# Preparedness on a Tight Budget



## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

Here is a Post that I made awhile back on Gun Culture, I figured you may enjoy it as food for thought. Work has been busy so I have not got around to Part 2 yet.

Preparedness on a Tight Budget

Preparedness on a Tight Budget, Part 1
by Garand69

The first thing you want to do is relax and take a breath. Why? Because your on limited funds, you cannot afford to waste money on a panic purchase. A panic purchase of an important item while not a total loss, costs you money. Slow down and wait for a sale, and of course keep an eye on the classifieds for used but serviceable items that you need. For now lets take a look at the necessities of surviving in general.....

Mindset-Knowledge-Skills-Water-Food-Shelter.

Some will disagree with the order above or even may want to reduce that to simply water-food-shelter, or even add more to that, BUT the first three are FREE to nearly FREE, and without them long-term survival will not be viable. With them, you will be able to improvise, adapt and overcome, even if you are separated from your planned water-food-shelter preparations.

Mindset-

This is the #1 most important thing to develop. You have to have the drive and determination to survive anything! You NEVER give up!! This of course is absolutely FREE, and can be improved with a judicial dose of confidence, confidence that will be developed while working on the next 2 necessities.

Knowledge-

Without Knowledge your done, so learn about the subject the best that you can. While you could pay a bunch of money to go to a survival school, the reality is that you can learn an awful lot for FREE or near FREE. If your reading this, your obviously on the internet, so start surfing!!! Another great source of info, Boy Scout Handbooks, the older the better. You can often find these at resale shops and thrift stores CHEAP! Go through all of the lessons and you will be way ahead of the game when it comes to surviving. While I prefer a book in my hands, there is a FREE online version of the handbook that you can find here... http://www.bsahandbook.org/

What do you need to know? Anything that involves the acquisition, preparation, and preservation of Water-Food-Shelter in a TSHTF situation.

Skills-

You can "book learn" yourself all you want, but if your not applying that "learnin'" in practical training exercises, when the chips are down, you will fail. Your first failure in the field will put a ding into your confidence, and confidence directly effects Mindset! Again, you could pay someone to teach you this stuff, or you could apply your new found knowledge on a regular basis until you master it.

Become a "Weekend Warrior". Pick at least 1 week, preferably more, every month and use that weekend to apply your new knowledge. Camping is a perfect training opportunity and if you have friends and family involved, it can be a great Team Building Exercise. Camping can be as simple as your backyard, or as you become more proficient with your skills, the middle of nowhere. Try a weekend without "power" and camp inside using ZERO electricity or grid supplied fuel sources such as natural gas or fuel oil. Once you master that, go for the whole week without power.

Use lists to organize and track your Training. It could look something like this....

Water-
a. Acquisition &#8230; Find/Collect water + fuel for sterilization
b. Preparation &#8230;. make the water safe to drink, filter and make a fire to boil water.
c. Preservation &#8230;. properly store water for later use
Food-
a. Acquisition &#8230; Grow, Gather, Hunt, Trap food + fuel for preparation.
b. Preparation &#8230;. Safe preparation of wild foods, field dressing game, etc. making fire
c. Preservation..... preserving the excess. Canning, smoking, drying. Secure storage animals (2 and 4 legged)
Shelter-
a. Acquisition &#8230;. finding materials to work with, or secure an existing shelter + Fuel for Heat.
b. Preparation &#8230;. building an improvised shelter/making an existing shelter safe and defensible + making fire.
c. Preservation.... routine maintenance, especially with an improvised shelter. And developing a defense strategy.

Notice that I brought up Fire more than once. You should have at least 3 methods to make fire, and be proficient in all of them!!!! Practice it all the time in both ideal situations as well as in wet raining weather.

One thing I have not brought up yet is First Aid. First Aid is kinda out of order. They call it "First Aid" because it is supposed to be the "First" thing you do after an injury. You can look at this a couple of ways, but the best First Aid is the avoidance of injury in the first place. SLOW DOWN-DON'T RUSH THINGS-HYGEINE! When using knives and other tools, PAY ATTENTION!! It isn't called "Last Aid", so that means that "First Aid" is simply what you need to do to keep the injured alive long enough to get them to a real doctor with access to real medical supplies and medicines. Avoidance of injury is the key. In a Survival situation you may not have access to antibiotics at all, or any of the other wonderful miracles that you can find in the modern emergency room.

