moving questions for the coming days?

[roux]

This is a hypothetical question if all this economic collapse/civil unrest actually comes to the US. Security is a state of mind wherever you are. There are many pros and cons to each scenario. This can be very dependent on the current situation at hand and at that time. Having a second property, getting to it is unlikely with population traffic etc... You may have to consider a family with kids in this scenario. Which would you guys prefer and why?

Living in a pro freedom, pro gun loving state like NH. Living in a suburban/rural type setting with an acre or two of land where you could grow some food, have chickens etc... This type of location might put you farther away from protests, unruly mobs. You would be no way isolated from this type of event just surrounded by a more independent self reliant type of people( hopefully ) There are no guarantees what type of neighbors you would have. You would be further away from your support group of family, current employment, and community roots. Commuting would take up a good amount of time. Starting from scratch, but possibly building something for your kids future.

Other option

Living in a anti-gun state, anti conceal carry town, and a nanny type state. Living in a more populated suburb of a large city where the lots are too small to grow a large garden and cannot have chickens etc.., but large enough to grow some food- say maybe a 1/4 acre. Unruly mobs would likely be more apt to originate in the city. BUT you would have good neighbors including the following; gun owners, medical professionals, cops. You would be close to family, current employment, and your community roots. Commuting would be a non issue

 

[SheepDog_B]

What tax payer wants nanny state vs a pro freedom state?

 

[roux]

If employment is in the nanny state but residence is in the pro freedom state, it muddies the water. Taxes are a wash between commuting etc...

As I think through this the largest issue is being located close to the kids throughout the day (vs working out of state) and having extended family close

If it does hit the fan are the states political views really going to matter

 

[Rancho]

I live in a rural community with self sufficient individuals around me and neighbors that are decent people. I already commute an hour to work so i am for the gun loving free state..

 

[mark056]

Probably the gun loving free state, but if and when SHTF you can bet that there will be urban hordes heading north and west looking for food and plunder. Be prepared to defend what you have, and the best place to do this is a community of like minded individuals.

 

[RATTLESNAKE]

Both senerios have there benifits, I myself would like to live in a free state but to Roux point if the shtf politcal veiws and or policies will not matter the only thing that matters is that you are prepared enough to survive, defend your family, and hopefully would meet some like minded people or groups.

 

[Rider]

You are making a lot of assumptions about the cohesiveness of the community, and aren't accounting for means to barter, the desperation of individuals, and how much land it takes to grow food for a person.

The main reason most preppers recommend you move to a rural area is to get away from the people who can't provide for themselves and will be looking to you, and because in a small community you can form the kinds of ties you need to survive.

You might have a lot of friends in the city, but are you prepared to take them all in and feed/protect them? Are you prepared to turn away the others? It's only a matter of time before people in a densely populated area figure out you have what they need, and they come looking for it.

So I suppose my preference would be to have a known bug out location, either a second home, or plot of land, or relative's home in the country. One that you can get to in a few hours, preferably. If the wheels come off, and it isn't an unexpected natural disaster, you will probably have time to get where you want to be. Of course, you never know how it will play out, so prepare as best you can for what is most likely.

 

[MisterHappy]

The thing that seems to get lost in the scenarios is that in a .gov failure scenario, the population remains essentially the same, but the resources are drastically reduced. If your local Stop & Shop stopped getting deliveries, and the locals were still about, how long before it would be empty?

The Bug Out to the Country scenario is fine....if the people there will let you stay. And, if they're cohesive enough to defend what they (and you. since they let you stay) have, against the 95% of the people that didn't "prep for SHTF".

This is not to say that you shouldn't perpare for tough times, but to be realistic in what your neighbors willbe willing to do to survive. It's whatever you'd do.

 

[OPM]

1. As you and others stated, the answer is scenario dependent.

2. If the gov has disintegrated or is under tremendous pressure – things will change and likely in an unpredictable way. In a country with 300+ million guns, getting one won’t be an issue. Gun laws will be ignored, or gov might actually encourage self-defense, or gov might violently crackdown on gun ownership everywhere just to stay in control.

3. Job? What Job? Unless you are a medic or in a similar life sustaining trade, I would not count on having a job. Should you quit your job now and move in prep for tough times? I wouldn’t.

4. Playing a gardener is fun, but growing food to feed the family is very difficult. It requires knowledge, years of practice, lots of fertile land, equipment, tons of supplies, good weather, and luck. Presently we each consume food grown on over 1.3 acres. Land has to rest periodically and you must grow enough to get seed for next planting. So you’d want double than to enable rotation and future plantings. If the land been properly amended and is extremely fertile, and you know how to maximize every inch – you can manage to consume less land, but I would not count on using less than 2 acres/person.

5. If you are planning to move your family of 4 or more to 2 acre plot in NH to live of the land – DON’T!!! Not enough land. Where will you get needed resources to amend land for growing food? Where will you get fertilizer? How will you fight disease and pests? Do you realize that bad weather, disease and pests can wipe your harvest in few days or weeks? Do you know that some earth disease can kill your plants for years to come unless you heal the land? Do you know how to identify and cure illnesses? Have you grown nut and fruit trees? How many vegetables you are currently growing? How much seed and how many varieties you got stored? Do you have enough young nut and fruit trees to be transplanted? Any berries? What are you planning to feed your animals? Do you have medicine to heal them? Do you have resources to help them deal with pests and parasites? What are you going to do if all or most of your harvest is destroyed?

6. I’ve been playing in the dirt for years and I know that I am not even remotely ready to be self sufficient. If security situation allows, at best I can hope to grow supplemental food, which might be enough for starvation diet. IMHO, store food and other vital resources, develop your skills, be ready to adapt based on the situation at hand.

 

[roux]

Guys, thanks for the feedback. There is definately some info I want to think over there. I will try to refine my thoughts a bit and then repost

 

[Business]

I am for the free state I dream of moving to NH someday but for now we have a good amount of land in a quiet country neighborhood in a otherwise busy town.