Posted on 08/24/2012 6:29:05 PM PDT by Kartographer
We should consider ourselves lucky that large-scale disaster events are few and far between. Most survival situations run for a short duration with many lasting less than ten days, and are what I refer to as ‘green’ events (a disaster lasting 1-10 days). Most green events can be handled by hunkering down at home with an ample supply of survival food and water and some alternative cooking means such as a camp-stove or even your back yard gas grill.
Throw in some other basic survival gear that can be easily found at any outdoor camping store, some common sense thinking regarding prepping, and you will be set to face a green event. However, larger disaster threats are out there, and such events that fall into the ‘yellow’ and ‘red’ event category (yellow event 10-90 days, red event 90+ days into years) typically spell bad news for entire regions and sometimes entire countries.
You can pretty much count on a yellow or red event having a complete breakdown of society at some point. Water service might not be operating, electrical power may not be available, stores will not be getting resupplied from distribution centers, people will start to starve and panic, looting and rioting will take place, people will die, people will get sick from poor hygiene, some will contract otherwise controlled diseases, the government will not be able to keep control… it will be basically everybody fending for themselves. And the worse place you will want to be is anywhere near a city or large town.
(Excerpt) Read more at thesurvivalistblog.net ...
I would recommend that if you do have a BOL you might consider the first week of November to be a good choice in to stage a practice bug out. It can't hurt.
For those of you that a rural retreat just isn't possible or practical consider a couple options. Practice that week bugging in at your home. Practice your plans, test your equipment, use some of your supplies cook over a fire, use stored water, try going the week or 5 days or so without using power, gas, city water/sewer. Practice stealth see if you can spend the week at home without any one knowing you are home.
November 6th is a crossroads a good time to reflect, practice and pray.
Weekly Preppers’ Thread!!!!!
I live in a rural area and have everything I need except gasoline and food. During the Summer and early Fall, I have enough fruit to live on tho I would get tired of figs, Japanese persimmons, pears, pecans, apples, grapes, and plums.
I guess I should store some meat and spices and maybe dried meals. I have plenty of water and wood for fuel.
I once ran into an incredible deal on MREs at a gun show. Some guy had a pickup truck full of them he had obtained after Hurricane Andrew. I think he was just tired of hauling them around and he traded me 36 cases of 12 each for only $40. That may have been the cheapest anyone ever got MREs. Well I bet he got them for nothing.
That was roughly 10 cents per meal and these were the real thing with heaters.
Basically the best thing for me to do would be to stay home.
I agree.
I’m planning to soon take a week and go “off the grid.” I live in the woods, have a well and septic.
Sewer won’t be a problem. But water will be. My well has a 220 volt motor. Short of buying a 220 volt generator, I’m not sure how to handle this. I plan to catch rain water and filter it through a Big Berky-like setup. I’ve been buying five gallon pickle buckets for $2/each at Firehouse Subs, $$ goes to charity. Food grade plastic.
During my trial I will let the electric run the ‘fridge, but don’t plan to open it. No electric lights, no A/C, no heat.
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what the trial will be like. Simple stuff like how to keep track of time. Do you have a wind up clock? How about an automatic wristwatch?
My goal is to pretend we’ve been hit by an EMP. I guess that’s the worst case scenario.
I’m looking forward to taking lots of notes and learning a lot.
Absolutely - PRACTICE.
Get away from, move out of cities.
Either have a place snuggled away, gardens, know how to can, have own well - with all-weather hand pump, wood stove, 2-yr supply of wood, know your wild edibles, know who your area people are -
you are not going to be able to just hike off into the woods after TSHTF - Woods you may think are ‘unihabited”, aren’t. The locals won’t be waiting with open arms - “arms” yes, but not “open”
When an army arrives and tells you to leave your bolt hole, either just go or beg to join them if they match your ideology.
I know this isn't what you want to hear.
To damned bad. This is the only course that can save your life and the life of your family.
I say this as a military man that will likely be part of an army if TSHTF. I don't have time to mess with you, and nobody else will either. You will not be granted an encounter risking personnel to small arms fire.
At the risk of not discussing anything critical, my plans include a little of both. So I research the pros and cons that support both contingencies.
Most home generators are capable of 220 volt output. The key is learning the starting amps of your pump and then obtaining the appropriately sized generator set.
Runs on propane and has the juice to power everything here at the "Gulch". We have three tanks with a total capacity of 2,000 gallons to keep the cabin warm and run power for quite a spell.
NOTE! These units are not cheap! Yet we found a package that includes the generator (all self contained weather/rust wise), the 100amp 16 space automatic transfer switch, a free interstate battery to kick start it and best of all... Free shipping and no tax!!! Put it all together (plus a maintenance package and warning labels) for $3700.00!!!
Freep mail me if any of you are interested in getting in on this (I get a finders fee if you do!)
You do realized, don't you, that you're describing a band of looters and not an army?
I am describing foraging, which every unsupplied army throughout all of time has done. Including ours during the revolutionary war, and both sides during the Civil war in the 1860s.
You may be reimbursed after the conflict, but saying no means they have to force whatever supplies they need out of you.
When you get at least a rudimentary understanding of war, and the history of war, you can try again.
Along the plumbing line, I have been telling people for years, that next time a plumber is at their house, have him replace the water heater drain cock, with a pipe nipple and a full port ball valve.
Plumbers know that when it is time to drain a water heater, that the drain cocks break off, or are already plugged up with scale, or will plug up quickly from scale before they drain, that means the water is either inaccessible to the homeowner, or is wasted on the ground.
A full port ball valve allows for a screw driver to be poked in to loosen up a stoppage, and once you have the nipple and ball valve, they can always be transferred from the old to the new water heater in about 5 minutes, also, in an emergency, it is a handy gadget to tap into other water heaters where the owner couldn’t drain his, because of the above mentioned problems.
resource
http://www.apelectric.com/
As you will see they cover most all generation equipment and I'm sure you will find what you are looking for. The Kohler's use natural gas and/or lpg. This is a very smart investment having a standby generator for shtf as well as power outages during the inclement months!
Many should read up about Washington and Valley Forge. Troops need more food than regular citizens realize. And an opposing force may have its food supply attacked (most likely) and any resistance militia group won’t have enough for a protracted campaign, especially during the winter months.
Of course Obama signed a law saying almost any Federal agency can knock on your door or even just kick it down and take what they need.
So its paramount to NOT keep all your cache in one location, have an A cache, B cache, C cache. probably would not hurt to set up a fake one with expired dates and of little nutritional value out in the open just for them to take.
Great ideas. We've been stocking up on redundant systems as you mentioned, but also have bought things you know are going to bite the big one down the line. Items like the hot water tank, and a new in box furnace we have set aside for when our's gives out.
It's high dollar prepping for sure, but one never knows if we are in for hyperinflation/deflation or whatever fate brings our way, we want to be prepared in any event.
Decades ago when we use to go camping, a camping toilet is a seat sitting on cross legs and blue bags that fit under the seat...Only really need toilet for solid material not urine...we use to laugh at the tiny corners of blue bags poking out of the ground....always bury the bag.....
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