Post by solargeek1 on May 30, 2012 10:43:17 GMT -7
DINK ON SURVIVAL
It doesn't matter if you live in the city, urba area, rural area, on a farm or isolated out in the deep woods...there is a way to survive. How many of you have considered this? I know it will seem easier for the person living out in the sticks such as I am, but really, isn't it just the same for everyone...just a different fashion of survival? I am not very good at voicing my thoughts, and my brain has been a bit preoccupied in the last few days...PLEASE bear with me...
WATER: You will NEVER EVER EVER have enough. Unless you live in death valley, the mohave desert or someplace that simply doesn't get rain, there is water to be had. Do you have ANY kind of system figured out for water collection? You can store enough water for a month or however long your dry season is, then you can store the collapsable 5 gallon jugs or the large 250 gallon bags when they are empty, so they are not taking up a bunch of room, and if something happens, you can collect rain water in them. Get several of these to take full advantage of any and all wet weather to see you through dry times. Figure up how many gallons it would take and put away enough empty containers for double that amount or more. You can invest in a roll of 100' x 8mill 4ply plastic for about $20. This can be cut into sections and placed at roof corners, it can be rolled into funnel shapes and tied off of balconies, attatched to broom handles or other things and stuck out windowsfunneling down into buckets for catching, hung from tree limbs, etc. You may need to filter it and make it potable, but it is doable. You should be aware of your area, when it is the wet season and dry season, or when a storm is coming by looking at the sky or tree leaves, etc. Always be ready to catch water. I know if you have a shingle roof there are chemicals there you do not want to consume, but there are other ways to gather water, be creative, and that water can still be used for a latrene or washing clothes, etc. How deep is you water level? Pick an expendable room, plan to bust through the floor, dig a big hole, and you have ground water. Maybe not the easiest or the best, but for some it IS an option. And it is away from prying eyes and keeps you from having to travel for water. Just plan on a lot of hard work...but the payoff of life is a wonderful reward.
SHELTER: Not everyone has the means to move or relocate just to be in a better location or area, if we did, then things would be much different for ALL of us. Assess your location...approximatey how far from high crime areas, major highways, major waterways, ghettos, flooding areas, etc. If you are in a location thats says "Your are a goner if anything happens" then seriously figure out how to relocate at least to a different neighborhood. Wherever you live, you can find ways to baracade your home against invaders...just don't baracade yourself in. Make sure you have not 1 but 3 or more ways to exit your location. Figure a perimeter around your location that you can safely set up some sort of early warning system, and have at least one back up for each kind. If you live in a duplex or apartment complex,and you can pick up a few rolles of monofilliment line, or some form of tripwire just to have extra, DO SO!! When it gets deep, your neighbors WILL be knocking on your door. Hand them a small package of lines, rat traps, a couple of shotgun shells, whatever, something cheap and simple along with directions on how to set it up. It may cost you a few dollars now, but hey, if they set it up and something happens, its another form of an early warning system for you. You don't have to tell them you have emergency stores, just tell them its an idea you had for personal protection and you made some kits with a cousin or something and oh here you can spare one. If you live in any kind of building...get a blue print!! They should be on record in the city or county recorders office or somewhere. Find them and buy one. You can figure out by looking at a picture on the livingroom floor where the weak points are, security threats, and how all the electrical, water and gas lines are all laid out. Where shut off are for gas and such.You don't want to have an open flame with out of control gas 2 doors down and blow the whole place sky high. If the walls are thin, get some 3/4" plywood or such and place them in the closets or under beds and cover them. If it gets bad, pull them out and fix them over the walls between your place and the neighbors. Not bulletproof, but will help keep an intruder stalled long enough for you to get a gun or leave. If you live in a house, this lumber can be used to cover excess windows & doors, less places for someone to break in while you are resting....have a plan to booby trap these places. It may not be legal now, but in a TEOTWAWKI situation that is gonna be a WROL type of thing, ALL bets are off, and you BETTER have plans to take care of yourself, your family and your provisions.
