guest article

GUEST ARTICLE
My regular article was posted earlier.
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Forging an Alliance……in or out?


By survivordan

So you are thinking about forming or joining a group of preppers….

{Are you really ready to commit?}

The thorny issue to keep in mind is that this kind of group/club is not like a chess club, pinochle club, quilting club, or any other club you might join. These people will know things about you and your preparations that you normally don't want anyone to know about. You wouldn't want your neighbors knowing that you were amassing food, supplies, weapons, etc now would you? Of course not! Your group will know. The people in your group have to be totally trustworthy. They have to be stand-up people of very good character.

On that note many will say, "No way Bubba! I'm a lone wolf! I'm a rugged individualist and I only put trust in and rely on myself! That's okay, I get it. Other people aren't reliable. You can't count on most men when the chips are down. 'Tough' guys too often collapse like wet noodles in the face of adversity and danger. (Seen it myself.) People may get greedy and pull a "Treasure of the Sierra Madres" on ya. And you've got 2 years worth of food and supplies in a retreat in the woods and you and the wife are armed to the teeth. Well...what happens if you have a natural disaster (floods, earthquake, etc) and your retreat is wiped out? How about a wildfire? Can you and your wife alone evacuate with everything you need? Do you have a place to stay with a fellow prepper? Can you stay awake for weeks on end when the starving masses are unleashed on the countryside? When the goblins are active and aggressive, can you stay awake 24/7 ? You need to go get more of something (water medicine, etc) and your wife and little ones will be left alone? I felt there was more risk in going it alone and chose to team up with a good like-minded friend and over time we brought in a few more. We avoid too many redundancies in major equipment (allowing us to focus more resources in other areas) and with our varying backgrounds/skill sets help each other to train up in various survival skills. It works for us.

The main reason that such a group is forged is for the strength of numbers in terms of equipment and training for survival and a common defense. A strong group rarely attracts the attention or at least any aggressive actions by the weak Goblin hordes. Why should they face your obviously well prepared and well armed group when there are other weaker prey? You know...the lone wolf survivalists and their vulnerable hordes of food and supplies. By the time the desperate masses get around to your group the crises may have abated and you and your community will have persevered. Yet currently (and perhaps never) you all don’t live with one another. Some of you haven’t known each other for very long. What are you going to be doing together and why? Some of you have known one or two others for many years and even all your lives. You have taken the measure of each other over the passing years and found one another dependable and having good character. You know you can depend on each other in the long run. Some of you have been acquainted for a far shorter time but you sense the same strength of character in that new acquaintance that you have seen in your long time friend or family member. And some of you rely mainly on the positive opinions, expressed by one of those you trust, of the good character of some of the new comers to your acquaintance. Character and trust are very important. When the SHTF, your life will be at stake. Risky to put your trust in others. But to trust no one is far worse. You can't stand alone for long. There have been numerous large scale disasters around the world over the years that demonstrate this principle. You must form alliances in order to prevail and perhaps even to prosper in a new world.

So with that in mind, you have gotten together and formed a survival mutual assistance/training group. Perhaps you call it a ‘Fishing Club’ to avoid the obnoxious chuckling and head shaking of the non-preparing nattering ninnies consisting of the majority of your friends and family. Doing things as a ‘hunting' club, 'hiking' club, 'fishing' club,etc. also reduces the notice and curiosity by most other people as you and your group meets and interacts to prep for an uncertain future. “Yeah we got together…to go fishin'“. But you really went ‘preppin’. You gather supplies and train together. You hope for the best but you prepare for the worst.

You must stay in touch and meet fairly regularly to set and achieve goals as you work towards having what you need to feed, shelter and protect yourselves and your loved ones in the event of a large-scale local, regional or national disaster, both man-made and natural. You must work together. Train together. Bonds have to be forged. In battle, bonds are formed that often last entire lifetimes. You are fighting a battle of sorts as you prep together, a battle against complacency, a battle against time. And though you fervently hope and pray that it never comes to that, someday it may literally come down to a battle involving the spilling of blood as you defend yourselves and your 'brother' preppers.

