As a 57 year old head-of-household, I've grown fairly pessimistic in the last 2 years about society's odds of not falling apart. Whether it is due to a financial meltdown, earthquake, terrorist attack on the power grid (or solar flares) , etc etc, it looks like the next 12 months could bring unusual circmstances.
Living in a highly metropolitan area where there is no natural water source (other than salt water), I've been preparing what I think my family would need to survive for 1-4 weeks, maybe longer, if services are interrupted. I'd like to be self-sufficient for 12 months if possible, but that requires a lot of supplies.
Anyone here do the same? Advice on what to stockpile, websites that are helpful, etc?
I have found this list of the 100 items that disappear first in a national disaster to be pretty helpful
I've been working on putting together my own formula of food powders (super greens, fruits high in antioxidants, omega's, amino acids, etc) for both nutritional value for the current economic times and also as a fall back during dire times. Because of the long shelf life I am able to buy in large quantities and if we don't experience said dire times, then I'll eventually consume it anyway. I really don't want to live every day in fear, so having a primary purpose before the apocalypse purpose makes me feel a little better :)
Remember, I live in Montana, a mecca for self-sufficiency and also anti-government radicals.. haha
Activated carbon reduces chemical residues, including pesticides endocrine disrupting compounds medical residues and heavy metals
LIFESAVER bottle US compliance
EPA - US National Primary Drinking Water Regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act 93-523
LIFESAVER bottle UK compliance
Water Supply (Water Quality) Regulations 2000
LIFESAVER bottle EU compliance
European Drinking Water Directive Council Directive 98/83/EC
LIFESAVER bottle WHO compliance
European Drinking Water Directive Council Directive 98/83/EC
This looks like a device that could keep you healthy if you lose your access to clean tap water/protected well water. They have smaller versions for less money but I'm sure a lot of you have families to think about and this would be a good way to provide clean water to all of them. At least for five years until either everything is restored or access to a protected well is restored.
Seriously, i have another house in Indonesia, quite a lot of food and water. Err...mainly instant noodles that is, and some cartons of canned food and soft drinks/5-gallon type bottled water (shelf life of only 3-4 years...not that i'd not like to buy more to stockpile). Instant noodes are cheap to stockpile, about usd5 per 40 packets. That's carbo. I figured we'd die of constipation first due to lack of fibre before we run out of food/water.
There's a Honda generator but it's old, and i only have 1 barrel of diesel so that's not a lot. But water is about 60m^3 underground, a 100m^3 well water non-potable, 1 x 20m^3 rooftop tank plus another 3 x 3m^3 PE backup tanks on the rooftop. Also have some nanofiltration filters which i purchased here in Singapore for drinking/cooking. So plenty to bathe.
If the air is contaminated, then we are pretty much screwed. Unless you get a good couple of flagship HEPA-13 air cleaners.
But seriously the country/economy is pretty stable. We rode out the financial storm pretty well and the reserves are still excellent. There has been some competition from China but not that we are super afraid of. (i usually think of it positively, if you can't beat them join them!).
I have got the impression that US Americans see the world very pessimistic these days. Whenever I watch US gear reviews, there is always mentioning of these end of world scenarios. (Nutnfancy is one of them) The US of A seems like a very fear-driven society nowadays compared to many European countries.
So the point the agentex and devman are trying to make is that even if you have not prepared for an catastrophic event, if you have a big enough gun you can take what you need from those who have prepared.
Nice.
However, most of those who have stockpiled items that may be necessary if normal systems fail are also prepared to defend themselves and their families.
Vectrex, if you live in an area like Southern California where there is a very high population (22 million) and basically no natural water supply (its a desert), you need at least a decent water supply as a backup.
A lot of folks forget that just because all systems have worked for the last 50 years, it has not always been that way and there are a lot of events that can disrupt it quickly. Just look at what one 10-foot wave did to Japan. And they reacted a lot more politely than I think Southern Californians would.
If you are old enough, look back to 1977 when the power went out in NYC for just one day. One day, and caused major looting and rioting.
Most people I deal with on a daily basis are very pessimistic about the state of everything. Then there are my coworkers; they think EVERYTHING is a government conspiracy to kill everyone. You think people on here are bad? You should meet my coworkers. It's almost too much to deal with on a daily basis.
This is part of the reason why I am teaching myself Swedish and German, I want to live in another country for a few years to see how it is.
Self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe if we think and act like it enough that's what we'll get. Although I have prepared to a minor degree, I just don't want to live every day in fear of such a catastrophic event. I know I speak as a man without children and my perspectives are different from those with families but I'd rather allocate more of my efforts in preventing such catastrophe than hiding out. If it's really going to get THAT bad then I say take me to my Kingdom!
But those are my own personal views and I still respect those who have gone to such great lengths to protect themselves and their families.
People tend to think everything is going to crash into total anarchy in days. Especially gun-enthusiasts seem to like this kind of thinking.
Do you really think your (where ever you live now here) will collapse to that kind of state just like that? What is your opinion?
Do you think a high amount of people preparing themselves for a total anarchy is the way to go or could it be done differently?
My opinion is, that this thing about everything collapsing is not going to happen like that. I believe in the Murphy´s law, so everything will happen the most boring way. :D That is a slow descent in quality of life and slow rise of unemployment, energy prices and prices of all goods.
It might never happen in Montana, or in Finland for that matter. Different demographics than where I live. Heck, if the usual delivery supply of anti-depressant drugs was to dry up So Calif would be chaos for that reason alone!
You guys must be young. Look up what happened in 1977 when New York city went off the power grid for one day.
I don't live in fear, don't get me wrong. But I don't think that we are in for Pax Romana for 800 years either. We are no longer a rural society, and we are dependent on the electrical, natural gas and water systems to function for us to maintain the normal status we are used to. I don't take that for granted. There are a few million people rich with oil money who hate the USA and would love to disrupt services here, seems to be a fairly aggressive hobby with some of them.
