I entered the title in search and got nothing.
Until some good soul can provide a link to this topic…
To give a rough definition of something cataclysmic, here: something along the lines of Hurricane Katrina, or the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, to name only a few, of which there are others of equally devastating proportions, in their own way, in the past, say, half century. Not sure, exactly, to what extent the entire power grid(s)/water mains/other key infrastructural components were effected in those previous examples, but for the purposes of this thread - let’s say there’s no power, no water, and all cell towers within, say, a 50-mile radius are all wiped out.
I live above the Cascadian Subduction Zone. For too long now there’s been talk of The Big One, that it’s overdue, and that for all I know might happen before I can finish this post. (I try not to think about it too much.) (which is why I’m starting a thread on it.)
Started an emergency kit, or actually good-sized tote box, and still trying to figure out what more to add. Any folks here got any of their kits going? And how would you speculate SO’s/families would deal with a catastrophe?
Oh, and fucking shitloads of water.
But I think I’ll still need to buy yet morefucking shitloads of it.
A rifle, a pistol, plenty of ammo. At least two weeks of mre type food. At minimum a basic first aid kit. Water purifier, several gallons of fresh water on hand and fire starter. Tent, sleeping bags. A few fuel cans worth of gas.
Basically, enough supplies to last two weeks and a way to protect yourself. If people are without food and water and you have it you become a target. Hopefully within two weeks the National Guard will be in place restoring order and providing food.
It’s distinctly possible for Cascadia to produce the largest earthquake in seismometer history. If we see something in the 9.4 or 9.5 range, gotta figure nearly complete destruction from Eureka/Redding to Vancouver BC. Two weeks supply won’t be enough, even if we get lucky and none of the volcanoes erupt. Landslides will block the roadways, volcanic ash will ground aviation, shipping by sea will have to wait until the tsunami settles down.
Lets go ahead and split open some of them old steel tanks at Hanford, nothing spices up a cataclysm like Chernobyl-levels of radiation …
This assumes a 200 to 350 year period typical between movements … if we assume the 300 to 800 year period, then things will go so much better … I’d still say two weeks supplies is short.
Hm, a friend has recommended for me:
Momvan or equivalent, my penguin cage rigged for cat [it is 4 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet so it will hold a litter pan and a cat hammock, food and water clip on bowls] and space for bins to hold food and bottled water for hubby, self and cat [or 2 cats, depending] for 2 weeks, 1 long arm each [I opted for my M1 and hubby opted for the Moisin Nagant sniper configured] with an ammo box of ammo each, and our personal choice sidearms and an ammo box each [mine is the Sauer 38H I have mentioned before] with camping gear. As an additional bit, we each have our personal bail out bags, and we each have our papers [marriage certs, birth certs, passports] and $2500 cash each, and some gold 5 gram mini ingots as trade goods for those with delusions of post apocalyptic mad maxdom. We also have medical bail out bags, we get our meds in 3 month increments and keep the stuff that is not disbursed for the week in pac safe bags that are easy to grab [and the refrigerated injectables are stored in zippy bags where they are easy to grab]
The nice thing about our momvan is that we can have one of our aluminum frame military cots open and braced in and have half the space in back still available - totes slide under it, and the cat cage fits in the back as part of the bracing. We could theoretically ignore traffic safety laws and have one of us sleep in the cot as the other person is driving. Packing the tent gives us plenty of room if we camp in a standard park or campground [or evacuation facility…] so we can leave a danger zone simply by grabbing the bailout bags, adding a seabag of our clothing, and both laptop bags. About the only thing I would consider adding is agoal zero or equivalent to give us the ability to recharge assorted electronics without needing to run the van or look for an electrical source.
Oddly, I do know someone who got tired of trying to keep temp jobs that would allow her to pay for an actual apartment, so she bought a conversion van camper that was equipped with solar panels on the top. Being vegetarian, she doesn’t tend to use lots of refrigerated stuff so her main power use is laptop/cell phone and lighting - so she finds places to park where she can steal wifi for internet. She says it is liberating not being forced to make 4 to 6 thousand dollars a month, she makes what she needs and banks the excess that would normally pay for rent. She rents a post box at one of the address of convenience places to register the van and get her mail and she has a membership at a gym for showers and exercise. She took the overall idea from a gentleman over at Customer Sucks who lives in a converted business van [he outlined his progress at converting the van on list.]
