Groups for the BOL

[justanothergunnut]

Forming a group is probably the hardest part of the entire survival exercise. Family first because you probably have a life long relationship with them and share a common bond(your family). The dynamics of life under the stress of a true shtf scenario will be VERY difficult to prepare for. Any character flaw in ourselves or those around us WILL rise to the surface and cause friction. Every difference in personality is a possibility for conflict and in fighting stressing what cohesion may exist. This is why anyone who isn't family or lifelong friends is a long shot. There are however exercises that can be practiced to induce stress and build "unit cohesion". Simple things like extended co habitation on long camping trips and sporting activities help to build dependence on each other and bring to the surface those "flaws" we all have so they can be addressed before they can cause turmoil. Of course the riskier the activity and the more dependence on each other that is required the better the bond. This is why , in my opinion, conflict resolution is a critical skill for any group. If you are the one starting the group and your personality is not prone to conflict resolution or you don't posses the "skill" find someone who does or learn it. Not only will it be necessary for the health and survival of your own group but it also hones your negotiation skills which may come in very handy in a PAW.

[tmcmaster]

I have a small group. Everyone has a skill or fills a need. 2 Nurses, a welder/construction guru, a weapons guy... As for me, I have the location, garden and animal skills. It kept me up nights deciding who to EXCLUDE, since everyone that knew the 'list' was being compiled wanted in. Sorry, with limited space and resources, worth must be proven.

[rice paddy daddy]

We are already in our bug out location. We moved to the country years ago. My wife always wanted to be a farmer, I guess we were prepping when prepping wasn't cool (to paraphrase the old country song).
The kids and their spouses know they are welcome; and my closest neighbor is a veteran of the southeast asia war games also, we've got each others backs. We have contacts with the good ol' boys hereabouts.
All in all though, I don't think there will be a sudden nightmare-end-of-the-world scenario, but a decline instead. Prices will continue to rise, government programs will slow as money runs out, and unless the middle class rises up it will get to the point where cities become un-livable for all but the criminal element. Think Katrina chaos on a much larger scale.
We have urged our kids to move to the country, to no avail.

[tarheelsman71]

My Group...

It was actually funny how our group was formed. Our group consists of 5 family units. I have 3 kids and a wife that I prep for. I was going to church with this guy and I kinda knew him. I knew just a little about him. I knew that he was in the Marines about the same time I was but we never knew each other at Lejeune. Turns out he was an IT director and I had just lost my job as a Network Engineer. So I ended up working for him. He was a huge XBOX 360 guy. He still is. But we met a guy from only about 35 miles away online. He was also in the Marines about the same time as we were as was his wife. Well my boss, and good friend, was a prepper. Using OPSEC, and being vague we got to talking about contingencies, and the frailty of the systems that maintain this machine called the US. Got me really thinking. This was about 4 years ago and some change. Anyway, we kind of setup a mutual aid group between him and I. The guy online, was invited up to hangout, grill-out. He was already a prepper (but my boss and I didnt know it from talking on XBOX)as well and naturally the conversation shifted to "what would you do if" scenario's. My bossman had already had a friend of his that was a part of this MAG but nobody really knew it. We all were part of this group individually and none of us really knew about the others. We knew who they were, and we would get together and play airsoft, and grill out but my boss was basically feeling everyone out and determining everyones strengths and weakness, along with their level of commitment. Turns out we were all in it for real. With the 4 families we had 16 people to prep for. We got an intern at work and we eventually hired him permanent. He was a rockstar. This kid had his head on straight. Making good money, living at home with mom and dad still, and 21 years old, I would have party my arse off, but this kid was paying off his student loans, paying off his truck, and saving for a downpayment on his house he later purchased. But more impressively, he was disturbed by what he saw with the economy, etc. We handed him "Patriots" and then we had another member. We have spent a lot of time together. Playing Airsoft, planning and eating. :D! We setup a monthly fund that we put money into that we would make group purchases with. Nothing crazy, just $25 bucks a month. But with $125 dollars a month, it can add up and you can do some stuff eventually. My boss, myself and the intern, since we worked together, it was easy to get the money together, but the other 2 used paypal to pay. Each of us has their specialty, comms, tactical, logistics, etc., but we overlap in so many ways because I might be the tactical guy for the group, but I am all of those and more for my family so it works out pretty well. We did get group standard weapons, minimum of 3 months food in my basement (the bunker as it is called), ATV's (we are working on building faraday boxes for them but that is something pretty hard to test to see if you have it right). We plan for the worst, and hope for the best. We dont have to worry so long as we are preparing.

