START a new thread or mention some good topics for "PREPPING" discussion.
WHAT are some good subjects for: "Prepping Talk" Section.
- Thread starter Sourdough
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I don't want to start a thread since my time is so limited now but a real good idea for all preppers would be ALWAYS think of other ways to use what you have. Ways both in it's current form and modified / repurposed. I make a lot of the stuff I use around here from junk!
ALSO never forget YAHOO
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
ALSO never forget YAHOO
You
Always
Have
Other
Options
Sourdough, you always come up with really good topics!! I have to be careful because I slip from prepping to doomsday survival rather quickly!! I think this country's fate is on the razor's edge!!! So is " how far do you think America will fall" a prepping topic!!??
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How long can you go without seeing a dentist?
How many years of engine oil should one cache?
How to brew up your own black powder?
Ben
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When to harvest what type of fruit?
When Is your corn ready for harvest?
How to evaluate soil quality and how to improve it?
How to graft fruit trees and what time of the year to do so?
How to keep a live batch of brewers yeast?
How to choose a good site for a collection damn?
Ben
When Is your corn ready for harvest?
How to evaluate soil quality and how to improve it?
How to graft fruit trees and what time of the year to do so?
How to keep a live batch of brewers yeast?
How to choose a good site for a collection damn?
Ben
There are 1151 threads in the "Prepping Talk" section.
Almost every topic will fit in one that is already there.
Except: "What prepping 'things' have become available in just the last 3 years?"
Almost every topic will fit in one that is already there.
Except: "What prepping 'things' have become available in just the last 3 years?"
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Good question: I'll circle back and give my "unclear" expectation on your question, later. But for me your question triggers the implied, yet unspoken point of: HOW FAST. At this point I am and would suggest that preppers concentrate on the current SPEED of change. I find that I can't take my eyes off of the speed of shifting world transformation. To me it is just shocking. Yet it is now even slightly on preppers awareness. (Likely because it is not exciting).
When you look at the massive shift in only 14 months, and it is accelerating.
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I would like to see a topic on how to use precious metals that people have been caching. I have not gotten into this yet myself, since I have no idea how to make it work.
Say, you have gold and silver saved up and secured.
(1) How do you use this post-SHTF? The actual mechanics of using it on a day-to-day basis.
(2) How do you measure out small amounts to trade with?
(3) How do you determine purity level (of what someone else offers you, or prove the quality of what you are offering them)
(4) How do you avoid being robbed on the spot, followed home and your stash stolen, etc?
(5) How do you find trustworthy trading partners that have what you want to trade, and are willing to accept precious metals as payment?
(6) How do you negotiate a good "price" for something you want to trade for, where price is some specific weight of a precious metal?
Not knowing the practical aspects of precious metals has kept me at arms length from investing in them (by that I mean "keeping them at my home") Being the cautious type, my mind always imagines the negatives first, before allowing the positives to possibly override my (imagined) negatives. Another issue that holds me back is that I see no practical use for gold/silver after SHTF. I see no intrinsic use for these, other than to trade them (based on perceived "value") for something that is actually useful.
But I know lots of people do indeed cache gold and silver. So I'd like to learn why this is considered practical - the mechanics of actually using it - so I could have a better basis to form an opinion on if I want to invest in it or not.
Say, you have gold and silver saved up and secured.
(1) How do you use this post-SHTF? The actual mechanics of using it on a day-to-day basis.
(2) How do you measure out small amounts to trade with?
(3) How do you determine purity level (of what someone else offers you, or prove the quality of what you are offering them)
(4) How do you avoid being robbed on the spot, followed home and your stash stolen, etc?
(5) How do you find trustworthy trading partners that have what you want to trade, and are willing to accept precious metals as payment?
(6) How do you negotiate a good "price" for something you want to trade for, where price is some specific weight of a precious metal?
