Doomsday!

[luvmysuper]

Any secret “Preppers” out there in B&B land?

Until last night, I didn’t even know there was a name for them. My wife had on a National Geographic show called “Doomsday Preppers” which profiled people who envision;

A series of “dirty bombs” going off in the U.S. which leads to social / economic breakdown.
A series of F5 Tornados in the U.S. which leads to social / economic breakdown.
A nuclear EMP blast occurring in the U.S. which leads to social / economic breakdown.
A massive solar flare happening in the U.S. which leads to social / economic breakdown.
A financial disaster in the U.S. which leads to social / economic breakdown.

Now, while I don’t have any particular fear of these events, and don’t feel the need to have a bomb shelter, 2000 rounds of ammo, or 700 gallons of potable water close at hand, I am smart enough to see what happened during Hurricane Katrina, and other places, and most recently with Sandy on the East Coast.

The wife and I have a supply of emergency food on hand in case of some un-named disaster, a blizzard, tornado, or what-have-you. We also have some basic supplies such as quality backpacks, lightweight pop-up tent, dynamo/solar radio, sleeping bags, camp stove, water purifier, fire starter, mylar blankets, first aid kit etc which also doubles as good camping gear.

How about you guys?

Are you prepared for a temporary emergency? Are you a full blown Doomsday Prepper?

What do you have on hand for emergencies?

What do you think would be good to have on hand for an emergency when possibly electrical power, communications, water and food supply chains may be broken or displaced for some unknown period of time?


I'm interested in your thoughts, as the worst enemy of preparedness is lack of information.

I hope to gain "Wow, why didn't I think of that" ideas, as well as to share my thoughts with others if there is an interest.

 

[_MementoMori_]

I have nothing. And now, thanks to you, I feel the need to have all of it.

Guess that's the spirit of B&B though, now that I think about it!

 

[Toothpick]

Doomsday Acquisition Disorder.

i suspect i'll be one of those guys running around at the last minute trying to grab all i can. while on the topic though one of my buddies put a "doomsday axe" on his wedding gift registry. "i need it for my emergency kit!" was his reasoning.

 

[tfinch]

I don't think it's a bad idea to have some necessities put aside. I myself will not bother, since I'm dependent on medication - if society breaks down and there's no pharmacy to get it from I'm toast anyway =D

 

[rajagra]

Good for them.It was pathetic watching mile long queues for petrol (gas) in the U.S. just a day or two after the superstorm hit. And that was WITH several days' advance warning being given. Did it not occur to the masses to fill up in advance and conserve their fuel until things were back to normal? The preppers are not the crazy ones.
(If it weren't for the wonderful scenes of people pulling together after the disaster, this would have been a terrible advertisement for the American people.)

 

[njpaddy]

I thought I was prepared for Sandy with a generator and a transfer switch to run my sump pump, well pump & furnace but I wasn't prepared for 9 days without power and only had 7 gallons of backup gas which left me running the generator only 8-10 hours a day to conserve fuel and standing in long lines to refill the few cans I had. Our cars were filled, but you can't syphon gas from cars like you used to. I didn't realize that until it was too late. First order of business is stocking up on 5-gal cans to fill before the next storm. Otherwise I'm good on ammo and bottled water, but not much else. If I had the money, I'd be a prepper (and a recluse), but I can't afford that luxury.

 

[Doc4]

You mean ... a Shavepocalypse .... but for "everything"?

Dang, sounds nasty.

 

[Easttexasman]

You can put me in the catagory of "not prepared at all" . I would like to have food and all the necessary items needed but I find things like a new straight or pretty much anything more important at this time, I guess I really have no fear of any of these emergencies happening and I hope I am right.

 

[BBrad]

We've got a generator to keep a few lights on and run the furnace and sump pump. A camp stove and gas lantern keeps us fed and able to see if the gen gives out. We have a gravity-feed water system, so that's not an issue. In the summer, we've got a gas grill to cook on. In the winter, we have a very large natural refrigerator (the back shed) to keep food from spoiling. We keep some "canned rations" handy, along with powdered milk. A few gallons of fresh gasoline generally on hand, we make sure of it if we know a storm is coming. Ammo is an always thing . . .

 

[luvmysuper]

Doomsday Acquisition Disorder.

i suspect i'll be one of those guys running around at the last minute trying to grab all i can. while on the topic though one of my buddies put a "doomsday axe" on his wedding gift registry. "i need it for my emergency kit!" was his reasoning.

