preppers on here got a question

Wow , that didn't take long. I'll answer it publicly though.


To wit , far too many individuals are focused on TactiCool in their firearms choices rather than *actual* survival , in addition a goodly portion of them are flat out smoking freaking CRACK with the bullshit " I'm going to fight with military units that are better armed , better equipped , possibly back by Squad Automatic Weapons or crew served weapons or armor , with infinitely better communications and LOTS of backup/reinforcement"............YAH folks are gonna fight THAT sucessfully just 'cause the went out and built or bought an M4gery , AK , Galil etc.etc..............


Here's an exercise , what two cartridges account for more ac tual game taken each year in the US that *ANY* others , in fact more than *ALL* others combined?

Which two?

RoninAmok said:

Here , lets put something in perspective for you , a lot of folks have your same plan.

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This right here is the main thing people tend to forget.

It won't be as easy as jumping into a truck and hiding off in the woods and living off the land when that's a million other people's plan too.

Unless you're already set when shit hits the fan you're pretty well screwed.

I'm not moving an inch. Most people I know would come to my house. We'll clan up tight and whack the gophers when they pop up.

RoninAmok said:

.......


Here's an exercise , what two cartridges account for more ac tual game taken each year in the US that *ANY* others , in fact more than *ALL* others combined?

Which two?

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I'm going to guess .30-06 and either a 12 gauge or .22.

Yup I'd guess .22 as one of them and 12 gauge as the other.

JohnnyGreenfingers said:

I'm building one this weekend. It's rainy here but if the sun comes out I'm trying it.

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Please be so kind as to post your results here. And perhaps we can address other methods of cooking heat , fuels , stoves , firestarting methods etc.


As regards solar stills and a question asked privately , they *may* provide a portion of your water source in a "shelter in place" scenario where concealment is not much of an issue. However the reality is that it would take quite a number of them to provide enough water for just ONE person so their best usage would be supplemental. And as I stated previously they just absolutely SCREAM the presence of humans in close proximity should someone runs across them.

For a bugout scenario they may be a viable supplement if you're on four wheels , in a **walking** case...........nope , enough plastic to get enough water is heavy and bulky , it requires a long WAIT to obtain the water in a situation where that may not be a viable option , and (again) it gives your presence away.

A word to those with the " I'll just kill a deer" mentality...............ok NOW WHAT? Here I'll tell ya what , first NOW ya gotta take time to bury the gutpile/hide/head........unless you want to leave it out and hope no HUMAN finds its , in which case it gives away your presence..............now what are you going to do with the meat? You can only carry so much , what do you intend to do with the REST of it? Once again leaving it laying about may well betray your presence prior to the scavengers cleaning it up.

JohnnyGreenfingers said:

I'm not moving an inch. Most people I know would come to my house. We'll clan up tight and whack the gophers when they pop up.

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THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^...............this is true *survivalism* , a small group with crosstrained skills that support one another.

Practical survivalism and Gulching. Everyone brings a skill to the gulch ........mutually beneficial symbiosis , duplication of preps/supplies and more working/defensive hands.

Well, I will post it but I've never made anything remotely close. It does look monkey simple tho. If the rain ever stops...we may drown here.

If I "just kill a deer" I'd be salt curing some, putting some in the smoker, and cooking the fresh stuff in as many ways as I can find. If I had the ability to boil I'd jar cure some too. I can fish and have a ton of fishing equipment.
I respect what you're saying, but at the same time it doesn't hurt to have many skills. What if you have some plan and it gets smashed and your only option is a solar still at the moment? Wouldn't hurt for everyone to know, it's relatively easy.
I think the overall key is to have put away whatever you can and to possess as many skills and implements and techniques as you can.

Assuming whatever happens doesn't kill a bunch of people, I would have my brothers, my best friend, my dad and a decent handful of other skilled individuals all in one place. I like our chances.

EDIT: I didn't know there was a name for folk like us. I shall name my property Hazard Gulch. Long live the Gulchers!
Also a huge clean river running behind my house upstream from the water plant.
Oh yeah and dogs. Us Gulchers be dog people. 3 edits. My new record.

JohnnyGreenfingers said:

Yup I'd guess .22 as one of them and 12 gauge as the other.

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Correct. And those who doubt that a simple .22 lr can feed you.............shouldn't. And yes they *can* be QUITE effective on deersized game with proper placement , pop-pop in the brainpan.FLOP.

And in a *true* survival situation one can carry more .22 lr than anything else. The drawback of course being that it's *not* a dangerous game defensive cartridge , if you're in real Bear country you can run into a problem. Up there if I'm carrying a .22 out for grouse or hare or something I've also got a heavy caliber revolver , generally .44 mag though at times .45 lc or .454 casull , if I'm plinking with a .22 pistol then that Guide Gun is right to hand , and usual loaded with something like the JaeBak Young 550 grain Craters stacked over 45 grains of 4895 or similar , they're only turning up 1500-1600 fps dependent of whether it's the 18.5 or 20 inch barrel but the carry some THUMP , enough to go through both front shoulders on a Moose , and they're quite effective for short-range DLP work in a go with a Bear.

In all fairness I was riding 420God's coat tails. I saw his answer and it was sensible to me. Well played 420.

JohnnyGreenfingers said:

I respect what you're saying, but at the same time it doesn't hurt to have many skills. .

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That's *exactly* what I'm saying , the " layered" concept , never depend *solely* on a single method for anything , try to have a backup for everything.

