Being prepped for the long run depends on where you live. I am close to the Gulf of Mexico. Therefor in addition to seeds, dehydrated food and all the normal stuff I have cast nets, fishing rods. Springs are close by for fresh water on land. Over a million hogs run loose in the state, more than deer. Beside the normal arsenal of guns and ammo, also have crossbow and compound bow. Snares (50) which I made from a kit at a cost of 2 dollars a piece. If your in the high country the topography dictates necessary items.

KS4ZS ham operator for 29 years

I have done two weeks in the wilderness several times in Upper Peninsula of  Michigan.  Its an experience! Making your own outhouse, watching for wolfs and bears, trying to stay warm, cutting wood for fires. Did for 5 years in a row, two weeks at time. Usually in the month of early November. Tell ya what you learn a lot about yourself and cooperative friends.  

Question?   With out getting int the hundreds of dollar for a pellet gun. What would you recommend for longevity.

Your the kind of person I like to go hunting with.

Let’s not forget that in an emergency you are allowed to use any channel. 

A-say ah                                I -bit it                      q pay day to day B-Band rat tat tat                 J In jaws jaw jaws     r Burr  ra bit C catch it catch it                 k- Kan ger roo          s -s s s  D- Dog did it                          L  a light is lit             T-Tall E  eek                                      M- Ma Ma                 U- Kiss a u F did I fail it                              N Na zi                      v – v v v va G- God love me                     O ho ho ho                 W- Mo wa wa H  deep in the heart              P Did pop pop it         x – cross at the door                                                                                       z-za za dit it

I wish courses were offered in our state. I have collected a library of first aid  info to have so others could learn. Some of the list of medications are not for public use. Which makes me wonder if you could use meds for animals and then use them on people. I know, don’t get alarmed not all drugs used by animals are safe for humans. Pain killers like ladicaine maybe. But hey I’m no doctor.

If the situation gets really bad, all the money in the bank, stockmart won’t buy you a knife, gun or bow to use. The items that you have in your home will be it. The items your group has will be it. Money will be worthless. If your stock is in ultlities and consertive mutal funds, if that goes we are all in trouble. That would mean a total collapse of the sytem.    No I dont think thats going to happen. In short term fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes  are of concern. There is 80 million gun owners in our country. Thats a comforting thought. As we all know what keeps the bad people out of your home is knowing they will be walking to home armed to the teeth. I get tested every year with hurricanes here. I’ve seen the panic over gas, plywood and food. Collecting the essential takes time unless you have a bucket of money. Even to get food that last 25 years takes 6 months to get.  So it all depends are where you live, the event you are preparing for and what survival item you have.   It is different for everyone. But there are basic essestials. That is what this site is about. 

Well I would pick a climate that you can grow crops year round, has wild game and has city but not too big. Big enough to meet any emergency or items you might need. But not jam packed elbow to elbow city. There over one million wild hogs in our state along with deer, turkey and bear. Fishing all you want, climate warm that you wont freeze to death but cool enough to enjoy. Plenty of woods if you want hide. Plenty of small town and farms.  Islands are a death trap, want the freedom to move quickly if I have to. Out of this country, no way. I would not like to survive in a 3rd world country. Canada is too cold, out west is mix bag. I like the south. Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Missippi, Lousiana, Texas.  Each state has pros and cons but there is no perfect state. 

I have found there is so much on youtube, that you can spend a lot of time learning for free. I have looked at courses in the outdoors but they are usuallly out of state which adds to the expense. Most of them are pretty basic and the tougher ones that involve being outside for an  extended period of time are not for me. I have an extensive library of survial skill books. From knots, recipes, shelters, skinning, making snares, first aid and more than I wish to type here. Everytime I reread one, I learn something new. 

Getting neighbors is a good idea but also very situational. Age of the neighbor, number of people in the family. Age of the family members, medical conditions. I live in a small city. My first move is hunker down. Hitting the road is like picking of what you want in a food line. Roads were jammed to a stop in florida when people tried to flee. Along the highway people will just pick the best prospect to rob. There is no perfect answer I know. If you bug out, how far can you go on a tank of gas. Will there be gas stations open? what then. How much gas are you going to carry to where? I live in florida where every year you can be tested of your survial skills via Hurricanes. I often think where would I go if I had to leave. Another state, just find some woods and start living. Dont know the answer and I have looked on line for info. My kids families  are on my care list. So it is very conditional on each person circumstances. Reacting to each of those circumstances can be correct but different obviously, but for each of those people its the right move for their situation. There is no one fits all. 

30.06 brought down an 800 pound moose in New Foundland.  Plus that ammo is easy to find anywhere and comes with multiple choices for lead. 150, 160, 180 and 220. I used the 220. Drop the moose at 300 yards with 4 shots. 3 misses and one hit. 

