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Preparing for the real problems is key

T

trader

Professional
So many sites are selling "prepper" stuff, arms and ammo, foodstuffs, generators, medicines, tools and equipment. Let's not lose sight of reality here. The likelihood of an event happening should be a key driver into the preparation for it. Does everyone need a "bugout" $500,000 RV? Where will you plug it in for services if the grid goes down permanently? How will you get parts and service for it? Being off the grid means different things to different people. Getting caught up in a Jeremiah Johnson scenario might be cool for some yet responsibly preparing what you can reasonably afford and do is best. Real reliable friends are better than family on the other side of the continent. Training that counts is best.
This picture says a lot-

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two things drive me crazy when it comes to preping.
1. Dried foods. In a real SHTF scenario, potable water will be much more precious than food.
2. That cabin in the woods to bug out to. Odds are that by the time you get there, somebody else will have already moved in and they aren't going to give it up peacefully. Provided you can get to it at all.
 
Grayfox said:
two things drive me crazy when it comes to preping.
1. Dried foods. In a real SHTF scenario, potable water will be much more precious than food.
2. That cabin in the woods to bug out to. Odds are that by the time you get there, somebody else will have already moved in and they aren't going to give it up peacefully. Provided you can get to it at all.
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Amen to that. Hurricane Milton pretty much hammered that home. I75 was bumper to bumper with people evacuating a couple of days to the day before Milton hit. 4 days before it hit, gas was getting scarce around Tampa. Afterwards? Almost apocalyptic the way people acted. Quite simply put, unless you have a weeks notice, the SHTF scenario will take most with very little warning. And those who have that "bugout" cabin, will have a very hard time getting to it. And most of them have not planned and prepped for going it on foot if needed. While I think it is a good idea to have some food, ammo, medical supplies stored up, an actual SHTF scenario is going to go beyond the 30 day food supply, or even 60 day. People better prepare for the event that they will have to defend and survive in their home and in their community.
 
Onewolf426 said:
Amen to that. Hurricane Milton pretty much hammered that home. I75 was bumper to bumper with people evacuating a couple of days to the day before Milton hit. 4 days before it hit, gas was getting scarce around Tampa. Afterwards? Almost apocalyptic the way people acted. Quite simply put, unless you have a weeks notice, the SHTF scenario will take most with very little warning. And those who have that "bugout" cabin, will have a very hard time getting to it. And most of them have not planned and prepped for going it on foot if needed. While I think it is a good idea to have some food, ammo, medical supplies stored up, an actual SHTF scenario is going to go beyond the 30 day food supply, or even 60 day. People better prepare for the event that they will have to defend and survive in their home and in their community.
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Did get pretty crowded pretty fast in NE FLA.
 
I was involved in hurricane preparedness and mitigation for years, and attended the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference many times. In the 80'S and 90's conventional wisdom was to evacuate 3 days before landfall. If you chose not to evacuate and to shelter in place, have at least 3 days food and fresh water on hand. Keep tanks full in hurricane season and fuel on hand for generators. I try to never let my truck's tank get below half in hurricane season.

My best advice is don't live in a storm surge zone.

My experience and observations have taught me that 3 days is not enough for evacuation, due to the population growth on the Florida peninsula. There are just not enough north/south roads to get everybody out. The problem is, if evacuation orders are given that far out, there is a good chance the storm will wobble and hit other than the projected impact area. This results in evacuation fatigue and many will not evacuate the next time due to costs and inconvenience. Unless you are in a storm surge area, your best option may be to harden your structure and shelter in place.

Power loss is a major problem in terms of refrigeration and air conditioning, especially for the elderly. We have lost line power for 3.5 weeks following Ivan. Portable generators can help, but most can only power a couple appliances, and then there is the problem of fuel for the generator. The best solution is a standby whole house generator, with bulk fuel supply and a transfer switch. Fuel type is also important. Most power outages are resolved in a few hours, but if you have extended outages your generator is going to run for extended periods. I opted for a 40kw diesel generator that fully powers two houses. We have a large diesel storage tank for farm machinery. Overkill perhaps but after losing power for weeks I said never again.

