How Long Would You Last in an Apocalypse? (w/quiz)

reply to post by nenothtu

where is your starting point and where is your destination? why would you be better off leaving where you are? what if the grid goes down for some reason, it will be the same all over so why travel and not stay put? I understand city folk are gonna deal with some crazy stuff but why would people in the boonies have to go somewhere else? Why not grow your own food where you are if you already have shelter? I assume you are near a high population center. I understand you become a target for the hoards but those hoards would have to get here where I am and that would be too hard for them and not to mention well defended, not a soft target. the locals would help each other where I am. bottom line is no matter what you choose to do, once the toxic infrastructure breaks down it won't matter whether you're in the country or the cities, we are ALL going to the same place, some a little sooner and some a little longer. I think a lot of people get off on the fantasy because the details of the reality are really too f'd up to think about

morefiber
reply to post by nenothtu

 

Nenothtu,

How about this for an idea - Bear Farming.
Or better yet, bear ranching. They eat up the looters, then you eat them!

I prefer wolves, but to each his own! If I could figure out how to train copperheads and rattle snakes, I'd have it made!

Seriously, I agree your better off in general farther out, but every place will have its hiding spots.

That's a fact. I've hidden in wide open, treeless pastures, and even deserts where there wasn't even much grass. You'd be amazed at what you can hide in a 6 inch fold of ground with nothing else around it. The key is "line of sight" - make sure your opposition doesn't have one. I just want to be far enough out that hordes of aimlessly wandering refugees don't trip over me and injure themselves.

It amazes me how many people on the prepper shows think they can pack up fast and make it 100 miles or more on highways with all their stuff.

M

They're not accounting for Murphy's Law. Those "plans" can go to hell in a hand basket with no notice at all. If you're not where you want to be, you should have at least 3 separate plans on how to get there (different routes AND different means of transport) if the balloon goes up unexpectedly. When plan A goes to hell, you switch to plan B, and so on.

Even at my age, I can walk a hundred miles in 4 days without breaking a sweat - but not if I have to carry all that "survival gear" they amass. they'll be in a world of hurt with that truck load of goodies when they hit the first ambush or even a simple road blockage. The goods make them a big, fat, target, and the roads make them a big, fat, vulnerable target.

I know, I know... they are all mini Rambos, and can't be defeated. they can keep on telling themselves that all the way to Valhalla, but I've never met a man who is beyond defeat. We all have bad days, and in a survival situation, a bad day can kill you too dead to stink. PLANNING to go up against "the bad guys" on purpose is PLANNING to die. Then Some Other Guy will own that cute little M4 with all the tricked-out geegaws and lasers attached to it. Hell, he might even be able to snag batteries for the 'lectronic sights to replace the ones that failed them just when they needed them most.

A much better plan is to be where you want to be, and settled in, way ahead of time, long BEFORE it all falls down.

Chronogoblin
reply to post by ChuckNasty

 

I know this is done for fun and all, but it's kinda... relative. My 'result' was 6 months. That's not really the problem. I was actually surprised by the 6 month figure. Seemed longer than I thought it would be. But then it occurred to me, if I managed to survive and developed the skills to stay alive for 6 months, why would I suddenly die? You live half a year, then BAM!! I thought, well, maybe it was 3 months into the nasty winter and I froze to death. Can't really say that either, as I know how to build a snow shelter. Starvation perhaps then. Harder to get food in the winter. Good thing most folks will be dead in the first few months, less competition for food. Less people I have to shoot, more bullets/arrows for the deer.

The initial culling would be beneficial to those of us who weren't overcome with the initial wave of apocalyptic death. Let's just hope we are given the proper choice and chance to survive beyond. Highly doubt it though..

Thank you for your honesty and time.

DarksideOz
The key is the endurance question.

Just like in the movie Zombieland with the Zombie apocalypse..............."Rule No.1, CARDIO".

And also like the saying, "Survival of the fittest". Not the fastest, not the strongest............but the fittest !

If you can't outrun your enemy, then it's just a matter of time before your enemy catches you. If you can outrun your enemy, then you are always a chance of survival. Being a logical thinker would be a handy asset as well, but if you don't have the fitness levels to survive, then your intelligence better come up with a good back up plan. Refer to above comment about not being able to outrun your enemy.

A system of enforced Martial law would be completely different to the outcome of an Apocalypse. Martial Law would be heavily controlled by "military" [I use that word loosely], whereas an Apocalypse would be heavily ruled by law of the jungle and survival of the fittest.

