A timeless survival technique for whatever the future holds

[John Raabe]

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjun08/survival6-08.html

See what you think of the above article. It sounds like the kind of advice my grandmother (who lived through the dust bowl and depression) might have given me.

John

[NM_Shooter]

I think it had some valid points, but was also lacking.  There is a lot of grey area between "out there" and urban areas.  Most places that folks think are "out there" really are not...take my ranch for example.  Especially in the winter, it is over run with snow mobiles, but it is miles and miles from law enforcement. 

If you could really, really, get away.... back woods of Ontario say, that might work.  But I would not want to have to try and support my family there.  Nor would I want to try the same thing in a truly urban environment.  If I had to survive, I'd prefer to be in some town in Missouri or Oklahoma, or mid Texas.  Someplace with long growing seasons and friendly neighbors.  I'd want to be on an acre or maybe two of fertile ground, with a well, and a root cellar.  With lots of like minded folks around me.  I'd want access to someplace to hunt / fish too. 

I suspect that if push comes to shove, it will mostly be the Mormons that are the most comofortable.  With their attitude for storing essentials, along with their strong church-centric social community, I'd bank on them. 

I'd also want a compromise between the "either 30 guns or 30 neighbors" and I would want to have 5 guns, with 25 neighbors that all have 5 guns.  Almost nobody knows how to do simple stuff any more... sausage making from scratch, making cheese, safely canning foods, making bread.

I think that wandering groups of marauders would be a much larger threat than individuals up to no good.

Did anyone watch th eseries "The Colony"?

[Ernest T. Bass]

Good post, Frank. I liked the article, but I agree that land would be an invaluable asset, as would be a few simple buildings and skills that wouldn't advertise themselves to a thief as something of value. Thanks for sharing, John!

[glenn kangiser]

I pretty much agree with the story.  We have a pretty good group of mountain folks ready for who look out for each other and don't worry too much about most of our stuff...

More are going for the gardens as time goes on.

[bayview]

   Assimilate into the community . . .   We have been "weekenders" for over 10 years.   Our neighbors know us and keep an eye on our place.   The town people have seen us around town . . . Grocery shopping, at the lumber yard, hardware store, etc.   They will quickly figure out if you are "genuine" or not.   People will begin to wave and won't be afraid to talk to you.    We are both from small towns, and accustomed to small town living.   

   Our neighbors were a little "stand-offish" when we first bought our property.   We had plenty of drive-bys while we were clearing the lot.   We waved as they drove by. . .    After a while they would stop, to see what we were all about.   It doesn't take long to become friends when they figure out that you are just like them. 
   
   Building a concrete reinforced bunker with a moat and machine gun turrets will certainly get attention.

   P.S.   You may not want to be gaining weight during a crisis if your neighbors are starving.   

/ 

[glenn kangiser]

I have limited mine to PSP construction - wood - plastic or EPDM- dirt, bayview.  I don't want to get attention or have people think I'm weird.

People up here have been great from the start.  I often try to buy here for my jobs and take it to the city.  I give local discounts on my welding rates. 

I have more friends up here from the time I arrived than I ever did down in the valley.  Down there in the country it is all little kingdoms (medium to large farms for the most part) and peasants.  If you are not a king you do not fit well into the circle of friends.

Here things are harder.  Lots of good people who look out for each other ...and a few others..

[muldoon]

it wasn't until I was a grownup did I realize how poor I grew up.  There is alot of truth in his words.  Very much in the same vein as those who are at the curb have a very small drop, but those who live in highrises and mansions have a long way to fall. 

I have traveled to several countries in my life.  I have lived in ghettos, in trailerparks, in apartment after apartment when we were kids and grew up with a single mom.  As an adult I have traveled Europe and Latin America.  I have been to many states in the us, more than half of them.  I still hold that any person can travel to anywhere at anytime and generally be "ok" sp long as they do not act like a fool and insult people or cause attention to themselves.  Alot of it has to do with body action, and knowing when to speak and when to shut up. 

Community is the best strategy in my opinion and most importantly - survival is not a kit.  There may be a million survival kits on the market, but none of them will keep fools from being fools. 

I think his message is dont be a fool.  Thats something my grandmother would tell me too.  (who also lived in the great depression and dust bowl .. on a cotton farm in Lubbock no less). 

[John Raabe]

My grandparents were in South Dakota where the dust bowl years brought clouds of grasshoppers that would not only eat all the crops but the laundry drying on the clothes line.

This is an excerpt from the book Survival + by Charles Hugh Smith (who wrote the blog article at the top of this thread).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1449563449?ie=UTF8&tag=charleshughsm-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1449563449#reader_1449563449

Click the "surprise me" button - I did and surprise, I want the book!

[bayview]

I have limited mine to PSP construction - wood - plastic or EPDM- dirt, bayview.  I don't want to get attention or have people think I'm weird.

   Maybe a little unusual, certainly not weird . . . 

/

[muldoon]

You know, I think back on my childhood.  and some of the pictures of it.  Like me and my sister in cut off shorts and raggedy tshirts in front of that silverstream trailer in Livingston, tx.  And the fact is we had nothing.  it was parked behind acme rental center where my stepfather worked on highway 190.  And its one of the best memories of my life.  We fished, we played, we were friends with other kids in the area.  We had nothing to prove and no one to prove it to.  And I fast forward to now, where I have "assets" and "liabilities" to consider everyday. 

My current job requires that I am good with details.  Specifically I solve hard problems daily as they relate to global infrastructure and data/voice services.  I am good at solving complex problems.  I tend to over-analyze; my friends make fun of my logistical approach to things.  But it is who I am.  And with that, over the past few years I have spent an untold and probably ungodly amount of hours searching for information and dissecting detail after detail in a never ending search to understand.  To seek out the truth and to understand within my own pea brained head how to position myself for whatever would come, and how to expect what the next moves would be.  For my troubles in this, I am more miserable than I have ever been in my life.  I dont want to solve the worlds troubles anymore, I don't even want to track the crimes and corruption that is published in black and white every single day in reuters, wsj and the like. 

I do have a point to this, and it does relate to the topic at hand. 

When I bought my property, I didnt do it to have a "hidey hole" in the woods.  It was not some doomster bug out location where I could go to hide if things went south.  I bought that land in a very specific location because I wanted the simpler life. I wanted my kids to see it and learn it as well.  I have spent the last few years teaching them about conservation, about nature, about tracking, about fishing, about gardening, about taking your shoes off and letting your feet touch the dirt. 

To take an approach that you are going to hide in the woods and live off canned foods and your m16 is foolish.  But to take an approach that you can find happiness with nothing except yourself and nature and your determination to do what is right is not.  It is not survival in the sense that others talk about.  But to me, it's the only survival on my horizon. 

[John Raabe]

Here here!!

I think the book Smith wrote would agree with that. I'll let you know.

We're all just making it up as we go along. Might as well enjoy the ride - nobody knows where it's headed anyway.

[glenn kangiser]

All sensible thoughts and comments I think.