Author Topic: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?  (Read 21995 times)

domustachesgrowinhouston

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #50 on: September 27, 2014, 10:47:24 AM »

You do raise an intersting point that no one esle has yet, in that we have not even considered how much home maintenance will cost once the zombies start leaving diseased rotting limbs throughout your home.  Hopefully this will get the ball rolling on disinfecting ideas and clean up costs.

 No worries, houses and lawns take care of themselves.  Just check AMCs Walking Dead.

angelagrace

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #51 on: September 28, 2014, 03:35:07 PM »
I don't think it's dumb at all to prepare. I've often thought that there's sort of a hole in the mustachian ideas in this respect. If we all become financially independent based on the stock market and it really does crash, we will all be screwed. I enjoy MMM but I also read other blogs and prepping is one topic and enjoy. Let's just say I won't be surprised if things seriously go down by 2015 or so. But I don't live in fear either.

Could you share some recommendations of other sites you read?

I enjoy urbansurvival.com, and backdoorsurvival.com

I'll try to think if there are others. Those two are ones I keep up with fairly regularly.

oldtoyota

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #52 on: September 28, 2014, 03:42:39 PM »

Buy some bottled water if you must, but realize you are paying an insurance premium and not adding a whole lot of value for it. Filling reusable containers from the tap before the hurricane (or whatever) hits will give you fresher potable water.


You should always have water. Our water went out for three days, and there was no weather-related emergency. A filter broke at the plant--or something--and so we had to boil all of our water before drinking it. Even so, I used bottled water some of the time.


Kellie@Aus

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #53 on: September 28, 2014, 08:37:59 PM »
Well my Masters thesis this year is on Peak Oil and the militarisation of energy security, so yeah, I think a lot about SHTF scenarios.

Australia is an island at the end of a long supply chain, and is highly prone to natural disasters. Without exaggerating too much, quarter of the country can be on fire while another quarter is under water and then throw in a cyclone or two for good measure. This is a country where a large percentage of the population have lived through a serious disaster or is close to someone who has.

Also, I was living in SoCal during the GFC and started to worry about what millions and millions of people in a small area, on the border with another country might do in a serious disaster (i.e. 'The' Big earthquake due within the next couple of decades or so). We made sure we had made preparations and on one occasion we did grab our bug out bag during a big earthquake and got out of the house while the ground bucked and weaved beneath us.

Anyway, by way of preparations we currently do the following:

Have some cash on hand in case electricity goes out or bank is hacked (Have already used this prep)
Keep a deep pantry. We buy more than we need and rotate it. (Don't want to be rushing to the shops when people panic. Sister has horror stories from the Brisbane floods when she had a newborn baby)
We keep an emergency kit that we can throw into the car and get out quickly if we need to. (The suburb we used to live in was rebuilt on fire destroyed homes. People died when they didn't get out quickly)
We always keep the car at least half full. (see above)
We grow veges (Fresh food if the shelves are low)
We cultivate relationships with our neighbours (Who grow food, collect rainwater, keep chickens etc)

None of these preps are doomerish. They are all prudent insurance given the risks that do exist (Low probability, but high consequence).

We do think about longer term preps for more serious scenarios, but I'll have to come back later to talk about that.

I honestly had never really thought of this @MsRichLife but these are some great ideas which I will implement straight away!

hdatontodo

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #54 on: September 28, 2014, 09:07:49 PM »
I put a get-home duffle bag in my wife's car since she commutes. It has water, first aid, coins and bills, food, pepper spray, light, poncho, etc.

She does want to know why it has certain items like a firestarter and a chest-wound seal.

We have several Rubbermaid containers at home with water, food, medical, camping gear, Bob bathtub water liner, etc.

vagon

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #55 on: September 28, 2014, 09:40:09 PM »
Your fears are most likely irrational, but if they are affecting your happiness then moderate spending may make sense.

As someone who works for a big bank let me assure you the bank has serious funding behind it to ensure very, very redundant service for disastrous events including natural, terrorist etc.
Any investment you make in alternative stores of wealth will pale in comparison to the response from corporations who are interested in restoring and maintaining their services and profitability.

In terms of systemic risk such as that which caused the GFC, I lean toward the camp of people that say the worst happened 5-6 years ago and it is unlikely to happen again any time soon. Sure it is not impossible but as with investing you have to weigh up the risk and the return of your spending to mitigate the event.

