Getting to Know your Community

[Scythe13]

I bet there are loads of people that say the same about me mate. I commute to work, 1 hour there, 1 hour back, wearing shirt and tie. I wear shorts and tshirts all year round. What they don't see if me with a gun slung over my shoulder at 5am driving to a new permission to do pest control, or driving off late at night for ratting. They don't see me spend the weekend on Dartmoor practicing my survival skills, they don't see me go to the gym, or anything like that. If we didn't get to know the people in our road, we wouldn't have realised that the motorbike loving chainsaw nutter was actually a prepper with about 3 years worth of food in storage.

[bigpaul]

oh don't you worry, I know everyone in my location and who is doing what to who! that's why I am so positive they will be of little or no use post SHTF.i do a lot of "people watching" !! I'm expecting a huge die off when TS does finally HTF and most will succumb within a short time, those that don't will sod off to mummy and daddy or aunties and uncle's houses in other towns and elsewhere, I expect this place to be a ghost town within a short while.

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with such a low population to start with that isn't going to take long.

[Scythe13]

(18 May 2014, 18:09)bigpaul Wrote: I'm expecting a huge die off when TS does finally HTF and most will succumb within a short time, those that don't will sod off to mummy and daddy or aunties and uncle's houses in other towns and elsewhere, I expect this place to be a ghost town within a short while.

People watching and all that, cool, as long as you're happy with your intel, that's what matters mate.

Now, a really fun question to throw an absolute spanner in the works for you, and the option of "That'd never happen here." is not an option I'm going to allow you to use.

What is everyone fleeing the cities, e.g. the aunties and uncles, actually come to your end of the country, to live more secludedly with their aunties and uncles, I.E. your neighbours. But they bring some skills along with them.

Wow, that changes things. What would you do then?

[Barneyboy]

all my neighbours are to into keeping up with the jones to worry about what im doing ,don't have a big shiny car and keep my self to my self ,I think they think im odd

[Mortblanc]

Or, at the outbreak of plague, social unrest, international hostility, a line of military trucks arrives in the village and off loads a couple of thousand urbanites as part of the planned evacuation scheme.

Suddenly, instead of the "big die off" one is facing an explosion of population density in the rural area!

GB has a history of this effort.

And do note that the evacuation scheme was passed on one day and put into effect the next day, which was two days prior to the declaration of war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuations...rld_War_II

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"Just a few"

NOPE!!

1/3 of the population was evacuated or had evacuees placed in their homes.

YES! The law required that you take them in.

[Straight Shooter]

Only have couple of neighbours one would be handy.....the rest not much help really. Have got a great pal on other side of mountain who I can just about see from my lounge window whom I could count on. Other than that we are on our own, some in the village know I keep hens.......so I will be popular......maybe to popular .

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Reminds me I will have to gag little kevin.

[MaryN]

Sorry. S. but who's little Kevin??

[Sunna]

i beleve the problem for many is letting locals know too much leading to a que of people outside your home wanting your preps/food.
its a real catch 22.

[bigpaul]

exactly Sunna, for once we are in total agreement, keep shtum and tell no one.

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as for Scythe's comment about people coming here, the houses are too small to accommodate extra people, modern starter homes and buy to let properties, so unless there is a large die off and there are plenty of empty properties then its not a consideration.

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I have charted possible "refugee drift" a long time ago and the most logical direction is AWAY from this area.

[Scythe13]

(19 May 2014, 08:07)bigpaul Wrote: as for Scythe's comment about people coming here, the houses are too small to accommodate extra people, modern starter homes and buy to let properties, so unless there is a large die off and there are plenty of empty properties then its not a consideration.

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I have charted possible "refugee drift" a long time ago and the most logical direction is AWAY from this area.

Mate, I said that's not an option. Think about what Monty said. At the early stages of a disaster, the gov might force people into your home, at least for the first, say, 2 weeks of the disaster, while there is ROL. Once the situation is WROL, then things change, but you would still have an increased population.

Even though you may have done your Refugee Drift calculations, we all know the government are inaccurate and do not calculate a lot of their decisions based on logic and fact. So even though it might make sense for the drift to be away from you, what if TPTB force it towards you?

Anyway, I'm only speaking about the first few months of a disaster, where people will be forced into your area. The die off might not have happened by then.