Zigging While They Zag - Strategies for Preparedness and Survival

Looking for thoughts on ways to find opportunities based on the masses focusing on one thing making another thing relatively ignored.

I ran across this concept a long time ago when I read a book where the author mentioned that he took a date to an amusement park, but was frustrated by having to stand in long lines at every turn. He figured out that if took a step sideways so to speak and got out of sync with the crowd that they could have a lot more fun and stop wasting time. When everybody else was lined up for rides they got something to eat. At noon when everybody else broke for lunch they rode all the best rides.

Since then I've always looked for opportunities to zig while everybody else is zagging. Last year when the gun and ammo panic hit instead of trying to buy what everybody else was clambering for I instead upgraded my optics, made sure all my rifles had BUIS, bought spare parts and most importantly cleaning and maintenance supplies. When people were fixated on toilet paper I was buying and updating my basic first aid supplies. The same concept goes for training/knowledge. With so much of everything being closed most people worked on home projects, played video games or binged Netflix I spent time brushing up on basic skills like first aid.

I think "zigging while they zag" is a useful concept that goes beyond preparedness into actual survival. For example if you need to move through an area it might best be done at night while others are sleeping.

What things do you do or are doing to find neglected opportunities while everybody else is standing in line for an "E ride"?

 

Kinda strange, but I ended up doing a bunch of flying, especially since finishing the new bird, most folks were stuck at home or under travel restrictions and social distancing! I was out flying. Mostly for the thrill and adventure of it, part because it was a new plane I wanted/needed to learn, and it was a ton of fun finding new places to land and then take off again! What this adventure turned into was something I had done before, but took on a whole life of its own, to the point of bringing the wife along and then keeping track of it all! What we did was scout out all the possible places we could bug to if everything went to hell, places no one else could ever reach, or even think to look, after all, who in their right mind would try and land an airplane in some of these places! This turned serious as the riots increased and the threats of violence escalated, so we had plenty of places to go! The coolest of them was near Mt. Lasson over in the east side! There are/were a bunch of old ranches up there, but many seem to have gone to seed, no signs of anyone living or working that area, and there were a few cabins that looked very promising! Bonus was one we found has no roads anywhere near it, and best I could tell, what might have been a mule road had been washed out and left to over grow! It has a well, and has a pretty good stock of wood put up, and several other neat-o features, enough that it would make for a most excellent place to go if we had to! Given my new capabilities we could easieally supply such a site, and be able to provision for quite some time!

Ironically, the whole time, I didn't see anyone flying, especially civilian, low and slow, which was kinda strange!

 

Brother in law owned a small engine and repair shop in New Hampshire, wanted to retire, couldn't sell it for what it was worth so let son "buy it". Papers were transferred day the lock down for covid was announced. Son was in panic, business wasn't doing all that great anyhow, with lock down who knew what would happen. ! st quarter under lock down, business was more than they had ever down in year. Every one decided to let lawn service go, buy lawn mower and do it themselves or get old mower serviced and fixed, same with chain saws, weed wackers, etc to clean out that little patch of woods in back yard or the brush along side of drive way. While it has tapered off, it is still much better than it had been as people found out that unlike the big box stores, they knew which chain fit which chain saw, had it in stock, and also sharpened the old one, sold you a stabilizer for the fuel that let it start 6 months later, adjusted the carb when you brought it in for "free", then sold you $30 worth of chains. Has expanded to the point that he had to hire 2 more people.

Wasn't what he planned, but zagging and stressing that he also supplied service and repairs took an iffy business and now has him several years ahead of the expected pay off for the business. He has been smart enough to drive his old pickup, which is used for service calls, pick up and delivery, and written off for tax purposes, rather than buy a new toy and such and build up a cushion for the next changes.

Keynes is a famous economist, don't know if his ideas were great or not, but he took care of the buying etc for the funds for the college he graduated from.King's College, and made money for it as long as he ran it. That included the depression and WW2 and most Englishmen lost their shirts in the stock market. When he was getting old, the people running the college got worried he would die and take the "secret of making money" to the grave with him. They expected some mighty words of wisdom or a mathematical system, instead he said he watched the "odd lots", the set up that put all the small buyers in a group and bought and sold them as a group, rather than having several hundred or more of 5 to 10 share orders. That is the small guys like you and me trying to make a few bucks for our retirement funds. The big "Funds" managing your port folio didn't exist in the 20's etc. What ever they did, he did the opposite. They always got in to late and out to soon.

Might not be a scientific observation, but I bought ammo years ago for a fraction of what it costs today and haven't bought and don't plan on buying now. Same way for the $500 thousand 3 acre retreat. In my limited observations over the last 70 years, am 83 now, the herd always stampedes over the cliff, people buy houses that they can't afford if the economy slows down, borrow all they can for the good "toys", then lose it all. The people with money buy it for pennies on the dollar, hold on to it, when the next good times come along, sell it and make a lot of money, rinse and repeat.

If you are young or just getting into prepping, you are scr****, but if you have been doing this for a while and didn't buy firearms after the last panic, at least half price. You didn't build AR15's rifle kits for $359 in your basement, haven't bought that pump shotgun at a yard sale for $100, didn't buy that 2 acre house lot out in the woods here in New Hampshire for $10 thousand at the foreclosure sale in 2009, etc, don't blame me.

