A few prepping tips

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Silent Earth

A True Doomsday Prepper
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Just something to get a bit of chatter going :)

Prepper Tips
1 Never be without your PDW* if you are in a hostile environment EVER, sleep with it, eat with it, wash with it, socialise with it, but as long as you are in a survival situation NEVER be without it. (*What ever is legal where you live)
2 You should always have an EDC knife with you, regardless of situation.
3 Never enter a building or location without knowing at least two ways out.
4 In an hostile situation the night, the shadows, the woods, the fields, the hedgerows, the forests are your friends. Cities and Towns, Roads and Pavements are NOT the preppers friend and must be avoided so long as TS is HTF. (unless you are one of those brave pioneering Urban preppers of course)
5 PDW, Knife, Compass, Lighter, Multi tool, Radio, Flashlight , Paracord, Gloves, Hat, Shades,Bandana go on your person NOT in your rucksack. (The object of the exercise is to ensure that if you lose / drop /get seperated / cannot reach your pack you still have enough basic kit in your pockets to survive with)
6 When moving on foot or bicycle its often prudent to stop every few minutes and just LISTEN, (chances are if other people are near by or possibly following you may hear them before they see you).
7 If you have to go into an unknown and unfamiliar situation its good practice to observe the location for a while from a safe distance. (you may see an ambush being set upor see something that makes you decide to go elsewhere)
8 If you have no choice other than to cross an open or exposed area of land its also worthwhile watching the area for a while to see if you can detect any possible threats waiting for you.
9 if you HAVE to undertake a journey then try and assertain if it has history as being used by refugees, authority check points, ambush locations or exposed positions, if so then try and find an alternative route (forwarned is forarmed).
10 If it looks to good to be true it probably is, apply that to finding a working fueled up vehicle or a supply of food or fuel or medical supplies etc when your instincts tell you that should not be the case.
11 Sources of pure drinking water could become rare events in a large scale disaster or crisis, ALL water from unknown sources must be treated as suspect, Filter it, Boil it and if its an outdoor water source check thoroughly that there is no dead wildlife or birds AROUND the area (water poisonous?) or dead animals IN the water (water polluted).
12 As a rough generalisation movement on foot in a survival scenario is better done at night, but movement by vehicle may be better during the day when visibility is better, (remember roads = ambushes) but if the situation is hostile you never use a motorised vehicle at night without disabling all the lights.
13 As a general rule of thumb when moving through URBAN areas remember that harzards can come from ABOVE and BELOW as well as front / rear /left /right. (Collapsing floors, Falling roof tiles, glazing, masonry, even collapsing buildings, Sudden flooding of underground chambers, gas explosions)
14 Using vehicles in a crisis can be both a blessing and a risk, Yes you can carry more kit, venture further, travel faster but you generally are restricted to using roads which are noted ambush / checkpoint locations or may be impassible (bridges collapsing, tunnels flooding, landslips blocking AFTER you have past preventing you getting home). But at the very least ensure your vehicle is as well prepared as possible before you leave.
15 When using vehicle AFTER TSHTF its not prudent to use seatbelts as they can slow you down if you want to exit the vehicle quickly.
16 When choosing clothing for use during a crisis consider the fact that in time both indoors and outdoors you are more likely to be working with naked flames from cooking fires etc, Try not to wear clothing that will melt rather than scorch if accidentally ignited. So no Nylon or 100% Polyester clothes if possible.
17 A Map without a Compass, a Lighter without extra fuel / flints, a Flashlight / Radio without spare batteries, a Knife without a sharpener, a PDW be it bow or fire arms without cleaning and servicing kit are neither prudent nor wise, and a Prepper without a plan is a fool.
18 If you need to make a radio transmission if you can move location straight after broadcasting, and try never to broadcast from the same place twice (preventing your location being found by triangulation)
19 Unkown wild foods, be careful just because critters are eating something it does not automatically mean humans can eat it (especially some types of marine life and wild berries)
20 Camp fires can give away your location by the smoke during the day, the light from the flames at night, the smell of food cooking / aromatic wood burning and the noise from cracking and spitting fire wood.
21 Vehicle equipment including spare wheels ideally should always be stored INSIDE the vehicle so as to not attract the attention of prying eyes, equally a vehicle after TSHTF should be as bland, routine and uninspiring as possible, (tricked out gear laden vehicles just attract unwanted attention)
22 Generally not attracting unwanted attention is a good thing for preppers, so I respectfully suggest that though superb off road capability, hauling power and size are positives for our vehicles they are not as vital as being as quiet as possible and having long range endurance, In many cases good ground clearance is as valuable as all wheel drive (but not always I admit). But the object of the exercise is to get from A to B or complete the patrol quickly, quietly and safely as possible WITHOUT being detected.
23 If after TSHTF you find yourself with free time on your hands you have forgotten to do something or you are not practicing your essential skills enough.
24 Trust among non related preppers is hard to build but easy to lose, be sure you are not going to have your preps or security comprimised if an association with another prepper fails.
25 Its still better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it, but check its expiracy date and dont forget to rotate your stocks.
26 Government assurances that everything will be alright only applies to THEM, they will ALWAYS ensure their own continuity at your expence, Gather your immediate family and look into a mirror, those you can see are the only ones you can trust. The bigger the burocracy the less friendly it is, public servants then become public masters.
27 Most anti terror laws and actions have more to do with protecting the government and ruling elites than protecting the public, indeed many of these laws are designed to protect the government from its OWN people.
28 Never become a refugee relying on the state for your continuity, that statement is as valid today as it was over 40 years ago when I first heard it.
29 Living as OFF GRID as possible its not reckless, is not weird, is not excentric, its economic sense and a great way of increasing your self reliance.
30 In many cases Rivers, Canals and Lakes can be viewed as useful highways to get about on providing you are quiet and unobserved.
 
