I wanna know who is worried and trying to prepare for the crash or any other disaster

[Guest Glock25]

I live in macon county and I just want to know if there is anyone that lives close that is preparing for the crash and what are you doing to prepare for it.

[Sheepdog]

The best thing you can do is prepare *yourself.* What am I doing?

1. Losing weight. The effects of this have been remarkable. My body is stronger now. If I need to walk with a 40-pound backpack, it will be no problem, because I used to carry an extra 40 pounds all the time. Not only that, but I have been able to completely stop all of my medications, which were used to treat conditions that resulted from poor diet. This saves me almost $100 every month which allows me to spend more on preparedness items.

2. Getting out of debt. The worst case scenario is a complete and total breakdown of the American financial system. The worst case scenario is also very unlikely to happen. When the SHTF, you're still going to be on the hook for your credit cards and mortgage. Unless you plan to completely abandon structured society, living as a homeless person in the city or deep in the wilderness, you will at some point need to be able to use credit as a tool.

3. Learn skills. I'm learning how to grow a garden. This has turned out to be not even remotely as easy as I thought. Pests and disease have put a serious dent in this years' harvest, and if I had been relying on my garden for sustenance, I and my family would have starved. I'm also learning how to can fruits and vegetables, which can still be picked up easily and cheaply. Another skill I am developing is reloading ammo. I would like to learn to cast bullets, as well. In the future, I want to add paracord crafts, fire starting, small engine repair, and metalworking skills to my repertoire.

4. Of course, the easiest thing to do is just buying stuff, and storing it away. When you see useful prep items on sale, buy it cheap and stack it deep. When buying food, pay attention to proteins. These will be the hardest to come by, and the most expensive, if the SHTF. Fats will also be important (note to self: learn to can butter.) Carbs will likely be everywhere. When it comes to ammo, buy .22LR. Lots of it. Preferably in easily divisible containers--a stick of CCI Mini-Mags (100 rounds) for instance. Or bulk-packaged ammo in small 50-round boxes. The manufacturer's packaging will likely be important if you intend to use it for barter.

5. In the unlikely event that you will actually need to bug out (a nuke plant meltdown scenario, for instance), you're going to need two things: A place to go, and a way to get there. If you can get a sturdy 4x4 vehicle, get one, and plan now on what you're going to take with you. If you're adequately stocked to bug in, you will NOT be able to take it all with you if you need to bug out. If you need to get out fast, a list of things to bring will save you the wasted time and mental anguish of trying to decide how much of your valuable stash is going to be left behind for the looters.

6. Probably the most important item: Make Friends. No single person can do it all, and even the most capable person with the widest array of resources and skills will profit from knowing other people. Get to know your neighbors. Get to know people from out of town. Keep in touch with people you used to know. Evaluate what they might have to offer you, and make sure you have something to offer them.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure others will have good advice to add.

[Guest PapaB]

The best thing you can do is prepare *yourself.* What am I doing?

1. Losing weight. The effects of this have been remarkable. My body is stronger now. If I need to walk with a 40-pound backpack, it will be no problem, because I used to carry an extra 40 pounds all the time. Not only that, but I have been able to completely stop all of my medications, which were used to treat conditions that resulted from poor diet. This saves me almost $100 every month which allows me to spend more on preparedness items.

2. Getting out of debt. The worst case scenario is a complete and total breakdown of the American financial system. The worst case scenario is also very unlikely to happen. When the SHTF, you're still going to be on the hook for your credit cards and mortgage. Unless you plan to completely abandon structured society, living as a homeless person in the city or deep in the wilderness, you will at some point need to be able to use credit as a tool.

3. Learn skills. I'm learning how to grow a garden. This has turned out to be not even remotely as easy as I thought. Pests and disease have put a serious dent in this years' harvest, and if I had been relying on my garden for sustenance, I and my family would have starved. I'm also learning how to can fruits and vegetables, which can still be picked up easily and cheaply. Another skill I am developing is reloading ammo. I would like to learn to cast bullets, as well. In the future, I want to add paracord crafts, fire starting, small engine repair, and metalworking skills to my repertoire.

