If you were in this scenario, what would you do???

reply to post by r2d246


Well, first of all I don't think all of the listed events would happen on the same day, and how would anyone know for sure these were permanent changes until some time has passed?

But assuming I "knew" these events were inevitable from the first moment my plan is...

First Day: pack and bug out.
First Week: hunker down in bug out location.
First Month: still be hunkered down pretty much.
First Year: be living life in the world that emerges.

If everything did not go as planned, I would most likely be dead.

Also I'd like to add that unlike a lot of posters here I would not welcome this change. I rather enjoy modern civilization and the struggle to survive anything like this scenario would be hell on earth for a few generations.

Originally posted by Druscilla

Sailboats don't need electricity, or petrol to go anywhere on the planet.

GTA some sailboat out of a marina. Get gone to someplace nice with fairly reasonable people.
Repeat for zombies, nuclear attack, aliens, etc.

I think thats a good idea but you really have to be a professional sailor, one mistake out there and you'd be dead. It would be safer to stay on shore unless you know exactly what your doing or know someone who does. ;-p

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
Another thing that just dawned on me……
They said engines didn’t work. That would imply that diesel engines would not work. For a diesel engine to not work, something would have to happen that would make it impossible for fuel to bun.

I don't know what your knowledge base is on diesel engines but you are wrong in thinking that diesel engines would still run after an EMP or extreme solar flare. While there is some truth to the thoughts that diesel engines will still be operational after an EMP or solar flare it depends on what type of diesel engine it is.

The reason that diesel engines are thought to not be susceptible to EMP's is because your old mechanical diesels that relied on nothing more than compression thermal dynamics for their ignition source would still run after an EMP but that still only if the starter and battery was protected by a Faraday cage because am EMP would still damage the windings and magnets in the starter.

A mechanical diesel does not rely on any electronics for its ignition or governor controls. Examples of some mechanical diesels are the old 2 stroke Detroit 53, 71, 92, and 149 series diesels, Cummins Big Cam, and Small Cam, and early B and C series engines, Cat 3208, 3211, and 973 engines, the old air cooled Hatz and Deutz diesels and various others.

All of your new diesels such as Dietroit 60 and 50 series, Cummins M11, N14 and ISO, Cat 3406E, C12 & C13, Duranax, Powerstroke, and Cummins 5.9 and any other diesel designed after 1991 are all computer controlled and would not run after an EMP. Also most of your diesels made prior to 1991 would not run since they use electrical solenoids for fuel shut off and control unless its a stripped down industrial engine with a cable fuel shut down.

I am a welder and heavy equipment/diesel mechanic and have been for many years now and am very knowledgeable on the repair and operations of diesel engines. For my own BoV I've built a Jeep Scrambler powered by a 4-53 Dietroit diesel equipped with an air starter and cable operated fuel shut off. The engine is equipped with an air compressor and I have a couple of air tanks mounted on the frame rails. When I run my Jeep air is pumped to and stored in the air tanks, when I'm done driving I close the safety valves at the tanks to prevent any chance of air loss while its sitting and when I'm ready to drive I open the valves and press my start Hutton and air is delivered to the air starter and the engine starts. I built this because it will run regardless of EMP's or solar flares. This type of setup with a complete mechanical diesel and non electric starter are the only diesels that would still run. Even a mechanical diesel that has glow plugs would not run after an EMP/solar flare.

Just to get into the picture...

I would probably lock all doors and windows and sit tight with my family for a day or two, waiting for the things to settle down. There is always enough food and water for a few days in my house. In a scenario like you describe most people will either run away or try to kill each other, so after two-three days there would be much less people around. Then go out, carefully, trying to asses the situation, even to bring some food, to see who's the enemy and who's the help....and improvise from there. Finding a place with running water, forest if possible, making a shelter...don't know much, there are too many unknown factors.

But, you know, things rarely work they way we plan them.
What if there will be fire or explosions from nearby buildings? Natural catastrophes? What if my family members are out at daily routines? What if I'm away from home? And so on...you cannot plan things like these and expect to work as clockwork.

I'd first make sure my life stock wouldn't get out of their electric fence then I'd work on getting the hand pump for our well working, again. I would rely on eating the deer and wild turkey on my property and cook it on our wood burning stove. As for the looters, I'm lucky to be in the country where that might not get to us for a while. If not me and my sisters are pretty good shots. Let them come.

would be just another day out here ... carry on as usual ...

Originally posted by Nucleardiver
I don't know what your knowledge base is on diesel engines but you are wrong in thinking that diesel engines would still run after an EMP or extreme solar flare. While there is some truth to the thoughts that diesel engines will still be operational after an EMP or solar flare it depends on what type of diesel engine it is...........................................................

The movie implies that even straight hand crank mechanical diesels will not even work.

The plot of the movie is there is some type of device that some how alters the laws of physics making it impossible for internal combustion engines to work. Even if they built a hand crank mechanical from scratch, it would not work. And they said it some how made it so that even the simple chemical reactions in a battery will no longer create electricity.

Electricity would literally “no longer exist”

That would also mean that rubbing things together would no longer create static electricity. But that begs the question, “Would that mean there is no more lighting storms?”

