By the author of SHTF Survival Bootcamp, SHTF Survival Stories, and The Dark Secrets of Survival here.
It seems that we entered into times when there are wars and diseases kind of speeding up around us, which also might bring times of food distribution problems, or if I want to sound dramatic, famine. Today, I want take look not at Mr. Roger’s neighborhood, but my, Selco’s neighborhood.
Also, all of us, no matter where we are living, are kind of brought back into times when nuclear war was real and probable danger, and when we as kids had classes how to “protect” ourselves from the blast.
One could say that there were always wars (and rumors about it), famines, strange diseases somewhere in the world, all way through human history. I agree, but I also think we are speeding up there, and we live now in a world where lot of things can happen in 12 hours. Wars can start, countries actually can be destroyed in that time. The modern world is simply too small a place for events like this. It affects everyone.
I am writing this article influenced by local and world news, and under the influence of folks feeling, common folks that I see and talk with every day, so it is without particular order, just things that I see and feel around me.
“War is hell.”
It is hell, and it destroys people on multiple levels, physically and mentally, and it destroys your surroundings, and it will never be the same.
People who went through the war will never be the same, and not in good way.
Seeing people surviving in bombarded cities bring back bad memories, and no matter how far the world went in some fields in the last 30 years, it is still the same. There is only you in the middle of all that hell in that city, fighting…no matter how fast the internet worldwide is, how many times news about killed civilians was shared, how many people are sorry because of your situation, and how united the world is (or not)-it all comes back to you and how well you are prepared to defend yourself and to survive.
At the end, it is always how tough you are.
Be tough!
Again, I say, “War is hell.”
For sure, it is hell, but it is also an event where and when people use the opportunity to get things done that are not necessarily connected with war, but can be easily done when there is war.
Things like to get rid of certain people in the mayhem of war, things like to get rich by selling weapons or food to scared folks or any other item on black market, things like to strip you of some right or freedom in the name of war.
In every war, there are always people who are fighting for the right cause or defending their freedom AND people who do not give s..t about those things because their main objective is profit, and those people are on all sides, or they do not have side.
History deserves to be paid attention to.
I strongly believe that everything that happens did happen before in some form because history simply goes in a circle or cycles.
WW2 did not actually start (if you look it from distance) by some particular sharp event. It started with a whole set of events, and some of those events in that particular moment did not look like world war at all. Some of those events looked like border disputes, some others looked like glorious political victories, or some maybe looked like local (regional) wars. Collective memory (or mind?) historiography, and logic later put all those events in one huge event – WW2.
We actually might be living in one of those events. Events that later might be called WW3.
The big problem here is the question is there anyone going to be left to do and learn historiography and history?
What the local (and not so local) news is in Selco’s neighborhood
There’s a run for food.
There is a run on shops, and here (locally and regionally too). It is run for food, cooking oil and flour mostly, but also any other food.
For us as preppers, there is nothing new here. You should be stocked already with all this, but it can’t hurt to restock and do more. I am doing the same.
What I cannot understand (as a prepper) is the need to brag about how much stuff you did buy, and even more to put it on social network with photos of goods that you just bought.
Folks, do not do that. If you are buying food in large quantities, you are probably buying it for a time when that food going to be scarce.
People still have to eat, even when there is not enough time, so I assure you there will be folks who will remember you and your posts and bragging about how much food you have, those folks one day will pay you a visit when situation becomes really bad.
(Get your preps in order now, and read our free QUICKSTART Guide to home canning so that you can better do that.)
So pay attention and be quiet about it.
Nobody has to know about it except your closest circle, do some common sense things:
1. Buy large quantities of food in malls not so close to your home (where workers do not know you or do not know where you live).
2. If you have to buy close then try to buy in several different shops, or use all your family members to go to different shopping “tours.”
3. When you taking your stuff from car to home, do it in a way that neighbors do not conclude that you just bought food for half a year (unload it from garage, or when night falls).