4. Of course, the easiest thing to do is just buying stuff, and storing it away. When you see useful prep items on sale, buy it cheap and stack it deep. When buying food, pay attention to proteins. These will be the hardest to come by, and the most expensive, if the SHTF. Fats will also be important (note to self: learn to can butter.) Carbs will likely be everywhere. When it comes to ammo, buy .22LR. Lots of it. Preferably in easily divisible containers--a stick of CCI Mini-Mags (100 rounds) for instance. Or bulk-packaged ammo in small 50-round boxes. The manufacturer's packaging will likely be important if you intend to use it for barter.

5. In the unlikely event that you will actually need to bug out (a nuke plant meltdown scenario, for instance), you're going to need two things: A place to go, and a way to get there. If you can get a sturdy 4x4 vehicle, get one, and plan now on what you're going to take with you. If you're adequately stocked to bug in, you will NOT be able to take it all with you if you need to bug out. If you need to get out fast, a list of things to bring will save you the wasted time and mental anguish of trying to decide how much of your valuable stash is going to be left behind for the looters.

6. Probably the most important item: Make Friends. No single person can do it all, and even the most capable person with the widest array of resources and skills will profit from knowing other people. Get to know your neighbors. Get to know people from out of town. Keep in touch with people you used to know. Evaluate what they might have to offer you, and make sure you have something to offer them.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure others will have good advice to add.

Well said sir. Those first 3 items are so often overlooked but I believe them to be very important.

[Tedro2022]

Over the last 3 years I've been slowly putting together a bug out bag and stocking up on ammo. I'm by no means a country boy, but I've spent a decent amount of time in nature on my own. I'm confident that I could make due for an extended time without today's societal structure.

The thing I think we all have to worry most about is bugging in first, and then bugging out after.

I've been gathering supplies to be able to fortify my home and survive being "trapped" inside for a period of time. Being able to defend my personal property for as long as possible is my top priority. If things become too difficult to stand here at the house, I'll resort to "plan B" which is bugging out to a safe zone.

It's hard to imagine having to lock down the house, or even things getting so bad that I'd have to bug out, but better to be prepared than unprepared.

Just my thoughts.

[TN Outlaw]

I to have been gradually stocking up on stuff and preparing for what i hope Never happens

[gregintenn]

Welcome to the forum, Glock25. To answer your question, we try to be prepared for life in general, by living within our means, having an emergency fund, having a good supply of food, household supplies, fuel, etc. Not sure if you are a believer, but you'll find a lot of this advice in the Bible. It works pretty good even if there isn't a disaster. If you do any camping, you'll likely have a leg up on many items you'd find handy in a bad situation.

Edited September 12, 2011 by gregintenn

[RobertNashville]

Being prepared for emergencies is something everyone should do because bad things can happen to any of us at any time.

Certainly we have man-made things to worry about; everything from economic collapse/civil unrest/anarchy to terrorist activity to you name it. However, even though such things are possible; I'd suggest that what is far more likely to happen are natural disasters. We had MAJOR flooding in Nashville last year, an F5 tornado passed withing a mile of my house (Murfreesboro) the year before that...look what happened to the East coast just a week or so ago and katrina before that...I just participated in a 13-state "National Level Event" with many first responders (National Guard, State Guard, TEMA, FEMA, etc.) simulating a major earthquake event along the New Madrid fault (which seems to be an event that is a matter of "when" rather than "if). Some of these things require us to get the h**l out of Dodge and some require us to stay (and if getting out is necessary it's vital that you make the decision quickly enough that the decision isn't made for you...you have to assume that you won't be able to get out on any major highway which means you need to have routes planned out ahead of time that bypasses roads as much as possible which also means you need to have a vehicle available that can get off the highway).

I've been thinking of this for quite a while...started to slowly prepare for the last few months...lot's more to do but you don't have to do everything at once and most of us can't afford to in any case. I started a list of things I need; prioritized each one and I buy/work on each item then more onto the next.

I suggest that you can't find a group already in your area...start one...trust me, lot's of folks are thinking about these things and I'm sure there are people in your area who are thinking about them just like you are. In fact, so many people are thinking about this that there are now plenty of companies out there that make the job easier than it used to be.

Frankly, a good starting place for info is FEMA's website.