How prepared are you for a disaster?

[zelticgar]

8 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I live downtown in a huge city.  My best survival option is to stay put and rely on the city center receiving assistance sooner than the sprawling suburbs.  Density has its benefits.  It's not like I can have a rainwater trap or a vegetable garden or even a power generator.  Zombie movies suggest I shouldn't even attempt to drive out of the city at the same time as millions of others. 

I have thought about keeping a month supply of rations in our storage unit but the real problem is water.  If Chicago municipal water supply stops, no purification tablet in the world will make the Chicago River or Lake Michigan potable. 

And if there is a long lasting break down in civilization as imagined in so many movies, all these people with bug-out bags are kidding themselves.  I hope they enjoy the self-reliant pioneer fantasy while they're all safe and cozy.  If any civilization-ending disasters actually happens, none of them will be able to sustain themselves and their families much beyond the end of their prepackaged rations.  Subsistence farming is much tougher than most realize, especially as stored gasoline degrades within a year.  It's one thing to grow some crops to supplement food supplies, it's another to maintain crops for a sustained period as your sole source of food.  

When I started this thread I was thinking more in terms of shorter term survival. Making it work in your own home to create a relatively comfortable environment with electricity, heat, food and water.

In a long term apocalypse scenario we would most definitely need to rely on the collective if there is any hope of survival. 

[maarsen]

6 hours ago, larrytheimp said:

It's true, no prepper worth their salt buys a gun before having their appendix removed.  

 

Re: bolded.  A tablet won't, but you could purify the great lakes water pretty easily.  

For the most part I agree with the rest, the subsistence farming is all fun and games in most of the US until all of a sudden you have to figure out how to preserve your harvest until the spring.  Definitely easier to make it through the winter if you have a closet full or three of chef boyardee.  

Ceramic water filters are what is needed. As for clean water, I have a cottage near to where the cleanest water in the world gushes up out of the ground. Continuously. 

 

[HexMachina]

Well peering around the house I have 5 fruit cakes not yet at optimum booze levels, some bags of flour, tea bags, wine, vodka and a big bag of rice. That’s about it for non-perishables so...I guess not very prepared really. 

[maarsen]

5 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Well peering around the house I have 5 fruit cakes not yet at optimum booze levels, some bags of flour, tea bags, wine, vodka and a big bag of rice. That’s about it for non-perishables so...I guess not very prepared really. 

Friends are what count. Nobody can prepare for everything, and everyone needs a hand.

[Which Tyler]

Various parts of the UK have disappeared underwater for a few days at a time reasonably recently; so we kinda know how Brits respond.

 

Generally Urban-poor folk (Hull 2007) generally fled the city, and some looting happened, but it wasn't too bad.

Generally Semi-rural; middle-class folk (Tewkesbury 2007 - where I live) pulled together with the good ole Dunkrik spirit; neighbours helped neighbours, everyone pooled whatever camping gear they had and we got through it. Government provided us with water cysterns after about 24 hours without water; supermarket limited water to 1l per person from the moment the water was turned off - I don't know of anyone who went through repeatedly. As for electricity - we were out for about a bit over a week IIRC - it's really not as necessary as you'd think.

Generally Semi-rural; upper-middle-clas folk (Thames Valley 2014) had a very great fear of looting, the government pulled out all the stops, and nothing really happened.

Generally Rural of mixed affluence (Somerset Levels 2014) were left to fend for themselves, cos no-one (in authority) cared - from reports, they banded together and neighbour helped neighbour etc.

 

 

For myself, any Brit claiming to have given any of this stuff much thought really needs to hand back their passport and pick a new nationality.

I have camping stuff and a veggie bed in my garden - whilst I'd like a small-holding, I just can't afford such a thing.

I live in a country where the government and infrastructure simply doesn't fail that badly, and our natural disasters are frankly pathetic on the scale of things.

[zelticgar]

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Well peering around the house I have 5 fruit cakes not yet at optimum booze levels, some bags of flour, tea bags, wine, vodka and a big bag of rice. That’s about it for non-perishables so...I guess not very prepared really. 

Godspeed and RIP 

[BigFatCoward]

What, is this thread serious?  People are prepared for the apocalypse? 

 

[lessthanluke]

2 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

What, is this thread serious?  People are prepared for the apocalypse? 

 

They live in a country with Donald Trump as President. 

[A True Kaniggit]

7 minutes ago, lessthanluke said:

They live in a country with Donald Trump as President. 

Lol. And yet the majority of people that take this sort of thing the most seriously are more worried when someone like President Obama is in charge. 

[Seli]

4 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

What, is this thread serious?  People are prepared for the apocalypse? 

 

Some people live in a culture where it is taken as gospel that government cannot be trusted; and as such is underfunded and less capable of reacting to disasters. Some in cultures where people have been thought not to trust the people in the next area over, and even neighbours are iffy. Some in cultures where the myth that we can live on our own, rather than in the network of society, is strong.

Especially when these cultures intersect it makes sense that people preparing for an apocalypse exist.

[Which Tyler]

5 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

What, is this thread serious?  People are prepared for the apocalypse?

My mum called for advice on apocolsypse prevention last night actually - I adviced Michelin's winter tyres over Goodyear - and reminded her to replace the wipers.

