Thinking of bugging out to the country? Think again. | |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 1306067 11/25/2012 09:55 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | It's easy to pick out the fake 'country boys' posting on this thread. First off, if any of the men in my county had an 8 inch long, one inch DEEP cut on his leg, he'd apply direct pressure to it, tell the wife it ain't nothing, but still have his boy or wife drive him into see the doc. Secondly, men don't go telling strangers how tough they are, or how hard they work. Nobody wants to hear it, much less wonder why a person felt the need to point it out in the first place. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 28477471 11/25/2012 09:55 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | This is a very sad thread. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28477471 That is because the majority are caught in the mindset of, "American Famrming," i.e., largely people of a European background. Now. Let me show you a better way. That has been used for thousands of years to sustain life. I'll just give you two things. One: Cuy. Google, YT. THE most elegant protein source. They eat GRASS. Centuries of raising them in homes in Peru, Ecuador. Take little room. You will be amazed at just how little. Amazed. Eat grass cuttings. Provide high quality... and very delicious... protein source. Expand your minds. That is what it will take. Two: Check out the Vietnamese gardens in East New Orleans, in the Vietnamese enclave. Check out the various levels/types of gardening that goes on. Hint: the American way of planting St. Augustine lawns... the ultra-limiting mindset, may well one day kill very many if tshtf... simply because people have been entrained to think in particularly limited and dependent ways. No being a paid member means I can't post pictures in this thread. Which really is to the detriment of the entire forum. Google. As well, if you can watch the PBS show: "Vietnamese Cuisine in New Orleans," advise you do so. This does touch on the gardening practices, from simple to more complex. You owe it to yourselves to explore how peoples in areas have survived for hundreds to thousands of years. If you are going to make it, you really are going to have to learn to think outside the box. I spit out that American Way of so much in terms of basic survival. I went to, and looked at how other cultures did it for so long... And still do it. Learn or Die. (dramatic some?... yea... but, just saying... in an attempt to make a point). Yeah but we're Americans! And this is the greatest country on Earth. Are you trying to tell me we aren't the greatest fucking thing that has ever existed and there are better ways to living? I don't believe a damn word of it. Sounds like muzzie or communist shit to me! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() amen bro Oh, the irony. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 12855621 11/25/2012 09:56 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| CE1 ***** User ID: 8355247 11/25/2012 09:59 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 28477471 11/25/2012 09:59 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Many who think they can shoot their way to taking someone else's provisions, and/or think they are going to, "bug out," and haven't taken a look at what it takes for long term survival... and taken steps to hedge bets and address those very issues in practical rubber meets the road terms... Will end up walking, talking lunches to be for some if things get really bad. Throughout history this has happened. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 1542865 11/25/2012 10:05 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Put your money where your mouth is. Come out here and try to survive. You'll be crying for your conditioned cocoon in days. If you can survive there anybody can. Someone with an education would prosper while you boobs barely scratch out a subsistance. You Retards are happy maintaining and supporting yourself at a minimum level.. Your attitude is exactly the problem op described, outsiders come to our small towns and think they need to change it to suit your wants. In the process you screw up the life we enjoy and you call "scratching out a subsistence." Your "educated" position is fine for the dog eat dog city life full of back stabbing scum so stay there and don't bother coming to our small towns. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 27421594 11/25/2012 10:08 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | OP is living in a fantasy world that doesn't exist. The country has gone hitech as the city. Dairy farms have robitics to milk cows and operate tractors. I have no idea what the OP is nattering on about. