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CountryGuy

Awesome Friend
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Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
217
Location
Central PA
I thought it might be a fun exercise to see the different directions people might go and what each person might prioritize for 'themselves'. So I propose a little writing exercise or a spot to do a little preparedness mental masturbation. I'll give a few loose parameters and then off you go, give us what your next steps would be to get prepared.

Now, no pooping on others ideas, methods or priorities, stick to your own scenario unless it's to ask questions on maybe why someone did or prioritized something a particular way. I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea and that's OK if not. For those that like to write or enjoying brainstorming, I hope you'll participate. With the Holidays now on us, maybe some people will have a little more downtime they're looking to fill.

So let's say you're in your mid to late 20's and single. Maybe your just out of the military, school, the convent, jail, wherever... doesn't really matter to this other than to serve as a jump off point. You've arrived here on the side of the road, your eyes having opened for the first time, realizing things in the world suck, that you have nothing if things go sideways and you now know you need to prepare... somehow... to some level.

So let's assume you have a modicum of knowledge about basics of preparedness/ homesteading, maybe you've been reading up online. So besides a duffel bag of clothes, a cell phone and a 15 year old pickup, the only thing you have is a small nest egg of say 20, nope make it $10K.

What do you do next?

Have fun!
 
I really don't know any mid to late 20's single people interested in homesteading/preparedness. That seems to be the superman stage of life. And if this person is single, they probably wouldn't be caring about taking care of a family by prepping...so?
But...if there was a person with those parameters, I'd say to use the money to find a place to park your butt. Some where out of the city of course, some where you could stay under the wire and grow stuff to eat. Raise some animals to eat. Obviously a red state.
 
I thought it might be a fun exercise to see the different directions people might go and what each person might prioritize for 'themselves'. So I propose a little writing exercise or a spot to do a little preparedness mental masturbation. I'll give a few loose parameters and then off you go, give us what your next steps would be to get prepared.

Now, no pooping on others ideas, methods or priorities, stick to your own scenario unless it's to ask questions on maybe why someone did or prioritized something a particular way. I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea and that's OK if not. For those that like to write or enjoying brainstorming, I hope you'll participate. With the Holidays now on us, maybe some people will have a little more downtime they're looking to fill.

So let's say you're in your mid to late 20's and single. Maybe your just out of the military, school, the convent, jail, wherever... doesn't really matter to this other than to serve as a jump off point. You've arrived here on the side of the road, your eyes having opened for the first time, realizing things in the world suck, that you have nothing if things go sideways and you now know you need to prepare... somehow... to some level.

So let's assume you have a modicum of knowledge about basics of preparedness/ homesteading, maybe you've been reading up online. So besides a duffel bag of clothes, a cell phone and a 15 year old pickup, the only thing you have is a small nest egg of say 20, nope make it $10K.

What do you do next?

Have fun!
Interesting - will have to think on it. Do I have to have the stinkin' phone 😂 Would love to drop that in a ditch some days.
 
This is an easy one for me . Take that 10,000 and put it as a down payment on a piece of bare ,vacant , remote piece of property hopefully with a year around natural water supply . -- The reason this is easy for me , I have already done just that only I didn't have 10.000 dollars but did have another piece of property that I deemed not worthy for a prepper even though it did have year around natural water and used the property I already owned for collateral to buy my now existing survival property . My wife , myself and two children started off on that newly acquired property sleeping on the ground in a tent . We cooked over a open fire , washed our dishes in a creek , and bathed in the creek for months . ---- My daughter years later told me that was one of the best things that I ever done and I agree with her . Now on that property we have prospered from living in a tent to three board and nail houses and tomorrow a guy is coming out to look at a site where we are starting on a fourth house to bid on putting in a concrete slab for a split level house . That 4th house is not the end of our house building as more or planned for the growing tribe .
 
That wouldn't work well if he went remote. Getting wifi at our place was a big deal, and half the time netflix doesn't even work. Companies don't want to do much out by us because the majority of the 800 people that live here don't have electricity anyway. The grand kids get a prepaid card when we go into the big town with a Walmart. So they have a hotspot.
 
