# Where to start



## Medelwr (Jun 10, 2012)

So, I'm a pretty green newbie to all this prepper stuff. I've got leather-working as an occasional hobby but no other usable skills that I could truly value in the event of something catastrophic happening.
Here's how things stand right now. I live on the Northwest coast in BC Canada. The only thing people here seem to worry about is gas ($1.49 per liter) and what may happen if there is a serious earthquake on the San Andreas fault. I have an earthquake kit that I upgraded a few weeks ago (originally only had 2 blankets, 3 tins of food and a roll of toilet paper) and I have now accumulated 2 full bins of supplies. This is only for an earthquake. I personally think that something worse will happen than a quake and was wondering where to start when it comes to supplies and usable skills. I grew up in a small village in Wales so I didn't grow up with hunting or with guns and knives. I haven't had any experience with camping since my family was poor when I was growing up and couldn't afford it. Now I live in the Vancouver area and it's become incredibly populated. I'm at a loss at where to start with my prepping. I could use all the help I could get for when SHTF.


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## amym505 (Feb 10, 2012)

Food, water and shelter are the very basic needs for survival. That is always the best place to start. You may have more skills than you realize. Most of us take our basic skills for granted. The most important thing is that you have started your preparations.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

Doesn't matter how green you are, the only thing that matters is you woke up. The rest will follow.

Food
shelter
water
guns
medicine
tools
gear

I am of the mindset that I shouldn't waste money on endless piles of stuff I can't carry. If you seen any of my vids in my "SHTF alley", you will note it's no more than I can carry upstairs into the bug out vehicle. If you plan to bug in, then by all means stack that stuff three deep and don't stop. :3shippingcontainers


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## bigdv519 (Apr 30, 2012)

I started collecting bottled water and canned goods. You would be surprised at how important these things are when they are no longer on store shelves. I have about 300 gals of water now, maybe a couple months worth of canned goods for 2 people. I'm also into tools now. I have a nice Gerber Machete with a saw on the backside. Sledge hammers, hand tools, etc. Also camping gear is great. I have a couple of Eton Crank Radios, some led headlamps etc. I also store batteries now, toilet paper, wet wipes, and some hygene products. As for weapons, a decent handgun is a great starting point, or a rifle or shotgun. My ultimate goal is to have a few of each, with plenty of ammo. Hope that helps.

As for skills, I'm decent with carpentry as in my younger years, I was in home construction, as was my father. I've also recently taken up mixed martial arts. I see the MMA training as a huge plus since my stamina is growing, along with my strenght, and ability to face grizzly opposition.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

Look into some Krav magra too, it's a great system full of simplistic ways to hurt someone to the point they cannot resist. The guys I saw recently at the local school were just beating the living hell out of each other and it looked MEAN. I would definitely not want to step to a guy who was well versed in that.


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## Medelwr (Jun 10, 2012)

I was actually looking into learning Escrima. Just another good use for your machete and bowie knife if you get into a pinch. There's a local school and it's probably the cheapest one out there too. I'm going to probably spend just a little extra each shopping trip to add to my food supplies and maybe each month add an item or two to my equipment. Now that I FINALLY got my citizenship I can start shopping in the States and actually getting some good bang for my buck. Time to look into supplies in northern Washington.


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## bigdv519 (Apr 30, 2012)

Thats what I do, every couple weeks when I take a trip to the grocery store, I pick up a few canned foods to store. 
Also, when I need sometime from the hardware store, I walk around looking for a good item for my supplies, be it a machete, a nice pocket knife, a useful tool etc.
Same idea at the camping store.


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

Each week, when going into the grocery stores, if you need say 2 cans chili and beans, buy 3 or even 4. Spam is another good thing to have and lots of it. You can eat it right out of the can with no problem. Little salty, but what the heck , you need salt anyway. Can Tuna, Salmon etc are also good things to stock up on. Vegies in the cans, soups, You are most likly looking at bugging in I presume rather the "heading for the hills" which is good and bad. At least bugging in you can stockpile more food and water and other things you will need. Tp is one of the things you better stock up on. There is so much, but at least your thinking and doing something about it. For now, buy only things you actually eat or use. Once you have what you consider a good supply of that, then it is time to branch out so to speak. 

As for your hobby of working with leather, can you repair or resole shoes and boots ? That would be a very worthwhile "hobby" to have. Valuable as a trade situation. You could trade fixing someone's shoes for food, ammo or whatever you need I should think. Give it some thought and maybe you will want to expand you knowledge of leather with spare items for later, leather, sewing materials, awls, needles etc. Maybe some good shoe soles etc. Make nice trade or barter items after things were to settle down


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## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

Medelwr said:


> ..I'm a pretty green newbie to all this prepper stuff. I've got leather-working as an occasional hobby but no other usable skills that I could truly value in the event of something catastrophic happening./.


They used to wear leather armour in olden times so you'll be very useful to run up stab-proof and arrow-proof vests for any survival groups..
Me, all I've got is a silver tactical wargaming trophy, but whether tactical skill and cunning gleaned from surviving for 10 years in online PC battlefields will stand me in good stead in a real SHTF world remains to be seen. 
Oh well, I can always try to be funny to make survival groups want me to keep them laughing and their morale high..


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

As a vet from the mid to late 60's, I can tell you that your pc gaming skills will have no effect whatsoever in your real life attempts at living in a real shtf type situation. You would be much better off, in spending days on end out in the real woods, learning (sometimes bad) what is really going on. Most arm chair commando's have no real idea of what battle is really like. You cannot and will not know what I am saying until that sad day comes. Believe me when I tell you this, it is NOT something you want to happen.


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## preppermama (Aug 8, 2012)

I think skills practice is the most important thing you can do right now. I already live in my rural bug out location so I am more focused on creating a homestead out of my current home and protecting it from outsiders. I place a lot of importance on practicing skills. Practice canning and preserving food. Practice foraging and get to know the edibles in your region. Practice shooting various types of firearms and actually using the gear in your bug out bag. It's better to improve your accuracy and work out the kinks now instead of when the SHTF. 

If I knew I would be bugging out in a SHTF situation, I would also be doing yearly bug out drills and practicing the commute to my bugout location, taking notes of the route and learning it like the back of my hand.


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

If you do intend to bug out, be sure to have a destination in mind that is atainable. Otherwise you become one of the many millions of refugees that the fema camps will be waiting for. You DON"T want to end up there !


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## Omega Man (Sep 5, 2012)

Here's a start: This is a site I frequent. yearzerosurvival.com 
Lots of supplies. .. They are adding more every day but also have an excellent *resource* page that has a cool seismic monitor for the entire planet. Wait till you see the other live monitor screens...Good luck...You just took the first step!


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## cxt1890 (Aug 31, 2013)

I started by getting big family sized kits from Survivorsworld.com. Combined with the bushmaster knife and axe was a good start. I am know up to two large palastic bins worth of gear broken down into smaller BOBs...good luck


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## BeefBallsBerry (Aug 25, 2013)

id start by finding out what kind of prepper you are, that should dictate on how you start. 

different kind of prepping for different kind of preppers.


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