Hello all. I am a military veteran living in Durham Region. By veteran I mean a real one - six tours overseas and not one UN medal if you follow me. Also I am in my early forties so I am not from the Saving Private Ryan generation. Recent world events truly have me concerned about my family's well being and the last ice storm showed me how close we are to a real problem. My home was without power for six days, and I was prepared just because of my ordinary outdoor hunting and fishing lifestyle. My neighbours actually had their generator running their Xmas lights while the rest of the community was in darkness (I didn't flaunt my generator power). I came to the conclusion that if we face something more significant I would be in serious trouble after only a few weeks....so here I am. I am not interested in prepping and surviving whatever comes, be it a natural disaster or the looming collapse of the US dollar as a rugged individual. I hope to meet other like minded people with a skill set to offer - as we were always told in the forces "prior planning and preparation prevents piss poor performance". This is a big step as I am usually quiet and shy, but I know this demands a group effort and also not some kind of zombie survivalist outlook lone nut outlook. I look forward to sharing some useful ideas and contacts.