in apocalypse scenario...stay with your family? or form a survival "group"?

this is a very broad subject, wether its a nuclear war, meteor strike, biological attack, complete anarchy, zombies, now-a-days the threat of either one of these scenarios playing out is very likely. now heres the question..


Realistically...again Realistically..remember this isnt an action movie, or a tv series or a video game...lets say one of the above mentioned events happaned, lets say you and your wife and two kids have been surviving in the wilderness alone for over 2 weeks now,you have been fishing and eating wild animals, each of you have a weapon and moderate ammo. you have been doing fine, living of the land, camping near a stream that supplies you with plenty of water,and fish.

now...any person with common sense would figure that governments would collapse in any of these events, and the chances of being rescued are none. this is how life is going to be for the next couple of years. so far you and your small family have been doing fine ALONE...so would you go out and try to find others?....or would you continue your lifestyle?..

in my *opinion* i would stay AWAY from grouping up, it usually leads to betrayal, greed, and death..why would anyone want to group up and deal with unstable complete strangers?...ive noticed in too many movies/shows people tend to group up and form survival groups, which ultimately leads to the individuals downfall and survival failure...


want to survive a shtf scenario?...add these 2 rules to your list.



1. if you are alone, keep it that way.others may slow you down, or in some cases end your life!
2. no strangers allowed PERIOD.

what do you guys think.?


lone wolf?

survival group?

i belong to a group. it's called the n.american society. and it's going to sh-t.

I would take care of my family no questions asked.

There would probably be a time though when you need to move on and go it lonewolf.

There is no way of surviving around here without being in a group.. fortunately those groups have existed for centuries outside of government interference and I would honestly put my trust in them than try to go it alone.

But given half the chance my preference will be to head into the deep blue with my family

Family and Friends First; others "friends of friends or family" where their character can be verified and they can contribute something meaningful to the group (ie, medical or farming experience). The problem will be in sharing resources. Will there be communal sharing of stored food or just combined labor for new food production and mutual security interests? What about the leadership structure of the group; will there be a defacto democracy or will the oldest, richest or strongest make the decisions? What does the group do if some young alpha male tries to take over the group?

reply to post by k1k1to


I can say unequivocally, it all depends.

Whatever the situation may be, I do think I would still reach out to others for the purpose of trading supplies. Whether I would consider grouping up with others or having other group up with me will totally depend on the situation at the time.

First rule....Protect yourself at all times. Take care of your family if any of the mentioned scenarios occur. They are your survival group. You obviously would trust them over anyone else right? Everyone will have a different scenario. At the end of the day you work with what you got and stay with who you know.

reply to post by k1k1to

I tend to think of it this way. The herd animals are the one's who get seen and disposed of. The stealthy non-herd animals mostly never get seen. In my mind, survival depends on not getting seen.

Originally posted by k1k1to
this is a very broad subject, wether its a nuclear war, meteor strike, biological attack, complete anarchy, zombies, now-a-days the threat of either one of these scenarios playing out is very likely. now heres the question..


Realistically...again Realistically..remember this isnt an action movie, or a tv series or a video game...lets say one of the above mentioned events happaned, lets say you and your wife and two kids have been surviving in the wilderness alone for over 2 weeks now,you have been fishing and eating wild animals, each of you have a weapon and moderate ammo. you have been doing fine, living of the land, camping near a stream that supplies you with plenty of water,and fish.

now...any person with common sense would figure that governments would collapse in any of these events, and the chances of being rescued are none. this is how life is going to be for the next couple of years. so far you and your small family have been doing fine ALONE...so would you go out and try to find others?....or would you continue your lifestyle?..

in my *opinion* i would stay AWAY from grouping up, it usually leads to betrayal, greed, and death..why would anyone want to group up and deal with unstable complete strangers?...ive noticed in too many movies/shows people tend to group up and form survival groups, which ultimately leads to the individuals downfall and survival failure...


want to survive a shtf scenario?...add these 2 rules to your list.



1. if you are alone, keep it that way.others may slow you down, or in some cases end your life!
2. no strangers allowed PERIOD.

what do you guys think.?


lone wolf?

survival group?

The problem with being solo is that there are a lot of people looking for this SHTF scenario so that they can rape and pillage at will. You can't possibly keep watch with just the 2 of you. There will be others to stumble on you. You hope that the good guys can find you first. The group probably shouldnt be larger than a dozen people with different specialties.

I'd stay with my family as far out in the woods as possible. I'd stay there until the bitter end. I'd hope to god no one else finds us. Once my kids reached 18 if they wanted to leave I'd do everything to convince them not to go, but if they did go I would not try to stop them.

