# Rural survival



## Smitty901

This is a prepper site so let us get with what and how we hope to do it. Because I chose a Rural life long ago We are confident we can ride it out here. So my point of view will not be about BO but more Bugging in place.
Contrary to what the press and others may think most of us are not nuts case we see a potential for break down in our society . We chose to prepare for it. The up side for us is the work we do will also serve to protect our family in case or natural disasters also. We have seen that can happen most any where. And that if you expecting magic to fix everything over night you in for a surprise.
Many of the things you can do if you securing in place will benefit you even if nothing ever happens. 
1. Improving Shelter. If you better insulate your home to do with less or no fuel you win either way
2. Stored rotated food supplies do not go to waste and can allow you to take advantage of better deals
3. Alternative short term power options pay off quickly if your power is off for a day or so happens here some times.
4. Living in Wisconsin alternate heat sources are a big plus , a wood supply ready to go a way to use it and the knowledge of how to use it with out burning the house down . How can you go wrong.
And in years when fuel price peak you have the option to use much less of even none.
5. Confidence , as you take care of these thing you build confidence in you ability to weather a natural disaster. The harden shelter can serve many use while it waits to be needed.
6. If you have property and plant trees to manage for wood you increase the value over time, in some places you get a tax break to do so.
There is so much more,this is just a start add your reason to the list.
Talk about how your doing these things, what you tried what worked and failed. Easy to say I could pump water by hand have to tried to pump up a 100 gallons?
Have you cut a couple cord by hand stacked and moved it near by.
I have done my best to get dual use from the preps we have made, signs of the time cause me now to step the pace up a bit. While I am ready for what comes we could do better.
Post it up will we avoid the bread line when Piggly Wiggly is burnt to the ground will we stay warm when the gas goes out?
What are your goals long and short term. I know ours is to get through the first winter and take care of those here with no outside involvement for as long as it takes.
The unprepared are talking about us anyway so let us give them some thing to talk about maybe we will wake a few up.


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## rickkyw1720pf

@ Smitty901
One of the best stories I found was written by a man who survived the Argentina crash. I think there is a lot to take from his story.
SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA: Thoughts on Urban Survival (2005)


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## RaigenB

I like your thread, I also live in a rural area and would plan to Bug In. Our woods isn't as think as it used to be (my dad told me that my great grandpa had some of it logged around 30 years ago) but it isn't that bad. Our neighbor owns the woods that's in between our house and his, it's pretty thick. My Grandparents (Dad's parents) live right next to us and they have a wood stove and Grandpa always has stacks of wood. Grandma knows how to can food too and I plan to learn from her how to do so.

Because our area is pretty flat and close to a county road that runs in front of our house, I would like for us to get a storage container to bury somewhere in a safe, out of site, location on our property. I think that may be a little hard to convince my dad to do though :/ I did. however, convince him that we should get/make a rain barrel 

I plan to make a garden this spring/summer too, which I'm pretty excited about. This will be my first time trying to do so.

I've also been trying to convince him that we should get livestock too. Start out small and work our way up. Ducks is what I'm trying to convince him of lol but that's a no go as of right now too.. :/ I can't wait to have my own home so I can prep as I please!


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## Smitty901

Raigen , how is the water table in your area is it easy to hit and drill a well. Find out if Sand point wells have ever been used in your area. It is easy to drive a sand ponit in and get water takes time but they work every well in some areas.
Learn all you can from grandma before she is gone.
sand point well


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## RaigenB

Smitty901 said:


> Raigen , how is the water table in your area is it easy to hit and drill a well. Find out if Sand point wells have ever been used in your area. It is easy to drive a sand ponit in and get water takes time but they work every well in some areas.
> Learn all you can from grandma before she is gone.


Not exactly sure but I'll try and find that out. We have a well but it is on an electric pump. And I for sure will learn from her


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## Smitty901

More on a sand point. You can go down about 25 feet with one. If you have an underground shelter you can drive one in there you have water and it is protected .
They were used for years as a primary water source


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## RaigenB

Smitty901 said:


> More on a sand point. You can go down about 25 feet with one. If you have an underground shelter you can drive one in there you have water and it is protected .
> They were used for years as a primary water source


Wow, that is great to know! And thank you for the vid!


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## Smitty901

Security is a must , But you have to eat. Food storage is a big issue. Many homes here still have root cellars. They were still used up until this generation started moving away from the farm. If you plan on eating you may need one.
They are not hard to build and can also be emergency shelter. Latter I will get some shots of one we have used for 50 years. This is how they did before we can do it again.
Good read on the subject
Root Cellars - Hobby Farms

https://www.google.com/search?q=Roo...SN6Wg2AXzpIHQAw&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=882

Note: The prefect place to store your food is the worst place to store you ammo.


