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forming local groups....
I was thinking about trying to pull some people together for local support on survival prep. I get ZERO support from anyone but one daughter. In fact I have become the family joke, mostly they just think Im nuts. I try and not discuss any of this but my Husband sees me buying things like gold, shotguns and survival food so its hard for him not to notice.
Anyway, I getting weary of the ridicule and isolation and was thinking about putting together a small local group where we could meet on occasion and share ideas. Is this a good or bad idea? I really dont know anyone like that in real life. Most everyone I know could not begin to conceive of a possible breakdown of the system. I was thinking about advertising on Craigslist. All meetings would be public so I think the safety issue would be OK. Any suggestions. |
Re: forming local groups....
While I think community survival is the way to go I think forming a group with
the sole intention of preparing for disaster is a bad idea and not likely to be of much value wtshtf just get some friends with "interesting hobbys" it may be easier to involve friends and family if it is seen as just for fun they dont even have to realise how usefull certain skills can be. or move to a better location with neighbors who have usefull survival skills Im thinking more like a lightly populated agricultural area where people are already growing their own food and enjoy outdoor skills like hunting etc Not a survival compound in montanna |
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A "survivalist group" is kinda like a citizen militia and everyone knows that "every third person in a militia is a government snitch" Be careful with whom you associate.
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Yes, be very careful. You won't really know who you can trust until it gets bad. I wouldn't tell many people what you've been preparing either. They'll just know where to come get it when they are starving. I know you want a sounding board, or someone to talk too, but I'm not sure you should tell your daughter much either. My kids know certain things but not the really important things. I've talked to them about keeping their mouths shut, but they are still kids. This may sound very paranoid, but I think it's still realistic if things occur as I expect them to.
SB |
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One of the better bets is http://zombiehunters.org
if you are in North West Arkansas, Missouri and Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, or in Canada in Southern Ontario they have chapters Also check out http://www.SurvivalMonkey.com also your city's website likely has a local EMR volunteer chapter When you do join you must know what you can provide to the group. If you can not provide a whole lot in terms of survival knowledge I recommend http://training.fema.gov/IS/ the courses are free. You can get college credit too. Even if you do not like Fema and think they are evil and diabolical or somesuch the info is what they base their decision making on. So it does not hurt to know Where are you located? |
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In all seriousness, I am certain they are present. The ratio I am sure is less than 1/3 though! |
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I wouldn't recommend it. Very few of these groups ever seem to end well, and government scrutiny is likely to become more intense in the future than it already is. Your best bet is to make close friends among those whose skills would be useful in such a situation. When the time comes, you'll have a group of friends you can rely on.
I was in a group when I was much, much younger. One of the guys in the group eventually kind of went off the deep end, and we all had to scramble to distance ourselves from any sort of fall-out. That fall-out would have been a lot more serious these days than it was almost 30 years ago. Now I find it wisest not to talk about it outside my family, and I don't talk about it to the members of my family who think it's nuts (I remember quite vividly a story a Czech friend told me of how his family was nearly arrested trying to flee their country after the Communist takeover because his grandfather turned them in. Trust no one!). In the meantime, satisfy your urge for meeting like-minded people by going to training classes, etc. Most of the ones I've been to are very careful not to use people's last names, etc., so you can keep your identifying info hush-hush among the other participants if you want to. I've made some good and lasting friends at these (great for establishing networks), however. Some examples: http://www.medicalcorps.org/ This one is fun and informative, and though not everyone who goes is a survivalist, most are, including the instructors. If you go, bring extra money to buy medical supplies at good prices, including hard-to-get items like glass syringes (minus the needles, of course). The time I went, everyone was so psyched to meet other survivalists that we were all practically giddy with the camaraderie. http://www.jrhenterprises.com/main.sc (The Tactical Lifesaver Course advertised on the page). |
Re: forming local groups....
This topic gets kicked around every so often. Maddie's response in this thread makes a lot of sense to me. She and others (if I remember correctly) made some excellent points in this thread that was started last April....
http://goldismoney.info/forums/showt...urvival+groups And hang in there with the ridicule and isolation - there's lots of folks here who either don't have the family (especially spouses) on board, or took lots of time to get them aboard. My wife thought I was whacked, too, but she's finally come around as she's paid more attention to the news. The only thing I catch hell about is buying more weapons, as she believes I already have "enough." But she's grudgingly realized the value of preps, PMs, and even a purchase of land. She still gives me sh!t about it, but that's her job and she's good at it.... Anyway, stay confident - I think your actions will be proven prudent in the coming months and years. |
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Shameless plug for the guy that owns jrh.......I know him, and he is a good guy.....you can trust him on anything he says. |
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Keep at it, jaima. It'll make a lot more sense to them down the road and no one will be laughing when it's you that saves the day.
