Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
Pops wrote:
Jack wrote:
Jack's Approach: …
All good stuff Jack and they all make good sense – but they seem like tactics and not strategies to me.
Tell us your 5 Rules.
OK:
1) Plan and spend for existence in an energy-starved future
2) Have supplies to mitigate short-term disruptions
3) Arm yourself, and train to use those arms
4) Stay mobile. Running away can be a good thing.
5) Keep your mouth shut, assemble your team _________________ Dieoff. Fun to watch. Better with hot buttered popcorn!
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:39 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
for me, it's....
1. get out of debt
2. get out of the big cities (don't listen to posters here at PO who claim the govn will take care of you....and don't forget where the food comes from).
3. invest time, money and energy on a garden and/or greenhouse and learn how to use it. Also, if possible, get your cistern repaired or one installed. Fresh rain water is a gift from God. Your veggies, bushes and trees will love it and so will you.
4. start a battery bank with an inverter with either a couple wind generators and/or pv panels. Don't worry about synchronous inverters, just get to the point where your critical equipment could keep functioning if/when you lose electricity.
5. Get to know your neighbors. You'll probably find a few who don't have their head up their ass and could be excellent assets for trade (goods, expertise, knowledge of where/how to get things, etc).
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
Pops wrote:
steam_cannon wrote:
Pops, I prefer your strategy but I also appreciate roccman's...
Naw the question is: what are your 5 Rules, SC – not who you agree with most…
Come on folks, lets not pick apart each others stuff or post crap just yet - - just put your 5 Rules out on the line.
All right, your game your rules...
My Rules!
Short version:
1. Evaluate your location!
2. Connect with your neighbors.
3. Disconnect from the system.
4. Live within your means.
5. Diversify your assets.
Long version: Rules + notes on strategy
1. Location, location, location. Pick a hemisphere / location that is likely to survive catastrophic climate change. It'll be a long time until people stop burning their favorite fossil fuels and a longer time before that changes the course the climate is on. And find a place where it looks like you fit in. For example people with a northern accent are hated in the south, I moved back north. And try to stay flexible with your location, pack bug out bags, have a place in the country, if you live in New Orleans maybe have a van with a mattress or a boat.
2. Make connections, try to connect with locals who could be good to know. Canners, sewers, brewers, gardeners... Share your skills... Being connected with law enforcement was a good idea I came across on this forum. But don't advertise knowledge that people can't wrap their heads around. You want friends not enemy's.
3. Disconnect from the system. Be ahead of your neighbors with food and water, but don't advertise it. Take care of your teeth, your eyes, your health (like your life depended on it). We are in population overshoot, don't have 10 kids unless you have 100 silver bars for each of them... Getting rid of debts, in case you want to leave the country or new harsh debt/slavery laws come into effect, it is better not to have debt (philosophically and practically). Stay on the good side of the law no matter how stupid the law is. Prisoners are not treated well in good times and we are not headed into good times.
4. Get a job that works for you now and ideally for a struggling economy. Shoot for sustainable and be flexible. Taking a job that doesn't pay well but you know will be around in bad times is a good strategy(law enforcement, emergency management). But hey milking the system until it collapses is another acceptable strategy (in realestate you can get extra bonuses from sellers in a bad market). But what ever job you do save money, [u]live within your means[/b], and be prepared for doing without and changing jobs.
5. Diversify your assets. This can mean gold, silver, means of production (distillery, farm), knowledge base, equipment. I don't highly recommend debt, but holding some debt and metals is a combination that might work in some situations. Expect metals to do well up to a point and then realestate in good climate locations to do well... And if all else fails, ask Drew!
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 7:44 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preparation
strider3700 wrote:
A few years back I discovered the joy of good socks. I had no idea that there is such a thing as good underwear. How much better then fruit of the loom can you get and what makes it better?
Try something like Champion Cool-Briefs. These are designed for athletes; made of coolmax. They last longer than cotton, wick away moisture, help keep you cool in the summer and warmer in the winter because they help keep you dry. What's wrong with them? Well, coolmax is a form of polyester, which is made from oil. They're also more expensive than cotton.