FOOD: No matter who you are or where you are located, like water, you will NEVER have enough food. I know many people who simply refuse to eat generic brands of food saying they taste weird...thats BS. Find the cheapest store you can in your area and invest in CASES of food. Place a piece of tape on each box with the date it. Make sure the oldest is first used...ROTATE, ROTATE, ROTATE!!! Whether something has nutrition value or not, like green beans, get them. You sprinkle some dried onions in some green beans and they are pretty darn good and are something different...they are not totally worthless either. Green beans offer vitamins and minerals. They are a vegetable and are good for you. We all say I wouldn't eat this or that...well I HATE split pea soup...JUST split peas, no other ingredients...but if I am gonna starve, you bet your sweet patooty I am gonna be lappin them babies up! I will not eat coconut because it is a death sentence, but that just goes without saying. Buy this stuff so you have enough for a 3 month supply, then you open the oldest stuff for use. AS SOON AS YOU OPEN IT, plan to replace it ASAP. Not when you are getting ready to open the next case, but within a couple days, and continue to gradually build your stock. Include fruits, veggies, meats, etc. Even if it says pie filling, it tastes good, its food, & it will keep you interested in eating. Go through your stock, take note, PLAN your meals. Write them down, do a 3 month meal calender. How many times will you be eating rice and beans? How many meals will be ramen noodles? Mix it up, figure out where and what you are lacking, and start getting those items NOW. In the last month, I have used approximately 120# of flour, and 75# of sugar, and MANY gallons of apple cider vinegar, not to mention other ingredients while canning and baking. I make things for other people, all they have to do is bring the ingredients to me. I know how much flour I will need to make certain things for freezing, drying or whatever to last a year. Its a LOT of flour!!! Same for sugar, baking soda, etc. When you make your meal calender, figure INGREDIENTS you will need, don't just say fried chicken, figure the flour, dried egg substitute, water, salt, etc whatever it will take from your supplies to make EACH meal. Then figure a little more. If you have a family of four, plan for a family of 6 or 8. Will parents or siblings show up? What about your best friend, his wife and 6 yr old child? PLAN for more people than you have in your home. Learn how to harvest and save seeds from your own stock. Do it NOW so you know you can do it properly in the future.
MEDICAL: Go to thrift stores, rummage sales, estate auctions, whatever, pick up any & every kind of medical & first aid training & information book you can find. You may not read them now, but get a large collection & put them on a shelf or in a box & put them away. You may need them. Go to your local Red Cross, fire department, or hospital and get inrolled in first aid, and CPR classes. Get all the training you can NOW. Sure you may let the license lapse, although I would strongly suggest keeping it updated, but at least you would know something if you needed to help a loved one. If you need to buy a tube of neosporin, get 2 & put one away. Same for bandaids, gauze, etc. Rubbing alcohol, iodine, betadine, vitamins, etc. A box here, a bottle there, put away is better than nothing. Order a few of the free pet supply catalogs, you can buy in bulk like that and save money, or get ideas oin what to buy in town and make your purchases with cash so there is no record of you purchasing enough stuff for yourfamily for any kind of medical crisis for more than a year. And when you have that much, get more. If it can happen, it will happen...and at the most inoportune time. Be prepared for Murphys Law to pay you a visit when you least expect it
HEATING/COOLING: It is easier to stay cool than it is to stay warm. Granted if you live in a desert area, you will have a bigger problem with over heating...You can still freeze to death over night in certain regions in the hottest deserts. Can you get a small cast iron wood stove and enough pipe to vent it out a window and enough brick to set under it to keep the floor from catching fire? Can you afford to pay $4 per gallon on kerosene? Do you have a generator and the fuel to keep it running for years if access to fuel disappears for some unknown reason? Whatever the situation, You need to make sure you have blankets and winter clothes/coats. etc for EACH person. MORE than each person will need. Maybe you can't provide any source of heat, but huddled together under a few blankets will combine enough warmth to keep you alive in the coldest of weather. Make sure all containers of water have enough space to allow for freezing, and that they are in or on something to catch you water in case the container busts & springs a leak when it thaws out. Every area is different, only you can plan for your area. Consider the WORST winter on record, then drop the temp another 15-20 degrees...summer add 15-20 degrees. Plan for THOSE extreme temperatures. If you loose the ability to flip a switch for central heat & air, you need to be ready for the absolute worst weather.
