Homesteads for Nothin' and The Chicks for Free

First let me say that this site, and a couple of others pertaining to news, gunsmithing and NFA stuff are the only places I frequent on the innerweb. I don't do facebook or any other social network stuff, so maybe I'm kinda like that geeky kid standing against the gym wall during the high school dance as far as the web goes.
Last couple of days I have been searching for info on my chickens and have been looking on several different sites. I joined what I feel was the best one, and have spent the morning getting to know it better. As expected there are sections on the many aspects of homesteading. They have links to homesteading/prepper sites, one that is also owned by the same person as my chicken site.

After reading through MANY posts on these sites I have come to the conclusion that PSHTF there is gonna be a lot of homesteads out there free for the taking.

Most folks posting seem to have a decent supply of food ranging from a few months to 1-2 years. Many feel it's important to have seeds set aside to keep their gardens growing. Most feel that 15-25 gals of gas will suffice for gen-sets and their rototiller, with one gent bragging that he had 200 gals of diesel for his truck and tractor. The tractor in the picture he posted was an old Ford-with a gas engine.. Many keep a few bottles of propane around for their grill. From what I've read most feel 15 gals of water set aside will suffice because, "We live in a wet area, so I'll just collect rainwater." or "We have our own well." NO WHERE did I see any reference as to how "we" were gonna power the well. ONE poster mentioned solar panels to power his Stove, Freezer, AC and a few lights. Homestead defense wasn't mentioned. One guy tried to post something about it and got 3 replies of, "Umm, yeah that's covered." "I really should shoot a bit more." "Bullets are too expensive to use." No where did I see anyone bringing up financial security let alone PMs.

I have a hard time comprehending this mentality. I'm still shaking my head as I type this. I understand that I'm a Gun Guy and all that, but how can someone in this day and age pour their heart and soul into a place and not consider how they are gonna live if something happens? How do you go to all that expense and trouble and not have a plan to protect it? To be unwilling to even discuss it? These people are not stupid. They can answer all kinds of questions about chickens and other livestock. Many seem to have a real grasp of small plot farming/gardening on a large scale.
Too bad someone is gonna take it all away from them..

I guess I really am that geeky teenager when it comes to social interaction because I honestly didn't know this country was as bad off as it is. I thought a lot more folks thought like we do here..

 

Sadly many on here are also like the ones you mentioned @Tully Mars, I just hope they eventually "get it". You cannot buy survival and sustainability, you create it. Most preppers/survivalists/homesteaders start out purchasing, eventually it dawns on them that SHTF will be real and then they start learning and thinking. I think of it as making something from nothing, not literally but sort of. When you mentioned how to get water from the well, my brain said from a windmill (you can make one) or if no wind, then manually. I think it was @UncleMorgan that had the thread on pumping water. Plus ...... never mind, I could go on and on about how to get water.

You are asking to much from people that struggle just living life. They would ask, "protect from whom"? or what. Sadly, natural disasters are some of the biggest eye-openers. We can talk and preach, try to get people to see the intelligence of being prepared but until a true storm hits, they do not get it.

 

The prepper industry is the fastest growing with something like 4 billion in sales in 2015.
Let's say the average prepper spends $1,000 per year that means there are 4 million. So no more than 1 in 100 people could be considered any level of prepper.

Personal financial security or personal shtf is something I post about and is the most likely to happen to any of us but no one wants to think about it, everyone focuses on the great reset or teotwawki.

 

Most people that have these homesteads are doing this for the love of a simpler life, not for TEOTWAWKI. Even though they have reduced their dependence on most of the creature comforts afforded by modern day civilization, they are still dependent on most of the basics. Few can take raw starches and convert them into usable fuels to fuel their tillers, gas tractors(Ford N series), and older carburated vehicles. Let alone how to properly jet and tune these engines to run on 190-195 proof ethanol.

The time that everything goes sideways will be to late to learn these skills. All we can do is to wait for the die-off and deal with what ever monster or tyrants that want to be kings of the world. Just imagine how much raw farm land will have no owners or managers to grow the much need food.

 

Our homestead has grid power access, though we are off-grid on solar power. 3 chest freezers, well pump, a freeze-dryer, etc. Solar power is good enough to run everything we own.

I am a combat vet with a selection of weapons.

I do not see any need for PMs. When I was a teenager my dad taught me gold panning, that year Nixon changed the law allowing personal ownership of gold again. FDR made it illegal, Nixon made it legal again. Any president can make it illegal whenever they want.

