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Survival and Prepping

Jarnhamar

Army.ca Myth
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I want to propose an idea for a new forum to the staff (and members) to see if it's a worth while effort.

I've thought about suggesting a Survival/prepping type forum in the past but the recent news article from Germany about being prepared to survive on your own for 10 days got me thinking about it again. 

It's still common enough to see people make some pretty big mistakes in survival situations not just in the woods but at home too like cooking inside the house with a propane BBQ. 

I'd like to do what Germany suggested myself and collect at least 10 days worth of supplies with a long term goal of maybe 3-6 months, a forum about that stuff might be useful. In other places I've seen stickies about different kinds of maps, different survival apps, improvised shelters, stuff like that. 

Might be interesting to try?
 
I would like to see it to but......  Every thread in every other forum I have been on has ended in lock because the non preppers come in and start freaking out about the discussion.

For the record, I am bushcrafter, back country wanderer practicing my native heritage in an effort to someday be safe in the woods indefinitely with minimum kit.  I live in the middle of the woods and I do a bit of homesteading.  I am not a serious prepper but I can discuss serious prepping scenarios. 
 
I'm pondering the idea...and there are a lot of other resources out there for this.

Do we need it?

Will it bring good discussion, or adversity?

As members of the CAF, I'm willing to be most of us are already more prepared than 90% of the Canadian population. 

I stock a certain amount of stuff....I have some precious metals, I try to maintain about a 2-3 week supply of stabilized gasoline (after the gas shortage last year I increased that from 1 week supply), we keep a few weeks worth of food on hand, and my house has 2 independent heating systems.  I live on a lake, and have a septic system, so I can keep flushing, but I do not (yet) have a reliable source of clean drinking water.  I need to get some sort of filtration system.

That said, against the disasters (hurricane Juan, White Juan, etc) that I've encountered first-hand in Halifax, all of the above are reasonable measures, not 'prepping' in the TEOTWAWKI style. 

I bought my house on a hill, so the lake water level would have to rise a good 20 feet before I have to worry about flooding even in my basement.

We have a small 'fun' vegetable garden.  Growing some beans/peas/carrots/etc, this keeps the wife happy and the kids interested in growing stuff.

Do we need a forum specifically to discuss this stuff?  Not sure.  I think we already discuss some of these things already.

Example:
http://army.ca/forums/threads/121229.0.html

I see both sides though.

NS


 
Perhaps something less specific like "fieldcraft". It could encompass most of the prepper type stuff, but also serve as a home for general wilderness, camping, hiking etc talk. It could be a great place for gear reviews etc.
 
Ack, bushcraft is the civie term now, but yeah that would be good.  Prepping while wearing the uniform is a bit of an oxymoron since the uniformed guys would be called out in the event of SHTF, leaving your stash for me to raid. 
 
NavyShooter said:
Do we need a forum specifically to discuss this stuff?  Not sure.  I think we already discuss some of these things already.

Example:
http://army.ca/forums/threads/121229.0.html

I see both sides though.

NS

We also have:  Armyrick's Land Healing Farm...  https://army.ca/forums/threads/111628.0.html

This being the case, perhaps lumping these topics under a "Survivalist/Emergency Measures" forum may have merit.
 
Jarnhamar said:
I've thought about suggesting a Survival/prepping type forum in the past but the recent news article from Germany about being prepared to survive on your own for 10 days got me thinking about it again. 

Last time SHTF, really hit the fan,  in Germany, folks were drafted into the Volkssturm. Or, suffer the consequences if they refused...

Lightguns said:
Prepping while wearing the uniform is a bit of an oxymoron since the uniformed guys would be called out in the event of SHTF, leaving your stash for me to raid.

Good point. That includes Emergency Services. "The City may declare an emergency on legitimate and bona fide grounds."

You can run and hide in the bush, or stay home with your family, but you won't have a job to come back to when it's over. Only way to avoid emergency recall is if you were already on the sick list before the emergency was declared.

It's only after you retire that you have options to get out of town.
 
How about fieldcraft and Natural disaster readiness with no discussion on the political possibilities or zombies, but then I repeat myself.
 
mariomike said:
Last time SHTF, really hit the fan,  in Germany, folks were drafted into the Volkssturm. Or, suffer the consequences if they refused...

Good point. That includes Emergency Services. "The City may declare an emergency on legitimate and bona fide grounds."

You can run and hide in the bush, or stay home with your family, but you won't have a job to come back to when it's over. Only way to avoid emergency recall is if you were already on the sick list before the emergency was declared.

It's only after you retire that you have options to get out of town.

