Tools and Books

[meriruka]

I'm already doing much of what you suggested above. DBF & I have a few more projects to complete then the plan is to shut off the electric for a week & see how it goes - mainly to discover the things we didn't think about. Then we fine tune, shut of the electric for two weeks, then a month, then the whole summer, etc.
I have also been focusing on foods I will miss if they are no longer available. The sun porch is stuffed with mini lemon, lime & orange trees and I have grown big boxes of spinach & lettuce out there through winter. this year's experiments are luffas, coffee chickory, oats, medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Hopefully next year I will grow everything I need to feed the chickens & turkeys.....feed is getting crazy expensive!

 

[Wallybear]

I'm already doing much of what you suggested above. DBF & I have a few more projects to complete then the plan is to shut off the electric for a week & see how it goes - mainly to discover the things we didn't think about. Then we fine tune, shut of the electric for two weeks, then a month, then the whole summer, etc.
I have also been focusing on foods I will miss if they are no longer available. The sun porch is stuffed with mini lemon, lime & orange trees and I have grown big boxes of spinach & lettuce out there through winter. this year's experiments are luffas, coffee chickory, oats, medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Hopefully next year I will grow everything I need to feed the chickens & turkeys.....feed is getting crazy expensive!

Great idea with the dry run.

 

[Icu4dzs]

I'm already doing much of what you suggested above. DBF & I have a few more projects to complete then the plan is to shut off the electric for a week & see how it goes - mainly to discover the things we didn't think about. Then we fine tune, shut of the electric for two weeks, then a month, then the whole summer, etc.
I have also been focusing on foods I will miss if they are no longer available. The sun porch is stuffed with mini lemon, lime & orange trees and I have grown big boxes of spinach & lettuce out there through winter. this year's experiments are luffas, coffee chickory, oats, medicinal herbs and mushrooms. Hopefully next year I will grow everything I need to feed the chickens & turkeys.....feed is getting crazy expensive!

APPLAUSE deafens the crowd.

Nice work. Very impressive planning and execution. You GET IT!!
I imagine you have a rather LARGE sunporch to hold all those plants and trees. Of course a milder environment would be more helpful but then we choose where we wish to be carefully now because soon we will have to stay there for the foreseeable future.

Having NO electricity is VERY ambitious and may be un-necessary. You might want to get a small solar panel, a small charge controller and one or two deep-cycle batteries. When you consider that LED light bulbs burn (in many cases) only 0.1 watt, you can have 200 of them in the house and only be burning 20 watts! There are a number of sources for 12 volt DC LED bulbs. They won't even dent the charge in those batteries. When you think about it, light really is a luxury most of the time, but then there are THOSE moments where it makes the difference between life and a less acceptable alternative. While they seem "spendy" right now, they'll get a lot more expensive (possibly completely out of range or impossible to obtain) in the "worst case scenario".

The other thing you may want to consider is communication resources. The "HAM" radios operate on 12 volt DC. They have enormous range (in many cases) and as long as they aren't damaged by EMP (which is a possibility) they will withstand the loss of telephone, cell phone and internet. Yes, right now you are supposed to have a license to operate one, but then we aren't talking about needing a license to OWN one... what happens later is another issue. They don't consume a lot of electricity and since you don't use them 24/7 your battery will operate it nicely and the solar panel will charge your battery to keep it working. And NO, you don't have to know Morse code to use one although it does help on occasion. Many now can be hooked up to a computer and will end up functioning like a teletype as well as voice communication. Very handy...

The other thing that came to mind is water. Not only the source, but the ability to purify it in the event that your source is shall we say "less than desirable". You can get some very acceptable water purification filters (Berkey is a good example even if you only buy their filters and make a container yourself.) Distillation is easy and can be constructed from some rather austere materials if you are so inclined. It is exceptional for all but the most volatile chemicals that may be in your water, some of which may be soluble in alcohol and removed by that means.

