Practicing now has helped me learn a lot of things that I am glad I didn't have to learn out there.
One of many things I have been doing is trying to eat like I would in a survival situation. It takes time for your body to adjust to a new diet. I highly recommend people start now. One of the biggest problems I have come across is dairy. Powdered milk and Vit. D supplements will only last so long. Lack of Vit. D along with other health problems can make you depressed, especially if you are a woman. Any one know how to remedy this in the wild?
I have also weaned my self off of dependence on pharmaceuticals and other things that can become addicting, like caffeine. A few days of caffeine with drawl headaches are better to have now than those first few nights in the woods.
Getting in shape. Even if you are in decent shape now, It never hurts to be even more in shape. You would be surprised at some of the muscles you have to use out there that aren't getting any use now.

Trying to incorporate survivalism into suburban living is hard.
What other lifestyle changes can be made to prepare this soon to come reality?
edited for spelling

[edit on 29-8-2009 by calstorm]

Quitting smoking

what a bitch

what a #ty habit

Disclaimer: I'm a theist but not of the Abrahamic faiths. I have minor biblical scholar and scriptural skills. Also I am not a scientific/legal or medical expert in any field. Beware of my Contagious Memes! & watch out that you don't get cut on my Occams razor.All of this is my personal conjecture and should not be considered the absolute or most definitive state of things as they really are. Use this information at your own risk! I accept no liability if your ideology comes crashing down around you with accompanying consequences!

Explanation: I have assessed my personal situation regards to many SHTF SitX'es and I'm quite sure I'm NOT going to survive for too long! Still I have a small personal BOB and the skills to use its resources if required and the opportunity becomes apparent and available, but its not my current focus as my gene survival isn't as important to me as my meme survival! Memes can exist and survive well beyond the genes that spawned them! Books,carvings,paintings etc all are non gene repositories for these memes and I'm focusing on making a stash of physically robust meme repositories housing very easy to understand pictographic memes!

Personal Disclosure: It's my hope that even if humanity is biologically scrubbed and scoured from the face of the earth that some archival tomb of our collective memes lives on as our progeny and cultural free gift to any other universal inhabitants who happen to get their noodle appendages upon it! A meme you make today might infect some ET in millions of years to come! Go HUMANITY!!!

P.S. S&F!

Go Humanity too! I always think I hope something of us survives!!

I've known for ages how lazy I've become and too used to all the mod cons, even though I live quite simply I still rely on stuff too much, I've also known for ages about the end times 2012...NWO disclosure and evil plan.........but have only just completely woken up and realise I need to start getting ready!

I had a dream 20 years ago that now makes sense and I think I glimpsed into my future somehow, I think earth changes are due to happen in 2012 and the elite (ptb nwo) know about it and will use it to implement their plans for us plebs- I'm not sure exactly but I know something is going to happen and it's not going to be pretty.
Whoever survives will be in for a *hit fight..

Atm, I'm just getting fit and learning to eat better...I dont want to be the weakest link!
and like someone else here- looking at my smoking...cant quite...say....give....up..... (have cut down)

Geographically I'm in the right country but probably not enough inland...and I'm not in a city so I think I'm not too badly placed...

OP, I hear what you're saying about caffiene! gawd, if I do happen to go a day without a coffee I have a headache by lunch time- I'm weaning off it slowly

I've been reading heaps in here and there are some really good threads and information, it's interesting hearing where are others are at.

Originally posted by tribewilder
Besides getting off pharmaceuticals, get your teeth checked. Nothings worse than having a toothache or abscess and no dentist.

Ever heard of Weston Price?

There's plenty you can do to prepare for SitX besides what has
been mentioned here. Go get yourself a Peterson's Field Guide
to Wild Edible plants and get studying. Then take the next step
and try making teas for your self with things like pine needles,
spicebush, black birch, wild mints.
Then try spicing up your salads with common yard weeds like
dandelion, plantain and chickweed. As you feel more comfortable
with wild foods you'll find your self out digging up wild carrot,
evening primrose and burdock root. Even in cities you can at least
learn your weeds, many of which are edible and very good for
you.
You can practice different forms of firemaking in your back yard
or basement like bowdrill, flint and steel, magnifying glasses etc.
Kids really love fire for some reason ( I must be a kid then).
I think meditation is also a good idea in that you will need patience
and a clear head to survive if things get bad.
Try fasting, you won't get to eat everyday in sitX and you can
accustom your body to those changes.
Of course study books or research the web for subjects like
obtaining fresh water, improvisiing shelter, permaculture
gardening, trapping, hunting, making clothes, emergency medicine.
That should keep you busy! Good luck to all and prepare now.

If things really get as bad as some people make out...would it even be pleasant to keep living? I think I might just take the shortest (read, NOT easiest) way out if things manage to reach such a level. What's the point in stocking up on food and hiding in the bush if you are going to be living in a constant state of fear and paranoia?

I started collecting seeds for growing food. I started growing vegetables in my 'fancy' backyard.

I studied to incorporate the edibles with the pretty. It is actually really fun and through trial and error I am learning what grows well and adjustments needed to grow better.

Also am in the process of saving seeds from stuff we are currently growing...it isn't a bad skill to learn and the food on the table is superior.

We have a good bit of wild life [which happened to be a problem with the garden] that I realized would make good meals. So next on my list it how to field dress deer, bear, squirrel, etc. Also purchasing a bow so everyone in the neighborhood will not come running.

