Learning from groups in history- the 49ers

Being from California, I grew up learning about the Gold Rush and John Sutter. I recently started thinking about what we might be able to learn that could help us in our prepping. I had originally thought about how the miners had traveled, but then I changed my perspective. I read this article found here:http://www.historichwy49.com/goldrush.html In it was this quote,

Sutter's agricultural enterprises began to fall apart. He got his wheat harvested, but there was no one to thrash it. The stone wheels of his grist mill never produced any flour. Hides rotted in his tannery vats. Squatters settled in brush shelters in his fields and vandalized the fort itself, stealing, according to Sutter, even the bells from his fort.

This got me to thinking about evacuations and the impact that people could have as they leave the cities, or flock to the cities. It also made me think about Katrina and the evacuations that happened there. From what I understand refugees from Katrina were "hard" on their hosts. Meaning that they left garbage, and damaged property for their hosts to have to deal with after they left. It certainly seems that John Sutter had to deal with the loss of business, and the damage of his property.
So how to avoid strange masses squatting on your land? I believe that is why so many people have considered arms. Still it is something to consider and prepare for. I know that others have talked about having extra food so that they can share with people passing by. I've heard others talk about trying to hide, or disguise their property so that it looks abandoned, but I almost think this is more dangerous because you are practically inviting someone to come to the property to squat. It's really hard to know what the best course of action is. That's why I've been looking at history. John Sutter couldn't keep the gold there quiet, if he had been better prepared for the squatters he may have been better able to take control of the situation, and perhaps come out ahead. The one thing for sure is that he hadn't planned on squatters and therefore his business suffered and was damaged. Lesson learned prepare for people, extra people you'll want to keep around and some you won't. How to deal with them is really up to each individual group.

Learning from groups in History- Pilgrims and Jamestown colonists

I found this interesting site about Jamestown, and an article by Nancy Fisher found at this link: http://www.nps.gov/jame/historyculture/jamestown-and-plymouth-compare-and-contrast.htm The pilgrims at Plymouth immigrated for religious reasons and the colonists in Jamestown for economic reasons, but most interesting to me was the section on set backs in Fisher's article,

Inexperience, unwillingness to work, and the lack of wilderness survival skills led to bickering, disagreements, and inaction at Jamestown. Poor Indian relations, disease, and the initial absence of the family unit compounded the problems. Cooperation and hard work were part of the Pilgrim's lifestyle. Nevertheless, they too were plagued with hunger, disease, and environmental hazards.

I found this to be interesting because I hadn't ever really considered the inexperience or lack of skills in the colonists. Here was this group of people coming from Europe. Which was decidedly more developed than America. It would be like me trying to homestead, forge and hunt. Thinking I could do it and what I didn't know surely I could figure out. Hopefully I can learn more skills before I am really put to the test with a disaster.
I also hadn't thought of the colonists as lazy either, but apparently they were; or at least they were with certain types of work. I have found while wintering in my uncompleted home that when the temperature gets too cold, like 30's, I really don't want to do to much around the house except stay warm- so maybe that is really what the problem was. So I think it would be important for a group to understand these types of problems and plan for a way to over come them. Of course nothing will really take the place of real experience so trying a group event like a camping trip where you practice your plans is valuable time and experience.
When we get to our evacuation location, we will know our neighbors, because we have already met them. We have established a good relationship with them. I wonder how life might have been different if the colonists had gotten along better with their neighbors. Planning and prepping with my family means that our family unit should stay intact. However, groups, if planned can create a family unit even if they are not related by blood.
Since the time of the colonists and pilgrims, we, as a people in general, have learned more about sanitation and health. Also we are from this continent and have been acclimated to it. So I believe that while disease and health are still big concerns, we have a couple advantages over the colonists and pilgrims.
Some interesting ideas to ponder on at least!

Prepping for winter

I am a new homeowner, and living in my new home while also making repairs to it. I had been living in California in the Central Valley. Now I am living in KY. It's a different climate and elevation. Things that I hadn't considered before are now very important. One thing that I have discovered is freezing pipes. I haven't had a chance to insulate under my home yet, and so I was surprised one morning that my pipes were frozen. I was able to get them defrosted without damage to the plumbing (which was a huge relief, since it is all new anyway). I have learned however that at the very least the pipe will have to be insulated. With the help of my totally awesome daughter we have been doing just that, insulating the pipe under my home. My daughter had to help because it is an unusually narrow crawl space and she being a small teen is the right size and age to help. I know that I will have many more things to do that will help us through our first winter, but it made me think about prepping. Sometimes I think of prepping for an emergency and needing to evacuate. But there is value in prepping and maintaining our homes. So not to neglect my responsibilities to my home and family but to remember to include all aspects of prepping even if it is just in maintaining my home.

