Survival Tourists

This is just a heads up about "Survivalist Tourists". By this I mean those who know something bad is about to happen and think that if they do enough of the mundane tasks that it will be a panacea for all their worries.

We’ve met more posers or what my son likes to call "survival tourists" than anything else.

Most spend money on the strangest things, like a solar cooker and they have no storage foods, or buy a diesel 4X4 that cost as much as a house and have nothing else other than a rusty .22 calibre rifle.

I believe that people do things like this because it's a way of doing something that does not require them to take their foot off home plate.
Survival tourists are always letting you know that your input or methods are “dead wrong”, but they don’t have the guts to actually do anything for themselves, just critisize your actions. Don’t take them seriously.

For those of you who don't want to fall in to the same traps, here is a list of things you'll need to do.

1) Get food! First and foremost. We recommend dried grains, beans, sugar, salt, to start with, avoid things like de-hydrated meals or MRE's. No real nutrition there and if there was ever going to be a time when you'll need to be in good physical shape it will be when you'll need your food the most. see (StorageFoods)

2) You either need a way to get to your bug out location or be there now. For some men that means buying a $50K pickup truck, but truth be told, that may have more to do with getting a expensive toy that someone wanted than anything else. We have seen people do this several times and for those on a limited budget a critical fatal mistake. For most, a good, old, ¾ ton 4X4 POS truck is more than enough. We have an old 4X4 bronco that is very good on rough terrain and didn't cost much at all. If you're planning to SQUAT on BLM or Forrest Service land or private land remember this -- there will be others who have also found the “perfect spot” just like you and if it is that "perfect", don't be so naive to think that you're the only one to find it.
If you are looking for cheap rural land, you should already be looking by now. There are many considerations to take into account. Things are never as they seem on the surface. There are (especially here in New Mexico) what we call "rural mountain developments (or subdivisions)". These are neighborhoods that are cut out of the mountains that on the outside appear to be a mountain paradise, however, once you get in to them you find that that many residents are what we "lovingly" call “social security drunks”. For most social security drunks the cocktail hour begins around 10 am. This can make the roads kinda scary at most any time of the day. Once this old lady drove across a 20 acre field running over cows and taking out the fence at two points told the sheriff that she fell asleep and waited till her blood alcohol level was with in legal limits beofore she called him.

Then there are the meth heads or -- even worse -- meth chefs. Seems that meth people and drunks prefer privacy just like you. We once lived in a development called Timberon in New Mexico. From the outside it looked like paradise, juniper cedar trees, deer everwhere and cute houses on large 5 acre lots. Once living there we found out that it was a favorite place for ex-cons called "the Aryan brotherhood". They buy a house for cash (this makes the local house prices stable) use it for cooking meth, then once they have made the house a toxic nightmare they move out and buy another one.

Couple that with the fact that almost everyone there is living is on government pay checks (SSI, Food Stamps, Retirement Checks, etc.) and once that dries up you may find your rural neighbors less than friendly… especially once the cigarettes, booze and meth runs out.

What you need to find is real rural land. A rule of thumb is 2 gas tanks away from a large metro area. The reason for 2 tanks worth away is there will be plenty of people who have 1 tank of fuel but the second tank will be impossible for most to get. So if you are at least 2 tanks away from a large metro area you should be safe from the hords of hungry people.
Who else lives there? Take the time to find out, visit potential neighbors if there are any.

3) People try to avoid this part but it is above everything else on the list --"PREPARE YOUR MIND"! From my perspective your mind will need to be conditioned before TSHTF. After living off the grid for nearly 5 years, I can tell you that life changes in way that you may not expect. First you may get some feelings of worthlessness. This comes from living for years in a life where you get up every day and go to the "world" to make a living and now the world does not need you anymore. You may begin to have feelings of doubt, doubts about your decision to bug out and if it was a good idea. My wife Sheila offers this sage advice "if TEOTWAWKI" never happens, would living this way be OK with you?" If the answer is YES then look at your bugging out as one of life’s many adventures. Try to imagine the world without
The Internet
TV
Food Stores
etc.
What would your day look like with out our modern conveincences? Start now to condition your mind to the big coming changes. Try to see yourself making it to the other side. You'll only make it to the othe side if you can imagine it in your mind.


