An overview of how our family is prepared • Hacker News Board

Re: An overview of how our family is prepared

#71

Post by triceratops » Tue, Sep 08, 2026, 9:48 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #61

throw93947309 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So my neighbours hate me, but somehow major disaster changes that? > won't allow looters in the neighborhood My neighbours will be the first one to "equally share" everything I have with random junkies. > if you die ... your preparation can save someone else's life. Yeah, my neighbours make sure I die, and my stash will save their life.

You're getting unfairly downvoted. Yes, in a perfect world, we all have great, wholesome, cooperative neighbors who will help us out in an emergency. But we don't really choose our neighbors, and the sad reality is there are a lot of (and more and more these days) really shitty people out there, and by random chance you might be stuck with a neighbor who would rather rob you during a disaster than help you.

> by random chance you might be stuck with a neighbor who would rather rob you during a disaster than help you.

A natural disaster ties together the fates of everyone living in the area. When law and order break down, the people living nearest to you are the most important guarantors of your own safety. Attack or hurt your neighbor and you've only made yourself less safe from outsiders.

All this to say the neighbor would have to be particularly stupid, short-sighted, and sociopathic. Or have a foolproof survival or evacuation plan. Other than that, your survival and co-operation is in their best interest.

Re: An overview of how our family is prepared

#72

Post by grebc » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 1:21 AM UTC

qrush wrote: post #3

I barely am able to plan groceries for a few days to a week ahead, especially with two middle schoolers eating everything in sight. While I would agree with the sentiment (definitely something will disrupt heat/water/food access), I struggle with actually executing on doing anything other than having some real basics around. 30 days of spare food feels like such an enormous amount of space and material.

I’d just do your best to keep extra of stuff you know you’ll eat, you know the old two is one and one is none.

Grab 2 packs of dried pasta instead of 1 for example. Rice. Beans. Canned stuff like veggies, fish, even the little single serve veg/beans etc.

Anything is better than nothing which is where most people land. Even knowing you got enough food stuffs for a day is enough comfort to ward off panic in disaster situations.

A 24/30pk of 500ml water can be had for like $5/10. Also very useful outside of disaster if they’re cycled through.

Re: An overview of how our family is prepared

#73

Post by gabrielsroka » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 1:25 AM UTC

bluGill wrote: post #28

nemomarx wrote: post #21

> We have a strong preference for sheltering in place, so we do not have a go bag or anything like that. We'd shelter in place because that's where all our preps are! I don't totally understand this because quite a lot of disasters or threats will mean you can't shelter in place? Even if it's not your main thing to plan for how can a threat model just rule out wildfires, massive flooding, a hurricane or so on.

He lives in Washington. His likely disasters are not ones that mean move. Maybe a wildfire - some parts of Washington get fires, but they don't get hurricanes, and most are not subject to flooding (though this depends on where you live, one block down the street might be a problem - if he lives on the top of the hill is plans should be those living near the bottom shelter at his house). Plan for the disasters that ar…

> Washington

Virginia

Re: An overview of how our family is prepared

#74

Post by bluGill » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 12:18 PM UTC

grebc wrote: post #70

bluGill wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with OP that major collapse is not a likely/reasonable thing to prep for. I'm saying that those who think they are prepping for it are not prepping the right things and so no better off (or only minimally better off) than anyone else. Major metropolitan areas devolved over centuries from how I understand history (I'm not an expert). that means you and your descendants have time to figure it out. However where…

Are you lugging around a suitcase full of gold bars? How are you purchasing land in such a scenario?

I'm not sure, likely labor and friendship. I doubt a farmer would have a clue how to value my gold or anything else in this situation. What the farmer will know is there are all these fields, but with no fuel he can't farm them and so they are worthless to him, but useful to me. I'll be sure to bring my books from the 1920s and 1930 which described how to have a luxurious life without electric or much gas (since most people didn't have them) - some of that will be priceless in this world (and a lot useless since it assumes things like carbide (to make acetylene) is readily available.

Re: An overview of how our family is prepared

#75

Post by bluGill » Wed, Sep 09, 2026, 12:19 PM UTC

gabrielsroka wrote: post #73

bluGill wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He lives in Washington. His likely disasters are not ones that mean move. Maybe a wildfire - some parts of Washington get fires, but they don't get hurricanes, and most are not subject to flooding (though this depends on where you live, one block down the street might be a problem - if he lives on the top of the hill is plans should be those living near the bottom shelter at his house). Plan for the disasters that ar…

> Washington Virginia

I must have misunderstood. The climate is different between the twos, but a surprising amount of what I wrote happens to apply to both anyway. Even where what I wrote doesn't apply the idea still does: prepare for what happens where you are.