Preparedness for Gulchers
Posted by davidmcnab 8 years, 10 months ago to Going Galt
We are making a farcical descent into a police state. Not just that, but bee populations are collapsing, threatening food supply. Also, water reserves are being critically over-exploited. The oceans are being fished out. And, the world's economy threatens collapse at any time.
This means that the Gulch (or Gulches) are not just a nice pleasant retreat for like-minded people, they are absolutely critical to our survival.
This leads to my question - are there Gulchers among us who participate in preparedness communities? (I believe the older term was 'survivalist'). If so, are there any communities and/or websites you would recommend?
Unless we have the stealth technology mentioned in AS, and this seems a few years off, then a Gulch will only be as good as its members' ability to defend it. Siege strategies are useless - any significant threat from authorities will need to be countered with a way to scatter and disappear into the wilds, then re-convene at another Gulch. This means being prepared to deal with the elements at random times, for random periods of time.
Any thoughts?
This means that the Gulch (or Gulches) are not just a nice pleasant retreat for like-minded people, they are absolutely critical to our survival.
This leads to my question - are there Gulchers among us who participate in preparedness communities? (I believe the older term was 'survivalist'). If so, are there any communities and/or websites you would recommend?
Unless we have the stealth technology mentioned in AS, and this seems a few years off, then a Gulch will only be as good as its members' ability to defend it. Siege strategies are useless - any significant threat from authorities will need to be countered with a way to scatter and disappear into the wilds, then re-convene at another Gulch. This means being prepared to deal with the elements at random times, for random periods of time.
Any thoughts?
My garden is about 1 acre , raise my own chickens for meat and eggs, raise cattle , starting a small personal orchard. Many ponds for fishing and water supply. I buy hogs from a local producer for pork using a local meat locker to process meat. I eat good.
Most around here are hunters and with no law enforcement for many miles we look out for each other. I'm very comfortable leaving my keys in my vehicles and my doors unlocked at night (several weapons next to my bed). If one of my neighbors needs anything they know they are welcome to it and leave a note on table letting me know. If I need help with things thley are there to help and vice versa. Most of these people don't know they live in a gulch.
There are all kinds of good info out there just Google it. The best information about off the grid living is the Amish go talk to them. Another spot is the local coffee café. Very good information can be gained by just listening to those who have lived in an area all their life.
For me it was not hard to leave my awesome paying job in the city for my life today. All it takes is hard work but it's rewarding.
Got to get back to the garden.
and envy your situation, Tim -- Norris, Tennessee,
just up the road from here, surprised me in those
early years when I visited and saw keys in cars and
unlocked doors. . my dad was a security freak
and an unlocked door was anathema!!! -- j
.
.
Unfortunately, our nation and the world at large face some serious challenges that may blow up in our collective faces. For me I am trying to gain skills that were in force in the late 1800's. I am having a great time learning how to be a Blacksmith, a woodworker, farmer, etc. While I may take those skills to the grave with me having never had to survive using them, I am doing it for me.
Will I actively defend my property, You bet your sweet bippy I will. Will I feed people who don't prepare and expect me to feed them? LOL.. NO! Will I feed my neighbor who offers to work for the food, You bet.
do I hope to actually find some fellow gulchers in real time, You bet!
I too feel as you in who can get my help also when shtf.
It is not a binary choice. One can both fight for the restoration of personal freedom and prepare for the event of trouble.
When someone wants to categorize me as a 'weirdo survivalist', I point out to them that while an asteroid hitting the earth sized cataclysm only happens every 100 million years or so, having your electricity and water cut off for some reason happens to most people every 5 years or so (due to storms, most frequently).
With the Internet, Susanne and waytodude and other 'far shruggers' can participate in lively discussions whilst tending their ranches and gardens - and they can vote when they want to.
We who are 'nearby shruggers' should have precautionary supplies on hand!
Jan
I know you are doing all you can where you live. You know I'm here to help with any questions on going further into your or anyone else's gulch.
Thank you for the offer, waytodude.
Jan
As you I'm here for knowledge. And I too despise the social networking at least here I have a similar philosophy with others.
#1 for me (which I can't afford to do yet) is to get out of any city of 100k or greater, at least an hour away, and preferably not downwind (because someday there will likely be a nuclear war, and the cities are possible targets).
Right now, I am at work - but my first meeting does not begin until this afternoon. I could be still in my self driving car, looking at the hot problems in my Inbox (none so far this morning) and organizing my day. Then arrive at work, stay for 4-6 hours of face time with people, get in my car and do a bit of documentation on the way home - or maybe just read a novel or watch a movie.
I think that our cities will spread out to a 2 hour drive ring around the city center. This will make suburban farms/ranches plausible, distributed power attractive, and limit damage done to a target of military importance.
