So I have been giving this a lot of thought lately. I live in California and many of you know this an earthquake prone area of the country. There are also wild fires and mud slide in some areas.With all the potential natural and un natural occurrences that can happen in your city, town how long could you survive starting NOW.All the services are no long working from electricity, gas, water, or what ever runs your home. You only have what's in your pantry and fridge and whatever means to cook it besides those listed.If you have a generator then fine. Solar system with battery stored power great. You have a propane tank, charcoal briquets, wood, coleman stove, fine. You wont have the ability to leave your property under any circumstances. You property is not damaged so you have shelter but only the provisions you currently have on hand RIGHT NOW.you cannot leave, you have what you have.I could last about 2 weeks and possibly 4 by rationing out what I do have. Flushing toilets would prove most difficult so the restroom visits would be very interesting to say the least.
Quote from: Aloha007 on November 28, 2014, 05:54:50 PMSo I have been giving this a lot of thought lately. I live in California and many of you know this an earthquake prone area of the country. There are also wild fires and mud slide in some areas.With all the potential natural and un natural occurrences that can happen in your city, town how long could you survive starting NOW.All the services are no long working from electricity, gas, water, or what ever runs your home. You only have what's in your pantry and fridge and whatever means to cook it besides those listed.If you have a generator then fine. Solar system with battery stored power great. You have a propane tank, charcoal briquets, wood, coleman stove, fine. You wont have the ability to leave your property under any circumstances. You property is not damaged so you have shelter but only the provisions you currently have on hand RIGHT NOW.you cannot leave, you have what you have.I could last about 2 weeks and possibly 4 by rationing out what I do have. Flushing toilets would prove most difficult so the restroom visits would be very interesting to say the least. Listen MTo I was trying to make anyone who was interested look more closely at their current situation. I was trying to stir some ideas or jump start the ones you already have about what you want to do or have planned on doing. I thought it was interesting that Lynn made a thread about prepping and insanity and I believe there is a line, grey but there one. I dont feel I'll plan for every scenario but I am better off than some. I have water as my main "concern" as Harley is right. Access to water is going to be vital. I plan to have a 55 gal drum ( or 2 ) soon so I'll have water that I can hand pump in addition to the cases I have.Now keep in mind the water needed to cook with and also clean with ( body ). The key word I chose was SURVIVE not make it or last. I know most want to be comfortable but it might come down to a lot of discomfort. I was wanting to have you look at your situation and evaluate where you were NOW, not next week or month.
3 minutes without air3 hours without shelter3 days without water3 weeks without food
People survive with out ANY food for over a month. It is pretty low on your survival radar, water is the issue.
There is water in your toilet and water heater that needs to be saved for drinking not for umm well toilet use.
I love animals. Dogs, cats. birds they all taste great. Survival situation, instead of wondering how I will keep them fed I wonder what they will taste like with some farva beans and a nice chianti.
When a disaster goes into the 3rd week or 6th week how are we all fairing? Medications, addictions, tempers, monotony, and so on. If we are able to leave our homes then like in my city and I'm sure most the supplies are so limited if there are any. I remember Y2K , people in costco buying so much stuff. Heck when the wild fires hit the water at the local markets was nearly all gone. Face masks were all gone from every store. When Northridge Earthquake hit people got worried about after shocks and started to buy out stores of their supplies. I mention not leaving your property because there may not be any thing on shelves anyway. Even if you could leave your property then what? For those who live in areas where there are farms, lakes, hunting grounds, then what? It cannot be that easy to procure a meal that easily IMO. I dont hunt so I dont know. My goal is 90 days of self reliance.
Quote from: Aloha007 on December 06, 2014, 10:02:34 AMWhen a disaster goes into the 3rd week or 6th week how are we all fairing? Medications, addictions, tempers, monotony, and so on. If we are able to leave our homes then like in my city and I'm sure most the supplies are so limited if there are any. I remember Y2K , people in costco buying so much stuff. Heck when the wild fires hit the water at the local markets was nearly all gone. Face masks were all gone from every store. When Northridge Earthquake hit people got worried about after shocks and started to buy out stores of their supplies. I mention not leaving your property because there may not be any thing on shelves anyway. Even if you could leave your property then what? For those who live in areas where there are farms, lakes, hunting grounds, then what? It cannot be that easy to procure a meal that easily IMO. I dont hunt so I dont know. My goal is 90 days of self reliance. With a goal of 90 days things begin to get interesting. While the same basics apply some things may be more of a priority at times such as security, medical conditions, personal hygene, sanitation, proper waste disposale. If you dont have access to a doctor or dentist during that time what will you do if you brake a bone, get a bad infection from a cut, abscessed tooth. filling falls out, etc..
