Will you REALLY survive SHTF? Unlikely.

[clt46910]

When I was living in New Mexico a couple of guys converted a Luv pickup to run on alcohol. They had a still set up in the barn and could make their own fuel for it. Might be a easier way to go then biodiesel.

Back in the mid 70's, when we had our first fuel shortage, a couple ranchers converted their pickups to alcohol because it was a lot cheaper at the time. They would buy it by the barrel at the time.

 

[hotfarmboy1]

Why not just filter and dewater your WVO, and run that in your older diesels?

Ok you guys have gotten me lost on some of these abbreviations. As I said in my last post I havent' really done the research on what it takes to do it yet. So I still need to learn. But am going to start soon. What's WVO stand for?

 

[Sailor]

Waste Vegetable Oil

Youtube has a ton of videos on grease cars.

 

[sporter]

After watching The History Channel tonight and the SHTF show, it raised a valid question...

Think about the conditions in that show...

How many of you think you would REALLY survive the first wave of a SHTF situation? I DO Leave your pride and ego behind on this one and just think about it. Especially those married with children.
I have thought about it. We will make it. Won't be easy.

How could you survive with no food or water? Preparation How could you fend off the gangs? AK47 How could you survive without medicine? I don't use medicines and don't go to the doctor on a regular basis..For the basics you stock up The chances are very slim you would make it past the first two weeks. Not true Those of you who have survival stock in food, water, ammo, and anything else you think is necessary will be challenged day in and day out for your merchandise. Bring it To make things worse, you are responsible for 2-3 children, and a wife who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag. Face it, most men don't have mountain women for wives. No problem I have friends and neighbors

While I cannot possibly list them all, there are FAR too many scenarios that can take place that greatly limits ones ability to survive for any length of time. Wow you must have been the first to think about this

It would truly become an every man for himself event. No crap Sherlock

Granted there are folks who are super skilled and more apt to make it further along, but many people are out of shape, and could easily be overpowered.Get in shape....

....

 

[grunt soldier]

i think i have to agree with who ever posted it earlier. i look at my family as motivation. i would do anything in the world for my little one so that will make it just that much harder for someone trying to take what's hers.

i will site a example from when i was in afghanistan. the Canadians when they use to get in fire fights around the helmand province, if the taliban fighters ran into the popi feilds (heroine) the canucks would burn the fields and wait on the other side to shoot them as they ran out. which i have no problem with except it wasn't the taliban's feilds they were burning it was the farmers and that was their only way to feed their family's and survive (unfortunately not much else will grow and survive there). so next thing you know the canadians are being ambushed left and right and taking casualties everyday but it was the farmers now. and the farmers defending their property and family were doing very well and that was against a real army in what i would call bradleys with 25 mm canon's( we american army have bradleys i am not sure what thiers are really called)

someone once said, a man defending his family and property is more deadly than 10 trained soldiers..... because they have something to fight for besides just their own life.

just my .02$

 

[djl02]

**************

 

[djl02]

******

 

[jeremy]

Yes I have. I have lived with just what I could carry on me for 60 days in a heck of a lot worse weather than that. It can be done IF you think about it. Was it pleasant H*ll no! Did i survive it yup. Do I want to do it again, Oh H*LL NO!

 

[rmcrob]

I can't take the time to read the whole thread, so I'm sure someone else has already said what I'm saying. I'm only reacting to the OP.

I think it all depends on what S hits what F. There are scenarios that are survivable, a la Katrina. There are others that are not, a la Hiroshima.

You prepare for the survivable ones. If the unsurvivable ones happen, you die along with everyone else.

 

[djl02]

*******

 

[CarmelHP]

Actually, just because there is a breakdown of civil society, does not mean that there are no laws. It just means that there is no means of enforcing them. You'll also find that many respectable survival groups don't allow discussions of turning into cannibals, looters, rapists, murderers, etc. We have a hard enough time with our image to the general public.

Anyone trying these things will find out very quickly that there are, indeed, means of enforcing the laws, means much more certain, sure, and final than a courtroom.

 

[360]

....Quote:
Originally Posted by 360
After watching The History Channel tonight and the SHTF show, it raised a valid question...

Think about the conditions in that show...

How many of you think you would REALLY survive the first wave of a SHTF situation? I DO Leave your pride and ego behind on this one and just think about it. Especially those married with children.
I have thought about it. We will make it. Won't be easy.

How could you survive with no food or water? Preparation How could you fend off the gangs? AK47 How could you survive without medicine? I don't use medicines and don't go to the doctor on a regular basis..For the basics you stock up The chances are very slim you would make it past the first two weeks. Not true Those of you who have survival stock in food, water, ammo, and anything else you think is necessary will be challenged day in and day out for your merchandise. Bring it To make things worse, you are responsible for 2-3 children, and a wife who couldn't fight her way out of a wet paper bag. Face it, most men don't have mountain women for wives. No problem I have friends and neighbors

While I cannot possibly list them all, there are FAR too many scenarios that can take place that greatly limits ones ability to survive for any length of time. Wow you must have been the first to think about this

It would truly become an every man for himself event. No crap Sherlock

Granted there are folks who are super skilled and more apt to make it further along, but many people are out of shape, and could easily be overpowered.Get in shape....

Wow. Just wow.

 

[sporter]

Wow. Just wow.

Well I guess you want people to answer like this:

"your right, we have no chance, I might as well not be prepared"

"Preppers are stupid and paranoid"

"I have no fighting chance"

Seriously I feel bad for you. Prepping is a something I take seriously. It is my job to take care of and protect my family, no one elses

Having the attitude that you cannot stay alive or make it is a sealed fate in a SHTF type of situation.

