Will you REALLY survive SHTF? Unlikely.

[WeAreNotAlone]

Apples and oranges. Yes, it was a SHTF situation. However, the difference between then and now is that people of the times were much stronger, used to living with nothing, and just flat out died when they got sick. London was the largest city in the world with a population of 60,000 people. People lived in thatch huts and grew and raised their own food. They were already living for survival. They didn't have to learn to live without running water, electricity, automobiles, etc.

I think a group that will do well so far as adapting, and being able to live on little would be the homeless.

.

 

[flagtag]

I think a group that will do well so far as adapting, and being able to live on little would be the homeless.

.

I agree. Those who aren't used to being able to get anything they want because they can't afford it and aren't "on the dole" (receiving money for doing nothing but sitting on their backsides) will do better than those who are used to just picking up whatever they desire, whenever they want.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

My point (not well made, from the sound of it) was that there are many levels of preparedness. The most important is mental, and there are some very hard and inhumane choices you will have to make to survive long term.

My mother is diabetic and takes about 40 meds a day to stay alive. They have to be time sequences. If she fails to take her pills correctly she'll be in the hospital. There's no way she could live more than two weeks in a SHTF scenerio. My father has had four strokes and is totally blind in one. He's 69 years old, and couldn't walk 2 city blocks on his own, let alone have to trek through or over any sort of terrain. Trying to care for my mom would only prolong an inevitable, and caring for my dad would most likely mean staying put and could get the entire party killed by looters. My GF is on all kinds of meds as well. She wouldn't survive more than 45 days without her meds, and would be in extreme pain and unable to move the morning after she ran out of her pain meds.

I have many friends and family members who have not spent one second prepping for anything. I have about two years worth of food stored for one person. If I take in one member of my family, I then have one years worth of food. If I take in 10 family members, I have about 45 days. So do I buy 20 years of food? Rations go down very quickly. Then what?

Everyone says they will take their dogs with them. I have two protection trained dogs. They have incredible prey drives and will kill anything they see that doesn't look or smell like a dog. They are not capable of tracking, stalking, catching and killing anything for their own food source. In other words they are not hunters. They each eat about 3 pounds of food a day. A bag of food weighs 30 pounds, and would sustain them for 10 days if they weren't moving, 6 if we were on foot. They become competitors, not just for food but for weight and space. How could I possibly carry enough food for them? I've had both dogs since pups, so leaving or destroying them would be devastating.

So what do you do with someone that you love and care about? Who's addressed issues such as these? Resolving these types of issues are part of the prepping process. I haven't yet. That was part of my point.

I'm past the point of buying, burying, and plotting evacuation strategies. What to do with family and friends are the types of issues that people don't think about, yet this is the stage that I'm at in my prep planning. It's not that I'm defeatist or lack a positive mental attitude. I'm not and I don't. It's that I have to resolve what to do, then accept that I've made the proper decisions and be prepared to carry them out.

It takes more than false bravado to survive a situation where you have no support. I've been in situations where I had the gear on my back to support me for up to three weeks, without hope of replentishment. I've also found myself in conditions that by any terms be considered a SHTF situation. The biggest difference was that we were supported by a very long and very deep supply train. It's a whole different ball game when you lack those support services.

So in the end, I was supplying what I believe to be a realistic outlook of my chances of surviving beyond 90 days of a armegeddon-like event. Anyone that says they have a 100% chance is either already living a prepared lifestyle, lying to themselves, living in denial, or hasn't thought the whole thing out and planned accordingly.

Semper FI - I thought the same thing from your post, which is why I asked if you were former/active Corps. It did not seem like something I would hear from a gyrene. (No offense - Former 82nd Abn scout who used to jump with your ANGLICOs). Your last post should have been part of the first, now we get where you are coming from.

 

[MilitaryArms]

Well,

I'm not going to voluntarily lay down and die. I guess that means I want to survive a "first wave" of a SHTF situation. What would you have me do? Put a bullet in my son, wife's head, then turn the gun on myself because I'm scared of the challenge ahead of us?

Suck it up, do the best you can. If you make it a week or two, that's a week or two more with those you love.

Life isn't easy and it can always get worse. I don't think the solution is to give up before even getting started.

 

[Indiana_Dave]

Over?

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!?

 

[E5RANGER375]

I for one can say I think Im pretty well set.... My whole house has thermopane windows with an exteror lexan cover, its a concrete block house with a brick and mortar front fascia, Entry doors are steel with steel core with a frame reinforced with rebar, I have a small above ground fuel tank for diesel, and a inground as well but its much larger, Ventilated basement with generator and back up generator, Im looking to install solar panels as well. I have my own mini farm as well. I grow fruits, vegetables, tobacco, herbs....

