I feel like a deer in headlights...

[Trusty_Mutsi]

I just started listening to www.thesurvivalpodcast.com, and there's a LOT of things I'd like to start doing to be more self sufficient, but I have to admit, I feel overwhelmed.

I'd like to make some steps towards homesteading, but I have NO IDEA where to begin, or if I even completely understand what homesteading is.

I'm taking my first baby steps towards being at least 50% self sufficient, starting with the home drill where you shut off all power for a day or two, not use water or your car, and journal what you need), learning how to start a campfire, doing some camping instead of playing video games, and buying a firearm.

Unforunately, my interests for most of my life have been wasted on playing video games and messing with the computer, and any marketable skills are in my artwork, so I really have no survival skills or experience. Almost everything Jack talks about on thesurvivalpodcast(economy, descriptions of firearms, survival equipment) goes largely over my head, and I need to re-listen or google it. I'm sure I'm not giving myself enough credit, and will figure all of this out. I guess I feel like there's this invisible clock counting down and I need to be ready soon :( But the last thing I should do is panic.

Thanks for the ear and ANY advice.

[rice paddy daddy]

welcome, mutsi.
spend some time here looking and reading. my expertise is in firearms. there are others who have different areas of knowledge. take advantage of the various forums here. remember - the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.
now - what do you want to know about firearms? ask away.

[mom]

Rome was not built in a day. So you learn something every day - just one thing and it can be a small thing but you learn. You experiment; you question. Just don't quit

Do you garden? Can you have livestock even a few chickens - those are places to start. The thing about it is just to start. A man I used to know always said "You can eat an elephant but you can only eat it one bite at a time"

[Trusty_Mutsi]

Thanks! Well, I think I want to start with the smartest beginning choice for home defense. Pistol? Shotgun?

I've been raised understanding gun safety, so that's not an issue.

I've heard good things about the Hi Point C9 and Remington 870 Express, and that they're both pretty affordable.

[LeatherneckPA]

A Mossberg 500 is even more affordable and just as capable. And you don't need an AK or Bushmaster. A skilled operator is almost as fast, and more accurate, with a nice lever action rifle, say a nice 30-30 or 45 Long Colt. For handguns, unless you are either very skilled or very dedicated to becoming skilled stick to revolvers. They are idiot proof. Consider a Taurus revolver named "The Judge", chambered in 45 Long Colt and will also take .410 shotgun rounds. It's always a nice idea if your revolver and your rifle use the same ammo.

[Trusty_Mutsi]

A Mossberg 500 is even more affordable and just as capable. *And you don't need an AK or Bushmaster. *A skilled operator is almost as fast, and more accurate, with a nice lever action rifle, say a nice 30-30 or 45 Long Colt. *For handguns, unless you are either very skilled or very dedicated to becoming skilled stick to revolvers. *They are idiot proof. *Consider a Taurus revolver named "The Judge", chambered in 45 Long Colt and will also take .410 shotgun rounds. *It's always a nice idea if your revolver and your rifle use the same ammo.

Thanks! I'll keep those in mind!

[rice paddy daddy]

Thanks! Well, I think I want to start with the smartest beginning choice for home defense. Pistol? Shotgun?

I've been raised understanding gun safety, so that's not an issue.

I've heard good things about the Hi Point C9 and Remington 870 Express, and that they're both pretty affordable.
Well, and please don't think I'm nosey, are you male or female? Big city or small town? Small apartment with neighbors one sheetrock wall away? All these things will have a bearing on what is best for you.
For example - we live in a rural area where threats could be 4 legged, 2 legged or no legged. (One of the best dogs we ever had was bitten by a rattler in our driveway.)
My wife is average female size and has athritis and other disabilities. I bought her a 38 Special snubby that she can stick in her pocket when out side the house. A shotgun would be useless to her, but she loves her revolver, and enjoys shooting my Ruger 22 rifle. So you see, there are many variables to consider. Me, I prefer an M1 Garand, but that's not for everybody.

[Trusty_Mutsi]

Well, and please don't think I'm nosey, are you male or female? Big city or small town? Small apartment with neighbors one sheetrock wall away? All these things will have a bearing on what is best for you.
For example - we live in a rural area where threats could be 4 legged, 2 legged or no legged. (One of the best dogs we ever had was bitten by a rattler in our driveway.)
My wife is average female size and has athritis and other disabilities. I bought her a 38 Special snubby that she can stick in her pocket when out side the house. A shotgun would be useless to her, but she loves her revolver, and enjoys shooting my Ruger 22 rifle. So you see, there are many variables to consider. Me, I prefer an M1 Garand, but that's not for everybody.


You're not nosey at all!

I'm a 6' 2" male who's not in the best of shape, weighing 195 lbs. I have a 5' 1" wife and 5 year old daughter. We live in the suburbs, and have decent sized back yard, but probably not above average. We live in a medium sized town. It's not the city, but not rural country, but closer to country. I live in Pennsylvania.

[Trusty_Mutsi]

And one more rant/fear to add to my post:My latest fear: I've heard how the suburbs are the worst place to live if the SHTF. Well, that's where I live. I was visiting a friend last night in the hospital and after taking to him, it sounds like interest rates are so bad nobody could buy our home if we put it on the market anyway, and I really don't think we can afford to pay for this home AND start paying off real estate somewhere farther out in the country.

So my primary fear right now is "Great, we're trapped in the worst place to be, and anything I save up will be stolen".

The bright side is we mostly have good neighbors, except the guy right behind us who looks like he sells drugs out of his van >:(

[9er]

I've been working on this for 6-months now and I'm still stuck in headlights. No worries man!

