An excellent post Rogue. Great insight and eloquently put. The exchange of ideas and opinions is why I love this forum.

Hmmm ...well I am prepping for survival ... I guess both! No guns and ammo, but everything else including security is under serious scrutiny.

Same here.

Also, to others why would gangs and marauders what your stuff if they do not know it is there? Have my neighbors become psychic or Spam sniffing dogs after SHTF?

I believe, and these are only my thoughts on the matter, that city Preppers are in more fear of what might happen than those that are in a northern town. I live in London, between Winsor, Hamilton, the GTA, and would be running the gamut to get out of Dodge. To stay in a city of 300,00 or more, not a good choice, especially in high rise Zombie hives. Stay in the city with a generator after a week, target. Am I prepping on fear, most likely, I bought a Dodge Caravan with trailer hitch didn’t I. Got the spray paint to color it in fall camo…maybe. But I would be gone as fast as would be for me to pack, and convince the wife that it was time to go, (a week maybe). 😯 🙄 😥

"why would gangs and marauders what your stuff if they do not know it is there? Have my neighbors become psychic or Spam sniffing dogs after SHTF?"

I'll take a stab at that one. I suppose first you would have consider that SHTF relates to absolute collapse of civil order or "you're on your own out there in the jungle bud." Darwin and Nietzsche may just have been right about natural selection and the true nature of man.

For those that aren't prepared it is estimated that people would turn to violent anarchy within three days given a situation of no food or water.

The simple fact that you are there; means that you must have both food and water. They don't need to snif it out, it only stands to meet reason. You must have supplies or you wouldn't be able to stay there.

The second reason for a person or group to acccess your property (and you and your family if you're there) is scavaging valuable trade items, jewelry, gold or anything else that would be simple to gather and carry for barter for food, water or whatever.

There is one undeniable fact; even the best-minded people will do whatever it takes to feed their starving children.That doesn't take into account maniac types that see "no effective police enforcement" as their opporutnity to do the things that a fear of reprisal inhibits them from doing normally. You just have to research some of the times in larger neighboring cities (New York, Detroit, Chicago) when the inner cities fell to anarchy as a result of short-term power outages or violent demonstrations. A free ticket to looters, and that's without the threat of starvation or dehydration threatening their existence. I don't want to get into the sex-crazed opportunists who turned to physical assaults on women in those circumstances.

Prepping is a double-edged sword, more so in a heavily populated environment. You and your family can eat, but at what possible cost? Of course that totally depends on the extremity of the situation. I assume that when someone says SHTF that's exactly what they're speculating.

I don't hold a lot of faith in there ever being a complete collapse of the civil system here in Canada, but if it were to happen; people who blog that they prep but do not include a way to protect either themselves or their supplies might just want to add someone with those capabilities to their list of live-in friends in the event that happens. You know, kind of like "friends with benefits".

PREPPER; prepares for minor or major events, natural and man made, has at least 14 days of supplies stored in there residents..Most preppers have 6 months worth of supplies...some up to a year..

Survivalist; is prepared as previously stated but has at least one years worth of supplies, and has a position that is completely self sustainable in the event of a complete collapse of modern society..Knows how to hunt ,fish and live off the land, has some kinda of tactical training, private or military..has weapons at the ready...has cashes of supplies stored..

This is the basics......

Just my thoughts.....

I consider myself to be a prepper capable of surviving...

Good rebuttal Rogue.

I'm a prepper over a survivalist.
The funny thing is, the more I think on it, the more I see people prepping who have never thought to put a label to it. I don't see the SHTF scenarios as world turning events, rather those that turn individual lives and that is what I see most of us prepping for. Let's face it, you have to have these things sorted out first before you take on a shack in the woods with all the trappings to survive an apocalypse. So, if you are "prepping" for your future by buying RRSPs or a revenue property; in my mind you have started down the prepper path. If big snow storms regularly hit your area and you keep candles, blankets, extra food and water, and perhaps a generator with extra fuel then you are further down that path. For those of us that live in rural areas and for whom it makes sense to own fire arms for pest control, hunting, etc, I wouldn't automatically push you into the "survivalist" moniker. I think that is more about mindset and what you really think the future holds.

For myself, I'm pretty new to the idea of prepping as a separate activity from those that every intelligent person who lives in an environment which can at times be hostile. I've added a bug out box to my back country camping gear, increased the size of my pantry, and think more about what incidents are more likely than others and how will I handle them. I'm also preparing for a future where the world doesn't end and I get old enough that I don't want to work any more. To that end, I will keep preparing for retirement. I don't want to be the cliche survivalist living in the sticks in a bunker and eating squirrels because I was so consumed with the end of the world that I made it a self fulfilling reality for myself. This is my opinion on the matter and like all opinions, subject to change pending new evidence. If I'm out to lunch, I expect someone will tell me so.

Cheers,

Antsy

Whatsa matter Antsy, squirrel meat aint good enuff for ya? 🙂 😛 😀 😆 😆

Probably a survivalist, I have basically been reading any books I can on any topic having to do with hardskills, luckily my aunt and cousin just bought a farm near Merrickville but for me and parents to bug out to there we would have to contend with getting by Toronto then dealing with any nuclear problems with Pickering and Mcmaster's research reactor which is in my city

Yes, but do you practice your skills. Can you start a fire by 3 different means, even with damp wood on a wet day. Do you practice different styles of cooking without a pot or pan. As I'm not not about to harp on the subect too long, is your bug out bag packed and ready to go. Learn, Pratice, Teach and then practice some more.

Whatsa matter Antsy, squirrel meat aint good enuff for ya? 🙂 😛 😀 😆 😆

I have some lovely squirrel meat recipes 😀

A bit o flour, a pinch o pepper and herbs, braise until brown, add veggies and a bito apple cider if andy. Cover and cook on low for two hour until tender, add C.flour ta make a good gravy. Paraphrased from a fox fire book. Bon appetite

Never trust anyone who hides the meat.... same rule applies to corn dogs. During the depression sea gulls all but disappeared from Newfoundland and rats suffered the same decline in Europe. It was good enough for my grandparents in Holland during the war and if shoved, squirrel would be on the menu. I just don't want that everyone else who thought to "prep" for old age gets to eat beef while I'm dining on yard rodents. 😉

Rodent House Restaurant

Now serving: Beaver, Gopher, Groundhog, Muskrat, Porcupine, Rat (brown or black), Rabbit, and last but not least, Squirrel.

Yummy, yummy, rats in my tummy. 😯

Anything for tick soup? Got a whack of em this year.