Discussion: Defense Strategy

[Wolf Spyder]

My group is in the same spot as a lot of you guy's groups are in. Each adult has a long gun of some form and a semi-auto handgun. Most of the long guns are AR15's. However, I am the only one who has load bearing gear and a stock pile of magazines. I am the only one who has medical gear. Several of us have camping gear, but I have wilderness survival gear as well. Several of us have vehicle recovery gear (tow gear) and automobile tools, but I am the only one with wood working hand tools. My youngest brother and I have our personally owned fire fighter radios, but no body else in our group has comms yet.

I am pushing for folks in my group to stock pile ammo and magazines. Find load bearing gear that fits and is serviceable. Find and learn to use camping gear and a good utility/bush/combat knife. I can teach them basic wilderness survival stuff like primitive fire and what not. As a group we need a lot more food and water... but I have plans for that.

It is a slow and some times difficult process to get them motivated. I can't do it on my own, and if something happens I can't turn them away when they get to my door. We will need each other.

[pete57]

My group is in the same spot as a lot of you guy's groups are in. Each adult has a long gun of some form and a semi-auto handgun. Most of the long guns are AR15's....It is a slow and some times difficult process to get them motivated.

Haha...that's great....My group is me. Not one person in my family sees the need to have more than the phone number for applebees stuck on the fridge. One of my brothers has a few firearms but probably less than 50 rounds of ammo. Why would you ever need more...I mean walmart will always be there right? If they are snowed in for 2 days they will be living on fingernails...haha.

People get out of control, and the sense of urgency of being prepared for whatever, can be all consuming...I get that. It's a good idea to guard against it too. The sad thing is that now any type of prepping...even the most innocuous, meager prepping is viewed as engaging in some sort of 1984, brave new world, animal farm, apocalypse conspiracy paranoia. So now many people, including my entire family, are not prepared for even the most minor inconvenience in life...simply because in their minds to have a few extra packages of macaroni and cheese means you are a paranoid mayan calendar nutjob.....really???...you can't buy a 10 pack of ramen noodles unless you believe aliens are going to destroy the earth soon? It is sad and largely this perception is the result of the media. Though I have not seen the "prepping" shows on tv, I have heard they do their best to make the "preppers" look crazy...now because of this twisted perception you are now a nutjob if you mention you bought a water filter.

My girlfriend worked in New Hampshire for a few months in the winter. The winters are so bad where she was that being snowed in and having no electric was the norm...so having extra provisions is simply a way of life for them...nothing strange about it.

I use to consider stocking extra provisions for my family...but I don't anymore. This is financially and logistically impossible. Ok so if I can draw a point from this rant I guess it would be this...after you have done your due diligence in trying to convince someone that an extra box of pasta might be beneficial and doesn't make you crazy, you're done. You are a free agent in this world and so are they.