CACHES: no matter who you are, at some point in a crisis, you will need some form of supplies. Invest in the stuff needed to create a few caches. Make sure each one has food, medical, clothing, and other emergency items. If a natural disaster or something happens and you loose your place, you don't want to be stuck out in the world with no more than the cloths on your back. S#!T HAPPENS!! A fire set by a candle, lightening, etc is very possible. Those caches WILL save your life. Do you have a pretty little flower garden going in out in front of your house this spring? AAWWW How nice...its amazing what you can bury under it in the cover of darkeness and whalah, you have a cache in place. And in a place that no one will think anything of that has fresh dirt laying around. Use your imagination. Have a giant concrete flower pot in the yard, or maybe some sort of decoration that can be "cleaned out and replanted"? place a cache in it...there is another one. They don't have to be giant or deep in the woods, just out of the home, and in a location that is easily accessible and not generally thought of by others.
ANIMALS: have family pets? try a couple of rabbits for the kids, and learn rabbit husbandry. Most cities will let you have them. They can be litter box trained, they will eat the grass you pull from the yard, will provide a form of meat, they are quiet, and do not stink if you take care of them properly...I know this from first hand experience....mine never stunk, but a friends reaked horribly. The manure can be added to a compost bin & used to fertilize veggies either in a garden or containers. The hides can be peiced together for diapers, gloves, hats, underwear, etc. Go to town, there are deer there. You will aslo find racoons, oppossums, skunks, squirrels, birds, rats, lizzards, frogs, snakes, dogs, cats, coyotes, sometimes even bear. These animals WILL provide food, clothing from the hides, tools from the bones, water bags from the stomaches, etc. LEARN these things now. Find a way to trap or kill them and learn how to tan hides. Learn different techniques for preserving the meats, adn what organs can be used. If you can't use for your own food, then use it in a trap for other other animals. Check you area ordinances, get a small flock of chickens, maybe a milk goata bred cow with a calf on her side. You can butcher the standing calf when she is about amonth from birthing (cows carry for 11 months approx). Then you have a cow and calf. When this calf is about a month old, talk to a local farmer about having her bred to his bull. Many farmers will do this if you simply offer to help with a little farmwork. In which case, you will be learning valuable skills as well as keeping beef available for your family. If this is not an option, travel to the closest farming community, find a farmer who is willing to work with you and trade him farm help for a calf. Be interested and learn everyhting you can. This may end up being what keeps your family fed 5 years down the road in a WROL situation.
PEOPLE: Make notes in a few spiral notebooks. When someone comes knocking, hand them a mini FAK, mini fishing kit, some snare wire, a cheap knife, spare jacket or blanket, a lighter and a homemade Do-It-Yourself manual. A small investment of time and a few dollars may seem like a waste of time now, but in a SHTF moment, it may be what makes that person decide you are an alright person, they may decide to do something to help you in the future, and its better than turning them away empty handded and having to worry about them burning your place down aroud you because they figure if they can't have your stuff, you can't either. You may not make a bunch of friends, but at least you will be less apt to make a bunch of enemies. Don't be rude and hateful just because you can. If you can afford to spend $3 at a thrift sore and buy 30 handbags of some kind, then you have a cheap start to a bunch of small kits you can send down the road with poeple. 1 bag per group, Even if you are eating regular, you will not be all rosey cheeked and shining clean. Your calorie intake is going to change drastically. You WILL loose weight and have a slightly gaunt appearance. You will have to work to take care of plants, animals, feces removal, etc...so if you tell a group...go down 8 blocks to such and such park I heard there is a bunch of squirrels or a stream with fish in it, they won't think you are sitting on a bunch of food, because you are just as haggard as they are. Your clothes will be stained, handwashing them will wear them out so you better have exra on hand either of clothes, or fabric and sewing kits & patterns to make more. At our local Salvation Army you can get good winter coats for $1 each. Spend a few dollars and get extra kids coats, adult coats, whatever. If its gettin chilly at night, have a jacket on when you answer the door, and a couple of others next to the door so they are close at hand. You don't have to tell suzy to go fetch a jacket. Take yours off and say, here, you can have these, maybe they will help until you can find an abandoned house to hole up in like we did. You don't have to let on like its your house. This will make people think even more that if you are in your own place, you must have something there worth protecting, but if you make them think you are just denned up in an abandoned place until uncle Bill gets better, then they will think you have as little as they do, and give them the idea to go on down the road, there is nothing there for them. NEVER EVER EVER give them any information like how many people are there, names etc of folks actually with you. Give false info if you need to say something misleading. In this situation, a well thought out lie may very well save your life.
