anyone from the durham region?

Welcome to the forum sara.day81. You don't have to be doomsday prepper to be a prepper. The chances are that sometime something may happen but it much more likely to be a weather related storm or flood that will leave you on your own for a couple of days.
The best place to start is to make up a 72 hour emergency kit for each member of your family. That way you are ready if you are stranded in your apartment for a couple of days and you are also ready if you have to be evacuated.

Everyone here probably has their own view of what should be in the kit but possibly the best place to start is Emergency Management Ontario. the link for the kit is:
http://www.emergencymanagementontario.ca/english/beprepared/makeakit/makeakit.html

Figure out what your family would need for 72 hours and add it to the list and don't forget your pets if you have any.

Hope this helps.

Welcome Sara.day81!

I think most of us would agree that we are prepping for everyday emergencies first 🙂 shows like Doomsday Preppers are a little over the top!

Here's a very simple plan that is government sponsored: http://www.getprepared.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx This is bare bones but simple and a good place to start. If you use the search function at the top of the page you should be able to find some more information on prepping in urban situations. If you can't let's start a new topic so we can collect the great ideas all in one place!

Hi
I'm in Bowmanville, my husband and I would love to start meeting some new people with some same interests. We are mid 30's. not that that really matters.
I'm very sad to see the Envirosponsible go. I really loved that place.
I would like to start meeting with people for coffee or somewhere, to discuss various topics. It's always great to get other people point of views.
As an FYI i just added CELOX to my first aid kit. It's to stop bleeding. Perfect for out in the wilderness when a chainsaw wound or gun shot might mess you up and nothing is close by. I'm specifically talking about when cutting tails or hunting.

Hi Sara,
we suggest not getting too scared and telling people your a doomsday prepper, we suggest telling them you are prepping in case of a storm or power outages. All too true in Canada.

There are a few apartment dwellers and they have shared some of their ideas and accomplishments in the forums. If you use the search feature in upper right corner, go to advanced search and look for apartments and small spaces. Do you have a storage area in the basement? Do you have a family or close family member in the close area in a house with a basement or garage? Is everyone on board with this? What are the ages of the children, if they are young or not tell them to not tell anyone of Mommeys and Daddys shopping and storing items, due to the fact Apartments are so easy to break into.

I know of a Farm in the Durham/Clarington area that the people are being evicted from soon, it is a Farm House in a working farm, with storage options. Personally you need to get into at least a Townhouse in order to prep easier and safer.

Welcome take a look around feel free to share your story and any skills you have as well. The first step is water, there are a few topics on water, then the next one to look at is the $500 tell me what to do, great info, lots of info and help there as well.

Cheers see you soon.

Hi .... Sara.day81 and Doughy76

Maybe if there is some more interest fron the Durham Reg we can start having some more informal get togethers.

I'd be game to meet up at some low key places. I'm not a recluse by any means, but I'm not a huge fan of "crowds".

Hi Sarah, For me, I don't think a massive water store is needed. Only cause we have so so much water in ground here in Ontario. Digging down 2 feet in a lot of places will produce water decent enough to drink in a pinch. Most people might call them a gypsy well, so if you google "gypsy well" it should give you a lot of info on them. I'm more of a "get out of dodge" type prepper. The reason I chose the plan of "bugging out" is cause I live in a townhouse, so it makes security an issue if I stockpiled here in Oshawa. I am in the North end but the reality is that any set of people that are "have nots" are not going to be stealing or breaking into another "have nots" place. The best plan in my mind is to have a location or place to go that's away from populated areas. Always have a variety of routes to get to the "bug out" spot and caches hidden on the routes there. These caches need to be checked and kept up, but hey, that's kinda the fun. The hardest thing I'm trying figure out is how to get all my loved ones to the bug in spot. Of course my son and my wife, but, what about parents? brothers? sisters? inlaws? and it sure doesn't help that my son lives with his mom who is not my wife... Who has ideas? or has anyone figured out a plan for extended family?

I have a cabin that I have been "prepping" for years, My cabin is dual purpose as a cottage too, but not a typical cottage. I'm on a spring fed lake, that is not connected to any waterways and even though the lake is 36 miles end to end, it only has 9 cabins on it, gotta love the seclusion of the Canadian Shield! the other advantages are that it's a 45 minute drive to the closest paved road which is only 60kmh limit road of two lanes. The closest populated area is an hour or more and that town is really just an outpost of 500 people. It's a ton of cattle farmland and crown land dotted with swamps, ponds, creeks and little inland lakes. You can't even see my cabin with google earth or maps. In a SHTF situation, that's where I'm heading. I am planning on travelling light and once at my cabin hunkering down for the long haul.

Hi there. Very new to the prepping lifestyle or belief not sure the correct way to approach this :o). I've always had an idea that this was something I should consider but with a relatively new family of a wife and 13 and 7 year old i began thinking of my responsibilities in the long term. I realized that I have no idea what could happen but considering the endless scenarios that may happen or may never happen but it's my job to be ready if the worst were to happen.

