Strategic Relocation: Where To Go For Low Cost Of Living, No Income Tax, a Great Attitude and Wide Open Spaces

by | Jan 11, 2015 | Strategic Relocation | 202 comments

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    Editor’s Note: This week survival expert Joel Skousen continues his Strategic Relocation Briefings and takes us down south to the largest state in the lower 48 – Texas. It’s no secret that Texas has one of the country’s most thriving economies and gun laws that closely mesh with the Second Amendment. With plenty of land for everyone, many Americans who are tired of high taxation and restrictive state laws have made their way to the Lone Star State in search of greener pastures. But even though it is an attractive place to live with many benefits, there are some specific considerations that need to be made if you’re looking to set up a homestead or survival retreat. It’s a big state with varying terrain, climates, politics, crime rates and demographics, so before you move give the following analysis a read.

    For information on other areas from coast to coast check out Joel Skousen’s previous briefings.

    To see what properties are available in Texas and throughout the U.S., visit the Strategic Relocation Real Estate web site (each property includes survival ratings!) . If you have questions about finding the perfect home or retreat don’t hesitate to contact the pros at Survival Retreat Consulting.

    More SR Briefings:
    How To Position Yourself To Survive A Major TEOTWAWKI Event
    One Of The Best Bug Out Strategy Guides You’ll Ever Read

    texas1


    Strategic Relocation Tips: Living or retreating in Texas
    By Joel Skousen
    Author, Strategic Relocation and The Secure Home

    SR-logoThis week we’ll take a look at the pros and cons of selecting Texas as a retreat location. One of the best things going for Texas is its sheer size.  You can drive all day across Texas and barely reach another state—and in the many rural counties, that means fairly low population density, and much of that is due to lack of rainfall.  Texas has multiple climate zones, from continental (hot and dry) in West Texas to humid subtropical near the Gulf coast. The Panhandle of the state has colder winters than central Texas, while the Gulf Coast has mild winters. Rainfall varies from 55 in/yr in the east to less than 10 in the West near El Paso. Dallas in the North Central region averages a more moderate 37.

    Texas has several major advantages over other states as a relocation destination.  1) it has a low cost of living, 2) no income tax, 3) a fairly strong “don’t mess with Texas” attitude among real Texans (who don’t live in Dallas), and 4) the amount of wide open spaces still available.

    Negatives about Texas are, 1) the deep roots of corruption in Texas, 2) the softening of the traditional Texas toughness by soft living and wealth, and 3) the steady encroachment of Latino gangs, crime, and their tendency to support democratic socialism.

    In short, because of the sheer size of this state, you can find medium-term safety in rural areas, and enjoy a low cost lifestyle as well.  However, like all southern Border States, the illegal alien threat will eventually overwhelm the area.  Like Arizona, Texans suffer from the failure of the federal government to enforce immigration laws and secure the border.  Also in like manner, conservative Texans are easily fooled by politicians who talk and walk like traditional Texans and who say  what conservatives want to hear, but are in league with powerful and corrupt national forces which intend to subvert traditional values in this once great state.

    There are also some major threats to Texas in a nuclear war. Texas Senators have used their insider connections with Washington for many years to bring military installations to Texas—good for jobs, but not so good when it puts civilians at risk during war.  Naturally, the largest metro areas in Texas are also subject to mass social unrest following a major attack or any crisis accompanied by the cutoff of supplies and public services:  Dallas/FortWorth and Houston are the worst.  But also at risk are San Antonio, Austin, and Amarillo (due to the Pantex plant threat—a prime nuclear target).

    In many parts of Texas the rock-like soil is a liability in terms of building a retreat—the presence of either a hardpan subsoil (Caliche), or the infamous Vertisols types.  Vertisols are expansive clay soils that cause buildings to heave upwards in the rainy season or sink during dry spells. Both types make building secure basements an expensive and costly project. Before you buy land in Texas, you must check local soil maps at the county extension office to make sure you aren’t buying land that is non-farmable or where basements are not feasible.

    All of the major metros in Texas are too big to survival social unrest in a major crisis, so you should plan on a rural retreat—and those should not be within a hundred miles of the Mexican border. That’s where the jobs are, however, so if you must live in the Dallas area/Fort Worth area, your best retreat sites are further East into the pine forest country of East Texas (Athens, Palestine).

    This is the beautiful pine country near the Louisiana border and on down to the Gulf Coast, but stay clear of Houston.   Naturally, the Gulf Coast portion of this area within 25 miles of the water is not recommended due to the threat of Hurricanes.  This is a huge area where one can find mild weather, good water, rural farm land clearings and down to earth people.  However, keep in mind that the towns closest to Dallas and Houston will eventually receive a lot of refugees, so keeping to the central zone around the Angelina National Forest will give you the most buffering distance.  We should also mention the area above I-30 which approaches the Oklahoma Ozarks.  Rural farm retreats outside of Clarksville and Paris are very rural and provide good safety.

    There are a few smaller cities north or of Dallas (Sherman and Denison) or northwest (toward the small towns near Witchita Falls) that are much safer than Dallas itself.  When figuring out an escape plan from any major metro like Dallas, take note of major obstacles like beltways, or major rivers and lakes.  There are three major lakes north of Dallas, Lake Ray Hubbard, Lake Dallas and Grapevine Lake,  all of which are major obstacles that channel traffic into confined areas.  Don’t locate where you can get trapped between the city and these chock points.

    In the Houston area, you want to locate on the periphery in a northerly arc, centered around Spring, Texas.  Your best retreat sites are NW into the pine country of East Texas. In the Austin area, you should select a location in a western suburbs because the best retreat areas are farther to the west.  The closest ranch areas are around Lake Travis, which because of its shape provides a major obstacle for refugees, if you locate so that the lake is between you and the city. In San Antonio, we recommend you locate outside the Charles Anderson Loop Hwy, on the north.  Best exit routes are Hwy 281 to Fredricksburg, or 16 to Kerrville, into what they call the “Hill Country”

    The Texas Hill Country:   This is the only suitable retreat area in southwest Texas, and it is especially suitable for people who live in South Texas.  Unlike most of Texas, this country is hilly, which has some strategic advantages.  It encompasses the counties to the NW of I-35 which connects Austin and San Antonio.  The central cities in the hill country are Kerrville and Fredericksburg, though it extends farther north toward Llano as well.   It has some forestation (a mix of Pines, Live Oaks and Cedars (which are now proliferating and soaking up a lot of ground water. Its major liabilities are lack of water, rock outcroppings and hardpan Caliche soils (making basements expensive), and proximity to the border.  The Hill Country is also getting fairly expensive since a lot of wealthy are building ranches and second homes in the area.

    For both the Austin area and the Dallas area, there’s one other area of farms and ranches to the West of Dallas and the NW of Austin you ought to consider that I think is superior to the hill country.  It’s farther away from Mexico and  has  more water, and deeper soil (before you hit hardpan)  than the Hill country—hence the farms and ranches there are more productive. It’s a fairly large area bounded by Brownwood on the south, Stephenville on the east, Cisco to the North (but away from I-10) and Coleman to the West.

    In Amarillo, you want to avoid the nuclear assembly plant (Pantex) 17 miles northeast of the city just north of Hwy 60.  The city of Amarillo is not in the blast zone, nor is it in the normal fallout wind pattern if the plant is struck (a certainty, due to nuclear weapons being stored there).  Nevertheless, it would be better to locate on the West side of town and have a secure home or retreat.  

    The Texas Panhandle:  There are some fine agricultural areas in the Panhandle from Lubbock north to Amarillo, particularly in the Plainview areas.  Flat land doesn’t make for retreats per se, but this area is so vast and rural that it does provide relative safety.  Remember that a key part of survival is being able to grow food in areas that don’t have a lot of starving people.  There are ranges of hills and rough country where rural retreat cabins can be located.  While rougher and less forested, the rugged country north of Amarillo, and its small towns, provides good long-term safety where you have water.

    Best of all, in rural Texas, you meet the best of the original Texans.  They are mostly like-minded, try to be self-reliant and are very conservative.

    Find your perfect home or retreat property at the Strategic Relocation For Sale By Owner web site or contact Survival Retreat Consulting for assistance with your questions.

