I was introduced to survivalists in college, and have been interested ever since. My interest in anthropology fit in well with alternate and "redundant" technologies.

My stance now is heavily influenced by the "Y2K menace" of the late 1990's. My wife let me make preparations, with the caveat that I was not allowed to spend money on anything we "wouldn't use anyway." So I bought gasoline, camping supplies, a propane barbecue, etc, with an eye toward survival. And we actually did use it all.

But over time, I've influenced her thinking, too. We moved out of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex into a semi-rural area. We have jobs with very low commute times (less that 5 miles), and have these preparations as well:

-a freezer, full of venison from this fall's hunt
-a food dehydrator, which I use to make dried fruit and venison jerky
-a meatgrinder (we grind our own burger and sausage)
-a large vegetable garden
-our own well (of poor water quality, sadly)
-a still for distilling drinking water
-a swimming pool for gray water usage.
-a hundred gallons of stored drinking water.
-propane barbecue grill
-two large smokers
-a chord and a half of firewood.
-a nice fireplace, and complete cast iron cookware that we've tested in the fireplace.
-a well stocked gun cabinet.
-camping gear for weeklong campouts (even though my plan is to stay put )
- a small generator.
-a home that runs on natural gas, but has propane heat capability in one wing of the house.
-a wife who is a medical professional.


Anyway, I thought of this at a recent party when my wife referred to us as "survivalists," and the other guests thought the idea was laughable--both as a goal, and that we might be achieving it.

I feel like I'm really pretty well prepared, for somebody that is still engaged with the "normal" world. While any survival situation would be serious, we have SOME kind of prep for just about all our needs.

Granted, I'd spend the first few days cleaning out the freezer and curing a HECK of a lot of meat from the freezer, I have the tools and fuel to do so, without attracting a lot of attention.

Anyway, curious about your thoughts and critique. Am I a "real" survivalist, even though my only camoflage is on a gimme cap I got when I bought some ammo.

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I am in prime earthquake country here in California so I take my provisions very seriously. looking at your list its pretty good. One thing I always look at though is what are you going to do If forced to leave?

To that end I would have a plan in place to triage your stuff if you do. Water is an essential component and despite the well. To that end I would recoment a portable water purification system / filter with space membranes etc. That way if forced from your homestead you can keep yourself supplied with filtered water.

Yes, I've seen a kit with a pump like a small bicycle pump and you work it to force water through the membrane. Claimed to fight microbial & etc. I was looking at it because I was going elk hunting in New Mexico, where Girardia was a problem. The Elk plans fell through, and I never bought the system.

But yes, you are correct, most of my stuff is based on the idea of not bugging out immediately. We own a truck and a minivan, and 3 days would give us time to do some sorting and prioritizing.

We have an emergency kit, which is basically some guns and cash and tools.

One of the things I've learned is that most survival skills are practiced (at least up till now) in weather or earthquake situations. In the midwestern plains, you cannot really outrun the weather, and so hunkering down is the plan.

The bug out bag is for toxic waste spills, political, etc. When cash will probably do more good than a trenching tool will.

Anyway, the thing about our style of "survival" is that we really enjoy living this way. I love to garden; have been thinking about buying some acerage. (Buying a farm is sort of like buying a boat: The two happiest days of a farmer's life are the day he buys his first field, and the day he sells his last field.)

We like cooking with the kids; I've been known to cook breakfast out on the grill on the patio (where bacon grease isn't a big deal). I like dressing my own game, and she like canning our veggies. A little bit of country living, but we get to keep our high profile management jobs.

And still have gas masks and a geiger counter under the bed.
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Survivalists have gotten a really bad name. The picture people get is of a wild-eyed maniac, squatting in his basement, surrounded by guns and jars filled with urine.



Being a survivalist, I think, just means being someone who plans for the future and has some concept of how to live through a disaster. Being aware, in other words, that there is more to life than department stores, drugs, clubs, and corporate ladder acrobatics.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about buying things you'd use anyway. Things like food, fuel, tools, a secure home, etc.. These things are useful whether or not the fit hits the shan.

Some people would rather spend their money on vacations and booze, drugs and parties, fashionable clothes and a fancy car. A survivalist, I think, is someone who has a sense of the true value of things.

WyrdeOne, you made me laugh so hard i kicked over my jar of urine!

All you really need to be a survivalist is a will to overcome whatever hardship the future may bring. When it comes down to TEOTWAWKI or SITX, if it's really TEOTW, the defeatists are going to be the first to go, the non-survivalists. The ones that don't have the ambition to survive if i means a primitive life of discomfort afterwards. The ones that can't get over the loss of their posessions that define them and their lifestyle, those ones are not survivalists.

Being a survivlaist can range from being strapped with knowledge alone, to being strapped with twin desert eagles, 50cal sniper rifle, a bigger knife than rambo's, and a maze of tunnels leading to their bomb shelter in the remote mountians or desert, and every level in between.