The only thing i am dependent on is water..... hmm

my house sounds more like a bunker than a house now that im looking at it from the outsde in.

hmmm, i saw the governement drive a tank through a building in waco texas. still feel safe?? just sayin

 

[Tactical Dave]

hmmm, i saw the governement drive a tank through a building in waco texas. still feel safe?? just sayin

I would not exactly call those people law abiding citizen's....... they were also drawing a lot of attention to themselves.

 

[E5RANGER375]

My point (not well made, from the sound of it) was that there are many levels of preparedness. The most important is mental, and there are some very hard and inhumane choices you will have to make to survive long term.

My mother is diabetic and takes about 40 meds a day to stay alive. They have to be time sequences. If she fails to take her pills correctly she'll be in the hospital. There's no way she could live more than two weeks in a SHTF scenerio. My father has had four strokes and is totally blind in one. He's 69 years old, and couldn't walk 2 city blocks on his own, let alone have to trek through or over any sort of terrain. Trying to care for my mom would only prolong an inevitable, and caring for my dad would most likely mean staying put and could get the entire party killed by looters. My GF is on all kinds of meds as well. She wouldn't survive more than 45 days without her meds, and would be in extreme pain and unable to move the morning after she ran out of her pain meds.

I have many friends and family members who have not spent one second prepping for anything. I have about two years worth of food stored for one person. If I take in one member of my family, I then have one years worth of food. If I take in 10 family members, I have about 45 days. So do I buy 20 years of food? Rations go down very quickly. Then what?

Everyone says they will take their dogs with them. I have two protection trained dogs. They have incredible prey drives and will kill anything they see that doesn't look or smell like a dog. They are not capable of tracking, stalking, catching and killing anything for their own food source. In other words they are not hunters. They each eat about 3 pounds of food a day. A bag of food weighs 30 pounds, and would sustain them for 10 days if they weren't moving, 6 if we were on foot. They become competitors, not just for food but for weight and space. How could I possibly carry enough food for them? I've had both dogs since pups, so leaving or destroying them would be devastating.

So what do you do with someone that you love and care about? Who's addressed issues such as these? Resolving these types of issues are part of the prepping process. I haven't yet. That was part of my point.

I'm past the point of buying, burying, and plotting evacuation strategies. What to do with family and friends are the types of issues that people don't think about, yet this is the stage that I'm at in my prep planning. It's not that I'm defeatist or lack a positive mental attitude. I'm not and I don't. It's that I have to resolve what to do, then accept that I've made the proper decisions and be prepared to carry them out.

It takes more than false bravado to survive a situation where you have no support. I've been in situations where I had the gear on my back to support me for up to three weeks, without hope of replentishment. I've also found myself in conditions that by any terms be considered a SHTF situation. The biggest difference was that we were supported by a very long and very deep supply train. It's a whole different ball game when you lack those support services.

So in the end, I was supplying what I believe to be a realistic outlook of my chances of surviving beyond 90 days of a armegeddon-like event. Anyone that says they have a 100% chance is either already living a prepared lifestyle, lying to themselves, living in denial, or hasn't thought the whole thing out and planned accordingly.

WAY TO USE YOUR HEAD MARINE!!! you are a self thinker, ive never met you but i already like you!!! people like you i will be looking for to group with! we will survive because we use our real life experiences and our heads.

just a heads up (i didnt use purple because im joking, i used it so you could see the part my disclaimer covers). Disclaimer: I am not saying i do this, because some of it if done could possibly be illegal. ....
anyone taking meds, could possibly ask a doctor to give you extra, just tell him they are for your survival supplies. im sure a doctor would respect that reasoning more than someone asking because they wanna get stoned. doctors know people will run out of meds and die in a SHTF scenario, look at katrina, even hospitals ran out of meds. so id say that if a patient was taking meds and their life depended on them (like a diabetic) then they would give them more, at least enough to last them afew extra days until possible help might arrive.

but dont forget antibiotics and pain meds, you WILL need them eventually. ask a doctor for them, if they dont give them then there are always "alternative" ways, canadian pharmacies, cough, cough. but there are also natural pain meds and antibiotics that are found in nature even here in indiana

i think the best you could do if you had a incapacitated member of your family and it would be IMPOSSIBLE for them to travel even with assistance, and by staying you and the rest of your family would almost certainly die, then i think you need to leave that person with enough food and water as you can spare them and pray they get help and GO. it would be a very hard choice but if we are talking like and death to the majority, then theres a difference between being honorable and stupid. yeah im sure i will get some crap about saying this but its my personal opinion guys, call me a monster all you want but i always tell it like i see it, not what people wanna hear, im not fake. believe me if it was safe (some people will die faster if moved, thats what i mean by safe) to take a incapacitated member of my family with me then i would find a way to transport and i will find enough food and water to keep them alive.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I would not exactly call those people law abiding citizen's....... they were also drawing a lot of attention to themselves.

i dont agree with their religious practices, but they still had rights and they werent criminals in my opinion or by the law, the only criminals were the people that tried to get in and burnt the place down killing innocent women and children. same people that were guilty at ruby ridge and killed innocent people. drawing attention to yourselves is not against the law. i think the KKK is one of the most dispicable groups on this planet but i still support their right to freedom of speech and assembly.