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    More Strategic Relocation Articles:

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    One Of The Best Bug Out Strategy Guides You’ll Ever Read

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      202 Comments

      1. Where ever you hang your hat is home…

        • everyone should move to seattle theres only a bunch of libtards here so anyone who is prepared will probably own the hole town after about 2 months post collapse.
          the whole SHTF crew should link up and consider it.

          • Somewhere in the SanJuans would be nice, or Sequim

            • Sequim IS rather nice….thanks for letting that CAT outta the bag!

            • TX has no state income tax but has VERY HIGH PROPERTY TAXES = You never really own your property; you “rent” from those who waste your money.

              • I agree property taxes are a rape in Texas as a natural born Texan I live in port Angeles wa west of Sequim (squim) best place in the whole country to survive shft bar none.
                In Texas you will die of thirst & hunger or be raped and shot by the well armed hordes……

                • i agree with you Red.

              • I disagree with the moving to Texas thing. He is wrong on several accounts.
                Why do I know this? Because I was born and raised there. Then I moved.
                One main thing to consider is Texas has no water. Seriously. My husband was a surveyor for the whole state. The aquafresh were pretty much drying up then. Now they really are. So, your choice.
                Texas has lost their balls they once had. Maybe they might get them back??
                There are bad crimes all over. Cartels, etc..
                The cities he talks about are not good. The panhandle sucks bigtime.
                I went back not too long ago and it is much worse than before! It just confirmed to me that we had made the right decision all along..
                The smart Texans are moving out.
                Seems to me he keeps changing destinations.
                Take a trip first if you like. Research it out first before you move ANYWHERE.
                Just my 2 cents worth.

                • I meant aquifer not aquafresh. Darn spellchecker likes to add it’s own words.
                  Lynne

            • Make that: “You ‘rent’ from armed tyrants who waste your money.

              • Off Topic: but Important…Last nite, sunday midnight I for the very first time while surfing tv stations checked out a newer tv news show called “Aljezera News” channel.

                It is an American Based with American tv reporters tv news show..it is NOT some crapy arab tv station within arabia etc..That Dared to show facts and Truth of long supressed issues.

                What was broadcast on tv was unbelievable!

                This tv news station actually did a full one hour Expose’ Documentary show on the “Israel Attack on the USS Naval Liberty ship during the 7-day jewish war of 1967!”

                This hour long expose show is the very first time ever that fomer hidden secret tapes of the actual dialogue spoken between Israel state AIR Tower workers and jewish israel jet fighter Pilots discussions of before-during-after the jewish pilots rabidly attacked the UNarmed USA naval ship while it was “parked” in International waters!

                It also showed MANY of the still alive actual usa navy sailors and officers candidly speaking out on this huge Atrocity which as the tv show stated was fully covered up and done by LBJ when he was US Prez then!

                Several Other former whitehouse Prez aides and officials also spoke out and told the hows and whys this all happened!

                Also shown in HD full color full tv screen shots was the formerly Hidden top secret photos of the actual uss Liberty ship while stationed as a spy-listening ship, before being attacked rabidly by jew israeli pilots, and Afterwards when too many bullet and cannon fire holes existed to be counted!

                Also shown was when uss liberty ship was dragged back into usa Port for dammage assessments and potential repair…included was a huge picture of the Hole that was caused by jewish israeli Navy attack boats which Fired FOUR Torpedos and which only One torpedo made a Direct hit to libertys hull above And below water line!

                That single torpedo created a huge Hole that measured 29 Feet tall by over 44 feet Wide! And Killed most officers and men located within that ship section below top deck.

                They showed also huge amounts of fresh spilled or splattered usa navel men’s Blood from their Horrific wounds and Limb’s blown clean off instantaniously during this rabid jewish attack on America! And to Date, NOT one single Israel military nor state officials has ever yet been charged nor prosectued for War crimes of the worst degree. Thanks to Lib dem jewish ass licker LBJ and Crew.

                several of the remaining alive witnesse’s abord ship that fatefull day when America was Attacked by its supposedly “Best friends and ALLIES”!! Israel state.

                Were unable to hold back their tears when reciteing actual events and being eye witness to the deaths they saw due to this Rabid attack.

                Close to a grand total 300 men were aboard the liberty ship…After a over 7 repeat jet fighter attacks and several war boat torpedo attacks were finally done, at least 34 men of the usa navy got killed, aprox 175 Severaly wounded, with the rest as survivors.

                regardless of the many many repeat jet fighter and torpedo attacks the uss liberty remained Afloat!!

                Perhaps it was a true act of Providence as Gods method to preserve the evidence of the Rabid hatefull jewish israeli attacks upon whats supposed to be israels bestest allies, America eh.

                All in All this was the top number One best ever truth filled tv documentary I have ever witnessed seeing in all of my 62 yrs on earth so far!

                It is full of actual whitehouse war room table members photo file pics…plus Live action film of same war room with Prez LBJ-who His top aides seen in this show admitted was the MOST Jewish Israel friendly us prez to date, and also admited that due to Severe and Manifold Jewish-Lobby Orgs within the usa, and in israel too, warnings to not just withold the Largest Political donations provided by the many jew orgs and jewish individuals in america and israel that always donate huge cash every election cycle etc…

                But LBJ was also threatened most severly to be made out to be the worlds biggest Antisemitic if he dared defy jews and their jewish orgs wishes for a 100% full and Total Cover-Up act to simply make the entire uss liberty rabid jewish israel fighter jets and attack torpedo boats, also jewish israeli, simply “Go Away” as if never happened and do so asap fast!

                One woman/wife of one of the horribly killed naval officers also was interviewed…She stated that the NSA which the ships crew answered or reported findings to, actually sent several NSA Men to her home to remain with her for several Weeks to make certain she would NOT talk to any Media or newspapers reporters!

                This is one of THE largest ever total Traitorous Cover-Ups and traitors actions ever by any usa prez and related bad actors…

                This documentary is a MUST view issue for all who desire real facts backed truth. Especially those who still Blindly accept and approve of All that is ever done if done by Israel or jewish folks there or Here.

                RAW Facts based TRUTH…”IF” You can Handle it that is!

                I do not know if like other tv news show stations such as RT and CNN and Fox weather or not Aljerzia TV news also keeps available on file Vidoes online so You can view this amazeing Expose’ that has been totaly secreted away by official us Prez and Senate Mandates ever since it occured back in 1967…

                I 100% guarentee you that even the staunchest defender of all issues jewish/israel state are going to see it all under a NEW light if they Dare view this massive expose documentary show…..Maybe John Hagee needs view it eh!

                I do Hope Many of you good people here try to locate and view a copy of this show…The VERY First ever showing and broadcast on a tv station or anywheres else, of the actual Ship-Men aboard-mens Wives, etc etc.

                This is going to put an END to the many Naysayers who always reject such written proof info when we here post it up!…Such actual video and actual Navy men survivors tales cannot be faked eh!…Go find and View it you Naysayers and staunch defenders of what can only be called the INdefensable Israel jewish Attacks upon an UNarmed USS Naval ship Leagally within boundries of International Waters zones!

                Best friends and allies of mid east?…MY ASS!

                • Are you trying to say this was a “rabid” attack?

                  RF

                  • forget trying to enlighten the brain dead christians (majority of posters here) any facts about Israel. they are TOO stupid with the Bi-Bull to ever stop and consider.
                    1. the bible was written BY JEWS (Old testament IS the TORAH)
                    2. coincidentally these same people happen to be special according to “god”.

                    They will NEVER GRASP the concept of the fact that the Jews in Control of the world also made up the religion..

                    OR< that JEWS invented Islam too..

                    • You Jew haters are such morons. Sadly a once great prepper site has been taken over by leftist communists.

                    • Moses wandered the desert for 40 years and settled in the one place there wasn’t any oil: imagine how different the world would be if he’d wandered just a little longer. Kinda calls in to question how an all-knowing god could give his “chosen” people the landmass without a future valuable natural resource, doesn’t it?

                • Aljazeera is run by muslims. enough said.

                • please take your tongue out of the obama anus

              • Yeah, I finally moved to my ideal location… finally got here! its beautiful here! It has the mountains, lots of natural springs, trees, all you would need for a rural retreat area– except friends!

