Rant on Pretenders

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Survivalism is a way of life. It is becoming a trend again which is laughable. I have shortcomings, and alot of them in my game, I can admit. My food amounts are short of what they should be, some of my gear is substandard, some of my skills need work and my living arrangements are way short of what they should be which is probably an understatement. Money is short, on who's lives isn't it? Skills and reading/learning are free. I strive to improve everyday. That's all anyone can ever ask IMHO.

Sorting them out:
A guy at the range starts spouting off quotes from survivalblog but when confronted with preparations of food and questioned on skills he has nothing. I ask to see his keychain, nothing on it and his bobble head wife who's nodding hard in the background has the usual 900 pieces of junk and weighs a pound short of a baby elephant as does my wife's as well unfortunately. I say lets walk over to my truck, I open the rear door and point to my GMHB and he has nothing and I mean nothing in his trunk, "well because we aren't to far from the house". We chat later but "we can't talk about it because someone might be listening" who, where and what are we talking about that is soo bad? Wasn't his day, he might have some of them range commando's fooled but oops ran into a real one. I guess next month he will have to be a Navy Seal or an Army Ranger cause that didn't work out.
NEXT: "Hey I wanna form a group and we want you in it". I say ok let's all meet next week and discuss it. Shoot we couldn't of even had a good family BBQ with the food they had because not one of them fools had anything but an MRE in a backpack. A ton of them tier one level weapons but dang little ammo, less than 5 mags apiece. Giant rambo knives and some had first aid training but little supplies but one gets sick at the site of blood and passes out, 2 "won't"(not can't but won't, their words) hunt. I'm out.
NEXT: "My preps got destroyed". By what a tornado? Nope no tornado, still waiting on that answer, hmmm. Ok, Bravo Sierra I don't wanna talk to you no more, all them posts and you got nothing.
NEXT: Man that video was sooooo dead on it's not even funny https://www.survivalandpreparednessf...ighlight=video it hit right on the money for that week. "A 10 mile hike and being out 2 days, uhh well I can't handle that", freakin guy is on a tac team and was the one who suggested the 20 mile trail at this place but can't hang. Ok I'm done with you.
NEXT: Wanna sort some more out, just invite them closer and see what they got. I know LD3 talked about folks showing him stuff, be glad, cause I can't find anyone with anything. I'd be happy to see a full pantry at this point or a backpack with supplies. There's even a guy who lives right here near me, within 20 minutes, who has a survival website and is "#1 Admin", large and in charge, and didn't even have a shovel when the winter storm hits and was whining about it on the site cause all the snow shovels sold out and he couldn't dig out. He didn't even have a regular shovel, really? How is that possible, not have basic handtools, well he doesn't grow stuff, camp, store water or anything but he is the Admin of a survival website spreadin the word and giving advise, what a joke.
NEXT: Don't want to get close? Check in from time to time on e-mail or phone and see who has done what. It's not going to be what you would have thought. Some will do stuff and others well... doesn't take long to figure stuff out. It's just like that video!
NEXT: Co-workers, there's a reason they were not friends before work I'm finding out. They all wanna join till the work comes in. To me it's crazy, I mean really, how hard is it to bucket rice? That's good times to sit and joke with the buds right there while knocking it out in an hour. But "well I am going to buy some new wheels for my racing quad". Ok see ya

I am nothing when I look at what some here have and can admit it. I don't feel bad about it or feel down about it, instead it gives me motivation and goals. If you aren't doing it then get started. Seems like there is no one near me that does it, yet all the supplies are being sucked up around here, so where is it going? There are some good folks but seems we are spread out and with $4-5 gl gas, well it's no good for anyone. Wish I could see one person who lives near me with one bucket of rice, a single shot shotgun, a cheapie BOB and who would say I'm working on it, then next week they show me they learned what a dandelion is and what to do with it.
Them, I would be proud to stand beside !!

[protus]

now now, matt only one of us is allowed to hate all the talkers...:p

There are many new people right now. Im talking new, never thought of being prepared till about 2 years ago.
Survivalism/being a survivalist is a lifestyle. Its not something you can toss money at to get, it takes change and effort. Aka adapting/surviving. It takes time.

