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Posted: 8/7/2011 11:34:52 PM EDT
We had a fire burn around our neighborhood. The fire was within 100 yards of my house when we bugged out.
It made me think about my preps and whether or not I have 'prepped' correctly. My philosophy is prep for what is likely and realistically possible. Within reason. Thus I have a certain amount of food and water and other resources at home for disaster type situations. I also have investment accounts, use multiple banks, have safety deposit boxes and store back ups of info in them as well as valuables. Not only did my near SHTF convince me I'm doing it right for the most part, it convinced me to not go 'more doomer'. The doomer philosophy is to have LARGE amounts of resources at home and to not trust the banks, due to either not being able to get to them or because .gov will confiscate their property. In OK, tornados and ice storms are likely. I'm prepped for that. But yesterdays near SHTF with fire left me thinking, what if my house had burned down. I would have lost everything in it, but I would still be totally solvent and have the vast majority of my wealth intact. A hard core doomer with tons of food, supplies and very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. I consider a total loss event from a tornado or a fire MUCH MORE likely than a total economic collapse event where I will need a year's worth of food and a bunch of gold and silver for trading. The more valuables you have in your house, the more you will lose in a total destruction event. I do have some areas for improvement. Back up my data and move it off site more often. I would have lost about a year's worth. Have important documents AND pics and stuff in the same area. And keep ALL important docs in the same area. I had them in different parts of the house. Do practice runs of bugging out. I have not done this with my wife and the new baby. We did have rally areas in case we got separated, but it was a bit of a chinese fire drill, especially with the new baby. New family member= new bug out plan. Oh yeah, don't have a SHTF event two days after you have surgery. 
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Posted: 8/8/2011 3:59:36 AM EDT
[#1]
Quoted:
A hard core doomer with tons of food, supplies and very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. A truly hard-core "doomer" would have his stash dispersed among several locations - home, office, homes of relatives, bug-out location, rental storage unit, etc... Most of his firearms and ammo would still be intact - buried in his back yard...
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:16:38 AM EDT
[#2]
Quoted: I do have some areas for improvement. Back up my data and move it off site more often. I would have lost about a year's worth. Have important documents AND pics and stuff in the same area. And keep ALL important docs in the same area. I had them in different parts of the house. Have scans of all important docs and your pics stored offsite along with your data backup. I use one of these: 1 terabyte, USB 3, no power supply needed |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:23:16 AM EDT
[#3]
Damn.
Glad you are ok. 
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:25:34 AM EDT
[#4]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I do have some areas for improvement. Back up my data and move it off site more often. I would have lost about a year's worth. Have important documents AND pics and stuff in the same area. And keep ALL important docs in the same area. I had them in different parts of the house. Have scans of all important docs and your pics stored offsite along with your data backup. I use one of these: 1 terabyte, USB 3, no power supply needed I would recommend a double data backup, one offsite with someone you trust, and one at the bank safe deposit box. Back it up at least twice a year. Emergency savings - 3 to 6 months living expenses - in cash - in the bank. That is the new motel fund while your insurance screws around for two months getting you some money for your house that just burned down. - Looks like you have this. I am assuming you had enough warning to bug out with the items required to care for your wife and child as well as yourself? If not, definitely work on that. - Sounds like you need some more work here. Have you identified the sentimental items that you would take with you next time and do you have room to transport them? - Sounds like you will be grouping pictures and valuables together. I'm going to hazard a guess that most "hard core doomers" in this forum have a better idea of when and what to get out than you did. I may be mistaken, but your post sounds like you are gloating. The regular doomers here preach "prepare for the most likely events first." Top on my list is weather related incidents, immediately followed by housefires. I don't know if wildfires are common in your area of if this is more of a freak occurrance. If there is any significant risk, what about setting up roof sprinklers, house siding sprinklers, and keeping your yard sprinklers going with a portable generator? If it works (proximity to other houses appears to be the biggest risk) I guarantee the $600 or so in costs will far outweigh the financial and emotional cost of seeing ashes where your HOME once stood. I'm glad you and yours are safe.
