WTSHTF what are you doing to prepare...tips,tactics,strategies

jinxed247

New member
Hopefully this thread will keep going. I wanted to start a thread on what you can do and what people are doing for when the s@@t hits the fan. This doesn't have to be about "when the tyranical government comes to put us in FEMA camps'" I just think that with the way that the world is going it would be a good idea to have your stuff in order, so that you and your family won't be caught with your pants down. Not only for the obvious reasons but in case of natural disasters such as ice storms,micro-bursts or extended power outages.
So I guess I will start with what my family and I are doing to prepare.

Well, let's talk about everyones favorite topic: Guns and ammo! Having all the stockpiles of food and water will do you squat if you don't have anyway of protecting your stuff from looters and desperate people.
I am sure that there will a lot of debate over which firearm is better for what but I think that there are a couple of main concerns when getting a WTSHTF weapon.

1)availability of ammo-getting that new 22-243 is nice and all but when that and your reloads are gone what are you going to use? That's why I am going to be a proponent for the 5.56 round. Big brother carries it so (worse case scenario here) so if you really need ammo theres always that. Also, the 7.62 nato round. Both rounds are common use for military and law enforcement.

2)It has to be a round that your wife or child can handle in case you are incapacitated for any reason. Again, this bodes well for the 5.56. Little recoil.

Another viable option, if you can't afford an ar type weapon is a .22 rifle. Ammo is cheap and I dare to say that the .22lr is responsible for more dead deer than any round out there.
I think that a shotgun is a must have weapon. It's so versital and I don't think that I am overstating the fact that there is nothing more intimidating than the sound of a shotgun being loaded! A combination of birdshot,turkey loads and bucket shot should deter any would-be looter, at close range.

So with that being said here are the weapons that I currently have for if/WTSHTF.
For my main battle rifle I have an M4 style weapon with enough ammo and mags to keep me in buisness for awhile should I need to deploy it. I have started showing my wife how to shoot as well as my children. I also have spare parts for the rings, bolt carrier group etc. Just in case something breaks. As a more precision M4 is my coyote hunting AR which consistantly shoots 1/2 in or better. Both of these weapons use the same round so that I don't have to try and find two different types of ammo and can buy in bulk.

I think that it's important to note that this weapon could also be used to hunt game with when the need arises.

My main hunting/long range stand-off weapon is a remington 700 in .308. It has a 26in bull barrell and custom stock/scope on it. Believe me when I tell you that with this rifle, if I can see you, I can pretty much hit you with it. Availability of this ammo is great too.

For my shotgun, I have the standard remington 870 pump 12ga 3 1/2 in mag. Nuff said.

I also have other rifles such as the hi-point 9mm, russian m44, muzzleloader etc. There are a million configurations that you can make for your weapons but I think that it's best to keep it simple and not worry about the CDI (chicks dig it) factor. If you rely mainly on optics that require batteries make sure that you either stock up on a boatload or have back up iron sights. Make sure that you also have cleaning supplies and parts for each of your firearms. Gun won't due you any good if it's jammed up with goo. I also recommend getting a reloader and reloading dyes for each of your calibers plus all the brass,bullets,primers and powder that is legally aloud for you to have at one time.

Main thing is practice with your weapons that you have and become proficent with them! Practice battle drills,loading in the dark,loading with one arm, shooting offhand, basic battle drills like movement to contact,reacting to an ambush...gee the military was good for something for me!

This post was just on some of the weapons that I have in preparation for WTSHTF. On future posts I am hoping that other members will post stuff on food storage,water purification etc. I will try and post on a diff thing when I can but like I said, hopefully some members will hop on and help give this thread a life of it's own.
 
You pretty much described my personal/home protection weapon plan. Simple and guns that shoot ammo that is abundant. Having a family to take care of really needs to be taken into consideration for planning for WTSHTF scenarios. I definitley can't move the wife and kids around like I would alone. I figure most natural disasters, etc., I'm probably looking at being able to keep the family self-sufficient for several days to a few weeks. If possible, I plan to shelter in place at home, we live out in the country, so less to worry about than an urban scenario. I keep plenty of food and water on hand, and use it up and replenish on a fairly regular basis, so that it will be fresh if needed. We also do a lot of home canning of food supplemented with store bought canned food in case a power outage causes loss of fridge/freezer. I've also made copies of all important personal documents that are stored away from home in case of loss (or being forced to leave home without them).
 