[Erg]

I'm fortunate enough to live in location. I certainly would rather be far more secluded and absolutely not in southern California however, I've got to make what I got work.

I

[Klingon]

I've been through a couple of arrangements that partially failed. The first was hastily put together around 1990-1991 and we had 7 guys, seemed like-minded, turned out one of 'em was OK with camping, just not in bad weather! Another had no $$ to contribute (or no desire), 3 got bored in a month or two and bailed out. That left my buddy and me scratching heads. We kinda regrouped in '98 with 2 others, went in on a chunk of land with good intent, then one of 'em had medical trouble, the other 2 eventually had financial trouble, and I ended up with the real estate at considerable expense. I'm glad to have the land and I use it but haven't been able to develop it much since. Groups are tough to keep together!

[Robin56]

Personally, I have to echo the thoughts of most here -- being a part of a like-minded survivalist's group is extremely important. But I also agree most wholeheartedly that it is NOT an easy thing to do. You don't want to broadcast everything but being subtle can be hard, too.

As for me, I would like to be in a group comprised of 8-12 folks. I think, in the right living location, that would be a good number for defense. And, of course, you have more people to contribute to the daily work -- cooking, gardening, tending livestock (if you have any), rotating a 24-hour guard or two if you allow for inside and outside communicating by radio.

Another thing, too, if your just average folk like me -- not an expert on any one thing but know just enough about a lot of things to be "dangerous". If there were enough people in the group, I'd think someone with good reading and note taking skills should spend a lot of time reading thru the survival books and information collected. For example, I have the book, "When there is no Doctor" and lots of medical supplies for simple things to major injuries. But I've never done any of this more serious stuff. It would be good for someone to be able to go thru books so notes would be available when needed. That might sound like overkill -- you could always look stuff up when it's needed, but I'd rather have the headstart.

Unfortunately, my family (about 4 members closeby) is not really concerned about anything serious happening ... maybe something that would be really inconvenient that the government would be there to set things right. I'm single and live alone on a couple of acres just outside of town and, due to family and work schedules being as they are today, I don't know my neighbors as well as I should. So, I've been prepping as best as I can for me and my two precious cat companions. I think I'm doing pretty well on preps but as for defense, I'm well armed and have plenty of ammo but alone I can only do so much.

But, as they say, DOING SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN DOING NOTHING. I will not feel sorry for myself! The glass is always half-full and I'm continuing to learn more and more every day. But just to put this out there, if anyone lives near the Houston, Texas area and are feeling the same as I am, I'd sure like to talk.

Take care, everyone! ... Robin

[pixel]

Its hard to do because the more people you invite in to your group the more chances you have of conflicts of interest or conflicts with egos, people rubbing one another the wrong way, etcetc. Some people may bring lots of physical preps like guns, food, water, medical supplies into the group. While others may not have the physical supplies but may have the mental things such as knowledge, or how to diy stuff that they can bring to the group. So you have to weigh each and every members pros and cons and what they bring to the group as a whole.

Personally I look at everyone can provide some form of contribution to the table. If someone is overweight or has bad knees or cant run then obviously we dont want them on the patrol with guns. Give that to someone who can do the job. But that person could sit at the command post with a radio and relay info back and forth and be of use. You have to find everyones niche.

You also dont want a group of one type of people. Lets say everyone in your group gardens but they dont know how to do medical. Then you have a problem. Or everyone is in the medical field but they dont know how to garden. Again you have a problem. You have to have a diverse group with a diverse set of skills. you need gardeners, medical people, people good with guns and tactics, map readers, radio operators, people who know how to can, smoke, salt, and preserve foods, construction people that can build or repair problems or things, etcetc. Some of your people may be jacks of all trades and have several titles. Its important that the really smart people in any field teach the other so everyone can be cross trained. Thats why a good group will have classes and train together as a group to see what peoples weaknesses are and their strengths.

Ive been very fortunate enough to have a good group of people I am with and we are always looking for more. We are a small group but looking to expand so we can bring in more help, more skill sets, and more like minded people into the group. The people who think they will go off into he woods and lone wolf it are sadly mistaken. Its tough enough to do things like that in a good situation like we have now. It will be near to impossible if a SHTF scenario were to occur.

Just my two cents worth.