SHTF, can you organize your neighbors, prepper, preparedness, bugging out, bug out
Preparedness

Can you organize your neighbors?

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Prior to being part of a survival group and having a bug out location, I had always planned to bug in. My home location is far from perfect. I live in a suburban housing development just inside the city limits where the houses are approx 24 feet apart. Should the SHTF I had planned to organize as many of my neighbors as possible with the primary concern related to security.

I actually described this situation in my book A Survival Story. While doable, this scenario is filled with issues that provide a path to bad things happening. This scenario involves you – being the almighty and knowledgeable prepper who has prepared for such an event – coming forward trying to persuade a group of people to do things for the betterment of all.

Coming forward within days of the power being out, grocery stores emptied, and fuel unavailable professing that everyone needs to get organized is going to result in some questions:

“Who are you?”

“What’s your angle?”

“What do you want?”

“What makes you some kind of expert?”

Upon announcement that you are just trying to help and you thought that some day something like this might happen –

“You’re one of those prepper-types?”

“So you have food? Supplies?”

“How much?”

“Are you going to share or HOARD it all for yourself?”

A target has now been painted on your back by every person with limited supplies and a desire to survive. That means pretty much everyone.

Assuming the above is fairly accurate depending on the scenario this is where OPSEC comes in. I can tell you I blew my own OPSEC long ago and if I could go back in time I would change things dramatically. It is what it is. For people growing more desperate to know that you are a prepper and have supplies they NEED in order to keep them and their FAMILY alive is not a good situation. No, it would be much better for you to appear as just someone in a similar situation as everyone else who is stepping up to the plate to help.

So….you live in a neighborhood and plan to bug in.

Can you organize your neighbors?

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16 Comments

  1. CaptTurbo says:

    I have inspired one immediate neighbor to go 100%edible landscape food forest and have been giving away moringa tree seedlings to many others. Our immediate problem here is that flood waters are one inch from my back door. No, not Texas, but SW Florida. Seven more inches of rain today after a week of similar days.

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  2. StevefromMA says:

    This is probably the weakest part of many preppers’ plans. I live in a place largely of old frail folks, some dying, one vacant but not cheap house, etc., etc. I’ve tried to find folks within a few miles for years, no luck. The only unfortunate and awful plus is that these poor folks will be targeted before I have to poke my shotgun or mini-14 out a window. Prolonged civil unrest would do me in, though, no sleep, wife not on board with prepper mentality. We all go sometime.

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  3. Patriot Believer says:

    Good post and good discussion JR.

    And,spot on.We blew our OPSEC long ago too–trying to get our neighbors involved.

    Didn’t work there but did work in our church body. I’m convinced that’s where we need to focus. We’ve since de-centralized supplies and they’re scattered all over with many BOL’s

    Just don’t know a better, more prudent way at this point.

    Reply
    1. On Guard says:

      I am glad you were able to organize your church. I have failed terribly at both my neighbors and my church. They all just do not see the need. I thought after two record floods and a Cat 1 Hurricane they would have some desire to be prepared. We are now under a Tropical Storm Watch for today and tomorrow and I still can not get anyone to think past “will not effect me”. I really do not understand!

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  4. Hank says:

    I am in a similar situation. My youngest neighbor is 90, the next block are Canadians and Snowflakes. What I have going for me is that this will give me some time as the predators will have plenty of fodder to go through before they get to me. I know there are like minded people around because when used social media I tried to get some of them together for coffee, but no one would commit. Depending on the situation I plan to bug in, but should I have to go and go early, I have some very rural co workers who are on the same page.
    Op Sec!! I don’t discuss things with ANYONE. I feel bad for my older neighbors but in a SHTF situation I will take care of me and mine and slip out before they no I left.

    May the Lord forgive me, if it ever comes to that..

