True Nature of Survival

SHTF School ^ | 2/21/14 | Selco

[Kartographer]

In that short period before s. hit the fan with full force, people usually lost their lives because they did not recognize situation.

People were out rioting, stealing, fighting. But all that was still like “moderate”.

At that moment people still were “inside” the system, so we all were trying to hide more or less when looting was going on in neighborhood. Police were still arresting people and trying to control things. People were shooting each other yes, but it was not yet like full scale shooting and violence, mostly people were scaring each other with shootings.

One of my friends was involved in shootings in those days, after looting some stores, he got wounded. Wound was not too dangerous, he was shot in foot.

As I said, most of the city services were still working and trying to bring order to that chaos. City ambulances came and picked him up and they rushed to hospital with him.

About one kilometer from place where he got picked up, the group of people that actually shot him stopped the ambulance on some improvised barricade, first shot the driver and then killed my friend in the back of the ambulance. They killed him little bit slower than driver, and more painfully, they used knives. We got there a bit later, too late.

Now this story may sound confusing to you, you may say “it happens in war” but for 95% of folks at that time it was not war, it was something like violent rioting, and those 95% of folks still trusted the system, had trust in police and government that they are going to restore law and order. People still trusted that ambulances are like “protected” and nobody will stop them, not to mention shoot at one.

[Kartographer]

Another look at Selco's experiences with real SHTF and Civil War. Take notes failure to past the test will be fatal.

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

Please consider this our weekly Preppers’ Thread to post progress, good buys, DIY projects, ...

[Farmer Dean]

Normalcy bias will get you killed and quick.

[berdie]

I read your threads with much interest.

In the worst case scenario...people will still have to go to work.

I read a book about the conflict in Sarajeho (sp). People still had to get to their jobs.

What then?

[call meVeronica]

Bump for later

[Kartographer]

Its your choice you can prep or you can stand around on a bridge waiting for FEMA to bring you a bottle of water, a MRE, a warm blanket and a kiss for your boo-boo and maybe you can even get your picture as you stand there on the national news.

Look what happens every Black Friday and that’s just Christmas shopping, look what happened recently during the winter storms in the south and the northeast. Look at what is happening in the Ukraine, Venezuela, Argentina, Thailand and so on....The world is dry tinder just awaiting the right spark.

So listen to what the bible says: A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it. NIV Proverbs 22:3

Selco covers this in this article many times people just can not except that a breakdown is occurring even as they watch it happening before their eyes. Why don’t they realize it? It’s caused by a condition called ‘Normalcy Bias’ a mental state people enter when facing a disaster.

It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects. This often results in situations where people fail to adequately prepare for a disaster, and on a larger scale, the failure of governments to include the populace in its disaster preparations. The assumption that is made in the case of the normalcy bias is that since a disaster never has occurred then it never will occur. It also results in the inability of people to cope with a disaster once it occurs. People with a normalcy bias have difficulties reacting to something they have not experienced before. People also tend to interpret warnings in the most optimistic way possible, seizing on any ambiguities to infer a less serious situation.

A good article on ‘Normalcy Bias’ is on our own ChocChipCookies Blog The Survival Mom:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/

You either prepare and stand on your own beholden to no one or you become dependent on others to provide your basic needs and become their ‘serf’. Me I don’t want to be beholden to anyone for providing what is needed for me and mine. I certainly don’t want to have to kiss some ‘gubberment’ third class bureaucratic to try and coax some help from them, I don’t want some ‘jack booted’ thug herding me in line and telling me where to stand, sit, eat or sleep. And last but not least I don’t want to be shut up in with a bunch of ‘zombies’ and have to worry about not only trying to get basic necessities but having to fight to keep what I manage to get.

Just getting started or an old hand you might find my Preparedness Manual helpful. You can download the manual at:

http://tomeaker.com/kart/Preparedness1j.pdf NOTE! THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOAD. I DO NOT MAKE ONE CENT OFF MY PREPAREDNESS MANUAL!

For those of you who haven’t started already it’s time to prepare almost past time maybe. You needed to be stocking up on food guns, ammo, basic household supplies like soap, papergoods, cleaning supplies, good sturdy clothes including extra socks, underwear and extra shoes and boots, cash (I myself have been putting up change for the past few years both for the metal content and the fact that using change places to make what purchases you can will move you down the the list of possible marks during shtf), tools, things you buy everyday start buying two and put one up.

As the LDS say “When the emergency is upon us the time for preparedness has past.”

Again I like to recomend FReeper’s ChocoChipCookie Blog The Survival Mom (Please Blog Police let this one slide!) Where you can get lots of useful information like:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2011/11/20/8-morale-boosters-for-any-worst-case-scenario/

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/02/02/survival-priorities-the-rule-of-three/

And More

Also there is Ferfal’s Blog a survivor of Argentina’s first collapse:

http://ferfal.blogspot.com/

And there is Selco’s Blog a Bosnian War survivor at:

http://shtfschool.com/

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Good article!

[Scrambler Bob]

M4L

[Kartographer]

Ferfal covers some of this in his series, which is in my Preparedness Manual or can be reviewed here:

http://www.survival-spot.com/survival-blog/argentina-collapse/

But it depends on the situation it maybe that you can’t go out without taking your life in your own hands. You may go out, but only armed and driving like a bat out of hell and not stopping for anything including stop lights (Ferfal writes about this. And depending on what the shtf is what makes you think even if you get there you will get paid?

[berdie]

Thanks...I’ll read this info.

[bgill]

Looters deserve what they get. Same for those who don’t get the heck away when a crowd starts to form.

[familyop]

"One of my friends was involved in shootings in those days, after looting some stores, he got wounded."

Some friend, and it's no surprise that they caught up with his ambulance and got him.

[Kartographer]

Also I am not sure what you read/heard about Sarajevo, but gettting to work was the last thing these people were worried about.

Also in my Preparedness Manual

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2798007/posts

[snooter55]

bflr

[berdie]

Thanks for the link. I’ll read it.

What I read about Sarajevo was that there was a bridge that people had to pass over to get to the city to get to work. For many people...they would try to do so because they need the money.

Myself...I think I’ll stay in my little corner of the world. But I do worry about my younger family members that have to perhaps “cross the bridge”.

[RedStateRocker]

“Why don’t they realize it? “

Denial ain’t just a place for the Muslim Brotherhood to dump their bodies.

[raybbr]

I'm looking for a dehydrator. I've got to convince my wife that it will make healthy snacks for my sons in order to justify buying one. I've looked at two from Excalibur This one and another Excalibur model.

Any thoughts? Help appreciated on this.

[Yosemitest]

HOW will they go to work, when electricity is off, and fuel can NOT be pumped ?
Your choices are bicycle, horse, or walk.

[Iron Munro]

A timed shut off is a handy feature on a dehydrator.

On my basic, low cost dehydrator I use an inexpensive pulg-in-the-wall timer but I am looking to upgrade.

The Excalibur you linked to at $223.99 is rated at 600 watts but does not have a built in timer.

They have a different model (the 3926TB) that does have a timer but it costs more at $253.99 and is less powerful at 440 watts.

The one I have my eye on is the LEM Products 10 Tray Food Dehydrator with Digital Timer at Amazon for $199.99.
It is also more powerful at 900 watts than either of the Excaliburs.

http://www.amazon.com/LEM-Products-Dehydrator-Digital-Timer/dp/B004VLKT3W/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

[raybbr]

Thanks for the link. I'm also looking at an STX model - no timer and also 600 Watts. Not sure I need a timer. A wall timer sounds like it would be just fine. I like the trays on the STX better.