Did you know that there is a site where you can test the blast radius of a nuclear bomb of the size of your choice on the map of your choice? http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
Jan
Telecommuting is another popular option, and is available for some careers now. I currently work for a company whose office is 1200 miles from my house. My work comes in and goes out electronically. I go weeks without turning on my printer. I could be anywhere with decent internet service, which is an important caveat, and should not be discounted, as I have relatives who CAN'T get decent internet.
On a different topic - self driving cars - your dream is my nightmare. I'm one of those very few (these days) weirdos who actually enjoys driving! My fear is that I will someday have to donate my trusty '78 to a museum because it will no longer be legal to drive for myself! ;-)
My management style is 'manage by walking around' so I need to be able to pop into someone's office and chat with them. I like the idea of telecommuting, but am grappling with the problems of detecting productivity at a distance. If you have any advice on this, I would be glad to listen.
Jan
Jan
Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth (or maybe less) on that. :-)
Jan
As I said, I do not dispute that this is the agenda of the Left, I just do not think it will actually work out that way.
Jan
Jan
A popular method was chipping in to buy a 15 pax van. One of the non working spouses drives both ways. While the other is at work they shop. Five days a week five different drivers for three weeks or some similar schedule. LA Same way. No one spreads out they just enlarge the sardine can.
Gives new meaning to 'huddled masses yearning to be squeezed.'
EVERYONE will benefit from self-driving cars, not just drivers who are temporarily compromised.
I for one would jump at the opportunity to buy a self-driving car, as long as it has (1) Legal and technical capability to drive completely autonomously (without requirement for a sober licensed driver behind the wheel), and (2) Ability to be driven 100% manually.
I often have to travel nearly 300km in a day to attend head-office meetings, and would love to be able to work at my laptop, or kick back and sleep, while in transit.
Now I live on a boat and if I stand in the center of the cabin I can cook , eat, work with not more than two steps fore and aft and one step port to starboard. Outside add three step to the stern and eight or nine to the bow. or two steps to a dock or dinghy. Yet when in a port the world comes to me via internet including parts deliveries. I really look forward to the daily long walks and carrying the ruck back with 10 to 30 kilos of whatever. i have one dink and one bicycle and two pairs of walking type athletic shoes and one pair of deck shoes and flappers or flip flops for the shower if I'm near one.
The extra walking shoes are the back up system. No jackets, no ties, no cold weather gear, five hawaiian or latin type button shirts five golf or tennis type three button shirts, six pair of shorts and two pair of jeans. Socks, jungle style boonie hats. work gloves....two sweatshirts. two of the shirts with the newer of the two athletic shoes complete the formal wear. about a two dozen t shirts. half are printed with something from somewhere or from the Gulch. Half are just plain white. Stealth T Shirts.
I left out one obvious item. Refer to Jimmy Buffet for the answer.
Three solar panels, one wind generator accounts for power the rest is the wind. in my sails mmmm one double blade paddle and swim fins...the rest is walking or if far enough local bus.
Life is SWEEEEET!
Tonight i'm having fresh caught fish and shrimp with fresh vegetables and a little rice. Choice of a dozen kinds of salsa followed by one each fiction and non-fiction by the bunk and two non-fiction on the table.
I keep on hand over three thousand books and one thousand selected movies or documentaries through the miracle of external hard drives.
Latest two came from an editors note in a book by long deceased C.M. Kornbluth referring to books written by his High School English teacher Of five volumes she wrote i snagged the last one available of two - compliments of Amazon - and am chasing any remaining of one in particular Golden Treasury by Mary J.J. Grimm should you chance across it. It discusses every type or style of poetry and gives examples of each.
What's on your menu?
Sincerely,
Living My Life For Me
PS all the stuff needed to 'survive' comes with the boat. most of the idea came from a former publication called Backwoods Home. SCUBA I forgot SCUBA and snorkeling. And two fishing poles.
1) 5 gal Homer buckets with rice/beans/flour/sugar/coffee (Rotated regularly)
2) about 500 rolles of Toilet Paper.
3) 15 KW portable generator
4) Rototiller and seeds for planting
5) All the tools I would need to build anything I want.
6) 28' enclosed trailer with all my tools and room for my supplies and a small dump truck to pull it with, or run over anyone who stands in my way.
But using HHO Generators, or even using a "Gasefier" method, there is no need for gasoline.
Also if I find myself in an area where I can put together a waterwheel, the Generator can be powered that way too.
The neighbors have done pretty much the same thing. One put in a solar plant on his property, will probably follow suit.
