Let's talk about survival...REAL survival, no zombies...well, maybe some zombies

originally posted by: Blue Shift
The notion that all social systems in place would collapse and disintegrate overnight in the face of a major catastrophe is more like a doom porn fantasy than what would happen in reality.

Did anybody say "over-night?"

It doesn't have to be immediate to be a total train wreck. The Soviet Union's collapse came on slow from about 1985 onward through 91, and then again into about 1993. I have a friend who survived it. Family had a huge garden; they let the neighbors help so they would quit stealing so much of it. Her dad sold illegal car parts spread out on a blanket in front of their house, and picked up spent cigarettes to re-roll and sell. She said the only reason so few people starved was because every SU citizen had a garden going into the collapse. She fears that Americans will starve because they don't garden.

Check out the Influenza epidemic of 1918. It killed 600,000; more than all US deaths in 20th century wars combined. If you walk through any cemetery that was open a hundred years ago, you'll find a "children's corner," mostly filled with all the children who died in 1918.

It doesn't have to be an overnight disaster to be worth planning for. As I've pointed out elsewhere, the question is whether it is YOUR personal crisis. A housefire can be the end of YOUR world, if you haven't prepared. Or getting laid off when your spouse is gravely ill.

The only way that would happen would be a massive global event that pretty much kills everybody, and in that case all your little firestarting tricks and hammock camping skills aren't going to be worth jack diddly.

"Firestarting tricks and hammock camping skills" are worth it right now. If you ever step outsider vacation. I heat my house with a Franklin stove. With it's catalytic converter in place it actually causes less pollution than any other form of home heating. And it didn't come with a starter switch...

so blow it off, grasshopper. Be sure to drop by every so often and mock all the "rainy day" types.

"One of these days its going to really rain. And wash all the dust off the streets."

originally posted by: Graysen
"One of these days its going to really rain. And wash all the dust off the streets."

Sure.

The wife and I are camping right now, it's 24 with a windchill of 11. We're in a small motorhome but have just came in. Luxury, we have electricity and propane and are in the woods. We would really cut back on the propane if needed but have 3 batteries and 299 watts of solar on the roof. Could we survive the winter like this? It would take some work but possible. Crappy location though only 5 miles off the 80-90 east west toll road between Chicago and TOLEDO.

Lots of things to think about.

originally posted by: Blue Shift
The notion that all social systems in place would collapse and disintegrate overnight in the face of a major catastrophe is more like a doom porn fantasy than what would happen in reality. The only way that would happen would be a massive global event that pretty much kills everybody, and in that case all your little firestarting tricks and hammock camping skills aren't going to be worth jack diddly.

Well, clearly you haven't read my posts (among many others) in this thread because I've said exactly that very clearly all along; it absolutely won't happen overnight. In fact, that's kind of one of the underpinning themes here, that there will be a great deal of uncertainty initially and assessing the real situation will be very difficult.

So, if your point was to just show up and be critical, that's fine, but at least read the thread and all the member's posts herein and make your criticism substantive and relevant to the thread. Otherwise, why bother responding at all, if not to just be generally negative?

BTW...this thread isn't about bushcrafting (i.e. 'fire starting tricks and hammock camping skills'). That may be some people's solution, and it's as right as any other, but that's not the theme of the thread.

You can do better than that.

I monitor food supplies and medical supplies...five years ago strange things began happening like rail cars and tanker trucks full of specific foodstuffs being hijacked....certain foods are being heavily subsidised and some are virtually free....an illusion of marketplace stability is completely in place and it is enabled by the daily shipping methods used...warehouses were strategically removed so as to force more money out of the consumer during the transportation processes and to provide a noose around the Peoples necks...the false Opiate Crisis and the purposeful reduction GLOBALLY in the prescribing and conventional consumption of global supplies....so where has all of the opiate based medicine been going then....same place as the massive volumes of other medicines they claim are in short supply to validate their inability to fill prescriptions of specific drugs that are vital ones...due to the massive volumes being stored away lately by TPTB.....they did not stop or reduce production of any of these drugs....they are now actively hoarding...redirecting and hoarding...the time is close...they know shelf-life limits of food and ammo and critical supplies ...and this is the thin line I have been watching for decades....when they begin to make their last minute Preps they MUST BREAK PROTOCALS and this is where you will catch them .I have been watching gun manufacturers be bought out over many decades one by one by one and I have seen intentionally reduced reliability and parts bottlenecks put in place....I have seen weird ammo shortages and strange explanations about it...odd purchases by Governments....strange movements by Elites into odd places that all seem to be high altitude low population density spots.....I can make my own aspirin and anti-biotics...I know how to use liposomal carriers to carpet-bomb the body with critical curative vitamins and I have stores of seeds of wild plants they come from even tree seeds...I have discovered what cancer really is from old 1930s online data and I have learned about the Great Grain LIE...the gluten poisoning of billions...a grain is a particulate size and shape....GRAINS are really GRASS SEED....they PAWN THEM OFF ON US AS GRAINS...its word-majic....deadly majic....cows eat grass...people get sick an die if they eat grass...people only eat grass to clean out their pipes...a Gorilla is massive and muscular and eats mostly plants...NOT GRASS......it would DIE if it only ate grass....cows have multiple compartments in their stomachs... they ferment their food and then they absorb the nutrition laden BACTERIA ..we cannot do this...neither can Gorrilas….the cholesterol lie...we NEED fats to protect our brain from early onset alzheimers and dementia …. the chlorine lie where the chemical byproducts when broken down inside the body set the stage for parasitic blooms and the incumbent damages both short and long term.

It is long past time to have ones Family prepared and AS FAR AWAY FROM THE MASSES AS POSSIBLE and living as INDEPENDANTLY AS POSSIBLE keeping touch with local like minded people...preperation is about knowledge...or the bringing together of people to crowd-solve problems...what do you see and he and she and me...what do we all see and how does the combined big picture really filter out when we work together.

I envy people who are already away from the masses and living prepped lives...I have a big Family buried in Urban life and have had to work around this...I am preparing to deal with most of them when the shock-value is unfortunately the highest which changes how everyone is handled.... this thread has been awsome for me because it is helping me see how so very different everyones focus and mindset will be in the same moments....I have to anticipate what the first things my Family will be doing will be so I can herd them up effectively....they all have instructions on where and how to muster-up hidden in small Birthday Bug-Out bags everyone already has...but if they dont open the bag they wont find the instructions...so I still have to be constanty keeping tabs on everyone in a generic way....and it always guesswork but now it will be easier....thanks again OP for a great thread.