All of the above is the Foundation to Preparedness. It is for the "Worst case scenario", and if you start with that, you will be way ahead of the game if TSHTF in an inopportune an inconvenient manner (like it ALWAYS does). In a "Best Case" Survival scenario, you would never be separated from your supplies and preparations, and the emergency would never last longer than 72hrs.

Stay Tuned for Part 2.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

People on a tight budget are better served to build a brick rocket stove for $10 rather than invest in a fancy stove and fuel. Rocket stoves are so efficient, you can use twigs.


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## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks for the reply kejmack,

Rocket stoves are great and definitely have a place in a budget plan. I am very big on redundancy, especially things that require fuel to operate. 

Being proficient in the creation of fire is the priority, not the type of stove you use. Once you have that down pat, you can begin to practice with various improvised and "store bought" stoves. It all depends on your situation. 

The nice thing about the rocket stove is that it is efficient and you can improvise it using rubble lying around. the bad thing is they are not as portable if you need to bug out of your location. While I have seen tin can varieties, they still don't pack as well as a hobo stove which can pull double duty as a container while on the move.

I'll be going over equipment in Part II


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

I guess an exercise like that is worthwhile even if all it teaches you is how hard it would be to survive like that.

Having to boil water is very expensive from a fuel standpoint. Each person needs about a gallon of water per day. That's very fuel intensive. Boiling water kills germs but does nothing about pesticide runoff from farms or other types of pollutants. Probably the most economical thing to do is get food quality barrels, clean them, and store them in your basement. A $15 barrel holds 55 gallons. That's pretty cheap.

Hunting for you food is a terrible strategy if it's the only one you have. Everybody with a gun will be hunting anything that moves after the collapse. There's no substitute for having an adequate stockpile of food. Even if you have to max out your credit cards to do it. Or you have to sell one of your cars. Or take out a home equity loan. Or a 401k loan.

Preparedness is so important that it makes sense to look at things you have that you can sell. You could sell your big screen TV and get an older CRT TV. You can get them for free on Craigslist. You can also sell your laptop and get a cheap Windows XP desktop with a CRT for $50.

You also need a way to protect yourself. Guns are expensive but there's no substitute for them.


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## lefty (Sep 29, 2011)

I really like the rocket stove I think we may do that one day at scouts, I can teach the boys to build a rocket stove.

Being on a budget can be a chalange. If you have a self sufficient /


> be prepared mind set and see it as a way of life vs a part of your life you make different choices about things you buy in general and a larger part of your budget goes to items that can be used to survive.


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## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

If you can't do it *without* the gadgets and gear, you can't do it. Everything you have can be lost in a blink of an eye, whether you have 20 years of food water and ammunition or 20 minutes worth, at that point it does not matter.

I meet people every week that the light bulb is just now beginning to flicker and they are at ground zero with zero extra funds, THAT is the audience that this series is directed at.

At this level, carcinogens in your water ... ie pesticides, are not your problem, it's the critters that will make you deathly ill. Your problem is to survive. You cannot buy skillsets and mindsets in a sealed can.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Not saying that your post is a bad thing but what the heck is up with all the new members coming in and (quite frankly) "Preaching to the Choir" lately.. 
and the stiff backs when another side to the situation is presented?
If all a person wants to do is present information on only their point of view without comments than Blog people BLOG!
Personally forums are a venue in which ideas can be presented and others help to make sure that all bases are covered. Whether or not they agree with you. A give or take.. not a preach preach preach.. hissy fit hissy fit hissy fit cuz other people make suggestions.. :gaah:


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Garand69 said:


> If you can't do it *without* the gadgets and gear, you can't do it.


Seriously? A rocket stove is hardly a gadget. It is 16 bricks. Next thing you know, you'll be telling us that we can't use pots to boil water because a pot is a gadget.

It isn't cheating or any less of a survival skill to use the materials you have on hand to make something easier. Being able to survive doesn't mean you have to eat twigs and berries and rub two sticks together to start a fire. PREPAREDNESS is what we are striving for along with survival skills.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

The rocket stove looks a lot like what I commonly throw together to heat treat small steel parts in the machine shop, using a Harbor Freight weedburner torch for heat. It is really efficient. Draft adjustment can make it more so. 

The older I get, the less I want to "rough it". I know how, but it is less appealing. Because of that, and the distinct possibility of adverse conditions, I want redundancy in everything I can manage. 