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Thanks for all the well thought responses. I got some solid advice and perspective. I live in the central NC area. Our area is in transition from being farming and hunting community to a bedroom community for the big city.
I will check out the many links posted. Maybe a class would be a much more sensible way to go. The last thing I want to do is attract attention from the Government. Some of the links posted above sound like they would be both interesting and useful. As far as family goes they frustrate me. My extended family doesnt believe the system could break down and are a fairly lost cause. On the other hand my husband and other daughter are very well aware how fragile a balance we live in. They simply find it too depressing and stressful to deal with it and prefer to ignore it. I make it hard to ignore. Thanks for all the links and advice. I will be busy checking out these links. I am ready and willing to learn everything form handling weapons to survival skills. |
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Lars, thank you for the previous link on the subject of survival groups.
Maddie the Medical Corps class looks great. I am trying to locate one in my area. I have a question about the JRH Enterprises. What is the difference in storage life between the mountain house freeze dried foods and the foods listed on JRH? Are these dehydrated as opposed to freeze dried? edited to add the medical course on JRH looks great. I will it were closer. |
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Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)
The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. Using the training learned in the classroom and during exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. http://www.citizencorps.gov/cc/CertI...?submitByState Q: What is CERT? CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to: manage utilities and put out small fires, |
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Infidel, I found a CERT listing for a city near me!
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Don't do it..............
It takes one A-hole government planted or not to become Radicalized and then your all going to jail doesn't mean you did anything wrong just that you may have unintentionally given aid to an a-hole is cause enough to have you imprisoned for quite some time Trust no one "If nobody ever opened there mouth nobody would ever go to jail and we would be out of a job" Quote from our instructor at the police academy and a good thought to ponder |
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Getting a few positive responses but no one serious yet. I don't understand the paranoia about survivalism groups. If the group is just survivalism and not a political fringe group there is nothing to "infiltrate". Time is running out and my guess the Feds have better things to do than harass folks getting together for survivalism. With the economic collapse coming I cannot understand why these groups are not already forming in great numbers. |
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MM, a decade ago I was very active with an environmental group that was fighting to stop a Hazard Waste Incinerator in our community. Green Peace sent a Representative to work with us. It was not too long after that when people in our group began noticing they were being followed to meetings and we were all hearing strange clicks on the phone. When we staged a peaceful protest that consisted of old ladies and housewives the state sent the Swat Team in full Riot gear to arrest us. :rant:
Our local Police watched over the situation very carefully because many of those house wives and old ladies were related to them and they were concerned for their safety. In the end all the arrests went down smoothly under the watchful eye of the local news and local Police. Think about it. If in a pre-9-11 era the state was tapping phones and sending out the Swat Team because a group of housewives and old ladies were forming an active environmental group to protest what do you think their reaction would be to a Survivalist group that will obviously be armed to the teeth? I think the advice I got here was wise and valid when I asked about forming a group. It should not be that way but it is. Like you I would love some local support. Hell, I would like some support from my family. It isn't going to happen unless I can quietly form some contacts on the Internet. I'm getting used to going it alone with a lot of encouragement from the people here. I do have one suggestion that might be a safe alternative. Look for a local food-co-op and join. You will be making contacts with local farmers and people concerned with food storage. A local hunting club might also be a place to meet others people in a manner that will attract less attention. |
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Think about how survivalists are portrayed in the media. It's become a media code word for "dangerously crazy." The guy who kidnapped and killed the young female hiker in Georgia a month ago has been referred to as "thought of himself as a survivalist" in the newspapers several times. The guy who bombed the park during the Olympics was referred to many times as a survivalist. Branch Davidians were referred to as survivalists. Welcome to the fringe! It doesn't matter that we know we're not nuts. Everyone else is more than willing to believe that we are, and nuts with guns is a scary concept to most people. My coworkers were chatting about the news story about some guy arrested for something or other. "They said he had an arsenal! He had a lot of guns and a ton of ammo! He wouldn't have that if he wasn't planning on doing something crazy, you know?" The guy had 7 guns and less ammo than I carried to the gun range the weekend before, but to most people, it was "an arsenal," and he was scary for