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25244523 Corporate dairy farms are part of why the food supply in this country is failing. Further if you had read, I own a tractor, and much of my operating budget goes into its appetite for hydrocarbons. Even so, much of my work providing for myself requires a strong back and the will to get up each day and sweat. Yep. I work... love how you describe it... pushing pixels and just had the week off. We tend to buy food for the week and then hole up for the entire time in the country. My body hurt from working outside after sitting at a desk for months. Own 18 acres and it takes a whole lot of energy to do anything.... heck, just walking around on it is like walking 3 blocks which is why people get go-carts that take gas and..... Gardening is very challenging... if the bugs don't get it, then it's the gophers or the birds. So netting a garden costs and can't really net acres..... Collecting wood and bringing it into the house ... back breaking.... then there are rats, mice, snakes.... But... hey, country living saves time at the gym. People go to the gym when they don't live in the country. |
Desert Fox![]() Forum Moderator User ID: 8786935 11/25/2012 10:10 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Or move to a smaller city or town (where they can find a job) and meet people who might be able to advise/help them build a better lifestyle. Hang out at the feed store, join a club, become active in a church, be a volunteer firefighter; become a part of the community. Quoting: Ralph--a house dog As someone who has lived in small towns, I can state, beyond any doubt, that small town life is not worth a damn. Most small town people will not help anyone "build a better lifestyle" because they don't know what that means. Some of the rudest people I've ever met lived in small towns. When you live in a small town, you are isolated, depending on location, you might have to make a long drive to city for supplies or dine in a nice restaurant, and small towns are notorious for harboring lowlifes, the ignorant, and people who are unethical and immoral. While there might be, and that's a stretch, a nicer upscale small town somewhere in this country . . . I feel relatively confident in stating that there is no pleasant, safe, happy little Mayberry-type town. FAIL. Uh, HOW do you label a FACTUAL post, based on a person's FACTUAL experiences to be a "fail"? lol Simple. You don't know shit about most small town America. ![]() |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 28477471 11/25/2012 10:11 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | There's a lot of inconvenient facts for the bug out crowd. I suspect that the bug out crowd has never been in the traffic jams that occur in running from a hurricane. A nuking would up the ante to a degree nobody would want to think about. If someone can get going an elegant protein source... cuy. Spare room, some boxes outside (depending upon climate). Can dig up that ridiculous lawn (in survival terms) and plant things they may not now know anything about... but if they went and took a look at how others survive... that could feed a family... That leaves water. If you go out to a semi-rural area with a well with an aux. hand pump, you are far ahead of most. The extravagant thinking, chest thumping un-realists are to be: 1. Pitied and some, for their mean-ness, 2. despised |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 12855621 11/25/2012 10:12 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| my2centsworth User ID: 5382682 11/25/2012 10:14 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Well it seems that there are a lot of knowledgeable people in this thread, so here goes. If living at 6000 feet, would growing indoors with a few 1000 watt hps/ mh lamps during the winter be more efficient than a green house? I can keep the greenhouse stable at 52 degrees in freezing temps but not sure if it would effect yields as much as I think. Any help would be appreciated Quoting: Anonymous Coward 957683 Indoors in the winter would be better if you have the room. I would just use straight hps and no mh. Not much will grow at the temp you mentioned other that a few cold weather veggies. Not sure what "crops" you have in mind, but if it is what I think your talking about, indoors until warmer weather would be best. the greenhouse would keep your root crops in really good condition through those temps.. potatoes, carrots, beets, will maintain their nutrients really well if left at those temps and pulled when needed for a meal.. the cabbage and collard types also would do well, maintaining nutrients until cut to use for a meal.. they won't grow much at those temps but also won't rot if they aren't kept too wet.. The best kind of "cold cellar". for the rest.. indoor grow lamps would work the best.. but you'd sure need a lot of space and ventilation otherwise you'll have way too much humidity in the house. Great info, all you guys/ girls are coming strong with some great info. I truly appreciate it. I think I have the ventilation covered with my inline fans. Do you think that running ventilation from my dryer into the greenhouse would help with the temps, I