When my dad said, "Son, I have something important for you to do."

That's when we cleaned out and stocked the old tornado shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis when I was nine.

 

I was born 3 months after WWll ended. The years that followed were filled with fears of the USSR attacking North America with nukes. The Cuban Missile Crisis was the culmination of those fears. Our family was involved in the Civil Defense movement which encouraged folks to have a months supply of necessities on hand and a safe place to hide, should the Russkies do their worst. It became a way of life for me and has had apparent genetic results as my kids are also survivalists.
Besides that, it's fun. I see it partially as a game which results in my feeling secure and protected against all comers.

It's also a good platform from which to teach the G'kids and other youngsters about defence, cammo, disguise, cover stories, protocols for approaching strangers, evasion, hunting/trapping skills, dressing and preservation, planting, gardening, fencing, health/hygiene, caching, safety etc.

IMHO, a great way to enjoy life!

 

When I saw first hand how flawed the current system is in dealing with an Acute Emergency of any kind.

 

This.

Also, it seem that things are going down the toilet, fast.

 

What is a survivalist?

Is it someone who can survive a hurricane because of an underground shelter or the person who knows how to live off the land and is ready to run to the woods in case of an invasion? What type or group of eventualities must one plan for to be considered a survivalist? Must one even plan or can ones raw personality make them a survivalist?

Is being a survivalist defined by how long you can live through some type of event? Does it need to be 3 days, a week, month year or more? What about just surviving another day? Does it matter if that day is just another one at the office or do you need to have the enemy in hot pursuit? What about just getting through the day as you watch a loved one slowly die and try to comfort all those around who are also suffering?

What is a survivalist?


I think everyone is a survivalist to some degree and that our level of survivalism is not measured on a single spectrum but rather a whole group of spectrums. I have always been a survivalist, my position on the set of spectrums that measure the degree of my survivalism is ever evolving and will be until the day I die. I think this is true for anyone who hasn't given up, stopped and said "this is where I die and I don't care anymore.".

-Per.

 

What is a survivalist?


I think everyone is a survivalist to some degree and that our level of survivalism is not measured on a single spectrum but rather a whole group of spectrums.

-Per.

Wow, this really sums up my feelings. I grew up camping, hiking, and fishing in the Rocky Mountains with my father and he taught me about the outdoors. As I grew older I learned to utilize the skills in different aspects of my life. Being able to be prepared and succeed in any situation (whether it be work, family life, or in the outdoors) it what I think of as a survivalist.

 

Wow, its kind of hazy, but one day I decided that I wanted to get a shotgun. After that I looked on youtube, found Kev's Video's and then I got hooked and thats where I've been since about August.

 

That sounds kinda like what I did. I bought a shotty from a friend... then just kept looking up home security and what not. Then i read Emergency by Neil Strauss and it got me even more excited. I just found it fun to buy all this stuff and test it out and what not... even if I never have to use it, God Willing.

 

good question. I think my answer is closer to Strong's, but I am just one of the ones that not only see the candy coated shell of the world coming down- I know what I have to do about it.

 

I think this one fits me pretty much.

 

The day my father began threatening to leave my mother with no support and five small children is the day I began being a survivalist. He never actually did it, but threatened many times, and I guess it did something to me.

From then on, I decided to be the master of my own fate. No matter what happened, my feet would still be tappin' and no one would ever have such total power over me that I would be devastated and destitute if they withdrew their support.

Whew, I feel like I owe my therapist some money. LOL!

 

I totally relate! Its weird that even in Rural South Dakota the term "prepping" is seen as a "nut ball" hobby! I can't relate to that mindset. I grew up on a ranch in eastern Colorado where the nearest grocery store was a good hour away in 100+ heat in summer & possible UNACCESSIBLE in the winter! So we grew everything we wanted. Bought ice cream in winter & stored it in our freezer for the next summer's treat. That was before Swan's Ice Cream Trucks visited farms! I thought it was a Major treat going with my mom to the little town to buy groceries she needed such as baking power, baking soda & the real treat -- canned peaches! Bread was made at home & so were torillas! We butchered our own meat & we grew a field worth of potatoes & other garden crops! I got a half-penny per potato bug, as a kid keeping the 6 & 8 legged chompers off my mom's garden! Far different these days where ppl think they have to BUY "organic" chemicals to kill bugs in their garden of HYBRIDed WEAK whimpy plants Or buying whimpy trucked in "Organic" veggies from half-way around the world -- thinking they are saving the "environment" (but failing to remember how much those trucks & ships consume in fuel and pollute to get their organic produce to their shelves!) I still get razed for my "poor man" ways... but heh I'd rather be seen as "poor" because it means I'm not dolling myself up with stupid things and wasting space on the planet looking like a barbie-deformed female-fake. I like my soil under my nails and hair pulled back into a bun & boots dirty from being in the yard working. To me its a sign of RURAL America.. the AMERICA most only know from old post cards & History Channel -fly the flag documentaries.

