Are you really prepared for long term survival?

I would say spades rather than shovels, shovels are rather hard to dig with, also gardening forks, very good for digging with, helps with all the seeds you have stored ready for planting at the appropriate times, vegetable gardening books rather handy,
and books on preserving said vegies.

NO

We would last longer then most, just because we live in the country. But if the world turns to do do, we will parish

I think that most people are so far removed from what it takes to survive that they would also parish.

I will echo what others have said. You can't do micy with what most people post as "must haves." You can have thousands of dollars in gear, but never practiced living in less than ideal conditions, and have little to no knowledge of survival, and you will struggle if not die. Skills and knowledge are key. Guns and ammo are great, especially if you reload. Even then, your supplies will run out eventually. I keep a Get Home Bag in my car with:
-Water
-Shelter material(tarp)
-Water purifying tablets
-Fire starters
-Lighters
-A knife
-Extra clothes and shoes
-Extra mag for my every day carry firearm,
-Flares (both ground air)
-Military IFAK. (Improved First Aid Kit)
-Small fishing kit
-CB Radio (Mounted in the car already)
-Three MRE's.

It's a simple kit that I know everything in it could help me survive with my knowledge and skills for up to 72 hours if used wisely. It's also a good bag to keep with me anyway. It gets freezing cold up here and tons of snow. If I were to get stranded in my car, I know I could survive off of that. Also the first aid kit has everything I'd need in it to stop and help someone in a fairly serious car accident as well...

a reply to: tw0330

I think having strong ties with neighbors will be essential. Opposing forces/the big thumb will probably count on 'the people' opposing 'the people' when it is time to get real about smashing things apart...as in algebra, we see what the omitted answer entails if we do the problem/solution in reverse formula.

smashing things apart, so to 'rebuild'...a 'people'.

too bad it's always the people that get scrapped instead of the failure to make a 'policy' that (actually works) for the 'people'.

I would like to think im ready for long term survival, Ive been prepping since 2008 with about 1 year supply of food stored some dehydrated, canned, 200 pounds evaporated milk, hundreds of pounds of rice, dried meats, etc...plus about 400 gallons of water stored. Oh yea forgot to add my 12 chickens producing 10-12 eggs daily. lol Id rather have to much stored away, than not enough
Not to mention all the prep ive done in energy: solar panels, wind mills, battery banks, and tons of other electrical stuff for fixing problems as they come up. Medical: plenty of antibiotics on hand, bandages, stiching kit, disinfectents, etc.... Weapons: well ive got a lot of guns, and thousands of rounds of ammo, but i prefer bows, crossbows, and stuff that does not require ammo. Seeds: ive stalk piled about 10,000 seeds of different varieties all heirloom, to enable me to eat the food i have stored while my garden is growing, I have planty of glass to build a greenhouse. But the most important thing ive prepped, is eduaction, common sense, and using this stuff in the feild. Its all fine and dandy to say you have all this stuff, but unless you actually get out there and live for a week or two trying out your prepps, then really you have no way of knowing how you are going to be, unless you try it out. Ive only listed a few things, I could go on and on all day long listing stuff.

don't count on others coming to your aid, they are more likely to rob you.

a reply to: tw0330

There's no such thing as long-term survival. If you have to make it more than a few months, your probably going to die sooner, rather than later. There is no way to prepare for years of living in survival mode. If there were some kind of society-ending event, you wouldn't want to survive the aftermath. Think about it, nuclear attack? After a few weeks, you'd most likely be as dead as those that perished in the flash. Biological threat? Anything that would kill a substantial part of our population would kill our society, and IF you somehow survived the outbreak, then what? You maybe wander around for a few months, before all the nuclear reactors Worldwide blow and cover the earth in nuclear winter. There is no good ending. Survival after a catastrophic event would be an oxymoron.

Second post.

TRIPLE post.

a reply to: Chronogoblin absolute rubbish, not every event is going to wipe out the human race, its perfectly possible to survive, not only that but to thrive.

a reply to: bigpaul

I'm going to avoid the comment about your reading capability and just point to the part of my comment where I said that:

If there were some kind of society-ending event, you wouldn't want to survive the aftermath.

Are YOU going to be running all those plants pal? No, Sir, you are not. Therefor, your comment is rubbish.

Please keep the personal commentary to yourself thanks.

a reply to: Chronogoblin

Speak for yourself. My ancestors lived rough compared to today's standard. When I was a kid, we didn't have running water until I was ten or so. Anything can become overcome and adapted to, if the person has the will. Sure, if you are on or near ground zero in a nuclear blast, you are probably going to be toast. A person that prepares for -- whatever -- can suppose certain variables that have a high probability of aiding their survival: food, water and filtration, seeds, heart, tools, weapons, knowledge, skills. Certainly won't hurt.

