A History Lesson of the Great Depression in Preparation

a reply to: rickymouse

Have you looked at any of the Ball Canning books? Supposed to be good and should be available other than Amazon if you would rather buy local.

The best I can do on a budget 50lb bag of rice and 50 lb bag of beans and 55-gallon water can anything worse and ill be bugging out

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: Ahabstar

I’d prefer potato flour!

Potato flour is awesome to coat chicken with before frying it up. Real wonderful crust.

Ive felt like people were getting tired of me telling them to stock up on food, ammo, seeds, fuel, solar panels, battery bank/invertors, generators, etc.

I started stacking silver long ago. My grandmother started me out with a 1880 morgan silver dollar in about 1965, then an uncle kicked in all kinds of goodies to help stay interested.

Yeah I started a long time ago. Remember this?



I hope at least I got through to some..




I do have money in a credit union. We'll see if they make a run on those too. I can make it without though. Some people say we are all in the same boat, but I've reinforced mine, and Shes ready to set sail when I am, and I'll be watching for icebergs.



Some people who haven't been paying attention and are planning to make the trip in their dinghy. I wish them luck.

I do believe that many on ATS are likely far ahead of the curve, and Im proud of you for making proper preparations and warning others.

a reply to: rickymouse

A major economic event does not have to be the end, unless society is corrupt and people are out for themselves. I grew up on a farm during the summer and we supplied lots of food for the community we lived in, mostly potatoes and root veggies and strawberries but also lots of carrots and green beans and rutabagas and less quantities of other veggies that grew in the Copper Country. But respect for the small farmer had already waned during the sixties, people were led to believe the pesticide loaded veggies at the store were better....that was when DDT was the miracle of science in the early sixties.

I’m absolutely convinced that if it got real bad, I mean real bad, I could possibly feed my entire neighborhood as long as I had some labor help.

a reply to: visitedbythem

Did I tell you my silver coin story. My greedy in laws rushed to my MIL house right after she died.
THEY never rushed when she was alive, actually they never helped even though they lived ten minutes away.

Well let me back up. After my father in law died I had the most vivid dream of my life. He said to tell my husband to look under the files. Nobody on earth knew what the dream meant and thought I was crazy.

Well back to my MIL, she died and the in laws rushed over and probably picked over the house. Not much there as they weren’t wealthy. My husband gets there the following day and gets all the files because he doesn’t want anyone to take anything important like tax documents. Well in the file was sheets and sheets of silver coins! BAHAHAHAHAH totally overlooked by my in laws. His dad knew who would look at the files and who wouldn’t.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: rickymouse

A major economic event does not have to be the end, unless society is corrupt and people are out for themselves. I grew up on a farm during the summer and we supplied lots of food for the community we lived in, mostly potatoes and root veggies and strawberries but also lots of carrots and green beans and rutabagas and less quantities of other veggies that grew in the Copper Country. But respect for the small farmer had already waned during the sixties, people were led to believe the pesticide loaded veggies at the store were better....that was when DDT was the miracle of science in the early sixties.

I’m absolutely convinced that if it got real bad, I mean real bad, I could possibly feed my entire neighborhood as long as I had some labor help.

Good girl!

Same here. In fact, I had my sister print up special contact information cards for all my buddies at my old job, and other friends. I told them that I expected the US to have serious financial problems and failures, and that I would see to feeding their families what that happened. I expected guys to roll their eyes, but that's not what happened. Each guy thanked me sincerely. I even have giant stacks of quality paper plates drink cups, coffee cups, paper soup bowls, tons of plastic utensils, and a ton of chopsticks.
Massive seed trays are planted and in the green house. The gardens are loaded with potatoes and yams. Year round pepper plants ready to rock out. Fruit and nut trees. Compost, Verma compost, and organic nutrients. cooking gas tanks and cylinders, fire pit back up, giant wok propane set up, multiple types of stoves and fuels

a reply to: JAGStorm

Thats awesome!

We had something similar here. My ex wifes grandfather died and everyone knew he stacked away some silver, but nobody knew where. Even grandma didnt know where. She did ask me to search for her, but I never did. I didnt know where to start. When she died, my older son started looking around. He was up in the attic, and for some reason reached his arm way back inside a wall that was partially wall boarded. He heard a "tink". His hand knocked over a jar in the wall. He got it out, and it was a quart jar full of old silver coins. He wanted money so he brought them to me and offered them to me for about $12 an ounce, which I gladly paid. I suspect he knew if anything ever happened to me, he would get them all back. Im still here!

