Collapse Survivor: “There Was Little Room For Error… Either You Learn Fast Or End Up Dead”

Editor’s Note: When the Balkan wars erupted in Europe during the 1990’s people literally went from sipping coffees on their neighborhood streets to a war zone almost overnight. Most did not see it coming. Even in the midst of collapse, many believed it was a temporary situation that would soon pass. But food, medical supplies, and other necessities quickly began to run out. Tens of thousands of people were encircled by heavily armed military, snipers, and artillery. There was nowhere to go. In the following article from Selco of SHTF School, you’ll get a first-hand account from someone who was there and was forced to make difficult decisions just to put powdered eggs on the table for his family and friends. Specifically, Selco details the supplies and trade goods that became important in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the civilization around him.  It is a harrowing look into a life many of us can only imagine. First Trades after Collapse By Selco The items for trade during my SHTF very often changed value, and some of them became unavailable for some period of time, just to suddenly show up again much more expensive. Yes, the situation in the city dictated that, but also people, the black market lords made this happen. The whole situation was always changing where and if you can find what you were looking for. Some of the items that were circulating in the city were completely new to everyone, one of the reasons was that all sorts of stuff from humanitarian aid was coming to the city through different channels and from all different parts of the world. Some of those things became popular fast, others remained completely strange for us, but all had some kind of value. Of course, practical things like MRE were very good to have. Some other things like Turkish army crackers (salt cookies, or so-called „Turks“) were strange for us. The taste was awkward, that’s why they had la ower value, but we were starving so of course everyone would eat it and trade it. In one period there were big amounts of some French cigarettes in the city, we called it „black tobacco“. It was very very strong tobacco, packaged in nice small boxes, and you simply did not need too much of those days, even if you were a very passionate smoker. Simply way too strong. Some “smart” guy smuggled this into the city and it is a perfect example of a successful product besides weapons and ammunition for trading. There were many new items for us, strange new kind of rice (was much too soft), canned meat without any declaration of meat-type or expiration date (we called it „sick horse“). We ate it and used grease leftovers for lamps. Sometimes there were also big metal sealed boxes with dry cookies inside – some of the boxes had expiration dates that said it was expired like 20 years ago, we called it „Vietnam war cookies“ and we ate it and trade it as well. Of course, it was always a good few days when we had some sort of food. In many other periods (most of the time) we ate much much worse things. Often soup with anything we could find that could provide some energy. One of the items at the beginning of everything that was very interesting for me was powdered eggs. As I can remember, we did not see that before, I mean we heard it from the stories of the old guys who survived WW2 that they used it a lot in the years after that war (and they call it Truman’s eggs) because it was coming in the area as a part of humanitarian aid since everything was destroyed and folks were starving. Those eggs were interesting for me because we loved eggs, and obviously, it became impossible to have real eggs. That is why food in urban survival is just a very bad version of food in wilderness survival. Rats and pigeons and some people probably also ate all dogs and cats. That was in the later months after we were surrounded without any way out and lost all basics like the power and drinking water. One day we heard that powdered eggs can be bought from some guys who had lots of stuff taken from humanitarian aid convoy. Also read: Bosnia War Survivor Gives A Glimpse Of The Future America After A SHTF Event During the Collapse Series: ”I will come to your house when SHTF” – No, You Won’t! Violence and shootings were already happening everywhere in the city, but it was a period when we still believed it was temporary. There were three of us who went there to visit these guys. One of us had a pistol, but that was not much help because none of us already realized how dangerous everything had become. It was time when the police force still existed but on the other hand other „police gangs“ started to operate and you could not say who is who, and what will happen when you run into them. We had German money for buying the eggs, at that moment you could still buy something with (foreign) money, but you could not expect any fixed price, and the price of everything was completely based on what happens in the negotiation. Similar to Morphine: The Best Natural Painkiller that Grows in Your Backyard Wild Lettuce is also Known as Opium Lettuce. For a good reason. While it doesn’t contain any opiates, it has similar side effects when used – it acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to lessen the feeling of pain, just like morphine. Watch this video and learn a quick recipe (wild lettuce extract) for the best natural painkiller. Over 23 million Patriots have already seen It. Giving you a quick, easy way to make your own life-saving painkiller, ready for when you need it. Click Here To Discover More. Guys were in the apartment on the second floor in an apartment building that was maybe already half empty. The man who opened the door for us took us to the living room of the apartment after we told him that we want to buy some goods from him. There were 4 more guys sitting next to the table there, actually, one of them was sleeping with his head on the table. One was trying to make some kind of sandwich with dry meat using a big old bayonet, the room stank as someone died there. All of them looked pretty rough and ready for everything, three of us with one pistol looked like easy prey for them. The man who opened the door for us asked us who sent us, we said the name and he said: „Who is that? I do not know him.“ The silence was awkward, I could feel like something is crawling over my back at that moment, especially when I noticed rifles standing next to the chairs where those guys were sitting, and on the carpet, under the table, there was a big stain that suspiciously looked like blood. The man started to laugh and said, „OK, I am kidding, I know him, just say what do you need.“ Fear that crawled over my back started to disappear slowly, but still, we were like sitting ducks there. We said what we wanted and he asked for how much money we want powdered eggs. My cousin stupidly took his money from the pocket and said how much money we have. Guy said, „Give me that!“ Few seconds there was nothing, but when other guys from the table started to stare at us, my cousin gave him the money. From one of the rooms, we heard that someone shouted „Oh you m$@#!erf!*&er“ and then sounds that someone is being beaten. The man started to slowly count money, looking at us with a smile, after he put money in his pocket and said: „Ok, you can have one box of powder for this money“ Three of us knew that we were ripped off, but I just said: „OK, it is a deal, we need to go now“. We took the box and left the apartment. On the outside hallway, we noticed one more guy who was standing there as a guard for the apartment. When we were entering the apartment we did not even notice him. We came home safely at that time, feeling that we were scammed there was gone very soon because we realized that guys could kill us very easily if they wanted to.