I'll stay in our comfy home as long as that makes sense. If there is a problem with that, we have a another place to go. If for some reason that is compromised, we have relatives and friends who will help. There are more layers before we would have to go trap food and cook on a campfire, but we can do that, too. The more alternatives, the better, IMHO.


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## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

Emerald said:


> Not saying that your post is a bad thing but what the heck is up with all the new members coming in and (quite frankly) "Preaching to the Choir" lately..
> and the stiff backs when another side to the situation is presented?
> If all a person wants to do is present information on only their point of view without comments than Blog people BLOG!
> Personally forums are a venue in which ideas can be presented and others help to make sure that all bases are covered. Whether or not they agree with you. A give or take.. not a preach preach preach.. hissy fit hissy fit hissy fit cuz other people make suggestions.. :gaah:


Preaching to the choir???? 

Emerald, is it your assumption that this forum is already at a particular level of proficiency that posting an article for a "green horn" has no value??:scratch:scratch

There was not "another side of the situation" posted, Kejmack's reply was about Equipment, in my post Equipment was not really brought up at all, it was about Mindset-Knowledge-Skills regarding Food-Water-Shelter. My reply "Rocket Stoves are great" does not seem inflammatory at all to me, especially considering the reply was off topic. I said equipment was coming in pt II.



> Kejmack said;
> Seriously? A rocket stove is hardly a gadget. It is 16 bricks. Next thing you know, you'll be telling us that we can't use pots to boil water because a pot is a gadget.
> 
> It isn't cheating or any less of a survival skill to use the materials you have on hand to make something easier. Being able to survive doesn't mean you have to eat twigs and berries and rub two sticks together to start a fire. PREPAREDNESS is what we are striving for along with survival skills.




Seriously Kejmack? There is nothing in my reply that you should be offended by. I have no issue with the rocket stove other than the need to carry 16 bricks around if your uprooted. What is inflammatory about me posting a drawback to the stove? Gadgets and Gizmo's is a very generic term, and when considering basic fire for basic cooking/boiling needs, a Rocket stove is a Gadget-Gizmo because it is not needed at all. It is simply an efficient option if materials are available, nothing more, nothing less.

Being prepared has nothing to do with buying or stockpiling everything you will ever need in an emergency, it is about Mindset-Knowledge-Skills. You develop those skills among your entire family first, after that the rest is easy.

Having a solid supply of long term storage goods and the gadgets and gizmos needed to make life "instantly off the grid" semi-comfortable is certainly the goal. I have a family of 6 with our youngest age 5, we are prepared quite well (could we have more preps? of course!). Everyone in the family can make fire using primitive-ish methods. The 5 year old is great when the situation is perfect and she has no trouble using a plain ball of cotton and a fire-steel to get the campfire going. My Wife, the 16 yr old and I, can and have made fire in any condition. If you need a gallon of diesel fuel and a road flare to light the rocket stove..... how "Prepared" are you??

Learn what it takes to survive first, then fertilize and water those foundational skills until they bloom into a nice well stocked and prepared family. If you don't. when TSHTF, and your the unlucky family to lose everything in the Tornado/hurricane/flash flood/terror attack/looters/firebomb situation, you will be cold hungry, and thirsty.:newsign:


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

kejmack said:


> Seriously? A rocket stove is hardly a gadget. It is 16 bricks. Next thing you know, you'll be telling us that we can't use pots to boil water because a pot is a gadget.
> 
> It isn't cheating or any less of a survival skill to use the materials you have on hand to make something easier. Being able to survive doesn't mean you have to eat twigs and berries and rub two sticks together to start a fire. PREPAREDNESS is what we are striving for along with survival skills.


Look, people, if I can protect/guard our food, we're good for 6 years and that's conservative, 3 meals a day. If this economic collapse lasts longer---Lucy?? you got some 'splainin to do??:scratch


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

hum...

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/poor-man-prepping-11977/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/youngish-prepers-11720/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f49/exellent-new-prepping-book-10345/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/bullet-point-list-new-preppers-1617/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/how-do-you-stock-up-7985/

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/prepping-budget-4917/

yup.. you're preaching to the choir my friend.. Sure everyone adds a bit new but this is a common thread. We all budget.. we mostly all prep and most (but not all by any means) are well on our way to becoming more self sufficient. We discuss it at length. We try to not get all upset when someone adds to the conversation.


