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Sometimes I wonder about you people.... Please read what I say, I use the words I use for particular reasons. Governments collapse all the time, where as civilizations die slowly or are invaded by other civilizations. A government and civilization are not the same thing.
Czar ruled Russia, the USSR and today's Russian Federation all represent different periods of the same civilization.
People on this thread are talking about the systematic collapse of society and there are few if any historic examples of this sort of thing.
All of this is rather silly, even if society collapsed new factions would form immediately. The gardening club would likely be stripped of their belongings and made sheep or be killed. There are plenty examples of that in human history!
Actually there's many examples: Germany in WWI and WWII, people who had nothing stockpiled, were starving towards the end, and those with no gold or silver lost their savings after WWI. Then there's countries like Somalia and many other African countries, the violence in Eastern Europe, etc. Such events are common and well worth preparing for.
I agree. But, they are not renewable and hypothetically should be saved for serious situations. I think archery skills would be very handy. Silent and deadly. Arrows can be reused and constructed when needed. With practice, longbows or crossbows can be made from the natural world. It seems reasonable that for hunting and fishing, one would not want to waste all of one's bullets. Arrows work just fine for that. Plus they don't draw a lot of attention (like rifle blasts).
Many skills take time to acquire, and to get proficient at.
I have made bows and I have made arrows.
It is very difficult to make a good bow, and my fletching skills are horrible.
If you seriously wish to consider archery, you best get to practicing now.
Trapping is an even better method for getting game without using ammo. Of course it's currently illegal to trap big game in most places but pits, deadfalls, foot snares, and of course longspring bear traps, will all assist in getting meat in the event of a collapse.
Keeping in mind where you are going, and where I am; folks do a lot of trapping.
Actually there's many examples: Germany in WWI and WWII, people who had nothing stockpiled, were starving towards the end, and those with no gold or silver lost their savings after WWI. Then there's countries like Somalia and many other African countries, the violence in Eastern Europe, etc. Such events are common and well worth preparing for.
None of these represent a collapse of society.
Supply disruptions can occur for a variety of reasons, but a supply disruption is not the sort of silly "meltdown" people are talking about on this thread. Nor are people talking about war time events...
I'm always amazed how many people think that the US does not "make much anymore" as its rather contrary to reality. The US exports just a bit less than China, but instead of making plastic junk the US makes more high tech products/services.
The US has seen a number of financial crises and each time it recovered, this time will be no different.
The "meltdown" already occurred, things are starting to recover now. But regardless, the best investment you can make is in yourself by learning as many skills as possible. That is about the only thing someone can't take from you.
Don't forget USA is #1 Arm exporter (however, the rule that 60% of arm' components should be made in USA was scrapped as far as I remember). In fact, "Made in ..." lost lots of its meaning. Sure, there are some high tech products made in USA (many of which cannot be sold ), there are many Korean and Japanese auto assembly plants, there are remnants of steel&chemical industry. However, 1) those island of manufacturing are no longer self-sufficient (within US), 2) they employ fewer and fewer people, the rest is pushed into unessential, superfluous if not silly jobs (like pet **** scooping) if lucky. USA import lots of food too What Share of U.S. Consumed Food Is Imported? - February 2008 (http://www.ers.usda.gov/AmberWaves/February08/DataFeature/ - broken link). Whatever food is being exported (pollution, pesticide, rotting water remain here) is produced mostly by big agrobiz employing very few people (many of whom are illegals).
To put it simply, employment of 70% or so is totally unessential. Their jobs depend either on government (regulations) or on horse doses of brainwashing, marketing, indoctrination, etc. to produce mindless consumer frenzy (and lots of credit to pay for all of that). It's too sad by usury based capitalism cannot exist without growth. Economy must grow (to pay off bank interest) or everything is going into crapper. Therefore, just saying that let's be frugal yada, yada, yada. and everything is gonna be OK is delusional. American economy cannot exist in frugal mode.
Many skills take time to acquire, and to get proficient at.
I have made bows and I have made arrows.
It is very difficult to make a good bow, and my fletching skills are horrible.
If you seriously wish to consider archery, you best get to practicing now.
Actually, I'm a bit biased in bringing it up. I was really into primative archery and crossbows for a time. I got pretty good at making them (I tend to be good at working with wood), but I'm only so-so at shooting. I'd probably be good enough to 'get by' with small game while developing better skills.
But it is something I think would come in very handy in hard times. Time to start practicing again...
...but a supply disruption is not the sort of silly "meltdown" people are talking about on this thread. ...
I'll bet that any topic we could discuss involving a disruption of your current lifestyle would be silly to you, wouldn't it?
How many rolls of toilet paper do you keep in your bathroom? Isn't it silly to have any more than say 20 squares? I mean, really, you won't need any more than that next time you go potty right?
Preparing for anything is silly, until it happens. Then suddenly it becomes smart... after it's too late.
How many rolls of toilet paper do you keep in your bathroom? Isn't it silly to have any more than say 20 squares?
Learn to use your left hand instead of toilet paper as Indians (from India) do. Or get a pile of corn cobs and learn to use the ancient art of environmentally friendly butt wiping (your grandparents most likely knew how to use a corn cob).
Learn to use your left hand instead of toilet paper as Indians (from India) do. Or get a pile of corn cobs and learn to use the ancient art of environmentally friendly butt wiping (your grandparents most likely knew how to use a corn cob).
Probably. My father has mentioned using old catalogs in the outhouse as well. That's not quite as environmentally friendly, though.
Corn cobs will fill up an outhouse much faster than catalog pages.
Food, clothing and shelter are the basics. Be sure you have a safe place, a year of food and serviceable clothing for all four seasons.
Then consider the family. Are everybody's dental needs up to date. Have YOU ever extracted a tooth with no anesthetic? Do you have meds for several months for family members on maintenance meds? What about other supplies such as disposable contact lenses, spare glasses for everybody? You need to think outside the box. A 3 day bug-out bag is not going to meet your needs for the next year.
My town used to have 14,000 tons of potatoes in storage at this time of year. Now we have a whole lot of oats in storage. You can live on spuds or oats. The Scots did for centuries.
What about commerce? Germany saw their currency collapse. Zimbabwe did. Argentina has and they have a vigorous barter system today.
Got stuff? Can you defend it? For how long? When the hoards of penthouse and apartment dwellers flee large cities they will go foraging to meet their needs. What will you do when they come to your doors, front and back at the same time? After all, they are Americans too; right?
Those people have made their life choices already. It may be hard, but they are going to have to live (and die) with the consequences of those choices. Survival is heavy duty stuff.
I am very glad to see this new forum. Here's a question for any citizen to contemplate. How suitable and prepared is your city, town or state as a whole to survive economic or societal strife? In the interests of your family, should you stay there? I hope most people can answer in the affirmative.
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My father has mentioned using old catalogs in the outhouse as well. That's not quite as environmentally friendly, though.