I believe that would be the "Crovel", it was on the show last night (which was a repeat from last year).
It's basically a shovel, spike, pry-bar, axe tool




To the other folks, particularly those who maybe can't afford items, the biggest investment you can make for an emergency is just having a plan (which is pretty much free).
Other items can be picked up when found and accumulated over time, say a box of band aids next time at the store, and a bottle of antiseptic from the bargains bin in a couple of weeks. Pretty soon you have a very nice first aid kit.

 

[joshua1970]

don't want to go into TOO much detail, but I'm prepared for about 6 months.... have friends who are prepped for much longer (and totally off the grid to boot)

I've put away lots of tradable goods, metals (much of it in form of junk silver for easy trading), canned/dehydrated food (pet food too), batteries, alcohol, water, some medications, etc... but not enough to survive 2 years... so I squirreled away lots of ammo too.

and plenty of tobacco, shaving gear and now fountain pens

 

[ouch]

I, too, have started on a preparedness kit. So far, I have a bag of M&Ms, a pack of coupons from the local war wash, and a roll of fly paper.

What else should I need?

 

[joshua1970]

I, too, have started on a preparedness kit. So far, I have a bag of M&Ms, a pack of coupons from the local war wash, and a roll of fly paper.

What else should I need?

sound like you've got a great start!!!

but no 'prepper' is fully ready until they've stocked up on Bacon jerky!

http://www.baconjerky.com/

 

[COHunter]

I'm somewhere in the middle. I have some things, others I lack but I'm now going to try to accumulate more necessities. Mainly ammo and tobacco. Lots and lots of both!! I have a freezer full of food and some canned goods and since I do many outdoor activities I have things like chainsaws, fishing gear, camping gear etc. We have a wood burning stove and charcoal grills to cook on. Trying to save the pennies for a generator.

Side note, I like the show, there is definitely no shortage of "reasons" that people are doing what they are and in all of the profiles there are bits and pieces of what all the folks are doing that make practical sense. Although one episode I caught last night some folks moved to the high desert in TX for fear of the Greenland ice sheet melting and causing the oceans to rise significantly seemingly only to run into a lack of reliable sustainable water...seemed a bit overkill... I did kind of appreciate the smokehouse he was building out of mortar and empty beer bottles, but for reasons that become evident on the show I think I'd pass on the corn.

 

[ouch]

sounds like you've got a great start!!!

Laugh all you want, but when those dead bodies start a stinkin', it'll be a seller's market.

 

[reboot]

Going one step beyond the preppers, what do you do when all your carefully stored food and fuel run out?

Can you plant a garden? Do you know how and when to plant various crops? Do you know how to preserve your crop so that it will last through the Winter? Do you know how to save seeds for next season?

Can you hunt? Having a firearm is one thing; knowing how to use it is another story. Knowing how to hunt is yet a third story. Can you field dress a deer? Do you know how to keep meat for a long time? Can you fish?

Can you make fire without a lighter or match? Better practice now; it's not easy.

Does your first aid knowledge go beyond Band-Aids? e.g. Can you set a broken bone?

Can you find your way without a GPS? Without a compass? Tell time without a watch?

Can you build a shelter good enough for protection against wind, rain or snow? Can you make a comfortable bed out of whatever happens to be lying around?

I'm a former Scoutmaster. Can you tell?

 

[tinashubby]

I understand the reasoning, and that Discovery probably gets the kookiest of the preppers for the show. It is entertaining and sometimes even interesting to watch.
I am not a prepper, but I do have some essentials around the house to keep me going for a couple weeks.
A book worth checking out is One Second After- It is about the unpreparedness of the U.S. after an EMP. Kinda scarey!

 

[Toothpick]

oooooo a survey!!!!



Going one step beyond the preppers, what do you do when all your carefully stored food and fuel run out? panic.

Can you plant a garden? Do you know how and when to plant various crops? Do you know how to preserve your crop so that it will last through the Winter? Do you know how to save seeds for next season? yes i've grown up with my mother having a garden every year, and canning her own veggies. i have learned these survival skills.

Can you hunt? Having a firearm is one thing; knowing how to use it is another story. Knowing how to hunt is yet a third story. Can you field dress a deer? Do you know how to keep meat for a long time? Can you fish? i could likely kill a deer, with one or two shots, and i could prolly get enough meat off of it to eat. salt curing or smoking the meat, dehydrating ...yeah i can do that. fishing..pssh i'm a member of BASS!

Can you make fire without a lighter or match? Better practice now; it's not easy. this might be tough at first, but i've watched every episode of Man vs Wild and Survivor Man. give me a day and i'll do it.

