Are you REALLY prepared?

[Gumpster808]

Best one I have read is called 40 days of survival. They researched catastrophic events going back a ways.

Bottom line in all was that if people could take care of themselves for 40 days after the “event” they would be ok.

It is an interesting exercise thinking and planning for 40 days with no outside assistance.

They cover everything from food, water, communications, personal protective equipment, etc.

The other issue is whether you have the option to shelter in place or you have to bug out. 40 days is more interesting when planning for using an RV no matter what size. Then there is the where to go portion.

Bottom line everyone should have a plan, even for a short time to be ok.

Heard a stat once on the percentage of people who stop at the store in the way home to pickup what they are having for dinner that day - it always a large number that I would not have guessed. They are probably not ready for much.

If trucking stopped most stores only have a few days worth of stock so they will be empty quickly.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by oldsmasma

I’m another veteran of the big ice storm and we base most of our emergency preparedness on lessons learned during that event. One of the most useful commodities in our rural area was the ability to milk a cow. Big farms had generators but small ones didn’t. The Canadian army was sent to help and rotated big mobile generators around to power milking machines. Lots of old farm boys and seniors were in big demand to help out. I know a couple who ended up with dozens of eggs given in trade for their milking prowess.

Sometimes one needs to think simple.

My neighbor, where I helped milk cows regularly had a simple solution. Since his Surge Milking machines were vacuum powered he just pulled his large gasoline powered flatbed truck up to the end of the barn. He'd put a "Tee" in the power brake booster vacuum line. When power was out he would just hook a long piece of stiff hose from the vacuum "Tee" in the truck to the end of his vacuum line that fed the milking machines, then just let the engine run until milking was over. Those old engines would idle just fine even with a huge vacuum leak as they ran so rich to begin with.

Biggest issue was then "Refrigeration" both for cooling milk fresh from milking to that in storage.

Refrigeration compressors were belt driven. A Brigg's/Stratton motor sat on the end of the compressor mount, opposite end as the electric motor. Switch belts from electric motor to gas engine and things stayed cold. Just had to watch the thermometer as it was no longer automatic as with the electricity.

FWIW, this was in the days before milking parlors, back when you learned to keep your head firmly against the side of the cow when "stripping" (getting the last bit of milk from the cow by hand after the milking machine shut off). If you didn't, the cow's tail would not just hit the back of your head, it would also wrap around and leave a "greenish/brown" mustache right under your nose

Milking parlors of course took all that fun out of milking cows


When I left the farm I used to say I'd graduated with a Phd (Piled Higher, Deeper). I probably shoveled enough **** to fill a football stadium. Also used to laugh and say it prepared me well for the corporate world I eventually retired from.

[AFDON]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

During the late 70's and early 80's I worked as a Volunteer with our local county's Dept or Emergency Services (Later Dept of Emergency Management) which relied on FEMA funds to both exist and fulfill their mission

The FEMA money goes to the State and when it trickles out of the central office of emergency management (and Legislature) to the Counties there is barely enough money to keep an office open and pay salaries for a couple people on permanent staff. The old "Upside Down Pyramid" situation where the money is spent at the top and where the rubber meets the road ----- nothing left.

The elected leaders figure that regular emergency services can handle whatever comes along. Police and Fire services are immediately overwhelmed and if it wasn't for Volunteer services like Search and Rescue, Amateur Radio Operators, and Charities, we'd look like a third world country during one of their disasters, right here.

Here's a scary thought to end the evening. Just under 10% of all highway bridges in this country, about 50,000 or so, are "Structurally Deficient". That essentially means that it won't take much to bring any one of them down from a multitude of causes. Of course Earthquakes are the most feared but flooding, big storms, or even a major accident can really gum up the works.

We aren't supposed to talk politics so I won't ask the question why we send so much money to countries that really don't like us instead of fixing our own infrastructure. A question like that would be against the rules

Nothing has changed! I started with Katerina and just give it up a year ago. Same stuff, all kinds of directives from on high that must be put in place now! Don't matter that XXX would only work in a major city, it must work in the country! No input from the bottom, where the work is being done.

[frank4711]

Our prep is mostly for hurricanes been thru several have been lucky only losing power for short time ... keep plenty of supplies on hand ...several generators and we are on well and septic .... plenty of self defense I like to joke my house might be easy to get in but a bitch to get out ....

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by frank4711

Our prep is mostly for hurricanes been thru several have been lucky only losing power for short time ... keep plenty of supplies on hand ...several generators and we are on well and septic .... plenty of self defense I like to joke my house might be easy to get in but a bitch to get out ....

I prefer the reverse. Keep them out so I don't have a mess to clean up if they get in and I'm not just talking about knocked over furniture.

[hca1961]

The old Mike Tyson quote is very appropriate:

“Everyone has a plan....till they get punched in the face.”

