[goose3]

For a start, you can take a look at Charles Hugh Smith's excellent article on the Corona Virus: https://www.zerohedge.com/health/some-practical-questions-about-coronavirus-epidemic

He asks a lot of very important questions about not just the virus, but about what happens to people and the economy as we isolate sick people and those who have possibly been exposed.

It's beyond sobering.

The only way to stop these kinds of pandemics is to isolate the sick and the exposed. And we, as preppers, need to be able to avoid people. N95 masks are unavailable. So that means the only reasonable strategy is to isolate ourselves in addition to those sick and exposed.

I haven't checked everywhere but at this writing there still are some N99 masks available on Amazon.

**********

Now is the time to fill any holes in your preps. How many weeks/months of food and such do you need? I have no firm idea, but if this thing takes off, I'm guessing you'll want 2 months at a minimum.

Get at least some preps that don't necessarily need to be cooked or heated, ensure you can have enough water supplies to last a significant time period and ways to make more.

We usually say a minimum amount of preps is 2 weeks, but that's just the incubation period for this virus. Try to aim for more, and while we can have some discussions about how much is enough, my guess is you'll want at least two months to feel comfortable.

And if you can't, get what you can.

Good luck. Goose out.

 

[Preacherboy]

I bought a case of masks, tyvek suits, NBC masks and filters, and chemical suits...plus powdered bleach, and hand held sprayers and gloves.

I did this all years ago when there was an Ebola scare...remember when Obama was flying them back over here?

 

[bunkerbuster]

I feel fortunate that we have a 90 day supply of all we need @ our rural home & 3 year supply at our isolated relatively defensible - sustainable BOL that we designed to withstand total isolation, in case about anything requires it - including a pandemic.

It did however take years to put together.

 

[PalmettoTree]

Now it the time to order Chinese food and ask for a discount.

 

[Chuckleberry]

No you should have your preps ready BEFORE the SHTF, not after or while it's in the process.

 

[Freja]

I think even if you have been doing this for a while and you probably already have everything it’s a good time to drag out the stuff that pertains to whatever is going on an re-inventory. Sometimes there is something better on the market or in my case.... I think my size might have changed... oops! Not just the suits but the mask fit varies with weight gain sooooooooo. Best to double check.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

It's beyond sobering.

The only way to stop these kinds of pandemics is to isolate the sick and the exposed. And we, as preppers, need to be able to avoid people. N95 masks are unavailable. So that means the only reasonable strategy is to isolate ourselves in addition to those sick and exposed.

I haven't checked everywhere but at this writing there still are some N99 masks available on Amazon.

**********

Now is the time to fill any holes in your preps. How many weeks/months of food and such do you need? I have no firm idea, but if this thing takes off, I'm guessing you'll want 2 months at a minimum.

Get at least some preps that don't necessarily need to be cooked or heated, ensure you can have enough water supplies to last a significant time period and ways to make more.

Glad to see you still around goose3. I likely miss much but I don't think I have seen any posts from you for many months.

Not you goose but If most had posted this then I likely would think that the poster is panicking.

People Should get real concerned and hopefully most, at least on this Survivalistboards, are fairly well prepared for whatever will happen.

I have been trying to get more prepared than ever for the past year or two especially. Not sure about others but for myself and a very few I know in real life water is no concern. On my very remote mtn retreat I have two springs, at least two years of all kinds of stored food and much more.

I am even going up there in a very few days to check it out and even shovel snow off of my camper trailer etc.

The main "hole" in my preps is that I have no N95 or N99 masks. I have a few other masks even a gas mask but I doubt I will need a mask since even the real small city here in Wyoming is likely to be one of the very last places in the USA to be affected by hopefully any deadly virus etc. And my very remote mtn retreat with over 6 feet of snowpack right now where I will be using a snowmobile to get to in a few days, but it is extremely unlikely to even have anyone else up there until June or later.

About avoiding people is that is what I have done most of my life, even my being called a hermit by many on and off the net. Although I likely would welcome a Few who would make it up IF they don't have a place to escape to in case this becomes a real bad pandemic even Maybe a worldwide plague. Just send me a message or email real soon if interested in contacting me.