Many web forums out there now are run by those same people. Wanna know how i know what sites to stay away from.
Ones that dont have a dedicated food forum.
Ones that are plastered with adverts, special pay to be members forums, flooded and spammed by gear dealers who paid for the right to pimp their swag.

Because of this flood of newness comes all the new learning curves. The guys that are in their mid 30's and just finally going on their 1st 5 mile hike, or their 1st real range day, or buying their 1st real knife, pack or finally putting away more than 3 days of food.

What is hard is for folks that have been at it for a while trying to deal with all that newness.Let alone how they are received by those new people ( yeah i pee on many parades it seems the last 2 years)
trust me, there's some here that talk with me face to face and they'll will attest to how bent i get at what i see, read or hear on the web. Let alone if its from a source that has bad mouthed me,my channel or people like RH from Sr, and its found out they are like this "admin" your talking about or worse, something they arent.
I about lose it.

I gave up worrying about people like that. I look at it this way. If those people can not take the effort than they aint worth mine. I dont go to coffee shop meet and greets, i only go to one major car camp meet/great a year, i host 2 hikes. I see it as this. If you cant car camp, i dont wanna network with you at all,if you dont wanna hump a ruck on an easy trail...your not worth my time. I dont wanna waste my time hearing reasons over and over why people cant or wont.

It's hard as many good people want to network and meet folks. It takes time. In under 2 years i'll bet 50% of all these "preppers" will fall to the wayside....when the elections are over,when 2012 turns to a y2k event..and when the economy turns around. Then the signal to noise ratio will level out and folks will start to come together again, putting in the effort because they want it...not just because they feel they have to "make it through bad times".

[antishot]

Ok so I would classify myself as a 2yrer but not a true newbie. I am a avid hunter so I am not scared of a hike for a day, stay the night in the backwoods and then hike back with some dead deer flesh on my back. I have always had a garden and my wife and I have always canned. But for that last 2yr I have been seriously putting up food. I came to the conclusion that the food and supplies was money in the bank. So I put my 1958 VW truck up for sale and down the road it went. Took that money and and got stocked up. I got the BOB in the truck and the wifes Trailblazer. The next big investment for the house is going to be a deep well hand pump. No need for a range I can shoot 500+ off the back porch. I will be the first to say that I don't know it all and I will be the first to ask questions. Now these people you talk of I know them all to well not so much in the survival sense but in other things. I used to be a big VW junky built over thousands of motors and done the car show things. I have had guys after guys come talk to me about building motors and restoring cars. Same people just different scenario. Anyway my once shop that was used for storing Vw parts and building motors is now on its way to becoming the new rabbit house.

[fallout boy]

well siad. hard ot find people that are real.

[Tofu]

Brother Matt, I'm feelin your pain. But let not your heart be troubled there are those of us who are awake and are doing "some" of the things that it means to be a prepper. I was kind of awake until December when I stumbled across some youtube videos that opened my eyes and became a game changer for me. You may feel alone, but you're not. As times get worse, more will wake up from their slumber and hopefully adopt the prepper lifestyle for the long haul. If not, they will become society's cannon fodder.

Tofu

[LizardKing]

I'm not going to claim expert status on any subject or prep that I have, but I make the effort based on what resources I have available, as most of us do. However, I see/know people that jump on the internet and order a $400 package of freeze dried food, stash it in a closet and figure they're good to go. When I ask what they bought, they have no idea of the contents or nutritional value, just that it's 'survival' food. I try to make them feel that they did a good thing and then get them to plug some sizable holes in their meal plan. This usually gets me on the unfavorable list, but so be it.

[barfife]

Matt
I appreciate you folks taking the time to mentor guys like me. We are your prepping neighbors......just a little further down the road.

[WiseOwl]

Matt
I appreciate you folks taking the time to mentor guys like me. We are your prepping neighbors......just a little further down the road.

I agree 100% with that. Matt, if I ever get to Oklahoma, which I may in the next couple of months, I wanna buy you a beer or a sweet tea, whichever you prefer sir.