PDW = Personal Defense Weapon (assuming)
EDC = Every Day Carry
TS = The Sh*t
HTF = Hits the Fan
TSHTF = Combination of the former two

As a rough generalisation movement on foot in a survival scenario is better done at night, but movement by vehicle may be better during the day when visibility is better, (remember roads = ambushes) but if the situation is hostile you never use a motorised vehicle at night without disabling all the lights.

Post SHTF, with no other light, this would seem to be suicidal. I'll actually be able to do this soon though. I've learned that my rear camera (an add-on), actually has GREAT night vision. So, I'm going to get another one, put it on the front license plate, and have it feed into the AV In on my stereo/CD/DVD player unit. That way, I can black out all the lights if I want, and use the camera to see, without having my headlights on.

Generally not attracting unwanted attention is a good thing for preppers, so I respectfully suggest that though superb off road capability, hauling power and size are positives for our vehicles they are not as vital as being as quiet as possible and having long range endurance, In many cases good ground clearance is as valuable as all wheel drive (but not always I admit). But the object of the exercise is to get from A to B or complete the patrol quickly, quietly and safely as possible WITHOUT being detected.

Post SHTF, regular fuel vehicles are going to be tricky to gas up. The fuel stored at gas stations is unmixed. The dispensers do this. So, unless you're running diesel, you won't be able to use it right from the tank. Diesel isn't quiet though.

Totally agree with the other tips.
 
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YUP PDW is easier than writing Rifle, Shotgun, Side arm, Cross Bow, Compound Bow, Baton etc :)

Oddly enough you can drive at night without lights , we did it in the military a lot especially in Germany, we would move around in column driving about 10 MPH often with the windscreen folded down on our landrovers, obviously it would be suicidal to try and drive at road speeds but moving at night in the dark can be done esp if you have your night eyes working (no illumination for 35 minutes and only using red lights to read maps)
 
Not on my roads you can't. No streetlights for most of it, and even WITH headlights, you're hard-pressed to see the road. Without them, you'd end up in a ditch in a heartbeat. If only going 10mph, might as well be on my horse, hehe....
 
In South America under heavy canvas at night we couldn't even use the cat eyes on the vehicles in one mission, we used a two man rope technique, the driver would extend his arm allowing a finger to stay point on the rope with the vehicles driving at double pace, the two rope bearers kept the vehicles out of the ditch and from going over the cliff, each vehicle had rope bearers. There are many techniques for driving at night without lights ;) One can use the same technique for a party on the move in dangerous terrain at night.
 
YUP PDW is easier than writing Rifle, Shotgun, Side arm, Cross Bow, Compound Bow, Baton etc :)

Oddly enough you can drive at night without lights , we did it in the military a lot especially in Germany, we would move around in column driving about 10 MPH often with the windscreen folded down on our landrovers, obviously it would be suicidal to try and drive at road speeds but moving at night in the dark can be done esp if you have your night eyes working (no illumination for 35 minutes and only using red lights to read maps)


And like some of the shires in England...Germany in some places is black dark...can't even see the stars in some of the forests. Too distress, I use to love to drive just North of Brandon (Lakenheath) and well their were so many places to drive around the bases in Germany. Pro's and Con's to living in Texas, is that I can still see without lights (due to cloudless nights and just using the moonlight while driving...granted a bit slower, but still can negotiate it. I've been researching lately on how to get a bigger muffler that will silence my BOV. While NVG's are great for tactical ops, I'd rather prefer to use the naked eyes when driving. Hope all is well with ya N.R.
 
i've driven i don't know how many times with the head lights off at night,when i was younger.but yet it can be done,under the right conditions..i use to drive the back roads back then,in which i was able to take all the time needed and wanted to.and if i remember right.most of those nights were,moon less star lit nights..
 
i've driven i don't know how many times with the head lights off at night,when i was younger.but yet it can be done,under the right conditions..i use to drive the back roads back then,in which i was able to take all the time needed and wanted to.and if i remember right.most of those nights were,moon less star lit nights..



Jim,

You have a few more trees than we have up here in the plains area of North Texas, most nights I can drive without them, if I were not going to be jacked up by the law enforcement guys. Of course, we have some really stupid drivers here in the city. I typically drive with my headlights in the day, not because I can't see, but because of the stupid fellars beside me or coming up on an intersection. It's even worse in Lubbock.
 
i drive with my headlights on during the day,and for the same reasons.more then ever since our car wreck,back in august..more trees is true.especially where i grew up,when it comes to tree branches over the roads and all.and a lot of them,are the old oak tree with big branches..

p.s. edit.i grew up in the country.and we did things at night.like play neighbor hood hide n seek..had camp outs at a lake 1/4 mile away,to other things.so i (was) use to the dark,when it comes to eye sight..
 

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