Yaesu model,    Been a ham operator for 20 years. Got all the stuff when the coms go down. Im advance class. If you pick a radio I support a wire atttenta and not a fix pole. That way you can move around. You will need a tuner for your system.  Practice your morse code too. Also the band width for you attena is important 400 frequency is easy to set up anywhere. The higher up you go the longer the attena wire. For 400 I believe 8.6 feet of wire for one side is needed.  You will need two of them. You will neet to know how soder wire too. Get a heavy duty soder and not one for models.  Another thing is you only need attach a car battery to run it . It takes DC current. If you have the campability you could figure out how to make a wind mill and attach at alternater to it and restore your battery. I have spoken around the world on Ham radio. But you lose less power doing morse code. There is a trick to learning code, you dont learn by dots and dashes. For example the letter A is Dot Dash. Short then along. By saying the words SAY AH. You have the sound to listen for. It works. The letter T is the sound of TALL. The letter E is BIT IT.   Dot , Dot. I have the entire alphabet be if your interested in learning it. 

I have looked into those two options. I concluded that buying a kit limits you to amount of snare you can make. For 100 $ you can make 100 5ft snares. The snare shop is the web site I purchased. Therefore 100 snares equals a dollar a piece. Let’s face it having 5 or ten snares will not give enough of chance to get a caputure. The kit I bought was aimed at small game but will even hold a deer or hog. The kit package of I bought cam with one snare set up for you to copy. Heads up on one thing I had to buy a piece of steel to use to pound with 2 lb hammer steel nuts. If you pound on cement it will crack. There are many components to a snare but they are all included in the package and I put all the snares in a 5 gallon bucket for storage. 

1.   A 22 rifle that shoots 22 and 410 and is the breakdown survival kind.   2.   45 acp for protecion. 3.   On this one I am torned between having a compound bow or cross bow versus a 30.06  Very rarly will you get a shot in the woods more that 50 yards without hitting a tree. Pluse what do you do when you run out of ammo. Arrows can be retrieved. Ar 15 which I have one to me is for a fire fight. In a survival mode for that to arise would be to rare to invest and the ammo you would need for it. Even if you reload eventually you will run out of powder, lead, and other item needed.  30.06 is a caliber that is in every store. But it is a hunting caliber and Im not planning on becoming a sniper.  22 rile ammo is the cheapest to get and amass.  It will bring down a deer, and small game. Just have to able to hit your target.  45 acp, will put you down, period.  Any bullet can put you down if its in the right place. I find the 45 acp a stopper. If I am using a gun in my hands its not play time and my life is in danger. I would not be out to just injury someone but to stop them from killing me.  Shot guns are great for short distances, but not for survival  long term. If shoot an amimal with will there be anything left over to eat. Deer, Pigs, and rabbits. One thing that is not mention here at all is snares. I have a hundred snares capitable of caputuring deer, pigs and rabbits. Great survival tool to have. The last forever. Easy to put together. 

After reading many opinions on bugging out. I have come to the conclusion that staying in place is a better solution.  Taking off to the woods, even though I am an experienced camper and hunter, the prospect of doing that is a big hurdle for those who have never done it. Its not the Holdiay Inn. Thats why finding a team is important. A database by state and region should be created to find others who share the same concerns. The biggest problem is revealing to others the status of your preparedness. By creating a database it is a beginning to putting people together. I believe through causual contact people can find and meet each other and assess the other person. It is vital that if you take on a team that you and them are reliable, trustworthy and comitted. No one person should be burden with all the items needed to survive. This website is the best I have seen on preparedness. I wish they would create a database so we can start.  There is so much to teach and learn about survival. I have seen what happens during a Hurricane to people when there is impending harm do to them. The scurry around at the last minute and panic do things they would never do. How fast I have seen groucery store clear out of everything a few days before a storm hits. Your a fool if you dont prepare for events if you live anywhere where these events happen annually.  I am more than willing to share my opinions of survival items and strategy. More importantly I am looking for others to survive if the SHTF.  I dont want to be the king of the clan, just alive to enjoy what God has given me and take care of my loved ones. So how about that database?

The only way to survive any situation is with other people to help protect you and provide items and skills that would benifit the group. Yet is most difficult to find these people. Perhaps it isn’t easy because that they have to open each up to each other. You can amass all the things you need, but you cant stay up 24/7 to protect your family.  All the skills you have to aquire takes a long time. I have estamated that I have 15,000 $ of equipment that I have gathered over the years.  I started this journey because I am the head of the household and my responsibilty is the saftey and well being of my loved ones. Years ago this acknowledgment of my goals by others where scoffed and heckled. That aint laughing now.  I hope this world stays safe , be kind to each other and respect each other. But Im ready if this world turns.