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JLBIII

When is enough, enough?

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We all have different ideas about the amount of equipment we need, weapons, clothing, food stuffs, ammo, etc. But when is enough, enough? Does a person really need 25 ARs, 500,000 rounds of ammo, and enough food to last 20 years or is this just overkill? Now I can understand wanting to have a variety of different weapons, and the ammo to go with them it just seems the some people have literally gone over the edge. If you are the armorer for your group and do all the maintenance , I can understand having that many weapons. If you’re one person I think having 20 AR’s is ridiculous. I can see having a couple lowers for say a 5.56 and a couple for a .308, and then a couple of each caliber uppers you plan on using. I would think that having extra barrels and parts for the receivers, and cleaning supplies and tools would suffice.

Ammo is always a tough one, but unless you plan on having a firefight everyday for the rest of your life do you really need half a million rounds? If your BOL gets compromised how do you plan on bringing all this equipment with you, especially if under duress. Which leads me to food stuffs why would anyone want 20 years worth of MRE’s or similar items IIRC MRE’s only have a shelf life of 5 years. Do they not plan on hunting, fishing, or using the bountiful resources that nature has provided us?

Clothing is another tough one, especially if you live in a climate that goes from one extreme to the other every year. I think that clothing is one of the most important prepping items there is. All the weapons, ammo, food in the world will not stop you from freezing, I mean you still have to go outside and collect wood for burning, hunting, fishing, and other activities. You can’t sit in a bunker or such forever and who would want to. Needles, thread, bolts of fabric, even G.I. wool blankets can be made into warm clothing if needs be. These items are just as important as your weapons. Clothing repair is another skill set that everyone needs to know.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not dissing anyone. I’m just wondering when you guys think you’ve got enough to survive and thrive. Do you plan on staying in one place, or do you plan on hopscotching to different locations you have previously set up. What happens if you find when you get there your BOL has already been taken over by another group and they’re prepared to defend it. Seems like that’s a lot of time, equipment, and the money you paid for it all rendered totally useless to you. So what happens when your best laid plans have gone to shit before you ever got a chance to use them?

Which leads me back to my first thought, how do you plan on moving all this material around without drawing attention to yourself or your group? WTSHTF we all know there are going to be groups whose only plans are going to be taking whatever you have, by force if necessary. I hate to say it, but a lot of these groups are going to be vets that know how to accomplish this task with very little effort on their part. These are all scenarios we have to put some serious thought to, and what contingency plans we’re going to have in case they do.

Now I know there’s a lot of “what if’s” in this, but regardless these are real threats and not something to put off until you encounter them. It’s a lot to digest and may have some of you scratching your heads as to what planet is this guy from. Unfortunately I’m as pessimistic as they come and try to think of the worst case scenario first , and continue with the worst until I can feasibly come to a conclusion that I think works. I also know that I’ve left a lot of stuff untouched , I don’t want to make this a 10 page manifesto. Whatever I have left out I will be addressing in later blogs if I feel my efforts aren’t falling on deaf ears, or the feedback is telling me not to waste my time. That I will leave for the members to decide.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Joe

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  1. Mrbrooks's Avatar
    JLB,
    I am in the same boat as you. I am somewhat overwhelmed with all the different scenarios and options available. I am planning my inventory based on the fact that i feel i will need a few days to gather my thoughts initially and that what each person should carry should be just enuff of everything(food, water, medical) to get us thru 7-10 days without assistance. Being prepared for hot days and cold nights. I dont feel jumping in the car and traveling out of the area i know well will benefit me any, as i will be out of my element, the place that i know, and in somebody elses. I have a map of the county i live in and have pretty good knowledge of where the resources are. Fortunately i live in a city that has a semi-rural landscape and has abundant wildlife, water and other resources within a few miles of my house. I plan on getting lost in the woods of the city, if that is possible im not sure of yet. we have several lakes, an overpopulation of deer and squirrels and i have planned my route to be nomadic using existing train trusses and overpasses for descent shelter. Hunting, fishing and scavenging to a central location to meet with friends and loved ones. As far as protection I have went along the lines of two 10-22 Rugers with around 5,000 rounds of ammo, a 12 gauge Mossberg 835 ulti-mag with 2 boxes of 100 rounds small game loads and a few boxes of 3 1/2, my Winchester .270, with 100 rounds, and my AR in .223 with around 1000 rounds split between 5 people with my little one even carrying. Plans are just what you make of them and if you dont expect to have to adapt then you are wasting your time and might as well just do nothing. i love to camp, hunt and fish and said if i ever get to retire thats what i was going to do. So im looking at it like and extended hunting camping fishing adventure with a little bit of an edge. Learning all the different techniques and ways to survive is interesting to me so im having fun with it. Takin it more as a hobby and incorporating it into my lifestyle. Might not be much of a plan but its my start. i know alot of people in my community and think it would serve me best to use all of these things to my advantage rather put myself at a disadvantage.