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Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

lcamtuf.coredump.cx

71–80 of 340 posts

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#71
post #18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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Reader view defaults to low contrast text, but it's possible to set your own text colors with custom userContent.css: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15080363

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Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#72

I'm an exited valley founder who just launched an emergency preparedness site for the rational crowd: https://theprepared.com Have been prepping in the SF / startup community for almost 10 years and teaching other techies how to prep for a long time, but historically was face to face because of stigma, etc. We started The Prepared because prepping is very rational and it's gone mainstream enough to have threads like…

That site seems great but it's still a tough sell when the "welcome to rational prepping" guide includes AI and CRISPR as causes.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#73
post #63
post #19

I've been in a number of major natural disasters at this point. Fukushima, Ike, Colorado's 2013 floods. I've also been in two shooting incidents (where fortunately only the shooter was hurt). My point is, I've been lucky so far because none of these posed a major problem for me. I made it out with manageable inconvenience. However, I can only get lucky like that so many times. So now I keep the following at home: * 5…

I haven't lived in an area prone to weather-related disasters. But, I feel like, most of these are avoidable (I mean, not the disaster itself but the "riding-it-out" part). Usually, there is plenty of time and warning so you can get out. Earthquakes though, are unpredicatable and they arrive with zero notice. And should the worst happen in an earthquake, you would not need many of the supplies in the list above. Wate…

Tornados are about as unpredictable as earthquakes.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#74
post #31

> It's not that life-altering disasters are rare: every year we hear about millions of people displaced by wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods. Pretty much always in the sames typical places though... See: 'tornado alley', island nations with tsunami seasons, california wildfires, etc, etc (over a long enough timespan)... > Heck, not a decade goes by without at least one first-class democracy lapsing into a…

[Author here]

> [...natural disasters...] Pretty much always in the sames typical places though...

Most people live in "typical places" without realizing it, though. I mean, you know when you're in the tornado valley, but tornado / hurricane risk is relatively high for basically the entire eastern half of the US. And wildfire risk is very significant for the entire western half. Add to this earthquakes, etc, and it turns out that most people live in a place that is likely to experience a major regional disaster every couple decades or so.

Still, the guide is not really about that; or rather, it covers natural disasters to some extent, but it puts a lot more emphasis on personal preparedness - being able to cope with another run-of-the-mill recession, a house fire, and other likely occurrences of this sort. More general preparedness is almost a side effect of that.

> [...economic crises and armed conflicts...] Ditto. See: countries with a perpetual history of dictators and authoritarianism (although westerners and capitalism/socialism typically receive the blame in popular depictions)

Well... Greece, Iceland, etc?

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#75

The major thing overlooked here is mindset. After 14 years in the military and experience with several armed conflicts and humanitarian disasters, I have seen that pretty much all your plans and preparation will go out the window, so you need to learn to move adapt and improvise. If you're going to survive any contingency scenario you need to be resilient, excruciatingly innovative and mentally tough. Think more like…

but "foraging" for water in an urban environment probably means stealing it

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#76
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a 2m radio model that you would recommend?

We like the Beofeng 8 watt https://goo.gl/q8nSvA It's only about $60 and there are some nice accessories like better antennas and batteries.

I think you need a license to operate that, though

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#77
post #75

The major thing overlooked here is mindset. After 14 years in the military and experience with several armed conflicts and humanitarian disasters, I have seen that pretty much all your plans and preparation will go out the window, so you need to learn to move adapt and improvise. If you're going to survive any contingency scenario you need to be resilient, excruciatingly innovative and mentally tough. Think more like…

but "foraging" for water in an urban environment probably means stealing it

Depends on where you live. I live in the NW where it rains for 9 months of the year and the other three months there are tons of rivers and lakes. All I really need to forage for water is a bucket and a purification system.

But I feel bad for people in places like Las Vegas and much of Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. where foraging for water means death.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#78
post #50
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, for one I live in Colorado, not the Bay Area. Two, you're assuming that I also don't have a firearm. I actually don't, but you're still making a big assumption that whoever you try to steal from can't fight back. How much overlap do you think there is between emergency preparedness and firearm possession? Certainly in Colorado, even Boulder, that's not a bet I would be willing to take. This is a situation where…

> I only need to aim in your general direction Maybe I'm just bad at trap/skeet but in my experience you still have to aim with a shotgun! ;)

Trap targets are ~4.25" and moving very fast. People are 6' and not moving very fast. General direction would work just fine.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#79

The major thing overlooked here is mindset. After 14 years in the military and experience with several armed conflicts and humanitarian disasters, I have seen that pretty much all your plans and preparation will go out the window, so you need to learn to move adapt and improvise. If you're going to survive any contingency scenario you need to be resilient, excruciatingly innovative and mentally tough. Think more like…

> After 14 years in the military and experience with several armed conflicts and humanitarian disasters, I have seen that pretty much all your plans and preparation will go out the window, so you need to learn to move adapt and improvise.

Eisenhower said it best: Plans are worthless, but planning is priceless.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#80
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but "foraging" for water in an urban environment probably means stealing it

Depends on where you live. I live in the NW where it rains for 9 months of the year and the other three months there are tons of rivers and lakes. All I really need to forage for water is a bucket and a purification system. But I feel bad for people in places like Las Vegas and much of Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, etc. where foraging for water means death.

Why forage when you can easily store thousands of dense nonperishable calories at home? Heading out to the woods to pick a bucket of low calorie leafy greens seems like the last thing you want to be doing in a disaster.
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