"Grid Down" Would Be Unthinkable!

[honestlou]

I'm not familiar with the book mentioned earlier in the thread, but I highly recommend "One Second After". It's a good read, entertaining, but gives a realistic picture of what life would be like in the U.S. if the grid went down. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Second-After-John-Matherson-Novel/dp/0765327252

Have any of y'all watched "Naked and Afraid"? They drop a couple of people off somewhere remote, no clothes, just one item each, and they try to survive for three weeks. They usually bring a firestarter, a knife, or a pot. I haven't watched it a lot, but from memory they usually lose 15-20 pounds over three weeks. Very few thrive enough to think they could go on for any length of time.

 

[noob]

It's been 20 years since I've lived on the Westbank. Back then EVERYONE on the Westbank had access to drugs. The store on the corner sold what was called a "starter kit" which consisted of a Brillo pad, a lighter, and a crack pipe.

When I say drugs, I mean medicine. As I'm a pharmacist.

 

[machinedrummer]

I'm not familiar with the book mentioned earlier in the thread, but I highly recommend "One Second After". It's a good read, entertaining, but gives a realistic picture of what life would be like in the U.S. if the grid went down. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Second-After-John-Matherson-Novel/dp/0765327252

Have any of y'all watched "Naked and Afraid"? They drop a couple of people off somewhere remote, no clothes, just one item each, and they try to survive for three weeks. They usually bring a firestarter, a knife, or a pot. I haven't watched it a lot, but from memory they usually lose 15-20 pounds over three weeks. Very few thrive enough to think they could go on for any length of time.

I thought Naked and Afraid was filmed in the 800 block of Bourbon Street at 11pm on a Saturday night.

 

[Jstudz220]

I thought Naked and Afraid was filmed in the 800 block of Bourbon Street at 11pm on a Saturday night.

Impossible. I’ve seen a few half decent looking women on naked and afraid lol

 

[folivier]

Probably the best scenario is to have a remote bugout place with enough supplies to last through a year at least. Basically you'd have to hide out from scavengers. After the year either our govt. recovers or a large percentage of our population would die off. Then you'd be faced with fighting off gangs. Probably would be best to scout out and find a community that you could join. But it would never be like our society is now. At least not in our lifetimes. My opinion is it's best to keep what we have now.

 

[Conaso]

"One Second After" is fiction by William R. Forstchen; "One Year After" and "The Final Day" are the other books in his series about survivalism. I would also recommended another survivalist fiction, 10 books, by A. (Angry) American. They don't give you detailed survival information much as "food for thought." These books made several impressions on me - the selfishness and greed of some, sacrifices some people will make for family and "the greater good," cruelty and indifference of nature, and no matter how bad you think an event may be the aftermath is much worst.

 

[sarky]

I'm a retired Navy SERE Instructor and have been teaching Disaster Prep and Urban Survival for more than 20 years. Put together a disaster box, Have alternative means of cooking food, making or accumulating potable water and sanitary needs. Get a generator, you only need one big enough to run the appliance with the most surge/draw and maybe a little more, as you aren't trying to run the whole house. Use it to run your fridge long enough to cool it down, then hook up the next electrical item you need to run. Seal up the room you intend to sleep in and insulate it as much as possible. Run the AC long enough to cool down the room before you retire for the night. Dump the MREs, they are expensive, will bind you up and don't have a long shelf life. Get freeze dried meals with a 20-25 year shelf life. Get some 55 gallon plastic drums for water and a tarp to make a rain catch. If you aren't near water that you can filter, have a means of transporting water. Portable solar panels to share batteries and power tools helps as well.

 

[Kuffaar]

Its funny. I'm not too concerned about running out of food or water. Yes very important. But desperate people in desperate times worries me more.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

 

[Core]

Living without power is not super difficult: unfortunately we have become accustomed to amenities like running water, climate control, lighting, and digital entertainment. You need a manual well pump, water filtration depending on your water source, food stores, an outdoor/indoor wood hearth, and oil lanterns. Our vehicles use a lot of fuel! The early magneto carb run combustion engines were small and sipped fuel, producing low horsepower. These vehicles had to be light, most could be lifted out of a ditch by several men.

Homes used to be built to heat and cool easily. Now the latest homes are sealed super tight and operate on controlled air exchange. Large ridge vents allowed hot air to flow out in summer months.

Your best net is to modify your home using new tech to prepare for climate change. Solar panels, battery banks, hand operated well pump with water storage tank, cool dry food storage, and fuel reserves. Consider an electronic vehicle for transport when gas runs out in emergencies. You can run led lighting with solar or go oil lanterns. Either way you go in todays age it will be a big leap and cost money because we have been coddled into a false sense of security with gasoline and electricity. Solar requires redundancy and spare parts and knowledge to keep it running optimally and maintained.

Solar radios and modifying your home to vent heat, cool dry food storage and food preservation is critical. Its all easy stuff to learn and enculturate. You also want to have hand tools, because high draw electric tools will stress your solar system unless you build a commercial system (which isn't a bad idea but expensive).