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:52:38 AM EDT
[#5]
you seem to have a hardon for "doomers", might want to seek help for that.
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:54:48 AM EDT
[#6]
Congratulations, your post has reinforced how much I hate the term "Preps" and any derivation thereof. ("Prepper", "Prepping").
You're a survivalist. Be that. edit: A "hard core doomer" as you like to say, would have been better off than you because they would already have had a majority of their supplies prepositioned off site. |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:56:37 AM EDT
[#7]
Glad you are all right man. These are good thoughts, as I definitely haven't planned a family bug out plan.
ETA: lots of anger in these posts. |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 4:56:57 AM EDT
[#8]
So there was the fire smelled it burning all day.....its dry as a popcorn fart out there....
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Posted: 8/8/2011 5:00:38 AM EDT
[#9]
I admit that several years ago I was pretty hardcore into the doomer/shtf mindset. Now, some basic prepping like having plenty of extra food and water on-hand is always a great idea. Maybe a generator, maybe a radio, etc. Sure those are all decent and good ideas in the event of emergencies. But one thing I noticed about the hardcore types I was hanging around with was that they were all just waiting for the big one so they could end up living better when all of society collapsed than they did before. They were looking forward to going back to early-mid 1800s style of living and technology.
I realized though that even if something like that happened, there is no way whatsoever that the U.S. is going back to that. Why? Because people remember and what it was like to live with a/c, electricity, refrigeration, the internet, etc. and they retain some of the knowledge of how go about rebuilding so they can have those conveniences once again. With enough people working together it won't take long at all to restore something like electricity. But for some of those hardcore prepper types you could not convince them of this. The world needed to collapse so they could live out their 1800s lifestyle that they'd worked so hard to achieve through storing and spending insane amounts of money on stuff they would only use if such a situation were to arise. That's when I realized that the entire time I was of this mindset, I wasn't really even living my life to the fullest in the here and now. |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 5:03:09 AM EDT
[#10]
There is a contingent on the Survival Forum that prep for TEOTWAWKI and seem to ignore the most likely scenario. I think you guys are giving the OP a bit more of a hard time than he deserves.
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Posted: 8/8/2011 5:14:13 AM EDT
[#11]
I'm just finishing up backing up years of pictures and scans of all my insurance documents, taxes, etc...
Putting it all on a USB hard drive which I'm storing at a relatives house an hour away the next time I visit. And a second copy on a thumbdrive, in my BOB, with key folders like taxes and will encrypted. If your house burns to the ground, losing all that info is preventable. |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 6:56:36 AM EDT
[#12]
Quoted:
There is a contingent on the Survival Forum that prep for TEOTWAWKI and seem to ignore the most likely scenario. I think you guys are giving the OP a bit more of a hard time than he deserves. You must be new here. 
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Posted: 8/8/2011 6:57:15 AM EDT
[#13]
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Posted: 8/8/2011 7:03:16 AM EDT
[#14]
Quoted:
Quoted:
I do have some areas for improvement. Back up my data and move it off site more often. I would have lost about a year's worth. Have important documents AND pics and stuff in the same area. And keep ALL important docs in the same area. I had them in different parts of the house. Have scans of all important docs and your pics stored offsite along with your data backup. I use one of these: 1 terabyte, USB 3, no power supply needed +1 did that a year ago. I use TrueCrypt for encrypting standard USB drives. It's free, it's easy, and it's VERY strong. Sure, the NSA might hack it - but if I lose my go-bag it will show up as an unformatted drive and no loss. You can fit far more onto a 4GB thumb drive than you might realize once you weed out all the stupid shit like music, movies and that PRON collection Sherrick doesn't want to lose.
ETA: I have everything from NFA, property deeds, financial stuff and car loans scanned and encrypted on my USB drive.
