Off topic question on survival

[Neil]

Im curious to see if any of you are preparing in any way for a disaster event in the future. A disaster event of any kind. The first time I watched doomsday preppers on Nat Geo, I thought it was pretty crazy and cool at the same time. I live within the closest inner circle of the nuclear generating plant at Oyster Creek here in NJ which is the one of the oldest or might be the oldest nuc plant in the states. We are constantly reminded of evacuation routes, told about the iodine pills and so on, they do a good job letting us know we are screwed if there is a problem there
I was amazed when I brought the show up at work a little while back and how many people are doing things like put away gobs of money, storing food, storing fuel, generally buying and becoming familiar with survival stuff in all ways imagineable. No one I know of is building a bunker, its more like people are concerned about the nuc plant, financial meltdown in the usa, major huricanes and so on. It wasnt that long ago I felt my first NJ tremor (earthquake) and Ive lived here alot of years. I felt a few in CA when I lived out there, but here in NJ?
Anyways Ive ordered some small samplings of dehydrated/freeze dried foods that store a long time to try, gonna put together one of those bug out bags, gonna hone my camping skills a bit and generally read and learn more on this all.

 

[GunnarMN]

I dont have any money to get ready , but I am planting a garden,

 

[Tin Fin]

I have been into survival skills since I was young. Some of it is "what you have" with you in terms of items, much of it is "what you know" to do or not do. Too many things to carry is just cumbersome, not enough things makes it more difficult to start off. It depends very much on the situation - government/social collapse as opposed to earth quake or volcanic eruption. Each requires a different thought process to survive. But it still comes down to "the more you know, the less you need to take with you". Not that having a knife, file, trenching tool of some kind are not needed, but you don't need to take the entire house with you.

An Air Force survival book from years ago says something like "The art of survival is learning how to make the best with what you have at hand under the circumstances you find yourself in". I have found that to be true - there is no reason to rough-it - the forest provides everything I need. But on a Tundra; I would have different needs, and may not have all the knowledge required to do as good a job there as I know I can do in the forests. Deserts are different too. Fire, water, shelter, food - generally in that order, are needed. Having some fast meals, or boil-in-the-bags is not a bad thing by any means, but won't do any good if you can't find water to begin with, much less filter it to make it useful to your self. The body needs water to digest food too - many people don't consider that part of it either. Eating, without enough water, can actually take water from the body due to digestion.

So yes, I have some things at home, some things "on hand" pretty much all the time (pockets and knapsack that I take to work/school), and time/skill/practice hunting, fishing, trapping, tracking, shelter making, flintknapping, etc., on a somewhat regular basis. Learning plants takes a long time - for me anyway - but it is good to not just know them, but to have gathered them, cook them, and consume them, so I know how my body responds to them. Some are good for food, some for shelter, some for medicine. Learn more = less needed to be comfortable in a real situation. But, much like the military, it's in the doing that the real learning takes place. Knowing fire can be made by friction, is very different that making fire by friction...

 

[mudpuppy]

Skills in your head are lighter than gear on your back, and cannot be lost or stolen. notice I say skills, not knowledge about skills...
Since the scenarios are so varied, one cannot say conclusively to shelter in place, or head for the hills. A lot depends on the weather as well.
Wilderness survival is different than general purpose eotw disaster city. Everybody has their own doctrine and skill level when it comes to this subject.
It has made for some fun conversations with the young guys I work with, they all want to learn how to snare/deadfall, fires, shelters stuff like that.
I dont have any items stored up, but I am not worried, . Its a lifestyle as you can see from the programs, and once you start down that road, it just keeps getting longer...one interesting tidbit, all the gun mfgs. sales are off the hook, so theres a lot of nervous folks out there these days.
Mud

 

[Ism]

I just have a lot of lead for trading.

 

[Critterhunter]

I think it's funny that some people are hoarding gold and silver in the event that society falls apart. If that really does happen people aren't going to care about buying things with gold. The real tool for "purchasing power" will be a gun to get what you want.

 

[bfodnes]

A good ATV and 10 gallons of gas will get you away from the area faster then a car wich will be stuck.

A 350cc atv with a small trailer and prearranged with all necessary thing ( even stoneage gear for those who think that far ) may save your familys life.

And most people dont think in those lanes.

 

[Neil]

A good ATV and 10 gallons of gas will get you away from the area faster then a car wich will be stuck.

A 350cc atv with a small trailer and prearranged with all necessary thing ( even stoneage gear for those who think that far ) may save your familys life.

And most people dont think in those lanes.

Thats a cool idea there

on youtube there are some good vids on back to basics stuff, making stoves out of cans and so forth, really interesting stuff.

 

[Nauti]

Good topic Neil.Although i am slightly embarrassed to admit it(for fear of ridicule) i've often thought about building some sort of reinforced shelter for such events.I don't think the general population always get to know the true facts about things such as impending natural disasters so it is probably a good idea to be prepared in the event of it happening.Those who have prepared will be those who have the chance to start again while those who are ignorant will not survive for long on an earth that has suffered a major catastrophe.

 

[Jiminsandiego]

A few months ago San Diego had a power outage that went from L.A. to Yuma. They said it was going to last 4 or 5 days. You cannot imagine the mayhem. No atm, no gas, no credit cards, no lights, no T.V., no traffic lights with totally jammed up roads and totally dark freeways, and 3 million people (in S.D. alone) totally freaking out. Can you say wake up call? I had enough cash to go to the (dark) liqueur store and buy booze and tobacco. (People could not believe that their credit cards were useless.) They siphoned my gas from my boat to use for an oxygen machine for my buddy. So.... Honda generator, cash on hand, full tank of gas, booze and tobacco (to trade. And maybe some canned food and water purifier. A long term event would justify gold or silver but for a short term event, the basics will be valued the most. In a way it was kind of fun, like a hurricane party, they said the local bar did very well.
Cheers,
Jim