Preparing for the future, part 02

WATER IN THE WILD.


Out side of the cities and towns, few people pay for water. With out clean water you will die.... the most used source of water in the countryside in developed countries comes from drilled wells........ And governments in their quest for the absolute limits of human ability, to take their shit and pay for it, are now beginning to put meters on privately drilled and owned wells in the united states...

If you were to have to become a refugee and walk out of the city, where would you get water? For dogs, any mud puddle will do, but for humans, its a bit wiser to search out a cleaner supply......

Most lakes are cleaner than a mud puddle, but I avoid drinking from them, lakes can have human and animal sewage running in to them....

Rivers? Better than lakes, but I'd walk a little farther......
Streams? Yea! But keep looking, keep walking up-stream......

OK! here we are, where the stream begins, below the hills, or back in them.....
Hmmmm....... its not in a pasture full of mad cow shit..... Not the drainage of a swamp, its in the woods, and the water seems to be coming out of the ground, meaning that its been filtered through the soil.... The earth is the original water filter, its not too portable, but most places with rain water, have springs, and you can generally drink safely from them, safer than most city water supplies.... no chlorine, no fluoride, no human sewage from leaking pipe systems laid in the same ditches, just pure drinking water... (be careful of springs in deserts, they can have toxic levels of minerals, arsenic, selenium, etc.) Also its a good idea to realize that you can not make pure water cleaner by adding something to it, like chlorine for instance... If you are in doubt, its a good idea to boil the water, (when the U.S. Dug the panama canal it was noticed that Chinese workers got sick less..... they were drinking tea....... and so boiling the water.....)

Usually natural springs are filled with leaves, mud, sticks, etc., and one likes to clean them out with a small shovel, and maybe wall them a bit with rocks, and dig out the hole deep enough to dip out of and not get minerals in the macaroni.....

If I were going to go live back in the hills, I'd want a few feet of plastic hose......
so that I could divert my little spring, and slightly down hill, have a place to fill my bucket without the mud problem.....

The average person needs a minimum of one gallon of water per day..... this will be only for drinking and cooking, no washing, And in a survival situation you can get by on 3 quarts, even in the tropics, and I'm talking from personal experience. I and my dog once lived a week on 5 gallons of water, and it was all we had, unless you count the 200 miles of sea water between us and the nearest fresh water....

The military used to publish the idea that you could get by on a quart per day.... Bullshit!, not long term, not anyplace hot, and not if you have to work or walk.......I suspect that was what the officers figured the enlisted deserved, so that they could have more for themselves....
Water is becoming a stylish topic, but the real problem is that everyone is bunched up in cities.... plenty of water out in the mountains, just takes the courage to hoof it out there.... Which few are willing to do, because they are sitting on their pile of excess materialism, and enjoying comforts they dont really need.... And eating amounts of food that are killing them.... And working hours as long as any slave, to pay for it all....

For water containers, I like stainless steel, plastics have chemicals in them that are similar to some human hormones, and that cause cancer, especially in women.

I have a one quart stainless G.I. Issue canteen, I consider it a nice water bottle, i.e. Good for a two hour hike..... I also have some nice water cans from India, stainless, gallon sized, that I got in a kitchen supply store.... they have wide 4 and ½ inch mouths, and so I can clean them, inside, unlike plastic water jugs..... I've lived long term using one can per day for drinking and cooking..... and that is a fairly valuable thing to know....

Happiness is a creek to camp by, because if we can, we use a lot of water..... running water is the prerequisite to sanitation and cleanliness...... and bad sanitation of any kind is a health risk. Whether its living in filthy cities, or wearing for too long, those dirty socks, the end result of bad hygiene is some kind of microbe eating on you....

In the camping reality, pots and pans tend to get very blackened, on the outside.... this can be cleaned off by covering them with a paste of ashes and water, and then scrubbing them in an hour or so........... I've found that its best to just let the outside stay black, no food touches the tars etc., and I concentrate on making sure the inside is cleaned well....
I also made up a black canvas bag for one camp cook kit, as black doesn't show the tars that rub off the pots........

And if you think you'll have access to more detergent in the brush, or after a disaster, you will be disappointed....
On bathing, soap is really great stuff, and shampoo is even better, but both are just wetting agents, and de-greasers. Survival bathing, i.e. When soap etc., is gone, is a real problem, especially washing your hair, and the only way to really get clean without soap, is to spend a lot of time in the water.... in the tropics, lemon juice makes a decent soap.
And yes I know soap can be made, but it takes oil or grease of some sort, both of which require some serious work to come by in a survival or subsistence life style..... And I wonder if in the future what there will be for enough stability anywhere? To do the homesteader/back to the lander routine, as in the FOXFIRE books, would require some serious amount of preparation and work, not to mention the stability issue...

