I thought it was a great movie.
Doomsday Preppers
- Thread starter deedubb
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I thought it was a great movie.
It's funny this conversation never came up in an earlier thread. I'm not obsessed with it or anything, but the topic has come up in conversation amongst friends many many times during my lifetime. Initially it was a Mad Max sort of scenario, who could scavenge and survive. As time has gone by the scenario changes to include your family, and the whole need for fuel idea has evolved into how to deal with circumstances like an EMP (read One Second After) or even a catastrophic solar flare (even NASA admits there is a 1 in 8 chance of this before 2020) We couldn't really document the electromagnetic impact of such an event because microchips are a 20th century invention. Either way, what happens if you wake up one morning and look over to see your alarm clock isn't working, phone doesn't work, TV won't work, laptop won't fire up, car won't start (unless it is pre-70's) and all of your neighbors are standing outside their houses shrugging their shoulders. It would be a lot like a power outage- but then days go by, then weeks.
How would the news get out regarding what had happened? Without news people tend to develop their own theories which could cause a panic. I can almost guarantee some jagoff would be running around saying the aliens had invaded, or that we were at war (and we could be). How would anyone know? Who here has a shortwave radio powered by vacuum tubes?
Infrastructure starts to fail-supplies dwindle. There is a lot of food in this country, growing food itself isn't effected by EMP, but the means to harvest, and transport that food to consumers would be. How long until the canned goods at the grocery store sell out? How would you pay for them anyway? Debit cards aren't functional, can't get cash out of the bank. People start to get hungry, and they get desperate. Hunt? How many of you guys know how to field dress, and render an animal you killed so that it would be edible for your families?
What if it is cold out when it happens? My house doesn't even have a real fireplace (we have a gas fireplace). How do I keep my family warm?
In the suburb I live in I hardly know my own neighbors beyond a friendly nod when we are out working in our yards in summer, or a beer or two here and there. There isn't really a "community" vibe going on in my HOA. Why wouldn't they or others eventually try to take what is mine?
The thing here is it could happen. As far as preppers go, I wonder if they have any sort of plan beyond just having a ton of supplies. Supplies are great and all, but as has been mentioned previously in this thread eventually having supplies would make you a target...
As far as my own "disaster kit" I keep a spare propane tank for the grill, and I bought a case of MREs a short while back that will be good for a few more years. I've got batteries for my flashlights, first aid kit and some damn good blankets. I also have about 300 rnds for my Glock. Even with that, after a week the plan would be to hitch the burly trailer to my mountain bike, pack up our gear and my kid into that trailer, and hiking backpacks- then start covering the 125 miles to my parents ranch in rural Colorado. The ranch is better suited for "survival" than my suburban neighborhood.
This is the ranch. You see the neighbors house? Me neither.
So, there it is. "The plan" after that, I guess we would have to see right? Beyond that, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it until "something" happens, and I'm certainly not going to commit substantial sums of my income toward a stockpile I wouldn't be able to move with me in the event I would need to leave.
The other benefit is, if we suffer a more plausible disaster like say a tornado wipes out power for a few weeks I'm stocked to cover for that. This is the real reason I have the things I have.
How would the news get out regarding what had happened? Without news people tend to develop their own theories which could cause a panic. I can almost guarantee some jagoff would be running around saying the aliens had invaded, or that we were at war (and we could be). How would anyone know? Who here has a shortwave radio powered by vacuum tubes?
Infrastructure starts to fail-supplies dwindle. There is a lot of food in this country, growing food itself isn't effected by EMP, but the means to harvest, and transport that food to consumers would be. How long until the canned goods at the grocery store sell out? How would you pay for them anyway? Debit cards aren't functional, can't get cash out of the bank. People start to get hungry, and they get desperate. Hunt? How many of you guys know how to field dress, and render an animal you killed so that it would be edible for your families?
What if it is cold out when it happens? My house doesn't even have a real fireplace (we have a gas fireplace). How do I keep my family warm?