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I would suggest start close to the house with caches. Pick a spot in a visually protected corner of the property, dig a nice little hole, and place your cache container in it, backfill and smooth out, scatter grass seed over it that is like whats in the area, half bury a couple of good size rocks over it, nothing to big to draw attention to it, but large enough they are easy to find once the grass is grown. If you use a tree, it can be blown over in a storm, struck by lightening, cut down and burned, etc.
If you have family members who are survival minded as you are, bury something on their place...with prmission...but don't tell them where it is unless you are 100% comfortable that you will ALWAYS have a strong relationship with them. Do the same at any BOL, close but not directly at the location in case it has been compromised. This will give you a chance to remove your cache at least under the cover of darkness.
A large waterproof cooler with a weight in it heavy enough to keep it underwater can have items sealed in bags filling the cooler. Use a nylon rope or such to make sure it is securely shut. Wrap a few loops of loose rope on each side of the cooler so a handhold is available later. You can always drag a hooking line to pull it up or you can jump in, tie a line on and pull it out, find a unkept pond somewhere that people do not use, get permission to camp in the area some time. Sink your cooler in the pond. It may be a bite getting it back out, but it can be done. Make it some place you see on a regular or semi-regular basis. If you notice activity around the pond, get your cooler out ASAP. I suggest a plastic one as it will not rust to pieces on you. It may not be the best of ideas, but in a small cattle pond or such, its well hid. And if you can find one on government land or national parks land, you can place it and remove it as you need without having to get permission.
Away from the property, but located only about 1/8th of a mile from the back of my property is a small cemetary. I have a map of who is buried where, dates, etc. I keep the records on the cemetary and sell plots to people. I have 10 burial plots for my family in exchange for helping the cemetary free of charge...2 of them are for me. Since I can only be placed in 1 spot, I will be using my extra for a cache spot. Using the PVC pipe idea, I can make a dozen or more of them and standing them on end, they can be buried a foot under the ground level. All I have to do is use a thin piece of rerod and probe for them. If they are all set up the same, I can take out 1 at a time as needed, if they are different, I can dig them all up. WHO is going to be looking in a cemetary for caches? Granted if there is a pandemic or something causing people to start dieing off very fast and cemetaries are going to start filling up, I need to move them, BUT for now, it is a nice quiet place to stash things. And the residence don't mind and don't bother a thing. And I like going there day or night. Its very peaceful, and most folks avoid them.
I think many people plan on bugging out when staying put is more reasonable. If you can walk to you BOL in a day or two, then you aren't putting much distance between you and the place you are leaving. If you beef up where you live and stock the vast majority of your supplies there, you should do everything in your power to stay in your home. It will help you mentally, emotionally and physically if you are home and trying to survive rather than someplace NOT home and trying to survive. Either way, either place, you are going to face the same challenges and the same problems. Changing location will not make matters better. It may stop one threat, but it WILL bring on a whole new set of threats and problems to replace the ones you are TRYING to leave behind. At least at home, you know what you have, you know your weak spots and how to fortify the place. While you are there, you have no idea what is happening to your BOL. Sure some people have a BOL out in national forests where people never go, but I gaurantee you that place WILL have people on it in an EOTWAWKI situation. People will be on the move EVERYWHERE. If you leave home just because you think you MIGHT need to, you could loose your home and everything in it to looters & GOD only knows what, only to get to your BOL to find it burned to the ground, occupied, or run into trouble on the way and not even make it. Then you have nothing. If you have another BOL, you are facing the same delima. And so on.
If you have ABSOLUTELY no other option but to leave, unless you can load ALL your supplies in a BOV and get there quickly, I would say you need to be very careful about where you are going, how far you have to travel. Consider all the waterways you will be crossing including rivers AND creeks. Wet feet or body in the winter is a death sentence. Who is traveling with you? Can they make the journey? Can they pack supplies for themselves? Are they going to be a liability? I'm not saying leave them behind...I am saying can YOU take care of everyone and everything and still remain alert enough and healthy enough to keep everyone alive? What happens to them if something happens to you? Do you have back up plans? How about backup plans for your backup plans? Do you have a little baby? What about formula, food and diapers? Children grow, what about shoes and clothes? Can you pack everything you need for them in the future or stock what they need at the BOL, or even make them more? That would be a hard one, but it can be part of your stores at home.
