Hi all,
I am in the Quesnel area sitting on a nice small farm with chickens, goats and a small garden area. I would be interested in meeting up with others in the area to exchange info, ideas etc. If you have a free day and want to meet up pm me or drop me a line at ibdeerrolj@hotmailcom(missing the "dot" between hotmail and com to try and discourge spam bots). I have some mechanical ability, as well as doing most of my own home repairs. Other things to trade, batter, share as well. I know how most of you feel about the bills/debt and what it is like to try to live on a pension as I was involved in a m/c accident several years ago and haven't worked (outside the home) since as I can only work short times (about 3 or 4 hrs of heavy work). Makes most of my prepping a lot slower and more difficult but deffinetly makes it more worht while and more fulfilling.

Hello Chilcotin,

I came across this website just recently. I'm still lurking and reading posts mostly.
I was thinking of attending the recent meet up in Coquitlam, but decided against it in the last minute.
I'm in the same boat as Jeff and TJHoof.
But worse, I'm not a tradesman by profession; I am in telecommunications.
So my current skills will be useless in its current form should the shtf but I hope to be able to pick up my old MOC as an RTOp.
I am building a small inventory in communications equipment and their off-grid power supply.
I aim to be useful should the shtf scenario actually really happen.

Hello Theiss,

Welcome to the board. Prepping does not necessarily require a lot of money at one time and space is a consideration but there are things that can help mitigate it though not eliminate it. Try a few little things can add up to a large amount very quickly. Haveing communications equipment and skills is invaluable in any shtf scenario. Have you considered an emp scenario? Your gear could easily be protected in a metal trash can, not to mention safe from theives after all, whos going to look for expensive gear in the trash? As for not beinging a tradesman by profession, that really shouldn't be a consideration for anything. Many of us are older (late 40's +) and some of us have disabilities that limit what we can do. Also, you may have other skills that you can use to barter for things that you need, even land. A recent article in "Small Farms Magazine" told about a deal a land owner made to trade land for work. May not be common but it does happen.

Storage can be a problem for many people, look around you place and try a few unconventioal things. Under the bed, can you ad a shelf in the closet? Get a storage locker? Have a friend that thinks along the same lines? Talk to them about building a shed together on theie property and both use it.

As for finding what you need/want try garage sales, second hand stores, friends (amazing what they have or know someone who has and want to get rid of if they know what you are looking for) small town general stores have a lot of cool stuff if you travel and , this one I have found many people ignore or don't know about, many of the smaller garbage dumps have a re-use store or shed that you can get many items for little or no money and in a lot of cases I have found new or near new items there.

For food supplies add a little extra on your shopping, try maybe buying a couple of extra cans of beans or a bag of sugar each time you shop. If storage is a problem, use areas that are not normally used. Under the bed for instance.

Food grade storage containers can be a problem some time as well. I don't like plastic myself but will use it. The best place I have found for these is a u-brew shop. Most of the items that they use is brought in in 5 gallon pails and some even get the yeast in small aluminum cans that look like the old milk cans. They will usually sell them cheap but you might be able to exchange a little work for several containers as well. If you wnat to keep things dry in the containers, or any where, go to a piano shop and ask about the gel packs that come with the new pianos, they are they same as to ones that are found in any moisture sensitive item you by in the store but about a thousand times bigger (no this in not a exaggeration, I have a friend who owns a piano shop).

The most important thing I can thing of though is to network with others of a like mind, the reason you are doing it is irrelivent. If you can make the meetings in then go and have a good time. I'm hoping to start some here soon.

Murphy"s Law is alive and well; you know, if anything can go wrong it will, and at the worst possible moment. take yesterday as an example. It was 34 degrees in the shade. Everywhere else around here there was an inch of rain two nights ago, except for a half mile radius surrounding our house where we didn't get a drop. So I feel slighted! Our horse has an infected sore spot on its back and needs twice daily medical attention which I am personally obliged to provide, weeds in the garden are practically jumping over the fence, the irrigation system belonging to our neighbour and which we rely on to water our entire potato crop broke yesterday, and oh yes my son caught fire in the middle of the yard. I kid you not!! It wasn't exactly spontaneous combustion, he was using a grinder to make a knife, but it was so hot out that a spark landed on his shirt and burned a big hole. No injuries. But really!!

Sitting in the house watching the weeds grow faster than the tomatoes, and wondering if I should actually battle 34 degree heat and stake those tomatoes more securely or watch re-runs of Young Riders. I am aware of a flaw in my character. I lay out big plans for myself like cutting some beetle kill logs free for the taking near here to put up a small guest cabin, or gathering all the old compost in the corrals to extend the gardens for next year, then never get any of these things done. All around me I see my flaw: I need to cut 10 cords of wood, build a wood shed, install another wood stove in such a way I don't burn the house down next winter, build a workshop in our cement basement, tan 50 deer hides that are partly finished. Oh God, on and on it goes. I have been aware I need to do all these things and haven't done any of them yet

But perhaps I am not alone in my romantic ideas of living in a remote area, relying on my own resources, brushing off the drudgery of some of it. There must be others. None of us can do what we need to do alone. I am fortunate in that when TSHIF I have my own place. I am just feeling lazy these days and whining a bit. There is a lot of the romantic in all of us preppers, you know; the go live off the land thing if it really gets bad out there. But it is a lot of work requiring special skills, or the truth might be that the people who live in those areas already might not take kindly to outsiders moving in hoards to live off the local deer, salmon, etc. They might already have plans in place to defend their area. As a case in point the Tsilhqot'in Nation has just last week banned all outside moose hunting by those who normally do so on provincial government licenses. Get your network, and/or land in place before you actually have to depend on it to survive. Keep safe everyone!!

hi chilcotin, I am a prepper from the lower mainland and have been planning on leaving for a while and the cariboo has been on of the few area's that i have been planning on checking out. I am a long time hunter and fisherman. Also I am a carpenter, chef , backyard mechanic and welder with many of my own tools. I also was formerly a volonteer ski patroler with the Canadian Ski patrol System in the okanagan area. My girlfriend is an avid gardener with thousands of seeds collected in her seed bank and has many years of experience in bushcraft as well as fertility training and minor surgery experience in breeding. As a mater of fact, my hunting partners and i have drawn two moose in the williams lake area at the end of october. I also have a valid class 1 drivers licence so employment is easy for me to obtain anywhere. Its good to know that there are like minded people in this area. It makes my choice on my eventual location easier to make.