17 replies to this topic

[Mother]

The scene is this:

!!!The world has gone crazy or at least your part of the world. For some time the rising oil prices have caused all transportation and heating costs to be almost unattainable for most people. (Does this sound familiar?) The stock market had been climbing by leaps and bounds but suddenly has cashed due to rumors of economic unrest and war around the globe.( Does this resemble what we've been hearing lately?) Even if you don't have interests in the stock market, you suddenly find your bank closed and your funds are unattainable. Businesses are folding daily and people out of work, perhaps even yourself or a loved one. The prices of gas, food, supplies, medicine and almost all goods have gone out of sight and what you can afford is now in scarce supply. On top of that, now the threat of avian Influenza has become a reality. People are falling ill by huge numbers, hospitals are overflowing, schools are closed, hungry rioters are starting to amass in the streets and now the electricity has gone off and you have just heard that it will not be on for many months to come, if at all. The National Guard has been called out but there are not enough of them to handle the chaos; Society, as we know it, has totally broken down!!!


Now that you've had a chance to reflect on some of the possibilities, what specific information would you want to see in a manual of this sort if you find yourself in this situation?

[Synn]

Shortwave radios, woodstove cooking and heat, how to build and maintain an outhouse... canning, raising livestock, bartering, generators.....drying herbs and vegetables, learning to can on a woodstove, woodstove safety, making cheese and butter, butchering.. Soooo many things come to mind..

[Synn]

How about a gun/hunters safety course?

[Mother]

[FURRY]

All I can say is I hope something like that never happens because, living in a small apartment in the city, I don't think I am ever going to feel any real degree of confidence about my preparations.
The storage space issue is bad enough, but I'm really worried about security. I bought a stun gun, but it really scares me. I'm always afraid it is going to go off accidentally.
But here's where I really need some help...I have two apartment doors. One leads to the fire escape and the other leads to the inner apartment building hallway. The one that leads to the outside I have one of those sticks that you prop up under the doorknob to keep the door from opening. But...on the door out to the hallway my door opens outward into the hall. I don't know what to do to make it safe. All someone who really wanted in would have to do is to remove the two bolt-thingies that hold the door in. Any suggestions? The angry, hungry mob thing really scares me!

Missie

[twilap]

Herbal remedies (that do not include any type of alcohol) and plants to grow, water storage in hot places, building an outhouse (the other post referred to this...but what a great idea).

[5th graders mama]

self defense, setting up a perimeter, protecting what you have are going to be absolutely essential when the riots and panic start. There is an emotional prep that has to occur here - can you sleep separate shifts and have one person on watch at all times? Can you actually point a gun at a human being? Can your household be quiet in its continued functioning so as not to draw attention? Are you prepared to deal with transfer trauma if you have to bug out? This will be a huge issue for the very young and the elderly.

And then there is the touchy subject of.... are you physically FIT enough to survive tough months? Can you carry 30-80 pounds? Can you slug along for a few miles with a full backpack?

Can you control your temper under foul conditions?

[Buttercup]

bump

[kritterwood]

how to take care of dental problems,like absesses etc. all those others mentioned are great, how bout how to build cellars, store vegetables in the garden , , how to make jerkey with no electric, how to make buckskin without all the chemicals, make thread without cotton, replacements for femenine hygene products. i coudl go on and on, id rather find these things out while the electric and net is still on.

[Washkeeton]

What would I like to see in these pages? Well here is my thoughts. If TSHTF, (like it hasnt already), then what? We will need be is to be able to do like our ansestors did. We will need to be able to pick up and do for ourselves. Given any scenario that you could have those that will make it will be those with the skills and ability to sustain independance from the masses. Example: given everything but flood. He that is totally self sustaining with the knowledge of how to make all the parts work together as a whole will be the survivors in the end. You will be the one that knows how to compost your manure to grow your garden to can your food to make the compost piles to grow your own wheat, and grains to make your breads to feed your stock to grow the permanent pasture as well as the hay fields and to get your milk from your cows and/or goats and how to preserve it for future use. you will be the ones with knowledge that will keep you alive on past those that stock up on one year food supply. Yes that is great to have one years supply of food but what after that year is up and there is no more grocerie stores. Dont think that if it gets real bad that the wild game wont dissappear in an alarming rate down there in the lower 48. What if there is no way to mass produce your food again and you have to either raise it or you will starve? Then what?

Above Kritter brings up the points of dental problems, storing vegies, how to make jerkey with no elec, her comment on buckskins not only how to tan it but how to sew it, how to make cloths with out the fabric shops being available. Do you know how do just basic old skills. Mentally turn off your elec for a week and see where you are in your preps. You cant use your stove, heater, coffee pots, alarm clocks, refrigerators, freezers.....the list goes on. What if it dissappeared for ever then what??? Where will you be and what will you be doing???

