Prepping for small town city slickers
- Thread starter Randolph
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No matter how prepared farmers and homesteaders were back then, there was always the need to hightail back to the fort in the time of trouble.
Today, us small town city slickers will have an important role, all but forgotten in modern times.
Today, us small town city slickers will have an important role, all but forgotten in modern times.
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You lost me. What would the city slickers roll be in SHTF?
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If the small towns survive intact, they would be hubs of trade and places where skilled craftsman (blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.) could work in relative safety (compared to the big city cesspools and completely rural areas)
Not many mutual fund managers I imagine, LOL.
No but I bet a few lawyers, you'll never get rid of them lol.
"if the small towns survive intact"....unlikely, everywhere will be affected.
self sufficiency/self reliance, emphasis on the "self", if you cant grow it, raise it, make it or repair it yourself you wont have it.
relying on others for something or a skill we lack post collapse is like relying on the government, it aint going to happen.
prepare and plan now afterwards will be too late.
self sufficiency/self reliance, emphasis on the "self", if you cant grow it, raise it, make it or repair it yourself you wont have it.
relying on others for something or a skill we lack post collapse is like relying on the government, it aint going to happen.
prepare and plan now afterwards will be too late.
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Several of my uncles and cousins have fun by finding old settlement sites from as far back as the eighteenth century to scan with metal detectors. Most of the settlements are now in state and federal parks and take some bushwacking to get to, but most of them still have what attracted settlers to them originally, a good water source and land you can grow food on. The buildings are usually rotted away but many have river rock chimneys for cooking and heating that are still functional. Far enough away from settled areas to be hard to find but not too difficult to get there if you know where you're going.
Probably lots of sites like them east of the Mississip.
Probably lots of sites like them east of the Mississip.
Most small towns here have no localaly owned busnesses. One dollar store and a convience/gas station, then the closed food stores and dry goods stores. By FDA guidelines most of New Mexico is a food desert, no raw vegtables or food available. The dollar stores have pushed out local grocery stores. Same through most of West Texas.
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Around here it depends on whether you are located on or near an Interstate Highway. If so, you'll have big chain stores, restaurants, and gas stations, even out in the middle of nowhere. If not, most things will be locally owned. If you are on a major US Highway, but not an Interstate, you'll have a mix of chain stores and locally owned stores.
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We have a hardware store, a thrift store, a Christian store, and an Amish run salvage grocery store (it's small). We have a gas pump that is unmanned and uncovered. Diesel or one type of unleaded. Get the swipe card from the company and a pin number to use and get a bill in the mail for whatever you take.
We also have a grade school, grades Kinder to 8th with about 40 students.
We also have a grade school, grades Kinder to 8th with about 40 students.
the local corner store here is owned by co-op which is one of the big supermarket chains, mostly has small convenience stores rather than huge superstores, apart from that all the local stores are individually owned even the gas station.
"Crow fodder"
LOL!
That's how I see preppers hiding out in the boonies. But we will just have to wait and see when we are put to the test of real life SHTF.
When I joined this forum three years ago, I was living in a trailer park. New to NE Oklahoma, and needed to learn about the region. Limited funds, not a whole lot of options.
Now I live in a small town surrounded 20 miles in all directions, ranches and others getting away from the hoards.
Crow fodder.
Depends on one's perspective.
LOL!
That's how I see preppers hiding out in the boonies. But we will just have to wait and see when we are put to the test of real life SHTF.
When I joined this forum three years ago, I was living in a trailer park. New to NE Oklahoma, and needed to learn about the region. Limited funds, not a whole lot of options.
Now I live in a small town surrounded 20 miles in all directions, ranches and others getting away from the hoards.
Crow fodder.
Depends on one's perspective.
The small town not far from me has a small grocer, feed/farm store, gas station/ mechanic/tires, bank , small medical clinic manned by a nurse practitioner locally born and raised, funeral home and small pharmacy, mennonite farm stand, local diner and a winery. Every single business locally owned but small. Not a chain store in sight. Remnants of what was once a coal mining community before the mine ran out years ago.
