"Prepper Burn-out" anyone?

I've had several of my friends say the same thing, if anything ever happens we're coming to your place.

My first response is always, "What will you bring to the table?" I usually get blank stares after that. Like fortunateson said some people just don't get it. I also like his idea of the freezer bag rations.

 

I too have a small case of burn-out. I've been preaching it for over ten years to friends and family. Just the other day, dad and I were talking about the rest of the family. trying to get them up to snuff. My sister, who makes more than me or any of us. rolls her eyes when we try and get her to buy more food. She told me after I asked hows it was coming on her buying more food. she said, I haven't got there yet. I can't believe dad won't share. I advised her it wasn't a matter of sharing, it was a matter of how long it would last with her not adding to the pot.
I don't dare tell dad she said that.
My neighbors, well, I have a thief on one side, who knows to leave me alone, and the other is a prepper. He's teaching me to make my own wine.
I love elderberry. we share info an stuff all the time. we both even have beagles.

 

6 new people, more phone calls, and more time wasted...not to mention emails up the wazoo.
I think it has come to a head at this point!
I have been told (note: not asked!)to supply people with a home, a vehicle, and from $100 a week to $10,000. to move up north!
Wow!
so, I have it figured out, finally......
These people ALL want a nanny and a welfare state!
Everyone has come with their grubby mitts out, wanting anything they can get, for nothing in return!
No skills, no supplies, nothing, except maybe a Boy Scout tent and a walmart sleeping bag!
These people range in ages from 60 to 25!
No one has any skills anymore?
Did everyone just suddenly go brain dead?
It's all "gimme, gimme, gimme".
They bring naught to the table.
No tools, no skills, no military, nada, nothing.
Now there were a few, that only came for information about northern Arizona, but nothing more....Just the climate, realty offices,etc.
Lately I have been burning the candle at both ends, and it ended this morning around 2:15 am.
I'm tired.
I was on the phone the night before with a man in Colorado for some 5+ hours, then a woman in Texas for another 4+ hours...
Needless to say, it was all hooey!
I think I'll go and move up to my place permanently and let the rest just happen.......Whatever it may be!

 

Hey Dragonfly,

Sorry to hear of the ordeal. Seems like folks who are survival minded are independent too. They're NOT the ones calling!
Just curious - where did you advertise and what are you asking for? Just looking for comrades in arms, or looking for some particular skill?

 

