First, let me state that this thread is a discussion based on several conversations with a friend of mine. We have been wargaming a survival situation, and these are a few things that I think most people miss out and overlook when planning for long term survival.

Second, this thread is for long term survival, meaning one or more years. It assumes that for the most part, society has broken down due to insert disaster here that has no polluted the world. So, no long lasting virus or nuclear fallout.

Third, this is for survival, not active resistance. That is a whole other can of worms.

1. Clothing: I see many lists of what you would take, but few include clothing. The basic question you need to answer is where are you going to get more clothes? Let us assume that you cannot return to an urban environment, and can't replenish that way. Even the most durable clothing will wear out of used all the time outdoors, and synthetic fabrics would be hard to replace if not impossible. Your Gortex might last that first year, if that, but what about the next? What are your long term clothing plans?

My suggestion is trying to learn how to tan and leather work. What you have to consider, however, is that this is far more bulky and less efficent that modern clothing. It may be your only option unless you grow cotton or have sheep for wool.

2. Medicine: What do you do if you cut yourself? Get the flu? Break a leg or sprain an ankle? All this is quite possible in the open world. Without modern medicine, even stockpiles run out, you may find yourself hurting. While there are many plants that can help take the place of them, do you know where to find them? If you do, do you have easy access? Saying you can go into the woods and find plant X may sound good, but think about trying to do that with a fever.

3. Access to water and location of your 'survial' spot: If you think that you have the perfect place in mind, chances are someone else does as well. Chances are if you know about the perfect lake/river/building to run to, someone else does. You need to find a location that is hard to access by motor vehcile, is not 100% ideal but still livable, and as far away from a water source as you can be but still reasonable.

Why? Because water will attract people. Everyone will be running to a lake or river, thinking they can live off fish and such. If you are too close, others you do not know will find you, and they may not be friendly.

4. Other people: You need others. No two ways about it. As I said above, what happens if you get sick? Or hurt? Others will act as your safety net and also diversify your skill set. You may not know how to farm, but your friend Joe does. Fred can blacksmith. Ted is a great hunter. Mary knowns folk remedies. Plus, you will go crazy from isolation. You need people. Ask around and see who would want to chip in. With luck, everyone can put down a couple hundred bucks you start setting up your future site.

5. Long term food: Hunting sounds great, but isn't a perfect way to get food. There is a reason humans developed agriculture. You may want to find some simple foods to plant. Corn, beans, potatoes and low other low maintence staples would be good. If you can, look into prepositioning your site and plant some apple or lemon trees. Don't make your site obvious, but scatter your plantings so not one thing is close. Make it look random so that if someone finds your crops, they won't find you.

6. Tools: Think long term. Axes to chop wood, hoes for your garden, hammers and nails. Look at the Amish and see how they build. You won't be able to head to Home Depot and get your lumber. You're going to have to chop down a tree and go from there. And do it with as few nails as you can.

Originally posted by Awory
We have been wargaming a survival situation, and these are a few things that I think most people miss out and overlook when planning for long term survival.

5. Long term food: Hunting sounds great, but isn't a perfect way to get food. There is a reason humans developed agriculture. You may want to find some simple foods to plant. Corn, beans, potatoes and low other low maintence staples would be good. If you can, look into prepositioning your site and plant some apple or lemon trees. Don't make your site obvious, but scatter your plantings so not one thing is close. Make it look random so that if someone finds your crops, they won't find you.

Without a food delivery system delivering food to your supermarket they will run out in a week.

Most people dont have enough food at home to last more than 30 days.

You will not be able to hunt for food when there are 100 million other people trying to hunt for the same food. There is no way a non functioning economic system can support 300 million people in the US.

It takes years and many resources to develope a functioning agricultural system. You need fertile land,fertilizer,seed stock,fuel for tractors, or plow animals, animals for breeding stock. Oh yeah,and WATER.

You will have to live off of Soylent Green.

Yes, Its PEOPLE.




[edit on 16-4-2010 by RRokkyy]

You make many valid points and I generally agree with your assessments and strategies for survival. Trapping will prove more efficient than hunting, small animals will be easier to get. This will be your mainstay for meat. Pack a few wire snares in your BOB, or old guitar strings will work well.
Main items I would not be without;

Firearm & ammo
knife
water filter
rain poncho
canteen and cooking cup
magnesium firestarter
first aid kid
wool blanket
Field guide to edible wild plants
Maps of the area you are in and a compass will serve you well.

I personally feel that group survival is your only real hope of making it. I don't mean everyone and their brother, but a good group of useful people can make a big difference. While it does expose you to a potentially higher risk of discovery, it makes you situation much easier.

The movie reference that I would look to would be Defiance. While pretty slow paced and ok at best, I think it shows what survival would be like. Their issue was they did not have enough skilled workers and an overly large group of old, young, and sick. You can have that those unskilled people, but you must have enough skilled to support them.

It also shows what happens if you have the mindset of 'this will all blow over'. By trying to subsist on hunting and raiding alone, you may very well strave. Food is, over course, one of your overriding goals.

For an exercise, buy a case of MREs from a store. Each MREs is about 1,600 to 2,000 calories, give or take. So if you are doing heavy labor you may need one to two a day. Each box has 20, so ten days of food. Pick that up, carry it around for a little. Pretty heavy, right? Now imagine a month's worth. And that is just your food, not your water. For drinking, cleaning, and cooking it is about 3 gallons a day at least.

We started prepping for the unthinkable many years back, and over the time we have been doing this we have brought into our group, people with a wide variety of different skills....and talents. And we all have a safe place to BO to when it all falls... highly important is that if you have to BO...plot a route or two that have safety margins in it. I mean that if you have to go choose the safest route possible... Do a complete check over your area, crime spots, traffic flows, rush hours, back roads, side streets, highway construction, you know the drill...

I did not notice but if no one listed personal hygiene... people ought to think about it...

disease can kill and spread rapidly, especially if the conditions are right for a bug.

I would suggest growing soybeans as a long term crop. They can be eaten fresh, dried for later, made into tofu, fermented and ground into flour.

I like your list, I actually hadn't even thought of obvious things like clothing :S Plus the tip about living away from water is a good one, people will also use it for transportation on rafts etc., so you wouldn't want your shelter to be spotted from the water either.