hi

[imaginejohn]

Not sure I'd want to survive if things got really bad. So I'm testing myself in hardship scenarios, mostly wild camping with deliberately less gear than I need. Also seeing how many days I can eat without buying food. Record so far is 9 days but have relied on free food apps. Could probably go 365 days without buying food but would be morbidly obese as most of free food is high fat.

 

[poltiregist]

Glad to have you on here .

 

[Amish Heart]

Welcome from the US. You really should store food. Free food will go away when the economy collapses.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Welcome, I'd start improving your preps.

 

[imaginejohn]

Thanks, my plan is not to store food. I agree your advice is excellent for the USA, But here, on this tiny island, the UK, with 70million people and not much free space... my plan is to get off the island and onto the European continent, and then... well, that would be telling but over the years I've worked out a number of routes and places that are remote and likely to remain sparsely populated.

youre right tho, the free food from apps is not a sustainable plan. its been more about building resilience in myself, in that I do not know where the next meal is coming from, am not choosing what I eat, east what is available, and see how it affects me, both energy and health wise, but also emotionally, which is equally important, and the survival scenarios mean also preparing ourselves psychologically

its tough to force hardship on myself, but also hardening

thanks for the welcome!

 

[Amish Heart]

I respect your thinking, but living like a refugee is not a great plan. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is a mindset that some take. I'd rather plan ahead and live well, and take care of myself.

 

[imaginejohn]

I respect your thinking, but living like a refugee is not a great plan. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger is a mindset that some take. I'd rather plan ahead and live well, and take care of myself.

If I lived in the USA I'd do as you're doing. If the SHTF then the UK is amongst the worst places to be, from a survival point of view. The immediate aftermath will be brutal. And the few small places to flee like cumbria, the peak district, the hebrides... will be swarming with millions of others with the same bright idea.

once the shtf we are all stateless refugees...

 

[Mountain trapper]

I guess I don't understand what a food app is, or how you'd eat it.
Welcome anyway.

 

[Survivor_316]

Welcome.
I agree that you should get out of there ASAP so you can start to prepare in the space you want to be.

There's much to be said for familiarity with your local flora and fauna. If I had to suddenly survive in another country, I'd be toast. Being able to see, touch, and smell things growing locally is invaluable.

 

[imaginejohn]

Welcome.
I agree that you should get out of there ASAP so you can start to prepare in the space you want to be.

There's much to be said for familiarity with your local flora and fauna. If I had to suddenly survive in another country, I'd be toast. Being able to see, touch, and smell things growing locally is invaluable.

That's given me genuine pause for thought. Thanks.

 

[tmttactical]

During a real SHTF event, the locals are not going to be very welcoming to foreigners. If the U.K. has become too dangerous for survival, I seriously doubt somebody from the U.K. would be welcomed into the E.U..

 

[imaginejohn]

During a real SHTF event, the locals are not going to be very welcoming to foreigners. If the U.K. has become too dangerous for survival, I seriously doubt somebody from the U.K. would be welcomed into the E.U..

You don't have to be welcomed into Europe. You just go there. The crossing from England's south coast to France is fast and easy. People are doing it every day in inflatable dinghies. Any small boat is fine. Countries such as France and Germany and Poland and Romania and so on are not densely populated like the UK. There are vast rural and wild areas through which you can quite easily slip from one country to the next undetected. I won't be looking for a welcome. I'll be stealthing my way to PLAN A.

 

[tmttactical]

The rubber boats the illegal aliens use are powered. If it has hit the fan, where will you get the boat? Where will you get the fuel? What nautical experience do you have? What supplies will you have for the trip, both on the ocean journey and the land portion? How will you journey to these remote land location in the E.U.? How will you resupply once you run out of your very limited supplies?

When I refer to being "Welcoming" I am referring to how people will respond to outsiders during a major SHTF event. Once the supply system has broken down and there are food shortages, newcomers are not going to be either welcome or tolerated. If you are lucky, the locals will just ask you to keep moving. If you are unlucky, they will find a nice permeant resting spot for you and will keep what ever you may have had. You may really want to look into the details of Plan A.

 

[Mountain Dragon]

Thanks, my plan is not to store food. I agree your advice is excellent for the USA, But here, on this tiny island, the UK, with 70million people and not much free space... my plan is to get off the island and onto the European continent, and then... well, that would be telling but over the years I've worked out a number of routes and places that are remote and likely to remain sparsely populated.

youre right tho, the free food from apps is not a sustainable plan. its been more about building resilience in myself, in that I do not know where the next meal is coming from, am not choosing what I eat, east what is available, and see how it affects me, both energy and health wise, but also emotionally, which is equally important, and the survival scenarios mean also preparing ourselves psychologically

its tough to force hardship on myself, but also hardening

thanks for the welcome!