 

[goose3]

No you should have your preps ready BEFORE the SHTF, not after or while it's in the process.

Oh, certainly--but when you started, did you have everything you needed at the outset?

No, I'm sure you didn't. Neither did I. My post was for those who are early in their prepping, who should look closely at what's happening, and maybe find the resources to accelerate their preps.

I have, I think, six boxes of N95 masks that I bought a couple/three years ago. So I'm in fairly good shape there. But I bought a couple more N99 masks and some goggles for eye covering.

You can always do more, but before you do that, you should do the minimum.

************

There have been threads from time to time about how to tell when the SHTF. Very difficult to tell. Very difficult. When things erode slowly, hard to know where the threshold is.

In this case, with the Corona Virus, I think we may be getting some early warning. I hope we don't have what I fear is happening, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to be as ready as I can in case we get a pandemic.

 

[Freja]

I had ordered Children's N-95 masks a few days ago. Now they are saying 3-5 weeks delivery and most of the adult sizes are unavailable. We aren’t the only ones who are thinking things might go bad.

 

[goose3]

Glad to see you still around goose3. I likely miss much but I don't think I have seen any posts from you for many months.

Not you goose but If most had posted this then I likely would think that the poster is panicking.

People Should get real concerned and hopefully most, at least on this Survivalistboards, are fairly well prepared for whatever will happen.

I have been trying to get more prepared than ever for the past year or two especially. Not sure about others but for myself and a very few I know in real life water is no concern. On my very remote mtn retreat I have two springs, at least two years of all kinds of stored food and much more.

I am even going up there in a very few days to check it out and even shovel snow off of my camper trailer etc.

The main "hole" in my preps is that I have no N95 or N99 masks. I have a few other masks even a gas mask but I doubt I will need a mask since even the real small city here in Wyoming is likely to be one of the very last places in the USA to be affected by hopefully any virus etc. And my very remote mtn retreat with over 6 feet of snowpack right now where I will be using a snowmobile to get to in a few days, but it is extremely unlikely to even have anyone else up there until June or later.

About avoiding people is that is what I have done most of my life, even my being called a hermit by many on and off the net. Although I likely would welcome a Few who would make it up IF they don't have a place to escape to in case this becomes a real bad pandemic even Maybe a worldwide plague. Just send me a message or email real soon if interested in contacting me.

I think yours is the best answer of all, if people can make it happen. Staying away from other humans, in isolation, is the best solution, IMO.

Wish I had such a place. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), I have family very nearby, and can't abandon them. Oddly, my 90-year-old mother in law gets the prepping thing. But my sister in law, sadly, does not.

So I'm prepping for more than just us.

I'm mostly concerned what happens when people can't or won't get to their jobs, when they run out of money, when the stores empty and there are sporadic deliveries. I'm OK, but so many others are not.

 

[goose3]

I had ordered Children's N-95 masks a few days ago. Now they are saying 3-5 weeks delivery and most of the adult sizes are unavailable. We aren’t the only ones who are thinking things might go bad.

I read someplace that many Chinese who live in the US are buying up the N95 masks and shipping them back home since they're unavailable there.

Can't blame them--if the roles were reversed, I'd do that.

But we do have some opportunity here to be ready.

I wish I knew of a hack that would let someone create a makeshift N95 mask. Not sure how that would work. Thinking coffee filters sandwiched between wool sheets or something like that, with additional layers.

But my knowledge of this is limited. I know someone in the microbiology field I might ask to see if there's a hack.

 

[Mtnman Mike]

My solution is what I have been working on since July 1987 when I first bought my land. I have always tried to prepare for nuclear war and thought if prepared for that then likely I am prepared for about anything. I Hope I am prepared well enough even for a world wide plague, pandemic etc. I hope many others also are. My solution by isolating myself and hopefully anyone who will join me is not for everyone but I still will welcome others.

