Timestepper

I've got my own "cookware" as well. Besides Sassafras root (if anyone should want some tea), we've got more eggs - both banty & Rhode Island Red - than we know what to do with, so I'll try to remember to bring a couple dozen.

My apologies. I'm from Kansas and we're rednecks up there, too, but we have no accent to speak of, short of occasionally dropping a g (as in huntin' & fishin').

I think he was figuring on getting out there Friday night (the 2nd), spending the night and doing the main thing on Saturday (but not Saturday night). If I get the chance to come out, I'll probably show up Friday afternoon/evening equipped with basic primitive necessities (buck skin breeches, tumpline bedroll, flint & steel, gourd canteens, etc...) and head home around noon-ish on Saturday. ...TS...

Fixed that for ya'!

Good point. The three I mentioned have color pictures. And while I haven't seen the movie, I have read the book and had the pleasure of climbing a few times with the author (Jon Krakauer) in Colorado in the early 80's. ...TS...

I'm a meat eater, too! I'll see their two rows of razor sharp teeth and raise a .530 patched round ball over 100 grains of FFG Goex with a .357mag back up and a strong yearning for fresh meat.

Indeed I would! I've always wondered about it - whether he was showing off to someone he met up with out on the highway, was twirling it on his finger or just had a Barney Fife moment. The world may never know...

There are couple of decent ones out there. If can find the ones we have, I'll come back with an edit later and list them (I honestly can't remember right now what the hell the titles are or who wrote them). The problem with edible plant books is that they pretty much have to be specific to the region you're planning to use them. Otherwise - say if you found one called simply "Edible Plants of North America" - they're either going to be too thick to carry or won't go into enough specifics to be of much help. As to do's and don'ts, well, I won't claim sufficient knowledge to go into the do's of Tennessee, but if you read this: timestepper/lettertotheboss you'll see that I'm pretty knowledgeable on the DON'TS of the Rocky Mountains: In the mean time, I'll try to find the books I mentioned. ...TS... EDIT: Sorry it took so long to get back to this, but as promised, here are a few that I own and have found to be highly useful useful: A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants: Eastern and Central North America by Lee Allen Peterson, Roger Tory Peterson Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West by Gregory L. Tilford Mushrooms Demystified by David Arora I'm sure there are other great books out there, but these three have a treasured place in my take along library. ...TS...

Yeah, that's one thing I have to admit to despite the melancholy I'm feeling: That turkey cooked in the smoker grill with cherry wood and mesquite chunks w/Woodchuck hard apple cider in the drip pan to baste with... man, talk about a gastronomic orgasm!

As much as I love East Tennessee, Thanksgiving just isn't the same as it was up home. It's this time of year when I really get to missing Western Kansas; going pheasant hunting on a frosty Thanksgiving morning then sitting down to a wonderful meal with family and friends. Shooting the breeze afterwards until someone decided it was time to go hunting again or maybe just wander down to the creek to do some plinking with the .22s. We'd follow that up with a trek back to the house for some late afternoon spirituous refreshments to wash down one last slice of pumpkin pie before yarning away the last of the daylight and a good portion of the evening. I miss those days... I am so far removed from everything I used to know that it somehow seems pointless to even observe the same holidays. It seems odd somehow to live in such close proximity to such a densely populated area and yet be further removed from my fellow man than I have ever been. I love East Tennessee and I love my wife, but I miss my Western Kansas traditions and I miss having friends to spend time with. And driving a truck and being a loner isn't very conducive to making new friends and traditions. I have so many things to be thankful for and I am. Not the least of which is memories of past Thanksgivings. But sometimes I wish the memories would go away so I wouldn't know how much I miss them... ...TS...

In an effort to prepare for SHTF, my wife bought a box of dehydrated water, but I can't figure out what to add...

I was tempted to crack the cork on a jug of "snakebite medicine" but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a snake to bite, so I settled for some Burnett's Gold (rum) flavored with a little Apple Barrel schnapps. (Just to keep things in check, I waved a bottle of coke in the general direction of the glass.)