 

I think the day I became what I would consider a survivalist was when I saw all those people stranded at the Super Dome in New Orleans and also saw how quickly society broke down without law enforcement, steady food supply etc.

It dawned on me how quickly the mob would take over just to survive.

 

I think the day I became what I would consider a survivalist was when I saw all those people stranded at the Super Dome in New Orleans and also saw how quickly society broke down...

I always had tendencies, but Katrina played a huge part in me becoming serious. Made me get off my butt to do something. How "we" handled that crisis was a real eye opener, and really scary to boot.

 

My parents grew up at the end of the depression and during WWII, I still have their ration books. We always had plenty of food, could hunker down for months if needed, so I guess it was just a way of life.

Now I have my own family and everyone has been living high on the hog. My wife is not into the same mindset as me so it gets hard from time to time as to why we should buy bulk and keep all this stuff.

It's not just a natural event, terrorist attack, war, I want to be ready for any event, what happens when someone losses a job. If you have the food and water covered for 6 months or longer you can then focus on other issues at hand.

 

I bought my first 20# bag of rice last night, the girlfriend was laughing when she seen me put it in the cart. I just shurgged me shoulders and said.. its for the future.. I started seeing about 6 months ago how USA is falling apart. Everything is NOW broken according to the gov and all they need is MORE money. Well people, they can only get so much money out of people before there is none left. I thought now would be a good time to start. Also the whole 2012 thing, kinda looks like it may come true.

 

The day I went into downtown Charleston SC with my team to attempt to restore order after Hugo hit.

Shortly after we entered Charleston City the National Guard came by and asked that we unload our shotguns and turn the ammunition over to them. So we did. After they were out of sight, we reloaded from our patrol vehicles.
But all of us realized the implications of that incident.

We were there under authority of the Governor, the NG was not able to "disarm" us....but instead to make us unable to resist should we need to. We were allowed to keep our sidearms and ammunition for sidearms, but no "long gun ammunition".

 

That really makes me think!

 

I don't remember NOT being a survivalist. My grandfather was Amish but was shunned around 1900 or so. My dad - #8 of 13 children - knew how to survive, they had a farm. I can remember him carrying me through the woods to take me hunting and to find plants to eat; telling me how to make teas and so forth. We always had food stockpiled, always had guns in the house (NOT locked up!) and we were always ready in emergencies.

 

OK I a reaching waaaay back. Macgyver and scouts. He is the reason I bought my first Swiss Army knife. I loved the way he could get out of anything with a good mind and a few items. (I am actually working on a youtube video intro using Macgyver theme music for it. LOL) Scouts - be prepared. Need I say more?

 

 

I have been taught to be a woodsman since I was a kid, but after I got back from Iraq, and started a family is when I became seriously about survival.

 

Same here. Blissfully content until I got back from OIF II in Mar 05. Been paying attention and prepping since.

 

Zig

thanks for serving.

 

I always seemed to have the survivalist instinct since I was a kid. I always had my fort full of supplies I might need "if the Russians attacked". I loved camping in forts I built in the woods. I wanted to be just like Grizzly Adams. The Y2k thing got me into the next level. I stared building my food and water preps, bought a shotgun, and added alot more to my camping gear. My preparedness just keeps growing more and more each year. I just hope I've done enough when the time comes.

 

I always seemed to have the survivalist instinct since I was a kid. I always had my fort full of supplies I might need "if the Russians attacked".

Right there with you. That was our nintendo, gameboy or whatever.

 

Back in 1992 (I think) they "predicted" an earthquake would hit the New Madrid Fault so everyone started to get prepared. I've pretty much kept up on it since then. Last summer we got hit with 2 of the worst storms ever in 3 days. Over 2 million customers lost power. I was one of the few ready for it. I do have to say I did add some things to my kits since then. I had just put a new emergency kit under my desk at work and it got action almost right away.

 

Whats in that KIT????



I would love to know what you keep under your desk.