Another thing to avoid is forcing your opinion on other folks about the need to prep.
If you believe that now it is time to buy food in big quantities, trust me it is not time to persuade your six coworkers to do the same because you are smart.
Be smart and do not mention your intention, plans and preps to anybody except your (already) trusted circle (family, for example). There are times when it might be too late to work on prepping and survival with someone who do you do not know too much and in detail.
Now it is that time.
Be ahead of others.
There is nothing wrong in being prepper for years and still going to shops for food with a bunch of other scared folks.
Preferably you go there to do add more stash to your already existing stash (I did the same).
What would be great is you as a prepper can be ahead of other people, because guess why? Because you are a prepper.
So, for example, I did buy more vegetable oil few days before prices went up like 40 percent, simply because I followed and realized that price will go up in a few days.
Now, follow this example not only about food but also about other items and try to be ahead of other folks. An example could be buying a solar system that can power some of your bare necessities, like e-bike battery or do rechargeable batteries or (money is limit here) simply do research what might become scarce in your region where you are, for you as a prepper it should not be.
This is the current state of Selco’s neighborhood.
His tale is not an isolated one. You are very likely to see similar scenes in your own hometown in the very near future. Get yourself prepared. How can you do this? Are you already seeing these signs? What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
About Selco:
Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.
In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today. He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless of what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations as Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.
- Read more of Selco’s articles here.
- Buy his PDF books here.
- Buy his best-selling paperbacks, SHTF Survival Bootcamp, SHTF Survival Stories, and The Dark Secrets of Survival here.
- Take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge by signing up for his online courses SHTF Survival Boot Camp and learn the inside story of what it was really like when the SHTF with his online course One Year in Hell.
- Find him on Patreon.
- You can donate directly to Selco at https://www.paypal.me/SHTFschool (use the dropdown arrow to select USD as the currency)
Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.
“So, for example, I did buy more vegetable oil few days before prices went up like 40 percent, simply because I followed and realized that price will go up in a few days.”
‘Zactly. As a farmer I’ve been buying ahead on everything and telling my neighbors to do the same the last two years if they hadn’t already started. Fuel, filters(hard to find short supply),vet supplies, net wrap, flavorseal, etc. I don’t even talk about it anymore, I let others do the talking now. What’s the point.
My circle has drawn very tight the last year and our network is resolved. We will help, but at some point there is going to have to be reciprocal benefits, this we all agree on.
After a lifetime of living without luxuries and not taking vacations (even my expedition business was a layer of preps and learning), we now find ourselves as a group having difficulty locating things like Kosher salt locally. We have a solid amount, but more would be better. Also, we have moved on from buying bulk milled flour and are adding on various wheat berries, and rolled oats to mill ourselves. Don’t like the idea of buying flour now that everyone is suddenly interested in it now.
I got the battery banks built last year. Glad I did. Those same Trojan batteries are now 50% more and 4 “00” cable has almost tripled. Still want to secure the solar array and charge controller, but have to wait until lambs sell for Passover/Easter. BTW prime lamb 40-60# live weight is now ~$475/cwt. Lamb sales aren’t controlled (yet) by the big packers and competition amongst small independents is fierce.
Glad to see a new Selco article.
Thanks for this Selco. Brings me back full circle to where I was 2 years ago during start of plandemic. I quit telling people to get on the Ark last year, because frankly, they thought I was crazy. So F@#k em. I go out to shop in the next towns over from me, and act like a ” fearful sheeple with my mask on ” and keep my head down. Always back my truck up to unload my groceries early in morning when I know all the sheep are at work in my neighborhood. I have noticed that these Sheep have started a “neighborhood watch ” program in my community and me and the others that are prepared call it the “watch your neighbor” program. They’ve been driving by houses EXTREMELY slow and we don’t trust them one bit. I’m thinking of putting up a fence around back and sides of house because I dont want them seeing what I have. My husband is not for the fence so it looks like I’ll be calling a fencing company. Damn Shame he’s not on board with any of this and has his head in the sand. thanks again for great article
By chance was one of your neighbors a victim of theft? Had one of those in our neighborhood – person was lazy and none too bright which was why the thief had easy pickings. This prompted the whole we need a “neighborhood watch” . May yours be like mine – started off with bang and quickly fell off the face of the earth (like in a month’s time). I suspect they’ll soon tire of doing the snoop crawl.