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## nadja

My wife and I also plan on staying put or bugging in. We live very rural, about 26 miles from the nearest town and the last 6 miles to my place are an old dirt wagon trail. We have a small but very private valley or low spot if you will, and you can't even see my wind generator until you drive right up to my place. We of course do have food put away, and will continue to put away more over the next year or so. More importantly, we have garden seeds, in the freezer and a couple of raised beds already built and ready to go. Also have several of the double bucket systems and will try and obtain more this coming year . 

I also have a couple of friends about 2 miles away or so that were carer marines from the same time as myself. 65 0- 69 We are well versed in making things tough for anyone that attempts to "mess " with us. We stay connected together with the aid of C.B. Radios. We also all live on solar out here, as there are no electric lines close by. 

I have wireless driveway alerts that work well out to about 300 feet and then my dogs inside the house. And then there is me. So, yes, I am bugging in. I also think it is far better then being a homeless person that thinks I could live off the land, even though at my age I would still fare better then the average city slicker with imaginary visions of being Davy Crockett . Being raised in the country on a farm and hunting , camping and fishing my entire life, I would stand a chance, but no it is still a no win situation.


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## AquaHull

Smitty901 said:


> Raigen , how is the water table in your area is it easy to hit and drill a well. Find out if Sand point wells have ever been used in your area. It is easy to drive a sand ponit in and get water takes time but they work every well in some areas.
> Learn all you can from grandma before she is gone.
> sand point well


Nowadays a permit is required in Michigan, and the installer/driller/pounder must be licensed

I can remember pounding a well 28' when I was 11, 1 3/4" galvanized with brass point. It lasted 31 years before we had to put in a 4" submersible per code.

If someone reports you , it all has to be removed at your cost. The EPA and whatever alphabet agency is concerned about groundwater contamination, plus they are wanting to tax the wells and have come around spying.


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## Smitty901

So a sand point driven in and capped would be seen by. Also come judgment day I sure the 3 letter bunch EPA, DNR will be heading for the hill. I would not ever advise anyone to break the law. Knowledge of how to do something is not a crime.
Nor are the supplies to do it safety stored.
Also the same parts can be slipped down a drilled well and hand pump attached if power is not on. I have one of the wells already set up that way pull the cap screw on a short 4 foot pipe and pump your have water.


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## Verteidiger

To me, the biggest problem confronting rural people will be the influx of the evacuee horde from the major cities as they empty out. The horror stories I have heard from friends who evacuate, or who lie in the path of the human swarm, are both disturbing and informative. 

One of my best friends fled from a hurricane, and his wife and kids were supposed to follow (lesson one) and meet at their bug out location. She got snarled in traffic and ran out of gas (lesson two). She had a gas can (#3) and she left her two pre-school boys in the car while she went for gas at a nearby overpass. She climbed a six foot chain link fence, but her pants snagged on the metal and she flipped over. She landed on her head, broke her neck and died on the sidewalk of the frontage road. (#4) People found her sons, and they led them to her. 

In another evacuation, people running out of gas found gas stations without power, or without fuel, or both. (5,6,7). They left the interstate (8) and went into surrounding neighborhoods. (9). They went house to house (10) looking for fuel and whatever else they could scrounge or steal. (11). Siphoning from people held at gunpoint (12, 13). Family pets or children were seized as hostage exchanges for what the hordes wanted. (14, 15). If you had no weapons, you were victimized (16) instantly. 

In the countryside, horror stories of what inner city gang members did to farm families are blood curdling. Farms and remote homes were deliberately targeted for food and shelter by roving packs of armed bangers. (17).
Some people fought back, others were off guard and got flanked or overwhelmed. (18).

Bugging in to a static location can get you swarmed. You need to be prepared to retreat and counterattack once you see what will confront you. Move your loved ones away and carry what you can, then regroup and get help or engage. (19).

Do not make the mistake of thinking you are safe because you are isolated in the sticks. That really just makes you a target. (20).

Oh, and do not stop in rest areas if you are evacuating. That is where the gangs gathered first. You drove right into an ambush and your car and belongings got jacked on the spot. (21). Keep moving! (22). And be armed to the teeth with extras of everything you'll need. (23).


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## nadja

Well, from where I am, even the post office people that have lived here for years say that our place doesn't exist. Does that tell you anything.? When your going off the grid and intend to be really rural, keep it that way. Don't even tell local people where you live or even how to get there. There are no road signs here, no street lights, power lines or much of anything else. 