Mrs Greener stocks up on canned goods and dried foods at the beginning of hurricane season. I have several cases of MRE'S stashed if things get extreme. If worse comes to worse we have lots of wild game and fish and garden space but unless there is a total collapse it is unlikely we'll have to resort to that for subsistence.

Some thought and steps to prepare in advance will improve your chances and peace of mind. Pro Tip: Hoping a disaster will not occur is not a viable plan.
 
During the "Ice Strom of 97" my parents lost power for almost 4 weeks. Couldn't get them to come stay with us. When dad put in running water, he left the old hand pump in the well, so they had water. Moved the frig and freezer out onto the porch, didn't lose any food, heat and cooking was done on the old wood cook stove, and enough K1 & candle lamps to keep the house lit up like a Christmas tree. When they got their power back, I said to mom bet your glad to have your power. She said oh I guess so, but with no power we played cards, Percheses, played our guitars, talked, now all he does is fall asleep Infront of the TV again.
I don't expect to live much past a EOTWAWKI event and don't prepare for that. I do prepare for the 4-8 weeks of :poop: has gone to hell in a handbasket, till thing straighten out.
 
HayesGreener said:
I was involved in hurricane preparedness and mitigation for years, and attended the Florida Governor's Hurricane Conference many times. In the 80'S and 90's conventional wisdom was to evacuate 3 days before landfall. If you chose not to evacuate and to shelter in place, have at least 3 days food and fresh water on hand. Keep tanks full in hurricane season and fuel on hand for generators. I try to never let my truck's tank get below half in hurricane season.

My best advice is don't live in a storm surge zone.

My experience and observations have taught me that 3 days is not enough for evacuation, due to the population growth on the Florida peninsula. There are just not enough north/south roads to get everybody out. The problem is, if evacuation orders are given that far out, there is a good chance the storm will wobble and hit other than the projected impact area. This results in evacuation fatigue and many will not evacuate the next time due to costs and inconvenience. Unless you are in a storm surge area, your best option may be to harden your structure and shelter in place.

Power loss is a major problem in terms of refrigeration and air conditioning, especially for the elderly. We have lost line power for 3.5 weeks following Ivan. Portable generators can help, but most can only power a couple appliances, and then there is the problem of fuel for the generator. The best solution is a standby whole house generator, with bulk fuel supply and a transfer switch. Fuel type is also important. Most power outages are resolved in a few hours, but if you have extended outages your generator is going to run for extended periods. I opted for a 40kw diesel generator that fully powers two houses. We have a large diesel storage tank for farm machinery. Overkill perhaps but after losing power for weeks I said never again.

Mrs Greener stocks up on canned goods and dried foods at the beginning of hurricane season. I have several cases of MRE'S stashed if things get extreme. If worse comes to worse we have lots of wild game and fish and garden space but unless there is a total collapse it is unlikely we'll have to resort to that for subsistence.

Some thought and steps to prepare in advance will improve your chances and peace of mind. Pro Tip: Hoping a disaster will not occur is not a viable plan.
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IMG_7982.jpeg
“Hope is not a good plan”
 
agreed and all good points. Was also part of both Hurricane and Tornado planning - main thing is keep your wits about you and be reasonable. Down here if you flee to the hills/mountains you will starve and likely die of thirst. Many have said it- water, then food, then other thing and the means and will to protect it. Don't be selfish though, keep a few extra things and foodstuffs for others.
 
Grayfox said:
two things drive me crazy when it comes to preping.
1. Dried foods. In a real SHTF scenario, potable water will be much more precious than food.
2. That cabin in the woods to bug out to. Odds are that by the time you get there, somebody else will have already moved in and they aren't going to give it up peacefully. Provided you can get to it at all.
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20240803_194938.jpg

The trick to that is to already be in that little Cabin in the Woods, or in my case that Little House on the Prairie before the Scheiße trifft den Ventilator.
 