Putting up a fence *might* increase their nosiness especially if you are the only home in the neighborhood with a fence. That might result in a true busy body or two actually stopping by and asking why you put up a fence lol.. I’m confident you’ll have a few responses ready. While we aren’t putting up a fence, we are doing something else in the neighborhood which we know will prompt the busy bodies (and a certain few who think they run/should run the neighborhood). We’re ready with our vague answers for those we’ll opt to answer.
Hey Selena, why yes ma’am. All of a sudden a bunch of my neighbors “guns” and other stuff is coming up stolen that they’re leaving in their “unlocked vehicles” and their houses getting broken into. I actually think they’re getting prepared for the off chance that Beto “TacoBell I am going to take your guns” O’ Rourke gets in to office. So all of a sudden our libtard community members decided it would be a swell idea to drive around the hood , and getting Orwellian on us by putting cameras EVERYWHERE. LOL The Snoop Crawl, love it. I don’t know, they been going strong for about 3 months now. Got lil magnetic stickers on their cars and T-shirts with patrol , all of course paid for by our HOA dues. Just riding 5 mph down the streets. Most of us just shoot our “helllo libtard ” finger at em. I gotta laugh Miss Selena or I’ll be running down the street naked with a “let’s go brandon flag”
“All of a sudden a bunch of my neighbors ‘guns’ and other stuff is coming up stolen that they’re leaving in their ‘unlocked vehicles’ and their houses getting broken into”
this will fool no-one. just saying.
“this will fool no-one. just saying.”
The fear of it not fooling anyone isn’t fooling anyone either. Just sayin’
Our maga loving county board is going to use almost $200K of money better spent elsewhere to buy Ring cameras that LE can access “if the owner allows it”. Nuts to that – the less devices one has that can be potentially hacked, the better. Don’t need my frig talking to/keeping track of me nor Alexa/Google device for that matter but I digress.
While we are not crime free, crime is not high. County board hopes they can follow a car up/down a street if everyone has a Ring camera. To start, most houses in the county are not that close to the road. All but two villages in the county have their own LE department – aka not the county’s patrol. We’ll be passing as I’m sure south neighbor will be too. Won’t have to worry about across the road, we own that so no cameras there either.
I truly wonder how many people realize that a) no guarantee they will control what LE has access to – can you say court order?, b) that they will be seen every time they go in and out, c) what you take in/out of your house/outbuilding/vehicle might be “on film”, and d) your deliveries might be “on film”? Remember, these are the same elected idiots who blather on about freedom and property rights.
I would also get some thermal or blackout curtains and close them every time you leave the house. This will help with nosey people.
Another thing, one that I need to implement in my own home, is to try and keep your preps hidden from casual visitors or repairmen. I’m so limited on space I have a lot of my extras on open shelves or stacked on top of kitchen cupboards.
Right on, Thanks so much Miss Colleen. I was thinking that the other day. Good tips. Thanks I sure do appreciate them and am definitely ordering some black out sticky’s for the windows actually so that we can see out but they can’t see in.
TexasAntigone: Central Florida here, yep we were in the same boat, I saw all this bullcrap starting in early 2020. We were already comfortably prepared but went sheeple shopping anyways, just to top off our supplies. We also keep a low profile in our neighborhood. Smile and wave like we don’t know what’s going on (we do). Man oh man it has been a long road these last two years, for THEM not US. Wish we had neighbors like you all. ( of course we probably wouldn’t know each other) the low profile thing and all!