I also wonder about the potential of excess food as a form of mobility limiter, nobody is going to get off of a fat stash of food unless they are forced to...........which might cause your demise for other reasons....

But there are a lot of things you can stockpile, or that have been traditionally kept by,
From candles, to condiments.... The usual stuff in the kitchen drawers that I grew up around were candles and flashlight batteries.... These were country people, and knew that the electricity goes out sometimes....
I like to stock fishing gear, and some basic sewing stuff.... few people have thought on the difficulties trying to cobble up a replacement for the common sewing needle..... Few think about matches either... or fish hooks, or mono filament line...... None of which weigh much or take up much space.....or cost much now.....

MORE ON FOOD
The thing you use the most of, is food.... If you analyze your total expenditures, food is often on the list fairly high cost wise... In situations where you can grow food, one should do so....

But it takes a very large garden to produce enough food for a family, and even one person
needs a lot of space.

I did discover years ago that growing bulk foods, like wheat, corn etc. was very efficient time wise.. Wheat can make up as much as 80% of a persons diet, and a man can grow a year's supply by hand with a month of physical labor... Which caused me to wonder why so many people worked 12 months a year..... in a subsistence lifestyle a person tends to work at food growing almost all the time, but few 40 hour weeks....

Here in the tropics, food is almost a joke, I have stuff planted that takes the place of trips to the store, or even to a refrigerator... Here you just go harvest whatever is available, and bulk stuff that you have in the ground all the time... many crops produce all year, and others have a long season, and some things, two crops per year.... its hard to get worried unless I think about being forced out.... Which is why I moved here, the ability for food security.... I feel thankful I've had 10 years to plant food trees, as its trees that produce the most food for the least work or worry........

I've long thought about future humans after the collapse, and I think the survivors will have to re-plant everything, using surviving genetics, Like some kind of Johny Appleseed tribes....

Too bad we didn't head that direction to begin with..... Personally I dont think much of the technocult as a life...... Perhaps its OK for people who aren't attracted to something more natural......... I find camping full time to be more pleasant than cleaning the bathroom, kitchen etc., on my days off from working paying for them.... Money is great bait, but one gets tired of chasing for it.... There is another way to be successful you know, its by learning how not to need very much of the stuff.... Needs are accessible from both ends of the pipe..... you can buy them, and pay taxes on them and a profit for producers, transporters, middlemen, etc., And also lose to inflation, which is in effect a stupidity tax, because every one thinks inflation just happens, and that the money evaporates or something....
In truth it a secret tax, and transfers wealth the usual direction, but at a faster clip....

Or you can produce for your own needs, and avoid taxes, and others siphoning you....
But gee, nobody ever seems to think that being a generalist pays as well as a specialist,
but it does.......'Pays better....in real terms...

Also in nature specialization invariably leads to extinction.... I think its the same for cultures, and I know man got where he has, by being a very good generalist.....
What that means, is a survivor type is a generalist by nature......

The main thing to realize, is that you need very little to be comfortable..... and what you are used to, is obscene levels of materialism, and you have been programmed to think you need it all... Capitalism is the art of creating a need and then filling it....
I advocate getting low, and reaping the dividends in free time, better health, more actual security, no stress etc., I think many people will discover themselves happier camping than living in an apartment.... Makes one wonder what people did before cities?

I used to worry about food in my survival/subsistence reality, and I had good reasons to do so, but the worrying didn't do any actual good, and eventually I learned that I always
seemed to get some food and survive..... and I let go of the worrying, and just kept working towards having more and more planted.... Now food is hardly an issue.....

Entertainment gets to be a problem, as you have a lot of free time.... I'm working on learning musical instrument number three, and I make things like pack saddles, food processing tools from wood, and soon to start working in metal again.... I also listen to short wave radio a lot.... for the survival kit I think a musical instrument is important, Something small and portable if possible, like a flute, harmonica or tambor or small drum...
Most people, when they get away from their sound system go into culture shock from lack of enough head beating rhythm.... When the collapse comes this will affect many.....

