Any other "preppers"?

[chasfm11]

I attended a preparedness seminar sponsored by, of all things, a political group. The speaker was by his own words an amateur in this field but he provided a lot of good, practical suggestions. I was amazed how far we'd come on his initial list suggestions. As he put it, this isn't a task but a journey. Self sufficiency in this day and age is quite a challenge.

Like others, I view preparedness in layers, with each layer being a more difficult situation to handle. 2 days is pretty easy. 2 Weeks is a little harder. 2 months becomes much more of a challenge. 2 years could be a real test. For me, the problem is the variables and, in particular, just how much society breaks down into a Katrina-like environment. Or course, a lot of handling each of those situations is dependent on the cause for it.

The one thing that our ancestors had that seems to be lacking today is adaptability. Thinking about those that embarked on wagon trains crossing the country, they could not carry everything that they needed to make the journey and literally had to live off of the land. Those that adapted, made the crossing. I'm not sure how many people today are willing to think about climbing back down Maslow's pyramid willingly.

One of the major things that I took away from the seminar was that preparedness is a lot more about thinking than about things. Options is the key.

[mamabearCali]

Lets hear it for classes from strange places. My DH (who is not by any stretch a prepper) was given a saftey course at work--mostly dealing with hurricanes. He came home bemoaning how unprepared we were. Unbeknownst to him I had been prepparing and then showed him that no we were not as unprepared as he though. We still need a few thinks (hand crank/transitor radio), but we had food, water, and minor medical supplies he did not know were there. We would not be perfectly happy--but we would not be hungry either.

He is a little bit more on board with prepping now, so that class was helpful to my situation too! I do not have to prep in silence quite so much.

[Vic]

While I consider myself a prepper, I'm so new at it that I haven't accomplished much. Awareness is the first step, though.

I was lucky that when the prepping discussion came up with my wife, she was immediately onboard and needed no convincing whatsoever.

[bnc]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

[i8godzilla]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

Refuse to leave.

[chasfm11]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

Even in New Orleans, many people refused to leave. There were not enough authorities to make them.

The root problem is that the government does not have all the answers and will never have all the answers. People have stupidly stayed in the way of storms and lost their lives because of it. But you only have to see the pictures of the cars stacked along the interstates trying to flee a hurricane to recognize that isn't the solution to the problem either.

I simply refuse to let the governmental authorities make life and death decisions for me. They can tell me what they want, they can threaten me and they can promise not to help me when my own decisions get me into trouble. The decision is still mine. Actually, being away from the coast and hurricanes, governmental decisions are the least of my worries.

One of the first steps in getting prepared is to sit down and think about WHAT you are are going to prepare for (not how to do it.) Thunderstorm? Tornado? Train derailment? Pipeline rupture? For me, it gets down to a game of percentages. You can never prepare for everything but you can get to 80% for a lot of situations that you might be likely to face.

I don't really see a lot of difference in the mental approach behind preparedness and carrying a concealed weapon. I do not think that I can prepare for every situation but the odds are better if I start thinking through the possible circumstances and have a plan to deal with them. Then it becomes a matter of gaining the means to execute the plans.

P.S. MREs are not recommended for most of us. The idea is to have the food that you normally eat. You might be really sorry to get 3 days into an emergency situation and find that your digestive track was not "cooperating."

[Rex B]

I've been a semi-prepper for years.
After watching the stock market plummet today, I'm glad I've done some preppin'.

[USA1]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

Refuse to leave.

dig in and hunker down.
...A country boy can survive.

[i8godzilla]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

Refuse to leave.

dig in and hunker down.
...A country boy can survive.

I cannot say about the law in TX. However, when we lived in Florida, there was no way you could be forced to leave your house. During hurricane Andrew the local PD drove through the streets and would broadcast information URGING you to leave. If you stayed and you had problems no one was coming to your rescue until after the storm. We stayed. The worst part of the storm was about 60 miles south of us. The people that stayed in the part of the state regretted it--mainly because they were not prepared.

We no power or water for about five days. Living off of a generator and stored water was the easy part. Not knowing how much of your supplies you could share was the hardest part. Family first..............

[bnc]

The reason I posted that comment was what happened during Katrina as seen in this NRA video that I'm sure most of us are familiar with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4

I'm pretty sure the state constitution says that emergencies are not a legitimate reason to disarm law abiding people, but I don't have much faith in the government following its own rules.

It just seems to me that unless you have land out in the country where there aren't many authorities there is a good chance that there would be a knock on your door. At that point, you have to make a very difficult decision. Because of this I think my best option is to get out of town ASAP, so the corresponding prepping would be less focused on amassing supplies an more on short-notice mobility. Just some pre-packaged, non-perishable food for thought.

[mamabearCali]

So with your house full of canned food, MREs, clean water, generators, and crank radios, what do you do when the authorities come by the clear the neighborhood?

Depends on the situation. If it is a Cat 5 hurricane---and that would be AMAZING considering I live 150 miles inland---, or a forest fire, or a rising flood (another amazing feat considering where we live). We grab the kids, bug out bags, computer tower, wedding albums, throw it all in our 12 passenger van and head out of harms way but preferably not on the major roads. I am not dying for my cans of beans. These are short term plagues and are acute not chronic conditions.

If it is a chronic condition, such as a financial melt down then I doubt anyone will come around to clear out neighborhoods. If they did they would just be laughed at.

[Rex B]

If it is a chronic condition, such as a financial melt down then I doubt anyone will come around to clear out neighborhoods.

They might come around, but they won't be government employees.

[Crossfire]

The reason I posted that comment was what happened during Katrina as seen in this NRA video that I'm sure most of us are familiar with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4

I'm pretty sure the state constitution says that emergencies are not a legitimate reason to disarm law abiding people, but I don't have much faith in the government following its own rules.

It just seems to me that unless you have land out in the country where there aren't many authorities there is a good chance that there would be a knock on your door. At that point, you have to make a very difficult decision. Because of this I think my best option is to get out of town ASAP, so the corresponding prepping would be less focused on amassing supplies an more on short-notice mobility. Just some pre-packaged, non-perishable food for thought.

On April 27, 2007, Gov Perry signed HB 112, which prevents confiscation of firearms and ammunition from law-abiding citizens in the event of natural disaster or state of emergency.

It was known as the "Katrina Bill", and was one of the few laws to take effect immediately, instead of on Sept 1, so as to be in place for hurricane season.

[mamabearCali]

If it is a chronic condition, such as a financial melt down then I doubt anyone will come around to clear out neighborhoods.

They might come around, but they won't be government employees.

This is true. That is why I have bullets too to go long with my powdered whole milk and my flour. I think if you are looking at marauding gangs you are going to need neighborhood militias (at least in the suburbs)--or they will simply take out one house at a time and burn the houses as they go. If your are a country prepper your best bet might be to hide and not be seen, but that might be hard if you are having to garden and take care of animals. You can't prepare for everything, and in a true TEOTWAWKI surviving will be a combination of luck and preparedness.

[RPB]

Some guy or gal @_PatJohnson_ explains EMP hardening a little bit, MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistors), Faraday Cages, coiling cords to create capacitance, throwing away cheap powerstrips etc etc https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%23PrepperTalk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On Twitter search #Preppertalk

I just did that to see what it's about ... not that I am one or know anything about it... just heard the term the 1st time on this thread

I never thought about EMP effects on car electronics and hardening those, guess I'd be stranded like in the movies when alien space ships fly over and cars die