Meeting Other Preppers & Survivalists (grain, acre, village, quiet)

[FelixTheCat]

the reason why im not prepping is im moving. i dont want to move more stuff. im all for storing extra can food, water, fuel, etc., but its not practical for everyone.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by 1957TabbyCat

I think it is best to keep a low profile. Live modestly. Look like not much more then working poor.

The entitlement mentality is out there.

Look like someone not worth attacking, but who would fight back.

I think this is good advice for those whose egos wouldn't get in the way. Out of sight, out of mind. And when you are "in sight," appear to not be worth bothering with. If a potential "threat" doesn't feel he would reap some benefit from you, chances are good he won't bother with you.

[Mac_Muz]

Originally Posted by FelixTheCat

the reason why im not prepping is im moving. i dont want to move more stuff. im all for storing extra can food, water, fuel, etc., but its not practical for everyone.

That can work if you can adapt and gather. More or less thinking out of the box. A provide your needs as you go, but you can go without at times doing that.

[FelixTheCat]

Originally Posted by Mac_Muz

That can work if you can adapt and gather. More or less thinking out of the box. A provide your needs as you go, but you can go without at times doing that.

im moving just for a few months. longer term im into the idea of having some solar power, generator, canned foods, garden etc, but that requires a long term investment. at the minimum, even living in an apartment, canned food, water, flashlights, and camping stove would be wise.

[Mac_Muz]

Originally Posted by FelixTheCat

im moving just for a few months. longer term im into the idea of having some solar power, generator, canned foods, garden etc, but that requires a long term investment. at the minimum, even living in an apartment, canned food, water, flashlights, and camping stove would be wise.

Space is always a problem for me too. Money is another, and money gets worth less each day, so having long term storables on hand is cheaper today than it will be tomorrow. Very few things get to be worth more these days measured in time.

With money there is always a new ruling it seems. I recall having bank CD's at 17% interest, that is unheard of now. There is nearly no point in having money in banks anymore, with all the little fee's and rules. I keep 100 bucks in a bank, just so I can cash checks.

Foods are increasing in costs, and the quality is the pits if you ask me, so it makes sence to have a garden, where you know what the food is because you made it. My patch feeds 3 from harvest to past harvest now.

I would like to raise fowel, and the idea has popped up with the land lord a few times. He sees the costs of metals we work more than doubling , and we work a lot of metals. We buy sheets of alloy the size of plywood in 3/8ths, 1/2" and 3/4" thick, plus oil bronze, stainless, and assorted other metals used on test equipment / science machines we build from scratch.

Much of these are to do with testing materials for sneakers, boots and shoes. Other machines we do are vacuum ovens 10 men could be locked inside of at one time. Another if the idea is valid may assist coconut farmers to extract oils and other material from coconuts faster and with less time, making more use of coconuts.

I don't give a hoot about these machines, but it's a pay check, and better than fixing cars for a living.

My life style is such that the Old Ways entertain me well. I like to make maple sugar products as the first sign of Spring. I do that labor of love just for grins, and end up gifting much of it away, trading for some when there is a trade, and it's just the way i am.

My home made rig boils off apx 5 gallons and hour, and to make 1 gallon of syrup it took 41 gallons of sap last Spring. I burn about 1/2 cord of pine to a gallon, and made 11 gallons, mostly gone now.

That sort of work will keep an old man fit.

[MetalGrinder]

I see 'Preparedness' in different terms I guess...
I didn't know I was a 'Survivalist' or 'Preparer' until recently when I was informed by a collage outing group that stumbled onto my place while shocking fish for a state count of fishes in a local creek.

They seemed surprised I was there, or that anyone could live there,
But when I was a kid, we had 'River Rats' that lived down here all over the place...
The state has pretty much had them locked up in old folks homes or they died, but I always thought they had the right idea...

------------------

Fist off, I'm 'Off Grid',
I don't buy water, I have a well and a lake.
I don't buy electricity, I have solar panels, both PV and Thermal.
The electric company wanted $118,000 to run poles/lines, and another $18,000 for the underground lines I wanted running to my house site, plus they wanted to plant a big, ugly transformer right out in front of my house.

