PREPPING ... who was already doing it?

Actually I have a running joke. Anytime you see someone in Florida wearing socks with their sandals you can be almost assured they are a Yankee or a Canadian. I never wear socks with them unless I'm going to work

 

That's called credit card touring and there's nothing wrong with that.

Now I'll Grant you this, some people can get absolutely ridiculous with prepping but everyone needs at least enough stuff in their house to be able to survive 2 months if the grid goes down.

And I would edit my post to say this bicycle touring is not so much prepping as it is being able to bug out. But there is an element of self-reliance involved

 

It appears that either you can't read very well or your memory is failing you..... You told Crank "you Americans".......

And like I said we Americans love to share with other people as long as they're not too damn busy looking down their judgmental nose

 

Looting out in the sticks can be very bad for one's health. It can result in an acute case of high-speed lead poisoning.

 

Gotsta wear socks, mate.

 

Sorry boss

 

Yeah, weird that. They usually talk about gas/fuel/electricity (and water!) .. as though those things are impervious to insult.

From the outset we were terrified of being dependent on water/fuel/power. I don't really know why, now that I think back. It was pure instinct I suspect.

 

Smiles and waves.

Dude, we've been at it for thirty years - and not for a single second have we even thought about 'going back'. Every day feels like a win, even in the best of times (not the least reason being because we saved so much damned money .. way more than we expected to) - and when times are tough for the urban helpless, it feels like a gift from the gods.

Once you've experienced this level of independence, the thought of living the dependent, isolated, helpless urban life .. becomes your worst nightmare. Those you speak of who 'gave up', were very likely flakes to start with .. looking for a free lunch at the commune or some such.

 

Just remember.... You need water food and shelter... And in that order.

Those are the three primary things you need to survive.... Everything else is secondary.

And if you have a bug out bag or an area in your house you keep such things... Be sure and get you about 10 Bic lighters the big ones.

 

You see....? I would automatically assume you'd have to be a Yankee or a Canadian!

Ain't nothing wrong with letting your feet get a little dirty!

 

We have lighters, matches, and ferro rods

 

I live in a nice place where shelter isn't that important. And remember, there may come a time when the only things of value will be things you can eat, drink, shoot, or screw.

 

Actually the reason I insist on Bic lighters.... My landlord who lives next door just ordered some ferro rods from Amazon. He got them to spark a few times but that's about it.

I was like dude if you have room in your pocket to put one of those.... Just carry a damn Bic lighter. They work every single time.

Actually have a Glass lens I bought some years ago from habitat for humanity. It came from a projector TV. I can light a cigarette in about four or six seconds in direct sunlight. .. and I don't mean get the cigarette to start smoking I mean the whole damn thing is lit! Used to keep it in the saddlebag on my bicycle and it get kind of scratched up but it still works.

They had a whole damn Tupperware about the size of a shoe box that day and they were selling them for a dollar. I kick myself in the ass and I didn't buy several of them and keep the damn thing In like a crown Royal bag or something so it doesn't get scratched up

 

Beans bullets and Band-Aids.... I have something I can screw.... I mean a dishwasher... Oh damn I hope she doesn't read this post....

 

I agree on the lighters. Having said that, it's crucial to buy quality rods. Ours are really good - they produce nice fat sparks, every time. Mind you we're all quite practised in this house, and I think that does play a part. On that, I enjoy lording it over males who can't get a spark from a ferro rod, whenever we're camping in company. When they're also crap at building fires, the enjoyment increases

 

Not sure what you mean by 'it'.

A few forums ago, the Mod was great, best Mod ever. He lived on a small remote lake. He wasn't a full on prepper, but he kept a healthy supply of food in the cellar.

The thing that doesn't get asked is prepping for what. He was within the kill zone if the cauldera at Jellystone National Park blew. He might survive a nuclear war for a while, but the operative part is for a while... He was far enough away that mobs leaving cities would be highly unlikely to find him.

But any disaster of that magnitude is going to start the clock ticking. If you don't grow all your food, you are suddenly living on borrowed time. How good are your medical skills; can you do surgery? Do you have what you need to do a lot of medical procedures?

In the 1800s, a lot of people still lived in rural areas. But only the seriously poor (like Appalchians) got by without things like store bought flour.

There is a classic you might like, We Took to the Woods. It's about a family that moved to the woods in Andover a century ago. They needed the store for a variety of things, from fruit and flour to nails. In the winter they could get snowed in for a month, or more. And going to the store, when it was even possible meant leaving, and coming home, in the dark.

Be real careful with mushrooms..

 

I will not bug out. I live in the outskirts of a small town in Alabama. I like it right here. I have been building it for years. I have a few fish in tanks, goats, and a garden space. Not self sufficient but nice.

 

Good place. Dothan and Huntsville are a couple of my favorite places. I spent extensive time in both places having worked in defense all my life.

 

St. Clair county.

 

Border collies are our “kids” and our business partners. Couldn’t live without them and wouldn’t want to if we could.

 

Well I guess bugging out is also part of prepping isn't it? After all any good prepper worth his salt will have a bug out plan even if he plans not to bug out because you never know right ?

 

I’m on the volunteer fire department. A couple years ago a house in our township caught fire. As is often the case, by the time the volunteer department got everything on site the house was past saving. Fortunately the owner escaped unharmed and was mingling with the guys responding to the fire. I overheard a neighbor asking the owner why he seemed so unconcerned about the turn of events. The owner replied with the statement the loss of his house wasn’t particularly concerning because he had enough lumber and other building supplies stored in his attic and basement to build a new house….

Joshing aside, lumber from old houses is the best—much better than lumber you can buy today. If the house being torn down is old enough a 2 by 4 will actually measure 2” by 4”!

 

The old pinewood these houses around here are built out of the dates back to 1910, sometimes even earlier.... Is so incredibly hard you will not drive a nail through it without a pilot hole.

 

When I retired, we chose to move halfway across the country to the place we would have bugged out TO. We're already there.

 

If the house burned down, isn't the lumber stored in the attic and based burned up?