Post economic collapse game plan
- Thread starter chrisjs87
- Start date
Thanks for a nice welcome. Like a guy said earlier, prepping is like insurance. A little or a lot, it's up to each individual's assessment of their own needs. But when things go bad, those who've not made preparations either bug out, in heavy traffic and potential gasoline shortages, if there's any safe place to go, or go to shelters. In all the media pictures we've seen of freeway chaos, and shelter chaos, I have yet to notice anyone smiling.
But smiling is exactly what I was doing one day last fall when I was running tight for a meeting with my broker, stepped out of the shower dripping wet, just in time to see the lights fail, and hear the distant thunder of the lightning strike that took them out ten seconds later.
Another 20 seconds in total darkness, the gennie kicked on, and I made my meeting with time to spare.
The propane tank here has a 1000 gallon capacity, but holds only 800 gallons since you have to leave room for the liquid to vaporize. The generator consumes 1.7 gallons per hour at full load, giving me 19.6 days of normality, if I decide the situation is likely to return to normal quickly, or months, even years at bare minimal usage. If a large propane tank isn't an option where you live, a natural gas line probably is, and NG lines typically suffer far less damage than the electrical grid in disasters.
Your friend in New Orleans could have drank from his pool using a simple evaporator and condensation collector made of visqueen and a tin can, though in heat and humidity like that, he may have chosen to use a larger bucket so he didn't have to empty it every few minutes.
If he didn't have any toxic chemicals in the pool, he could have coarse filtered it with foam rubber, or two nested containers with playground sand over a layer of gravel in the inner one, holes drilled in the bottom, and a taphole in the outer one to draw off the filtered water. (You want to wash this filter two or three iterations before drinking from it, the micro particles of silicon based sand taste nasty and may be hazardous to your health. ) Chlorox would have taken care of any bugs, and the "swimming pool" taste of chlorine filtered water diminishes rapidly if you store it in plastic containers.
A storm window over one of those black, $10 concrete mixing tubs they sell at Home Depot, and a $10 camping shower from Walmart would have allowed him daily hot showers, too. Can't put a pool in here, the water table's too high, but our 120,000 gallon pond serves similar purposes. Even with a well, a big pile of water is a nice thing to have around. The mallards and herons are welcome visitors, too.
Opsec is important. No-one who can find your home needs to know what's stored in your home, except people you want to be there if SHTF. This is especially true if you work away from home and own firearms. The generator here is sited such that only one neighbor can hear it, (he has his own) and we do not show lights after dark when the grid is down. Heavy drapes make the house look like we have candles burning, just like everyone else.
Anyone showing up here with anti-social intentions is going to encounter a long series of unpleasant surprises. If they run the gauntlet completely, and I get unlucky, I probably won't be worrying about how many supplies are left. If you think about it, a properly sited propane tank can serve as a doomsday device if all else fails.
My "insurance" has served its purpose for a good long while now. I rarely lose an hour's sleep or working productivity to stress or anxiety, even though I really don't like a lot of what I see going on these days. In my opinion, my stockpiles and preps were money and time I'm glad I spent, even if significant dislocation never takes place. If something ever does go wrong, I suspect I'll be even happier. It's a real relief to sit home, warm and fuzzy, thru the opening rounds of every blizzard, every winter, watching the sheep clawing each other and stepping on heads, trying to get the last jug of milk or loaf of bread in the local grocery on TV.
I would love to install a propane generator but just cannot bring myself to throw a few more thousand dollars into my depreciating home. Especially since I had an electrician install a device attached to my fuse box allowing me to power most of my home with my gasoline generator in an emergency.
You reminded me that my friend who lived through Katrina also mentioned that he had to drive an hour, then wait in long lines to buy gasoline for his car. As a result of hearing that, I try to keep my gas tank full.
You reminded me that my friend who lived through Katrina also mentioned that he had to drive an hour, then wait in long lines to buy gasoline for his car. As a result of hearing that, I try to keep my gas tank full.
