Works very well, for about a month, then all that gas turns to unusable crap
Don’t do this, i know the result you will get.
No eyebrows and a flamed out vehicle.
And to add insult to injury, the engine never started.
Weisshund, given this much thought before?
This. LOL.
Well, there has to be a way to make the fuel usable again. Can’t worry too much about the car at that point, its either driving or not. Wouldn’t a stabilizer work if one could procure enough fuel to save? and stabilizer of course.
I have tried it (minus the igniting part) when the battery was working and it got my car moving to get to a shop (and save on a tow). I can only imagine it would be bad to try and ignite it with a lighter or something.
Can confirm. Auto shop instructor was less than amused.
Catch a Wave
Let’s see - if I survive the blast and radiation fallout, I retreat to my small farm, which has been here since 1849. On the way, I knock over a pharmacy and take as much as I can, particularly the thyroid med I’m dependent on, since I’ve had my thyroid removed. Vitamins, since it will be a while before I can provide enough nutrition to keep me healthy. I’d also hit Tractor supply, take their stock of animal antibiotics and other things. I’d take all the Sta-Bil I could get my hands on. Get a tank for diesel for the tractor. I have city water, but I also have a well. Pump is run by electricity, so I might have to devise some sort of hand pump situation. I do have a generator, but fuel isn’t going to last forever. I’d steal a bicycle. I have horses, but a bike for short trips would be better than wasting fuel for the car or tractor, and probably faster than a horse could sustain. Start the garden. If there are any goats left without owners, I’d appropriate a few. The deer and turkey are very populous around here, so I guess I’d learn to hunt. I’m pretty sure I could field dress either of those if I had to. I’ve been meaning to pick up the Firefox series of books, that would be my required reading for quite a while.
StG
Oh, I’d also stock up on every roll of TP and tampon/pad/moon cup I could find. Tampons will be the currency of the land once production stops.
StG
Also: Bandaids and topical antibiotics.
Good point. My brother, who has a bizarrely large cache of weapons in his house, likes to joke (I hope) about stockpiling toilet paper because it will be like currency in after the collapse of civilization. My brother is the most gentle, soft-spoken guy. He’s just armed to the fucking teeth. And he has lots of toilet paper in the house.
My thought is by the time the weak are weeded out, most people will be behind band-aid booboos. If it doesn’t need a proper bandage, they’ll just ignore it. Same with most lightweight topical antibiotics. Alcohol is easy to make and sterilizes well, if a lot more painfully.
Tell him to jump on the feminine hygiene bandwagon - people will wipe with leaves or rags, but when a woman spends a quarter of her adult life bleeding vaginally, it has to be contained.
StG
Modern societies are extremely dependent on transportation and communications and electricity for virtually everything. If it gets disrupted, it all goes sideways in a matter of days or even hours.
There’s no way it turns out even remotely how anybody thinks it would. I believe in being prepared in a broad sense for natural disasters, but. Given the level of general asshattery in society now when the lights are on and more than full bellies, well I don’t want to think about it.
Unappreciated by many, infections from minor wounds, especially in an environment in which immune systems are already stressed or compromised and clean water for bathing and and laundry may be luxuries, can all too frequently lead to major illness and death. One of the things repeatedly emphasized in my wilderness first responder class was that no minor cut or scratch deep enough to draw blood was too small to ignore, and cleaning, disinfecting, and covering such wounds was key to preventing more significant systemic illness that would require strong antibiotics and immediate evacuation. I’ve known a number of Vietnam vets who operated in various forward capacities and every single one of them either experienced or directly observed infections from scratches or contaminated water leading to systemic infection (septicemia, severe gastrointestinal illness, et cetera) that was or would have been life-threatening without modern medical treatment. No matter how “strong” you may be in normal life, living under constant stress, fatigue, poor nutrition, and significantly elevated background radiation will reduce immune response effectiveness to a fraction of normal capability.