[frank4711]

Originally Posted by hca1961

The old Mike Tyson quote is very appropriate:

“Everyone has a plan....till they get punched in the face.”

Yep you are right ... and you have to get your mind in the game or get your head knocked off

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by NXR

I'd never heard of that before. Can you elaborate? A quick search turned up differing opinions, naturally...

It looks like short-term storage, less than a month or so, seems to be OK. Do you agree?

Ray

I concur that milk jugs are inappropriate containers for long term storage of drinking water. Numerous articles on why this is so. Even perfectly clean, they will leach a toxic plasticizer into the water after a month or so.

[aircommuter]

The threats are different everywhere, here it would be fire. I had my property logged and masticated this year to reduce the hazard. It was $23K small price to pay. I am still pruning and thinning trees to help more.
Services are minimal here anyway, we got our first cell tower in March this year. We have 5000 gallons water storage, 750 propane, 10 cords of firewood, numerous generators starting with a 50Kw and down. Diesel trucks and tractors so even if they were only half full would be over 100 gallons. One hundred gpm well.
No stop lights, no cities in the entire county, so we are used to being rural and love it. I have over 100 kind people who send me money every month.
But who knows what we are not ready for? You never do.

[Oaklevel]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

I concur that milk jugs are inappropriate containers for long term storage of drinking water. Numerous articles on why this is so. Even perfectly clean, they will leach a toxic plasticizer into the water after a month or so.

So are the plastic gallon jugs that you buy drinking water in any different than a milk
jug ?? According to one we have the water in it is good til 2021 ??

[aircommuter]

Some people will only buy water in glass containers. I just get mine out of the well.

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by aircommuter

Some people will only buy water in glass containers. I just get mine out of the well.

I'm breaking out the popcorn!

[NMWildcat]

One of my nephew's is a bit of a doomsdayer, apocalypse, disaster planner. The other day we were sitting around the barn after the end of the day enjoying our reward for working hard (beer). He started explaining what worried him and how he was going to handle it. So we joined in, at first to give him a hard time.
When we actually thought about it, as long as we could get back to the main farm, we figure our five local families would probably be fine for at least a month w/o any outside help. We are not that close to a big city, so we shop for food to last at least a month anyway. The farm has lots of resources like ample water, fuel, alternate power resources, and alternate food sources (animals, crops).
Biggest problem would be protecting all that, but that is pretty much covered unless we are grossly outnumbered.
An interesting exercise.

[bgoldsby]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

While the news story I saw last night on TV primarily pertained to the West Coast that is waiting for "The Big One" (earthquake that is), natural disasters with long lasting effects can happen anywhere.

In the past Emergency Management Departments have been warning people to have the ability to survive without ANY support services. No electricity, communications, stores, fuel, etc. The topic of the news story was that 3 days is no longer deemed long enough. Our society has grown to the point that something like a massive earthquake will create hundreds of "islands" with the roads connecting being impassable for a variety of reasons. Landslides, sunken portions, destroyed bridges among them. Regular communications will be interrupted with cell services non-existant as they rely on towers that will be down and microwave links disrupted. Only working public communications will be Satellite Phones.

Water? What might be coming into your home could be contaminated. Electricity? We all know how that works after just a winter storm.

Like major earthquakes of the past, fire is a big source of destruction, especially in wood frame buildings (like houses).

The new recommendation put forth in the article is now 14 days.

Those of us who keep our RV's at home or are full timers can easily get ready for 14 days of survival although showers are probably out of the question due to water conservation. Some extra fuel for the generator or better yet, solar power to keep batteries charged. An extra bottle of propane, perhaps a couple if you live in an area prone to COLD.

Probably want some extra canned meals in the pantry (Canned Ravioli or Spaghetti may not sound good but it beats going hungry) as most refrigerated foods are only good for 7 days (varies of course) and frozen foods can disappear quickly if your RV freezer is the size of mine.

For those who have to keep their RV's in storage, hopefully you'll be able to reach it if disaster occurs.

Naturally the topic centered on Earthquake but for those in areas that never have earthquakes don't overlook other disasters like major wildland fires, Hurricanes, Floods, or fill in with your own disaster. When I watch or read the news it seems like just about every part of the country is plagued at one time or another with a life disrupting event and the aftermath sometimes lasts not just weeks, but even months.

Let us also not forget that every utility we depend on to make our lives easy from Electricity, Natural Gas, Transportation, Food, Clothing, Fuel, to Medical, may well be targeted for disruption by those in the World that don't like our way of life. Every time you drive down the highway and see the huge power lines just sitting out in a field, think how easy it would be for a determned individual to bring one or more of those towers down. The list goes on and I'm sure everyone could figure out what's on it but everyday we just assume "we'll be protected".

If you can, it might be a good idea to just be prepared for an impromptu camping trip (with no showers) that could last at least two weeks. That means you might want to keep the water tank full too and just change it every few months. In super cold areas some improvisation might be necessary to have water. This would be a time one could be glad they didn't jump on the "tankless water heater" bandwagon. Many of the tanks hold around 50 gallons of perfectly good drinking water.