I didn't have the money, so I started on generators, which got old REAL FAST,
Then I started with a golf cart and solar panels to charge it,
And things got out of hand from there...

I stared by sand/charcoal filtering then using UV light to purify my lake water...
When I had it tested, filters/UV doesn't remove farm chemicals...
So I drilled a well into limestone, had it sleeved down to limestone so the farm chemicals couldn't infiltrate my well, and now I'm good to go.

The well required MORE solar panels to run the well pump, and even though I have a hand pump, I'm not going to swing on that pump everyday at my age...

I plant WAY MORE garden than I need, can or preserve everything I want and sell/give away the rest...
I have a 'Cool Storage' ('Root Cellar') underground,
It's a 40 foot metal shipping container with drains around the outside,
Drains on the inside,
Coated against rust and vented to prevent condensation.
Cost about $2,500 to buy/install, but I did the drains, digging, ect. myself.

I actually lived in a 20 foot container when I first started out there, and that was an experience before I buried it!
Those things will freeze you to death in the winter, bake you in the summer, and are claustrophobic since you don't have any natural light!

I have a 'Real' job designing automotive parts,
But I make the land pay for it's self.
Decorative in the spring, day lillies, herbs, ect. come out of the green house and go into the garden as soon as it thaws,
Since I have the first ones around, They sell for a premium.

I plant a HUGE garden, can/preserve everything I have jars & space for, and the rest brings in some money.

In the fall, it's pumpkins, squashes, pop corn and 'Indian' corn which sell really well around here around halwoeen...

If the land is going to be here (and it's not going anywhere!) it's going to work for it's living!

I have fruit & nut trees, they are native spices, not the big 'Hybrid' types you see in the stores.

Lavender and even weeds sell to the 'Decorator' types, I can't see why anyone would want dead weeds in their home, but they sell REALLY WELL.

The barn/shed/workshop pays for it's self with machine tools and welding projects, and I repair vehicles/equipment that other people don't know where to start...
Plus I get to make a bunch of my own stuff, like my solar panel racks, greenhouse frames, ect.

I have a LITTLE house, and it's poured concrete, earth sheltered.
I believe that a house pays you NOTHING, and costs you money,
And if you don't lay on your backside playing video games or staring at the idiot box, you don't need a bunch of space to keep from getting clostrophobic...
If you are bored, go work in the garden! That will keep you busy!

I catch rain water off the garage roof and solar panels, and even in our 'Severe Drought Conditions' we have had this year, I still haven't had to draw one gallon of water from the well to wet the garden with...

I use a goat to 'Mow' what I have designated as 'Yard' and to keep the weeds down around the solar panels, garage, ect.
And the goat is going into the freezer pretty soon since his job is just about over for this year, and I'll get another one next spring.

Same with the rabbits in the green house.
Since CO2 the rabbits put off help the plants, they eat green house waste, put out a very good fertilizer, and wind up as meat in the freezer in the fall, they work out pretty good!

I try not to waste ANYTHING, my grandparents were depression era folks, and they wasted NOTHING, so I try to find a second or third use for EVERYTHING!

As for saving 'Junk' metal,
I have a fence row with several 'Parts' vehicles in it,
And I have several racks/bins with steel in them for fabricating things.
The only 'Junk Coins' I bother to collect is silver coins since I silver solder metal quite often and they come in handy for that.

What I stockpile is welding rods and mason jars...

If I can't build or make something from what I have around, it goes to the re-cycler. I don't want to pay for it to sit here if I'm not going to use it pretty soon...

Like I said, I'm a little 'Off', a screwball according to the neighbors,
But this spring, when the weather set the power lines to sizzling on the ground, I didn't know the power was out for two days after the storm!
No interruption at my house since I'm solar/battery!

[Mac_Muz]

That's way cool Metal Grinder. I save .22 brass to mix with silver to get solders. I used to work silver as a means of earning, til it shot thru the roof.

How big is that garden?

[Aptor hours]

Originally Posted by Mac_Muz

Space is always a problem for me too. Money is another, and money gets worth less each day, so having long term storables on hand is cheaper today than it will be tomorrow. Very few things get to be worth more these days measured in time.

