[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Question for serious preppers (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 6/9/2017 10:31:09 AM EDT
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I didn't really pay attention to the overall prepper thing for a long time. I though it was just an excuse to buy lots of guns. So I thought it was going to go away with Trump, but it hasn't. No one really talks about the basics so I would like some clarity. The expected problem is an economic crash like 2008 but much worse, right? Are there other causes on the radar? Is this still the expectation even with more responsible leadership? What is the breakdown of society expected to look like in the suburbs (I get it for the inner city). What are the threats, or sequence of threats and presumed timeline?
I know this is mostly going to get 'fun' answers, but I really want to get my mind around this. |
| I'm not a prepper but I think an important thing to factor in is how much effort you want to put toward the variety of scenarios that could happen. A lot of people seem to fall in love with 'The Walking Dead' SHTF plan when the reality is you are far more likely to face a Hurricane Katrina situation in which you'd have to keep a natural disaster at bay, worry about sanitation, clean water, some looters, and a military intervention. After all that's done, life eventually returns to normal and you must realize law and order will be restored and actions prosecuted. |
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I'm not a prepper but I think an important thing to factor in is how much effort you want to put toward the variety of scenarios that could happen. A lot of people seem to fall in love with 'The Walking Dead' SHTF plan when the reality is you are far more likely to face a Hurricane Katrina situation in which you'd have to keep a natural disaster at bay, worry about sanitation, clean water, some looters, and a military intervention. After all that's done, life eventually returns to normal and you must realize law and order will be restored and actions prosecuted. |
| In my area it's for a 9+ magnitude earthquake that will knock out power, water, roads, food delivery, firefighting capability and etc. The responsible person should have supplies to get through it, which is easy, but how to deal with the hundreds of thousands of people within walking distance is a bit more of a problem. |
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If you plan for The Walking Dead, you pretty much have all the lesser calamities covered.
In the suburbs the Sally Soccer Mom will look at little Skippy and Buffy growing thinner each day and insist that Joe Sixpack go find some food and water. Joe will take his baseball bat or favorite golf club and go try to find something by guile or force. Don't be a Joe Sixpack or Sally Soccer Mom. |
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I didn't really pay attention to the overall prepper thing for a long time. I though it was just an excuse to buy lots of guns. So I thought it was going to go away with Trump, but it hasn't. No one really talks about the basics so I would like some clarity. The expected problem is an economic crash like 2008 but much worse, right? Are there other causes on the radar? Is this still the expectation even with more responsible leadership? What is the breakdown of society expected to look like in the suburbs (I get it for the inner city). What are the threats, or sequence of threats and presumed timeline? I know this is mostly going to get 'fun' answers, but I really want to get my mind around this. There's still serious prepping for non-political fallout reasons, like blizzards, floods and hurricanes. I'm not a serious prepper. I'm good for maybe 5 to 7 days before I need to head out to Walmart. |
Now that we have responsible government, the Liberals are doing everything that they can to destroy the system. Liberals think that we will return to a Utopian world of growing your own vegetables and making your own clothes. The only thing that they don't understand is that they would be the first ones to die out.
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If you plan for The Walking Dead, you pretty much have all the lesser calamities covered. In the suburbs the Sally Soccer Mom will look at little Skippy and Buffy growing thinner each day and insist that Joe Sixpack go find some food and water. Joe will take his baseball bat or favorite golf club and go try to find something by guile or force. Don't be a Joe Sixpack or Sally Soccer Mom. |
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Well the smart-ass answer is, "I don't have a crystal ball"
The dumb-ass answer is anything that tries to make prediction. The smart answer is, "I have no idea." People who prep with some specific vision in mind are short sighted. The best thing IMO is to build fitness, skills and logistics. You want to know what to expect? Look at historical models; from the fall of the Roman Empire/Migration period to modern post disasters like Katrina and civil unrest like the Ukraine, Berkley riots and Venezuela. People that "buy lots of guns" aren't prepping for anything but bans and economic hedging. Prepping requires an over all view of logistics. I would recommend this article. |
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if you want prepping advice, here it is. look at everything you use on a daily basis, ( electric, refridgeration, food, water, medicine, ability to withdraw money, etc ), and then figure out what you would do if you had none of that. zero electricity, zero 911, zero money, zero medicine, no clean water, ....then you start looking at ways to get by without those things / provide those things for yourself.
no electric..... = generator no bank withdrawls = keeping money on hand no 911 = owning a gun and ammo no food = storing food, and maybe gardening, and canning no medicine = trying to provide your own, first aid, etc no clean water = owning water storage and ways to clean water owing a gun and ammo is realistically 10% of what you need to survive. you MIGHT need to shoot someone, but you WILL need to eat, sleep, stay hydrated. most of the above is good for all kinds of problems, financial disasters, hurricaines, etc. if your worried about financial issues, like south America... then id suggest some savings, little debt, and lots of stored food.. don't forget toilet paper ! |
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There is already backlash from Trump being elected. Imagine what retaliation is in store after 4 or 8 years of a Trump presidency.