However, if you find yourself having to bug out with only the clothes on your back, you'll be happier if you bug out in a pair of these then standard cotton.
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:31 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preparation
Hmm... five rules huh?
1. Study history
2. Build community
3. Learn skills from the past
4. Be prepared to leave
5. Learn to live with less, and use the extra money to buy things you might need.
Sorry, five rules have to be a bit vague. Since I don't know if the future holds Star Trek, Little House on the Prairie, or Apocalypto, I have to cover a lot of bases with these. Here's my longer version:
1. Study History - I recommend the Roman third century to about 1000 AD. For example, people left the countryside during that period to get away from poverty and constant harassment from thieves. By moving to the cities, however, they just helped set up the plagues that racked the Roman world during that period and/or ended up fighting in civil wars. There are ways to get around both problems, but you have to study the period well to find them. There is also a tremendous amount of knowledge for successfully living with less energy in the middle ages. If nothing else, you'll appreciate what we have today.
2. Build Community - If things don't turn out to be total collapse, you'll be better off in a strong community. Strong communities stand up better as things are falling apart. You may still have to leave, but humans do better in small cohesive groups.
3. Learn Skills from the Past - If solar pans out and the future is bright, you'll still know some cool old stuff to show the grandkids. If things fall apart, you'll know skills that other people may literally die for. This includes martial arts and gardening.
4. Be Prepared to Leave - This is the Boy Scout version of be prepared. As in, be prepared to walk 40 miles in two days with a backpack of things and then survive for a month. Note that this requires lots of exercise. Also, be prepared for a New Orleans level situation in your community. If nothing else, go tent camping.
5. Learn to live with less, and use the extra money to buy things you might need - Frankly, I don't understand why people say you should pay off debts. I think there are much better things to do with that money than pay off a mortgage. On the other hand, the only debt I think people should take on is a mortgage that they could pay off. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they "might need", but if you use the other four rules as guidance, you won't go spending money on ipods & such unless that builds community somehow.
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6492 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
Ah, the steady PO.com drumbeat of survivalism (of which I am surely a part).
Yes, do all those things. Fight for life. But the most important rule is:
Be prepared to lose it all, at any time. To die. To let go gracefully, and slip into the sweet abyss.
It is coming, your personal abyss. Ridiculously, breathtakingly soon. So don't neglect your preparation for that, too. _________________ "Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog
"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
kjmclark wrote:
As in, be prepared to walk 40 miles in two days with a backpack of things and then survive for a month. Note that this requires lots of exercise.
If the carrying gear part is a large part of the need for lots of exercise, personally I never carry gear unless I have to. I always strap it onto a bike or use a two wheeled pull cart. I prefer to use light small tents and wood stoves whenever possible. But still it's hard to avoid weight and moving heavy gear for any long distance is hard. So unless stealth is important, I always try to let a machine do some of my work.
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
1. Don’t panic.
2. Let your ego go. An example: Rather than procreate, devote your maternal/paternal instinct to children already born.
3. Find a physical activity you enjoy to get in shape & get healthy
4. Nurture relationships that are meaningful / abandon toxic ones
5. Keep your sense of fun and humour intact
Everything else is just common sense / a crapshoot.
Joined: Apr 27, 2007 Posts: 4353 Location: The Great Sonoran Desert
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:21 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
Pops wrote:
Heineken wrote:
But the most important rule is:
Heine, I asked for 5 rules…
Yes you did.
5) save one for yourself _________________ "There must be a bogeyman; there always is, and it cannot be something as esoteric as "resource depletion." You can't go to war with that." Emersonbiggins
"... hope is a rotten-thighed whore" Niko Kazantzakis
Joined: Feb 18, 2006 Posts: 370 Location: Minnesota, U.S.A.
Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:15 pm Post subject: Re: 5 Rules for PO Preperation
First rule is: you do not talk about preparation.
#2 Mobility is everything.
#3 Always keep worrying about water.
#4 Stay flexible.
#5 Don't ever surrender. Mother nature takes no prisoners.
That's about as tightly compressed as I can get it. Any self-respecting doomer won't need more explanation than that. Come fast-crash or slow grind these will work quite well.
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