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## Kaytee (Jul 17, 2012)

BillS said:


> A $15 barrel holds 55 gallons. That's pretty cheap.


Mmmm... where do you get a food safe, 55 g barrel for $15? Or even a non-"food safe" one?


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Kaytee said:


> Mmmm... where do you get a food safe, 55 g barrel for $15? Or even a non-"food safe" one?


Look on craigslist for used ones. You may have to search over a period of time. I've gotten mine from the largest metropolitan area near me (Cincinnati) - I've driven about 1.5 hours each way, but I can fit 8 in my Suburban at a time, so it's been worth it to me to make the drive and stock up. The places that I've gotten them from (both places had them for $10/55gal drum) were 1) a winery and the drums contained flavor syrups (cherry, peach, amaretto etc.) which cleaned out fine, and 2) a hole in the wall place where the guy had all sorts of overstock or expired items, and the drums had contained coffee and iced tea - they cleaned out fine, except the smell still lingers.

When you get stuff on craigslist, just be sure to find out how it was used previously.


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

Garand69 said:


> If you can't do it *without* the gadgets and gear, you can't do it.


That is what you posted after I posted about the brick rocket stove. My point is that 16 bricks is not a gadget and neither is a pot. You seem to be saying that if we can't make a fire by rubbing two sticks together then we won't be able to survive.

It is my personal experience that a lot of people who join this forum and post things like this are actually keyboard commandos who like to spout off their expertise but in fact have never lived a day of it themselves.

This forum is about PREPAREDNESS, not "if you can't do it without the gadgets" crap.


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## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

kejmack said:


> That is what you posted after I posted about the brick rocket stove. My point is that 16 bricks is not a gadget and neither is a pot. You seem to be saying that if we can't make a fire by rubbing two sticks together then we won't be able to survive.
> 
> It is my personal experience that a lot of people who join this forum and post things like this are actually keyboard commandos who like to spout off their expertise but in fact have never lived a day of it themselves.
> 
> This forum is about PREPAREDNESS, not "if you can't do it without the gadgets" crap.


 I know what your point was Kejmack, and I applauded it. My *"without"*.... wasn't implying that you could not warm up your ramen noodles without a "Rocket Stove". It was SIMPLY stating that you can actually survive without "Special" stuff. Fire is a necessity, how you utilize it is not, other than the fact that you need to transfer the heat to where you need it. While you can boil water in a plastic bottle, it would obviously make more sense to actually have a suitable cook pot, and of course, based on the replies in this thread, actually learning how to boil water in a plastic bottle would be far beneath the opulent provisions of this community.

Emerald.... your Google-Fu is amazing and you should be commended on your incredible ability to dig up old threads on similar subjects. That surely will make the difference when the rubber needs to actually meet the road and not the keyboard. Because Heaven knows, a different opinion on the same subject is BAD!!!

For the rest of the forum, I apologize that this thread has ran afoul. I posted the beginning of a simple beginner series aimed at folks I see everyday. I am not in any way shape or form a "Survivalist", however my Family is very active in being prepared, and that preparedness is based on doing rather than buying. There are plenty of things that we would love to have in the pantry or bug out location, but we believe that without the knowledge on how to do without, (especially the kids), you have no foundation. When your foundation crumbles, your done, and my Family believes in foundations first.

The argument, that learning this knowledge is only needed if you want to "rough it" or live life hard is hysterical and purely delusional. Folks thinking that way believe, that no matter what happens, they are prepared and will be fine are complete idiots. For the non-Idiots, I apologize for the inflammatory language.

In TSHTF situations *Mindset-Knowledge-Skills* rules the day, not your credit card or blank check.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well garand gimme a knife and I can survive just about anywhere. But where this board does is try to help people to maintain a similar lifestyle in a SHTF scenario. My goal is not just to survive but to rebuild a great nation. So I guess you might consider me a keyboard commando for not wearing a live rabbit g string and drink out of the skulls of my enemy but simple mad max survival is not my goal or the goal of many people here. And yes, I know you just pictured me wearing a living rabbit g string........... no PM's please!!!


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## Garand69 (Jul 1, 2009)

mojo4 said:


> Well garand gimme a knife and I can survive just about anywhere. But where this board does is try to help people to maintain a similar lifestyle in a SHTF scenario. My goal is not just to survive but to rebuild a great nation. So I guess you might consider me a keyboard commando for not wearing a live rabbit g string and drink out of the skulls of my enemy but simple mad max survival is not my goal or the goal of many people here. And yes, I know you just pictured me wearing a living rabbit g string........... no PM's please!!!


