Anyone else preparedness-minded?

510 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by idahonancy, Mar 1, 2013

Charlie Horse

Discussion Starter · Feb 28, 2013

I have 2 female goats that I don't intend to breed unless it becomes necessary. Necessary meaning "shit hits the fan" (SHTF) in some way and I want milk and more goats for sale/trade/self. Until then they can keep their girlish figures and go hiking with me.

I'm going to guess preparedness has been a hobby for many of you on this board. I know a lot of you folks live in rural settings and are far more self-sufficient than most people. My area is only semi-rural and certainly not the ideal retreat, but still I'm more prepped than most anyone I know.

I pay attention to the economy and am aware of many pyramid/ponzi constructs in our society that are passing their maximum potential for growth-- and will now begin quickly collapsing. What happens then? Hopefully you've noticed certain elements of the government are pre-positioning themselves via new laws and ignoring the oldest laws as they get ready for 'something'. I don't think they're expecting business as usual, and certainly the government machine is looking toward self preservation more than helping the average Joe. It annoys me how many people feel that it is the government's job to prep for them-- I have yet to find FEMA listed in the enumerated powers of the federal government, and I cant understand how people get angry when FEMA didn't do 'enough' for them. That's fine for natural disasters, but what about a system-wide failure of money? (And the consequences such as empty grocery stores, no trucking, no fuel just like Sandy but the world-over and for a very long time). Complex systems are not robust systems. Our society has become extremely complex... and we're not a nation of farmers like we used to be.

I'm sure the people in Stalingrad, who were eating shoes and bark, spent a lot of time wishing they had spent 2% of their income on some stored food hidden in the attic. People spend huge money buying bigger 'safer' cars to protect their kids but don't bother to keep $30 worth of food in the house 'just in case'. Somehow preparedness is a tinfoil-hat subject. I think it is a serious and interesting subject and it is unfortunate that our society of tech-addicted, dancing-with-the-stars watching, out-of-shape people don't believe that our kingly lifestyles, which even the poor enjoy, could change suddenly and for many reasons. Its like nobody reads history and nobody appreciates the complexities that must run smoothly to live this lifestyle. The most important preparation you can make is to be prepared mentally for change, and to roll with it... And it seems very few have even done that much.

If you're not worried about things, I'm sure I could make the case as to why you should be.

If you are already working on some prepping, how about putting down what you think would be the more likely scenarios you're planning for. Tell what your philosophy is for your preps. Do your goats figure in to the plans? Of course a good prepper never tells TOO much ;o) Unless you want to give the GPS coordinates for your gold coins...

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Nanno

· #2 · Feb 28, 2013

If you're not worried about things, I'm sure I could make the case as to why you should be.

I don't believe in worrying. It's bad for the digestion, and then what good is your stockpiled food?

As for preparedness, I'm not sure I'm very good at it. Most everything I own except the animals runs on gas or electricity, and I have to haul their food with a... you guessed it... diesel-powered truck. Of course, since we have 40 acres I think they could all get along ok pawing through the snow to eat last summer's dead stuff for a few months if they had to. But water would be a problem. Right now we haul water from town to fill our cistern. We're hoping to get a well this year, but a well requires power. Of course, we have enough wind here some days that we could probably pump Niagra Falls into our house, so I guess we might look into a windmill if we felt like the power was going to get spotty.

We have a wood stove and more than enough oak and annual beetle killed trees to keep it going strong, but I'm not sure I'm man enough to cut them down without my gas-powered chainsaw. There's not much point stockpiling gas. It has a pretty short shelf life.

As for stockpiling food, well... I've never been too sure how that would work. I've known a lot of "end timers" who stockpile everything from food and toilet paper to guns and ammo. I know one guy who bought a gas siphon so he could steal gas out of people's cars and another guy who got his FFL, bought a grocery store, and became the local food and firearms dealer so that when the end times came he could sit on his food and shoot anyone who tried to take it. My dad once asked him if he thought that's what Jesus would do. I'm not sure the question was well received.