In the suburb I live in I hardly know my own neighbors beyond a friendly nod when we are out working in our yards in summer, or a beer or two here and there. There isn't really a "community" vibe going on in my HOA. Why wouldn't they or others eventually try to take what is mine?
The thing here is it could happen. As far as preppers go, I wonder if they have any sort of plan beyond just having a ton of supplies. Supplies are great and all, but as has been mentioned previously in this thread eventually having supplies would make you a target...
As far as my own "disaster kit" I keep a spare propane tank for the grill, and I bought a case of MREs a short while back that will be good for a few more years. I've got batteries for my flashlights, first aid kit and some damn good blankets. I also have about 300 rnds for my Glock. Even with that, after a week the plan would be to hitch the burly trailer to my mountain bike, pack up our gear and my kid into that trailer, and hiking backpacks- then start covering the 125 miles to my parents ranch in rural Colorado. The ranch is better suited for "survival" than my suburban neighborhood.
This is the ranch. You see the neighbors house? Me neither.
So, there it is. "The plan" after that, I guess we would have to see right? Beyond that, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it until "something" happens, and I'm certainly not going to commit substantial sums of my income toward a stockpile I wouldn't be able to move with me in the event I would need to leave.
The other benefit is, if we suffer a more plausible disaster like say a tornado wipes out power for a few weeks I'm stocked to cover for that. This is the real reason I have the things I have.
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Get a shortwave radio and keep it in a nested faraday cage.
Solar flares would likely only take out a few countries, the rest of the world would tell you what happened.
Maybe I should get an old Karman Ghia like Hess did in The Omega Man...
I liked the movie I am Legend...very interesting.
I liked the movie I am Legend...very interesting.
That wasn't the point. The point was that most people will not have access to the news, and thus rumor could easily dominate the populace causing unrest and possibly panic.
I'm also not saying I adamantly believe any of this is going to happen. I'm just giving my version of a solution to a popular bar room conversation. It's not flawless by any means, but it is the "answer" which allows me to file such things to the back of my mind rather than becoming a "prepper".
you know?
A lot of Doomsday preppers think we'll be moved back to the stone age if we have a disaster...
Look back at the early 1900's, people did fine without instant cellphone connection / internet information. The fact of the matter is today we are better equipped to survive disaster than most times in history.
We have tremendous national military resources, oil supplies, and modern infrastructure.
To be blasted back to the stone ages would require an asteroid hitting the planet. We would be able to survive and adapt to most other crises. People will die, things will get messy, but the human race will endure, and not nearly as bad as many people make it out to be.
Look back at the early 1900's, people did fine without instant cellphone connection / internet information. The fact of the matter is today we are better equipped to survive disaster than most times in history.
We have tremendous national military resources, oil supplies, and modern infrastructure.
To be blasted back to the stone ages would require an asteroid hitting the planet. We would be able to survive and adapt to most other crises. People will die, things will get messy, but the human race will endure, and not nearly as bad as many people make it out to be.
I believe the source of fear is that we have become so dependent on tech that the average Joe wouldn't have a clue how to survive without it.
In the world we live in, anyone could be an instant genius with the help of Google. People become dependent on that sort of thing. So much so that they stumble on basic questions when they don't have access to the answers.
In the early 1900's it was common to survive without technology- people knew how to butcher a chicken, or render meat from a kill. Today, must people get their chicken from a grocery store, and most hunters take their kills to a processing plant to be rendered.
Society was prepped for their day to day life back then. They had tools designed to work without electricity, and they knew how to use them. They owned horses for transport and knew how to take care of them. Their whole society was oriented around surviving with the conveniences they had. A butcher was actually a butcher- Do you think the girl working the meat counter at the grocery store knows how to cut up an actual cow? If an animal is butchered incorrectly the meat is tainted- people get sick. Without meds those people could die.
Our society survives on the conveniences that have developed over these last 100 years, and our population has grown in accordance with our societies ability to support it. If we suddenly got set back 30-40 years there is a giant segment of the population that would be f@#%ed.
We have people who will actually starve, or poison themselves with rancid meat if the Big Macs run out. I'm not kidding.