SL: MD reveals home remedies for long term survival

Who takes care of your health while doctors are busy battling the crisis? In the coming days it may become hard to manage your blood pressure without drugs… keep your memory sharp… and kick your immunity in high gear. Claude Davis assembled an essential list of “survival remedies” for those stuck at home with little to no access to healthcare. This is essential info for managing chronic health conditions in a “no doctor” situation.

Click here to read more about how to stay healthy during a quarantine.

Luckily at that moment they maybe did not feel like it, or what was the most probable whole situation in the city had not reached the level yet where they could do that easy and openly. Everyone still thought the absence of rules and laws are temporary. That changed soon, people started to kill each other as a part of trade scams. Later often just out of curiosity what the other guy might still hide in his pockets and did not show. The one of us who had a gun on his belt during the trade said: „Oh man, I completely forgot that I had a weapon with me there because how those guys looked“. Then we realized it was luck too because he did not pull the gun there in the middle of everything because we would end up dead for sure. Do you see a pattern there? Yes, in post-collapse so many things can go wrong and often did. That’s why learning about survival and preparedness is the most important right now. Do not delay when SHTF comes out of nowhere. I remember that trade very well because we were scared, but much more important was feelings afterward when we all realized that feelings of „kindness“ but also „fear“ went away. That day we realized we are living in a new world with new rules and acting like we did in civilized times or showing weakness can have brutal consequences. We started to change and learn. We started to look and act like those guys during our trades, and whenever we found someone who was even harder and better at trading we also did what they did to us. We were lucky or maybe smart enough that we learned new rules very fast. There was little room for error. either you end up dead or learn fast. That was one of my first trades after the collapse, I traded many times later again, and I often used a similar setup of intimidation like those guys there. But there I learned for the first time few simple rules about trading like never go to (closed) places where you do not know who to expect, how many, how well armed they are and similar stuff. Never have all your goods (or money) for trade with you, have a plan what to do in case of surprises, never accept offers so easily because it can be seen as weakness, and weakness sometimes calls for a problem and many more. And one more rule that we learned and you should never forget is to never go and risk your life because of pure „luxury items“ like that powdered eggs were for us at that moment. Generally, preppers are concerned with either bugging in or bugging out. The problem comes when they don’t think about what to do after you bug out. I think, by and large, most people plan to stay put initially — unless the impending doom lands directly on top of them.  So, should you bug in or bug out? What is best for you and your family? Dan F. Sullivan, one of the top survival experts, has put together a fantastic video that answers some tough questions. I recommend you watch it right now:

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The Most Comprehensive Book Available

