2012 TSHTF Preps

[Wifezilla]

If the SHTF, I'm certainly hoping that game commission isn't high on the budget for the government.

LOL

I have a trap that I picked up at a garage sale. I figure we could be having squirrel dinners for quite some time. So far I have only used it to rehome the squirrels that get in to my duck pen. In a SHTF situation, that becomes free food.

 

[Bettacreek]

Quail - Having a self-sustaining flock of ducks and quail wont hurt either. I just need to be able to grow their food. Not sure I have room for that though.

Not a bad idea, but I like Quail's idea better. No need to use your space for growing food for your meat animals, wild animals will be foraging and doing all of that work for you. Just have to hunt them.

 

[Bettacreek]

If the SHTF, I'm certainly hoping that game commission isn't high on the budget for the government.

LOL

I have a trap that I picked up at a garage sale. I figure we could be having squirrel dinners for quite some time. So far I have only used it to rehome the squirrels that get in to my duck pen. In a SHTF situation, that becomes free food.

Lol. We really don't have many squirrels up here. But, the ones we do have are gartantuan. One I saw while hunting, I thought it was a coon at first glance! They're seriously huge here. Nothing like almost getting trampled by them while you're sitting and waiting for deer to come get shot, lol. Of course, during open small game season, they're non-existant...

 

[Wifezilla]

My neighbors feed the damned tree rats. I figure they must be fattening them up for me...LOL

So these things have no fear of people and are complete suckers for peanut butter. As long as I have a dab of peanut butter, we will have squirrel stew

 

[Bettacreek]

Lol! On the face of the mountain that faces our house, someone feeds the deer. So, we've got the same effect. If the SHTF, we can sit on our roof, shoot a deer, drag it to the river, float it across and right into our yard. We have a good chance at hitting one at that spot too... It's probably a neighbor who feeds them so that they can sit and watch the deer out of their window. Entertainment for them and num nums for us if the SHTF. Works for me!

 

[Blackbird]

40+ firearms & various hunting and throwing knives, bows, sling shots and blow darts - Check
Ammo + reloading room - Check
Animals - Check
Two pantries full+6X10 storage corner filled high with canning goods and two chest freezers full of food - Check
Wild edible & foraging knowledge - Check
Hunting knowledge - Check
One dog that attacks on command - Check (well, it worked when I tried it on my brother anyway )

I like to think we're prepared for some disasters in a way...

But if we had to evacuate - probably not.

That is the thing about natural disasters and the such happening.. Mother Nature doesn't care where you live, how you live, who you are, or what side your even on..

 

[patandchickens]

If there is catastrophic 'collapse of civilization and law and order' type thing, I do not think that having stockpiled a whole buncha stuff is likely to be of any reliable help. Even if you have lots of guns and ammo, there will be a lot of folks out there who outnumber you and have more and *bigger* guns and ammo.

If things merely got "difficult" for some while, without a major lasting breakdown of law and order, then sure, having stuff stockpiled is useful and sensible. I would hope it would be shared to some degree or another with those in greater need, although I get the feeling that an awful lot of folks here have the attitude of "ha ha, it's mine, die you lazy grasshoppers die" <shrug>

Quite honestly, though -- and just for the record I do not see ANY sensible reality-based reason WHATSOEVER to believe that there *would* be a catastrophic collapse of civilization in 2012, although there are a large number of people in whose best interest it is to convince y'all that it's so -- in my opinion, there are just two universally-useful, always-there, nearly-lifetime-storage-life, handy dandy thing to store away against emergencies:

1) good relations with the people around you, including the ability to cooperate agreeably on group endeavors;

and

2) skills and knowledge. The stuff in your head. Dudes with guns can take away your gold or your drums of wheat; earthquake or fire or flood can destroy your carefully-stored stockpile of stored food; but if you know ways to obtain safely drinkable water in a variety of circumstances, and how to build things and how to fix things, and have *experience* growing your own food in various circumstances, they cannot take THAT away from you, and the more you know, the likelier you are to figure out how to land on your feet and get going again.

Optimism, unflappability and a willingness to put up with hard work and discomfort are also useful things to stockpile, possibly falling under the second category above.

JMHO,

Pat, who thinks that a lot of people are going to make a biiiiig profit sellin' survival and defense stuff over the next couple years, just like pre-Y2K, sigh.

 

[hikerchick]

patandchickens- well said, as usual.

 

[Blackbird]

"ha ha, it's mine, die you lazy grasshoppers die"

 

[k0xxx]

Truth be told, if any disaster of that magnitude occurs, I don't want to be one of the survivors anyway.

Living in a post- apocalyptic world just does not interest me.

Living in a post-apocalyptic world is not my idea of a good time either. However, the survival of my family is important to me. I don't believe that 2012 will bring an anything that radical, but if it does, I want to be able to get my family through it as best as possible.

"...one of my biggest fears, that when stuff hits, people from the cities are going to flock to the country and just take, not try to share or help etc, but take."

We are lucky in that we live at about the distance limit, for a tank of gas (for most cars), from any major city. Since most vehicles would not have full tanks, there would not be that many that could make it this far. Most people these days are not equipped physically or emotionally for a walking mass exodus. Add to that the lack of any interstate or major highways in our area, and the number of refugees coming into this area would drop evening further.