Newbie survivalist/prepper from Northern California

Hey everyone, I'm sure not too many people read or check this forum but decided I'd listen to the message and post here for my first post. I'm just a 30 year old married guy from Northern California (specifically San Francisco right now) who owns a medical marijuana collective. I've lived all over the country (8 different states,) was born in Louisiana, and grew up in Idaho and Mississippi. I've unfortunately *never* even been hunting, but I've been camping a good bit as a kid, but never in a survival or test-your-skills scenario. I just concluded one day that if **** hit the proverbial fan, that without a grocery store and the "easy" way of living and acquiring food, I would be pretty at a loss on what to do. I figured the best thing I can do for my wife and I is learn how to hunt, learn primitive skills, and learn survival techniques and strategies. If things go bad, whether earthquake or otherwise, I want to be able to immediately leave the cities and go to the mountains/hills/rural area and be able to hunt, fish, camp, and in general survive with my wife and I.

Anyways, hopefully I can learn some of the aforementioned skills here and possibly meet some people that can help me learn to hunt (or tell me where to go to learn) and learn other survival skills. I imagine these things are much easier to learn on-hand and in real-life scenarios, rather than trying to learn to hunt or survive reading a book. Hope everyone had a good holiday and New Years.

Welcome.

You might want to re-think your survival strategy a bit. Maybe have a "bug-out location" bought and paid for that you can head out to. The people already
out in the mountains and hills and especially the rural areas aren't going to take too kindly to a couple of people with knapsacks and black rifles showing up in the neighborhood.

But your heart is in the right place. Have a look around. Lots of info here.

Hi and welcome, I am rather decently versed in wilderness survival and practice that often going out into the bushveld... not a preper but I can say that what lowkey is saying holds truth.. you need to plan where you going to go in these situations and have that bug out location secured to you and all routes etc planned... however if there is anything I can assist with in terms of survival I will.. generally you want to be able to get where u want to be with in 3 days.. so yeah I can certainly help out with any outdoor skill although some of what I do and have is specifically for my areas and terrains a lot of the skills and equipment used is universal

Hi and welcome. Glad to hear about you getting interested in learning how to be more self-sufficient and acquiring more valuable skills. However, let me say that, as someone who lives a fairly "subsistence" lifestyle, it can very difficult to live completely off the land. Hunting and gathering wild food is a very satisfying and worthwhile endeavor, but doing so takes lots of determination and practice. I actually shudder to think about the possibility of living 100% off the land. Even in my area where fish abound, wild game is common and the wild edible plants are growing along every road, it would be difficult to live for more than a few months at best.

As others have mentioned, if you insist on "bugging out" then a common tactic is to have a location already set up and stocked with supplies and tools. Many people feel "bugging in" may actually be a better solution since you are in a familiar area with all your stuff. Of course in an earthquake scenario your living quarters may not exist.

Don't get me wrong, I do not wish to discourage anyone for learning skill that may save their lives, but just be aware that many skills such as hunting, take years or even a lifetime to master. Being proficient in what wild plants are safe to eat in your area takes lots of study and many hours in the woods in order to be competent with identification. Learning how to build a fire reliably and consistently means building tens if not hundreds of fires in order to be able to build a fire when lives may hang in the balance. These are not things to be taken lightly, they are all extremely rewarding things to learn, but they take much dedication and willingness.

Of course there are many threads here to help point you in the right direction, I would recommend attending a survival school in your area, this will give you the hands-on aspect and tell you if this pursuit is really for you. DON'T KNOCK BOOKS! They are an endless supply of knowledge and can be referenced as many times as needed, and don't take batteries. In the same breath, don't believe everything you read in a survival book, check out stuff from more than one resource. Most importantly, never be afraid to ask a question.

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Originally Posted by alaskabushman

Hi and welcome. Glad to hear about you getting interested in learning how to be more self-sufficient and acquiring more valuable skills. However, let me say that, as someone who lives a fairly "subsistence" lifestyle, it can very difficult to live completely off the land. Hunting and gathering wild food is a very satisfying and worthwhile endeavor, but doing so takes lots of determination and practice. I actually shudder to think about the possibility of living 100% off the land. Even in my area where fish abound, wild game is common and the wild edible plants are growing along every road, it would be difficult to live for more than a few months at best.

As others have mentioned, if you insist on "bugging out" then a common tactic is to have a location already set up and stocked with supplies and tools. Many people feel "bugging in" may actually be a better solution since you are in a familiar area with all your stuff. Of course in an earthquake scenario your living quarters may not exist.

