View Full Version : Single/unencumbered planning
Since I have found my familial situation completely changed in the last 6 months, going from having a woman and a child that I considered my responsibility to living alone "without a care in the world" I've found my priorities shifting in many areas. One of them is the survival/defense aspect. In talking with a friend today at lunchtime I was reminded of just how much as he talked about his planning and I compared it to mine.
I'm curious to hear from other unencumbered folks re: your planning, if any. I frankly find myself rather unconcerned now, with more of a "have a gun, have some clothes, will travel" attitude. Without others to potential protect/feed/care-for it seems to open up more options but also make the idea of worrying too much about planning pretty moot.
Thoughts?
Under my care are my fiance, parents, and in an SHTF scenario, my brother would join me as would his kids and wife, though they my brother would be an asset, not a liability/responsibility. This has required me to take the "bug-in" strategy with the majority of my preps. Bailing out is a last resort for me. If I wasn't taking care of all of them, my preps would be focused more on mobility and I would have greater options.
It makes everything considerably less stressful, that's for sure.
You don't have to worry about going to pickup loved ones and whether or not you'll be able to at the time.
You also don't have to worry about if a brazen action of yours could potentially endanger someone that's with you.
You don't have to listen to any moaning about something being too hard or too heavy.
Downsides:
You will probably have to carry more because you no longer have people to share the load for group items.
Morale is usually improved if you're enduring a situation with someone else.
Doc Safari
08-16-11, 15:58
I've been unencumbered for several years now. I inherited a ranch, and as soon as the economy improves where I think I can sell it, I'm out of here and retiring to the city.
If the SHTF before then, I plan to make this my fortress, my bat cave, my island, my Shangri-La.
If the flash mobs keep spreading, or the general unrest starts turning into riots nationwide or something, then I'd rather be here than anywhere. A few worries being along the border, but nothing is ever paradise, is it?
To be perfectly blunt, in preparation I do right now is due to threatened gun regulations under the radar than any perceived need to get ready for the Apocalypse.
Moose-Knuckle
08-19-11, 03:17
Rob, do you have parents? Any siblings with children? I do, and after my divorce my thoughts centered around them for me to assist in a bad situation.
If you have a surplus of supplies such as food stores then you could always trade/barter the items when things go south.
I've been unencumbered for several years now. I inherited a ranch, and as soon as the economy improves where I think I can sell it, I'm out of here and retiring to the city.
That sounds awesome. I'd keep the ranch and dismiss moving to the city, but that's just me.
Doc Safari
08-19-11, 08:54
That sounds awesome. I'd keep the ranch and dismiss moving to the city, but that's just me.
I'm a little too close to the border for comfort, and making money off the ranch is not easy. Eventually it will be worth more to me in money than in lifestyle.
If I was alone (and depending on the situation), I would look for a group to link up with. My plan would not be to stay alone. That whole "one is none" shit; it's true.
The other advice I like from JWR is to not only prepare for yourself and immediate family, but be prepared to take on friends and other relatives. They will panic then the first person they will think of is the "crazy guy" (you) who has a metric shit ton of canned food and guns/ammo. They will be knocking on your door within days of an event. I gave it lots of thought and came to the realization that I would not be able to turn away any friend or family member. So the burden falls on me to stock extra supplies.
Depending on your location, you may be better suited to have people come to you (ranch/retreat). Even if you have to stockpile enough shit for others who may not have the financial freedom to do so, it will be worth it when you have extra sets of eyes and trigger fingers.
No family geographically close enough to matter in this case. Do have friends in the area.
For small-time, more likely events like hurricanes I'll simply leave and come back to survey devastation. That's a non-issue for me, and it's what insurance is for.
Being single does simplify things a lot. Before getting married and having kids I was pretty footloose. I didn't even worry about jobs since I did not need to make much to live on.
If I were single now I would look at having caches in a few geographic areas and capitalizing on my mobility. Either stored at a friend's/family's house elsewhere, or a trailer parked on someones larger property. Not buried but more like ready to use when I drop by. Use them as vacation spots during good times and as "alternate" locations if any one of them gets dangerous.
