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[Prepping] Facing A Turbulent World
webguy20
I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered User regular
I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered User regular
This Thread is for getting a discussion going on being prepared. What does that mean? The short version is looking at where you live. Whether that be a neighborhood, city, state or country and assessing existing and potential dangers to you and your loved ones well being and taking actions to mitigate that danger.
Now there is sane prepping, and there is isolationist "everyone is out to get me" prepping. I'd like to keep this thread focused on sane prepping. I've listed a few of the real concerns most of us face these days.
Natural Disasters - Floods, Fires, Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Tornados to name just a few.
Breakdown of "Law and Order" - This could take the guise of government crackdowns, civil unrest, war and terrorism
So for me, someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, I'm most likely to face wildfires, heavy snow/ice power outages, government crackdowns and civil unrest with earthquakes and volcanos being a very remote possibility. So How do I prepare?
So these are just some of the things I think about these days. An important thing though, and what I want to talk to and help folks here with, is community. I think the whole bug out to a bunker is flawed thinking. We only thrive by working together, and that means helping our friends and family also be prepared. Maybe like me, you can be a point of evacuation for your apartment dwelling friends who can't keep 6 months of supplies. Or you can teach other people important skills like field medicine, sewing, mechanics, carpentry or any myriad of skills. The point is, those of us who are more fortunate helping out those whos circumstance leaves them lacking in some form or another.
So lets talk about it! I'm fairly knowledgeable about these things at this point, though I'm far from an expert. Lets help each other out so we can be more prepared in case of a major emergency we'll all probably face sooner than later.
Links!
The Prepared - A fairly sane resource for common sense prepping.
<Spot saved for youtube videos and stuff>
Now there is sane prepping, and there is isolationist "everyone is out to get me" prepping. I'd like to keep this thread focused on sane prepping. I've listed a few of the real concerns most of us face these days.
Natural Disasters - Floods, Fires, Earthquakes, Hurricanes and Tornados to name just a few.
Breakdown of "Law and Order" - This could take the guise of government crackdowns, civil unrest, war and terrorism
So for me, someone who lives in the Pacific Northwest of the USA, I'm most likely to face wildfires, heavy snow/ice power outages, government crackdowns and civil unrest with earthquakes and volcanos being a very remote possibility. So How do I prepare?
1. Make sure I have food and water stored for X amount of time. The mantra is 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and a year worth of supplies. I'm currently working on the 3 months part as I have a house to store things. An apartment dweller might only be able to do 3 days to a week. Either way though, it gives you time to make decisions, which is the important thing.
2. Heat and water during a winter storm power outage - I have a woodstove so heats taken care of, but I'm saving up for a generator so I can power our water pump. Currently I store about 50 gallons of water, so we can still drink and flush the toilet, but having regular water pressure sure would be nice.
3. Evacuation points. Where do I go in case of wildfires? Well my wife and I had to evacuate back in 2020, and we weren't prepared! Luckily for us my friends really stepped up and offered us and our pets a place to stay. These days I have a bin at their house that has a few changes of clothes, cat food and litter, and sundries. That way we could leave at a moments notice with our pets and still be ok.
4. Things pre-packed for evacuation or getting home. We currently have "bug out" bags in case we need to evacuate in a hurry from our house, and I'm working on "Bug-Home" bags for my wife and I's cars in case we get stranded in town and need to have enough supplies to make it the roughly 20 miles back to the house.
5. Medical training and supplies. Bandages, disinfectants, eye washes among other things! If you are part of protests then learn how to flush tear gas from your eyes. Having a basic medical kit and skills are paramount in any kind of survival situation. I really want to take some first aid classes to boost my knowledge here, as it is bare bones.
2. Heat and water during a winter storm power outage - I have a woodstove so heats taken care of, but I'm saving up for a generator so I can power our water pump. Currently I store about 50 gallons of water, so we can still drink and flush the toilet, but having regular water pressure sure would be nice.
3. Evacuation points. Where do I go in case of wildfires? Well my wife and I had to evacuate back in 2020, and we weren't prepared! Luckily for us my friends really stepped up and offered us and our pets a place to stay. These days I have a bin at their house that has a few changes of clothes, cat food and litter, and sundries. That way we could leave at a moments notice with our pets and still be ok.