Just look at it from an Apocalypse point of view...............2 people, both of similar build but one is a lot fitter than the other. There is no food or water, but they hear that there is limited food and water approx. 20 km's away. Which one do you honestly think will get to the limited food and water first after covering 20km's on foot ? And what if there was only enough food and water for the first of the 2 to arrive. The first person is refuelled and ready to go onto the next destination, the latter is left exhausted, unfed, no water and has to do it all again despite now being even more at a disadvantage. The fittest will not win EVERY time, but the fittest will hardly ever beat an unfit person armed with a weapon. But from an all things even scenario, the fittest will out survive the unfit in most cases.

Fitness will only take you so far in the current world, but after the fallout of an Apocalypse, fitness will be your best asset. Add a smart and adaptable mind to a fit body, and you have a good starting point.

Or......................just get a bloody big gun with a LOT of bullets ?

Very good points.

Stamina and bullocks will pay a Minor part in surviving IMO. Only those with brains to use what they were given will outlast us all.

Thank you for being honest in your response.

Tarzan the apeman.
reply to post by ChuckNasty

 

I have often wondered what if a big asteroid hit the moon. Can't say I have ever read what kind of apocalypse that would cause here on earth. Sorry a little off topic. Peace S&F

We all wonder how the world will end. The moon getting blown the F up is one of them. I believe our growing periods are set in place with our moon. Without a regular growing season, how would we move forward? I'm sure our offspring will figure that out, but currently we haven't a clue. We just need to keep hope with our Human nature instincts.

Let us hope that never happens.

Thank you for your honest answer.

leolady
leolady's test results...dun dun dun

The results are in! You'd survive for
five years
after the apocalypse.
You know, that's pretty damn good for the end of the world. Well done.
You're basically Will Smith in I Am Legend

well...I learned something taking the test...so all is good
:-)
leolady

edit on 25-1-2014 by leolady because: cuz

5 years is pretty good IMO. Thank you for being honest on the questions.

Grats on the 5!

MOMof3
reply to post by ChuckNasty

 

I scored 10yrs. That would make me 73 by then.

I'm sure you'd get another 20 after that.

bottleslingguy
reply to post by leolady

 

congratulations you get to suffer for five years!

Classic David Bowie - thank you for that vid.

RedSeraph
40 years, lord knows how, probably the run a marathon answer, though in reality it would be more like a half-assed jog the whole way.

Needless to say in most apocalyptic scenarios, the best place to be is as far away from any city as possible. Friendly little rural villages surrounded by hills, lakes and woodland, with enough agriculture and wild game to feed everyone, you wouldn't need much in the way of survival skills.

That would be a nice area to Restart Eden. Hope we all find that place if/when faced with the End-of-Times. I'll be the one making the booze...for sacrificial purposes of course.

NwFgHr
Funny I got 20 years and I'm not a survivalist, I'm Mad Max LOL

Maybe survival is more of a mindset than 'silly' skills? Who knows?

Grats on the 20!

nenothtu
In keeping with the longstanding ATS policy of "pics or it didn't happen", here is a screencap of my results:

I cheated, of course, which is an outstanding survival trait. The cheat in question involved having NO idea who that Mears cat was. I assumed that he was someone like Bear Grills for purposes of the answer. In a survival situation, I would eat Bear Grills. without salt and pepper, if I couldn't find them at the moment, but WITH a side order of grubs, grasshoppers, and tree bark for the vitamins. You get your protein where you can find it.

A picture is worth a thousand words... but your response is worth quadruple that! (IMO)

We'll all cheat when dealt a hand that governs ones own survival. The losers are dealt a hand of "death" right lol!

Thank you for your honest answer...cheats or not...still honest

RustyNailer
I do not want to survive the Apocalypse, I've been through enough in my relatively short life. Mark me down for 0...

A lot would agree.

One can only take so much in life. I understand how you feel.

Let us hope any apocalypse doesn't happen so we can just continue on as we are. Life alone is hard enough, why should we endure a world wide cataclysm? The world is harsh enough as is.

Stay strong!

bottleslingguy
reply to post by nenothtu

 

where is your starting point and where is your destination?

If it lit up this instant, I'd have 850 miles or so to travel in a straight line, and we all know that there are no straight lines in nature, so it would be a bit farther to trek.

why would you be better off leaving where you are? what if the grid goes down for some reason, it will be the same all over so why travel and not stay put? I understand city folk are gonna deal with some crazy stuff but why would people in the boonies have to go somewhere else? Why not grow your own food where you are if you already have shelter? I assume you are near a high population center.

Yup, I'm in a VERY densely populated area, and in the "inner city" part of that to boot. When I tell locals where I live, the reaction is usually "GASP! Why aren't you dead yet?" What can I say? I like living on the edge. Always have. people get corpsified in this neighborhood on a fairly regular basis. Less than a year ago, a guy got killed in this very building where I sit right now, and there were apparently enough shell casings around him to make him look like a really big hamburger. You learn to adjust, and not zig when you ought to zag.

