SHTF?

dbradgriffith · Jul 7, 2013

Nomad, definitely agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, my wife and I are in some pretty heavy student loan debt. Nobody was picking up the tuition tab like the trust fund babies I see everytime I go to class. But we keep no credit cards and only have our mortgage and one car note to stay as debt free as possible. We have a line of credit for emergencies, that's it. We live incredibly sparingly and both live by the moto that if we can't afford it, we should save up for it or we don't need it. Our home isn't the most impressive ( no financed furniture and appliances like all our friends). But if we stick to our plan, we will own it all in about 8 years or so. Student loans paid and all. So I sincerely hope the S stays away from the fan until then. We keep enough in savings to float us for 1 to 2 months for now. Tharts all we can mange these days.

troy_mclure · Jul 7, 2013

Nomad said:
Didn't mean the whole deployment, meant any action... I doubt any Bayoushooter members are going to endure deployment length unrest....

oh, ive been black on m4/m249 multiple times on engagements. m203 flares and smoke are ineffectual.

troy_mclure · Jul 7, 2013

Nomad said:
Bad idea, I'm sure you know even one who trusts to Allah and blindly fires a mag around a corner can make a lucky hit.

And when there's no med evac...

when all other options have failed, what is left?

Nomad.2nd · Jul 7, 2013

dbradgriffith said:
Nomad, definitely agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, my wife and I are in some pretty heavy student loan debt. Nobody was picking up the tuition tab like the trust fund babies I see everytime I go to class. But we keep no credit cards and only have our mortgage and one car note to stay as debt free as possible. We have a line of credit for emergencies, that's it. We live incredibly sparingly and both live by the moto that if we can't afford it, we should save up for it or we don't need it. Our home isn't the most impressive ( no financed furniture and appliances like all our friends). But if we stick to our plan, we will own it all in about 8 years or so. Student loans paid and all. So I sincerely hope the S stays away from the fan until then. We keep enough in savings to float us for 1 to 2 months for now. Tharts all we can mange these days.

Look up 'coppy canning' (buying several of something when it's on sale)
By doing things like this, buying in bulk, trying to buy straight from the grower etc...

You can not only get a higher quality of food, but pay less for it!

The new "extra money" can be used for things like water filters you don't typically use.

Nomad.2nd · Jul 7, 2013

troy_mclure said:
oh, ive been black on m4/m249 multiple times on engagements. m203 flares and smoke are ineffectual.

Heck, even in Faluja (2004) I rarely emptied a belt at one sitting!
When were you where?

troy_mclure said:
when all other options have failed, what is left?

All other options are not gone....

That's the thing.
You CAN afford to fill a couple 5 gal buckets with beans and rice.... Heck, that's the price of a couple mags!

AustinBR · Jul 7, 2013

dbradgriffith said:
Nomad, definitely agree with your assessment. Unfortunately, my wife and I are in some pretty heavy student loan debt. Nobody was picking up the tuition tab like the trust fund babies I see everytime I go to class. But we keep no credit cards and only have our mortgage and one car note to stay as debt free as possible. We have a line of credit for emergencies, that's it. We live incredibly sparingly and both live by the moto that if we can't afford it, we should save up for it or we don't need it. Our home isn't the most impressive ( no financed furniture and appliances like all our friends). But if we stick to our plan, we will own it all in about 8 years or so. Student loans paid and all. So I sincerely hope the S stays away from the fan until then. We keep enough in savings to float us for 1 to 2 months for now. Tharts all we can mange these days.

Time for me to chime in. It looks like you have a great start, but I would recommend pumping up the savings as soon as you possibly can to have at least 6 months to a year of your income saved up. Paying loans and getting debt free quick is a great idea, don't think I am not saying that, but having 6+ months of living money is much more important than paying your loans off a year or two quicker.

Also, Nomad is mentioning another good point. It cost next to nothing to buy just a little extra here and there "prep" wise. Having two weeks to a months worth of food saved up is a GREAT idea. If there is a bad storm or if you were to lose your job, you would really thank yourself that you don't have to worry about how you are going to eat for the first few days to weeks. Without a job, the six months to a year worth of savings will blow away a lot faster than you think they would.

In short - getting out of debt is good, but sometimes the short term / here and now goals are more important in setting up a good future.

