Are you even marginally prepared?

[Sharp Guy]

We could not do it

[kiwisailor]

Probably.
I live on Sailboat (offshore capable)
Solar panels+wind generator + 2kva Honda generator + salt water desalinator.
400 litres of diesel. Fish can be caught off boat. LOTS of rice and lentils and Pressure cooker. (Essential)
Lots of good books and DVDs.

Main issue is isolation, even being a bit introverted, lockdown at moment is tough.
Not as introverted as I thought...

Miss yoga with the lovely ladies !

[Naperville]

...
Not as introverted as I thought...

Miss yoga with the lovely ladies !

[Naperville]

For those like myself on several medications, don't forget that you can probably obtain a years worth of medications in advance but you will probably have to pay for them yourself.

Calculate food needs at around 2,500 calories per day per person for storing food.

Calculate water needs at around 3 gallons per day per person.

[NCC-2893]

In these proposed scenarios people always, always, forget the number one resource human beings have...each other. Forging on with alliances with my neighbors and community? (and Spyderco) Absolutely yes.

[shunsui]

Nope. Not at all.
And it seems more and more likely that it could happen here.
I'm so old it doesn't really matter what kills me.
I'm not one of those guys who wants to live forever.
My mother did all that and once was enough for me.

[yablanowitz]

Nope. The water table here is too far down to reach without power.

[Naperville]

Don't forget that you can always store food and water for when you most need it.

Some freeze dried food like Peak Refuel lasts for 5 years, and Mountain House lasts for 35 years.

Water storage containers can be 5 gallons all the way up to 150 gallons.

It is my hope that by having this conversation you do the minimum recommended by FEMA and have supplies for 6 weeks.

[aicolainen]

Don't forget that you can always store food and water for when you most need it.

Some freeze dried food like Peak Refuel lasts for 5 years, and Mountain House lasts for 35 years.

Water storage containers can be 5 gallons all the way up to 150 gallons.

It is my hope that by having this conversation you do the minimum recommended by FEMA and have supplies for 6 weeks.

That is actually a rather ambitious goal.
The minimum recommendation from The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection is 3 DAYS(!)
I guess it's way better than nothing, which is probably close to the average preparedness level, but at least a few weeks of self sufficiency should be in everyone's interest.

The problem with the 90-day scenario though, is that society doesn't suddenly break down for 3 months in a vacuum. So even if you're self sufficient for 3 months, the question still remains: are you prepared for the underlying conditions that caused the breakdown?
Not least.. the chaos that follows? It will be a disaster.
And whatever is restored after those 90-days, it won't look nothing like the old normal, so you have to prepare for that too.

[Naperville]

Yes it would be catastrophic if the country had to shut down for 3 months. COVID has done a number on capitalist countries worldwide.

Note that there are different FEMA organizations in all 50 states. Hurricane, earthquake and wildfire related states want you more prepared. Some recommend 72hrs worth of food, some 2 weeks, some 2 months....YMMV. I visit so many sites that I just decided to play by the worst scenario, yet we only have 2 months of food here and no spare water as of yet, but water tanks are in our future.

I've seen recommendations from certain FEMA orgs for 3 gallons per day per person, and I've seen that the CDC recommends 1 gallon per day per person and to rotate water stocks every 6 months.

[bearfacedkiller]

Mors Kochanski said, "The more you know, the less you have to carry. The less you know, the more you have to carry." This was in reference to wilderness survival but it is good advice.

Everything can be taken from you (or lost) except knowledge. In a bad enough scenario you need to worry as much about defending your stuff as having stuff. Also, skills and preparation can last longer than supplies.

Buy the right piece of rural property. Learn to homestead and be self sufficient. Establish a water source on your property. Have ample wood around you for necessary heating and a way to burn it in your house. Have the tools (guns) needed to defend that property. Study bushcraft, wilderness skills, gardening (including saving seeds), hunting and fishing. Buy dried rice, beans and flour from the bulk food store in 50 pound bags. Learn to bake bread. Learn to dry and can foods. Plant apple trees. This is easy for me to say because these are my interests anyway so for me it is just my lifestyle. I just see more value in investing in self sufficiency rather than hoarding up a bunch of stuff for a finite amount of time.

With the right skillset, the right property and the right mindset you can last as long as you want.