I had several ads in JWR's "survival blog" "finding other's" area...
They dated back to March of 2009, right after I bought my place....
Today was not a great day and by all accounts, would be considered not even a good day...
It seems that I have some "neighbors" which are called "scrappers" scrounging nearly everything around to take and haul away for any amount of money they can get...
I just found out 2 of them ( of course, the closest) are into drugs...not just marijuana, but amphetamines as well!
Gee,.... who'd a thunk that huh?
No wonder they live in such an isolated area!
But, there is good news....the weather has changed ( for the umpteenth time) and things are begining to dry up...So, I hope to get up to my place in another week or 2 at the most. ( If mother nature will give me a break!)
I'll be taking up some 6- 1/4 mile (1,320 ft) rolls of barbed wire and a lot of "T" posts... and a whole bucket of staples for using the existing trees where I can, instead of so many of the posts. ( and good heavy gloves and fencing pliers!)
My time will be spent putting in 4 strand barbed fencing first, then I'm adding a 'little something extra' for those that either ignore or refuse to read/heed the No trespassing signs...
More barbed wire, in a staggered and layered system that starts at 4 inches from the ground and reaches up to 24 inches. Sort of like the Military's idea of a "Double Apron Barbed Wire Fence". With the exception that this fence will not have any vertical sections at all, but at an angle of about 45 degrees from the ground up. ( it can be used in either direction, pointing inwards or outwards, with the outward pointing being the best)
This will cost me double the fencing for my place, but it has advantages of: stopping predators of all types and demeanors!
I'll lose about 4 ft from each side, or about 1,300 linear feet, or 5,160 sq ft of my land.
Someone came thru while the "caretaker" was *away, and I "LOST" an additional 150 ft of fencing today!
That's the second time around.....It's getting very very tiresome!
Unfortunately, this being nothing like a "SHTF" scenario, I can just imagine the FUN of what that could turn into.
Now, I also have decided to re-do my idea of having 2 solar fence chargers (8-10Kv each), to having 6 separate units, all inter-leaved, so that if one goes down for ANY reason the rest stay online, and the lines will stay charged in different levels all the way around. Also, no longer having a single strand at the top around the site....(originally was to be on the outside of the barbed wire). I am NO longer concerned about cattle, deer, Mountain lions, or coyotes....Just the local "critters" on 2 legs.
Now, I am going with a multi stranded wired secondary (internal) fence that will enclose the whole area from the outside fence.
I have now acquired some heavy duty aluminum wire (.062 inch th.) rolled up and originally used to be for a "deadman" anchoring for telephone poles and such. The roll is made of 12 individual (twisted) strands, and over 500 feet long. ( they gave it to me for free to move it...and it is HEAVY!)
Each "special post" will have about a dozen wires evenly spaced, starting at 1 1/2 to 2 inches from ground level...( that repels any snakes and mice as well!)
The fence will be 5 ft in height and ALL of the the wires will NOT be "hot"!
I am using a system where 'every other wire' is the "HOT" wire and those in between are grounds! Having researched the "project", proper grounding is a necessity for the electric fence to be effective....The main problem is the distance from the copper clad ground rods used. And, the humidity of the soils they are in for proper conductance...( Yeah, good luck in Arizona!) By alternating the wiring, you always are assured of a ground being close to a "HOT" wire so the fence won't become ineffective at distances, OR, if for ANY reason a wire should somehow become "CUT".
Using an old style of jumper system wiring, the solar charger units and the main wires feeding the fence line are not exposed to anyone outside the protected areas. I can mount the boxes on posts or alongside a trailer/building and run the wires underground to the nearest post. The whole system is then wired in parallel. If one wire is cut and even if it's a hot wire, it won't matter, as the rest of the wiring remains charged. By alternating the hot and ground wires and using 6 units to feed the system, it will be virtualy impossible to know what wires are still live from those that aren't.
It's the best I can do until I can set up a perimeter alarm system and get dogs trained....And 8 IR cameras installed.....
I'll use the areas between all of this fencing mess for dog runs, much like we had on NATO missle bases....(70's era).
Now I have to go find me some "junk yard dogs".
It just never ends.....
But I like challenges...( he says, tongue in cheek!)

 

dragonfly,

I hate to say this but I believe that the kind of people that you want in your group are not going to come to you, to be in your group.

I base this off my own opinion that I don't want to be in your group. Why? Trust. No matter what you have, what you've done or where you live for me to be part of anything I would need to trust you. The problem with that is that I don't even know you. I'll make the assumption that you are a good person, but not having long term experience with you I don't know that for sure and it isn't something I'm willing to bet my life on. For me to trust someone takes years, and most people are like me in that sense.

Back to my first comment - one of the most important things to have, before building a community, is trust. If you don't have that first then you have nothing.

I could not rely on anyone based on what they have. My close circle of friends has a single thing in common - we trust each other. Once you have that established you can work on everything else.

The people you want in your group will not find you, you will find them. Good luck.

 

