When we talk about how to start with preparing, for example how to talk to someone who is dear to you to get them started with preparing, it is easy to think that they will understand because it is obvious that world is going to hell right now.
You may try to convince someone to be with you in case of SHTF if that person is someone dear to you (family member for example) or if that person has cool skills that you will need when SHTF (some friend who does not know or share thoughts about SHTF, but his skills are great).
Of course best combination is if you have family members who have really cool skills necessary for SHTF (for example wilderness skills, martial arts, shooting, farming or similar) and you just need good conversation with that person over some time in order to be on same track with you and understand the importance of prepping.
Problem is in fact that combination is rare, and sometimes even if you have it, it can be possible that this person is useless simply because he (or she) is too shocked with SHTF and how hostile world suddenly is.
Anyway, there are activities to kinda „promote“ or simply „test“ your friends (or family members) if they are „candidates“ for your survival group.
It is slow process, you can not just go to someone and tell him that you strongly believe that world as we know it will end in next few years and that we all need to be prepared for that.
Usually they will think you are a weirdo.
Camping
There is nothing more simple and valuable in terms of learning and checking skills of someone (including yourself) like few days of camping in wilderness.
I am talking about camping in simple tents, with stuff and tools necessary for camping, without dragging truck full of things that will make your camping trip something like multiple day barbecue party in your backyard.
How to start fire, different kinds of wood, how to not kill yourself with axe while you collect wood, fishing, cleaning and preparing the food. Buying meat in your grocery shop is something completely different from killing live animals cleaning them and making them edible, for some people even catching (killing) fish is something new or big effort.
Man can get whole new perspective while lying inside tent during heavy rain, and it is getting colder and colder.
You can talk to him about how many people died last year because they were not aware of how everything is fragile, but he still gonna think that s..t is happening to someone else always and not him.
But he will always remember how cold it was because he did not have right socks, shoes or sleeping bag.
Or simply how hard it is to make your own food while it is freezing cold. Nothing like real experiences.
I was with friend camping on one mountain lake, and in the middle of the night he went out to look for the „toilet“.
He did not bring lamp, he went few steps too far into the woods, and of course after he finished his business he finds out that he does not have clue how to come back to the tents.
After 20 minutes of wondering he yelled and screamed and woke me up, he was actually close to the tents, so I brought him back. Grown up man, so helpless.
He said that he never felt scared like then, and that he did not have clue that „it is so dark in woods“.
Lesson learned.
History
It is simple. It happened before , and it will happen again. And probably it will be worse.
As a society we invented things and tools that allow us to make collapse events bigger, nastier, uglier.
We are living in a world where victims are numbers only, where there is thin line between those who will be protected and hidden when SHTF and those who will die in huge numbers when SHTF.
Do you still believe that goverment is there for your own good?
When SHTF, majority of folks will be left to take care for themselves and that s it.
It was like that many times before, and in the future it is gonna be even worse because we realy more and more on the system.
Suggest someone who is dear to you to read real life experiences.
Choose your books. For example general who was involved and wrote book about WW2 can teach you maybe something about tactics and numbers, but man who survived holocaust in camp can teach you way more about living and dying.
How armies were defeated is interesting, how man survived hiding like animal is more interesting in terms of survival.
Movies, documentaries ,TV shows, web and everything else are great sources of information and tools to give someone the right ideas but real experiences are always better.
If necessary, fake a longer power out to make people uncomfortable. This is not mean, this is to show them how much they depend on things and take things for granted. Survival is about getting normal skills back every human should have and needed for many thousands of years.
But like I mentioned many times before, there is danger of getting involved in preparing and getting things only instead getting the right mindset and knowledge. Learning common sense.
This is also what people will learn in our Survival Course in Croatia in few weeks. We still have spots available and you can train with me and Toby a few hundred miles from where I survived during Balkan war.
Nothing beats real experience and investing in fancy knife might be fun, I understand, but real training and right mindset will make difference between those who live and those who die.
14 Responses
I wanted to thank you for the excellent site you have made. I wish you all the best .
