Author Topic: Country Boy Can Survive (Read 3315 times)

Sourdough · « **on:** January 19, 2007, 09:41:38 AM »

Just sitting here reading some comments on another post, and remember hearing something on the radio last night. Those thoughts togeather made me think of the statement and song by Hank Williams Jr. The radio last night was talking about an economic breakdown in the US, like back in the 30s. How todays families are not like they were back then. In the 30s most folks did not have refrigerators, or any knid of electric appliances, other than lights. And a lot of rural folks still had no electricity anyway. So the fact that an electrical company went under ment little to them. Or the fact they may have their electricity shut off ment little to them. The loss of the job market only hurt the city folks. Country folks still had food on the table, and a means of getting more. I talk to my Dad about those times, he said yes they had livestock, but they were too valuable to eat. They ate squirrils, rabbits, groundhogs, feral hogs, and that's when all the whitetail deer disappeared from Tennessee.
We Alaskians have to be prepaired for anything to happen. We have Earth Quakes, and sever weather that can render us with out electricity for days or even weeks. And in the middle of winter two hours without electricity can be devastating for the average household under these conditions. Last week we had a power outage that lasted for four hours, at 40 below. I got the generator out and fired it up after three hours to get the boiler, and well back on. But this got me to thinking, what would we do in the event of a major catastrophy. No power for months. The food chain deliveries stop. Few houses have more than a few days supply of groceries. Water? Could you go without water from the water main for a week? If the sewage plant shut down what would you do? Last thrusday I found my freezer had quite. Not a big issue with me, I just unloaded everything into big boxes and put it outside. But if it had been summer it would have been differant.
How many people could feed their families without the local grocery store? How many people could keep their family warm without electricity. What would you do if there was no gasoline tomorrow? I've given this some thought, I have my own plans, but how about the rest of the folks. Then if you can provide for your family, how about those that aren't prepared and would take everything you have by force? Are you prepared for that?
I have a cabin 70 miles back in the mountains. No one knows it's exact location but me, my son has a general idea where it is, he's been there a few times when he was younger, he's just not sure which river. The wife knows the river, but has never been there since I built the cabin. I always have more than enough fuel to get the snow machines, four wheelers, and my track rig there, on hand. Once there everything we would need to stay there indeffinately is already there. What would you do?

Almtnman · « **Reply #1 on:** January 19, 2007, 10:02:58 AM »

That's a very good question Sourdough and one that needs some serious thought put into. Things in the near future might not look good and the cities will be th first to go. The country folk will be able to handle it for a while longer thna the people in the city will be able to, but one needs to think a little longer term than 3 or 4 days now.

A place way out like yours is a good idea. A good source of water whether it be a well, pond, spring, river or other source, the water can be made to drink with a little effort. You can make a good water reservoir out of a NEW septic tank. Just bury it under ground, and fill it up and pump out of it when you need the water. I saw one once that was buried next to a spring. Water ran down a pipe from the spring and kept the septic tank storage tank full all the time. I though that to ingenious at the time I first saw it. A stocked food supply, garden, chickens, goats and you have just about all you need to eat. A way to keep warm in winter, that could be a good wood stove and plenty of wood to burn, just in case you can't get fuel for that generator. A good supply of ammo of as many calibers that you can obtain. Ammo will be better than money when it comes to trading for something you want. And if you have plenty of all kinds, maybe you might be able to lay hands on something else that fits some of the ammo you have. A few .22 rifles would prove their worth on collecting game for the table and you can get a lot of ammo for them at reasonable price. Hunt with the .22 and save the big ammo for something big.

30-30man · « **Reply #2 on:** January 19, 2007, 11:31:25 AM »

Yeah fellows, I'm with ya. They call what we have now, progress. I wonder how many of our ancestors were taking high blood pressure medicine, prozac, or any other nerve pill for that reason. Unemployment was your neighbor giving you some tomatos or corn and the bank was an old coffee tin. I too wish for a much simplier, harder, and more rewarding life. I plant a garden, make my own wine, and I have run a trotline. Sign me up for the redneck club cuz I am one.

beemanbeme · « **Reply #3 on:** January 19, 2007, 11:49:54 AM »

One of these days those checks on the 1st and 15th ain't gonna show up. That, of course, will be the signal to tear up and burn everything and steal anything left over. The nature of that beast is "I've got a right to everything that working folks have got and if I can't have it, no one can have it". Once they've finished burning down the grocery stores and such, they'll get hungry and some drooler will say, "they gots food out in the country".
And so we'll have anarchy. So you best make plans to not only provide for yourself but to hold on to what you've provided. Fellow might do well to get a 10/22 (or something similar) and a few bricks of ammo and stash them away somewhere.