I'm putting a hand pump on my well. It'll cost about a grand, but it's "well" worth it. Lack of water is the single biggest thing that'll drive you from your home when the power goes out.
Just wondering, but can you think of any time & place in history where a person that had cash and/or PMs could not buy food & water with it? I mean in any hyperinflationary or deflationary state, was there anyone that said "No...I dont want that worthless yellow metal for my potatos" I might be able to understand if the guy you were asking only had 1 day of food left, but any farmer or someone who has bulk food would surely sell it for a profit as commerce does not stop for anything. People will always trade especially if they have too much food to eat which I'm sure there will be some and they will sell their excess to the highest bidder. I dont know about you,but if i was the seller, I would be selling to the guy with gold, not the guy trying to trade me an old bike, an x-box and 20 rolls of duct tape.
Even in deflation Gold is worth something. Paper money can never be worth so much that you wont be able to trade it for gold. Gold holds its value in deflation too you know. What I can buy for 1 ounce of gold today, I will probably be able to buy it with 1 ounce in a deflationary situation. I will only be able to buy less dollars with that gold,but not less products.
There will be no collapse. There will be adjustment
Peak Oil will hit and oil prices will rise gradually triggering price adjustments for all goods and services. Cars, houses, everything will get smaller and more efficient and more expensive. Public transportation will explode, almost everyone will use it.
Food will get more expensive, people will stop wasting food because it will be expensive. Organic farming will surpass traditional farming. Airlines will take a big hit but railway transportation business will explode.
Ethanol business will die bur solar and all other alternative energy systems will flourish because the only alternative "OIL" will be expensive.
99% of the cars sold will be tiny even smaller than a Hyundai Accent or similar. As a result of expensive food, billions of people will die.
Many many new kinds of businesses that we never heard of will come to life but more will bankrupt as a result of expensive energy and food.
There will be no collapse, there will be adjustment.
Peak Oil will hit and oil prices will rise gradually triggering price adjustments for all goods and services. Cars, houses, everything will get smaller and more efficient and more expensive. Public transportation will explode, almost everyone will use it.
Food will get more expensive, people will stop wasting food because it will be expensive. Organic farming will surpass traditional farming. Airlines will take a big hit but railway transportation business will explode.
Ethanol business will die bur solar and all other alternative energy systems will flourish because the only alternative "OIL" will be expensive.
99% of the cars sold will be tiny even smaller than a Hyundai Accent or similar. As a result of expensive food, billions of people will die.
Many many new kinds of businesses that we never heard of will come to life but more will bankrupt as a result of expensive energy and food.
There will be no collapse, there will be adjustment.
Revelation 6:6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"
For those of you that dont know,a quart of wheat is enough to feed a man for a day. 3 quarts of barley is less nutritious, but can be made to feed more people, perhaps enough for a very small family.
The extra care to make sure not to damage oil or wine, suggests that people will still buy this stuff,but they will probably be rich.
I hope that you are right. However, I wonder how we will adjust to a $12.5 trillion dollar national debt that is growing by the second and unfunded social security and medicare liabilities that get larger every day that the baby boomers get older. I do not know how we can adjust to expenses that are growing at an unsustainable rate. The clock is ticking...
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
jezus will return and rapture away a bunch of religious morons like the guy above your post and the rest of us get to divy up their assets. there should be plenty left to pay my ss and medicare then.
You do understand that if that happened, that gives you 100% proof that God is real, and you will likely end up in hell because you didnt get taken. You will enjoy your last days on earth before spending eternity burning. Hope it was worth it.
But then again, if that does happen, then you know the bible to be true and the bible does not say that life is going to be easy. It says there will be a tribulation, so you will actually have a very horrible time for your last few days on earth, THEN spend eternity in hell.
People who dont believe in God remind me of people who buy stock in a company like Enron and REFUSE to buy put options because they KNOW the stock will come back and puts are a waste of money.