I like to think of multiple functions in my survival gear. For example, I don’t have MRE rations, but I do buy my canned goods by the case. That way, I’m eating everything within a few months of normal dinners, but I also have a dozen cans each of refried beans, chicken noodle soup and diced tomatoes. I also buy charcoal so that I usually have 50 or so pounds on hand. I have a freezer that usually has 50+ pounds of meat it in (I buy it on sale). If the Big One hit, I’d have everything I need to turn all that meat into jerky before it thaws and spoils.
I may not be the most prepared, but I am doing it in a way that minimizes cost.
A tsunami would have to come through the Strait of Juan de Fuca (which it will), make a sharp left, get through the San Juan archipelago, and then make a right turn into the bay. I’m not too worried about a tsunami even though I’m only about 60 feet ASL. The shaking won’t do the house any good, though.
Well, you know what happens every time Germany unifies. We’re kind of overdue for a European land war, and Angela Merkel has to be getting pretty frustrated with the Greeks by now.
Lots of preppers believe that the only thing keeping people from killing their neighbours and eating their piggies is the law against it.
I would bet the thousands of years without codified laws probably saw fairly similar murder rates to what we see today. Maybe even lower. I figure our social network will do a fine job of keeping order for the brief time we’re without enforced laws.
Not to say that I don’t have preparations in case I’m totally wrong.
Yeah, the history of disasters just doesn’t support the notion that after skipping a meal or two your neighbors are going to crack open your skull and feast on the warm goo inside.
Yes, there are periods of civil disturbance, and times of ethnic cleansing where your neighbors get together to murder you. But those aren’t caused by natural disasters. It wasn’t like there was a power outage and out of nowhere Kristalnacht happened.
How do you think things worked during those thousands of years without laws? People defended themselves and banded together to defend their their tribe/village. It wasn’t a fear of Og or social norms that deterred killings. It was the fact that if you killed someone,
their brother/cousin was going to kill you or the village would lynch you.
If we are talking total long term breakdown of society thats what we would go back to… A couple of weeks disruption wouldn’t be that bad. There would be some looting, etc…
See, my thought was always that I’d go straight for some off-road motorcycles. Great mileage, durable, easy to fix, and can get around a lot of obstacles. I also think that most other people won’t think of this and they will probably be easy to procure.
My only drawback is lack of protection. There’s no metal cover to keep people from shooting me as I drive by.
Agreed on your points re: motorcycles. I’ve taken my street bike some pretty gnarly places on sport touring tires. I once doubled an adult male up then down a boulder-filled trail when the quads couldn’t navigate the obstacles. My entire immediate family could fit on the bike in the case of a really dire bug out situation.
I don’t picture the post-apocalypse as full of shootings, but even so, a car body doesn’t provide any protection from centre fire rifle rounds. Pistol rounds will go right through glass and most doors too. I have a degree from YouTube with a major in Comparative Watching Rednecks Shoot Stuff.
I am not a prepper, per se - we enjoy shooting, and to shoot regularly both keeps the ability to handle firearms safely and with accuracy. It also requires ammunition, and bulk buying by the ammo can is cheaper than by the brick.
As to the weapon choice - the M1 was my Dad’s WW2 issue weapon, and my 38H [and also my P.08] were looted [for lack of a better description.] I have been using them for 40+ years, am thoroughly accustomed to them, and know the routine maintenance and many repairs for them. Better something familiar and in known condition than something new and spiffy that you aren’t as familiar with.
An M1 with a personal family connection is priceless! Hang on to that sucker and hand it down to your children, nieces or nephews with a threat that if they ever sell it you will haunt the shit out of them. Old mil. surps are awesome in general.
Yeah seriously. The reason why we have laws in the first place is to codify our social norms. And the reason murdering and killing people is illegal is most people find it distasteful.
People have this perception from too much Mad Max and Walking Dead that as soon as the power goes out, it’s neighbor vs neighbor over the last cans of soup. Yes, looting is probably going to be widespread as people try to scavenge for whatever critical supplies they need. But during Hurricane Sandy, the residents of Hoboken, NJ didn’t storm Weehawken to take their women and oil. Even much of the hysteria about the post Katrina violence in New Orleans proved to be fabricated.
Unlike what you see in movies and TV, most people would rather be with other people than wandering the wasteland.
I’m curious. How much every man for himself looting, pillaging and raping actually occurs in massive catastrophes IRL?