Although I could live without the constant "Doomer" condescention from all of Sherrick's posts - I think he's spot on here (and that the vast majority of us are much closer to seeing eye-to-eye on preps than he would like to believe). This post is a great reminder on having a basic Go Bag: something with the aforementioned USB drive, a change of clothes, basic food/water/meds and other small items you might find essential. I think of it in terms of, if I had to go on a road trip right-the-fuck-now, what would I need? 
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Posted: 8/8/2011 7:03:25 AM EDT
[#15]
Quoted:
very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. You aren't going to "lose" gold to fire. It doesn't burn. Not that I disagree with your novel idea of not putting all your eggs in one basket. |
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Posted: 8/8/2011 7:17:29 AM EDT
[#16]
There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009.
There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 4:53:47 PM EDT
[#17]
Quoted: Damn. Glad you are ok. Thanks, it was intense there for a while. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 4:54:42 PM EDT
[#18]
Quoted: you seem to have a hardon for "doomers", might want to seek help for that. You seem to have a victim mentality. You might want to seek help for that. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:01:09 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted: Quoted: very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. You aren't going to "lose" gold to fire. It doesn't burn. Not that I disagree with your novel idea of not putting all your eggs in one basket. Maybe. After a tornado you might not find it. After a fire you might. But you probably know that $20 gold coins or registered bar gold has a different value than scrap gold. Which is what your melted gold coins will be after a fire. While I keep all my gold at the bank, I do keep some of my silver at home. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:04:12 PM EDT
[#20]
Quoted: There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:08:01 PM EDT
[#21]
I agree with you on a good balanced approach.
However a good fireproof safe goes a long way
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:14:14 PM EDT
[#22]
Quoted:
I agree with you on a good balanced approach. However a good fireproof safe goes a long way The "best" fire safes I've seen locally are only good for around 30 minutes in reasonable tempuratures; and even then their water protection is dubious. Not saying I don't have one too... just that it's more like "fire resistant."
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:20:28 PM EDT
[#23]
Glad you and your family are safe.
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:21:41 PM EDT
[#24]
Quoted:
Quoted:
There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? I worry as I have 99% of my preps in my home. I have a very meager backup plan at a place in Maine, but it's a fraction of what I have stored at my home in NH. In a week I'd be hungry and desperate. I've often thought it'd be good to trust a fellow prepper enough that you could have a small corner of their basement for a few weeks of food and some basic clothing if your home is leveled or you have to evacuate without getting your vehicle home to load up first. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 5:32:00 PM EDT
[#25]
A real doomer is going to have enough defensible space around his/her home or retreat that a wild fire isn't going to get close to it.
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Posted: 8/9/2011 7:03:57 PM EDT
[#26]
Reminder most fireproof safes will not protect an external hard drive.
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Posted: 8/9/2011 7:05:07 PM EDT
[#27]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? I worry as I have 99% of my preps in my home. I have a very meager backup plan at a place in Maine, but it's a fraction of what I have stored at my home in NH. In a week I'd be hungry and desperate. I've often thought it'd be good to trust a fellow prepper enough that you could have a small corner of their basement for a few weeks of food and some basic clothing if your home is leveled or you have to evacuate without getting your vehicle home to load up first. I've often thought it'd be good to trust a fellow prepper enough that you could have a small corner of their basement for a few weeks of food and some basic clothing if your home is leveled or you have to evacuate without getting your vehicle home to load up first. Just needed to be said again. |
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Posted: 8/9/2011 7:10:32 PM EDT
[#28]
Glad you are well. I am lucky that we have a ranch 35 minutes away that is our bug out location. Wells with windmills, a double-wide trailer, central heat and air and a huge barn where I can store some things. I want to add a windmill for electricity to move it 100% off grid. Then I want to add basement storage and bury a large diesel tank. I'll feel pretty safe after that.
