Four Great Preparedness Myths

I applaud your taste in philosophers

Ah........another David Hume afficionado, and how true the quotation is!!!

 

dragonfly that is an excellent point about "former" friends and neighbors. how about unprepared family? do you let them in and share your supplies with them? what if you like your sister but not her spouse? do you let the sister but not the spouse in? if you have a sibling and her husband both have medical conditions requiring medication like diabetes but otherwise have healthy children do you have them try and make it to your place if THSTF just so you can bury them and then take care of their children?

my opinions
1. the horde will eventually win unless you have a large enough community based group. Even then... it depends on the horde.
2. how about some ammo then have reloading supplies. I currently don't know how to reload but I have some friends at work who do.
3. We don't have enough stored food but are planning on getting more soon.
4. no it would suck. I have friends and family members that wouldn't make it more than a month because of medical conditions even with all the help I could give them.

Some others raised interesting points. what would the military do? I guess that would depend on what kind of arrangements were made for the families of the military personnel.

I thought Once second after was a more realistic book than patriots... (even though it scared the heck out of me)

 

I think one must define "defend yourself" here.

If it means you can have the ability to sit in a fixed position and hold that position at all times, then I agree it is a myth. That is why my preps assume that, at some point, I (we) will be forced to abandon the primary location (my home)...at least temporarily.

We have a planned group of 12 people for watch and defensive purposes, a temporary refuge about a mile from the house and 2 backup locations (gold claims we own) within about 15 miles. We have caches at all of the backup locations, and the vast majority of our long term supplies at the house are stashed in such a way as to probably remain hidden even if we must temporarily abandon the property to "the horde" (new septic tanks that never get hooked to the waste system are a wonderful thing).

I have a rather large stock of ammo and guns for defense, hunting and long term barter items, but I have no illusion that ammo will be the limiting factor when deciding we need to abandon ship. Again, our storage is aimed at keeping the stocks hidden even if the property is temporarily occupied by others.

If "X number of days" means 18 months with a planned 10% overage based on out planned population and being supplemented with fish and game then I am guilty of falling for this myth. I believe that by the time 18 months has passed (regardless of what time of year a cataclysm may take place) we will be able to supplement the supply by growing/bartering for a regular supply (besides, from a purely selfish POV, my personal medical issues will probably have eliminated me from the group around that time...so it won't be "my" issue).

I have no illusions here. As I have commented here and before, I am unlikley to live 2 years into TEOTWAKI since I am kept alive by medications of which I will have a finite supply...I just want to stretch that time as much as I can and give my family a fighting chance at long term survival...if we all live out normal lives without TEOTWAKI and the preps that we have made are never used, I will still be happy that I made those preps.

 

The only way to defeat a numerically larger force is by stealth and guile. You can use ambush and don't forget booby traps to wear them down. If you make it to expensive for a bag of rice they will leave.
But one man can't defend against a mob.
XR750

 

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/images/editor/menupop.gi

I use to worry about this. But I think the likely hood of this is very very small. If you have a small group of 20 people moving from town to town they are going to get thinned out pretty quick. Then there will be loads of in-fighting because if they take over a house and there is only enough food to feed 5 of them which 5 get to eat when all of them are hungry? If the group is larger then it will only compound the problems.

If you look at what happen in Katrina most people were to lazy and sat there to die. That alone would wipe out a lot of non-preppers.

It seems to me that I read a story several years ago that a lone guy with a singal shot 45-70 held his cabin against 12-15 state troopers in Alaska.

Now one or two people laying out in a field with a deer rifles set up before dawn with their cross hairs on your door waiting for you to open it and walk out. Now that's something to worry about and in my opinion something that could happen.

BWM

 

Well, I live pretty far out there myself. Lets see, 26 miles from a town of about 7,000. The last 6 miles of that dirt and then ruts. Phoenix , the closest city lies about 170 miles south and I do mean south. I am right about 6,000 ft, and the people coming up the mtn's from the valley will get nose bleeds before they get here. I honestly believe that before any "hoards" would make it up this far searching for the unknown, they would find bad things in the valley, bullets, hunger, sickness and just plain old laziness.

Lets just look at this in a senseable way . Ok, Lets say a group of 100 leave the city heading out to the hills. Now of course they will get in one or two liquid engagements along the way. So, by the time they hit the northern boundries of the city, they are now reduced to about 90. So, now they are going to head up here to the hills. So, now they have about 160 miles to go. Well, ok a couple of small towns along the way. Keep in mind that these rural towns are just full of rednecks (like me) and they get into 3 or 4 more skirmishes minimum. Ok, so now they are reduced to about 60 or less. Now, it is either going to be 110 degrees out there if it is summer or in the low teens or less if it is winter. Now that , in its self, will further reduce their numbers , lets say by another 20 or so, so they are now down to about 40. Now by the time they reach our little town, they are down to about 30 or less. Some either dying from thirst and hunger or by the cold. Now this rural town like most in this country is pretty self sufficient and full of hunters etc. Hunters are generally better shots with really big guns then most looters etc with thier little ar's and ak's . Ok, if ANY of them survived what would surely be waiting for them, I would be amazed if not dumbfounded. So now, they (if any) are going to come out here in God's country and look for us ? Thats how I look at it. Sure , there are a couple of places out here that contain people of dubious backgrounds and ethics, but as they are already known, that would most likely not be a problem for us.