                Back home, it was not the ideal location. However, I lived there for 40 years, was part of a community- people I’ve known most of my life and I miss it like heck! I’m thinking the most important thing is a tribe– group of people you know— and I left that behind. Love is the most important thing.

                Yes, this is a great area, but I am an outsider. I don’t fit in, and I don’t even have the same accent as these people! If SHTF, they won’t care crap for me because I am not like them!

                • I had been wanting to come here for the longest time– it is so beautiful…I finally moved here about 2 months ago! But it is not HOME!

                  • Totally agree with you. I bought property in middle Tennessee. Great property, but I wouldn’t be let into the community because I sounded like a “damn yank”. So much for southern hospitality. I’m not saying it is like that everywhere down there, but I can empathize with you. Needless to say I packed up and moved back to Alaska where everyone is accepted. Alaska truly is the last of the free states. It’s a tough place to live but I wouldn’t trade it for anywhere else.

                    • P.S.: I’ve got some acreage up for sale in middle Tennessee!

                    • contact me , I may be interested in your land.

                  • You must live in one of the A states? If you are, what part?We dont really have friends either but at least we arent stuck in tx.

                • RIGHT.. moving to a country place is STUPID as an outsider. Unless you have BIG $$$ or family there already.

                  I KNOW, I have family all throughout East TN, and in the hills, family trumps ALL.. Some “northerners” move into the piedmont and when SHTF, it only takes 1 family member to want your stuff, then the WHOLE family is after you..

                • The California of fifty years ago would be my choice. Too bad it is gone.

              • Never is a long time.

              • Meaning a world-wide Apocalypse will wipe us all out when it hits $99/barrel?

                • You’ll have to ask the Prince, you know, the one who said it.

                  I just posted here what he said. I find it interesting, not necessarily true, I have no way of knowing.

        • Wherever you go
          There you are!

          • I concur…

            “Strategic Relocation: Where To Go For Low Cost Of Living, No Income Tax, a Great Attitude and Wide Open Spaces”

            There is no such place… To have such a place would have required sacrifice before hand… Not after the fact. The slow boil of America will continue… The revolution will not be televised.

        • Too many scum illegals running through your back yards.

          • You mean? Your back yard is NOT a “free fire zone????” Get two BIG dogs, and feed them every other day…problem in the yard resolved.

          • Texass? Steers, queers, and Mexicans. No way, Joel.

            • 1. TOO MANY MEXICANS!!!
              2. TOO MANY “respect my authoritah” attitude HICK cops.
              3. some of the most INSANE anti- medical marijuana laws..
              ironic considering the number of bible thumpers, Genesis 1:29
              4. TOO MANY HISPANIC INVADER former anchor baby breeders.
              5. Not enough TREES for firewood in a post collapse scenario.
              6. WATER? from the GROUND? lol, fracking polluted.

              This Skousen MORON is no better at “strategic location” than my 9 year old daughter who just finished elementary geography.

              I grew up a miltary brat and former Marine, have LIVED all over the country, SKOUSEN is a POSER..

              POSER!!

              last time it was / East Tn,.. i was BORN there, WHAT AN IDIOT SKOUSEN IS< he knows NOTHING of the area..

              • ACE:”WATER? from the GROUND? lol, fracking polluted.”

                Are you stupid, son?

                • you proved you are. fracking has polluted the ground water in most of Texas.
                  Go back to watching FOX news.

          • In France – Free Speech is only OK if it benefits your Cause. Get this hypocrisy. If you make fun at the Jews it is Anti-Semitic. The Sheeple continue to be Dumbed Down.

            French cartoonist Sine on trial on charges of anti-Semitism over Sarkozy jibe
            01-11-2015 • The Telegraph
            A Left-wing cartoonist is to go on trial on Tuesday on charges of anti-Semitism for suggesting Jean Sarkozy, the son of the French president, was converting to Judaism for financial reasons….
            http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/4351672/French-cartoonist-Sine-on-trial-on-charges-of-anti-Semitism-over-Sarkozy-jibe.html

            The ZOG Scam on the World continues……

        • Yup, Joel S. is certifiably crazy!

          Texas, where the police state prison system is probably more healthy than most other areas. Also a state where the sheeple brain dead red necks brag on how many they have in prison and how many they kill on death row. Many of whom now are trying, with no money, to get a judge to take a look at evidence again….yeah Texas the LEADER in wrongful convictions. And Texas leads also in dna exoneration’s with 52. With society and the system ever increasingly focusing on prepper’s and their lifestyle away from the system….I would not be looking to move to or live in such a tyrannical police state and take those kinds of chances.

          Not to mention the desert, the hot weather and the murdering crazy drug gangs from Mexico.

          • BJ, here’s another subject where you and I can agree on. Yes, Joel Skousen strikes again with another of his BS articles. Texas does have LE and courts that are out of control. It’s being overrun with illegal aliens. Liberal transplants from CA are there trying to turn it inside out. Some parts of TX are already undergoing a serious water shortage and have been in a drought for a long time. All of north TX is part of “Tornado Alley”. I’ve been through a few tornados as a young man and can tell you they are nothing nice. They have that VERY DRY humidity which is a real bitch to live through. I’ll remain east of the Mighty Mississippi River, thank you. No water issues, fewer illegal aliens, better quality people, etc.

            • At least Skousen said one of the negatives was “the steady encroachment of Latino gangs, crime, and their tendency to support democratic socialism.”
              Rampant libtardness in San Antonio area so stay clear.
              That panhandle area is in tornado alley.
              These relocation pieces are twaddle. The worlds ungluing and most of us aint moving.

              • I have also lived in Texas, but not recently. Back in the 1960s. However, I used to visit the Dallas-Fort Worth area on a semi-regular basis during the 1980s and 1990s and into the 2000’s to attend various technical training courses, so I do have a little experience in watching how the DFW area has deteriorated.

                The last time I visited, I will never forget the shock I got when I turned on the radio in my rental car and then started searching across the dial to look for a Country & Western music station. All I could find was non-stop jabbering in Spanish. It was as if I had somehow gotten off an airplane deep in the corrupt gut of Mexico and I wasn’t even in America anymore.

                Texas without Country & Western music radio stations just is not Texas anymore.

                Bring on The Alamo Part 2. The sooner, the better.

          • I’ve lived in Texas all my life…Nowhere near as bad as you depict BJ.

            ..also, FWIW, Mac is from South Houston too…

            There’s good and bad in any location, hard to oversimplify in any article (or blog post). Just saying.
            -Dad

            • Hey Daddy,
              Some of my post was personal preferene due to the climate, Id much rather be in a cold/snow/mountain and trees environment. But the state has seemed like a police state to me for some time.
              And a few minutes ao, myu boss sent me and a co-worker texts on Boko Haram and Nigeria and then texted that there are terrorist training camps in Texas and the FBI can’t touch them cause they are not considered terrorists?? Have to look into that one and make sure it isn’t media propaganda to condition us for a false flag.

              Hope all is well mdown there with you adn yours. Business/job good?

              BJ

            • I have to laugh at the Texas bashing here. When you have states like Connecticut, California, Washington, Illinois, New Jersey, etc. to compare, Texas is the Pearly Gates.

              Re the Mexicans: Texas has a long history of Hispanics in the state, both for agriculture and family ties. No one here likes the illegals or drug gangs but you all make it sound like Chicago …it ain’t. Huge numbers of concealed weapon license holders–men and women–and the state is still fundamentally conservative in outlook, politically and fiscally.

              Yeah,it’s a real police state when they approve Come and Take It and Don’t Tread On Me license plates…I just bought some.

              Oh, and for you folks who are worried about the state taking your home if you can’t pay your taxes: In Texas, at 65 you are legally able to abate paying ANY property, school or other assessments until you are out of you homestead for six months. If you die, your spouse gets the same treatment. You pay the taxes out of your estate. NO ONE in Texas has to lose their home in old age because they can’t pay property taxes. It’s been that way since the 80s. You qualify with a one-page form that is displayed on every county tax entity’s website.

              Oh, and about that water shortage. I live five minutes from the Gulf and have large solar distillers in my prep kits. I’ll be able to give water away.

              By all means, don’t come to Texas. We don’t want to dilute the gene pool with folks who like to talk about what they know not.

        • Eppe, before too long, I’ll be hanging my hat at my cousin’s BOL in the mountains. Once I get there, that’s where I will stay.

