overall a good idea.

however many people are still weary of others.

You may want to look at getting 2 groups to meet and expand from there.

A cool initiative - and hopefully one backed by honourable intentions - but as Threestorms said many folks are leary. I'm one of them.

Fortunately I have the means to prep well, places to bug out to and a pretty tight-knit group of 15ish folks to already share the experience with and depend on in times of strife.

I wish the same for everyone else here and hope that these proposed initiatives by folks like ArcContinuity and Villager et al take off and treat the participants very well.

I suggest one of the uniting commonalities be amateur HAM radio.

Even if not licensed, everyone should have one to monitor a frequency used by the group.

I would be interested in this
I am in the Ottawa area so a ways from Keswick.I should have my ham certificate by mid-December. I think such a network would be useful even at a distance, even for just awareness of how things are going elsewhere.

I would also be interested in this...I have tried before to get a ham network going, and maybe now would be a good time.

I too think this is a good idea, but I think it should be built around this forum somehow. Arc Continuity has shown himself to have affiliations that would and should make prepper's cautious as to his agenda. But his mention of an early warning system is a good idea and should be considered just the same.

A sustained network should likely be run and tested through trusted associates as any infiltration of undesirables can lead to a weakening of the overall network's internal security measures that were pre determined before any crisis. Others will obviously wish to join your network after an event, but to have a secure organization in place to build around and plug and holes is a first priority. Denob is a strong advocate of ham radio communications and already has intel on most members here. Thus he would be the best candidate by far for such a task as this, so folks who are serious about this endevour might first want to convince him to play such a role to make this happen properly. And with him at the helm it stands a far better chance at becoming a solid reliable system.

Creating a code system like that of police and army use might also be beneficial as a means to enlighten others to a known threat. The 10 code is a common code that has been altered by many organizations to fool listeners and forewarn members. Simple pre-determined measures can save lives and unschooled and careless measures can set up situations that allow loss of life. To create a system that a group can trust is mandatory if you are to bet your groups safety on information received from this network. Maybe now you can start imagining just how many variations might be required to cover most aspects of a SHTF event. And while the military may have jammers and signal scramblers with encryption, you could have your own preset measures to fall upon to fool the majority of listeners.

I had listed various other code systems that mankind has created to allow the passing of safe data during a crisis. They are here. http://internationalpreppersnetwork.net/viewtopic.php?f=73&t=4963 . I'd entered this on the concept that individuals could contact family members and share knowledge without fear that others might intercept this intel and misuse it against you. This is more for use with the cell phone and internet but the same concepts can be used elsewhere too. Like any measure for prepping, it will be shelved unless all parties agree to create these measures in advance and even test their limits to ensure functionality.

The main thing is to share with those you can trust. Denob is far more trustworthy as he already has intel on you and your still here.... (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

HEHEHE...I don't have as much as people may think!
Sure, IP addresses are recorded as part of the forum, but what can little ol' me do with that?

(Denob)
"Hi Rogers...could you please give me the name, address, and telephone number of the person who was using IP address xxx.xxx.x.x at 12:52 PM on October 12, 2013?"

(Rogers)
"Who the heck are you?"

(Denob)
"Nobody special...just a forum admin"

(Rogers)
"Well, in that case....UMMMMMMMMMMMMM NO"

OK...silliness aside.
There is some thought to be put into this...
Let's say we wanted to do a few things, like a ham radio net and maybe a cache map.
I would think that the first level of trust would come from offering up some personal info.
For example...to become part of the ham radio net, you would have to supply your call sign.
Yes, this exposes your real name on the IC website, but that is all the info you have to give out there...other than your province, but the callsign is a giveaway to that anyways, and your qualifications which is no big deal.
Now, let's consider a cache map...
Google Earth is a good choice for this.
In order to have access to the map of caches that members have hidden, you must supply one yourself (let's say we make a list for an introductory cache content)
Take a picture of it's hiding spot, supply the coordinates and any info that will help locate it (ie: 2 feet west of maple tree with red marking tape, burried at 2 feet).
This cache could be added to a file that is supplied to members.

Anyways...just thinking out loud....any other ideas?

I was referring to having members emails and IP's mainly. Also many seem to have included birthdays and such which help narrow the search parameters further. This is still data that many would call personal info which was offered to ensure website security measures. Thus members here already have some commitment to entrusting you with their intel and this website has a few year history to back itself up with too. That is alot more than some individual appearing on the forum and professing all to instantly share with him and maybe send money please!

I would think that folks would need to have a pretty secure system in place before they would consider sharing cache locations. I also didn't know folks would share cache locations either. That is more along the lines that a large organization would use in times of crisis.

I think that the Network would share intel as to situational awareness more than anything else. This can become an underground network if need be during an occupation or such and otherwise a secondary backup during a world crisis where usual communications are down. One's imagination is the only limits as to this system's uses. But be forewarned that even the mention of such a network on a public forum could draw unwanted attention. Thus limits and restrictions should be considered before initiating anything in this forum.

Have you thought further on a possible public early warning being incorporated into this forum. Maybe this could be just a preset batch email where you only need to input the message and send. Others would have to have your email address preset to not be simply tagged as spam though. And as said earlier, you may have many folks owe you alot of beer someday! 😆

Now you have got me thinking too...

