20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins

http://www.businessinsider.com/20-things-you-will-need-to-survive-when-the-economy-collapses-and-the-next-great-depression-begins-2010-5 ^ | 5-7-2010 | Michael Snyder

[blam]

20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins

Michael Snyder
May. 7, 2010, 10:26 AM

(This is a guest post from The Economic Collapse Blog.)

Today, millions of Americans say that they believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse and will soon be entering another Great Depression. But only a small percentage of those same people are prepared for that to happen. The sad truth is that the vast majority of Americans would last little more than a month on what they have stored up in their homes.

Most of us are so used to running out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart for whatever we need that we never even stop to consider what would happen if suddenly we were not able to do that. Already the U.S. economy is starting to stumble about like a drunken frat boy. All it would take for the entire U.S. to resemble New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina would be for a major war, a terror attack, a deadly pandemic or a massive natural disaster to strike at just the right time and push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge. So just how would you survive if you suddenly could not rely on the huge international corporate giants to feed, clothe and supply you and your family? Do you have a plan?

[snip]

Are you prepared?

[snip]

[djf]

If we are in total meltdown mode, I wonder if she would even make it from where she was from to your door.

But I know what you mean.

Realize - if you feed them, you can (if the situation is a bad one) not let them go!

Feeding them then letting them go to blab to roaming hoardes where you are and what you got is not really a good idea!

[Oatka]

It bothered me in "One Second After" when the dog was eaten.

The tables are turned in the Sci-Fi movie "A Boy and His Dog". (don't wanna to spoil the ending).

[Vendome]

You could have posted something more concise and smaller.

This damn thing is a novel! LOL

I already found a couple of great ideas just for shelter.

Good book.

Thanks.

[Vendome]

a .22 or shotgun are good places to start if one doesn’t have a lot of loot. Good .22’s by brand names can be had for less than $200 and a Mossberg 12 gauge pump goes for around $300 on sale. Skip the tactical stuff if you have limited funds, they cost extra and we got by for 100 year without them.

[Vendome]

Where’s my private runway and a jet that can get me there. LOL

[Vendome]

I would be comfortable in your scenario but if one can get to the Kerr McGee, there is ton of coast line and several islands for isolation and safety.

Just got to figure out how to get all my stuff there and acquire a boat.

Still, being on an island provides a rather large moat. Firewood is a problem.

[Vendome]

valuable knowledge indeed, if she is ever angry at you. LOL

[Vendome]

willow tree and mimosa tree?

We drink mimosas on Sundays around here.

[Hiddigeigei]

But I can’t imagine cutting up wood without a chain saw.

You would be surprise how easy it is to cut logs with a bow or buck-saw, especially if you have someone on each end.

[rolling_stone]

You sound well prepared, I noticed you didn’t list any guns or ammo, what’s your address? /s

[sauropod]

home

[dragnet2]

Anywhere rural you can be killed, and likely there will be no witnesses to hear or see anything. The bad guys will have time to ransack the home, then torch it and be 100 miles away before someone shows up or happens by.

[Erskine Childers]

It always bothered me in “Road Warrior” when Max’s dog got killed...

Yeah, it's like when Old Yeller died.

I cried.

[teenyelliott]

Add a tincture from the flowers, and you get pain relief. Add powdered bark from the root and you will "see things". :)

Today's aspirin was originally derived from the bark of the willow tree.

As with any "natural" medicine, these can interfere with other drugs, can be contra-indicated when other health issues are present, and the stronger the tincture the more potent the effect. Do your own research, I'm not a doctor, etc. etc.

[teenyelliott]

Well, the way I see it you have two options: in the city or in the country. Plan accordingly, because you can die of starvation or be killed by bad guys in either place.

I choose country. With the assistance of family, dogs, guns and plants, I'll take my chances over the masses rioting in the streets when they no longer get their welfare checks.

[ScottinSacto]

Thank you for sharing the Preparedness Manual. I am so far behind it is scary. And its not like I can say I didn’t see it coming. I will start with vigor now.

[PA Engineer]

TEOTWAWKI the song on YouTube. Enjoy.

[blam]

"Realize - if you feed them, you can (if the situation is a bad one) not let them go!"

Yup. I'm prepared to take in some small number. Hopefully, someone will know how to cook all this 'stuff' I have, lol.

[teenyelliott]

Don’t forget the cast iron cookware for fire cookin!!

[pyx]

Hang on a sec while I don my REALITY flame-resitant Nomex long-johns. Just when you think life's going to be filled with PS3s and XBoxes, iMacs, 52 inch TVs, speedy Honda Civics and Subaru Outbacks, 1200 Watt microwaves, ice-making stainless steel refrigerators and other prizes the end of the world as you know it articles make you bolt up-right.

It's always interesting to read these discussions and see how quickly they usually devolve into three areas; guns and ammo, wood cutting or living in a remote hillside cabin surrounded by rocks and trees.

I seem to recall these discussions in the 50's, 60's and 70's with bomb-shelters. And then again in the late 90's with Y2K.

It's somewhat disconcerting that so many nervous trigger-ichy 20-30-40 somethings might either shoot themselves or end-up shooting close family members when they imagine their niece, uncle or grandmother is after their mounds of supplies piled in the basement.

Not too many will relish cutting wood for cooking, hauling and hand-pumping water to drink and washing with or prepping and eating entire meals without much seasoning, day-after-day and week-after-week and month-after-month. Huddling for warmth around an open flame that others can spot from great distances and when its available, is not so much fun after the coziness wears off.

The stench of dead people stacked up like cord-wood will turn the stomach. Trust me, multiple dead and decaying human beings don't smell very nice. Abandoned cars and trucks on most roads and highways will block the egress from almost all towns and cities. And if one lives in even the smallest of towns, tame pooches with wagging tails will turn into packs of roaming wild-dogs and they will be scavenging for food and will be quite ready to rip you and your six year old daughter to shreds. And speaking of wild-packs, those gangs of thugs will be openly hunting you, your family members and those mounds of supplies by spotting those warm cozy fires you light for warmth.

The fantasy that most males would magically turn into some sort of a Mel Gibson Road Warrior character is just that, a fantasy. Since all the Mel wannabes are in tip-top physical condition and can run, not walk, five miles in even 40 minutes, then the rest of your family should also be able to keep up with you. Those of us over 40 and kids under 12 might have a bit of a problem keeping up that pace but, n'er mind, we're expendible.

Very few people know and practice how to actually communicate with others at distance and without a cell-phone or email. Even fewer know how to use or create implements needed to feed themselves and family and even fewer people than that are truly capable of the living and thriving on the subsistence farming that would be needed to survive in a return to a agrarian and barter economy.

Don't believe me ? Try living exactly the same way you envision for ten days. Even ten (10) days of no electricity, no radio, no cell-phones, no modern conveniences, no seasoned meals, no fires that could be spotted by others and no water from the tap, for almost all of us will be close to being unbearable. Now include your entire family in this fantasy. Then after that exercise, seriously, and I mean very seriously think about what things would really be like for two months or eight months or two years or 10 years or more. Its not so much fun now, is it.