Good Point!
I have the same "reservations" about other people!
Trust is a thing that can take time to develop, unless you happen to be in a "war zone" and the guy next to you is counting on you to keep him alive, as much as you count on him to do the same for you.
War makes trust a quick and strange emotion...It is or it isn't there!
In the times we are in now, it's not anything like that, and so the "trust" part is usually not engaged for some time.
There are a LOT of really good and nice people out there in OUR GRAND Country. BUT, there are some you'd never want to even cook you a meal, much less live with! ( remember this part!)
I know a lot of "groups" actually have their perspective members take a "psych" test of sorts, but those tests are open to interpretation, at best. It's like taking a hundred people and asking them a single question, that you'd "assume" has an easy and simple answer....When dealing with human beings, nothing is simple, and the psychology of them is vast and strange!
Now, Add to that quagmire, those that administer or evaluate those tests!
Ha! Now were really cooking! I have seen psychiatrists and psychologists I personally would not trust to 'watch' my goldfish!
I'm not insinuating they are bad people, just that they ARE ALL about 20 degrees off bubble! ( give or take a few degrees!)
The same holds true with nearly all people. All have their pet peeves, they all have their point where they get out of control, and all have a sense of their own self worth. ( To 'err is human!)
I have yet to meet anyone I'd remotely even consider as near perfect.
That's just the way it is....
Now, for my part in all of this...
Those that are (in my estimation) serious enough to get my attention, I make a lot of contact and most of which is done via phone calls....
Then, and ONLY at the time I feel reasonably comfortable with any of those people, I set up a face to face meeting.
Following that, ( which has never gone beyond that point but twice, in over 240 people), I show my credentials, my land paperwork, my military discharge papers and so on and so forth, so that they "know" I am telling them the truth.
Now, 1 person actually took his own initiative and did a google search on my name and email address....He wanted to see what I had written, where, when, and what my statements and thoughts on certain things were.
Then, when he was satisfied that I was not some "loon", he contacted me again and we went from there. ( smart guy!)
"Trust" is a double edged sword, and without it, nothing can take place of any certain importance.....
It is, what it is. There comes a time when we as reasonable and rational people have to take a chance, roll the dice and gamble that we have accurately made a choice that will benefit all.
It is always dicey at best!
There are No guarantees!
In a true "SHTF" scenario, there will be NO time to dither about...you have to make a decision based on need, and your "gut feelings".
You won't be able to "pick and choose" then.
It may save you, or it may cost, you your very life!
Real comforting thought huh?
Yeah, well, like I said, trust is something we take for granted at times....ever eat at a restaurant? You trust the cook right? Do you know him/her? How long have you known this person? Minutes? Months? Years? Or, is this the FIRST time you have gone to this particular restaurant, and do not know anyone there except those along with you at the time! ???
See?
Nothing is as simple as just allowing yourself 'time' to get it right every single choice you make in life.
The same truth holds for every new dentist, doctor, valet, anyone you meet for the very first time...Can you imagine that you may need a cariologist to save your life with 'heart surgery'....and consider: your doctor may not even be in the country when an emergency strikes....So, how long will you take to decide whether or not to trust this person with your life?
See my point?
It's really ALL quite relative!
Trust, it can be your saviour, or it can be your demise.....

 

ghrit..
I could not agree more!
Take for instance a small skirmish we all know and love, known to us simply as: Vietnam.
Now, few of those newly arriving had NO idea of what they were in for...
Not that we weren't "trained" but there is only so much one can be taught in as little as 8 weeks of basic, and an additional 8 weeks of AIT. Even Then, you are removed from those you began to know, and thrown in with a whole new set of individuls....and you start all overe again, from scratch. New faces, new names, new personalities, all are JAMMED together for a short but INTENSE period of time.
Now, take another 14 hour plane ride and you are again, tossed into a salad of many different people, of which you have never even met, and there's someone out there, seriously trying to hurt or kill you, at any given moment...add to that the element of surprise, like: you do NOT get the option of knowing who the enemy is due to any uniform!
It gets quite serious from the very moment that the aircraft touches down, and some guy is throwng you head first into something they call a bunker made of old and rotting sandbags....just a second or two later, there are a nmber of explosions around you as the mortar and B-40 rockets come in!
Yeah, I will never know that mans' name, I never even saw a glimpse of his face...That man whoever he is, where ever he may be, saved my life in a few seconds of my arrival on foreign ground.
Trust is a weird thing, is it not?
Very few I met in Vietnam I would trust with anything, much less my life!
But, given the circumstances, I was not allowed the opportunity to make a choice.
We all have to make choices, and we are very very lucky IF we have the time and opportunity to do so....
Let's hope we make the right ones and at the right time!

 

Hey Dragonfly,

Thought about your place when I read this:

Now You See It, Now You Don't -- The Value of Concealment, by Joe M. - SurvivalBlog.com

 

Got the essential bags, gear and toys, been learning all the survival techniques I can. I can't get the girlfriend to go along, she doesn't want to hear about it, so I have started using topo maps and scouting the hills and some friends who are close have been getting together to fortify a couple of places. This month I will concentrating on getting more food and water, fixing the vehicle for preventive stuff, and getting in shape will be my priority. But yeah, you burn out a little, people get tired of your prepping, and you feel alone sometimes surrounded by potential victims thinking it won't ever happen. You just have to keep looking for more like minded people, making sure you can trust one another. I may be tough now, but It was tough for Noah too. They ridieculed him for 120 yrs, but scratched desperately on the doors of the Ark when the water rose. Safe, not sorry.

 

I'm not sure how I stumbled upon this thread, but I am certainly glad that I did! I found myself laughing out load and yelling "Me too!" many times. But, after all is said and done, many like you have had this learning experience and it should benefit you when, if ever, it is needed; a real catastrophic event.