People do odd things in the name of prepping. 1999 was THE year for prepping, when it was at its very apex in the year ramping up to Y2K when people had a fixed point in time, to the very second, when IT, was going to go to hell and had years to PREPARE. I was in charge of Y2k for a large automotive supplier factory and there has never been anything like it before or since. Not even Covid pandemic and quarantine. To the normal person Covid all happened very quickly not allowing for a long period of prepping, instead it was chaos for a short time. But people like my daughter did learn what a well stocked pantry meant.

In 1999 I personslly knew a woman who filled her garage with toilet paper, big refillable water jugs, and rice. She literally filled every square foot, could not put her car in. And nothing I could say changed her mind. It was everywhere and practically everybody. I bought some nice firearms and tools afterwards from people preps they tried to recoup. Check out episodes of King of the hill late that year for some stuff that is hilarious and really not too out of what was happening lol.

I think personally that what the internet is now basically owes itself to that year, prepper sites were everywhere and people learned to get information there, free, sites selling all manner of garbage were rampant and you had to havevit all, there were all manner of brand new sparking survival experts and thier advice, sound familiar, YouTube? But this was way before youtube and peopke realky got used to fibding advice online more than ever before abd that stuck. Things prepper settled down when Y2K ended up being nothing and got a lot smaller until the fallout of Covid and it has regained a bit of traction.

I find those who want pretty sensible advice about rural living, and primitive living skills and well served by places like Backwoodsman home magazine which I find to be pretty decent. I am not familiar with written resources for the modern city dweller but I am sure there have to be some decent resources for today's neophyte. If you really want advice go to a nursing home, talk to men and women who lived thru the depression and other hard times, they can give you a lot of pointers, open your ears, shut your mouth and listen.

One thing is for sure on the internet, take what you find with a grain of salt, especially all the self proclaimed experts on YouTube.
 
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yes on 1999 - was in charge of our IT firms Y2K plans and the firm went overboard - shipping staff to locations all over in hotel rooms with food and clothes and rented vans with laptops etc. Mgmt quietly prepped and some stored lots of 2A items jic. Well none of it happened save the expert firms advising us sold a lot of things they otherwise would not have. Crazy days
 
As mentioned earlier prepping includes being ready for power outages, communications outages, wildfires, winter storms, as well as the natural events that occur in hurricane prone parts of the country.

I consider all that practical/pragmatic prepping.

An example...

swling.com

Post-Helene Update and the Importance of Radio After a Natural Disaster

No matter where you live in the world, everyone should have a battery-powered or self-powered (hand-crank) portable radio in their home. Recently, the pace of articles here on the SWLing Post has s…
swling.com

swling.com

Emergency Preparedness Part 1: Choosing the right radios

Today is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks here in the US; also, here in the US, September is National Preparedness Month. These two facts, coming as they do on the heels of severa…
swling.com

Plus...

swling.com

Emergency Preparedness Part 2: All the basics for emergencies

In Emergency Preparedness Part 1: Choosing the right radios, we focused on various types of radios you should consider having on hand in times of disaster. This section focuses on other aspects of …
swling.com
 
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You qmwere there, Most IT people knew nothing was going to happen. It was the largest coordinated systems conversion in history. Governments demanded, and paid, a lot to insure all systems, from the largest to the small were converted and tested before 000101 occured and things went silent. I remember going thru every single program, fixing dates fixing files to 4 digital years and testing every single program. Getting the latest firmware for everything, cameras , scanning equipment every single item With a processor of any type had to be updated and tested, and documented, oh the documentation.

But try telling people who were being force fed this pablum of fear mongering about computers shutting down and never coming back.

But, you would have been hard pressed to find a single IT person who did not pay attention to the news from those places the date rolled first, just to be sure lol.
 
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