I’m sorry for the delays in posting. I’m doing my best to not over analyze the coming collapse, and formulate my plans for trying to survive the collapse. Then it dawned on me my thoughts might help others formulate their plans and move them to action.
I have zero doubt that within the next year the economic world-as-we-know-it will end. The analysis of what happens next is the tough part to plan for. So I’m making two sets of plans and working out what I need to do. These two scenarios are going to be the driving process by which I make my decisons on a daily basis. The difference in the scenarios is how quickly the serfs rise up in rebellion.
Scenario A would be a slow slide of reduced services and a general reduction of services over time. The roads are already in horrible shape, as funds are diverted for new projects rather than maintaining existing infrastructure. Expect more and more people to be on food stamps and require government assistance and charity to survive. Even in this scenario, I fully expect isolated rioting as people try to vent the rage in their hearts. For the sake of planning the slide is much slower, and therefore I’ll be able to keep a job longer.
Scenario Z (i.e. “Zombie Apocalypse”) is where the slow slide we are in starts to act exponentially, and a sudden and violent crash happens in a few days. Violence would spread rapidly as law enforcement and military assets are insufficient to maintain law and order except in small regional/local areas. The Washington mall in DC, 15 miles around Fort Benning, etc. this would be a full-on “Patriots”-style collapse.
The first dilemma is when to abandon my home. I live in a large suburban town with 34,000 neighbors. I cannot feed them all, and I have limited local assets (friends) or resources outside the contents of my home. I don’t even have a fireplace, such is the joys of modern convenience. Other than my preps, tools, books, and computer equipment I could give a rat’s ass about the place. I’m 30k underwater in the mortgage. My tools are extensive and difficult to move, the rest can fit in a U-haul with ease, or take one and a half trips with my jeep + trailer.
The next dilemma is where to go. I’m still actively looking to buy land in Maine and slap a Conex container on it with the MOAP (Mother of all Padlocks) on it. If I cannot secure land in Rural Maine, then I will have to run to Mum’s first. We have assets and resources in town that can help us. Being a Townie does have it’s perks. I’m not sure how long that will last, though. Mum lives near two large cities and there will not be enough food to go around. I have a open invite from a dear friend to go into the Berkshires in Western Mass. Push comes to shove I’ll get Mum and “Bill” to come with me there. Ideally I want the land in Maine as it would be nice for my friends in the Berkshires to have a place they could run to.
Here are my goals for the next 6 months:
- Provide limited off-grid power for tools and lighting
- Add another 3+ months of food preps
- Increase my fuel storage to 50 gallons
- Handload 40 rounds for each hunting rifle and 200 rounds for my MBR (in addition to saved factory ammo)
- Work up range cards for each rifle.
- re-stock & refresh hierloom seeds
- Buy a full set of hunting-only clothes
- Buy body armor (with rifle plates)
- Secure communications capabilities outside phone
In either scenario, I expect power to become problematic. Either I will be unable to pay the bill, the transformers stolen for the copper, or the power lines taken down by nitwits. Regardless, the ability to charge a laptop battery off the grid will be required for me to maintain my sanity.
Food is key to our survival. I refuse to become a predatory piece of shit, i.e. the Brass Horde. The more food I can store the better. I have already pre-cached food at Mum’s, I will need to do the same for the Berkshires. Our ability to eat while the grasshoppers starve will give us an advantage.
I do own a generator, but I only have 30 gallons of fuel. That will go quickly. I also will need to be able to move around as I run from one end of the state to the other. Don’t ignore the usefulness of a Molotov Cocktail either. I currently use plastic, because the metal cans are so expensive. I would like to get at least two metal cans, but $50 is better spent in other places.
Having food is one thing, keeping it and getting more is another. I have all the supplies on hand to load a LOT of ammo, but I don’t keep a lot loaded up and ready to go. I need to remedy this. I have yet to build a load for the new rifle, and that will have to be a big priority. Working up the most accurate load takes time, so I better get cracking on it. I will document the process I use in a series of articles. Along with the ammunition I still need to work up range cards for each rifle. All this is is documenting which setting for which range to zero the rifle with a certain load. For the new .308 I will load 150, 168, and 180 grain loads. Each of which will need to be worked up and have a range card produced. This way If I go for big deer with 180 grain bullets I set the scope to X for a 200 yard zero. If I go hunt piggies with 150 grain bullets I set the scope to Y for a 100 yard zero. The hardest thing to figure will be the second and third shot zero as the barrel warms up. Hunting rifles are zeroed with the barrels cold, but the second shot will be different as the barrel is heated and the internal stresses change the barrel geometry. It’s all a pain in the ass, but it’s the only way to pop dinner with a follow up shot if you miss.
No time like the present to order seeds from the internet while we still can. I’m going to buy seeds for crops that can handle Mass and Maine climate as much as possible. With the seeds I already have I’ll have enough for a truly massive garden even if I hold half in reserve like your supposed to in case of blight.
I do not own any dedicated hunting clothes. I need to buy them for a variety of temperatures and situations. and only use them for hunting. Scent-lok wears out, so I’ll also buy a supply of the scent eliminating soaps for me and the clothes. This will probably be my biggest expense on this list.
Body armor is important, but more so for a scenario Z. I’m a big dude so I might have to special order. All your skinny people get to buy used, but not a tubby fucker like me. Vest is ~$300, plates are $480 for ceramic. I might just go with steel for $240. I’m strong enough to carry 16 pounds of steel with my gear, but I won’t be quick. I’m not going to bother with a helmet, it provides zero protection against a rifle round. This is a serious expense, but if it is a Scenario Z then it will be required.
