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Post by xwing on Jan 7, 2013 2:41:23 GMT -7
I think for alot of us TN would be good meet up location for alot of us. I' drag Missasip with me and wtrfwlr, O T, thywar, dennis, swaprat and se eral others are within drinving distan e of memphis/ jackson Tn area .. I say we meet up in April for a meet& greet....any thoughts?
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Post by Cwi555 on Jan 7, 2013 4:06:16 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. Economics does not come into the equation. There are those of us in the 6+ figure range, down to a rural teacher or sheriffs salary. There are a lot more important aspects than how much money someone makes. Outside of the immediate groups family (children etc) there are only three of us with family in the area. Those of us with family in the area have set aside a place for them specifically external to the group and its resources as a whole. Of those family members, there are only five of them that believe anywhere near what we do. We’ve given those five a start, and they are in the process of setting themselves up. My youngest brother served 4 rotations Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, Afghanistan respectively, He holds two degrees himself and more than capable of doing the same thing I did though their focus is different than ours. They are taking the ball and running with it on their own. Him, my mother, and one sister agreed it is best given the nature of the rest of the family for that kind of thing. The others are falling in underneath his helm. That’s as much as I know about it, or want to know about it, I advise when asked, but other than that, stay out of it which is reciprocal. Location made the final decision on what to do, none of them were willing to move into this radius, with the nearest one being 50 miles away. Most of the members have family oversea’s etc, they take care of their own. There were some very hard decisions made in that, but it is how it has to be. As for missing components, they gravitated to us. As for legally organized, in a way yes, but I’ll leave that detail alone. As for a communal store of goods yes, there has to be. If you’re not willing to help each other, who are you willing to help? As for what each are responsible to bring, it is a mistake in our opinion to focus on material things for that. Everyone brings something to the table, but it is not necessarily materialistic. That deserves a segment of its own actually. What does someone bring to the table? Because someone doesn’t have 5 years of food and an arsenal does that mean they are not to be trusted or looked at? That gets into problem with many ‘groups’. There are many organizations out there that focus a bit too much on that. How much value would you place on someone that can grow food in a desert? What is the value of a person who spent 20 plus years in special forces around the world? How about a jack of all trades that does not have ‘give up’ in their vocabulary with 15 years military background and 15 and counting LEO experience along with a forestry degree, and soon to be a mechanical engineering degree? What value goes to someone who can fly nearly anything that ever hit the air, or drive anything on the ground and repair all the above? People are any given organizations greatest asset or largest liability. Between us we can reboot technology as a whole on our own to the 1950’s level and still going. That includes medical, infrastructure, energy, agriculture, etc. About anything you care to name from the dirt up. If we have access to the raw materials, someone in our organization can make it happen. Would you rather have a rich guy who can provide you all the material you need, but be so attached to those materials that he thinks he should be running the show because it was ‘his money’? Or worse yet, expect you to work as his own little private security force? No material considerations are tertiary at best. People are the backbone of any organization. A solid group of them can accomplish near anything they set their mind to.
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Post by kutkota on Jan 7, 2013 6:45:11 GMT -7
Thanks again. Some of what you advise is applicable to me and some is not. I asked about economics only to entertain the thought of dues towards the organization. A group such as yours capable of what is claimed has massive resources, time, effort, and sweat put in.
Interesting that you made the comment about the rich guy as an angel investor of sorts. I recently meet with some of those type of men from the local area. In the limited time I spent with them one was a seemingly genuine guy and the other just wanted more. Thanks
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Post by missasip on Jan 7, 2013 9:24:29 GMT -7
I think for alot of us TN would be good meet up location for alot of us. I' drag Missasip with me and wtrfwlr, O T, thywar, dennis, swaprat and se eral others are within drinving distan e of memphis/ jackson Tn area .. I say we meet up in April for a meet& greet....any thoughts? Count me in. Course you know X, that TWO ole boys from Mississippi, may be more than they bargained for.... ;D Jimmy
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Post by offtrail on Jan 7, 2013 10:38:32 GMT -7
I think for alot of us TN would be good meet up location for alot of us. I' drag Missasip with me and wtrfwlr, O T, thywar, dennis, swaprat and se eral others are within drinving distan e of memphis/ jackson Tn area .. I say we meet up in April for a meet& greet....any thoughts? Don't want to hijack the thread ill pm you
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Post by pathwinder14 on Jan 8, 2013 12:18:31 GMT -7
...Am I the only one who is slightly reluctant to take the jump from internet buddy to life line in the worst kind of human tragedy? Especially since I’ve tipped my hand to those here about what I have, my weak points, etc. It makes me feel very vulnerable and unsure of what I’m getting my family into. I guess the reward would outweigh the risk, but jeez this kind of stuff eats at me. No, you're not the only one. A little paranoia is healthy and goes a long way. Just keep it in check. Come SHTF we will all have to depend upon someone at some point. No man (or woman) is an island. I have only met one member from here so far...Trenton. Cool guy, lots of knowledge, skills, honor, and integrity. I PM some others who are fairly local to me (Dink, CGU) yet have not met them. Concerned? Yes. Paranoid? No. I look forward to meeting others. I think that annual meet and greets for geographical locales is a good idea. It gets the feet wet with who is in your area. Putting faces to the names is a good place to start breaking down that paranoia. The closest thing to what we’re proposing here would be developing a relationship over the internet and then meeting to get married. I’ve heard some horror stories about that kind of stuff. But our stuff is even more serious because it’s life or death when we meet. In a marriage you can get divorced and walk away. If a mistake is made here, somebody dies. You can get an idea of how a person’s brain works, but there can be a whole lot more to a person than their written word. That’s why I’m sticking with solely family at this point. I don’t even trust my friends with this kind of stuff. I don’t mean to insult anyone on the board because you all seem like very nice people. This is my issue with trust, not anything anyone else did. I probably need a shrink ;D I met my wife online... Seriously. No you don't need a shrink. The LEO in you sees criminals everyday. It has hardened your view of the world. Anyone in extreme conditions as a daily job (Soldier, LEO, EMT, Firefighter, ER Doctor/Nurse) would be similar. Your reluctancy protects your family. I don't think anyone here blames you. Over a period of months and years, that persons individual thoughts and pattern of thoughts come out. The words used become less important, and secondary to the overall patterns....Most of the people here have shown their hands long ago. You made note of that about yourself in this thread and others... Those patterns are what matter. The establishment of those patterns help to discover someone who is being false or contradictory. If I all of a sudden stopped being blunt you all would wonder what alien took over my body. My bluntness is part of who I am. Most people here intentionally show their hand (as to their real intentions) because it takes a special kind of person to be here in the first place. New comers are timid but they find us warm, inviting, humble, and helpful. If we find those patterns become contradictory the admins take care of it...and do so very well. CCM watches the site like a hawk. I'm glad she does. There are members on this board that I trust more than many people I have actually met. +1 very true...