It doesn't matter if you live in the city, urba area, rural area, on a farm or isolated out in the deep woods...there is a way to survive. How many of you have considered this? I know it will seem easier for the person living out in the sticks such as I am, but really, isn't it just the same for everyone...just a different fashion of survival? I am not very good at voicing my thoughts, and my brain has been a bit preoccupied in the last few days...PLEASE bear with me...
WATER: You will NEVER EVER EVER have enough. Unless you live in death valley, the mohave desert or someplace that simply doesn't get rain, there is water to be had. Do you have ANY kind of system figured out for water collection? You can store enough water for a month or however long your dry season is, then you can store the collapsable 5 gallon jugs or the large 250 gallon bags when they are empty, so they are not taking up a bunch of room, and if something happens, you can collect rain water in them. Get several of these to take full advantage of any and all wet weather to see you through dry times. Figure up how many gallons it would take and put away enough empty containers for double that amount or more. You can invest in a roll of 100' x 8mill 4ply plastic for about $20. This can be cut into sections and placed at roof corners, it can be rolled into funnel shapes and tied off of balconies, attatched to broom handles or other things and stuck out windowsfunneling down into buckets for catching, hung from tree limbs, etc. You may need to filter it and make it potable, but it is doable. You should be aware of your area, when it is the wet season and dry season, or when a storm is coming by looking at the sky or tree leaves, etc. Always be ready to catch water. I know if you have a shingle roof there are chemicals there you do not want to consume, but there are other ways to gather water, be creative, and that water can still be used for a latrene or washing clothes, etc. How deep is you water level? Pick an expendable room, plan to bust through the floor, dig a big hole, and you have ground water. Maybe not the easiest or the best, but for some it IS an option. And it is away from prying eyes and keeps you from having to travel for water. Just plan on a lot of hard work...but the payoff of life is a wonderful reward.
SHELTER: Not everyone has the means to move or relocate just to be in a better location or area, if we did, then things would be much different for ALL of us. Assess your location...approximatey how far from high crime areas, major highways, major waterways, ghettos, flooding areas, etc. If you are in a location thats says "Your are a goner if anything happens" then seriously figure out how to relocate at least to a different neighborhood. Wherever you live, you can find ways to baracade your home against invaders...just don't baracade yourself in. Make sure you have not 1 but 3 or more ways to exit your location. Figure a perimeter around your location that you can safely set up some sort of early warning system, and have at least one back up for each kind. If you live in a duplex or apartment complex,and you can pick up a few rolles of monofilliment line, or some form of tripwire just to have extra, DO SO!! When it gets deep, your neighbors WILL be knocking on your door. Hand them a small package of lines, rat traps, a couple of shotgun shells, whatever, something cheap and simple along with directions on how to set it up. It may cost you a few dollars now, but hey, if they set it up and something happens, its another form of an early warning system for you. You don't have to tell them you have emergency stores, just tell them its an idea you had for personal protection and you made some kits with a cousin or something and oh here you can spare one. If you live in any kind of building...get a blue print!! They should be on record in the city or county recorders office or somewhere. Find them and buy one. You can figure out by looking at a picture on the livingroom floor where the weak points are, security threats, and how all the electrical, water and gas lines are all laid out. Where shut off are for gas and such.You don't want to have an open flame with out of control gas 2 doors down and blow the whole place sky high. If the walls are thin, get some 3/4" plywood or such and place them in the closets or under beds and cover them. If it gets bad, pull them out and fix them over the walls between your place and the neighbors. Not bulletproof, but will help keep an intruder stalled long enough for you to get a gun or leave. If you live in a house, this lumber can be used to cover excess windows & doors, less places for someone to break in while you are resting....have a plan to booby trap these places. It may not be legal now, but in a TEOTWAWKI situation that is gonna be a WROL type of thing, ALL bets are off, and you BETTER have plans to take care of yourself, your family and your provisions.