I'd be very interested in hearing your report on the execution of your plan with respect to the things you "didn't think of". It is clear you are VERY thoughtful and have planned well. Let's hope you'll never need it...but my optimism is waning given the situations all around the world currently.
Best
Trim

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I agree it would be much better to learn all the skills you need to survive before TSHTF. Most of my 'country' skills were learned from books and there were a bunch of screw-ups and unforseen complications along the way to get through before I got good at whatever it was.

Wouldn't it be great if local colleges taught night classes for SHTF skills? That way you could learn all the dangerous stuff with a measure of safety & supervision.

ONCE AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS POST, BUT...

This statement hits the nail on the head. Wally's list is good. Not complete by any means, but essentially good. His "pessimism" is to some extent more than required but it emphasizes the importance of being able to "ADAPT" to the life style of a different era in our American culture.

We all seek to be self sufficient, but after collecting (probably) everything on Wally's list and then some (at farm sales, flea markets, etc. as well as some new things) I have learned at least one very valuable lesson. We all have inate skill and ability. Books can very often fill in the gaps of knowlege so we can have a "starting point" to be able to tackle some other need we might have but in the true analysis, (and I say this with tears in my eyes) we DO NEED EACH OTHER.

No one has the time to be good with all the skills even remotely discussed by the list of tools and books that folks have mentioned here. Those skills take time to perform and even MORE TIME TO LEARN and become good at them.

If we look at the culture of folks who came to this country we find that they formed towns which were small. In each of these towns folks did things for them selves and had skills which were useful to the entire town. Skills such as sewing, cooking and home arts were performed on an individual scale but things like blacksmithing, gun making, metal arts, carpentry butchering, dairy work etc. were often performed on a "community wide" scale that afforded time to do what you did at home and still be able to trade/barter/buy what you needed OUTSIDE your SKILL SET.

Here on SSF we look at ourselves as striving to be SS. What does this really mean? Are we talking about completely isolating ourselves from all other human interaction? I don't believe that. I think we are more focused on doing things for ourselves that CAN be done at home and probably finding skill sets that others can use as well. (at least that is how I look at it.)

When one looks at things from a "community" level, there are a few skills that take most of a persons time to do. I have to go to work and spend a large number of hours of a day including the night performing my duties. Others divide their time in a variety of ways but they do always have some time for their family life (and needs) as well as the community's life and needs. (Some do nothing unfortunately.)

What we don't currently see is that a number of the things that go on in the community now may NOT be what I call "ESSENTIAL NEEDS" to the community in the coming times. If you don't have horses, do you need a blacksmith? How many insurance sales personnel does any community need? Will Insurance in general survive the SHTF scenario? Who is going to want to put money into a concept that has become defunct? Will you need car mechanics and sales personnel if there is no fuel to operate the vehicle? Will we be able to "grow our own fuel and keep what we now use? What changes will we as a national "community" need to make to revert to the ESSENTIAL NEEDS of each other in order to adapt to the "FOURTH WORLD"? Will our creative/inventive genius permit us to change our paradigms and come up with new technologies that will maintain our quality of life?

Remember the original professions? Teacher, Preacher, Lawyer, Doctor, Nurse? Everything else was basically learned either at home or "on the job". When our government discusses cuts in spending, they immediately look at education rather than "entitlements" which are NOT a good investment in our future. Why?

Education is THE BEST INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE both indivually and as a nation, as proved by our former status in the world. We should begin to open schools for "SHTF" skills NOW. TEACH not only our children but DEMAND ATTENDANCE FROM ANYONE WHO IS GETTING ENTITLEMENT MONEY. I would be more than happy to teach numerous subjects in such a school. We have school buildings that have become run down and abandoned. They need to be rebuilt by those who have not benefitted from the free education system previously available in this country either through laziness or whatever their excuse; then make them teach those who come next.

In our communities now, everyone considers themselves "a professional" but in truth that may not be all that necessary. When the electricity goes out, (and Wally is convinced it will and so do I) then most of the things in our homes will become immediately useless. Places to buy them will become useless and folks who repair them (few that remain) will need to focus on other skills.