This is an easy one for me . Take that 10,000 and put it as a down payment on a piece of bare ,vacant , remote piece of property hopefully with a year around natural water supply . -- The reason this is easy for me , I have already done just that only I didn't have 10.000 dollars but did have another piece of property that I deemed not worthy for a prepper even though it did have year around natural water and used the property I already owned for collateral to buy my now existing survival property . My wife and two children started off on that newly acquired property sleeping on the ground in a tent . We cooked over a open fire , washed our dishes in a creek , and bathed in the creek for months . ---- My daughter years later told me that was one of the best things that I ever done and I agree with her . Now on that property we have prospered from living in a tent to three board and nail houses and tomorrow a guy is coming out to look at a site where we are starting on a fourth house to bid on putting in a concrete slab for a split level house . That 4th house is not the end of our house building as more or planned for growing tribe .
Got you but in your real life world you had property already to leverage. What I proposed, if you spend the 10K on the down payment, you now have $0.00. That $10K was all and everything.. so no grocerys for the week, no gas for the truck...
 
I would be looking for a job and trying to line up transportation and some shelter. After that, I would most likely drop $750 on shelf stable food. 1 person would not need a lot and $750 could be almost a year's supply if you shopped around.

I would be looking for some property that I could sink some roots into but if you need a 20% down payment the best you would be looking for is about $25K and in today's market that is not even half a vacant lot... If you could save up $50K and have a reasonable job you would have a much better chance of getting started.... But it would still be hard to work.
 
Can't say what I'd do today. I got out of the Army at 21. I drove from Ft. Ord, CA to Bellingham, to Mexico, to Hayward, and then straight home to Alaska with a shortcut through NY.

Six weeks after discharge I had a job on a tug, so there wasn't a lot of laying around once I got home. Shortly thereafter I bought a house and immediately rented it out, as I was never home anyway. All the rent and a good portion of my pay went towards the mortgage. After 2 years I was burned out from never being home so I quit and found work ashore. A few month later I moved into my house and started collecting extra grub.

The word "prepper" didn't exist back then. That's the way my parents and grandparents lived, I didn't know any other way, still don't.

I paid off the house in under 5 years, which was handy when I got an eye infection and couldn't go outside for several months. The medicine I needed would have caused me to go blind in direct sun. That's when I found out that a few months of food was inadequate.

$10,000? I started with less than that. The house only cost $15,000 and came with 1 1/4 acre. I divided it into thirds and eventually sold at a profit. That helped with the new house.
 
Under those parameters...

I'd use the 10k to find a cheap apartment somewhere near a spot with lots of employers. Say, 15 or 20 miles outside of a smaller city of 10 to 50 thousand people. Alternatively I might look for an acreage to rent in the area. I would be job hunting right now! And I'd be plowing any leftover money into savings and/or something like PMs that I could liquidate fairly easily. I would try to build capital. Without capital, I wouldn't even try to homestead or purchase land.

I'd build up a good little SHTF stockpile of necessities. One young person doesn't need a crap ton of food and toilet paper put away but there needs to be something in reserve. Invest in 3 or 4 guns and some Ammunition for all of them. A 22, shotgun, handgun and rifle. I wouldn't worry about a huge stockpile of Ammunition yet but I would add to my stash when possible. And I would learn some skills like welding, plumbing, and carpentry either through employment or by seeking out those who could teach me.

Realistically a young person without capital isn't going to get much prepping done fast. But once that down payment on a chunk of land can be made, that's when the fun can begin and all the other little things I mentioned can come into play...
 
I thought it might be a fun exercise to see the different directions people might go and what each person might prioritize for 'themselves'. So I propose a little writing exercise or a spot to do a little preparedness mental masturbation. I'll give a few loose parameters and then off you go, give us what your next steps would be to get prepared.

Now, no pooping on others ideas, methods or priorities, stick to your own scenario unless it's to ask questions on maybe why someone did or prioritized something a particular way. I know this won't be everyone's cup of tea and that's OK if not. For those that like to write or enjoying brainstorming, I hope you'll participate. With the Holidays now on us, maybe some people will have a little more downtime they're looking to fill.

So let's say you're in your mid to late 20's and single. Maybe your just out of the military, school, the convent, jail, wherever... doesn't really matter to this other than to serve as a jump off point. You've arrived here on the side of the road, your eyes having opened for the first time, realizing things in the world suck, that you have nothing if things go sideways and you now know you need to prepare... somehow... to some level.

So let's assume you have a modicum of knowledge about basics of preparedness/ homesteading, maybe you've been reading up online. So besides a duffel bag of clothes, a cell phone and a 15 year old pickup, the only thing you have is a small nest egg of say 20, nope make it $10K.

What do you do next?

