So I just finished watching NATGEO's "American Blackout". So not prepared....

reply to post by jefwane


I agree with most of what you said.

But,

I honestly believe the preppers were in a bad spot because he did not teach his family how to properly defend his ranch.

He needed an elevated firing position for his eldest son.

The wife needed to suck it up grab an AK and help with the assault.

He should have had the fuel supplied secured.

Basically they did a poor job at security.

He should have been in a position to pick each and every one off. Because if someone threatens my son, all hospitality is off the table. Time to start dropping bodies and make people think twice about ever stepping foot on my property again.

But you know, it was a television show.

They wanted the prepper to look like a fool.

reply to post by liejunkie01


Tactically, I agree about the security. But honestly even if everyone old enough to safely use a gun (would have been 5 instead of just the three males), had one and was trained the tactical situation wouldn't have been that much different. Five people to defend a ranch 24-7 and also to do the daily work, just wouldn't work IMHO. I think you'd need at least a squad sized element plus a head or two. I'm of the opinion if you ain't got the friends to secure your redoubt before it hits the fan you need to make them shortly after. You can be a hell of a lot pickier before.

The preppers could have been made to look much worse than they were. And also the scenes in the cities could have been portrayed worse as well.

I liked the fact that they chose a nationwide extended power outage as the TSHTF scenario as I can think of several events that could cause one-- EMP, massive solar flare, limited nuclear exchange, cyber attack (as in the movie), simultaneous natural events (EQ in west and Hurricane/icestorm in east), and maybe even a good ole cascade of human error.

The most important thing I think it might have accomplished is gotten some people who don't think about things like this take a look in the cupboard and ask themselves what they would do if it happened tomorrow. That's a good thing.

Shoe string budget-this is not impossible. You may find you already have a lot of the equpment you'll need. Such as tools or EMT supplies.

Water-Store tap water in squash bottles and put them away in a dark place for 6 months and label/date them. Buy a good filter, a ceramic one, as diarrhea is nasty.

Food-Buy what you eat and eat what you buy. If you have enough money, but 6 months of food. Write down what you eat and drink over a 2 week period and I mean everything including Ketchup, salt.
Times the amounts by 12 and you will have 6 months.
Cans last years and if you break your last can opener there is a youtube vid on how to open cans-rub one end on a cement paving slab or brick. (Keep all cans as there are many uses!! Hobo stove to guttering. Look on Youtube.
Anything dried or dehydrated will last years.
Flour can last years!!!!! (3-4yrs) if put in a vacuum sealed bag-again on Youtube. Or you will have to buy a grain mill (and the grains and storage) and this does use up energy to mill grains. (I've tried it OMG lactic acid.)

Do not forget candy bars and look up how to make these;
www.instructables.com...

Don't forget herbs and spices-make sure you get enough for a least two years. These will be medicine too.

Making food-chickens, fruit and nut trees, veg garden in square foot gardening. You will need seeds and all gardening supplies; minimum will be a compost heap and a fork. Keep toilet rolls for seed pots.

If you have a chest freezer, see this web page so you can use it with a solar panel (If your money can stretch that far.)
mtbest.net...

Sanitary- Use water sprayers and Pee & Pooh wipes and don't bother stocking tons of loo rolls.
(DIY Pee wipes-use flannels/face cloths or cut up cotton bedsheets into 6 inch squares. Need 6 Pee and 2 Pooh wipes per person per day. Then launder them.)
This blog is brilliant, read this (not mine btw. No time to blog.);
apartmentprepper.com...

You will need rainwater for the laundry and a fire to heat water. And a dolly or a scrubbing board. (I have a silicon one I can bug out with.)
There are recipes for cheap laundry detergent out there-Google.

These next areas have several layers to them, use up one layer then go to the next.

Heat & Cooking-Use what you have, if you have a sustainable system like a fireplace/cooking range. Store a cord of wood, etc. Make paper/magazines/newspapers into paperbricks.
( I have 2 Calor gas heaters and enough gas for a year. I also have a portable wood stove. I regularly go camping and have upgraded my equipment over the last twenty years but I also kept what I wasn't using (wasn't good enough to sell or give away.) as backups or bartering.)
If you can afford one, buy a Kelly kettle-it uses twigs and pinecones etc, so sustainable and low energy-don't need an axe, just a covered area on a paving slab.
Make Hobo stoves before you need them-Search Youtube or Instructibles.
Solar ovens and solar 'black can' heaters-can be DIY cheaply and is sustainable. (Can also be made into one item BTW-Use heater in winter and oven in summer.)