My under desk has been empty since I gave my water purifier away to a missionary team...

http://www.noahwater.com/trekker.html

 

Hurricane Andrew.

 

Riverratand I must be seperated twins. I always had forts piled high waiting for the russians. We drank those juice barrels as kids {Looked like a little barrel filled with kool aid} when they were empty we filled them with wood ash or dirt. When you threw them they blew dust all over on impact!

My parents were always preppers. Watching Red Dawn as a kid sealed my fate.

 

I think you might be right about the twins thing. My bombs of choice were dried mud balls with little rocks in the middle. I had a fishing pole, a couple of thermoses of water, C-rations from my aunt in the national gaurd, and kept them in my permanent fort close to our house. The first time I saw Red Dawn...words can't describe it. It's still my favorite movie. One of the reasons I bought my last truck was because it reminded me of Jed's truck in the movie, a blue '78 Chevy.

 

Dang near at birth. Was raised on a farm, Butchered our own beef, smoked our own ham, gathered our own eggs, canned our vegetables and fruits. Hunting and fishing was just a way to stock the freezer to keep from starving in the winter. Made our own clothes, Always had the oil lamps in case of power outages, cut firewood to stay warm in the winter. We were very independent, so survival was just the way of everyday life. People today are very dependent and will starve quickly when the local fast food joint closes or the the c-store goes out of business.

 

Dang near at birth. Was raised on a farm, Butchered our own beef, smoked our own ham, gathered our own eggs, canned our vegetables and fruits. Hunting and fishing was just a way to stock the freezer to keep from starving in the winter. Made our own clothes, Always had the oil lamps in case of power outages, cut firewood to stay warm in the winter. We were very independent, so survival was just the way of everyday life. wfe People today are very dependent and will starve quickly when the local fast food joint closes or the the c-store goes out of business.

that's pretty damn cool, I'm only 18 but if I ever do have kids that's the kind of life I want to give them. and I completly agree with what you said about how dependent everyone is on fast food and technology, thats another reason I want to be self sufficent I want to survive.

 

At the age of about 9 and 10 months I remaber that my dad did say to me “ I have a thing in mind for your birtday that will last pobaly your whole file if you take good care of it and holds a lot of responsebulety”.
This whould be my fist SAK.
From that time on I was in to gadged’s.
Looked at a childerens TV program where the show host make’s a survival thin out of a shoe cream thin just adding comon thing’s you whould find in the house such as two party balloons to make an inpoviced floter to cross a river use a bandla to make a cloth ring around a woond where a (steel-)nail was stiking out of to cover up this woond.
Sinds that time when my mom thook my pans to wach them se would always’s chek every pocket before she would put it in the waching machine.
A knife and a smal pocket torch whould always’s be on me.
In the dutch army where I was as a conscript I was the only consctipt who was constanly on alert having my knife, my torch, and my emergency first aid dressing and butane ligter on me.

Do not thank me for serving, I did not like it and the only reasen to behave ther wat that I can get 2 monts earlier out of there.
Unlike the most of you I whoud have a problem whit shooting somwane at the other side of the fense and I don’t can cope whit the idea that you send people somwere and knowing that some of them will not retun.
Nevertheless I respect the men and whoman who put theyr life at risk for the fredom of others just the same as I have admiration for firefighters and police officers and the unknown hero’s of all day simpel people who step forward to save an other even at risk of they own life.
But I am just not the kind of wood that a soldier is sliced out of.
( I’d like using the UZI at the 300 yard rifle range using a lifeless target)

I started tot make a utillety back-pack formaly stufd whit first aid stuf and signed up for the local Redcross to upgade my first aid skill’s.
My utillety bag was to become more and more a BOB/HGB whitout that I knew it.
At some point a started to roam the internet for idea’s on what to lose or ad to my utillety bag.
That is how I ended up on forum’s like this one.
Rading your post’s I do feel a little as a black scheep in the flock
I do “prep” we have in every room a smoke alarm a 3 day water suply in the house 3 day’s of food.
A camping / caravan toilet at hand and a Butan cooker whit at least for thee day’s full (normaly we cook on natural gas) 100 tea warmer candel’s (my whife burns them all day here but she know to not use my stok candel’s for normaly use).
A fire extinguisher, du to dutch wapon’s law I am not abel to have wappons of some sort but even this is pland for (whould be not a good idea to write this on the net)
In my work-van ther is a mummy sleeping bag some dry wardrobe canned food and a mess kid (for heating I simply use the weld torch <butane- oxygen> or the solder-torch) aprox. ½ gallon of water so if I snow in on the Belgum hiway or are not abel to get a hotel I still be abel to thake care of my self (for work I am somthimes so far in to Belgum that the Frence border is a 5 minut drive awy living in Holland).
My Utillety bag as I call it (compard to your standard it is no BOB of GHB) did get a metamorphosis du to the info a this forum (in the intro section of the forum is the old 3 level bag constrution).
There is now First aid (no canges there) signaling (lose the radio’s) and added a inox steel cup Iodine drops where al raedy in my fist aid kid for water treatment and disigned a simpel carbon filter to get rid of the Iodine in the treaded water made out of a Britta (www.Britta.com ) clasic- cartridge.
Iodine dops sold here are povidone-iodine what means that u don’t need as much for the same efect.
In the tool section I have beside’s my multi tool a vise-grip (locking pliers) using your mind this is a super tool whit tremendous grip power that is self suporting (wonder if you can make some sense of this gramer?) can be usede as a wrech, Groove Joint Pliers
A 3th hand etc.