[kennethsime]

But, as said: Not nearly enough food for three month and not a hunter. I´d actually have to break in some shut down supermarket from time to time in order to survive I guess...

The problem with this scenario, at least in an American context, is that everyone else is going to be doing the same thing.

[MacLaren]

Mors Kochanski said, "The more you know, the less you have to carry. The less you know, the more you have to carry." This was in reference to wilderness survival but it is good advice.

Everything can be taken from you (or lost) except knowledge. In a bad enough scenario you need to worry as much about defending your stuff as having stuff. Also, skills and preparation can last longer than supplies.

Buy the right piece of rural property. Learn to homestead and be self sufficient. Establish a water source on your property. Have ample wood around you for necessary heating and a way to burn it in your house. Have the tools (guns) needed to defend that property. Study bushcraft, wilderness skills, gardening (including saving seeds), hunting and fishing. Buy dried rice, beans and flour from the bulk food store in 50 pound bags. Learn to bake bread. Learn to dry and can foods. Plant apple trees. This is easy for me to say because these are my interests anyway so for me it is just my lifestyle. I just see more value in investing in self sufficiency rather than hoarding up a bunch of stuff for a finite amount of time.

With the right skillset, the right property and the right mindset you can last as long as you want.

Yup. +1

[SG89]

Doesn't matter what supplies you have if you and your family are ambushed by outlaws in the middle of the night. Wilderness survival skills are important but criminal skills will get a lot of people by when there are no laws. In this scenario there will be no where to hide... Roving gangs and militia types will take what they want when they want.

[The Mastiff]

Doesn't matter what supplies you have if you and your family are ambushed by outlaws in the middle of the night. Wilderness survival skills are important but criminal skills will get a lot of people by when there are no laws. In this scenario there will be no where to hide... Roving gangs and militia types will take what they want when they want.

There is some obvious truth to this but I've personally seen emergencies bring out the exact opposite. The aftermath of hurricane Fran here was surprising to me when I saw virtually my whole neighborhood come together and support and feed and look out for each other. The neighbor nurse began operating as a nurse. People cut up recently down firewood and shared. When it came time to be able to go to an open store 4 or 5 days later people were making lists for those that couldn't go themselves and making sure everybody knew which stores were open, which stations had gas and how long the lines were, etc. The obvious security aspect was comforting obviously but having the communication lines open was the best resource. We even all knew what the electricity linemen were doing and where and our neighborhood actually had people watching them ( and offering them food, water and encouragement which made them keep us updated on timelines etc.)

It reminded me of where I lived in Michigan where the people with snowmobiles and gas would get groceries for those that were stuck during blizzards.

Not everything is terrible in even emergency conditions. People don't generally respond like in movies about Zombies and suddenly go feral in my experience. On the other hand I have a career of working with those that do even in normal times.

When people are truly scared they want rules and they will apply pressure on others that seem to not want them. They find they have a stake in the conditions in the town/village/county/country they live in and have taken for granted.

Joe

[MacLaren]

Living at the head of a gorge like I do, if the road were taken out or blocked really good it would extremely hard for people to get to my place.

[kiwisailor]

Living at the head of a gorge like I do, if the road were taken out or blocked really good it would extremely hard for people to get to my place.

So, do you consider that a good thing or not?

[MacLaren]

Living at the head of a gorge like I do, if the road were taken out or blocked really good it would extremely hard for people to get to my place.

So, do you consider that a good thing or not?

I feel that would depend on the situation.
I mean naturally if things got so bad that people were really trying to take what they could get by any means necessary, then that would be a good thing.
But, that would be a very extreme situation, ya know.
Honestly, I think I've been watching too much damed TV lol......The Walking Dead for instance.....that show was out for years, and I just refused to watch that bs, as I called it. But, one day I thought, let's just see what all the fuss is about. And then I saw that Colt Python goin to work and I couldn't stop watching lol.....
I mean, this just us all bull chittin anyways, ya know?

[kiwisailor]

Well, I have a moat...

Agreed about the Walking Dead, it does entertain, but sometimes rings a bell, in so much that it can make me think, "oh yeah, never thought about that"

[MacLaren]

Well, I have a moat...

Agreed about the Walking Dead, it does entertain, but sometimes rings a bell, in so much that it can make me think, "oh yeah, never thought about that"

A moat, cool.
Yeah, it does do that!
People would be the real threat in a Zombie Apocalypse