Catastrophic event "shtf"

[Pop_Rivit]

Some of you folks need to spend less time mindlessly sitting in front of the idiot box. That's nothing more than Hollywood fantasy.

That being said, we probably have a couple months worth of food on hand. Not because we "prep" or anything like that. We have frozen meat from our local locker, we have vegetables and reserves we have put up from the garden, and we have a few items that we buy in bulk. I'm quite certain that we could live and and eat as we currently do for at least a month.

We have a whole house generator hooked into our underground propane tank. Not because we've watched a tv show and are afraid of anything, but because in our rural area it's not uncommon to lose our electricity for a day or two, sometimes for a few days. If conservative, we could operate the house for couple months in the winter. If it's summer we could probably go for a few months.

 

[KrisZ]

I think that in any real catastrophic event, where rules of the jungle would take over, the best approach would be to get out of the city and into the wood, far away from other humans.

Hence, I would not concentrate on hoarding stuff, but rather train myself in survival skills. Make sure you know most of the eatable plants/roots that grow in NA, know how to find water and start a fire (it’s important if the water is of questionable quality). Hunting skills would be an asset, but one can manage just fine on plants and roots. Know how to build a shelter.

Besides, it does not matter how much you hoard, it will eventually run out or be taken away. Nobody will take away your skills unless you're dead.

So, my plan would be to have enough essentials to get me and my family out of the general population. Know ahead of time the general area we would aim for and have enough provisions to get there. Covering part of the journey by car might be an option, but I would plan to go on foot and stay away from people. That probably would be the most dangerous part. Once in the woods and away from other people, I think we could do fine.

Another way of looking at a scenario like this, think of what most people would do, and then have a plan to do the opposite. Most people would stay in their cities, get away from there. Most people would go to the nearest farms, orchards, ponds, rivers etc. to find easy food, stay away from those. Easy looking shelters would be the same thing.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
Some of you folks need to spend less time mindlessly sitting in front of the idiot box. That's nothing more than Hollywood fantasy.

That being said, we probably have a couple months worth of food on hand. Not because we "prep" or anything like that. We have frozen meat from our local locker, we have vegetables and reserves we have put up from the garden, and we have a few items that we buy in bulk. I'm quite certain that we could live and and eat as we currently do for at least a month.

We have a whole house generator hooked into our underground propane tank. Not because we've watched a tv show and are afraid of anything, but because in our rural area it's not uncommon to lose our electricity for a day or two, sometimes for a few days. If conservative, we could operate the house for couple months in the winter. If it's summer we could probably go for a few months.



Don't those whole house generators use quite a bit of fuel? Depending on the size of your tank, I cant see the propane supply lasting too long especially if you have the generator to feed (that's running the furnace) as well as the furnace to feed.. assuming you don't have geothermal. The thing that has me scared with propane is the shortage/ high cost like what we had last winter topped off with the extra cold weather.

Anyways I was always told the smaller the better in this case. Just enough to run some power (fridge, a few outlets, light etc.), the water pump and heat. I would almost prefer a small diesel.

But at the end of the day, fuel is fuel no matter what you use. Diesel would have just been easier to obtain last winter than propane.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: Bluestream
Originally Posted By: Miller88
If you stockpile food in NY, the police will raid you ...


They must be a hungry lot.


Originally Posted By: spasm3
Originally Posted By: Miller88
If you stockpile food in NY, the police will raid you ...


Are you kidding?



I wish I was kidding.

They have no problem doing a no-knock raid for someone with stockpiled food.

http://www.theeventchronicle.com/news/no...ng-legal-goods/

 

[lawman1909]

Exactly. History has a tendency of repeating itself, and i'm sure some event will happen but not on a total collapse level. I believe it will be with the ever rising food and gas prices. One day people may have enough and start growing there own food without going to the store. Heck, I know 2 people who live in suburbia and grow on their flat roof.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Once in the woods and away from other people, I think we could do fine.

You should try it for a weekend, or a week. I haven't really researched it alot, but I think the only common easy calories year round are cat tail roots. And perhaps game if you are a good shot but that won't last long. Maybe pack a gill net for fishing?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: lawman1909
Exactly. History has a tendency of repeating itself, and i'm sure some event will happen but not on a total collapse level. I believe it will be with the ever rising food and gas prices. One day people may have enough and start growing there own food without going to the store. Heck, I know 2 people who live in suburbia and grow on their flat roof.


Isn't Detroit encouraging that? I believe the city is just bulldozing blocks to start urban farming.

Once I get a house on a nice plot of land, I'm going to start gardening a bit. Obviously I wouldn't be able to grow enough to support myself but I can help be a bit more self sufficient!

 

[lawman1909]

Every little bit counts. From what i have heard recently, Detroit is trying the urban farming with little success since they have no real support from the citizenry. Now what is crazy is the "for-hire security" forces that are basically militias that patrol neighborhoods. It is crazy to see and a little disconcerning, but at least you can call them the "good guys".

