An excellent discussion Greenguy. I believe it is IMPERATIVE that we form communities in the physical sense. How we design them and what form they take is open but we HAVE TO form groups where we have a plan to get together when the time comes. Whether it is forming on one individuals place where we have all contributed or some sort of mutual aid agreement and plan. Security in numbers and community.

I agree. A larger 'community' whether it be friends or family, would be the best survival tactic.
I find that alot of us here seem to want to protect our privacy - even not wanting to meet other Preppers in public. At our E. Ont. meeting there was only myself and Farmgal and her husband.......too bad.....a missed opportunity.
There's a post on the Canadian Preppers Networt about a person surviving the Bosnian war and how things just changed literally overnight - how a small 5 houses neighbourhood stood together to survive the 'new order'.
http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1269/137/Incredible_Survival_Q_A_From_Serbia.html?currentSplittedPage=0

As in all things trust is the key. It has to be developed and nurtured. Any group is made up of individuals and for this it would be best to have the attitude of the Three Musketeers... albeit a somewhat larger group would be good.. LOL !! A mix of skills and abilities. Agreement on phylosophy and execution is also necessary. What are the operating parameters of the group.. etc... just thoughts...

Patrick Henry had the right of it, when he said “United we stand, Divided we fall” for as preppers we are also in the same situation. We are solitude to avoid rejection, ant that could be our downfall. We are starting to meet, and get the gist of people of whom share our ideas of whom we may end up uniting together in times of a breakdown in our society. Our solitude stems from ridicule that is inflated by media showing only the extremes of what we are trying to do. We strive to survive and live in a society that is crumbling and on the brink of collapse. Where moral values, and courtesies have diminished to a point that even saying “Good day” a person on the street is deemed suspicious and frown upon. We are in a society where it’s more a hassle and suspicious to buy a gun legally, then it is to buy one in an alley. We have become a secret society because of ridicule, and are deemed suspicious because of it. 😐

So, it seems that most people would agree for the need to develop a physical community formed by geographical proximity and based (at least) on the shared value(s) of survival through preparedness. JustABear brings up the key issue of trust. Can you trust someone you met on the internet and barely know?
Surely not. However, we do have some time now to work on building real relationships without taking on risk. Meetings in public places like the upcomming Hidden Valley meet are a great way to see if trust can be nurtured. However, I know that I won't be trying to get to Hamilton in a real emergency situation, so more localized meetings should be encouraged. What do you think?

Great thread

I agree with the united we stand. I just hope nothing happens before I can move. I hope to be able to make all of the meets within a two hour drive from me. Would like to make it to the ones further up north as well. Since I have no clue were or when I will be able to move, I want to keep all possibilities open.

I am slowly working towards the move but at the same time if I don't get out in time making sure where I am is "safe". I believe a few others are working towards the same thing. So someone that may seem too far away today may be closer in the next while.

Hello to all. I am new to this network and I have often heard of people having bug out packs ready. Where are they going? Do they have a site already planned or are they just running away? I think the idea of meeting and building a network of friends is the best way to find out what is best for every individual. I live in Cambridge and while I don't plan on bugging out. I would be open to the idea if there is a place where we can work as a community.

While there is a small (five families) group within my own social group that would work together, 3 out of the five own their own land and all three have extra space for folks coming from town to them if push came to shove.. in fact one or three of them could/would be stop points if my hubby if he got caught at work, but he has a number of different routes planned depending on x or y

Longer term, all three farms have and I hope will continue to add in more things that would have good trade value, but speaking of get togethers, I have to admit that I am leary about folks I have meet online coming to the farm before I meet them in person a few times and get a few for them in the live sense.. but having said that, I am willing to meet in a public place and put myself (and DH) out there at the meetings..

I have to admit that while I would startled to see online members show up at the front gate, they would have a lead in by saying.. Hey I'm oldschool from the board and I need a place for a while, let see if it can work out.. just saying.. Many hands make light work..

Lol sure use my name 🙂

I will always phone ahead to make sure you have rubber boots and a shovel with my name on it.

Lol sure use my name 🙂

I will always phone ahead to make sure you have rubber boots and a shovel with my name on it.

😆 😳 I will let you in on secret, no one gets me by phone.. I am the worst phone person, I use it but when on computer, it just rings and when off computer, the ringer turned off.. even my mom knows a) call hubby at work or email me.. but I do have extra boots and shovels in storage 😀

Now everyone will show up and say the code word "hey im oldschool"...
I agree with everything said on this thread, I know that I keep my mouth shut now around most people to avoid being thought nutty, however in some cases people have asked questions and thought more seriously about prepping. I think the coming meet with be great for getting us all out there and meeting up and hopefully after that we will be more likely to meet with the more local preppers in our area! My so called community thus far is pretty much nil, and I would be very interested in networking or even offering accomodations to those I trust in our Bug out Location, hell right now its a place we use to have fun and the more the merrier in most cases, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.

Lol no one wants to be me 🙂

I think Grouchyprepper is going to use "old school" with a logo to mean Preppers.

As said before, I think the Prepper community coming together to help educate and support each other is very valuable and should be encouraged. However, being realistic, I think that in a real SHTF situation all the Preppers will find themselves in the difficult position of having to help and support close family, friends and others who are not Preppers. So, in a post SHTF situation, our Prepper community ties should not be seen as an avenue to drop in on and live with the closest Prepper farmer, that poor person will have enough to deal with. Rather, our Prepper community ties can be effectively used as a channel for bartering supplies, equipment, and even personal skills. I'm not a farmer. I don't have land, and even if I did I don't have the time to farm. I am however in the solar business, so I have solar panels, inverters, batteries, and all the other goodies people need to generate electricity. I'll use those things, and my skills at solar installation as my primary bartering currency.
Bottom line here is that we need to establish physical ties to other Preppers in our area, and we should not fear that those ties would put us at risk of becoming abused in a SHTF situation. As much as I respect all other Preppers for our common activities, There won't be any room on my "couch" during a real SHTF situation. That room will surely be occupied by some totally unprepared but nevertheless important person in my life.
So, moving forward, I propose we think about the things we have that we are willing to use as barter currency (items, food, skills), and also what we think we may need. If we list those things along with the general area we are in (by county), we can then PM the people who we want to meet and establish connections with them, assuming there is mutual agreement.
On a side note, I got a tooth pulled two days ago. The tooth was killing me for months, and I'm glad it's gone. I got to thinking about how I would find a dentist if the SHTF? Let me tell you, if there was someone with dental skills on the barter list and I had another tooth bugging me like the last one, I think I would travel a long way carrying my barter currency to trade for a tooth pulling! It goes to show how important it is that we work this out!

I have using the barter system for years. That is how I got rid of the plants I didn't want and got the wood I did want. Several times thats how I got my hair cuts. There are several barter sites but nothing that I have seen that I am interested in.

Some of the skills that I have used in bartering: cooking, canning, dehydrating, sewing, needle work. It's amazing how many people that I have met and offered to barter with have accepted over the years.

Edit: as for the dentist, anyone with a pair of pliers can pull a tooth it's the pain killers while you are having it done and they will be in short supply. Stock up on cloves or clove oil 🙂