Have fun!
Heh. you read my biography somewhere did you?
My parents had a basement full of canned goods, I wasted no time in converting into a fallout shelter. I read "How to survive the H bomb and why." It blew my mind! back in the 80's most of us kids were convinced the world was ending tomorrow anyway, instead of giving up, I was determined to see the other side of doomsday, when I could find work, I bought a 10/22 rifle and a six pack of magazines and a fifty caliber can full of ammo, later I bought an M-1A and a scope mount and a case of NATO. after that NBC gear and books, $h1t tons of books! American survival guide, SWAT, Soldier of fortune, Survive, Firepower magazine, I prepped my mind for decades, all on a minimal budget, I acquired skills from Veterans and professional soldiers (Military contractors these days, they used to call them mercenaries.) and discovered what worked where, how and why, I learned to repair things and or modify them to my needs. (ask me about rat traps and wind up alarm clocks. LOL)
The world has changed, meat n potatoes technology is gone, backyard farming is a pipe dream at best unless you can devote at least an acre, and don't get me going on AR-15s and all the damn junk you can weigh them down with. I would not have even consider owning one until the middle 90's but now it seems I have all but converted over. now I need to learn to love a flat top. LOL My advice to beginners is start by feeding your head when you can't stockpile equipment, learn to hide in plain sight and have a reason for everything. Always remember, An assembled silencer that isn't registered is illegal, a hunk of tubing and a roll of screen wire chucked in random drawers is junk. a pack of M-16 parts in your AR is a machine gun, thrown in a drawer with other gun related junk is a parts kit, you get the idea. Its not a BOL, its a campsite, Its not a food supply, its a bargain day bonanza, Its not an EMT box, its a camping medical kit. grey man it to death and feed your head before you buy the first round of ammo! Some old codger or washed up has been might just give you information that will set you up nice and keep you alive!
 
I would head north to Alaska and find my way to a fishery somewhere in the inside passage, work my ass off, get some property deep in some unnamed cove, and disappear.

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So already have a pickup, that helps. And 10k US ..so 12.5k CAD thereabouts. Better off than when we started.

Year 1.
Get transportation. Already provided by your parameters. Find cheap land at the corner of no and where, previously mostly clear cut few years back, a mess but otherwise meets all requirements. Spend 8k of the 12.5k. Meals consist of whatever the dollar store sells. A whole lot of noodles. Buy a second hand tent. Beat a path into your mess of a property, pitch tent, sort cooking area and sanitation area. Get a reasonably good job due to past experience. 3 months in said tent while making enough of a driveway. Buy 30 year old travel trailer and replace tent with it. Put up 2 small cheap storage sheds. Try a vegetable garden but your so busy it basically fails. Try not to freeze to death first winter.
Year 2
Due to no rent, no electricity, no water, eating too many noodles you now have built up some capital. Get more road put in and area cleared. Can afford to rent large machines this time. It's faster. Get well drilled. Start building better more useful out buildings. Still no over heads so mylar, 5 gallon buckets and rice start getting stacked at the back of the sheds. It's relatively cheap so a fast prep. Slowly adding modern equipment. A log splitter. yay no more axe. A chainsaw. Even better. A generator to run said equipment. Install first small solar system. Yay no more charging the phone in the truck. You have lights at night!! Bigger vegetable garden, it does better, you have more tools, less stress. Make your own maple syrup. Build a chicken coop and add chickens. Still adding to dry storage. You can begin with slightly more expensive prepping.
Year 3.
Your on your way now. Still no overheads. Still coaxing that old pickup along. Your eating good now. You can afford bettet food. Better prepping. You have started canning. Adding more diverse livestock. Started building a cabin. Learned so much over 3 years, irritating people on forums for more ideas.

Don't think I need to carry on. It's a hard life to start but totally doable. And then suddenly you realize it's not so hard anymore. You've achieved so much even if people look down on your little homestead with no concept of what's hidden in it or the pride you take in it.
 
I would head north to Alaska and find my way to a fishery somewhere in the inside passage, work my ass off, get some property deep in some unnamed cove, and disappear.

View attachment 76082

This exactly........Work seasonal jobs, that pay super well, but are semi-dangerous and hard manual labor. Purchase a large barge, build a cabin on the barge, tow it or have it towed to a hidden bay with a hidden cove, with a fresh water creek. Harvest a deer every two or three weeks, catch shrimp, crab, and twenty kinds of ocean fish, poach waterfowl. Go to town every two months, purchase a little food, and massive amount of tequila. Try to woo some hot, sexy lady into the joys of living in the wilderness. Try to find a dog, if can't find a woman.
 
