[BobL]

Not bad, and I have heard many of these ‘plans’ discussed here. Such as: “I’ll just go out and shoot me a deer when I get hungry.” The problem is that there is enough wildlife for about 1 to 2 percent of our population. Farms are very, very, efficient.

Same for growing food. Sounds really romantic...until some locals show up some night just prior to harvest to help themselves first, or as they mentioned - disease, bugs, animals, who knows. Not to mention the fact that it takes a LOT OF CROPS to come up with the 2,000 calories per day that a person needs. Try doing the math sometime. Buy canned food - THAT SIMPLE. It lasts for at least a decade before you really notice deterioration...but still edible for another decade. Also, depending on what you buy it can have a very high calorie count. Similar for pasta and rice, very high calorie densities and very low prices (relatively speaking).

There also seems to be an emphasis that everything has to be totally renewable. I’m not sure that’s the case. If one uses gasoline to run a generator - then yes, forget it, you’ll run out in a week. Use the same amount of gasoline cooking food on a stove or running a Coleman lamp, and it can easily last you a year. That may not be forever, but it is very long time.

But my favorite has always been them crank-powered radios. I’ll put up a $1,000 against anyone that thinks their crank-powered radio will outlast the batteries in one large package from Costco. I suspect the cranks on these things will break off in about 45 minutes. It is simply very expensive to design and build moving parts like that capable of lasting more than a short time.

But still a lot of myths debunked. I remember the Argentina guy talking about surviving an economic meltdown over there. Even after the meltdown, someone who strapped an AK and several clips across his chest like Rambo would simply get picked up by the cops and committed to the happy house. It wasn’t that simple.

[Ellendra]

Not to mention the fact that it takes a LOT OF CROPS to come up with the 2,000 calories per day that a person needs. Try doing the math sometime.

I did the math once. I'd have to dig out my spreadsheets to check, but if I remember right it was around 1500 square feet per person, assuming the soil was decent. Although, that was for a very specific list of crops, calculated for maximum nutrition. Most people don't eat like that.

[cherry]

for the record, my crank radio which I rarely use works well and I've had it at least 15 yrs....lol....

I want to be right with God but I'm only human...I don't have it in me to be a happy martyr...nor do I want to watch my family be martyrs....

I want to rage against the machine and all that....

I do think people who think they'll do everything for themselves are fool hearty....best security is to form solid groups of like minded people, devoted for the survival of the group....