Beers · « **Reply #4 on:** January 19, 2007, 01:22:18 PM »

Myself... I learned quite a lot being raised primarily by my grandparents... I keep a few dozen chickens & 3 goats... (spit roasted kid every spring!) I keep a decent sized garden and can like crazy come harvest time. I'm also quite lucky to be able to throw rocks into a sizeable creek from my front porch. Catfish, drum, turtle... all make great eating. I got deer, squirrel and rabbit all in abundance on my property... The only thing that I'd worry about should the crap hit the fan, so to speak.. would be Heat (I don't currently have a suitable way to burn wood for heating purposes) and keeping the paws of other, less scrupulous folks away from me and mine.

Almtnman · « **Reply #5 on:** January 19, 2007, 01:35:58 PM »

Quote from: Beers on January 19, 2007, 01:22:18 PM

Myself... I learned quite a lot being raised primarily by my grandparents... I keep a few dozen chickens & 3 goats... (spit roasted kid every spring!) I keep a decent sized garden and can like crazy come harvest time. I'm also quite lucky to be able to throw rocks into a sizeable creek from my front porch. Catfish, drum, turtle... all make great eating. I got deer, squirrel and rabbit all in abundance on my property... The only thing that I'd worry about should the crap hit the fan, so to speak.. would be Heat (I don't currently have a suitable way to burn wood for heating purposes) and keeping the paws of other, less scrupulous folks away from me and mine.

Sounds like you might want to round up a good wood stove and a few firearms with plenty of ammo. You can install a wood burning heater fairly easy using triple wall stove pipe going out through the roof and attic. The stove won't cost too much, it's that triple wall pipe that runs up the bill, but once it's in, you're set and you can cook right on top of the stove. Pick yourself up a good pump shotgun, a .22 rifle and an old military rifle with ammo and you're good to go.

Beers · « **Reply #6 on:** January 19, 2007, 02:08:55 PM »

I've been looking for a while to get in a good wood burner... you're dead on about the $ and that pipe...

I've got the .22 and I always keep a few bricks on hand... I've got a few great shotguns, but they're all break action. I don't really own anything that could be called a "home defense" weapon. The only other gun I've got now Is my Rem 700 in a .270 - not a terribly effective self defense rifle. I'd like to have a more impressive collection of course, but... $$ $:-\$

Almtnman · « **Reply #7 on:** January 19, 2007, 02:28:33 PM »

Those guns should work OK. I was thinking from the way you said it that maybe you didn't have any at all. And the triple wall pipe only has to go through the attic area and out the roof. I run a triple wall pipe from basement up through a closet, through the attic and out the roof and put a wind cap on top of it. I put in a wood heater in the basement, had a sheet metal shop to build me a big hood that fit over the top of it. Then I connected the hood which had about a 12 to 14 inch pipe coming off the top of the hood, I cut a hole in the cold air return and tied it in there. Then all I had to do was build a fire in the heater, open the vent on the hood to the cold air return and let the heat seep up through all the vents upstairs. If the electricity was on, I could turn on the furnace fan and blow hot air all over the house. The wood heater in the basement kept the hardwoods floors above warm to walk around barefooted in winter. But a nice little soapstone type wood stove upstairs would be better as you could cook on top of it.

muskeg13 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 19, 2007, 07:57:43 PM »

Dead on Sourdough. I figure we'll have to be able to fend for ourselves for a month or so if Seattle sprouted a mushroom cloud, or if there is a repeat of the '64 earthquake. The good news is that many of us up here are considered "end of the roaders" by those in the lower 48 (and Los Anchorage), and we'll get along OK in any case.

