[CathRadan]

Hello,
At first I thought I belonged with militia groups because of my military back ground, but they seem to be more interested in debating politics than actually discussing how to survive when things go bad. So I'm looking into prepping, sort of. I'm a survivalist at heart, and have no reason to stay where I am when things go bad(no kids, wife is leaving me), so I will most likely go mobile and look for a group to join. Packs do best when they work together.

I grew up running around the swamps of Florida as a teen. I spent 11 years in Boy Scouting, 6 years in the Navy, 6 years in the infantry, and 6 years as an army medic. I have been deployed 3 times. I'm a survivalist at heart.

I own a Winchester 30-30, Remington combat 12Ga, Henry's AR-7 Air Force survival rifle, Beretta's U22 NEOS, and 22LR derringer. Recurve bow, hand crossbow..............hand weapons beyond count, and over 1000 rounds of ammo. I'm looking for high comp magazines for my AR-7, and a group that can appreciate my talents.

I believe that those who stay put will just be begging to be targets. You have to move fast to avoid the gangs, and have fighters who are willing to kill to drive them off. Eventually the gangs will lose steam, and team work will drive them off. 3 deployments have taught me that much.

Rory

 

[Fuzzee]

Welcome Rory and thank you for your service. A lot of the militia groups are full of bloated guys trying to feel tough. Pick and choose a group same as you would friends because afterall they should be. Sometimes staying put can be the right choice and sometimes moving can. In the military you setup and learned to fight from positions and bases where you can set up for best use and guard of your strength and fight from. You've got some nice survival weapons, but seem short on a good carbine of rifle caliber like an AR-15, M14, FAL, G3, ACR, Scar 16, AUG, or other fine choice. The Winchester's nice, but not as fast to put fire on target when needed as some of those mentioned. Or in military caliber anymore. The 12 gauge while hard hitting is not much better and shells are large and heavy per shell compared to 5.56x45mm or 7.62x51mm, or 7.62x39mm even. You'll find a fair amout of vets here also.

 

[Old Man]

Welcome to the forum, from Mississippi.

 

[paraquack]

Welcome, your med training would be an asset to any group. Make sure they know it.

 

[rickkyw1720pf]

Welcome from the still free state of Kentucky

 

[rice paddy daddy]

Welcome from North Florida. Thank you for serving our country.

 

[1895gunner]

Welcome from central Florida!

1895gunner

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

Welcome to the forum from Texas, glad to have you here with us all. Yeah there is more to prepping than guns and politics, a whole lot more. You should find yourself amongst good comp[any here. Hope to see you around and see you often!

 

[JAGER]

Welcome fellow Infantry brother, from Germany!!!!!

 

[Montana Rancher]

Welcome Cath

I agree with Fuzzee and want to add another thought.

If the SHTF "being mobile" will not involve a vehicle, unless you like to get shot at a lot. Road blocks, gasoline, impassible roads are all going to be against automobile travel and use.

With that premise you will need to lighten your load and concentrate on better weapons. The good news is you can probably sell what you have and get enough money to upgrade to decent weapons platforms. There is no way to be mobile with the items you listed above, too much weight, it's time to streamline.

If you decide to bug in or do some cashes, your options for gear get better as you won't have to carry your world on your back.

 

[9UC]

Welcome from Las Vegas and

thank you for your years of service

.

 

[Mudder.Mitch]

Welcome from Canada

 

[Smitty901]

Stay put or wander around depends on where you are. Here if you can defend your ground you are much better off staying put if you are prepared.
Here we can defend and live like our grate grandparents did if we must.
If I were in a place like FL or CA I wonder get as far away as I could there will be way to many people there. Few of them will have anything they need and have no problem taking what is yours.

 

[Deebo]

THANK YOU for your service..
Welcome to the forum...
Check your inbox.

 

[CathRadan]

For the average person, I might agree with you. But I've carried both the M-14 and M-4 while deployed. I can do 2" groups with iron sights(no scope), rapid fire, at 100yards with a 22LR rifle. That is good enough for head shots within combat range. I also have a British enfield 303 if I want to be a sniper, but close combat is my strength, so I would happily hand my 303 to a better long range shooter. I also believe the 22LR is a greatly underestimated round, it was the favorite rounds for assassins for years after all. I chose the Combat 870 because that was the weapon I felt the most comfortable with during my first 2 deployments. I ask you this, if you were wearing the latest armor provided by the US military, which would you want to be shot with at close range, a M-4, or a 12 gauge slug? With a 12 gauge slug, I would knock the wind out of you and have plenty of time to walk up to you, slit your throat, and take your weapons and ammo. Also, keep in mind, with my combat medic training, I shouldn't have to do long range because any group I'm with should be hoping I'm saving lives.

 

[CathRadan]

I'm a combat medic, 11B was my secondary MOS, I'm proud to have served with an infantry unit in Iraq. I'm also a fan of Patton.