So, for me and most of my area rural neighbors, it is more a matter of becoming self sufficient then planning to stand and get into gunfights. Planting, harvesting, canning and growing chickens etc will be the factor on wheather you live or die. Of course you need to be alert, and ready to fight for what is yours, namely your life. But I do not believe that you will be in a steady stream of gunfights. If you do find yourself in this position, you will not likely survive even the first one let alone the second one. A group of about 8-10 out of the service people that know how fight, are tactical and also follow or give orders will take a group of reg type people out in just minutes. Dream all you want , but that is reality. If you have never been in the service , especially a true combat zone, with bullets flying, you have no real concept of what it would be like. Believe this, it is not like in any movie you have every watched or game you have played.

 

Excellent stuff. Pretty much summed up my my thinking on the matter. I've finally gotten to the place where I realize that stocking up on guns, ammo and gear is NOT being prepared...

 

I think those things are important, but don't believe that guns/ammo are the end all be all answer.

BWM

 

One is not truly prepped if he cannot stop an engine 5-600 yds off or control an attack of dozens up close while eating well and staying warm.

 

Exactly. I'm way behind when it comes to heating my house, feeding my family, etc...

 

I'm getting the idea that small to medium sized communities of like minded people with every skill possible, might just be able to hold out.

 

I stock up on ammo for some of the same reasons but I also stock up because we may get to a point where lead ammo is banned. They have been trying it for a while now.

I need to start saving ammo for guns I don't have. I think 30-06 and .270 are a couple of the most common rifle calibers here in Michigan but I don't own either or ammo for them.

 

The amount of ammo you will need will depend on the number of advasaries and the number of events, man is a pack animal after onset of a sociatal failure people will band together for mutual defense You are buying ammo for what you will need until someone is making it again. How much is that? Plus people will want ammo as much as food so it will trade well. As to the hordes they will attack the unarmed first so the genorous use at you advisary at onset will help then decide to leave you alone, but how many groups will you need to diswade. Ammo is cheap 3-5 thousand rounds for you primary rifle is the minimum I would have.

 

For our family community is key for our well being.
Knowing your neighbors, warts and all will help you understand who will be the wolf, sheep, or sheep dog.
Small towns are not confidential in any sense of the word.
The best kept secret is repeating to no one your business.
The harsh reality, is that no matter what we face in the future, the here and now is what folks are dealing with.
Our own tribulation was the illness and death of our son.
We learned who we could depend on and who we could not.
Not trying to be trite, but our dependence on the mercy of Father God was our strength and encouragement.
Folks who we thought we could turn to, turned us away.
And the church provided us with both physical and spiritual care.

 

simplified:

1. Defend against horde - maybe, depends on situation
2. Ammo- never enough - can be traded
3. Food - never enough - like to stuff myself silly once in a while
4. Fun - rather have a tooth pulled with no anesthesia

 

[FONT=&quot]ghrit> Back in post #34 you asked, "Is there guidance anywhere that you've seen indicating "general rules" for seed viability?" Parsnip, parsley, & onion seed will only last 1 year.... 2 at the most if stored under ideal conditions. Every other seed should last 3-5 years if stored in a cool dry place.... and perhaps longer if stored in a frig. This is no guarantee we'll get 100% germination on any seed but we'll get germination.
The best places IMHO to order seed would be from reputable suppliers that have accepted the safe seed pledge that purge last year's seed and restock 100% every year. I have confidence in only 4 major online seed suppliers. Burpee, Park, Henry Field's, Stokes, Ferry-Morse and several other online seed suppliers slipping my mind right now are.... online suppliers I'd personally avoid like the plague. To the best of my knowledge, they all purchase seed from Seminis.
I've been noticing a survival garden being sold EVERYHERE online when I google... I don't know what to think about that "lil capsule 'o hope" other than it's suspect to me since they're probably buying bulk seed to meet demand.... that concerns me with no safe seed pledge posted at their website combined with basically "their choice" of hand picked "heirloom" seeds, Survival Seeds - The Survival Seed Bank Provides a Lifetime Food Solution for Families. Nowhere in their sales pitch could I find the word organic which leads me to believe this could be a well marketed "grass roots" product opportunistically capitalizing on our fears. Reality is a lot of "heirloom" seed has been "polluted" via cross pollination with frankenseed. Where does a farmer go to sell his "hand picked heirloom" seed once it's been declined as contaminated by a biggie like Baker's Creek? Things that make you go hmmm. If I'm going to invest sweat equity growing my own food.... I want to minimize the risk of unwittingly growing frankenfood so I tend to gravitate toward organic sources of heirloom seed. Here's a safe seed pledge blurb along with a few seed suppliers that signed, The Safe Seed Pledge | Horticulture - The Art & Science of Smart Gardening. I've bought from Baker's Creek and Seed Savers before. They're both reputable IMO. I know the list is incomplete because two of my favorite seed suppliers signed and aren't listed, HEIRLOOM SEEDS - over 1300 varieties of non-hybrid seeds including heirloom vegetable seeds, heirloom flower seeds and heirloom herb seeds. and Heirloom Tomatoes - Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds - Rare Tomato Seeds - TomatoFest. All the seed is organic... most is certified organic which basically means they jumped through a lot of paper hoops and somebody paid a $350 fee per sample hence the increased cost of "certified" organic seed passed onto us... the consumer.[/FONT]