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: ancientlight

There was a booming traders market during the GD. I’m 100% sure something similar would happen.
My cast iron pan for three slabs of bacon, etc…

You are missing the point. Back then they at least didn't need to worry if tney would be able to buy something at a store. I don't trust all these banks 'collapsing'. All controlled demotion IMO leading to CBDC and social credit scores!

Excellent point made here. I've been encouraging others around me to do this as well. I've actually already started to discipline myself with how much food I consume. I learned a long time ago that I can live on very little food actually. I've lost about 20lbs already and am at my old fighting weight. So there's a plus. I've changed my food shopping habits and am prepared to do my own gardening and plan on building a raised garden this spring sometime. I got stuck way out in the country many years ago now, and have always hated it. I am now seeing the plus side with the direction things are headed, because I have land and resources out here . So I've started to take stock on my resources. I've got enough trees to have plenty of lumber for a while. I've got every matter of critter out here that grazes through my property, and have been looking into learning trapping. I'm set up pretty nicely to be self sustained.
Not to mention other items that may be harder to get in the near future.
I see it as wise to go ahead and plan ahead of all if these uncertainties about our future. We all see what's going on, and I'm good with taking care of myself if they want to keep playing these games.
For the last fifteen years I've hated be out here in the literal middle of nowhere, but I'm starting to become very thankful that I am. (Not to mention being in a position to be able to be of help; aka: do my part)

a reply to: JAGStorm

worth asking which great depression as there are 2... the first came pre great war hence the similar naming convention then the second came pre second great war or ww2 understanding that connection gives us where we are today..

these periods are bookmarked by 2 crash points the first kicks it off the second ends it, we've had our first in 2007/8 and are verging on our second..

there is no progression until the second acts as a release lever but it also acts a call to conflict as every vies to take advantage of the change thats on offer..

the US is where the British empire was during the first great depression and china is where the US was then in terms of overtaking britain then or usa now.

the thing is china has used covid to craft a multipolar world to cut out the US and the wider west if it comes to it.. while the west shut down deindustalised and focused on naval gazing to replace trump usurp democratic votes thats call taking the eye off the ball.. covid acts like the gret war sapping the west of its economic headroom and leaving it as prey not predator..

this comes hand in hand with the tech revolution as the us overtook a britain relying on the laurels of the previous tech revolution.. china is fat overtaking the us the eu is slipping into the distance and this is critically why the uk is willing to bail out svb as if it doesn't it loses it tech edge over europe with the remaining tech flowing to either us or china..

svb is important to us as losing the tech control/censor will hand china that control and all it entails. including a heasdstart in the coming conflict as great depressions lead to great wars,,

"The more of these things you can think about and get now while they are cheap and available the better."

This here!!!

I am doing this since a while now. And i can see how the prices changed within one to two years. I am happy that i bought so much stuff that is now way more expensive than at the time i bought it. There is one good thing right now, a hype that is called "Bushcraft". People have enough, especially since the corona measures, of all that BS and want to go into the "wilderness", to simply be left alone, to get away from all that BS that happens around us in real time, even if it is only a few hours up to some days or even weeks.

Positive side effect, people who never wanted to prep because they never even thought about it start to buy "bushcraft" equipment and are prepping without even knowing it now. They learn different knots, learn how to start a fire without matches or lighters, they learn to build or use rocket stoves, hobo stoves, bush boxes, learn how to build shelters from whatever, tarps, debris etc. City people learn how to use hatchets, axes, knives, saws and all that. Something they never would have done without that "bushcraft" hype.

Tbh, i personally find the term bushcraft and that hype a little ridiculous because it is not much different from what we did as kids all the time (i lived right in front of the entrance of a really huge forest), only without all that fancy equipment, using what we could get and "steal" from fathers tools and mothers kitchen. But even i met an old friend after years and when he visited me and saw some stuff on my shelf he nearly exploded and told me that he wants to build a sturdy shelter with stove and everything, is watching videos and collecting equipment and now we meet every week and do little things about the subject. Like checking out the really cheap second hand store around the corner, walking to the army surplus store or visiting the next piece of nature to collect some fat wood or whatever. And he also knows 4 or 5 people who are interested and also collect equipment. These people never thought about prepping but do it now without knowing it. A really positive side effect of that hype.