Sourdough · « **Reply #9 on:** January 19, 2007, 08:22:40 PM »

I've got enough ammo loaded to more than last me for the rest of my life. I've probably got 5 to 6000 rounds of .22LR, and 5 to 600 .17HMR. .308 and 30-06, .350 Rem Mag, and .35 Whelen. 10 or 12 boxes of .338 Win Mag. And enough .338 bullets and powder to last for years. I haven't a clue how many bricks of .223 I have. The wife keeps giving them to me as stocking stuffers, but I usually reload what I shoot instead of using those bricks. But with the game in unit 20-A We could last indefinately.

jh45gun · « **Reply #10 on:** January 19, 2007, 09:56:38 PM »

Yep a 22 LR can kill most critters deer size and under and humans too if crap hit the fan if you had 5000 rounds of 22 lr you could do nicely to survive food wise and protection if need be. With 22 ammo bricks selling for 8 to 10 bucks a brick it is a bargain and cheap enough for anyone to get that much to keep on hand with out breaking the bank. A brick here and there and you have it. Heck even a thousand rounds would cost you only a 20 dollar bill or less.

Brett · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2007, 02:38:19 AM »

Let's see now...

* Ruger 10/22 Auto-loader rifle with 10 and 30 round clips & 50 round drum... check
* 12 Ga. Mossberg 500 pump w/ 20" slug barrel & rifle sites... check
* S&W Model 60 Stainless .38 snubby... check
* 6" High Standard 9 shot .22 Mag. revolver with adjustable target sites... check
* 4" Taurus 9 shot .22 revolver (in case wife needs to carry a small side arm)... check
* plenty of ammo on hand for all of the above... check
* various other hunting arms and ammo that could be brought into play if needed... chech
*60# Lab/shepherd mix (a good sentry and very protective of family)... check
* numerous flashlights... check
* battery operated radios... check
* plenty of batteries... check
* well stocked pantry... check
* Coleman stove... check
* Coleman lantern... check
* Charcoal grill... Check
* propane fire place for emergency heat (no electricity required)... check
* 24' diameter above ground pool full of water (can be used for flushing toilets, bathing, could even be used for cooking & drinking if boiled or treated)... check
* Well stocked medicine cabinet... check
* small flock of live chickens (eggs or meat if need be)... check
* 1/4 acre vegetable garden during the growing season (with plenty of room to expand)... check
* emergency generator and fuel... ah...oh,oh. (note to self; acquire new emergency generator)

Other than the generator situation, which I intend to remedy soon, we could fair pretty well in the type of situation Sourdough eluded to in his original post. We went a week and a half without power after a freak ice storm a few years back without much discomfort.

magooch · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2007, 03:12:43 AM »

Whether the crap were to hit the fan, or not, I'm sure as hell happy to not be living in a freezer like Alaska. I think I'd just as soon be taking a dirt nap as to have to live where it's winter nine months of the year. I lived in Alaska way back before oil was discovered up there and I promised myself I would never ever go back there--and I won't.

My inclination would be to head for Arizona, or somewhere in the southwest where at least you could enjoy the weather while you starved to death.

Sourdough · « **Reply #13 on:** January 20, 2007, 10:12:03 AM »

Ha it's only six months of winter, then six months of 60s,70s,and 80s. And in this land of abundence there is no way we would starve. Not with all the Moose, Caribou, Sheep, Bears, and Fish that we have. And as for gardens, you aint everseen veggies till you see what we can grow. With over 21 hours of sunlight we can grow big stuff.

magooch: you must have been down around anchorage, where they don't have summers. They just have spring, fall, and winter. Here in the interior we have real summers.

Almtnman · « **Reply #14 on:** January 20, 2007, 11:01:44 AM »

Sourdough, I've never been to Alaska, but always wanted to go. I sure would to see a pic of that cabin you have back off the beaten path that you mentioned. Can you post a pic of it on here?

If it's a rugged old wildnerness cabin, that would be interesting to see.

magooch · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2007, 03:27:37 AM »

Sourdough, I was stationed at Eilson and when the last snow falls in June and the first snow falls in August, I am being generous when I say there is 3 months of summer. I will admit that the brief sunny summers are nice, but the dark, long, cold winters aren't worth it. And the skeeters do their best to ruin the summers.

I'll take my chances a lot further south. In fact, if things go in the ditch here, maybe I'll head for the South Pacific and live on a beach.

jpsmith1 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2007, 01:49:48 PM »

I know that Y2K was a joke, but it should have served as a wake-up call to all responsible people. The idea that our society is one or two weeks from total chaos is scary to me. I admit that I fell for the hype and stockpiled several thousand round of SKS and 12 gauge ammo. I've kind of given up on the 7.62x39 in favor of more suitable hunting rounds, but I'll never give up my 12. As far as the ability to survive. I learned a lot about survival during that time. I keep a generator and fuel around. I've got plenty of food in store and a way to cook it. I can handle just about anything that comes.

buffermop · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2007, 02:45:26 AM »

Brett----You forgot the Jack Daniels on your list.

