Greetings from the Cariboo. We are a zone 3 growing area temp. to -40 possible in winter, but usually -10 to -25 range. Semi arid. My family is 70% self-sufficient (coffee, sugar, oranges do not grow well here), but during tshtf we would be totally self sufficient. I have conditioned my garden soil area over the last few years, can accomodate animals (but don't want to be tied down right now), supply 80% of our protein through moose, deer and salmon. No mortgage. Network with neighbours for firewood in exchange for fresh and canned produce from our garden.
There are a lot of good people posting on these sites. It is encouraging to see more and more people taking prepping more seriously. I am all in favour of those who are storing up a month supply of non perishable food in case the power goes out, or a sudden loss of a job puts survival in jeopardy. That is only common sense to be thus prepared. But I am thinking of all those below the Fraser Canyon (and I have some family in Vancouver). In a major disaster (biological, ecological, terrorist, massive unemployment)most of those with no practical escape plan including a guaranteed welcoming destination would never make it to safety. A population of millions with a 3 day supply of food rioting, the roads clogged with cars that have run out of fuel making it impossible for those with full gas tanks to pass, a complete bottle neck from Abbotsford to Hope stopping all travel for anyone who has made it that far (everyone on the Lower Mainland has to travel north). Murders, riots, theft, it will be unbelievable. And for those of us already north of the Canyon there is no reason for smugness or complacency. Most of us rely on stores for our food, medical supplies etc.
Why am I writing all this? I know that anyone who bothers to read these posts knows this already. All preppers need a SMALL network, be it family, friends, or if you live in the extreme danger zones of the Lower Mainland a northern refuge where you will be welcomed if you make it this far. You don't need a lot of money to prepare, I will write about some of those strategies later. But the idea is to inventory what you have to offer, and trade for what the other person has to offer. I notice that a lot of preppers are older in the sense they are no longer in their twenties. I fall into this category, and my 3 kids think I'm crazy. But many of us may want to trade gardening knowledge or fish drying techniques etc. for some physical labor. The possibilities are endless. For example one thing I would trade for is blackberries and blueberries as they do not do well here.
I have been a bit of a lone wolf, but a near tumble off a ladder the other day brought me to a realization that no matter how self sufficient my family is, when tshtf and I have a broken leg, I will likely die.
The internet is a slow laborious way to create a network. By the time one filters out the merely curious, the serious Rambos, the freeloading, homophobes, racists, and con-artists to name a few one could then to set to work. It takes time to build trust and security is a major consideration.
I will respond to anyone who contacts me and will answer questions. But I am especially looking for the following: to begin an email long term relationship with anyone with special skills such as bush knowledge, plant knowledge, mechanical, electrical, carpentry skills, first aid training with the goal of eventually meeting if we wish.
I own debt free property, tools and equipment, reliable vehicles, can trade a winter supply of food etc. in exchange for help in getting it prepared, free accomodation to right person, (hitchhike part way if you have to). Will be glad to show off the area (also to the right person). Anyway the very best. Prepping is an evolutionary process. The first step you take is the right one. But the window is small. We might have ten years, two years or two days. I have learned a lot from all of you already. dandzen8@yahoo.ca If I can find even one to network I will have served my purpose. All responses absolutely confidential.
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You sound like a serious prepper to me. I fully understand your financial point. Partly I chose to live where I do because I have never had a large income. I am in a situation that is the result of having to stretch every dollar; what is now called prepping used to be stretching income with a garden, a few chickens and a couple of pigs. A wood heater provides heat because we didn't want the expense of power and oil bills. You are right about another thing. You call it weekend prepping, but I tend to think of it as a sense of balance. I have never lived or forced my family to live as pioneers in the 18th century. I was brought up on a farm, raised by parents who struggled through the great depression. I was spared the depression, but the experience colored everything my parents did. Now it is called prepping. My kids hate gardening. That's OK, but at least they know how to plant one, and know good soil when they see it. I am not going to pull them off their sports teams and force them to split firewood in case the sky may be falling. My oldest son is 19 and learned welding from a neighbour and bought a welder. He is quite good at it (prepping whether he knows it or not). He has just completed first year engineering at University of Victoria ( of all places). Every report of earthquakes sends shivers up my spine, but he can't be forced to live his life in the woods eating dried deer meat (but he does know how deer meat is dried). People on pension such as myself also have to realize that their income is secure only at the whim of government. Look at the mess in Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. I believe a network is vital. We all have gaps, but the right people can fill in each other's gaps.