I'm not trying to send a "Chicken Little" message. Just pointing out that nature has a way of making "stuff" happen. I've experienced 4 major earthquakes in my lifetime and had to travel through LA a week after the Northridge earthquake. Life was seriously interrupted in all of them so give preparation some thought for whatever disaster is most likely to occur in your area.

I agree with most of your comments in this post, however having worked EMS during the Loma Prieta Earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area, I fully understand the implications of the loss of Communication Services.

Our Emergency Services Vehicles were with Communications to our Dispatch Center for more than 18 hours. It wasn't until local Amateur Radio Operators assisted in setting up a Relay over a couple of large Hilltops, before we could get communications going. In the meantime we were dispatching ourselves by pairing up with local FD units.

Following that I received my Amateur Radio License and recommendation that others do the same, especially RVers and Off-roading enthusiasts. I have share in a 14k+ acre Ranch that has Off-roading, gun range, archery, horseback riding and more. I have helped in setting up a radio system for owner's to communicate in case of emergencies in back areas of the ranch with security.


Have a great day and May your travels be blessed.

Bill KI6HCA

[Silverbirch]

Originally Posted by McKannick

Once upon a time I wrote a book about "Surviving Urban Crisis". It sells as many as 6 copies a year.....in a good year.
Here it is to read for free.....if the upload works

Thanks for the gift of your book. I look forward to reading it.

And yes, Pentwater, MI is a nice place. Lots of clean, fresh water.

[Rancher Rob]

What about being prepared for financial recession, depression? The problem in that scenario is that it is a wide spread, long term event. I remember last time, my brother was out of work for 18 months. Granted, he was a little too proud and didn't want to take a lower level job than he had.
Is it just me or did the Feds reduction in prime rate last week smell a LOT like it did in 2007?
An impeachment could be the catalyst or trigger.
Now I'm not feeling so great about our decision to take out a large loan on a new MH last month.
On the plus side, I remember 12 years ago never having to wait in line for anything and awesome service in the nearly empty restaurants.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Rancher Rob

What about being prepared for financial recession, depression? The problem in that scenario is that it is a wide spread, long term event. I remember last time, my brother was out of work for 18 months. Granted, he was a little too proud and didn't want to take a lower level job than he had.
Is it just me or did the Feds reduction in prime rate last week smell a LOT like it did in 2007?
An impeachment could be the catalyst or trigger.
Now I'm not feeling so great about our decision to take out a large loan on a new MH last month.
On the plus side, I remember 12 years ago never having to wait in line for anything and awesome service in the nearly empty restaurants.

There's a lot of "being too proud" going around when the economy takes a down turn.

The ones that survive are those that put their pride aside and take any work that's available. When the economy recovers who do you think employers are going to look more favorably on? Unfortunately there are those who expect "da government" to support them when times get tough.

As for the Fed's "interest rate reduction" good news for people borrowing money, bad news for people who have cash they want to store in Savings Accounts or CD's.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by Rancher Rob

What about being prepared for financial recession, depression? The problem in that scenario is that it is a wide spread, long term event. I remember last time, my brother was out of work for 18 months. Granted, he was a little too proud and didn't want to take a lower level job than he had.
Is it just me or did the Feds reduction in prime rate last week smell a LOT like it did in 2007?
An impeachment could be the catalyst or trigger.
Now I'm not feeling so great about our decision to take out a large loan on a new MH last month.
On the plus side, I remember 12 years ago never having to wait in line for anything and awesome service in the nearly empty restaurants.

Call me a cynic, but with an election in the offing, a reduction in the prime rate leads to a mini-boom and the incumbents can take credit for it. It's no coincidence that 2007 and 2019 are both presidential election years.

2007 just happened to also have the housing bust, thanks to another vote-buying scheme, the subprime mortgage crisis.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

As for the Fed's "interest rate reduction" good news for people borrowing money, bad news for people who have cash they want to store in Savings Accounts or CD's.

It used to be that the fraction of your savings that should be in bonds and CDs corresponded to your age. 60 years old--60% in bonds and CDs, 40% in stocks.

Financial advisors these days admit that's no longer sustainable. With a couple of administrations forcing interest rates down (possibly for political purposes), we have to keep our investments in shares.

I'm 74, just a couple of years younger than you, Mike, and on a fixed income. I forsee that the proposed jump in minimum wage (also for political purposes) is going to cause an inflationary spiral that will hurt me badly.

Am I prepared? is the original subject of this thread. Yes. I have substantial resources, shares and bonds/CDs/cash. I will just leave less to my heirs than I planned.

[frank4711]

Prepared ... makes me think the movie The Untouchables when Sean Connery ask Kevin Costner what are you prepared to do? I keep it simple and say that I Stand Ready.