Come Back To My Place and Check Out My Red, Hard....Wheat

I would probably stay in my home as long as I possibly could, with an established perimeter and kill zone with yardages clearly marked. My feeling is an urban enviroment would offer the best chance of long term survival because of the stockpiles of food, water, meds etc.
The best survival skill you can have is being able to adapt to your enviroment, knowing where the things are that you need and not having any moral or ethical hangups about doing what you need to do to get them.

Aside from all the death and destruction it would probably be rather enjoyable for a week or two.

 

Fuck survival. I have no skills other than cooking and being able to jerk off with both hands. I'd fire up the gas grill for one last go, cook myself a burger and then hang myself while jerking off. Auto-erotic asphyxiation for the win, bitches! Seriously, it's supposed to be incredible and I'm going to be dead soon anyways, and the best part is that everyone else is going to be too busy with shit to think I'm a weirdo.

 

Every time this hypothetical situation comes up it's always get into the mountains or out in the woods. So pretty much there will be more people in the mountains or woods than anywhere else. Me? I'm getting on a boat loaded with supplies, then maybe finding an island. Isle Royal in Lake Superior, for example, isn't too far from here and has tons of wildlife for food plus fishing. Not only is there Isle Royal, but there's over 400 other small islands right next to it, also full of wildlife. If an island isn't an option then I'll drop anchor somewhere and fish and conserve my gas till shit calms down. Given where I live, in the winter the big lake might be frozen so I guess I'd have to hide out till spring and then get in the water. Even a small boat could be loaded with enough supplies and a makeshift shelter to last you a good amount of time. A small boat might not last on Lake Superior but I do live in the "Land of 10,000 lakes."

 

Am I the only one who is going to start with the thievery, and all around brigandry? I am large, fairly well trained in a few hand to hand disciplines, and can get access to weapons and sidearms. I have just summed up all most all of my survival skills. So if I head into the woods, the only thing that I am hunting is people.

Further more, I have to feel that there are quite a few people who thought to stockpile resources, but have no real way to defend them. Given that I have to feel violence > preparedness.

 

The sort of people who do serious stockpiling tend to be the sort of people who have a way to defend them. A disaster prep forum I go on is filled with folks who will stockpile 1000 rounds of .30-06 right next to the 500 pounds of rice and beans and 200 gallons of water. Hell, for a few hundred bucks any of the Americans on this forum could have a bolt-action rifle and over a thousand rounds of Nazi-killing goodness at their local firearms dealer in a matter of days. Planning to make a living by theft and robbery might not exactly be the healthiest thing to do if things go pear-shaped.

 

Those kinds of people know how to shoot on a range, but they'd suck in a real combat situation. Seriously, how many tacticool faggots have you seen at the rifle range? Those guys would get slaughtered by anyone who had a remote idea of what they're doing.

Now those hunter guys, on the other hand, you don't fuck with them.

 

I should have better pointed out, that I have NO survival/wilderness skills what-so-ever. My only real option at making it past my bodies fat stores is to attempt piracy.

Maybe I would attempt to put together a group of like minded people with more weapons than compassion. Obviously you have to worry about back stabbing, but there is strength in numbers and shit. Besides if shit goes truly pear shaped, we're all probably going to end up dead anyway. So why not go out doing all the horrible, illegal shit we all dream about?

 

That's like saying if you carry an umbrella, you love rain.

As for me, I'd be proper fucked, I'm fat and have no survival skills, I'd be like that guy in the beginning of Zombieland. For shit's sake I was a boy scout and the only knot I remember is the square knot, damn you alcohol.

 

New Orleans is not a good example, I would not have put myself in that situation to begin with. A large number of the people stuck in New Orleans were to dumb or stubborn to leave and put their faith in the government to solve the problems caused by nature.

I would not live in a group of people and I would burn bodies and shoot looters before they could see my face.

Unless I have to go I will stay in a city I have spent 30 years in as opposed to the woods where I spend a few weeks a year in.

 

This is one of the reasons I so appreciate the disaster prep forum I'm a member of. No politics, no religion, and some interesting members keeps the place running without looking like they're praying for disaster (most people on that forum are nowhere near as prepared as they would like to be, and the crazy religious folks who get "raptured up" really shouldn't be needing to stockpile food and ammo, right?). Members of the forum read about economic collapses in Argentina or have dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some even live in Detroit, for Chrissakes.

You say this despite not knowing how the members of the forum train, not knowing how they make their livings, not knowing how many of them hunt, or recognizing that the group isn't necessarily all that homogeneous. I, as a young California native with overprotective parents, have no firearms experience, and limited experience with a decent air rifle. However, I am but one member of that community, and most of them are not like me. Active military members, former military members, federal law enforcement personnel, 80something-year-old grandmothers, IDPA hobbyists, art professors with a hankering for some interesting training, these are the members of the community.

