal was vital.

I had to work 12 hour shifts at the PD but was amazed at the lines at the gas pumps that had generators trucked in. We try to keep over 1/2 a tank in both cars at all times and we have two 5 gallon steel safety cans (expensive but worth it) full of non ethanol gas with stabilizer stored at the house. We didn't sit in four and five hour gas lines like the rest of the city.

Being that ATMs were all out, having some cash on hand (I think we had about 150.00) was huge because one grocery store opened up on generator power and they weren't taking any payment but cash. My wife was able to buy ice (which was highly sought out city wide), water, and other goodies to get us through.

I filled the tub with water for flushing in case the water plant shut down (was close to happening but didn't).

Having a chainsaw ready to go was good for when the huge limb blew out of the neighbor's tree and I had to get it to the road.

A battery operated FM radio was nice to get updates for who had gas, where the ATMs were coming on line, curfew hours, etc. Having cast iron cookware (well seasoned) was nice for when my son wanted scrambled eggs and bacon and I made a huge pile of both on a flat skillet over lump charcoal.

And flashlights: always have loved little led flashlights and I had a ton of them. Probably 12 ready to go with lithium batts. Handed them out to my wife and son, put some Chapstick lids on a couple of AAA models to act as diffusers and we had plenty of light for nighttime navigation of the house.

We had plenty of ammo and knives too but there wasn't a need for them on such a short term outage. Most folks had a great time and the kids of the neighborhood got out and played like kids used to play.

Oh yeah, one more item came in handy. A power inverter in the car for charging the cellphones. At first, cell coverage was gone other than texting (which was spotty at best). Cell lines came on rather quickly and it was nice to have for communicating with the family as to what to bring home (ice, more water, food) and with out of town family worried about us.

Keep some cash on hand and some gas in your tanks and you are ahead of the pack. All the blade skills, camping knowledge, and other stuff is icing on the cake.

Duct tape, plastic sheeting, staple guns, some plywood and nails and you should be able to make general repairs that will make do.

It's all common sense and a little forethought/planning. We were doing well when the power came back on line although the cold showers were getting a bit tiresome.

 

[four_shore]

i bet almost everyone on the forums would do better at surviving than these paranoid over prepped psychos on tv.

there was actually one guy that was somewhat in touch with wilderness/survival skills. it was nice to see him using the environment and natural resources like primitive weapons and bow/drill fire making techniques.

the most insane of them all is the gentleman constructing a 3 million dollar underground apartment complex. it features a bar, indoor swimming pool, internet, grocery store and one hell of an gun arsenal. you can reserve your space today for the small fee of 1 million dollars.

i couldnt believe the nerve of the woman asking about how she's going to check her facebook. is that really the mentality of people nowadays?
he assured her that they indeed have their own personal servers that will keep the internet going in the event of a catastrophe.

way to teach people the art of self reliance hahaha.

it's hard to imagine being out there, losing loved ones and struggling to survive while people hide in a hole surfing the web, living a perfectly luxurious lifestyle. i just can't bring myself to respect that.

i laughed when he gave his little speech about being prepared.

um, not everyone has a million dollars to gamble with but in so many words he's saying that to be prepared knowledge means nothing and money means everything.

that aggravated me.

even if i had access to a mil right now, i would never even consider something like that.

 

[four_shore]

Last April, we got hit with F5 twisters that took our Nuke plant's main lines out.

Power was out for over a week.

Cash on hand was king, gas on hand and in the tanks was Queen, and having things like non perishable food, water, cast iron, a grill, and lump charcoal was vital.

I had to work 12 hour shifts at the PD but was amazed at the lines at the gas pumps that had generators trucked in. We try to keep over 1/2 a tank in both cars at all times and we have two 5 gallon steel safety cans (expensive but worth it) full of non ethanol gas with stabilizer stored at the house. We didn't sit in four and five hour gas lines like the rest of the city.

Being that ATMs were all out, having some cash on hand (I think we had about 150.00) was huge because one grocery store opened up on generator power and they weren't taking any payment but cash. My wife was able to buy ice (which was highly sought out city wide), water, and other goodies to get us through.

I filled the tub with water for flushing in case the water plant shut down (was close to happening but didn't).

Having a chainsaw ready to go was good for when the huge limb blew out of the neighbor's tree and I had to get it to the road.

A battery operated FM radio was nice to get updates for who had gas, where the ATMs were coming on line, curfew hours, etc. Having cast iron cookware (well seasoned) was nice for when my son wanted scrambled eggs and bacon and I made a huge pile of both on a flat skillet over lump charcoal.

And flashlights: always have loved little led flashlights and I had a ton of them. Probably 12 ready to go with lithium batts. Handed them out to my wife and son, put some Chapstick lids on a couple of AAA models to act as diffusers and we had plenty of light for nighttime navigation of the house.

We had plenty of ammo and knives too but there wasn't a need for them on such a short term outage. Most folks had a great time and the kids of the neighborhood got out and played like kids used to play.

