So when I consider the possibilities of dealing with a sudden shift, I have thought that the biggest problems to deal with would be possibly:

1. Heavy radiation- excessive heat
   
2. Massive flooding
   
3. Massive earthquakes
   
4. Loss of food/potable water supply
   
5. Loss of energy- total wipe out of centralized power grid
   
6. Loss of communications
   
7. Destruction of major roadways and transportation
   
8. Loss of organization
   

With these in mind the basic first steps are to be able to provide for yourself, without relying on any FEMA type organization. The first thing I would do is have some basics for emergency. I personally have a backpack that my brother actually got me started on, called his "go-bag". It's just a backpack with some of these items (you can pick and choose):

1. A lightweight portable camp stove- preferably denatured alcohol, refillable canister
   
2. 1 man tent- tell your girlfriend/boyfriend "Sorry honey...you shoulda believed me.."
   
3. A portable water filter- REI has some good ones and one that uses UV light to kill the viruses, bacteria, etc.! There are also easy ways to clean water without these but...they are nice to have!
   
4. A lightweight sleeping bag- I said LIGHT, you have to carry it for who knows how long
   
5. A lightweight sleeping pad - I have a SUPER THIN inflatable from REI which totally rules! it insulates you from the ground in cold and hot and is way more comfortable than the foam and much lighter. You do get headrushes from inflating though.
   
6. A Leatherman type tool or Swiss army knife
   
7. Camping eating utensils- I have titanium bowl and spork, pretty cheap too.
   
8. A lighter/matches/magnifying glass- for fire
   
9. Food rations
   
10. A basic set of seeds to grow your own food
    
11. A survival guide
    
12. Local maps with water supplies like rivers, streams, hot springs, etc.
    
13. Map of local caves, etc.
    
14. First aid kit
    
15. LED flashlight- with rechargeable batteries
    
16. Windup shortwave radio- possibly with LED light, phone charger, I like to consolidate tasks when possible/sensible etc.
    
17. Space Blanket- mylar type emergency blanket will keep you alive
    
18. Camelback type water pouch- these are paramount.
    
19. 2 way radios with rechargeable batteries
    
20. Solar charger for battery powered equipment
    
21. Snowboard goggles with high reflective mirror lense (to look like Skywalker)
    
22. Full coverage, lightweight, cool clothing for radiation protection with minimal sweat
    
23. Heavy SPF sunscreen
    
24. Tough form fitting gloves- Newer type electricians gloves or bike gloves- for diggin through wreckage etc.
    
25. Hunters knife
    
26. Comfortable outdoor/running shoe- boots can suck if worn all day (I just climbed Ometepe volcano in VANS )
    
27. A flask filled with Basil Hadyn small batch bourbon- Mmmmmm!
    
28. Salt/pepper/spices in small container- remember wars were fought for this stuff for a reason
    
29. iPod loaded with music, videos etc
    
30. *I have a USB flashdrive loaded with PDFs and text docs of all kinds of texts from esoteric/ancient writing to fun reading- hey you never know, right!?
    

Now "outside" the go-bag, I have an old but fully functional mountain bike. A small raft or life vest would be nice. Motorcycle would be useful for a little while, but then...?
I think the next thing to consider would be where the hell you are going to go? The world will probably look completely different. Land where water use to be, water where land used to be... so "when the planets align, all you can do is dive" might be the only "choice" we have. I think that the best things to to consider will be: preparedness, mobility, self sufficiency, caves, mountains, networking with survivors, and knowledge etc. The caves seem to be the most talked about refuge from the sun- contemporary and ancient. Of course this is is assuming one isn't instantly destroyed...
I haven't decided if I am flying somewhere or sticking to the states, but my current home, SF is out of the question. I will be on vac. since my birthday is 12-20:dn

certain models suggest that each time it flips the earths protective shell fluxes and distorts and for a while all the harmful radiation isn't deflected to the poles but is able to strike the earth head on - lol thats not good news if you happen to be outside (out of your ridiculously deep nuke bunker)

Also the flux would grab hold of all the particles it can (anything effected by magnetic fields) and jerk them in the direction of the field - this wouldn't be all that great for anyone on a boat as it would cause the sea to become rather choppy (lol understatement of the year) and not that great if your in the sky because the immense wind storms and turbulence might make it a little shaky (and rip the wings off)

So far our man in his underground mine is doing ok but if he happens to be in the wrong place (which could be anywhere / everywhere) then might have to deal with some earth quakes. The magnetic field of the earth would only take a geological instant (although this might be up to a few years) to reset itself and once again protect the earth from the suns rays so he'll be able to go up onto the surface -which unfortunately might now only contain fish (deep water) and lovely snacks like cockroaches. What could live under the suns full glare can only really be guessed at but there are plenty of things that could and would survive (probably not humans although maybe someone with very high melanin levels would)

The major concern is the radiation but depending on the speed and action of the magnetic flux we might not get irradiated much, even at all. Possibly some form of electromagnetic field device or mesh cage could work hmmmm.