Thank you Doc!
Skills can be learned. One thing you cant teach or change in someone is trust and thinking ability. I have several friends that are quite capable in the woods, but in SHTF I don’t want them anywhere near me. I have family that I don’t want anywhere near me in SHTF.
Doing stupid things under the excuse of being “brave” or “you have to do it this way” Great, you snapped your ankle falling out of a tree, and now I have to carry you. And when they get hungry enough, sell you out for food or put a bullet in your head for the food you have left.
Some people panic easily, this cant be trained out of them.
“Suggest someone who is dear to you to read real life experiences.” Selco, I recently read a book (diary actually) from around your part of the world that I found relevant and intriguing- Anna Eisenmenger’s 94-page “Blockade – The Diary of an Austrian Middle-Class Woman 1914-1924,” available for free on archive.org. “Diary of an Austrian woman who lived through World War I and the interwar years in Vienna. She witnessed the devaluation of the currency and the government controls on food, fuel, and travel. Her sons were wounded in the war and one turned to extremist ideals in the wake of the war. Interesting personal view of a sometimes overlooked historical period.” Eisenmenger talked about a range of topics, including asset protection, bartering, civil unrest, food shortages, health issues, urban versus rural when TSHTF, and going to extremes to save one’s family.
Thanks Christoper, looks like interesting read, and there is nothing like real experience story It is often very different from what we imagined.
Thank you so much for recommending this book. What a great read and if I was part of a prepper group, this book would be recommended reading. Interesting to see how the state and its belief of central power could make things better, yes, better but for only those with their boot on your throat. Dimtry Orlov book, the five stages of collapse is a pretty good one too.
Camping is a great way to learn and practice skills and have fun at the same time. Good way to test what you know and what you THINK you know.
Thank you Selco.
To: Christopher E. Hill, Please advise how to download the archive.org doc in a readable format. Thanks very much in advance. Texting
If Selco and gang don’t mind me posting it here, below is the link on archive.org to the page where Mrs. Eisenmenger’s diary can either be read (page top) or downloaded (page right). I opted for the .pdf version, which worked fine in my Acrobat Reader. If the link gets stripped, you can go to archive.org, enter “Blockade The Diary” in the search engine (not that “WayBackMachine” box) and the link to the page where you can read/download it should appear near the top of the search results. Hope this helps. I found the diary insightful and sobering. Hard to believe it was published in 1932 as it reads like a modern manuscript…
https://archive.org/details/Blockade-TheDiaryOfAnAustrianMiddle-classWoman1914-1924
On this wavelength, a guy I always though of as a friend recently confided that he wasn’t going to bother to prepare, he’d use his 1911 to rob and kill those who had what he needed. More recently, he invited me to move to the remote part of the state to which he’s relocated, offering a very sweet rental price for the property next door to his own.
Christopher- I found the diary and copied it in a document using normal format so I can read it later. Thank you very much. I have always enjoyed reading real survival stories.
oldfatguy- I wouldn’t go near your “friend.”
Selco- I wish I could go to Croatia to participate but I am unable to (at least at this time). I so appreciate all that your website and all that you do. We learn a lot from you.
Picking your survival group is essential. There are definitely some people I know that would not “make it on the bus”. I also went camping with a friend who got lost by himself on the way back to camp. If he hadn’t just relieved himself, I’m pretty sure his pants would have been wet.
Hello. just some thoughts after being “in the process” for nearly five years of developing a reliable group. First, this may seem counter to some, but, get the agreement of all the smart women that you can to become part of your circle/tribe. The better skilled they are in health and sustainable projects like food growing and such the more “human” your culture. Men related by marriage or blood to these women will at least “give a listen” to them if they suggest it’s “time to get it together” —
the need to protect the children and unborn can be a strong factor in finding cooperation. If the woman loves her pets MORE than she loves people–than I doubt she’ll be very helpful and you need to more on to better prospects. Is it fair to also say, woman read more than men? They may find some of the information men have glossed over and figure out what is really being said. —
Nice and informative article. This article helps me. Keep doing this.