LACamper · Jul 7, 2013

I would bet that we'll see a crisis somewhere between the two suggested (2 year vs 30 days). I'm not overly concerned about a natural EMP. I would think that the power companies have either hardened the lines somewhat or have the means to make repairs quicker than that. (not quickly... just less than 2 years!)

I don't see a major storm doing more damage than Katrina (I work in insurance and the Katrina scenario had floated around for years before it happened. We all envisioned an Isaac storm stalling off the LA coast for days and raining into New Orleans. In some ways that would be worse since no one would have evacuated. ).

I'm still betting on a riot situation caused by a financial meltdown and/or high oil prices. I think we're going to be facing religious riots (Catholics vs Islamics) some time in the next 10 to 20 years but will start in Michigan, not here. Gasoline shortages could cause riots also (also lead to food riots due to distribution issues). At least we're not fuel oil dependent down here (not having propane for crawfish boils could be a problem though!). Weather related problems will be localized and the government will step in, for better or worse...

What about a right wing based riot? People on our side of the aisle rising up against the government and then a government over-reaction? Any one see that as likely? Just curious... certainly not encouraging it! The idea of foreign troops being brought in to quell riots keeps coming up (Russian troops most recently). I guess the idea is that US troops will be hesitant to attack US citizens where foreign would not. Were foreign troops brought in I could easily see things getting out of hand on both sides.

Nomad.2nd · Jul 7, 2013

LACamper said:
I would bet that we'll see a crisis somewhere between the two suggested (2 year vs 30 days). I'm not overly concerned about a natural EMP. I would think that the power companies have either hardened the lines somewhat or have the means to make repairs quicker than that. (not quickly... just less than 2 years!)

.

I gotta give this one to the paranoids.

At least when I graduated Dec 2011, the electric grid was a horrifying mishmash of current to 1920's (yea you read that right) equipment, with insufficient equipment to make a decent amount of repairs, and without the manufacturing capaciy in THE ENTIRE WORLD to fix it in YEARS....
I doubt much has changed.

Don't look for a right wing riot.... Rit wingers mostly want to be left alone.

mcinfantry · Jul 7, 2013

As long as we can destroy a country, then rebuild it, I feel confident we can rebuild ours

ΜΟΡΟΝ ΛΑΒΙΑ

oleheat · Jul 7, 2013

Keep an eye on this, gents....

Edit: Hope this holds true- out to the open sea would be even better....

dbradgriffith · Jul 7, 2013

Thank u for the advice. I was not really expecting this to produce completely sound words of wisdom if we are being honest. Austin and Nomad particularly, u guys seem to have a real grip on things and I appreciate any guidance. I really didn't know what to expect when I started this. I guess I like to joke about "when the zombies show up" as much as anyone. But more often than I like to admit, I am kept up at night by fear of the unknown future that I couldn't possibly protect my children from. Zombies would be one of the nicer scenarios when you really think about it. I've been laid off before. When my daughter was 3 months old. I know I could get through that. Katrina was a pain in the ass, but I know how to handle that now too. But what didn't I think of? That is the thing that eats at me. My wife thinks I'm nuts and doesn't like to talk about things like this in any kind of a serious context. Am I crazy? I am not really a paranoid person and generally not afraid of taking risks, but my choices and their consequences are bigger than me now. These kids didn't choose me, I am responsible and I guess that has spawned all of this in me.

Nomad.2nd · Jul 7, 2013

dbradgriffith said:
Thank u for the advice. I was not really expecting this to produce completely sound words of wisdom if we are being honest. Austin and Nomad particularly, u guys seem to have a real grip on things and I appreciate any guidance. I really didn't know what to expect when I started this. I guess I like to joke about "when the zombies show up" as much as anyone. But more often than I like to admit, I am kept up at night by fear of the unknown future that I couldn't possibly protect my children from. Zombies would be one of the nicer scenarios when you really think about it. I've been laid off before. When my daughter was 3 months old. I know I could get through that. Katrina was a pain in the ass, but I know how to handle that now too. But what didn't I think of? That is the thing that eats at me. My wife thinks I'm nuts and doesn't like to talk about things like this in any kind of a serious context. Am I crazy? I am not really a paranoid person and generally not afraid of taking risks, but my choices and their consequences are bigger than me now. These kids didn't choose me, I am responsible and I guess that has spawned all of this in me.