[protus]

Matt
I appreciate you folks taking the time to mentor guys like me. We are your prepping neighbors......just a little further down the road.

not many folks will do/say this on a forum. So thank you for that reply!!!!!


I'll recall a favorite forum of our admin ;p( he wont admit it but i think he loves the place) ----please dont ban me -- LMAO.

Less than a year later, all of the "hardcore" people are repeating what we got drilled for as being to "harsh", to mean, that we didnt understand their newbie plight.........
like said ..it takes .time....
funny how after 1-2 years those who fought so hard to not accept words of experience,who lashed out at anyone that seemed to know anything,,that after doing some of those things themselves and learning are now preaching it to others....
but Just like Anything else with what some of us do its a good laugh to see people try to Evolve into what they hated at one time........




but either way i hate posers.......;p

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Thanks for everything that has been said guys, just get drug down some i guess. It guess happens as the trendy thing kicks in. The reason I havent experienced this is cause I havent spoken to folks in a long time so i guess thats the difference now. I've been at it a long time except for the way food is put up, my options were different. For those that are doing, you rock! Keep up the good work no matter the size or amount.

[EX121]

I don't think of myself as truely prepared in many areas, but I'm working on it. My biggest complaint about these self proclaimed 'experts' are the other people that they send down the wrong path. The wife suprised me a while back she said that if you are going to carry concealed you should practice more.
Hang in there All, just keep working on your goals.

[1Admin]

not many folks will do/say this on a forum. So thank you for that reply!!!!!


I'll recall a favorite forum of our admin ;p( he wont admit it but i think he loves the place) ----please dont ban me -- LMAO.

Less than a year later, all of the "hardcore" people are repeating what we got drilled for as being to "harsh", to mean, that we didnt understand their newbie plight.........
like said ..it takes .time....
funny how after 1-2 years those who fought so hard to not accept words of experience,who lashed out at anyone that seemed to know anything,,that after doing some of those things themselves and learning are now preaching it to others....
but [I]J[/I]ust like Anything else with what some of us do its a good laugh to see people try to Evolve into what they hated at one time........




but either way i hate posers.......;p

Their goes Protus again, being a trouble maker :)

LMAO! Yeah that was memorable.

Long and short of what Protus wrote- him and I joined a "state" specific forum a couple years back that was just getting started. I would venture to say that 95% of the people at that time on that forum were new. When they were asking questions about how to pack food correctly, homesteading, etc. then they were all smiles and acted thankful.

Like a lot of people with very little to offer, some of these folks- mainly the forum owner and an elderly couple near the Cape with big mouths, pushed this whole "community" approach.

You'll find that some people really do think they can "save their community" and some actually have something they could offer their "community."

Others, like the ones in question, have NOTHING to offer a "community" other than the ability to manipulate others to their ends.

When the subject of "community" came up I gave them dozens of reasons why trying to work with a couple hundred starving sheeple WOULD NOT be their best option in the PAW. Oh boy was I demonized for that! The underlying tone was socialism, pure and simple. And certainly the "key" members there were/are liberals. When nothing was given to dissuade my reasoning for NOT being the Post apocolyptic kool aid stand for the neighborhood, the attacks started. Course my reply was "What are you doing NOW to get your neighbors to prepare?" You could hear crickets over the internet.

Liberals will ALWAYS resort to name calling and emotional responses when they cannot debate you like an adult, and certainly they did. Because I had an intelligent answer to every question they asked, they said I thought I was all that.

I didn't matter that I had been involved in this movement since a teenager. That I actually had been a part of REAL groups since a teenager. I disagreed with their high minded socialist ideas.

Now some folks that advocate a "community" type approach do so for not so altruistic principles. If you watch closely and pay attention to what is said, these folks will normally show themselves. And certainly they did. The very forum owner openly stated his "plans" to take a gaggle of retards with him on a "caravan" out of Miami area (good luck getting out of the driveway)
and head to a "farm" and "negotiate our way in." We don't have regular TV so it didn't hit me till someone lent me the first season of "The Colony" where this brilliant idea (LOL) came from. When we asked what he brought to the table and why an established farm would take in some unprepared clowns from the big city with nothing to offer, his reply was that if the negotiations failed "then we would take the farm."