If I were gold mining today, I would sell any gold I had each month. Trade it for useful items.

We produce most of our food. We are vendors at a Farmer's Market. Producing food is a good skill. Now and post-SHTF.

I am on a few forums. Some have sub-forums for the gun nuts. I do not inhabit many of those discussions. Too many arm chair generals, with no experience.

 

I'm already digging potatoes and pulling tomatoes plus bell peppers
Planning for my fall crop!

 

Looking at the substantial investment in money and time we have put into our life style, I would say the numbers of folks like "US" is a lot less then estimated. Figuring the Home, land, food, other stores, and preps, plus all the rigs for various things Post event, I would say there are less then one in 10k folks have any major preps. Even at one in a thousand, that's still a pretty small number with actual preps for any sustained time frame! Factor in losses during and after, and those numbers go down even more!

 

Most of the "back to the land" movement in New Hampshire have bought into the whole sheeple, leftest, climate change, stop the pipelines and power lines, and depend on different government programs, like subsidized solar, free medical care, subsidized loans to pay for "their land", food stamps, etc and seem to have the only goal of making the rest of us support them as they lead the "correct" life and we are supposed to be so grateful for their showing us the correct way. They will not last 24 hours if TSHTF as they have no defenses, no real resources, are not prepared for the long run and will be screaming for what ever you have put away as they have a right to share it. There quite a few closet preppers, usual suspects, Mormon's, older "natives" and their children, some family groups, often Finish in this area, and retired, etc. May talk to you after a few years if you aren't raised here and although this area is semi rural, often have family compounds for bug out purposes in remote areas. We see this even in the blogs, while I read Rawles blog, I take it with a 5 pound bag of salt, as I find more need of tips on vinegar and wood ashes and their uses and less on tips for using military planning techniques and small unit tactics. Love the practical nature of the Monkey as well the Woodpile Report with it thoughtful presentation and the listing of the sources so you can study in in farther detail. In my particular area, 60 miles from Boston and with a large cadre of Mass commuters living here, I think that other than being the ultimate gray man, your chance of surviving a true SHTF situation for more than a couple weeks in this locality are remote. Your neighbors and the state will reallocate you resources for the "good" of the community. I personally practice my "survival" skills to enhance the quality of my life, excellent fresh food, getting old gracefully, enjoy using old tools, and a good life if things get worse, but not total collapse and to insure the quality of my present life.

 

I am a loner too kinda say I stay too the out side edge of crowds and I good at adapting to my environment and working out solutions to problems I always get told that when the world goes south that people are going to come to my house and I tell them to bring can goods and useful skills or they are going to get to meet the rabbits like Lenny did and most don't know what I mean

 

I saw a guy with 8 cases of smoked salmon so he was prepared for Y2K. A guy I work with has his preps all laid out because he has a bucket of freeze dried food and a bunch of ramen noodles should something bad happen. Even among those who consider themselves preppers, only a small percentage really are. That's why I have found a home here and Prepared Ham. Folks know the score and I can add to my knowledge base from you guys.

 

I'm well prepped, have been for many years, but also have enough sense not to talk about it too much. Will say my gravity fed spring water system, with 3,000 gallons of storage, has worked quite reliably for 30 years now, just as a small example.

 

You are correct, there are some that keep quiet no doubt, and I guess it was just the general feel of these sites, but I felt like anything remotely akin to security was a taboo subject.

There was a lot of .gov assistance program talk. I forgot to mention that in my post. Many comments on how they had to wait go get their welfare or ETB? check before a purchase could be made. There was a big brouhaha about "losing" health care on one site as well.

 

Nope all over & it gets wild !! Best thing is to Agree & listen (us is to SHUT UP ) and figure ..
Keep your info & stocks quite .

That is the number one TN Andy & act like your clueless , I made the mistake of smart , lets hope they forget me .


Sloth

 

Definitely something to be said for having the money to do it right.

