Are you ready if SHTF?.......

[hodgeman]

Some folks ought to travel to the third world to figure out who much ingenuity people have when they have nothing else, it'll surprise you.

 

[BRTreedogs]

Some folks ought to travel to the third world to figure out who much ingenuity people have when they have nothing else, it'll surprise you.

One of my Sergeants said he saw a grade schooler smash another one in the head with a rock over a piece of hard candy when they were doing humanitarian relief.

 

[Fatcamp]

Take a look at what happened in Bosnia. Not gonna look like what most people think. Just a gradual decline in decent behavior.

Pray to God it never happens.

 

[z987k]

In all honesty, I have a few boats, a few snow machines about 300 gallons of gas, a few freezers full of meat and a high tunnel. I could be ok for a little while, fresh water would be easy to come by.

I’d probably end up drinking too many white claws and vodka mixed with mtn ops and pass out and wake up and all my shit would be gone.

If food actually ran out, there wouldn't be a moose left within 100 miles of a road within a week.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

If food actually ran out, there wouldn't be a moose left within 100 miles of a road within a week.

That’s where boats or snow machines come in handy.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

Not wanting to start a political thread, so let's get that out of the way.

Just curious how many of my Rokslide brethren are ready for cataclysmic times.
With all that is going on in the world, virus (strains,) lockdowns, gun and ammo shortages, Summer-long riots, etc, one would think that most around here would be ready for what's possible, but I could be wrong about that.

Location can have a lot to do with this topic, and how prepared a person can be.
I finally bought an AR, just because I can foresee them being banned or heavily taxed. I'll be getting the wife one as well asap.

Overall though, are you ready? Thoughts?

Yes. We weren't inconvenienced by any of the shortages this year. Dipped into our supplies when things were scarce, resupplied when they came back.

We don't prep for a specific event, but for general disruptions. It could be as mundane as loss of income. Having supplies, full pantry, and an emergency funds gives us continuity and peace should things turn for worst. It also saves money as we can stock up when prices are low and pull from our supply if they get high like meat did in April and May.

 

[Desk Jockey]

There is an interesting book called One Second After by William Forstchen. Reasonably well written novel with a fairly thoughtful portrayal of what the world would look like without power (EMP attack). Bottom line is about 1/3 die in 2-3 months from medical complications and 1/3 die in a year from starvation.

I think that pretty early on every fury critter in the woods is going to get shot by hungry hunters. Rinella I think is the one that points out that in places with no functional game regulation and scarce food, there is usually no game due to poaching.

as for me, I don’t plan to let things slowly fall apart. I will be a early mover at the first sign of the apocalypse. I will quickly reorganize my moral positions and plan to go mad max on day one. Looting, pillaging, hockey masks, S&m gear. I basically want to beat the rush and set myself up as a warlord early on.

 

[peterk123]

All the doomsday talk is as old as time. Will you be ready for it? Nope. People that have been dreaming for it and preparing will die. People that dont know what the crap is happening will live. It will have more to do with luck than anything else.



I was on shift last night and the power went out in a part of town. We were in the truck at a down power line waiting for the power company to come. It was cold. We got to talking about how 99% of people in cold climates are not even prepared to handle a long term power outage in winter.

Electricity is almost as important as water for us today. I was just thinking about the carnage a mass power outage would cause. Never mind the issue of light and heat. Think about the fact that almost everything we do today is electronic. Your life savings could be practically wiped out with the flick of a switch. Even our knowledge base would be at risk. Something to be said for simple things in life like a book, a kerosene lamp and gold

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

It is a topic that I am fascinated with and pay attention to.

One of many things that bothers me is the sentiment that it couldn't happen here and we have outgrown the need to worry about it. There is literally nothing that has happened in the past that couldn't happen right here in America. Natural disaster, draught, disease, war, genocide are all on the table. Anyone who thinks it can't is kidding themselves.

I think most of the "preppers" would be dead within a few weeks. People who base their survivability on the number of guns and ammo they have are the worst.

Being prepared is common sense. Being paranoid and spending all of your money on the guarantee that the SHTF is foolish. Retirement is an absolute and SHTF is unlikely.

I am far more concerned about economic hardship than anything. We are printing money at an alarming rate I have yet to hear an explanation on how this trend start to go the other way other than "ThE BiLliOnAiRes nEeD To pAy!"

If you were to take into account the number of scenarios what would cause things to get bad are countless. Look at what an attack on our electrical infrastructure would do. That would turned the clock back 150 years without the means of sustaining life in that era. Our inventory and distribution networks alone couldn't get critical supplies to where they are needed before huge number of people would die. Water treatment, heating systems, fuel delivery and frozen food supplies would also be effected. We are a just in time society and it would be a bloodbath. Look at the crowds of people in the grocery store any time there is a chance of a heavy snowstorm.

Disease and waterborne illness would kill infinitely more people than guns. Starvation on a large scale would also be likely if it got bad enough.

The recent months long hack of our governments systems are troubling to me and seem to be getting exactly zero coverage on the news. It probably isn't news to many of you that we have the ability to hack into and override critical infrastructure of pretty much any nation on earth. This recent hack has show they could probably do the same to us.

If you are interested in a chilling book read Lights Out by Ted Koppel. It will get you thinking. As mentioned in another post. One Second After is a fun read and unfortunately not far from the reality if something as unlikely as an EMP attack would happen.

If the nukes start flying I'd prefer to be at the point of impact on the first one...