Yes, I would want to survive. That's what people do and have always done. It's not for everyone.

wife lived in a country cottage without mains (anything) no electric, no piped water, no mains drains, and lived quite well. I managed a family off grid smallholding for over 12 years, we have both lived for years in caravans(not mobile homes) with just basic services......so it can be done, its just a matter of adapting to the new lifestyle......although how many of todays population would or could adapt is another matter. if your in the immediate seat of a nuclear blast you wont survive, but most warheads are smaller than they used to be in the cold war, if an AIR blast was carried out that would give an EMP effect and wreck all the electronics but not necessarily kill every living person.r

originally posted by: Chronogoblin
a reply to: tw0330

There's no such thing as long-term survival. If there were some kind of society-ending event, you wouldn't want to survive the aftermath.

society can end but it dosent mean that's the end of everything, civilisations have collapsed before, remember the Aztecs, the Mayans, the ancient Greeks, the Romans remember them? but a few survived to carry on or we all wouldn't be here today.

There's no such thing as long-term survival.

Our ancestors managed it, and with far less knowledge than we have today.

The key to long-term survival is simple....REPLENISH-ABLE ways of getting food and water.\
Some have mentioned gardens, others livestock, etc.

Many of us who consider ourselves "preppers" not only store things, but also keep livestock and have a well, etc. Assuming we can avoid or take out any people who pose a threat, we'll do just fine. Not that I'm anxious to test it though. I LIKE the modern world and its conveniences. But, I also believe in being ready should it all go poof one day.

Now, that may not seem realistic to most, but really, it wouldn't take much to knock out the grid and send us back to the 1800's for a spell.

Back to the original topic of the thread...

Something nobody really mentioned yet....CLEANERS.

This will be EXTREMELY important post SHTF....staying clean, to avoid infections, disease, etc. Personally, we still plan on having running water, toilets, etc. here on the ranch, but cleaners are going to be difficult to come by post SHTF, so a good thing to stock up on.

That's basically our rule. We stock up on things that will be hard or impossible to make ourselves post SHTF.

a reply to: Gazrok

Exactly. beginning with the most basic common denominators, then adding to the cornucopia of goodies, knowledge and skills .......... i.e. personal growth and adaptability.

When I lived in L.A., I thought chances of survival of a city-wide cataclysm to be slimmer than now, where I'm in much more wide-open spaces. I haz water and coconuts as a base, and even with that, are coconut oil -- for cooking and anti-bacterial, skin medicine, SOAP, electrolyte (coconut water) and, of course, food. That is enough right there to survive, albeit not happily. Augment that with ANY sustainable food source, protection and method of food storage (dehydration, smoking, salting, canning, etc.) and then a person has some breathing room.

Like you, life isn't for fretting. It's for living, and loving and learning. The better prepared, the lesser the fretting. I can live with that.

originally posted by: ldyserenity
reply to post by tw0330

 

At this point why bother? I'd rather go and go fast and leave this rotting corpse of a world to it's hell and torture.

Exactly...

But leave the romance to the boy scout mad maxers. Adolescent fantasies and macho dreams. The true reality is almost to much to even contemplate.

originally posted by: olaru12

Stocking up on oxy, Valium and Jack should be in everyone's survival kit!

If taken all at once it shuts down you central nervous system for an easy suicide. Are you suggesting the option of suicide being apart of a survival kit?

I agree that coming to terms with your fate rather than fighting to the last breath would make it easier on your loved ones. I understand its not in our nature but when the very air we breathe becomes contaminated and the only way survival can even be considered is somehow living underground.... We don't have many options in the playbook. Acceptance and live your days putting quality over quantity.

I am quite happy for anyone who wants to commit suicide post SHTF, go with my blessing, this will leave more room, breathing space and land for those of us who wish to survive, the suicide rate will escalate within the first month of the event as most decide they cant handle the loss of technology and their previous lifestyle.

The ones who will really make it post SHTF are those who took steps prior to it, learning how to grow their own food, raise animals, etc. Look, I'm not saying everyone needs to be a farmer. My wife and I aren't. We work 9-5 jobs in the city, but we still do these things at home.

Also, the key is to have people. Between the kids, and a live in friend, we have enough folks to do things, but of course, post SHTF, we have others who will come here as well. These people bring their skills, knowledge, and supplies, etc. with them too.

One of our key goals is to become more self sufficient. While we currently depend on the grid, we are looking to transition some key functions (like the well pump) to solar power. Eventually, we'll have a propane tank and generator backup too, for emergency power throughout the house. While we still go grocery shopping, we haven't had to buy eggs since our chickens started laying. Eventually, we'll never have to buy produce again, growing our own fruits and veggies. We'll even have our own herbs for cooking and homemade medicine. (though pre SHTF, we'll still rely on modern medicine of course).

Trying to learn all of this post SHTF is likely a recipe for disaster, so our goal is to incorporate it into our daily lives, and work towards it gradually. If it never happens, great! We'll still have our own food, water, etc. Just less to spend money on.