What we need to do other than learn to provide for ourselves for the IMMEDIATE post SHTF scenario (I predict one to two years in length) is begin to think about how to organize our communities to support each other so that life will return to some semblance of what some of us might consider "normal". Is everyone going to get a milk cow and deliver milk to their neighbors every day? I doubt it but you get the idea.

I often think about the concept of the Submarine crew when this topic comes up. Essentially, everyone on a submarine has to know not only THEIR job but be able to do EVERY OTHER JOB on the ship in the event of a casualty of any other crew member.

If we take that principle and apply it to our community, we will find that our SS attitude would do well to expand to be one where we do some things for ourselves and some things for our community so that all survive this coming storm and eventually live in peace and prosperity. I DO NOT believe we have to revert to the stone age after this occurs but I do believe we will have to shift our paradigm in order to once again function in a way that makes our lives more than just "SURVIVAL" but truly livable. That is what I SEE for our future.

We do NOT HAVE TO GIVE UP everything, but we have to learn what we need and what we don't need from the technologies that have evolved over the last 200 years of our country's life. Any of the things that we can bring with us into this new and frightening age will help us begin to live and be happy once again. Some things will by necessity be "LEFT BEHIND" in order to eliminate the parasitism that has evolved in this nation for one reason or another. Remember the old "you don't work, you don't eat" thing?

Folks are now beginning to look at having the individual states issue their own currency because of the seriously looming/impending failure of the US$ as the worlds' Reserve Currency. Folks all over the world no longer want to accept the US$ as payment for goods and services because we are so deeply in debt that we and our great grandchildren will NEVER recover from that debt regardless of how hard we try.

This means we will have to change the way we live and I am here to assure you that there are a significant number of people in the confines of the continental United States (as well as other countries) who are NOT going to be able or willing to adapt to another way of life because they either do not see it coming, do not WANT to do anything about it or believe that they will just kill those who did do something about it and take what they put away. These are the ones who have depended on the government handout for so long (I estimate 4 generations now) that they have no idea how to survive without someone giving them what they use to live...including cigarettes, alcohol, and in many cases "drugs". Hurricane Katrina certainly made this point abundantly clear to the rest of the country and the world.

What are those folks going to do when their supply of those items becomes either extinct or so expensive that they can not possibly obtain them? The answer is obviously rhetorical, but we all know what to expect which is why we are doing what we currently do.

There are of course the ones whose illnesses will NOT have the availability of the medicines with which they are kept alive. In the days of our fathers, there were no antibiotics; no insulin, no diuretics, no "heart pills" etc. Folks died of all kinds of things that they currently survive; infection being the most common. What will you do when your family's health begins to deteriorate because there just aren't any medicines to keep them alive? The answer is "we will have to learn to adapt to that change in the world".

Then there is the subset of those who are so imprisoned by their debt for their McMansion houses, expensive cars, lake/beach houses and season tickets and outrageous credit card debt that they will NOT be able to adapt because they are just barely able to make the minimum payments on the interest and not be able to get out of debt and NOT WILLING to sacrifice any of their precious material goods in order to get out of debt.

Not long ago we were the Worlds example of the most powerful and advanced nation on earth. We are falling behind and into disrepute because we have been sold out by people who have come here and drained our nations treasury, destroyed our nations economic and education system and given our technology to other countries who want only to destroy us. Does this sound like a pleasant way to spend our future? NOT TO ME!

We who believe in the SS way of life also (imho) believe in the support of our community and the other folks who are willing to change and adapt to the changes we are about to face. Those who will NOT change and adapt will consider themselves "POOR" and expect those who work to support them. I see that as the conflict that looms ahead of us. They won't work and will expect us by virtue of our "ethics" to give to the poor i.e. re-invent the welfare state. This is NOT a good idea and can only lead us back into the depths of the depression in which we find ourselves currently.