I have much more than I have ever told about and this next summer IF I have one, two or a dozen or more people to help then will be better prepared than ever. I also have permission to use at least three neighbors cabins, those cabins are owned by people around 75 to almost 90 years old, all who I have worked for doing odd jobs such as getting them firewood. Just sayin' a bit of what I can do IF necessary and more later as things develop...

 

[Mtnman Mike]

Don't know where else to post this but hope it is ok in this thread.
I am thinking to possibly find and buy or download this relevant book and reading it in any spare time I likely will have over the next year or more on my remote mountain:

The Decameron

by Giovanni Boccaccio, G.H. McWilliam (Editor/Translator/Introduction)

Rating details · 30,430 ratings · 1,016 reviews

"The Decameron (c.1351) is an entertaining series of one hundred stories written in the wake of the Black Death. The stories are told in a country villa outside the city of Florence by ten young noble men and women who are seeking to escape the ravages of the plague. Boccaccio's skill as a dramatist is masterfully displayed in these vivid portraits of people from all stations in life, with plots that revel in a bewildering variety of human reactions."

A very interesting quote that might be relevant for today:

"Probably the greatest natural disaster to ever curse humanity, the Black Death's lethality is legendary, killing between a quarter to over half of any given stricken area's population.

Though historians suspect a first wave of bubonic plague struck the Mediterranean area between 571 - 760 C.E., there is no doubt that the plague was carried west by the Mongol Golden Horde in the late 1340s as they raided as far west as Constantinople, where it is believed that Genoese traders became infected, and then carried, the disease into European and northern African ports after their escape.

Within about two years practically the entire European continent and much of North Africa had been burned over by this disaster of apocalyptic proportions." quoted from a book titled: The Black Death

 

[Lt. Drake]

I don't personally think this is the next black death or some extinction event, but I've been following the news, and the way the outbreak is being handled is suspicious to say the least.

If it does get bad, not just this, we only have the time to get what we can before it hits our AOs, and that may not be long. Not just this germ either. What if an earthquake hits? What if there's a war? A terrorist attack near you? Zombies? So, what do we have now(?) is the question. If there are people (Not counting newbies) here who are worried they can't survive for a month or two, they aren't prepared enough.

Treat this as a wakeup call if you're one of these preppers. Start now. Go start buying more food, more water, more ammo, and start stacking it as deep as your larders and wallet will allow. Don't wait until the devil's at the door. Today it's the threat of a pandemic. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

 

[Preacherboy]

My parents are selling their house and I had a few van loads of supplies over there. I guess it is good timing that I have to move them to my house.

I'll inventory them and see if there are any holes. I think that is something huge for most preppers. They don't know what they have, forget what they have, or what they have gets ruined.

Already found a case of ruined canned Bega cheese. Moisture got to it and several of the cans rusted through. Good thing that didn't happen with my n95 masks.

 

[Preacherboy]

FYI, in case of a total breakdown of society...funeral houses all have a supply of the proper cleaning products, masks, suits, and lots and lots of gloves. However, if there is a huge amount of death they may go through their stocks quickly.

 

[GrizzlyetteAdams]

I read someplace that many Chinese who live in the US are buying up the N95 masks and shipping them back home since they're unavailable there.

Can't blame them--if the roles were reversed, I'd do that.

But we do have some opportunity here to be ready.

I wish I knew of a hack that would let someone create a makeshift N95 mask. Not sure how that would work. Thinking coffee filters sandwiched between wool sheets or something like that, with additional layers.

But my knowledge of this is limited. I know someone in the microbiology field I might ask to see if there's a hack.

See post #18 https://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=935500

 

[Moccasin]

The 1918 Flu pandemic lasted for years because the virus kept mutating. There were at least three distinct waves, the new one coming a few months after the previous one had died down, and each wave consisting of new strains different enough that having survived the flu in an earlier wave gave you no immunity to the strains in the next wave. I doubt this will do the same; but it would be good to keep an eye on the possibility.

 

[browningv308]

What is an alternative for a N95 mask?

 

[Nomad 2nd]

What is an alternative for a N95 mask?

N100 and P100

Both are better.