A better way to approach risk mitigation would be to get some mortality statistics or insurance actuarial models and act in proportion to the likelihood. For example if you live in hurricane or bushfire areas you should design or reinforce appropriately or move all together.

MrsPete

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #56 on: September 29, 2014, 06:06:28 AM »
In our house, we tend to think that moderate preparation is a good idea:

- we have lots of food (well stored -- not just sitting in plastic bags on a shelf) on hand at all times
- we have a grill and a propane stove, so we could cook that food
- we have back-up heat sources
- we have guns and ammo
- we stay "ahead" on medicines, though with a diabetic in the house, this would likely be the first real problem we'd encounter in a long-term emergency
- we have a small amount of cash money in the safe
- we have financial reserves we could access in the bank

In case of something like the zombie apocalypse (do people really believe that?), we'd all be screwed, but we'd be somewhat insulated from disasters that might actually happen: Power outages, job loss, hurricanes. 

It's important not to "put all your eggs in one basket".  If you store up rooms and rooms of food, and then your disaster turns out to be a house fire -- you've lost all your prep.  On the other hand, if you store up a reasonable amount of food AND have money in the bank, you can actually eat your food before it goes bad AND if your food is lost, you still have money.  Moderation in preparing for emergencies is a wise thing. 




Spartana

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #57 on: September 29, 2014, 12:43:24 PM »
Another thing to thing about is bringing some comfortable walking shoes, water, a small flashlight, couple of power bars and some cash to work with you in case there is a big black out like the NYC blackout a few years (same thing happened in SoCal a few years ago too at afternoon rush hour). In those cases people were either stranded overnight or had to walk out miles and miles to get home. Or, in the case of SoCal (24 hour blackout from South of LA to Mexican border to AZ border) people were stranded in their cars on freeways, or couldn't get gas or cash because the pumps and ATM's didn't work (and we're talking millions of people at the height of rush hour). So while it isn't a survival thing, it can be a comfort thing to have a few needed items on you if you have to stay put overnight somewhere.

The other thing is to think about some of your needs while travelling overseas. Just recently they had a bunch of riots and looting in Baja Calif after a hurricane and there was no police or military protections. A bunch of tourists were trapped there for days and had to be airlifted out eventually. So have some extra bottled water and food on you even if staying somewhere foreign in case you need to hole-up a few days to avoid a violent situation until help arrives.
« Last Edit: September 29, 2014, 12:46:10 PM by Spartana »

RetiredAt63

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #58 on: September 29, 2014, 01:13:17 PM »
Hmm, maybe I will join my local SCA and take up archery.  That should give me lots of non-electricity-based skills.  On the more domestic front, I can already take a dirty sheep fleece and turn it into a sock.  And I can turn off-white into yellow, green and brown with plants from my garden.  When the cold hits, you will all want to give me food and shelter in return for warm clothes (and I can give classes).

Seriously, our biggest likely disaster is a major power failure, and we have already been through that one.  "The Great Ice Storm of 1998" meant we personally were 3 weeks without power, many others were without power for 4-5 weeks.  That meant also no water (rural living, own well), and so were 10's of thousands of others.  Farmers couldn't milk their cows - generators were trucked from farm to farm.  The army was called out, for good reason.  My refrigerator was used as an old-fashioned ice box - our temperatures dropped to highs in the -20's (C), so ice was not in short supply.

So for me preparation means always having some gasoline, for when the pumps don't work because of no electricity, having a way to phone in and out without electricity, having a way to stay warm without electricity, getting water without electricity, cooking without electricity, etc.  Having appropriate clothing. Having some cash (banks were open, but no ATMs).  Keeping the car in the garage (= no clutter in the way) instead of leaving it in the driveway, so it is safe, and knowing how to get the garage door open and closed without electricity.

The next major possibility here is a big earthquake - not that we have big ones like the west coast does, but we are on a fault line that can go to 5.5, and those of us on clay could see major damage.  For me the biggest defense against that was buying a house a good distance away from a stream, so the house doesn't fall into the ground (don't laugh, it has happened in the area, people have died).

