The only other comment I could add is that if this forum does get created, we'll need to be responsible in how we contribute to it. Given the amount of government traffic we receive, we don't want to give the impression that it's a "terrorist training manual" of some sort. This is a real issue when considering the requisites of domestic terrorism.

"Terrorist Training Manual"? Wouldn't it just be how to survive different situations?

Yes, it would be about survival, and I'm not labelling it as anything nefarious. Just suggesting that some responsibility is taken when contributing to it so it cannot be misconstrued that way.

Again, I'm behind this idea 100%.

First, to answer one person's much earlier question, I believe it should be on ATS, not BTS. ATS is for the serious topics relating to conspiracies. BTS...well... no offense, but the only time I mess with BTS is when I want to see how well my new avatars go over. It's more of a social club. Which is fine, but isn't the place for serious Life or Death info like Survival.

Originally posted by ceci2006
What does a survivalist forum have to do with conspiracy? Could anyone explain this?

Certainly.

Survival has everything to do with almost every conspiracy. In the OP I describe a condition called Situation X. Another way you could think of Situation X would be to say it is the end result of a successful conspiracy.

In Situation X, there is going to be a panic response, interruption in services, water supply, food, transport, and infrastructure. There will either be no government assistance, or the government in place will be of a hostile nature. Situation X can occur from any of the following:

Terrorist Attack
Coup D'Etat
Police State
Alien Invasion
Natural Disasters
Zombie Outbreak
Armageddon
World War
Enemy Occupation
NukeBioChem Accidents
Complete Civil Breakdown

All of these things are the regular topics of conversation on ATS, they are things that, though unlikely, are constantly thought about and planned for by some of us. And while most of the world is content to rest upon its collective buttocks and try to ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room, some of us are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.

But in order to plan, prepare, and equip for the uncertain future, you have to understand the possibilities of the situation at hand. Each of the members on ATS are going to be familiar with at least a few of these possibilities, and have thought out ahead of time about how to deal with them.

So, to conclude, this needs to be on ATS because:

It is relevant

It is proximate

It is desired

Originally posted by ceci2006
People could go to another forum on the Web to discuss these very same issues, though. Right?

Not really, no.

If you mean another forum besides the ATS crowd, then sure... there's survivalist forums out there...somewhere... but lacking in the quality, leadership, and community spirit that ATS has, as well as lacking in open-mindedness. Most of the existing survivalist pages are not going to deal with ALL of the above. ATS is one of the few places where you could have a serious discussion about the differences in surviving a police state versus a natural disaster.

If you mean on other forums on ATS, then not really. I spend over half my day on ATS, 5 days a week, and often on the weekends, and I STILL don't have time to go through every single thread, sift through page after page of John Lear, Photos of Ghosts, and OOBEs (no offense to any of those, btw) to try and find the one thread that might have had some insight as to how to sort those things out. If I just want to focus on how to survive Situation X, I'd like a forum in which these posts could be consolidated.

The final and perhaps the most important reason is that a forum on Survivalists might just get people to start thinking about survival itself, to take it seriously, and take at least some few minor steps towards keeping themselves and their loved ones alive. Without it, the info they could use to save their lives might never be brought to their attention. But first and foremost, it would get people to THINK.

Will this be like the Automotive Forum where we have to get 1000 votes to make it happen?

Thelibra's right.

I've poked around a lot of survivalist forums...and it was really rather alarming. The focus is almost universally on very few subjects, as compared to the broader scope we've discussed on ATS.

ATS has a wonderful community spirit. There are people here are kind and knowledgable, and the advice they give could be the difference between having a thoroughly unpleasant time and being found floating facedown someplace. Remember that. a forum about survival would benefit everyone. Ceci, if you don't like it, don't read it. Hope the coyotes don't choke.

DE

ATS is unique in that it's member base is some broad, from "left wing hippies" to Ex military.
And i assume none will start to distripute any classified material or bombmaking guides that aren't on the net all ready.

Survivalism ties the concpiracy teories into practical everyday life, so i think it's definately ATS not BTS subject.

Alright people.... lets just start getting information out there to those who need it. More readers leave replys and suggestions about survival techniques, the faster ATS will give us our own area.

This is how I got started. I live in Sunny Southern CA...this year the power shortages this year weren't that bad, however, we did have our ration of power taken from us a few times. I decided that I couldn't afford a generator...nor, did I want one. ( another story there ). But, I needed a way to keep the coffee pot, microwave oven, and TVs working for the kids; just in case of an emergency.

I went to ChinaMart and purchased 2 Marine Deep Cycle Batterys ($64.00 each), 750 watt inverter ($64), cables ($20), and battery clamp connectors ($5). With the set up, I have enough power to last a few days and will be the only person on the block with great tasting coffee and a way to properly cook food in the event of an disaster.