I too have been part of an effort to organize a support network and found it was a plan that needed more scrutiny. From similar experiences with the endless number of people that seem somehow to find you, it has taught me/us that there needs to be a system in place to screen candidates and an organizational plan that addresses the fact that prepper/survivalists are rather independent individuals and personal responsibility is crucial to a cohesive group no matter how loosely associated.

We have found that a thorough screening of an individual is imperative. Most candidates are like the ones described; lazy, misguided individuals looking for a new home because they wore out their welcome at the last one. Most seemed to use the prepper movement as an excuse to be looking for a new host when in fact, they are nomadic. Maybe not in the physical sense, but in finding a social group. AND, what gets me the most and what Dragonfly stated, they are completely comfortable with asking for everything and wanting everyone to adjust to their needs while offering NOTHING but a new issue for everyone else to resolve. Seriously? THESE are the very people we are all preparing to avoid in the real crisis situation!

So, the solution to partnering with these opportunistic parasites whose only purpose on earth is to suck you dry of all your resources and leave you a dried-up shell of a person and will always look at you and say "where's mine?" while sitting on their rears? AVOIDANCE...

Our screening process is just that, a process. Not a one or two time chat session or the usual "Meet Up", but an interview that seems like a conversation over coffee. No picnic atmosphere where everyone is on their best behavior and putting up a front, but deliberate discussions on pertinent matters. Usually the first one is enough to disqualify most person or more often, persons. But, if they do pass they are given a task to accomplish and tell them this is the time to fully evaluate if they are a good fit; a more comfortable way for them (and us) to save face and move on if neither is interested. Thankfully, some have the decency to not come back and they slip off to the next unaware target. The task is relatively simple but typically tells a good deal about that person. We find this is an good opportunity to get a better understanding of who it is we have met. Many that do come back from these assignments are filled with excuses on why the plan failed; too hard, I had no time, the dog ate the instructions, etc...

After 10, maybe 20 candidates that we speak with, no more than 2-3 make it to the next level. That level is one where most either make an effort to fit the plan or leave for reasons other than their compatibility. It is these people that get the most scrutiny, but also where the most effort is directed in sharing skills and information that will make them (and us) better prepared. Once a strong level of trust has been cultivated, these people are usually accepted into another level. It's over the longer period of time that one proves themselves and a good initial screening process that limits wasted time on Ne'er-do-wells.

Do I sound harsh? Perhaps. But, when faced with a real crisis I know I will have to make hard choices and as Dragonfly realized, you have to take care of yourself and your family first and maybe, just maybe, you will have the resources to help someone. But, only if they are truly in need and not looking for the easy way out. To know this is no easy task. Nevertheless, are you willing to risk the safety of your family for one of these people?

 

There's hoards of grasshoppers eager to join a prepper/survival community, and precious few ants, at least that's what I've seen. I've been asked to join two separate groups in my area, but it didn't take long to see the similarities between the groups and those awful team projects back in high school where 1 person did all the work and the other 5 took the credit. One group prided itself on not requiring anything of its members, and several got pretty offended when I made the suggestion that everyone contribute a paltry $5 a month to go towards funding needed projects to make the retreat property inhabitable by something other than scorpions and rattlers. One woman who was vying for leader proudly informed me the thing she liked best about that group was she didn't have to contribute anything beyond her supposed wisdom. Um, yeah no thanks. If I want to be underneath a crotchety old woman full of opinions and zero knowledge I'll call my mom and ask her to join.

I'm kind of in a burnout phase right now, actually. Ready to sell the rabbits and chickens, screw the garden, and blow my royalty check on a vacation somewhere cold. I won't, of course, but the urge is strong ATM.

 

Yes ditch witch, unrealistic expectations come from both sides. I've heard similar stories, but here is mine. Not too long ago, a candidate came to us expressing the desire to be part of a well organized network. Okay, sounds good. Let's see what she has to offer. It turns out she has some secluded property with a large spring-fed pond, pasture and tillable fields. Sounds good. She also has an big old shed that, if fixed up, could be an excellent multi-person BOL. This is sounding good... too good. Exactly! What she offered for the "use" of this property included the following terms: we paid for all materials and provided the labor for all construction, you had to provide your own quarters while the BOL building upgrade was underway, and you had to pay her rent to bring your RV or whatever to stay in, plus water and electrical usage. It didn't stop there... she had a list of rules that are more strict than those one would encounter at Parris Island. When we declined the offer, she was truly angry with us. Especially when we asked her what guarantee we would have after donating all the material and labor... none. We soon figured out she took us as gullible loons that would do as she wanted because we came across as somehow desperate.