[LiveToShoot]

"So think about [and act upon] it now, while you have the leisure and time to do so. You won't have the luxury when the time rolls around." -Cyrano

^+1...

[Cyrano]

Quote:       Originally Posted by Mandarax

Even horse-drawn equipment has its limitations - principally, the horses. The dumb animals are remarkably fragile, and truth be told, I'd trust a John Deere over a Shire any day, and the tractor isn't going to kick you when you try to clean his hooves.

Doesn't have to be horses, Mandarax; you will notice I included oxen in my list. The horse simply gives the best return in work for 'fuel" (meaning feed) invested of the draft animals.

And while a John Deere won't kick you, neither can it reproduce itself. There are pluses and minuses to both draft animals and mechanization. But my grandfather ran a 50 cow dairy operation including raising his own feed with horses for decades, until after World War II - and only went to tractors when his two sons married and moved away from the farm and he couldn't get help competent to handle his horses.

You think of the worst possible case scenarios and plan accordingly. My thinking apparently is different from yours, that's all. Neither one of us is totally right while the other is totally wrong.

[sea_chicken1]

how much food would you need per month per person you plan on hoarding for?

[LiveToShoot]

"how much food would you need per month per person you plan on hoarding for?" -sea_chicken1

My wife and I store extra food stuffs, along with other items that would be beneficial in an emergency...

...we haven't taken to the practice of hoarding.

Here's a food storage calculator we use in our planned process of preparedness:

Food Storage Calculator

[larmus]

thanks live to shoot for the link... my only question would be this is a list where water is plentiful and running correct? not for if you needed to store it in tanks? cause it gave me a total 70 gals. of water, i think that was just to wash cloths...

[Ferroflame]

I live in a small town.

I know plenty of people that live in the country around my small town.

If tshtf, I'd defiantly show up on their doorstep in a hurry, along with all of my guns, as much ammo that I had at the time, and all the food, clothing and tools that would fit in my truck.

I'm real good buddies with those country folk. I'm sure they wouldn't shoot at me if I came offering and extra hand and trigger finger.

[tws135boom]

This thread generates a lot of serious thought, that i have not adequately assessed. Thanks for that

I have several family members in KS with plenty of fertile land, i would venture to say that i would head west, merely because i grew up in that environment, may make it easier to overcome. but that poses a problem in it's self. as far as seed is concerned i dont think the majority of people would go for seed if it is post SHTF all the unprepared would be trying to accumulate perishable items, thats just the nature of most people nowadays.

OX v Horse v Deere personally i would have two of the three handy if i could. but the "food" may be equally as hard to come by after an extended period, unless you also have a swother and bailer to put up some hay.

on the canned foods subject, you could always try the dehydrated then vacuum sealed option. but i dont know exactly how long the shelf life is on dehydrated/sealed veggies, i would assume indef.

as far as guns are concerned its time to start training my two year old how to shoot. JK. but i would have multitudes of ammo stored in various hiding spots throughout my property.

as far as socialism, i would definetly start/join a commune. sentinels, guard towers, fences, hunting parties, work details and so forth.
at this point i feel i have consumed enough of your time that should have been spent preparing!!!

[Cyrano]

tws135boom, one suggestion. Lose the word "commune." I know you are using it in the same sense we are interpreting it, a communal operation where the members all work for the common good of the community. But to the general public, the word "commune" calls up memories of long-haired hippe-type pinkos who believed in free love, free drugs, free expression and not working.

May I suggest the words "kibbutz" and "moshav" instead? These are equally shorthand terms describing communal life with varying degrees of individual property ownership, but have much more positive connotations. Or possibly "pioneer community." But definitely not "commune."

[woodhippy]

My DAd and I were just discussing this SHTF event this morning over our coffee, and there are SO many other things to be considered. Me and my parents are all disabled and take enough meds to spook the dea. Anyone that must take medication to live should be doing as we are, skipping doses as often as possible and storing the extra in air-tight plastic food storage that sucks the air out, and then it goes in the freezer.
When it goes down and the drug stores are robbed by the dopers your chance of getting to your doctor much less the drug store are zero.
Water can be safely stored in 2 liter bottles by initally cleaning the bottles with a bleach solution, then fill them with water and add 1/2 ounce bleach. We have an extra bathroom with 2 closets that we keep our water supply in, and I rotate it with fresh water every 6 months. We keep our 5 gallon containers in the outbuildings. Someone mentioned something about water for washing clothes, if you can't collect rain water for such things as bathing and washing clothes you are not a survivalist.
If we steer clear of nuclear or chemical warfare just about everything with four legs will be on the menu. I have been storing Coleman fuel for some time for the two burner stove, one burner stove, and if needed, all the lanterns. If you watch, your wally world will clearance those fire starting sticks, I got the last ones at .33 cents each, and water purification tablets, usualy $3.96 to $1.00. I keep a sh&t load of these in my SHTF cabinet.
As for weapons, I believe it is a good idea to have many, but keep them in as few calibers as possible. I keep a fully tricked out AK 47, a tactical SKS, and 2 other SKS's, a custom built M91-30, 3 .22's, and a .45 acp with many, many magazines. Oh, I forgot the 12 gauge. Dad has a lot of weapons and I don't know how many thousands of rounds of ammo. I keep 4k of .22, 5k of 7.62x39, 3k of 7.62x54r, 4k of .45, and 2k of 12 guage. I also keep a Crosman 760 and 1377 air rifle and pistol on hand with lots of pellets. If you think about it, if you are in the field to take a squirell, rabbit, or other small game for a meal why waste a .22 round when you can get the same result with the air gun, and not give up your position. And what about gun care? Has anyone mentioned packing or storing a supply of gun cleaning supplies? All those guns will be of no use if not properly cleaned and oiled.
Just some of my thoughts.

[LiveToShoot]

WH,

There are a lot of good points made in your above thoughts, that would be very helpful in an emergency situation...

...thanks for sharing.