If diesel engines still worked, people could have reverted back to using hand crank diesel engines to run equipment

But that still doesn’t explain why they don’t go to steam power to rebuild.They evidently have fire, even though they shouldn’t considering a diesel engine won’t work, and the same physics that allow a fire to burn, is what allows a diesel engine to run….

If the laws of physics hasn’t been changed, then the whole movie makes even less sense than it does now. If it has been changed, then it means that people would also be dead too, because living organisms rely on the same basic laws of physics to sustain life.

The proper movie should have been, Him calling his friends to tell the to get ready. The device activates, everything goes dark, everyone falls over like a sack of potatoes, and “the end” appears on the screen because all living organisms have simultaneously died and the earth is now a sterile rock in space for the rest of time. There is no continuing plot because there is nothing alive to act out that plot….. END OF MOVIE!!!!!!!!

Then again, when has any semblance of logic been used in a movie?

Originally posted by r2d246

Originally posted by Druscilla

Sailboats don't need electricity, or petrol to go anywhere on the planet.

GTA some sailboat out of a marina. Get gone to someplace nice with fairly reasonable people.
Repeat for zombies, nuclear attack, aliens, etc.

I think thats a good idea but you really have to be a professional sailor, one mistake out there and you'd be dead. It would be safer to stay on shore unless you know exactly what your doing or know someone who does. ;-p

Sailing is easy.
1. have lots of supplies
2. have good maps indicating depths and know how deep your keel goes
3. Point into the wind at an angle, ensure your Jib and Mainsail are tight and angled similar.
4 Hold course until you want to change course, then adjust sails.
5. Don't get hit on the head by the boom when you change tactic.

Sailing with the wind with the wind behind you is harder than sailing into the wind. Sailing into the wind, you go faster.

Same principles of how an aircraft wing works to make a plane fly are what make a sailboat sail; creating high and low pressure areas through shape and angle of the sail/wing.

How to Sail

Three Corner Hat and cutlass almost mandatory during any apocalypse.

reply to post by Druscilla


A sailboat is a great idea for bugging out. Before we decided to bug out to ND I had a 33' Hunter Legend set up for my BoV. With the right setup you can be totally self sufficient, I had wind and solar power on mine and a RO water system. I could have stayed out to sea indefinitely and always had water and plenty of seafood to eat.

My family lived on a 42' Morgan Outisland ketch for about 4 years when I was growing up and we made several circumnavigation voyages. When I was stationed at Coronado I lived on my Hunter for about 5 years and ran down the west coast of central and south America several times.

Sailing is actually much easier than most people think, you pretty much have it down but sailing into the wind requires tacking constantly because you can't sail directly into the wind, instead you have to stay 15-20 degrees off the wind, what they call "lead off" or "fall off". A cross beam wind, when the wind is coming perpendicular to the gunwales or sides of the boat is the easiest wind to sail in.

Well i have to be thankful of location im living a rural area of Finland surrounded by forests and lakes, so there is fish to catch and wood to burn in our fireplace. Not been prepped on the scenery tho but being thankful to my dad who tought me how to survive in the nature if been lost in a forest etc.
Im not expecting any chaos around here, maybe there will be a rush hour in local stores cos of looting till stuff is sold out they do not have big warehouses so propably ppl who have cash atm will empty stores in day or two.

reply to post by Nucleardiver


Yes, it's much easier than one would imagine.
Why run for the hills when the Marinas will be packed with ready to sail, blue water rated, fully equipped, boats at the slip?

That's given a free-for-all world wide apocalypse type scenario. Local hazards. people are looking at serious jail time for going GTA on someone's expensive J-30, Hans Christian, or some other pricey barge built for either luxury, or speed.
Find me a Nautor Swan, and it's mine come the apocalypse. Me no need the Million $ + in the bank to haves one under apocalyptic conditions.

reply to post by Druscilla


Ah yes, Swans are beautiful. A buddy of mine in the sailing club back in Daytona Beach had a 40', we did several Bahamian club cruises and I skippered his once when he had a broken arm, beautiful sailing boat.

Originally posted by WhiteHat
Just to get into the picture...

I would probably lock all doors and windows and sit tight with my family for a day or two, waiting for the things to settle down. There is always enough food and water for a few days in my house. In a scenario like you describe most people will either run away or try to kill each other, so after two-three days there would be much less people around. Then go out, carefully, trying to asses the situation, even to bring some food, to see who's the enemy and who's the help....and improvise from there. Finding a place with running water, forest if possible, making a shelter...don't know much, there are too many unknown factors.

But, you know, things rarely work they way we plan them.

What if there will be fire or explosions from nearby buildings? Natural catastrophes? What if my family members are out at daily routines? What if I'm away from home? And so on...you cannot plan things like these and expect to work as clockwork.

edit on 20-9-2012 by WhiteHat because: (no reason given)

I used to think the same way as you but recently my plan has changed. In the first few days people will still be in hope that its all going to be sorted and life will be back to normal, everyone will have food still and water will still be around. Its only after about 3-4 days that the food starts getting really low, panic sets in as people realize no help is coming - then they start acting irrationally. So my plan is to leave asap while people are still acting sane, and are far less likely to mug me for my stuff. Also I don't think people will flee immediately, so it may be a great way for me to get a head start on everyone else. Just my 2c.

reply to post by Nucleardiver


We're very much on the same page.