Yes that's correct, someone who owns a little internet survival forum was openly advocating being a looter. Later he would post that he was "cruising his neighborhood looking to see who had solar panels on their houses" so he could "acquire" them later. Too bad the idiot cannot tell solar water heating panels from solar electric panels as I doubt too many folks in the little subdivision in Lauderdale have solar electric panels. But hey that was on "The Colony" also.

So you see, some would advocate a "community" approach for the simple reason that they themselves have NOTHING TO OFFER a real group and via manipulation, simple coercion, etc. they would appropriate your supplies for the gaggle of anti depressant taking, pot smoking zombies they brought with them. And yes Protus I know some from that forum are here, I have the IP's and info M gave us ;)

We have to be careful around some of these "community" advocates. Wasn't obL a "community organizer?" I'm starting to see a pattern here with the libs..... "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."

1admin aka Lowdown3, Robert Henry

[protus]

" WOW...man...yeeeEEeahhhh....see....im gonna have to pack some food one day....yeah..thats it.."

at times i felt like i was talking with the "dude" from lewboski with that guy...

M?
(cuss warning)

ohh that guy.

[trkarl]

Matt I really enjoyed your rant. It is so true what you describe. I am deficient in a lot of my prepping and practice but I have set myself up pretty well I feel.

I have 0 debt. Am able to run my house completely off the grid and have back ups for my power system. I grow most of the veggies we eat in the back yard and have over 1 yrs food storage. I don't practice with my weapons like I should but at least I practice a little. I have never hunted but do fish and there is plenty of places to fish nearby.

I have met a few "preppers" around here but trying to get together with them is almost impossible. I quit trying to push it. I try to teach people as much as possible but just to get them to grow a single tomato is like pulling teeth. People want me to sell them produce from my garden which I refuse to do. I say I will teach them to grow it instead but they are too lazy.

My wife is a nurse practitioner and at one of the office parties a friend of hers husband was talking about a bol in Tennessee. So i began talking to him to see how he is prepped.
Do you have any food storage? No
Do you have a way to produce power? No
Water? No
Do you grow anything? No
Weapons? yes
Fuel storage? No
I said how in the world are you going to just drive to your bol if tshtf and survive? I said you WON'T make it. No tools no skills no back up food and water.
I said what would you do right now if the grid went down for a long time right this minute?
He said he would probably have to steal to survive.
I said i would get in my car and drive home and be fine. They came over the next day to see what I have built. We discussed skills and tools and other preps and I said we need to get a group going and meet again but they never got around to it.

I quit trying to push the "group" issue. It is just useless. People talk but no one really wants to take the time to get together and get serious.

Is there anyone from this forum in Cape Coral, FL who would want to get together? Let me know.

I would love to have some company here.

[SCinPNW]

Wow, I truly do not understand this mindset that "I can go and just take whatever I want if I need it or want it." We do not have cable so I have not seen "The Colony", and I have only had a few people say, we are coming to your house--but then I quit talking about our preps to folks other than our closest friends. For a long time I tried to get people on board with being prepared for whatever, but most people did not think they had enough money, too busy, or just not interested in putting the effort in. Also, alot of them just have their heads in the sand with their ears plugged and just do not want to believe that anything "bad" could possibly happen that would prevent them from living as they currently do.

For me, I am a stay at home mom and I think about prepping almost on a daily basis, and every time I start to think "oh maybe I need to relax a little" I read something in the news and think "oh no, I need to work harder on on all of this." My mindset is that it is my job to take care of my family because no one else is going to do it, nor do I want anyone else to do it. I just wish that my husband had the time and desire to participate in the planning and effort of prepping. He is on board with it, but really is does not have the time as work is very consuming. Do not get my wrong, I am not complaining because he works hard to provide for our family, but it would be nice to have a partner to brainstorm and plan with.

And as for the "group" thing, it would be nice to have my entire neighborhood on board with what I am doing but, unfortunately, not very realistic. The same with our families. Some are on board, but not all nor do they live close to us. So I just keep plugging away with reading, learning, and preparing.