[Beaners]

http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/grp/922371146.html

This person says they are trying to get a team together for bugging out. I considered sending an email just asking what kind of scenarios they are preparing for, but decided against it. This reminds me of a couple people I have seen kicked off of prep sites in the past because they claimed they were going to find out who was prepped and just kill them and take their stuff.

I'm also more of a bug-in than bug-out person. The mention of taking inventory of supplies as a group really threw me. On the "can you show too much" thread, I mentioned that I would be willing to share information about what I have stored with people on the internet in various parts of the country, but I wouldn't be showing every one of my neighbors what I have and where it is.

So what do you folks think? Does this person have good intentions but not understand that they are presenting themselves as a possible to threat? Or are their intentions slightly more sinister?

Kayleigh

 

[Bearfootfarm]

I'd stay out of it myself

 

[Riverrat]

From what I read, I think he is asking for people to help him stock up, you do the work and he is the leader. I would think long and hard before joining any group that I know nothing about, especially if you know no one in it.

 

[Beaners]

I have no intention of joining up with this group. I am just worried that someone who is new to the whole prepping thing is going to get seriously taken advantage of, if not killed.

Kayleigh

 

[Karen]

The problem is, it can work both ways. There are people out there who will use tactics like this for their own gain or survival.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for safety in numbers and combining your resources. You definitely would need a dependable and compatible group for that, however. I'm not sure you can acquire such a group through advertising for them. I have friends I've known for years, but very few I'd be willing to live with and trust with my life; let alone strangers.

I'm a bug "in" person myself; however, we are prepared for bug "out" scenarios. Some I can see us having to resort to leaving for is chemical contamination, minor nuclear accidents, or leaving for safer territory from an invading army, massive gangs, etc.

I think being prepared means you don't ever underestimate that something that can happen somewhere else in the world won't happen right where you're at. The world is getting smaller and becoming a pretty strange place!

 

[Common Tator]

Some friends of ours have a remote ranch that was once owned by survivalists. They had developed a large bunker and reliable water supply. The survivalists were a group that pooled their resources to buy the land and build. I think it could work if everybody chipped in with money and food and other supplies.

I am more of a bug in type of person too.

 

[FourDeuce]

I have nothing against reaching out to find other people who share a common interest for the purpose of sharing information. I would question what qualifications this guy has to appoint himself the "leader", though.
I realize you are taking some risk by letting other people know you are interested in survival and preparation, but it's not without possible benefits. I met some people like that years ago when they asked about the magazine I was carrying around(American Survival Guide). I even met a guy who wrote a letter to the magazine by looking him up in the phone book.
Yes, you do take a chance that you'll meet some psycho, but I think the benefits outweigh the risks.:buds:
Aside from the chance that you'll meet somebody local to team up with if things go bad, you can also meet someone to just talk about something you consider important.

 

[seedspreader]

Hey, that's my ad!


*Just kidding*

 

[seedspreader]

Let's post the ad here so we can jeer er... critique it.

Looking to form "Bug out Team" (Pittsburgh area)
Reply to: [email protected] [?]
Date: 2008-11-17, 9:15AM EST




For those of you who are what others might call "paranoid" or "survival nuts" have you thought about what happens when disaster strikes? Of course you have. Most of us who have been categorized by the before mentioned titles have. Do you have a "Plan of action" or a "Bug out Route"? Do you have a team of certified persons to travel with in order to maintain survival (weapons specialist, EMT, survival expert)? Well, now is your chance to do so. What I am trying to do is get a team of equal minded people together who posses certain skills in order to keep each other alive. A quick story before I begin.

My cousin Colin, a fellow survivalist was living down south where hurricane Katrina struck several years ago. Colin along with three other people from his "Bug out Team" utilized there survival skills in order to escape disaster. They knew the equation for the perfect escape, applied it and were able to rescue themselves as well as several other people. He has since been honored by his local paper and is now teaching classes on survival.

The goal of the B.O.T will be to establish a starting point, ending point, plan routes (several), be aware of travel, environmental and security conditions. We would most likely meet once a month to refresh these ideas and or come up with new ones. Take inventory of our supplies and drill "Bug out Scenarios".

There are a few pre-requisites for being apart of the B.O.T which I will list below. Thank you for reading and I look forward to meeting with you.


1. You must be in good-excellent physical condition.


2. You must have knowledge of a specific skill that would benefit the B.O.T


3. You must have a clear head in combat situations (ex-military preferred)


4. You must not have been convicted of a felony. (must be able to use firearms)


5. You must understand this is not a game. (there will be no zombie Apocalypse)


6. You must have a vehicle or have a valid drivers license.


7. You must be mentally competent. (no nut jobs)


Thank you again.

B.O.T. Team leader
Erik

So, he wants ex-military but doesn't think there will be Zombie Apocalypse?

Also, his cousin Colin... uh, there were hundreds of thousands who weren't "Bug Out Specialists" that made it through Katrina... maybe he should wait to update that resume?

 

[seedspreader]

Some friends of ours have a remote ranch that was once owned by survivalists. They had developed a large bunker and reliable water supply. The survivalists were a group that pooled their resources to buy the land and build. I think it could work if everybody chipped in with money and food and other supplies.

I am more of a bug in type of person too.

uh, if it worked out well, what happened to the original survivalist that were there?