Hey there Dang Duffy’s. Most of our neighbors are pretty decent, it’s that select few control freaks and nosy as heck. I’ve tried to keep a low profile but it’s been pretty hard because I have a big mouth which gets me into all kinds of pickles, LOL . I agree, this has been a long road and I am basically done trying to get people on the “ark” to preparedness. Sometimes I wish I could just load up an RV and go to Alaska.
Privacy fence would be a good investment. You can’t hide everything you do but this is a great help. If a person really wants to snoop, it will take a lot to stop him, but no casual observer will see what you may have in the backyard, even your garden unless you grow tall corn.
bigben
Hey Benny. We actually have been growing a bit of corn but not enough to make a difference or hide anything. I am getting bids on a fence now, because I thought the longer I wait the more expensive it’ll be.
I feel your frustration on the husband front….we could accomplish soooo much more together.
When rationing in Venezuela was at it’s worst point back in 2017, I had to get pasta, flour and everything in bulk to the traffickers (uniforms of course). I ripped off the bag and packed the one kilo bags inside a duffel bag. Just covered everything else with a blanket, and would wait for a while to unload slowly everything. Houses were raided because of nosy neighbors accusing the owners of “hoarding”…Nowadays I know how to bypass that and they won’t find anything in none of my places. Nor city house nor homestead.
I feel lucky to have this resource. Selco and all the contributions. What’s left of free speech may not last either through govs cancelling the internet or woke/mob/rioters. I don’t believe 5 percent of what I read from the propogandist that call themselves news. So what I read here is even more important. Maybe I do need to order that flash drive. 🙂
Locally, I have been fortunate to find a dozen or so of real citizens and formed a group that supports each other, with more resources than any one individual. In my old neighborhood in Washington state, I too had the neighborhood watch folks come around. They even sent me an email asking if I had a generator or other items that could be used collectively. Hmm. No thanks until I know you a lot, lot better. They were pushy so I just kept saying “I’ll get around to it” until they gave up.
“They were pushy”
it’s hard to distinguish between those who want to team up and work with you, and those who want to be the new sheriff and “volunteer” you for work assignments.
We drug our feet putting up a fence but now we are so glad it’s there! We had a real bad neighbor on one side that prompted a 7′ solid vinyl fence. They were spying on us, vandalizing us and calling the city to report any possible violations when we redid our yard. They would call the fire dept. to report a fire if we used our fireplace just to harass us. Thankfully they have moved! There is a wrought iron fence in the front yard now too which “helps” keep out deer (they can jump it but usually go on to easier pickings) and people. No more dog poop, trash, and much more defensible if ever needed. Plus it gives the illusion of being hard to get to and the front gate lock has to be fiddled with to figure it out. We have a heavy padlock to use on the gate if needed.
I used to teach classes on food storage to help others prepare. That was about 15-18 years ago then I went quiet and practice OPSEC. Now I hope no one is around that remembers but most have moved. Unfortunately my garden is visible from the street and well known. I worry a fence will shade it and won’t keep out someone hungry anyway. I’ll probably have to plant in places no one suspects what is growing is food – just tucked around the landscaping. I’ve changed all my clay soil that wouldn’t grow anything to good topsoil with lots of compost so I can grow food anywhere in my yard. I took out most of the grass and put in a beautiful more natural yard with a cottage garden look that we thoroughly enjoy.
I have found neighbors who will band together against a threat. I was pleasantly surprised at at neighborhood BBQ to find out that there are others that are armed & trained – some in the military – so I won’t be a lone wolf. So there is something to be said for sharing info when you deem it safe to find like minded people. Also my church is conservative, has taught people to prepare & store food, and is known for being very organized and helping in times of disaster.
When the SHTF things will break down into neighborhoods – be sure you live in a safe one and your home has all the protection you can give it without looking obvious. You are better off being able to band together with neighbors than fighting them but depends on the neighbors and if they’ve done any preparing. Be close to God, friends & neighbors – you’re going to need them all to survive for very long.
Thank you Kay, for sharing your observations and experience.