For instnce , even if I take a dog and go on a day hike , I *never* have less than three methods of starting a fire , and it always includes one that;s wet weather usable.

And many fancy gadgets that " work better ".....don't. Likewise keep in mind that gear is often location dependent , what works in the desert my be unsuitable in the Far North ( as McCandless found out).


Redundancy of function will help keep you alive longer.

JohnnyGreenfingers said:

In all fairness I was riding 420God's coat tails. I saw his answer and it was sensible to me. Well played 420.

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Thanks. I recently bought 2 of each of the guns I listed and a shitload of ammo to add to my collection.

420God said:

I'm going to guess .30-06 and either a 12 gauge or .22.

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Pretty darned close , and '06 is still one of the more popular centerfires and with judicious loading capable of taking anything in North America or Canada , some consider it a bit light for Bear defense but I carried a Browning BAR ( civilian Sporter) with a ghost ring setup for years as bear defense interchangeably with a Garand.

420God said:

Thanks. I recently bought 2 of each of the guns I listed and a shitload of ammo to add to my collection.

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What did you purchase for an '06? The Savage package perchance?

RoninAmok said:

What did you purchase for an '06? The Savage package perchance?

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They're just a couple of older hunting rifles, nothing really fancy.

Like I said, I live in a city. I can't store enough ammo to defend against a 100,000 hungry hord. I'll have a better chance 200 miles away, where there is lots of fresh water, fish, deer & hogs.
I don't realisticly believe there will be very many people prepaired to bug out because of a solar flare. Where would they be running to or from? Most won't believe they are in trouble until things stop working. While most are starting to gather things together, I'll be long gone by then. 200 miles is a long way on foot. I don't believe I'll have much company where I'll be.

I only need to get thru the first 90 days or so, healthy. I'll survive on the food I brought with me & what I can forage around camp. After that there won't be many people left to fear. Everything left will be mine. I'll get some type of solar refigeration going & we're off!
I have 2 solar panels on my camper that will keep my refigerator cold. If it's working, I'm golden!

I'm very resourceful & have lived for extended periods off the grid before.
I believe the key to my survival is to get away from the population centers. A few hrs notice is all I need.
When you guy's are finished shooting each other & your food runs out, then what? Your stuck in a city full of dead people.
I can feed myself & my family just fine, it's the rest of you that I can't!

peace
doublejj

doublejj said:

Like I said, I live in a city. I can't store enough ammo to defend against a 100,000 hungry hord. I'll have a better chance 200 miles away, where there is lots of fresh water, fish, deer & hogs.
I don't realisticly believe there will be very many people prepaired to bug out because of a solar flare. Where would they be running to or from? Most won't believe they are in trouble until things stop working. While most are starting to gather things together, I'll be long gone by then. 200 miles is a long way on foot. I don't believe I'll have much company where I'll be.

I only need to get thru the first 90 days or so, healthy. I'll survive on the food I brought with me & what I can forage around camp. After that there won't be many people left to fear. Everything left will be mine. I'll get some type of solar refigeration going & we're off!
I have 2 solar panels on my camper that will keep my refigerator cold. If it's working, I'm golden!

I'm very resourceful & have lived for extended periods off the grid before.
I believe the key to my survival is to get away from the population centers. A few hrs notice is all I need.
When you guy's are finished shooting each other & your food runs out, then what? Your stuck in a city full of dead people.
I can feed myself & my family just fine, it's the rest of you that I can't!

peace
doublejj

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Shit, how many towns of 100k in Norcal within 200 miles of a river could there be? Me and the Grunchers (is that what we were called?) are coming a-fishin'! Hope you bought the big solar grill! =)



Before anyone freaks the fuck out, I keeeeeed, I keeeeed.

I happen to live on a unique geological formation (inspector told me) that allows me:

a. the high ground over anything approaching from the North, South or West, and the river is a huge one that most folks would die trying to swim across. That river snugs up my backdoor, and the woods between provides plenty of resources if I don't already have enough. Besides me being the boogeyman of my friends, my location is the biggest reason everyone knows to come here. Not everyone, just my close circle of people who have already discussed this.

I randomly try to catch them off guard: "whats the first thing you do if shit hits the fan?"

Only correct answer is grab their gear and get to me. If someone doesn't show we know they're physically unable, because I don't hang out with stupid people.

Drive 200 miles due North of San Francisco, & your at the base of Mt Shasta! No big city for many miles! Upper Sacramento river. You'll see 25 deer on a good day & the river is full of trout. Lots of hogs in the river bottoms. 300 sunny days a year. Come on up & find me!

peace
doublejj

doublejj said:

Drive 200 miles due North of San Francisco, & your at the base of Mt Shasta! No big city for many miles! Upper Sacramento river. You'll see 25 deer on a good day & the river is full of trout. Lots of hogs in the river bottoms. 300 sunny days a year. Come on up & find me!

peace
doublejj

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Hmmmm. I wonder, did you just pull the old wool over my eyes?
Now I think I should go the exact opposite way. But, you might suspect I wouldn't trust you, so you probably told me where you would be thinking I would go the other way. So I should come to where you said.
On the other hand, it's possible that you thought I would put two and two together and figure out that I'd been had, and be on my way to where you said, so you are going the opposite direction from where you told me, so I think on the third level I should go south.
Your as good as found, future huntin' neighbor!

LOL! you got me!
I'll see you in hell!

If I think I'll have time to get over the sierra's, the Walker river drainage would be another target for me.
Or possibly straight up the coast & hit the Russian or eel rivers, they have salmon.

peace
doublejj