 

[Jbehredt]

Nooope.
Nobody is.
I listened to an incredibly enlightening interview earlier this year. It's basically a discussion on how you really can't prepare for the SHTF really, because every different scenario requires different supplies, preparedness, plans etc. Every Prepper out there has a mental scenario that they're prepping for (TEOTWAWKI, zombies, nuclear holocaust, etc....) but realistically, a national 3 month power outage is going to create a situation that 99.999% of us couldn't realistically deal with.

It's nice & comforting to have a few thousand rounds of your preferred ammo, a few cases of water, 100 cans of beans & 50lb of rice laid aside but in all actuality, pretty much no one is ready for any eventually & if you're not ready for EVERY POSSIBLE Ess Aitching the Eff situation, really..... why bother?

3 months is generous. 3 days and there’d be blood in the streets. 3 weeks and this place looks like I Am Legend.

 

[Rich M]

Oh.
What is the probability of these situations being realized?

Did you think that the govt would force people to stay locked in their homes wearing masks?

Lotsa folks itching to get a civil war on.

Someone said retirement is an absolute - I hope that's right.

I'd like to say 'never' but you never really know what's gonna happen.

Food, shelter, water, security. Do your checklists and take the precautions that make you feel good.

We had a decent hurricane and power was out for a bit - first day went for a walk and cars were doing loops around MDonalds, then speeding off. Seen 3 diff vehicles in about 5 minutes. Mind you the city's power was out and trees down in the roads, etc. A real "stay home for a few days" kind of incident. Here we had folks who were already doing crazy stuff for food. Give em 2-3-4 days and get ready.

 

[tmwtrfwler]

I've got basic stuff that could keep my family comfortable for a month if we are smart about rationing but the reality is that if I go a week without my Advair for my asthma I'm in a bit of a different situation. there are many many thousands if not millions with health conditions requiring medicines that people would be smoked quick.

Imagine making your kids go from heading to the pantry and smoking a box of chex-mix in a sitting to eating a chip a day....

people would be totally fuqqed.

Looking at my neighborhood in Richmond, VA the level of complacency is frightening. I have good friends that say if SHTF they're coming to my house. I always reply that if SHTF it'll be too late and they won't be able to get to my house nor will they be welcome unless they're prepared to defend it with me.

I had one buddy ask to borrow a shotgun when the rioters went to his neighborhood this summer. Just amazed me how unprepared people are.

Too many people around the world are incapable of starting a fire without a lighter much less survive without modern comforts.

 

[DenverCountryBoy]

...
I think that pretty early on every fury critter in the woods is going to get shot by hungry hunters. Rinella I think is the one that points out that in places with no functional game regulation and scarce food, there is usually no game due to poaching.

as for me, I don’t plan to let things slowly fall apart. I will be a early mover at the first sign of the apocalypse. I am will reorganize my moral positions and plan to go mad max on day one. Looting, pillaging, hockey masks, S&m gear. I basically want to beat the rush and set myself up as a warlord early on.

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The woodland creatures might disappear, but there will still be plenty of long pig. Just part of reorganizing the morals.

 

[brsnow]

This is no worse than any other time in our history. Social media just increases the level of paranoia. My family has the skills to survive because we enjoy clean living, no concern of day to day need

 

[Crowmangler]

I feel like I've prepared pretty well for me & my family but you should be much more concerned with being able to defend what you have from those around you. Just take a hard look at a mile radius around you. You gotta sleep sometime.

IMO the AR's are cool but how many of those folks who just bought one recently & stuck it in the closet / safe can actually hit anything with those factory 9lb triggers. My guess is they would burn 10 rounds to hit the same target that we would with one round from a bolt action rifle.

 

[P Carter]

Always an interesting question. The SH really hit the F in a few places around the world recently. It would be interesting to talk to some people from Syria, Egypt, and Libya to get a real-world example of what happened. My sense is that, whether we like it or not, our American society (or at least our region) is either going to rise or fall together. My sense is that the idea that the idea of one or a few people truly holding out while everything else goes to pot is largely a fantasy. From my perspective, it makes sense to have your house in order to withstand some minor ups and downs like we've seen in 2020 -- some food on hand, some manner of self protection, a stable financial status, etc. But I would love to see some interviews of folks that lived in relatively modern societies that completly fractured. That would, in my view, provide useful information. And who knows, maybe there is a critical mass of folks in those situations that did hold out based on "prepping" and ended up in a much better position than others. Again, that would be useful information. If someone has done this, please point me to where I can read about it!

 

[bbassi]

My BIL was raised Mormon and I guess they are taught to stockpile food for emergencies. about 5 years ago he had the bright idea that we should store it all for him at our cabin because that's where we would all go if the S really did HTF. Truth is I think he got tired of paying the monthly storage fee. I pushed back but the wife basically over road my veto. I told her fine but he was the first one getting shot if he actually made it there.
Well turns out dingbat is a bit of an over achiever. I think we now have enough to feed a family of 10 for 2 years. The irony is with his health problems he wouldn't make it a month.

 

[NDGuy]

Stocking up on these bad boys, most useful weapon you could have very versatile and delicious!

 

[browning2480]

IMO the AR's are cool but how many of those folks who just bought one recently & stuck it in the closet / safe can actually hit anything with those factory 9lb triggers. My guess is they would burn 10 rounds to hit the same target that we would with one round from a bolt action rifle.

I don’t think the type of gun matters, or wether it has a 2 pound trigger or 9, or if it will shoot submoa. Just having it and being able to point it at someone will deter a lot. Now I agree, you should practice and know how to use it. AKs are not know for their accuracy and have started and continue to fuel many civil wars.

Like Wyatt says in Tombstone, the others might get me in a rush, but not before I make your head into a canoe. Gotta be a brave first few souls to take the lead. I don’t see that happening

 

[FLAK]

You know we're in a bad place when people are running over others and willing to kill for a PS5.