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mamabearCali wrote:I have had back pain off nd on here and there. It can be terrible. Best hong I have found for it is some sort of alcohol. I go with baileys or snapps, but that is cause I only like "girly" drinks.

I will have to check out he fish antibiotics.

This goes back to why I kind of laugh when people say they're hoarding gold/silver for the impending economic collapse.

Me, I'm going to have a secret warehouse filled with cheap whiskey and vodka, cigarettes, medical supplies, ammunition, and toilet paper. I will be the king of the new survival economy

chasfm11 wrote: All generators, in a real emergency, become theft magnets. The cheaper the generator, the more noise that it makes and the more apparent its location. The blogs after the Alabama tornados provided details about the high theft rates and how communities had to quickly band together without the help of law enforcement to prevent widespread generator looting. Even heavy chains and locks were apparently not enough by themselves.

There was a 6-day power outage in Washington in 2006. Many people in my neighborhood had generators, because day-long power outages weren't unusual. The thieves weren't dumb though. They'd wait until early morning, drive up in a truck filled with 6 guys, bail out, cut the chain/cable with large bolt cutters, and drive off. 30 seconds, tops. They hit 6 houses in a period of about 5-10 minutes. They never got caught. No cops around, no lights to see, nothing.

I know, some of you might be thinking, "There would be 6 dead hombres in my driveway if that happened!" It doesn't really work that way. They're not stupid, they can suss out which houses have people watching and which are just filled with a family trying not to freeze death in Condition White alertness.

My experience during that event taught me a lot what kind of "humanity" to expect in bad situations, and I only sampled the tip of the iceberg. I even got the joy of having my water supply to my home burst from freezing about 3 days into that ordeal. I was as completely unprepared as you could be and I swore "never again." My lesson about the criminal elements, however, was akin to what Selco was saying in a link bnc offered (http://www.tacticalintelligence.net/blo ... ccount.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). If you think you can hunker down in your home with just you and the family, you are either a) sorely underestimating the determination of criminal elements, b) sorely overestimating your ability to single-handedly defend your home, or (more likely) c) a and b. You have to think larger, communal scale and "squad up" for longer-term scenarios. I'm grateful that the power was partially restored after 5 days, but I'm even more grateful that the crime in my neighborhood didn't rise above generator theft. I imagine it would have gotten much worse had we been without power a few more days longer.

In the list of scenarios you would have to deal with, EMP gets a lot of armchair survivalist talking, but is statistically in the "lightning strike's chance" of TEOTWAWKI scenarios. Far greater is the scenario of civil unrest being spread like wildfire by news media (i.e., London Riots), with a likely significant disruption to ERCOT, SPP, or other power grid that will cause urban exodous. To be honest, EMP scenarios aren't even on my list of "what to prepare for", because there's a whole host of other problems that are associated with it that would drain my time and resources away from more-likely situations.

My #1 challenge will be to get to a family enclave in central Texas (I have cousins far and wide over Texas, so it's the most-likely gathering place). I think worrying about my transportation being frazzed is way down on my list of worries. I'm much more concerned about availability of fuel, and my scenarios basically involve me planning on a one-shot trip to wherever I need to go. After that, I'll be looking for horses.

The Annoyed Man wrote: And speaking of infirm, in the event of a complete and long term social collapse, there are a lot of people like me who are going to probably die much younger than we would otherwise simply because we are dependent upon medications to sustain life. Diabetics are an obvious example. In my own case, there are five medications on which I depend. Two of those can be probably dispensed with as my weight comes down and my diet changes, those are blood pressure meds. One of the meds can probably be dispensed with by replacing it with something naturally grown, and that is pain control because of my back. But, the other two are a real problem. I no longer have a functioning thyroid gland, and I am dependent upon a daily thyroid supplement (which contributes to the difficulty of weight loss). There is no homeopathic alternative of which I am aware. Without a thyroid supplement, I will get sicker and sicker, and I will die much sooner, likely of heart disease. The other medication is intended to prevent an enlarged prostate. Without it, I am subject to crippling urinary tract infections, which in turn require pretty stiff doses of Cipro to knock them down. In fact, without antibiotic treatment, a UTI can easily become systemic and degenerate into sepsis, which is almost universally and rapidly fatal. Consequently, much of my preparation mindset is to ensure the survival of my loved ones, because I take it as a given that people like me will die off much sooner. I'm OK with my own demise because I know my King, but would like to see my loved ones' survival ensured before I pass, and so my long term strategy is being structured in that way.

I'm down with you on this, TAM. I'm a disabled vet for a reason, and part of that reason has to do with me needing to take very expensive pills three times a day, otherwise, without massive sources of drinkable water, I would die within 12-24 hours. I'm like the anti Green Lantern .

This means that I understand my chief responsibility it to get my family relocated and settled in for long term sustainability withing a 30-60 day window while I have my meds (optimistically assuming I can retrieve my meds). Not an easy thing to deal with, mentally, but it certainly helps me frame where my energy and effort need to go.

I, too, wish to get a nice slice of land, but I must bide my time for the right location and monetary resources. I'm beginning to think, however, that it's wiser to find land that adjoins like-minded people. Not an easy task, but this is a journey, not a destination, and I find that a patient approach yields me more satisfaction (at least now )