[AK15-T]

Admittedly, for most of us, our preps are probably not up to handling the level of disaster that many imagine is coming. So, doing an honest assessment of yourself, what would you be able to cope with? Hoards of looters? No infrastructure to speak of? Little to no value to money? Food/ammo/fuel/other commodities very scarce? I have a feeling that few of the people here could actually deal with that kind of situation for any lengthy period. I know I sure couldn't. Doing an honest assesment of myself, my income, and my preparations, this is what I came up with:

Me: 28 y/o male, flight instructor/NG black hawk crew chief/wilderness guide.
Income: 25-30K annually.
Location: midtown in a city of about 300k, decent neighborhood, but plenty of riffraff not too far away. My roomate and I live in a basement apartment, we have an air force married couple roughly same age living above us. Large yard, fenced on 3 sides. Roomate is an avid gardner, I am occasional hunter/fisherman. We have plans next summer to raise bees, chickens, and increase garden size. Thankfully, our apartment, and upstairs apartment have wood fireplaces, and we have a generous supply of wood through some former contacts.
Food/Water: only enough for maybe 6 weeks, covering just us, and upstairs neighbors, not counting food in pantry, garden, etc.
Weapons: 2 rifles, 2 pistols, 1 shotgun, and .22 rifle. couple hundred rounds for each. .177 pellet gun, slingshot, axes, knives etc.
Misc: Candles, 2 oil lanterns, a few backpacking stoves, a couple gallons of fuel, a couple of wind up radio/flashlights, one solar cell charger, misc tools, 2 dogs, fishing rods etc.

Conclusion: If dealing with anything other than a short term natural disaster, or anyone more than a few disorganized looters, we'd be f'd! I'd like to assemble enough food, etc to be able survive at least 3 mos, but I really think that learning a self reliant lifestyle etc is even more valuable.

My question is this: How many of you could really survive long term (1 year or more) with no outside help (grocery stores, FEMA, etc.)? I'll be interested to hear the answers.

 

[Pangea]

I'm good for a solid year for four people. Maybe six people if we tighten our belts. I have water available and filtration. Wood heat/cook stove. Large garden and lots of feed corn growing (60 110' rows) for chickens. Hand tools, firearms, ammo, toiletries, clothing. I live semi rural and don't worry about looters much.

Nuclear radiation is my short coming. Nothing much I can do about that and I'm not sure that I would want to make it through a severe nuclear event anyway.

 

[patriot101]

We have enough food and water, but no wood burning stove yet. We're armed and dangerous to anyone who comes thinking they'll steal from us. We'd be pretty cold in the winter but if we could survive the elements, we might stand a chance depending on the amount of looters and raiders. Hoping it doesnt come to that.

 

[rokitoes]

Not even! I have the bushcraft skills to live alone, but that wouldn't work for my wife and infant. Probably have enough food for two months. Need more water filtration methods thigh.

 

[klickitat]

The family is good for at least a year if I do not supplement by gathering, trapping and hunting. If I supplement we could stretch that for 3-4 years. If we move back out to the ranch, add a garden and small animals, we could last indefinitely.

 

[paramilusmc]

Most everything but a chemical attach, mostly cause i wont know its there until people start falling out.

 

[Old Warrior]

Almost any scenario, but I won't know for sure until it happens.
I have at least a year supply of food, wood stoves + a wood cookstove, sun oven, propane oven, 200 gallons of gasoline, 1200 lbs of propane, 1800 lbs of charcoal, 8 cord of wood, a solar & wind electrical backup setup, two generators, a well, silver, gold, night vision optics, and plenty of ammunition.

 

[Herd Sniper]

I survived 19 months in Viet Nam, the last 7 months I was a sniper for an airborne unit. I think my survival skills are still right up there. I may be slower but I'm still game.

 

[AK15-T]

Almost any scenario, but I won't know for sure until it happens.
I have at least a year supply of food, wood stoves + a wood cookstove, sun oven, propane oven, 200 gallons of gasoline, 1200 lbs of propane, 1800 lbs of charcoal, 8 cord of wood, a solar & wind electrical backup setup, two generators, a well, silver, gold, night vision optics, and plenty of ammunition.

You sir, have your sh*t together!

 

[Crutch]

I've written this 4 times and deleted each one.

I can't say how prepared we are. But WE are ready. Through diversity of skills, abilities, and resources, WE are ready.

Save conditions which are unable to sustain life, I don't see any crash of dollars or disappearance of walmart to be a problem.

 

[goose3]

I've planned for a year, but it probably depends in part on when that year starts. I live in the north so heat in the winter is the biggest issue. I have some plans for that, but much depends on circumstances.

For instance, if the year started in March, I'd be far better off than if it started in November. I have three sources of heirloom seeds, and a March start would give me time to do some gardening. I have lots of canning gear, so something to fill it with would be good.

A March start on the year would also let me prepare for the cold season more easily. I would do some things differently with six months warning.

