Required Battle Gear

[Route 45]

It's important to train. Here's a pic my buddy took of me at our last load out dry run.

View attachment 312098

Pretty sure that's this thread in a nutshell.



Some reality:

LINK: Words From a Bosnian Survivalist

 

[Dholcomb]

That is exactly what I did for the 2K scare. Over the summer/fall of '99, I stocked up heavily on canned food, firewood, gasoline, LP and other such necessities. At the time I lived out in corn country south of Bremen/Nappanee. I even put $1,000 cash in the safe. One of my redneck neighbors asked, "You got enough ammo to protect all that?" My reply, "I didn't buy it to guard it. I bought it to share it."

People were savages over toilet paper not long ago. Nice thought, but you’d be robbed/killed in a heartbeat.

 

[ditcherman]

Pretty sure that's this thread in a nutshell.



Some reality:

LINK: Words From a Bosnian Survivalist

Interesting read for sure.

 

[Bassat]

People were savages over toilet paper not long ago. Nice thought, but you’d be robbed/killed in a heartbeat.

With that view of humanity, no doubt you'd be at the head of the line.

 

[bwframe]

The trend of this thread to be prepared in SHTF brings up the age old thought of how much is your prepping, with others in mind, hindering their attitude of having to prep for themselves?

Generosity is great, but it's a fine line between that and dependency. If the SHTF is longer than a day or two, what are the folks dependant on you to do? What about their extended family?

Many of us have heard the words said, "if anything bad happens, I'm coming to your house." That's not really a good thing, for more than one catastrophic reason.

 

[Dholcomb]

With that view of humanity, no doubt you'd be at the head of the line.

Not saying it’s right, just reality in my opinion.

 

[Route 45]

With that view of humanity, no doubt you'd be at the head of the line.

Accept That Savagery Is the True Nature of the World – and Deal With It

townhall.com

 

[BigMoose]

Sometimes I like to change it up.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

The trend of this thread to be prepared in SHTF brings up the age old thought of how much is your prepping, with others in mind, hindering their attitude of having to prep for themselves?

Generosity is great, but it's a fine line between that and dependency. If the SHTF is longer than a day or two, what are the folks dependant on you to do? What about their extended family?

Many of us have heard the words said, "if anything bad happens, I'm coming to your house." That's not really a good thing, for more than one catastrophic reason.

OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC. This is why many preach the Grey Man Theory as well as keeping your OPSEC secure. I've heard of some groups that plan to refuse extra people no matter what. Personally, I think it would be a good idea to compartmentalize your network a little, so you could disappear from one group with another and vice versa if things went south with one.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

That is exactly what I did for the 2K scare. Over the summer/fall of '99, I stocked up heavily on canned food, firewood, gasoline, LP and other such necessities. At the time I lived out in corn country south of Bremen/Nappanee. I even put $1,000 cash in the safe. One of my redneck neighbors asked, "You got enough ammo to protect all that?" My reply, "I didn't buy it to guard it. I bought it to share it."

I understand exactly your point here, but you really need to know what you're doing in this strategy. This is the attitude that it takes to rebuild a nation, but society in turn has to be ready to also be producers. I'm not sure we are at that stage at this point. With daily reports of mass lootings of stores and such, I don't believe the majority of our countrymen have the constitution to share anything. It's a common trope that people were killing each other after Katrina simply for a bottle of water. Historically speaking, a soft and affluent society that suddenly finds themselves at a time of either inconvenience or famine typically goes crazy.

I guess look at it this way, we are talking about theoretical scenarios where people will revert to thinking with their emotions. They're scared, hungry, tired, and confused, and a lot of them will likely be armed, desperate, not mentally tempered for anything this extreme. A neighbor that acts nice in a time of affluence may react very differently in times of trouble, or if the circumstances of their life alter just a little. Stanley Milgram and the Stanford Prison Experiment have shown this is the case with most people.

The concept you speak of is similar to the Mutual Assistance Group, and is probably one of the best ways rebuild society, however it requires people willing and able to commit to the idea, as well as being able to self-govern. Any hint of entitlement needs to be nipped at the bud and things like morale will be a big issue. It can work, but again will require a lot of work and people who are equally committed and ready to do work. Admittedly, one would have much better luck doing this in Bremen/Nappanee than in the inner city of South Bend or Indy.

 

[Ark]

I understand exactly your point here, but you really need to know what you're doing in this strategy. This is the attitude that it takes to rebuild a nation, but society in turn has to be ready to also be producers. I'm not sure we are at that stage at this point. With daily reports of mass lootings of stores and such, I don't believe the majority of our countrymen have the constitution to share anything. It's a common trope that people were killing each other after Katrina simply for a bottle of water. Historically speaking, a soft and affluent society that suddenly finds themselves at a time of either inconvenience or famine typically goes crazy.

