What made you do it.... the survival thing

[delectric]

Everyone had a starting point, what made you start the endeavor? How far along would you say you are? And could you survive and what are trying to survive....

[mosby's men]

hi dc,
a name from the old days , how goes it ..
sometimes i think im doing great and other days i think i havent done anything..
just went to a guys homestead last week , all kinds of animals , total solar power .. wow im a slacker.

[Jen]

Everyone had a starting point, what made you start the endeavor? How far along would you say you are? And could you survive and what are trying to survive....

We live in an uncertain world. Threats abound from Terrorism, Foreign Governments, Internal and Economic Issues, etc. To stick ones head in a hole in the ground and say that everything is OK or that someone will be there to take care of me is just ignorance to the facts of the world in which we live.

Bosnia, Argentina, those are just two recent examples of peoples worlds being turned upside down by events beyond their control, but for which they could have prepared to survive in advance and which someone would have to be blind to ignore.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

[jerrymrc]

In the past growing up I have been without power and phone for over a week.
Back then it was no big deal. We cooked, had light, had heat played board games and cards and listened to the radio.

A few years ago I started thinking about that and took stock where I was in relation to how I grew up. I had some basics but it always amazed me when the power went out for more than a few min just how unprepared alot of my neighbors were.

In my case it is not a "survival" thing but more of a being prepared mind set.
Our own "big-gov.com" has said people need to be prepared but I see alot of the population has got the "wont happen to me and if it does just remember Katrina and the free money they gave away" mindset.

So now I plan for the worst and hope for the best.

[akfanatic]

We live in an uncertain world. Threats abound from Terrorism, Foreign Governments, Internal and Economic Issues, etc. To stick ones head in a hole in the ground and say that everything is OK or that someone will be there to take care of me is just ignorance to the facts of the world in which we live.

Bosnia, Argentina, those are just two recent examples of peoples worlds being turned upside down by events beyond their control, but for which they could have prepared to survive in advance and which someone would have to be blind to ignore.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

THAT says it all...

[Dr. X]

I was a Boy Scout and the" be prepared" motto has never left me. (Being naturally a little on the paranoid side hasn't helped/hurt, either) Then in my early twenties I got sucked into the Militia BS. Got my belly full of THAT real fast and left but never forgot what I'd been taught. I've always been more interested in military rifles than hunting types so it all just fell in together. I built my own cabin with self-sufficiency in mind, and one day hope to be off the grid. One town over from where I live is the original publishers of the "Mother Earth News" and I have most issues of the mag, so simple living has been a vocation of mine since the mid-seventies. I'm not as prepared as I want to be, but I live close to the bone, so with me a little goes a long way. If necessary, I could make it on what I already have, but always hope for a better level of preparedness and strive towards that goal...

as ever,
Dr. X

[Arizona Highlander]

I was a firearms enthusiast since I was a kid, but as I recall I was introduced to survivalism by the late Mel Tappan during my college days (late 1970’s) through one of his survival columns in “Guns and Ammo” magazine.

Mel seemed to make a lot of sense, and so I began studying survivalism seriously. Of course, looking back, I have to take everything I hear nowadays with a grain of salt, as Mel was absolutely convinced that a collapse of society was imminent.

Now that it’s been 30 years and I see that nothing ever happened, I’m a little more jaded - yet, I still can’t discount the possibility that things could turn on a dime. After all, preparedness is just good common sense. The good news is that, in the past 30 years, I managed to move from the big city to a rural environment, and I’ve now got my own well, my own garden, and a goodly supply of stored food. So, I think I’m REASONABLY well prepared for what might come - but, unless one has unlimited funds, nobody can ever be prepared for anything and everything.

[master blaster]

A realization that it is my duty and responsibility to take care of me and my family. Nobody loves me and mine better than I do, nobody!;)

[ghostcat]

I guess it was bred into me. My parents were raised in the depression era. Both came from farm stock. My father was born on a homestead in Colorado and my mother was born and raised on a truck farm in Kansas.
By the time I came on the scene my father had been a special agent for the FBI for several years and my mother was a homemaker. We were always aware of the dangers in the world because of my fathers work. The Bureau sent him to language school when I was 3 and taught him to speak russian. He then was assigned to what would be called counter espionage for the next 17 years or so.
We always had food storage and contingency plans. When I got out on my own it was only natural to continue.
As to the state of prepardness now? Well it could always be better than it is but I would guess that I am better prepared than 95% of th population.

