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Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

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Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#111

Post by alabut »

the_prepared wrote: post #45

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…

Can confirm. The founder of this site is actually a close personal friend that started teaching me about this stuff years ago, first in a more casual way when catching up and then recently much more in-depth as he started documenting his experience.

I'm still more of a prepper lurker that's reading up on this stuff while friends are starting to take it more seriously. I personally don't know if prepping is a fad like cold war-era nuclear bunkers, a potential lifesaver like a beefed up version of the red cross emergency kits, or somewhere in between as a useful hobby like hiking and camping, but my inner research nerd is having a great time learning more.

It helps that my YC team was a product review website and there's a lot of gear junkies in the survivalist crowd, so that's been my entry point into it, not so much the angle on being freaked out about the news.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#112

Post by throwanem »

jorazzle wrote: post #98
agentdrtran wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Why? Elon just said AI is a bigger threat than North Korea.

Elon says a lot of things!

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#113

Post by c22 »

rubatuga wrote: post #60

Been looking into getting a pocket knife/ multitool, any good options?

The most useful multitool I've owned is my Victorinox Cybertool M, mostly due to the incredibly convenient miniature socket set and functional toothpick and tweezers. I have a couple dedicated folding knives that I keep in my car or carry with me while camping that I'd use to actually cut things. For most other tool uses I find myself getting fed up with multitools. I tried carrying a leatherman for awhile but found I barely used it for how bulky it was.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#114

Post by ChuckMcM »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #104
f- wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Author here] The mindset is actually a large component of this guide, and it intentionally delays any discussion of "prepper gear" until it gets through a long laundry list of lifestyle tips and discussing the need to plan ahead, figure out what is likely, what can go wrong, what the decisions points may be, etc. In contrast to most other prepping docs, weapons are literally the last thing discussed, and only in a p…

I dunno, I re-read the beginning and I didn't see anything about the points I raised. I think your point that overzealous people who as you put it: begin by shopping for ballistic vests and night vision goggles; they would be better served by grabbing a fire extinguisher, some bottled water, and then putting the rest of their money in a rainy-day fund. is right on point, but IMO that just says - hey don't be insane.…

Is there a middle ground? My kids went as part of a team to help people rebuild after Katrina and one of the folks they met was rebuilding their house but building it as a boat. They had re-done the foundation so that the house rested on it, and its sewer connection was just the house pipe inset into the city pipe (so it could easily lift out). That, 15' of chain to allow the house to float above the foundation and central concrete and iron pillar which was essentially the keel.

I thought of them reading about Harvey and I am wondering if they will show up on the news at some point.

I compared it a bit to my efforts to insure my house remains intact and upright in the event of an earthquake (the 'likely' disaster where I live).

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#115

Post by RandomOpinion »

rubatuga wrote: post #60

Been looking into getting a pocket knife/ multitool, any good options?

If you're carrying it physically on your person daily, I have yet to see anything better than Leatherman's Skeletool. It's light (5.0 oz), has the core tools (a rather sharp knife with quick-access mechanism, pliers / wirecutter, and a bitdriver with a philips/flat bit built in) which covers the most common situations one is likely to encounter, both on a daily basis and in an emergency. There's also a bit set and and extension available as accessories.

The lighter tools generally are missing one or more of the above and the larger tools are A) significantly heavier and B) contain tools that aren't that useful on a daily basis (e.g. file, saw) and aren't really all that good IMO when you do need them.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#116

Post by maxerickson »

rdiddly wrote: post #101
graeme wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

StutterSpeaker, your comment is dead. I don't think it ought to be, might want to check with the mods.

What'd it say? (just a synopsis?)

I vouched for it and it undead:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15111919

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#117

Post by ChuckMcM »

saryant wrote: 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…

Sounds like a great list. In my earthquake pack that is always in my car are a set of supplies that would let me hike from pretty much anywhere in the bay area back to my house.

One of the things I added was a 'suture kit'. This is a sealed set of supplies (the mechanics) that would let anyone trained in emergency medical care to address a fairly major laceration. I don't have those skills but as we have observed in disasters people with those skills tend to be fairly evenly distributed through the affected population but supplies for them to anything about it are impossible to get. As a result I've encouraged people to carry one "part" of a complete medical load out so that when they converge post disaster they will be able to assemble the necessary supplies for any doctors, nurses, or PAs in the group to work with. It also keeps peoples earthquake supplies from being a 'target' by looters who would look for drugs. No single individual has anything really 'loot worthy' for those people.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#118

Post by AndrewKemendo »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #114
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I re-read the beginning and I didn't see anything about the points I raised. I think your point that overzealous people who as you put it: begin by shopping for ballistic vests and night vision goggles; they would be better served by grabbing a fire extinguisher, some bottled water, and then putting the rest of their money in a rainy-day fund. is right on point, but IMO that just says - hey don't be insane.…

Is there a middle ground? My kids went as part of a team to help people rebuild after Katrina and one of the folks they met was rebuilding their house but building it as a boat. They had re-done the foundation so that the house rested on it, and its sewer connection was just the house pipe inset into the city pipe (so it could easily lift out). That, 15' of chain to allow the house to float above the foundation and c…

There certainly is a middle ground - however why stay in the same place and expect a different future? New Orleans isn't that much more prepared for another flood. Houston re-did the entire bayou system about 5 years ago and yet here we are.

People's aversion to moving, especially after a major disaster, boggles my mind.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#119

Post by schwarze_pest »

rubatuga wrote: post #60

Been looking into getting a pocket knife/ multitool, any good options?

Sure...

High quality pocket knives: Just 2 examples out of many. Spyderco Para Military 2, Benchmade 940 Osborne.

Full-size multitool: Victorinox SwissTool Spirit

Small multitool: Get a few Victorinox Swiss Army Knives. One for every pocket ;)

Camping, backpacking, hunting, light-duty survival knife: Get a Mora knife. If you are a real "operator" get yourself a Bark River Bravo.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#120

Post by wavefunction »

rodgerd wrote: post #105
bupku5 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Roof-fed tanks are becoming common where I live. The water is probably safe to drink without treatment (I spent my teenage years in a rural environment with entirely roof-fed water tanks), but boiling or chlorine will ensure that.

As a child I had a dead bird come through our Saudi compound apartment's roof-fed tank system.

Definitely an outlier but I would suggest purifying all water you consumer if possible.

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