It also depends on how integratd with civilization you are. The people in th condos and gated communities are sitting ducks, and are already under police state conditions via community bylaws, they're already rounded up and contained.

It sounds like you're pretty well set up!

[edit on 12/14/2006 by DezertSkies]

DezertSkies, I'm prepared better than most but not nearly as much as some. It hasn't presented a big financial burden becasue I have done this over many years --- a little at a time. Here are my suggestions for people just starting out:

1. Create a written plan thet reflects your actual situation
   
2. Create a list of 'must haves' from most critical to least
   
3. Create a storage area/system in your home
   
4. Start acquiring items against your list according to your finances
   

In other words, just because you can convince yourself that you're now a 'Survivalist' and you can use that new-found status to rationalize buying that AK-47 you've always wanted... that is probably NOT the smartest acquisition you could make starting out. Water, food, shelter, heat, communication, power, security, medical... there are losts of areas to cover and your actual situation will determine which ones are most important.

Another suggestion, don't broadcast the fact that you are, in fact, preparing and stockpiling. If the poo goo does fly, guess where the people you've told are going to come? You don't want that.


[edit on 14-12-2006 by jtma508]

I always thought most people thought like this up until I tried discussing it. I have always kept sitx in the back of my mind. I can remember as a young kid thinking that the Russian nukes were just a short time from going off. It scared the hell out of me. From that, I always had the mindset that if 'something' happens, I should be prepared. I used to entertain scenarios and how I would do. I never really hoarded in a paranoid panic, but I did raise my family to understand planting food, storing dried goods in the basement & even began canning as a small hobby. I too have a smoker and up until recently I had a full deep freezer. (power went out without me having any sort of backup alarm....real bad) We enjoy eating what we grow, the kids like it because they understand gardening now.

Things may never get so bad that we need to bug out, but at least we are living in a way that will keep us sustained for a long period if we were ever stuck here (ie blizzard of 78). It is a good feeling to be prepared in a way that is condusive to day to day life. I dont have a generator yet because I cant justify it, but I my not need one if I plan accordingly.

that's a factor that many detractors, and even some survivalists never consider.

Making preparations improves your quality of life RIGHT NOW.

Gardening with my oldest son has really brought us together. It is time we spend away from the TV, away from the net, just doing work together.

I drive a lot, and have found that really hot jerky keeps me awake better than coffee. Too much coffee and you'll need to stop and pee; with jerky you don't have to stop, and the pepper keeps you up. And my jerky is made the real way. No liquid smoke and nitrates.

Gardening ties in with making your own baby food, saving probably 20 to 50 a week on that stuff. Last summer, tomatos in the grocery cost basically a dollar a piece. And you can grow them anywhere. When I lived in an apartment, I'd grow them in buckets in back of a child's wagon; I'd wheel them inside when it was going to hail . . .

And there's not much that is more fulfilling than homebrew. Unless it's making your own liquers. I have made a blueberry brandy that friends have asked to recieve as Christmas gifts.

All of that stuff qualifies as "survivalist planning." I just don't walk around in fatigues.

yep, homebrew and a smoked salmon with some greens, that's living.

I brewed for some 10 years straight but I haven't since the kids were born. It's a shame too, because I build this cool bar with taps and a fridge.
btw, I have a monster hops plant that I started as a wee rhizome years ago. we freeze dry them in vacuum seal bags.

Do you cold smoke the jerky or do you use heat? I suppose both work well.

sorry, I'm not used to someone having the same interests as me so I may ramble.

I prefer hotsmoke.

I am going to do a venison "ham" and should sometime next week, (boss willing). I have two smokers and I'll be using the small one; made out of an 18 inch x 4' steel pipe, with a vent on the bottom of one end, and a tall stack on the other, tall enough to be above the back fence. I've got a big stack of mesquite wood that has been split for me to fit in the smoker.

I'll start a charcoal fire down by the vent. Once it gets going, I'll switch to mesquite logs. At the other end of the pipe, I'll put the grill above a pan of cold water.

Cut 1/" strips, then soak the venison in my own marinade for 24 hours, then put it in the smoker for 5 hours or so. Then move it to the dehydrator.

It'll keep unrefrigerated for 8 weeks or so, plus up to 2 years in the freezer. I like mine pretty low moisture.

I try and keep my emergency/survival supplies in a compact container. In this case, a sealable see-through plastic tub, something I can carry (or with the help of one other for long hauls), and that can float.

I'm currently planning on equipping my house with a lot of solar cells and one or two wind generators. This will help minimize outside power dependence but sadly it will cost a fortune in the final setup.

I already use rechargeable batteries for most things, including my alarm clock, my Surefire and my cordless pc mouse and I save a big load of money because of that. I'm sure, that all will come in handy in situation X, together with the 12 Volt solar panel I just recently aquired, which can be linked with a battery charger.

I kind of dig the recharable batteries being energized by the sun. Throw away batteries can be costly so rechargables are great. Charging them from solar energy makes recharging eventually free. I too will look into 12volt panels. How big a panel would one be?