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Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

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Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#331

Post by LyndsySimon »

bluGill wrote: post #312
icelancer wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>Glock 17 and a years' worth of ammo, so I don't need to stockpile the other stuff, you are doing it for me Great, you have a sidearm that presumably fires 9mm ammunition that you are qualified to shoot downrange. I stock pile not only food, water, and medical supplies, but carry a 9mm of my own and have far more useful home defense weaponry in the form of a Mossberg 500 Flex (as well as various rifles that I don't…

In a real survival situation I believe you will use your stockpiles to help others.

To the extent that I was able to do so without jeopardizing my own family's survival, absolutely.

What's more, I'm more than happy to use my skills and equipment to equip and train neighbors in the event it were necessary. I have lots of guns and ammo because I enjoy them, not because I see them as magical talismans or because I intend to use them against the innocent during civil unrest.

The stereotype of a slightly-unhinged and heavily-armed prepper is just that - a stereotype. In truth most people who the general public would call "preppers" are like me; I have enough "stuff" to get my family through reasonable hard times and the rest of my capital is spent trying to build a foundation for retirement.

One family like mine in a small community with a few other families all pitching in, given basic training and loaned arms would be handily deter the opportunistic during a Katrina-scale "event".

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#332

Post by LyndsySimon »

kaybe wrote: post #157
tgsovlerkhgsel wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A standardized first aid kit is definitely required in Germany (and many other European countries).

The laws protecting the helper definitely help as well. As long as I'm not tremendously reckless or meanspirited I cannot be blamed (sued) for any damage I do in the course of providing first response aid. In fact I can be sued for not trying (calling for help is sufficient).

The US has so-called "Good Samaritan" laws as well. Some of them go so far as to protect untrained individuals who injure or kill someone while attempting to render aid.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Samaritan_law#United_Stat...

Virginia's Good Samaritan law: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title8.01/chapter3/secti...

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#333

Post by anentropic »

ckinnan wrote: post #250
yourapostasy wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Literally right now, my good friends are being rescued from a rooftop in Houston. No number of bottles of water in their basement or generators are going to help them. Some of this outcome is a direct result of conforming to commercially-fabricated social pressure. In this particular case, floodplain maps are publicly and freely available, so anyone can build structures that rise well above the highest-projected fl…

Developers are just responding to market signals. The underlying problem in the U.S. is that the federal government backstops 98% of flood insurance policies and does not charge the actuarial risk price. This government subsidy gives people incentives to overbuild and underprotect property in flood-prone areas.

Sounds like a good case for better building regulations and less reliance on hand-wavy free-market woo

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#334

Post by LyndsySimon »

aedron wrote: post #272

The 'prepping' phenomenon is an expression of the extreme individualism (or less graciously, ego-centrism) of our time and society. Rather than assuming that society will come together in a crisis and help each other out, we need to become an army-of-one, stocked up for every scenario and armed to the teeth against dangerous others who are undoubtedly coming to take our shit. It's sad. I honestly think this another e…

I find this to be a very interesting comment - illustrative of the large and growing political divide in the developed world and the US in particular.

> Rather than assuming that society will come together in a crisis and help each other out

I grew up in an area where during good weather and normal times, police and EMS response could be an hour or more. If you're cutting a field on a tractor and manage to crush your hand in the PTO, having a tourniquet and medical supplies is the difference between life and death. Likewise, if there is a half inch of ice on the ground and you slide off the road on your way home, having warm clothing, blankets, food, and water can keep you from dying of exposure before someone happens by.

For my daily life "back home", there is no "society" to pull together. For immediate emergencies, it's often just you. For the short-term events described in the article it's you, your family, and perhaps a neighboring family or two.

> armed to the teeth against dangerous others who are undoubtedly coming to take our shit.

Again, police response is an hour away - crime happens even in rural areas. If you don't take measures to protect yourself, you're simply unprotected.

That's not even considering that there are uses for firearms other than defense against human beings. I've dispatched many injured animals on the side of the road; I can't imagine having to leave them in agony to die of exposure, or waiting that aforementioned hour for someone else with a gun to arrive and do what I could have done in seconds for pennies. It's cruel.