We need to elect LEADERS, not politicians who continue to appropriate money to folks who will vote for them rather than work for what they have. Currently, it is too late. The patient is dying and only after it dies will a new life arise from what it once was.

Americans, and I mean the TRUE Americans (ones who have fought and died to preserve our freedoms) are NOT going to lay down and take being walked over by parasites for much longer. We, the SS folks are those TRUE AMERICANS (and those from other countries with similar belief systems). We are, and will be PREPARED for the future and whatever it brings. We wil, like the eternal PHOENIX, arise from the ashes and adapt to and change in order to not only survive but remain free. Any other option is untenable.

Best to all,
Trim sends

This is exactly our reasoning for living the way we do.
Its not about the end of the world...
Matthew 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?...
...Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal....
Proverbs 6:6-86 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.

 

[meriruka]

Having NO electricity is VERY ambitious and may be un-necessary.

Believe me, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of washing clothes by hand, and doing without my fridge, freezer & stove. I have washed clothes by hand with my homemade soap and DBF is going to build an outdoor brick oven this summer. (He's a mason/bricklayer).
I've gathered all the cookware I need from auctions & yard sales.
The chest freezer contains 90% dry goods. next year we plan to grow wheat, oats, millet & corn and a have a manual grinder to make flour from them. Only small patches of each to start - I know it will be a huge task.
Haven't figured out how to do without the fridge in the summer......

The other thing you may want to consider is communication resources.

Haven't looked in to this...all I have is a hand cranked radio.

The other thing that came to mind is water.

We have a hand pump going in to get the well water. I only have tablets at this point for purification (and enough potassium iodide for 10 people) but I know I need to learn about distillation.

I'd be very interested in hearing your report on the execution of your plan with respect to the things you "didn't think of". Best
Trim
I've kept a diary since I first moved here, when I go back & read it sometimes it's nice to see how far I've come and the spectacular failures are entertaining as well. I have no illusions that I'm anywhere close to where I need to be! At this point I have turkeys, chickens, eggs and piles of saved heirloom seeds to trade and DBF has great building skills so we have a better chance than most. I'll post discoveries from the experiments if anyone is interested but I suspect there won't be a whole lot that people here don't already know.......I feel like I'm so far behind since I began so late in life.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Don't feel bad about starting late in life. I moved to my farm when I was 58. I have been working feverishly to get it ready. You are obviously doing well and appear to have your situation organized. K0xxx is one of those very organized folks. He should be able to offer you some additional advice.
By the way, what is DBF? I haven't figured that one out yet.

 

[Kala]

I agree it would be much better to learn all the skills you need to survive before TSHTF. Most of my 'country' skills were learned from books and there were a bunch of screw-ups and unforseen complications along the way to get through before I got good at whatever it was.

Wouldn't it be great if local colleges taught night classes for SHTF skills? That way you could learn all the dangerous stuff with a measure of safety & supervision.

ONCE AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS POST, BUT...

This statement hits the nail on the head. Wally's list is good. Not complete by any means, but essentially good. His "pessimism" is to some extent more than required but it emphasizes the importance of being able to "ADAPT" to the life style of a different era in our American culture.

We all seek to be self sufficient, but after collecting (probably) everything on Wally's list and then some (at farm sales, flea markets, etc. as well as some new things) I have learned at least one very valuable lesson. We all have inate skill and ability. Books can very often fill in the gaps of knowlege so we can have a "starting point" to be able to tackle some other need we might have but in the true analysis, (and I say this with tears in my eyes) we DO NEED EACH OTHER.

No one has the time to be good with all the skills even remotely discussed by the list of tools and books that folks have mentioned here. Those skills take time to perform and even MORE TIME TO LEARN and become good at them.

If we look at the culture of folks who came to this country we find that they formed towns which were small. In each of these towns folks did things for them selves and had skills which were useful to the entire town. Skills such as sewing, cooking and home arts were performed on an individual scale but things like blacksmithing, gun making, metal arts, carpentry butchering, dairy work etc. were often performed on a "community wide" scale that afforded time to do what you did at home and still be able to trade/barter/buy what you needed OUTSIDE your SKILL SET.

