[Terry G]

I'm not really what you would call a "Survialist". I'm a regular camper, wilderness only, no "Parks". I can navigate with map and compass and have done the "Rim to Rim" Grand Canyon hike. Every year my Son and I travel to an Canadian Outpost for a week's worth of fishing. No electricity, running water, or means of communication. 35 miles from anyone by boat. We make out quite well. Oh, yeah, bears in the camp all the time. I'm sure I could survive quite well. BUT, what do you with your spouse, children, maybe elderly relatives, pet's, etc.? Leave them on their own? My survival plan is to have my loved one's come to me and use my home as a base, rather than heading out into the bush by myself. Great to talk about skill's but in all likely hood you have heavier "baggage" than a BOB.

 

[Magnum88C]

Good question.
This is one reason the bug-in would be my first option.
Failing that, pack 'em in the vehicles and head off.
I also feel it's better to have a small-community setup. There's plenty they can do around "basecamp" without needing to do anything beyond their abilities. Remember that a lot of these people could greatly aid in "holding the fort" -- Grandpa might not be able to walk real fast, but he can still shoot his Garand just fine. Ya know? there's cooking, cleaning, minor maintainance, etc. that needs being done.

The big problem would be one that needs certain prescription medications to stay alive. That one is a personal, and tough call.

 

[Kent]

I have talked to some relatives and friends, in a round about way, about these scenarios. Most dont take this seriously. It seems to me that some would rather just die.

Everyone can contribute, in different ways, if they have the drive to live. That doesn't make them "baggage". The "baggage" will probably be dead.

 

[Wylycoyte]

The big problem would be one that needs certain prescription medications to stay alive. That one is a personal, and tough call.

Many times this can be overcome with a certain amount of stockpiling, though. A friend of mine's wife is a diabetic. While a long-term SHTF scenario would probably mean serious problems for her, they've told me they have a year's worth of shelf-stable insulin in reserve. At least that's a start, and probably enough for most scenarios to play out. Having more at their bug out location would also be a good thing...I'll ask them to see if they've placed some there already, for their sake.

 

[Teufelhund]

My survival plans include my family and staying at home, should staying at home be more dangerous than it's worth we are heading into remote rugged country. We backpack and horse pack several times a year and are all good equestrians.

The gear for a bug-out would basically be our winter camping "elk camp" fortified. Camp box with dutch oven, cooking/eating gear. Basic "pioneer tools" 3/4 ax, bowsaw, wood handled e-tool sharpning tools ect. Shelter would be two canvas 12'x12' pyramid tents with 4' sidewalls. They go up with one pole and shed snow much better than a typical wall tent, both tents have small folding sheet metal stoves and separate rain/snow flies. I would either "winterize" the tents for the long term, build some kind of rough cabin or use natural shelter. Depends on where we decide to go exactly, I have places scouted that could go a couple different ways.

Of course there would be other things not normally taken on a two week pack trip, mucho ammo and chow, expanded med kit ect. The normal two week trip for five takes two horse packed light. I've got tack to pack 6 and a typical saddle hores will carry 250 lbs, so you can load them up as well past the riders weight. Most of the weight on the "two horse" hunting string is the basic gear. We could pack nearly a ton of supplies in on six pack animal and the saddle horses in a single trip. Who knows we may be able to get a couple trips before shit gets really bad our way or we may have moved some bulk supplies in advance. I have to believe we are going to have a bit of a warning from both coast as to which way the winds blowing.

I'm going into remote wild country and setting up a well hidden armed camp and hopefully wouldn't see another soul for a few months. We would live off stored chow, game, range steers and the pack horses if that didn't work out.

I would prefer to spend at least a full winter snowed in the high country before I came down, a good hard winter will thin out any potencial looting refugee's. When the snow hits no one goes in or out of the high country,at least in the posture it would take to un-ass us. We would have to move the horses around a bit in high country "parks", but there are always places the snow doesn't drift deep, horses will paw though a couple feet of snow for chow and eat snow. You find those places over the years when you are in elk hunting. Of course some of the horses would die and the "easy keepers" would survive thats how things go, some horses are just high maint.

In the winter the mountains are quiet and the nights are bright, a little judgment in setting up camp and you shouldn't have any visiters, if you do they will be seen before they see you. Fat chance not many are going to hike 20 some miles or more though 6 foot drifts to just be loafing around at 10,000 feet in the winter.

No telling what could or may never happen, you just need to be flexable and have a plan that works for you. We like horses, hunting and high country camping, we are going to make that work for us.

Teuf,

 

[andy]

wrong. a good winter will let the looters get all stocked up and SKILLED, feeding off of the stupid, and the cattle you abandoned. All a horse is, is a BIG, tempting target. No problem ALL hitting a horse at 00 yds with a shorty 223, or at 600 yds with a long-barreled one. Just a .22lr in a horse will mean it aint worth keeping around anymore.

 

[RIKA]

Bugging in is the first option for me. I have an obligation to take care of some of the people I've 'adopted' as well as my Dad. Dad and I have plenty of supplies. My friends are working on getting their own stuff. Running out and saving only myself is not an option. If we had to leave, I would find a way to take them somehow.