First i bought a lot of electric tools because i needed them anyway. A while later then i started to think like a "doomsday prepper", especially after looking at the energy crisis "our beloved rulers" create for us in the course of the Great Reset, and started to buy stuff people used more than 100 years ago to build houses and whatever else from wood and stone, from the natural materials they could find around the building site.Like scotch eye augers and woodworking tools which use no electric energy and are not to big and heavy (and of course expensive) to carry them around in a backpack among all the other equipment.

We now search for a private property and the permission to do "bushcraft" things there, like building a small base camp, having open fires, being allowed to sleep there etc. Simply for training reasons, a place where we can do whenever we want and do and try and build whatever we want without getting sued into oblivion. But that at least is a problem that solves itself if SHTF really hard.

I personally learned a lot of stuff the last, let´s say two or three years, i never thought i would have to or want it to learn with around 50 years of age meanwhile. Such as sewing sensibly, creating stuff with leather, learned a lot about food, started to grow my own food and "herbs" (still indoor and under electric light on a hydroponic system but learned is learned), learned about medic stuff, acquired a little medical knowledge and knowledge about certain medications,
learned a lot about different metals, steels and right now i am learning hard to sharpen all my knives and hatchets/axes and what else with files and wet stones. Sounds easier than it is. I simply want to have all the tools and experience so that I am not dependent on others when it comes to the most necessary things.

And yes, get all that stuff you might need later now, the "market" is mad. I once wanted to buy a Stanley Two Cup Adventure cooking set that is sold at Walmart in the USA for $14.99. Only place i can get such a thing here in Germany is Amazon and last time i checked (and before i found really cheap but good chinese knock off´s) they wanted something with 78 or 79 Euros for such a $15 Walmart set. The worst example i witnessed in the last time.

a reply to: DerBeobachter

kinda find it bizarre people don't o any things, maybe its an age thing, bushcraft is a weird one feels very American, guides and scouts here descent from the boy scouts during the boar war and for the gals the corpse of guides on the north west frontier so tracking and survival.. g

the British fascists where led by a woman where they learned survival techniques to survive the coming societal collapse, these women took the first troop of girls went to the first scouting meet in 1909 but only put there first names so no one knew they where girls.. theses could be seen in hindsight as litmus tests for what was to come..

so it night be worth placing us in a historical context as we've been here before with an explosion of interest in the crafts needed for survival regardless what the dominant culture of the day calls it.. its all the same thing really..

a reply to: wasobservingquietly
It is a bit intimidating the first time, but all you have to remember are 2 simple rules.

Always make sure you have more water in the canner, than less. And do not forget about the canner! Set a timer and stay near it.

I've emptied half the beef in the freezer so far, and am going to finish up the pork this month. We have lots of ham to get canned up, and I may do a few jars of bacon, depending on how many pounds are left.

We've decided to expand the garden this year.
Besides helping/trading with the neighbors, I've been feeling this push to grow some medicinal herbs. Have a couple a couple things made up already, including apple vinegar. Good, but very tart!

The term Bushcraft is very English or at least Australian to my older American mind. As a kid it was called being a woodsman. And my lessons started at a very young age with walks in the woods with grandpa. Identifying trees and what their wood was good for was the beginning. Navigation, whittling useful things, feather sticks for fire building, cedar roots for cordage…and grandpa died of lung cancer before I turned 10, so those walks had ended by the time I was 7 and was learning the good stuff.

Gear. There are two mindsets on gear. One is the stuff you need and the other is the stuff you use. Sounds like both and can be both. I sum it up as gear is what you carry so you don’t have to make it. Equipment is gear that you can live without but is nice to have. Which is also sort of the same, but a little different.

I hate gear reviews. Because what works for me might not work for you. And what works for others might not work for me. Good examples in this thread: A cast iron Dutch oven. Great around the house/cabin. Not going to be carried. Stanley two cup adventure cook set. Nice light and compact. I have considered it many times and have seen enough mods to increase functionality. The dimensions of the pot is what prevents me from buying it. Great for water boiling or coffee, not so great for cooking and terrible for eating out of as a bowl. The happy medium between the two is the MSR Alpine pot. I have the .75 liter. The downside is the size.