 

[MikeK]

I have food and water stored for a couple years. Where my main weakness is at the moment is long term self sufficiency. I lost my home last year and it was on a small piece of farm land. This house is in the city and doesn't have enough land to grow much of anything and I can't have my animals here. But, it's just temporary. Hopefully I can get out of the city in time.

Storing food and water for long term, really isn't that hard to do. But it's still no way to support yourself in the future. When it runs out, it runs out. If you don't have an alternate way to feed yourself then, it was pretty much all for nothing.

When you start to work on your food and water storage...water first! Water always first! For some reason, people tend to put water off until last, and don't really put much effort into it in the first place. Yet water is the most important prep there is. Far more so than food. You can go a month or more without food. But only a couple days without water. And you'll need more of it than you think you do.

 

[goose3]

I have food and water stored for a couple years. Where my main weakness is at the moment is long term self sufficiency. I lost my home last year and it was on a small piece of farm land. This house is in the city and doesn't have enough land to grow much of anything and I can't have my animals here. But, it's just temporary. Hopefully I can get out of the city in time.

Storing food and water for long term, really isn't that hard to do. But it's still no way to support yourself in the future. When it runs out, it runs out. If you don't have an alternate way to feed yourself then, it was pretty much all for nothing.

When you start to work on your food and water storage...water first! Water always first! For some reason, people tend to put water off until last, and don't really put much effort into it in the first place. Yet water is the most important prep there is. Far more so than food. You can go a month or more without food. But only a couple days without water. And you'll need more of it than you think you do.

I'd thank you twice for this post, as it's hugely important. But, alas, one "thanks" is all I'm allowed to give.

 

[Cuppycake]

It depends on the type of disaster we would have to face. that's the problem. seems lots of people stock up against a specific threat, or a couple. They spend tons of cash and time on their NBC equipment, or silver and gold, or preparing for an EMP attack. While all of those things could prove to be lifesavers, they could also prove to be completely useless.

I'm not going to try to guess how long we would be "ok", because it's so up in the air. We could have every single prep under the sun and die in a car crash or wildfire or riot on the very first night.

The sad truth is, that as much as we plan, and store, and prep, we are still woefully unprepared. I have a feeling I'll never be where I want to be, because everytime I do something I think of 20 other things I should do as well. it's a neverending cycle.

Such is the way of prepping I suppose. You do the best you can and hope it's enough. And you hope to have a whole lot of luck on your side.

 

[arleigh]

I have enough food for a year ,I think .
Building a green house and hope to have the solar still in operation to decontaminate outside water . The water tanks in place are cycled through to keep fresh but 160 gallons won't last long . The tub in the green house holds about 200 gal,and a watering trough about 300,and just dug a small resivour to catch rain as well should hold when I am done, about a thousand gallons. One other old 200gallon air tank I plan to use for fire protection water. Air tanks often have oil residue in them, making them unsuitable for drinking water.
Things are going slow because I live and work alone on the project .
I find my self trying to do too many things at the same time ,having so much to learn and feeling the urgency of the matter more every day.
Living alone ,if I were under attack, probibly would not survive , simply because all windows and doors cannot be covered at the same time.
Cameras help and so do motion detectors ,but not indefinately, and work still has to continue out side .
The problem with a remote area is that it soon becomes popular ,and that is what has happened here.
With so many thinking they will simply camp when things go bad , it will be a fantasy burned to the ground.
The best option in my opinion is having a closed group, farming and securing a piece of land together .
The size of the group would depend on the farming capabilities of the land and the people working it, and their equipment.

 

[determu]

Id say at the moment 50/50

I don't have my bob/ inch completed yet but the skills ive learned plus my temporary setup.

Fire, earthquake, riot all seem survivable

anything more and you might see one more mexican with a machete on cnn running thorough the streets in a horde of people hunting for food or people..... or hunting people for food!

 

[I be he]

I cant handle sh*t, thats why i prep in the first place.

 

[KittyCat109]

I think I could handle anything except total worldwide nuclear destruction, a return to the Ice Age for whatever reason, or total depletion of our water aquafiers due to prolonged worldwide droughts. I have been prepping for many years, have a self-sustaining farm and various other equipment which might be needed. Having said that, there is always the possibility I have overlooked some small detail which could prove to be important in the future, so, I can't really say that I am 100% prepared for anything.

 

[BadgeBunny]

I cant handle sh*t, thats why i prep in the first place.

That was my first thought too! Although now that I stop for a second and consider it I think it's less we can't handle sh*t and more we just don't want to. :

 

[Misanthropy]

At the moment I could probably last a year through everything but nuke/chemical SHTF. Im armed, well stocked, and fairly confident that I would be able to handle anything that comes my way. I finally working towards getting a seed bank ready for longer than a year EOTWAWKI events. I want to learn about doing my own food storage and gathering wild edibles.