    Keep up the Goodwork there JR

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  5. Clark says:

    This too me, all due respect intended, ended when I became prepare minded, I’ve had 27 employees at one time, for years with those numbers, and have never had a problem leading, some may not like me, but they all respected me, I lost this fantastic illusion of leading my entire neighborhood into the grand quest of rebuilding civilization and being a beacon of light in a dark age (CAMALOT) as soon as I realized the food and water logistics involved in that…. you see you can actually plan and grow to feed Quite a few people, but, they will as I think, ALL will, each want to save their family, friends, coworkers, and with each they want to bring, they in turn will have people they would rather not live without, I never figured out how to save them all, I’m a romantic at heart, so this took me years to give up on, in a urban survival in there isnt any way I can conceivably figure out how to be prepared enough for taking all these people…. knowing this, and knowing what I would, and what ANY ONE OF YOU, would do to try to help you and your love ones to, eat, drink, and survive, well there’s nothing I wouldn’t do! Period, after realizing this, I lost that fantastic notion of saving my neighbor, it’s something I struggle with as a prepper, could I turn away my neighbor, is that a world I want to live in….????… no one knows, I pray no one ever has to find out!

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  6. Oren says:

    Could I organize my neighbors….no. I live outside Clemson, SC. Yep, a university town. Fortunately, I live on 18 acres of wooded land. I have a nice garden plot and chickens. Behind me, there is a development of very nice homes. Unfortunately, many who live there are employed by Clemson U. As you might guess, a lot of “Bernie” bumper stickers and “Are you ready for Hillary” stickers are still on their cars. The minimal contact I have had with this group has been cautious and assessing the thoughts they may have. The only thing they know about me is that I am old, I have a 10 cord wood shed and that I might have a garden protected by a large dog. I’ll keep it that way. These are the people who will be the problem….heck they already are. You can smell the liberalism drifting thru. If anything happens, ala SHTF, I’ll have barbed wire entanglements erected between them and me over night. And yes, I intend to bug in. I’m way too old and broken down to bug out plus I have my 98 year old mother and 76 year old sister living on the property who I could not leave nor pack up for a “bug out”.

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  7. Hank says:

    https://www.ofa.us/

    Check out the link above, The former president was a community organizer and this is the result. There cause paints a pretty picture for millions of people and it also helps the supporters of these causes, the Billionaires.

    OFA is about 30K strong and probably triple that in major metro area’s

    Good Luck all

    Reply
  8. jh says:

    Could I organize my neighbors? Nope, I think I could work with a handful of them but the vast majority in my development are hopeless. A 6hr power outage early this year after a wind storm showed me just how stupid and relying on the gov’t to take care of them they were once and for all. One neighbor was pissed at us because we had lights inside the house and wouldn’t “share” our camping and solar yard lights with them. All they had were the lights on their cell phones, I gave several kids in the neighborhood chem lights and they thought it was great – parents were ‘where’s ours at?’. But sadly, I would be nothing but a supply warehouse for the neighborhood if they knew what I had stored there, the ability to put supplies off location is no longer a option at this time either.

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  9. 3rdMan says:

    My position as a LEO with the local agency would help in the early days for sure in getting the neighborhood on board with security. In the long term, I think things would still devolve. It would also help me deflect some of the follow up questions listed.

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  11. JohnP says:

    Possibly a few would get on board, but most would wait for the last minute or wait to be told what to do, ( Houston, evacuate or not), as such I do not tell them what I have. My wife is still not on board a thinks if we get to the store early we can get what we need, I would never attempt some thing that dumb, at 70+ plus I do not need to get into a fight with some one over a can of soup.

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  12. Prepper Ralph says:

    Since moving to my new area I’ve thought of this quite a bit… Will be had to B/O with my grandfather, though he does know we have “things” in case of something.

    We have Russians beside us who are in full capitalism mode. Two of The three homes in front of us may have a chance… One knows gardening and is right friends with Pops, another has a full solar setup including solar water heater, but never leaves the house. Didn’t even tell the neighbors her husband had died for 3 weeks. So… Creepy to say the least. The final house in front is worthless. They are all lazy and only take and consume. Unfit for any labor outside of eating and sleeping. No other usefulness across the road.

    Going North up the road is various neighbors and family. No one believes in prepping and none store food. Despite either growing up during or having parents that grew up in the depression, none saves food or garden. No useful skills either.

    Outside of two possible resource neighbors, the only assets my other neighbors would be are as alerts. Much better than living in the apartment complex I moved from, but FAR from ideal.

    Our only choice will be B/O when it gets so bad as to convince my grandfather of the need to flee. I can’t abandon him now. Before, when my uncle lived there it would have been easy knowing he would be cared for. Now, It’s not as easy.

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