The grid going down doesn't bother me. I imagine that a whole lot of people right around here would be at a severe disadvantage if it did, though. Still, even in the boonies unforeseen circumstances may arise that will dictate movement, and that rapidly. You hope for the best and prepare for a worst-case scenario... and by "prepare", I don't mean buy more stuff. Maybe your house burns down. Maybe it burns down with an enraged mob of fast-moving zombie bikers riding circles around it, and all the "Stuff" you bought IN it. Who knows what can happen? Best have a plan that's general enough to work for worst-case.

I understand you become a target for the hoards but those hoards would have to get here where I am and that would be too hard for them and not to mention well defended, not a soft target. the locals would help each other where I am.

"Well defended" is usually a red flag, a beacon for trouble, because it means there is something there worth defending. Invisibility and a low profile are always better options, to my mind. There are ways to make the terrain work for you, providing a defense that doesn't look like one - it just looks like another nondescript patch of outback, same as any other. My favorite "defensible" place is out in the middle of nowhere. It's surrounded by steep ridges and cliffs on all sides, with only one approach to it that can be easily watched, and made unapproachable (blown bridge) if need be - making it too difficult to get to, for no obvious reward. No one in their right mind wants the patch of ground I intend to be on - and that probably includes me. I doubt I'm in my right mind... but that's a relative thing.

bottom line is no matter what you choose to do, once the toxic infrastructure breaks down it won't matter whether you're in the country or the cities, we are ALL going to the same place, some a little sooner and some a little longer. I think a lot of people get off on the fantasy because the details of the reality are really too f'd up to think about

I subscribe to a different school of thought in the matter of "toxic infrastructure", but whatever works for you, well, run with it. Who am I to argue?

reply to post by bottleslingguy



I don't see how it's a video game when you look at human behaviour with the laws we already have in place. Remove all forms of law and order and what do you think will happen ? We already have looters at every disaster, prisons full of people that didn't 'follow the rules', a winner takes all social mentality. Now add an apocalypse and what do you think those people are going to be like if they survive as well ?
They are going to be joining you and I in the search for food and water, they will be doing what ever it takes to get whatever food and water they can from us by any means, because that's easier than going on a long search. Just as there will be groups form to restart some sort of society, there will also be those that are only in it for themselves and will do whatever it takes. That's not a video game, that's a cold hard reality !

reply to post by WilsonWilson


your doing well.im piggy,lord of flies,hope im poisonous

reply to post by ChuckNasty


I scored twenty years.... No military training, lol.

ChuckNasty
And the only big group of preppers I know belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Actually I think the Amish would do quite well (is that the same?) but cool link thanks!
Me I got 5 years but in practice wouldn't expect anything like that. Plus no one knows how they would be affected mentally. I think a lot of people would self destruct in one way or another.

reply to post by nenothtu


Just so you know, if you don't want to live 40 years alone after the Apocalypse, then its your job to keep me alive longer than 10 years.

It's a good thing I am a great wife huh?

reply to post by nenothtu

I agree with what you're saying and respect your attitude. Not too sure what you were saying about the toxic infrastructure thing though. All those nuke plants, chemical plants, oil storage/refineries, petro chemicals, diseases etc (the things that we must keep contained and maintained) are gonna start falling apart eventually and that could tip the food chain/healthy biosphere balance. you wouldn't be able to survive a dying planet no matter where you were so I guess the answer to this topic is- as long as you keep fighting and even then the radiation will win sooner or later.

it would be a shame to have this happen but I don't see humans getting us out of this predicament any time soon. We better hope a more advanced species/race decides we are worth saving and comes down and uses their technology to clean up the mess and then give us a cleaner form of energy to use with the intention of helping one another live a happy life. The planet could support a much higher population and we could continue to have a vibrant civilization as long as the technology we use doesn't pollute or take anything away from the biosphere. I believe the source of this power is everywhere and no one should have a monopoly on it like they do petrochemicals and fossil fuels. That's the only way we can get out of this conundrum.

DarksideOz
Just as there will be groups form to restart some sort of society, there will also be those that are only in it for themselves and will do whatever it takes. That's not a video game, that's a cold hard reality !

not where I live but again what's the endgame? what are you surviving for? to repopulate the planet? that's a video game fantasy not reality and if your goal is to see how long you can maneuver through a city scape eating rats in sewers then by all means enjoy yourself. there are a million softer targets before any groups are going to be patrolling this neck of the woods so I'll have plenty of time to enjoy what's left of my life before the toxic cloud kills us all..... well except for the cockroaches.