Don't get me wrong, I do not wish to discourage anyone for learning skill that may save their lives, but just be aware that many skills such as hunting, take years or even a lifetime to master. Being proficient in what wild plants are safe to eat in your area takes lots of study and many hours in the woods in order to be competent with identification. Learning how to build a fire reliably and consistently means building tens if not hundreds of fires in order to be able to build a fire when lives may hang in the balance. These are not things to be taken lightly, they are all extremely rewarding things to learn, but they take much dedication and willingness.

Of course there are many threads here to help point you in the right direction, I would recommend attending a survival school in your area, this will give you the hands-on aspect and tell you if this pursuit is really for you. DON'T KNOCK BOOKS! They are an endless supply of knowledge and can be referenced as many times as needed, and don't take batteries. In the same breath, don't believe everything you read in a survival book, check out stuff from more than one resource. Most importantly, never be afraid to ask a question.

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Wow nicely said. I have to agree with you here and is similar to my style of survival my aim is not to shack up in the bush indefinitely but to be able to get by and get out of the survival or shtf situation to a more suitable place.. like back home safely incase I got marooned out far,etc. For me I always want to avoid the situation in first place but have enough skill to get me by for a week or a few weeks.. true sustainable living is a lot harder than it would seem

Hello and welcome.

Welcome. You may wish to define what you consider SHTF. The most likely scenarios are weather or man made and those can be survived with the right Bug In strategy...in most cases. Something like an industrial accident that releases a toxic cloud would require getting out of Dodge, of course. You need to figure out what the most likely threat is (Fire maybe?) and work down the list doing what is necessary to mitigate each risk.

Hello and welcome from Pennsylvania.

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Originally Posted by Rick

Welcome. You may wish to define what you consider SHTF. The most likely scenarios are weather or man made and those can be survived with the right Bug In strategy...in most cases. Something like an industrial accident that releases a toxic cloud would require getting out of Dodge, of course. You need to figure out what the most likely threat is (Fire maybe?) and work down the list doing what is necessary to mitigate each risk.

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Agreed.. that is all part of prepping.. risk assessment, what are the most likely things to occur and risk amitigation.. In my case the most likely things are certain weather related, and possible roiting, service delivery issues often occur such as power issues upto days at a time, water gets cut off at times due to droughts and very poor maintenance and management, it's things such as this I am very used to living in south Africa. .. Then the next most likely thing to happen is for me to be high-jacked and left stranded somewhere or getting a brake down in car on a long trip miles away from civilization.. crime is huge where I stay, I been hijacked, I have been mugged, I been tied up for 2 hours in a house robbery... I have had break downs out far and in the early hours of morning, we have had terrible floods, protests, rioting..

Hunter63 Say Hey and Welcome......From Wisconsin.

You have just received good advice from several people that "live the life" as it real information....not opinions.
Good luck...

Hey everyone, I appreciate the responses. And yeah I guess I should have been more clear; I didn't mean that if something went wrong I want to be able to just leave the city and go to the mountains and hunt/gather until I meet someone to take me in, or do it indefinitely. By no means would I expect someone to just take my wife and I in and make us part of their family/team. I was just meaning that if something *did* happen, I want to be able to hunt/gather in an emergency context if needed. Now that I think about it though, yes it probably would be a lot smarter to have a pre-placed cache of food/supplies outside of the city that I could just access until I could make it to a possible secondary location I already own and have planned to go to. I guess my goal is more to learn how to hunt, fish, etc. so that I could do it if absolutely necessary, just to have those skills period.

Again, I genuinely appreciate the responses and advice given so far, thanks.

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Originally Posted by MarksMan

Hey everyone, I appreciate the responses. And yeah I guess I should have been more clear; I didn't mean that if something went wrong I want to be able to just leave the city and go to the mountains and hunt/gather until I meet someone to take me in, or do it indefinitely. By no means would I expect someone to just take my wife and I in and make us part of their family/team. I was just meaning that if something *did* happen, I want to be able to hunt/gather in an emergency context if needed. Now that I think about it though, yes it probably would be a lot smarter to have a pre-placed cache of food/supplies outside of the city that I could just access until I could make it to a possible secondary location I already own and have planned to go to. I guess my goal is more to learn how to hunt, fish, etc. so that I could do it if absolutely necessary, just to have those skills period.

Again, I genuinely appreciate the responses and advice given so far, thanks.