THE BEST TIME TO LEAVE.
Is as soon as possible..... waiting until the catastrophe runs over you, isn't a good idea....
Undoubtedly during the New Orleans disaster, there were many people living out in the brush who didn't have any problems.... A cabin up on posts back in the swamp, a garden on a high spot, and a lot of history fishing etc., And enough sense to tie the boat up good for the storm... 'Candles and batteries in the kitchen drawer?
My point is that disaster affects most, people who are least connected to a more natural life..... Thousands died, of the results of just rain.... and perhaps within the same parish some hardly changed their normal routines, and had boats, to go take turkeys off of roof tops....
Our choices affect our future... And if you chase money long enough, it will kill you.....
People used to joke; “get a job.” Now they joke; “get a life.” In the future they will joke; “ Get a REAL life.”
I have learned that my direction towards preparing for the future has resulted in some really nice changes in my life, and the projects I do and the things I buy all go together better, as minimalism becomes a filter for not buying or doing some things, and so I get sidetracked less by things I dont need... my materialism is starting to actually make some sense, instead of just being random purchases from whatever I encounter... its brought order to the chaos...... and the nomadic/mobility culture that is growing in my life is resulting in a style, or a motif' that is harmonious and beautiful...And I use the nomadic/retro progression thing to filter all my decisions..... It often surprises me.... things begin to work well together and match each other, and I am designing items and getting a definite unique style, neo-nomadic, neo-indigenous, whatever it is, its nice, and very original for something that is made from all the materials and techniques that I have learned over the years, focused by the criteria.... its “arty”......


I suggest you get a real life before the rush of the herd..... people are problems, more people are more problems, and less people are less problems....and when the rush is on, things will become very difficult in comparison to in the now....

And starting now, even if its just buying a vacation cabin, or just going camping and exploring areas as potential survival camps, is doing something.... another issue is post collapse transportation.... that car isn't likely to get you far, unless you leave early....

ON Boats....
After long thought, my transportation of choice is a boat..... and if I lived inland, I'd take up sea-kayaking.... as a sea kayak is the only means of transport that is going to function well if the bridges are collapsed, or the highways plugged with dead cars.... A short portage into the nearest drainage, and then up or down the river or up or down the coast, etc......
And a sea kayak can carry a fair amount of survival gear... definitely enough....
The main thing to keep in mind with sea-kayaks, is that few are strong enough, salesmen push light-weight onto mindless yuppies..... Boats dont need to be that light, and rough water in a crisis is no place to learn the limits of some super piece of shit plastic boat... As always think durability factor, and get the heavier stronger boat... One realization I've had, is that a sea kayak, some fishing gear, and a reverse osmosis filter for desalinizing sea water, and a person is free and likely to survive , and be mobile, almost anywhere..... Minimalism is so incredibly powerful......

Another boat option is the sailing yacht..... but whats generally on the market are very problematic... fiber-glass boats have about a 30 year life until the resin plasticizer starts to degrade and the hull needs to nestle into a land fill.... yacht styles also tend to be very impractical, The best hull is aluminum, or steel that has been well maintained, the plastic ones are trash, and most often have spade keels, which is so you have to rent moorage or a slip... If you try beaching one, tide goes out, it flops over, and when tide comes in, it floods the boat, and sinks it in place.
If you want to escape the technocult onto a boat, get some kind of workboat hull with a full length keel, so you can beach it for what ever reason..... Build living space below, but avoid all the junk put into yachts, sinks, toilets, too many berths, showers, etc., they all cause problems, and its nicer just to do the dishes in a bucket out in the cockpit, and its nicer to not have a smelly toilet down inside a tiny living space that has poor ventilation generally.... And toilets, sinks, are what statistically sink most yachts.... Yacht interiors are designed to please women's tastes, for the 15 minutes preceding the sale... And after the sale, the wife may go out a time or two, but soon the boat evolves into the guy's dog house, where he can go to get away from her.... So if you're male and in the market for a boat, forget the love-nest interior, better to think boy things, like fishing, workshop, cargo, etc., which all just happen to be what you'll really need in a survival situation.....

On sails, its strength that counts, If you buy used sails, have them restitched.....Or you will be sorry.... Personally I'd just buy storm sails off of a bigger boat... lightweight racing sails dont last long in blue water cruising conditions...
Boats would be my choice if I didn't already own a farm in paradise....And I have over a thousand hours as a blue water solo sailor....and I am in process on designing and building another boat......
A lot of people live on their boats, and hold down jobs, or do crafts etc., and get by, they also haul small cargoes.... It keeps a roof over your head, and the ability to leave any time you choose, and by a route not likely to be plugged.... And they are cheaper to maintain yourself, than a house, and dont pay the taxes that a house has to.... I highly recommend them for divorced males..... Absolutely nothing makes a guy feel better, than seeing his ex-wife's entire culture disappear over the horizon astern ......


MORE On HORSES......
Horses are man's second best friend..... and its a good idea to remember to treat them well, especially considering they are incredibly strong and powerful, and not all that smart when it comes to figuring out why you seem to be so upset sometimes.... its like being buddies with Mohamed Ali, if there is a problem, 'gotta stay calm......... 'doesn't matter who's fault it is.......

