Introduction thread
 

Hi all. I've been lurking and filling my bookmarks with the great links I've found in this sub-forum. I came around GIM one night when I was looking at gold dredges (and being amazed at the ingenuity). I'm probably going to start hobby prospecting next spring as a way to go camping without being bored out of my skull. Don't hunt and I find fishing boring but gold.... now THAT'S a reason to sleep in a tent.

I've always been a "be prepared" individual, ammo for the weapons I own (not nearly the quantities recommended here though), food in a stash, some sort of alternate heat available, etc. I can hunt but don't really enjoy it. Lifetime I'm two ducks, a doe whitetail and a turkey. All made possible by hillbilly friends that basically held my hand the whole way. I've only ever cleaned one of the ducks. Thus, my choice of username ;)

I did used to slay bass back in VA though... that was some fun fishing. I should look into fly fishing, I guess.


I have an urgent feeling of impending doom now. I'm sure this is enhanced by me actually moving from our small mountain (although highway) town directly into the heart of the crap that is west Denver. Oh well, it's close to my stepkids (bus route) and it's a really cool house/yard.

I plan on taking these actions:

1) Learn to garden. Just small-time so I get my hands dirty. A few tomatoes, some sunflowers, whatever.

2) Create an actual emergency kit; both bugout and hole-up; I am worried. I love to fabricate tools and toys and the amount of DYI information available these days is staggering. I just read the thread about stoves the other day and am really impressed with both the beer can alcohol stoves and especially the wood-gas hobo stoves. That ain't your daddy's hobo stove!

3) Stockpile a little ammo and purchase two SKS rifles for us and a shotgun for my wife (I already own one). Let my wife practice with the SKS as she's a CRACK shot with a .22 without having ever fired a shot before she met me. I'd feel confident she could aquire food with that rifle. The ammo from ammoman.com (found that here too!) is cheap enough we can justify blowing up 100 rounds on a weekend.

Did I miss anything glaringly important?

I guess the biggest tip I can contribute at this point to the forum is to use thrift stores to the biggest extent you can. Spend all the time you can afford in the good ones. Good on the wallet, good on the earth. Why recycle when you can just reuse, right?

The best ones I've found are in the high-end mountain communities. It's amazing what those people throw away. Name-brand dress shirts in the plastic for $5, polartec fleece lightly worn for one season for $10.

My wife loves 'em and I'm always stuck browsing the bric-a-brack and books once I go through the mens clothing. I'm constanty surprised at the books I find for a buck. Recent inclusions:

Joy of Cooking
Mountineering First Aid
Advanced First Aid, very recent publication (replacement for old version)
The Western Garden Book
... and some very thick book from the 70's about organic pest control.

So... time to go pack up for this move, I'll be back later. I'd like to know people's "don't miss" list on the 'net. Whether it be links to posts here, links to individual sites or links to pages of links.

Re: Introduction thread
 

Welcome!

Sounds like you are on the right track.

Great finds those books for a buck. I have been using the Joy of Cooking and Sunset Western Garden books for decades. Both are pretty pricey new and packed with good usable information.

Had that doom feeling myself....... for years now.

:coolbeer:

Re: Introduction thread
 

Welcome to the treasuredome. Regarding sites to check out - there are links posted all over the forum. Explore, enjoy.

Re: Introduction thread
 

Welcome. Bienvenido. Failte. Shalom. Velkommen. Bienvenue. Willkommen. Benvenuto. Vitame vas. Bemvindo. Croeso. Welkom. Witamy. Hosgeldiniz

Also see http://survivalmonkey.com/
a font of knowledge on all things such / Melbo keeps his manuals there with easy access / download

the forum there leans quite a bit more to the right, but everyone is interested in pretty much all the things you described''

also see http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/

Re: Introduction thread
 

Welcome aboard, CityBoy. Good tip about the thrift stores. I almost never pay retail for anything anymore. We have something locally here called freecycle.org. People give away things they don't want anymore. I have gotten some treasures there. It is amazing what people get rid of. Also craigslist and estate sales are good resources. You can find local auctions at auctionzip.com. Pennies on the dollar.