You are not crazy.

Americans live in a 'bubble of niceness'. The rest of e world ain't like here.

Those of us who have seen it, or been cops, EMT's etc and seen some of the darker things here at least start to realize this. Otherwise it's like what you are feeling: the responsibility for others lives. Women Re nurtures, it's more in their nature to nest, the male is the protector.... It's biology, not paranoia.

Look at what they need:
Food, shelter, water, hygiene, meds etc. quite honestly, while guns are sexy.... And you need one, all the 'coolness' isnt necessary.

It's hurricane season, if any of your family needs meds, you can probably get 1-3 months worth from the doc due to that. If not... Find another doc (you may have to pay out of pocket for this)
Just put them into the rotation, use the oldest first.

It's not hard, it just takes some planning and forethought.

FEMA actually has some good 'get you started' publications, but it's more simple than that:
Look at what you use in a day, in a week, in a month.... And find replacements or 'substitute standards' (powdered milk etc)

And yea, money helps. I knew an SOTG Sniper who used to say: "a pistol, bottle of water and $X thousand cash (don't remember if it was 5 or 10) is all the survival kit you need"
There's something to be said for that.... But I'll take my knife, water, lighter purifyer etc too!

If I can help, let me know....might as well get some mileage out of this degree lol!

troy_mclure · Jul 8, 2013

Nomad said:
Heck, even in Faluja (2004) I rarely emptied a belt at one sitting!
When were you where?

All other options are not gone....

That's the thing.
You CAN afford to fill a couple 5 gal buckets with beans and rice.... Heck, that's the price of a couple mags!

mozul, iraq primarily, but ran route clearance/ied sweeps, and convoy escort all over the country . first stryker brigade-2id. 2003-2004

dbradgriffith · Jul 10, 2013

Again, thanks for the advice. They made a very vague announcement of "upcoming changes" at work today. So I might end up implementing some of this sooner than later.

Surfmonkey · Apr 14, 2014

Been a while since this thread has been active...Personally, I believe there are only a few things that could cause the SHTF in multiple areas of the U.S.

1. Multiple, similtaneous terrorist strikes that interfere with shipping and movement of goods/groceries
2. Mass power outages that last for more than 5 days
3. Orchestrated financial calamity creating civil unrest and the have nots want what the haves have...
4. Multiple staged riots, either religious, racial, or class

I think initially you would see small bands of poorly organized and poorly trained thugs preying on those that are easy marks.
Later, organized, better trained groups will forage and take by force what they want--without concience, or care for you and yours

Initial 3-7 days will be critical for your survival. Later, building of alliances will be necessary to survive for longer periods of time.

Anyhow, just a few quick thoughts...

Vermiform · Apr 14, 2014

Surfmonkey said:
1. Multiple, similtaneous terrorist strikes that interfere with shipping and movement of goods/groceries

Or a series of Beslan style events.

tim9lives · Apr 29, 2014

A big solar flare which wipes out the internet and fries most electronics and wipes out the grid would be pretty bad.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/06/26/solar-flare-electrical-threat-column/2461313/

madwabbit · Apr 30, 2014

I'm in the "keep the car maintained and higher than 50% on fuel, and a year of living expenses in savings" boat. I have ~2 weeks of supplies to run the house without leaving for anything, and I generally bump that to 4 weeks including a small pile of mixed cash during hurricane season.

It makes me feel warm fuzzies to have all kinds of storage and preps, but the reality is that with the savings boosted and debt minimized I'm prepared for more realistic SHTF ie: lose job, get seriously hurt, etc and I'll have the resources to acquire anything I'll need on a priority basis later.

So for easy explanation if they propose another gun ban I could afford a couple of 200% marked up AR's, and in the mean time have the funds available for anything else that might happen anyway.

dsonyay · Apr 30, 2014

Best SHTF / TEOTWAWKI book I've read to date is "Patriots."

It pretty much takes all the Get out of Dodge, prepper/survivalist strategies and presents it in a very realistic (believable) fictional story. There's so much information in this book that can be put to use now.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots_Novels_Series

I'm planning to reread it this summer.

madwabbit · Apr 30, 2014

adding to kindle que, thanks

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