Horses come in various sizes, from Ponies to Clydesdale's.... they eat in proportion to their size.... and a smaller one needs about 40 pounds of “salad bar” per day to stay healthy....
Larger horses are generally used in flat lands, and smaller ones in the hills and mountains.
Two smaller horses can usually haul more than one bigger one.... But it would take a string of 50 pack horses to haul what most people think is necessary to live comfortably in the outback... So if you are thinking to use horses to provide a life style in the sticks, I suggest you alter your expectations about what you need to survive, until you can get it on one or maybe two horses....otherwise you will spend the rest of your life like ghost riders in the sky, except you'll be looking endlessly for more pasture...... Horses evidently come originally from fairly dry climates, they can go several days between watering if necessary and still survive. And they also seem to require a diet high in minerals, as one would expect in areas not rain leached.... if you plan on having horses in a wetter climate, best keep a mineral block available, or your horse will get sick and be effectively starving, on what looks to be plenty of food.... But wetter climates along coastlines allow you the option of letting the horses occasionally drink sea water, which they will gladly do.... I think it wise to have fresh water readily available afterwards, but horses love sea water on an occasional basis...
One problem with owning a horse, is then you think you have to ride it.... which eliminates
its ability to haul much besides your fat arse.... so if you wish to ride, and have a bunch of survival or subsistence stuff, you'll need a second horse for packing...
Or you can just walk, like the proverbial miner and his burro, and get there without the haughty noble attitude, and only have to deal with one horse.....
Survival ism is learning to live without things you really dont need.... And the only way to learn what you do and dont need, is to practice it.....
On horses, pay careful attention to caring for their feet, clean hooves that are trimmed regularly, are happy hooves, and a lame horse isn't going to carry anything very far.....
I dont recommend shoeing horses, unless they are to be used continually on rock or pavement... most horse owners pay for shoeing, and leave the horse in the pasture.... its like this expensive bad habit they never analyze...... trim often, go with the plastic boots on hard terrains........
Another potential with horses, is to have a cart..... good idea, and in the flats, its easier on the horse than carrying everything on his back..... but in the mountains, carts are marginal, and wagons are worse. But a travois or packsaddle still functions OK...... as long as theres a trail.... Here in Central America we use the mountain ponies even up in the jungle and rugged mountains.... its called: “Trepando en las raises” (“climbing in the roots” ) due to the large buttress roots in the tropical forests... A good horse, can pack gear through areas you cant get a wheelbarrow through.... by being able to step over the roots....

Personally I feel that the Technocult is totally bankrupt, both morally, and actually.... A man works and works, and most of the money goes into what it takes to show up at work.... This isn't a life, its a slave's existence sugar coated by having the gate in the barbed wire left open, for any one with the guts to walk out it.... and so few have the guts.....

It is still possible to leave.... and a couple of horses and all the gear, would cost less than 90 days rent.... a lot of gear you can make yourself, even packsaddles..... One would still need a food supply, and I think a few goats would be my choice..... goats eat and thrive on brush, and it can be desert or tropics, as long as there is green to chew.... Goat milk is horrid stuff, but goat cheese is really good..... Milk goats will also feed your dog, and Angoras will give you something to make blankets out of..... As far as I know goats are the animal of choice for survival purposes.... They can even be used for pack animals.....
For meat, the males need to be banded when young, or you can eat excess nannies too...
goat skin is much like deer hide, and will make nice buckskins..... and with the hair left on create clothing thats warm and colorful.... Many survivalist wannabees think they can survive by hunting deer..... but there are more people living in Portland Oregon than there are deer in the entire state.... i.e. They wont last long if the cities go down.... I think I'd rather have a couple ponies for packing, and wander around B.L.M. Land with a couple dozen goats, than try to depend on hunting..... (Or trying to hold down a town job..... ) I'd have a few sheep too maybe, I'm partial to sheepskin coats in cold climates..... another possibility is Dexter cattle... a downsized unit now available in the U.S........... efficiency generally comes in smaller packages.... What amazes me is how many cowboy types there are, and how few men take up herding as a way to subsist.... Its like after the invention of pick-up trucks and canned beer, subsistence herding somehow became impossible..... My advice is to sell the 4x4, roll the money over into horses and livestock, bid on BLM pasture, get a good wall tent, and spend your time doing something men actually like to do, and if some woman wants to come along, she's likely a keeper, and if not, consider yourself lucky to have a life out where there aren't any women to side track a guy, into slavery.... Besides, living outdoors will soon get rid of the beer belly, and you wont need the big belt buckle for a retaining wall....... you can use it to fry flap-jacks on instead....

My point is that there are still plenty of options open, if one begins to think subsistence, instead of paycheck...... A horse or a bow and arrows still work as good as they ever did..... but we are so programmed to think our options are only what passes as normalcy.... Better to break moulds, climb out of ruts, and impress your friends with how creative you are, and as the system crashes, they'll figure out that you're not so wild and crazy, just ahead of the curve, and when theres no food in the supermarket, a hunk of mutton or beef over the coals will seem a feast worth having........