4) Shelter -- For some that will be an SUV with the back seat folded down and a cheap sleeping bag. That is not ideal to say the least. For some it will be an RV, not a terrible idea for some. RVs are built for what the manufacturers call the 180 days rule. This means they are built well enough to last 180 days of use. Keep this in mind when buying one. If it looks “hard used and put up wet” it may not be something that you'll live in with comfort all the days of your life. If you choose to use an RV then consider this... making a shelter with a roof and at least two walls around it is a good idea. An RV’s weak link is the roof. If the roof is protected from snow, heat/sun, etc., you'll never have a leak. A leaking roof on a RV is like cancer. The walls on the two lateral sides keep the winds off the RV, making it easier to heat.
For others, a more traditional, “stick built” house is what they want and that's not a bad idea either. We have done it twice in recent years. Our son is building an adobe and stone house, 20’X 24’ with a hard clay floor. We are also going to be burying a 40ft land/sea freighter as an underground shelter. We have done this before and it’s amazing, always around 65 degrees. These can be had for prices ranging from $1500 to $4000, prices depend on your location. If you’re close to Long Beach CA they’re cheaper, if you’re out in the wild of New Mexcio you'll pay more. Avoid “refers” or refrigerator trailers -- these are made from aluminum and cannot take the stress of being burried. Freighters can withstand their loaded wight times 10. That means that if the loaded weight is 70,000 lbs., it can withstand about 700,000 lbs. of pressure.

5) Make a decision that you are going to survive. This may seem like a dumb thing to remind people of, but I have seen people who are not prepared go in to dispair. There is an old victorian axiom, "Hard Work Dispells Worry". If you’re worried -- GET TO WORK. If you know you need to start getting ready then pick one thing that you can accomplish in the short term. If you don't have storage foods then make the effort to get, say, a bag of pinto beans. Even if you have no preps what so ever, you can begin now with getting your food situation in order. Bit by bit you'll begin to notice your food stores grow if you begin now. It only takes getting one thing accomplished every day. Avoid becoming an academic survivalist tourist. Those are people who do nothing but read articles like this using the process as a mental catharsis in lieu of taking material action. Time is short. Get started. Prepare to survive. It’s one of the few things that is totally in your control. That may be the crux of what prevents people from taking action – for most people they have never made a decision that was all theirs alone. Most decisions we make are with few options other than which decision we make. In the case of your survival, it’s a decision that you must make on your own and for most that’s the scariest part. Get started now.

Dan

 

Well said. I like the part about working to avoid worring. I was just telling my wife about how every time I turn around I think of something else that I have to stock up on. It can get overwhelming, but I need to stop dwelling on everything and just focus on one thing per pay. Good write-up.

 

Nice Post

I liked the burying of the Sea-Land freight containers--great idea!

You also dealt very well with the seduction of some by intellectually engaging the topic of survivalism and not actually breaking a sweat or making any meaningful commitment that measurably improves their actual preparedness status.

Since food is one of the highest priorities, we should all consider if our emergency stockpile is growing---or is it just the plan that is growing?

Once the SHTF, the amount of time to gather a decent stockpile of food and other essentials may be over. Those who failed to prepare will be next in line for their very own personalized Darwin Awards.