My first tub was an old 30' 1970s Irwin. That thing looked like it had taken a beating, and it certainly proved it could keep on taking a beating without a blink.
I moved up to an Erickson 35, also from the 1970s, but it always seemed lacking and tempermental. We didn't have the best of relationships, so I went through trying out a string of other names.

I really like Schooners, but, for single person rigging, speed, comfort, maintenance, and reliability, I found the J boats are well worth their price.

Ah, but wouldn't it be nice to have something like THIS or THIS if they didn't require at bare minimum a dozen well trained crew, and constant constant upkeep.

I think that's what most people imagine when it comes to sailing; lines everywhere and the requirement for at least a dozen crew.
Thankfully, modern designs have fixed most of that and near anyone can sail 100' sloops solo if need came to do so.
The 40'-60' range is my happy spot for comfort, speed, handling, and confidence.
One day I might have that Swan, but, for now, I'll have to make do.

I would stop the video and move on to survival things like..laundry

I would lay low in my place for a month or two until most the people killed eachother off. Then i would just scout the city i live in at night to get supplies. When things ran out i would just find another city to do it in until i found an outpost of survivors I could group up with.
I would just avoid survivalists at all costs because most of them think they are Rambo.

Originally posted by Mr Tranny
-= The lights went out, as well as all utilities

I would go up the grape vine to see what the choke points were in getting the power back on. The power plant is just a few miles to the north west of me, and they should be able to island the area from the greater grid and keep things powered back up pretty easily. They have done it before when times required it. They are sitting right on top of a coal mine so fuel supply isn’t a problem.

The pumping system at the local reservoir has generator backup, so I don’t logically see how we could lose water. And if we did, a good portion of the people in the neighborhood have wells, so that really isn’t an issue.

We don’t have nat gas service, so that is a non issue.

-= The economy collapsed and all banks closed
-= Money was worthless

Um……. So? In a state of emergency, you don’t worry about money, you fix what needs fixed, and worry about money later.

-= G--v seemingly shut down

So? No one around here ever waited for government to fix things. Government’s presence or absence, is a non issue.

-= Looting and mob rule starting.

Shoot the looters, and ignore the mobs. If the mobs try to get physical, then shoot them.

As with all poorly conceived movies. The basic problem is their premise is flawed. There is no way the events portrayed could actually happen.

edit on 20-9-2012 by Mr Tranny because: (no reason given)

Not that easy unfortunately. You might be able to turn it on for a short time, but with no deseal, no supplies, no coal being brought in then it would go down again in no time.

I'd raid the liquor store. Liquor would be a very valuable commodity to barter. And I'd try find the biggest parka and best boots I could find.

Originally posted by r2d246
Not that easy unfortunately. You might be able to turn it on for a short time, but with no deseal, no supplies, no coal being brought in then it would go down again in no time.

In the real world, why would diesel be unavailable? The only way diesel would be unavailable is if there was an impassable physical obstruction between you and the refineries. Refineries are almost always fully integrated and do not rely on outside power, like a lot of large steel plants. As long as there are pipes connecting the refineries to the wells, there will be fuel. As long as there is trucks and trains to haul it, then they will have fuel.

But that’s all irrelevant in the movie anyway. According to them, it’s impossible to generate electricity in the first place.

And after watching part of it, I am finding it more insulting than anything else. Even if electricity no long existed, there is many other possibilities. There is no reason natural gas should no long be available. There is no reason refrigeration should no longer be available. Everyone knows about an ammonia cycle refrigerator that will run off a simple flame type heat source.

Large scale steel mills existed a long time before electricity did.

The biggest stick in the movie’s eye is steam engines. When I search I found thousands of people asking “Where in the heck is all the steam engines???”

As I have seen other people asking all over the net… Let me get this right, in 15 years we haven’t been able to remaster the art of steam? In 15 years, we haven’t relearned how to machine things without the help of electricity?

This movie is just completely insulting to our intelligence.
In real world if a magical event like that happened., we would have steam shovels, steam tractors, gas fired refrigeration. Water turbine powered factories located around large dams that use hydraulic power delivery systems to operate machining equipment. Steam powered factories. Steel blast furnaces will almost remain unaffected because most of them use steam operated blower engines.

And as for cars, and trains? …..
I will post a few movies that will shows us what type of cars and trains we have had, and would have again without internal combustion engines, and electricity.
I think these videos will get the point across as to show how stupid the movie is.

Jay and his steam car.

Jay showing you another one of his steam cars.

The big brother to the steam car really takes the movie as a personal insult,

so I will let him speak for himself.




As far as I am concerned, the movie can stick it where the sun doesn’t shine.
Good day.

Day 1: Stay home.

Day 7: Stay home.

Day 30: Stay home.

Day 365: Stay home.

If you don't have a plan already you shouldn't be playing.