I know the vital importance of a community when shtf; but more importantly that the "s" has to hit first. This will remove all the useless people who have to be spoonfed in this world. The sick, the injured, the dying, and the foolish will perish. A great transmigration of souls takes place.

It is then when we discover who will be with us when SHTF, because with all certainly one event will weed out the weakest, another event will finish off the lost, another event will cleanse, and another and so forth. Until the last remaining are formed into communities.

In the end those that managed to adapt themselves into performing all aspects of food harvesting and preparations not to mention hygiene and medical applications will have survived.

I will remain activated, alert, thoughtful, imaginary, and assertive when the time comes. I will move as fast and as swift as I can and when it is all said and done I will meet my new family out there. If they are alive they will be either good or bad, no in between. I won't last long in a bad family, but some people do well in them.

Originally posted by Greensage
I know the vital importance of a community when shtf; but more importantly that the "s" has to hit first. This will remove all the useless people who have to be spoonfed in this world. The sick, the injured, the dying, and the foolish will perish. A great transmigration of souls takes place.

It is then when we discover who will be with us when SHTF, because with all certainly one event will weed out the weakest, another event will finish off the lost, another event will cleanse, and another and so forth. Until the last remaining are formed into communities.

In the end those that managed to adapt themselves into performing all aspects of food harvesting and preparations not to mention hygiene and medical applications will have survived.

I will remain activated, alert, thoughtful, imaginary, and assertive when the time comes. I will move as fast and as swift as I can and when it is all said and done I will meet my new family out there. If they are alive they will be either good or bad, no in between. I won't last long in a bad family, but some people do well in them.

Wise words Sage.
You'd do well in the SHTF with that mindset I think.
Life is cyclic they say and that goes for the planet as well.

Who's with me when SHTF?
Those who were smart enough to survive.

I see that most are heading to the hot arid regions when SHTF, I will be heading north to the subartic when SHTF, best place for fish and clean drinkable snow.

I didn't read all the posts but I know I'm going alone, living in central FL. I'm young so I'm quick and can use anything as a weapon plus I'm flexible.

I know things my uncle and dad (one travelled the world, the other was a college professor) taught me. I know what plants to use for remedies and even have an aloe vera plant of my own.

Like Mycgyvor, I know how to make useless objects into tools ie: soda cans into things that you can cook you food on, trashcans into vertical windmills to generate energy, and water distillers out of pots and stuff.

I may not have anywhere to go but that's the plan: keep moving. Kinda like the one cowboy with the hummer in Zombieland.

Who's with me when SHTF?

It really depends upon the nature of the S. Unlike many of you, I don't have a bug-out option. I think that may be a poor option for MANY, unless they have already secured a retreat AND trusted people to go there, AND have had drills and plans in place prior to TS hitting TF.

We live on a wee island, and in the event of natural disaster, well, all pretty much pull together toward the overall common good, as evidenced when Hurricane Paloma took out hundreds of structures, power and roads in Nov of 2008.

In a more terse event, there are a dozen adults and their children that we have made plans with to coalesce together on a common property (ours) as a Mutual Assistance Group. We have one nurse, coupla carpenters, one whacky chemist, and most already grow a considerable portion of their dietary intake. Most of these folks have made forays into making their own weapons, especially the wacky chemist.

Three situations that can kill us without any mitigation on our parts: (1) Fouling the air, (2) fouling the sea and (3) mass invasion by a superior military entity.

Not bad odds, really. we all hope to be forgotten if TSHTF, to tell you the truth. That way, we only have to deal with the human element that has chosen going rogue as a survival mechanism.

It's a process.

if all goes as planned.
the navajo nation.

I've always loved these sorts of discussions, however I have no one to explore such a scenario with. Family and my best friends simply raise their eyebrows and look at me as if I'm crazy.

Shame really, because it's an interesting topic.

As for my plans when SHTF, I'll initially hole up in the house here and, like a lot of others here, listen and see what the situation is. I suppose that's a given for the majority of us here anyway.

Following that, I'll scrounge up supplies (or grab the packs I'll have bought by then) and then see if my family and I, a group of three, could head into the hills. The only problem is that I've literally just moved to where I am now in Germany and haven't looked into potential escape plans/routes. Would be very difficult given my location is surrounded by large cities and towns.

Honestly, if things do get ugly and people start to flee cities in panic, a lot of Europe will have issues as there's no where to go. Sure, there's the Alps and Switzerland might seem like a decent place to be protected from any potential rises in the oceans/tsunamis, but there's no way to get there realistically without cars. There will be too many people along the way.

Furthermore, as guns are not available here as they are back in the States, the unscrupulous criminal element will have guns while the civilians will not. Let's not start with police/military in this situation, haha.