am already going to run an inline fan through my hps lights into my greenhouse, it also helps with maintaining heat levels in my grow room, any thoughts? If you are using a drier, then you cannot use a static sheet ... those chemicals would be in the air coming out of the back end of your drier and end up in your food ... the drier vent would have to be low to the ground so the heat is used efficiently while it moves up through the air to the top.. there should be a fan of some kind in the top area of the green house keeping the air moving and circulating and some low vents that allow fresh air in as well as high vents letting stale air out. That will cut down on condensation on your walls and ceiling, keeping any moisture you have in the air for the plants to use. I didn't have a drier, we hung our clothes on a line by the woodstove in the winter and outside in the summer. I also had metal screens in a frame, hung by the 4 corners with wire from the ceiling, near the wood stove, to dry my herbs on.. the air always smelled wonderful. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 14016885 11/25/2012 10:15 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | This is a very sad thread. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28477471 That is because the majority are caught in the mindset of, "American Famrming," i.e., largely people of a European background. Now. Let me show you a better way. That has been used for thousands of years to sustain life. I'll just give you two things. One: Cuy. Google, YT. THE most elegant protein source. They eat GRASS. Centuries of raising them in homes in Peru, Ecuador. Take little room. You will be amazed at just how little. Amazed. Eat grass cuttings. Provide high quality... and very delicious... protein source. Expand your minds. That is what it will take. Two: Check out the Vietnamese gardens in East New Orleans, in the Vietnamese enclave. Check out the various levels/types of gardening that goes on. Hint: the American way of planting St. Augustine lawns... the ultra-limiting mindset, may well one day kill very many if tshtf... simply because people have been entrained to think in particularly limited and dependent ways. No being a paid member means I can't post pictures in this thread. Which really is to the detriment of the entire forum. Google. As well, if you can watch the PBS show: "Vietnamese Cuisine in New Orleans," advise you do so. This does touch on the gardening practices, from simple to more complex. You owe it to yourselves to explore how peoples in areas have survived for hundreds to thousands of years. If you are going to make it, you really are going to have to learn to think outside the box. I spit out that American Way of so much in terms of basic survival. I went to, and looked at how other cultures did it for so long... And still do it. Learn or Die. (dramatic some?... yea... but, just saying... in an attempt to make a point). There you go. There are many solutions to the problems we foresee. Edit: typo This probably could be a whole thread in itself. Most people don't realize all the things you can eat to survive, and actually thrive on. For example, 1 pound of inner tree bark (with the right type of trees) can give 500-600 calories + protein, and it even can be made into flour (or to make your flour go farther). [link to survival.outdoorlife.com] Also, insects are also a great source of calories, and have about 10 times the protein of beef. Be careful though, not all bugs and trees are created equal. Learn what the hell you are doing. Some other obscure foods include: Thissles Cattails (swamps) Many types of flowers (roses and lilies in particular) acorns (better cook them well) worms many reptiles (turtles are great) almost all small animals In fact, the thing that should be in EVERYONE's survival kits / bugout bags is an ample supply things to dress up obscure foods. A little sugar/honey, tobasco, spices, powdered butter, and other condiments can make even the most disgusting food a lot more bareable. |
| Northman User ID: 1141977 11/25/2012 10:22 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I bugged out for the sticks like 40 years ago. I was 30 then and going nowhere. Raised 2 kids and learned to use the resources the land provided. If you don't have money you'll have to work so make sure there's some industry going in the area. Most rich people have a rural place and for good reason. If the shtf your odds of living a quality existence are good if you're prepared and reasonably competent. Next best alternative, pick yourself up a small chunk of rural land and develop it over time, make it an investment that can pay different kinds of dividends. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 957683 11/25/2012 10:23 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | ... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 8433248 Indoors in the winter would be better if you have the room. I would just use straight hps and no mh. Not much will grow at the temp you mentioned other that a few cold weather veggies. Not sure what "crops" you have in mind, but if it is what I think your talking about, indoors until warmer weather would be best. the greenhouse would keep your root crops in really good condition through those temps.. potatoes, carrots, beets, will maintain their nutrients really well if left at those temps and pulled when needed for a meal.. the cabbage and collard types also would do well, maintaining nutrients until cut to use for a meal.. they won't grow much at those temps but also won't rot if they aren't kept too wet.. The best kind of "cold cellar". for the rest.. indoor grow lamps would work the best.. but you'd sure need a lot of space and ventilation otherwise you'll have way too much humidity in the house. Great info, all you guys/ girls are coming strong with some great info. I truly appreciate it. I think I have the ventilation covered with my inline fans. Do you think that running ventilation from my dryer into the greenhouse would help with the temps, I am already going to run an inline fan through my hps lights into my greenhouse, it also helps with maintaining heat levels in my grow room, any thoughts? If you are using a drier, then you cannot use a static sheet ... those chemicals would be in the air coming out of the back end of your drier and end up in your food ... the drier vent would have to be low to the ground so the heat is used efficiently while it moves up through the air to the top.. there should be a fan of some kind in the top area of the green house keeping the air moving and circulating and some low vents that allow fresh air in as well as high vents letting stale air out. That will cut down on condensation on your walls and ceiling, keeping any moisture you have in the air for the plants to use. I didn't have a drier, we hung our clothes on a line by the woodstove in the winter and outside in the summer. I also had metal screens in a frame, hung by the 4 corners with wire from the ceiling, near the wood stove, to dry my herbs on.. the air always smelled wonderful. Thanks for your time, it's sounds like you are very knowledgable in this field. Would hooking up a carbon filter to the drier help with any contaminants? I am really hell bent on growing in the greenhouse, l will for sure throw an oscillating fan along with 2 1125 cfm inline fans intake/outtake. I want to have a 20' x 10' tent, so heating it will be a bitch. Once again thanks for the info. It really helps. |
| Blackhawk_Guy User ID: 28485742 11/25/2012 10:23 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | It's pretty simple. Those that are established in rural ares will have a tough time.......especially when the wave of bug out bums migrate. Those that truly know the land and how to survive will make it and the rest, well, they will not be so fortunate. It's just the nature of the beast. Not so much "survival of the fittest", more survival of the experienced. Good Luck! |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 12855621 11/25/2012 10:24 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I learned peace in the woods I am here because, what you did to this orphan, look up my records you locked me up and put neidles in my are when I was a kid orphan in a mental ward is where i grew up and ran to the woods that is the truth plllllmmmmmm , now will you put down your arms except for working |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 27837799 11/25/2012 10:28 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| Jims Space Agency User ID: 1402657 11/25/2012 10:29 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I'm in New Zealand, and we had 3 massive earthquakes, and experienced a loss and then a shortage of food basics. And my grandfather was in the war in England and they just didn't have food at home. Not until he got a farmlet. So, I think you can't trust Bank Banksters. And you absolutely can not trust Monsanto, etc. I think there should be a law controlling overpopulation. And a law allowing all people to have at least one Acre to have a vegetable garden, and chickens for eggs. Or thousands of huge community gardens. They have had success with them in Queenstown, New Zealand. ____________________ " Jims Space Agency " ____________________ |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 12855621 11/25/2012 10:31 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| berniemom2012 heyjafreyja User ID: 6493463 11/25/2012 10:31 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Unless you grew up here to begin with, you just don't have the mindset to truly make it. You have very little concept of how subsidized, pampered and protected your lifestyle is. You can't just pop out for any given need when you inhabit the boonies. Cops and ambulances can take hours to respond. Heat in the form of wood is dirty and dangerous from the point of felling to combustion, especially if you don't grasp the difference between soft and hard woods. Say goodbye to clean clothes, daily chores are not forgiving. Food? Hah! You have no idea how cheap your food is. You will spend more time raising crops and livestock than you ever did pushing pixels, and for not profit, but just to cover a per person 2000Kcal/day diet. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 26820407 Speaking of which, how are you going to pay taxes and licenses? Your opportunity to earn in the sticks is severely limited, and you will be in competition from natives for what jobs exist; not something you want to bring on yourself. You think you hate immigrants? Flatlanders are not welcomed with open arms, even if you are white as the driven snow. Why? Because of the attitudes you bring. I own over a 100 acres. However, the town now has a health ordinance making it illegal for me to own more than 20 pigs. This was shoved through by transplants. Now I do not use pigs as an income source, and have never kept more than one breeding pair, but just who do you think you are telling me what I can and can not keep in terms of livestock? It hasn't stopped there. There are now laws limiting the use of outdoor boilers to between October and April, and you can't just have any old boiler, it has to be the most complex one. Bullshit. It can take decades for the locals to trust you if ever, all because of the previous high minded urban refugees. Life is not easy out here. Unless you are used to hard physical labor for much of the day, you don't stand a chance out here. Some make it. More than that have come and gone within a year or two. The bucolic country side looks mighty appealing from the outside, but unless you are ready for the commitment of your life to provide as much as you can for yourself, and do without, you are in for a rude awakening. Forget about discretionary spending on new fangled gadgets. Your budget will predominately be chewed up by the insatiable appetite of your implements and inputs for plantings and livestock. Then there is the land. Few have any clue as to how many acres it takes to support livestock and crops. Realistically, the bare minimum to start a self sufficient holding for a family is 10-15 acres per person. Livestock need huge amounts of pasture in the summer and grain for the winter. You will also need a wood lot and crop land. It is great to carp and dream, but get a clue; bugging out to the country is not all milk and honey. In the end you probably are better off lumping up with the rest of the urbanites in the coming fedghettos. Yes. Plus you have the continual heartbreak of deer & gophers ravaging your crops, of rains that don't come, wells that run dry. Pests and plagues. It IS rough. This year I planted tomatoes, broccoli, peas, squash, and arugula. Only the arugula produced a reliable yield and arugula is not something you can live on. Chickens are a relatively economical source of high quality food. But with chickens you're in a constant battle against coyotes and raccoons. I totally agree with OP. It's not going to work for most people. Plus if you have a big farm near a city, you can add humans to the list of predators you'll have to fight against. Back-to-the-land is only going to work if there is a graceful landing or gradual decline of our economy and civilization. Not a bang (sudden) end. It may be pipe dream, but I believe that by banding together with relatives and neighbors, spending full-time on farming our 2 acres, renting out a couple of rooms in my house and maybe one in the barn, and offering ourselves for odd jobs using our skills, my husband and I could scrape by in a 1930s-type depression economy. SHTF? No. |
| Eagle # 1 User ID: 28447870 11/25/2012 10:36 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | AC 14016885 .... Nice post. My greatest worry IS .....with a CME/Flare that wipes out electricity " For 4 to 10 YEARS" (NASA predicted would happen in 18 months .. 17 months ago ! ), the nuke plants all over the world and USA will run out of cooling in about a week, as that is ALL the diesel/gasoline they have to run the backup generators. Then nuke plants will send up clouds of radioactive particles for months/years, making the soil radioactive in the first 3-4 inches, and all the food grown there . THUS, without food ALREADY in stock, in basements, barrels, etc. for ONE YEAR to feed all the family ( I have that ), someone who can survive the fallout will die from radiation poisoning from the food they grow/eat. Even the food, milk, fruit grown in 2011 in USA had GAMMA radiation in it, as shown by my survey meter, that ONLY reads gamma. I bought food in early 2011, that was from LAST YEARS STOCK ( 2010 ) AND ADVISED OTHERS TO DO THE SAME. Few did ! Sad really that they can't even take advise that is COMMON SENSE ! Eagle |
