Just got a great honor! (vanity)

7/18/11 | 30moves (vanity)

[30Moves]

I just got asked by my local TEA Party to speak to the group about being a "Prepper". I have always kept quiet about it since I live in a rural area I assumed my neighbors knew how to "rough it" and grow things. Much to my surprise - they don't! So, I will start with basic survival prep and if they want more I will go all the way down to rendering fat to make soap and how to trap/kill and dress animals.

I am also going to document "skills" of our members so if TSHTF will be able to help each other out. One lady can make clothes, one has 40 acres to grow food, one has a lumber mill, etc.

I am so excited - I was brought up by parents who lived through the depression and they taught me all sorts of things - and now I can share them. I also have the Green Beret Survival Manual which I will reference but I probably won't mention the section on cannibalism. Ha

I am shy by nature so this will be a first. :)

[Kirkwood]

This won’t be like frontier times when people were few and far between and you could live peacefully off the land. You’re going to be dealing with a constant stream of people coming onto your property day and night looking for whatever they can beg, barter, or steal. Unless you are prepared to deal with that, then you really aren’t prepared at all.

[30Moves]

I agree - That is the first thing I did. I even have ammo cached in different areas around the property. (for defense only)I am not paranoid I just have an active imagination and I grew up on war movies and had a Marine Raider for a father.

I would rather be prepared than wish I were.

[Kirkwood]

In addition, the way that you have decided to prepare is not necessarily the best way for everyone. For some people, their survival may come through skills they can trade for food. Someone with the skills to make small tools or who can prepare medicine or distill alcohol may be even more capable of surviving than the family that tries to live off the land. It kind of sounds like you have a one-size fits all approach to survival, and it isn’t going to be like that, if it should ever come to that.

[chris_bdba]

I have to admit I have no idea how to render fat to make soap but I do know how to sew (have a handcrank machine) knit both by hand and also have a knitting frame) grow food ,can and even know how to build a solar dehydrator.I’d be interested in knowing how to make soap.

[ErnBatavia]

Pingy-Dingy!

[30Moves]

I have just listed a basic first session list of what I would present. I know circumstance are fluid and I have lots of ideas for different circumstances.

I have lists of skills that will be valuable, items that would be good for bartering - urban survival skills, I just didn’t put them in the first post but thanks for being a buzz kill.

[Kartographer]

COOL! A toast!

[Borderline]

Hey, great deal! You cannot have enough neighbors who are learning how to feed themselves and are informed enough to know you cannot grow your own food in a couple weeks. 'Survival gardens' are not spure of the moment solutions.

There is no way for a single family to survive the chaos if there is a big enough hit to infrastructure to stop food delivery to the stores. Would not take much for most everything to come to a halt. The previous post stating 'people with bigger guns will show up and take it' is all too often historically true. The only cure for that problem, and the only way to survive a major upheaval, is a large group pulling together and pooling resources, knowledge and security.

I had not thought to formally attempt classes in our local community on how to grow your own food. Even though we are a farming community, we are not much better off (except for all the bulk grain storage in the area). Most farmers only know commercial applications, not how to manage a truck farm. Nor anything about subsistance farming. A goodly percentage of our friends participate in our gardening and canning projects. They all felt the same pressures of this world being on the edge.

My wife got so interested in subsistance farming that she had me build her an 'underground' greenhouse. Being as far north as we are, greenhouses tend to either be short seasoned or very expensive in heating energy. Taking it underground solved that problem, we don't even have heaters in it and we were still picking tomatos in January when temps were in the single digits outside.

It was a blast to build - even though we had to research from sources all across the spectrum and design the thing as we went since there are no in depth sources or complete information on how to use ground heat for a greenhouse. Lots of various sources for housing and small scale sources for veggie growing. But nothing very comprehensive.

[30Moves]

What a great greenhouse - thanks for the ideas. Are those tanks in the back filled with water to absorb the heat?

I too thought that it is better to know a few things before the fact - if nothing bad ever happens then it is still fun and it is a cheaper way to live and healthier too.

If it gets really bad I know there is nothing much a person can do but I will be speaking to a room of over 60 year olds that don’t seem to own a manual can opener much less know how to distill water or make a solar still. I will just start with the basics and see what happens.

[TheBombshellProject]

Excellent point!

[Kirkwood]

You seem to be stuck on the frontiersman approach, which is laudable and I respect your skills in this area, but it is also not very realistic. Your 18th century approach just won’t work in the 21st century. It didn’t even work in urban areas of the 18th century. Look at some examples in history whenever chaos overtakes society. The first to go are always the places and people who have their resources stocked up. The survivors are always the ones who quickly adapt to an unstable situation. Good luck with your project, anyway.