90 days is my goal and beyond that well................. eat the neighbors
In a longer term situation unless you are very wealthy and can hire your own private army your going to be killed and all your stuff will be taken.
Quote from: David on December 06, 2014, 08:32:15 PMIn a longer term situation unless you are very wealthy and can hire your own private army your going to be killed and all your stuff will be taken.I've heard this a LOT and don't agree with it. Wolves don't go pick a fight that gets half their pack killed. They go for easy targets. Any serious resistance is going to drive away all but the most desperate/crazy folks. Put yourself in the shoes of the forces trying to take out an entrenched defender. Do YOU want to be the nameless thug that is first through the door to catch that 12-gauge blast in the gut?Better just to find an easier target.If you disagree, feel free to set this up on a paintball course. 2 or three people defending a 'house' that they get to set up beforehand. See if you can get a team in there without a lot of guys 'dying', then ask yourself if that was reality, who would be stupid enough to try it, especially for a completely unknown reward.Again, my opinion, but I think a LOT of people don't think through the whole 'I could die doing this' reality. Pistols aren't that lethal right now LARGELY because there is good medical service. In a SHTF scenario, you might even survive an initial encounter, only to die a week later from sepsis. From a .22. To the little toe. And... I'm sorry, I really can't imagine big gangs of folks willing to do this. And even if such a gang formed, they'd get taken out (or rapidly reduced) pretty quickly. Again, my opinion. And again, I'm thinking of where I live. Various locations might have different parameters. I live in a 'Castle Doctrine' state. It's legal for me, at this very moment, to use lethal force on a home invader.This is another of the areas where I think preppers SUPER over-prepare, in firepower. I see guys talking about carrying seven 30-round magazines for an AR-15 ON THEIR PERSON. I somehow don't think any realistic scenario would ever use that much ammo. Like, over the course of a months-long problem, let alone for a few days. People talk about having 1000 rounds for their primary firearm. Okay... I guess they assume this is 'Red Dawn', and they're 'Wolverines'. How about maybe a pellet rifle for small game instead? 1000 rounds for that? Sure. 1000 rounds of 22lr? Sure, why not. 1000 rounds for a rifle? Uhhh... I personally think most actual hostile engagements would require somewhere in the 2 +/- 1 shot range. And those would be very few and very far between at most. Statistics I can find seem to support this.Not that I have an opinion on this or anything... But plan according to your own perceived situations.
Harley, we dont have to wait for that, I know a lot of guys that would trade you a goat and there oldest daughter for some bricks of 22 long and mag haha
Better served to save some of the space for food and water.
Quote from: JBW1 on December 06, 2014, 10:29:59 PMHarley, we dont have to wait for that, I know a lot of guys that would trade you a goat and there oldest daughter for some bricks of 22 long and mag hahaDeal!This is a female goat correct?
As far as having a lot of ammo I have to point out that not only is ammo good for shooting but in a end of the world zombie type situation it will be one of the best barter items you could have.
Quote from: HarleyXJGuy on December 06, 2014, 10:22:37 PMAs far as having a lot of ammo I have to point out that not only is ammo good for shooting but in a end of the world zombie type situation it will be one of the best barter items you could have. But, see, this goes back to the line between preparedness and insanity.Preparing for the end of the world scenarios seems pretty insane. I always wonder why those 'preparing for the end of the world' types aren't stocking up on bicycles and shovels and stuff like that. Just not as 'sexy' I guess.There's a guy called Engineer775 on youtube who DOES seem to think this way, but most prepper folks are not so well rounded.I've contemplated getting a 55 gallon plastic drum to put in our basement. We have a drain in the floor, so flushing, cleaning and refill would be a fairly straightforward deal, and a utility sink with a threaded spigot would mean using a hose to fill the drum would be easy. Maybe I'll look into that. That'd be about 20 extra days worth of water storage.
A suggestion for those who think they would like to stock up on some food but dont have money to go out and say buy a months worth of food. Who does, I dont. I got a tool habit to support after all. But if you buy a little extra every time you go to the store You'll be surprised how fast it will add up.