Posted on 10/19/2012 10:08:13 PM PDT by Feline_AIDS
Preppers,
I'm new to this prepping thing, and I have some questions.
I don't know exactly what you're all prepping for, because I know there are different concerns in different parts of the country. Californians, for example, are more concerned about the big one than I am on the east coast. I'm more concerned about an EMP than people in Wyoming, probably.
But what about when the SHTF? I'm assuming by SHTF everyone means economic and thus governmental collapse. Is that right? No more USA?
I have some questions that are ignorant and simple, but I was born that way, so bear with me.
Even when the SHTF, the government of the United States will persist, simply because the government is the original prepper. Mt. Weather facility and all that. So what we really mean by "governmental collapse" is extreme lawlessness and no new goods or resources. Plus government non-intervention. The government may exist, but that doesn't change the fact that hungry/thirsty/angry people will be fighting for resources. When the SHTF, Americans will have to be self-reliant without any support from any public utility or service. Many, many people will die. Many more will be desperate and act in ways they'd never imagine before they die.
How long do you all expect this state of things to last? If all public utilities in the US were permanently shut off, wouldn't it only be a matter of weeks before the great die-off happened? Dehydration would get most of them, then the rapid spread of waterborne illnesses would get lots of those left. Gangs would form and survive longer through unpleasant means. When will the well-prepped prepper stick his head out of his hidey-hole?
Because the government will persist in some capacity, it's reasonable to expect they'd eventually try to straighten things out. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking that, and I don't mean that the correct response to disaster is to sit and wait for Uncle Sam to carry us out on his shoulders. What I mean is that I don't see how the SHTF situation would last more than 6 months, max. A new, smaller society would form and rebuild, most likely without the tech we have today because the industries that support that tech would be gone.
I guess I'm just trying to reconcile two things in my brain. 1) The US government will be present in some form not too long after the catastrophe. Less than a year. Not in its ubiquitous wannabe-omnipotent present state, but it would return. This doesn't mean safety or salvation, but it probably does mean cooperation. Possibly the return of some order. And some society would develop that is fueled by the self-reliance of the remaining people. 2) Most preppers seem to be expecting a lifetime of bushcraft.
Parting thought: If Obama wins reelection, I will take prepping much more seriously in the next few weeks/months. If he doesn't, I will continue to prep for more localized catastrophes.
Why do you need toilet paper after you run out of food?
Great post cuz it’s true.
A governing principle of prepping is OPSEC..
A second is being “grey man”, not Marpat, Alice pack, well fed man obvious when those around are thinning man.
The real question is whether you’ll let your children starve so that your neighbors can eat.
You ever have women in the house ?
That pic’s a few weeks old; there’s more there now.
There’s easily 3-4mos worth of food there for 2 people; it’s subsistence living; not banquet dining. Dad and I are the only ones I’m prepping for. Mom passed away in May; my cat just died last month. There’s also 2 add’l end shelves on left you can’t see, which are filled. Also have 6 wells, hand pumps, Berkey filter syste, and am adding TP and food to shelves, each week.
I guess it all depends on what scenario you’re preparing for. And I think it’s sort of a spectrum.
Personally, I don’t see the zombie/mad max on steroids scenario as being survivable, particularly for those of us in the cities, so why prep for it? It also seems like a depressing way to spend your life.
I think a more modest scenario of short to medium term unrest and privation is more realistic as well as survivable. I think the mormons do a pretty good job of preparing for this level of unpleasantries. And it doesn’t become an all-consuming task. So, why re-invent the wheel? They’ve already given it a great deal of thought.
“you have a several months supply of toilet paper, and several weeks supply of food.”
Who said the poster was done prepping? We prep as things are thought of and discounts can be had so our preps are also always “out of balance” as we go along.
“If your neighbor breaks in to your house to steal your food for his children, will you shoot him?”
Instantly. What he takes he takes from our mouths. All these problems leading up to the SHTF situation has been takers taking and not producers producing. So, after all has been said and done we are left with what we store and yet here comes another taker to take what’s left? *BANG* I will do so with extreme prejudice! They take all my life and now they want to take what’s left.
“My prepping took place by leaving the USA, and leaving all material goods behind.
I now live on a beach in a tropical climate.
I will not freeze or go hungry, or die of thirst.”
Yeah, but should world order break down you won’t survive the pirates.
FReepers won't have to worry about the damned socialists as much and can focus on more dire threats such as spelling Nazis and Blog Pimps?
“banquet dining”
It won’t be long before you are eating every bit as well as you are today. Prepping has a way of educating. Don’t forget places like www.mredepot.com that sell canned meats like chicken, turkey, pork, hamburger, chunk beef, and bacon(!), etc. They are excellent products and would feed you banquet style.
/johnny
“In fact, we know where you are and we will be coming to your place with the useful items we have.”
We already know that, which is why part of prepping is dispatching the preadator animals first and foremost, and you won’t be the only predators we will need to dispatch.
Liveaboard a small cruising sailboat...halfway there.
(singing)
“I’m a prepper, you’re a prepper, wouldn’t you like to be a prepper too?”
Tactical Bacon is an excellent thing to stockpile, and I’ve found it makes a great gift for guys. Some see it as a joke, the campers love it for the convenience, and those serious on prepping just add it to the stash. Tactical Bacon, IMO, tastes better than Yoders’ canned bacon.
Yep. No one likes a thief.
“I’m not putting down preppers. In fact, we know where you are and we will be coming to your place with the useful items we have.”
Another person seeking suicide by prepper.
How effective will any government be when LAWKI ends? A government is made up of individual people. Each one of these people will act in their own best interest before they ever think about correcting the effects of some disastrous event. Would you go to work when the heat and water go out in your home filled with your spouse and children? How many of the New Orleans cops went AWOL before, during and after Katrina? What is the probability that any government will do the right thing? I happen to think whatever they do will only make it worse. Preppers are prepping for Back Swan events, i.e. things people never thought could occur. Preppers are preparing for one purpose, to be self-reliant because they know the shocks will be so disruptive and long lasting it will inevitably lead to chaos and mayhem. They know everyone will be in trouble including themselves. They just want to be less in trouble than most others. There are many instances in history when civilization has broken down: the Weimar Republic after WWI; Argentina several times; Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. The next event might happen in Greece, Spain, Portugal OR someplace totally off the wall (Black Swan). I'm less afraid of a quick death than I am of surviving only to face a long, drawn out one because I didn't take a few easy precautions. Eventually the survivors will band together in tribes (gangs) for self interest purposes and maybe the Black Swan will emerge as a Phoenix. Between the event and the rebirth, I want to live as comfortably as possible.
I prep for hurricanes first, but when trucks stop, it’s over. It doesn’t matter what made the trucks stop, if they stop, it’s over.
Nothing continues to function when trucks stop - power goes down, everything stops, and there you are. So, I prepare to last a very long time without power.
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