Hello all,

I am new to these forums, and a new prepper as well. Just want to say hello, and give a brief background about myself, why I am prepping, and what I plan.

I'm ex-milatary, and currently in safety and loss prevention. I have a wife, and a young daughter. I am concerned for our future due to potential threats I see as likely.

I am not too much into the polar shift, 2012, meteor impact or any of the extinction level threats. Although I do not dismiss the possibility of such an event being possible, I personally do not feel that the risk of such threats are likely enough to happen to place much worry about them. Added to the fact that the level of preperation required to ensure long term survival, if possible at all, would be beyond my reach due to technical and financial limitations.

I do believe that we are facing a threat to our society that will impact all of us in a drastic and life changing way. I believe we are nearing a tipping point of several converging global developments which will culminate in the collapse of our food chain, energy reserves and will lead to a social break down. It all comes down to the ingenuity gap between our society being able to find a techinical and innovative solution in a timely manner to make up for the short fall in our current supplies.

I believe the top culprit in this scenario would be global oil extraction reaching its peak in the next few years. As most of you already know, oil runs most of our supply chain. Not just in the transportaton of goods, but in the fertilizer we use to grow the majority of our crops, the chemicals we use to ensure that our crops are not destroyed by inscets or disease. Fuel for the machines used to harvest, seperate and prepare most of our food. The fuel for extracting metals and elements that are used in our industry... the list is almost endless. There are so many aspects of our live tied to the use of oil, that the interuption of its supply would generate added stress to or financial system from many different areas (stock markets, commodities, shipping, manufacturing), which would not only drive inflation, but as each of these areas are interdependent on each other, it could soon snowball out of control.

Other areas of grave concern are water reserves. Aquifers, in many countries have been decreased to less that 50% of the water they had before they were tapped into. It takes far longer to replace the water used in aquifers that can in any way be considered sustainable. Polution and mismanagement of run off have made many sources of renewable water dificult and costly to harvest. Add the added stresses that would arise from a peak oil situation, and matters would become worse.

Alternatives are being worked on. Will they be online in time to offset the energy and chemical deficit created after the world oil production peaks, unlikely. Given that those same oil reserves are required to create, and refine those same energy alternatives, if we do not find the means to offset the deficit before peak oil, our economy, food supply, infastructure will all crash. How much will depend on national reserves, local conditions and the response governments around the world take to that immediate threat.

So for my prepping...

Bug out bag for my family. 3 days food and water for all of us. Several evac routes out of the urban center with food and water drops along the way. Each of the evac routes will have been wild crafted with foods that will grow in the area, but are unlikely to be eaten by local wildlife (ie potatos are not liked by bears). Each evac route ends in an area that can support several families due to extensive wild crafting, and water reserves.

Increasing my skills in hunting, butchering, perserving food. Keeping my first aid skills up and going on ride alongs with paramedics in increase my exposure to different kinds of injuries so I will be able to function in an efficent manner if someone with me is hurt. Pratice and train in other survival skills, shelter building, camp layout, etc.

Where I would like to take it. I would love to have property where I could create an underground shelter to house not only my family but a larger group of like minded people to increase the long term survival chances of the group. Looking into different options I believe that the 40' x 10.5' x 8' shipping containers are the best and cheapest manner in which to construct this shelter. One such container could be used to construct a personal space for a small family for sleeping. With 10 sepearate sleeping 'pods' each 8' wide 8' deep and 5' high, there would be ample room not just to sleep, but have a private space to realax. Using the 10.5 foot high containers would be important as the floor could be raised off the ground up to 2.5 feet and used as storage of food, batteries and other equipment that would not take up valuable floor space. The use of composting toilets for solid waste, and a septic system for water waste would last for over 5 years without needing external maintenance. Excersice bikes equiped with 12 volt alternators which would be used to charge the batteries under the floor to power the essential electrical systems would keep the residents both fit, and supplied with filtered air, lighting and refrigeration for medicines and important foods. Several containers could be placed together to offer different resources and functons to the shelter.

Needless to say, I have not created this shelter, and am still in the planning stage. If anyone else has further ideas to enhance the function of such a shelter I would love to hear your ideas. When a final design is hammered out, perhaps we could use these fourms to get one or more of them built, as a group.