          • LOL , Renegade , Move already !!

        • TEXAS CAN SUCK MY CAULK 🙂

          • Genius,would that be latex or silicone?

          • read ten lines and realized it was bull crap propaganda

          • at least Texas can seceed

          • I retract my statement, posted in error.

          • please cancel/delete comment I.d. 3314847, posted in error. thanks!

        • Texas is definitely not a desirable place to live for many reasons. I lived in San Antonio several years ago. Been on business trips to Dallas and Houston many times since then.

          * Taxes. Sales taxes and very high property taxes.
          * Tolls. Most highways in Texas are tollways.
          * Corruption. Texas is well known for its corruption at every level in State government.
          * Weather. Winters get bitter cold, Summers are hot and very very uncomfortably sticky-humid.
          * Critters. I’ve never seen so many cockroaches anywhere else. Also mosquitoes and scorpions.
          * People. Great attitude my ass. Texans are not very welcoming of non-Texans, and very protective and controlling over “their” Texan women. I’ve never been in so many fights anywhere else.
          * Mexicans. Illegals are everywhere. Too many damn mexican channels on TV/radio too.

          Fuck Texass.

          • NO
            You think Texas is bad try the Soviet Socialist republic of Illinois. We got Texas beat all to hell!
            Sgt.
            P.S. Can’t wait to get to Tenn. Can’t leave until Mom and Dad pass. Both not doing well. 85 years young they have all ready out lived everybody in their families.

          • Yeah I used to live in Tx a long time ago, my sister was born in Austin, and my wife is from Pasadena. We looked at a lot of states, and a few other countries, when we were relocating. Texas wasn’t on our list and demographically it’s only getting worse.

            Now I’m not suggesting everyone move to Idaho like we did, we like it being rural and uncrowded, but if you’re going to move you would have to have a serious family or job reason to pick Texas.

            If no income tax is that big of a reason, consider Wyoming (or even Tennessee), if you want open spaces and near a friendly border (you never know when you’ll need to flee the country) consider Montana, Idaho, or even N. Dakota.

            If you don’t mind leaving now, consider Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, or perhaps Belize or Costa Rica. Speaking of leaving now, you should. If you must have a BOL with family for example and can’t live there full time, please store preps ahead of time and make every effort to help with the retreat ahead of time.

            My one buddy who will bug out to here helped me build the barn (a mighty nice one if I do say so), he built the watering system for the fruit trees, helped with many a fence, has stored many 5 gal buckets of staples, first aid supplies, and of course clothes, firearms, and lots of ammo. Of course he has a key and knows the dog in case we’re out hunting or fishing when he arrives.

            Hopefully you belong at your BOL as much as my buddy does and will be as equally welcome. Nothing wrong with digging in with family if the SHTF, most of our family that wouldn’t leave Dixie will go to one or two family retreats and give it a go; but how welcome will you be when lots of family show up and maybe not all can pull their weight? Telling close family to hit the road is a problem all by itself.

            The single best prep I’ve ever made was moving to this farm and setting it up now, despite the many sacrifices we had to make to do it. Fruit trees take time, fence and barns need to be built, neighbors need to become friends, and gardening takes practice (especially when you change climate zones like we did).

            • Im in Garden valley on 3ac with 400ft of middlefork river

          • Texas does have high sales taxes. But, I live in Washington state right now, and the sales taxes here are just about as high for the same reason: no state income tax. I don’t remember Texas having high property taxes. But, it has been 31 years since I owned a house there. I don’t doubt that the state government in Texas is corrupt. Hell, it’s where LBJ came from. But, I haven’t lived in a state yet where the government wasn’t corrupt. I can remember the Keating Five in Arizona, for example. North Texas has the bitter cold winters, mainly up in the panhandle. But, that’s 3,500′ – 4,000′ above sea level. Summers are definitely hot and a bit sticky, but nothing like the swampiness of Louisiana or Mississippi. The cockroaches are particularly bad down around Houston. When I was 18 I worked in a Burger King on Gessner Road in Houston. I remember opening a fresh bundle of the white paper bags we used to put peoples’ meals into, and little German cockroaches came tumbling out of it. But, it’s a matter of cleanliness. If you keep a clean house and spray the edges of the floor every month or two with cockroach killer, you’ll never have a problem. I didn’t have any in my house in Brownwood. The mosquitoes are like anywhere else: a few days after a warm rain, they hatch out. You can’t get away from that anywhere in the South. The scorpions are in West Texas. I never saw one in Central Texas. Small town Texas is definitely wary of outsiders. The people have a lot of pride. They don’t like “foreigners” coming in from somewhere else and taking over (buying a business.) But, they’ve been Walmarted like the rest of the country. Most small business owners in Central Texas are starving now. Forty years ago you mostly saw German Texans in the Texas Hill Country. Now you see Mexicans everywhere. But, it’s the same way for every state that borders that country.

            • I hear Zyclon-B kills Cockroaches AND Rat’s too, real good!

        • More Dumbed Down Different day.

        • Eh,Eppe,you never met Julie did ya’s?!

        • yep, and in some peoples cases where i hang my holster is home

        • GOing to peep today

          get my new EBT card

          call my landlord for rent assistance

          get my free gas kid gonna help

          and phone

          maybe look for job

        • Come to Ecuador. #1 Retirement for 5 years running. People are very friendly. Food is super cheap and plentiful because many people still farm. Dine out for $3 includes fresh soup, meat, rice, salad, and fresh juice/40# propane for $2/gasoline $1.50 & diesel $1/

        • Ecuador! The food grows 12 months a year and is plentiful. People are gentle and kind. Gasoline is $1.48 and diesel is $1. Propane is $2/40lb tank! You can choose many different climates and we do not have seasons as we are on the equator. The pres does not like the policies of the US and has warned them to not fly over Ecuador with chemtrails. This country already had one financial crash 15 yrs ago and no one killed their neighbors because: 1] food is plentiful 2] they did not have far to financially fall. Ecuador unfortunately now uses the dollar but the pres realizes the need to get away from it.

      2. There is no utopian redoubt, except heaven. There is no heaven on earth, everything is a struggle and in the end no one gives a crap. Be content with whom you’re with and where you’re at, because in the end, that’s going to be where you make your last stand. Wisdom can be defined as;
        “The ability to live life skillfully.”

        • True, but we moved somewhere we hopefully don’t have to defend the Alamo as our last stand (the article was about Texas, I couldn’t help it). As long as the wife and kids are with me, anywhere could do, but some places give us way better odds than others. Unfortunately we didn’t feel that way about Dixie anymore, despite wanting to stay near family.

          North Ga, North AL, southwest N. Carolina, and parts of Tennessee, were all considered as they have many pros. Just not enough for us to outweigh the cons. Population density east of the Mississippi shouldn’t be overlooked.

      3. Wherever you can be invisible. My wife and I have made a great home in the country but we can be easily over run by a gang when they see our garden, chickens ,rabbits and generator. I don’t like our chances alone and most people think we’re nuts. Especially our adult children.

        • You will be well off. Gangs are not smart enough to make it to the country. They will kill of things closer to areas they know, then defend. They may maraud, but they are not coming into rural areas. They know that the old farmer will kill them dead.

          The whole golden horde meme is bullshit. If there was some unorganized horde, the would prey on each other. If it was an organized mass, look out. But strangers are not going to all the sudden put aside differences to join together and murder. Any soldier will tell you, most people would lock up and die before they could perform atrocity.

          Congrats on your retreat, garden, rabbits and chickens.

          • Townsaver, I agree. The gangbangers don’t have brains anyway. They’ll all die from one cause or another in the cities before they could make it outside the city limits. The cities are all they know about. Country people won’t tolerate their BS like city people do. Everyone in the region where I’m bugging out to knows how to hold their own against such trash. The gangbangers don’t stand a chance.

          • Townsaver. Thanks for the encouragement.

        • B
          Don’t worry when TSHTF. Your kids will see just how smart you really are, and will run to you. I will bet my last piece of silver on that. (dollar will be saved for T.P.)
          Then you will have a small army to help protect your place.
          My kids have all come around but one, and she is always the last one to see the light. She does know that her Daddy will take care of her, and I will, but will she get a rude awakening!
          A.S.M.S.
          Sgt.