"IF" the hoards did make it this far out, there are a couple of other people like me not friendly and we do not play well with others. One of my best friends, living about 2 miles from me , started out in 1963 as Air American and finished his 20 as a Marine. We think alike, move alike and eat alike. Neither of us likes strangers , especially strangers with bad intentions.

He , like me , has wireless alarms outside, dogs and then you would have to deal with him after being throughly alarmed you were on your way in. Both of us would instantly know what direction you were coming form , have nvd. and the things they mount to. Secure ? Well , about as well as you can and still be legal in all aspects of the law.


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## WoadWarrior

Verteidiger said:


> To me, the biggest problem confronting rural people will be the influx of the evacuee horde from the major cities as they empty out.


I couldn't agree more.



Verteidiger said:


> The horror stories I have heard from friends who evacuate, or who lie in the path of the human swarm, are both disturbing and informative.


Real life is a lot harder than people image, or even prepare for. Studying what actually happened is the best way to figure out what to expect. And I don't just mean the major events like Sandy. Smaller local events can also be troubling.



Verteidiger said:


> She landed on her head, broke her neck and died on the sidewalk of the frontage road.


I'm sorry to hear about your friends loss... and glad you shared it as a real life example for us.



Verteidiger said:


> They left the interstate (8) and went into surrounding neighborhoods. (9). They went house to house (10) looking for fuel and whatever else they could scrounge or steal. (11). Siphoning from people held at gunpoint (12, 13). Family pets or children were seized as hostage exchanges for what the hordes wanted. (14, 15). If you had no weapons, you were victimized (16) instantly.


It still amazes me that people don't realize how they put a hugely visible target on their backs... and how they are so unprepared to take care of themselves. People still assume that a cop is there to protect you. Cops "respond" after the fact.... i.e., after you are dead. If you don't take care of yourself... no one else will.



Verteidiger said:


> Farms and remote homes were deliberately targeted for food and shelter by roving packs of armed bangers.


And... because you are remote... your neighbors are unlikely to see/hear it going on... so you truly are on your own. The same goes for your choice of where to bug out. If you are near mountains... expect every other yokel to head there, rifle in hand. You either need to get there first and defend it, get there first and hide while the yokels shoot it out with each other, or stay away until the gunfire ends and you can come in and clean up the pieces.



Verteidiger said:


> Oh, and do not stop in rest areas if you are evacuating.


I have legal stimulates in my BOB and vehicle with the plan that I travel until I get there no matter how long it takes. I don't have stops planned... but will be armed in case they are forced on me.


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## Smitty901

We have our security covered if homey thinks he is coming here his troubles will soon be over. He will not get close enough to be a threat. This we will defend means more than you know.

molṑn labé


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## AvengersAssembled

My family and I live in a semi-rural area right now, but within the next year or so we're moving out west. My dad's whole family is in SE Arizona, but we'd be looking at New Mexico or NE Arizona. We've already looked into some excluded plots of land, with no one else around for many miles. My mom is a great gardener, my dad a great hunter, and me a great fisherwoman lol But in the event of an emergency, we would want to be able to bug in and be totally self-sustaining. Both my parents grew up on farms raising animals, and planting/harvesting crops. And between my dad and myself, we have security pretty well covered.


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## jimbobberr

Smitty901 said:


> We have our security covered if homey thinks he is coming here his troubles will soon be over. He will not get close enough to be a threat. This we will defend means more than you know.
> 
> molṑn labé


It seems logical to me that, while you, being ready to defend yourself, might have little to fear from an occasional homey showing up at your door, your real problem is going to be an entire army of 5,000 or more homies descending upon you. I'm dealing with the same scenario at the moment, and I don't know what to do about it. I just watched an episode of "Countdown to Apocalypse" that showed a clip about this rural family with 25 years worth of stores and livestock and a big pond full of fish. Although they are rural, they are essentially "out in the open" and, it occurred to me that if I were hungry and homeless and wandering, I would only have to take what these people have. Unfortunately, I would then be in the same position they are, completely vulnerable to any more sizeable force than myself. In fact, I realized, I am already there. Realistically, I could probably hold out against a small force for a long time, but against a heavily-armed, well-disciplined force of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands who are intent upon taking everything you and I have..?........