"Cant never could do anything"

 

[Lex Concord]

So there was a flood coming and all residents were ordered to evacuate. One particular fellow said that he was a Christian and he trusted that God would protect him.

So as the water began to rise, a truck came by and offered evacuation assistance. The man said "No, I have faith, God will protect me".

As the water rose even higher a boat came by to save the man. Again, the man said "No, I have faith, God will save me".

The water rose and the man was forced up onto the roof of his house. A helicopter was sent to save the man. The man said that this was an ultimate test of his faith and that God would save him.

The water rose even higher and the man drowned. The man went to heaven and was in the presence of the Lord and asked, "Lord I had faith that you would save me, why did you let me drown?"

The Lord responded, "I sent you a truck, a boat and a helicopter. What more did you want Me to do?"

The Lord helps those that help themselves. Proper prior preparation prevents **** poor performance.

Ahh...the classics. This is actually one of my favorites, and I trot it out fairly frequently.

I think you missed my point. No matter my level of preps, I can't do it without Him.

And while proper prior preparation does prevent **** poor performance, it does not prevent superior performance (or dumb luck) by those who might do us harm.

As I said, I prepare to survive; it's critical. It is more critical to be prepared for the eternity none of us can escape.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I prepare to survive; it's critical. It is more critical to be prepared for the eternity none of us can escape

AMEN!!! I am saved. In case of rapture, my garden may be looted and my supplies plundered as I will have no further need of them

 

[Libertarian01]

To All,

In a true SHTF scenario there are several basic things that can be done to improve your odds, but before going into those I will share my opinion on the odds topic.

Everything we do in life is simply a modification of the base line of probabilities. For example right now I am returning to college in the hopes of getting a degree, thus finding a better job and increasing my income (so I can buy more guns and toys). This may not happen. I could wind up with a college degree, loose my job and have a lower income than before I went in. However, the course I am on increases the probability of success in my goals. If a man is shot putting a bandage on it increases his odds of survival. Is it a guarantee? Of course not. As a matter of fact the man is designed to have his blood clot and the bleeding stop, but the bandage increases his odds of survival.

Here in preparation we are attempting to stock all of the needed bandages we can think of to help assuage whatever hemorrhage we may suffer at a future time.

In a crisis there are several things required to increase the odds of survival, and none of them are material things. This may sound counter-intuitive but it is true.

#1) You need a plan! Even a bad plan is better than no plan at all. With a plan you have a starting point and an end goal. With a good plan you have increased your odds of survival over a bad plan AND YET with a bad plan you have increased your odds over having no plan at all.

#2) You need to be able to make decisions to execute your plan. A plan cannot work without the ability to force it down its path. So you need someone to be able to make decisions in order to execute the original plan.

#3) You need the ability to recognize failings in your initial plan and course correct. As it has often been said that no plan survives first contact you must be able to course correct with a purpose.

History is a primary teacher of many SHTF moments. I will pull on a previous idea and attempt to gently move onto "thin ice" without stepping through. When the Donner Party was attempting to make its way west it got stuck in a bad situation. Some of the members of the expedition were Irish. This little ethnic detail may seem irrelevant at first until you enter the "Irish Potato Famine" into the equation. The Irish immediately went to rationing food reserves. The rest of the party didn't consider this concept palatable to them. The Irish found themselves able to survive much longer on the similar stores of food as the non Irish. Some of the non Irish members were left to "more desperate measures."

I hope the ice has held...

Another point that can be discussed ad nauseam is how quickly things will fall apart. In almost any SHTF scenario there will be attempts by the government to maintain control, whether that be Federal, State or Local is irrelevant. The US Army, National Guard, State Police, County Sheriffs, Local PD, heck even town marshals will do what they can for as long as they can.

For sake of argument even the entire national guard or federal military cannot be everywhere all the time. In a large scale crisis I am certain that some will desert to protect their own families, so there will be a rate of decay on everything.

It is in the window between initial warning signs and the decay of government influence that every persons actions will affect their probability of long term survival.

I will argue one point very strongly. If you are near a large population center and you are not part of a LARGE group your odds of survival will lower. Whatever gangs, groups, rogue military units, etc exist they are more likely near a population center and will be more desperate near a large population center. I personally believe that the greater distance you place between yourself and a large urban center, the greater your probability of long term survival. I really don't care what resources you may have, if you are in the center of Indianapolis be ready to loose them to someone. Survival there will be nigh impossible without a massive expenditure of assets. And even IF you have those assets to expend they will be better utilized in a rural setting.

So, can anyone really survive a SHTF moment? I would humbly suggest that we only look at history: Donner Pass, Khmer Rouge, Sobibor, the Shackleton Expedition, Pompeii, the Black Plague 1347-51, etc. In each of these people survived against tremendous odds.

Nature and human depravity can be vicious, but the will to survive shows each of us that apparently insurmountable odds can be overcome with a plan.

Regards,

Doug

PS - Remember, "Where there is a will, there are relatives"

 

[ISP 5353]

Great Post Doug!

 

[360]

Well I guess you want people to answer like this:

"your right, we have no chance, I might as well not be prepared"

"Preppers are stupid and paranoid"

"I have no fighting chance"

Seriously I feel bad for you. Prepping is a something I take seriously. It is my job to take care of and protect my family, no one elses

Having the attitude that you cannot stay alive or make it is a sealed fate in a SHTF type of situation.

"Cant never could do anything"

No, you're wrong. This topic is NOT black and white. While some say it is "you either live or die", there are a lot of factors in between the lines that will determine which side you will end up on.

I am not looking for submission. That is completely inaccurate.

I feel your replies are directed straight at ME. This isn't about ME.

 

[360]

Doug

 

[jason conley]

I will become a monster and will survive at all costs. Baring acts of god or snipers.