        • Hey Bass.. we are in the same boat, but kids are starting to come around. We are two country roads and several miles from the nearest small town, house not visible from the road in summer and only slightly visible when the leaves are off the trees.

          We have a tractor backhoe combination planning to cut trees and dig trenches across the driveway when the time comes. Have found the backhoe to be VERY handy, always digging something…LOL

          • A couple of my neighbors have front end loaders, but man would I like that backhoe. The lists are never ending . . . sigh.

      4. I’ll stay in northern Michigan. We have water.

        • ……. and cherries …..!

        • And cold enough to keep most people away

        • I was born in Michigan. One good thing in Michigan, If you can get though the tough winters. The soil is fantastic. It grows the best tomatoes I have ever eaten. Not to mention corn, apples, well must I go on.

        • What about BHO’s new air quality standard for wood burning stoves/fireplaces? Mentioned the new regulation to my wife and she asked me if I was headed out to the shop burn wood?

      5. Everybody move to Newark, New Jersey. I hear it is very nice there. Camden is kind of nice too.

        • Slingshot, I like your sarcasm. NJ is more like the commiefornia of the east coast.

        • Yes , I’m in toms river nj, but Camden and Newark , thats fucking HELL .

          • My mother was from Asbury Park! Mazel Tov!

          • But….,But….,Ghost,you recently extolled the virtues of NJ with it’s lower gas taxes!

          • Good Stripe Bass fishing ground.

        • Camden makes West Phila look safe. There was actually a point a couple of decades ago that Camden cops didn’t go to Camden and needed the NJ State Police. Actually its a city ahead of its time as it was industrially eviscerated about two decades before Billy Joel wrote “Allentown”.

          Admiral Wilson Blvd is synonymous with hookers. Admiral Wilson no doubt deserved a better legacy.

          • Guys:
            Camden can’t top Shitcago. Another 15 people shot over the weekend. That is down from last week of 22 people shot. The last weekend of Dec. 35 shot. So in three weeks time we have had 72 people shot. I believe there was 20 dead out of this. They only talk about the shootings. Just add all the forcible felonies together and I think there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000. This is just in tree weeks. Shitcago is become Dirttroit. Can’t wait till summer! LOL
            Sgt.

            • As long as the right people are getting shot…

      6. I’ve lived where I’m at for over 70 yrs and I’ll let no one drive me off, besides my wife is related to half the people around the county so she’s not ever leaving, if something were to happen to her, I have another place up in the woods about two hundred miles from here and I would go there, one on my sons is there anyway and the place is all prepped just like this place.

        • Old70, I have a ‘plan B’ to join my relatives in the mountains of north GA when the time comes. I already have most of my supplies at a cousin’s BOL in her barn. My family is all concentrated within a small area and have trained extensively to come to each other’s aid in case of any trouble. They all grew up in the prepper lifestyle and have homesteads. They’ll die fighting before they let anyone drive them away. They have everything that is needed for survival in that region. Plus, there’s plenty of water available and GOOD water at that. The BOL I’m going to, in addition to having a well, also borders partially on a year-round creek. They all grew up around guns and the women in the family are better shots than I am. No water issues in the eastern US.

      7. Texas by 2025 will be the Jewel in the progressives hat. Like California, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Colorado. Texas too will fall.

        • Funny how progressivism is like a form of cancer!

        • Mic68, there’s an awful lot of armed Texans who will have something to say about that. the next civil war could begin in TX.

        • It is eating away at Montana as well.

          • It’s the younger population that is brainwashed in schools to believe this socialism shit is the best way. As each cities population grows over time, more and more of the socialism attitude expands as those young people rise to power and the cycle repeats.

            Make no mistake, with enough time this entire country will be one huge socialist state. It may take several generations to cover that much area politically, but it will happen.

          • I read somewheres that Victoria secrets sells More sized 36-C & D Bras to Up north Mich areas than to all other locations nationwide.

      8. My pop went to Texas said the folks are real friendly there. Talk to guys at work who are retiring that’s all they talk about is moving somewhere else as if the grass is greener elsewhere. Most of the folks I know who move away move back sooner or later. I live where it is very expensive to live and it costs me an arm and a leg believe me and there isn’t much land and what there is it’s expensive. And property taxes are out of control but I own my house not the bank . It’s nice being close to everything . 20 min ride to the city. My work is a 15 min ride so I stay late on the clock. It really has it benefits not much immigrant problems as Texas. If I move it will be north to Vermont or maine maybe New Hampshire brother in law lives in hn it’s really nice a lot of forested land mountains . The soil is superb here it’s rich black loaded with worms Texas can’t touch it. I grow a 30foot square garden and I’m giving away veggies I get so much and I’m not that good a gardener at all. The sea is 10 mins away quohougs lobsters clams scallops blues crabs all that I wouldn’t give it up for mountain oysters no way . I’m definetly not in a safe spot if there is military conflict though and people live under high stress that’s for sure . Most people are not friendly here. I don’t bother with the community too much I keep to myself.

        • Like me, fresh water within walking distance, another short walk to the River (saltwater ). Quahogs, crabs, stripers. Lots of waterfowl if you can swing a 12 gauge . Southern Mass ain’t so bad. Police chiefs don’t break balls over gun permits. It’s just the Bolsheviks in Boston that cause problems.

        • Asshat:

          I enjoy your posts but wish you would break them up into paragraphs.

          Much easier to read. Just sayin……

          • POG- He could say that paragraph in one sentence and never take a breath. lol Just nod a lot and act interested.

      9. I have a sister-in-law in the Longview area. It is a bit rural and there is a lot of people trying to be self sufficient. I have learned a little about livestock from the folks there. Good people in that area.

      10. Been there and done that (Texas), if your not born there a shirt and boots will not make you a Texan. Oh don’t get me wrong people are friendly, but you are still an outsider and will not be fully excepted. If you are not in a city stay put where you are. Where this keyboard is, that’s where I’ll make my stand. Enough said!!!

      11. I have been suffering from an acute GI malady for 2 days. I am so weak I can barely stand. The room spins. Pure liquid comes out of my ass. I am very vulnerable to attack.

        Get as many medications as you can. Fuck the prescription system and these sheeple who talk about prescription drug abuse. If it brings money to the drug companies Im sure the corrupt bastards are all for it anyway.

        • Sounds like AIDS to me!

        • Ass’ed Itch, Did you hear about the guy that had Aids and he went to the doctor, and the doctor said, just go to Mexico, and while your there eat whatever the Mexicans eat and when you drink, drink whatever the Mexicans drink, and when you drink water, drink the same water they drink. And the guy asked, will that cure my Aids? And the doctor said No! But it’ll show you what your asshole was made for. Trekker Out. Old People Know Better!

        • AE ,
          Sounds like you got Norwalk Virus , not much you can do it has to run its course,
          Lasts about 3 days , Gatorade rest and just let it get out of your system .

          It’s miserable I had it 2 years ago its not an experience I would repeat .

          Semper Fi

        • AcidEtch, poor thing, know how you feel. One week ago today i came down with “the sit downs & the throw ups”. Yesterday was first day of real food.

          Preps i used: jello, chick broth, white rice, electrolyte solution, and one leftover, 10yr old Promethazine suppository.

          Hubby worked The Blue Man Show. For some reason they shoot bananas out of tubes into the audience. The stagehand crew divided what was left, so got some “B” on the BRAT diet.

          Hubby & i talked what if.

          What if, sick or not, we still had to plant the crops or take in a harvest? Butcher, feed the stock, lug firewood, or cut firewood.

          You are correct Acid~ it’s a very vulnerable time, even when you’ve prepped.

          Here’s to getting better (raising drink of elect. solution)

        • So you spew shit out of your mouth at people all week, then expect people to have sympathy for you now? Sorry, but I don’t. This is called KARMA.

      12. Been To Tyler once for a few days. Nice little town. Pretty girls too.

        • I bought some soap from Tyler once. Best soap I ever used!

      13. Sticking to the Shennandoah Valley,plenty of mountains,water and good ole boys with guns. Just you all keep passin through.

        • Jim, same things in north GA where I will most likely be before spring. There’s a storm coming; I can hear the thunder.

          • RB get yer raincoat on it surely is acomin!

