When Did You "Wake Up" or "Get It" Regarding Preparedness? (farmers, water)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Got some new preppers in my area! Nothing like real life to make converts. My church is handing out lists of supplies to keep on hand for emergencies, as well as suggestions on how to survive disasters. I was amazed to find there were still people around here who do not prep. Ditto for flood insurance.
I am sure all of you know by now what has happened in my area. Places here on the Northshore that never flooded went under, sometimes by several feet. Very few deaths, but lots of shocked residents. The local rivers crested at 10' or more above flood stage.
One of my prepper friends actually got the large cans of food from her food stocks and put them under the feet of her furniture to save them from the flood waters. Another friend said he was planning on cleaning out his book collection. He now has. He was able to elevate his stuff on stacks of books.
Now the cleanup. By the way, FEMA and the rest are nowhere to be found. It would be nice if the government would give these people the same loans they have given other disaster survivors.
I'm glad that you're OK; I was worried about you.
Now, how did the stored food fare in the flood? I assume that it was all fine. I hope people will begin to store more food that will stay safe rather than put their trust in gardens that can wash away in an instant. When I think of water here I wonder how I can get more; you have the opposite problem. On my hay farm I'm completely dependent on irrigation water to the point that people regularly check to make sure that no water is being stolen by diverting it. People have died over water.
Last edited by Happy in Wyoming; 03-14-2016 at 12:05 PM..
Never lifted much of a finger as a prepper until the financial crisis of 2008. Noreastah and I have similar feelings about our greatest threat....government dystopia.
The good news is that it can not last.
The bad news is that it will not last.
I'm pretty sure that things are falling apart. When they resort to paying government Thought Cops to tell everybody how wonderful things are, it is time to be quite concerned. I guess things really are wonderful for the Thought Cops. Increasing powers. Increasing funding. Increasing numbers. At the expense of the common man you say? Who cares anymore? Even Jimmy Carter states that the country is now an oligarchy.
By 2000, with all the scare tactics about the millenium, I began to take notice. After 9/11 I began to seriously wonder where this country was headed, especially after the Patriot Act. Gov't spying on it's own people, in the name of terrorism.
By '05 we had a flood here, 3 days without power. '06 the 100 year flood happened, 5 days without power, that was when we learned the electric substation feeding our remote rural home was on the river banks, and was purposely shut down as the water approached, and not restored until the water went down and it dried out. in '11, a 500 year flood, out of power for 6 days. A friend bought us a gas generator! I have medical equipment for night time {CPAP with Oxygen generator}. SUre the O2 company could get to us over the hills and through the woods with non-electric emergency tanks of O2 for the nights, but I had to do without the CPAP. {I will have to do without both if the SHTF,and go back to snore with low pulse ox and hope I wake up}. SO he bought the generator we just couldn't afford.
I began to seriously lay in supplies, and seek out long shelf-life foods, and stock pile food. MOH thought I was nuts as I began sharing my prepping ideas and actions. Whne I began last year to put together vehicle "bug out bags" in case of emergency, I remind MOH {My Other Half} that in '11, had I not called MOH's work after seeing live news reports of rising waters {FAST!}, and MOH would not get home if not leavoing work right away, and I could NOT guarantee MOH could get to the inlaws {with whole house generator} on the hillside due to flooding on lower roads, MOH found the main artery on the way to our home half covered with water too, MOH began to think I made sense of prepping!!
In '11 I had JUST bought a ton of meat to freeze as was on sale at deep discounts, and stocked the fridge freezer and the extra freezer and DRY ICE WILL NOT KEEP EVEN A SMALL FREEZER oF MEAT, I through out about $600 of meat before we go the generator, which BTW, was too late by 1 hour of set up and start up when the power was restored!
We just bought a rural house in a city neighborhood, and I plan to garden to my hearts content, small this year, bigger next and re-learn how to home can goods {used to help my G-ma when a kid} but I have forgotten most. I have dried foods and water stored in the basement and MOH is on agreement of stockpiling such. We have rain barrels at 6 downspouts {or will when two new gutters are put up this spring} for 360 gallons to get water for the garden.
My father [and late mother} lived throughout the depression and WWII, so they usually stockpiled canned goods by buying 5-10% more than we needed for the monthly shopping trip. THey saved money like mad and saved food and EVERYTHING {in case it had further use}. So i learned to be a bot of a pack rat. We moved more stuff than necessary!
We have gone into debt for the house but will have the debt paid off from renos by christmas. and the house will be paid for within 5 years. It had a lot of work done to it so we don't have to worry and can stockpile money for years.
WE are looking for remote property out in the country about 1-2 hours away {easy to do around here} that will serve as a "hole up place" in case the SHTF in town here, We are investigating SUVS to get a 4x4 or all wheel drive to complete the "get away" car. My minivan will carry alot but won't do much good if stuck in the mud! Found a possible property with 10 acres about 1.25 hours away form rivers, but a creek mearby for water source, looks good, we might buy.
I've g ot water purification tabs and LIFE STRAWs and LIFE STRAWS bottles on hand. in case water form rain barrels run out or the water runs out our house is currently on the very hgihg side of a flowing creek for water source if we stay.
I am trying to get a friend involve, but he doenst believe me/us! he will fail then.....
A few people complained that the paper labels washed off the cans, and some lost boxed food. Most people put everything important as high as they could.
