Are survivalists jumping the gun?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by Yard Dart, Apr 6, 2016.


  1. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    [​IMG]

    Have you ever considered doomsday? Or what it might look like?

    Even if you have, there's a small but committed community that's several steps ahead of you.

    They're not only expecting the end of the world - they're planning their response.

    Survivalists, or 'preppers', build skills and resources in anticipation of the collapse of modern society.

    Among them is park ranger Jake Cassar, who has been amassing skills and resources for decades, including "weapons and ammunition, in case there's a serious military threat".

    Jake says he could survive indefinitely in the city or the bush with nothing but the shirt on his back.

    "It was always a gut feeling that I'd have to prepare for an extreme survival situation. I've been building supplies since 15 years of age," he says.

    "Some might consider me eccentric for preparing for an apocalyptic situation, but for me it's very practical and very important that somebody in the community is preparing for this."

    Jake believes most won't survive.

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    What happens to the vegans?
    When I arrive at one of his weekend camps near Gosford, Jake Cassar is telling some of the boys a story about the time he was homeless in Kings Cross and saw someone slashed up with a razor.

    That afternoon, he teaches them how to make rope, a fire, find water in the bush, skin a rabbit, and build a shelter, just for starters.

    Blended in with the lessons is information about survivalism and apocalyptic scenarios.

    "World war three... an airborne disease which started wiping out people left right and centre... I might sounds a bit eccentric talking about this kind of thing, but it could happen," he tells them.

    It's obvious he's spent a lot of time considering the topic.

    "In a serious survival situation would we have to kill animals?" he asks, and then gives the answer: "Yes."

    Some people disagree but as I say, vegans and vegetarians would end up being cannibalised by other people in the first months."

    [​IMG]
    Survivalist Jake Cassar.

    Supplied

    Preparing to vanish
    Jake's friend Steve is helping out and has a van full of prepper gear, including bee pollen, about five different methods for starting fire, and and a head-to-toe skintight camouflage suit.

    Why bee pollen? Steve tells me it's nutritious as well as being light and easy to carry in a crisis.

    Disappearing is a common theme for preppers.

    In fact, Steve doesn't even want to tell me his last name.

    "I'm slowly becoming [sic] out of the system more and more," he says.

    "My aspiration is that it gets to a point where I don't exist on any identifiable place so if I do vanish, well, I haven't really vanished because no-one knew I was there.

    It's my intention to basically become invisible."

    Steve, like Jake, isn't too worried about how he comes across.

    "Do I worry what other people think? In a word, no. I really don't," he says.

    "If people think I'm a bit off-centre, that's great, fantastic, because hopefully it'll make them think."

    Are survivalists jumping the gun?
    Ecologist and futurist Dr Steve Cork shares their less than optimistic outlook, albeit to a lesser extent.

    "Good on them for drawing it to our attention," he says.

    "Because sooner or later if we don't wake up to ourselves that's what we're going to have to face."

    Dr Cork, now based at the Australian National University, spent 25 years working at the CSIRO, researching interactions between humans and the natural environment.

    He says the collapse of society could come in a few different forms, including climate change, civil unrest because of refugee crises, food shortages, or a pandemic.

    He thinks if humans last another few decades, artificial intelligence might ultimately do us in.

    "By about 2045 [we expect to have] computers that have got more capacity than all human brains put together," he says.

    This is where people talk about robots taking over the world."

    Dr Cork thinks survivalists are probably jumping the gun a little bit, but not by much.

    "I would like to think, optimistically, that human civilisation has enough resilience to keep managing in a peaceful and productive way for another 30 or 50 years, maybe longer."

    Jake Cassar isn't holding his breath.

    "I hope it never happens, I hope I never have to utilise my survival techniques that I've been learning over a lifetime, but I do have a feeling that there will be a time.

    "I think in in our society today the shit is hitting the fan."

    Meet the survivalists hoarding bee pollen and preparing for apocalypse
     
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  2. Dunerunner

    Dunerunner Brewery Monkey Moderator

    It never hurts to be prepared and I do not believe you can be too prepared ....