 

[Eddie]

Well,

I'm not going to voluntarily lay down and die. I guess that means I want to survive a "first wave" of a SHTF situation. What would you have me do? Put a bullet in my son, wife's head, then turn the gun on myself because I'm scared of the challenge ahead of us?

Suck it up, do the best you can. If you make it a week or two, that's a week or two more with those you love.

Life isn't easy and it can always get worse. I don't think the solution is to give up before even getting started.

Take it one step further; life in and of itself is 100% fatal. None of us will live forever regardless of how hard we prep. By virtue of being born every single one of us will die.

Now, do I lay down and die because I know that some day I am going to die? Heck no. Its all about sticking around this world for as long as I can. Maybe my preps are useless. Maybe when a meteor hits the earth its gonna land right on top of my house, but I'd rather go out knowing I tried than die of thirst three days after SHTF because I felt it was hopeless to prep.

 

[6birds]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!?

Wormer, he's a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer -DEAD!

Your timing is pretty good, this post needed a refresher!

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[shibumiseeker]

Take it one step further; life in and of itself is 100% fatal. None of us will live forever regardless of how hard we prep. By virtue of being born every single one of us will die.

Now, do I lay down and die because I know that some day I am going to die? Heck no. Its all about sticking around this world for as long as I can. Maybe my preps are useless. Maybe when a meteor hits the earth its gonna land right on top of my house, but I'd rather go out knowing I tried than die of thirst three days after SHTF because I felt it was hopeless to prep.

Life is nothing but a sexually transmitted disease ultimately ending in death.

Good health is merely the slowest possible way you can die.

I prepare because SHTF happens at all levels from the intensely personal to the world ending events, and by preparing for the ones closer to home I up my survival chances for the bigger ones. The folks who go on and on endlessly about the futility of it all are SUBVERSIVE because survival is about maintaining the attitude that you CAN and you WILL. Sure, you may fail, but if you set out to fail you have ensured it. Every person in this thread who has spouted doom and gloom have pointed out to me that I don't want them anywhere nearby if there ever is a major catastrophe because their attitude is poisonous. I want people around who have the attitude of adapt, improvise, and overcome.

 

[thompal]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!?

Nope. And it wasn't over when we nuked the French, either.

 

[thompal]

I would not exactly call those people law abiding citizen's....... they were also drawing a lot of attention to themselves.

The only thing they did to draw attention to themselves was get attacked by BATF and then killed by the FBI and military. If they hadn't done that, nobody would have ever heard of them.

Remember, after all the original hoopla, all Janet Reno could come up with was some trumped up child neglect charges that were never proven (nor were charges ever filed). It was, in her own words, all done "for the children."

 

[E5RANGER375]

The only thing they did to draw attention to themselves was get attacked by BATF and then killed by the FBI and military. If they hadn't done that, nobody would have ever heard of them.

Remember, after all the original hoopla, all Janet Reno could come up with was some trumped up child neglect charges that were never proven (nor were charges ever filed). It was, in her own words, all done "for the children."

lol, yeah she was a complete JOKE!!! the worst AG EVER in the HISTORY of America in my opinion. She fit right in with Clinton though, he being the crook and weesle he was couldnt afford to have a honest, and law abiding AG, so that why he picked her im sure

 

[hodgej1843]

I THINK FOR THE MOST PART A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL ADAPT AND OVERCOME THE SITUATION.

 

[Tactical Dave]

The only thing they did to draw attention to themselves was get attacked by BATF and then killed by the FBI and military. If they hadn't done that, nobody would have ever heard of them.

Remember, after all the original hoopla, all Janet Reno could come up with was some trumped up child neglect charges that were never proven (nor were charges ever filed). It was, in her own words, all done "for the children."

I thought they owed a lot on backed taxes?

 

[jbombelli]

Of course I'll survive. In fact, I'll flourish. I already have 3 generals, and a few others willing to help me build my army. I will rise to power. First I will take over the subdivision. Then the town. Eventually you will all grovel at the feet of the Warlord of the Midwest.

Mark my words.

 

[Tactical Dave]

Of course I'll survive. In fact, I'll flourish. I already have 3 generals, and a few others willing to help me build my army. I will rise to power. First I will take over the subdivision. Then the town. Eventually you will all grovel at the feet of the Warlord of the Midwest.

Mark my words.

COBRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

 

[flagtag]

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!!?

Sorry. The Japanees bombed Pearl Harbor.