      14. Last fall I downloaded One Second After. Was so busy I forgot about it until yesterday. read it in about 7 hours. I was starting to tell myself I had done enough in the food department, but….I guess its time to add a little more. And by the end of this week, I will have a faraday cage set up with a spare shortwave radio and 2-way radios. Every evening I will spend a half hour printing homesteading and self-reliance info I’ve downloaded, and put copy onto a usb stick with an old spare laptop in the faraday. I have hubby buying extra every time he needs something for maintaining things around the house. We had quite a bit of wood, but i’m thinking with these temps again this year, we’re going to have to buy some more.
        Iran and Venezuela are pissed over oil prices. The Saudis clearly back terrorism and I believe they co-opted US support to cripple Putin with the oil squeeze, when we were their target all along. In the past I would say I’m getting a bad feeling, but it’s funny. It’s like I have just accepted the fact that something is coming and soon. I’m just not worried about it anymore.

        And you know its funny. You couldn’t get 3 million Americans to piss out their back door at the same time if it meant Obama and Biden would resign. I am amazed at the solidarity of the French in the wake of this attack. Just goes to show how much our country has gone down the shitter in 13 short years.

        I just can’t wait to get the heck out of CT. September 30 is my end date NO MATTER WHAT. We will put the house on the market in June and price the house to SELL, SELL, SELL! If I have to take traveling assignments across the mid-west, that is fine with me. I only need to work the equivalent of 20 hrs a week to keep my certifications. At least I’ll have a better chance of surviving in a place where like minded folk are neighbors.

        • Good luck on your move. I hate moving. Bought my first house in my 40’s, and I will never move. Raise the kids, raise the garden, raise hell!

          Remember to live. Eppe wrote a tearjerker recently, and since my father died of cancer it hit home. Damn you Eppe! Anyway, it shone some light on my own life. I had rain forecasted, and was hoping to get washed clean out on my motorcycle, in less than ideal temperatures. The rain never showed, but it was great to be in the crisp mountain air. Freezing gives you a wonderful perspective on family and home life!

          Like minded folks are key. You do not have to be best friends, but a friendly welcome or self introduction can do wonders. Good luck to you and your old man.

          • Town, sorry to hear that. Was not my intent. My parents are up there also. Scares me also. But we must carry on, whatever may happen. Thanks, Mac for a place to vent…

            • No hard feelings here at all Eppe. I enjoy your perspective and passed that story on to others, who also appreciated it very much. A great moral was exposed, and for that I thank you.

            • eppe you seem kind hearted and I admire that. all the facts point toward the coming meltdown, but I still don’t want to believe it (normalcy bias). been looking at situation since 1999 and it just hurts. I am thinking about relocating with some family. currently in texas panhandle any suggestions?

        • Take a look at the video on faraday cages that PO’dPatriot posted a few days back.

        • NPPH, uh, if possible, you ought to speed up those plans to get back down to the South. The way things are shaping up we might make it to the summer at the latest. I bought a paperback copy of “One Second After” 2 years ago and it was a hard and emotional read for me, but a very plausible scenario which I think will become real all over this land. The hardest part for me was when the guy’s diabetic daughter died. I also keep a couple of shortwave radios and other electronic items I’m preserving in a faraday cage. I use a metal trash can [$25 at Home Depot] and use packing bubbles for insulation [The UPS Store or FedEx/Kinko]. And make sure to stock up on plenty of batteries for your electronics. Hope you make it back to the South soon. And yes, your chances of survival go way up once you get out of CT.

          • Tape the top of can to bottom with aluminum tape 2 in wide to improve protection. Check lid handle to see if it is tab bent attached. Need to seal with sodder.

          • I don’t understand the redthumbing of some posts.I’m glad you and eppe have stuck around despite the pot-stirrers. I miss BI and Mr. Rodgers hasn’t been around since winter hit, unless i just missed his posts. If hubby and I ever make it to Memphis, we should catch up for a cup of Joe.

        • No pity,get the place spruced up and on the market by May 1’st.Tis late enuff won’t be seen as stale if not sold right away and yet gets you in the “spring rush”on the early side.

          • thanks for the tip, hubby doesn’t want to have to take the dogs for a walk when the house gets shown. That’s why he wants to wait until he and dear son leave for MS in June.

        • NPP.. can you push your relocating date up a bit? Many “people,voices” are saying Fall/ SEPT may be pushing your luck. I tend to agree with them.

          Look at major recent events.. They happened within 7 year intervals. 9/11/01, seven years later financial collapse of Lehman Brothers etc. and Bailouts in 2008, now seven years more is the Fall of 2015

          There is so much stuff and MEAN THINGS going on all around the world..it seems like we are coming apart at the SEAMS !

          Trust GOD and enjoy your family and what you have for the present. WHO really knows the future????

      15. Texas.

        I Decline. We may not have water here in Nevada, but god damn it we have (legal) hookers and gambling!

        The stawk market is at all time highs. Hookers and blow for everyone!

        • Thats pretty funny,
          What more could you ask for!

      16. Houston has an anti Christian homosexual mayor with no respect for the Constitution.

        I think that is pretty much representative of the direction Texas is heading.

        Go there if that is what you want for a future.

      17. I’ve driven that I-10 route through Texas numerous times, from Louisiana to El Paso and back and forth to points east and west of Texas. That’s like driving across a whole country, it takes forever at 55 mph. West Texas is scenic, the rest of the state, blah. Now if this country’s people were to unite across all racial lines, black white hispanic and others, this is what the powers that exist fear most. A unified public would clean up this mess quickly. Power to the People!

        • if i could give u 50 thumbs up then i would

        • It was a hell’uva lot better before we “united” (intergrated). The difference was very little Federal influence. Even that dumbass lincoln knew whites and other races couldn’t be governed by the same laws.

      18. I’m staying put in AZ. Unless God Himself tells me to git. Trying to get out of Tucson and Pima County.

        • I lived in that hot hell hole for 20 years myself (Phoenix area though.) If there’s any way at all for you to make a living up around Flagstaff, that’s the area to be in. The problem is: you go 20 miles in any direction from Flagstaff, and you’re right back in the desert. Those little towns over in the eastern part of the state, Show Low for example, are intriguing. But, there’s about four million people living in the Valley of the Sun and I figure a million of ’em will be driving toward Flagstaff and Show Low when the SHTF.

      19. Lifelong Texan here. Socialist democrats, huh? I’ll take ’em over the fucking fascist republicans who run the place. Yeah, full disclosure, I used to vote for those right-wing nutjobs. Until I woke up. That corruption you speak of, where the hell do you think it came from?

        • Atta boy Lowe….you speak Truth. Enough with this sham “Two-headed one-party system”. They are all the same and the sheeple have fallen for the Demo-Repub game. So silly. Whats the answer? I dont know but I do know that we need a change.

      20. That stock market is going to crash VERY soon and one reason is due to the BRIC nations’ alliance not to use the world standard currency (the dollar) and Germany and Saudi Arabia abandoning that dollar when they set up bilateral currency agreements with Russia the other week.

        (The other reason is the bonds in energy companies will collapse the stock market as they become worth less and less from the declining oil revenues from decreased gas/oil prices, something no doubt probably engineered by the highest levels of our own government. But after DECADES of oppressively high gas prices, who would stop to THINK that something wicked this way COMES for all of us FROM these declining oil prices?)

        All the biggies (George Soros, etc.) have gotten OUT of the stock market. What’s that old saying about ‘when the rats leave the sewer’…? Pay attention when the super rich abandon what is still pushed as “good” for all of US. Hopefully, you all are out of the stock market.

        There will be a bank holiday.

        There will be riots over food when food stores have closed when the dollar is so devalued and even rendered worthless. It’s not “if”, it’s “when”, and when is approaching very SOON.

        There will be (needless) panic. (Needless, because we can plan ahead of time, so please stock up, allocate spare dollars to nonperishable food, and share what you have when that day comes lest you use food as a weapon the way they use chem trails and toxic vaccinations to kill us, and you will then risk the loss of eternal salvation in the afterlife.)

        And when this all happens while I pray it does not happen, there probably will be blood.

        Avoid any panic, avoid any riots or rioting crowds.

        God bless you all.