 

[horselover.com]

I lol'ed at #7

I'm with Karen on the friends/strangers thing

 

[Pink_Carnation]

You can't tell by the ad if he is a nut job, con-man, clueless, rambo wanna-be or sincere. Given the number of negative possibilities and the fact that he is only interested in himself/his buddies what would he say to someone wanting to take their family which most likely won't meet 1,2,and 3. The tone of the ad that I see is kind of wanting an excuse to play with guns and camo.

 

[7.62mmFMJ]

This is the structure recommended by James Rawles (Survivalblog) in his book Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse and, of course, in his blog.

If you live in an urban or suburban area the system has its merits. It is designed to be a long term association.

I do not know that I would approach such a venture via Craigslist. There are other ways.

 

[Cascade Failure]

Let's post the ad here so we can jeer er... critique it.



So, he wants ex-military but doesn't think there will be Zombie Apocalypse?

Didn't we decide a little while back that the threat was Zambonis not Zombies??? I sure wouldn't want to bunker with someone who isn't prepped for the coming Zamboni Apocalypse.

 

[cast iron]

On the other hand, there is something to be said for safety in numbers and combining your resources. You definitely would need a dependable and compatible group for that...

That is true, and I suspect in the ideal world your closest neighbors (even if you are somewhat spread out) would be of like mind, trustworthy folks that you would feel safe when utilizing shared resources and such. Life seldom works out that way though and in an increasingly isolated society many folks have no idea who or what their neighbors are like.

One suggestion to build a network of potential contacts is to get your HAM radio license. Typically there is a much lower flake factor with HAM operators (as compared to craigslist participants) because they actually had to put in some effort to get their license and pay out a bit of money for their radio. I have been absolutely shocked at how many amateur radio operators there are in my county and in my state. I had no idea the network was as big as it is or as local as it is. I've also found that a good portion (if not the majority) of radio operators are of like mindset when it comes to preparedness, which is not really surprising given the use of HAMS for communication during disasters and such.

The network of HAM radio operators in your area could be a valuable asset in the event of an emergency, disaster, or social unrest. And it may be a good way to hook up with some like minded people for future planning.

 

[stranger]

It will be tough to find a few families that could live in the same bunker and get along for a few weeks today. usually there would be just one toilet, one cook,three wanna be leaders, everyone would have a chore to do if they could go out side, but on cold rainy days, it would be like living in a rattle snake den.
I still think many people are living in some romantic dream world, they're going to be hunkered down in a tent with a folding cot, a cotton sleeping bag, all dressed in camo,an AK47 strapped on their shoulder and when they get hungry, a big deer is going to wander by and stop about 50 ft from the tent door and they'll hang it on a spit in front of the tent so everyone can cut off a piece. maybe they should just spend a couple weeks with the homeless people in a northern city between xmas and Jan 20th just to get an idea what living in the cold and being hungry is and get shocked back to reallity.

All this talk about bugging out is foolish IMO. if they live in a city, thousands, if not millions will also be bugging out also, to where?, a lot of blocked roads.
If they live in the country,they're already bugged out. A person might be better off making the best of their own situation. I sure wouldn't want to be living on the 12th floor of a building at anytime, but if that's where my way of life took me, then I'd make the best of it, as people bugged out, i would be moving my stuff closer to the basement though.
I think if i lived in a city or condo, i'd just try to make an agreement with my neighbors that we're going to provide for our own families, but if we have to fight or pull guard duty on our neighborhood, we'll all do it. but probably 1 in 20 would do it, the rest would put you on the nut list. I can go into our fire dept. or American legion and just set back and watch the different people and i wonder how many of them made it this far and that's before they start drinking..JMO

 

[wvstuck]

Myself... I would love to be part of a small group, but not from a Craigslist ad. In the real world I would love to see people from this site, get together on neutral ground and have great face to face discussions to find out if there was compatibility within the same county or even state I live in. However, we "prepper type's" are not the most trusting when it comes to sharing specifics. I am well supplied, well armed, and well trained for about anything coming my way... Just when I think I am prepared for anything, something new comes on the news and makes me think.... Hmmm, didn't see that one coming. The idea of having to get in a firefight to take back my supplies from some guy and his buddies that let me join their group is what keeps me from talking too much to strangers. My wife and I would welcome the opportunity to get together with anyone in West Virginia that is actually supplied and working on staying that way.

 

[soulsurvivor]

http://migration.kentucky.gov/Newsroom/ag/craigslistagreement.htm

 

[rickd203]

Has anyone here even tried to contact this guy or are we all supposed to go on the assumption that anyone that thinks they need to bug out is a dangerous nut job? Maybe he realizes that rural areas have a large numbers of shoot 'n loot homesteaders and he would be killed if he tried to bug out alone. I will contact this guy to see if he is as bad as you all think or if he is just trying to stay alive in bad times.

 

[Beaners]

Rick...the issue isn't that he wants to stay alive. It is that he is advertising some serious taboos within most prep/survival communities. Inventorying supplies. As a group. WHAT?! With people you just met on craigslist?

Even if this guy isn't a predator himself, that ad is going to attract predators to his "group". And the unsuspecting newbies who only know that they should have a plan aren't going to realize that they are putting themselves in danger until it is too late.

Bugging out isn't for me, except in extreme scenarios as I mentioned. But bugging out isn't what is throwing up flags on this for me.

Kayleigh

edited to add: I know that in the past you have said that you basically could not safely stay where you are at, so you are planning to bug out. Is that why you think everyone's concern is that the guy plans to bug out? I'm fine with bugging out when the need is there.

I am not fine with people forming a group that could possibly put people in danger, intentionally or accidentally.