> It's sad.

No, it's _different_. Incomprehensibly different, if living in close proximity to others is all you know.

> I honestly think this another example of the huge class divide in America

This is a cultural thing, not a class thing. It may appear to be based on economic factors because rural areas are typically much poorer than urban ones, and because the urban poor are far more at risk of being a victim of violent crime, but in my experience it's clearly a rural/urban difference.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#335

Post by nathancahill »

maxerickson wrote: post #283
52-6F-62 wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Toronto and I've always said if shit hits the fan, my first stop is probably Robarts Library at U of T. edit: photo -- http://www.blogto.com/upload/2015/04/20150415-Robarts-Side.j... The place is a massive, brutalist compound. And the knowledge it contains would be invaluable! Especially for people like me with limited biological or medical knowledge. The practical resources they knowledge would open up wou…

Just get a copy of something like https://www.amazon.com/Mayo-Clinic-Family-Health-Book/dp/160... 1400 pages of small print, plenty enough information relative to the time you would have to reference it in an urgent situation.

Also get a copy of https://www.amazon.com/Where-There-No-Doctor-Handbook/dp/094...

Slightly more focused on pediatrics, but super useful resource when other literature says "At this point, head to the emergency room or call 911".

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#336

Post by tdfx »

herewulf wrote: post #320
aslkdjaslkdj wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - Eisenhower The idea being that the process of planning makes you more easily able to react when everything goes to shit. Eg don't treat a plan like a recipe for success.

Another fine military planning quote: "A plan only lasts until the first shot."

And Mike's Tyson's derivative: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." Make sure your plan is flexible!

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#337

Post by jemfinch »

kerbalspacepro wrote: post #285
jemfinch wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you call "extreme individualism" or "ego-centrism", we used to call "self-reliance".

Self-reliance is a myth made by conservatives to justify cutbacks to the poor. Nobody in history has been entirely "self-reliant". Even the pioneers of the Americas had an entire support network in the east and for those that lived around them. If they didn't, they died.

"Self-reliance is a myth made by conservatives to justify cutbacks to the poor" is a myth made by liberals to justify government overreach.

No one's arguing that anyone has been entirely self-reliant, let alone that preppers today are. That's just a straw man you're bringing into the conversation. The prepper mindset is simply to be as self-reliant as they can be, even if they can't be entirely self reliant.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#338

Post by fapjacks »

agarden wrote: post #273
fapjacks wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the test questions are available online, too [0]. They are literally the questions on the test, and you can rote-memory them if you don't care to understand them. But the questions cover important topics in ham radio: They serve a purpose. If you learn the theory behind the questions, you'll be a lot better off anyway. Also, don't trust airsoft to give you tactical skills you can apply in actual combat. Those…

> Also, don't trust airsoft to give you tactical skills you can apply in actual combat. Those are two games that progress completely differently. That depends on how you do it. I have a friend in the AirSoft industry. He has described to me events that simulate urban combat. They are held on military bases using military training equipment -- realistic smells (gunpowder, sewage, gangrene), sounds, and scenery. I beli…

Okay, take it from a long-time infantry combat veteran: "MilSim" / airsoft / whatever-you-want-to-call-it isn't the same thing as actual warfare anymore than playing Call of Duty is the same thing as actual warfare. These two things are completely different creatures, and no amount of "but if you do it right" is going to simulate actual combat, sorry.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#339

Post by a_t48 »

dflock wrote: post #243
a_t48 wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Along with the giant volcano to the East. :)

If the Yellowstone super volcano erupts, it doesn't really matter where in the northern hemisphere you live - in fact life on _most_ of the earth's surface is going to suck for a few decades after that.

I meant Mt Rainier.

Re: Doomsday planning for less crazy folk

#340

Post by novaleaf »

the_prepared wrote: post #151
novaleaf wrote: post #146

anyone have good book recommendations? specifically looking for wilderness survival, first aid, and edible plants (pacific northwest)

I carry the SAS pocket guide: https://goo.gl/hnDJm7

thanks, the 3rd edition is still cheap :)
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