FOOD: No matter who you are or where you are located, like water, you will NEVER have enough food. I know many people who simply refuse to eat generic brands of food saying they taste weird...thats BS. Find the cheapest store you can in your area and invest in CASES of food. Place a piece of tape on each box with the date it. Make sure the oldest is first used...ROTATE, ROTATE, ROTATE!!! Whether something has nutrition value or not, like green beans, get them. You sprinkle some dried onions in some green beans and they are pretty darn good and are something different...they are not totally worthless either. Green beans offer vitamins and minerals. They are a vegetable and are good for you. We all say I wouldn't eat this or that...well I HATE split pea soup...JUST split peas, no other ingredients...but if I am gonna starve, you bet your sweet patooty I am gonna be lappin them babies up! I will not eat coconut because it is a death sentence, but that just goes without saying. Buy this stuff so you have enough for a 3 month supply, then you open the oldest stuff for use. AS SOON AS YOU OPEN IT, plan to replace it ASAP. Not when you are getting ready to open the next case, but within a couple days, and continue to gradually build your stock. Include fruits, veggies, meats, etc. Even if it says pie filling, it tastes good, its food, & it will keep you interested in eating. Go through your stock, take note, PLAN your meals. Write them down, do a 3 month meal calender. How many times will you be eating rice and beans? How many meals will be ramen noodles? Mix it up, figure out where and what you are lacking, and start getting those items NOW. In the last month, I have used approximately 120# of flour, and 75# of sugar, and MANY gallons of apple cider vinegar, not to mention other ingredients while canning and baking. I make things for other people, all they have to do is bring the ingredients to me. I know how much flour I will need to make certain things for freezing, drying or whatever to last a year. Its a LOT of flour!!! Same for sugar, baking soda, etc. When you make your meal calender, figure INGREDIENTS you will need, don't just say fried chicken, figure the flour, dried egg substitute, water, salt, etc whatever it will take from your supplies to make EACH meal. Then figure a little more. If you have a family of four, plan for a family of 6 or 8. Will parents or siblings show up? What about your best friend, his wife and 6 yr old child? PLAN for more people than you have in your home. Learn how to harvest and save seeds from your own stock. Do it NOW so you know you can do it properly in the future.
MEDICAL: Go to thrift stores, rummage sales, estate auctions, whatever, pick up any & every kind of medical & first aid training & information book you can find. You may not read them now, but get a large collection & put them on a shelf or in a box & put them away. You may need them. Go to your local Red Cross, fire department, or hospital and get inrolled in first aid, and CPR classes. Get all the training you can NOW. Sure you may let the license lapse, although I would strongly suggest keeping it updated, but at least you would know something if you needed to help a loved one. If you need to buy a tube of neosporin, get 2 & put one away. Same for bandaids, gauze, etc. Rubbing alcohol, iodine, betadine, vitamins, etc. A box here, a bottle there, put away is better than nothing. Order a few of the free pet supply catalogs, you can buy in bulk like that and save money, or get ideas oin what to buy in town and make your purchases with cash so there is no record of you purchasing enough stuff for yourfamily for any kind of medical crisis for more than a year. And when you have that much, get more. If it can happen, it will happen...and at the most inoportune time. Be prepared for Murphys Law to pay you a visit when you least expect it
HEATING/COOLING: It is easier to stay cool than it is to stay warm. Granted if you live in a desert area, you will have a bigger problem with over heating...You can still freeze to death over night in certain regions in the hottest deserts. Can you get a small cast iron wood stove and enough pipe to vent it out a window and enough brick to set under it to keep the floor from catching fire? Can you afford to pay $4 per gallon on kerosene? Do you have a generator and the fuel to keep it running for years if access to fuel disappears for some unknown reason? Whatever the situation, You need to make sure you have blankets and winter clothes/coats. etc for EACH person. MORE than each person will need. Maybe you can't provide any source of heat, but huddled together under a few blankets will combine enough warmth to keep you alive in the coldest of weather. Make sure all containers of water have enough space to allow for freezing, and that they are in or on something to catch you water in case the container busts & springs a leak when it thaws out. Every area is different, only you can plan for your area. Consider the WORST winter on record, then drop the temp another 15-20 degrees...summer add 15-20 degrees. Plan for THOSE extreme temperatures. If you loose the ability to flip a switch for central heat & air, you need to be ready for the absolute worst weather.
