PART 2 What are your 2022 prepping goals and plans? Comms and Intel

Bill Masen - January 12, 2022

I hope Carlotta doesnt mind me piggy backing on her other thread, But I thought this offshoot on 2022 preps would benefit from a seperate thread.

SOoooooo  Before the INTERNET (yes I’m that old)  We preppers and survivalists had far fewer resources to call upon for our news and intel.   TV and Radio was the default and as we all know it was almost impossible to access foreign TV stations as they did not have the power to cross oceans.   Worldband radio broadcasting DID travel further but the broadcasts were normally just PROPAGANDA for which ever country was broadcasting and natural disasters were often not mentioned as it made the broadcasting nation look weak.

So PRINTED media was the mainstream, International Magazines such as Guns N Ammo, Nat Geo,  Time Magazine etc were often read cover to cover for snippets of useful info.  In time magazines like SURVIVAL WEAPONRY AND TECHNIQUES and the AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE came along to help us stay INFORMED, along with established magazines like Guns n Ammo adding survivalist writters to their staff ( Think Mel Tappan, Ragnar Benson etc)

So we were getting WRITTEN information, reviews, articles etc, but often it would take a MONTH of more from these publications to reach the reader.  And we could only read the magazine editors OPINIONS.

In time the American preppers / survivalists started using the Small Ads in the backs of magazines to reach out seeking others like themselves, In time came Survivalist NEWS LETTERS like the famous LIVE FREE newsletter and some of these publications welcomed readers to write in and comment.  But this STILL could take months for replies to get back to original authors.

Then came the INTERNET and E MAIL.  its been a total boon for us as a global community of preppers to be able to communicate, advise, debate, instruct, share and support each other in MINUTES.      Yes we as a community can reach out to our peers almost instantly with everything from breaking news, sitreps, recipes, advice, opinion etc. Great isnt it. look how utterly reliant many of us are now on instant access to comms and intel.

OK SO WHAT IF IT ALL STOPPED??

——————————————————–

EMP

POWER CUTS

ROGUE GOVERNMENT

ACT OF NATURE

CRASHED SERVER

SITE CLOSED DOWN by HOSTING COMPANY

Think about it, how can you access intel, news, advice, opinion, warnings, tip offs from FRIENDLY sources if TP was taken offline?

Terrifying thought isnt it, you can only rely on your local broadcasters who may be controlled by state or federal authorities, only local news that meets statutary rules.

Your fellow preppers all isolated from each other.

WE NEED A BACK UP.

At the very least those who interact with each other closely, perhaps as friends or workmates, at the very least CONSIDER ( nothing more than CONSIDER)   sharing an E MAIL address with your TRUSTED associates, Perhaps a PHONE NUMBER, or what about leaving a message on a bullitin board on some totally innocent hobby blog/ forum / site etc.

If you have been interacting with other friendly preppers within your state, consider having Rendezvous at pre agreed locations to chat and share / trade / barter, especially if TSHTF as we tend to call it.

What ever you do I respectfully suggest you investigate BACK UP means of communicating with each other for if or WHEN the web is unavailable.

7  

The reason for lost communication is important, and could completely change the conversation about how to prepare.

“site closed down by hosting company”

I would continue discussion with some of the most active contributors to this site on the TP slack, which doesn’t depend on the same hosting company. Conversation would likely focus on switching hosts and getting back up ASAP.

https://theprepared.com/forum/thread/community-discord-slack/

“power cut or act of nature”

I would switch to radio and backup power. I only have local (UHF/VHF) so would be limited to communication within about 400 miles. I do plan to upgrade to global radio equipment (HF) later when I find time to study for the general test.

“EMP”

If there’s any warning time, I’ll move as many electronics (esp radio and batteries) as possible into my car for protection. I suppose I could shield some of this gear in advance just in case, but I’m not worried enough about this possibility at the moment to do something in advance.

 

This has been something that I have been working on over the past year with my family, getting various forms of communication for each person. Their Facebook account, email, phone, address, etc… I want to be able to contact people by multiple means if one method was taken offline.

I have a ham radio as a backup for chatting with locals if I needed to, but need to keep working on my resiliency in this area by making contacts, setting up comms plans, and writing down repeater frequencies.