Ok Mike, I'm relaxed. In the case of burglary number 2, I believe the thieves were looking specifically for guns and one gun in particular that I owned at the time. And although I could never prove it, I still believe I know who at least one of them is. And he's the same *barsteward* who happened to mention in passing to a mutual LEO friend that I MUST be hiding a bunch of guns in my truck and that one of them was a 200 year old flintlock and wasn't there a law against that? The Deputy asked him how he knew and he stammered and said, "Well he doesn't own a gun cabinet, where else could they be?!!" Back to the original topic with my apologies to the OP: As others have mentioned, there is no law about keeping guns locked up in your home except the law of common sense. Locking toolboxes would probably work, but if they have wheels on them it seems it would just make it that much easier for burglars to wheel 'em right out of the house. Good luck with whatever you decide! ...TS...

I assume that's aimed at me. Never said they were "hidden behind other stuff." What I said was that "most thieves wouldn't dream of looking there because of the obvious lack of value on the market for the other items there." And yes, a burglar with time could find them, but he'd need plenty of it. One of them is "hidden" in more or less plain sight within reach of the chair I'm typing this from, but my wife can't even find it and she's lived here for 25 years. I'm not going to engage in a debate on this. My guns are stored in roughly the same location here that they were when I lived in Kansas. And I was burglarized twice up there and each time didn't discover it until I got in off the road roughly 2 weeks later. I lost power tools, an antique clock and a cheap stereo system along with some other stuff. And I know for a fact that during the 2nd burglary the thief or thieves stayed at least over night and maybe longer - so they had plenty of time to look and I know they did - but even though they cleaned out the fridge and drank all my beer, they never found my guns. Oh, and the best locks I could buy after the 1st burglary didn't do a damn thing to secure my guns or prevent the second one. IMO, Locks keep out honest people, but don't really do much to deter thieves. ...TS...

Could be... I'd forgotten how much I missed that show. Thanks for the memories! ...TS...

Agreed. I won't mention where I keep my guns, but suffice it to say that most thieves wouldn't dream of looking there because of the obvious lack of value on the market for the other items there. ...TS...

And an exceedingly simple and easy to make home version of a bore snake can be made with heavy (15-20 pound test) nylon fishing line (or a boot lace) with a cleaning rag tied on one end. Tie a bobby pin or straightened out paper clip on the other end to facilitate feeding the line through the bore. Keep your solvent patch tight and follow up with an oiled patch and you'll be just fine (in a pinch, you can also tie a bore brush on the line for deeper cleaning of the rifling). ...TS...

I have the same problem to a point and there are few posts that I've given up on trying to read because of <perceived> lack of contrast. 'Course it might just be a sign that I need to spend less time staring at my laptop screen and more time being a productive member of the household. Otherwise, I love the new look! ...TS...

Agreed. In all honesty, any reaction to any given situation that one has not yet found themselves in is pure conjecture. All we can really do is train ourselves and do our best to plan and prepare and then hope that when a situation arises, our reaction(s) will be appropriate and sufficient. I used to do a lot of living history up home (primarily pre-1840 fur trade era and Civilian army scout, circa 1868), and one of the questions I would get from time to time was, "What if you really had to live like this?" And I would smile to myself because it was obvious they thought I was just a paid actor who showed up, put on the clothes and then delivered a rehearsed spiel. They couldn't possibly know everything that had gone into my being there; the countless and timeless days, weeks and months spent as an "experimental archeologist" putting myself as closely as possible into that particular time period - using only the weapons, tools, clothing and accoutrements available in that period - to discover, by grace, by God and often by accident exactly how things were done back then. They couldn't know about cold nights spent huddled in a wet wool blanket or bitterly cold mornings when not having kept the gourd canteen under the blankets with me meant frozen water and no hot tea to start the day with. They couldn't know about the sheer joy of spending thirty minutes in a river, scrubbing myself with sand because I had no soap and had gone three weeks without enough water to waste on bathing. They couldn't know any of this and at first I would I try to explain, but after a while I got to where I would just smile and say, "Oh, I reckon I'd do alright... I'd mostly miss hot showers and modern toilet paper, but I reckon I'd get by." The thing is, even with all the stuff I went through, I never had a time when I didn't know - at least on some level, because it does get pretty damned real sometimes - that I could turn around and walk straight back into the 20th century and all its comforts if I wanted to. In the event of a complete SHTF breakdown of society, I won't have that option. No one will. I think I'll get by. Might even be fairly comfortable. But I won't know for sure unless and until it happens. In the mean time all I can do is continue to live the way I do and think about and plan for the time when necessity will force me to live another way and hope that I'm up to the challenge... ...TS...