Brett · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2007, 02:52:51 AM »

Quote from: buffermop on January 22, 2007, 02:45:26 AM

Brett----You forgot the Jack Daniels on your list.

Covered under the "well stocked medicine cabinet".

By the way I am a card carrying Tennessee Squire.

gypsyman · « **Reply #19 on:** January 22, 2007, 07:26:23 PM »

Reality check. Muslems want to nuke us, Chavez tells us to go to hell, China just shoots down an old weather satelite, couple million illegal aliens in this country. Wicked witch of the west as speaker of the house, Dorothy and Toto, and the straw man running for president, the lion and the tin man as senators. Is the crap going to hit the fan. I'm afraid so. Wish I was a little bit further out in the country, but have a well for water, 2 generators, guns and ammo. Raised and skinned rabbits with my brother back in the '60's. Learned from my parents, who grew up during the depression,how to garden and can out of my garden. Hope all I do it for is to save a few buck at the grocery store, but, being a realist, I'm going to prepare for the worst. We keep trying peace, it usually doesn't work!! Remember-(12/7/41)--(9/11/01) gypsyman

wgr · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2007, 05:49:25 PM »

a good 22 5000 rounds 12 gage a good 06 and lots of reloading supplies for it i do have 1 good shooting sks and 1000 rounds hid away in case the rag heads come over ill have a stright shooter that uses their ammo.22 and 06 for huntinh 12 with no1 buck for the unscooled idiot that tries to take whats mine. heat with wood now so no worry there have a big garden a good smoke housei think we would make it o and i have 700of thoes no1buck ontop of i forget how much lead black powder and 8000no11caps the day is coming guys and a country boy will have to make a stand

Almtnman · « **Reply #21 on:** January 24, 2007, 03:23:39 AM »

It wouldn't hurt to have a few boxes of Aquilla no powder .22's laying around too, just in case you needed to take some small game and not let anyone know your whereabouts. They propel the small bullet out by use of the primer material, are very quite and will fill the stew pot with plenty of rabbits.

carbineman · « **Reply #22 on:** January 24, 2007, 08:12:55 AM »

After reading this thread I will share my insight as to what I have tried to prepare for if the Shumer hits the fan. First off I have tried to store and keep rotated as much food as possible for 10 people. This food is not fancy but will keep you alive. We have several ways to get water and wouldn't rely on just one method. I'm not under any illusion that this will be fun when it happens. Sure I have some ordnance laid back in case of eventualities but I'm no Rambo and don't intend on being one either. In fact I'm set up for 9mm, .223, and 7.62x39mm and have only one centerfire rifle and some rifled slug guns at this time that would work for hunting.

We keep many different batteries/lights and have means to charge them other than grid power. We keep to generators and have a bulk fuel tank that we fill our vehicles out of that we always keep 300 gallons in. With the rotation of the gas in our vehicles we are not worried it will go bad and hasn't in the years we have owned the tank. We heat with wood and have a wood cookstove set aside just in case. We also have a propane stove/oven in our old camper that we could use and plenty of 100 lb. tanks to keep it going if needed. We have a large garden and heirloom (non-hybrid) seeds saved up. We have lots of toilet paper-feminine products, and everyday needs from soap to toothpaste as well as a well stocked medical kit and books on lots of different survival type themes. I quess you could call us the beans-bullets and band-aids crowd. What am I preparing for? Nothing I hope, but then again I have 3 different types of insurance that I hope I won't ever have to use and a spare tire in each of my vehicles and of course a get home kit in each as well.

My advise is BUY FOOD!

992 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 26, 2007, 12:06:23 PM »

Every would be survivor I have ever met said that the would hit the deep woods and live off the land.How long would the wildlife last with all these'moutian men',shooting ar every thing that moves?
Before long they would be looking for someone to take from.instead of ling off the land.
Sonds like a bad time for all involved,no matter where you are.
Starving people will do anything to feed their family.and then some of the people who are thugs will kill and rob just because they can.
It just might wind up as kill or be killed,at least we can hope and pray that it won't come to that.