Also, those thinking that they’re going to go taking shopping expeditions after the mushroom clouds start appearing on the horizon are engaging in fantasy. A good chunk of the remaining population, and especially the hardy types likely to be well armed, are going to have the same thought in mind. That is pretty much the best way to get killed in a riot or robbery. If you are thinking that you are going to survive this kind of attack, you really should have a stockpile of all of the supplies you expect to need for at least a couple of years (food, water purification, equipment, weapons and ammunition, et cetera). The problem with that is such a stash is going to be way more than you can haul, so unless you plan on having a secret stash in some remote, difficult to access hidden keep, you’re going to end up being the target of everyone who needs your supplies. Your best bet is to be part of an existing community with strong neighbor or family ties, the ability to cultivate and preserve food, geographically defensible and remote enough that it isn’t on a main highway or otherwise an obvious target, and containing military veterans with experience in tactics of defense, extended pre-hospital medical treatment, and a decent collection of small arms and perhaps access to heavier weapons and ordnance from a nearby National Guard armory or mining/quarrying operation.
Toilet paper and tampons would be welcomed, of course, but there are natural substitutes, and it would be wise to at least read up on, if not practice, the pre-20th century practices long after Mr. Whipple runs out of Charmin to squeeze. The one thing people invariably forget about is salt; we don’t generally think of salt as being precious or rare (unless you are a historian of Roman military or an etymologist) but unless you live on a sea shore or near a salt mine, salt is a nearly unsourceable material with a wide variety of uses in food preservation and hide treatment, as well as a necessary dietary mineral.
Personally, in any global nuclear war unless I’m in transit I expect to be at Ground Zero or near enough that survival is an academic exercise measured in days at most. I’m hoping that the kind of good sense that is becoming all too infrequent in world leaders controlling nuclear arsenals prevails. It is disconcerting to think that the most level-headed and reserved holder of a significant nuclear arsenal may be the Peoples Republic of China, while Putin saber-rattles his way through conflict and Trump isn’t even sure what the nuclear triad is.
Stranger
But we’ve had apocalypse-like conditions before. Completely lawless regions. Huge plagues and famines.
A lot of bad shit goes down. But sooner or later people organize. Groups form fortifications. Those forts grow in size and resources while the people outside if anything reduce in number. There are significant backward steps but the overall trend is towards more organization hence how we are where we are.
I’m not sure that that contradicts anything you’ve said.
I guess I’m just trying to argue against the idea, popular in American culture right now, that humans are “really” monsters, and once the shackles are off we’ll revert to our true form.
You are part of Five Eyes. You are good to get as much Russkie love as anyone else.
For this reason, third world countries will fare a lot better than the highly developed part of the world. They already function on a very limited infrastructure, little dependence on an energy grid, with very little transportation of goods over large distances. Most essential goods (food, fuel, buiding materials, etc.) are of local origin. There is widespread local familiarity with agriculture, animal husbandry, architecture, folk medicine. In some parts of the world, the apocalypse might not even be noticed.
True enough, in some circumstances. Some are dependent on food aid, though. They will definitely notice the apocalypse. But the higher malnutrition/starvation rate may not upend the society/existing government.
I am, of course, speaking as though there will not be a nuclear winter. It’s contentious, as far as I know, with full-winter scenarios being considered unlikely by the majority but “nuclear fall” still being a realistic possibility. I have trouble researching the topic and finding mainstream modern scientific, non-politicized, views, though, so I may have the wrong idea.
Errr, what again? I live in a Third World Country, and although the question is moot for us since we will be nuked to orbit come nuclear war time anyway, even if somehow all the warheads targeting us fail, we are still absolutely fucked in the short, medium and long term.
I think most people don’t realize that the majority of people in the “Third World” live in cities.
Ooh, percentage urban by country. Just for reference. Urban may be defined differently by different countries, though.
I’m a hobby farmer out in the middle of nowhere with pigs, chickens, ducks, a large orchard and a gigantic garden.
I have been a successful hunter for every game species in my area and dress and butcher my own animals. If I’m judicious, I probably have enough ammunition for ~10 years of hunting large and small game.
I process and can my own fruits, vegetables, and meats.
I’m a serious forager with strong knowledge about edible plants and fungus in my state.
I’m a certified Wilderness First Responder and I keep a supply of antibiotics and other medications for my farm animals.
I was a Navy Seabee Builder and can build a fence, a house, a heavy timber bridge, and everything in between.
And in the event of global thermonuclear war, I’d be fucked.