 

Most young people are caught up in the new toys others have been showing off, and have no money to do such things.
I was taught to be frugal and bought more than I needed in food and other things to fatten my future and got all the guns and ammo early in life, even before Obama was elected.
I had been an air gunner for years since the 70s and that's where I get much of my trigger time then and now.
Guns are all the same like cars have some unique assets and capabilities but for the most part function the same.
When chickens could not be transported in California we bought viable yokes from across the country and an incubator and raised a bunch that way. It's not rocket science it's just thinking outside the box.
I wanted to learn aquaponics so I built a small garden and a trough and just below had a 40-gallon fish tank with goldfish. It was very successful, so now I know how I am building my greenhouses. I have only had a very modest income so I learn to make do with what I got and improvise a lot. and learn a lot.
When I wanted to learn amateur radio I had to jump in with both feet and study day and night. it was worth it, but now days my life has many other interests that demand my time, but I now know radio if I need to get into it again.
In life, I took many different jobs and learned a lot of things, and was able to make significant contributions to the jobs fallowing, these also broadened my capabilities in the future.
It is not just the ability to replace broken worn parts, but to fix those parts that cannot be easily replaced.
Or at least the courage to try.
The courage to face danger rarely somes to some one unwilling to face challange.

 

Been using this tactic in business for as long as I can remember and personally. I just call it being where everyone else isn't. Example When everyone else had a mountain of kale on their market table for sale (Sometime 20 other vendors with kale) I had a mountain of spinach, endive, swiss chard and mustard. The herd tends to focus on one thing collectively to the near exclusion of other things. So the one or two of us that would go big on the other things made out like bandits. 20 people all selling the same thing collectively sold a lot more than myself but individually sold a small fraction of what I would sell of the alternatives. The drawback is if you want to consider it a drawback is that you are always changing and adapting to avoid getting caught up in the herd. Sometimes you are better off stay a step behind everyone else and other times staying a step ahead but as a general rule it is rarely in your best interest to walk in the middle of the herd.

 

unless you're a prepper newbie and the "need" is an absolute must >>> WAIT - it's either going to blow and it won't matter - or - it's going to calm down enough to last to the mid-terms and 2024 ....

the shortages and inflation hasn't hit everything prepperish >>> if you give it any thought - you have enough unfinished & unresolved prepper related projects to suck up your extra cash $$$ and time for the next couple of years - probably can spend $200 on shelving & containers to organize a mess that you have been ignoring forever - not glamourous but its prepping

 

You wouldn't believe all the smokin deals on used cars and trucks right now! Obviously, folks spent a shit load on buying the newest, latest, greatest toy and then the Rona hit and they lost them! Looking at pickups the last few weeks, brother really needs to replace his BAD, and we have found many that would fit the bill. The real trick is to bargain in cash, most owners are asking more then the truck is worth, even with all the accessories, so we are looking at the used lots and auction yards!
Found a couple of mid 2000's Dodge Cummins 4X4 4 door trucks with all kinds of hop ups, so it's just a matter of picking the best that will do the job and going for it!
I almost traded in my Durango for a new pickup my self, the deals are amazing, but I would hate my self for getting rid of that rig, I absolutely love it, it gets great milage, and is a blast to drive, so, will have to pass!

 

Zig-Zaging all my life....or maybe more "the early bird gets the worm"....assuming you like worms.....

Remember when toilet paper was short last year ?
This is from 2006, when it was cheap and store shelves stocked to the ceiling:

144 rolls to the box, many boxes.


People can't find canning jars or lids. Well, PLENTY of them were available at half the cost of them today just a few years back. Local hardware store going out of business, I bought a pallet load of quart jars for $4/case. I saw a few on the shelf at the farm co-op the other day (no lids) for $14 case.



We had no true high speed internet in this area. Was just dial up for years, then the phone company put really slow DSL in here. I built a 100' tower at the top of my mountain and lease it to a local wireless internet provided. 100MB service, AND they pay me enough in lease fees to cover my property tax bill.



Doing what the average person won't do has pretty much worked out great for me.

 

TnAndy, you not only think outside the box, I sometimes wonder if you don't build your own box. Like your posts, the pictures, and the somewhat unusual ideas you sometimes express. I would guess that the one thing in common the posters on this group share, is that they are like cats and will die before they allow themselves to be herded by the government or society in general.

Close to the top of the pile has to be Bishop, drop him in the woods, try to hunt him like some of those crazy movies, and find out that with his belt, shoe laces, etc he now has 4 or 5 silent weapons that can kill you before you even know where he is at. Have to go back ever few months and revisit some of his primitive weapon posts. Man can make a soda can bounce all over the place with a sling shot, makes me shudder to think what one of those "pebbles" would do to your head, not to mention the almost endless line of spears and spear chuckers he has shown over the years.

Reloading, converting 223 catridges to 300 blackout, trying to figure out how to use paper cartridges and minnie balls in my 50 cal Hawkins cap lock, cleaning up and sorting things out for my new garage, there are a million things that are prepping that don't cost you a dime in new money. If you are new to the "sport" and don't have much money, have some one else notify you that "it just happened" and survive with as much comfort as you can with what is in you bug out bag, or maybe what you have on your person. An altoid tin with fire starting materials, a few water treatment tablets, a good pocket multi tool and a knife, you all know the game in "theory", but what would happen in real life? I have carried a military style poncho and liner, some parachute cord, a military style canteen and cup that goes with it, as well as some water treatment tablets, a few packs of soup mix, some vitamins and first aid kit, and an old Israeli style emergency sleeping bag I picked up about 20 years ago and put in zip lock bags, and a small axe. Have one set in my car, have one set in my house, one in my bug out location, and a couple stashed. Couldn't live for a long time, but would keep me alive for at least a week, in my area even in the dead of winter.

 

Yep....what I like about this place.

I ran into Melbo on a different board quite a few years ago, and he invited me to go camping one weekend in the Smokey Mtns near where he lived (hour or so from me). He told me about this little website he had going here, so I joined up.