SHTF Gear Discussion

[Rich M]

If it goes serious "code red" or whatever, you'll need a group working together to ensure survival. The strong take what they want and large groups of hungry men will be wandering around taking what they want - if you are gonna be on equal footing, you need a large group ready and practiced in defending their homes and "stuff".

The idea of a 6-person family holding their place is kinda silly. We can all shoot sub MOA and most folks have ARs - figure that they are just as good a shot as you are. Stick your head up over a fence and now it is a 5-person family... Messy business this dog-eat-dog stuff is.

We got a water filter, some freeze dried foods and keep a pantry (how older folks kept stocked), batteries, and keep an extra BBQ grill tank handy. Nothing crazy or special, just enough to keep peace of mind when we lose power for a week or two at a time from storms and whatnot.

 

[Phaseolus]

If it goes serious "code red" or whatever, you'll need a group working together to ensure survival. The strong take what they want and large groups of hungry men will be wandering around taking what they want - if you are gonna be on equal footing, you need a large group ready and practiced in defending their homes and "stuff".

The idea of a 6-person family holding their place is kinda silly. We can all shoot sub MOA and most folks have ARs - figure that they are just as good a shot as you are. Stick your head up over a fence and now it is a 5-person family... Messy business this dog-eat-dog stuff is.

We got a water filter, some freeze dried foods and keep a pantry (how older folks kept stocked), batteries, and keep an extra BBQ grill tank handy. Nothing crazy or special, just enough to keep peace of mind when we lose power for a week or two at a time from storms and whatnot.

Very realistic scenario.

 

[Antarctica]

Ammo food and water. To start.

I have a guy who works for me - he's a Vietnamese immigrant, about 50 years old. He told me that when he was a child, still in Vietnam, his mother had taken all of her investments, sold them, and invested them in a small bar of gold - easily transported and hidden. When the commies took over, they were starving. She traded that bar of gold for a 10 pound bag of rice. In his words "You can't eat gold".

Lots of other small things will be of value when money isn't. There's an article floating around about a guy surviving Bosnia and what it was like. Things of value: ammo, guns, medicine, bic lighters, batteries, alcohol.

I look at preparing a bit like packing a gun in bear country. Very little probability that you will need it. But when its on top of me, I want to go out putting rounds in it, not thinking how stupid I was for not carrying.

I'm not gonna save myself from an angry mob with a few guns. But I will take a few with me. Maybe they'll even try a softer target.

 

[ozyclint]

i want to get myself a pressure canner so i can process meat for long term storage without reliance on third parties, ie- electricity suppliers.

 

[*zap*]

Do you need to use contacts/glasses?
A few pair of sports glasses, the kind that have a band around the head vs earpieces may be a great choice....I know I love mine for work/outdoors chit.
Obviously trauma treatment gear but a few hundred sinus congestion/cold pills may be very useful. That stuff can be very debilitating if not treated.
A bunch of carton's of cigarettes for barter.
If your with a group then you need a good way to communicate....headset vs speaker is a good option.

For 'very bad' times:
A pvs-14 is on my wish list.
My Kel-tec sub 2000 folds up and can be carried on a single point sling under a jacket that way for a more covert firepower option.
Obviously, good body armor and a tac-vest of some type. A delta guy I know said he liked a separate vest over a plate carrier in case he really needed to haul ass he could dump the heavy armor and still have his mags/comms and other gear. A low profile pistol caliber vest that is more concealable may come in handy.

If you need to 'get outta Dodge'.....filled gas cans will be good. If chit really gets bad in this nation any very heavily populated area will be a place to leave fast.

Massive disruption of the power grid that renders it useless/unrepairable for months or more would be cataclismic. Could be caused by solar activity, emp or cyber attack. Nuke power facilities would eventually melt down without power to cool the reactors.

Some good fiction books on that like the 'one second after' series. That book series told of some brutal results of a grid down scenario and non of it was very far fetched at all.

Make a set of plans for different scenarios and be prepared to excecute them.

 

[NDGuy]

Man even though the likelihood of this stuff isn't high...you guys are making me pucker up a bit! Time to add some doomsday supplies! HA

 

[robtattoo]

I'm going balls-out cannibal on day one. My free food will be coming to scavenge for free food

 

[Antarctica]

Man even though the likelihood of this stuff isn't high...you guys are making me pucker up a bit! Time to add some doomsday supplies! HA

It doesn't have to cost very much. Ammo prices are relatively low for the basics (.22, 5.56, 9mm, 12G). I hold ammo as much for its value to trade as for any expectation of having to use it.

Food is cheap. Rice (white) at costco, some food grade buckets from Lowes and some mylar bags (online) will put together a modest store for not much money.

I also started canning several years ago. Mostly do just peaches, applesauce and Chili. Love having cans of homemade Chili on hand for when we just don't want to make anything. I usually make about 30 pounds of Chili at a time and can 7 or 14 quarts depending on how much I want to eat in the days following cooking it.

Water, depends on where you live. We're on a well that is shallow, and frankly, I make a widget to dip it out if I had to. I've also thought of putting in a hand pump. I picked up some 275 gallon IBC Totes for a few dollars but have never filled them. If I were on city water, I would.

Man - it feels weird to publicly admit that I do this shit.

 

[muddydogs]

Being a prepper is a hobby and needs to be treated as a hobby if you want to stay up on supplies. Just going out and purchasing a bunch of food then letting it set on the shelf for 10 years or slowly working through it and not replacing it isn't going to get you anywhere. Same with meds, water or anything that can expire.