*** My internet burped *** Lemme try this again
 
Colin P said:
How about fieldcraft and Natural disaster readiness with no discussion on the political possibilities or zombies, but then I repeat myself.

I think it can be done if have the caveats for discussing on the thread, it's unlikely to be perfectly civil but workable. 
 
Lightguns said:
I would like to see it to but......  Every thread in every other forum I have been on has ended in lock because the non preppers come in and start freaking out about the discussion.
I hear you there. Posts are going fine then someone drops in and loses their shit abotu what someone says they want to pack in their bug out bag.  I think with the level of moderation and oversight we have here we could avoid that pretty easy.

For the record, I am bushcrafter, back country wanderer practicing my native heritage in an effort to someday be safe in the woods indefinitely with minimum kit.  I live in the middle of the woods and I do a bit of homesteading.  I am not a serious prepper but I can discuss serious prepping scenarios.
Exactly the stuff I'd love to hear more about.
CF wise I think the average army cadet has more survival training than the average CF member.

NavyShooter said:
I'm pondering the idea...and there are a lot of other resources out there for this.

Do we need it?

Will it bring good discussion, or adversity?

As members of the CAF, I'm willing to be most of us are already more prepared than 90% of the Canadian population. 

I stock a certain amount of stuff....I have some precious metals, I try to maintain about a 2-3 week supply of stabilized gasoline (after the gas shortage last year I increased that from 1 week supply), we keep a few weeks worth of food on hand, and my house has 2 independent heating systems.  I live on a lake, and have a septic system, so I can keep flushing, but I do not (yet) have a reliable source of clean drinking water.  I need to get some sort of filtration system.

That said, against the disasters (hurricane Juan, White Juan, etc) that I've encountered first-hand in Halifax, all of the above are reasonable measures, not 'prepping' in the TEOTWAWKI style. 

I bought my house on a hill, so the lake water level would have to rise a good 20 feet before I have to worry about flooding even in my basement.

We have a small 'fun' vegetable garden.  Growing some beans/peas/carrots/etc, this keeps the wife happy and the kids interested in growing stuff.

Do we need a forum specifically to discuss this stuff?  Not sure.  I think we already discuss some of these things already.

Example:
http://army.ca/forums/threads/121229.0.html

I see both sides though.

NS

Good post and fair points NS.

I think a forum dedicated to this stuff specifically might present a better environment (read more constructive) for people to post prepping/SHTF/survival posts. If you build it they will come sorta thing ;D

I'd say it's worth a try to see if it generates traffic and interest.

Lightguns said:
I think it can be done if have the caveats for discussing on the thread, it's unlikely to be perfectly civil but workable.

Agreed. It's surprisingly interesting to see how wicked those/these threads go off the rails.  I'd recommend a no politics for sure. Maybe a couple other caveats.
I'm in Petawawa and it seems like we lose power here ever year during the summer, whether a couple days or a tornado microburst comes through and its for a week+.  For a bunch of rednecks I'm surprised at how unprepared people still are 'round these parts.

I think if shit really hit the fan we would call in troops from outside areas due to what seems to happen in the US where local law enforcement and military basically say screw that noise and go to check on their family and support them (can't really blame them).  Lots of fun fantasies about bugging out and what to put in a backpack and live off the land but I'd say chances are you're going to end up bugging in and there isn't as much literature on that.

WRT apps and links and stuff, for example National geographic just launched a free website for printing topographical maps. I've printed some and they're pretty sweet.

http://petapixel.com/2016/08/06/nat-geo-launches-free-website-printing-detailed-topographical-maps/
 
Looks like I misunderstood the intent your original post in my reply to it, Jarnhamar.

Jarnhamar said:
I'd like to do what Germany suggested myself and collect at least 10 days worth of supplies with a long term goal of maybe 3-6 months, a forum about that stuff might be useful.

I thought you were referring to a situation like this, in the Islamic Terrorism in the West ( Mega thread),

Thucydides said:
The German government finally steps off the X. Asking people to stockpile food and water is telling them to become more aware and self reliant. Making a society more robust is a good way to both mitigate the effects of attacks, and also start getting more people able to spot warning signs and respond to attacks, shutting them down early:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/germany-tell-people-stockpile-food-water-case-attacks-154318206--sector.html

My error. Sorry about that!

 
mariomike said:
Looks like I misunderstood the intent your original post in my reply to it, Jarnhamar.

I thought you were referring to a situation like this, in the Islamic Terrorism in the West ( Mega thread),

My error. Sorry about that!