        – the Lone Ranger

        “Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you have not fed him, you have killed him.”
        – Gratian

        “We’re on the eve of destruction.” – Eternally relevant popular song from the ’60’s

        • All very possible,
          Best to be paying attention at least,
          So many folks are not.

        • The Lone Ranger.

          “The Day After”, will have its cause and effects. Some who some knowledge on what is happening and will run to the stores or banks. Two other points is the difference between what happens during daylight and what happens after Dark. To be followed by having electricity and not having electricity. To further it down the road, available water, food and heat.
          When it happens, what we have is what we have. We go from a prepping stage to defensive stage.

          I will say this. I thought I was Hot Shit on Survival tactics when I first got here. Boy have I learned a bunch. Not that hard to do and very effective. Thanks to all for those nuggets.

          Pay Attention, people.

        • Lone Ranger;
          I understand your sentiment but after a bit of experience over the last few years I am not so sure. In 2009 I pulled most of my funds from investment accounts and did things like real estate, spent it on our home, farm equipment, enjoyed some. My wife, on the other hand, stayed. She has kicked ass and taken names.
          As it turned out we look ok. Left to my own devices I would have a lot of stuff and little cash and lots of stuff for the future. I also bough pm on the way down but a bit soon. I don’t know Geo. Soros but a bunch of people a lot smarter than me are still in the market with solid dividend stocks and still making money.
          I think wherever our comfort zone lies is where we should hang out. Best of luck to you and I both!

          • Skeptic, you done good. Thank you for your well wishes!

      21. If you’re in the United States, you are beyond fucked.

      22. Not sure I want to relocate to Texas. Too many of those darn roaches out there. I’m thinking Wyoming – also no state income tax and low cost of living.

        • Forbes just said Wyoming was the most gun friendly State in the Nation. You might join Paranoid in Casper, housing starts are up and energy jobs are down, so housing may get more affordable. Trekker Out. Freemen Own Guns, Slaves Don’t!

      23. Montana, Wyoming or Idaho. Been in MT for 8 years and love it. Have some friends in Idaho and Wyoming and they love it too..

      24. So when SHTF, what is your food preparation strategy gonna be…i.e. If it’s economic, buy what you can, eat/cook as normal, etc. BUT if its a grid down, my thought was for 2-3 days use the grill/fire (in winter wood stove) to cook. After that don’t do more than boil water to make instant stuff, so no smells. Burn wood stove at night so no smoke seen. Do that for how long? I have a lot of stuff that requires no cooking, or at a minimum boiling water, unless I want bread. Reading about the various die-offs in one second after got me to thinking about it. I know there was discussion about a year ago, but it’s hard to find that thread.

        • my wife goes to tag-garage sales all summer and buys candles, all sizes and colors, candles that sold in stores for up to forty dollars, she gets for a buck, people get them for xmas and toss them every summer we’ve been doing it for about five yrs. This time of the year when it’s zero out and the fires are going, she melts all the candles and re- molds them into two different sizes, one size is one and 1/2 by six and 1/2 and the other is a tapered candle about 6″ by one inch. we have over eight hundred of them now and they will burn for about six hrs. everyday people are tossing out hundreds of them in their trash not even thinking of the use they may be some day, I can remember when some people would borrow a candle or enough kerosene to have a light at night. I told my grown kids to never give them away, if someone wants one when the SHsF, trade something, even if it’s just a can of spam or tuna, get something. It’s good to have one in a BOB also

        • I have stored butane burners that use cans of butane available at any restaurant supply company. I think Coleman makes them and I’ve got a cpl from there too. I bought those because my campstoves cannot support the weight of my canner. I have a cole man propane fueled crock pot that I got online. I’ve got cast iron cookware in case of open fire cooking. A solar oven is another option I have. I hope that helps.

          • you should try to get away from butane, propane and other petroleum, natural gas by products, use them while you have them, but learn other ways to get survive.

        • NPPH;
          Good points. One thing we plan on doing here is if power goes down for a long time we will thaw out any meat in freezers and can it. We’ve got a lot of generator time before we are pressed but even if you don’t, you can just do your canning immediately. Smoking and drying can also be used to save your frozen meats.

          • we’re 100% into canning and have been for many yrs, have two 915s and probably 1500 jars and picking up more all the time from one time canners and people who are cleaning their cellars. I do smoke some meats just to eat myself, rabbits, squrrels, turkeys and fish.

      25. As a born and bred Texan, I can tell you that the majority of Texans are doingwwhatever we can to keep illegals and their damned gangs out. Pretty much the only county (that I recall) that consistently votes democratic is El Paso. Well, El Paso is a crap hole anyway, (I’m from there, I should know).

        • If I had a choice, I might choose the Tyler area. I lived in San Antonio in the 70s.

          • I used to think about Tyler a lot. But, it’s pretty close to Dallas. Imagine a million pissed-off Texans driving east on I-20 the day after (insert event) happens. It isn’t but a 90-minute drive away, and it’s right on the freeway – not a good place to be.

      26. Now I just need to know the secret to getting money to buy a house, to pay taxes on property, hell, I need to know how to get the money to move.

      27. I did my midwifery internship in El Paso. It’s the only good thing I can think of in that area, besides the nice people I met and worked with. I could never live there. Not enough trees…

        • Babycatcher;
          I always wondered where that name came from.

        • Babycatcher;
          I wondered if your name had to do with a joke I heard in Texas years ago. Cowboys Receiver Michael Irvin was walking past a burning building when a desperate parent got his attention and dropped the child. He made an amazing catch and all would have been well had he not spiked it.

      28. yes , that is a great idea.

        all you ignorant “johnny can’t read or politically add 2+2=” prepper muppets SHOULD move your asses to texas!

        i’m sure the mexican mafia cartels and illegal mexican aliens invading the south would love to have you for neighbors in texas!

        der’

      29. Canada is a commie country, much like a Nanny state. As a parent, you must ensure that your child is taken care of properly by the teachers. Special needs students rarely get the assistance they need due to budget cuts, yet on the same token, the school administrators and teacher union members enjoy 10% pay increases every year.

        In the Toronto District School Board, it is not uncommon for school secretaries to hang up phone calls on journalists, because the Toronto District School Board operates like it’s above the law and the guidance of parents and the media.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk45CNW407s

        The Toronto District School Board is a dysfunctional organization, and parents MUST always ensure that they have teachers who are transparent, accountable and reliable.

        • Rainbow, holy moly. I live in western Canada and take exception to you calling Canada a “commie country” based on the folks at the Toronto District School Board. There is a wonderful Canadian world outside of Toronto and the rest of Ontario; you guys really are not the Centre Of The Universe.

      30. Don’t forget that the Governor of Texas has tried many times unsuccessfully to get that Trans-Texas Corridor from Texas to Canada. A 10 lane super highway for trucks from Mexico with Mexican drivers!!!
        AND the senator-turd McConnell from KY. supported Mexicans driving in the U.S.!!

      31. More distraction from collapsing economy talk about relocating talk about cheap gas talk about terrorist stepping up attacks

      32. Mac.

        Something wrong with your server? Very hard to get to site. Then I get a 500% image enlargement of home page. When I do get there, it is hard to pull up the article. Posting doesn’t go through all the time.

        • Sling,only thing I have noticed is long loading if comments on a article a lot.That said,find tis not the comments but waiting for the thumbs program to process.As I don’t give a damn about the thumbs hit stop loading as soon as comments appear.That said,replies and want to stay on site are slow to load,as this one will be.As for other issues page enlargement ect. have not had that on the different computers I hit site with,good luck.

        • I’ve never had a problem pulling this site up, and I’m sure most of us here do not either. Stop watching and downloading PORN.

        • Sling, I checked out our server loads and such and all looks good on that end. Not sure what is causing your problem but I am able to access the site on various devices and browsers without issue at this time . Of course, issues such as you describe are sometimes a harbinger of developing problems so I will inform the web host’s monitoring team and ask them to watch as well.

          Apologies for any issues.

          Thanks !

          Mac

          • Mac
            Thanks.

            The odd thing is that I had half the home page fill the whole screen. Weird.

          • Mac, it’s the damn rating-widget thumbsucking utility that slows down the website loads, and for what good does it really add anything useful?

      33. I’m waiting for Skosen to print a list of where NOT to go. It would be shorter. I live in the Ohio Valley…I’m staying put.