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If you want to truely understand what and why and how about "prepping", read this book (as starters):
http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Surviving-James-Wesley-Rawles/dp/156384155X
It change my life and the lives of everyone I have passed the book on to.
http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Surviving-James-Wesley-Rawles/dp/156384155X
It change my life and the lives of everyone I have passed the book on to.
changed it how?
Everything. My outlook on the future, how I view current events, priorities in my life, what items and skills are important to posess NOW....everything.
It's like the matrix movie, once the blindfold is taken off everything is seen in a different light.
Loved the Omega Man.
Here’s the thing, I’ve now lived long enough to go through a few doomsday/end of the world scenarios and I’m not even that old. Remember in the late 90’s and everyone was preparing for the year 2000 glitch and the end of the world. Everyone was massing up guns, bullets, food, water etc. Before that, in the 80’s, there was the Cold War and a lot of talk post nuclear fallout. Underground bunkers and food storage was big then too. It’s happened time and time again. And time and time again, nothing happens. As much as we like to think, a doomsday scenario is not unique to our time and situation.
The truth of the matter is every 10-15 years we go through some sort of crisis where we contemplate the end of the world or civilization. Yet, we trudge through and survive as humans do so well. There is no reason to believe we won’t continue to do the same.
A lot of doomsday prepers will say there is no harm in preparing for a doomsday scenario, but that’s not true. There is a lot of cost for preparing for something that probably won’t happen. If you watch the show Doomsday Bunkers on the Discovery Channel, you’ll see many cases of people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars building and stockpiling doomsday bunkers. That’s money being spent today that could be used for other purposes such as investments that could pay for healthcare, retirement and a kid’s college fund. It’s like having an insurance policy against being gored by a rhinoceros. Yes that would be catastrophic and if it ever happened, you’d be glad you had the coverage, but what are the chances that’s going to happen and at what cost are you willing to pay for that security? Would it be worth $5 a day? Sure that doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but that sort of thing adds up and when you factor in the probability of that actually happening it just doesn’t make financial sense.
The truth of the matter is every 10-15 years we go through some sort of crisis where we contemplate the end of the world or civilization. Yet, we trudge through and survive as humans do so well. There is no reason to believe we won’t continue to do the same.
A lot of doomsday prepers will say there is no harm in preparing for a doomsday scenario, but that’s not true. There is a lot of cost for preparing for something that probably won’t happen. If you watch the show Doomsday Bunkers on the Discovery Channel, you’ll see many cases of people spending hundreds of thousands of dollars building and stockpiling doomsday bunkers. That’s money being spent today that could be used for other purposes such as investments that could pay for healthcare, retirement and a kid’s college fund. It’s like having an insurance policy against being gored by a rhinoceros. Yes that would be catastrophic and if it ever happened, you’d be glad you had the coverage, but what are the chances that’s going to happen and at what cost are you willing to pay for that security? Would it be worth $5 a day? Sure that doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but that sort of thing adds up and when you factor in the probability of that actually happening it just doesn’t make financial sense.
Doesn't anyone else ever reference the Mad Max movies when discussing the Apocalypse?
Mad Max introduced me to the whole concept of a world gone down the shitter...
Mad Max introduced me to the whole concept of a world gone down the shitter...
I disagree. It wouldn't take much to set it all off.
The Katrina example is an easy one for people to see how bad things get quickly.
No because I don't want to believe that ass-less chaps are the clothing of choice for a post apocalyptic future. :smile:
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Katrina is a fitting example. A stockpile of food and water and even a bunker would have done you no good under 30 feet of water. Same with the Japanese tsunami.
Also, Katrina/Tsunami was just an unfortunate even in a specific time and location. People survived and life went on. People were either in the position to be saved or not. There were very few scenarios where having the right stuff, would have meant the difference between life or death.
It's like wearing a parachute every time you board a plane. Could it come in handy? Sure, given the exact right circumstances. But the odds are that it isn't. And if something went catastrophically wrong, you may not actually be in the position use it.