So if I pack a Quran in my bug out bag then we are all good right? Jarnhammer... ill put it beside a hundred rounds of 7.62x.39 no possible misunderstandings could happen right?

But seriously, I think a dedicated forum would be nicer then a thread, because sometimes sifting through a gigantic thread is a burden.
 
AbdullahD said:
So if I pack a Quran in my bug out bag then we are all good right?

Always were, A.  :)
 
Jarnhamar said:
I hear you there. Posts are going fine then someone drops in and loses their crap abotu what someone says they want to pack in their bug out bag.  I think with the level of moderation and oversight we have here we could avoid that pretty easy.
Exactly the stuff I'd love to hear more about.
CF wise I think the average army cadet has more survival training than the average CF member.

Good post and fair points NS.

I think a forum dedicated to this stuff specifically might present a better environment (read more constructive) for people to post prepping/SHTF/survival posts. If you build it they will come sorta thing ;D

I'd say it's worth a try to see if it generates traffic and interest.

Agreed. It's surprisingly interesting to see how wicked those/these threads go off the rails.  I'd recommend a no politics for sure. Maybe a couple other caveats.
I'm in Petawawa and it seems like we lose power here ever year during the summer, whether a couple days or a tornado microburst comes through and its for a week+.  For a bunch of rednecks I'm surprised at how unprepared people still are 'round these parts.

I think if crap really hit the fan we would call in troops from outside areas due to what seems to happen in the US where local law enforcement and military basically say screw that noise and go to check on their family and support them (can't really blame them).  Lots of fun fantasies about bugging out and what to put in a backpack and live off the land but I'd say chances are you're going to end up bugging in and there isn't as much literature on that.

WRT apps and links and stuff, for example National geographic just launched a free website for printing topographical maps. I've printed some and they're pretty sweet.

http://petapixel.com/2016/08/06/nat-geo-launches-free-website-printing-detailed-topographical-maps/

I tend to agree although that was not always the case, I remember time spent with 2PPCLI in Northern Ontario, in the mountains with 1PPCLI, on the West Coast Trail with the Infantry School, it was called adventure training and it could be fun and training.  Deep water crossings with air mattress raft, ice fishing with string and paper clips, making shares and skinning rabbits for stew, eating seal raw or collecting shell fish on the West Coast shore for a meal (the IMPs or IRPs then were for emergency only), canoeing across 8 lakes to sleep on a little island where the stars almost reach down and touch you.  No budget for that now. 

Most survival threads go off the rails when some urbanite comes in and decides they can allow no discussion of anything that may impact their carefree world of lattes and public transport.  You do not have to believe but there is no reason you need to convert the believers, just move on. 

My whole lifestyle is set around bugging in.  Small house (720 Sq feet) in deep country on side road, generator with 2 weeks gas which is refreshed bi weekly as I cut wood and brush and terra form my deer hunting woods.  Fuel wise we are fortunate that the local general store is generator wired so we have purchasable cold products and fuel beyond the first day crash. 

We have 15 days fresh food, 90 days box and canned food, 100 days home preserves, 6 months hard rations.  12 apple trees, a high bush cranberry plot, raspberry plot, choke cherry grove.  Finally, axes, saws, water filters, snare wire, hand tools, guns, lots of ammo, hand pulled sleigh, canoes are available for any food gathering scenario. 

Lastly two rucksacks are packed at all times with 48 hours means, the canoe outfit which allows up to two weeks camping when food is added, and there is the truck camp outfit which adds a big tent, cots, table, big Coleman stove and lanterns to the canoe outfit to camp all summer when food is added.  Tiers of readiness I like to think.
 
No requirement for such a forum, IMO.  Preppers are a dying breed in Canada.  Our Liberal masters look after our every need.
 
Haggis said:
No requirement for such a forum, IMO.  Preppers are a dying breed in Canada.  Our Liberal masters look after our every need.

What happens though if a sunny day becomes clouded over, obscuring "the facts", and ruining any opportunity for photo bombing more of our dear citizens?  [:p
 
A)  I'm vaguely aware of some site members who may or may not have useful knowledge of moonshine making;  I'd like to see a survival thread include their input.  I'm afraid my knowledge is limited to beer and wine.

B)  Get rid of "Forum suggestion."  Have the Mods move it to a suitable board, and giddy-up.  If the hesitancy concerns are valid, the Mods will deal with transgressions (that's why Mike pays Mods big $$$  :nod: );  if it continues, it'll get locked.  :dunno:

C)  Did I mention moonshine?
 
Moved here to "Security and Emergency Services" for now until Mike has time to decide if he wishes to make a 'child board' for this topic.
Bruce
 
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