There's always something to be prepared for if you pay attention. These are the proverbial salad days. Stock up and stay that way. |
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I'll be pushing around my entire gun collection in the family wheel barrel looking for food. Quoted:
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If you plan for The Walking Dead, you pretty much have all the lesser calamities covered. In the suburbs the Sally Soccer Mom will look at little Skippy and Buffy growing thinner each day and insist that Joe Sixpack go find some food and water. Joe will take his baseball bat or favorite golf club and go try to find something by guile or force. Don't be a Joe Sixpack or Sally Soccer Mom. |
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I see i didn't make it in before the lectures by non preppers.
OP, prep for what is most likely to happen to you first, then expand outward from there as you desire. Many people become overwhelmed at the prospect of being prepared because they think they they have to have a bomb shelter and 10 years worth of food. For people wanting to get started, a good starting point would be: 10 cases of bottled water. < $50.00 1 months supply of food. This can be done without buying any expensive specialty food items. Just buy more of what you normally eat and add 20 extra lbs of rice, beans and pasta. a small generator and 20-ish gallons of gas. keep all vehicles full of fuel. This will see you through the vast majority of bad scenarios. |
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| I read somewhere that if an electromagnetic pulse knocked out electricity and power for 4-5 years, up to 60-75% of the population might perish. This would knock out cars, trucks, electricity, and ability to transport clean food and water. The only way to survive is to have methods of collecting and filtering water, and having a robust seed bank for planting crops; along with the ability to defend those things when others come looking for them. |
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if you want prepping advice, here it is. look at everything you use on a daily basis, ( electric, refridgeration, food, water, medicine, ability to withdraw money, etc ), and then figure out what you would do if you had none of that. zero electricity, zero 911, zero money, zero medicine, no clean water, ....then you start looking at ways to get by without those things / provide those things for yourself. no electric..... = generator no bank withdrawls = keeping money on hand no 911 = owning a gun and ammo no food = storing food, and maybe gardening, and canning no medicine = trying to provide your own, first aid, etc no clean water = owning water storage and ways to clean water owing a gun and ammo is realistically 10% of what you need to survive. you MIGHT need to shoot someone, but you WILL need to eat, sleep, stay hydrated. most of the above is good for all kinds of problems, financial disasters, hurricaines, etc. if your worried about financial issues, like south America... then id suggest some savings, little debt, and lots of stored food.. don't forget toilet paper ! |
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I read somewhere that if an electromagnetic pulse knocked out electricity and power for 4-5 years, up to 60-75% of the population might perish. This would knock out cars, trucks, electricity, and ability to transport clean food and water. The only way to survive is to have methods of collecting and filtering water, and having a robust seed bank for planting crops; along with the ability to defend those things when others come looking for them. |
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I try to look at it as though at this very second I couldn't go buy anything I need for at least several weeks.... Food, water, meds.. Do you have a way to cook without electricity/gas service? (camp stove)
A trip to Costco with a cart or two full of case goods, rice, and beans should go a long way to cover 99% of any situation you might face. Buy the stuff you eat on a regular basis as well. I now plenty of people with a bunch of guns but less than 3 days food on hand. Seems foolish. |
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I read somewhere that if an electromagnetic pulse knocked out electricity and power for 4-5 years, up to 60-75% of the population might perish. This would knock out cars, trucks, electricity, and ability to transport clean food and water. The only way to survive is to have methods of collecting and filtering water, and having a robust seed bank for planting crops; along with the ability to defend those things when others come looking for them. |
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When the hurricane hit here last year (Georgia), we had the basics covered. Food for 45-60 days with 7 days in the in back packs.
Water for 30 days, but only had 3 days in small bottles. (error on my part) (I forgot that I can't carry a 5 gallon bottle of water, a backpack and a gun all day long any more..) We had power covered in alternates when we build the house so that wasn't an issue. The day before it hit, we got a few goodies and spent some time entertaining ourselves with all of the nuts running around panicking. Once the flooding started, we loaded the truck with a week's supply of what we needed and waited to see if we needed to leave. Never did! You can't plan for everything, but should plan for the issues that will occur in life. Weather, job loss, etc. So if everything does go south, it won't be nearly as bad as it could be. I used to think that everyone had the basics covered, but no longer. We saw people who were literally going hungry because they didn't realize that the government wasn't making MCDs stay open during the storm, (no joke). That is what really scares me the most. The way people are is probably as bad as if can get, until they get worse. No thoughts about tomorrow or even a single care about it. They think Uncle is going to cover it. On our end, there are things we could have done better, but we did well enough to keep us warm, dry and feed. I considered it a good outcome. Things to improve: 1) Batteries ...you will use more than you think 2) Food....more snacks 3) Backpacks.... need better one.....ours sucked. 4) Guns.... you do need slings on your rifle. |
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because you can't buy and store it ahead of time?  Quoted:
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A generator takes fuel. In a natural disaster, I wish you luck getting gas after day two. |