Oh yeah, one more item came in handy. A power inverter in the car for charging the cellphones. At first, cell coverage was gone other than texting (which was spotty at best). Cell lines came on rather quickly and it was nice to have for communicating with the family as to what to bring home (ice, more water, food) and with out of town family worried about us.

Keep some cash on hand and some gas in your tanks and you are ahead of the pack. All the blade skills, camping knowledge, and other stuff is icing on the cake.

Duct tape, plastic sheeting, staple guns, some plywood and nails and you should be able to make general repairs that will make do.

It's all common sense and a little forethought/planning. We were doing well when the power came back on line although the cold showers were getting a bit tiresome.

thanks for sharing!

 

[Les Snyder]

I live in hurricane country... through lessons learned in the past 50 years, probably have a little more gear acquired than average... the heat is pretty opressive when you are used to air conditioning or at least a ceiling fan...during the 05 triple storms, we had about 7 days without power

what really amazes me is that very few have a shallow water well that can be accessed by a hand pump.. a sand point, a couple of sections of 1 1/4" pipe, slip over post hole driver, and a pitcher pump will at least give you a supply of non potable water, that can be prurified if need be....

 

[four_shore]

I live in hurricane country... through lessons learned in the past 50 years, probably have a little more gear acquired than average... the heat is pretty opressive when you are used to air conditioning or at least a ceiling fan...during the 05 triple storms, we had about 7 days without power

what really amazes me is that very few have a shallow water well that can be accessed by a hand pump.. a sand point, a couple of sections of 1 1/4" pipe, slip over post hole driver, and a pitcher pump will at least give you a supply of non potable water, that can be prurified if need be....

again that's 100% understandable.

i guess i live in a relatively safe part of the country with virtually no tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, deadly spiders lol.

we do have some snakes though.

thanks for sharing.

 

[bladefoolish]

Remember that those "doomsday" or "prepper" shows are trying to get ratings, and that they usually represent the more extreme or downright looney individuals. I don't think that you can lump everyone who considers themselves a "prepper" into the same category as those featured on tv. As with anything, going to the extreme is rarely a good thing.

I personally think that, as this is an uncertain world, one should not be day to day dependent on the conveniences of our modern life. Shit happens, be it natural diasters, man-made accidents, or anything else that disrupts the normal flow of daily life. When I go to the grocery store, I buy a little extra as a reserve -- but I buy what I know I will use.. I may spend $10.00 extra per week, but in the long term it doesn't cost me anymore, because I will eat what I buy. The same thing applies with things like batteries, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.

I don't envison an "end of the world" situation, but if the electricty goes out for two or three days due to a storm -- it will be an inconvenience, not a diaster. I'll just plug the fridge into a small portable generator, and get out the flashlights and candles. If a snowstorm makes the roads dangerous, I'm not low enough on anything essential that I'd have to travel.

My job requires that I spend a lot of time driving, and my office is 65 miles from home. I don't keep a BOB, I keep a GHB (get home bag) with the stuff I'd need if I got stuck by the side of the road. Real radical stuff, like a small first aid kit and flashlight, things that have come in handy even in non-emergency situations.

Guns and knives? Heck, I'd have those anyway.

Bottom line is I like to be reasonably prepared for situations that are reasonably foreseeable. Am I prepared for an astroid hitting the earth, hoardes of zombies roaming the countryside, or Yellowstone having a super erruption? No. Do I really worry about it? Same answer. I do the best I can with what I can without sacrificing the here and now.

 

[tiogatires]

I have to chime in here. At risk of ridicule.....

Mostly, in my opinion - It doesn't matter what type of scenerio plays out. inevidibly, once the "dust" settles from whatever happens AND if the event is catastrophic AND you survive it, the end results all play out the same. Looting - rioting - breakdown of delivery of neccecities - folks in large uban areas run out of food/supplies and they expand pushing into the burbs then the smaller communities, etc....... What will they be looking for? The stuff you have that they don't. Is it wise to prep up? Absolutely. How far do you go? That's up to you. But some things I agree with here are these: Some basic understanding of getting along in the wild. Equipment is your friend. Get some, but know how to do without. Arms and Ammo - enough to get it done without weighing you down if you have to move (see - Combat load). Always remember that people in that scenerio aren't your friend (unless they ARE your friends). Trust no one - Unless you know them and even then open that third eye. I've studied this topic for near ten years and without getting into what I believe may or may not happen to cause a "collapse" one is always better prepared than not. It doesn't have to become an obsession (I say that but spend an aweful lot on knives Obsessed??). It might never happen - but if it does and I survive the initial "event" (whatever it is) I will choose to be near the top of the food chain.

As a side note: Those folks on TV telling and showing everyone what they have and where it is is stupid. They are stupid. Like my Father always said.... Folks can know you have guns, but don't ever tell em' how many.

Say what you want, but that's my (brief) story and I'm sticking to it!

BTW: sorry for any mispellings i'm tired.....

 

[bd51]

Prepare to live, don't live to prepare.

 

[four_shore]

Prepare to live, don't live to prepare.

indeed indeed

 

[sasha]

Prepare to live, don't live to prepare.

That sums it up the best