[Jonas Parker]

...Of course, looking back, I have to take everything I hear nowadays with a grain of salt, as Mel was absolutely convinced that a collapse of society was imminent.

Now that it’s been 30 years and I see that nothing ever happened, I’m a little more jaded...

My wife and I have been planning for years, stocking foods, ammo, etc. Nothing ever happened here until Rita came storming through as a Catagory 2 a year ago. Fortunately, unlike a whole lot of folks here in a small town, we (and our next-door neighbors) were ready...

Now with the North Koreans ready to set off a nuke, and the "religion of peace" spreading terror where ever and whenever it's adherents possibly can, I don't see the world gaining stability in my lifetime.

[Starvin]

In 1979 my AO was devastated by a huge tornado. With the small amount of water and food we had set back and the minimal amount of gear I had, we were far better off than probaly 95% or better of the people. The shelves went bare in no time. Price gouging was everywhere. Long story made short, I will be much better prepared for the next event. Funny thing is.......it seems that I am never comfortable with what I have, always got to pick up something else for my stores.

[BRONZE]

Watching The Day After in 83 I think. I was 13 and I thought man if something like that happens I want to have it better then they did.

[bsdmon]

well my interest in firearms definetely started as just being a ww2 buff when i was younger and that moved into just being interested in firearms so i bought a few never even shot them eventually go to shooting and now im a complete firearm enthusiast and believe it is our duty to protect our own nation(which is a part of self sufficieny) i'm very into the idea of being self suffcient maybe its me longer for simpler times of centuries pas't. but i like the idea of living of the land and providing for ones self so you don't have to answer to anyone else. self sufficieny gives oneself motivation to live. so yea and the fact that there has been a depression before and it's plenty possible another will come in my lifetime as i'm not even 21 yet. and natural disasters are always a possibility.

[snolden]

I just kinda grew up this way. i always had a ton of food around the house, plenty of spare everything.

so when I moved out, I learned to buy in bulk.

I have always camped so that self sufficiency thing works very well for me. I plan on being mobile following the TEOTAWKI. On foot, bicycle or horseback. SHTF, I am in an excellent area and will bug in for up to a few months duration.

However, Y2K and Miami's riots (late 90's), brought me into a self defense mode. More recently, I became more paranoid and bought long guns for hunting and self defense.

I have learned every skill I can muster from nautical to desert, from gardening to electronics, and especially those which make me healthier and safer. that is the real concern. Should all **** break loose, the only thing they can't take from you is your mind and the knowledge within.

Location is the best defense, I have established many friends and relatives in the Navajo Nation and they are in my backyard. If you want self sufficient look to the real Americans.

[tedbo]

1976,on my own for the 1st time.Unemployed,living in Ohio--in the winter.Living paycheck to paycheck.Bad blizzard comes in and drops the temp to -13 degrees and this is the day I MUST go to show my face to get continued benefits!
My car was frozen to the pavement and wouldn't even think about cranking over.I had to THUMB it 33 miles round trip!!People were not about to stop and open their doors to lose any heat for any BODY.I swear it was the coldest I have ever been in my life to date.I also had to live on oatmeal and bologna sandwiches for 2 months day in and day out.I promised myself I would NEVER get in that situation again and so far have kept my word.I was 18 and learned a lot that year.
I think that was when I decided not to be dependant on the gubberment to live a better grade of life.That was the only time I have ever been without a job.I always found ways to keep food on the table,not junk food either!
P.S.-my thumb still acts up when I am out in the cold for any length of time.
This is why I spend the end of August and most of September getting vehicles serviced,gutters cleaned,etc instead of bow hunting or any fishing.I want to get prepared way before winter rolls in so's I can have a clear conscience when I feel like staying in on those first blustery cold days.It takes me a while to adjust to Fall/Winter and once I adjust I can stay out for most of the day.

[Imaexpat2]

There has been some bumps in the road when growing up and often times the only thing to be found on the table was what had been laid away in the pantry from the little bit extra of paydays gone by. Moms was pretty damn resorcefull back then and it kinda rubbed off on me. Additionally we grew up on the southern edge of tornado ally so occasionally we would loose power for a few days, couple that with the occasional ice storm that brought down power lines for a while, contributed to the mind set too. So I have always been one to kinda squirrel away some scooby snacks just in case.

I have always been a gun freak since I can remember. Back in the 80's I started getting serious about guns. I was also a boy scout with a group that did a lot of hardcore roughin it camping and gun related activities that also included hunting trips a couple times a year. One of the guys dad had 2075 acres, so I got to learn to deer hunt and Turkey hunt and just about everything associated with those activities. Then I picked up a copy of American Survival Guide...and its been all down hill since then! Got the bug bad after that and its dominated my life more less since then.