CACHES: no matter who you are, at some point in a crisis, you will need some form of supplies. Invest in the stuff needed to create a few caches. Make sure each one has food, medical, clothing, and other emergency items. If a natural disaster or something happens and you loose your place, you don't want to be stuck out in the world with no more than the cloths on your back. S#!T HAPPENS!! A fire set by a candle, lightening, etc is very possible. Those caches WILL save your life. Do you have a pretty little flower garden going in out in front of your house this spring? AAWWW How nice...its amazing what you can bury under it in the cover of darkeness and whalah, you have a cache in place. And in a place that no one will think anything of that has fresh dirt laying around. Use your imagination. Have a giant concrete flower pot in the yard, or maybe some sort of decoration that can be "cleaned out and replanted"? place a cache in it...there is another one. They don't have to be giant or deep in the woods, just out of the home, and in a location that is easily accessible and not generally thought of by others.
ANIMALS: have family pets? try a couple of rabbits for the kids, and learn rabbit husbandry. Most cities will let you have them. They can be litter box trained, they will eat the grass you pull from the yard, will provide a form of meat, they are quiet, and do not stink if you take care of them properly...I know this from first hand experience....mine never stunk, but a friends reaked horribly. The manure can be added to a compost bin & used to fertilize veggies either in a garden or containers. The hides can be peiced together for diapers, gloves, hats, underwear, etc. Go to town, there are deer there. You will aslo find racoons, oppossums, skunks, squirrels, birds, rats, lizzards, frogs, snakes, dogs, cats, coyotes, sometimes even bear. These animals WILL provide food, clothing from the hides, tools from the bones, water bags from the stomaches, etc. LEARN these things now. Find a way to trap or kill them and learn how to tan hides. Learn different techniques for preserving the meats, adn what organs can be used. If you can't use for your own food, then use it in a trap for other other animals. Check you area ordinances, get a small flock of chickens, maybe a milk goata bred cow with a calf on her side. You can butcher the standing calf when she is about amonth from birthing (cows carry for 11 months approx). Then you have a cow and calf. When this calf is about a month old, talk to a local farmer about having her bred to his bull. Many farmers will do this if you simply offer to help with a little farmwork. In which case, you will be learning valuable skills as well as keeping beef available for your family. If this is not an option, travel to the closest farming community, find a farmer who is willing to work with you and trade him farm help for a calf. Be interested and learn everyhting you can. This may end up being what keeps your family fed 5 years down the road in a WROL situation.
PEOPLE: Make notes in a few spiral notebooks. When someone comes knocking, hand them a mini FAK, mini fishing kit, some snare wire, a cheap knife, spare jacket or blanket, a lighter and a homemade Do-It-Yourself manual. A small investment of time and a few dollars may seem like a waste of time now, but in a SHTF moment, it may be what makes that person decide you are an alright person, they may decide to do something to help you in the future, and its better than turning them away empty handded and having to worry about them burning your place down aroud you because they figure if they can't have your stuff, you can't either. You may not make a bunch of friends, but at least you will be less apt to make a bunch of enemies. Don't be rude and hateful just because you can. If you can afford to spend $3 at a thrift sore and buy 30 handbags of some kind, then you have a cheap start to a bunch of small kits you can send down the road with poeple. 1 bag per group, Even if you are eating regular, you will not be all rosey cheeked and shining clean. Your calorie intake is going to change drastically. You WILL loose weight and have a slightly gaunt appearance. You will have to work to take care of plants, animals, feces removal, etc...so if you tell a group...go down 8 blocks to such and such park I heard there is a bunch of squirrels or a stream with fish in it, they won't think you are sitting on a bunch of food, because you are just as haggard as they are. Your clothes will be stained, handwashing them will wear them out so you better have exra on hand either of clothes, or fabric and sewing kits & patterns to make more. At our local Salvation Army you can get good winter coats for $1 each. Spend a few dollars and get extra kids coats, adult coats, whatever. If its gettin chilly at night, have a jacket on when you answer the door, and a couple of others next to the door so they are close at hand. You don't have to tell suzy to go fetch a jacket. Take yours off and say, here, you can have these, maybe they will help until you can find an abandoned house to hole up in like we did. You don't have to let on like its your house. This will make people think even more that if you are in your own place, you must have something there worth protecting, but if you make them think you are just denned up in an abandoned place until uncle Bill gets better, then they will think you have as little as they do, and give them the idea to go on down the road, there is nothing there for them. NEVER EVER EVER give them any information like how many people are there, names etc of folks actually with you. Give false info if you need to say something misleading. In this situation, a well thought out lie may very well save your life.
