I have been working on the Survival Preps upgrade that UrbanMan recommended I do over a month ago. I purchased more .22 LR, 12 gauge and Mosin-Nagant rounds and six collapsible one gallon water containers from Wal-Mart.
If you remember, UrbanMan told me to replace the basement door and put on better locks. Well, about two weeks ago I was downstairs moving things around and had the basement door open but the screen door closed. I noticed about 10 teenagers hanging out by the base of mountain I live next to. I watched them for a minute or so two and determined they were no threat so I went on abut my business, but no longer than maybe one minute later, I looked up and several of them were there at my screen door asking for water.
The fact that these teenagers close the distance to my door and the fact that the only thing between them and me if they intended bad things was a lousy screen door. I had the door replaced two days later. I have not installed a solar powered motion detecting light over this areas,....yet, but will here in a couple days, as well as get those battery powered motion alarms that UrbanMan told me to get from Radio Shack.
But the latest stunt that UrbanMan pulled on me was a call yesterday and he said: "Jim, the news just said that a metorite was heading to earth, and would impact in three hours twenty minutes (3h, 20m) from right now. It, with it's massive EMP, is projected to wipe out all electronics, computers and everything in the U.S. What are you doing to do?"
I said: "Are you for real? I'd go get my son at college. I think his car is still in the shop." UrbanMan replied: "After that, what? It will take you maybe 2 hours to get him and return. You have maybe one hour and 20 minutes to gathered up last minute supplies and material. What are you going to get?"
I realized this was a game,...bad word,....okay it was an exercise. UrbanMan said he would call back in 10 minutes. So I had 10 minutes to determine my plan. This is what I came up with:
Call my son and tell him to get ready for pickup, but to also go to the corner store and buy all the bottled cases of water and canned goods he would get on the credit card I have already given him for emergencies.
After I pick him up, we would return to the house but stop and buy as much water and canned goods as we can, primarily from Wal-Mart, but if Wal-Mart was too busy I would hit the local Family Dollar store just down the street. I would also load up boxed rice dishes, crackers such as Triscuits, Wheat Thins and Saltines, then stop at the local Chevron and fill up my car and empty gas cans I have in the garage. I would have liked to stop in at the sporting goods store of a gun shop and buy another gun, but I don't think I would have the time to make it home before the EMP hit.
UrbanMan called back and I told him my plan. He said "Jim, here's the deal,... ...when notified of an impending disasters, many people will panic,..some will sit still for awhile before they panic,...and some will resort to substantial mob rule...which will make last minute procurement a dangerous event. You still have not placed the intruder lights and alarms in your home, upped your first aid kit, nor bought a second pair of good boots. Trying to buy another or better gun or even ammunition, when everyone knows TEOTWAWKI is here, is probably too late. The purpose of this exercise was to determine what you need and make it a priority to procure now, instead of waiting until the last minute. You and everyone else are probably always going to use some of the last minute time to stockpile food and water. "
Point taken Urban Man,...I am not as prepared as I need to be.
Monday, May 2, 2011
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oh my yes... do you think your son would just stand outside the store as the golden horde is altered to news of the impending doom and comes in their panic and would just walk away politely as they are told at the store "sorry, all sold out" do you think your son standing outside with a shopping cart full of food and water waiting for your arrival would really have it still by the time you get there an hour or an hour and a half later? he probably would have been killed for it in a true panic situation. i mean have you never seen the panic in a mob just when there is a typical storm coming? (ice, snow, whatever fairly normal event)
ReplyDeletestopping by the store to buy another gun and ammo? seriously? i almost laughed out loud when i read that one - you knew the time constraints you were given in this "scenario" to make your "best options" and you really honestly thought that was a good one? first of all people at work would be leaving to go home - not stand around and sell stuff - and at least half the people would have the same idea as you - so you'd be walking into a potentially very dangerous situation of people fighting over guns and ammo!. you think someone going to get more ammo won't bring their gun? you want to go into a mob of people with guns panicking to get more ammo?