In the recent day and age you look at what has happened of late, the LA Riots, the WTO riots in Seattle, Bosnia, Argentina, Katrina...the list goes on, these only reinforce my mind set and make me more deternined than ever. Its kinda funny too, cause a lot of my buddies thought I was a little out there, a bit too paranoid about things, but after Katrina a lot of them dont think that way anymore. Now they too are A$$holes and Elbows getting their stash together just in case...and now, I aint such a fruitloop after all!

[Thunderchief]

I have been a collector of "Aircrew Survival Equipment" since the mid 70's, specializing in the 1950's to Present Day items mostly. It became addicting around the late 70's and I have been interested in anything "survival" since.

Maybe, if there is enough interest, I will start posting pictures of componets and give a short (one or two lines; paragraph at the absolute most!) history, use, and any other "facts" about the item?:)

[Imaexpat2]

Surely there is such a spot that you could post such tibits of info, especially with pics to illistrate it. Although Im new to the forum here...I say bring it on.

[Goldenspurholderx2]

I grew up in the foot hills of the Adirondacks on 200 acres of land that was mostly rented out to farmers. My parents had 8 kids (that's alot of mouths) with 4 older brothers we would always be out there with a maul and wedges splitting wood in the fall and spring for our winter heat and in summer gardening in our acre garden so mom and my sisters could can it up. If me or my brothers didn't get a deer or two (which was rare) my dad would buy 1/2 of a cow off one of the local farmers or trade for land use. One really bad gardening season we went on government cheese and peanut butter, but only once, and that almost killed my dad. That couple of months aside we were always very well provided for and usually had about a years worth of food stored up every fall.

That mindset carried over when I got married. My newlywed wife laughed at me when she moved to Colorado to see one of our closets in our tiny first apartment filled with canned goods, water bottles, baby wipes, etc. She didn't laugh anymore after the water main in our rat hole apartment building broke and I came home from PT to find hot water on the stove to take a "whore bath" before work.

I did my first tour of Iraq and wrote my wife a letter about how I have seen what bad people can do and I would always do what I could to protect her. I saw alot of hungry people who just didn't have the "system", granted a flawed system anymore to help them through their daily grind. I thought what would happen if our system failed, ours being better it would be all that more of a crash if it did. Since I finished my second tour, and am now a former soldier, I now constantly "improve my fighting position" as I have been trained to do. I do a little every chance I get to improve our chances of having a decent living should the SHTF.

[Colt]

1972, several tornados went through the area and wiped out 'everything'. My uncle had a generator, fuel, tools, a well-stocked pantry, and a huge storm cellar.

We were the only family in the area that had a 'normal' life for close to a month. I remember how many people were living in their cars, or moving in with relatives...and how many were coming to my uncle's place begging for assistance. My uncle and my granddad were the best teachers I've ever had.

[deltaten]

"What made you do it....the survival...?"

Do what?
Nuttin' different here!

Always been self-reliant; was a Boy Scout as well as a Girl Scout...really!; camped, walked and hitched across this Nation..

Someone once asked famed fronteirman Dan'l Boone if he ever got lost. His reply:
"No, but I bin a might confused for a few days onc't er twiced"

Sounds like me ;)
:D
Paul

[SwampFox320]

Hmm... I just started getting into this stuff. I've always been a huge history buff. I started reading about Francis Marion and his men after Charles Town fell and they started their gurillia war. Reading about them living in the SC's swamps off the land and what not and still how successful they were. Then I started getting into WWII reenacting and weapons and started watching disaster movies and started reading about how people might survive events and started talking to a friend who pointed me here and is going to help me get a kit together and now I am here!

Jason

[mrrk1562]

it started early on my father would spare 5 gal cans of water and gas in his van and did not want to be stuck some place ..we went food shopping once a month so we always had plenty of food on hand and food stocks would just pile up with stuff that lasts a long time ..from there i read books and mags pick things up here and there ..cold war was going on in a big way..so there nuke threat ..plus the world started changing ..economies going bad ..i wanted to have some control over my life and what happens to it ..and being prepaired makes that more likely..

[HiroProX]

Studying history in high school and college. Every time class veered into discussion of the causes of the collapse of ancient societies, similarities with our own at present came immediately to mind.

It was about that time when I was formulating my anarcho-capitalist political views. So self-sufficiency seemed to follow with the "practice what you preach" bit.