You are doing the right things. Continue to provide for the family and continue to prepare. It takes a long time and a multitude of choices. So pleased to hear you have contacts in Kamloops. I have a niece there and it is a four hour drive from where we live. There may be others of us up here too. Your post was a great boost to my morale. This prepping can get lonely.
A thought I came across. An old school bus makes a great greenhouse, and mobile too. Many school districts sell them cheap at auction. Makes a great getaway vehicle too. Anyway good luck and good prepping.
Chilcotin,
I am in agreement with your thoughts and preps, but I am myself in the same boat as Jeff78, I am a slave to bills.. and also I do not own a house, but I tend to be in the mind frame that owning in the Fraser valley at this point would be more detrimental then beneficial, owning would engender a need to protect and hold on... I rent, so it's someone else's problem..
Personally I am concerned about the inflated economics that we have enjoyed in the last 12 years... I am a tradesman as well and it's been good, but I think it's lolled us into a false sense of safety and normalcy... My wife and I have decided to pay off all our debt in the next 6 months... you might think that we must not have much, but the reality is that it's just that important enough that we have to sacrifice other things in order to make it happen.. lots of other things.
Jeff78 I look forward to the meet up, I have contacts in Kamloops as well. I think the major hurdle is knowing when it's time to pack out, for those of us in the Valley. It would be interesting to compare notes and thoughts on that.
I think that every prepper should own a copy of, or at least in the words of the author... check it out from the library, 'How to survive without a salary' by Charles Long. Though dated, it's a filled with self sustainment ideas.
anyways I will write again, but i've been a little under the weather and my mind just went blank...
Hi tjhoofing. Great to hear from you. You are making some serious preparations. Congrats! I am on the same road, and even though I own my own house and land I haven't conquered the debt thing either partly because I find a credit card too convenient to give up entirely at this point. Anything ordered on line including you excellent suggestion of a book by Charles Long requires a credit card. Renting is probably the way to go too. Lets you pick up and go much more easily, house prices are volatile because of the credit crunch, and what is a million dollar house really worth that is sitting on a flood plain and could within hours be under ten feet of water?
When tshtf, Kamloops area would be much safer than any geographical area south of it. There is easy access to any area north of Kamloops, not so earthquake vulnerable, and close enough to the Okanagan and Fraser Valley that one is still able to access the fall fruit which is so valuable as a cheaper source of stored food.
A friend of mine recently bought a fairly nice older model camper in good mechanical condition, (sleeps six) on kijiji for less than $1000. He doesn't use it for vacation travel, although he could, but instead has stored it at another friend's place to use as a summer home and a base for fall hunting and as a fishing cabin. I thought it made a lot of sense on several levels.
Would like to keep in touch. There is much that can be accomplished through a trusted network. As one example those who live in lower mainland or Okanagan and would enjoy a central interior holiday can arrive in our Cariboo area with a full pickup load of apples, pears, peaches, etc. and have a guaranteed sale for the whole cargo without any need to set up a roadside stand or peddle door to door. We don't grow these in any quantity and want them. The whole deal can be setup by email.
When i first posted I thought I might get one private response if lucky or even none at all. The response of those who wish to make their interests known to me has been very educational. I have sent emails in reply to all who contacted me, but in some cases I am not sure if email went through. If you have not heard from me then something went wrong. Please let me know if your private message was not answered.