Eventually, I want to build a real house out there and just live. 35 minutes isn't a long drive, but it could be a heck of a hike with kids in a Texas Summer if the roads were somehow out of commission. Better to bug in, I say. |
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Posted: 8/10/2011 3:18:05 AM EDT
[#29]
Quoted: Quoted: I agree with you on a good balanced approach. However a good fireproof safe goes a long way The "best" fire safes I've seen locally are only good for around 30 minutes in reasonable tempuratures; and even then their water protection is dubious. Not saying I don't have one too... just that it's more like "fire resistant." Yep, fire safes are better than nothing, but no guarantee. At least not the affordable ones.
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Posted: 8/10/2011 3:19:43 AM EDT
[#30]
Quoted: Glad you are well. I am lucky that we have a ranch 35 minutes away that is our bug out location. Wells with windmills, a double-wide trailer, central heat and air and a huge barn where I can store some things. I want to add a windmill for electricity to move it 100% off grid. Then I want to add basement storage and bury a large diesel tank. I'll feel pretty safe after that. Eventually, I want to build a real house out there and just live. 35 minutes isn't a long drive, but it could be a heck of a hike with kids in a Texas Summer if the roads were somehow out of commission. Better to bug in, I say. While this is of course a great thing to have, it is also a luxury. It isn't a viable option for most families. |
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Posted: 8/10/2011 3:29:52 AM EDT
[#31]
Quoted:
Quoted:
A hard core doomer with tons of food, supplies and very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. A truly hard-core "doomer" would have his stash dispersed among several locations - home, office, homes of relatives, bug-out location, rental storage unit, etc... Most of his firearms and ammo would still be intact - buried in his back yard... 
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Posted: 8/10/2011 7:43:16 AM EDT
[#32]
Quoted: Quoted: There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? Diversify you investments.... I read some years ago about a guy who was "prepped" to the max. Rural location, defensible house, living the dream, right? Then his house burned down and killed his whole family.  To many preppers TOTALLY fail to do the most basic risk analysis.... Your home is far more vulnerable than the economic system of the entire western world. I think everyone should have a months worth of preps, Katrina made that perfectly clear. But the guys with years worth of stuff are in a vulnerable spot if they don't also have serious resources stashed at some banks, etc. Also, to many people decide in advance if they are going to "bug-in" or "bug-out"... Newsflash, you don't get to decide. The circumstance will choose for you, and you should be prepared for either. |
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Posted: 8/10/2011 9:48:10 PM EDT
[#33]
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? Diversify you investments.... I read some years ago about a guy who was "prepped" to the max. Rural location, defensible house, living the dream, right? Then his house burned down and killed his whole family. To many preppers TOTALLY fail to do the most basic risk analysis.... Your home is far more vulnerable than the economic system of the entire western world. I think everyone should have a months worth of preps, Katrina made that perfectly clear. But the guys with years worth of stuff are in a vulnerable spot if they don't also have serious resources stashed at some banks, etc. Also, to many people decide in advance if they are going to "bug-in" or "bug-out"... Newsflash, you don't get to decide. The circumstance will choose for you, and you should be prepared for either. That point was made perfectly clear to me the other day. Thus this thread. |
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Posted: 8/10/2011 9:56:05 PM EDT
[#34]
Sherrick, any prepper worth his salt has a root cellar not attached to the house and hidden from view.
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Posted: 8/10/2011 10:22:06 PM EDT
[#35]
Quoted: Sherrick, any prepper worth his salt has a root cellar not attached to the house andhidden from view. Regardless of that, a cellar, not attached to the main dwelling is a HUGE security issue. Both with natural and manmade threats. Besides, that is more cost, especially if done right. Those resources really couldn't be utilized more efficiently elsewhere? If you relatively wealthy that is not as big of an issue. But a 5 person family on a 50K income? IOW, average. |
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Posted: 8/10/2011 10:26:35 PM EDT
[#36]
I'm starting now, with preperations centered around food, food storage, food preparation, water purification. Then I'll to communication, shelter, medical, weapons, transportation, and then retreat shelter.