 

I think another point to be made is...being prepared doesn't just happened overnight. I have been back stateside now over two years and I have worked hard at it and still am not even close to being, what I would consider, being prepared. I have a lot of boxes checked but there are still plenty more. I lack solar power for one thing, the capability to generate my own power. I have a great well but it is shared with 8 other homes and the water is 400 foot deep so...so yes, I would like my own well but it is horribly expensive to drill a private well, especially considering I pay only $10 a month now for all the water I want (might be $20, I forget). Beans and Bullets? Got them covered. Meds and medical supplies? Got them too. Freeze-dried food? Yes, enough for 6+ months (and growing) with seeds and a huge garden but...but there is always more to do and more needed. And, there is only so much time and money and some things one just cannot do. I am pulling my hair out of where to install a wood stove in the house as I have acres of wood (already cut 5 cords in the past month) but cannot use it. You do what you can, when you can and you do your best. That is all one can do.

 

Several of the previous posts have dovetailed perfectly into my mind set. We spent $2,000 on a good wood heating stove, $1,000 on a good chimney, $350 on a good chain saw, $1500 on a gas wood splitter, etc, about 10 years ago, a lot of money for us, I have "thinned" our woods and neighbors woods, pick up trees when the power company cuts the ones too close to the lines, cleaned up the mess after an ice storm and such for wood that has only cost me my time and a little fuel. We have bought 2 tanks of fuel oil in the last 10 years and have enough wood for about 4 years under cover. In that period I have watched the neighbors, 3 separate families have "owned" the same house, one "lost" it, one moved because of job, spend $2000 a year or more on heating oil, spend 5 days in a shelter because the power was out, etc. The wife and I like the feel of wood heat, like having the ability to be in charge of our own lives, like the security of touching our own wood and knowing it is there even if the price of oil changes, or the roads are icy, like working in the woods, like a clean neat woods to walk in and look at. I have the axes and mauls to split wood by hand, a game cart to get the split wood home, 2 man hand saws, sharpening and setting tools, buck saws and spare blades, and have used them enough to know that it can be done and that decoration on the wall isn't really a bit of nostalgia as the sheeple think. Spare well and hand pump I use for watering my greenhouse, greenhouse and garden, cooking from scratch with the old staples and rotating them, canning, drying , freezing, food, etc. None of them are really prepping, it is a way to save money, be sure you control your own food, heat, light, etc, eat better food you know is not polluted, full of chemicals, has little salt and no sugar, etc. One of my "hobbies" happen to be shooting and it is never about "self defense" against zombies you know. The gun club I belong to is "vocally" opposed to the militia mind set, wannabees with black rifles and Glocks, who want to come out and spray a couple hundred rounds down range while dressed in full body armor, tac vests, and camouflage clothing etc. But we quietly do the Appleseed drills in our wool shirts and blue jeans and our "hunting rifles", usually semi auto 308 etc. I can I think say in all honesty that my wife and I do not prep, we just have a life style that stresses the long run, security, and a deep desire to be in control of our own lives and souls. Church, friends, greenhouse, etc, all have similar meanings, and we have not bought into the whole present mindset, either left or right. The Monkey seems to be one of the very few sites where I find others of that mindset and while we differ greatly, it seems to be a common thread through out the posts. Lead life to the fullest, enjoy the world around us and within us, prepare for the future, live in the present, and when the end comes, be able to smile and say that it was a really great trip, thank you Lord.

 

Early in this thread someone quoted the Prepper industry and a bunch of statistics. All that is mostly pure bullshit. I have never found the need to buy anything over priced and in bright orange from Bear Grills to give one example. Most any of these so called survivalist shopping sites are playing off peoples fears and selling over priced goods that have little use in a real life situation. Having a great deal of common sense and being able to mentally roll the clock backwards 100-150 years and closely consider the knowledge and tools and skill sets to effectively thrive should the grid go down will do more to keep you alive and healthy more that all the bells and whistles in these so called pepper sites. How many of you can food? How many of you not only know how but have enough supplies to can food for multiple years. How many dry/dehydrate food and store and use that. How many can cure your own meats, fish. What kinds of livestock do you raise not as pets but to provide food products. Turn the clock back folks. Your local Piggly Wiggly or Krogers only has 3 days worth of food, and when the power goes out a lot of people and places are going to have rotting food on their hands and empty shelves in short order. Buy smart, learn skill sets, turn the power off (power your freezer but stay the heck out of it for 2 weeks). No AC, No Electrical heat, can you get water without grid power. Can you get water for 2 weeks without grid power. No running to the gas station to top off empty fuel cans (diesel, gas, propane etc) use only what you started the 2 weeks with. In a major SHTF situation the power may not be coming back on for months or years. Will you be ready? This site might help some to reflect on common sense direction and priorities for prepping. Grandpappy's Hard Times Survival Home Page by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.