Top Ten States FOR SHTF?

Saw this video and a few states popped up that I hadn't considered like Michigan with it's authoritarian governor reminding me of our own out here in the PNW. Curious of your thoughts and what you think should and should not have been included.

 

I chose Maine over 20 years ago. Largely because it has NEVER recorded any droughts. But now since I have settled here I understand that many communes from the 60s and 70s are still here functioning off-grid and self-sufficient. With over 92% of the state being forest, it is a lot easier to forage for food. The native tribes here never learned to grow crops, it was never a need for them.

 

I don't want to live anywhere I have to chop firewood and bring in hay for 7 months to stay alive for 5 months. I know, I know I'm a lazy ass.

I was expecting Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and West Virginia in there somewhere.

 

Keep in mind that this is one person's opinion based on the criteria he chose. If you start to think the reverse - where not to be during SHTF, it becomes more of a patchwork. I myself have been looking pretty closely at Kentucky, Tennessee, and northern Arkansas which were not on his list. I have also looked pretty closely at several that are on that list as well.

 

He also didn't say how bad SHFT was. If just looking for a place to build a homestead, it may be accurate.

I expect it to be much worse, guess.

 

Everything is in flux now. 50 years ago New Hampshire was a great state to live in good times or shtf. Government was good, land was cheap, lots of jobs, not big money but almost everyone I worked with had a house. Many also had an interest in a cabin on lake or snowmobile trail, usually a couple 3 guys or family members would get together on it. Few wives worked, no gun control, no real regulations on building as long as you checked with fire chief and tax collector. People moved in from Mass. Jobs went overseas and minorities moved into empty workers houses. They got government money so could afford to live there, ex workers didn't. The first thing they all wanted is everything they had in Mas, sewer, water, schools, get rid of dangerous guns, must have building codes to make sure neighbors house doesn't bring down my property value and of course that old unregistered snow plow pickup has to go as he has a "junk yard" over there. Most of the state is sane, but a band along the border with Mass and a few cities dominate the state population and thus the state politics.

Have had property in rural Maine, cabin, didn't work out all that well Neighbors got along fine with me, we knew each other. Rest of area was total disaster, dopers stole everything. If it was nailed down they brought a hammer. Was and would always be an outsider. Bad enough in good times, would be a disaster if SHTF. Cut my loses and decided to give it up as a place to bug out to and sold it to another guy looking for a bug out site and sure he could solve the problems I couldn't. On paper it had everything,well built house, rural Maine, long distance from population centers, field, timber for fuel, water well and river, 3 hour drive from where I lived., price was right. I couldn't move,there, no jobs, 50 miles to hospital and clinic, 30 miles to decent shopping, etc. Just couldn't make a go of it as a place to live or to bug out too.

Lived in west Texas and southern New Mexico. Went to college there, and in New Mexico once you take away the government land and factor in water, it is hard to find a place to afford and live on. Add in jobs if still in labor force, illegal aliens, retired military with health care and income and rich people from Texas and Colorado looking for a bug out location and is hard for the average person to establish themselves there. In lots of places even harder if not Spanish or Native American. Don't know about closer to the coast in Texas but on few trips towards Dallas, once you got into land with water, saw a lot of no trespassing and no hunting signs and fences on every piece of open land.

Have good friends from college and USAF in Utah and it is an ideal bug out location if you a member of the LDS church. If not you may have a problem fitting in. Government land and water make it hard to just buy a piece of affordable land and there is not a lot of jobs,

Most of rest of the area along the Canadian border are expensive, have water supply problems, and a short intense growing season that makes hard to grow enough food to survive the winters. You also need either a lot of fuel or a very well insulated building if you wish to survive some cold winters.

My take on bug out locations is to find a place that you are comfortable and that has a group of neighbors that you can live with. I don't think that would be Boston or LA as the Washington and west coast is proving that the cities can ruin a very good location with their stupid state wide laws. Parts of south were good, but population growth, increasing land costs, and changing political climate are getting to them as well.

The video was interesting, but I am afraid a little dated and that while it points out some good places, in the end you have to find a place that suits, age wise, income wise, employment wise, and as I am finding out, a good medical system can be a requirement, not just a good thing.