Motivating each other:
Motivating each other is a big part of the support offered by such a group. Often times people need the nudges of their peers to get things accomplished. “I meant to get that done last week and the week before that but….,” doesn’t cut it when your group teases you and cajoles you to get done that which you said you would get done. Ever have a workout buddy for the gym? He tells you to get off your dead ass when you’re feeling lazy and so you get to the gym when you wouldn’t have gone. And usually at the end you were glad he gave you the nudge. Hey, I can be the biggest procrastinator at times. One of the guys in my group reminded me that something couldn’t be put off again if I ever wanted to get it done. So I got off my tail and got my act together and finished preps that I had said I would.

You already intuitively know that you need to rely on yourselves and your comrades and not the government in order to persevere.

I was in New Orleans after Katrina as part of a relief contingent of Arizona deputy sheriffs and I saw what lack of any sort of prepping wrought. Disaster compounded disaster because individual people were not prepared. Neither was the government. Hundreds and hundreds of people died.

Psychological support:

Despite your intuitive knowledge and commitment to preparedness, the positive psychological support offered by others whom you respect will help keep you going forward. These like-minded people who don’t think you are a mad fool or some doomsday sayer just because you prepare for possible large scale crises will keep you going through times of doubt. You cannot ever stray from your chosen lifestyle. It’s sometimes difficult to really prep for possible disasters when everyone and his cousin is snickering up his sleeve at you. It’s hard sometimes not to get a little demoralized. Many preppers have to deal with the laughter or scorn of their own spouses or significant others. Your fellow preppers will keep you on the path.

Positive reinforcement from like-minded people can be very uplifting.

Some of you go to church. If you believe in God then you know that you don’t have to go to a church to have faith. You go to church for the fellowship. To worship together and uplift each other, especially in times of doubt and difficulty. To be with like-minded people and to be there to provide mutual support both spiritual and material when needed.

Isn’t the gathering of survival minded people very much the same thing.

To provide mutual support both for the spirit and for the physical needs of the groups members?

Mutual assistance. Part of your ‘fishing club’ credo is that you shall all support and assist and defend each other if the SHTF or God forbid it’s the big one….TEOTWAWKI and the world as you have known it is turned upside down. Maybe just for a month or two. Or maybe for many years and even decades. You folks may be working together for a very long time so you better be prepared to watch out for each other like brothers. Many, if not most, of those Others (the non-preparers) may strive to take what you and your fellow preppers have worked so hard to build up. Will you share supplies amongst each other and stand together because of your forged alliance and even take up arms if necessary? Risking your own life, to protect the property and lives of your fellow preppers; your brothers in arms at such times? You may say, “yes” and even “HELL YES !”.

Well all right! That was part of the whole object of working and training together to be a positive, cohesive and successful group. That’s why you did all that work getting together and prepping. When the Goblins come you will stand with your comrades! I’m glad you feel that way.

Meanwhile as you toil along in the ‘normal’ mundane world of everyday life……...when your brother prepper calls at 1 AM and says, “ I need some help buddy. I know you work in the morning but so do I and I’m stuck in Phoenix because my car broke down. Can you come help me? I can probably get it fixed but I’m in a bad neighborhood and I was in my old lady’s car and I have no weapon. Some young guys keep cruising by and checking my situation out. I can’t work with them prowling around. I got a bad feeling.” Will you get out of the bed you just laid down in and go to his assistance or at least make sure that one of the other preppers is on the way?

If you hear that a fellow prepper is having a hard time will you check with the others in the group to see what you all as a group can do to help?

If another fellow prepper calls on your day off (you were going to drink beer and just relax) and says, “I have a family emergency and nobody to watch the kids can you please help out, it’s very important”? Will you go or make certain someone dependable does?

If another fellow prepper’s car breaks down will you go out of your way to get him where he needs to go?

My point with all of this is:

If you don’t assist and support each other above and beyond the call of duty during the little crises now, then how can you know that you will all do so when the Shit Hits The Fan, or the ‘goblins’ are at the door?

If you can’t be relied on when societal conditions are normal then you can’t be counted upon when all hell breaks loose.

Think about that. Reflect on that. Most preppers go it alone (nature of the work), while some do form solid cohesive groups and accomplish much. The level of dedication to each other required by a group with such goals is not for everyone. And if you choose to go it alone, there is no shame in admitting that you are not prepared to make such a commitment to a group. Better now then when the SHTF.

Trust in the other ‘fishermen’ must be absolute.

Are you in……or out?