You let NOBODY KNOW what you have on hand as far as food and water, if you tell anybody, where do you think they are headed, to your house. You will not be able to defend your stash for very long, I know lots of ammo sounds good but 25 neighbors without food, with the same guns as you, will be hard to handle. Tell people you have nothing. ed
 
Originally Posted By: tuneredYou let NOBODY KNOW what you have on hand as far as food and water, if you tell anybody, where do you think they are headed, to your house. You will not be able to defend your stash for very long, I know lots of ammo sounds good but 25 neighbors without food, with the same guns as you, will be hard to handle. Tell people you have nothing. ed

+1
 
My father in law and I have discussed this at length. Short term (week or so) I'd hold at my house but for anything longer term people of like mind will have to join together. You can't stay up 24 hours a day protecting your stuff and family.

My gun choices are pretty basic, .223, .30-06, .22lr, and I have managed to become .30-30 rich. I own three of them but they were all inherited. I once told my wife that, under the right conditions, the .30-30 could become your best friend once again. A 12 gauge shotgun is almost like a hammer. You need at least one, but two or three is never a bad thing.

Have a piece of property with building, creek, wildlife, and a little seclusion. A few decent neighbors also. It wouldn't be easy, but it could be done.
 
i think you will see neighborhoods join together to protect whats theirs.if they are smart they will work together to survive.where i live a whole neighborhood sticking together will have a better chance of survival then a single family trying to protect themselves. other parts of the country might be different. if for some reason you have to be on the move i would take a pistol and a 22 rifle, you can carry alot more 22 rimfire ammo then you can centerfire.jmho
 
Originally Posted By: tuneredYou let NOBODY KNOW what you have on hand as far as food and water, if you tell anybody, where do you think they are headed, to your house. You will not be able to defend your stash for very long, I know lots of ammo sounds good but 25 neighbors without food, with the same guns as you, will be hard to handle. Tell people you have nothing. ed

+1. It would probably be darn near impossible to defend your home and stuff against starving and desperate people. But more than likely, unless they have taken the steps that you have taken then they probably won't have the same hardware as you. That being said I live in an area where everyone and their brother hunts and who think that a 7mag is too small for deer! so you would probably have to deal with a lot of scoped hunting rifles with barely any ammo.
Fortuneately, I have seen most of my neighbors shoot and they think that a 6in group at a hundred yards is good enough. Unfortunately, everybody gets lucky now and then. I know that I just generalized and I am sure that there are probably some great shots out there but I am going by what I witnessed at the shooting ranges near my town. Still, I would not want to have to go up against 25 desperate people, armed or unarmed, if it could at all be avoided. People tend to do some crazy and unbelievable stuff when they are desperate enough. And it only takes 1 round to really put a damper on your day.
Keep it coming guys, this is some good stuff. I will post later (if I can) on a diff topic later.
 
People that live in the city will suffer first, We know how to hunt for food, some city folk think we are stupid, should never need a gun, just go buy food, my local stores have 18 hours of food, meaning they dont keep stock anymore, what is displayed is what they have till the next truck arrives, if that truck dont show, they are out, 18 hours. This could turn real with whats going on around the world. We may be on our own once again. ed
 
I remember talking to a tech support guy in NYC in Dec, 1999. In conversation while waiting for my computer to re-boot, the subject of the impending Y2K scenario came up.

He was very worried, wondering how he would get water and food, and wondered why I laughed about it.

There are no doubt some advantages to living in a big city, but being able to get water from the lake 100yds away, shoot deer off your front porch, or get firewood off your own property, aren't included in them.
 
LMAO, There were more generators sold in 1999 because of that scare [y2k] than had been sold prior, that was a sales gimmick.. ed
 
DOn't have to worry about it... mother-in-law goes shopping, she comes back with 4 of everything. And, she goes shopping 2 - 3 times a week. We could live until 2032 on the groceries in house.
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As Leon points out above, there's lots to be said for living in the country! Have 5 fish ponds in my back yard, and the river is only a mile away. Turkey and deer feeding through the yard here all the time, and if the defication contacts the rotary mechanism, game laws are out the window, got a safe full of guns and ammo, 30 acres of trees I can saw down, and I know how to grow a garden, so...
 
Getting back to the thread, The people with the most worry in my opinion is the people that has cattle and other livestock that is edible, they will need 24hr guards to protect their livestock.I have stocked up on staples like flour, sugar, salt, you may laugh Roman noodles, Im not counting to much on frozen things, I dont have any way to store much gasoline so my generator will be used only as needed. Canned goods is a good idea. ed
 
Originally Posted By: redeyeddawgI'm going to keep voting Democrat. They'll take care of me.