Not knowing the practical aspects of precious metals has kept me at arms length from investing in them (by that I mean "keeping them at my home") Being the cautious type, my mind always imagines the negatives first, before allowing the positives to possibly override my (imagined) negatives. Another issue that holds me back is that I see no practical use for gold/silver after SHTF. I see no intrinsic use for these, other than to trade them (based on perceived "value") for something that is actually useful.
But I know lots of people do indeed cache gold and silver. So I'd like to learn why this is considered practical - the mechanics of actually using it - so I could have a better basis to form an opinion on if I want to invest in it or not.
I can shed a little light on this because we do "live-practice" of SHTF down here every year or two with those 'spinny-things'.
Your plastic is useless, ATM's are all offline, and cash is king.
I have never, ever, seen someone try to pay for something even using silver coins when things got really bad.
If you need to buy a $850 generator... you better have a pile of c-notes.
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Someone in every area with half a brain will start telling people they will except silver or gold for goods they have to get rid of. Most likely seed or food or a homemade product. Then it will catch on.
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1. You would likely trade silver for things that you can't or unwilling to trade anything else for. Gold would be used for items after SHTF during the rebuild as it has been historically.
2. You can use scales, all types. You should have various weights of coins in both 1964 and earlier US coins and 1oz rounds and up to 10oz. Bars.
3. Have a magnet and an acid test kit. Also a published book on testing precious metals and make the testing transparent.
4.the same way you prevent it when trading anything of value. Be armed with a trusted group in a neutral agreed upon trading place. Have scouts, take an alternate route home, have a consealed lookout with radio to see if your followed.
5. Establish trading partners pre SHTF. Then only trade with those of accepted reputations.
6. That takes experience and knowledge of previous trade values that's adjusted by current supply and demand.
I hope that helps.
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Very nice outline but a factor that was omitted was the transportability of gold and silver. They travel lighter when exchanging goods and services between graphically diverse locations.
Say tou produce a big pile of spuds and onions, more than you can use, and could use a plow that someone in the next town over can make.
How may spuds does a plow cost?
How to transport the spuds?
If one carried an once or two of gold or a pound or so of silver it may just be worth a plow share.
Ben
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Some possible thread subjects:
- How remote does your dwelling need to be in a very severe crisis?
- Gathering, transporting and treating water for drinking when the quality is unknown.
- What constitutes a defensible location in a very severe crisis?
- Run, Hide, Fight - which game plan makes the most sense for a survivalist?
- For those who aren't growing 100% of their food now - when (after a very severe collapse) should they start doing that?
- Irrigation and pest control of crops and gardens without power or fuel.
- How will you know if someone is watching you?
- Communications OPSEC after a very severe crisis hits.
- Rule the night - why and how.
- Water and gravity - a marriage made in heaven.
- Concealment around you - the two edge sword.
- The best defense is often offence - what constitutes the right balance.
- The survivalist and Sun Tzu.
- What constitutes the optimum survivalist mindset.
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They didn't advertise it very well, I didn't find out until later in the week that Texas has a sales tax holiday weekend for emergency preparedness supplies, meaning you don't pay taxes on them.
So for next year:
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php
So for next year:
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/98-1017.php
Aye...
...etc, etc, etc.. ('Makeshift Camp Sink' credit: My Son..
Gr8 List
I might kindly suggest....But I'm betting that was likely 'already baked in there'...
jd
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Risk management.
As an outsider, it seems to me that a lot of prepping is about risk management but few preppers appear to understand the specifics in details.
How to keep up the 'interest', enthusiasm, etc. for prepping in the long term (many years), without getting bored and burning out on it.
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I don't think too much can be said about water and waste. Growing up in Texas, water has been a topic of concern my whole life. How many of us have a practical plan for dealing with waste?
Yeah, I just found out last week after it was over. There's another tax holiday in a couple of weeks for Energy Star products. Just in time for me since I need a new AC and refrigerator.
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/96-1331.php
Here's a list of which states have tax holidays and what kind.
https://taxadmin.org/sales-tax-holidays/
Yeah, I just found out last week after it was over. There's another tax holiday in a couple of weeks for Energy Star products. Just in time for me since I need a new AC and refrigerator.