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Post by USCGME2 on Jan 9, 2013 19:04:00 GMT -7
All I know is that when I have asked for prayers for one thing or another the thread filled up with them. That to me spoke alot about the "character" of the forum. The same is true when any of the members ask. I found ST one day and was hooked by WC's reference to Jerrimiah Johnson. I was astonished to see how cool every one here was and the knuckleheads were quickly shown the door. Ive been hanging around ever since and check the forum nearly everyday to see how things are going. To say I've learned alot is an understatement. Personally, I really look forward to meeting some of my Missouri preppers here like Dink, WC, and Kutkota when I come off AD for a range day and picnic. That will hopefully come to fruition late this summer after Im home for a bit. CWI, your input on this thread is evidence of what I've thought about you all along. You are not about surviving, you are about sur-THRIVING. Corny I know but, true. You my friend are going BIG and I respect you for it. Your take on survival extends way beyond just you and yours. One day I would love to share a good cup of espresso with you and just listen for as long as you are willing to talk.
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Post by USCGME2 on Jan 9, 2013 19:12:53 GMT -7
Pathwinder, Im sorry. I want to hang with you too. When home, I get to STL all the time.
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Post by Cwi555 on Jan 9, 2013 22:05:18 GMT -7
CWI, your input on this thread is evidence of what I've thought about you all along. You are not about surviving, you are about sur-THRIVING. Corny I know but, true. You my friend are going BIG and I respect you for it. Your take on survival extends way beyond just you and yours. One day I would love to share a good cup of espresso with you and just listen for as long as you are willing to talk. Hopefully we get the chance for that cup of joe.
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Post by onidah on Jan 9, 2013 22:47:02 GMT -7
So, a bug-in or bug-out group can be like members of a supply chain. There are some members of the group that you form tight strategic alliances with and long-lasting relationships. These would be mainly beneficial in a bug-in situation or at the destination location of a bug-out.
Other members of the group may be beneficial for short-term, tactical partnerships on an as needed basis. These types of members might be especially useful while traveling during a bug-out scenario.
There are a couple of ways to manage supply chains. One is to have end-to-end visibility of and control over the entire supply chain. Another approach is to have each member of the supply chain closely cooperate and plan with their immediate supplier and their immediate customer.
A similar type of approach may be beneficial for a long-distance bug-out plan or underground railroad. If a member of this forum wanted to travel 1,000 miles for a bug-out, they wouldn't necessarily need to know and gain trust in each of the various pit stops along the way. If each of us were to reach out and form a trusting, cooperative relationship with a forum member to our North, South, East, and West, we could pass bug-out travelers through the network as needed.
If something unfortunate happens and trust is betrayed by a particular traveler, the solution is to not pass them along to the next waypoint. Anyone that is passed on to your location will have earned the trust of all previous links prior to arriving to your location. Anyone who violates trust won't get passed along and won't be able to take advantage of the entire network. The chain will be broken and the rest of the network would be spared. Of course, if everyone properly vets their North, South, East, and West relationships, problems should be minimized.
Resources could even be flowed through and prepositioned throughout a planned route ahead of time without disclosing the details of each node in the network. With the right communication equipment, messages could also be passed through the network using these nodes (depending on the proximity of everyone's North, South, East and West connections).
Does this approach make sense? Any thoughts on using this approach rather than a more general "everybody get to know, vet, and trust everyone else" approach to establish waypoints along long-distance bug-out routes?
Onidah
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Post by ColcordMama on Jan 17, 2013 14:54:22 GMT -7
I think what Onidah offers sounds like a good plan, if what we're dealing with is a hostile us-vs-them situation. If pretty much everybody is in the same hot water, like a Katrina crisis, then I don't see an advantage to compartmentalizing associations. Maybe someone sees it differently, and I'd love to hear thoughts on this.
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Post by hitec4you on Jan 17, 2013 16:27:41 GMT -7
I agree very good plan Onidah.
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