More prep tips to fillow.

After Marine Sniper School, and being raised on a farm in West Virginia, Survival training was natural for me.

I also attended several Marine/Navy schools dealing in survival.

Any assistance I can give, I will freely contribute.

Semper

WayOffTopic
Semperfortis, nice to see other recon orientend people around. I served my "time" at Finnish RDF Recon... and i'm allso sniper qualified

Originally posted by enjoies05
"Terrorist Training Manual"? Wouldn't it just be how to survive different situations?

yes it would , i think his point was we at ats should avoid the wildly walter mittyist fantasy " warfighting plans " masquerading as " survival " that seem to predominate other survial forums .

YMMV , but such " survival " tip as how to destroy an MBT with kitchen cleaning chemicals is not survival -- its how to fight a war

there may be a place for such skills , but ats should try to be more realistic and practical .

Just my 0.02 groats .

Seem's simple, but my first thing is to have a woodstove in my house. The obvious second is wood, unless you're backed up to some wood's where you could forage for it if necessary.

This allow's me to immediately replace heat in an emergency, as well as cook and boil drinking water! Some basic necessitie's out of the way rather quickly!

I vote yes.......

With the country headed the direction it is. It is past time to discuss the various topics that one could encounter trying just to "survive".

Like my privacy surviving, my finances surviving being put in a bank.... Etc.

Let me contribute here.

moreenergy.org - alternative energy site they are sponsoring a steam power seminar

Every Saturday on RBNLive.com
The John Moore show

I vote yes. I've always been fascinated by that topic, I know a few basics too but would be glad to learn new things, especially from the pros

After reading what people have to say, I vote yes. All of you have contributed some interesting aspects that need to be discussed in terms of survival. I agree that it would have something fascinating to contribute to the board--especially when it comes to what people need to do in order to survive.

All I worry about this topic is whether there is some sort of agenda that is going to be pressed within the forum. And if there is an agenda that supports a particular group (especially those that came to prominence in the early nineties), then, I would have misgivings about a forum like this.

But, if the topic stays on survival and the means to do it, then, it is cool. However, I believe that people need to be straight forward and admit where they want to take this. That is all I would like to know. So, put the cards on the table.


[edit on 13-10-2006 by ceci2006]

there is a similar forum set up on avianflutalk.com, which guides on "preps" for bird flu.

I think its a great idea, as im fairly new as a poster, i hope im not out of place for suggesting that the commercial side for ATS might be interesting for them also, as there are lots of companies trying to sell masks etc, that would probably splash some cash for advertising to bank-roll the operation. While not endorsing the products it would be good if something related funded it.

I would like to make a few suggestions.

1. The wiki is a great idea, i agree that it will need to be carefully moderated to ensure that information is useful.

2. when it gets to a useful level, publishing the information as a PDF, so that it can be downloaded in one go, and saved on to a local machine, as in certain situations the net would be gone. This way you are not relying on a net connection to get survial information.

This could be something like a "nightly build"

3. possibly create a global messaging system, which could be active if needed, or suggest local groups or alternative forms of communication, we could even have our own ats "desktop defcon" - patent pending lol

A very loud Yes. this could be very informative and benefit us all.
WIS

Originally posted by ceci2006
All I worry about this topic is whether there is some sort of agenda that is going to be pressed within the forum. And if there is an agenda that supports a particular group (especially those that came to prominence in the early nineties), then, I would have misgivings about a forum like this.

But, if the topic stays on survival and the means to do it, then, it is cool. However, I believe that people need to be straight forward and admit where they want to take this. That is all I would like to know. So, put the cards on the table.

Cleary, Ceci, you have foudn us out. All of us here are clearly Communist Nazis seeking to destroy whatever ethnic group you happen to be whining about today.

/sarc

Seriously, Ceci, stop looking for an evil agenda about all this. There's about a dozen or so threads, long ones, that you have chosen NOT to read. We're really quite straightforward- we want a place to collect the knowledge presented in each of these threads so members can look through it. Clearly, there's a lot of support for this idea. If you want a witchunt, do it somewhere else.

You're being sly about it, but you're accusing us of being fundie christians, or white supremacists, or whatever terrible archetype you have in mind, and I'm not standing for it. We're being open and honest, just like in our threads. You want to take a shot at us, have the balls NOT to skirt around whatever issue you have with us.

DE

Deus Ex, I suggest you mind your own business about what I believe or not. I honestly spoke about my misgivings. And I said I read the material to change that.

What did you exactly miss in my post regarding this information?

I also implore that it is best to leave me alone if you cannot find a simple modicum of politeness or kindness to answer me with respect and to take me at my word.

brilliant idea!! i would most assuredly welcome this as a new forum idea. and would gladly contribute daily!


optimus