This exactly........Work seasonal jobs, that pay super well, but are semi-dangerous and hard manual labor. Purchase a large barge, build a cabin on the barge, tow it or have it towed to a hidden bay with a hidden cove, with a fresh water creek. Harvest a deer every two or three weeks, catch shrimp, crab, and twenty kinds of ocean fish, poach waterfowl. Go to town every two months, purchase a little food, and massive amount of tequila. Try to woo some hot, sexy lady into the joys of living in the wilderness. Try to find a dog, if can't find a woman.
My Tennant just got hauled off by the troopers. You can have his dog, and it's already here in S.E. Alaska.
 
I finally gave it some thought and came up with: Wow, that's way ahead of how I got started.
So first, I would figure out what part of the country I wanted to land in and head in that proximity. I'd find a tow-behind trailer that suit my needs. Get a job! Save every spare penny I could until I saved enough to purchase some land. Those couple steps right there would set me in the right direction and are the most difficult.
 
What is interesting about this "forum" can be summed up in this thread. Ask this question on most forums, and I would expect, right from the second post, that 95% would priority firearm selection. With the thread near instantly evolving into a pissing contest about the best "Survival Gun".

The responses here show the age and maturity, depth of "Real Life"......Boots in the Field Experience.
 
I can get you going on micro-gardening and mushrooms. the pizza kind OR the "I see GOD kind." ;)

If you can stack four used tires up and make a PVC watering tube that will reach to the bottom you can have over a bushel of potatoes out of each tire pile at harvest.

got a cracked fish tank? don't chuck it, grow mushrooms! Use a 6" layer of horse manure, cover it lightly in rolled oats and shredded straw like horses eat, NOT pine straw! Go to Kroger and buy the unwashed, cheapo mushrooms and rinse them in a pint of distilled water with a soft brush and liberally sprinkle the grey muck water into your tank and throw a sheet over it, if all went well, the caps ought to be up in a week.

Onions and garlic grow wild here and re seed themselves, get a couple of hardy bulbs that have gone feral and put them in a tire, water once a week lightly, they were originally a desert plant.

Turnips. I refuse to eat them any other way but pickled, but the greens are another matter and in moderate areas replenish themselves every two weeks or so. once they get started, you can pretty much ignore them except for weeds.

Polk is a wild food, if its not made right it can kill you, HOWEVER prepared right is a nutritious green and once it gets started, you have to uproot it to get rid of it and its self seeding. to utilize this tasty herb, get it when its about a foot tall and trim the leaves off to a 6" stub.
Boil it twice! bring to a boil for twenty minutes, change the water and bring back to a boil again for twenty minutes, some people do this a third time, but I never saw the need and I literally have eaten tons of it only double boiled. after you get your "MESS" (What the old folk call a pot of prepared Polk.) you can roll it in corn meal and add an egg for fried "French style" eat it right out of the pot with salt and pepper, shred and put in your cornbread mix or add to a stew. a big plus is that even though the seeds are poisonous, they are not to birds, and they will be all in there spreading your Polk far and wide in the form of purple poo. get the bb gun and treat yourself to roasted robin.

Carrots can be grown in tires as well, but only go two high, they won't get any longer than a foot no matter what you try.

Wild mustard, once you bring it in, you've got it! another hearty green and it grows year around here, once it makes seed you can make sandwich mustard if you know how.

Lambs Quarter. a wild herb that makes mild and flavorful greens, it refuses to grow here however.

Ground cherries, the dwarf American version of the tomatillo. Tomatillo - Wikipedia
How to Grow Ground Cherries when ripe, the ground cherry makes a tasty berry that has a unique flavor, they won't grow here either, but Tomatillos will, but no sweet berry in the fall.

Speaking of sweet, Saccharum spontaneum - Wikipedia
There you go AmishHeart, a garden anyone can grow and looks like a weed lot.
 
Does anyone do sassafras tea, all kind of wild herbs, heard that sage makes good tea for congestion, lambs ears good for bandages, hawthorn good for the heart, rose hips vitamin c, plantain lots of plants good for what ails you
 
I love both sage and mint, sage is another hardy herb and good seasoning!

Pine trees are a great source of vitamin C, the green needles as a tea and eating the white inner bark or heating the green cones to get the syrup would get you by if you never saw another orange again.
 
I love both sage and mint, sage is another hardy herb and good seasoning!

Pine trees are a great source of vitamin C, the green needles as a tea and eating the white inner bark or heating the green cones to get the syrup would get you by if you never saw another orange again.
I like pine needles. They taste like gin.

Ben
 
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