72 hour / G.O.O.D. / B.O.B. bags

When I think of a 72 hour /G.O.O.D. (Get out of Dodge) /B.O.B. (Bug Out Bag) Bag, I think of them as a spontaneous 3 day camping trip bag. In fact I generally keep my regular Camping gear with my 72 hour kits so that I would include that gear in an evacuation situation.
What to keep in your bag is really up to you. I would include the things that would make a bare minimum camping trip possible. For instance your gonna want water, food, shelter (tent), a change of clothes / including a sweater or jacket. At a minimum those are the things I would include. Other things that may be helpful would be a first aid kit, sleeping bag, flash light, cooking materials such as matches/ lighter/ or a little propane stove (if you don't include this then make sure the food you've previously packed doesn't require heating and tastes okay straight out of the can and that you can open the can via pop lid or can opener). Once you have the basics squared away think about things that are personal to you like prescriptions, glasses, a deck of cards or book. Here is a link of some the typical equipment in a 72 hour bag: http://lds.about.com/od/preparednessfoodstorage/a/72hour_kit.htm
The thing about these bags is that you have to use them. The supplies and equipment need to be rotated and tested before an emergency. So every 6 months you should plan a 3 day camping trip only using the equipment in your bags, no last minute trips to the store. I like to do this in April and October. Testing your bags is the only way to find out if they are adequate. I did a camping test and decided that while I could cook over an open fire that I'd prefer a camp stove. Also I realized I had forgotten dish soap so had to make do with the bar of soap that I had on hand. You find out that the kids clothes are getting too small and that they really need something different. Or that the shoes you've packed don't have enough tread. Or you might think that fishing really is something you could do to supplement your supplies. So you find out what works and what doesn't, test your bags.
Note: If it is your first test, and you are not familiar with camping either get someone to help you go over your gear and camp with you, or do a backyard camping trip and try not to go into the house for anything. Try to make the test realistic because in an emergency you might not have a house to go to.

Baby Steps

I really enjoy prepping. I don't have a big budget that I can devote to getting the "things" associated with prepping so I have to do it in baby steps. What I try to do is each month increase my food storage, educate myself with a new skill, improve my fitness/health, and add to my prepping supplies. Deciding to not do everything at once is the only realistic way I can prep. I find that I just have to keep track of my current inventory and skills, and plan my purchases.
When I first started, I didn't keep track of my inventory. I went through my supplies and realized that I had 12 poncho's for 3 people. I also know that I really would like to get an "Epic" or "Awesome" Water Purifier but I need to budget for it. So if I had been careful and kept track of what I had, instead of the extra 9 poncho's I could have used that towards my water purifier. Oh well, another lesson learned from experience.

Group Prepping

I am excited to explore this subject of group prepping. I've heard people talk about the need of forming groups, yet I haven't found someone else who is trying to do it. My family is working together as a prepping group and we have even used our family system as a model for a church group. Currently our group consists of 8 adults, 2 teenagers, 3 kids and 2 infants. I like a lot of people have read "patriot" by James Wesley Rawles, and their group, is what we used for a starting point. In the book, Rawles talked about a club format with friends who shared a common interest as establishing his group. My group is family. Like the book, We started out by discussing the topic and assigning "jobs" but we did so based on skill and interests. The jobs allow each of us to learn and specialize in an area. Since our group wants to be as prepared as possible as soon as possible, this gives us a great way to learn skills that will benefit the whole group, given enough time before any given disaster the specialist will teach the basics of their specialty to the rest of the group and set goals for the group. Fortunately my family has diverse skills and interests, and we can get along.
Getting along is very important with any group, especially if you have to depend on each other for an extended amount of time. Add to this the stress that comes with a disaster, it's best to reach understandings before there is trouble, and lay down some expectations and rules. This is where our group has run into a little trouble. Each of us in the group has different expectations. Each of us gets along with each other but better with some than others. Clear rules are important.
Recently 2 of my brothers and I were able to work on remodeling my home. It became stressful because there were high expectations, and a firm deadline. We needed to be clear with each other, we had to compromise, we had to have opportunities to unwind, and sometimes we just had to keep our mouths shut. I can honestly say that we didn't argue. I was in charge, and we had clear expectations. But when circumstances change or errors were made, we had to realize that arguing about it or getting upset wasn't going to help us get to our deadline. Not everything got finished before the deadline. So I had to make it work. After evaluating the experience I found that the biggest obstacles were not under our control and I believe I underestimated the time we needed, but not by a lot.
With family, and sibling rivalry you might be curious as to how we overcame the obstacle of "Commander," for us though we made it as simple as possible. The owner of our evacuation location is the Commander. After the disaster the Commander is the person who will deal with the aftermath of hosting the rest of the group. We've discovered that however our group wasn't big enough to cover all of the area's we thought were important to consider. So we have each at least doubled our "specialties."
Some of the specialties that we considered important for our group are Food, Shelter, Sanitation, Medical, Communication, Mechanic/welder, Fitness, Animal Care, Gardening, Child Care, Hunter/Security. They are not in any particular order. We have also assign the teens and children jobs. For instance one of the older children will be the fire master, collecting tinder, and kindling. As well as making sure there is means to put the fire out, and that it stays under control. Giving everyone a job during the emergency is really important for morale and a sense of community.
Hope this is a helpful start for your group prepping

What is prepping?

For me prepping is preparing for a disaster, either natural or man made. Food Storage is generally considered prepping. However the subject of prepping is more than food storage. It includes everything from how you will communicate with others to being able to physically carry supplies, tools, and materials. Many aspects of prepping can be found online but I could never find information regarding groups and dividing up responsibilities, and group structure. This is only eluded to on many sites, so I hope to explore prepping groups and what will make an effective group. I also want to explore skills that we might have to use if we were to be without electricity for week. If we were to have sever food inflation, or economic disasters. If you are unemployed then you are having a personal economic disaster. This is the direction that I am going to move this page.