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Post by mud on Jan 6, 2013 10:04:46 GMT -7
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Post by wtrfwlr on Jan 6, 2013 10:06:46 GMT -7
Would someone kindly let out President in on this concept!!!
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Post by mud on Jan 6, 2013 10:34:36 GMT -7
Well this morning I met Thywar. I met him up the road and he followed me home. It was a short visit due to his travel for work but I am glad he stopped by and I am pretty sure we would have no trouble extending an invitation to him. I met Redneckokie earlier this year though for convenience we met at a neutral location. He and his wife would be welcome at my fire as well. While the results may or may not be typical of what we can expect, I am satisfied and if not given in to WILL's marriage example they would surely qualify as 'dating' material.
Now that you all have your minds back from the gutter on that last statement... I am still looking forward to meeting up with BJ and Dennis as I think they are the only two left in my area. Dink and Woodscustom are a bit farther out.
As to the personality part, I will tell you straight up I am borderline OCD, have a nervous disposition, and pretty damn set in my moral compass. I will only put up with so much for so long but even at the breaking point, doing the right thing comes first. Trust on many levels is not easy for me. I find casual contact the worst. Mainly because you know the encounter will be short and there is not much time to assess all the potential issues and you must go with your gut. Well my gut has been wrong before but only when I strayed from my compass. They work together that way I think. Nobody here or anywhere has a right or even cause to dismiss the possibility of being able to assist you merely because you have trust issues. It is a two way street. I 'trust' very few people yet I am 'trusting' due to the concept of assumed decency. I do not believe people are inherently bad yet your job and experience has led you to be wary of everyone outside your group (family) and that is understandable. As it stands we only have family in our group. That itself has the potential to be problematic simply by past associations. Very few people ever get along 100% of the time. We are no exception. What we have in place are procedures to settle issues as they arise rather than put them off to become something disastrous.
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Post by cowgirlup on Jan 6, 2013 12:09:18 GMT -7
This is a great discussion. I saw an organization online a while back. A.N.T.S Americans networking to survive. They have quite a system for getting aid to members. Even if it's just a five gallon bucket of supplies. I thought about it briefly and then decided there were just too many strangers and other things I didn't like.
I like the idea of a network where we could offer some assistance to Bunker members. I too think that if you have been paying attention to people's posts you will get a good idea of what that person is like and what they stand for. I guess there could be a few poseurs in the group. But I am pretty confident that I know who I would be able to get along really well with and who would probably find me annoying.
There are members on this board that I trust more than many people I have actually met.
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Post by angelhelp on Jan 6, 2013 13:08:24 GMT -7
This is a great discussion. I saw an organization online a while back. A.N.T.S Americans networking to survive. They have quite a system for getting aid to members. Even if it's just a five gallon bucket of supplies. I thought about it briefly and then decided there were just too many strangers and other things I didn't like. I like the idea of a network where we could offer some assistance to Bunker members. I too think that if you have been paying attention to people's posts you will get a good idea of what that person is like and what they stand for. I guess there could be a few poseurs in the group. But I am pretty confident that I know who I would be able to get along really well with and who would probably find me annoying. There are members on this board that I trust more than many people I have actually met. +1
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Post by solargeek1 on Jan 6, 2013 13:15:26 GMT -7
From CGU "There are members on this board that I trust more than many people I have actually met."
Oh my gosh that is so true.
Personal meet ups are important but I still think you can get the lay of the land with people in many cases and develop trust before a meetup.
I hope to meet Dink this summer when we get our garden started; and maybe then again when goats and chickens get added (Summer 2014). I would trust her with my kids (more important than my life).
I have met up with TJ - stellar guy - twice; feel we are on many of the same pages (hey my name IS Solargeek!); Also camped with someone some of us ST'ers remember, Unswydd, who was just great.
I have also spoken to others on other forums (on the phone) on a regular basis due to prayers being needed and feel they too would be worth getting to know when their lives are not in personal crisis stage. We even offered our Chicago place to one whose 4 yr old needed surgery but in the end the Ronald McDonald house stepped up.
All this is to echo WILL and Mud and CWI and others who say it may take YEARS to develop trust. So START NOW.