 

[Core]

Honestly if we slipped into a state of chaos: due to civil war, or aggressive environmental changes, you are better establishing a network of people in your community. Going it alone would be suicide. You'll need physical security in numbers, and medical care facilities with docs and nurses. Successful communities in the past built their own facilities. Nowadays we view everything as external and the sustainability of local communities is being destroyed.

 

[jbanks2]

Good reads...

I'm not familiar with the book mentioned earlier in the thread, but I highly recommend "One Second After". It's a good read, entertaining, but gives a realistic picture of what life would be like in the U.S. if the grid went down. Here's a link:

https://www.amazon.com/Second-After-John-Matherson-Novel/dp/0765327252

Have any of y'all watched "Naked and Afraid"? They drop a couple of people off somewhere remote, no clothes, just one item each, and they try to survive for three weeks. They usually bring a firestarter, a knife, or a pot. I haven't watched it a lot, but from memory they usually lose 15-20 pounds over three weeks. Very few thrive enough to think they could go on for any length of time.

I read the book... Entertaining and YES... An Eye Opener...

Another good book is: Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse

Lots of food for thought...

 

[scoutgunner]

I never really expected the city water to go down,but it did. I have 4 women, 2 men and one boy normally living here but added 2 more males and another daughter. Thank goodness I collect rainwater, 800 gallons worth. At least we could flush as I had a dozen 5 gal buckets.they no longer chuckle at my prepping. I’m 75 now, they better learn.

 

[Riverc]

Many people would die once everything runs out.The strong will survive longer but something's going to get you soon are later.
The direction the world is headed with the New World Order it may happen,hope not but who knows for sure,except the Global Elite that are behind all this.

 

[KDerekT83]

Has anyone here had the opportunity to do SERE training? Typically only special forces do the training with the exception of personnel taking an IA billet or going TAD.

I didn't take it, but if the opportunity arose, I'd love to do it. I remember seeing someone post that were a SERE instructor in the Navy. I wonder if said Bayoushooter would be willing to teach an individual or even a small group?

 

[vr1967]

I never really expected the city water to go down,but it did. I have 4 women, 2 men and one boy normally living here but added 2 more males and another daughter. Thank goodness I collect rainwater, 800 gallons worth. At least we could flush as I had a dozen 5 gal buckets.they no longer chuckle at my prepping. I’m 75 now, they better learn.

My wife always fills a tub or two with water in case we lose water, and keeps a pot or bucket nearby, just in case

 

[Xeon64]

Best thing to do is to get he $^#& away from large population centers. You are better off in the woods in the middle no where with supplies than staying around a city where people will be killing each other. Just look at this last storm. People where killing each other over gas.

I have spent nights in the woods of LA sleeping a make shift hut of palmetto leaves. It is doable. Worst part is the mosquitos. You also have to keep you feet dry or you will get foot rot. Not a good thing. I am a Eagle Scout and have taken numerous military survival course when I was younger.

 

[dantheman]

Short term survival is very doable for a lot of people . It's when things stretch into months and longer that your plans start to go to hell .

 

[flyboy]

Short term survival is very doable for a lot of people . It's when things stretch into months and longer that your plans start to go to hell .

Yep. If anyone gets a chance they should watch the movie "The Day After". Although fiction, I would think that similar things would happen with a grid down situation.

 

[foz1359]

Skill sharing

I didn't take it, but if the opportunity arose, I'd love to do it. I remember seeing someone post that were a SERE instructor in the Navy. I wonder if said Bayoushooter would be willing to teach an individual or even a small group?

I'd like to consider getting together with a very small group to share ideas for "urban readiness". Although my family has some farm acreage in NE Louisiana, my home is here and ALL of my resources are within 10 yards of my current seated position. Over the years I've gathered some reasonable gear for "all the above" and would be willing to talk about it with a couple like minded fellas. The fellow that has access to the Rx pad (and physicians, dentists, surgeons, etc) is like gold for me. I rotate a stash of various antibiotics but wouldn't be worth a damn at patching up a sucking chest wound (God forbid)!!! It'd be cool to find a small group where there are some really high value skillsets (ie SERE) that could be shared and an unshakable trust among those sharing them. Message me if this is a good idea!

 

[Old School]

I'd like to consider getting together with a very small group to share ideas for "urban readiness". Although my family has some farm acreage in NE Louisiana, my home is here and ALL of my resources are within 10 yards of my current seated position. Over the years I've gathered some reasonable gear for "all the above" and would be willing to talk about it with a couple like minded fellas. The fellow that has access to the Rx pad (and physicians, dentists, surgeons, etc) is like gold for me. I rotate a stash of various antibiotics but wouldn't be worth a damn at patching up a sucking chest wound (God forbid)!!! It'd be cool to find a small group where there are some really high value skillsets (ie SERE) that could be shared and an unshakable trust among those sharing them. Message me if this is a good idea!

Contact Flyboy, he's a bad as$.