Oh and just a little beside the point aside -i reckon in all crazyness that 2012 is far more likely to coincide with the time planetX's orbit around the sun and our orbit cross, lucky that planetX already hit us in 10500bc

energ8t i agree with most of what you said, dunno about the one man tent -sounds kinda lonely. Hold with the fork and cut with the knife!!! I know the world has all but ended but I'm an Englishman and without table manors well the world may as well of been completely destroyed! lol and don't you cut the sides of mouth with the knife bit while your using the fork bit?

Defo on the motorbike, get something that won't drink the juice (like my rv125 -100mpg ish) and you'll be able to find cars with full tanks. When you can't anymore then hopefully you'll have gathered enough stuff to make your own fuel, my bike will burn anything with a octain level above a certain point, which is on my list of things to look into but it probably means i could use alcohol or some other easily made biofuel (lol you might need a repair shop on hand to degunk the engine every few thousand miles though)

suppose when the shift happens, Great Britian suddenly becomes the new north pole, and all corresponding points on the globe shift in accordance.

The USA suddenly becomes a tropical climate, and so forth.

people will survive, but what would it take to be one of the few, or would you even want to be?

[edit on 10-10-2007 by RickinVa]

So where were we ? Survival scenarios... How about hitch hiking ?
and while we are waiting how about builing ocean based survival pods ?
probably the safest place to be in case it gets rough..

I believe there is an astronomical prophecy to determine post shift climates and terain to a limited degree. And this is strictly from memory so don't shoot me on this one as the messenger. I don't have a globe or star chart handy but the north star (polaris) is to be replaced by a new north star. If some one can dig this up and supply a new approximate location of the current north pole that would be great. There was also something about the shift and speed there but its gone from memory now.

I remembered the prediction and it is that Polaris will be replaced with Arcturus as the new north star. With a globe and star chart you can tip it and see what will become pole and what will become warm.

and this is why i moved to the moon... john lear bought the place right next to mine... pretty soon now something big is going to fly by mother earth and yank her by the hair... woosh... here's a clue when...

"Century 4 verse 67
In the year that Saturn and Mars are equally fiery
The air is very dry, a long meteor.
From hidden fires a great place burns with heat
Little rain, a hot wind, wars and raids. "

and let me also suggest this has been known since the beginning... passed down in the kings lists... shown enoch... lots of tips... just a kept secret from the hu-mans

I am guessing that none of us will really know what will happen until it does happen. Figuring none of us were alive the last time this happened, now we dont know what to do. Or even what will happen. But I like the part of maybe it just changes areas without moving all the plates. That way it wont be as bad as total destruction of the earth.

My mom had an old saying always be prepared for the worst, if it doesnt happen then no worries but if it does happen you were ready. So I am now starting my preps. for my family of 5 just in case. Of course there is more to 2012 then what is here.

We moved here to NC 2 years ago, before that we lived in Maine for 3 years. There we lived with no electric, phone, or running water. So we know how to survive. Its not that, that bothers me. Its all the crazy folks out there that may want our food or shelter and may try to kill us for it. That is the scary part of it all. Of course I will miss my dish washer.

Hilda

Thanks eben but your website isnt what most of us would call real evidence. In fact I guess what you are saying is sit back and nothing will happen, and if it does happen your in deep poo.

Hilda

I am thinking Arc, with family, animals and seeds on board. This may be the alternative to a sea going pod, and better than a bunker in the mountains. It should be built to the previous specifications which, I believe, should withstand the turbulent ocean when the poles switch. Now the bible says that God told Noah that he would not destroy the world with another flood, but he didn't say he would never tell another generational Noah not to build an Arc. I'm going to look into where the global warming rise in water level is supposed to reach here in NYS(somewhere above the White Plains area) where I live and see if I can convince my extended family to help me build an Arc sitting just at the point where those waters will reach in 4 years. What do you all think?

That might be good if you have the trees or the money to buy the lumber to do it. Believe me around here the lumber is way to high to even try that.

Hilda

A pole shift is NOT a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles. THis reversal is called a geomagnetic reversal. A pole shift is when the crust moves so that the axis the earth spins on is at a different location.