Fuck it, I'll just throw the link up here. Read a little bit, it isn't quite what it might seem at first glance. No, most of them don't think that zombies are a serious concern.


EDIT: That's another thing I like, most of the active members recognize that survival doesn't exist in a vacuum, and that establishing communities and a support network is one of the best ways of dealing with crises.

 

Well it's more than likely that people will form their own communities after the original ones had been destroyed as soon as the initial chaos was over, just because it's the best way to survive. The more people working together, the better chance they have to beat the odds, be that finding food and shelter or defending themselves from wandering bands of... brigands.

 

No serious prepper would scoff at you. I know for a fact they would give you a good slap on the back and a hearty handshake because you're ahead of 90 percent of people out there.

FOCUS: I know that many of you here are big into being self-sufficient, etc. But, how many of you are considering how you'd survive "if the shit hits the fan?" What kind of scenarios do you think are most likely and how have you tailored your skills/equipment to those scenarios?


Focus:
I've always been an outdoors guy. As such I've always been able to do things a lot of the "city folk" can't do (despite me living in the city for most of my life). I've had the prepper mind set for a few years now and I can't pinpoint it to one thing, but several. Someone attempted to rob me several years ago and that motivated me to get a gun, along with seeing all kinds of nasty things happen to innocent people. I wanted to join the Marines after high school but got DQ'd at MEPS right before I was sworn in due to a cataract in one eye. I loved the "a good soldier is always prepared" mantra they teach, so that stuck with me despite not being able to serve. Going without food occasionally as a child made me how much it would suck for this to happen again. Since I have my own son, I'm making it my number one priority that he NEVER goes through the same thing. I'm tired of all of these companies putting nasty shit in my food and water so I've decided to do my own gardening and do my own food when I can. Enough of the whys.

Here is my list of stuff that could possibly happen which would make SHTF in order of plausibility.

Economic meltdown
Viral outbreak
Food shortage
Natural disaster
Political turmoil (ala Libya)
Bio/chem attack
Nuclear attack

I can't really do anything about a NBC attack at this point so that aspect is still in planning phase. Everything else you can just lump under one umbrella. As of right now I've got about 2 weeks worth of food for about 6 people, but I plan to upgrade this to 3 months next along with getting a serious water filter.

Here is the 72 hour pack I got as of right now (this works triple duty as my sons diaper bag and my school bag).

Current bag:

Maxpedition Vulture II
1 Trademark machete
1 Swiss Army Champion
1 Gerber LMF ASEK II fixed blade knife
1 Leatherman Wave
1 bitset for the wave (not pictured)
1 Silva compass with built in mirror
Pocketpal knife sharpener (not pictured)
1 Fenix LD20 205 Lumen AA flashlight
1 Magnesium firestarter
1 butane lighter
1 waterproof match container with cardboard rolled inside
$200 in small bills 7x$20 2x$10 4x$5 20x$1
1 highlighter
1 pen
2 pencils
pencil lead
checkbook
large amount of paracord wrapped up
spool of fishing line
pack of floss
cellphone
antibiotic ointment
sunscreen
med tape
variety of gauze
variety pack bandaids
rubber gloves
2 chapsticks
small sewing kit
waterproof binos
Mossberg 500
5rnds Federal Law Enforcement 00 buckshot
25 rounds #7 1/2 2.75 12 gauge shells (I intend on replacing these with #6 possibly)
1 spare Glock 17 magazine
50 rnds spare 9mm
large bottle of acetaminophen with crumpled up paper towels to quiet the rattling and use as tinder if need be
toothbrush
3 water bottles
protractor
2 lubricated condoms
2 unlubricated condoms
graphing calculator (not pictured)
digital camera (not pictured obviously)

Stuff I normally have in it but don't because I just got this new pack a few days ago and have to rearrange and repack my stuff:

2 Bandanas
toilet paper
toothpaste
deoderant
food for my son
12 diapers
diaper wipes
rash cream for my son
2 pants for my son
1 shorts for my son
3 socks for my son
1 pair shoes for my son
2 pants
3 socks
2 shirts
cold weather jacket
tarp
mess kit
titanium spork
lotion
gun cleaning kit
bar of soap
extra AA batteries
metal canteen for boiling water and eating soup
brick of 22LR
FM 21-76 Army field guide
deck of cards
a few small toys for my son
all of that stuff packed in plastic ziploc bags for waterproofness

Stuff that needs to go in the pack but I haven't done yet:
Food for myself and son
water filtering kit (including iodine tablets for radiation)
more complete med kit
map of AO
childrens tylenol
sleeping pad
canvas cloth (for use as a cover)
rain poncho
duct tape
electrical tape
condiments for food
aluminum foil for food
trash bags
small candles
ziplock bags
handheld HAM radio
Goldbond powder
nail clipper
metal whistle
snare wire
small pack of coffee
small pack of tea
flares
2 dust masks
work gloves
glow sticks
sharpening stone
pack of cigs for barter
pack of dip for barter
waterproof notepad
waterproof pen
copies of DL, SS card and birth certificate on encrypted thumbdrive
solar charger for batteries

Doing this stuff doesn't take any time out of my normal day. It's small things here and there.