So here's the picture:

No Firearms as a defense, but possible as weapons attackers would use.
Bugging out is extremely hazardous and roads will all be blocked up.
Hiding in the house could work for a while but is not a long term solution. Any 'pack of wolves' would overrun any homemade defenses.


As a last note, I was hoping someone could direct me to a decent source for more info about survival tactics, medical tips, plant recognition or other useful books/magazines/whatever that I could use to educate myself. At the very least it'll come in handy next time I find myself in the wild.


As this is my first post, I'd also like to say hi to everyone on ATS, it makes for incredibly interesting reading (but also frustrating).

All the best!
-T

I guess I am in this alone.

Being in a wheelchair, I wouldn't bug out.

I expect I would just be shot to death and left.

But what bothers me is my family is 4 Provinces away and no one would know.

Would my daughter still receive her inheritance? She would be able to bug out with the kids--

--life will be messy.

To Mods: Why does my avatar never show up?



[edit on 8-8-2010 by canadiansenior70]

One person i want more than anyone is my 12 year old son. I don't know anyone who knows small arms better than him. It is like he is a natural prodigy or something.

Last night he tells me, "Dad, I know what i want to be. A counselor for veterans returning from war."

I love that boy.

i can only think of about six people, but that will be enough. there are lots of groups of young entrepreneurial individuals that already operate, and they do quite well in these days and times. you see, the s has h the f already in their neighborhoods, so if society ever crumbles they will be prepared and able to thrive in that type of situation. yes their reckless misspent youth will be a lot more helpful than your college degree, your mail order living room set and your plasma tv will be, believe that. yeah i would say the average american should hope and pray that the government never collapses. i know people will say oh i've got my guns you better stay away you little punk well you aren't the only ones who have guns, some would say hypothetically that an intelligent criminally inclined person could probably get their hands on all sorts of automatic weapons if they were so inclined, compared to your average working stiff confined to buying weapons at the local pawn shops and gun stores. a criminally inclined individual could also possibly have many sources of income from their activities, perhaps far more than your average joe. since they can't buy traceable goods with their income and leave a paper trail illegal weapons would be a good choice for making an untraceable investment with their money. guns are a hot commodity in this day and age with all of the fear mongering and our liberal government. so my suggestion to you is get a really big gun or two and don't be caught unprepared if the government decides to bail on us.

Well, if the SHTF then I'm totally alone. I can't think of a single person who who would stand with me. Of couse, I can't think of a single reasont to even survive. Why would I want to?

Originally posted by randyvs

I have no one on my team. My family and I will likly become meat for what ever pack of wolves. Anybody around Apple Valley we could stay
in touch with? Sheep dogs?

We live in Phelan.

I prep what I can, but my husband is more of the 'shoot them until they kill us mentality. He says he's too old to be surviving in the wild and he's not going to any FEMA Camp.

Unfortunately there are only three of us in my "inner circle" that I know would stick together if TSHTF. Of the three, I believe that I'm the only one who has taken prudent steps towards emergency preparedness that include food/supplies/ammo storage.

Regardless of whether we stay put or bug out, my hope is that we'd be able to fall back on our professional skills to barter/trade. (I'm a pediatric surgeon, one party member is a OB/GYN, and the third member is a dentist) Unfortunately, after reading some of the prior posts, it seems that some people may see us as a liability since two of us are women.

[edit on 8/14/2010 by ~Vixen~]

Originally posted by ~Vixen~
Unfortunately there are only three of us in my "inner circle" that I know would stick together if TSHTF. Of the three, I believe that I'm the only one who has taken prudent steps towards emergency preparedness that include food/supplies/ammo storage.

Regardless of whether we stay put or bug out, my hope is that we'd be able to fall back on our professional skills to barter/trade. (I'm a pediatric surgeon, one party member is a OB/GYN, and the third member is a dentist) Unfortunately, after reading some of the prior posts, it seems that some people may see us as a liability since two of us are women.

[edit on 8/14/2010 by ~Vixen~]

They will start wishing you three were in their groups the first time one of them
gets a toothache.

if the s hits the f, get yourself about ten friends armed with at least semi automatic rifles, then head down to your local national guard armory. these places will have just about everything you need, from army rations which hold up for years and take virtually no space, to guns and ammunition, to armored military vehicles and even artillery and munitions, i'm talking things that go boom. these weekend soldiers don't have the training to really stop you, and all of their guns are locked up in crates. most of them would probably abandon the base in a shtf type of scenario anyway, and there is gonna be way more stuff then they could carry off. another good place to secure weapons is the evidence locker of any police station. there are going to be more semi and fully automatic weapons (not to mention other goodies ;]) than any gun store or pawn shop. also most people wouldn't think of these places at first because of their trust in the government mindset they have lived with their whole lives, or the fear of getting imprisoned or shot. i would rather have some fully auto military grade weapons than some rednecks crappy arsenal of semi automatic deer rifles if the s hit the fan, think about it.