I just moved to rural MI (from Denver), but not too far from Detroit or the 'burbs. I actually quit my job so getting preps is really hard. But get a few books. I recommend "When Technology Fails." Start looking at the basics like canned good and water storage and go from there a step at a time.

Best of luck!

[Lake_Lady]

Why are the suburbs the worst place to be? :-/ We live in the 'burbs and as much as I would rather be waaay out in the country it's just not going to happen. I would imagine the city would be the worst place to be, but then.......what do I know?

[rice paddy daddy]

Well, Trusty, living in the suburbs, if you have to shoot in self defense, the problem is the chance of wounding (or worse) an innocent person. The cops frown on that, not to mention your own conscience. A center fire rifle is definately out, as you could very possibly shoot right thru the perp. A miss with a handgun could hurt someone. 45 automatics often shoot right thru people also.
A shot gun's limited range is a big plus here. A hand gun could be useful to keep next to your chair while watching TV if there's even the slightest chance of a home invasion robbery and there's no time to grab a shot gun.
A Remington 870 is what I'm most familiar with. Something to consider would be a "Youth Model" as these are made for smaller stature people, like your wife. I like them also because they have shorter barrels than regular sporting shot guns. 12 gauge has the most variety of ammo, but you wouldn't be under gunned with a 20.
I live in a rural area, but there are neighbors nearby, so when the dogs tell me something's not right outside, I grab a shot gun. Usually, it's just something sneaking around the chicken pen that high tails it when it sees me.
I wouldn't want to have to explain why I shot at a coyote with my M-1 Garand and killed my neighbor instead.

[TNDadx4]

Hello and welcome!

I think that we all go through the deer in the headlights thing when we come to the realization that there's a lot of work to be done. The important thing is that you've crossed over that line and in doing so, are already more prepared because your thinking.

You can only do what you can do. If you cannot get out of the suburbs, there are still things that you can do. The mindset is the primary thing and you can have that sitting in an apartment growing tomatoes on your balcony.

As has already been said... baby steps. Take it one thing at a time. You'll already be light years ahead of people who unfortunately have no clue.

There is a lot of great knowledge here. Learn all that you can.

[Trusty_Mutsi]

Thanks everyone. These posts help a lot!

[cinok]

Take it a step at a time dont get overwhelmed or take to much on at once. Get your self stocked up on food and water and the other basics for a short term emergency and let it grow from there

[Terri]

On the GOOD side, in the 'burbs you are one of many. Why should they bother you when they can bother the richer folks down the street?

It is called the "grey man" approach.

[mom]

When I and the DH livedin Denver last year my children kept saying - "Mom lives in the Ghetto" One of my sons who lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Denver had a swat standoff with his next door neighbor before the neighbor finally did his self. Not long after that my son's Hummer was burned up - someone put a fire bomb under it during the night. It was total toast. I on the other hand was surrounded by a neighborhood of lower middle class working people who looked out for one another and took pride in their homes. My response to the hummer burning was "DUH - no one in my heighborhood has much of anything worth stealing or messing up. Any criminals living in this neighborhood go to a richer neighborhood for their thievery. So neighborhood is the key. It doesn't have to be a wealthy neighborhood; it doesn't have to be a white or black or hispanic neighborhood - I had the only white face in my neighborhood but I cooked the best greens in town and passed them out weekly - look for a neighborhood where the residents take pride in their homes and in their selves. They may have old homes; old cars but they maintain their "stuff". They try - that is the key.

[Padre]

We live in a lower working class neighborhood and have a drug dealer who lives with his mama right next door.Not pleasant,but. We have 80 acres of land that is about as far off the beaten path as we could find. It has been 8 years of hell on the land as far as crime. Have a neighbor about a mile away whos idea of homesteading is poaching game year round,stealing livestock and draining every ounce of gasoline they can find. I grow a market garden.My garden gets raided often and they will steal buckets to carry off the stolen produce if I leave them out. Law enforcement is a joke in remote areas so thats a waste of time. So don't feel insecure in the burbs it may be safer than you think. But through it all I love my land and will deal with whatever I have to to become self sufficient. Sorry for the rant

[cinok]

Damn padre time for tsome target pratice.

[CarolAnn]

Trusty Mutsi - First of all, relax and if you're standing in the road, step to the side for a bit! ;)

"Becoming a homesteader" is first of all an attitude and a way of thinking about things. For some folks, it might be the start of thinking! You'll know you've begun when "what other people think" becomes less important than what YOU think.

So many people waste their lives by spending all the time trying to impress other people. Get a bit deeper in debt. Get some more stuff. Get, get.

When you come to a place where that doesn't impress YOU . . . and you begin to find joy your own way, some of the ties that our culture put upon us begin to snap away. Living a more self-sufficient life means depending on others (and what they think) less and less. If you want to live that life in the country, the type of clothes you buy, the food you eat - the tools and other stuff of life will change. You will make careful, thoughtful choices based upon what you need, rather than what is in style or what is considered cool by others.

I guess that's enough of my soap box! I just remember the moment when I realized that having a ton of credit cards and debt just didn't interest me! It was almost a shock that all the "stuff" my friends were scrambling for had almost NO value to me! Holy Kamoley! There's a whole 'nuther world out there and it can be fun! When it feels right to you - it will be.

[Trusty_Mutsi]

Once again, thanks to everyone for the replies. They've been very encouraging. I'm taking my small steps every day, and not overdoing it, and feel great!