    Good read!!
     
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  3. Bandit99

    Bandit99 Monkey+++ Site Supporter+

    Since I returned to the states, I've had this feeling that something very bad is going to happen. Slowly, I realize that it wasn't only me but lots of other folks around think the same thing. Hell, my buddy who is still in Afghanistan called me yesterday and even over there 10,000 miles away he is convince bad things are going to happen to the states.

    Maybe it is illogical but when one's instincts are screaming at you then it is time to listen. Being prudent is not a bad thing and I would rather spend a bit of money on Freeze-dried food than the newest and greatest iPhone and all the other junk that is thrown at us daily. The military taught me many great things but the biggest was 'plan your moves then move your plan.' So, at this time we are planning and preparing for whatever comes our way.
     
  4. Kingfish

    Kingfish Self Reliant

    I believe that this man Survivalist Jake Cassar. is the one who will die. Or go mad from being alone . I do NOT buy into this mentality. , never did never will. Bug in, stack it deep and outlast the event. But if this your plan? have at it. Should do it now though and practice it because there is no turning back after the fact.
     
  5. Tevin

    Tevin Monkey+++

    I don't believe you can be "too prepared" but I do believe you can have misplaced priorities and/or over prepare for things that have a low likelihood of happening while ignoring obvious hazards that can and do happen to anyone. My favorite example is a relative of mine who is amassing guns and food but does not have a functional spare tire in her car.

    Or the dude I know who has a mambo big ass generator and enough fuel to run it for a month but does not have a fire extinguisher anywhere on his property.

    About vegetarians being "the first to go," I also disagree because it assumes vegetarians would not eat meat even if it meant their own survival. I'll bet most of them would change their mind real fast if the alternative was starving to death.

    I will go the other way and say that ultimately, everyone who survives a long term social blowout will be a vegetarian, or mostly vegetarian, whether they want to or not because all the game will be hunted out. There are a hell of a lot more edible plants in this world than there are edible animals. And you don't have to spend hours chasing plants through the woods with no assurance that you'll have a meal at the end of the day.

    As for park ranger Jake Cassar, I admire his skills but anyone who claims they can "live in the city or the bush with nothing but the shirt on his back" yet has been stockpiling ammunition and supplies "for decades" lacks credibility and/or thinks too much of himself.

    Or to put it another way, If all he needs is a shirt, then why does he have all that other crap?

    In the end we all have to be real with ourselves and eliminate any inclinations to think our form of badassery is better than everyone else's.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2016
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  6. arleigh

    arleigh Goophy monkey

    It is my bet that it will be a slow death,
    With the local stores shutting down and fewer jobs ,the cost of fuels and the drain on finances with the value of the dollar declining ,people won't have the energy to riot , but my bet is that they will turn to their neighbors speculating that things just have to turn around , but they won't .
    Those that have been gearing up for this collapse will likely be evil forces as well, like opportunists waiting for that weak moment to strike.
    No one is going to engineer this kind of dilemma unless there is a plan , my guess is they have been working on the plan for a long time .
    Those that have been paying attention, know what I am talking about.
     
  7. AxesAreBetter

    AxesAreBetter Monkey+++

    I don't need much, but I have hit the trail with 70lb packs. Insurance by the sword, as it were.
     
  8. Legion489

    Legion489 Rev. 2:19 Banned

    This is silly. Just because Rome fell, Greece fell, Egypt fell, The English Empire is Ireland now (Scotland ALMOST left), Russia fell, the Soviet Union fell (don't look back, it might be coming back) is NO reason to think Amerika might fall too. I mean really! Our masters want what is best for us and will take care of us from womb (provided you get out alive) to tomb (when they decide we have served our purpose and they wack us) so what is there to worry about?
     
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  9. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I wonder who these masters might be. If we take them out, who owns us then?
     