Fly fishing and prospecting sounds like a plan to me. That will last you into the NWO much better than working-in-an-office skills.

Re: Introduction thread
 

Welcome CityBoy. You mention getting food with your SKS. Just a forewarning, don't expect that to be a possibility if you ever really are forced to get food that way, because everybody else will have tried the same thing and wiped out nearly all the game. This is exactly what happened in the last great depression. At a certain point the dogs, cats and pigeons disappear from the cities even.

You're definately on the right track learning to garden, toss in a few chickens into the equation for eggs if you're local despot allows you to keep them. Food you produce is the most reliable supply. That said, you'll probably want to stock up some non-perishable foods, too. Think about water, as well. Storage is the first step, but you'll want to be able to purify water and collect it from rain, have a well, other other. At some point you'll want to be able to generate your own power.

It sounds like it gets cold where you are, have something you can burn wood or other fuel in to stay warm and stock that fuel. I hear people are burning corn these days and I imagin it's edible as well if you bothered to boil it, at least as an emergency ration.

To get an idea of what you're working with, how much land is your house on? As long as you have water and a small plot to work with you can produce a lot of food. If you have clean, rich soil then that's all the better.

Re: Introduction thread
 

i would suggest Japanese quail for eggs. easier to keep. cheaper to feed and give 1.5 times as much egg for the weigh of feed.

the quail hens eat turkey starter and can be kept on your kitchen if you are cramped for space. post soviet Russians came to appreciate this fact

Re: Introduction thread
 

My wife and I are interested in these quail you have mentioned. We've only found button quail locally which don't look to be the same thing at all. Do you know a good place I could get a batch of these guys from?

Re: Introduction thread
 

re: size of plot: only 1/4 acre, suburban. I just want to grow some of my own food just to do it.

I don't want to worry about livestock right now. Might change my mind if the gardening is enjoyable. The catfish/vegetable "food unit" listed in another thread would be about my speed. I cook a mean catfish.

re: office skills: don't have many :) I'm a construction worker/handyman, I can brew beer and distill it. I can fix most anything broken. I understand basic electricity and plumbing. I believe my skillset is valuble to a villiage or township in a way most office-mice can only dream of. I do hold an associate degree but two years of office work cured me of that desire.

re: shooting food: Yeah, I do realize that. You could qualify us as weekend shooting enthusiasts and the SKS seems a really good weapon for plinking. It is a good, serviceable rifle with cheap ammo, ya know? Besides, cat tastes like chicken, right?

re: fire: Our new house has two fireplaces, I'm hoping to find a couple of fireplace inserts used... one wood for upstairs for a fancy look, one pellet/corn for downstairs to serve as our day-to-day heat. If the fireplace insert for pellet/corn is too expensive I could be convinced to run a ceramic flue up the chimney for a stove. Try to wean us off of petroleum a little.

Great links and thanks for the welcomes.

Re: Introduction thread
 

You can grow a lot on a quarter acre is you use stackable methods of production. Definately enough to make your supplies last longer and get fresh veggies, which as you come into your own you can start adjusting the types of food you store.

The SKS is a good gun and the 7.62x39 is a good cartridge. Against cat you'll probably want to make a headshot so you don't ruin too much of the meat, especially if use one of the effect series loads. I would normally suggest not shooting the cat though, as a good outside cat should provide you with a steady stream of small animals, but he may be captured and eaten by a neighbor anyway, so it's up to you. Speaking of neighbors, if you have any you don't like you might consider infesting their house with mice and/or rats as a petty act of hostility, but also as an emergency food souce. :smile:

If you can brew beer and cook catfish I suspect you'll do quite well in a SHTF scenario.

Re: Introduction thread
 

haha:

*Two weeks after the grocery store closed it's doors.*

*knock knock*

"Hi, I know we haven't been the best of neighbors but I'm here to get my rats back."