God bless.
“be sure you live in a safe one”
don’t forget to consider arson – it will happen. if a fire on the upwind side will spread to the rest of your neighborhood then you’ll have to address that.
I’ve been thinking about that quite a bit ant7 , due to the fires out here in Texas most recently and then looking back at the other states fires that started with a small brush fire and spread. My small inner circle have been wondering how to stop it if it starts.
“how to stop it”
two ways. a functional fire department free to respond, or stopping the arsonist before he acts.
fire resistance is also good – brick structures, distance between flammables, etc.
Great article, agree 100%.
Folks need to realize that right now, many people cannot afford to go out and buy 6 month’s, or a year’s worth of food, and when they see you doing it, the first feeling they have is envy and resentment towards you for being able to. Hence, they are already “prepped” to hate you, and when they see the inflation, and losing their ability to eat the way they have in the past, that hate will easily lead to action, against you! (a person they already despise)
As in all survival situations, “the world is a lifeboat”, and trying to help too many, will capsize it, and doom us all. Only worry about the people that you had in mind to feed, when you started prepping, and tell no one else. Just like the panicked drowning victim, they will pull you under, out of sheer fear, if not malevolence.
Dear Dr, I saw that happening a lot in Venezuela. Mostly in poor neighborhoods when someone was spotted getting dry groceries by bulk in large volumes and were foolish enough to get it inside at broad daylight. Of course many of these were resellers that pumped up prices taking advantage of people, but still…Oh and that things like “laws” that impede uniforms kicking down your door just don’t work here anymore since commies took the chair.
Reading Selco’s thoughts on why he didn’t bug out reminded me of hurricane Katrina.
I wanted to go to New Orleans for a wedding anniversary. He said no, a bad hurricane is expected. I wanted to go anyway( stupid now, I fully realize) and even called the Monteleone. “We haven’t closed in 200 years! Come on!”
Pouting all the way, I ended up watching Katrina unfold from a hotel in Florida, and a person trapped in the Monteleone saying…” but I called…they said they hadn’t closed in 200 years…”
I did not take Y2K prepping seriously, but this…?
Watch the gun confiscation videos and people fully safe prepped forcefully removed from their homes in old Katrina videos.
Hun confiscation already HAS happened in the US. Mass compliance…
I do my shopping early in the mornings. I also frequent ethnic markets (I like the food, and the variety) so the fine folks at the local Kroger don’t see that I’m buying out all of their rice or dried chickpeas, or their dried milk.
Oh yeah, if you have a store’s shopper card (because you get all kinds of discounts) the store tracks absolutely everything you purchase when you flash that card. Food for thought.
Solution is to shop multiple places if possible. It’s a problem for those trying to prepare in a month but if you’ve been buying food for years at Costco, etc. (which is the best way) then it is your normal buying pattern and not the red flag spending several thousand at once would be. But it’s better to buy all at once even if tracked then not to have the food. I think it’s worth the small risk to get good discounts. The chance of someone trying to find a prepper via shopping card records is pretty small and would take incredible time & manpower. Sometimes we get too paranoid and make everything too hard – especially for newbies.
As a cattle farmer in the UK, I’m cutting my herd by 50% mending everything, paying outstanding bills, finance, digging a hugh garden, stocking up on food, logs, tools. Blew tyres up on my bicycle. It’s going to be rough, f××king rough. Make good your preps, friends n skills. We will all need it god bless u all
I hope this doesn’t end by affecting you there, buddy, you have seen your more than fair quota of evil in your life. I’m REALLY expecting that sooner or later my blindfolded countrymen finally see the position these guys have put us in, and that war these days can have effects in the whole planet. Hang on there buddy.
Jose.
When all this current war started the first person I thought of was you, Selco. And how painful it was to think of you having to see this type of city fighting again after what you went through. And, I think of all the military men in USA and elsewhere watching, as well. I’m so sorry. I do hope you are NOT in a city now. And, if not, why not?