The ultimate post-apocalyptic survival scenario thread

I was inspired to create this discussion after finally watching The Road, which did, eventually, come to little one-stoplight Bloomington, Indiana. (I thought the movie was pretty disappointing and boring, but that’s for another thread.) It definitely got me thinking, as such films often do, about survival in a scenario where there was a collapse of society and a shortage of resources.

Now, there are so many different permutations of this scenario, it would be impossible to list every one, but I’ll say for the sake of simplifying it that in this context, a post-apocalyptic event would be something worse than, say, Hurricane Katrina or another disaster which the government and military is at least nominally able to control, even if only to a small degree. The survival scenario I am working under is one in which there is no government power; there is intense competition for scarce resources; large numbers of people have died (from disease, from radiation, whatever) and communications technology is completely or almost completely inactive. So, basically, like the scenario of The Road, although the total lack of vegetation and animal life (with no explanation) need not be assumed.

Some things to consider:

Cooperation

Most post-apocalyptic films, with the exception of the much-maligned The Postman, suffer from a fatal flaw which is that there are either no organized groups of people working in cooperation, or what organized groups there are are evil and seek only to rob and kill everyone else. The hero is inevitably a lone-wolf character who subsists completely on his own. This scenario is absurd. In reality, there would be at least some degree of cooperation among people who are trying to survive and not act in a predatory way. I am not willing to believe that small towns or neighborhoods would immediately turn on each other. Small communities with access to food and water, and presumably with weapons, would build fortifications and shelter, and work towards the common goal of sustaining life, possibly allowing other people to join the community, and growing strong through numbers.

Travel

In a scenario such as The Road where travel is somehow necessary (to escape radiation, say) there would be mobile groups of people. Travel would be initially accomplished by motor vehicles. Large 4x4 trucks that can get over rough terrain and bypass traffic jams on the road would be ideal. Some would also use motorcycles, like dirt bikes, for even greater mobility. In this case the most successful people would probably be those who have large reserves of gasoline. Vehicles such as the army’s K5000 Blazer, which are designed to run on different types of fuels, would be prized.

Gasoline would be obtained initially from filling stations, and then from other travelers (probably through either barter or outright robbery.) If gasoline were to run out, travel by horseback would be useful. If the conditions were so bad that even horses couldn’t be sustained (as in The Road) then foot travel would become the only viable form. In this case, again, strength would be in numbers. Large groups of people traveling in battle-style formations with a vanguard and a rearguard of armed men would be the safest, with the women and children in the center, along with maybe designated supply-carriers.

Trade

Certain items would be invaluable. Obviously, nonperishable food and water. Gasoline. Cigarettes and alcohol would be very desirable, as would opiates to numb pain and stimulants to keep people awake. “Recreational” drugs like pot and hallucinogens would be useful only in the context of a fortified and safe area where people could afford to let their guard down. The most important drugs would be the “practical” ones - the ones with medicinal uses, even cocaine (as a numbing agent or to keep guards more alert in a desperate situation, like extreme sleep deprivation.) BIRTH CONTROL would be a huge commodity and condoms and hormone pills would be as valuable as gold.

Protection

Save the gun debates for another thread - it’s simply an inevitability that firearms would play a role in any survival scenario. This would be a practical consideration that everyone would have to keep in mind. Military caches of automatic rifles and ammo would be the best source (although the role of the military in this scenario could be one of many things - they might be unified and guarding the equipment like Dobermans, or they might be fragmented into different factions and scattered around the country, leaving bases and warehouses unguarded.) Long range rifles (and binoculars and scopes) would be important for engaging targets at a distance (and hunting), pistols would be needed for personal protection especially for someone who was traveling alone, and machine guns could be mounted on trucks. It is not a given that the world would immediately degenerate into fighting, but there would probably be some groups of robbers and predators just looking to steal food and gasoline, and protection from them would be necessary.

Entertainment

It’s no joke - entertainment would be important. In a wasteland, people would need something to pass the time and a reason to live and not simply commit suicide out of desperation. Even under the shittiest circumstances people would find a way to have a good time (there were people painting and playing music in the Nazi concentration camps.) Musicians, artists, entertainers (people who memorized theater or could do stuff like magic acts), they would be much-appreciated by the downtrodden citizens of our sorry world.

Sex

Women would be in danger of being raped - they would have to be extra careful. Again as before, like men or anyone else, their best hope is in numbers, in organized groups that can fight off potential attackers.

