So I've been reading about prepping for sometime now, and am trying to finally get into prepping. I have a large family and I am trying to get my family into hiking and camping and hunting, but I find it hard to be able to afford gear for the family. So I am curious does anyone have any suggestions on how to purchase gear for a family of 7 with ages ranging from 32 to 4. There 3 guys and 4 gals in the family. Any help would be appreciated.
Start small and within your budget. For used, look at craigslist and thrift shops. For new, at least look at Amazon for comparison pricing and some reviews (which may or may not be real). SS
This may take a while but it will bear some fruit for you if you persist. In my area (Colorado) there is a good network of stores owned and operated by the Salvation Army. The donated clothing and other goods are in there. If you establish a working relationship with a store manager or a supervisor, they may be able to call you when they see a likely hiking/camping piece of gear come thru their store. Then, if you are able, you may be able to buy camping stuff for way less than the cost of new gear. Other may have better ideas. Good luck--and welcome to Survival Monkey! You're going to find a lot of worthwhile info here.
To be honest I check amazon for prices I have found they normally have good deals. Other than that Silversnake is right. Don't go broke trying to prep or get gear. Thrift shops, Army Navy surplus stores (sometimes a bit pricey), or you might even look into buying the fabric and making your own.
How big is your backyard? It is possible to start small, there, and teach the Concepts of Survival, and Prep'en to the Family there. A Tarp, some ParaCord, and a Few Blankets can make a Snug Camp,on a warm Summer Night. Some broken up Pallet Boards, and a few Bricks, make a Cooking, and warming Fire. Food from the house. Water from the Hose. An easy Family Weekend right there in the Backyard, and no Gasoline expended. The basics are all there, for the teaching moment. Fire Starting, Outdoor Cooking, Tarp Shelter, and homemade Sleeping Bags. You can sit around the Fire, at night, and Share Family History Stories with the children. Lots of possibilities..... .....YMMV....
Flea markets and yard sales ,some auctions of estates . There a lot more of the latter as we old folks pass on. I like BT's idea of the backyard !!
Don't forget food. When you go sopping pick up a few extra can goods and put them in your storage area. Start by buying what you eat and go from there.
periodically save your work to wordpad and to clipboard I know the feeling....for some reason my word processing and text editing is very contrary.....it seems to arbitrarily decide for itself where the text ends up on the page depending on where the the mouse cursor happens to be on the page at the time....It will also delete the lot if I hit the enter / CR button too many times in quick succession. I suspect some kind of malware or virus. I have also found that once posted, some of my material seems to disappear into the ether: The Deus Ex Machina effect I suppose. For long documents, and for documents that require a lot of formatting, I would suggest saving your text to a wordpad or word document periodically so that if what you're working on in the SM text box disappears...it's just a copy and paste from your latest save. I'd hate to miss one of your gems! ; ) OH....and by the way....I sometimes get caught out (because i'm on wifi) when I hit the submit button without realising my internet connection drops out..I ALWAYS COPY MY TEXT to the CLIPBOARD before submitting....that way, even if i lose the webpage that i was submitting to, and even if i can't get back to the original webpage that i was text editing on....I can save the text to a wordpad document...or re-copy the text to the SM webpage when I have my internet connection going again...I suspect that that is what might have happened in your case.
Welcome to SM, Medic! Church jumble sales are also worth looking at...you may not find all your needs there, but usually the prices are rediculously cheap. BT's suggestions are good....no need for high tech extravagent yuppie branded gear....tough, serviceable, economical no name or second hand gear will also work....hunters and trappers had pretty basic stuff in times long past, but managed to live comfortably with what they had. Another source might be lost property auctions and police department auctions of lost property and evidence no longer required Easy Camping Recipes and Tips for Camping Food This an excellent site with many good .pdf downloads Bushcraftliving.com Bushcraftliving.com - Equipment Welcome to SM Medic.....a good early post....keep it up! Cheers from Chello
Thanks guys well to all of responses. I have been slowly trying to stock up on foods like tuna and other canned goods next will be mre's and other things. I haven't invested in it yet but my plans are to bulk up on water, beans( all types) rice, and sugar. Now as far as the bags and camping gear. I don't know where to start looking I don't want to pay out of the wazzu but don't want cheap crap either
You might also check pawn shops. Some of the shops around here carry sporting goods and even offer layaway plans.
Medic... if you are in the military check with MWR to see what they have as loaners... try them out so you know what works for you... then buy... if the family is of scouting age many troops have loaner equipment for scouts to use... again find out what works for you... Google can be your friend... use ebay, craigs list, wholesalers, etc to find out what works best for you... I have a friend who started a small company which never seems to make a profit but allows him to purchase "sample merchandise" at a 30-60% discount rate... just a few thoughts YMMV