[kchunter]

My father was a survivalist, thats who gave me the bug, we were always storing food, supplies, and so on. If I have children I will probably be more carefull to fill them in on why we are doing what we are doing. I grew up terrified as a kid, afraid the russians were coming at any moment, afraid society was going to collapse, afraid that the goverment was going to kill my family and steel our guns. I still worry about these things, but I know that I will introduce those concepts to my children much more slowly than it was done to me. It seems as if I cannot ever prepare enough but I know that the prepartion money is never ill spent, its as small price to pay for insurance.

[lew]

I guess I've always had the survivalist instinct in me. The Boy Scouts further perpetuated it. Not to mention, I don't see a point to making life any harder than it is, so I prepare for many eventualities to make less of a headache.

[NineseveN]

I'd say I've always had the bug so to speak, I'd horde almost anything useful for a rainy day when I was kid because I was always thinking of the hypothetical "what would I do and what would happen if...".

The bug to actually get equipped and prepared mentally and physically started slowly creeping as I became an adult and started actually playing attention to what is going on in this world; the same things that always have. I think in school as children we're conditioned to abstract things like the Roman Empire, the Crusades or the American Civil war away from what our current society is like which gives us a "can't happen here" mindset as a society. But history teaches us that the threads of civilizations are very thin and that in one simple split of the seams things can go straight into the toilet. When I began looking at what humankind has done and has always done throughout our time on this earth, I realized that it can happen here, and it probably will because humans can't change their stripes as much as the feel-good people would like us to think we can. It may not happen in my life time, and I really hope it doesn't, but preparing for something that doesn't happen won't kill me, it'll only make me stronger...and give me more cool gear to buy and use as well as a great excuse to head to the hills for a camping trip or a hike. Can't beat that.

[therealsteamer]

For me it was 9/11... At the time I had a new wife AND infant to care for. It struck me very quickly that there was "more" to being a husband and father than bringing home a paycheck and mowing the lawn.

The beginning was slow, but over time both the wife and I have become quite the "preparedists"... Now with a family of four that includes two young children we have had to continually evolve and adapt our plans.

So I guess the short answer is "for my family"...

[Andy the Aussie]

Sooooooooooo.....am I going to be the ONLY to admit to having watched Red Dawn one too many times back in the 80s....???? Hummmmmmm ??:rolleyes:

I guess it started there and matured into something MUCH more realistic (I am not thinking Australia is to be invaded by the Commie hordes just now). Having been caught in a SHTF situation of sorts back in 94 really drove it home to me and I have taken REALISTIC precautions steps ever since. That is, food water appropriate clothing and facilities to take care of me and mine if "the system" is unable to.

Andy

[Carters Cavalry]

We live on a farm out in the middle of nowhere not far from the Coast. A couple of Hurricanes that shut the power off for a number of days, trees across the road which would have kept us from getting to the store. In 1998, a very bad ice storm blew through and shut the power off for about 4 days. Luckily, we had a small generator and backup wood heat. A number of neighbors walked down the road and slept in our living room during the cold nights.

Then there was Y2K or, "icing on the cake." While we had our doubts that it would come to full fruition it caused us to re-think how fragile the infrastructure really is.

We now have dry storage food and regularly plant our kitchen garden with not only summer but winter vegetables. A chicken coup is home to 25 egg-layers and we'll expand that to meat chickens; maybe a few rabbits. I won't go through the gun litany but suffice to say we're just fine in that dept.

Is it silly? Some might think so but, it is no more ill-thought than investing in automobile or home owners insurance.

/r

[GS Rider]

I got into this likestyle in high school. The cold war was going on with commy revolutions every where and 2 of my teaches saying that a nuke exchange was going to happen any day now because there are too many. Some death clock at midnight or some such shit. Anyway by living on a farm and being a boyscout I just wasn't the type to stand on the top a mountain when the big one comes. So I devloped a E&E plan for when it happens. The movie the day after came out at that time and for my senior class project I did a report on surviving a nuke war with diffrent options and gear ect. Will I got an F because the teacher said that it is impossible to survive and he didn't even read my report once he read the title. I have been hooked since. When I live in coastal areas I still use the same general plan. Bug in in homestead if possible using self contained RV but if I have to bug out it will be by boat.
PS. FUCK YOU JONES you hippy fag!

