[Dano62]

In the process of trying to learn all I can about preparing for an extended bad situation, I had to ask myself what this situation that I'm preparing for will actually look like so that I will know how to prepare. The subject of firearms is what really got me thinking about it. From what I read on various blogs and forums dealing with the subject, I see some people preparing to hold off a full military assault, while others want to make sure they have enough firepower to ward off looters and such, with the rest somewhere in between. I guess where you live would have a lot to do with the scenario you have in mind and are planning for. Any thoughts?

 

[pepoke]

You should identify the top 3 to 5 potential emergencies for your area. Make a list or plan on what to do for each. In most cases you will identify overlap in prep items, but it is the unique items that you need to make sure you have. As far as threat, make sure you identify the military or government institutions around your area as if there is an attack on U.S. soil this should also be considered as part of your list of potential for emergencies.

 

[Sapper6]

That's an interesting question. I think there are an unlimited number of answers. But here's a generality that I keep in the back of my mind: Our nation consists of mostly people living in urban and suburban areas, areas where it will be nearly impossible to survive without some serious planning ahead of time. As such, I would expect to see millions of people heading away from the cities in the event of a major catastrophe. Remember the hordes of people, refugees really, who ended up in eastern Texas after Katrina? And that was only a localized disaster.

"Civilize the mind and make savage the body."

 

[blue123]

look around at anyone loseing their job and house en-masse....and you'll know thats the TEOTWAWKI scenario to prep for....work,food,place to live....these are the most important preps right now....if you think you may need a firearm buy a .357 revolver and .357 marlin lever combo.... stock 500rds for emergancys and practice with the rest.....

nothing is going to take the place of a job.....securing/holding employment takes precident over anything else,do what you need to do to make that happen and the rest will fall into place.......

if you fail in this respect you will become homeless/hungry and living in what ever vehicle you may own if you own one,the alternative is shopping cart backpacking:xeye:.......dont think it can happen?

i see it all the time...........

 

[MonsterMash]

As an above poster said, make a list of the top 3 natural disaster threats to your area and then plan accordingly. There is no way you can plan for all possible threats, but your preps can overlap somewhat. This is just my opinion, so take it for what its worth. There really are only two things you need to plan for:

Bugging in and bugging out.

Some people have a bunker mentallity and some people have a road warrior mentaillity. Me? I plan on hunkering down and bugging in IF POSSIBLE. But I don't count out having to leave either. The two examples I can think of are forest fires and flooding. You can't hunker down at home during those. My ideal situation would be plan on staying home because I subscribe to the theory of the less attention I call to myself, the better off I will be. Thats where my main preps would be focused. But I would also like to have a good sized 4x4 in case I had to bug out. That way I could pack enough supplies that I could stay on the move, or away from the house longer than the standard 72 hrs.

But thats just me.

 

[adobewalls]

What will TEOTWAWKI/WTSHTF really look like?

Two very different types of events. One is probably temporary (SHTF) and the other (TEOTWAWKI) means you better figure out what to do long term, because this world ain't coming back...

What will they look like? I am sure this has been covered before, but here goes:

SHTF situations are usually sudden, not necessarily without notice, but by the time you find out about it, its too late to do much in preparing. Think hurricane (week's notice); tornado (hours notice, maybe); earthquake (no notice); mortgage and investment crisis (mixed signals). But by the nature of the event the civil society and civil order will come back and be restored, and life will go on after the fact. That takes one set of preparations.

TEOTWAWKI may or may not be sudden (we could be in a slow moving TEOTWAWKI situation right now, but not recognize it); but represents a breakdown from which there may be no recovery, or the recovery will be a long way off where you may have a real risk of not living through to see the recovery. Prepping for that is whole 'nuther thing.

For SHTF, the government itself tells people to be self-sustaining and prepared to go minimum of 3 days to 3 weeks without help. We all become farmers under TEOWAWKI.

 

[kahn]

for SHTF around here it would be...

Earthquake
Tornado
Riots / roving gangs
Nuclear meltdown

4 biggest threats here, I'm prepared to live outside comfortably for an extended period of time if needed due to a natural disaster, I have food and lots of water access, I can hunt, I can also make my property difficult to access and I can defend it w/ more firepower than the average gang would be carrying.

TEOTWAWKI

Since we don't know when how or if it will come, the best thing we can do if be ready for about anything to the best of our ability.

 

[Grinnan Barrett]

No one really knows what or how bad things could get in a major situation. On most boards you will get a variety of answers about what to expect. think of it like this. YOu are without power, water, sewer, grocery stores or closed or out of stock, Gasoline (Fuel) is rationed or non existant. You could be talking two weeks, two months, a year or longer. Anyone in their right mind hopes for the shortest period of disruption.

A very realistic scenario is attack by terrorist. Water supplies, power grids, transprotation systems, Food supplies, Banking networks, and Schools are all targets that can be hit by groups and bring a country to its knees.

If you become faced with an all out assualt on you refuge, you will most likely lose. Having weapons of self defense is a right that we hold dear in this country. You can hold off gangs, looters etc. This is what you really prepare for. If you get a gun for example then learn to use it and be prepared to do so. It is not to scare your enemy.

Best wishes to you. Hope you find good people on this site and make good friends. Larry

 

[Humungus]

obviously there is no way to tell for sure exactly what would happen, but I base my preps of what has happend in previous SHTF situations, like katrina, and incidents in other countries.

In all areas its better to have more preps than you need, if possible. I don't think I would ever get to a level where I though i was totally 'done' with all preparations (unless i won the lottery) so 'where to stop?" is sort of a non-issue for me. I'll stop only when i have to (when the SHTF)

 

[Kregener]

What will TEOTWAWKI/WTSHTF really look like?