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I am currently in western ny and as much as I would love to move out west or have a BOL out west it's not realistic so cross the NW redoubt off my list. 98% of topics on BOLs revolve around being out west.
so with that being said... I am looking for a place in the east no more than a days drive from home for me.
areas I have considered are
the southern tier of NY or Northern tier of PA. (think Allegheny national forest area. one of the most remote regions of the north east / great lakes. The down side is harsh winters. but its within 100 miles of home and could walk there if no transportation (EMP)
but for a more permanent home location I have thought of West Virginia (although the local economy doesn't seem great in some areas) Western NC or Easter TN, or perhaps the very SW panhandle of VA.
I agree that it looks like a great place to small scale homestead / grow your own. Lots of water and mild temperatures and it should be easy enough to set up a year round greenhouse there. Lots of the backyard small scale farming type families they feature in the Mother Earth news type magazines seem to come from this area.
BUT you pay for this with hot and humid summers. Ozark summers are downright miserable. It's been a while since I've spent summer time in the Appalachians but unless you were way high up in the mountains, I'd imagine it's pretty brutal in the summer time as well.
Humidity, ticks and chiggers ruined it for me. Ice storms and the occasional tornado isn't exactly a plus either. Also the amount of public land there is minuscule at best compared to out west. This can be a good thing for buying private land, but there's a lot less land to explore without running into private property issues. A lot more developed as well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimplySagacious
Southern IL does have the natural beauty and resources but the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and the lakes make the humidity unbearble to me. They have many 100+ degree days in the summer with that high humidity. In the spring, it's the flooding, tornadoes and hail storms. In winter, ice and wind storms. It's far enough from Chicago, but not immune to Chicago style politics, and some places are too close to St. Louis. I have relatives living there and would like to live close to them, but those are the reasons I don't. Too many weather related disasters, but many rural areas with small villages and hamlets with good people.
movintime, I have some input for you, but your question is too broad. What kind of land do you want and how do you intend to sustain yourself? The problem is not too few places to choose from, but too many.
There is no perfect place, I live in Montana and the arctic blasts where the mercury can drop to -70 degrees, short growing season, wildfires, earthquakes, 70 MPH+ winds that can blow for a week at a time, limited water, hot summers and long winters, all you can do is find what works for you and endure what you don't like.
I haven't spent enough time east of the Mississippi to matter really, but I'm very familiar with the west. That deep dark fertile soil, abundant water and longer growing seasons of the Midwest look awfully good to me at times.
The only issues to consider is the 170 million people that live along the East coast, mostly in the North Eastern areas. In a real SHTF that requires people to leave the city and surrounding areas and they will be heading in-land to Kentucky, Tennessee, Western New York state and to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, etc.. So those BOL's may not be all that great.
The only issues to consider is the 170 million people that live along the East coast, mostly in the North Eastern areas. In a real SHTF that requires people to leave the city and surrounding areas and they will be heading they in-land to Kentucky, Tennessee, Western New York state and to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, etc.. So those BOL's may not be all that great.
I've thought about this. Assume an event like some form of grid down. No power. No gas pumps. Vehicles probably not working.
How far can the average person make it? How many supplies would they need to carry to sustain themselvs? Do they Have skills to forrage/hunt/fish when everyone else is doing the same thing in a region where the population is way over the carrying capacity of the lands resources? What will joe 6pack do for water if he hasn't thought of this. Doubt he has life straws or some other purification method.
Now... What if it's winter cold and windy with snow. Or dead in the middle of summer 90+ degrees and humid.
What if they have a family. Little kids. Sick people. Adults not in great shape. Medical conditions...Etc...
I bet the average random healthy non prepped person maybe could make it 150 miles. My thinking is covering 20 miles per day. That's about a weeks worth of hard walking carrying supplies and may be finding some more along the way. They will burn out if they don't Have a plan or anywhere to go.
Realistically a random non prepared family can maybe make it 75-100 miles. They would go through supplies much faster, have way more crap to carry, little kids to drag along etc I could see 10-15 miles being a good day with a ton of strain on the parents.
More common are people that live in cities and have minimal supplies at home. Perhaps only a few meals at home at any time, probably no means to get water. How far are they going to make it? Probaly not very.
Many people are conditioned to be dependent on the gvt. They will psychologically have a hard time accepting that conditions have changed and they will react too late. Many will continue to wait it out expecting the gvt. To show up and save them. Especially if comma are down and there is no need available from the outside. Many will just stay in place not realizing by the time they are out of supplies at home they will be too weak to do much else. They lack critical thinking and are too complacent on following normalcy bias
Last edited by drinkthekoolaid; 03-06-2017 at 12:47 PM..
In a real SHTF that requires people to leave the city and surrounding areas and they will be heading they in-land to Kentucky, Tennessee, Western New York state and to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drinkthekoolaid
More common are people that live in cities and have minimal supplies at home. Perhaps only a few meals at home at any time, probably no means to get water. How far are they going to make it? Probaly not very.
There are some parts of the more southerly and urbanized parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont that may see city-dwellers show up. But the catch is...they will just run into more city-dwellers there.
Getting farther north into the real rural areas is more of a problem than some people suppose. You really have to know where you're going, or you'll end up in a forest or on a mountain or even in a wetland. Not exactly where those refugees set out to end up.
My place is not near any highways or visible from any state roads. Anyone who walks up every dirt road they find will get worn out quicker than dirt. It's always easy to look at a map and say, "all you need to do is head here, or here", but it's another whole reality when you're on the ground, tired from traveling, with no idea where you're headed, and hoping against hope that your next stop will find you at a place with food!