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Posted: 8/11/2011 3:43:50 AM EDT
[#37]
Cool story, bro
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Posted: 8/11/2011 3:55:46 AM EDT
[#38]
Good post...
Always re-think your preparations...look at them in regards to different scenarios. Adjust/improve as necessary. And, that being said...Haters gonna hate. |
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Posted: 8/11/2011 4:31:44 AM EDT
[#39]
Quoted:
Quoted:
There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? Eh, you've probably got.$10k-$20k of furniture, stereo equipment, etc that you can't/won't take with you when bugging out from a wildfire anyway. I wouldn't worry about leaving $1000 worth of food storage behind any more than I would worry about leaving a king size mattress set. $600 generator? What about that recliner in the living room? Point is, it doesn't make a difference whether you have major stockpiles or not. If you have $20k in cash @ your house and you have to bug out from a wildfire or flood, then you're a dumbass if you don't put it in your pocket on the way out. It's all about contingencies, and it's dumb to not buy something to cover a contingency simply because you couldn't take it with you on a bug out. You weren't worried about it when you bought your tv and couch, don't worry about it when you buy whatever else. Eta: I also see some good stuff farther down from where I started my reply about diversifying. I'm assuming the people will always have something in the bank, just from a functional point of view. Keeping an emergency stash of cash is wise. Banking under the mattress is foolish, imo. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 8/11/2011 4:52:32 AM EDT
[#40]
I have 60 days worth of preps with another 3 weeks set aside for instant relocation. Plenty for any situation I feel I may encounter.
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Posted: 8/11/2011 4:32:09 PM EDT
[#41]
Quoted: Cool story, bro Actually it is. And you obviously have nothing negative to say about it, but just HAD to make a sort of negative comment. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 7:40:54 AM EDT
[#42]
Quoted: Yes, but the point of furniture and stereo equipment is not preps... I'm not ragging on the guy with one, three, or even six months of preps. But the guys with YEARS worth, and $10,000+? It's dangerous thinking. It commits them to a particular course of action (the "bug-in") and it's gonna be real hard to leave those preps behind when you should really be bugging out, fast.Quoted: Quoted: There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? Eh, you've probably got.$10k-$20k of furniture, stereo equipment, etc that you can't/won't take with you when bugging out from a wildfire anyway. I wouldn't worry about leaving $1000 worth of food storage behind any more than I would worry about leaving a king size mattress set. $600 generator? What about that recliner in the living room? Point is, it doesn't make a difference whether you have major stockpiles or not. If you have $20k in cash @ your house and you have to bug out from a wildfire or flood, then you're a dumbass if you don't put it in your pocket on the way out. It's all about contingencies, and it's dumb to not buy something to cover a contingency simply because you couldn't take it with you on a bug out. You weren't worried about it when you bought your tv and couch, don't worry about it when you buy whatever else. Eta: I also see some good stuff farther down from where I started my reply about diversifying. I'm assuming the people will always have something in the bank, just from a functional point of view. Keeping an emergency stash of cash is wise. Banking under the mattress is foolish, imo. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 7:49:28 AM EDT
[#43]
Sherrick,
Glad you and your family and your house are OK. Just a few comments on your comments. Diversity, like you said, some assets in multiple places is just smart. As far as fire and papers and assets in the house, just 3 words.....fire rated safe and even better is a fire rated security box inside a fire rated safe. Having some significant food in the house does not have to be expensive. Dried beans and rice, a few hundred dollars worth is not going to break the bank if it s lost. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 7:50:23 AM EDT