[Borderline]

"Are those tanks in the back filled with water to absorb the heat?"


Yup. Those black barrels collect heat all day, stabilize temps at night. In the summer we have to hang shade cloth across the inside of the window side. In the summer the sun is high enough that the barrels are never in direct sun, so they do the opposite and keep the temps down a little bit.

The only power we use is a set of fluorescent lights that now run down the full length. Keep things growing during those short winter days. ALso a thermocoupled fan in the far wall.

BTW, Something that works really well without the expense of the greenhouse is cold frames. A small cold frame can keep you in fresh veggies year round, even in snow. If you bury straw and horse poop a couple feet below the bed inside, the decomposition creates enough heat to keep everything going all winter. Many people use old glass doors for this. I used the plastic double wall cover sheets that protected the front polycarb panels for the greenhouse. LIght and well suited for a cold frame. You would be amazed how much you can grow in one of these.

[30Moves]

I will be speaking to a group of 60+ seniors that don’t even have a manual can-opener.

I do understand that a complete break down is possible but what do you suggest? that I encourage these senior citizens to get a 50 caliber and learn about reverse slopes? I just want to give them some basics.

Having some skills is better than none.

I live in a rural community that will only see hordes when they come down the road from Knoxville. I am sure the good ole boys here will have a welcoming party ready for them.

You do what you can.

[Borderline]

"The first to go are always the places and people who have their resources stocked up. The survivors are always the ones who quickly adapt to an unstable situation."


Only agreement there. Never build anything you are not willing to leave behind to save your life. If the SHTF in any large scale - well, luck is going to be as important as any other factor.

However, control over one's destiny in anything less than a full scale societal breakdown has definite attractions for me. There is no excuse not to prepare yourself - especially your knowledge of how to do and how to make do. Too many people have no idea where their McDonald's hamburger came from, let alone how to feed themselves if Mickey D's or the grocery isn't open..

[30Moves]

I was thinking of cold frames but the horse poop and straw suggestion is new - thanks - my dad used to use cold frames in Wisconsin no less - I remember spinach in February.

Thanks for the pictures since I am not a great builder it helps to have a visual reference.

[Ladysmith]

mark for later

[reed13]

I’m not any great expert on this stuff, but given the groups age I’m assuming that they aren’t going to be felling trees and other heavy labor...least not if they are anything like my parents. Might I recommend a discussion on group reliance as a kickoff with everyone listing all the skills and abilities they have and how they might be able to be utilized. I’m sure you’ll have some with farming/hunting skills, some with engineering/electrical backgrounds, etc...then you could work with each of them on a topic going forward so that they felt they were contributing and you could learn something yourself as well. Maybe the first few lessons after that as they are prepping their own you could discuss foraging - mushrooms, edible plants, etc and stocking up - short term/long term/canning/etc....just my two cents.

I can’t keep everything in my head anymore so I’ve a library that is nearly as big as our towns - though my wife makes me keep it in the basement - I’ve stopped taking in fiction and only pull in non-fiction now...especially when the library has sales or the good will gets in a new alottment. You’d be suprised the chemical formulas in old 1900 reference books...

[30Moves]

Thanks for the tips. You mentioned chemicals and that is so important - I was mentioning making my own lye to make soap and I realized how many safety precautions I had to state - and that it was an alkaline and you need an acid to neutralize it.

I thought I would ask about skills and set up some kind of system to connect with one another in case....and also to be mindful of the elderly and those with special needs - they will be very vulnerable.

I find all this so interesting anyway - so now I have another reason to research and learn.

[Ladysforest]

I might suggest that you start as simply as possible. Perhaps you could write up a “lesson plan” and post it here to be critiqued.

But as there is SO much to prepping, a simple intro would be best so they don’t feel it’s too overwhelming.

Example: I know how to sew by hand and make patterns -learned by the time I was 10. I can knit. Cook from scratch, bake, etc. Most people my age can’t do ANY of those things. LOL, and I ain’t yet 50.

I can just imagine someone trying to touch base on all of those things in say, thirty minutes. If I had none of that knowledge I would be overwhelmed at the very idea.

My husband can make soap - but he’s never done it from old school scratch. He buys lye and fats to use. He can also make beer and wine. Now hunts and butchers deer. A few other things as well.

We keep a little garden, we’re learning as we go. I have a canner and the NECESSARY canning tools - which I started out thinking I wouldn’t need - wrong. So far I have only done bath canning, but this year I will do pressure canning.

And couponing! Wow - can’t say enough about that for basics like personal care items and over the counter drugs and vitamins.

But as to your presentation - if you are worried about speaking to a group, get a audio recorder and practice! Play it back and critique yourself. It helps with delivery and the content of your presentation. It’s a great way to prepare! :)