Serviving In Canada

Just wondering what everyone thinks the hardiest thing is to overcome if you needed to bug out or bug in when in canada. We have a great verity of climates and regions hear so what do you think wood make things hard

 

I live way up north in Alberta and it gets cold up here. If SHTF in the winter you would not be able to move too far but I think if you stay in the city people without will try to take what you have. I’m set up if the power goes out that I have heat, food and water, but people see the smoke they will come calling.

 

One positive aspect of the techno age in which we live is having modern thermal fabrics. Today's sleeping bags are very compact compared to decades past. Thermal skiing outfits are thin yet warm. Improper footwear in painfully cold weather can quickly disable you, but there are boots readily available that are lightweight and durable. There are now materials available that wick water away from the body better than the best wool products of the past. I used to have rabbit fur-lined gloves made of leather. Now, I wear Thinsulate gloves. I often shop at stores that supply cross-country hikers of the Appalachian Trail. In the past, I frequented Army surplus stores -- not that I don't do so now, however I'm looking at modern light-weight gear even in the surplus stores.

Water is our great need and water is heavy, thus one must think about the best water filters. I have a Katadyn. Water filters are as expensive as a decent firearm, however a weapon will do you little good if you are disabled with dysentery. Also having a charcoal filter will make the water taste a whole lot better. If you have children with you, take flavored drink powder (a small amount will go a long way).

Today we have tiny backpacking stoves that will burn a variety of fuels.
"Multi-Fuel: Burns white gas, kerosene, unleaded auto fuel, diesel, and jet fuel."
https://www.msrgear.com/stoves/dragonfly

I've moved on too many occasions. Due to having lived several decades the wife and I have gathered way too much crap and without sons to help, we'd be crushed with the task. A bug-out should be the exact opposite situation. If it's life and limb, one is now locked into a shoot'n'scoot world. One is without the ability to take anything that takes up too much space or anything that weighs too much.

Luckily in this day and age when planning escape scenarios, the marketplace has many small/lightweight equipment and clothing products to keep you lean, mean, and protected from some seriously bad weather.

 

I live in the mountains in south east B.C. I spent a few years with the local Ground SAR team. What I noticed was people would have all the fancy gear to survive but they wouldn't know how to use the gear during the different seasons. People need to get out more and practice in every weather condition so they are prepared for when something arises.

 

I've lived in a cold U.S. state for a few years; place had sub-zero Fahrenheit winters. My experiences there make me prejudiced on the side of bugging in. Best to have a walk-in basement, i.e. below ground-level living space along with a wood-burning stove. Prep for having no electricity = candles and kerosene. Heavy duty lamps, even mantle-wick lamps, are necessary not only for light, but also for heat.

Note that the stove on the under-earth level is also to keep your pipes from freezing.

Never rick wood up near your house, because in the warm rainy season, termites will simultaneously attack your firewood and your house. Termites will go 50 feet to hit ground-water or to hit a source of wood. British Columbia is warmed by the waters of the North Pacific Current heading in from the eastern Pacific (which splits around Washington State and Southern B.C., then an Alaskan branch heads north heating northern B.C. and Alaska). Were that current to stop, you'd all freeze solid.

In America's urban areas, one has to watch out for base-ignorant aggressors who semi-pass for human. In British Columbia, you got folk who are a whole lot more intelligent. Good and bad, that. If smart folk with evil hearts go running in pillaging packs, oooooooh that's not good. I have owned several .303 British Enfields over the decades; I really love them, 2 stripper clips = 10 rnds loaded quickly, the bolt is as slick as glass, cocks on opening. Maybe you should get to loving a few too. Put back food for your lovely Enfields, lots of food, in stripper clips, on bandoleers. If the bogies come down your halls, you gotta shoot 'em through the walls.



Here's a kid learning to shoot fast. Think how fast he'll be when he overcomes the short-shucking! Wish I could find someone trained in Enfield slap'n'fire shooting.