As long as we had a heat source, a water source, a food source and shelter I think we would be fine. I grew up in the woods, my husband is a soldier, we have no health issues that require meds or doctors.....

Because we are a military family we are nomads, very tight knit, and used to relying on each other. Outsiders only make things more complicated...keep it as simple as possible, it is about survival not socializing.

If I was single with no family I would still remain in the woods, preferably in a cave and I would not seek out anyone. I might venture out on occasion to see what was going on...but really, if something so severe as what is being discussed actually happened, I think I'd never want to be part of any society ever again.

I would stick with just my family, at least for the first months, to see how things play out. After a while, you'll have to trade with others, even if it's only news and info. I Know my family isn't going to cut my throat in my sleep, so they are the only one's I'm going to trust. Joining or forming a group, at first, is just asking for trouble.

the only family I have in the area is my grandfather and it would be up to him whether I stayed or went on my own.

other then that I would try to rendez-vouz with my friends who live 9 miles away in "downtown" then head for the States.'

or I could go it alone from the start and get a good run in to my camp.

My family as well as my extended family (20 or so people) already have a plan in place to survive together as a group in a hidden compound composing of several newly constructed homes and storage buildings in a forest on my uncles land...hidden from the public....so, that's how we will deal with it. Supplies, ammunition, shelter, energy sources have all been taken care of...the rest we leave to chance.

So to answer your question...both.

Believe it or not, it depends on who you know, and how seriously survival means to you. If you do not plan ahead, then yes, you will be in trouble. Period.

I live in a very rural area, and I have at least 3 states where people like minded have their gear and heads ready. I know what their strengths are and they know mine. I know who has resources for survival, including strength, tools, weaponry within a 30 mile radius from my area.

Out of this group, I am the one with the land, and gardens, and we have a plan on when to meet up if necessary.

NO ONE in my group is useless! I myself as a single mother, am aware that I will be in need of certain things that I do not have. I trust, those that I know, and I have taken the time to get to know them, and care for them and their families, so that we are never in a "I dont know if I can trust you" situation.

And to be honest, I dont put myself in a predicament, that would force me to be around those I dont trust. I am pretty much a loner anyway. While I have been here (rural area), I have made it my business to get to know my area, terrain, hotspots, places to hide, and have planted food all over the place.

My family (my children) are all I have, but I would not ignore the needs of others. Frankly, I think that having a skill, makes you a commodity as opposed to a victim. My children as well have survival skills, including my 7 yr old.

If your alone, there is no one to take watch, you will eventually fall asleep, go to the bathroom, find food, and at this time you are just as vulnerable. You are better off finding someone that you trust to watch each others back. You will become useless, if your sleepy, hungry... and paranoid.

In every civilization their were tribes, and they prospered based on the skills of one another, some could hunt, others could build. You alone cannot do it all, What happens if you get injured? All of your gear would mean squat, if you cant walk.

The difference between us and the tribes of the past is that we can choose who we allow in our village, back then you were born into it.

Peace, NRE.

I've actually thought about this. My parents are both gone, so that's not an issue. My ( six) brothers and (one) sister are pretty far geographically from me. I would try to contact them by phone, but grouping up with them would be virtually impossible. My two sons are close enough that I could probably get to them. Neither of them has a wife or kids, so it would be me and them. Their mother ( my ex) is still around, so I might have to put up with her for the kids' sake.

My family is my survival group! I would pick my brothers and sister over anyone to cover my back. We are all extremely athletic, balanced and all are a great shoot. We kick butt at any type of team sport, Airsoft or paintball, and single sports, wakeboard, snowboard, dirtbike riding, all take extreme endurance and balance to perform.

When we do Airsoft tournaments verse real county swat teams and army personnel, I can Anticipate my siblings moves when we breach a room or attack a fixed position. It’s incredible how we can read each other under high pressure situations. We alway know where each other is without even thinking. Its one of the best feelings in the world, I love it!

We are all way to competitive in a fun way, and that’s what pushes us to be stronger and faster!

In my entire local family (mostly ex inlaws) I am the only one who already lives far in the woods capable of living off the grid. I can imagine that ex in laws will flock here (I've played out the scenerio a thousand times in my head) and I can only hope they bring stuff with them because I highly doubt I'd be cold hearted enough to send them away.

My teenage daughters friend was over the other day while I was packing up a box of food that was going into our shtf area. They were jesting about it and my daughters friend says' "We're all laughing now but watch, she'll be right and everyone will come here because you have the (small) farm and the food." All I could think was "Oh s**t."