I will add more to this thread as I think of it. But feel free to share any thoughts you might have.

Women may be in danger of more than rape – slavery for the purpose of procreation is a possibility. Depending on how shitty things get, it would be a perfectly rational decision not to bring children into it. But if enough women make that decision, then the ultimate and total collapse of whatever civilization remains is pretty much guaranteed.

But I think too much depends on the nature and severity of the disaster to chart out what might happen. For instance, if DC is nuked, there may be a decapitation of the Federal leadership, but most of the actual resouces will still be around. And most of the elected officials at the state and local levels as well. The scenario that plays out could be as simple as calling for new elections to Congress, or maybe a new constitutional convention, or individual state governments looking to get out of wider commitments. Texas, I’m looking at you!

But maybe that’s not a big enough disaster. Actually, I’m sure some people would be delighted.

Maybe you should pick a disaster. Plague’s always good. Let’s see… asteroid strike, super volcano, melting of the polar ice caps, another ice age… Let’s not forget an oldie but goodie – global thermonuclear war.

Well shit. That works really well. (sleeper) shotgun blast to the head> Next?

One stop shopping for survival in a collapse. Maybe not post-apocalyptic, but he’s got some good advice.

Best site ever to prepare you for the inevitable zombpocalypse is Zombie Squad. It’s full of all kinds of advice for equipment, first aid, homestead living, food and water saving plans, vehicles and firearms. They also have zombie fan club stuff, like movie and game reviews, plus what-would-you-do scenarios.

Religion and politics is verboten so they can focus on preparedness, and not sound like tinfoil hat wearers and conspiracy theorist gun nuts.

This thread is also going on: When civilization collapses: the first 72 hours

If you haven’t yet read Dies the Fire by S. M. Stirling, you really should! It’s all about surviving in a post-apocalyptic world.

p.s. In this book, armour and swords play a big role, so methinks you would like it.

actually, any area that has a concentration of SCA in it has a built in medieval government all ready to step in and take over the government … No shit, there is already an officers regnum, with officers for each need ranging from Seneschal who is the equivalent of a prime minister through chiurgeon who is anything ranging from a first responder up through neurosurgeon [many medical personnel play SCA. I have had a bandaid put on by a cardiologist at Pennsic] through chronicler = recording secretary and person in charge of publishing the news, chatelaine - someone who makes contact between new people and people who can help them adapt, frequently runs the slops chest [loaner clothing] and classes teaching people what they need to know to blend in at events. Even has a heierarchy of heads of state, running from a local seneschal or shire reeve, through baron, prince and king … =)

Many members are active or retired military, and can use guns as well as pokey pointed stuff, and many of them have gonnes as well [useful links at the bottom of the page]

I don’t know if people would be able to maintain their enthusiasm about that kind of stuff in a true civilization-collapse of the kind that entails the deaths of millions of people, possibly including their families. I think the need for basic things like food and water would quickly take priority over things like local government.

Another thought:

Communication

It cannot be stressed enough that our modern society is totally dependent upon instantaneous communication. A collapse of our commonly used channels of communication between cities, states and countries would be utterly devastating. Yet another one of the points on which The Postman is alarmingly accurate. In a true wasteland, pockets of survivors might not even know if the people in the next town over are alive, let alone the people in New York or Oregon or Illinois. If all you can see are corpses and burned out rubble for the three or four mile radius around you, you might as well be living in an entire world that has been annihilated. Knowing that there are other survivors out there, and especially knowing that there are organized groups of them, is one of those things that strengthens peoples’ resolve and gives them something to live for. Without communication, such things would be unknowable and therefore isolated survivors might think themselves to be the only people left on the whole planet.

Networks of communication would need to be set up somehow. A postman transporting letters or even just spoken news between clusters of survivors would do a tremendous amount to restore a semblance of civilization.

What is this “k5000 blazer”? Is that the correct spelling?

Not a clue what the OP was talking about, but just FYI, this thread is what’s known as a zombie. Check out the post-dates from the original postings - you’ve gone and reanimated it now.

For your actual question, I only know of two military multi-fuel engines offhand - the M35 trucks (or whatever form they end up in) burn a shitton of various fuels (don’t mix them up for best results) with the LDS 465 engine. You also see those trucks with the 427 engine which is also multifuel, but takes fewer types of fuels.

A good listing of basic specs is on the wiki page.