Yes, particularly rural volunteer stations. Where I'm from the fire department was more of an excuse to drink during the day than anything else.
Watch this: http://i.imgur.com/tKzJ41R.webm While listening to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m764ibnTO-U#t=80
I don't get it.Why not just buy freeze-dried food? Or canned food (it doesn't go bad until long after the expiry date)?
Aren't the odds of being in the sort of scenario where one really needs hardtack and MREs in a major urban or suburban center exceedingly low? Even the famed NYC blackout in 2003 was only a few days. Sandy was kind of an all or nothing sort of thing: either you hardly noticed and everything was normal with 48 hours, or you shit was really bad and you lost your entire house.
I've got canned goods at home, and I've taken freeze dried food camping. If I like the MREs I may take them when I go camping too. It's more of a curiosity thing. I've read about both and wanted to try them. As to your Sandy diagnosis - there were actually thousands of homes that fell between what you described, including our home. We had no power for 9 days. Considerably more then 48 hours, but we didn't lose everything either. Most folks in my area, if affected at all, were without power 3 to 12 days.
Personally, I have a generator and enough frozen food and ice blocks to fill a medium sized powered cooler that will stay frozen for more than a week in the heat of summer. I've got a couple of gas cans for the Jeep and a couple of bags always packed for camping trips that will more than equip me for a somewhat extended stay. I've normally got enough shit on hand to easily survive a week without water or power. If shit REALLY hits the fan, all I need is 10 minutes warning and I'm throwing that shit, plus my fishing pole and rifle, into the Jeep, and I'm on the road to high country, where I can set up camp and survive off the land, either by hunting or fishing. If you're worried about long-term survival, just get a big-ass bag of rice, beans, and oats... they'll last a long time, and just require some water to prepare. Sure you'll get sick and tired of them, but if it's survival you're worried about, that should cover it.
I wonder how many people out there have tried to use their health-spending accounts for asshole bleachings. On top of that, I wonder how often it worked?
I'm guessing the point of the MREs is to eliminate the need to heat or boil anything. Maybe longer shelf life? Not sure, but I do know some of the freeze dried stuff we bring on camping trips is pretty damn good. It's even enjoyable when you aren't freezing cold and huddled under a tarp in a rainstorm. I've got a pile of gear that could fall under "survival" stuff if you put a Bear Grylls logo on it from and could have a pack assembled for whatever relatively quickly, but being in the middle of the Twin Cities makes it not so practical. I don't think there is much that could knock out utilities for a significant amount of time here either, but who knows. It still isn't something I worry about. One time I bought a ten pound bag of beef jerky at a gas station, on the way to deer camp. It cost something like twenty bucks. Was not worth it.
I would be fucked. I'm terrible at keeping food in the house. Right now I've got a couple of cans of vegetables and beans that I brought with me when I moved in and two cans of orange soda. Oh, and a bottle of Miracle Whip.
In my fridge I currently have beer, gatorade, shredded cheese and..... some mustard maybe. If shit goes bad I'm screwed, I have enough supplies to last me maybe 6 hours
Ugh, I'm trying to think of the name of that method of arguing - I think someone here has used this term before - where you set up some elaborate scenario that would never happen in real life in order to try and get someone to agree with you.
If you are making the argument on the internet I believe the catch all is "straw man." Whether the term actually applies or not.
And the "elaborate scenario" minus the argument is glurge, which is usually a fabricated story of cutesy bullshit as a means of attention/validation.