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When the hurricane hit here last year (Georgia), we had the basics covered. Food for 45-60 days with 7 days in the in back packs. Water for 30 days, but only had 3 days in small bottles. (error on my part) (I forgot that I can't carry a 5 gallon bottle of water, a backpack and a gun all day long any more..) We had power covered in alternates when we build the house so that wasn't an issue. The day before it hit, we got a few goodies and spent some time entertaining ourselves with all of the nuts running around panicking. Once the flooding started, we loaded the truck with a week's supply of what we needed and waited to see if we needed to leave. Never did! You can't plan for everything, but should plan for the issues that will occur in life. Weather, job loss, etc. So if everything does go south, it won't be nearly as bad as it could be. I used to think that everyone had the basics covered, but no longer. We saw people who were literally going hungry because they didn't realize that the government wasn't making MCDs stay open during the storm, (no joke). That is what really scares me the most. The way people are is probably as bad as if can get, until they get worse. No thoughts about tomorrow or even a single care about it. They think Uncle is going to cover it. On our end, there are things we could have done better, but we did well enough to keep us warm, dry and feed. I considered it a good outcome. Things to improve: 1) Batteries ...you will use more than you think 2) Food....more snacks 3) Backpacks.... need better one.....ours sucked. 4) Guns.... you do need slings on your rifle. |
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A generator takes fuel. In a natural disaster, I wish you luck getting gas after day two. |
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I didn't really pay attention to the overall prepper thing for a long time. I though it was just an excuse to buy lots of guns. So I thought it was going to go away with Trump, but it hasn't. No one really talks about the basics so I would like some clarity. The expected problem is an economic crash like 2008 but much worse, right? Are there other causes on the radar? Is this still the expectation even with more responsible leadership? What is the breakdown of society expected to look like in the suburbs (I get it for the inner city). What are the threats, or sequence of threats and presumed timeline? I know this is mostly going to get 'fun' answers, but I really want to get my mind around this. Nobody knows how $20 Trillion of debt is going to shake out in specific terms. In general terms, it means we are going to be a lot poorer. Societies can shift from poor to rich and vice versa peacefully given enough time. When the time horizon is shortened, as is usual, violence comes in to play. The US has such an exorbitant privilege with it's reserve currency, it is just too irresistible to print them into oblivion and have the rest of the world absorb it. Since the US doesn't want to back off the currency printing press, it will probably break suddenly. At this point, the leadership's test is yet to come. There is no reversing this. There is too much momentum in a flawed economic system, it is too little, and too late. Pain is guaranteed, it is our leaders' reactions to that pain that paint the future of the country. Although we are used to abundance today, the same tomorrow is not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. When rational people start to prep, they don't use it as an excuse for an abundance of guns; quite the opposite. They cover as many bases as they can given their limited resources. At a minimum, every person has a primary weapon, sidearm, and 2k and 500 rds of ammo, respectively. In addition, they stock up on basics. The SF forum is good about this. Treat the home like a business. Create an inventory of goods needed to operate for a certain amount of time. |
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I didn't really pay attention to the overall prepper thing for a long time. I though it was just an excuse to buy lots of guns. So I thought it was going to go away with Trump, but it hasn't. No one really talks about the basics so I would like some clarity. The expected problem is an economic crash like 2008 but much worse, right? Are there other causes on the radar? Is this still the expectation even with more responsible leadership? What is the breakdown of society expected to look like in the suburbs (I get it for the inner city). What are the threats, or sequence of threats and presumed timeline? I know this is mostly going to get 'fun' answers, but I really want to get my mind around this. I guess I'll bite though. Everyone that's serious about it talks about the basics. The folks that are just starting generally talk more about the toys. Eventually some of us get to the point that we realize much of the movement, as with many things, is about bullshit marketing. Websites, books, gear, supplies, training, TV shows, and on and on. At that point in our journey, one usually has figured out what is needed, and what's superfluous. Also one is completely burned out on dealing with folks. 
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I only plan for a few weeks without services. Any longer than that society will have broken down so much that existence will be so miserable, what would be the point of carrying on.
I like to keep my vehicle tanks topped off at the end of the day too, because when you lose power, you lose gas pumps. |
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I only plan for a few weeks without services. Any longer than that society will have broken down so much that existence will be so miserable, what would be the point of carrying on. I like to keep my vehicle tanks topped off at the end of the day too, because when you lose power, you lose gas pumps. Also, bring back dolphin. |
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Yeah. Wrong forum. I guess I'll bite though. Everyone that's serious about it talks about the basics. The folks that are just starting generally talk more about the toys. Eventually some of us get to the point that we realize much of the movement, as with many things, is about bullshit marketing. Websites, books, gear, supplies, training, TV shows, and on and on. At that point in our journey, one usually has figured out what is needed, and what's superfluous. Also one is completely burned out on dealing with folks. |
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The real trick to surviving true SHTF isn't how long you're going to make out in a Mad Max scenario with your crops and underground bunker, it's about how quickly you can restore order and civility once it's lost. It's a fantasy to think one will be holding off the hordes of armed scavengers because if you think about it, you'd be spending nearly 100% of your time defending yourself, 24-7. No time to plant crops, no time to raise your chickens, no time to look after your day to day family needs. 
Seriously though, I let my flock die out and I can't grow potato/tubers for shit anyway. |
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