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/publications/96-1331.php
Here's a list of which states have tax holidays and what kind.
https://taxadmin.org/sales-tax-holidays/
Well, I do. I used it most days
I would hope everybody has a practical plan for this, but I've been surprised before how many people simple don't think about things.
The "UGLY" & uncomfortable TRUTH.
If you ain't living a Post SHTF lifestyle, before the SHTF. (one week a month or FULL time, you will learn a violent lesson). "IT is the TRANSITION, That KILLS".
If you ain't living a Post SHTF lifestyle, before the SHTF. (one week a month or FULL time, you will learn a violent lesson). "IT is the TRANSITION, That KILLS".
I don't think we can TRULY be completely prepared ahead of time. But the closer you are, the less hard the transition will be.
It helps to be periodically tested...every year about this time I usually get 'hit' and am reminded that I need to get back in the habit of security, more on this later.....but I will say, living with bears is a great way to keep you on your toes.
[dealing with waste]Well, I do. I used it most days
I would hope everybody has a practical plan for this, but I've been surprised before how many people simple don't think about things.
It almost caught me with my pants down (pun).
Butt, we were prepared.
When SHTF here in 2020, This One saved our azz.
Personally, I have no intention of living a post-SHTF lifestyle before the SHTF.
In fact, part of my prepping is to prepare for no SHTF event to occur. That is why I save for retirement. That is why I encouraged my kids to go to college. That is why I buy a nice bottle of wine every now and then, and plan a vacation.
As to the TRANSITION being the killer...maybe. But for me, I rely on having a proper mindset to compensate during the transition. The transition will surely kill many. But, I am nothing if not adapative. If a SHTF event occurred now, I have the mental ability to write off my 401k, etc., and change gears immediately. I can assess my options, and act. With fewer options, my ability to act is only enhanced, not diminished. I think a key aspect of "prepping" is developing a mindset of adaptability, something I developed a long time ago in the service.
And if the SHTF never happens...I will be quite glad I never spent my entire life living a post-SHTF existence, waiting for something to happen that never occurred.
IMO, if you don't enjoy living like it already happened, you're not doing it right.
Not sure if you are agreeing with me or not, but it kind of sounds like you are agreeing. I for one have adopted the attitude that something bad is likely coming, and the cause of that something bad has likely already occurred. So, when it does, I will be mentally prepared for it. If something bad does not happen, I will be very pleasantly surprised. So, I'm kind of "enjoying living like it already happened" (or, at least, like the causes of it have happened, even if the bad effects have not yet occurred). That allows me to be a lot more calm in political discussions. When I debate politics with someone now (which is rarer than before), my perspective is not one of a political zealot trying to get my way; rather, I am more of an academic, studying how the downfall is occurring.
When it is all done, instead of writing "The Annals of Rome," maybe I will write "The Annals of America." (A nod and a wink to my namesake.)
Nero views the burning of Rome, 64 A.D. (painting by Karl von Piloty):
I disagree. I grew up living a in a 'stone-age' world and worked hard my whole life to live the life we enjoy today.
I am not going back, just to prove a point.
If we had to, I could...
And yes, I have used and maintained an outhouse before, but not going to again unless I am forced to
.
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Okay, I will clarify what I mean by " if you don't enjoy living like it already happened, you're not doing it right"
This is an OLD saying of mine, because I find it very useful shorthand to address several 'destructive' prepping philosophies that I've seen.
A common way of looking a prepping that I have seen, goes something like this:
"When SHTF life is going to be hard and miserable, I'm fully prepared for that hard miserible life, but I'm going to enjoy all the modern comforts while I can"
There are two major problems I have with this view:
First, I think very very few people not already living a hard, miserable life, are actually prepared to do so. (And most people currently living a hard miserable life, are actually in a very dangerous situation with no security and would be the first to die in any large change)
Second, This statement is usually used as an excuse NOT TO PREP. Instead of setting up a solar system so you can still watch shows on your TV, you just say "I'll be working too hard to need to watch TV"
Instead of building a plumbed in off grid water system, you are saying "I'll just have to give up hot showers in SHTF"
Instead of having a SHTF capable vehicle and fuel storage you are just saying "I won't go anywhere in SHTF"
Or the worst of all "I hate eating the foods I have prepped so I will eat 'normal' foods until I'm forced to actually use my prepped food.