Our grandfathers had more knowledge than any of us today and thrived even when modern conveniences were not available. They were able to produce and store their food for long periods of time. All the knowledge our grandfathers had, in one place.Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find in the book: The Lost Ways is a far-reaching book with chapters ranging from simple things like making tasty bark-bread-like people did when there was no food to building a traditional backyard smokehouse… and much, much, much more! Discover how to survive: Most complete survival tactics, tips, skills and ideas like how to make pemmican, snowshoes, knives, soap, beer, smokehouses, bullets, survival bread, water wheels, herbal poultices, Indian roundhouses, root cellars, primitive navigation, and much more at The Lost Ways Here’s just a glimpse of what you’ll find in The Lost Ways: From Ruff Simons, an old west history expert, and former deputy, you’ll learn the techniques and methods used by the wise sheriffs from the frontiers to defend an entire village despite being outnumbered and outgunned by gangs of robbers and bandits, and how you can use their wisdom to defend your home against looters when you’ll be surrounded. Native American ERIK BAINBRIDGE – who took part in the reconstruction of the native village of Kule Loklo in California, will show you how Native Americans build the subterranean roundhouse, an underground house that today will serve you as a storm shelter, a perfectly camouflaged hideout, or a bunker. It can easily shelter three to four families, so how will you feel if, when all hell breaks loose, you’ll be able to call all your loved ones and offer them guidance and shelter? Besides that, the subterranean roundhouse makes an awesome root cellar where you can keep all your food and water reserves year-round. From Shannon Azares you’ll learn how sailors from the XVII century preserved water in their ships for months on end, even years and how you can use this method to preserve clean water for your family cost-free. Mike Searson – who is a Firearm and Old West history expert – will show you what to do when there is no more ammo to be had, how people who wandered the West managed to hunt eight deer with six bullets, and why their supply of ammo never ran out. Remember the panic buying in the first half of 2013? That was nothing compared to what’s going to precede the collapse. From Susan Morrow, an ex-science teacher and chemist, you’ll master “The Art of Poultice.” She says, “If you really explore the ingredients from which our forefathers made poultices, you’ll be totally surprised by the similarities with modern medicines.” Well…how would you feel in a crisis to be the only one from the group knowing about this lost skill? When there are no more antibiotics, people will turn to you to save their ill children’s lives. If you liked our video tutorial on how to make Pemmican, then you’ll love this: I will show you how to make another superfood that our troops were using in the Independence war, and even George Washington ate on several occasions. This food never goes bad. And I’m not talking about honey or vinegar. I’m talking about real food! The awesome part is that you can make this food in just 10 minutes and I’m pretty sure that you already have the ingredients in your house right now. Really, this is all just a peek. The Lost Ways is a far-reaching book with chapters ranging from simple things like making tasty bark-bread-like people did when there was no food to building a traditional backyard smokehouse… and much, much, much more! And believe it or not, this is not all… Table Of Contents: The Most Important Thing Making Your Own Beverages: Beer to Stronger Stuff Ginger Beer: Making Soda the Old Fashioned Way How North American Indians and Early Pioneers Made Pemmican Spycraft: Military Correspondence During The 1700’s to 1900’s Wild West Guns for SHTF and a Guide to Rolling Your Own Ammo How Our Forefathers Built Their Sawmills, Grain Mills, and Stamping Mills How Our Ancestors Made Herbal Poultice to Heal Their Wounds What Our Ancestors Were Foraging For? or How to Wildcraft Your Table How Our Ancestors Navigated Without Using a GPS System How Our Forefathers Made Knives How Our Forefathers Made Snowshoes for Survival How North California Native Americans Built Their Semi-subterranean Roundhouses Our Ancestors’Guide to Root Cellars Good Old Fashioned Cooking on an Open Flame Learning from Our Ancestors How to Preserve Water Learning from Our Ancestors How to Take Care of Our Hygiene When There Isn’t Anything to Buy How and Why I Prefer to Make Soap with Modern Ingredients Temporarily Installing a Wood-Burning Stove during Emergencies Making Traditional and Survival Bark Bread……. Trapping in Winter for Beaver and Muskrat Just like Our Forefathers Did How to Make a Smokehouse and Smoke Fish Survival Lessons From The Donner Party Click here to get your paperback copy of The Lost Ways and The Lost Ways II