Not to be an ass, but people or a group of people that have nothing to loose (i.e. without family/kids) during a SHTF situation are on the very, very top of my list of suspicion.
While some forms of planning may be less relevant, I think it still prudent for for planning for other areas. For instance, stockpiling a year of food may be less important if you plan to be mobile. But you still want to plan on being physically fit, have some marketable skills for various economic scenarios, prep your modes of travel for less than normal conditions, and plan for monetary needs (cash on hand, at local banks in bug out areas, gold/silver coins, barter items).
Rob, being that you are unattached you have it both good and bad. Yeah you have a lot of freedom and mobility. However you now have only you to rely on. That means you have to move a lot more and keep it under control. My advice would be to exploit your flexibility, but have a group that you can link up with. You can only carry so much on your person. You can only ensure so much security by your self. Just food for thought.
RogerinTPA
08-19-11, 22:56
Rob, being that you are unattached you have it both good and bad. Yeah you have a lot of freedom and mobility. However you now have only you to rely on. That means you have to move a lot more and keep it under control. My advice would be to exploit your flexibility, but have a group that you can link up with. You can only carry so much on your person. You can only ensure so much security by your self. Just food for thought.
Turning the Regional Training Groups into Regional Defensive Groups, where fellow M4C members can fall back, E&E, link up (2 or more, eventually merging into larger groups), band together, share resources, defensive strategies, develop strategic hamlets, etc...could be easily achieved, if properly organized. In my cul-de-sac, our block club is also our emergency defense group. Every home is a "safe haven" for neighbors who have the head of the house, out of range or MIA for what ever emergency reason. Everyone watches out for the kids, as if they were our own.
Rob S,
I think it is prudent to be prepared to stay in place initially. If some "event" happens, it may already be too late to travel because of lack of fuel resupply and congested roads. And, of course, you need a destination, so the question is..."where would I go?
If you stay in place, it means you need to store a few supplies that you enjoy eating, but in an urban environment, water storage is essential. In a catastrophe, who is going to fix the broken water system? What about electrical power? Can you cook without it? There are viable options with propane or kerosene stoves.
The best advice is to move out of urban/big city America to small town/rural America, now while there is time. Then you really don't need to "leave" when trouble comes.
And there will always be folks who might need help. Often we are saddled with responsibility we don't really want...sort of like Josey Wales. Plan accordingly. In a shtf scenario the biggest threat will be martial law.
I think that sounds like the worst advice. I am not going to uproot my life and start over even more than I already have to just in case some societal meltdown happens.
Just sayin'. You are unwilling to uproot your life, but in the event of a shtf situation your life will be uprooted whether you like it or not. I believe a person should be somewhat prepared. There are far too many people who will simply wait for the government to "do something." I doubt you fit into that category.
The big city is the worst place to be, and this is simply my candid opinion. Even if you are going to "trek" out of town in the event of a situation...well, good luck. A million others have the same plan, and my first question stands. Where do all you folks think you're going? You will be a stranger and refugee wherever you decide to stop, unless you have some contacts. And most likely you'll find little welcome, because people will be looking out for their own families. Strangers will be viewed with suspicion. It's just food for thought.
It's still bad advice, no matter how you slice it. The most common piece of advice in this thread is to have others locally that I could band together with if needed (which I already do), but I'm supposed to go move to BFE and start fresh?
Never mind. Alternate ideas are just that...thrown out there to invite a bit of thinking. From my perspective the city dwellers will have the least chance of survival, and it will be the cities where riots and mobs occur. Also, the infrastructure will be the first to collapse. What then? Truckers will refuse to deliver food to dangerous areas. Perhaps, it depends on what type of societal collapse or meltdown actually happens.
Obviously, you and I have completely different perspectives, but I have lived in rural areas all my life. I'm not leaving either.
I frankly find myself rather unconcerned now, with more of a "have a gun, have some clothes, will travel" attitude. Without others to potential protect/feed/care-for it seems to open up more options but also make the idea of worrying too much about planning pretty moot.
Thoughts?
Maybe a happy midpoint in between the two ends of the prepping spectrum?