If you need more compact, the old USGI canteen cup with lid and canteen is the best bet and if you can afford it buy two. One for cooking and one for drinking. You will want to carry two liters of clean water anyway while on the move. And yes, you can bake inside the cup if you have planned ahead. The USGI mess kit is not a frying pan and two compartment plate. That is a two part tray with the plate placed on the handle as a somewhat friction fit. The pan is the main entree compartment. Using it as a pan can damage your kit by heat warping or cracking. You can burn a hole through it with an egg on too high of a heat.

Cooking with fire is a skill. One that takes lots of practice and burning of food to learn. Pro tip: let the fire burn down to coal rather than open roaring flames. Stoves: every stove runs out of fuel except twig/wood stoves. You can spend a little or a lot here. Or you can dig out a small trench (12”x 6”x 3”) for a fire and lay a small wire rack over the sides propped up on rocks or wrist sized sticks. Rake the coals under the rack.

Gear is something you can spend a little or a lot on. Price doesn’t always mean quality. Many things can be made and made to serve several functions. Where to start? As much as it pains me (but I give credit where due) Dave Canterbury has the 5 C’s and 10 C’s of survival. It is a poor mnemonic (because I never remember which is which) but the 5 are the essentials and the 10 are the minimum optimal items to carry. And it is not to say there are only 5 and 10 items, but categories of items. I told you it was a poor mnemonic, but it is a solid start.

a reply to: chiefsmom
I have a hard time ‘babysitting’ the pressure canner! Too impatient to stand around waiting for it to come up to pressure. And when it’s processing, if I leave the room, I can’t hear the timer. I just need to get a routine going & find something that I can work on in the kitchen at the same time. And develop more patience! Lol!

WOQ

a reply to: Ahabstar

Cooking with fire is a skill. One that takes lots of practice and burning of food to learn. Pro tip: let the fire burn down to coal rather than open roaring flames. Stoves: every stove runs out of fuel except twig/wood stoves. You can spend a little or a lot here. Or you can dig out a small trench (12”x 6”x 3”) for a fire and lay a small wire rack over the sides propped up on rocks or wrist sized sticks. Rake the coals under the rack.

This is the first mistake all new cooks make, even on an electric or gas range. My youngin was making pancakes and I don’t know why all teens turn the heat all the way up to extra hot.

Both my mom and dad came from areas where they cooked a lot or exclusively on fire growing up, so it was second nature to us. I never thought that my moms and dads poverty stricken background would actually be survival 101, but that’s exactly what it is.

My mom being from SE Asia lived without electricity, without running water, without grocery stores. It seems unfathomable but at the end of her life, that was all she longed for. That is my other suggestion. Don’t recreate the wheel, look at places where people already live like this and what do they use and how do they use it. We are so rich in the US we don’t even realize it. It’s not until you go to a poor area that you realize it. We are also very rich in resources in a lot of places in the US. Just look around.

originally posted by: wasobservingquietly
a reply to: chiefsmom
I have a hard time ‘babysitting’ the pressure canner! Too impatient to stand around waiting for it to come up to pressure. And when it’s processing, if I leave the room, I can’t hear the timer. I just need to get a routine going & find something that I can work on in the kitchen at the same time. And develop more patience! Lol!

WOQ

I have an irrational fear of canning and explosions. It’s ok because I was brought up on two different forms of food preservations, drying and fermenting. Fermenting is really a skill that should be taught but of course it isn’t.
Drying is another, it was something that was done for soooo long and then just stopped because we had refrigerators and freezers.

a reply to: wasobservingquietly
LOL I understand that part.
I don't exactly stand over it.
I always have enough water in it to start, to ALMOST cover the jars.(Quarts) (just makes me feel better) and I do cover the pints.

Then I do stuff. Watch a movie, do laundry, crochet, whatever.

But about every 1/2 hour, I go check it, to see where it is.
I now know, with my stove and pressure cooker, it takes about an hour & 15 minutes, just to get up pressure to start rattling. Then I set the timer for however long the food takes, like meat, in quarts, 90 minutes.
Then I go back to whatever I was doing, still checking on it every once in a while.
Its nice when you can get a friend to come keep you company, then we just play cards at the table while waiting.

All I know is that I snapped more beans than I learned about canning.