We still have flooding. Some roads are still closed. There are people still in shelters.
The Feds finally arrived. FEMA has officially declared us a disaster area. Now all people need to do is locate insurance policies, birth records, death records, marriage records, mortgage information and the title to their property!
A few people complained that the paper labels washed off the cans, and some lost boxed food. Most people put everything important as high as they could.
We still have flooding. Some roads are still closed. There are people still in shelters.
The Feds finally arrived. FEMA has officially declared us a disaster area. Now all people need to do is locate insurance policies, birth records, death records, marriage records, mortgage information and the title to their property!
In the vehicle "bug out bags", I put COPIES of each of those {and a few more docs}. The COPIES are not as good as the originals, naturally, but it gives you SOMETHING to go on. It gives you phone numbers to call for insurances, for example. It gives you ready info for the authorities, who will want the real thing eventually, but it gives you a start!
There is also a "ready bag" at the door with those copies as well...
AND anyone who should "accidentally" get ahold of them, well, they ARE copies, after all.
It is worth it to be a little "extra prepared".. or "over prepared"., but I learned my lesson after a fire burned my house down in 1989. REplacing Docs was the HARDEST thing to replace!
I have a LIST of contact phone numbers for things like my credit cards, bank accounts and the like, and when calling what identifiers they require to get/give you info or to talk to a human about lost or replacing cards {like last 4 digits of your card and zip code}. That list is also in the bag. MANY CAN get you replacement cards ASAP next day or two where ever you get relocated to in the emergency situation. The numbers can be found on the back of your credit card, a good place for it when you have lost your cards! {DOH!}
So, I read the thread because I'm not awakened yet. In my younger years we'd prepare tax returns, and some of the Depression era people developed rather odd habits. Things were not wasted, to an amazing tune. I recall a decamillionaire who would mail his tax documents to us with used envelopes. Others became tremendous hoarders, big homes consumed by stuff hopelessly disorganized. Both my grandparents seemed to keep a year's worth of canned vegetables each year, though I thought that mostly for preference and economic well being.
Where I guess I get lost is what is being prepared for? I can see growing a garden as there's a 100% probability that I'll want to eat fresh vegetables, and fruits in my area, but I don't think my yard could produce enough food for my family. Even if it could, if a flood or massive storm hit, it would kill the crops....yet it wouldn't affect all areas.
In the event of an invasion, aliens aside, I doubt the occupiers would want to kill off the native population. Not that I think it would happen, but if Canada took over the country...wouldn't we just be Canadian then? They still have stores in Canada.
Rebellion unrest is usually won by those who are fast and mobile, looting from those staying in place until law and order is restored...which normally is not very long. In this country, anything that seems organized will be hit head on by the national guard and quickly disbursed.
The only thing that might be scary is a deadly virus like Ebola...but aside from living a life in isolation, how can you protect against that?
Sometimes I can't help but think some preppers actually would like something bad to happen, as it will give them an opportunity to raise their social status relative to those that did not prepare. Kind of like the same feeling one has in buying a lottery ticket. However, like those buying lottery tickets, I'd hate if this is something more than just a hobby to someone with limited resources.
So there must be something more to it, but I just don't get it. Can someone explain this awakening and how it relates to actions?
So, I read the thread because I'm not awakened yet...Where I guess I get lost is what is being prepared for?
I suggest you look through the past threads in this forum. Topics such as economic dislocation, martial law, civil war, pandemics, loss of grid power via EMP, etc etc. Then, google that subject and read some of the articles written, view some of the videos. Not all of this stuff is credible, so use your own common sense. If you don't "get it", you aren't alone. Probably 98% of the population doesn't see anything coming, either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by artillery77
Sometimes I can't help but think some preppers actually would like something bad to happen, as it will give them an opportunity to raise their social status relative to those that did not prepare.
Don't go there, on this board. Others have gone that route and caused a lot of flamimg, which will be reported. For the last and final time, NO, nobody here would "like something bad to happen". Nor is this a "hobby". We don't worry much about social status over here. We're more a hands-on bunch.
If you're still lost and don't "get it", all is fine and well in your world. You won't convert anyone here.
I have children, and am expecting my first grandchild soon. For their sake, I in no way want "something bad to happen", but my gut instinct is that some things are too far gone now to turn around before hitting rock bottom first, and I guess that is what makes me want to feel somewhat "prepared" for that, rather than caught off guard. Yes, in the past, whenever there has been civil unrest, natural disasters, etc. order has been restored eventually. Until maybe it isn't.
I'm generally a pretty optimistic person, at times I have been to a fault. But over the last 15 years of so, including 9/11, it's a persistent, uneasy feeling I have in some ways, and an outright disgust in others. I don't think our government has much of a handle on things anymore, so I'm surely not going to depend on that. What I do see in the way of news reeks of corporate and government corruption, greed, mindless celebrity worship, and in some cases, outright evil. There's something bad boiling beneath the surface when people are taking out their whole families or killing innocent people at random - weekly.
Some things you obviously can't prevent. And most of us don't have the resources for "survival retreats". I'm not even sure if all that's necessary. But there are some things you can do, just to perhaps give yourself a little better odds in an adverse situation. Be economically prudent and frugal, learn some self-sufficiency skills, get healthy, be aware of your surroundings, and distance yourself from people who may have problems you don't need in your life. These are the things I feel compelled to do.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