Dawg you're killing me! Again.
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The end is the end. I'll say a prayer to GOD, then commense to unload on every scum bag I can. Before being tagged myself. Game over, see you in Heaven.
 
Originally Posted By: tunered I dont have any way to store much gasoline so my generator will be used only as needed.

Don't forget a generator makes a lot of noise, it just screams "I have stuff".
 
Originally Posted By: sweatybettydont forget the 30-30

The only reason I didn't suggest the 30-30 is because I was thinking that WTSHTF probably just the military and police will be running around. When you run out of 30/30 rounds what will you do to replace them?

I am kind of working in reverse order here so bear with me. The next thing that I have thought of and talked over with my family and close friends is a contigency plan. What would you do if the power doesn't come back on or total breakdown occurs? How long would you be willing to wait to see if things get better or you are shuffled off to FEMA camps?

To deal with this you need to have a backup plan. Like some people have suggested, banding together with your neighbors might be a viable option. If you do go that route, make sure that it is with like minded people. People that share your beliefs on politics and family. I only say this because conflicts will arise when two polar opposites get together.

There will already be conflicts because of human nature...somebody will want to lead, somebody will think that they have a better idea on something or Little Johnny has been looking at the neighbors daughter the wrong way...always something stupid. Add in the mix of high stress levels and you have yourself the making of a really bad documentary style movie.

Family might be a better alternative. Well, depends on how well you get along with them. For instance my contingency plan for WTSHTF is that if a reasonable order isin't restored in a couple of weeks (three top) my family and close friends will bug out to my dad's property. He has an ideal location. Off of any major road, has a couple of hundred acres (fields mixed with maple woods), plenty sources of water, a swamp/pond that has fish and game. Plus he has plenty of room so that people will not be sleeping on top of eachother.

He also has some old horse drawn farm equipment such as plows,sleighs and wagons, plus the horses to not only draw them with but horses for trail riding as well. He also has cows and some sheep. So for a long term solution it's not a bad set up. All of my close friends (again of like mind and I count them on one hand and still have room!) know that this is the fall back spot. My father also knows this so he shouldn't be shooting anybody!

Worse case scenario The neighbors have found out that you have food and water and they are getting desperate. (they heard your generator running,kids accidentaly told one of their friends etc). You see the mob coming and you know that you and your family won't be able to hold them off forever so what do you do?

First off I recommend having a bug out bag close at hand. For those of you who don't know a bug out bag is just as it sounds. It's a pre-prepared bag with all of the essentials that you might need to get out of dodge in a hurry. In it you should have a set(s) of clothes,MRE's,ammo,medical supplies,water filter and anything that you absolutely need to survive for a few days on the run. Make sure that you don't throw in too many wants. Remember that you will have to carry this bag on your back and probably be on your feet for a few days.

On the move: You'll need a map of your area and a good compass. I recommend a topo map so that you can identify bodies of water like obscure streams and ridges and such. Don't forget to brush up on your land nav skills! So now that you are on the move you'll need to make a plan. You will need shelter,food and water. Depending on your abilities in this area most of us would be in for a rough ride. Fortunately there are useful books/websites out there that just might save your life.

Some of these authors are James Wesley Rawles he has a website called www.survivalblog.com as well as a couple of books out there..one that comes to mind is How to survive the end of the world as we know it. Mr. Rawles is a reknowned survivalist that gives lectures and classes every year. He is also showcased on the discovery channel (I don't know if the shows still on since I've been to iraq).
Another one is The Urban Survival Guide by David Morris and Primitive skills and crafts for the outdoorsman by Richard and Linda Jaminson.

I suggest checking out Mr. Rawles site first and then going from there. Like I said that there are alot of good books and resources out there just make sure you don't go to someones know all site that ends up being stuff you know to be bogus.

If you can help it have at least one or two sites that you can fall back to in case of just such an emergency. If you can descretely, carry supplies and bury them there. This will help you in several ways. The first is that you can pre-position food,weapons and such so that if you had to bug out instead of trying to figure out where to go you know exactly where you are going. Make sure that you have more than one route to the site because if that gets compromised then unless you have a #2 site your SOL and going to have to be roughing it for awhile. Make sure that your family members are aware of the site and if they are somehow seperated from you that they know how to get there.

Again, this is just brief info on some ideas to get people thinking on what they would do. I can go into more detail on the bug out topic. I think that we could get the main ideas down and revisit them when more people chime in. What do you all think?
 
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