LOL  Amen to that (not the live rabbit g-string  ) I have no issue of trying to reach a level of preparedness so that you can live a similar lifestyle in crisis, that should be everyone's goal.

BUT, while folks are on the road to that level, they need to be working on Mindset-Knowledge-Skills. Confidence in your preps is a huge advantage and the only way you get that is by learning how to do what needs to be done. A lot of folks are flat broke right now and they still have not become accustomed to the new "lifestyle" this economy has created. They were unprepared for their personal SHTF situation and are only just waking up to the reality that the bottom could still fall out. They look at "lists" of stuff you HAVE TO HAVE, and they really get bummed out.

I have a co-worker that recently purchased a Bug-Out-Bag. I looked it over and it's not too bad, a few silly items and a few good ones, but when I asked him where he would be bugging his family out to with that, there was a long pause. He has never camped, does not have a Plan A/Plan B and he has no idea how he and his family would survive. That is the person that I am focusing on now.

When TS does HTF, I would rather have them self sufficient than being scavengers/refugees.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

Quote:
"When TS does HTF, I would rather have them self sufficient than being scavengers/refugees."

Well said! That has been a goal of mine for along time. It is the clueless ones that really worry me.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

mojo4 said:


> Well garand gimme a knife and I can survive just about anywhere. But where this board does is try to help people to maintain a similar lifestyle in a SHTF scenario. My goal is not just to survive but to rebuild a great nation. So I guess you might consider me a keyboard commando for not wearing a live rabbit g string and drink out of the skulls of my enemy but simple mad max survival is not my goal or the goal of many people here. And yes, I know you just pictured me wearing a living rabbit g string........... no PM's please!!!


Is that fur or leather??


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Fur JJ. And since the rabbit isn't dead its not cruel fur!! Reminds me, a bear and a rabbit were dropping poop in the forest. The bear asks the rabbit "do you have problems with poop sticking to your fur?" Rabbit says nope so the bear wiped his butt with him. I'm expecting a 2 week suspension for crap jokes any minute now!


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## bigpaul (Jun 16, 2012)

machinist said:


> Quote:
> "When TS does HTF, I would rather have them self sufficient than being scavengers/refugees."
> 
> Well said! That has been a goal of mine for along time. It is the clueless ones that really worry me.


i dont mind being a scavenger, even with stored stuff i am sure after the event there will still be stuff lying around, its just knowing where to look. correct about the refugees..we have a saying this side of the pond..."dont rely on the government(to look after you) and DONT become a refugee":wave:


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

Amen to that! 

I should have said "thief or refugee", which is what I had in mind. I do a lot of scavenging myself.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

mojo4 said:


> Fur JJ. And since the rabbit isn't dead its not cruel fur!! Reminds me, a bear and a rabbit were dropping poop in the forest. The bear asks the rabbit "do you have problems with poop sticking to your fur?" Rabbit says nope so the bear wiped his butt with him. I'm expecting a 2 week suspension for crap jokes any minute now!


With friends like the bear, who needs enemies?? good joke.


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## Zanazaz (Feb 14, 2012)

Garand69 said:


> I know what your point was Kejmack, and I applauded it. My *"without"*.... wasn't implying that you could not warm up your ramen noodles without a "Rocket Stove". It was SIMPLY stating that you can actually survive without "Special" stuff. Fire is a necessity, how you utilize it is not, other than the fact that you need to transfer the heat to where you need it. While you can boil water in a plastic bottle, it would obviously make more sense to actually have a suitable cook pot, and of course, based on the replies in this thread, actually learning how to boil water in a plastic bottle would be far beneath the opulent provisions of this community.
> 
> Emerald.... your Google-Fu is amazing and you should be commended on your incredible ability to dig up old threads on similar subjects. That surely will make the difference when the rubber needs to actually meet the road and not the keyboard. Because Heaven knows, a different opinion on the same subject is BAD!!!
> 
> ...


Not all of us think you are "preaching to the choir" ( at least not me ), and it didn't seem to me you got upset. I look forward to more info from you.

Here's my opinion, and I think it's a GOOD OPINION. Repetition is the "mother of learning", and info presented in different ways is SYNERGESTIC.