Try to get away and do it!
Time in the woods is not easily earned!! And knowing your land better than the next guy/gal...
Take a 3 day weekend and if nothing else, go floating/camping.
Live off the river eat fish, make fire, set squirrell traps, etc....
I have thought hard about floating in a SHTF sit...
You can cover lots of ground pretty fast and the creek is like a vien of life.
I go no less than 1 time a month for no less than 3 days 2 nights.
I have gone as far as already having some things stashed and camp sites picked.

Henygirl is doing the right thing.

To answer the question:
From past experiences, there's only so much you can do to prepare for anything. You can only stock so much food, water, etc. Eventually it will run out.

The best thing todo is learn about your local environment. If its a city, learn about the surronding environment. Every city has a sub-urban plot of woods, or desert, or other barren areas.

Buy a book and read! Remember, you have to be able to rely on yourself.

The hardest thing to do is try to camp alone, with only a good hunting knife. (which I recommend to buy!)
You go through hunger pains, shelter building, and just plain being dirty.

Once you experience that, I think you can adapt to a longer-term situation.

I feel bad for families, children, seniors, and babies. Most young adults will be okay. City-folk are going to have the roughest time. [omg, where's the toilet?]

I got rid of tv and got off my arse and got involved with my neighbors of like mind for starters. I decided to start living the lifestyle my grandparents lived on their farm back in the 1930's. I have a massive garden and can a lot of food. For the first time this year, I canned meat. It is absolutely delicious! I got a wood cook stove and we are cutting wood with neighbors and relatives. I got several oil lamps, wicks and oil. I got several hundred pounds of dried grains and beans. I even got my own milk cow. I make butter, cheese and yogurt. The extra milk goes to neighbors and gets traded for eggs. I also raise two calves on the extra milk in the fall. I'm getting ready to get a couple more calves.

I think it is important to know your neighbors and look out for each other. Get a dog who can guard your property. We also have horses we can ride out on if it gets real bad. Keep your gas tanks full. Keep money hidden somewhere. Have a supply of ammunition for your guns. You must have guns! Keep lots of toilet paper, soaps and supplies you will be needing.

We are prepared in case electricity is cut off and the stores are closed. If we get bombed out, or chased out by the vaccine nazi's we are going to be hurting.

I went out to the woods last evening with a light pack, mainly to practice making a low smoke/invisible fire. I'm not planning to bug out unless violence forces me to, but I think trying stuff out is a good idea. Anyhoo, if I do have to split, I dont plan on carrying heavy tools, so the plan was to just take a knife & make a digging stick.
The method: remove a line of turf. Dig a channel down the middle of it & replace turf. Dig a firepit @1 end with a slope to let air into the bottom. As I remember, the idea is that what little smoke dry wood produces gets sucked along the channel cooling down so it doesn't rise into the air giving your position away.
Results: it took flipping ages to dig! I'm thinking that some kind of light folding spade may be a necessary now. It didn't work too well either! I think it may have been because the air was quite still. Perhaps a little wind in the right direction would help. Does anyone know this method who could refresh my memory? It was over 25yrs ago I was shown...
So yeah, I searched ATS already but didn't find this method. When I was shown this, it worked really well even with quite a smoky fire. The smoke just drifted along the ground into the trees & dispersed. Maybe I just need more practice...

when the collapse happens and martial law is declared,i am hopping on my boat in seattle and sailing to my island off british columbia north of vancouver and hunker down in my passive solar earth sheltered home with escape tunnels and stocked bunkers with my stainless berettas and mini 14s.
will be pulling fresh salmon and dungeness crabs from the clean waters to feast on while watching the looting rioting mobs starving on tv.
kinda like dr no's private island fortress.

that was my goal 30 years ago when i first got into survivalism,and while my time spent customizing my minis and stockpiling ammo and gear wasn't a waste of time or money,my outlook and predictions have changed on the possible future scenarios.
so traded in my alice pack for a carry on.
at the first whiff of trouble,it's hello to the first airline ticket to somewhere far away and warm like thailand where i lived for a happy otc-cialis-and-cheap-beer filled year a few years ago.needed the break after a year of surfing and clubbing every day in waikiki.

good luck to those who want to stay and fight.
the way the society is right now even before the collapse is not worth living in.when walmart shoppers trample workers to death for sales and there are shootouts at toys r us over cabbage patch dolls there is nothing left.while i could hold off the looting rioting urban lowlifes for a period,any organized militias or federal jack-booted thugs would get you if they want to.
don't want to spend the rest of my life in a road warrior/dawn of the dead world.

being a refugee is usually bad but being a penniless refugee is a lot worse.
thousands of jews in pre-ww2 europe saw the writing on the wall and liquidated their assets into diamonds and gold and fled to start new lives and successful businesses as their brethren were being exterminated as the nazis rolled through europe.
after the argentinian collapse,hundreds of thousands of italians,spaniards,etc.,fled back to europe to watch argentinians on tv looting and rioting and scavenging through trash dumps.

don't want to be an american wetback crossing the rio grande like in the movie the day after tomorrow.
i realize most have families,homes,jobs,etc.,and can't just take up and leave,but i am a single guy with my new age bugout bag consisting of my carry on bag filled with all i need to live - my passport,laptop,gold coins,gemstones,foreign currencies,my xbox and fallout 3 - so have the freedom to leave the wasteland behind.