| Jims Space Agency User ID: 1402657 11/25/2012 10:40 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I'm in New Zealand, and we had 3 massive earthquakes, and experienced a loss and then a shortage of food basics. And my grandfather was in the war in England and they just didn't have food at home. Not until he got a farmlet. So, I think you can't trust Bank Banksters. And you absolutely can not trust Monsanto, etc. I think there should be a law controlling overpopulation. And a law allowing all people to have at least one Acre to have a vegetable garden, and chickens for eggs. Or thousands of huge community gardens. They have had success with them in Queenstown, New Zealand. ____________________ " Jims Space Agency " ____________________ |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 1293349 11/25/2012 10:42 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | OP is living in a fantasy world that doesn't exist. The country has gone hitech as the city. Dairy farms have robitics to milk cows and operate tractors. I have no idea what the OP is nattering on about. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 25244523 He's nattering about all the idiots who keep describing their survival plan as : "Bugging out to the mountains and living off the land." Great synopsis OP. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 12855621 11/25/2012 10:43 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 8980350 11/25/2012 11:25 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Face it bud, that 100 acres could realistically support like 20 tribes of afrikan amerikans. I live in a small town, have a small yard and I do fine. Not city, not country right in between. Why do the country folks need so much space between them and neighbors? Makes you wonder. Things you don't want getting out maybe? Having people live closer isn't all that bad, I've even had sex with a few of my female neighbors before I got married! |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 28477346 11/25/2012 11:31 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Truth is, there is no guarantee whatsoever that those living in rural areas will be any more safe and secure than those living in cities and larger towns. Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28477346 I am guessing that predation rates will be commensurate with population density. Will I be immune to raiding parties or advance teams looking to set up on what i have built? I am not that ignorant. What I will have is a lead in food production, and a community to help with defense. Those in the cities will have much fewer they can depend upon to help stay alive, and very little in ability to feed themselves. And if/when push comes to shove, you're sure that little "community" will be there for each other . . . ? . . . small town people, (generally with small minds), inevitably look out for #1. |
| Anonymous Coward User ID: 28477346 11/25/2012 11:32 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | ... Quoting: Anonymous Coward 28477346 As someone who has lived in small towns, I can state, beyond any doubt, that small town life is not worth a damn. Most small town people will not help anyone "build a better lifestyle" because they don't know what that means. Some of the rudest people I've ever met lived in small towns. When you live in a small town, you are isolated, depending on location, you might have to make a long drive to city for supplies or dine in a nice restaurant, and small towns are notorious for harboring lowlifes, the ignorant, and people who are unethical and immoral. While there might be, and that's a stretch, a nicer upscale small town somewhere in this country . . . I feel relatively confident in stating that there is no pleasant, safe, happy little Mayberry-type town. FAIL. Uh, HOW do you label a FACTUAL post, based on a person's FACTUAL experiences to be a "fail"? lol Simple. You don't know shit about most small town America. If it makes you feel better to believe that, ok. But truth is truth. |
| Saddletramp User ID: 736969 11/25/2012 11:33 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | I've lived in the country my whole life, and I'm here to tell you, they're already trying to force people off of the land or take virtual control of that land through Agenda 21... So don't worry, you're not going to avoid any of the fun by moving to the sticks, the U.N./NWO is now everywhere... Just because you're paranoid don't mean they ain't out to get ya! Paranoid?!?!? I wish! Shit son, we're hell and gone from paranoid... We don't rent pigs... Come and take it! |
| telling it straight User ID: 1461054 11/25/2012 11:34 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | |
Desert Fox![]() Forum Moderator User ID: 8786935 11/25/2012 11:37 PM ![]() Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Uh, HOW do you label a FACTUAL post, based on a person's FACTUAL experiences to be a "fail"? lol Simple. You don't know shit about most small town America. If it makes you feel better to believe that, ok. But truth is truth. What I do know is that you haven't been to very many small towns. I have and most are nothing like you describe. Sorry you wound up in a perceived bad one. ![]() |