4. Things pre-packed for evacuation or getting home. We currently have "bug out" bags in case we need to evacuate in a hurry from our house, and I'm working on "Bug-Home" bags for my wife and I's cars in case we get stranded in town and need to have enough supplies to make it the roughly 20 miles back to the house.
5. Medical training and supplies. Bandages, disinfectants, eye washes among other things! If you are part of protests then learn how to flush tear gas from your eyes. Having a basic medical kit and skills are paramount in any kind of survival situation. I really want to take some first aid classes to boost my knowledge here, as it is bare bones.
So these are just some of the things I think about these days. An important thing though, and what I want to talk to and help folks here with, is community. I think the whole bug out to a bunker is flawed thinking. We only thrive by working together, and that means helping our friends and family also be prepared. Maybe like me, you can be a point of evacuation for your apartment dwelling friends who can't keep 6 months of supplies. Or you can teach other people important skills like field medicine, sewing, mechanics, carpentry or any myriad of skills. The point is, those of us who are more fortunate helping out those whos circumstance leaves them lacking in some form or another.
So lets talk about it! I'm fairly knowledgeable about these things at this point, though I'm far from an expert. Lets help each other out so we can be more prepared in case of a major emergency we'll all probably face sooner than later.
Links!
The Prepared - A fairly sane resource for common sense prepping.
<Spot saved for youtube videos and stuff>
Steam ID: Webguy20
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
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Propane stoves or grills would also work, but the charcoal one can be a little easier to find the fuel for. Having a good set of camping gear would go a long way too as that's going to have a lot of stuff if you need some improvisational place to stay with a tent, sleeping bags, portable cooking and cleaning stuff, and the like.
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Yea one of the challenges I've found while prepping is having to sandbox those resources. I actually have a 2nd youtube account to capture that stuff because while some of them are actually really good at prepping, they also have terrible politics that I don't want to infect my main feed.
Updated the OP with The Prepared - a fairly common sense prepping resource. Some of the reviews are getting a bit old, but a lot of the guides and checklists are timeless.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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Worst case, I get out of town, but I'm in the middle of the state, so actual evacuations are slim when it comes to storms. People on the coast should always GTFO though.
All i ask is , coming from another gun owner, please please practice with it A LOT. Very few things scare me more than folks packing concealed and not being proficient with their firearm. Only one person I know spends enough range time to stay proficient with their firearm enough that id feel comfortable with him carrying one around, and he doesnt carry.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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It’s ironic that it’s called a drain plug when it actually stops the water from draining.
Satans..... hints.....
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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If you resist fascists now with a gun, you're going to be murdered by the fascist police or spend the rest of your life in prison.
How is your boardgame box bunker going though?
Who knew that boardgame boxes were so good at soaking up gamma radiation.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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it's been done for decades but now it's full of cats
We got an insane amount of rattlers, more than a few coyotes, and every couple of years a mountain lion will show up in someone's backyard to fuck about. You don't need full on grizzlies to justify the strap.
Rural communities are fuckin' weird though. Like, dudes love to talk about how little gun violence we have because everyone and their mom carries out here. But we're way ahead of the curve on gun suicides and negligent discharge injury and death. I personally know waaaaaaaaaaaay to many people who have bullet holes in them from stupidity and misadventure.
If you're going to gun, please gun responsibly.
Yeah, I've been an armed security guard at a nuclear power plant for 16 years, and we carried handguns and rifles for the first 12ish years I was there (now just rifles). We had 2 days of training about every 6 weeks and I've shot hundreds of rounds. I even bought the same model of Glock we were using so I could practice with it outside of work (I've only shot one box of ammo with it because work got rid of the handguns like a month after I bought it lol), and even with all that practice I still don't carry outside of work. In fact, it's disassembled and locked in a safe. Am I proficient enough with it to be relied upon in an active shooter situation in public? Fuck if I know, I'd rather not ever find out.