It appears there are more serious preppers north of the Canyon than I thought. We have the possibility of a strong network. It is also evident we can mutually benefit greatly through networking with good people in the Lower Mainland. Travel and expenses could be an issue but not hard to get around these challenges. For those just starting their prepping with few resources, don't become discouraged. There are a lot of good people in these forums.
hi im from the lower mainland, my wife and i have been prepping for about 6 months now, we buy what we can on a limited budget, but we enjoy it. we realize that the time is now to get prepared, im from the kamloops area originally, i enjoy being outdoors, hunting fishing etc, networking and meeting other like minded people is key. i dont know everything about prepping but im willing to talk and share info with others.
Hi, I just joined this site to see who else is out there too. I'm planning on attending the Coquitlam meet next week. Like I posted, we moved here about 7 years ago from the US and been preppers since 2008 and continuously expanding our supplies and various planning scenarios. I'd be interested to exchange knowledge and experience as a form of "online" trade at this point with other serious preppers as well. It's essentially what we do now when communicating on this site.
We've been thinking of purchasing property (acreage) somewhere either in North West BC or the Cariboo / 100 mile area as part of our own family grand plan. Would be interested to hear people's point of view on these areas since we certainly didn't grow up here and now only beginning to expand our geographical knowledge of great BC. I myself can offer advice on, technology networks and communications (which is what I do now) and over 15 years of operations survival, field and trauma medical, land, marine and transport logistics, critical planning, and extensive tactical and related equipment experience.
Glad to see there are others out there!
Hi Arturo. Welcome to these posts. You have asked for an opinion of the location you are thinking of. I have considerable knowledge of the area. We are west of Williams Lake, about two hours from the 100 Mile community you are thinking of. A big plus is that you are well above the Canyon and beyond the danger of being trapped below Hope in a mass panic evacuation. There is lots of good land around there, lots of ranches, a well situated plot of five acres would more than feed your family. Lots of retail services in 100 Mile itself, and in Williams Lake itself there is a good hospital. You also have easy access to the much bigger centre of Kamloops. You would want to get to know the best crown lands areas as these can greatly expand resource availability for you. There is no danger from flood or earthquake but there are situations in which you could be stranded by flooding in other areas. The down side is that there are even more secure areas further north in which it is even cheaper to set up initially. Good luck.
Thanks for the input! really appreciate it. We're planning on going for a road trip this July and that area is definitely on our stops to meet with local realtors as part of the exploratory planning and to see this tourist area called Barkerville. lol. I heard its a neat western ghost town set up like fort steele. Around 5 - 10 acres will be more than enough for us to situate shelters, food, routes and defensive planing. Really appreciate it!
Just wanted to say hi.
We are currently in the process of moving to kamloops and using it as a launch point to find our prepper property in the 100 mile interlakes area.
I have owned and lived on my own farm raised horses,chickens , goats and the hay they required.(thats a whole nother story).
Looking for like minded people to network with and possibly barter or trade with.
Hi Chilcotin,
I'm probably 1 to 2 hours from you around 100 mile house. I own my cabin and no debts thank goodness I pay almost everything by cash and don't use my credit card very often. I came up here from the lower mainland 10 years ago and one of the biggest challenges I am finding is growing a garden, I came from a zone 8 and now am in zone 2. Any ideas would be great. I have 4 years of fire wood cut and I am seriously thinking of getting my industrial first aide ticket. I have the basic first aide and CPR. I need to get more food put away and change my cash into gold and other barter items. One step at a time. Would enjoy changing info with you for what is available in our area. Lord knows I like Surplus Herby's.
Hi snuff great to see more and more preppers appearing on these forums, and if I am not mistaken the forums are picking up momentum. Your location makes us practically neighbours. I will be in 100 mi on july 6th. Perhaps we can meet.
When i moved to this area several years ago I faced the same challenges you now do. Lots of what I tried failed miserably, some produced results but were disappointing, other things I tried worked well. Will send further details later.
Hi Chilcotin,
I am stuck in the lower mainland right now but do want to relocate to a much nicer,quieter,outdoor type of place.I have been a prepper for a few years and have been doing it day by day.
I have knowledge of hunting,gardening,fishing,meatcutting,gunsmithing as well as some electrical and mechanical knowledge.
Will message again later