Surviving alone or form a group?

Another thing with a group it's safer to move as a group but at the same time it's harder to move without being seen. What we do is kind of like the buddy system we will move in two's to a certain location and then stand by and provide cover while we re-group. also you are responsible for your partner as he is for you. It makes safer for the group that way rather than trying to watch the full group you just watch out for your partner and keep more focus on possible threats. The one thing we did as a group is we are trying to keep it small around 8 to 10 as for the children we are all responsible and the children know that if one of the adults in the group tells them something it is just like mom or dad telling them. We feel that in a SHTF the children will be our hope and that with the whole group helping keep them out of trouble and safe we are securing our future. I know when I grew up everyone in the hollor watch us some of the elders would crawl us just as quick as our parents and if they had to call our parents that locked in the butt whoopin.

 

This is where the disconnect comes from. Sure, men survived in the cold wilderness with literally nothing. Then they were RESCUED, and brought back to "civilization" regaling folks with harrowing tales of how close to death they really were.

Survival is one thing, thriving is another. If you watch Les Stroud (Survivorman) you see how hard it can be to just barely make it. In many cases, he becomes so weak from hunger after 5 to 6 days that he literally loses the ability to function properly.

As for the folks in Alabama, (having lived and worked among them for the better part of a decade) there is no comparing the stubborn, hard headed, dig-your-heels-in resistance of them Good Ol Boys.

 

Alpha, look up "walking Ranger File".

 

Well...as I get older and recognize that there is really no way I would make it without help, I am very glad I have a group that is very stable.

My group is mostly family...kids, grandkids and now the first great-grandkid added to the mix...along with the frend that introduced me to "prepping" (parentheses because I have always been a prepper, just didn't realize or formalize it until I got to know him), and his wife and son.

We have an even dozen (actually a "baker's dozen" with the infant added in) "official" members and 3 more who are considering combining their preps here and we are working to "recruit" because all 3 are medical professionals.

One nice thing about a primarily family group is that it allows Dad/Grampa to maintain an enlightened and benevolent dictatorship...

 

I can say thet the country folk in Bama are the best. During last Aprils storms we had the roads passable even thought the goverment tried to stop us.
To bugout in one compound with several people might be tough.

 

I expect to have "company" should things suddenly go sideways....
I mean sure, they don't want to admit that they are worried, and some have even began to stock up on things they know they'll need, if and when times get rough. I find that most people are afraid to even think about it "openly" anyway....I guess it's like that boogeyman under the bed, as long as they keep the blanket over their heads, the boogeyman can't see you or get you....They know what's coming around the bend, but they cannot bring themselves to talk about it....
When they come to realize they are all alone and things have fallen apart, "IF they are able", they'll come running to find me....

 

Then I won't mention that the reason Louisiana got the coonasses and Texas got the horses' asses was because Louisiana got first choice !*

Actually, unless one has lived in a small town all their lives, and everyone knows who your grandparents were, local residents will be superficially friendly, but will keep their distance from you otherwise. They have all the friends they need or want. I've moved to small towns twice, and that's the way it is.

Unless you have a cadre of longtime amigos, large town or small, plan to work things out by yourselves, your family and you.

*BTW, Cajuns are the most accepting and friendly people I've ever met... you're considered okay and accepted until you prove otherwise.

 

How many people are on a fire team?

 

One man's opinions.
SHTF: The Lone Wolf and the Community - YouTube

 

For a guy who has no military experience....

For a guy who does not have any military experience he seems to have an OK grasp of the basics regards need for security, group discipline etc.

He makes a number of salient points, and the questions that he poses need to be answered by each one of us in the context of our own environment and situational circumstances.....I like the way he thinks...I think he would most likely be an asset in a survival group. If I were a neighbour I'd be prepared to give him a chance as part of a MAG.

He's pretty spot on about kids with a sense of entitlement, though I do think they will learn to adapt quickly in a SHTF TETWAWKI situation or die. The prospect of being raped or murdered would be a strong motivator to get with the plan. Darwinian natural selection will weed out pretty quickly those kids who don't adapt...... realistically the harvest will be severe.


Edit: I watched a few video clips from his channel, and although he looks like John Coffey from the Tom Hanks film The Green Mile....he can at least hit a paper target most times (needs to work on his stoppage IA drills though)

 

Hey Falcon he looks more like a looter than a survivalist the pimp walk kind of gave him away.(ha ha)

 

Reginald, AKA DEMCAD, is a younger guy, solid, conservative, and while we may not see eye to eye on everything, he'd be welcome at my fire. Even if he does live (and admits openly to living with) his parents.

 

Nothing bad ment I've got a couple buddies who have a scuffle walk we call it the pimp walk. I hate when we try to take them on a hunting trip the element of surprise is gone.

 

He is city meat and is determined to STAY in a city. More power to him.

 

If I was screening DEMCAN for MAG membership

If I was screening DEMCAN for MAG membership I wouldn't reject him out of hand. He has potential. With his mass and size....he's someone I'd be very happy to stand behind. ; )

I walk like an EEEEgyptian....but it don't make me no Moslem. ; )

The Bangles - « Walk like an Egyptian » + subtitles - YouTube

later comments to Falcon acknowledged : )

Living with folks is not necessarily an issue....but never having lived away from them might be...but he doesn't look like a sooky hyperdependant type to me. My youngest son has been staying with me for the last few months to be near fragile and elderly grandarents in their 90's...one passed away a few weeks ago. He will probably be staying with me or close by as he is just starting a 4year University course at the beginning of next year. He pulls his weight in the household when it comes to paying his way and doing chores. He has lived interstate for some years and has travelled abroad...he is a very independaant self sufficient young man.

 

Chell,
Some folks look down on those who move back in with Mom and Dad, as if they have failed or are a failure. I hold nothing against Demcad, he's not a "snooky" hyperdependent at all.

 

Group dynamics are what will make it all but impossible to successfully establish a working tribe without some serious ground-rules; what essentially amounts to a micro system of government. Without this infrastructure, think in terms of each individual component dragging all their baggage into the equation; in-laws, for example. That old high school buddy that just happened to show up with his wife, kids and father-in-law or the families of people that you worked with for thirty years. I am not talking turning away Jehovah's witnesses here, I am talking about shutting out hungry children of the neighbor that helped you change a timing chain on the wife's car when you couldn't afford a replacement. Now everybody thinks in terms of Mad-Maxing up and regrowing the feudal system and I am telling you that it is not going to be a simple equation. It will require much realistic thought and planning, not just some arm-chair commando stock-piling of beans and bullets. Think in terms of group dynamics and command structure and imagine how this is going to play out on a diet of dried beans and rice.

 

when I think of Group dynamics... who I want on my side... it's not the hard core Rambo types... but regular folks who have skills like farming, medicine, animal husbandry, carpenters and teachers people good with kids...

To me living is about friends and family... building something we can be proud of and pass down to our children... If I were to find myself bunkering down, I would know I was doing something wrong... I am more than willing to take up arms to defend when needed... but a siege mentally is not what survival is all about... Gotta have hope or it's all so pointless...

well that's how I feel and my two cents, for what it's worth

 

Know who you want on your side if your stuck in a city????
A contractor....

He will know how to get to the water stored in all those hot water tanks...

he will know how to pop the hinges on those big heavy steel security doors that protect warehouses and the like...

he will know how build a defensible area to fall back on...

and chances are if he's like me he's pretty good at improvising a BBQ