[Slim]

I grew up on a farm with a single mom for most of my childhood

we grew all our own meat, veggies, and fruit on site and I learned the art of canning stuff (which I hated back then but APPRECIATE the knowledge now)

my Granddad taught me how to hunt,fish,weld, wrench, and fabricate darn near ANYTHING from ANY material available

like Dr. X said....I also got sucked into the militia BS early in life......hoping to protect my freedoms and myself from Big Brother but finding myself stuck in a particularly "anxious" group who were more like a biker gang wanting to start a war for any reason rather than protecting what the FF had set forth....so I defected quickly and focused on myself and my family

Y2K scare never really bothered me......I live very low on the grid anyway......I have a philosophy that when you are poor to begin with, you never really have that far to fall and it isn`t so devastating WTSHTF......I have survived for weeks without hot water, electricity, heat or AC, and very little food (ramen noodles are 13 cents a pack and worth EVERY penny) because I was broke and unemployed....friends would comment how they wouldn`t have Elect. or computers or ATMs or whatnot and I laughed because I didn`t really find it all that terrifying.......I`ve been there and survived that for a short period and now must focus more on surviving for much longer periods

My wife and I want to be more self-sufficient to BEGIN WITH, rather than to try and survive without the Grid if it was taken away from us by some unforseen circumstances

Technology in all it`s glory, tends to enslave some folks. and for everything we invent to make our lives SIMPLER, we actually complicate our lives that much more by becoming reliant on yet another service, gadget, or person......a DE-evolution of sorts.

It seems Mankind has forgotten most all of the basic survival skills learned by early Man and invented things to do the work for them....so that they may bulldoze the land to build Golf courses, play eighteen holes and retire to the easy chair without a care in the world

My Grandad taught me to be responsible for my own survival

Mom taught me how to grow my own food

Y2K, Katrina,LA riots, and the militia crap taught me about panic and paranoia and the tendency of Man to war when feeling threatened or going hungry

so taking all these experiences into account, my current contigency plan not only focuses on flexibility and preparedness for water, food, shelter, defense, and medical care but also on logic and reality rather than panic and paranoia

and this sight has proved very helpful and informative

umm.......I type too much and digress

the answer to the thread question is : All my life

[Dr. X]

Don't slam yerself, Slim...that was a damn good post! ;)

as ever,
Dr. X :cool:

[NineseveN]

Don't slam yerself, Slim...that was a damn good post! ;)

as ever,
Dr. X :cool:

+1 Great post, very insightful, I enjoyed the read. :)

[Arizona Highlander]

I enjoyed your post as well, Slim! Please feel free to post here often - this board really needs a little more activity!

[flopshot]

like DrX, Lew, and Slim, boy scouts smacked me in the head. try a winter campout in jersey without the proper equipment and supplies. my old man let me suffer the first one then had a "sit down" with me when i got back. learned to look ahead and around the corner after that. going without power for four days in the winter and one day without the ability to get out set them mindframe in concrete. looking forward to learning more here.

[nightfighter4d]

Hey it all started simple. I am a child of the cold war. At a pre adolescent age I started to read adult books. When I found the whole, Survivalist, Guardians, Deathlands, and all the others it scared me, but still I read on. Throw in there the Movies of the time Red Dawn, Day After and the ever classic The Comet, Plus all the zombie flix. I was headed this way. To top it all off I am a gianormous gun nut and gear queer. My grandmother on dads side was a hoarder of epic proportions, and dad was a definite product of her loins. These were all the contributing factors.

The start of my renewed focus on Survival and Preparedness came after I got laid up from an IED that damn near ended my life in Iraq. I got on the net and began researching guns in my free time which with my propensity sent me into the survival field. So here I am a junior prepper with no path. Then came the straw that has sent me into overdrive Katrina. You all saw the shit on the news me I had to go and pull my weight to help these sheeple too stupid to run. So that sent me over the edge into full blown hoarder. Now I collect anything that I think will help when the SHTF. I have to contend with a wife that I am slowly turning to see my point of view. I hope to eventually get to a level of sufficiency that I find acceptable

Right now the Gun closet is full and the pantry is pretty full. We got enough food for she and I for at least 2 weeks. We have actually begun to over flow into a spare bedroom. At least that is the way it was when I left for my vacation here in Iraq, again. The shed is the home to enough gear to equip the family with load bearing equip and the gun closet has enough guns to outfit them all. Now just got to improve the ammo situation. We now got our piece of land 15 acres. Now I got to get all the peices in place a garden, animals, wind turbine solar panels, shelter. Somehow I got to do this on what the Army pays me. I know I can do it just gonna take time I guess I got to be patient.

So there you have it give me an assessment. I could use some help to focus me, as the guns can get in the way.