  10. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    The problems facing American society are currently more serious than I have seen them in my lifetime (of course, I am not even 70 yet, so that really isn't a big chunk of history) and the speed with which they get worse is accelerating rapidly. To top it off, we are now preparing for a national election in which the most likely presidential candidates are a bat**** crazy megalomaniac vs either a sociopath or a proponent of a socio-political system that has been a universal failure. What could possibly go wrong?
    [peep]
     
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  11. AxesAreBetter

    AxesAreBetter Monkey+++

    Evidence of bat crap?
     
  12. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    That's kinda like asking "if all you need is love, why do you need money?". I can live in the city or the bush with nothing but the shirt on my back too...but that doesn't mean I want to and don't bother with preps. I can probably gnaw through a rope with my teeth too...but I'd rather use a knife. ;)

    Pass me some of that spiked kool-aid buddy! [flag]
     
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  13. yeti695

    yeti695 Monkey+

    History always repeats its self. I believe that. I dont think its always the same way, but eerily similar. As far as this guy, who knows if he can survive or not. Sound like he has the skills, but to think that he could survive a urban enviroment with just the shirt on his back is highly unlikely.
     
  14. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    reasons?

    Just because you start off with nothing but the shirt on your back doesn't mean that situation is perpetual. I think the problem is normalcy bias...thinking like a good, law-abiding, Christian person in a normal world, rather than as someone who must do ANYTHING to survive in a world that where there are no more rules other than SURVIVE.

    What, specifically, would stop you or I from getting the things we needed to survive if all we started with was the shirt on our backs?
     
  15. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Specifically, given that the most recent (post 13) talks about an urban environment, and making the gross assumption that 2A is still operative, it's an even money bet that the first person he tries to acquire "stuff" from will shorten his "just a shirt" time. The fact remains, urban or not, that boast of ability to survive with just a shirt rings rather hollow unless he's the only remaining live body.
     
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  16. yeti695

    yeti695 Monkey+

    I cant say that he/you/I couldnt make it, just that a single person in that kind of enviroment during a real SHFT event, if they didnt leave as soon as possible would not stand a good chance to make it. I guess there is always that one in a thousand shot that he would/could make it, but just to try to make it a long extended period with the shirt on his back unlikely. Yes gathering items, bartering, procuring other things and items how ever you must to survive would be the only way someone could do that. I dont think that in a urban enviroment that a single person regardless who it is, would last very long. You could be John Rambo with all the guns and ammo you would ever need, but the numbers would eventually catch up to you.
     
  17. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    I disagree. I don't care how many people are armed...one's brain is still their best weapon. Do you really think you could not adapt, improvise and overcome to acquire the things that you need without a weapon. Indeed, can't you use that noggin to make or find weapons of opportunity if you need one? Do you really think the only way to get what you need is through force?

    Come on man...THINK. Your brains, not your gear, are what are going to keep you alive. Gear/weapons are an enhancement to your brains, not a replacement for them.
     
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  18. oldawg

    oldawg Monkey+++

    The problem with the one man and the shirt on his back is his six. One '06 round trumps a middle finger salute.........and hard to out run.
     
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  19. chimo

    chimo the few, the proud, the jarhead monkey crowd

    Who says that you can't use the "numbers" to your own advantage?

    Here is one fine example for ya'll. Say you are a doctor....do you really think some group wouldn't see the benefit of having you as part of their group...even if all you have is the shirt on your back?

    Come on folks, think outside the TV-land box here. Put yourself in the situation of being alone, with nothing but the shirt on your back in a variety of SHTF situations....are you just going to put your head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbye? Or are you going to adapt, improvise, overcome....and at least attempt to survive?

    One man with his shirt on his back does not have to be permanent condition. Again, put yourself in that situation...what would you do to improve your odds of survival.

    Always with the negative waves, Moriarty! :D
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 8, 2016
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  20. AxesAreBetter

    AxesAreBetter Monkey+++

    And he said survive, not run around acting like some da 16 years old who's full of himself and bulletproof. Act smart, and make things, scavenge from what other people leave behind...do y'all have any idea of how homelessness works?
     
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