I guess what my point is here, I have said I live in AK and there is alternatives to a lot of things. I have the fortune to work with a lot of natives of ak. They have told me how they use to store meat before refrigeration, how their elders in barrow used whale blubber for not only eating, cooking, but also to heat their homes cause there are no trees around barrow, they used the whale rib bones to make the cross beams for the roofs of their underground homes. They are both easier to heat and second with the wind they are more protected underground. What we need is a revival of the old skills and have them in writing to asist those that may need them in the future. We need lists of alternative ways and present day resourses to be able to sustain our self sufficient life after the years storage is gone. Our ansestors knew how to live off the land and how to fell a tree and what to do with it after that. Do you?

[Mother]

These all are good ideas to add to the manual. Many of these are already being posted on other forums here, like Urban and Rural homesteading and the Orchard and such. Until they can be added to the manual, check them all out individually.

I agree with needing to know how to live simplistically, at the basic level. Many will need to do just that. The problem with this is that now, unlike in the past, there are SO many people. The population alone will cause tremendous problems in living that lifestyle. There is no way for an apartment dweller to sustain a cow or to have fields of grains. To have all of those city dwellers going into the countryside to make carve out an existance will certainly cause a huge shortage of land, most of which will have to be fought for just to keep if that happened.

When a breakdown comes I'm sure we will lose a lot of people but eventually a semblance of society will be sought and found. One of my suggestions is that each of us find a skill, a service, or a knowledge that we can utilize to be a useful part of society as it might be found. Certainly learn how to sustain yourself and family but also think ahead to what your place might be in the "new" society if you make it through the transition. In our scene, there is no electricity, no communication, all is kaos. What skills do you have or will you need to be able to use to obtain what you can't manufacture or grow yourself? If you aren't able to grow wheat, what do you have to barter with? Can you sew, fix equipment, handle security, nurse, teach, or cook for those who don't have those skills? We only have to look to the past to see the future. During the gold rush days, people earned goodly sums of money doing the menial tasks, like laundry, cooking, sewing and such. What can you do to survive without harming others?

If you have a skill or knowledge but don't have the means to carry it out, perhaps now would be the time to add those items to your preps; treadle sewing machines for those who sew, large pots and pans for those hoping to cook for the masses, books for those wanting to teach, tools for those needing them. The list is endless and I'm sure each of you will come up with different skills and means. The suggestion here is to do it NOW, not after TSHTF.

[Skagitgal]

Because I know myself, I would need a check list of immediate actions. Fill rigs w/fuel, fill extra water containers. Get to the bank and get extra savings.Call children & gear up plan; stop & get the comfort extras cookies, chips etc. Then would come time to implement phase two. According to the weather outside, the next meal is the next activity. The weather determines how much cooking will need to be done. Also head count of who is there and whom is expected. Then the cook needs to project the next day's meals. Meals in this situtation need to be planned at least a day ahead...beans soaked, etc. Bread started, any garden produce brought in. The trick is to stay ahead of potential hysteria; using the preparation of food is good work. Also at this time, men need to inventory hard goods, assess water etc. I would love to have a check list/manual that would assist me. PROBLEM; it is so radically different for each group. My own list has evolved dramatically from when I started. In the beginning we had 3 youngones. Now we have adult children w/their own. THEY have their own needs, have prepared what they felt was necessary; and so on. Excellent question; very hard to answer. I have a check list in the front of my "everything" book as it is the best for me. Keep the ideas coming!!!!

[tsiemens]

I'm really impressed someone thought of dental work....
How about a dog that is trained to hunt some food down and bring it back to cook on said wood stove
By the way if we're all serious about this doomsday stuff, then what we currently percieve as gross and unedible in our minds will have to be modified. Example: T-Bone Raccoon dinner.

[GoatLady]

Maybe Westy can point you to the dog and cat recipes

[pickola2001]

If any one is interested I know of where you can get two books that can help. One tells you what you need to do if there is no doctor and the other tells you what to do if there is no dentist.

[patagoniagal]

Here's the link to the online version of "Where There Is no Doctor"

http://www.healthwrights.org/books/WTINDonline.htm

[Jules]

Mentally turn off your elec for a week and see where you are in your preps. You cant use your stove, heater, coffee pots, alarm clocks, refrigerators, freezers.....the list goes on.

Washkeeton you are right on the money. Recently my family and I did a dry run of this exact thing. We spent the whole weekend off grid. No electricity, no heater, no running water. We used only what we had on hand. Wow! What an eye opener that was, things came into play that I would never have anticipated.
We will do this again this summer, and two or three times a year from now on. Nothing tests your readyness like a live drill. (Except a real emergency or other disaster.)

[michelle]

transportation if needed was mentioned but my 9mo old and 2 yr old can't walk miles and that would be harder for us to carry more stuff. We have a 2seater stroller thats lg and hooks to a bike. We can use our bikes or push it and have space there for some supplies. Just a thought although maybe not feasible in some situations. Money if you need things immediately when something happens. Even if the banks don't collapse doesn't mean you can't access it. During Kat we had $160 in cash to last a family of 3 (just ours) for 2 wks, 6 wks, ???. We had money in the bank and a almost $800 check but couldn't cash or access them. Now I always have at least $500 on hand in cash including change and different size bills. If you get supplies and they can't make change you can't waste your money leaving change from a $20 for $14 in supplies.