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I would suggest start close to the house with caches. Pick a spot in a visually protected corner of the property, dig a nice little hole, and place your cache container in it, backfill and smooth out, scatter grass seed over it that is like whats in the area, half bury a couple of good size rocks over it, nothing to big to draw attention to it, but large enough they are easy to find once the grass is grown. If you use a tree, it can be blown over in a storm, struck by lightening, cut down and burned, etc.
If you have family members who are survival minded as you are, bury something on their place...with prmission...but don't tell them where it is unless you are 100% comfortable that you will ALWAYS have a strong relationship with them. Do the same at any BOL, close but not directly at the location in case it has been compromised. This will give you a chance to remove your cache at least under the cover of darkness.
A large waterproof cooler with a weight in it heavy enough to keep it underwater can have items sealed in bags filling the cooler. Use a nylon rope or such to make sure it is securely shut. Wrap a few loops of loose rope on each side of the cooler so a handhold is available later. You can always drag a hooking line to pull it up or you can jump in, tie a line on and pull it out, find a unkept pond somewhere that people do not use, get permission to camp in the area some time. Sink your cooler in the pond. It may be a bite getting it back out, but it can be done. Make it some place you see on a regular or semi-regular basis. If you notice activity around the pond, get your cooler out ASAP. I suggest a plastic one as it will not rust to pieces on you. It may not be the best of ideas, but in a small cattle pond or such, its well hid. And if you can find one on government land or national parks land, you can place it and remove it as you need without having to get permission.
Away from the property, but located only about 1/8th of a mile from the back of my property is a small cemetary. I have a map of who is buried where, dates, etc. I keep the records on the cemetary and sell plots to people. I have 10 burial plots for my family in exchange for helping the cemetary free of charge...2 of them are for me. Since I can only be placed in 1 spot, I will be using my extra for a cache spot. Using the PVC pipe idea, I can make a dozen or more of them and standing them on end, they can be buried a foot under the ground level. All I have to do is use a thin piece of rerod and probe for them. If they are all set up the same, I can take out 1 at a time as needed, if they are different, I can dig them all up. WHO is going to be looking in a cemetary for caches? Granted if there is a pandemic or something causing people to start dieing off very fast and cemetaries are going to start filling up, I need to move them, BUT for now, it is a nice quiet place to stash things. And the residence don't mind and don't bother a thing. And I like going there day or night. Its very peaceful, and most folks avoid them.
I think many people plan on bugging out when staying put is more reasonable. If you can walk to you BOL in a day or two, then you aren't putting much distance between you and the place you are leaving. If you beef up where you live and stock the vast majority of your supplies there, you should do everything in your power to stay in your home. It will help you mentally, emotionally and physically if you are home and trying to survive rather than someplace NOT home and trying to survive. Either way, either place, you are going to face the same challenges and the same problems. Changing location will not make matters better. It may stop one threat, but it WILL bring on a whole new set of threats and problems to replace the ones you are TRYING to leave behind. At least at home, you know what you have, you know your weak spots and how to fortify the place. While you are there, you have no idea what is happening to your BOL. Sure some people have a BOL out in national forests where people never go, but I gaurantee you that place WILL have people on it in an EOTWAWKI situation. People will be on the move EVERYWHERE. If you leave home just because you think you MIGHT need to, you could loose your home and everything in it to looters & GOD only knows what, only to get to your BOL to find it burned to the ground, occupied, or run into trouble on the way and not even make it. Then you have nothing. If you have another BOL, you are facing the same delima. And so on.
If you have ABSOLUTELY no other option but to leave, unless you can load ALL your supplies in a BOV and get there quickly, I would say you need to be very careful about where you are going, how far you have to travel. Consider all the waterways you will be crossing including rivers AND creeks. Wet feet or body in the winter is a death sentence. Who is traveling with you? Can they make the journey? Can they pack supplies for themselves? Are they going to be a liability? I'm not saying leave them behind...I am saying can YOU take care of everyone and everything and still remain alert enough and healthy enough to keep everyone alive? What happens to them if something happens to you? Do you have back up plans? How about backup plans for your backup plans? Do you have a little baby? What about formula, food and diapers? Children grow, what about shoes and clothes? Can you pack everything you need for them in the future or stock what they need at the BOL, or even make them more? That would be a hard one, but it can be part of your stores at home.