Light-Look at using high cost-low energy items first. Such as battery operated items/torches, crank charged torches, etc. Then low cost-low energy items later. Such as olive oil lamps, can of tuna lamps.
Homemade candles-store wax and candle making supplies; Just in case.
At night use glowsticks for safety.
High cost would be solar panels and 100 hour candles. Generators are only as good as the amount of fuel you can store. Also too noisy.

Energy needs- Write down what you think you will need after the electrical grid goes down.
For 3 days=
For 2-4 weeks=
For ever= If you have stored all your Survival books on a Kindle/Nook then I suggest a Bio-lite stove or a small solar panel system for USB connections. Good for bugging out too.

Knowledge-look at youtube and download as many videos you can. Just make sure you factor in the laptop or ? into energy needs. Some people are going to use an old (ie last seasons) smart phone as storage for books.

Kindle books can be got free (if you find Facebook ok to use.)
www.facebook.com...
www.facebook.com...

You have come to a bit late but better late than never.

Bugging out supplies can be made on a shoestring too but that would be another thread.


Now I have tried to answer the thread title, I would like to say I saw the UK version of the scare tatic, fear mongering, BS, TV show. I had to watch it by myself, as I am a bit of a Vulcan when it comes to emotions, as my hubby and kids could not watch it.
The prepper in the UK version was also made to look as if he was a fool and a bastard for not sharing what he had. It got so bad for this character that in the end he committed murder because all his prepping supplies were stolen by thugs.

So the solution is either; know thy neighbours and have some spare supplies, just as they did in the 1930s depression, to give them; Hobo stoves and Pee wipes, a few meals.
Or go down the route of defence and armed response. This is not the cheap way.
Look into how the French Resistance/forest dwellers did it in WW2. As in hiding the smoke and smells of cooking.


Now I will tell you that there is a reason they are doing this; they have prophecies that also say there will be three days of darkness and they don't want you to even think that the Bible could actually be true.
(I know how these three days of darkness will occur but if I told you, this thread would disappear.)
Trust me when I tell you the electricity will come back on after the 3 days and life will go on but will not be the same.

The main reason to prep after the 3 days, will be so you do not ingest the chemicals that will make your thinking foggy and your body ill. Look up how to filter water, even if it is radiation polluted.
The most important thing will be DO NOT GET INTO DEBT.

After the next 3 days of darkness; and that darkness will be so complete, that you will not even be able to see the light from a torch; you will need to be a survivor, a warrior and someone who can evade technology, such as Infra red and satellites.

God bless.

reply to post by Spookybelle


Thank you for posting the Bosnian mans story SB. Very interesting read.

I was stationed in Bosnia for over a year back in 2002 and it was still a very war torn place. It totally blew my mind whenever we would drive through a village that was half Serbian/Albanian before the war and you would see nothing but burned out houses that had been firebombed on one half of the town and cute little houses on the other half. When the war broke out there was no common enemy. The enemy was the man who lived down the street, your neighbor, anyone and everyone.

Most Americans have absolutely no idea what a battlefield is like, let alone when your neighbor becomes a potential enemy.

It's important to remember that there will always be radio communication. The Atomic clock WWVB-60 at Fort Collins, Colorado has reserve power to broadcast for 150 years with no intervention from humans. It has a range of 3200km and has locations in Anthorn, England and Frankfurt, Germany. It's the same signal that connects weather stations(including mine) around the world and has dual band ranges. With a portable solar array and 3000mAh 3.7 volt Li-ion batteries, if properly maintained, could last an entire life span-75 years. The kind of radio depends upon your knowledge of short wave communications.

As far as what else in buried under the Mountain at Fort Collins I guess the sky is the limit. More than likely massive communications, logistics, weaponry and who knows what else. Someone told me a Schwarzenegger film used part of the complex in a scene about an all out warhead exchange. I know there are massive seed banks, historical data and, like I said about anything you can dream up.

If this scenario was to ever occur persons should head in that direction following the signal. I know there are facilities like Fort Collins in Europe I just don't know where.