no offense, and i mean this in the same way as urban man as in constructive criticism - but yes - you do really need to prep more... especially mentally - on a good day with nice weather you may be able to do half of what you suggested as your SHTF decisions... maybe you need to just for grins take a saturday and try to perform your list in that timeframe - ok not buy the gun if you don't have the cash etc but still follow your plan, stop by the gun store and estimate the time there to purchase, pass the background check etc... just getting gas in a couple cans at a station 5 minutes from my house can take 30 minutes total. that is on a typical day with no lines.
you really think if true end of the world in 3 hours was to happen or announced you could do any of that? really? if you could do all that stuff on a perfect day even - wow hats off to you - but then picture scared (or aggressive, or opportunist) people all around you and think it over again. unless you think somehow you will be the only one privy to the end of the world news?
the safest thing would be to no go anywhere if possible - start locking up the house, bring inside or get rid of anything that draws attention - put trash cans in the garage (you could use them without being seen going outside and drawing attention) and become as invisible as possible. there will be plenty of people who suddenly look around and realize that the local fast food place may not be available as their usual source of sustenance - so what they have on hand, a six pack of soda, bag of chips and bottle of mustard isn't going to cut it and start looking for food and supplies... far too many live hand to mouth, minute by minute in our world. you don't want those 10 teenagers seeing you unloading food into your house as they know the world is ending do you?
Having already gathered and stored what I need to survive such an impact, my plan for this scenario would be to haul out the lumber I've stockpiled and get my windows and doors covered before the blast wave hits. If I had time, I'd toss more of my household electronics into improvised faraday cages to add to the many I've already pre-packed. I'd move all my stores from the shed and garage into the basement and then I'd just wait for the S to HTF, hunkering in my basement. As was pointed out to you, the problem with your plan "Go get my son, stock up on supplies" is that everyone ELSE in the entire world is going to running around like crazy too -- and you (and your son) are likely to get stranded on the highway, miles from home, with only what provisions you were able to collect amidst the mob scene at Wal-Mart to get you through the crisis. I've seen a veritable mob scene at my local grocery store when they were having a sale with really low prices; there were no shopping carts left, no parking spaces left, and the lines to check out stretched all the way to the rear wall of the store at every check out stand, but everyone was happy and laughing and joking and polite. To this scene add fear, panic, and angry people with guns, and into this melee you send your (unarmed) son. As was pointed out in the comment above, then repeat the same scene at the gun store and the gas station. Even if you were successful and got home safe with your truck load of provisions, you're gonna have to allow time to get them all unloaded and stacked up inside your house, just in time to have all your windows blown out and your curtains set on fire when the blast wave hits. Yep, I agree, sounds like your plan needs a little work. Would definitely recommend you buy your saltine crackers and ammo NOW. Read the book "One Second After" whose title refers to all the people who wait until one second after the disaster to think about preparing for a disaster.
ReplyDeleteever think about a small solar panel like the ones you can plug into a car that is going to be sitting to keep the battery fresh? I'm thinking about getting one along with a small sealed 12v battery like the ones inside of a portable jumpstarter. they can both be found on ebay or amazon fairly cheap. this way anything you can charge from your car you could charge from this setup and recharge via the sun. my plan is to have this in my B.O.J. (Bug Out Jeep) so the portable battery can be charged from the jeep until i need to continue on foot then i could put the battery in my BOB with the small solar panel on the outside of the bag to charge the battery if need be. I found a 5w panel i like for around $40 on amazon and I kinda think that should work to charge the battery in a full day of sunlight. as for the weight of the battery its not that heavy but ounces equal to pounds and pounds equal to pain. but if you want to charge batterys cell phones gps flashlights run a cb or ham radio or any other thing like that it could be a nice setup.......unless theres an EMP and all your shit gets fried....but at least you tried lol
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