Our neighbors are not good but luckily pretty far away. We may be able to cultivate them at a later date but anytime you build, neighbors seem to get their noses in a snit. (raising dust, too much noise etc.) Plus they simply do not share our environmental concerns of not spraying the living **** out of all crops/plants. Roundup is their name here. GMO seeds are their best friends. For us, that is a deal breaker.
So we will be happy to keep meeting SB'ers and other like thinking/believing people!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2013 13:25:30 GMT -7
From CGU "There are members on this board that I trust more than many people I have actually met." Oh my gosh that is so true. Personal meet ups are important but I still think you can get the lay of the land with people in many cases and develop trust before a meetup. I hope to meet Dink this summer when we get our garden started; and maybe then again when goats and chickens get added (Summer 2014). I would trust her with my kids (more important than my life). I have met up with TJ - stellar guy - twice; feel we are on many of the same pages (hey my name IS Solargeek!); Also camped with someone some of us ST'ers remember, Unswydd, who was just great. I have also spoken to others on other forums (on the phone) on a regular basis due to prayers being needed and feel they too would be worth getting to know when their lives are not in personal crisis stage. We even offered our Chicago place to one whose 4 yr old needed surgery but in the end the Ronald McDonald house stepped up. All this is to echo WILL and Mud and CWI and others who say it may take YEARS to develop trust. So START NOW. Our neighbors are not good but luckily pretty far away. We may be able to cultivate them at a later date but anytime you build, neighbors seem to get their noses in a snit. (raising dust, too much noise etc.) Plus they simply do not share our environmental concerns of not spraying the living **** out of all crops/plants. Roundup is their name here. GMO seeds are their best friends. For us, that is a deal breaker. So we will be happy to keep meeting SB'ers and other like thinking/believing people! I am looking for ward to meeting you this summer as well, It is on my agenda for a trip before school starts, and another visit after school lets out in August 2014. And I must admit, that level of trust goes both ways...without fail. I must also say, for those of you who do not know him personally, I would not only trust WC with my life, I would readily lay my life down for him, knowing his survival would benefit many more than mine would. He is one in a million and is irreplaceable. I would give him the keys to my home and everything I own and know he would do the right thing...and my will proves it.
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Post by Dennis on Jan 6, 2013 14:17:26 GMT -7
This just my humble 2 cents worth.
Speaking with some experience here about an internet group. About 5 years ago I had a meet up with another internet group that I belong to. We’ve had 5 fest since one every year. The groups common interest is antique Harleys. Last year we had about 250 folks show up. A few from other countries. I have made some very close friends. We do not consider the meets a biker thing but a family reunion. It’s truly different to become so close in such an odd way.
I met Redneckokie at our 3rd meet since we were in OK. He came over one day and was great to meet him.
Getting together is really the only way to tie the bond that grows from the forum. To put a face with the name is exciting. All ya need is a place to meet and a date. We met one time at members house in TN. He had some acreage on a nice creek. Everyone pitched there tents and all was good.
We also have small local meets. Where only a few members show up. The local meets are much easier to attend since it does not require a lot of time and can usually be done on a weekend.
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Post by cajunlady87 on Jan 6, 2013 16:10:38 GMT -7
Firstly, excellent thread TJ. Secondly I don't have a vehicle to bugout. However, the feasibility of bugging out depends a lot on your area. Some regions have more to offer than others. Each has its share of densely populated areas. The vast majority of these people will not even try to leave and will slowly perish while waiting for others to help them instead. I live along the Gulf Coast and I stay here because of family ties as well as my love for the area. Those of us living in rural areas are the least likely to need to bug out to begin with. Here most of us have known each other all our lives. We know who we can trust, who can plant gardens, who hunts, who fishes, who's a military veteran, who's in the medical field or who is a Jack of all Trades. It's like our own little community already. Most of us would pull together and help each other out as has been proven time and time again when the big hurricanes have hit our coastline. The media doesn't show those who roll up their sleeves and go to work digging out of the rubble and rebuilding. That is called resiliency and we're good at picking ourselves up and starting over. Mostly we're good at taking care of ourselves long before FEMA and the Red Cross popped into the picture. Where you live has a lot to do with how you should formulate your survival plans and can be a big factor in your chances of success of survival, or at least the difficulty you would face. I realize I'm not the only one in my area who is preparing for the worse. We are smarter than people give us credit for and survivial is the name of our game. If all hell broke loose we'd just protect our area to the hilt and put it all in the hands of the good lord. My 2cents.