Folks could share locations to such things as fishing holes, maybe hidden or not so obvious locations for natural clean water access, or some natural or unsuspecting area to seek shelter in if need be. Yes, people could truly benefit from such cooperation but then I live in the land of lakes and fishing and still most don't share their fishing holes with even their own neighbour. It always comes back to that trust issue....

Most of what has been said are good ideas with great potential. Though some of it was not my idea or direction I had to the initiative. Obviously I'm open to great ideas but maybe I should clarify where I began with the idea or where I'm coming from.

"I maintain locations and vehicles all over the U.S. I have caches of sorts spread out over the U.S. ranging from weapons, to food, medical supplies, vehicles and fuel, you name it.

My caches fall into 3 categories. My main sites are the MAJOR supply caches. They contain supplies that you would typical find in a go-bag. Batteries, lights, medical supplies, food and water, disposable phones, comms, money, weapons, ammo, etc. These are for getting a good "start" on a situation. These will get me to and from the other supplies. My secondary sites are the resupply for my main system. I've broken up the supplies into the specific categories and have chosen to not cross load anything. If I want food and only food, I hit a cache that has those contents and I don't end up with continuous and redundant medical supplies or what ever else. My third site is vehicles. I have 4 vehicles stored at the 4 corners of the country. These vehicles are not insured or plated and meant for a disaster scenario only. The vehicles all have full tanks, enough fuel to get me to any resupply or other vehicle and each holds a jerry can in its trunk (full). There's enough fuel, when the vehicle is loaded down, to drive for a straight 20 hours. I rotate this fuel once a year. On a scheduled time of every 4 months I go and do one of the said vehicles. These are only meant to be assistant vehicles, for carry more passengers or if we lose our main rig. I have installed taps on the sides of the fuel tanks to be able to drain them rapidly if I need the fuel for the main rig and don't wish to take the vehicle."

This is part of what one of our allies stated during a group meeting. Meant more to open our minds to how we should prep. WE (myself and gf) agree with this logic for the most part. We believe in fluidity. Hunkering down is illogical to us, so we plan to adapt and move if necessary. We are implementing this same system and it is more of what I meant by the initiative. I hope it spurs more ideas (like you guys have contributed thus far) and you guys are able to implement something similar for yourself, or have designated rendezvous points if you have to leave your home. I don't think anyone should share their cache' locations with anyone else, regardless of how much you trust them. I do think there should be safe and common locations where we could all go to during an event. Not necessarily to hunker down together, but to maybe debrief, gather intel and gain some minimal support from the locals, on our way to our secondary locations. If you don't have a secondary location, you should REALLY consider it. Otherwise your like being on a boat without a life raft and it's taking on water, without somewhere else to go, you might as well be ready to swim..or drown. Anyways, the point is, if we have a designated location, centralized between members of this forum for example, say 5 people per area and we centralize the "safe zone" between them, create call signs and ways to contact 1 of these 5 people once you hit that loca. then we could provide others sanctuary or supplies depending on what people are comfortable with. With that, I like the idea of the Ham operations. I'm not sure everyone could afford that but if you centralize a contact, who can then transfer the message via walkie-talkie/cb/verbally, etc to his/her local preppers, that could be great for getting intel out there. Sort of like an alert system as said but more for a time when technology has failed us, or comms are down. Up till that point though we pretty much all have net and cell phones so we can contact each other that way. If you don't want to share your personal number, go on walmart.com/ca? and grab a burner phone for $30. Get a sim card and put the minimal TXT plan on it and you'll have yourself a phone designated for incoming updates. Probably be real spooky the moment THAT phone goes off! LOL

Anyways, just thinkin' out loud!

To me it sounds like the horse if getting ahead of the carriage. Personally, I'd have some sort of pre-qualifier to be accepted to any such network. A code of ethics and/or working terms/conditions of sorts. Something to establish and communicate the motives, processes and guidelines.

While all the posts I've read here are good and the intentions are great it might be better to take a step back and create a system for applicants to apply to become a part of this rather then simply having anyone jump on the band wagon. Having met hundreds of preppers at this point - trust me when I say this - there are some that you'll want nothing to do with. Let's face it. There are many different types of preppers out there. Like-minded preppers are the ones I would assume you would want to connect with.

To me it sounds like the horse if getting ahead of the carriage. Personally, I'd have some sort of pre-qualifier to be accepted to any such network. A code of ethics and/or working terms/conditions of sorts. Something to establish and communicate the motives, processes and guidelines. .

Ditto

While all the posts I've read here are good and the intentions are great it might be better to take a step back and create a system for applicants to apply to become a part of this rather then simply having anyone jump on the band wagon.

Ditto

Having met hundreds of preppers at this point - trust me when I say this - there are some that you'll want nothing to do with

Double Ditto

Let's face it. There are many different types of preppers out there. Like-minded preppers are the ones I would assume you would want to connect with.

Ditto Again

Good idea. But because so many of us are so leary about others knowing our identity and address. It has to be set up where you have only one person in any one area that knows the people in that area and communicates on his/her behalf. That way most people's identity would be protected.

If it's done like that then I'm all for it. And since I get my mail in a post office. I wouldn't mind to be the go between for the people say from Wawa to Thessalon on the trans canada. Now if all people agree with something like this and want to join then certain understandings have to be accepted. COMPLETE ANNOMIMITY!!! For anyone other than your assigned regional director. Each director then knows three other directors but only three. That way even the directors don't know anyone else and there is no one person that does know any one else.

If everyone agrees then let's do it.
What do you think?