If SHTF, our JIT/BAU system fails then so does the fuel supply.
Suddenly, what was a 10 minute drive is now a all day hike.
The very edge of the next major town is about 10 miles away, over very hilly terrain. The town center is more like 15 miles maybe closer to 20 miles.
If there is trouble out here, I am not expecting to run for town. As it is, being this far out, we know if we call 911, the local volunteer fire department will get here sooner than LEOs. Not a slight against LE. Just fact of the matter.
We generally see those in town as the more likely greater threat. Some flunky bureaucrat in town will assume our crops are theirs, our livestock are theirs to feed all those useless eaters in town.
Even if they still do have fuel, contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe, you do not need explosives to drop a bridge. Unless their vehicles can suddenly grow wings, they are going to have to hump it on foot.
That is a long way.
Can not think of a lot of what town would have in a SHTF situation that would compel me to make the trip to town.
"I'm in the middle of a rural farming area, not a tourist area thats more the south coast 50 miles away, if we see a tourist here they are usually lost."
No real problem with lost tourists in my area. Most know the Pioneer Woman is still an hour west of here.
No real problem with lost tourists in my area. Most know the Pioneer Woman is still an hour west of here.
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There are far more small towns in the US than there are big cities. Nothing unusual about small town life. The only "chain" store here is the Shell station and the only bank in the county. No fast food, no Walmart and no Dollar store to crap up the area.
"Can not think of a lot of what town would have in a SHTF situation that would compel me to make the trip to town."
You have answered your own question. Trade routes.
Not much time today to get into this.
Have a great and productive day!
You have answered your own question. Trade routes.
Not much time today to get into this.
Have a great and productive day!
If the various reports are accurate, SHTF, the JIT/BAU system fails, and within the first year there is a 90% mass die off, whom in town am I going to trade with?
Why would I take the risk to hike it all that way?
If I am going to be any trading it will likely be within my immediate area (i.e. half a days walk or bicycle ride).
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In the 13th century, a bunch of goat herders in Anatolia decided to do something about the chaos they were living in. Their tribe had been decimated, reduced from over 15,000 to less than 1000. So they started with one market and secured it and made sure everyone of any nationality, race or religion could trade there under fair conditions. It wasn't easy because Templars, Byzantines, Mongols, Cumans, and all sorts of Bandits were ravaging the countryside.
Then they secured a small town, called Söğüt, and made it a hub of commerce. Merchants, farmers, artisans, and craftsmen flocked there from all over to do business. Warlords allied with them. Gradually they grew in power until they defeated the Byzantine Empire and became the Ottoman Empire.
They started with ONE MARKET.
Then they secured a small town, called Söğüt, and made it a hub of commerce. Merchants, farmers, artisans, and craftsmen flocked there from all over to do business. Warlords allied with them. Gradually they grew in power until they defeated the Byzantine Empire and became the Ottoman Empire.
They started with ONE MARKET.
Yes, right you are.
If S were to HTF, we plan on starting our own market here locally, in the one and only church parking lot.
It is centrally located.
I expect everyone, whom is capable, within walking or bicycling distance to frequent the market.
The Amish, I am sure they will be able to come from farther distances with their horses and carriages.
But I do not expect anyone would be willing to make a 30-40mi round trip hike to town for trade.
Aside the Amish, I do not see a lot of people with horses in their garages, know how to ride one properly, let alone the knowledge to care for them, the land to support/feed them.
Especially in town.
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The Amish aren't the only ones that know how to ride and use horses. Almost everyone around this area has horses. Many people still have harness and horse drawn farm equipment. After SHTF horses and mules will be just as important as they have been throughout history. Many people still have the skills to farm with horses. Most will share these skills.
I can see that in the area where you live.
I other parts of the country, that may be true.
Those are likely the exception, not the rule.
Down in the near by town where I live, definitely not.
Thinking back on all the places where I have lived, definitely not.
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No doubt thats true for now, but after SHTF there will be many changes. Horse breeding will become a critical operation again. Life in many ways will be like it was for thousands of years, prior to around 1900.