For the rest I think I have sipel a “survivelist state of mind” and try to see ahead.
The first thing I did ariving at the Disney hotel in Paris was chekking whit my whife and son the emergence escape routs and make a primery and secondery meeting point in case one of us whould get lost.
On a job side I chek for posibel escape way’s or how to make a distrese call in case my cell phone does not work.
As long as I am in the working porces I have that attitude when called to an automated technical malfunction report knowing that ther is no one else in the bulding and cell phones wher not yet invented I did warn the securety gard that I was in bulding 16-1 in the cellar and ask him to chek up on me when I would not report in every full hour on the phone (using the phone in the hallway of 16-1)

I that light I am a survivalist as of 10 years old but my “prep’s” have bin chaned along the way. (du to newly gain knowledge)
And when is one a survialist the man/whoman in his/her swim suit having an eye for changes in wheter and looking to that small kid who probable can’t swim and is walking to the big waterslide or the one who has a “nuke” shelter and enough amo to make the US army jealous and has call’s his Walter P9 “wendy”

yours faithfully,

A back sheep on the forum

 

I started when I was a kid. My Dad and Uncles wanted to make sure my coyses and me could make it if we ever got lost in the woods. They would have us spend the weekend in the wood around the hunting cabbin with nothing but one C rat and some very basic supplys. They ould come and check on us to see what we did right and what we did wrong. We learned and got to were we could go as long as we wanted to. I look back and I thank them for that.

 

Y2K get me into prepping but didn't turn me into a survivalist. What brought me in all the way was the birth of my son. I was in debt, had been turned down for a raise, and my wife's hours got cut from 40 per week to just 20. I was just a month away from going late on our mortgage. Made me realize how easy it would be to lose everything. I got a second full-time job, my wife stayed home with our son because we refused to accept putting him in child care, and we began crawling out of debt. The feeling that I could lose everything never left me and for the first time in my life I realized I had the means to obtain a more self-sufficient lifestyle. (For me that meant no mortgage or car payments and living on a piece of land large enough to support the family with grown and raised food.) I've been driving hard, working between 80 and 100 hours per week, to build up enough money to purchase our next home with cash. These are the concrete actions I'm taking to make survival more possible if shtf.

I first got on the Internet in 2000. Since then I've researched survival consistently and each year I find myself more and more prepared both in terms of knowledge and materials. And now I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Be careful about purchasing the house with cash! I used to work in a bank and any transaction that was made in **cash** OVER $9999.99 was struck with a "CTR" or "Currency Transaction Report." This means that you might be under suspicion for questionable activities in relationship to your financial dealings in the eyes of the federal government. This report is filled out and includes your basic contact **AND** personal information: address, phone number, social security number, and any bank account numbers in which money is being withdrawn/deposited into. Even if you are not depositing money into your own account (many institutions allow 2nd and/or 3rd party deposits into non-primary holder's accounts), you could still get this report performed. Keep in mind, the CTR is only meant to be performed for transactions done with actual cash. It is up to the individual financial institution, teller, banker or bank manager to determine if a CTR is necessary. If they feel the transaction is suspicious enough- even if it deals with checks, credit cards, money orders electronic transfers etc.- they can still execute a CTR.

BE CAREFUL! Depending on the financial institution or individual teller/banker, you may or may not have consent or even be informed that the CTR is being processed. Also, the bank personnel have the discretion to file a CTR for ANY AMOUNT that they deem suspicious enough to file a CTR. The $9999.99 doesn't even have to be exchanged over a deposit or a withdrawal in the same transaction, either!