having it. Face it, we are a fringe group. Also consider that if TS ever does HTF and resources become scarce, there might be laws against hoarding that there aren't now. A media campaign telling the hungry public that hoarders are unpatriotic, selfish, and dangerous people will have patriotic neighbors turning you in for the reward in no time. It didn't take the media long to turn ordinary smokers into people who should be reviled, ostracized, taxed at insanely high rates, and not be pitied if they die of cancer. Think of the hatchet job they could do on selfish hoarders. Jaime, you asked about the storage life difference between Mt. House and JRH. There probably isn't any significant difference. Most freeze-dried, canned foods will have lost significant nutritional value after 7 years or so, though they'll last much longer. MH usually wins the taste contests because it's chock full of salt and flavor enhancers that make your taste buds happy, but I think the same basic preservation and canning technique is used for all the canned freeze-dried and dehydrated foods. In fact, most of the lesser known brands come from the same couple of companies, they're just labelled by the individual businesses selling them. |
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QWAK,Back in the mid 70s I felt things were very wrong and getting worse so started looking for alternitive situatons,spent some time in a Colorado commune and discovered that the vast majority of people don't have the self disaplen,deadication and commitment to hang in there and make it work. Also that most singles also eventualy bailed out because they just could not deal with being alone and doing every thing by them selves (it takes 3 to 5 times longer to do most things).
In 81 I bought the cabin with a lady who shure seemed to be on the same page as I was and talked the talk but after signing the contarct and a couple weeks isolated at the cabin and geting blisters and dirty SHE bailed out leaving ME to pay for the cabin and land and to some how MAKE it WORK all by my self! I decided after THAT to try pulling a SURVIVAL TEAM together and the result was that in very short order each droped out, deciding it was just too hard and that I was just NUTS! It would be GREAT to have people you can count on, it just seems like it would be better but MY personal experience has been that it waisted more time,effort,materials and money then I ever could have imagined. It is all FUN when you are TALKING and planing but when the RUBBER meets the ROAD and it comes down to DOING IT with the people you chose, THEN is when you find out WHAT they are REALY made of and in less the IMPLOSION is emminent and blatently "IN your FACE" obvious, they will almost certinly loose FAITH and decide to go there own way,usualy at the most INOPERTUNE time when you NEED them most! Not trying to be a wet blanket here but just stating MY real life experience. My perspective is this: "Do IT your SELF" and if along the way others see it working, GOOD terrific even! IF they offer to pich in and you have built up TRUST with them, THEN perhaps they could be part of a TEAM,but DON'T count on IT or let YOUR plan become DEPENDENT on it happening. the DUCK |
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Yep.....agree with the DUCK.
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Just checking this part of the GIM forum and reading posts and threads...I'm with Andy on this one.
Good luck jaima. |
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Agree with the duck.
All in all a very bad idea.... |
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I guess it's easier to walk the walk than talk the talk. Though the lady you mentioned walked like a duck and talked like a duck, sounds like she definitely was not a duck. :D |
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However, Mr. Mammal, if you are still going to cast a wide net looking for other "Survivalists", could you tell us what city you live in? That way, if they decide to make an example of someone in New Jersey, and you suddenly stop posting, we'll know for certain? |
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Don't build a group on survivalism but rather why not form a group around "traditional living skills" where people get together and reproduce the old fashioned methods of livings prior to the industrial revolution. Through time you will probably find people with the "right mind set" and then from there slowly develop the relationships. Use your instincts and never reveal your hand of cards. You will know when you fight the right type of individuals. Ultimately, you will need to be patient. It may takes years before you assemble just a few people.
Dave |
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That could quickly escalate to general canning, food storage, etc. |
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All this not to mention 'do you have access to arable land and a source for wild game and fish, clean water, low traffic area? I don't want to be a wet blanket but many have to realize that this survival 'game' is not a romantic notion. It is a realm where people starve to death, lose limbs to gangreen, and die while giving birth. If you live in a city or don't have the means or assets to live in "1900" your better off to try and become socially and politically active to derail the PTB. Or, aquire what you really need to survive. I would always advocate storage of preps for the short term, but anyone seriously considering the possibility of an outright collapse had better be honest with themselves. FWIW, I have been honest with myself and I know I am one of the fortunate ones who, if we woke up in the year 1900, would have a good shot at survival......the time is now to to make informed choices. |
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Well said, BellevueBully.
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