It has been 3 years ago in August that they said my cancer was beyond removal and that it was up to chemo and radiation treatment. Being in a national recognized treatment center, 80 miles as the crow flies from Boston , and tied into one of the major research sites, has kept me alive. In rural Utah, 300 miles from treatment, might have given different results. My limited take on it is that the 1 st 90 days after they find it will often determine the out come with cancer.

Everyone will sooner or later have their own SHTF moment, May be illness, loss of job, inter personal changes,eg death in family, divorce, spouse ill or dying, etc. While we can't prepare for them all, I think life style is more important than the state you live in.

 

Great topic, but one that has as many variables as options!
Where we live in central Colorado, it doesn't get better then this, it's all nearly 100% ranches, so you have that type of personality to fit in with, or not. We all know each other, some better then others, But, we have at least met and shook hands, and that still means something up here! We also have the High Altitude, from around 6500 feet, to well over 10,000, so it's going to be a challenge for anyone not from around here to adapt and function here for very long if at all! Folks up here are generally VERY CONSERVATIVE, so that and a general self sufficient attitude is THE norm. Folks are generally welcoming once they warm up to you, but will keep an eye on you till you prove worthy, or not. It's not uncommon to run into older folks who are very suspecting of new folks, and rightly so.

We also have a newer church group here who have really started taking over, and it's most unwelcome, and there is a major fight brewing in the coming months and years as that group continues to push and to expand, and to gain influence over al it can, and so far the push back has been pretty fierce, but it MUST continue to hold on, or we will be forced into doing things nobody wants. We don't generally worry about SHTF so much as we worry about the local take over, this church and any other groups that may see this as an ideal place to settle, and for good reason. Most think it's our proximity to the Major Ski Resorts that is driving this push, these folks wanting to be close enough, but unable to afford to live in those communities proper, so they are forcing their way into our area instead! Some of it may also have something to do with the Gold Mine up here, the largest in the U.S. and all the wealth that flows out of there, though I don't know how that applies to our situation! Finally, the most expensive piece of land in the United States is just a few miles from by front door, something like 400 Million worth for around 800 acres of PRIME Ranch land, and the owner is one of Hollywood's wealthiest power player/actors, someone I have gotten to know pretty well personally, and he isn't the type to push for changes, in fact, he has quietly pushed to fight back against several liberal/democrat plans and groups here, so there is some pretty heavy hitting available if push came to shove! That property sorta kinda butts up to ours, though it's a good 5 mile hike as the crow flies from my front door to his, and a pretty good pass to keep us good and neighborly, LOL, actually, he is always welcome to visit any time, something he does when ever he can, and we talk about all the local gossip and goings on in this area, and come up with ideas which may or may not ever amount to anything, but it's good to at least talk! My Neighbors are all close, like family, and we all know we can count on each other when things get challenging, like when we had the last close call with the wild fires up here, before that, the Wife and I were mostly an unknown, afterward, folks knew we were one of the first they could call to help and help keep them safe, which is how I got to know the Celebrity neighbor in the first place! Having a couple serious pieces of equipment for fire fighting makes you invaluable, having all that and some serious trauma care experience sure makes you valuable all around, and that has serious advantages!

 

As a separate post, I have some thoughts to share on this!
I don't think it matters where you are when it all goes sideways, rather how you are setup. and more then that, the image of YOU that others see, or if your crafty, what you want others to see!
We came from Oregon, the Willamette Valley more accurately, and that is kinda known as the liberal bastion of Oregon, right along the I-5 corridor, so you have a Hyper Focused Democratic viewpoint there, but there are lots of pockets all around that are very conservative, and it's those pockets you want to ether be in, or close enough to be able to take advantage when things go to hell. I just don't see someone picking up and moving at this point, rather staying put and working with what you have and what you can, and building something you can rely on to help keep you safe! I think the biggest thing is being in an area where the local community accepts you and knows they can trust you, and knows you trust them, this Is the Key says me, being able to provide for the community and being able to rely on said community for mutual support! In that, I don;t think it's going to matter which state or any of that is going to matter much, and saying the quiet part out loud, the closer to danger you are, the further from harm you will be certainly applies here!

 

I can plant, harvest ,preserve, forage, hunt, process and fish as well as forge tools and cook and sew. Put me down most anywhere and I will survive. With good neighbors I will thrive.