 

There's another side to the storage story...space! Most of the people in the cities have no space for large food cash, so what kind of food you store is very important. We've been doing some experimenting and logging of our food quantities, and we found out that we need one meal a day normally. We also tried some dieting and fasting and cleansing techniques that would enable us to be OK for a long time with minimal food. We also noticed that the strictest diet we keep, the less weight we lose. So, with minimal food or one meal one day, even two days, apart, we'd be OK.
Another problem in the cities is water. THE highest priority for me. Never enough water...so, you need means of water purification that do not rely on filters that must be changed regularly, or electricity, or anything you couldn't get if SHTF...I opted for filters made from things that will always be available, or easily made. I also store chemicals for water purification...I also store all sorts of different water containers...

 

2 tanks of gas is a pretty good distance. Most cars have ~300 miles range on a full tank, not many places that are 600 miles from a major metropolitan area, let alone 300 miles. for example if you are in St. louis, 600 miles west is the kansas colorado border. North is pretty close to canada, east pittsburgh and south New Orleans.

Also, MRE's have plenty of nutritional value. Do you think the army is feeding the troops cardboard?

Other than that good write up.

 

I have lived off the grid now for about 15 years, rural, 26 miles from the nearest thing you could call a town. I love it. It did take a little while to get used to it, but originally came from a small rural farming community and fell right back into the groove so to speak. I am in the process of building several 4' x 8' raised bed gardens, acquiring garden vege seeds and also building my second water collection system for the gardens. I have solar now, along with wind, and will be attempting to double my complete system this next year. I do this sometimes one panel at a time and sometimes two panels at a time. But it keeps on growing. I will also add my second wind generator in about two more months. I have 6 miles of an old dirt road before I even begin to find pavement, if you could call it that and it is very quiet. Antelope, deer, elk and even an occasional bear or badger stumbling along. But I will stress this fact to all of you out there. Garden seeds , especially the non-hybrid variety, will also allow you to sustain for many years if you do it right. A means of collecting all your roof rain water for the garden use is also one very important things you can do. Even if you choose to live in your present city type environment, this can all be done.

If you really want to survive, keep in mind, buying and storing food for the rest of your lives will simply not do. Garden seeds will sure make it more likely to happen

 

Actually, since I really doubt you can go by the two tanks of gas rule, try and get about 100 - 150 miles from any major city type place. Most people really won't go more then 50 miles or so, get tired, or stopped for a varity of reasons, and just pull off into the nearest woods, thinking that they will be safe there. Also, many many years ago, while doing a guard duty tour back east, I learned that most of the city people even then were very affraid of the woods . They are basicly afraid of athe dark, noises at night, and especially animals. Even the lowely skunk freaks these types of people out. So, if you can find your "spot" even just a few miles from any real town, you are at least partially there. Take your time though, and try and buy your rural area land cheaply of course, but buy it. Then you can start making preps they way you need to . Owning the land you have picked to live on when the need arrises will make you much more able and willing to do the things needed to sustain you and yours. Even a large storage shed, can be made into a cabin should the need finally arrise. Something to think about anyway

 

No place here I can get 2 tanks of gas away from large populated areas!
My "best" getaway is only 60 minutes from any real town of any size!
A "group" here once purchased several of those shipping "conex" boxes and spent a LOT of money to have a backhoe dig out areas to put them into....
Then it rained. Enough said on that one! They will float! Right out of the ground, unless they are heavily loaded, and then they just fill with runoff water!
Survival is not just an adventure, it's a full time JOB!

 

What dragonfly said. Remember, air craft carriers float...the physics of buoyancy cannot be ignore. Proper runoff and drainage must be designed into any structural/container burial.

I work for a plumber and he refuses to install any underground tanks/containers. He always has a qualified excavator come in and do it. It's not as simple as digging a hole, throwing said object in it, and burying it. Keep drainage in mind, however, and it can be done. Pick a high spot with adequate runoff. Use adequate base aggregate (gravel) with a properly installed drain tile. Compaction of the covering layer is also important.

You can always buy a house with an in-ground pool large enough for your container of choice. Drain the pool, lay your container in it and concrete it in. Cover the whole deal up with a foot or so of good top soil and viola! Instant shelter/storage. Oh take care planning your ventilation and entry ports!

Byte