Marauders - serious threat?

a reply to: JBurns

This is one of the reasons why I prefer arrows over bullets.

Silent and reusable.

a reply to: JBurns

People could do anything when they get desperate. This is especially true if their children are hungry. Everyone is a potential threat.

I think most people pushed to edge of survival will become marauders.
When the fragile illusion of law and order breaks down, certain categories of personalities prey on the weak.

In real world examples in Africa for example.

If the police force or the armed services stop getting paid, they set up road blocks, and highjack the citizenry for their daily bread.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Ha Ha all to well Ahabstar Brings back some fond memories. FWIW, I think you and I would possibly be within reasonable communication range on such a system (Northern PA)

That is impressive and it sounds like you know a good bit about radio and wireless communication, It has always been a hobby of mine since I was issued my first brick erm sorry 2 way radio. I remember my first "cellular phone" too..it came in a black bag, had its own battery compartment, 12V adapter, accessories compartment zipper and a handheld telephone handset that magnetically attached to the reciever..all this zipped up and carried like a mini-brief case

We are in the hills but mostly use UHF 450-something mhz band, with a network of VHF repeaters at high positions. We also have a few ammo cans that can run on a battery or optional solar fed battery for hours on end that can be deployed as backups. And most of our vehicles have 75W mobiles installed with high gain antennas. Something we never skrimped on was the communications. I even found this thing called a "Go Tenna" that uses a app on a mobile phone to make a mesh network for texts, location sharing and that type of thing

Since anyone can technically intercept comms in radio land, we have designated codes to use that are not obvious by justh earing them and we have the subscriber grade WiFi network to take advantage of its strong encryption features. Still haven't quite figured out how to best leverage it yet, Id like to find some sort of VOIP 2 way radio for secure, closer range communication

I appreciate everyone's insight here. My concern was that we have individuals in our community with this intent that simply haven't expressed it (or had the chance to). And by the replies here, I see that is probably true. Not knocking anyone, truly.

It is an eye opener. And will make me think twice, third and fourth before blindly trusting anyone post SHTF

I am also wondering...for those who are properly prepared, do you cache basic supplies at locations you could find if you need to bug out? We have several, but this thread is making me think I may want to expand those caches significantly.

As others have pointed out here, anyone operating on the "take what you need" principle will find themselves extinct. Even if you never catch a round from an alert defender, you will run out eventually. Unless you cooperate with others to make new infrastructure, farm, purify water, drill wells and generally work toward the goal of group survival you will run out. Fortunately, you are more likely to come accross an armed defender that is either more skilled or gets lucky and lands shots on target before that happens

originally posted by: lordcomac
namely, the government.

when Karina drove people out of their homes, the government used fema to disarm them, taking away their least worldly prosessions.

i trust the law with a gun even less than a hungry man with one.

This is pretty much the exact opposite of how it is in most of the rest of the first world. People trust the police and soldier, but not other civilians, to be armed.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: JBurns

This is one of the reasons why I prefer arrows over bullets.

Silent and reusable.

A gun has a lot more of a deterrent factor. You often won't need to use it, just to have it on display.

Here is the real trick...

You can be the single most knowledgeable and experienced person on Earth about survival, wild edibles, fishing and hunting from improvised gear, blacksmithing, making guitars and other instruments, etc...you think of it and you can do it including minor surgery...you can do it all but you cannot do it all by yourself.

Illness, injury and age get us all in the end.

originally posted by: Ahabstar
Here is the real trick...

You can be the single most knowledgeable and experienced person on Earth about survival, wild edibles, fishing and hunting from improvised gear, blacksmithing, making guitars and other instruments, etc...you think of it and you can do it including minor surgery...you can do it all but you cannot do it all by yourself.

Illness, injury and age get us all in the end.

The one thing that most of the folk espousing the bravado, don't seem to consider.

There are very few people that will make it without help, and support. With no one reproducing, when it is gone, it is gone.

Even the majority of the animals in the animal kingdom realize the importance of working as a group, when it comes to food production, reproducing, and survival. We have to be smarter, or we will be conquered, and not just by the evils of man, but also by the intolerance of mother nature to our ignorance, or folly.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Truth.

I can do, to a limited degree, most of what you just wrote.

But I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can do for myself, by myself, as I grow older. Being closer to 60 than I am 50, that little truth gets pointed out to me much more often then I'd prefer, frankly.

Family, and trusted friends, are the way to go.

What a bunch of larping lol. You can buy into the "moral high ground" as much as you want to, but if SHTF/EOTWAWKI does happen we'll see just how long it takes before all the BS pretenses drop.

You can come up with as many scenarios as you want, and I can give you one plus one for each one.

The reality is most of you would be to busy shaking in your New Balances and afraid to do anything regardless of what you see or come across.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: JBurns

This is one of the reasons why I prefer arrows over bullets.

Silent and reusable.

A gun has a lot more of a deterrent factor. You often won't need to use it, just to have it on display.

Oh yeah? "That's a nice gun you have there. Sure would be a shame for someone to shoot you over it and whatever ammo you have on you."

originally posted by: conspiracytheoristIAM

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
a reply to: JBurns

Your very first action, in the event of sh#t hitting the fan, should be to attack that group en masse and relieve them of their supplies and armaments

Mercy is for the weak, if you allow any one of them to live to fight another day, then you will be fighting them another day

Your group sounds organised and prepared for them, but sympathy, empathy, trust, benefit of doubt and compassion are massive disadvantages when dealing with people who have none

Fire with fire, you’ll only have to do it the once

And you immediately have lost any moral high ground that you might have had and become what you were afraid of.