If things really went south, could I sit on my hoarded food and eat while everyone else around me was hungry? If so, what kind of person does that make me? If not, how far would it go? It might could feed a few families for a couple days. And if there really was a meltdown, would stockpiled food become a contraband item? There are a lot of "we don't know's" out there. The main thing is to know that nothing happens that God does not see. Every last one of us will die eventually, by hook or by crook. We could stockpile our food, only to have it wiped out in a forest fire, or we could get hit by a Mack truck and not be alive to eat it.

I'm not saying it isn't wise to be prepared for some things. It's good to have a forest fire plan where I live, for example. Or enough food, water, and firewood to get us through a big blizzard. But if the economy crashes, we're all going to have to be self-sufficient beyond stockpiling and we'd better be in good standing with our friends and neighbors because we're all going to need to help each other. On the plus side, my horses are trained to pull and I have harnesses, so my truck will still have horsepower. I can help my cattle ranching neighbors go places and haul things and they can give me some of their beef.

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SMaxwell

· #3 · Feb 28, 2013

I would probably be considered a "Prepper" type. Not to the extreme (well, maybe if I had the extra income to be) but I've got probably six months of dehydrated food stored, along with a couple of kerosene heaters, half a dozen lanterns, a (not yet large enough) supply of kerosene (will last for 10 years plus if stored right), a diesel generator & some fuel, a handful of guns & ammo. We also milk a goat & have chickens for eggs & meat and a handful of turkeys. We live about eight miles outside of a small town in the mountains. We try to grow a garden in the summer (tough sometimes here because we get a lot of late & early freezes). Most years we are blessed to have an elk & a deer or two in the freezer.

I am not an advocate of any one particular type of SHTF scenario, but I think that economic collapse (another great depression), man (government) made crisis, an EMP, or Carrington event type solar flare are all possibilities. I think in any of these events gasoline would be a rarity if not totally unavailable. Goats would figure in obviously for milk, pack goats would figure in as meat packers for hunting, or for bringing home supplies in the event of no gas, no running vehicles, ect. Goats could also be used to pack water up to the house from our spring, which is about a 1/3 of a mile from the house, packing firewood, gathered food, items bartered from neighbors or whatever would be needed.

I am a Christian, but do not believe the whole "end times tribulation" interpretation of prophecy. An honest look at Matthew 24 and Revelation and comparing it to history, esp. Josephus, leads to the conclusion that these prophecies were about the end of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation, which were fulfilled in AD 70 by the Roman army. Read Revalation 1:1, it says the book refers to "things which must shortly come to pass" (NOT "things which will happen in thousands of years.") That does not mean though that God cannot and will not take down a nation for turning their back on him. We have a society and a govt that calls evil good and good evil. I do think America as a prosperous nation is on borrowed time & the clock is ticking.

Isa 60:12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.

Prov 22:3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

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Bob Jones

· #4 · Mar 1, 2013

Absolutely! But probably not in the way you intend. I believe in being prepared to love and absorb sin. If someone hits me, I am preparing to consider it an accident and not count it as an offense against me. Where there is no offense taken there is no sin.

When someone steals the stuff I have stored, I am preparing to be able to give them more so that they know they did not coerce it from me, but that it was a gift.

I don't really belong here, so I am preparing to go home. Having goats helps me prepare to deal with people who think only of themselves.

It takes preparation because backsliding is so easy.

For general disaster preparedness we have water stored and two sources. I have 16-17 pound rabbits that I breed so that others can have breeders of a large size. And I have over a half ton of goat meat on the hoof. We have enough food to last us a while but expect to share it. Pinto beans and rice are cheap, last forever, and make a good meal by themselves if need be.

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idahonancy

· #5 · Mar 1, 2013

I know how to cook, hunt, fish, sew, can food, garden, grind grain, and roll oats. My husband is good with wood, electricity, and metal work. We know how to care for livestock and are able to camp for extended periods in the wilderness. Staying fit and healthy is critically important and that includes keeping your goats fit for the chores they will have to do like hauling water, food and firewood. Being prepared to help others is part of my plan. I volunteer with the Idaho Medical Reserve Corps and have studied disaster preparedness for large scale events.
Goats will ease stress and make you happy in times of trouble.

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