RIKA

 

[Kent]

Horses can be eaten and their hides tanned just like any other animal.

I wish I had a few to tale along.

And, the looters will be too busy shooting each other. Ever see people in a total panic? it ain't pretty. Just stay out of the crossfire, and let them have at it.

 

[Teufelhund]

You know what JD, how many times do you have to be show you don't know what the fuck you are talking about before you stop commenting on things you don't have a clue about.

You don't know fuck about the high country, you don't know fuck about back country travel on foot or on horses and you don't know fuck about long term outdoor living or even the short term for that matter.

All you do know about is carping from the sidelines, oh and your plan to abandon your wife. Which is about as low life a thing as you have ever done. If it weren't for her you would still be asking how to stay warm in your van.

You would be better off staying the fuck out of threads I'm involved in.

Teuf,

 

[Hasher]

Well said Tuef.

Hey andy how about you go eat a nice big bowl of SHUT THE FUCK UP.

Then you can use the spoon to eat my ass for dessert.

 

[Garand]

I define a "survivalist" as a person or persons trying to survive a catastrophic event. Describe a catastrophic event; fire, flood, hurricane, the balloon going up, economic collapse, nuclear war, a boat sinking, etc. Financial planning for your retirement could be described as an activity of someone who wants to survive. You don't have to have a packed underground bunker and 300 rifles to be considered a survivalist, just someone who is prepared for the worst.

As for the dipstick; well,

 

[Hasher]

Nice one Garand

 

[John in AR]

We’re several miles outside the city limits of our small town, which is itself about 25-30 miles outside the nearest large city; Little Rock. Even though it’s the state capitol, LR is still only a population of 250,000 or so, nothing like a New York, Detroit, LA, etc; so being 30 miles from it is probably as good as being 100 miles from a truly big city.

Family have a ton of extremely rural property approx 55-60 miles even farther out, and it doesn’t necessitate going thru or even toward any substantial population centers on the way. By ‘rural’, I mean “RURAL”; up until the 90’s, there wasn’t even a road address, mail just was addressed “Recipient Name, Town name, Arkansas, ZIP code”.

In total, there’s over 1,100 acres, with 6 houses, 10 or 12 barns, root/storm cellars, pastures, cattle, poultry, horses, woods, ponds, creeks, and even one small waterfall, all on the family property. With a wife & two kids, the ‘backpack survivalist’ approach is absolutely last resort; not our first option. Assuming it’s possible to stay there, (not burned out, etc), a year there would entail primarily converting electric well pumps back to manual power, etc; which were converted to electric back in the 1970’s. We’d probably have it better than a lot of people; especially city people.

Hard things would include my mother (and probably soon a brother) living 80 miles in the wrong direction; driving through Little Rock to get there. If time permitted and they could get to us, or I could get them rounded up, they’d be with us. But if not, my absolute main responsibility is to my wife & kids, and they’d have to be taken care of first; nothing gets in the way of that, even other blood relatives. Sounds harsh I guess, but it’s a fact.


Regarding:

"… Just a .22lr in a horse will mean it aint worth keeping around anymore."

Certainly “could” incapacitate or even kill a horse if hit right, but it’s not a foregone conclusion.

I suspect most horses are tougher (and likely smarter…) than me, and I walked a half mile back to the house with a .22LR solid in me back in 1987. Treatment involved antiseptic and gauze on the entrance wound, and cutting/pulling the bullet out, and stitching the removal point (a whopping three stitches); followed by a couple days on the couch. Admittedly had a doctor do the removal & stitching, but it was nothing my wife or several others there couldn’t have handled.

Wounds and injuries could definitely be a MAJOR problem post-shtf, with no hospitals, doctors, etc; but not every injury would mean death. Ever notice how many caveman skeletons in museums have scarred bone tissue from breaks, etc…? A very large percentage of them do. They survived them, and even post-shtf, we’d still be light-years ahead of cavemen regarding medical care.

edit... just got to thinking about it. That happened December 22, 1987; tomorrow it'll be 17 years exactly.

 

[Stillwater]

You know what JD, how many times do you have to be show you don't know what the fuck you are talking about before you stop commenting on things you don't have a clue about.

You don't know fuck about the high country, you don't know fuck about back country travel on foot or on horses and you don't know fuck about long term outdoor living or even the short term for that matter.

All you do know about is carping from the sidelines, oh and your plan to abandon your wife. Which is about as low life a thing as you have ever done. If it weren't for her you would still be asking how to stay warm in your van.

You would be better off staying the fuck out of threads I'm involved in.

Teuf,

Hey NUTTY JOHN, Teuf has just given you the PURE word. When are you going to get sense enough to listen? NEVER!

 

[Hasher]

I vote that the attention whore never gets it. Otherwise what will he have to live for without hos blathering about subjects he knows nothing about?

 

[Stillwater]

I vote that the attention whore never gets it. Otherwise what will he have to live for without hos blathering about subjects he knows nothing about?

NUTTY JOHN, aka the ATTENTION WHORE, and other suitable sobriquets, says he has us ALL ON IGNORE. Sooo, what else do you expect, when all who could be his teachers, are on ignore.