The biggest thing, tho, is shutting down *everything* and seeing what works and what doesn't in a SHTF/Grid Down situation.
parameters for the solar project -- probably the rest
of the online gulch, also -- so Please Post About It !!! -- j
.
stand improvement. . my stack of lithium-ion batteries
here is impressive, but it won't cook my food. -- j
,
smaller amperages, usually, but ... several of the 12s
in parallel might just do a hot plate -- Yes!!! -- j
.
Example - if you had a 1200 watt hot plate. With US 110 volt power supply, and 12-volt 1-amp batteries, then to be safe you'd really want to deliver 110 volts at 12 amps. Put 12 of the 12-volt batteries in parallel, that gives you 12 volts at 12 amps. Make up 9 of these sets of parallel batteries, put them in series, and you have 108 volts at 12 amps of DC power.
However, you really would be better off with a high-capacity inverter, capable of generating 110 volts at 40 amps. Then, you could use the batteries as a 'cache', and have any solar/wind/other energy charging the batteries, while the batteries are being drained to power the household.
The biggest trick would be the charging circuitry for the lithium batteries - they have a tendency to explode and catch fire if the voltages and timings are not right.
is kinda steep. . but running my inverter from a
stack of about 10 in parallel (with diodes to keep them
from fighting one another) might allow some cooking. -- j
.
To power a hot plate you'll need about 1000 watts. The battery capacity is the current multiplied by the voltage multiplied by the number of batteries. If you've got 10 12volt batteries in parallel, each battery will need to be capable of delivering 9 amps.
I'm collecting these "start-your-car" lithium-ion
batteries which have high capacity for a short time
and an unknown capacity for a longer interval.
I may just start wiring them up and see what happens! -- j
.
Personally, I would rather do as Ma Bell did for decades and use a set of Edison Cells - commercially purchased they're not cheap but I am thinking, as it's 120 year old tech, it may not be difficult to build them as a DIY project. What I like about them (other than not being lead+Acid) is they have a lifespan that measures in decades, not years. They do take up a lot of space - probably build a "power house" for them (any good deals on voice recognition locks set to a certain phrase?) but it would be a lot more cost-effective in the long run than L/A, Li-Ion, or NiMH batteries that have to be replaced every few years.
lead-acid. . Thanks Much for the info! . I'm messing
around with these start-your-car lithium ion batteries
right now, trying to figure them out. . there is a chance
that we can do some good here! -- j
.
I have been providing survivalist with many of my products since the scare(?) of going from 1999 to 2000. The sales of my sleeping bags in particular have accelerated significantly. my web site which is on this site is wiggys.com
also, descending into a police state is not farcical but tragic.
1. Take a basic gardening course. Many local Agricultural Extension Offices offer these at no charge periodically throughout the year. They can also help you identify and eradicate pests. Try growing a few staples of your region.
2. Get education or a books on edible plants. Dandelions are a surprisingly nutritious edible green. Even Martha Stewart uses them in her salads.
3. Take a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) class. It goes through basic rescue, basic first aid, basic threat identification, etc.
4. Get an amateur radio license.
5. Take a CPR class from a licensed instructor.
6. Store some basic necessities for 72 hrs. These usually include food and 1 gallon of water per person per day.
7. After you get the 72-hrs worth, get a week, then a month. Note that some governmental regulations prohibit this, labeling it "hoarding".
8. Take a firearms safety class. You don't have to get a Concealed-Carry license, but may if you wish. At least know the basics about how to safely identify and operate firearms.
9. Get with your neighbors and set up a community watch. This will enable you to get to know them and their abilities and pre-establish friendly relations in case there is a need for defense based on numbers.
This isn't the time to retreat. It's the time to get out in the world and preserve and restore the freedoms that made this possible.
Our Progressive (Obama, Hillary) progression to Marxism is a march to total slavery.
I say "total" because we are already part-way there.
If you want your freedom, you can keep it.
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Voting for Paul is way far better than the media-enabled for the corrupt hag queen of Progressive phonies.
- Teach kids about liberty.
- Write letters to the editor or blog posts about when an issue comes up.
- Write leaders and politely let them know you're watching when a decision on liberty is being made.
- Build wealth and structure it conservatively, so little problem don't seem like big ones.
- Keep a weapon (like DavidMcnab's rifle) for protection against criminals, so you're not only dependent on the gov't for protection.
- Focus on solutions, not problems.
- Recognize that liberty is not the default state for humankind. We have an amazing thing going in the US, despite the problems/flaws. Let's not blow it.
I imagine there are a hundred more than many people do every day.
The corporate-owned right-wing MSM do a lot of yakking and may try to benefit from people disrespecting their neighbors, but they accept equal rights unequivocally. It's something that we could have debated 100 years ago. Now everyone, not counting commenter's on YouTube, accepts that people are created equal in the eyes of the law.