Honestly, don't tell anyone if you keep supplies for a year +

Originally posted by k1k1to
this is a very broad subject, wether its a nuclear war, meteor strike, biological attack, complete anarchy, zombies, now-a-days the threat of either one of these scenarios playing out is very likely. now heres the question..


Realistically...again Realistically..remember this isnt an action movie, or a tv series or a video game...lets say one of the above mentioned events happaned, lets say you and your wife and two kids have been surviving in the wilderness alone for over 2 weeks now,you have been fishing and eating wild animals, each of you have a weapon and moderate ammo. you have been doing fine, living of the land, camping near a stream that supplies you with plenty of water,and fish.

now...any person with common sense would figure that governments would collapse in any of these events, and the chances of being rescued are none. this is how life is going to be for the next couple of years. so far you and your small family have been doing fine ALONE...so would you go out and try to find others?....or would you continue your lifestyle?..

in my *opinion* i would stay AWAY from grouping up, it usually leads to betrayal, greed, and death..why would anyone want to group up and deal with unstable complete strangers?...ive noticed in too many movies/shows people tend to group up and form survival groups, which ultimately leads to the individuals downfall and survival failure...


want to survive a shtf scenario?...add these 2 rules to your list.



1. if you are alone, keep it that way.others may slow you down, or in some cases end your life!
2. no strangers allowed PERIOD.

what do you guys think.?


lone wolf?

survival group?

First, allow me to say that you will fail at your mission to remain separate from strangers. Do you know how I know this? It is because you just stated you are camping near a stream - that's how I know.

Waterways are high traffic areas because all living things require water. In fact, if you were running from a group of people or even some government, they would be patrolling all known waterways. It is just common sense. If you want to find people, you head to where there is water. The same thing goes for food. If you want to eat, you head toward the water, and you WILL find something to kill and eat because everything needs water.

If you want to not been seen or heard, then you had better camp far far away from any body of water larger than a spontaneous mountain spring. Prepare to carry your water from great distances when the spring is dry, and don't take your whole family with you to get water! In fact, you might want to find a spot far from the water and create water collection pools, or find some way to bring the water to you in a discreet manner.

The real challenge to a lone wolf survival scenario is to find a location away from the water, not on a mountaintop and in a major depression (that does not have a permanent body of water) which is on the side of a mountain and below heavy conifer tree cover (if you can't just find an unknown cave). You want to be in such a location because aircraft and fire towers will have trouble spotting you, you won't be near water, and hopefully the surrounding mountains will be high enough that any imaging cannot spot you because they can't get low enough to pick you up in your low lying area, and also hopefully the conifer tree cover will not only protect you year round, but also aid in protecting you from technology that may be searching for you (pine needles can mess with radio waves - so I read, but I am having trouble finding it again).

In any event, I agree. I don't personally like the idea of a survival group because then my life is not completely (or as much as is possible) under my control, I have to cooperate with whatever is decided, even when I think it is a really dumb idea that will get me or someone else killed. I think I would live longer on my own than with any group. I'd cooperate with others from a distance (like they stay in their camp over on that mountain and I stay in mine), but there is no guarantee they would not sell me out. In fact, something to think about is whether or not someone would do that to save their own butt, or even whether or not they would try to kill you thinking you would do the same. In that case, maybe if you accidentally come upon another the best bet is to join them if only to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

There is so much to think about under such a scenario. I think the biggest thing people should be promoting is how to maintain civility under such circumstances, since people will be thinking crazy thoughts and acting accordingly, as in some of the things I just mentioned above. Shouldn't we be concerned of people killing others simply because they know where they are located, and stuff like that?

Did you ever see the movie Panic in Year Zero?

reply to post by HillbillyHippie1


You have a very good point. This is why people in 3rd world countries will travel 5-10 miles just to get water. EVERYONE needs to get to that water. Star for bringing it up, it's a great point.

Edit- but also, everyone needs to keep in mind that the mountains are cold...and icy and snowy. Everyone has this idea of running to the mountains but unless you are physically fit, and have proper shelter (which is clothing) you're not going to make it far. So if that is you shtf plan start going to the gym and read up on the military clothing system. Right now, here in the mountains, it's 20 degrees, snow expected tonight with a moderate breeze bringing it to 10 degrees...plan for that, and it's only November. www.bing.com...
';

reply to post by k1k1to


If I'm out in the wild, it's because I needed to get away from other humans who've lost all their humanity.

I'm not about to get knifed in my sleep over my ration of squirrel meat.

I'm sticking with my family.