So you think you'll be welcome at every place in Europe and they will give you an roof top, clothings and food? May you do like an new M3 BMW if you come?
Guess we have enough "guests" already in Northern Europe we need to feed with our own (tax-) money. If you're just to lazy to prepare and store a few things by yourself and you're thinking others will pamper you - your ideas are wrong. We almost have enough parasites.
However
If you're seriously are willing to prepare yourself then welcome from an european place where houses are made of wood and men are made of stone

 

[radiogoon]

Interesting avatar for a Brit. Do you have one with Biden? More of a chance of him putting us there. Didn't take long for Pedo Joe to get us involved in a proxy war after four years of peace under Donald Trump. I suspect an interloper.

 

[imaginejohn]

So you think you'll be welcome at every place in Europe and they will give you an roof top, clothings and food? May you do like an new M3 BMW if you come?
Guess we have enough "guests" already in Northern Europe we need to feed with our own (tax-) money. If you're just to lazy to prepare and store a few things by yourself and you're thinking others will pamper you - your ideas are wrong. We almost have enough parasites.
However
If you're seriously are willing to prepare yourself then welcome from an european place where houses are made of wood and men are made of stone

As I said above, in a SHTF situation (non-nuclear) I will head to mainland Europe, because my chances of survival are much better there than the UK.

In a SHTF scenario, none of the old rules apply. Anyone in a motor vehicle is a sitting duck. Wise people will move around on foot, slowly, assuredly.

You can hunker down in some places, that will be your best option. You can hoard food and resources, and in some scenarios, that will be best too.

But I have surmised that my best chance would be to go alone, and I would be avoiding all other human beings like the plague. At least until there were signs of civility returning, which it probably wouldn't. It won't be anything like Red Dawn or the Walking Dead. When the SHTF, every day will be a lived nightmare. And it is unlikely to end until you die.

 

[tmttactical]

As I said above, in a SHTF situation (non-nuclear) I will head to mainland Europe, because my chances of survival are much better there than the UK.

In a SHTF scenario, none of the old rules apply. Anyone in a motor vehicle is a sitting duck. Wise people will move around on foot, slowly, assuredly.

You can hunker down in some places, that will be your best option. You can hoard food and resources, and in some scenarios, that will be best too.

But I have surmised that my best chance would be to go alone, and I would be avoiding all other human beings like the plague. At least until there were signs of civility returning, which it probably wouldn't. It won't be anything like Red Dawn or the Walking Dead. When the SHTF, every day will be a lived nightmare. And it is unlikely to end until you die.

The devil is in the details! Your PLAN A to head for Europe has a lot of missing details. How do you head (get to) Europe for starters? You live on an island. How much can you carry in the way of supplies? How will you resupply if you make it to Europe? If England has become unsafe, why do you think the E.U. will be safer? What other languages (aside from English) do you fluently speak? How will you navigate to your chosen destination, in a foreign country? What wilderness training do you have? What do you have for shelter? How much time do you think it will take to hoof it to your new destination? Do you know what fauna you can eat that grows wild at your new destination? What tools will you carry to your new destination? What weapons will you have for defense or capturing game? It is easy to say you will just head out but much thought and preparation is actually required to make your plan even remotely possible.

 

[imaginejohn]

With respect, my plan has missing details because I want it that way. What kind of fool would I be to be sharing intimate details of my survival plan on an internet forum?

 

[tmttactical]

With respect, my plan has missing details because I want it that way. What kind of fool would I be to be sharing intimate details of my survival plan on an internet forum?

That is a cop out response. No intimate details were required, you simply do not have the answers to my simple questions. All smoke but no answers. Almost every prepper on this forum could have answered my question and not provided a single clue as to the starting point or their destination. Either you really do not have a plan OR you are planning to fail.

 

[imaginejohn]

If I am right about my destination, I will be reasonably safe for perhaps a year, maybe longer. I can only surmise. Getting there won't be much problem. Injury and disease will be the biggest hurdles. People not so much as I will be avoiding them.

It is possible I get there and underestimate the number of others that had the same idea. In which case, it will be ugly and I would then resort to Plan B.

Food and water isn't a problem. Navigation isn't a problem. Sheltering isn't a problem.

The only problem will be other humans. And that's not something you can overly plan for, in any situation, other than maintaining the rule of no contact.

 

[tmttactical]

Nothing is a problem until it is a problem. Lack of planning always leads to failure. When it hits the fan, it will not be like some video game. There will not be any do-overs. Bugging out requires extensive detailed planning and preparation. I don't see any of that in your Plan A posts.