992

Sourdough · « **Reply #24 on:** January 26, 2007, 11:25:31 PM »

Magooch: Don't know what you are talking about. Third week of March every year I take the kids to the cabin for snowmachining. Reason is that the temp is allways in the 40s that week. Oh we might get a freak snow fall after that date but not often. Oh I have seen snow on the ground in July, but that's rare too. We usually don't have snow till October, In September when Moose season starts the temp is usually in the high 60s or 70s. That's why we don't like to shoot something in the early season because it is so warm the meat will spoil if we don't get it out fast. The first week of September the bugs are terriable, and it is so hot we run around in tee shirts in Moose camp. Oh and the temp is forcast to be in the high teens and low 20s for the next seven days. Check the news paper, it will be listed. Right now it's +10 in my front yard, and it is 1:23AM. It's a lot colder in several places in the lower 48 right now. We've got 17 inches of snow on the ground also.

Almtnman · « **Reply #25 on:** January 27, 2007, 02:29:45 AM »

Quote from: 992 on January 26, 2007, 12:06:23 PM

Every would be survivor I have ever met said that the would hit the deep woods and live off the land.How long would the wildlife last with all these'moutian men',shooting ar every thing that moves?
Before long they would be looking for someone to take from.instead of ling off the land.
Sonds like a bad time for all involved,no matter where you are.
Starving people will do anything to feed their family.and then some of the people who are thugs will kill and rob just because they can.
It just might wind up as kill or be killed,at least we can hope and pray that it won't come to that.

992

Most every would be survivor that I've met said to move to a secluded area away from large cities and stay away from crowded events. They also said to have a place way out of town with enough resources to provide you and the family. Those resources would be water, pond, creek, river, storage place of water, farm animals like chickens, goats, some stocked canned food for the long term a dog or two and a garden spot to raise food on and a means of protecting those resources when the thugs that didn't prepare comes to help themselves to you resources. And if wild game was needed, it could be taken to help out with the stew pot. I haven't heard much about all that mountain man talk shooting everything that moves though. A little preparation ahead of time might be the world of difference for some.

buffermop · « **Reply #26 on:** January 27, 2007, 03:40:42 AM »

What if everything is poisioned by radiation from a nuclear blast?

Almtnman · « **Reply #27 on:** January 27, 2007, 03:54:28 AM »

Quote from: buffermop on January 27, 2007, 03:40:42 AM

What if everything is poisioned by radiation from a nuclear blast?

You should know the answer to that without asking!

beemanbeme · « **Reply #28 on:** January 27, 2007, 05:49:40 AM »

Those "mountain man" types might be the first ones you need to guard against. Most I've talked to can "talk that talk" but most can't "walk that walk" and have very little real knowledge about survivial. They have a romantic idea of them facing the wilderness with a bowie knife and rifle, dressed in buckskins of course, but don't go too far beyond that.
One of the posters makes a good point about garden seeds. You certainly can't carry over hybred seeds. While I'm not a organic gardener, I have several books on how to go about tending a garden via natural means and with heirloom seeds.
I doubt we need to be too concerned about any sort of global warfare (we can't do anything about that anyway) but anarchy here at home.

wolfsong · « **Reply #29 on:** January 29, 2007, 06:56:53 PM »

Just my ol' humble take on things. Survival means just that: survive. Not armed patrolling, digging in for a battle or shootouts. Getting away to a more secluded place, laying low till things calm down and emerging alive are my ideas of survival. Alas, not many of our population are in proximity to "wilderness". I have the necessary items discussed here to live and sustain my small family away from the comforts of our home. I like our chances roughing it in the mountains better than I do trying to defend and keep my homestead. The city folk would most likely cave in to exhaustion, fear and ignorance out in the country, and the wannabe "rangers" would give themselves away and succumb to their arrogance and machismo. Humility and respect for Mother Nature are much more valuable than firepower and marksmanship. I would hope that any SERIOUS hunter would be quite capable of living off the land with the right preparation, provisions and woods sense. You don't need a cabin in the woods to live in the woods. There are plenty of natural shelters that can be improved upon, that are easily disguised\obscured and defended, and can be made quite comfortable considering the circumstances. It all comes down to one's desire to come out alive. Being a coyote hunter, I have ghillie suits and have added one for everyone in my family. I never hear them mentioned in SHTF\bugout gear. Seems to me that they should be a priority if ya plan on retreating to the outdoors. I could go on for hours on this topic, but knowing the abilities of many members here, I'd be preaching to the choir. Peace and God bless, Wolfsong.