If you perform a series of transactions over the course of one Federal Banking business day*, you can still be tagged with a CTR. For example: $3500 cash deposit at 7am, $4000 cash deposit at 11am and another $3500 cash deposit at 1pm= CTR.

* As far as a Fed Bank business day goes, most banks will "start" their business day after "cutover." Cutover starts sometime in the afternoon. This is done so that privately owned financial institutions can be synched with the federal bank in terms of time and date. So, Tuesday January 1st of 2008 actually started around 2pm the day before on Monday December 31st, 2007 (the actual cutover time varies depending on the individual financial institution- you can ask your bank when cutover is). Any deposit made after 2pm (again, the time is a randomely chosen example) on December 31st, 2007 was, in fact, recorded as a January 1st transaction. So by this method, one can deposit $5000 cash into their account at 4pm on a Tuesday, turn around and deposit $5100 cash into the same account at 9am on a Wednesday and STILL be tagged with a CTR.

If this scenario were to play out over a weekend and December 31st was a Friday, cutover would still be at "2pm" but any transaction taken over the weekend (assuming the financial institution you are doing business with is open during the weekend) until Monday January 3rd at 1:59pm would STILL be counted as that next business day- Monday January 3rd. This is an example of how a CTR would play out over the course of a weekend: $2000 cash deposit on Friday afternoon anytime after cutover, $4500 cash deposit at anytime during Saturday and $5000 cash deposited Monday morning at 9am before cutover= CTR.

I'm a law abiding citizen but I don't want to attract any attention to myself. The nail that sticks out will get hammered, right?

Again, please be careful!

 

..........

 

When I strapped on my Dad's WWII 1911 and put on some olive drab; about 10 or 11 years old. It was probably long before then, I just can remember that very clearly and what I was thinking.

 

Learned the basics running wild with my "couzans" in the woods, swamps. Would stay out all night fishing, frogging, spotlighting gators and whatever else we could find. I don't think I ever feared the outdoors. It was our playground and we did not even realize we were learning the whole time.

As an adult I have backpacked, kayaked, sailed, etc. My survivalist instincts all this time were entwined with my lifestyle, not a sense of impending disaster. Just never wanted to be the one that had to be rescued or died of stupidity.

I was camping in British Columbia when 9/11 happened. When I heard about it, I just hauled a** to the border. I just wanted to be in my own country.
That event woke me up a little. Made me realize how fragile our way of life is and I started to prepare. But even then, I was only preparing enough to make sure I could get back to my family should something happen.

I was traveling full time during that time period and I wanted to be able to get home without fighting for food. I was living in a camper on the back of my truck. I had traveled all over Alaska, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia. So I was well prepared for back country self sufficiency as a rule. So my additional prep was a case of Mainstay emergency rations, a little extra ammo and a general plan. Still didn't grasp the bigger picture.

When life really changed for me was Katrina. I had bought a house back home and I was in New Orleans in the aftermath of the storm providing medical care. I realized how unprepared our nation was. It was shockingly clear we could not depend on the government to care for us in an emergency. It was chaos. It was ineptitude. It was just ridiculous in so many ways. And that was an emergency in which we did get some notice.

Hell, New Orleans wasn't safe before the storm. It, like many cities, has not been a safe place for many years. So to be there, during that time, without even the illusion of the local government and law enforcement being in control..... with that illusion finally wiped away ........ my total mindset changed. Also wiped away ........ the illusion that I was prepared. I realized that possessing skills is not the same as being prepared.

Katrina was hell, but that hell x 10 could easily happen with the current political/world situation. And we have become a nation of "when is somebody gonna help me? citizens.
Not me.

 

Hurricane Katrina opened my eyes to just how fast everything can turn to total public chaos in a few days time. Just seeing that big brother did NOT have my back sent me a message that was loud and clear. I have since become debt free, have more than a 1 year supply of food, have enough weapons to hold off an army of zombies when they come and I am looking to pay cash for a small piece of land soon to have as a bug-out destination. I think it is imperative that we all have a place to call our own with NO payments that the bank can't take away if the economy crashes. I am also looking to upgrade my bug-out vehicle and renovate a surplus military trailer to haul my supplies and gear so when the time comes I can go off road if needed to get around the clogged main roads. My long term goal is to move to the Rockies and build an underground house that is totally self sufficient and off the grid. I think we all had better prepare for the worst that looks to be coming soon...