Thanks BlackBear!

A few things to remember about prepping.
1-You could be wrong and life will just muddle on (not a popular view on a prep or militia forum but one that must be considered non-the less )
So don't put your self into debt to prep. Getting out of debt should be prep one.

2-Just because you are prepped for a certain scenario doesn't mean that will be the stuff that hits the fan.

3-STFU about your preps. The last thing you are going to need in a real life SHTF scenario is everyone and their dog coming to you to get taken care of.

4-Preps will only take you so far. You have to learn how to replace them after the SHTF as well.
Self reliance, survivalism and the militia goes hand in hand. Get the idea right out of your head that you will be able to scrounge what you need. Chances are someone else already has a claim to it.
In the cases of taking from a survivalist or a homesteader, good luck. They have already faced the fact that they will have to deal with a ravenous horde descending on them.

5-Just because you have a BO already in place and stocked doesn't mean that the area it is in will be any safer. In fact the people already there might have to come to you. So don't put all your eggs in one nest. Have an alternate site to go to and know the different ways of getting there, including on foot.

6-Don't overestimate your own abilities and underestimate the abilities or intelligence of any possible opponents. That is a classic mistake and one that will continue to be made in the future.

Yup, all good points, and a much more explicit detail of what I always say, which is a mantra in my head which sounds something like:
Always have a contingency, and a backup for the contingency, and backups for the backups, and contingencies for the backups, and...

OK, you get the idea.

The skillsets are as important as the physical items. I had a scenario around here that talked about your house burning down. You're left with whatever you had on you, a knife, hopefully a gun. If you have the skills, you can walk into the woods and live. (I don't, but I have resources that would help.)

You're left with whatever you had on you, a knife, hopefully a gun. If you have the skills, you can walk into the woods and live.

BTDT tried it for a week. Of course it was just a way for me to test my skills and mindset, it went well, especially considering that I went with only the clothes I was wearing.
I even left my altoid kit at home, heck I even left my cigs at home. ( that was the worst part of it to be honest )

It is something that all survivalists should try IMHO. Gives you a realistic evaluation of your abilities.

I think we should be able to be a trinity of personalities. Mode #1 is to have a public identity that causal friends and the government knows. Then in mode 2, we should have a semi private identity that our closer friends etc know. Then finally in mode 3, we should have a 'invisible identity'. I am working on perfecting all three. The last identity is where you bugger off to the woods that you don't have a deed to. I

The semi private place and ID will have food storage and passive solar heat, heavy squad weapons (DISCLAIMER ; For homland security heavy squad weapons means like a .22 instead of a sling shot **wink wink***) etc. I have a home that is at last paid for in the 'city'. Then I have a modest bit of acreage, that is also paid for where the 'church' (ABOTCC) and office space for the missions are. The missions are MMM and MOTC. (all are trailer homes in modification, knocked out and sheet rocked walls etc.) I had to register the church with the IRS to obtain favorable loan status including a 501c tax exemption. Hey, if I must get in the den with the lions I might as well have my chair and whip with me!

Anyway that's it to summarize I will have one foot in the door and be ready to put on a invisible suite and slide into mode #3 as soon as the SHTF. If I am not so fast I will be in transition to mode 3.

; }>