 

[slug_bug]

Unfortunately, I don't believe our civilized society would last more than a few weeks before becoming totally uncivilized in the event of a disaster that prevents food/water/electricity from reaching us city folk.

The fictional book "One Second After" seems like it could be a realistic view of what would happen if we had no electricity.

And this article makes the "no electricity" scenario sound not so far fetched.
http://nypost.com/2014/07/24/solar-flare-nearly-destroyed-earth-two-years-ago-nasa/

That said, I still haven't put the effort into being a little more prepared for a longer term survival effort.

 

[leeharvey418]

I can tell you one thing that I've heard people say they do in preparation for an SHTF event that I'll never do - hoard gold.

It's expensive now, but when push comes to shove, it serves no real purpose other than being shiny.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
I can tell you one thing that I've heard people say they do in preparation for an SHTF event that I'll never do - hoard gold.

It's expensive now, but when push comes to shove, it serves no real purpose other than being shiny.

I was reading a blog from a guy living in Argentina when its economy collapsed in 1998 and he said gold jewelery was useful as a currency, no need for pure gold coins, to hard to deal with and its like having a $1000 bill when everyone else has $20's. Other tips were a handgun is better than a rifle and heavy 4wd truck, but he lived in the city and still had a job even. He was a target for car jacking and people would stage an accident or even run out in front of a car to stop it. He had to push one car out of the way one night.
He said the real SHTF plan is to have assets in another country, and just leave when things start to look bad. It depends on the scale of the event I suppose.

 

[Vikas]

Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
6 weeks no electricity after Hurricane Andrew, it was every neighbor looking out for the other neighbor.

'In 5.56 We Trust' ..... was the saying around my neighborhood.

How many did you use? How many hit the intended targets? What was your kill ratio?

Or was that all talk??

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
I can tell you one thing that I've heard people say they do in preparation for an SHTF event that I'll never do - hoard gold.

It's expensive now, but when push comes to shove, it serves no real purpose other than being shiny.


And how do you buy a loaf of bread with gold?

If you're going to do this, at least get junk silver dimes and quarters which are nominally worth a buck or four. They're more barter-able. Though TP, bullets, water tablets, medications, and batteries might be more accepted.

 

[morepwr]

I keep canned goods around and a decent supply of bottled water. I have a small generator and gas for it, propane for the BBQ. Mostly to get by if we have a big earthquake here in California that knocks out power for several days. In a real SHTF scenario, I am probably just as screwed as everybody else since I am in a crowded city and escaping the masses in the mother of all traffic jambs is unlikely.

 

[leeharvey418]

I agree with the argument that the most valuable commodity in a SHTF scenario is survival skills, but I'd say practical knowledge and skills in general are important. Physical possessions will make you a target... knowing how to stay alive and to keep others alive makes you valuable to have around.

 

[friendly_jacek]

How to get ready for SHTF?
Simple, fatten yourself and your family while you can.

Wait, does it make you a target?

 

[strat81]

Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
I can tell you one thing that I've heard people say they do in preparation for an SHTF event that I'll never do - hoard gold.

It's expensive now, but when push comes to shove, it serves no real purpose other than being shiny.


Gold has been a medium of exchange for thousands of years. It has survived the collapse of empires and the genocides of people.

I see what you're saying though - you can't eat gold, it's too soft to be made into a tool, and it would be uncomfortable to use as toilet paper. It does have industrial uses, but most of those would not be important during a catastrophic event. But, history tells us that people will almost always want gold (and silver).




One of the bigger problems for a SHTF event is water. Water takes up a lot of space and is heavy to carry. Having a means to obtain and store potable water is better than a 10 year supply of Mountain House meals.

 

[leeharvey418]

Originally Posted By: strat81
Gold has been a medium of exchange for thousands of years. It has survived the collapse of empires and the genocides of people.

Has it? Or has it just always come back into fashion at some point well after people had the real necessities of life covered?

 

[bubbatime]

A financial collapse of the dollar is a certainty. It is a matter of when, not if. When the govt borrows billions/trillions and prints money by the billions every day, they are only delaying the inevitable. The govt experts and economist are all keenly aware of whats going on, but are instituting "can kicking" policies, IE, kicking the can further on down the road so that they don't have to deal with the problem now and their successors will have to deal with it.

To those above that called preppers "extremist", they are only extremest until an event happens. After an event happens, they are then called "prepared".

 

[lawman1909]

"To those above that called preppers "extremist", they are only extremest until an event happens. After an event happens, they are then called "prepared". [/quote]

By extremists i mean those who build underground bunkers, military amounts of ammo, 100+ weapons, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on preps, etc. I completely agree with storing food and water, even some gas and oil and rotating it out on a semi-frequent basis.