Long time Planner, first time Prepper.

Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by NeverDonePrepping, Jul 2, 2015.


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  1. I've been wanting to begin prepping for the past 8 years now, but at the time I was AD Military, and when you're always out of country and never get the chance to do so, it's hard to start. Got out last year and have been working (OCONUS again) a lot and saving money so I can buy land and start my preps when I get back CONUS next year.

    I'm still in the process of getting my Retreat, and I have been planning and budgeting for some time now, and I will be able to be done getting everything set up within the next 5 years. I plan on looking at several large plots of land next year and once I find the right place, I plan on setting up shop for at least a year while I set everything up. make sure I know my land well and that I know where all the access and egress points are as well as any choke points that I could make a stand at. I do have plans for several people to join me at my retreat, all of which are aware of the amount of work and effort that will have to go into things. Most of the places I am looking at are over two hours from any major city, but have a small town of less than 300 people that are mostly self-sufficient within a 30 min drive or a days walk. Everyone that I have invited to join me are prior AD Military (All of which I served/worked with for an extended period of time) with the exception of any family members they may have, and I know they can handle themselves if a fight were to happen. I just joke that I'll be fine, as long as the world waits 6 years to go to shit. Give me enough time to get my land set up and have an understanding of how it does things.

    Prepping is a funny thing to me, the more I learn the more I feel like there is no end to it. You can never be too prepared. I've already got the basic BOB with one week worth of necessities and the stuff I would need to get more food and clean water, I just need to know how far is too far or if I've hit the tip of the Ice Berg of my prepping.
     
  2. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Welcome to the Monkey Tree, "NDP" Pick out a Branch and have a good look around.... Lots of great info in the forums, and a rather Great bunch Of Family type Monkeys, to share and learn from here'bouts.... Wondering what your Comms Plan might be.....
     
  3. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    Welcome to the tree!
    You're right, there really isn't an end to it, one always learns then hopefully passes that knowledge along. Eat the pachyderm a bite at a time and you'll get there.. Sounds as though you you have thought out your plans-and that is a big step ahead of many in itself.:)
     
    Yard Dart and Motomom34 like this.
  4. Sapper John

    Sapper John Analog Monkey in a Digital World

    Welcome!
     
  5. Well Comms is the one thing that I've not put a lot of thought into. I know they're important, but I figure I could go with a CB radio and go from there. Main focus has always been making sure survival for myself and maybe 20 others was possible. Outside communications was always considered a secondary priority to me. I'm always open to learn new things and add them to my plan though.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  6. Tully Mars

    Tully Mars Metal weldin' monkey

    LOL, well, pull up a stump and listen to what @BTPost and @ghrit have to say on the subject. I PROMISE you won't be disappointed.
     
    kellory and chelloveck like this.
  7. Dont

    Dont Just another old gray Jarhead Monkey

    Welcome and hang on tight, you will learn a lot here.
     
  8. BlueDuck

    BlueDuck Monkey+++

    Welcome ...
     
  9. Motomom34

    Motomom34 Monkey+++

    Welcome to the Monkey NDP. IMO prepping is a way of life, leaving the Urban lifestyle behind and learning the Old way of life. People may think we are more sophisticated and smarter then our Grandparents but I am really beginning to doubt it.
     
    Ganado and Tully Mars like this.
  10. My goal is to find a way to get a good mix of the old way of doing things and the new way. If that means I end up buying two times more of everything I need and then burying half of the 20' under ground in case of an EMP/CME, then I guess I'll need a couple shovels. As we always said when I was in, two is one and one is none. Never hurts to be over prepared, but you can die from not preparing enough.
     
  11. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Bear in mind that two Zippo lighters is not the same thing as one Zippo and a flint and steel. Two, yes, functionally, but different.
     
    NeverDonePrepping and Tully Mars like this.
  12. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Welcome to the Monkey.....glad to have you here and thank you for your service!!

