CRAZY PREPARED

[Richter]

We've been swapping around allot of ideas on how to save, scrounge and adapt to bad environments or tight situations recently, and given the economic climate (DRINK!) we're sliding into, this IS NOT A BAD THING.
(Please to be keeping paranoia to useful levels. )
DO you know about, or have articles pertaining to:

- Clever ways to get / prepare food for bad or meager situations.
- How to get by without heat / water / electricity
- What you can eat. 
- How to NOT get eaten.
- What to stock up on in case the excrement hits the air conditioning.
- How to not die outside of a house.
- How not to get poisoned or parasited by the water.
- How to not get sick. / How to get not sick again
- What kind of tools are helpful, or how to improvise them.
- Tasty  recipes for long pork.

IS SOCIETY COLLAPSING?
ARE YOU READY?
WILL YOU BE ABLE TO OPEN A DEATHMATCH VENUE BAR AND GRILL IN THE ASHES OF THE FALLEN SOCIETY BEFORE THE OTHER GUY?
If nothing else, glean a few ideas on how to make "Green", "100% Recycled" goods to sell to hipsters.  (Fashion has proven they WILL buy and wear trash.)

[Cain]

I demand you rename this thread Crazy Prepared, in honour of the TV Trope. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CrazyPrepared

I shall return with ideas, once I power up the generator, extract the water from the tarps outside, boil it using these two stones and tinder I collected earlier, and add some instant coffee, milk powder and sugar I keep under the soles of my shoes in a carefully cut out compartment and have a passable coffee to drink.

[Sheered Völva]

Check out http://www.motherearthnews.com

They may be the first major mag in the English language to focus on how to survive on little and without reliance on government/big business.  They have some great stuff.

[Richter]

Good one.  Thanks!
Your name brings to mind how I can (and will, given half a chance) rebuilt civilization out of the back deck of my ancient Volvo.

Cain, to NO ONE'S surprise, knows how to do this RIGHT. 

[Richter]

Here's an old favorite article on how to get by while homeless. 
I am happy to report that I can't vouch for the effectiveness or accuracy, but I like the focus on good hygiene, vitamin supplements, and taking care of your teeth.

www.donrearic.com/homeless.htm

[Richter]

Hobo stove.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Hobo-Stove-from-Tin-Can---Traditional-High-Tech-Ca/

The cheap as free answer to a $100 ultra - light gas camping stove.

[fomenter]

i am not too well prepared, my adaptability and pack lite camping experience is about all i got going at the moment, i am too busy dealing with the disaster of the day to get ahead
my limited supplies (my small stash of gold and silver guns and ammo, camping gear are spread all over three states)
if i had a few bucks i would do this http://www.survivalseedbank.com/ it looks like a good idea, keeps well and gives you new seed each year something garden store seeds no longer do...

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

A suggestion is to build a stash of barter goods that are inexpensive now, but will be incredibly valuable and necessary in a future where there are no Wal-Marts.

A few ideas:

Liquor - cheap vodka can also be used to make tinctures and sterilize wounds. I pick up a sale half-gallon once or twice a month to stash in the basement.

Salt - big bags of rock salt are perfect.

Refined sugar - people bitch about it now, but when it's hard to come by it will be worth more than gold.

Band-aids

Antibiotic ointment

Aspirin

Razors

Knives

White gas

Lanterns

Oil lamps

Candles

Paraffin Wax (needed for canning when all of the disposable lids are gone)

Candlewicks (cheaper than candles, and can be used in primitive oil lamps fueled with simple fat)

Flour (tricky because it doesn't keep that well and is susceptible to mold and vermin, but will be in high demand)

Duct tape

Resealable glass bottles and jars

Cheesecloth

Nails & screws

Matches & lighters

Basic hand tools

Metal screening material (for making drying racks)

Zip-loc baggies (for distributing your salt and sugar)

Needles and thread

Corncob pipes

Tobacco


Also, develop some barterable skills. For instance, learn how to make a decent oil lamp out of a tin can, some wire, and a wick. Learn to identify local medicinal plants, and how to administer them. Learn how to make tinctures and salves.