I need a way of keeping in touch with my Mum, my brother, the Berkshires and another friend in the case of the cell systems being overloaded or down. I’ve been reluctant to go with HAM, but I see no other viable way of keeping in touch. I hope I can get in cheap, but we will see. The problem will be getting Mum and my brother to get licensed and getting them gear.
As you can tell I have a lot on my mind. I am sure you do as well. Make a plan of attack and work on it. Just as you slowly accumulated your food supplies, you bang out items on the list. I will keep you updated with my progress. If you think I missed anything please let me know via e-mail or comments.
Tags: preparedness
After seeing what some people were using for a way to get power to charge items you mentioned, we bought two of the portable solar panels at Harbor Frieght. These are sufficient for powering chargers, running a HAM, even watching tv for several hours.
The cost was less than $200 and we thought it was a way to deal with not having to keep the genny running all the time. It will even run the water pump in a limited way.
It’s tought to know what is going to happen with this failure in the economy. I’ve heard a lot of people waying to expect an October surprise. Most people who are talking are saying we will have a collapse before the clock turns over to 2011.
Hey bro, just wanted to let you know I think your taking the whole range card thing to excess. If you have a decent rifle, hitting a basketball at 200yds is the best you need. Ideally, you will never have to take a shot past 100yds. It is much more important to spend as much time as possible in the woods to learn how to hunt, and I don’t mean just big game, but varmint too. Just because you can hit the end of a beer can at 200, doesn’t mean you won’t starve to death. Forget the scent free stuff, spend the money on ammo. Clothes with a broken pattern work almost as well as standard camo, but I would still look for good hunting clothes anyway, stay away from hunter orange for the SHTF scenario, you don’t want ANYONE to see you! If you know how to hunt, you will make most kills inside bow range which in general is 30yds max. You will know how to use the wind to your advantage so scent free isn’t as necessary. If you just walk into the woods and sit down at the base of a tree, sit quietly for two hours, you will learn more than reading a magazine about hunting, you won’t even need a gun. I have spent a life time hunting and fishing and am still learning the nuances of both, but the most important rules are patience, silence and consistancy in your shooting. If you are hunting during SHTF, 200 yd shots should be avoided, they are lower percentage, bigger chance of wounding and not killing and then you have to get it out of the woods 200 yds further than you would if done in bow range and you may have others in the woods to contend with. Don’t forget the principal of KISS. Idians did it with a bow and loin cloth…lol. A .308 and fifty yds is all you need. Stay safe and keep up the great blog, I missed it the last week or so.
BulletProofMe.com has some used law enforcement vests and some level II XL – 3XL overruns, you might want to check them out.
Hey Bro,be careful with conex left unattended.As my late buddy 3%4Freedom pointed out in a comment on American Apocalypse a conex he and R3V had on their property was cut open with a torch or plasma cutter.FYI.
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Oh yeah good post.As far as second scenario screw the ham license.Might need it for 1st.
This weekend is a good HAM swapmeet. should be able to find some good deals and info….. http://www.boxboro.org/
Bury your preps in 5 gallon buckets. Put a shipping container on your property now while they are available but lock it open not closed. When you are living on the property it can be used for whatever you want but if you are 500 miles away and it is locked it is too tempting. A good way to bury your buckets is in a garden then till it up and plant clover or winter wheat. Another idea is to take a crap in a few spots over where your stash is buried. And make sure some shitty tp is spread around too.
the only major disadvantage i can see from becoming a HAM is the loss of your anonymity. your name and address become a record that is searchable against your call-sign.
(that’s the main reason i haven’t tried to get the ticket yet) whatever you do, don’t allow your callsign to get onto your blog/blogs.
Nice post. Mostly because it gives me hope that not everyone is completely clueless. We will be headed to rural NH, where we have been trying to figure out the same things that you are trying to figure out. It is only 90 minutes from where we live yet completely rural in a town of 450 residents on 8 very wooded acres.
Food is our issue, sure we have chickens, but we also have 3 great danes who need to eat as well as teenagers. NOt enough chickens. We are attempting to learn how to garden in our yard now, same zone. Because I dont know how, I grew up near Boston, i haven’t grown so much as a bean let alone a garden to FEED my family during a winter! Best that I figure it out now no?
We have plenty of ammo and weaponry, both of our teenagers are proficient with guns as well. We have big mean Great Danes for protection as well, just to scare away the weeniest of zombie and if they get by the dogs, the AK’s will do.
We have some solar at the “cabin” as well as a generator and a decent fuel storage but again my main concern is and always will be food.
The problem we have is finding a “community” of like minded people because a network of people may be what we need to last. no?
That is why I am buying in Maine. Until you lose your “Masshole” side they will be standoffish, but once you have been around them a winter or two then they are much more neighborly. I’m a Masshole, my brother is a Masshole but we managed to make some friends in a week we were up at a friends farm. The hardest change is that there is no rush. No dire need to drive like a bat out of hell to get to X for Y. Life is a whole different pace. I have to confess a growing desire to walk away from the corporate life, except I need health insurance.
Hunting is good, but don’t depend on it. The locals know the country and the animals better than you do. No substitute for time in the woods. Best establish connections with the locals and hunt with them.
Sounds like great goals.
I strongly suggest you save up and pay for the ceramic. It isn’t so much about strength to carry it but speed. Real gunfights that aren’t point blank Mexican Standoffs are dynamic. Heavier equals slower and Slow equals shot, obviously shot is pretty bad as there is a high likelihood they won’t hit the small bullet proof part.
Strictly speaking you don’t need range cards you need data books for your rifles. Range cards lay out graphically a specific fighting position while data cards show that X rifle with Y bullet is down 2.34 inches at 200 meters and needs 1 MOA clicks to adjust for a 3 MPH wind at 300 meters.