Reminds me of when I lived up in Lincoln County, Ks. - One evening a young deputy came back from making his rounds out towards the county line East of town. He walked into the Sheriff's office and summarily resigned, then walked home. He gave no specific reason for resigning, just shook his head and left. Next morning the Sheriff went out to the cruiser and found that his recently resigned officer had shot a hole in the roof.

Don't do the black Friday thing. Never have, too old to change now. Instead, I'm gonna' get together with another TGO'er, jwolf4, walk up the ridge and show him a little about how things were done in the early-mid 1800's.

As with the vast majority of trucking companies across the U.S., ours strictly prohibits the carrying of firearms in the truck.

And I was blessed by the friendship of Ellie Mae and understanding of a wonderful man who just happened to be my dad. But, oh, the rich, rich memories you were given. You were a lucky kid even if you didn't think so at the time. No thanks necessary, but you are indeed welcome. Pop told me once, "If you ain't nice when no one's looking, you ain't nice. Period." All in all, the critter friends I've had have taught me more about kindness and unconditional love than I ever would have learned otherwise. He did indeed! Thank you. I reckon I've recited this particular poem more than a thousand times in the past fourteen years... for family, friends and audiences. On stage, at the dining room table, over the C.B. radio, around campfires and on creek banks... and I never fail to tear up myself. I am infinitely thankful that I was lucky enough to eventually put into words what I was even luckier to live. Thanks to all who replied for the kind words. Thank you... ...TS...

Happy Thanksgiving to all y'all from us an' our'n as well. Haven't been here too long, but I've enjoyed the stay thus far. Hope your day is special and the memories rich! ...TS...

The way I see it, one of this biggest problems with the world today is simply that there are just too damn many people in it. In a true SHTF/TEOTWAWKI, this will more or less readily remedy itself in fairly short order. "Well regulated militia" or not, many will perish very quickly simply because they've grown completely dependent upon modern society to provide for them. Others will perish because they bought a bunch of survival books which promise to teach them to survive any given situation, but don't realize that READING and DOING are two separate things entirely. Some will perish because of the mass panic that will inevitably result from a SHTF (such as an EMP, whether man-made or solar) situation. Those who prepare by keeping their gas tanks full will suddenly NOT be prepared after all simply because their modern, electronic ignition cars won't run because the circuits have been fried by the aforementioned EMP. Wow, talk about panic in the streets! That's when the roving gangs mentioned earlier in this thread will do their best to take over. That's also when the "well regulated militia" - made up of those least inclined to panic - will have the chance to come to the fore. Most civilized folks don't realize or simply cannot comprehend the mindset that it will take to survive in a post-apocalyptic society. They don't realize or can't wrap their minds around the fact that our current "polite society" will cease to exist and anarchy will reign - at least for a time. (These are the same people, by the way, who want to pardon murderers, pet wild animals and pose for a picture with wild bison in Yellowstone Nat'l Park - they are also the ones who will DEMAND protection from the same <armed> militia they refused to support/acknowledge prior to SHTF). Then there's the rest of us. Those who suffer no illusions about the innate goodness of mankind. Those whose word is our bond and who respect others while keeping them at arm's length. Those who enjoy Disney films while not making the mistake of anthropomorphizing the whole freaking animal kingdom. Those who realize and understand that there is a REASON that homo sapiens is at the top of the food chain and make no bones about it. Those who understand that it is not our duty to die for those to whom we wish to render aid, but to make the other guy die so that we can continue to aid and protect those in our care. And we don't suffer under the illusion that we're gonna' be able to take a handful of guns, a bucket of ammo and an armful of survival books and run off to "the wilds" and "live off the land" until polite society re-asserts itself and things are all rosy and good again. We realize that we might have to do things that are absolutely reprehensible to us on a personal level, but are necessary for survival. And we'll do those things because, on some very deep level, we've made a pact with ourselves and our families to carry on and even prosper. These are the types who will make up the backbone of any eventual effort to rebuild society. I plan on being one of them. To borrow from and add to what Dolomite said - I won't live forever, but I'll live longer than most. And while I don't want to be made an example of, on some level I kinda' hope to serve as an example to others. I suppose I could keep going, but I've got a goat shed to finish, some woods to walk in and a squirrel or two to shoot before firing up the smoker grill for tomorrow's turkey... in other words, I've done enough reading and talking for a while, now it's time to get back to DOING. Y'all have a big ol' day! ...TS...