Here on SSF we look at ourselves as striving to be SS. What does this really mean? Are we talking about completely isolating ourselves from all other human interaction? I don't believe that. I think we are more focused on doing things for ourselves that CAN be done at home and probably finding skill sets that others can use as well. (at least that is how I look at it.)

When one looks at things from a "community" level, there are a few skills that take most of a persons time to do. I have to go to work and spend a large number of hours of a day including the night performing my duties. Others divide their time in a variety of ways but they do always have some time for their family life (and needs) as well as the community's life and needs. (Some do nothing unfortunately.)

What we don't currently see is that a number of the things that go on in the community now may NOT be what I call "ESSENTIAL NEEDS" to the community in the coming times. If you don't have horses, do you need a blacksmith? How many insurance sales personnel does any community need? Will Insurance in general survive the SHTF scenario? Who is going to want to put money into a concept that has become defunct? Will you need car mechanics and sales personnel if there is no fuel to operate the vehicle? Will we be able to "grow our own fuel and keep what we now use? What changes will we as a national "community" need to make to revert to the ESSENTIAL NEEDS of each other in order to adapt to the "FOURTH WORLD"? Will our creative/inventive genius permit us to change our paradigms and come up with new technologies that will maintain our quality of life?

Remember the original professions? Teacher, Preacher, Lawyer, Doctor, Nurse? Everything else was basically learned either at home or "on the job". When our government discusses cuts in spending, they immediately look at education rather than "entitlements" which are NOT a good investment in our future. Why?

Education is THE BEST INVESTMENT IN OUR FUTURE both indivually and as a nation, as proved by our former status in the world. We should begin to open schools for "SHTF" skills NOW. TEACH not only our children but DEMAND ATTENDANCE FROM ANYONE WHO IS GETTING ENTITLEMENT MONEY. I would be more than happy to teach numerous subjects in such a school. We have school buildings that have become run down and abandoned. They need to be rebuilt by those who have not benefitted from the free education system previously available in this country either through laziness or whatever their excuse; then make them teach those who come next.

In our communities now, everyone considers themselves "a professional" but in truth that may not be all that necessary. When the electricity goes out, (and Wally is convinced it will and so do I) then most of the things in our homes will become immediately useless. Places to buy them will become useless and folks who repair them (few that remain) will need to focus on other skills.

What we need to do other than learn to provide for ourselves for the IMMEDIATE post SHTF scenario (I predict one to two years in length) is begin to think about how to organize our communities to support each other so that life will return to some semblance of what some of us might consider "normal". Is everyone going to get a milk cow and deliver milk to their neighbors every day? I doubt it but you get the idea.

I often think about the concept of the Submarine crew when this topic comes up. Essentially, everyone on a submarine has to know not only THEIR job but be able to do EVERY OTHER JOB on the ship in the event of a casualty of any other crew member.

If we take that principle and apply it to our community, we will find that our SS attitude would do well to expand to be one where we do some things for ourselves and some things for our community so that all survive this coming storm and eventually live in peace and prosperity. I DO NOT believe we have to revert to the stone age after this occurs but I do believe we will have to shift our paradigm in order to once again function in a way that makes our lives more than just "SURVIVAL" but truly livable. That is what I SEE for our future.

We do NOT HAVE TO GIVE UP everything, but we have to learn what we need and what we don't need from the technologies that have evolved over the last 200 years of our country's life. Any of the things that we can bring with us into this new and frightening age will help us begin to live and be happy once again. Some things will by necessity be "LEFT BEHIND" in order to eliminate the parasitism that has evolved in this nation for one reason or another. Remember the old "you don't work, you don't eat" thing?

Folks are now beginning to look at having the individual states issue their own currency because of the seriously looming/impending failure of the US$ as the worlds' Reserve Currency. Folks all over the world no longer want to accept the US$ as payment for goods and services because we are so deeply in debt that we and our great grandchildren will NEVER recover from that debt regardless of how hard we try.