"Fun" pictures and articles:
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDbX1dTvnOSd5DJbQxzFh0V8dzxBT2zdMdwJQiUeM4K6oJN6pu

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIq71GLbaLo7WDnUol5vX8O1Y9yeNhanGmvPVmZxAcU-9lj2k8pQ

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeutRbsDjLO5Uja4NNRaOb81KgYiB861nqZmDQlA78nMdsCRVC

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1058880477&postcount=383

https://petequinnramblings.wordpress.com/page/2/

https://petequinnramblings.wordpress.com/

I'll have to put some more research into guns. It looks like firearms training courses are pretty expensive themselves, let alone the cost of actually purchasing one, so I'll have to think about whether this is a skill I want to learn.

hdatontodo

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #59 on: September 29, 2014, 03:13:43 PM »
In our house, we tend to think that moderate preparation is a good idea:

...
- we have guns and ammo
...

How about some rubber 00 buck or a paintball gun to suggest to people who want to unchain a generator to go elsewhere?

begood

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #60 on: September 29, 2014, 03:19:25 PM »
I don't really have anything to contribute to this discussion except not to forget toilet paper in your survival bags...

But every time I see the thread, instead of SHTF I see STFU and it changes my whole view of the discussion. ;)

OSUBearCub

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #61 on: September 29, 2014, 03:32:34 PM »
I'm skimming so this may have already been posted:  (Also, this is a more than passing interest I like to think about though I sincerely doubt it will ever happen - re:previous events a few years back and we're all still here.)

Why would I want gold and silver coins when the world collapses?  At this point, I'm not thinking about future wealth, I'm thinking about survival and getting a brief taste of normalcy.  What if you don't need a whole silver coin's worth of my chickens/canned goods/ammo/etc?

I would stockpile cheap vodka, ammo, cheap cigarettes, and honey.  Vodka and honey never go bad, ever.  Ammo has a really long shelf life and if the SHTF in a super huge way, all the preppers will blow through their stockpile killing eachother.  The rest of us will still need some to hunt. Cigarettes will go stale but hard core smokers will smoke a REALLY stale cigarette in times of need.  The return on investment, divisibility, and utility of these items are all very high.  I could get a smoker to plow 20 acres for a pack of luckys.  :-)

Spartana

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #62 on: September 29, 2014, 04:51:18 PM »
I don't really have anything to contribute to this discussion except not to forget toilet paper in your survival bags...

But every time I see the thread, instead of SHTF I see STFU and it changes my whole view of the discussion. ;)
Oh yeah - TP AND coffee. Grouchy and soiled isn't how ya wanna be during the ZA (Zombie Apocalypse)  :-)!

Beric01

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #63 on: September 29, 2014, 05:48:09 PM »
Why would I want gold and silver coins when the world collapses?  At this point, I'm not thinking about future wealth, I'm thinking about survival and getting a brief taste of normalcy.  What if you don't need a whole silver coin's worth of my chickens/canned goods/ammo/etc?

Gold and silver have held value to people for over 5000 years. It's not unreasonable to think that if a currency completely collapses, that people would shift to something that has traditionally had value through thick and thin. You need a medium of exchange - it's very impractical to trade you my whole cow if I want just 3 chickens.

That's not to say, though, that some medicine or some food would not be considered very valuable.

I'm seriously thinking about starting to prep, and if I do, I'll probably end up getting a few hundred dollars worth of silver coins. It really doesn't hurt, even just to hedge against inflation.

Spartana

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Re: SHTF Planning...disaster scenario prep?
« Reply #64 on: September 29, 2014, 06:39:20 PM »
Why would I want gold and silver coins when the world collapses?  At this point, I'm not thinking about future wealth, I'm thinking about survival and getting a brief taste of normalcy.  What if you don't need a whole silver coin's worth of my chickens/canned goods/ammo/etc?

Gold and silver have held value to people for over 5000 years. It's not unreasonable to think that if a currency completely collapses, that people would shift to something that has traditionally had value through thick and thin. You need a medium of exchange - it's very impractical to trade you my whole cow if I want just 3 chickens.

That's not to say, though, that some medicine or some food would not be considered very valuable.

I'm seriously thinking about starting to prep, and if I do, I'll probably end up getting a few hundred dollars worth of silver coins. It really doesn't hurt, even just to hedge against inflation.
You could move to Micronesia  and use these "coins" as currency. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!