With money there is always a new ruling it seems. I recall having bank CD's at 17% interest, that is unheard of now. There is nearly no point in having money in banks anymore, with all the little fee's and rules. I keep 100 bucks in a bank, just so I can cash checks.

Foods are increasing in costs, and the quality is the pits if you ask me, so it makes sence to have a garden, where you know what the food is because you made it. My patch feeds 3 from harvest to past harvest now.

I would like to raise fowel, and the idea has popped up with the land lord a few times. He sees the costs of metals we work more than doubling , and we work a lot of metals. We buy sheets of alloy the size of plywood in 3/8ths, 1/2" and 3/4" thick, plus oil bronze, stainless, and assorted other metals used on test equipment / science machines we build from scratch.

Much of these are to do with testing materials for sneakers, boots and shoes. Other machines we do are vacuum ovens 10 men could be locked inside of at one time. Another if the idea is valid may assist coconut farmers to extract oils and other material from coconuts faster and with less time, making more use of coconuts.

I don't give a hoot about these machines, but it's a pay check, and better than fixing cars for a living.

My life style is such that the Old Ways entertain me well. I like to make maple sugar products as the first sign of Spring. I do that labor of love just for grins, and end up gifting much of it away, trading for some when there is a trade, and it's just the way i am.

My home made rig boils off apx 5 gallons and hour, and to make 1 gallon of syrup it took 41 gallons of sap last Spring. I burn about 1/2 cord of pine to a gallon, and made 11 gallons, mostly gone now.

That sort of work will keep an old man fit.

How are you going to eat now if you can't grow your own food anymore? You won't be able to stock up on supplies if you are living in a van? Isn't this a nightmare for a person that is trying to be self supporting? How will you make your maple syrup?

[Mac_Muz]

My my my........ Did you forget I lived in a tee pee for 3 years straight year round? I made maple sugar then too. There is no sugar maple on this property anyway, this place was a horse race track, and abandoned in 1930. It's all one type of tree pretty much all white pine.

I will have access to the very same trees I had last year, no matter where I sleep.

Living off the land means there are no rules and you can fish and hunt all you want. You just can't get caught doing it.

I can fish with plants and no gamey is going to get that idea, that the bag of plant fodder I have is for fishing. The nice thing about these plants is it just stuns all the fish in the area, and you just take what you need. The rest wake up and go their own ways.

There is wild plants all year long if you just know what to look for. I will need store bought salt, but I can get a great deal on 50 pounds. I got taters yet to harvest, around 100 pounds and they will keep just fine anyplace i decide to store them.

I have other friends who are willing to take a share of the freezer contents, have land I can use, and there is no danger of us going hungery on a bet.

I will still be able to grow foods, and can access what is growing here, as there is laws in NH. If I were to leave in the morning, I have legal rights till next Spring to come back and get my plants.
But I haven't left yet, and I may not.

You should be far more concerned with you and yours. The day money will be worthless than today will be tomorrow. Bank on that.

[Aptor hours]

Originally Posted by Mac_Muz

My my my........ Did you forget I lived in a tee pee for 3 years straight year round? I made maple sugar then too. There is no sugar maple on this property anyway, this place was a horse race track, and abandoned in 1930. It's all one type of tree pretty much all white pine.

I will have access to the very same trees I had last year, no matter where I sleep.

Living off the land means there are no rules and you can fish and hunt all you want. You just can't get caught doing it.

I can fish with plants and no gamey is going to get that idea, that the bag of plant fodder I have is for fishing. The nice thing about these plants is it just stuns all the fish in the area, and you just take what you need. The rest wake up and go their own ways.

There is wild plants all year long if you just know what to look for. I will need store bought salt, but I can get a great deal on 50 pounds. I got taters yet to harvest, around 100 pounds and they will keep just fine anyplace i decide to store them.

I have other friends who are willing to take a share of the freezer contents, have land I can use, and there is no danger of us going hungery on a bet.

I will still be able to grow foods, and can access what is growing here, as there is laws in NH. If I were to leave in the morning, I have legal rights till next Spring to come back and get my plants.
But I haven't left yet, and I may not.

You should be far more concerned with you and yours. The day money will be worthless than today will be tomorrow. Bank on that.

Ok fine....we own our own home with food, land in abundance. I was just concerned about your, but, never mind I guess