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## Old Man

My family and I have been prepper for a few years work on the needs we will have. We live on 12 acres about 3 miles out of a small town and a large city about 110 miles away. We know a talk with our 2 closes neighbors. I feel when the SHFT my neighbors on out from us that we will need to unite a become a small force on our own. We are go to have to pull together. I have already been check out some of our neighbors and try to get a feel for them. I not ready to get to close yet. I know them and they know me. I know we need to work on this. I still feel I need to be careful.


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## Lucky Jim

Old Man said:


> ...I still feel I need to be careful...


Yeah, the golden rule would be to join up with others ONLY IF WE HAVE TO. I mean, if you and your family are doing alright on your own, you don't need anybody else and you'll never be sure whether you can trust them..
For example in this clip from Survivors, a plague has wiped out nearly everybody on earth, and Greg (the fair-haired guy in the blue jacket) meets up with a group of 4 strangers, they seem friendly enough at first but at 0:48 they show their true colours-


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## jrclen

Smitty901 said:


> They were used for years as a primary water source


They still are in my area of Wisconsin. We've gotten our water from a driven sand point all our lives and so did our parents and grandparents. Great thread Smitty. I burn wood from my own land for heat. Lived without electricity and indoor plumbing with little problem. And I garden and eat the kings deer. I will miss the internet, but we'll survive. Farmers used windmills to get that 100 gallons of water. Hand pumps are for 2 - 5 gallons at a time.


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## Gallo Pazzesco

rickkyw1720pf said:


> @ Smitty901
> One of the best stories I found was written by a man who survived the Argentina crash. I think there is a lot to take from his story.
> SURVIVING IN ARGENTINA: Thoughts on Urban Survival (2005)


Ole FerFal. I remember when he was a regular on some of the older boards like Frugals, TB2K, etc., and we were getting blow-by-blow reports of his survival situations during the crash in Argentina. He used to post while claiming things were falling apart around him - power was out, cars were being hijacked. He would give us a play-by-play description of going to the store, or finding gas, or looking for fresh water, etc. Dramatic stuff at the time.

I'll say one thing for FerFal, he was prolific. The guy posted by the 1000s - sometimes a couple of hundred posts a day.

He ended-up sort of like gunkid, getting banned from all the boards for one reason or another. He just hated it if someone questioned his methodology or his accounts of a certain event which may have also been covered by the media at the time. Of course, gunkid ended-up in jail and FerFal ended-up starting a blog and writing a book. Two different outcomes - seems like a long time ago when those two guys became prepper board famous.


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## HuntingHawk

FerFal made too many mistakes in his writings that showed him a fraud. Guess he would forget what he had written a few days ago.

Melvin did too much anti gov't writtings. But found out the gov't was serious about no homemade silencers. Melvin, gunkid, excite, billie, & gotit were all the same troll.


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## ozo

Had a thought.....sort of a pet peeve maybe.....
When we share, especially something of this nature,
and [we] have not updated our profile to show our
general location, it can be misleading in a way.
What works here.....may not work....there.

For this [sand point] ...if you could get one a
single foot into the ground would be a feat of it's own.
[on my property]

A location may not mean squat to most posts one
may reply on a thread, but then again, it could mean a lot.

If you don't display your location for reasons of anonymity that
is one thing, although just being on the web, your IP can be
found and traced by anyone.

It may seem as an invasion of privacy to some, but when you offer
advice to others about .......
what you do...
how it works....
your results....
etc.
it may not work for others
and be irrelevant and/or misleading.

Some may miss that point.
You may even cause someone to spend $$$$
and time on something......that sounds like a great idea....
but would never have worked for them in the first place.

Just a thought........


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## rice paddy daddy

We live on a dead end dirt road, which runs off a paved two lane county road. The main arteries out of the nearest big city are miles and miles away. To get to our front gate, you either have to know where your going, or be totally lost.
Anyone who is not a caucasian ******* would really stand out. Like the proverbial sore thumb.

And, as noted above, what works in one area may not work in another. For example our water comes from a well that had to be power driven 225 feet through limestone before it hit water.


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## Smitty901

rice paddy daddy said:


> We live on a dead end dirt road, which runs off a paved two lane county road. The main arteries out of the nearest big city are miles and miles away. To get to our front gate, you either have to know where your going, or be totally lost.
> Anyone who is not a caucasian ******* would really stand out. Like the proverbial sore thumb.
> 
> And, as noted above, what works in one area may not work in another. For example our water comes from a well that had to be power driven 225 feet through limestone before it hit water.