With that tunnel vision, you are probably already on the Marauder's list.
Good luck with that.

originally posted by: AaarghZombies

originally posted by: lordcomac
namely, the government.

when Karina drove people out of their homes, the government used fema to disarm them, taking away their least worldly prosessions.

i trust the law with a gun even less than a hungry man with one.

This is pretty much the exact opposite of how it is in most of the rest of the first world. People trust the police and soldier, but not other civilians, to be armed.

Yes daddy gov oppress me harder.

Speaking of catching intruders/marauders/raiders I do love me some trap making.

Inquiring of people who are banking on bugging out/in or keeping stashes what will you do when you run out, and no one is willing to be charitable?

a reply to: AutomateThis1

I don’t have a bug out bag made up ready to go. I have a geocaching bag and a minimum kit for geocaching and ability to configure to various setups. Why? Because I go with what is more probable.

Now can a spend a few days in the field on that larger geocache bag? Absolutely. Because there is several crossovers for temporary shelter/overnight unexpected camping in there.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I'm good to go at any moment, and if # really does hit the fan I won't hesitate to do what I have to do to stay alive.

Call me evil, or an asshole, or immoral.

I don't care.

But it's cool to hear that you use geocaching.

It's a good idea, and it's funny that more people don't consider doing it.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

Gets me outdoors...sometimes even hiking. Old habits say be prepared in case you have to spend the night.

Back when survivalist YouTube videos were all the rage before weekly gear reviews, I considered doing a series in a sportscoat and tie as an office worker caught at work with just a briefcase (maybe some desk items) and common pocket items as it. As in the most advanced item might have been an Old Timer folding pen knife, if that.

Five minute pack job or just my regular EDC would be quite a bit of kit compared to “Naked and Afraid” starting gear. But I suppose the main reason I don’t have a go bag laid out to go is that I’d rather pack for the situation at hand. Will I need more water or ammo? For which gun, hunting or protection or do I need to setup for both? Is it a tornado, blizzard, civil war, uprising...what’s the situation, duration, long walk, short drive?

Too many variables to try to cover with a ready to go bag. For example...what coat is in your bag? In the “big” geocaching bag there is both a poncho and a light windbreaker. The poncho liner is in a stuff sack beside it and can be clipped right to the mollie strap clips (Grimlocks). Paracord and carabiners galore goes without saying. But there is a 500’ spool six feet away if needed be. Naturally I’ll remove logs and containers and add other items. That’s just a simple sling pack. A duffle in the closet has various ultralight camping gear.

ETA: The sling bag and the main compartment is about 11”x 8.5” 4”. I certainly could have done worse for $20ish, but I have yet had to “count” on it under hard conditions so my opinion of it may drop. Beats a Fanny Pack or overloaded pouches on a belt. And for a 24 hour bag, I’d say it would do well. 48-72 hrs would be stretching it unless you can count on food and water gathering.

a reply to: Ahabstar

Yeaj, that's basically how I go about it. I've got a similar background and experience.

Man, that would be an awesome YouTube series to watch.

I've basically got a backpack I carry with me everywhere that can get me through a few days at least.

My car has enough in it to help me through quite a bit.

I have stuff at the house, that's part of my "family stash." And I've got stuff hidden around town and out in some more remote areas.

I've only had to move a "loot box" a couple of times due to construction. I had one in an old tree that someone made off with. But other than that I check my stuff about once a month. just to make sure everything still good, and to rotate stuff out.

I plan on staying in my region. I figure if I ever have to leave my territory I'll be good in my vehicle to make it somewhere and start over somewhere less effed up.

But yeah, I was in a survivalist group some odd years ago, and we would go out and rough it. Go out with barely anything. We'd come up with scenarios like natural disasters and stuff like what would we do. Didn't matter if it was in the middle of a scorching drought, heavy wet season, or middle of the friggin winter.

We'd go out with just the clothes on out backs, and what we'd typically carry in our pockets and backpacks.

It wasn't fun, but it was an eye opening experience for some of the people in the group.

There were quite a few times where people would quit within the first hour. Like "eff this." So, we started having people sign up for things where they couldn't easily quit.

Probably wasn't entirely legal, but it forced people to commit.

One time we went to go strike out into the desert, and we simulated the van breaking down. One guy disconnects something so the engine doesn't start. We weren't THAT far out, about a days drive. But one guy decided he didn't want to do it, threatened the guy who pulled the fuse, got punched, and decided he was going to walk back to the nearest town.

We found him the next day about an hour out huddled under a rock. Apparently he had spent a few hours walking in circles.

Another time we went out in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains in the middle of the summer and a chick decided she couldn't handle the mosquitos and humidity. So, she spent three days walking along a river to get to a road where she caught a ride back to town.

Like I get it. It's not for everyone. It's not an enjoyable experience in the usual sense, but it feels good knowing going through with it and knowing you can at least deal with it, and know how to survive. There's no guarantee, anything could happen, but every little bit of knowledge and experience can help. You start seeing things differently, that others wouldn't even pay attention to.

a reply to: AutomateThis1

I’ve stretched the hammock under a covered bridge and ended up having to call it around 3:30-4:00am. Hypothermia from being along the creek was a very real possibility. Yes a fire would have made a difference, but as it was stealth camping in the first place...was better to retreat and replan.

You can see the bridge in the beginning of this long rambling video