A gun pointed at someone does wonders to get people avoiding you. Be careful and treat your water and practice good sanitation and hygiene. Not much you can do other than that. They have willow trees nearby so I'm using those guys for salycic acid (aspirin) if need be.

You're not the only one to have this idea. You're also not likely going to be the only one with several rounds of buckshot/.223/9MM to the chest if you decide to go this route. Almost everyone I know who preps has amassed firearms and ammo out the ass specifically for people who have this exact thought.

I can catch and cook my own food, procure water, communicate in 5 different languages (French, Spanish, English, Arabic, and German) and can shoot decently. I was working out until December but had to give it up because of my situation. I'm going to be starting up again soon.

In the future when I raise enough money, I'm going to get surgery to fix my eyes, take Art of the Dynamic Handgun and Carbine courses from Magpul, Urban Escape and Evasion course from onPoint tactical, take a first aid class and buy another m4gery (or an AK) 2 more shotguns, a Remmy 700 in 308, a Colt 45, and another Glock. In the mean time, I'm just buying small stocks of food here and there and working my urban garden.

 

Dude, that's impressive. You win.

I find this perspective interesting - that you didn't say "save enough money."

 

I always thought that if the shit hit the fan, I would come to where I'm currently living; at our cottage. Because of occasional day long (sometimes week long) power failure, we're already set up with flashlights, lanterns (for longer term), a generator, etc. I have easy access to clean drinking water year round from the lake, and food would be as simple as my getting around to purchasing a rifle. I just watched several deer cross the lake only a few minutes ago, and there is the usual small game around such as grouse and hares. I supposed if push really came to shove I could start plinking the chickadees and the red polls with the air gun. I catch the fish in the lake and during fishing season this easily accounts for a couple meals a week as it is.

Living in Canada, heat can be a major concern depending on the time of the year this could happen. During the Ice Storm up here, hundreds of thousands of people went without electricity for up to two weeks during the winter. Many a house burnt down with people trying to heat their homes 24/7 with their little decorative fireplaces. I'd just keep heating with the woodstove as we've been doing since November. We cut our own wood and I'm surrounded by trees, so access to heat is not an issue.

Ultimately, what I'd be lacking if something happened right now is a big enough cache of gasoline to run the generator and the chainsaw, and a rifle for procuring food.

 

Dude I wish. With the types of people I surround myself with, I don't even come close to being prepared like they have. For example this other member who has 4500+ cans of food in her house:

I've got a weird situation. Due to some bad financial mistakes I made, I'm currently paying about $700 a month on things I could have gone without, for the next three years. I'm already saving about $200 a month ($120 a month on my own and my employer matches some amount of whatever I put in) so I'm considering that savings and whatever I'm wasting now, I'll be using that in the future to fund my other purchases. In the span of a year, that $700 adds up to $8400 and I can do all of that stuff I mentioned above and more with it.

Just to show you that violence can also come your way should you decide to go forth with your "plan". These photos are the armament of some of the other members on a forum I visit.

 

I'm kind of thinking that this is the typical "ready for anything" survivalist.

Spoiler

 

For every one of us who is equipped to "bug in" as they say and defend our location, at least in the initial stages of an event, there are going to be thousands of nitwits who didn't prepare and will run for the hills. Most of them will run out of gas in the ensuing traffic jams and panic and be stranded nowhere near their intended destination.

For those of us with the means to hunker down until the situation improves enough to bug out, we will be looting everything the other people left behind.

Regarding Katrina, it was only those in the 9th Ward that got completely fucked because they refused to bug out in time. Having a plan and knowing when to implement it, especially in a city BELOW SEA LEVEL, was your best defense.

 

What's interesting is that those nitwits don't actually have any idea of where they're going; they have no destination and no plan. They're just running. Their thoughts are the following:

1. Things are bad here.
2. Every survival movie I've seen says "Run to the hills."
3. Everyone else is doing it, they must know where to go!

Cue mass disorganized chaotic exodus of ill-prepared idiots. Just with that, all the people who stay put are safer; all the retards are gone. Most of them will be in dire straits within a matter of weeks.

 

I, for one, welcome the nitwits and hope they depart in their masses to get fucked up a fair way away, because:

1. I hate wasting ammunition, because you know the idiots are going to come looking for food and water and be unable to process a response of, "No, you had your opportunity to prepare and squandered it"; and
2. I don't want a bunch of yokels telling the zombies where I live.