[#44]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Also, to many people decide in advance if they are going to "bug-in" or "bug-out"... Newsflash, you don't get to decide. The circumstance will choose for you, and you should be prepared for either. That point was made perfectly clear to me the other day. Thus this thread. A good compromise seems to be having much of your preps at home, yet easily mobile. I know several people who have stuff in trailers, in the garage. It is at home, and locked up, but can be hooked up and on the road in under 5 minutes. Given the low cost of surplus M101 series trailers, you can add one to your preps for well under $1k all said and done. And the bed is teh same size as a full size truck, so you can put a camper shell on it is you want to be able to lock it instead of having the canvas cover on it. And the trailers are being sold off in good quantity right now, so we are at the low point in the price curve for surplus. They will not go down in value from this point, and are likely to go up a decent amount in the next few years as supplies dry up. So buying one now you are very unlikely to lose any money on the investment. I sold 2 of them to guys in the last month, one was planning to use it just as I described. Load up the preps he considers most important, and park it in the garage. If he stays home, they are there. If he has to go, he can quickly. And you should still have some assets elsewhere, incase something happens when you are not home. Seems like a good compromise. There is no perfect solution, only trying to mitigate risk as best as we can. I am likely going to be doing the same thing shortly. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 7:55:41 AM EDT
[#45]
Quoted: Quoted: Glad you are well. I am lucky that we have a ranch 35 minutes away that is our bug out location. Wells with windmills, a double-wide trailer, central heat and air and a huge barn where I can store some things. I want to add a windmill for electricity to move it 100% off grid. Then I want to add basement storage and bury a large diesel tank. I'll feel pretty safe after that. Eventually, I want to build a real house out there and just live. 35 minutes isn't a long drive, but it could be a heck of a hike with kids in a Texas Summer if the roads were somehow out of commission. Better to bug in, I say. While this is of course a great thing to have, it is also a luxury. It isn't a viable option for most families. I agree. Something to work toward, certainly. I have like-minded friends involved as well. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 8:04:06 AM EDT
[#46]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Sherrick, any prepper worth his salt has a root cellar not attached to the house andhidden from view. Regardless of that, a cellar, not attached to the main dwelling is a HUGE security issue. Both with natural and manmade threats. Besides, that is more cost, especially if done right. Those resources really couldn't be utilized more efficiently elsewhere? If you relatively wealthy that is not as big of an issue. But a 5 person family on a 50K income? IOW, average. Sherrick, i think a man of your means, when you heal up, could do some research regarding that supposedly un-affordable cellar. you don't have to go all-out with the reinforced fiberglass modules for nuclear winter, but a set of plans, some room, and a backhoe rented for a weekend could well make a big dent in the prep work. form up a 10-12' deep area and go for it. OK is known for twisting winds anyhow. just my 2 cents. i'm planning on doing something like this in the next year or so, when the house is paid off. I have a place i'd like to build on out at the ranch. water would be a problem, but there's ways around that. i'm thinking circular winds would be your biggest worry. glad you and the fam are ok. that's huge right there. -tom |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 9:13:35 AM EDT
[#47]
Quoted: Quoted: Yes, but the point of furniture and stereo equipment is not preps... I'm not ragging on the guy with one, three, or even six months of preps. But the guys with YEARS worth, and $10,000+? It's dangerous thinking. It commits them to a particular course of action (the "bug-in") and it's gonna be real hard to leave those preps behind when you should really be bugging out, fast.Quoted: Quoted: There were 377,000 residential fires in the US in 2009. There were also floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all sorts of other mayhem. There were zero zombie outbreaks. If a month of food and water won't get you through a disaster in CONUS, things are very, very, horribly, terribly wrong. The whole thing just made me think about the people that have $10,000-$20,000 preps at home. Would those resources be safer at home or in a bank? It is more likely that there will be a home destruction event or an event where they could not access those resources in the bank? Eh, you've probably got.$10k-$20k of furniture, stereo equipment, etc that you can't/won't take with you when bugging out from a wildfire anyway. I wouldn't worry about leaving $1000 worth of food storage behind any more than I would worry about leaving a king size mattress set. $600 generator? What about that recliner in the living room? Point is, it doesn't make a difference whether you have major stockpiles or not. If you have $20k in cash @ your house and you have to bug out from a wildfire or flood, then you're a dumbass if you don't put it in your pocket on the way out. It's all about contingencies, and it's dumb to not buy something to cover a contingency simply because you couldn't take it with you on a bug out. You weren't worried about it when you bought your tv and couch, don't worry about it when you buy whatever else. Eta: I also see some good stuff farther down from where I started my reply about diversifying. I'm assuming the people will always have something in the bank, just from a functional point of view. Keeping an emergency stash of cash is wise. Banking under the mattress is foolish, imo. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile I hear what you're saying, but on the flip slide, people with too little preps commit them to the bug-out. Any course of action is going to be dependent on the threat. Wildfire - Bug out, no brainer. How about a nasty 3 week power outage in winter from an ice storm? It gets a little murky. A well-prepped person with hundreds of gallons of fuel for his diesel generator is gonna be just fine to bug in. The guy across the street? He's a refugee in less than 36 hours. If a person is thinking clearly, it shouldn't be any harder to walk away from 10k worth of SHTF preps than it is to walk away from 10k worth of furniture and drapes. They are inanimate objects that represent a financial investment from the past. The overprepped person has a choice. The underprepped person doesn't. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 9:20:01 AM EDT
[#48]
Quoted:
If a person is thinking clearly, it shouldn't be any harder to walk away from 10k worth of SHTF preps than it is to walk away from 10k worth of furniture and drapes. They are inanimate objects that represent a financial investment from the past. The overprepped person has a choice. The underprepped person doesn't. I gotta disagree here. 10k worth of furniture and drapes should be insured. So if you have to walk away, down the road you are not hurt that badly. No real threat from walking away with them and waiting for the insurance check. Preps are insurance, in many ways. If you are walking away, the situation may be that those preps are critical to the safety, security and life of your family in the immediate future. And now you lack them. And there may not be 3 months for insurance to pay back. Imagine if this wildfire had been started as the result of a major earthquake. Walking away from drapes and furniture, no big deal. Walking away from preps, in an enviornment where supplies and help are scarce, is a big deal. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 9:31:15 AM EDT
[#49]
Quoted: Pretend you have a really big insurance deductible, then. Quoted: If a person is thinking clearly, it shouldn't be any harder to walk away from 10k worth of SHTF preps than it is to walk away from 10k worth of furniture and drapes. They are inanimate objects that represent a financial investment from the past. The overprepped person has a choice. The underprepped person doesn't. I gotta disagree here. 10k worth of furniture and drapes should be insured. So if you have to walk away, down the road you are not hurt that badly. No real threat from walking away with them and waiting for the insurance check. Preps are insurance, in many ways. If you are walking away, the situation may be that those preps are critical to the safety, security and life of your family in the immediate future. And now you lack them. And there may not be 3 months for insurance to pay back. Imagine if this wildfire had been started as the result of a major earthquake. Walking away from drapes and furniture, no big deal. Walking away from preps, in an enviornment where supplies and help are scarce, is a big deal. Our "contents" are covered up to a certain amount. I'm not sure what an insurance company would say about misc supplies and food storage. As long as you could document their existence and value, you'd probably have a good chance at applying them toward the limit. My point is that it's better to have preps that you have to walk away from than to not have them. As the situations vary, the optimal response varies. Clear thinking is the key. If someone would burn to death so they could die with their flour buckets, then Darwin has spoken. Hell, if you have a basement full of preps for bug in contingency A, at least you can take as much as will fit in your trunk. For an earthquake wildfire, you probably need a bug out trailer, because you need to bug out while bugging in, if that makes any sense. |
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Posted: 8/12/2011 9:43:46 AM EDT
[#50]
Quoted:
Quoted:
A hard core doomer with tons of food, supplies and very likely gold and other valuables in the home or curtalige would have lost everything. A truly hard-core "doomer" would have his stash dispersed among several locations - home, office, homes of relatives, bug-out location, rental storage unit, etc... Most of his firearms and ammo would still be intact - buried in his back yard... Obviously tongue in cheek but... First response nails it. Diversify your disaster portfolio. Have multiple, smaller caches. |
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