'cause I've got two baseball bats and also a piece of rebar just like, around. I found them while cleaning and was like, weeeeell, what if I need to hit someone with a baseball bat or a piece of rebar?
we've also got so much canned food because my mom has a problem with coupons, and a bunch of water jugs. oh and toilet paper lol
really though, if society were to collapse tomorrow, I'd probably stay at my house. I got 3 cats and all of them are neurotic I can't be dragging them around, fuck that.
I think its safe to say in a prep scenario in general to be familiar enough with firearms to be capable of hunting with them or making them “safe” in a functional sense, but don't plan on being a rambo in a fortified home.
We survive by being a community. A whole bunch of folks scared of their neighbors doesnt cut the mustard.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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https://gen.medium.com/i-lived-through-collapse-america-is-already-there-ba1e4b54c5fc
Society doesn't flip a switch and turn into Mad Max or Red Dawn or whatever, it just gets slightly shittier.
Yeah there are non grizzly wild animal situations too, you got me there
But a 9mm built for concealed carry isn't going to help much in any of those situations either
I respectfully disagree.
Yeah, a 9mm is plenty enough for rattlers, coyotes, etc. And if it isn't, you have more than just one bullet in the magazine which should be enough to scare off whatever the animal is
Look at one of these, https://waterbob.com/ it is fairly inexpensive. Basically a big plastic container you put into your tub and fill up. It has a syphon/pump and hose to dispense the water. Obviously you need to plan before losing water/power but for something like a hurricane hopefully you would have time. Combined with something like a sawyer mini, if you are worried about plastic taste, it will provide plenty of potable water over time.
Yea for us its losing power during a winter storm, but we usually have an idea before one of those hits. Good to know I'll check it out!
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- Maybe a backup battery or power for your internet router/modem?
- Landline if you still have access to one.
- Radio if all else fails. Two way is even better. Maybe a CB?
Extra stash of prescription meds.
Cash for buying stuff if credit card machines go down.
Salt and pure metals to fight the undead.
Hooray rotating through the long shelf life stuff.
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@Metzger Meister et al
It's been a while but when checking out various sub reddits the r/preppers was surprisingly wholesome. They help people at all levels whether having a few days supplies to full on homesteading and also take a very hard stance against conspiracy theories and shitty power fantasies.
It's not something I'm into personally but it stuck out to me when I saw it.
-- SpaghettiOs
-- Mixed vegetables
-- Fruit cocktail
They all have pretty decent shelf-life, they can be eaten cold, and I do enjoy them.
Those three are the pillars of my emergency-diet.
Ive been really enjoying canned peaches lately. Had some when I was in the hospital and I dunno, maybe it was the not eating for 2 days but those were heaven and I've been on a jag ever since.
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Also gloves! Mechanic gloves work great, rubber grip, someone insulation from heat/cold and usually are form fitting to prevent blisters like you get with leather or gardening gloves.
Cooking if you don't have a gas range (a gas range you can usually still manually light a burner as long as the gas is still on) This would be my shelter in place disaster choice. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coleman-Classic-Propane-Gas-Camping-Stove-2-Burner/895629
Easy to use, the fuel canisters can be found almost anywhere, sports stores, Walmart, gas stations, hardware stores. It can be used safely inside WITH fresh airflow, open a window and try to cook close to it. Be prepared to cook quick meals, boil water for ramen, mac and cheese, instant mashed potatoes, heat up a can of soup or canned veggies other canned delight. Don't plan on cooking anything that will generate smoke, if you want to do that then cook with it outside, again just like camping.
Speaking of gas, have one of these if you have a gas meter, it also serves a few other purposes. https://www.amazon.com/Quakehold-Gas-Shut-Off-Wrench/dp/B001XZY1C4
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
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One of the things I've been interested in lately is taking a first aid and CPR certification course because that seems like a thing that is generally handy to know.
I've been looking at putting together an emergency vehicle bag with some essentials and a medic pack that would basically stay in my car. But I guess I should probably know how to use the stuff in the medic bag before getting one.
I’ve been wanting to do this too. REI and other outdoor focused stores often do classes on field medicine. I need to take one.
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