 

Mantle wick vs. flat wick lamps



Almost 40 years ago, a friend of mine and I would shoot the #### by kerosene lamp on into the wee hours of the morning. He'd purchased a fancy, downright beautiful, mantle lamp. These get HOT. We'd light our cigarettes at the top of the lamp's tall glass chimney. His house was built around 1909 and the house across the street was built in the 1830's. We found wives and he moved out west. I so miss those days when we young men thought we knew everything and our bodies were so strong that we could do anything, anytime. The stream of time washes away all things.

 

I find us all the time needing candles, so a month ago or so I made up some get-by candles. I'd put back tin cans the size I reckoned to be the right size. And over 2 yr ago I'd bought large wicks -- and I do mean large in diameter, like 2mm or larger. Having made the candles, I discovered that the life of these fat wicks was such that I had to feed these good sized boys extra wax. So I chop up blocks of wax and feed the candles when its flame gets too tall. I rarely have to trim these wicks for they last and last and last.

I have experimented with wooden wicks. Such candles last even longer than the fat-wick candles. A wooden wick candle crackles like a log in a fireplace -- just at a higher pitch. My experimentation is not complete so I must say that I'm not yet in a position to recommend such. My store-bought candles with wooden wicks lasted really well and they too require being fed extra wax. However, unless you can buy these post holiday season at discount, their retail price is not worth it. No big discount = no purchase.

http://www.candlewic.com/store/prod...MIi8DP26nv1wIV2BGBCh2IJQt-EAQYAiABEgIw8vD_BwE

I just this minute found the cherry wood wicks. Maybe I'll get some. Not tried such. I use wood medical applicator sticks soaked in olive oil. Mixed results. Something to think about. Hemp wicks are sturdy, yet they will bend.

 

Hey Koot ... north Thompson prepper here

 

Good morning TMT Tactical,

It's the perception and not the reality.

I am confident you could survive and realistically enough, thrive, in most environs - no less that most of us here at MSF.com.

Snow is something I also do not like. Still, ... the LARGEST problem / lethal danger is disease - major illnesses.

Was just briefed on next month's major emergency responder exercise in Washington, D.C. It's theme is responding to an anthrax outbreak. Exercises cost $$$ and they're not assembling and practicing for fun.

That tour group returning to White Horse, BC from some Asian locations inadvertently and undetected by airports authorities (not a first time event) was exposed to some dreaded germs.

If only those Canadian tourists had joined their neighbors from Paradise Valley, Arizona and visited Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of the Congo ... ... ... Who the hades knows what's arriving via Yuma, Arizona and remote portions of the Rio Grande River ?!

Sidebar: I like your new "logo". Had frequently worked in Indonesia. Have seen the famous Kimono Dragon...in park, of course. They're dying out from loss of habitat.

 

I am not a extreme cold weather expert but judging from a short trip I took to Alaska my main concern would be dealing with the winter cold and dealing with the mosquitos in the summer . I know the mosquitos are large and numerous in Alaska . Or at least they were where I was at .

 

A lot would depend on where you were in Canada. Come on. It is a massive country. Not unlike the U.S. although it is way to far North to have our heat. Southern part closer to the U.S. border would be like our Northern states, cold, but not unmanageable. The farther North you go Summer will be two weeks of bad skiing.

I don't think British Columbia gets nearly as much snow as other parts. Depends on where you are, and what time of year.

My first reaction was weather would be the biggest concern. After thinking it through a little more I think another big concern would be their Draconian gun laws. It may be very difficult to protect yourself in a SHTF or WROL scenario. You know the bad guys will have guns.

 

Cold? Where it live now is moderate, it rarely drops below -20C. I have lived in places it got cold. The Coldest I have personally experienced was -56C with an estimated windchill of just over -100. That was a cold day on the snowmobile. I have friends with true stories of places it got a REALLY cold.