 

Thanks Bill.

In my personal opinion, focusing exclusively on friendly news and rumor is not the way to be “informed.” That would be like going to a Chevy forum to find what brand of car to buy. To be informed you cannot trust any single type of source, like-minded or not. Their news may not be, almost certainly will not be, anything contrary to the prevailing opinion.

The change from broadcasting to narrowcasting has caused much of the social friction we’re experiencing I believe. Niche focused news/opinion narrows our perception of the world to only that to which we already agree. Facebook, the largest media outlet in the history of the world, is the king. It got that way because they create a unique, personally tailored niche experience for each and every one of their billions of users. Whatever you interact with, they show you more of the same until that’s all you see. It is automated AI powered tunnel-vision.

The legacy media you mention were meant to appeal to a broad audience, not only out of a sense of duty, but out of profit motive. High barriers to entry made today’s biased style unprofitable. They shied away from controversy, fringe thinking, unfounded conspiracy, overtly biased reporting and tried for a mostly balanced report, though obviously opinion was still opinion. Modern niche, narrowly focused media is the opposite. Low barrier to entry makes small niche audiences profitable, prep sites and preppers individually are no exception.

Other media can’t be that targeted. But that doesn’t mean they don’t try to dominate their category by being the loudest, most biased voice of whatever niche they occupy. That doesn’t happen by being balanced.

My personal choice for actual news is an assortment of mainstream outlets in the center of the spectrum. because they still,  just like in the past, attempt to appeal to a broad audience. I may read opinion outside the middle but I try to keep in mind it is opinion. I look at economic collapse blogs for example, but every day there is the eve of armageddon and anyone with any sense needs to order their book NOW! It’s been that way since before blogs, I bought Howard Ruff’s book back in 1970-something, LOL.

I had started out to say, way back there …LOL… that in the event of any extended situation such as you mention, what happens in the wider world really is secondary to the local conditions and reaction after the fact. And the most important people to one’s continued function may not be “like minded” from across the country but “however minded” from across the street. While it is nice to interact with others seeking resilience to share tips and experience and opinion, it’s likely the people on your block who will form the core of whatever response is mounted—or chaos that occurs.

In that vein, after whatever dire event one might at least establish a “posting tree” (in their front yard or elsewhere) for announcements, info, trade offers, local meetings, etc. And, like The Prepared, keep it neutral.

Just my opinion, contrary though it may be  ;^)

 

I think it’s hard these days because even older forms of communication have come to rely on modern technology, in ways that are out of the control of the end user.

I have physical addresses for most of my friends and family out of the area, so we can communicate by snail mail, but I don’t think for one minute that the postal service would continue operating smoothy in the event of something like a widespread EMP.  It might – but only might – get back up and running faster than the internet, though.

You can still subscribe to print newspapers, but how are they receiving news from reporters around the world these days?  Mostly by internet and cell service, putting newspapers in the same boat as the rest of us.  To say nothing of issues like whether they can order more rolls of blank paper to print on without using a computer, or whether the truck driver who delivers it can navigate without GPS.

This is an important issue, but I don’t see a real good workaround, besides having a local network of people you see in person.

 

The basic concepts of survival and adaptation have been recognized for a long time and are well understood.  Internet and email have mostly speeded up communication.

I can relate first hand what occurs when the internet is down and you are faced with an advancing disaster.  You stop chatting and begin to implement the measures for which you have prepared – hopefully with success.  In our case, we had to leave our home at 1AM, faced with a  raging wild fire.  Our preps worked…..

One of my fundamental references in my prep library was published in 1959.  It does, of course, not mention many modern technologies, like PLBs, but it discusses many fundamental principles of survival which remain valid today.  I still refer to it from time to time.

Th internet is indeed useful, but it spreads misinformation as quickly as valid information.  User discretion is advised.

 

have a police scanner or other radio that can scan those frequencies. you will be able to hear intel about areas around you and what is going on that you should be concerned about such as a band of looters coming closer to your neighborhood. that’ll give you time to evacuate or lock down tight.

 

Doesnt work over here, the EMS services are all encrypted these days.