I agree, that things could happen. But anything could happen. You could die of a heart attack while you are stockpiling your food and water. You could get hit by lightning. If you took that mentality then you should have every imaginable insurance and completely maxed out. Ultimately you'll have to just weigh out the risks and rewards that you feel comfortable with. Personally, I let statistics and history make that decision. The statistical odds that I’ll get caught in some sort of freak natural disaster, civil unrest, or catastrophe AND be in the position to have all the right shelters, equipment and supplies to utilize (i.e. bunker in a flood) are so small, that I’d rather focus that time, attention and money on things that are much more likely to kill me (eating healthy, exercising, etc.)
Here's the thing about Katrina - move the f*** out of New Orleans!!
The cost to prep for the end of the world consumes funds / time that could better your existing situation today.
Prep accordingly with a small % of funds / time, not more than 2-3% of your money should be allocated at the max for a disaster scenario.
Otherwise you're just wasting money and time for something that may never happen, or if it does, it may happen in such a way that makes the prep totally irrelevant, such as you going on vacation and being caught in a disaster, and your thousands of dollars of prep going to waste else where.
VegasN$X is spot on. Most preppers seem like they are consumed in prepping, and totally sacrifice / waste quality of life TODAY in doing so. Most of them don't have that much money to waste, so it's even more tragic because they're giving up huge opportunity costs to prep.
The cost to prep for the end of the world consumes funds / time that could better your existing situation today.
Prep accordingly with a small % of funds / time, not more than 2-3% of your money should be allocated at the max for a disaster scenario.
Otherwise you're just wasting money and time for something that may never happen, or if it does, it may happen in such a way that makes the prep totally irrelevant, such as you going on vacation and being caught in a disaster, and your thousands of dollars of prep going to waste else where.
VegasN$X is spot on. Most preppers seem like they are consumed in prepping, and totally sacrifice / waste quality of life TODAY in doing so. Most of them don't have that much money to waste, so it's even more tragic because they're giving up huge opportunity costs to prep.
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Balance is what it comes down to.
The extremes are the people who don't even have a spare D battery for their flashlight to the people who have a basement of food.
Either extreme is.... extreme.
The best idea in "prepping" is to stay healthy - because that's most likely what's going to "get" you. Yet many smoke cigarettes, are obese, don't excercise, have lousy diets, etc. #1 priority is to stay strong - mentally and physically. Chances of anything catastrophic (except a health issue) happening in your short 80 to 90 year lifetime = slim-to-none :smile:.
Y2k I had a huge new years eve party at my house. At 11:59 I made my way to the breaker panel. I threw the main at 12:00 midnight on the dot. I waited for the girls to scream before I turned it back on:smile: you'd thought new kids on the block had walked in, LOL!
If I get gored by a rhino it would most likely not be best to have the insurance just like if we are hit by a massive asteroid it's probably best to be right at the point of impact. No sense in suffering for a few months before the sun goes out.
LoL- you are absolutely right about this. A friend of mine's ex-wife went off the deep end on prepping a few years back. Her FB page tells the tale of how she first became "politically aware" (Randist) and how that devolved into the fantasy of Prep. She became consumed with the idea of getting stocked up on goods, and gold (because gold will still be good for trading- which I actually doubt). I got so tired of constant political rants, and daily posts on the value of gold that I eventually blocked her (and she was divorcing my friend). We saw her a few months ago when she came by to pick up her kids who were over for the afternoon to play. Her conversation went immediately to the Presidential debates, which turned almost as quickly to her prepping effort. She's divorced, only sporadically employed yet is still prepping like the world ends tomorrow. When I asked her why she said because when TSHTF (prepper talk for when doomsday comes) she proclaimed she wants to stay living.
Meanwhile she smokes 2 packs a day and couldn't jog to her mailbox.
You want to live? Really?
I almost laughed when she said it, and I think she picked up on my doubts because she launched into a full on diatribe about economic collapse. I don't think she understood the irony.
Crazy.
P
Were you guy's partying like it was 1999? :smile:
+1 on the rhino insurance. I think if the world were to go to crap, the resulting mess...
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