Living like it already happened ONLY Means giving up comforts, if you did not prepare to live a comfortable life after SHTF, and regardless of what you think, if you have prepped for a very different living situation post SHTF, than you currently enjoy, you are not likely to make the transition well. It's much easier to prep to not need to adapt to most things, than it is to train yourself to truly adapt to something that may never happen.
What it does mean, is that you have to actually do all the work to have the comforts you want, in a SHTF situation, rather than hand waving them off as something you don't want to prep for.
I grew up without indoor plumbing, but it was installed when I was 16....I kept using the outhouse as I never felt comfortable doing my business inside. When I moved to AK, I had a dry cabin with an outhouse so that was no transition, when I came back to MT, and built my house, I never considered putting in septic.
I hand dug an outhouse, which lasted seven years....and then made a much larger pit for the next one, that based on the volume and time of the last one, should last at least 25 years before I need a new one.
Personally, at this point in life, I find defecating inside one's home somewhat gross and unsanitary. (to say nothing of public bathrooms)
But that is just a preference. I like big hot baths, for instance, and so have a off grid water system so I can run a hot bat indefinitely in SHTF. I hate washing dishes, so I have an ultra efficient dishwasher that I can run off solar.
If I really enjoyed a porcelain throne, I would prep one.
This is an OLD saying of mine, because I find it very useful shorthand to address several 'destructive' prepping philosophies that I've seen.
A common way of looking a prepping that I have seen, goes something like this:
"When SHTF life is going to be hard and miserable, I'm fully prepared for that hard miserible life, but I'm going to enjoy all the modern comforts while I can"
There are two major problems I have with this view:
First, I think very very few people not already living a hard, miserable life, are actually prepared to do so. (And most people currently living a hard miserable life, are actually in a very dangerous situation with no security and would be the first to die in any large change)
Second, This statement is usually used as an excuse NOT TO PREP. Instead of setting up a solar system so you can still watch shows on your TV, you just say "I'll be working too hard to need to watch TV"
Instead of building a plumbed in off grid water system, you are saying "I'll just have to give up hot showers in SHTF"
Instead of having a SHTF capable vehicle and fuel storage you are just saying "I won't go anywhere in SHTF"
Or the worst of all "I hate eating the foods I have prepped so I will eat 'normal' foods until I'm forced to actually use my prepped food.
Living like it already happened ONLY Means giving up comforts, if you did not prepare to live a comfortable life after SHTF, and regardless of what you think, if you have prepped for a very different living situation post SHTF, than you currently enjoy, you are not likely to make the transition well. It's much easier to prep to not need to adapt to most things, than it is to train yourself to truly adapt to something that may never happen.
What it does mean, is that you have to actually do all the work to have the comforts you want, in a SHTF situation, rather than hand waving them off as something you don't want to prep for.
And yes, I have used and maintained an outhouse before, but not going to again unless I am forced to
I grew up without indoor plumbing, but it was installed when I was 16....I kept using the outhouse as I never felt comfortable doing my business inside. When I moved to AK, I had a dry cabin with an outhouse so that was no transition, when I came back to MT, and built my house, I never considered putting in septic.
I hand dug an outhouse, which lasted seven years....and then made a much larger pit for the next one, that based on the volume and time of the last one, should last at least 25 years before I need a new one.
Personally, at this point in life, I find defecating inside one's home somewhat gross and unsanitary. (to say nothing of public bathrooms)
But that is just a preference. I like big hot baths, for instance, and so have a off grid water system so I can run a hot bat indefinitely in SHTF. I hate washing dishes, so I have an ultra efficient dishwasher that I can run off solar.
If I really enjoyed a porcelain throne, I would prep one.
That tells me all I need to know.