#BritishApocolypse

[zelticgar]

6 hours ago, BigFatCoward said:

What, is this thread serious?  People are prepared for the apocalypse? 

 

I'm talking about a few weeks in case of a natural disaster. Now you've gone and given an opening to the political loons to start talking about Trump and Obama. Damn you BFC! 

3 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

They live in a country with Donald Trump as President. 

See above, go cry to the politics thread if you want to talk about trump and obama. 

 

3 hours ago, A True Kaniggit said:

Lol. And yet the majority of people that take this sort of thing the most seriously are more worried when someone like President Obama is in charge. 

See above. 

[lessthanluke]

1 hour ago, zelticgar said:

 

See above, go cry to the politics thread if you want to talk about trump and obama. 

 

Go cry? Grow up.

[A True Kaniggit]

On 11/24/2017 at 6:50 AM, zelticgar said:

See above, go cry to the politics thread if you want to talk about trump and obama. 

Actually, I am curious about the phrasing of this request. 

Why not just type, "I created this thread to discuss disaster preparedness. Please keep political references out of it"? Polite and to the point.

But because I do believe in proportionality I am forced to respond with, "Go snivel in the Anime Thread. BWA HA HA".

[Durckad]

As a Type 1 diabetic, any long or even short-term disaster is going to be extremely difficult to manage. Hoarding insulin is not very feasible, fiscally or otherwise, so depending upon if a disaster occurs at just the "right time," I'd probably be able to manage for three months, maybe a little more if I properly and effectively ration. After that though, there's only so much you can ration and a cellar full of beans and pasta and guns ain't gonna do much if I'm in the throes of hyperglycemic shock.

So yeah, I've long ago resigned myself to the fact that I will be the first to be eaten should there be some long-term breakdown of society.

[crlovel]

I live in the country with plenty of game, farms, etc. We keep multiple cases of water on hand, and plenty of canned foods. When that runs out, we have well water and, as mentioned, game and farms. "Bugging out" is a foolish option for us - we'd be "bugging in" and staying home. For protection of our family and anyone with us, multiple rifles including AR-15s and AK variants, shotguns, handguns, and more. Ammo is simply not going to run out - we have a pallet of ammo, and the presses and equipment - and supplies - for reloading and making more.

[Iskaral Pust]

On 11/23/2017 at 5:37 AM, zelticgar said:

When I started this thread I was thinking more in terms of shorter term survival. Making it work in your own home to create a relatively comfortable environment with electricity, heat, food and water.

I've given that some thought but am limited by my location.  As mentioned, a personal generator, rainwater trap, vegetable garden, etc are all impossible.  We have a gas fire that can heat our small home even if the electricity (for central HVAC in the building) is out for a long time (a big winter storm is the main risk in Chicago), our condo building has back-up generators, we can store emergency rations onsite.  So we can function pretty well until/unless Chicago municipal water supply is interrupted.  At that point we'd be melting snow for drinking water.  Despite what someone else posted, Lake Michigan water from the shore beside Chicago is not potable without significant filtration.  The legacy of heavy industry along the shore and river have left heavy metals and other toxic pollutants in the lake and river bed.  Lake water would have to be sourced pretty far from shore (as the municipal water supply does), and cleaned with something more substantial than a water purification tablet and a Britta filter.  A distillation unit would require more electricity than is likely to be available in that scenario.

[Larry of the Lawn]

5 hours ago, Iskaral Pust said:

I've given that some thought but am limited by my location.  As mentioned, a personal generator, rainwater trap, vegetable garden, etc are all impossible.  We have a gas fire that can heat our small home even if the electricity (for central HVAC in the building) is out for a long time (a big winter storm is the main risk in Chicago), our condo building has back-up generators, we can store emergency rations onsite.  So we can function pretty well until/unless Chicago municipal water supply is interrupted.  At that point we'd be melting snow for drinking water.  Despite what someone else posted, Lake Michigan water from the shore beside Chicago is not potable without significant filtration.  The legacy of heavy industry along the shore and river have left heavy metals and other toxic pollutants in the lake and river bed.  Lake water would have to be sourced pretty far from shore (as the municipal water supply does), and cleaned with something more substantial than a water purification tablet and a Britta filter.  A distillation unit would require more electricity than is likely to be available in that scenario.

That was me on the filtration issue, I was thinking of some of the smaller reverse osmosis systems, not a Brita or a distillation system.  

[maarsen]

41 minutes ago, larrytheimp said:

That was me on the filtration issue, I was thinking of some of the smaller reverse osmosis systems, not a Brita or a distillation system.  

Larry, RO systems are a pain in the ass. You need softened water for them or the membrane clogs up really fast. 90 % of the water pumped in a RO system has to be recycled back through again. A sand filter and solar still would be the best bet. 

[MercenaryChef]

obviously i was kidding with my post about rifles and gallons of water. but I find prepper types deeply fascinating. they are an interesting bunch.

these people are actually hoping for an end of days scenario be it, zombies,  Russians, Chinese, disease or a government run a mock. they function from a place of fear and selfishness that is almost purely an American trait. 

back on subject, we live in a large city close to the downtown core. should we have a short term breakdown we would simply walk the 15 minutes to my hotel and hold up there. we have gas,  generators,  ample food and water and are directly next to a fire station for immediate medical care.