If you're an older member here, if you find you already know the information then why read the post? Maybe the "policing" of the posts should be left to the mods. Flag a post if you feel it's necessary, but why complain about the way someone reponds to posts? Most of the time I think people sometimes "read" way too much into member's posts. :scratch

I think that many of the older members need to realize that some new members may have just as much knowledge as they do, or EVEN MORE, even if they have less than 10 posts. There are other preparedness forums/groups on the Internet, and some people migrate from these other forums for one reason or the other. They may have plenty of good stuff to contribute, and if they keep getting slammed about "preaching to the choir" then they may just leave. I wouldn't blame them at all. Sheesh...


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## NooB2ItAll (Apr 10, 2012)

Zanazaz said:


> Not all of us think you are "preaching to the choir" ( at least not me ), and it didn't seem to me you got upset. I look forward to more info from you.
> 
> Here's my opinion, and I think it's a GOOD OPINION. Repetition is the "mother of learning", and info presented in different ways is SYNERGESTIC.
> 
> ...


I 100% agree!


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

Kaytee said:


> Mmmm... where do you get a food safe, 55 g barrel for $15? Or even a non-"food safe" one?[/QUOTE
> 
> I found about 5 listings in my area on Craigslist--just had other commitments at the time--didn't get them.
> There'll be more.
> ...


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## Tank_Girl (Dec 26, 2011)

I generally keep out of these sorts of flame wars but I liked the OP's post.

Seriously some people need to damned well chill.

I'm sorry OP but it seems that you've picked a bad time to post.
Americans seem to be over wrought at the moment.
I believe a lot is happening over there that is making them feel insecure and it brings the worst out in them.
It's HOT, power cuts, drought, rising food costs, the elections are coming up, and Barry-lawd love him- has talked about taking assault weapons off civilians.
People take all that combined angst and channel it here.
It's not healthy, it isn't constructive but..meh....people suck in times of stress.

Maybe you can ask the mods to lock the thread and resume the conversation when things are lest heated - climate and tempers, both.

*dons flame suit*


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Good idea about the stove.I'd add for a few dollars more he can buy fire bricks that won't split or crack.our chimney was made from fire brinks.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

*Like the OP*

I've been at this a while, but I always appreciate a review of the basics, and those new to it need it badly. Well done.

Budget minded ideas are important with hard times for a lot of people now. Is there a thread around that collects low cost ideas for prepping?


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Zanazaz said:


> I think that many of the older members need to realize that some new members may have just as much knowledge as they do, or EVEN MORE, even if they have less than 10 posts.


I couldn't agree more. I've learned plenty from new members. However, those of us that have been around here for a while have also seen more than our share of "Mall Ninjas" who come in here spouting off "facts" on topics they know nothing about. Usually you can pick them out right away but not always. When someone comes off as an arrogant know-it-all with their first few posts they usually aren't taken seriously, are shunned by the group or ridiculed then and disappear. The community needs to become familiar with a new member and right or wrong, the post count is an indicator. :kiss:


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## Zanazaz (Feb 14, 2012)

UncleJoe said:


> I couldn't agree more. I've learned plenty from new members. However, those of us that have been around here for a while have also seen more than our share of "Mall Ninjas" who come in here spouting off "facts" on topics they know nothing about. Usually you can pick them out right away but not always. When someone comes off as an arrogant know-it-all with their first few posts they usually aren't taken seriously, are shunned by the group or ridiculed then and disappear. The community needs to become familiar with a new member and right or wrong, the post count is an indicator. :kiss:


Yes, I agree about the post count and getting familiar with a new member. In my opinon the OP by Garand8 was a good one.



> Not saying that your post is a bad thing but what the heck is up with all the new members coming in and (quite frankly)* "Preaching to the Choir"* lately..
> and the stiff backs when another side to the situation is presented?


I never did understand this phrase. Aren't members of the choir also members of the church, and SHOULDN'T they be listening to the sermon as well? No matter how many times they've heard it?

I think the point I should have been trying to make is that new members shouldn't be slammed right out of the gate, even if they are wrong. They should be politely informed of their error. If they do turn out to be "mall ninjas" then by all means let loose the dogs of war.

If a new member posts something that you already know about, then you really don't need to read it, unless you want to, and who knows? Maybe you might learn something new. But to read something by a new member and then slam them because you already know it? Why discourage a new member from participating?

I think new members should be encouraged, novices to the prepping lifestyle or not...

The more people that are prepared the better off we all will be.


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