Does your first aid knowledge go beyond Band-Aids? e.g. Can you set a broken bone? absolutely not, broken bones make me pass out

Can you find your way without a GPS? Without a compass? Tell time without a watch? i feel fairly confidant in my ability here. give me a day

Can you build a shelter good enough for protection against wind, rain or snow? Can you make a comfortable bed out of whatever happens to be lying around? oh heck yes!, i've been known to pass out against trees, on picnic tables, in radio flyer wagons, heck one time even on someones stairs! slept like a baby.

I'm a former Scoutmaster. Can you tell?​ i thought you just liked surveys...sorry

 

[luvmysuper]

Going one step beyond the preppers, what do you do when all your carefully stored food and fuel run out?

Can you plant a garden? Do you know how and when to plant various crops? Do you know how to preserve your crop so that it will last through the Winter? Do you know how to save seeds for next season?

Can you hunt? Having a firearm is one thing; knowing how to use it is another story. Knowing how to hunt is yet a third story. Can you field dress a deer? Do you know how to keep meat for a long time? Can you fish?

Can you make fire without a lighter or match? Better practice now; it's not easy.

Does your first aid knowledge go beyond Band-Aids? e.g. Can you set a broken bone?

Can you find your way without a GPS? Without a compass? Tell time without a watch?

Can you build a shelter good enough for protection against wind, rain or snow? Can you make a comfortable bed out of whatever happens to be lying around?

I'm a former Scoutmaster. Can you tell?

I get your point, and I'm pretty handy. I don't believe I'd have any issue with any of your questions.
There are publications available to folks for free, you can download the pdf file and print it out or read it now and study up.
Basic Soap making, Tanning hides, trap setting for land and water animals, basic machine building (pedal operated Archimedes screws etc) and the like.

Two really great books are "Where there is no Doctor" and "Where there is no Dentist" - definitely last resort kind of stuff, but if it came down to life or death...

In any case, I am not of the mind set that many of the folks on that show seem to be of. I have freeze dried food supply for my wife and myself for 30 days. Beyond that, it is impractical to transport it.
That's why water filtration is more important to me than stockpiling water.

I don't believe that if a disaster requires self sufficiency for more than 30 days that sitting in one place on a stockpile of desirable goods is the way to go.
I'm of the opinion that mobility, covert activity, and staying away from large groups of people is probably best, at least initially.

 

[PugslyCat]

I'm not a Doomsday Prepper by any stretch of the imagination, but simply because I live out in the sticks I have done a number of things that could be mistaken as disaster preparedness:

• Generator - I inherited it with the house. The local power grid is pretty fragile. I get several second glitches a week and multi-hour blackouts several times each year.
• Wood Stove - It's a farm. We have trees. A fireplace and wood stove are naturals. Also good for heating a can of soup during the blackouts mentioned above. I probably have enough wood on hand at any time that I could get by huddling in the basement through a winter, but not heat the whole house comfortably.
• Guns & Ammo - It's a farm in the country. We shoot stuff for recreation or sometimes need. Sometimes it's hunting, sometimes it's target shooting and sometimes it's a skunk or troublesome vicious animal. Not so many guns but lots of rounds for each. I don't buy in bulk because of any particular threat, just because I'm cheap and bullets are cheaper in bulk.
• Food - I have a garden. I grow vegetables and can them just so I don't have to buy the same stuff. I told you I was cheap.
• Seeds for Next Crop - It's not a big garden, so I don't use all my seeds each year. Especially since I always buy the big packets. That bulk buying thing again.
• Fuel - I have tractors and lawn equipment, thus lots of cans of gas. Boats and snowmobiles add to the need for keeping gas on hand. It's enough fuel to get me through a week on the generator, but nothing extreme.
• Personal Care Items - Of course I have that stuff. I wouldn't be hanging out at B&B if I didn't.

Back in the last recession I was unemployed or underemployed for a year and a half. Since that time I like to keep enough shelf stable necessities around to get me through another such slump, especially as I am now an older worker with somewhat dimmer prospects of finding work in a short time.

If I were to add anything for disaster preparedness, even for a short to medium duration localized event, it would be the ability to generate a small amount of electricity from wind or solar. During the 2011 Missouri River flooding the county emergency management guy tried to cut my power for four months despite my home being neither flooded nor inaccessible. If I hadn't had electricity to run the sump pump and a dehumidifier I would have come home to a few inches of water in the basement and black mold everywhere.