 

[imaginejohn]

Nothing is a problem until it is a problem. Lack of planning always leads to failure. When it hits the fan, it will not be like some video game.

I don't play computer games.

There will not be any do-overs. Bugging out requires extensive detailed planning and preparation. I don't see any of that in your Plan A posts.

Good. Opsec is the most important fundamental to any plan. Leave the public planning to local bureaucrats

It is not possible to forensically prepare for an unknown event. Simply not possible. Get your basic survival skills under your belt, and then improvise from there. Plans can become the albatros around the neck when too heavy, too relied on. In a time of mass panic and chaos, you won't survive with a detailed plan. You will survive by having skills, listening to your gut, intelligently adapating from one situation to the next.

 

[imaginejohn]

O and... let's not forget... in the early days, every bright idea you think you and only you are coming up with... several hundreds of thousands if not at times millions will be having it too...

 

[imaginejohn]

So.. work on your ego. Know your self, your weaknesses. But work on the ego. The ego will get you killed.

 

[tmttactical]

Good Opsec is required but no matter how good your Opsec is, failure to plan is planning to fail. Your posts continue to be generic responses and provide no useful information for any of the forum members. Here is a simple example that does not require any disclosure of Opsec information. Channel crossing will require knowing the weather located in your chosen departure point. What will the tides be -- high tide or low tide, at any given departure time. The person bugging out will need to know the weight limit / carrying capacity of the of the boat being used. Will the boat be motorized or sail driven? If motor driven, how much fuel will be required? Should the motor fail, will you be able to continue the journey? These are just a few sample question needed to prepare for a channel crossing. I am sure many others will be interested in how you plan (?) to deal with these issues, other than not a problem.

 

[imaginejohn]

Good Opsec is required but no matter how good your Opsec is, failure to plan is planning to fail. Your posts continue to be generic responses and provide no useful information for any of the forum members. Here is a simple example that does not require any disclosure of Opsec information. Channel crossing will require knowing the weather located in your chosen departure point. What will the tides be -- high tide or low tide, at any given departure time. The person bugging out will need to know the weight limit / carrying capacity of the of the boat being used. Will the boat be motorized or sail driven? If motor driven, how much fuel will be required? Should the motor fail, will you be able to continue the journey? These are just a few sample question needed to prepare for a channel crossing. I am sure many others will be interested in how you plan (?) to deal with these issues, other than not a problem.

For anyone in the UK considering crossing the English Channel with no prior experience, my advice is, DON'T. It's only 20 or so miles as the crow flies but can be extremely dangerous and challenging even to very experienced sailors in modern boats with modern equipment. Seas swells can be horrific. Double high tides and low tides confusing.

However, for someone with experience, and the knowledge and skills, the likelihood of you crossing and not dying is greatly increased by the conditions on the day. In a SHTF situation you are unlikely to have access to current data, so your second next best route is to look at historical data for that day, or night. And then count your blessings.

I would personally favour a night crossing but the odds of capsizing and dying of hypothermia are greatly increased.

The bravery of the immigrants that follow this route the other way is not to be sniffed at.

Any movement over long distances is best improvised. The safest and stealthiest form of transport is and always has been and always will be non-motorised.

 

[imaginejohn]

In a SHTF situation, carrying more than 5KG max would be foolish if not suicidal.

 

[Survivor_316]

I think this guy isn't even on here for any reason but to stir up drama. He's not really prepping. His idea of prepping was eating food that he doesn't like.

I think that was something I taught my children when they were 2.

I'm usually a pretty nice person, but why waste time on someone who's not serious about anything other than transgenderism?

 

[tmttactical]

5 kg is roughly 11 pounds (imperial). One gallon of water is roughly 8 pounds. The basic water need is a minimum of one gallon per person, per day. Per your statement, that only leaves 3 pounds for food, shelter and carrying kit. Your numbers do not compute. Very bad advice and should be ignored by the inexperienced and experienced prepper.

 

[imaginejohn]

When I quote carry weights I never include food and water. Any experienced long distance hiker understands that water and food weights vary. I don't class them as kit. Water, inevitably, is not kit. It is part of the environment that I will carry with me. At varying points I will carry more or less. For instance, I begin to think about establishing camp 1-2 hours before. I will then be looking for a water source and when found will acquire 2-3 litres. But I'd be foolsih to carry that all day!

If you had experience of long hikes on foot you'd know this already.

If I am hiking next to a river, why would I carry a gallon of water?


I take it you go long hiking in a motor vehicle?