Posted on 02/10/2012 12:57:37 PM PST by Kartographer
That sounds like a juvinile or stupid statement. B-U-T, I can give you a perfect example of it working:
I have a friend in Gulfport, Mississippi, who, right after Hurricane Katrina came thru, had a bunch of "sight-seer's" slow-rolling and walking in and out and around his subdivision, especially at night. (All power and lights were out there for 3 weeks,) The subdivision was lucky and did not receive too much damage, so the houses were, unlike most other areas, mostly intact. During the day, the residents could see where doors were broken down and windows broken out of houses where the residents had left to outrun the storm. One family who stayed had a generator under their car-port powering a small emergency window air conditioner. All of a sudden, after midnight, the A/C shut down. Thinking the generator had run out of gas, husband went out to check. Was met with the sight of two guys in his driveway. They had actualy shut the generator down, pulled out the extention cords and were in the process of putting it in the back of a pickup. He ran into the house, grabbed a handgun and fired 3 or 4 shots at them, but missed, though hitting a truck window. They jumped into the truck and sped across his yard to the street heading to the highway.
Next day a bunch of neighbors got together (including one young female devorcee) and made a plan. Made up a watch list. Couple of them had walkie-talkies or portable CB's, so 'donated' them. Two-person teams patroled on foot for a week, night and day. ALL VISIBLY ARMED !! They put up saw-horse barricades at the subdivion entrance with Keep Out signs on them that also said "This area patroled by armed citizens. No sight-seerers. Enter at your own risk." It worked as traffic was reduced greatly and 'strange' people were stopped and questioned. No further events occured.
As you can see, as silly as they sound, citizen patrols can work if properly organized.
>> “If it is news to you that in a SHTF situation the greatest threat to you and your family are going to be armed bands of people” <<
.
Not armed bands of ‘people,’ Military and LEOs.
They’ll be in for a BIG surprise after they eat my instant mashed potatoes with the little red “x” on the bottom of the can.
Smell ya’ later....enjoy!
Well if the SHTF and they are alerting me to people of questionable intentions.....
Really the best defense is to be far, far from any major population center. And then just hope that a strong government develops before the roving bands get to you.
Which gives me another opportunity to take a swipe at Bush II. Right after 9/11 the government should have called for formation of local citizen sheriff reserve units. Almost like the old citizen militias, with wide membership. There was a real and immediate threat.
Such units could be of great value should a calamity overtake the country. But instead Bush told us all to go shopping.
What if they know how to BBQ dog?
Thanks for the info- I’ll check it out. Can’t get Hulu here in Canada but we do have other online sources.
How do you keep mice out of it?
However these people don't understand that going out and killing someone for their food is a very risky business. It might be deadly even today. After the society collapses defenders will be taking intruders out at 500 yards. Armies have a way to deal with that; they have armored vehicles; but when not, they throw bodies at the problem. If you lose ten guys taking that position, it's just war. But very few criminals will be willing to die for a bit of food. If you are that desperate, shoot a bird; a sparrow probably has more calories than a can of soup anyway.
There is one more problem. Even if the criminal is willing to kill for that can of soup, and if he succeeds in killing someone, that is not a guarantee that the soup will be there. The resources will be limited. If one prepper has ten cans of soup and twenty attackers succeed in taking them, they only have ten cans for twenty people - and nothing else. They can kill everyone in the city, they still won't get food that is not there. That food will be all taken from the shelves of stores in weeks and months that precede the collapse. Preppers will actually notice that and escape the cities. Whoever is left are just as hungry as the attackers.
If we believe SciFi literature (and why not, writers are not idiots, and they thought about this subject) then the cities will be quickly divided into zones of ownership that various gangs will claim and control. Those zones come with food supplies (such as remaining stores, or a railway station, or a few trucks, etc.) All the food will be concentrated there, and it will be sold to others... if they can afford it. Everyone else will run out of their supplies within a month, and robbing them becomes pointless. If a gang is intent on getting food, it will not be rounding up grandmas. It will take control of a large food store or a warehouse. That's what makes sense. Adult criminals don't rob children of their lunch money - not always because they love children but just because children don't have enough money to even bother.
Also, those who plan on just winning their daily bread by using their warmaking skills will quickly find out that the ammo costs more than food. Ammo is a high-tech product; it does not grow on trees. But food does. You can grow food everywhere in this country; but there are only few ammo factories, and their production will be entirely under control of one armed faction or another. So those "thug preppers" can burn a few rounds on killing one guy and possibly find nothing of value at his site - or they can sell those rounds for a lot of food.
This is proven by history of humankind. How many prosperous, happy robbers walked the roads in middle ages? You could do it back then; soldiers of the local lord had no radios. Still, most robbers ended up hanging on trees along the road. It was a very high risk business. Robbers of 21st century will not have an easier life.
Thanks for the info- I’ll check it out. Can’t get Hulu here in Canada but we do have other online sources.
Will the “thug prepper’s” body armor stop 30-06 AP?
Reach out and touch someone....
i've got guns AND butter...
I can get it on Netflix... 2 seasons 2002-2003
Mice haven’t really been a problem. Its a 30x50 pole building and I keep it clean. The dog food is on metal shelving I got from the factory I worked for when they closed down. My dogs are in and out of there all the time during the day. I set a few mouse traps out there but they haven’t been touched since the yearly fall invasion.
I keep my dry goods out there in rubbermaid totes and metal canisters seled with duct tape.
nice.
but those would draw attention. the best scenario would be to avoid detection as much as possible. once discovered, decoys or distractions might help in a crucial moment.
if i was still in PA, i’d prolly have a 50+ acre chunk in the mountains somewhere remote near a lake or major stream (i can remember a few places in central PA that would be ideal).
in a SHTF scenario, keeping your head down is key to survival
"Type IV" body armor is supposed to stop 30-06 AP, but I'm fairly sure it's expensive and the bulk of the "thug preppers" won't have it.
Nothing short of Type IV can be expected to stop 03-06 AP bullets.
They'll be on the spit next.
” in a SHTF scenario, keeping your head down is key to survival “
Thank You!!!
Ive always thought that in most situations, it’s better to be a mouse than a lion...
My personal strategy is “cache and scoot” - cache the bulk of my stores away from the house - a number of smaller caches being preferable to one big one.. (fortunately, I have enough wild land around my house to be able to do this) And, at the first sign of trouble, I and mine are off to the tall weeds - ‘they’ can have the house and whatever on-hand supplies ‘they’ can find, and once they’ve moved on, we’re still alive and supplied and can repair/rebuild whatever damage ‘they’ leave in their wake...
Maybe not as sexy as the “fight to the death” theme that permeates these discussions, but I’m betting that it’s more survivable.... ;)
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