I was alone at my beach house in Stuart, FL when the 2004 storms came through and I was happy I had stocked up on a lot of food/water as the power was out for two weeks in my neighborhood and things were torn up fairly good along the water where I lived. It was nice not subjecting a spouse/significant other to the dirty work that is involved when cleaning up after a hurricane but having put some supplies aside for just such an event was a nice thing to have done (a Frigid-Rigid cooler made life more pleasant as well - they'll easily hold ice for over 10 days).
Conversely, my neighborhood in Colorado was evacuated twice last Summer due to wildfires and my wife was out of town. It would have been really nice to have had some help getting two SUV's out of the neighborhood, deciding what possessions to load into a vehicle and which might go up in smoke, etc.
The "solo, have duffel will travel" method works in some situations better than others, but most of us still have to eat/drink/sleep now and then and I find that going solo isn't easier in every situation. It is easier in some cases to be sure though.
Straight Shooter
08-22-11, 09:18
Im in the same same situation Rob..solo. Although I do have a girlfriend I love, she is 50 miles away, and we have already talked about what/where she is to go/do in a SHTF situation. So, with her taken care of, that leaves my parents, and a sister who all live within 5 miles of me. And they are all TOTALLY, COMPLETELY clueless, unaware, unbelieving that anything bad can or might happen. So, getting them secure and safe, which will entail making them leave their nice, utterly indefensable home just full of glass doors, will be my chore.
I do have some ole boys who Illbe banding with, and the FIRST time we see thugs, hoodrats, neer-do-wells at large, well Ill just say we aint taking that shit no more, period.
I plan on holdin up, BUT will be ready to move if forced.
I will do anything needed to protect my family, me,&my possesions that Ive worked my ass off aquiring over many years.
Ive got some thoughts, beliefs, theories and ideas about a lone, TRAINED SHOTTIST in a SHTF scenario that Im willing to put my money where my mouth is, and see if Im right or wrong. Being single in a SHTF scene will have advantages I do believe. But I really hope we dont have to find out...:(
RogerinTPA
08-29-11, 15:27
Maybe a happy midpoint in between the two ends of the prepping spectrum?
I was alone at my beach house in Stuart, FL when the 2004 storms came through and I was happy I had stocked up on a lot of food/water as the power was out for two weeks in my neighborhood and things were torn up fairly good along the water where I lived. It was nice not subjecting a spouse/significant other to the dirty work that is involved when cleaning up after a hurricane but having put some supplies aside for just such an event was a nice thing to have done (a Frigid-Rigid cooler made life more pleasant as well - they'll easily hold ice for over 10 days).
Conversely, my neighborhood in Colorado was evacuated twice last Summer due to wildfires and my wife was out of town. It would have been really nice to have had some help getting two SUV's out of the neighborhood, deciding what possessions to load into a vehicle and which might go up in smoke, etc.
The "solo, have duffel will travel" method works in some situations better than others, but most of us still have to eat/drink/sleep now and then and I find that going solo isn't easier in every situation. It is easier in some cases to be sure though.
Agreed. No one wants to uproot their lives, but things can go from bad to worse, and you should have a plan B to evacuate if the situation develops and you can no longer occupy your dwelling for whatever reason (severe damage, flood, fire, mass civil disobedience, get over ran by a larger force, 2012 EOTW shit, etc...). I think that's the reason why a lot of us have load-out kits, BOBs and an escape plan of some sort.
pilotguyo540
08-29-11, 20:44
I am partially completely unencumbered. Prepping for me is almost impossible. I live "on the road," so to speak. It the SHTF on a weekday, I would likely be far from home and my kids. I can't always bring a firearm and my BOB. I would likely be hosed in a "One second after," scenario then. If it occured on the weekend, I would have my kids and an escape plan to other members of my family. I can't really prep at my home, beyond a BOB and some camping gear.
I really like RogerinTPA's idea of the regional training groups turning into regional defense networks. I could use some help starting one in my AO.
As far as
Not to be an ass, but people or a group of people that have nothing to loose (i.e. without family/kids) during a SHTF situation are on the very, very top of my list of suspicion.
suspicion of what?
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