    [US_Army]
     
  13. Valid point. As it stands I have at least two different ways of creating fire on me at all times. My bag has about 6, my car about a million.
     
    kellory likes this.
  14. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    When your ready to think about Comms, give me a PM.... or just ask in the Comms forum.... Comms is not just for external..... If you have 20 folks, Internal Comms becomes very important, and SECURE local Comms, is downright Critical.....
     
    Pineknot likes this.
  15. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    As BT as just said Comms are very important, if my power goes out, like it did last week, how do I know that the SHTF didn't start, you need to crank up that Generator turn on the Ham radio and contact the outside world. Then you know better what you need to prepare for, you said you have been thinking about it, well that is Prepping... thats a start.

    Now in my case, I wasn't ready... crank up AM radio was nowhere to be found, truck doesn't tune to AM but the FM station was on the air, ham radio not set up yet, XYL calls best friend 4 miles away and her power is off too, try to contact her on iden i855 and no answer, apparently her battery is bad. I had already checked nearest power pole that had caused our last big outage (except for the fire when the power company decided to turn off all power), the last outage we had I was sitting here wondering when the power was going to come back on was caused by a squirrel that committed suicide by climbing the post and touching the hot lead while he was on the ground lead, I was the only home without power...

    So far we are good to go, still looking for that crankup AM radio.

    So think about prepping, and go thru a few dry runs, contact your neighbors via CB or iden or cell, but don't expect the cell to work in a real emergency.

    Still looking for that crankup AM radio...
     
    Tully Mars and kellory like this.
  16. Ganado

    Ganado Monkey+++

    Welcome! It sounds like you are well on your way and have put alot of thought into what you want to do. Your mind is your best friend as long as its disciplined.

    Motomom34 is correct, prepping is a life style.

    you will know when your done when someone asks a question and you think. 'I have that covered but I need to pull it out again and check it' in other words, you arent really ever done =) hope that isnt bad news. lol

    The good news is you dont think like everyone else and the things that matter to you are different so you dont care what other people think.

    Welcome to the monkey tree. I think BTPost was handing out banana's ;) so get some for free for your BOB (he is such a knowledgable prepper I dont think even his banana have an expiration date) (teasing)
     
  17. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Try under the tractor seat, or if not there look under the pickup seat (where the ham xceiver is supposed to be.)

    (Hm. How would I know that?)
     
  18. I actually have no intention of being connected to the grid at all if possible. With advances in the production AND storage of renewable energies I see no reason to get connected to the grid. But I do realize there is more to comms than outside comms, and that having a secure way to talk to the people that are with me is a pretty good idea. I just never actually thought about it that much I guess. Now that I'm thinking about it, I have a lot of various ideas about how to go about that, but I'll definitely hit you up BTpost when I'm ready to learn about getting that set up. I probably wont need it for another couple of years though. Like I said, this is a 5 year plan for me, and the actual building of things wont be able to happen until 2-3 years from now. Not that I plan on waiting that long to look into it, I'm currently looking into making planks by hand and I just hate to stop learning about something halfway through. I'll be sure to hit you up soon.
     
    kellory and BTPost like this.
  19. azrancher

    azrancher Monkey +++

    Cost is the reason to be connected to the Grid, if you have it available use it... It is much cheaper than replacing batteries, and buying solar panels, although I suggest you get ready to be off the grid, by having your off-grid system ready, OK to make sense, I can see houses 10 miles away that are off-grid, but it's because the cost of getting the utilities to provide power is way much. But for the SHTF you need to be grid-tie with backup inverter - battery system, there are several out there XW6048 is one.
     
    Tully Mars and BTPost like this.
  20. Most of the land I am looking at is not currently connected to the grid, so the cost of connecting to the grid is not much cheaper than the cost of getting a basic set up of renewable energy sources. The cost of getting solar/wind power was taken into account with my planning. Part of the reason I'm taking 5 years to get up to the point where everything can finally come together. My dad always said that if its worth doing, its worth doing right the first time. To me, this is one of those things I feel like is worth doing all the way. If that means I make sacrifices on what electronics I can use, then I make do with what I can get.
     
    Tully Mars and BTPost like this.
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