Its easy to get so wrapped up in my own little projects (namely the Beta Site) that I forget that theres a ‘real world’ out there that is shakily balanced on a tightrope over a big ol’ pit of Not Good.
All of these things going on in the world right now affect me, no two ways about it, but I don’t affect them. I’m too small. As Kosh said, once the avalanche has started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote.
I can’t change the course of the ship, all I can do is be prepared for when it hits the iceberg. The key to stoicism, as I understand it, is summed up as ‘You cannot control external events or other people’s behavior, but you have total control over your thoughts, emotions, and actions in response’. So, while I can do nothing to change the current global situation, theres a ton of stuff I can do to control my response to it.
What is that response? Same as it’s been to any potential crisis – food, ammo, fuel, meds, cash, gold, silver, information. I’ve already got a decent amount of food on hand, but theres never a reason to not have more. Fuel prices are on the upswing, but I still have alot of stored fuel, and I can ride my bike more. Gold and silver are coming down and I plan on returning to a weekly puchase paln to dollar-cost-average.
And, amidst all this, I plan to get a basic, foundational stash of gear and supplied up to the Beta Site in the next month or two so that if, Crom forbid, I have to leave my primary residence I at least have a chunk of dirt to hide at rather than become a refugee.
My mental bandwidth is so preoccupied with the Beta Site these days that I often overlook the fact that there’s an alarming amount of tension going on in the world right now. But, as I said, I cant do anything about it except to be ready. Mayhap I need to dial back my spending on things for the Beta Site and divert some resources to things like more fuel storage to offset current price volatility, more silver and gold to hedge against the resulting economic uncertainty, and a tad more storage food ‘just in case’.
The ‘avalanche’ started long before any of us were alive in 1913. When the private banking cartels replaced money with debt and Congress helped them do it, what could go wrong…
When you want a cold beer really bad , just looking at a picture of one wont do !!
And dont forget to read the Bible more. We can only save ourselves temporarily.Eventually all our food, fuel, money and preps will be useless. Oh and our lagers too,lol.
Good list and prioritization! The only thing I would suggest is “network”. If things get really crazy how do you keep connected with your close-in (physical) network and then your more extended (i.e….us) network? Might be worth a thought exercise on how you stay connected, both equipment-wise (you were already discussing Starlink) and conceptually…which will certainly involve some hard decisions, like who does/does not get invited into the beta site should they show up at the bottom of your road (mostly this applies to the “physical” network…what might they bring to the equation?). The extended network would probably be limited to selective information sharing and SITREPs if things get really wacky. Tough questions….my son lives on the other side of the country; these scenarios keep me up at night.
Very few preppers network Brother because they are worried about opsec…Sad thing is most will become resupply points for those non preppers who did network into gangs…No one seems to understand that everyone has to sleep sometime…
Maybe it’s a good thing that the Beta site is on the foremost to give you a break from the everyday constant gloom and doom that’s in the news and various social media sites. Literally, every hour there’s people screaming “it’s the end of the world, WW3 is HERE” “Prepare for . . . .” and so on and so on.
Having your preps more or less settled makes it easy to spend time on considering (not worrying about) the beta site, doesn’t it?
Along the same lines as ‘…move to where the food is…’ (RIP Sam Kinison) most disaster situations come down to move to where there are no bombs dropping or water rising up over your head, or snow and ice freezing everything solid.
Us pebbles need to be mobile but many of us aren’t so we go to plan B. Bug in and hang tough because that is better IMO than being stuck on a road somewhere in a giant traffic jam with the zombies (i.e. Katrina). Logistics would prevent me from loading up all the ‘stuff’ in a half ton pickup and trailer and try to go somewhere that is free of conflict and danger with plenty of resources, if there is such a place.
So you’re saying you have enough guns?😃
Oh, I’ve had ‘enough’ for years now, but my idea of enough keeps creeping up.
“Enough” is always one more than I have now.
Following. As Jimbo related there is phraseology that is applicable to your unique positioning plans; “mobility is flexibility, flexibility is resiliency, resiliency is survivability”. Having a beta site in the first instance is a solid asset, and applying time and resources to it is an action plan that has positive distraction qualities from these everyday problems. I would advise to use this as a period of postures and positioning transition in one’s life curve or economics focusing, to shy away
from the gun fag purchases and other “hobby realms”, and attend to that beta site hobby and it’s follow on categories. Transport motor pool agendas will be much more important to get from a to b so hyper servicing and upgrades to your vehicle (brakes went out huh?) Or a second vehicle back up for two is one, one is none case scenarios will better serve you in this current arch of trajectory you are on, rather than moar gunzs…. just observations and inputs. Yeah, once you are prepped up to your eyebrows in gear and skills, it is just like watching the weather cycles out there anyways. Stay frosty, happy travels.
Paying attention to the din around and taking the extra little steps you can do eases my mind. The Port Arthur refinery explosion yesterday prompted me to fill my tank before a jump in gas price occurred. Price is still the same as of this morning – a bit surprised at that.
Your certainly correct commander! Sounds like we didn’t know Iran had missiles that would reach Diego Garcia yet they shot one down. Who knows what else they have. No telling what other surprises await.
How about a little logistics exercise. Pull up the Preponicon, scan for the basics, water, shelter,food etc. Assemble a reasonable load out of basics from what is on hand and a storage solution at lowest cost and easiest to transport. I would recommend open top steel drums as cheap,plentiful and bear resistant ( bolt ring may be idiot resistant too). Assemble it and move it on next visit. Nothing to buy but possibly a couple drums and secondary or tertiary level gear moved to a more advantageous position and gives you a more through logistics perspective .