      34. I live to close to houston’s refinery complex, about 40 miles from ground zero. Recently the hispanics became the majority at 50% with white and black at 25% each inside city limits with 2.5mil people. East TX is good with the area around Brownwood the best, that’s where I’ve been looking for property. All along the TX coast is good as long as your at 20 ft above sea level, hurricanes are all about wind at that elevation, no worries. Forget about the TX Hill Country unless you already live there. Too many people and not enough water.

        Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

        • I lived in Brownwood in 1980 and 1983. The town’s a little rough around the edges. But, the land around it tends to be cheap. I bought 5 acres in 1980 for $5,000. I doubt you could get it that cheap now. Out toward Lake Brownwood is where the land was, and that’s where I recommend going. Don’t overlook some of the tiny towns to the south: Zephyr, Goldthwaite. Land is really cheap down that way.

      35. We have some friends that bought a homestead in Bolivia a few yrs ago and the pictures they send back are beautiful, year around garden, lots of help from the locals who are very friendly, plenty of water and the country has no enemies.

        • 70,my dad had friends who bought in Argentina.Despite the screwed up govt. outside of main cities said the living was nice and became very friendly with locals/learned the language ect.That is a country that if you can live without imported junk(you can)has the land and resources to survive fine on it’s own in most ways.One can say the same about the US if the govt. really went broke and couldn’t pay their puppets to enslave people,interesting times ahead.

      36. The majority of us will make our final stand right where we are now. The only other point, is to flee danger, as in running for your life. Age has set limits and combine that with finances which can influence your decision to stay or move. It all boils down as to where you live if you can hide (remote location) or defend (Country, city, urban).

        It is all a game of chance because all the crap we talk about may blow by us and move on. Like a flood, wildfire or riot. It just did not come down your street.

        • “””Age has set limits””” another reason to have your house fixed so that you can hide in it and even survive if someone decides to burn it with you inside. Have the exterior doors and windows fixed so it will give you time to settle down in the secrete place, weather it’s a concealed wall in the basement or a hidden door behind the furnace in the basement to let you out to a secure area on the property.

      37. Can anyone help me with a reputable site that shows me how to make colloidal silver?
        I have gone to different sites that show making it and in the comments sections people were saying that they were making it incorrectly. I want to make sure I am doing it right.
        Thanks

        • try
          Make Your Own Colloidal Silver
          by thenewsurvivalvalist on Utube

          there are other alternatives that will be more available post shtf.

        • M
          You Tube
          Sgt.

          • Hey thanks guys. Here’s hoping I don’t turn myself grey!!!

      38. Another Joel Skousen bullshit article….. Texas is a craphole. Totally corrupt politicians, no water, overrun with illegals and gangs. Weather stinks – too hot in summer, too cold in winter, tornadoes, drought, etc. If you are not from there, they won’t give you the time of day. LEO’s and judicial system is one of the worst in the nation. Property taxes are sky high. If you are there, move out. If you are thinking of moving there, don’t. If you think you have to move, think eastern Washington (not like western Washington at all), Idaho or Wyoming. There are still good places to be had reasonably if you do your homework.

      39. My dad is a native Texan. So, I’ve spent many a summer there visiting the whole fam-damily. I’ve personally lived in Abilene, San Angelo, Brownwood, Early, Buchanan Lake, Round Rock (Austin north), and Houston. I have family in Comanche, Stephenville and a slew of other towns, mostly in the central part.

        Wide open spaces and low population density are easily explained: no jobs. Unless you work in the petroleum industry – and that’s currently on the slide – you won’t work in the western half of the state. You might get a job as a fry cook or truck driver. But, that’s about it.

        The soil is the western half of the state is mostly caliche. Think of it as natural concrete. That’s how it digs. But, there are areas of exception. For example, north of Brownwood there’s some rich black loam. My grandmother called it “black gumbo” and she grew a lot of gumbo (okra) in it. She had a huge, very productive garden. Around the town of May the soil is more sandy, perfect for growing peanuts. You just have to dig a shovel full to see what’s there.

        On the positive side, you can’t beat caliche for making a good all-weather road bed.

        The soils east of I-35 tend to be rich black earth, up to the edge of the “Piney Woods” anyway. I know that soil around Elgin (east of Austin) is this way.

        There is one huge potential problem to avoid in Central Texas: Comanche Peak. It’s a twin nuclear generating station that opened in 1990. If a F5 tornado hits it, it’ll be another Fukushima. It’s between Granbury and Glen Rose.

        Then there’s the massive Ft. Hood army base down around Killeen and Temple.

        These factors make the area along, and east of I-35, less safe.

        If I were only looking for somewhere to buy a cheap property for emergency relocation (a bug out spot), I’d look in the area between San Angelo, Brownwood and Kerrville. This is the west half of the Texas Hill Country. Try to avoid caliche and make sure there’s water.

        San Angelo borders what I call the West Texas Desert. Land to west of that town is virtual desert with only a few scrub trees (mostly mesquite.) Brownwood is at the north edge of the Hill Country in the Cross Timbers region with decent soils (between caliche beds) fair rainfall, and mid-sized live oak and pecan trees. Kerrville is at the west end of the Hill Country.

        Search for an old house on an acre or two. You won’t need but 1/4 acre for your garden.

        Tornado activity tends to be much worse to the north and east of Brownwood and less problematic to the west and south of that town. You can go as far east as Lampasas. But, you start to get kind of close to Ft. Hood over that way.

      40. Texas is not a good place to set up a homestead because I went there a lot living on the border. Oppressive heat, tornadoes, hurricanes, barren land, drought, corruption, and constant death threats for no sane reason made me leave. I looked all over the country and I settled where I am because it offered the best strategic location.

        I have abundant wildlife surrounding me for hundreds of miles. Property is dirt cheap, my taxes are extremely cheap, and so far away from urban areas, there won’t be any hoards. I don’t want my area to be published by Joel Skousen or anyone as a great retreat location. He probably won’t because he gives out mostly bad places for you to die in. I like it isolated and beautiful, the way my area already is.

      41. A really good place to relocate to would be central to east Tennessee. Just skip the big towns like Jackson, Nashville, Chattanooga, or Knoxville.

        • Mark
          A man after My own heart.
          Anything 30 miles east & south east of Murfreesboro.
          Rolling hills, water, game, woods, and good weather.
          I’m looking to be there in the near future!
          Sgt.

        • Southern Middle Tennessee

          is the best place to be 🙂

          • dont try to make un taxed likker or you’ll find out how great Tennessee is
            just ask ‘Ol Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton ..god bless his soul

      42. For years, I’ve thought about taking a road trip out west from the east coast.

        Is Texas even safe to drive through?

        For some reason, I’ve always pictured corrupt cops stopping you in the middle of nowhere, taking your money or whatever. Roaming mexican gangs attacking peopled at the rest stops, etc.

        Thoughts on this?

        • I live here and drive West Texas and Panhandle. I did get pulled over last year, but was going way over speed limit (1st ticket in 30 years)

          • and I wouldn’t stop at a rest stop in Texas (carry if you do snakes and illegals) and be mindful of your surroundings, but sure it’s like that everywhere.

        • Just watch your speed on the interstate highways. The Texas Highway Patrol uses rolling radar. They also like to lurk in the dips. So, watch when you’re about to top a hill. Other than that, no problem. I’ve driven across the entire state many times.

      43. A NEW EARTH!

        “hey prepper muppets,

        just so you are aware of it…

        hollyjewood and the nwo illuminati have changed their one world global government / one world global bank coined phrase “new world order” to “a new earth”!”

        A NEW EARTH OF ILLUMINATI GLOBALIST BANKER TAX DEBT SLAVERY FOR ALL OF HUMANITY!

      44. US Central Command Twitter Hacked

        Posting info on soldiers

        Please spread word and post an update on this

      45. Male authors always forget to mention the poor track record on women’s right that states like Texas have.

        • Well Snotress, maybe Saudi Arabia would be more to your liking. Trekker Out.

          • Well of course not, but Texas isn’t more to my liking, either. I will stay in sunny warm Florida. The others can go for it and clone their own.

      46. moving to mexico south of pheonix, Puerto Penasco. Dirt poor. When the shtf, it will be just the same there.

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