I guess look at it this way, we are talking about theoretical scenarios where people will revert to thinking with their emotions. They're scared, hungry, tired, and confused, and a lot of them will likely be armed, desperate, not mentally tempered for anything this extreme. A neighbor that acts nice in a time of affluence may react very differently in times of trouble, or if the circumstances of their life alter just a little. Stanley Milgram and the Stanford Prison Experiment have shown this is the case with most people.

The concept you speak of is similar to the Mutual Assistance Group, and is probably one of the best ways rebuild society, however it requires people willing and able to commit to the idea, as well as being able to self-govern. Any hint of entitlement needs to be nipped at the bud and things like morale will be a big issue. It can work, but again will require a lot of work and people who are equally committed and ready to do work. Admittedly, one would have much better luck doing this in Bremen/Nappanee than in the inner city of South Bend or Indy.

Look no further than the Appalachian Rangers fiasco for an example of why "mutual assistance" schemes always go down in flames.

Without extreme leftist ideology or close family ties coercing people into behaving themselves and acting together, it turns into some middle aged dude's ego trip or private army fantasy. Much like my personal experience with how atheist attempts at replacing church never work out because lack of belief is a weak binder, mutual aid never works out unless you already had something tying you together.

 

[ZurokSlayer7X9]

Look no further than the Appalachian Rangers fiasco for an example of why "mutual assistance" schemes always go down in flames.

Without extreme leftist ideology or close family ties coercing people into behaving themselves and acting together, it turns into some middle aged dude's ego trip or private army fantasy. Much like my personal experience with how atheist attempts at replacing church never work out because lack of belief is a weak binder, mutual aid never works out unless you already had something tying you together.

That "Binder" you refer to is something I call the "Glue". I first observed this phenomenon when the neighborhood kids came out to play. Typically if neither Tyler or Nolan (random names for sake of argument) weren't out, then nobody really came out. If either of them were out, you could count on a fun filled afternoon. In this case, these kids were the "Glue". I'm not sure what the Glue would be for one specific group, but you probably ain't going to find it with random strangers when everything is going down. I've seen quote "militia" groups split apart after less than a year in a time of affluence simply because their Glue was getting drunk around a bon fire.

 

[Ark]

That "Binder" you refer to is something I call the "Glue". I first observed this phenomenon when the neighborhood kids came out to play. Typically if neither Tyler or Nolan (random names for sake of argument) weren't out, then nobody really came out. If either of them were out, you could count on a fun filled afternoon. In this case, these kids were the "Glue". I'm not sure what the Glue would be for one specific group, but you probably ain't going to find it with random strangers when everything is going down. I've seen quote "militia" groups split apart after less than a year in a time of affluence simply because their Glue was getting drunk around a bon fire.

It can be a lot of things, but it has to be something. A person. An ideology. A place. It can even be simple happenstance and survival. But it's gotta be something, and may not last forever.

 

[DadSmith]

It's important to train. Here's a pic my buddy took of me at our last load out dry run.

View attachment 312098

Would his name be El Mulo by chance?

 

[Gingerbeardman]

This you?

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

 

[ditcherman]

It can be a lot of things, but it has to be something. A person. An ideology. A place. It can even be simple happenstance and survival. But it's gotta be something, and may not last forever.

“The glue” is definitely not “hey guys thinking about a generator, what can I get to run my whole house for $500?”

True bonds can be had but much of it is wishful thinking.

 

[BigMoose]

And you can't forget the M1 Steel Pot..

Useful for more then a helmet!

 

[LtScott14]

....$&-+..at 69....just carrying my stuff from the vehicle to the bench or range is a challenge these days!

Oohrah! This is truth.
I own a Kevlar vest with soft armor, a double mag pistol case on a belt with a holster for my Glock 19, Kabar knife, OC spray canister, and a 25 round shotgun bandoleer filled with mixed 12 ga rounds.
My Mossberg 500 has a single point sling mount, with a weapon light attached. 10 shells loaded on the shotgun. Thats it.
Next be looking for a tactical wheel barrel to carry my survival provisions and kitchen sink.

 

[LtScott14]

View attachment 312786

And you can't forget the M1 Steel Pot..

Useful for more then a helmet!

Got me a M1 Steel Pot. My cover is WW2 USMC Camo. I need to update to woodland now.

 

[Expat]

I do probably need some kind of fancy tactical helmet.