So I started thinking about what we would need over a day, week, month, year or whatever. Not sure about anyone else but it does become overwhelming at some point. As much as I set my sights on a week and then a month the list of stuff starts to grow endless. I realize there is a difference between basic needs for survival and comfort in the worst case scenario but the more you think about this the more you begin to obsess about it lol. Suddenly got excited reading about fish antibiotics and where to get them and thought "whoa settle down mad max" lol.

Guess I'm just looking to discuss it and meet with people who don't think your nuts talking about it. Note to self, brought it up with a buddy of mine, never make that mistake again. He looked at me like I had totally lost my mind lol.

Greetings Greyone and welcome from Northern Ontario. It seems that you are already developing a well thought out plan. Take it one step at a time and you will do fine.

Thanks ICRCC. Good advice much appreciated?

Hi Grayone

You have to remember that those lists that you make, should be divivded to into subsections. What you really need to survive, what are wants, what make life comfortable. If you have like minded family and friends some of your larger expences can be shared. Once you get what I would call the 5 basics (Food, Water, Shelter, Warmth, Protection) cover then start looking at the comforts.

Hi there jwild101

Thanks for the advice after reading your post I started thinking about it and yes you do have those basic survival needs that need to be covered first. I'm thinking if I cover the basics food, water and fuel on an ongoing basis ie. adding a week of the barest necessities every week and continuing to add to the comforts as I think of them it will start to fall into place. Or at the very least not seem like there are a million things I need to think of lol. Funny how the line between comfort and necessity starts to blur the more you think about it, how many things do you use in a week and if you prepare how many things can you have on hand in a worst case scenario.

I must ask though being the typical Canadian I have struggled with the idea of protection, yes I realize in that worst case I would do anything to protect my wife and kids without hesitation. I guess the biggest barrier I have is the idea that I may need to. Yes I realize before anyone points out the obvious that it could become a necessity, undoubtably if push came to shove and society collapsed for any reason we would revert to protecting what's ours and do what was necessary to provide for those we care about. Guess what I'm asking is what do we need to think about when it comes to protection? Watching doomsday preppers you see these people arming themselves with thousands of rounds of ammo and enough guns to take down a small country. Yep seems a tad over the top but then again that is the US ( no offense intended). No doubt we are no different here in a crisis but wondering how people feel about the need to prepare protection wise and what they have done to prepare for that

Thanks jwild101 for your advice

Grayone

As was said in the previous post the basics are shelter, water, food, and security. Security may be at the end of the list but it should not be underestimated. All four facets are all of equal importance you will need all four to stay alive in a bad situation. You need to look at a lot of "what if" scenarios from something simple like personal tragedies such as loss of employment, an extreme weather event that may cause flooding and temporary power outages, a SHTF situation on a regional scale lasting a couple of months to a TEOTWAWKI event. It depends what you are prepping for and how far you want to go. Personally I would start at the low end and work my way up otherwise it can be quite overwhelming. As you work through these "what if" situations try to imagine at what point there would be a society WROL. Once you have done that you can develop a strategy for security and one that you are comfortable with. Your security strategy should consider your personal safety, your families safety and your ability to protect and defend your shelter, water and food.

One way to approach prepping is to look at the period you are preparing for regardless of the event:
72 hours (i.e. your basic emergency kit)
2 weeks
1 month
3 months
6 months
1 year
sustainability

For a 72 hour disruption you probably need little in the way of security (although many here would probably disagree). It starts to get a bit hairy after about 3 days to a week because food sources dry up. Again it would depend on how widespread the emergency or disaster was. If it is only one area of a Province that does not have a massive population then help will start pouring in from outside areas after a couple of days. If it is a Province wide disaster that is another problem. Communication and transport are important considerations too. If you cannot call 911 if someone is breaking into your house, there is a fire or a medical emergency or even if you can call but transportation is at a standstill and emergency personnel cannot reach you then you will have no other choice than dealing with the situation yourself. There are elements in society that are very quick to size on any opportunity that offers them a chance to break the law with impunity. There are a lot of considerations. Again you need to keep in mind that if it is a short lived disaster you will be held accountable afterwards if YOU break the law. A prolonged event would raise some very serious security concerns and would require a completely different strategy. If you feel that a prolonged event is a possibility you should prepare accordingly.

However in the end there is only one conclusion. Shelter, water and food will do your family no good whatsoever if you do not have the security and the willingness to use whatever security strategies you develop.

Those are my thoughts, I hope this helps you examine the possibilities.

Thanks ICRCC been reading a lot of the boards after your response. Lots to consider but thanks for the wake up call.

http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1727
Durham Prepper Meeting Sat 25th, 4-6 pm

looking for like minded preppers in durham region to share ideas and solutions to prepping problems.