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Ah! Cool that is certainly do able... and for any such en-devour Basic survival skills are exactly what you need also;

Well the 1st things to start with besides the 5 C's of survival which are;
1.cover.. you need shelter and clothing
2.container. You need something to cook in and boil water
3.cutting device. Knife,axe,saw
4. Cordage. Paracord,bank line, etx for building snares and shelters etc
5.combustion. You need to be able to make fires to cook on and keep warm.

The next thing is priority of survival;
Each situation may prioritize different things so it's good keep in mind the rules of 3;
It's possible to die within 3 seconds with out hope
it's possible to die with in 3 min with out Air
It's possible to die in 3hrs of exposure to weather
It's possible to die in 3 days with out water
It's possible to die in 3 weeks without food
It's possible to die in 3 months with out human contact (you could litterally go insane)

So with that in mind, the right mind set not panicking, having confidence and the hope of getting out safe is paramount, then water and shelter and cover usually more important than food, so you need to know how to find water, how to make water (transportation,or distillation from sea water) how to filter and boil it.
You need to be prepared for the weather have adequate clothing(hyperthermia, as well as hypothermia will kill fast),also in such a situation you may not want to look tactical it may draw attention to yourself and it would show others you have something.. you could become a target. You need to be able to make shelter for you and family..
Then food would be next issue, you could include in your bag rations for a few days, you can also learn simple snares and other traps( hunting does work well, but guns run out of bullets, and trapping is passive and only requires them to be checked,and usually will yield far more food than active hunting) as well as keep a small fishing kit if there are bodies of water close, wild foods and foraging is useful but not always sustainable, and is seasonal... so identifying plants and trees that are useful for food and or medicine is very useful, and under looked, also bugs pound for pound have the most protien and make good eating, and could be mixed into a simple bannock (survival bread made of flour and water)
You need to learn to navigate with maps and compass,and also learn celestial navigation in case you loose said compass..
Signaling for rescue, how to use signal mirrors and build signal fires,whistles for signalling for help 6 short bursts is some places even 3 short bursts is a recognized distress signal, as is 3 fires in a triangle form(bellowing smoke from a well constructed signal fire) etc - if you need to be rescued
1st aid, you will need pfe for each member you taking with you (personal first aid kit) and you need 1st aid knowledge and skill.
And probably most important you need the right mindset to keep going and you need hope to get you through said situation. Practice your skills often and find as many ways to do something you might need to mcgiver something if end up loosing your kit or something like that
And lastly never under any circumstances drink your own pee (Bear grills does that, That is not safe at all, if you want to do that pee in a container and use transportation to evaporate the water from the pee into a container set in the middle of the transportation system)

I could break down each thing further as per request, but I think I have given enough for now.. best not flood you with information we only absorb so much,tackle each thing and become proficient with them and know how to use your gear of choice, you need to consider each have their own style some use things others prefer to make things in the bush, but still the hardest things to repoduce in the wild are : blades/knives cutting devices, cordage, fire (unless you really good with primitive fire) shelters also quite time consuming and never are 100% water proof for that reason many have tarps. And you could scavenge containers but best to bring with yourself.

here is quite a comprehensive video of various wilderness skills..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJOg-uKE6c

here is myself and 2 other friends practicing a "solo survival" scenario for 48 hours with just a knife, a fire steel, water bottle
part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_X_Az4tcY
part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsZkyzsZbw
part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohyMtU7B1k

hopefully I have given you some better perspective and some resources to work from...

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Originally Posted by Antonyraison

here is quite a comprehensive video of various wilderness skills..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJOg-uKE6c

here is myself and 2 other friends practicing a "solo survival" scenario for 48 hours with just a knife, a fire steel, water bottle
part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ_X_Az4tcY
part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKsZkyzsZbw
part 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uohyMtU7B1k

hopefully I have given you some better perspective and some resources to work from...

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Thanks man, I genuinely appreciate the responses and information and putting them all in one place for me rather than having to parse through to find relevant info, although I have plenty of that ahead of me.

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Originally Posted by MarksMan

Thanks man, I genuinely appreciate the responses and information and putting them all in one place for me rather than having to parse through to find relevant info, although I have plenty of that ahead of me.

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your welcome, Its hard to try scourer around for what is actually important and what is not,
The important thing is to learn skills and know what tools/gear to use that will work for you and how to use them, and practice these skills, the only way of learning is by doing in my opinion... shout if you need anything else.