I've thought about this. Assume an event like some form of grid down. No power. No gas pumps. Vehicles probably not working.
How far can the average person make it? How many supplies would they need to carry to sustain themselvs? Do they Have skills to forrage/hunt/fish when everyone else is doing the same thing in a region where the population is way over the carrying capacity of the lands resources? What will joe 6pack do for water if he hasn't thought of this. Doubt he has life straws or some other purification method.
Now... What if it's winter cold and windy with snow. Or dead in the middle of summer 90+ degrees and humid.
What if they have a family. Little kids. Sick people. Adults not in great shape. Medical conditions...Etc...
I bet the average random healthy non prepped person maybe could make it 150 miles. My thinking is covering 20 miles per day. That's about a weeks worth of hard walking carrying supplies and may be finding some more along the way. They will burn out if they don't Have a plan or anywhere to go.
Realistically a random non prepared family can maybe make it 75-100 miles. They would go through supplies much faster, have way more crap to carry, little kids to drag along etc I could see 10-15 miles being a good day with a ton of strain on the parents.
More common are people that live in cities and have minimal supplies at home. Perhaps only a few meals at home at any time, probably no means to get water. How far are they going to make it? Probaly not very.
Many people are conditioned to be dependent on the gvt. They will psychologically have a hard time accepting that conditions have changed and they will react too late. Many will continue to wait it out expecting the gvt. To show up and save them. Especially if comma are down and there is no need available from the outside. Many will just stay in place not realizing by the time they are out of supplies at home they will be too weak to do much else. They lack critical thinking and are too complacent on following normalcy bias
I don't think you are going to get to many walking. I see it as how far they can get on a tank of gas but realistically to average it out, if people are caught flat footed they will have to go with what's in their tanks already which is probably a half tank. The other thought is how fast could they make the trip with the roads jammed, don't know, but if they managed to sneak by they could be 150-200 miles inland in a matter of a few hours. All bets are off if it's an EMP attack.
There are some parts of the more southerly and urbanized parts of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont that may see city-dwellers show up. But the catch is...they will just run into more city-dwellers there.
Getting farther north into the real rural areas is more of a problem than some people suppose. You really have to know where you're going, or you'll end up in a forest or on a mountain or even in a wetland. Not exactly where those refugees set out to end up.
My place is not near any highways or visible from any state roads. Anyone who walks up every dirt road they find will get worn out quicker than dirt. It's always easy to look at a map and say, "all you need to do is head here, or here", but it's another whole reality when you're on the ground, tired from traveling, with no idea where you're headed, and hoping against hope that your next stop will find you at a place with food!
On another forum, preppers from the big East coast cities like New York and Boston have said that their only option is North to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. If you know Maine then you know more then I, but keep in mind it could be 10's of millions in Maine within 1 or 2 days, where they go is unknown but I would guess that at least 10-20% would make the further trek into the Northern woods when they find the Southern areas are over packed with refugees looking for food and shelter.
On another forum, preppers from the big East coast cities like New York and Boston have said that their only option is North to Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. If you know Maine then you know more then I, but keep in mind it could be 10's of millions in Maine within 1 or 2 days, where they go is unknown but I would guess that at least 10-20% would make the further trek into the Northern woods when they find the Southern areas are over packed with refugees looking for food and shelter.
my bet is preppers make up less than .5% of the population.
99.5% of population would probably head towards water, head south or head for the hills.
VERY FEW would be likely to head north. I can't imagine too many would venture up to the north country. but for sure you would see more.
I think its more likely an area like the catskills or poconos would be more likely to be inundated with refugees than Maine would be.
on the flip side.... I think the I-95 corridor and coastal plain would be horrific.
my personal biggest threat are the 7 million people living in southern Ontario. My only hope would be if the bridges over the Niagara river were closed and no people were able to cross them.
VERY FEW would be likely to head north. I can't imagine too many would venture up to the north country. but for sure you would see more.
I agree that very few would make the trek - esp in WINTER as snow bogs people down. And we get lots of SNOW up here. There's still plenty of it on the ground, in March!
Man, didn't think this thread would fly but much thx to all so far!
I like BOL's nearer warmth to grow crops -- yet safety declines south in US. Thinking AL or MS -- or even lower GA -- but pop density nearer east coast & near northern FL or southern GA sux. So, anyone else think if MS or AL southern latitudes work? Lots of food for thought huh, & major props to ALL on here serious -- re upcoming events more than likely in most our lives to occur.
In SHTF or EMP we're all up creek w/out... but we need pull together, learn from one another & really FOCUS. I heard a pastor say, "yes hard times are coming, yada, yada" -- but hold on a minute -- what are we GONNA do other than keep repeating the same old "hard times are a coming" w/ no offer of REAL solutions.
Many here, I hope, might hookup via this forum & actually do SOMETHING -- other than blather & stlll end up no better than if we'd not talked at all. Ok, oops, rant over; but thx much for all you "societal fringies" aka lunatics -- as they call anyone like us dare thinking to prepare. Ha, wait til TEOTWAWKI hits.
As my fave old commerical says, "Sooner or later you'll own General"!!! LOL The old TIRE commericial of General Tire Corporation, yes ha, showing age. But you rookies, GOOGLE it on youtube -- & sit back 'n then laugh. Hehehee.
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The old TIRE commericial of General Tire Corporation, yes ha, showing age. But you rookies, GOOGLE it on youtube -- & sit back 'n then laugh. Hehehee. 