This means we will have to change the way we live and I am here to assure you that there are a significant number of people in the confines of the continental United States (as well as other countries) who are NOT going to be able or willing to adapt to another way of life because they either do not see it coming, do not WANT to do anything about it or believe that they will just kill those who did do something about it and take what they put away. These are the ones who have depended on the government handout for so long (I estimate 4 generations now) that they have no idea how to survive without someone giving them what they use to live...including cigarettes, alcohol, and in many cases "drugs". Hurricane Katrina certainly made this point abundantly clear to the rest of the country and the world.

What are those folks going to do when their supply of those items becomes either extinct or so expensive that they can not possibly obtain them? The answer is obviously rhetorical, but we all know what to expect which is why we are doing what we currently do.

There are of course the ones whose illnesses will NOT have the availability of the medicines with which they are kept alive. In the days of our fathers, there were no antibiotics; no insulin, no diuretics, no "heart pills" etc. Folks died of all kinds of things that they currently survive; infection being the most common. What will you do when your family's health begins to deteriorate because there just aren't any medicines to keep them alive? The answer is "we will have to learn to adapt to that change in the world".

Then there is the subset of those who are so imprisoned by their debt for their McMansion houses, expensive cars, lake/beach houses and season tickets and outrageous credit card debt that they will NOT be able to adapt because they are just barely able to make the minimum payments on the interest and not be able to get out of debt and NOT WILLING to sacrifice any of their precious material goods in order to get out of debt.

Not long ago we were the Worlds example of the most powerful and advanced nation on earth. We are falling behind and into disrepute because we have been sold out by people who have come here and drained our nations treasury, destroyed our nations economic and education system and given our technology to other countries who want only to destroy us. Does this sound like a pleasant way to spend our future? NOT TO ME!

We who believe in the SS way of life also (imho) believe in the support of our community and the other folks who are willing to change and adapt to the changes we are about to face. Those who will NOT change and adapt will consider themselves "POOR" and expect those who work to support them. I see that as the conflict that looms ahead of us. They won't work and will expect us by virtue of our "ethics" to give to the poor i.e. re-invent the welfare state. This is NOT a good idea and can only lead us back into the depths of the depression in which we find ourselves currently.

We need to elect LEADERS, not politicians who continue to appropriate money to folks who will vote for them rather than work for what they have. Currently, it is too late. The patient is dying and only after it dies will a new life arise from what it once was.

Americans, and I mean the TRUE Americans (ones who have fought and died to preserve our freedoms) are NOT going to lay down and take being walked over by parasites for much longer. We, the SS folks are those TRUE AMERICANS (and those from other countries with similar belief systems). We are, and will be PREPARED for the future and whatever it brings. We wil, like the eternal PHOENIX, arise from the ashes and adapt to and change in order to not only survive but remain free. Any other option is untenable.

Best to all,
Trim sends

Awesome. This whole thread really encourages me to keep going and to continue to learn even more. Even though I know I'm starting to worry the friends and fam

 

[smurfette79]

I want to let everyone know that one big TOOL is this site. If/ when "it" starts to get bad... duh duh duh---- anyway- This web site and all of the information that everyone has shared on it would be one of the best tools to have around

I have so much information that I have saved, and copied in to word doc. I am thankful for my laptop and means of printing and or battery use i would have if the lights go out. at least for a short period of time. . If I had the paper and space to store it I could fill my house with information right now just clicking "print" on many of the pages of information on this site. THANK YOU EVERYONE!

 

[meriruka]

By the way, what is DBF? I haven't figured that one out yet.

Dear BoyFriend.
I wish there was a term for the person you are with that didn't sound ridiculous when you are over 40.

 

[Icu4dzs]

By the way, what is DBF? I haven't figured that one out yet.

Dear BoyFriend.
I wish there was a term for the person you are with that didn't sound ridiculous when you are over 40.

I frequently see SO (significant other) which seems to satisfy your desire for us Over 40 types.