Just a few tips...

[Varmit]

Before I even get started...I now some (if not a lot) of folks on here think I'm paranoid or nuts or whatever, and thats fine.  I'm okay with it.  That being said I started this thread in order to put out a few ideas and tips for folks who know whats coming.  I hope that I'm wrong about our future, but my gut tells me I'm not.

There has been a lot of talk on the radio and in the news and by bloggers about how to prepare for the worst case sceniro.  And thats all well and good so long as you don't lose focus on the ultimate objective, which is simply to survive, everything else is secondary to that. Having a secure location stocked with food, medical supplies, weapons and ammo is always a good idea.  But it is not taking the worst possible scenario into consideration.  Lets say the SHTF and you have to go to your bunker.  "No big deal" you say, you're all set.  You have plenty of food, water, supplies to last you and your family for a long time, great!  But what happens when that location is comprimised?  Best case...you have time to stock up some provisions for "the road".  Worst case...you have to leave NOW.  Hopefully, you have planned for this.  You've taken the time to outfit yourself with a pack containing a weeks worth of food, some basic medical stuffs, weapons and ammo.  If you have a family each member has their own pack.  If not, well...you're screwed. 

BUG OUT PACK

Food--Putting to much focus into building a "bunker" or shelter is just as bad as not being prepared at all.  Stocking up on canned goods is a good thing but don't neglect the dry goods.  Canned foods while easy to prepare or cook, also add up weight wise real quick making it difficult to travel with them.  Dry goods (beans, pastas, etc) are easy to store and don't take up a lot of room, but require water to cook.  Nuts, dry cereal, grainola bars, jerky, dehydrated fruits, are much easier to travel with and can be eaten on the run.  Now bear in mind that we're not talking about three course meals here.  You want to take enough food to keep you alive and moving not fat and happy.  You'd be surprised at how little food you actually need.  A handfull of trail mix and a few pieces of jerky and your good for the day.  Army Ranger school canidates live off of one MRE a day, ain't too happy about it, but it can be done.  Point being, the lighter the food the more you can pack.

[Roma Jean Turner]

Good advice Varmint...we don't pick the scenarios we just have to be ready for whatever they end up being.  Don't forget the can opener folks.

[Varmit]

Water--Some folks have a tendency to overstate this provision.  Don't get me wrong, it is important but don't try and stuff twenty or thirty bottles of water in your pack.  Water purification tablets are smaller, lighter, and can provide you with more water than you can carry.  The standard combat packing list for our Troops calls for a two quart water bladder or "camel back", two 1qt canteens worn on a web belt, and two 2qt collapsable canteens attached to an assualt pack, or in this case your bugout pack.  Some folks will tell you to have a way to boil water to sanitize it.  Good idea. But DO NOT rely on this.  It takes time and fire.  Fire makes smoke, which is a good way to give your position away.

Weapons/Ammo--Here is where a lot of debate will start.  You'll here everything from black powder to AK's being recommened.  Personally, for the purposes being discussed, I like a .22mag.  It is small, lightweight, realitively quiet, you can carry a few hundred rounds without much weight, it can be used for hunting, defense, and is fairly common.  That last bit cannot be overstated.  When choosing a last resort weapon you may want to consider how hard it will be to find replacement ammo.  .22, 9mm, .45, .223, and 12ga, will be prelivant in a SHTF worst case sceniaro.

[thatsMRSc2u]

  Like this Varmit.....practical info instead of hysterical propaganda

[kshillbillys]

Varmit, you're nuttier than squirrel shit or as Jarhead would put it, your cheese has slid off its' cracker. People don't need to stock up on food, water, ammo or build a bunker, put solar panels on their roof, a homemade wind generator, learn how to build a wood gassifier for wood gas or make an HHO generator. It's not as if thousands of blackbirds are falling from the sky, hundreds of thousands of fish are washing up on the shores, millions of bats are dying. If this was all happening I trust our government would give us a detailed reason for it. Like, firecrackers startling the birds causing mass trauma. Hailstones. Or that they all flew into each other when one bunch was going north and the other bunch was going south. Or that whole herds of sheep in Montana are dying because they caught pneumonia. I trust our government to talk to us like we're third graders and tell us they know what's good for us; they make our decisions. So with that being said, I am NOT worried about fuel shortage, food shortage and prices going up, taxes going up and yet my pay remains the same. Everyone line up at my door with your hand out. That's right, line up in a nice perfect straight row. LOL! So any of you people reading Varmit's posts on here, don't listen to him. I for one, do think he's hysterical. Now listen to me: If you got any extra canned goods, dried fruit, nuts, pork and beans, beanie weenies, instant mashed potatoes, dried milk, spam, sardines (preferably in mustard sauce), bottles of water or ammo, please feel free to come by and drop them off at my place. Again, Varmit is NUTS!----Robert Walker

P.S. Does anyone have any good ideas on how to keep water out of my bunker? Ain't had any problems in about 4 months now, but the rain will be back.

[jarhead]

Varmit,
I think that if / when the time comes to head to the hills, after grabbing a .22 rifle, the next most important thing would be my pressure cooker, and a good supply of canning flats. Lots of old barns and cellars to find jars and rings but need them flats. You shoot a deer in hot weather you need to eat it fast unless you smoke it but a better way is to "can ' the meat,plus when in season you can pick lots of lambs-quarter and can it, then you got your veggies. Might be a pain in the butt to pressure cook over a wood fire but I'm sure it can be mastered.
   I almost look forward to those times so I can start noodling again without John Law slapping me with a ticket for 'illegal hand fishing ". In survival mode all game laws are thrown out the window.

[greatguns]

Finally, I totaly believe what you say Jarhead!

[Diane Amberg]

Hey, anybody caught stealing the fish from my pond, that I'll need to survive, will be shot, smoked and/or canned. Build your own pond for your fish, don't even think about stealing mine or my chickens or anything else for that matter. Go buy those cases and cases of spam and sardines instead and help the economy at the same time. If I store my canning stuff in the barn that doesn't mean that it's available to you. 

[thatsMRSc2u]

   Heres a recipe for you Varmit.....Saskatoon Pemmican
1 c jerky, beef or venison
1 c dried Saskatoon berries or dried blueberries
1 c unroasted sunflower seeds or crushed nuts of any kind
2 ts honey
1/4 c peanut butter
1/2 ts cayenne [optional]
This version uses peanut butter rather than melted suet or lard as the binding agent, which is more palatable for today's health conscious diets. Grind [or pound] the dried meat to a mealy powder. Add the dried berries and seeds or nuts. Heat the honey, peanut butter and cayenne until softened. Blend. When cooled, store in a plastic bag or sausage casing in a cool dry place. It will keep for months.

[jarhead]

Pam,
Many ,many years ago when I was a pup, Moline had an Army surplus store. They had cans of pemmican and because I had read everything I could lay my grubby little diggers on, if it pertained to Native Americans, I just had to have some of that pemmican. If the Indians could eat that pemmican, and like it, they were way tougher than I was. It was God awful tasting !!
Not sure why an Army surplus store had cans of pemmican but wonder if they fed it to the troops at one time. If so I highly suspect , what I tried to eat was left over from WW-I. Need to find out from some of these OLD military people if pemmican was in K-Rations or early C-Rations. Waldo---Sarge---Larry ?