You also need to take a hard look at your location and if you can defend it or you will have to leave. An in shape guy can carry 100 pound pack for a while but not day and day out. Just having the necessary camping gear food and water for a week is a lot of weight and doesn't leave a lot of room for all the weapons and ammo a prepper seems to think they need to amass.

Some guys think they will defend there home and just can't fathom the thought of not being able to defend all four side of there house 24 -7 with just them and there wife or have even entertained the idea of what they would do if some group set fire to there house just to show them who's better.

Ya I got sucked into the prepper world about 10 years ago, for the first few years I was all about stocking up and rotating. Now I have 15 year old cans of food on the shelves, dried up alcohol swabs and other meds plus more gear then will fit in a couple pickups. What I have settled on since I lost the prepper hobby vib is keeping some beans, rice and pasta in 5 gallon buckets which along with the freezer and some canned food will get me through most food shortages. I keep about 50 gallons of water, some in 5 gallon Mylar water containers and some in bottled water, 40 gallons of fuel for the generator, some 5 gallon propane bottles and the medicine cabinet stocked plus an extra bottle of what ever on the storage shelf.

I figure if it gets bad and I make it through the first wave of crazy at my home there will be plenty of food in houses were the owners aren't alive anymore to care. If I have to bug out then I will take what I can and do what is needed to make it through or die trying.

Now don't go all crazy thinking I'm one of them guys that plans on just taking what I need from others because I'm not but if were into a SHTF situation a couple months and I happen to still be alive I will have no problem scavenging from other homes. Anyway you look at a true SHTF situation it's going to be bad and will bring out the very worst in people, to survive the good people are going to have to do some hard things and make some crappy decisions.

 

[*zap*]

What do you have in your vehicle that would help get you home if a solar or emp rendered all vehicles (well most) unable to operate and you were miles from home?

 

[Dirt Wagon]

Man - it feels weird to publicly admit that I do this shit.

Publicly, yea I'd feel weird too. But online it's not so bad, here you won't get those weird looks from people that don't have the same mindset.

Just mentioning that you store extra food to last a few months have people thinking your a nut case. I gave up helping people that don't want to help themselves.

 

[Dirt Wagon]

What do you have in your vehicle that would help get you home if a solar or emp rendered all vehicles (well most) unable to operate and you were miles from home?

I've set my wife's car up with a bag with needed supplies to just make it home & a gun I have hidden in the car as well so it'll be hard to find in case a break in.

She knows that if the power goes out along with her cell phone to break the car window and grab the stuff and start walking. Most people would just wait it out thinking things will turn back on or someone will come to help.

 

[*zap*]

I gave up helping people that don't want to help themselves.

^ Large majority of the population.

 

[Rich M]

If you put a pack of sternos in a tote along with other stuff, the sternos evaporate and everything rusts. LOL!

A big part of the problem is that we don't have as many close-knit societies anymore. I'd love to live in a small town and know everyone, a place where folks help each other, etc. Folks won't even say hi around here. You see the nationalists in Utah and other states - "extremist" or just the way things should be? I believe we should know each other and look out for each other. The day after an event is the wrong time to meet the folks you need to rely on and want them to trust you.

 

[*zap*]

It is very difficult to find a 'large group' to be a part of since one of the biggest problems is that the whole group may very well suffer because of one members very bad decision.
Choose wisely.

 

[OXN939]

Stopped by to see who had IDed deficiencies I hadn't thought of. Got one to add.

Archery tackle, specifically crossbows, are an almost silent, reloadable, reliable way to hunt or defend yourself. The technology there has come an insanely long way in the past 5 years, too, to the point they are a half step behind traditional muzzleloaders. Not a bad item to have around.

 

[Dirt Wagon]

Yea, I forgot about adding archery & muzzle loader equipment. Anarchist Cookbook has directions on how to make your own blackpowder, along with other things.

For fishing, I bought a bunch of items for trot lines. I'd rather check the lines once a day than waste my time sitting on a bank hoping for something to bite. Good way to catch catfish/carp & turtles. Always had fun as a kid checking my lines & hauling something big up.

 

[*zap*]

A good way to fish is with a good gill net and that can also be set on the ground for small mammals....nets, snares and traps hunt 24/7.

 

[Antarctica]

+1 on a gill net. Illegal in my state for rec purposes, but if things got bad, it would haul some fish.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I’ve been giving some thought into a backup plan to extend my general hurricane/natural disaster scenarios. I’m not going to go full blown prepped and spend thousands of dollars, but if I can improve my situation for a couple hundred $ it’s probably worth it.

One thing that came to mind is canning meat. My current setup of keeping the freezers going via a natural gas generator. Should that go down, the meat wouldn’t last obviously. From reading, you need a pressure canner for meat due to the low acidity. Combined with the turkey fryer and propane tank I already have, a meat canning party could take place if I’m unable to keep stuff frozen.

I have a full swimming pool and a sawyer filter, after a couple weeks without running the pump I’m sure it would be solid green, but it can’t be worse than filtering out of some of the potholes guys have taken water from while hunting, right?

I’m not sold on gold being useful as anything but a hedge against inflation. It’s just not as liquid as people think it is, go try to buy a tank of gas with it today. I had some and had difficulty getting someone to buy it all at the spot price, which also fluctuates.

If you’ve only got a couple grand to invest in goods, you’re better off buying whiskey. Look at what Buffalo Trace and Blanton’s are selling for above MSRP. If you’ve got a significant amount of money, you’re better off with real estate, unless your local market is artificially inflated right now.

I am curious about the shelf life of dip and cigarettes. I don’t use them, but it’s not hard to imagine how much somebody who’s addicted to them and hasn’t had their fix would give you for them. There are guys who wouldn’t go up the mountain to kill a 400” elk screaming at them without their can of dip.