 

I'll just stay right here in NW Alabama, the soil is good, there is plenty of water, not too cold or hot, nothing trying to kill and eat us, and its home. It's difficult, if not impossible, to establish a fully stocked and equipped bug-out location unless you live there full-time. The best courses of action would be to 1) move to the area you want to be in, 2) make the area where you live into your bug-in location, 3) be prepared to transport ALL of your preps to where you want to be, before, during or after SHTF, or 4) accept the fact that you will be part of the great die-off.

 

Can't say that I agree with the list of top 10 states, most are too far north (cold) and too far west (dry). That's not to say that you couldn't survive in these states, but the few areas that have good land and water also have a lot of people. I would instead look to those states bordered by the Smoky Mountains in the east, the Ohio River to the north, the Tennessee River Valley to the south, across the Mississippi River to the edge of the Great Plains in the west.

 

I'm in new Mexico. When the world goes to shit I'm definitely eating people.

 

One of Texas's many natural resources is freshly imported Mexicans. I too shall likely be cooking up a lot of cartel tamales.

 

Cold keeps the rif raff away. We’ll never have problems with water. We share a border with a fairly developed country, creating likely economic opportunities. Local politics are conservative in nature. Everyone will run south when tshtf, Crafty will zig while others zag.

 

100+ temperatures, 15% humidity and difficulty to get water keeps them away too. I hear a person will last 3 or 4 days without water, probably going to be more like 2 here.

 

Problem with this 'Best List' is, it only applies if you are already there and established. Anywhere can be a great place during SHTF with the exception of: large cities, downwind or downstream of industrial chemical facilities, in flood plains of large rivers and streams, are you downstream of a 100 year old dam.

Bugging out to your SHTF locale during a true situation isn't going to work out as you had planned especially if you only go there a couple times a year to check on the place.
Your BOL needs to be established, up and running. You must already have the gardens humming, established contacts, security.

You need to live there now. Every location has it's own cycle of when to plant, harvest wild and domestic plants and animals.
Michigan has some fertile soils and you can grow in abundance, but in other areas you've got 2 inches of tangled roots below 1 inch of dead leaf compost and nothing but rock underneath. Water may be flowing over your land but to drill a well you may be going hundreds of feet and still not find water, and if you do .. it might be arsenic laced.

One needs to live, breathe and invest in the location before the SHTF to survive the SHTF.
And if it's a real SHTF, the legal aspects of each state really don't matter.

the only way you'll survive at a remote BOL is if the SHTF situation is temporary and short in nature. Because once you've exhausted your stored preps, if you didn't have your means of production up and going .. you are back on the road to head to the FEMA camp along with the unwashed masses.

 

I really couldn't stand to listen to the poorly written, AI generated blabbering of incomplete information. Sorry

 

optimal location when the SHTF won't be about "states"... but more about locales. Geographic isolation is an important consideration. Joel Skousens book "Strategic Relocation" is a good read... I'd recommend it.

I live up in Lassen Country, up in Northern CA. I'd considered Idaho... but the climate here is warmer. Plenty of water. This county has a pop. density of 6 people/mi², that ranks 7 in all 58 CA counties. More importantly, the Lassen National Forest and Plumas National Forest literally cut us off from the rest of the state. There is no major ingress through the mountains of these forests to my location. To the east is Nevada.. all desert. North is Modoc County, with a pop. density of 2 people/mi². North of this is east Oregon desert, with counties of even lower pop. density. The only major roadway connects from Reno, and that's 1 hour plus away.

Culturally, this place is fully conservative and historically voting has reflected that. People go to church here, are courteous to one another. Community is important.

 

You will have to let us know if this holds up for people.

 

I wrote an article on this topic. I'm obviously a bit biased towards certain regions of the Big Island of Hawai'i since I'm here, but included other good places and also locations to avoid if SHTF.
Here's the intro:
So many people invest tens of thousands of dollars on products, supplies, and weapons just for a chance to survive in the worst places. Unbeknownst to them, they are just collecting supplies for the swarm of locusts and takers who will soon be hurling themselves at their front doors. No amount of ammunition or prep work will stop an overpopulated and starving mob. Starvation is worse than being shot, it’s worse than tear gas, and it has a clever mind of its own. Things never happen the way we planned. This is why it’s important to be somewhere great before SHTF. This one is simple, so we are just going to provide a list of locations we believe to be the safest places on earth if SHTF.
To read the full version:
Be somewhere great before SHTF - Prepper Facts