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Post by kutkota on Jan 6, 2013 18:50:02 GMT -7
Thanks for the insight. Was/is social/economics brought into the equation? My small group that is actively prepping would balloon upon SHTF. How difficult was the family issue to deal with. I.E. extended family. I am assuming that a sort of money pool was/is in place. Is there a buy in of sorts to the group? A certain amount of prereqs to be admitted? Did you search out needed or missing components or did they seem to find you? How was the immediate family "judged"? I am assuming that you gained most from reference of the current members? Is the group legally organized? Is their a communal "pot" of stored goods or is each responsible to bring what is needed? Thanks for any input on any of the questions. I attempted to steer clear of particulars for the general.
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Post by woodyz on Jan 6, 2013 19:55:49 GMT -7
I am with a group. Most of us have known each other for 10+ years, or they are now the grown kids of those people.
We have members with assignments/jobs for the group. By that I mean they are the core or full fledged member. They know everything the group knows, but do retain some secrets of their own. All of them have desirable skill sets. Welding, electrician, Carpenter, no DR. but we have a vet, mechanics. All take part in or proof of concept processes.
Then we have people who are not full fledged members but are in training/try-outs. We have dinners, picnics, camp-outs, shooting days and other training. They only know the training stuff of the group and what they see in the way of gear. They know where a rally point is and can expect to be welcome if SHTF. They have desirable skill sets and take part by invitation to our proof of concept programs and training. Once we get to know them, they can become members. Non-members are never invited to any retreat and only know of the cache at the rally point. They know we have retreats and other rally points and caches, but they don't know where. If they don't cut it they have very little information that could hurt us.
We also have donors. They are wanna be trainees that have not been invited yet. They may come on a camp out or a shooting day so we can get to know them. Most are relatives or friends of members or current trainees. They are donors because they babysit, or have skill sets and donate their time. They also can donate food with the idea they will have access to it when needed. It gives them a chance to already have a kit and 30 to 90 days of supplies.
They know we have a better chance of keeping it from being stolen than they do. They are not allowed to bring a friend around at anytime and if we hear they talk to much they get their donation supplies back and don't return.
If someone wants to meet us as they are coming through town, we meet at Cracker Barrel or I-HOP. After a couple of times doing that we may invite them to a shoot or cookout.
If you have been to a shoot or cookout, you can asked to stay the night then or any other time you are passing through and we are home.
That's how we work it.
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Post by swamprat1 on Jan 6, 2013 20:06:42 GMT -7
Sounds like Sam would get along with one of Swamprats young-uns who is around that age. He's already squirreling away snacks in his own little "hiding" places in his room (for later ya know!) They've moved into weapons making now. The youngest made me a bow and the older has been whittling out small spears. ;D
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Post by thywar on Jan 6, 2013 20:53:44 GMT -7
Yep had a chance to meet up with Mud this morning. Good visit, short but good and real nice folks. Definitely welcome at my campfire. I expect in the near future I'll find a way to meet Dennis. Hopefully me, Mud, Dennis, Okie and Wtrfwlr can make a meetup sometime this spring.
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Post by olebama on Jan 6, 2013 21:11:53 GMT -7
I hope I communicate this clearly. I would offer my location as a refuge to our members, however, I have some concerns about offering to help. If they are bugging out, wouldn't I be bugging out also? I would hate to tell someone that I am at this location and offer help and when they get here, I have gone to my BOL. Will (or some other member) might have come out of their way and wasted gas and then no help here.
I guess we could always say call before you come, but what if phones and cell phones are down?
I do agree that we need to meet up with as many of each other that we can.
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Post by offtrail on Jan 7, 2013 0:13:22 GMT -7
I still say the more people you bring into the fold the better the chance for vital information leaking out. Just something you will have to deal with. And another reason to never share all your information to others no mater who that person is. It could be a brother a mother, wife, makes no difference who it is. Always have a back up plan that you and you alone know about . The problem with telling people about your plan is you just never know if they realize how important that information is and how vital it is to keep it secret. People have friends and friends have other friends and so on and so on, you know what i'm saying. I also know that one person has very little chance of surviving so it's kind of dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. Guess what i'm trying to say is pick your members carefully and never never never tell anyone of your back up plan ever!!! JMO
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