 Some areas you just in a bind when it come to water My son lives on a ridge in that area wells are 400 feet. But on my land good water can he hit at as low as 8 feet and on the higher ground 20 feet with secondary under ground channels at 50-90 feet. Hidden sand points have been in the ground already for years capped and covered


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## Gallo Pazzesco

We're on the Fall Line so we're on what used to be a beach millions of years ago - and sand as deep as you can dig. Matter of fact there are a lot of sand quarries in the area that services concrete companies, golf courses, etc., ... services them all over the Southeast and beyond. 

I've got three wells on the property, two that services our homes and one that services our farming. We hit water on all three of them, spaced out by several acres each, at between 80-90 feet. But on the two that service our homes I went down to 240 on each one wanting to get deep into the aquifer - and we did. The water is sand filtered naturally and it is truly incredible water - very sweet and pristine. The problem is, once I got into prepping I didn't realize how difficult it is running a well on a generator that is drawing water from that deep in the ground. We made adjustments, and it it is worth it now, but for awhile it was a major headache trying to boost start-up power for those pumps at that depth.


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## rice paddy daddy

Our well is 2 inch diameter and the pump sits on top. The pump sucks up the water and shoots it 50 feet to a 200 gallon aireator, and the another pump sends it into the house. I have had it plumbed so that in an emergency the aireator can be removed from the system by turning a couple valves thereby removing the need to run one pump. 
Both pumps are 240 volt, but the well man showed me how to pull off a cover, slide a switch, and connect a pig tail so it can be run off a 120 volt generator in an emergency.
My generator is a 120/240 volt 5KW Coleman Powermate.
But I really need to get a solar power set up for the pump, and another to run the fridge and maybe one light.
Spending a year in Vietnam with no electricity or running water was what my Ol' Sarge used to call "Good Training."


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## HVU

I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forrest, and i live a ten minute walk away from one of the largest freshwater lakes in Europe.. there are plenty of old wells in the forrest around here, the deepest ive found yet has its bottom at 28 feet, the most shallow hitts its bottom at 9 feet. they have all been used before in history and most of them are from the 1900's to 1940/50's. I drove my dirtbike into one of them once.. its still down there somewhere and its impossible to gett it upp since its in a swampy area where my tractor just would sink into the mud :c The farm is nice and can be 100% self sustainable, the only thing i want to add is a couple of solar panels and a couple of small wind turbines, but sadly my mother wont lett me putt it upp even if id pay for it myself >.< but we have a small old 1kw Honda generator, its in pretty bad condition and its realy worn out because we used to run the stables heating system with it for a few years, back then it nearly constantly ran for an entire month without proper maintanance and care.. I could try to fix it but it would just be wasted time because i think it might only have a couple of years left.
Im a realy good shot and im armed to my teeth with Rifles, and il take out anything within 700 meters when theres nearly no wind, anything to protect our crops and animals, but most importantly me and my family. Our closest neighbors are five kilometers away across the fjord, if someone tryed to attack our farm after SHTF then the three men on the neighbor farm will be here with a couple of shotguns and rifles in ten minutes if their motorboat still runs. I feel that this is a realy safe place to stay as we have canned food for two years and our crops wich will be enough to trade quite a bit, grain potatoes and carrots should be good trading items dont you think? and a nearly endless supply of water from the wells and the fjord


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## Smitty901

rice paddy daddy said:


> Our well is 2 inch diameter and the pump sits on top. The pump sucks up the water and shoots it 50 feet to a 200 gallon aireator, and the another pump sends it into the house. I have had it plumbed so that in an emergency the aireator can be removed from the system by turning a couple valves thereby removing the need to run one pump.
> Both pumps are 240 volt, but the well man showed me how to pull off a cover, slide a switch, and connect a pig tail so it can be run off a 120 volt generator in an emergency.
> My generator is a 120/240 volt 5KW Coleman Powermate.
> But I really need to get a solar power set up for the pump, and another to run the fridge and maybe one light.
> Spending a year in Vietnam with no electricity or running water was what my Ol' Sarge used to call "Good Training."


 I lived out of a ruck more than once in 27 years


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## jrclen

HVU said:


> I live on a farm in the middle of nowhere surrounded by forrest,


I live in a similar place. I am 100 kilometers from the nearest city which will contain the starving and lawless masses when the SHTF. The biggest danger I face is the cold in winter. I cut and burn my own wood for heat but at my age, without fuel for chainsaws and the wood splitters, staying warm will be a challenge. Food and water will be little problem. With luck and conservation, my fuel supply will last longer than I will.


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## rice paddy daddy

Smitty901 said:


> I lived out of a ruck more than once in 27 years


Thank you for serving our country.
I did 2 years, 8 months, and 29 days. Honorably discharged as an E-5


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## MikeyPrepper

Security is number #1


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