[Elder Iptuous]

befriend any local survivalists that you can now.  they will have large stashes of equipment, ammo, and comestibles for you to use, and if you get in good now, they won't expect it when you shoot them in the back later. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

befriend any local survivalists that you can now.  they will have large stashes of equipment, ammo, and comestibles for you to use, and if you get in good now, they won't expect it when you shoot them in the back later. 

Survivalists are ALWAYS expecting that.

Better, develop some leadership skills, convince your neighbors to pool resources, barricade your neighborhood, and take turns patrolling the perimeter in small, armed packs. Learn to garden so you can convince them to let you cultivate their back yards. Better learn to harvest and dry seeds for next year, or you're fucked.

[Elder Iptuous]

I know...i was being fecesious.  Your plan sounds like the plotline of the survivalist fanfic book, "Lights Out"....

[fomenter]

befriend any local survivalists that you can now.  they will have large stashes of equipment, ammo, and comestibles for you to use, and if you get in good now, they won't expect it when you shoot them in the back later. 

Survivalists are ALWAYS expecting that.

Better, develop some leadership skills, convince your neighbors to pool resources, barricade your neighborhood, and take turns patrolling the perimeter in small, armed packs. Learn to garden so you can convince them to let you cultivate their back yards. Better learn to harvest and dry seeds for next year, or you're fucked.

wont work with most store bought seeds see my above post. 

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

befriend any local survivalists that you can now.  they will have large stashes of equipment, ammo, and comestibles for you to use, and if you get in good now, they won't expect it when you shoot them in the back later. 

Survivalists are ALWAYS expecting that.

Better, develop some leadership skills, convince your neighbors to pool resources, barricade your neighborhood, and take turns patrolling the perimeter in small, armed packs. Learn to garden so you can convince them to let you cultivate their back yards. Better learn to harvest and dry seeds for next year, or you're fucked.

wont work with most store bought seeds see my above post. 

That's part of learning to garden.

Actually, it does work with most store-bought seeds, it's just that since almost all store-bought seeds are hybrids, the resulting offspring will more closely resemble the grandparent strains, which may or may not be a good thing. Also, next year's squash may be lulzy if you plant multiple varieties of cucurbit, it's always a crapshoot with squash! 


Most of my garden is heirloom these days, and some of the squash, tomatoes, and spinach has a pedigree that dates to my first house which I bought 11 years ago this spring.

[fomenter]

my experience was with squash/zucchini the second year they were the rock hard inedible miniature pumpkins/squash things they sell as Halloween decorations

heirloom is the way to go, sounds awesome

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

i am not too well prepared, my adaptability and pack lite camping experience is about all i got going at the moment, i am too busy dealing with the disaster of the day to get ahead
my limited supplies (my small stash of gold and silver guns and ammo, camping gear are spread all over three states)
if i had a few bucks i would do this http://www.survivalseedbank.com/ it looks like a good idea, keeps well and gives you new seed each year something garden store seeds no longer do...

I just looked at that website, and it's just another marketing scheme...

It's been very difficult to acquire high quality, open pollinated seeds lately.

Bullshit, if anything high-germination-rate heirloom seeds are more available now than they've been in 50 years. Fuck, I get three or four catalogs every winter that specialize in organic, high-quality heirloom seed, the nurseries all have started stocking several lines of heirloom, and even the big seed companies like Burpee, Lilly Miller, and Lake Valley have jumped on the heirloom bandwagon. Plus, for anyone who internets, there are quite a few heirloom seed exchanges.

So don't believe the hype, and don't get suckered into spending that kind of money on readily-available seed you can buy from dozens, if not hundreds, of other sources!

http://www.halcyon.com/tmend/links.htm

http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html
http://www.territorialseed.com/
http://www.burpee.com/category/vegetables/heirloom+vegetables.do
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/


http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind/
http://www.seedswaps.com/

Etc etc.