Undoubtedly those who prep already understand that most people are not even remotely prepared for disaster.
Even a temporary power outage is enough to stir panic in the general population, who typically have less than three days of food and scant supplies for dealing with emergencies. Most will turn quickly turn to government for help, relying on a system that may not be able to save them.
Given that the system has many vulnerabilities, from the faltering economic system to the threat of an EMP, there is wisdom in preparing for worst — particularly given the dependence upon the Internet and technology for daily life.
Increasingly, digital payments, largely hinged on Internet and Wi-Fi connections, are how commerce is done — and the general public has no clue what to do if that all stops.
The Mirror reports:
When the ATMs stop running or the internet goes down, they’ll be the ones that make it out alive.
“If anything to do with the internet goes down, half the planet will come to a standstill,” Steve told Mirror Online, citing the fact that we work, bank and socialise online in the 21st century. “99% of your life relies on technology.”
He recognises that many of these apocalyptic scenarios won’t come to pass, but calmly suggests it’s better to be safe than sorry.
He also suggests limiting your reliance on technology, filling up a couple of spare jerrycans with petrol and learning how to filtrate water. Seasons can also play a part – if it’s cold, how are you going to heat your house?
“Go home and try it,” Steve said. “Turn of all your electrics. Try it for an hour. Or a week, and see how you get on. Have you got anything in the house that will let you keep on living without power?”
Back up generators that run on gas or diesel are typically good options only for short-term emergencies spanning a couple of days. They are expensive to run, and gas supplies are unlikely to be available during a collapse or even a serious power outage.
Off grid solar systems offer a best medium or long term option, but they may not be right for everyone, and aren’t necessarily reliable.
A better strategy is to prep for a low-tech lifestyle during the worst, and utilize alternate power systems only as an optional luxury. Regardless, the Internet will only come back once civilization has been restored; meanwhile, you are on your own.
There are many resources discussing the best course of action, and as always practicing with your preps is the only way to be ready when the SHTF.
Read more:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Through Any Disaster
10 Prepping Mistakes That Could Get You Killed (And How To Avoid Them)
Rise Of The Preppers: 50 Of The Best Prepper Websites And Blogs On The Internet
When SHTF These 100 Items Will Disappear First
Prepping for the Financially Challenged: A One Month Survival Plan For Under $300
It Took 22 Years to Get to This Point
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90% would die in the first year. I refuse to be one of those
I love my wood stoves, fireplace with cooking insert, Aladdin lamps, well you get the idea….
The Young ages 3 to 25 will loose it first. For weeks these Zombies will walk down the road staring at their celll ohone looking for a signal. The’re toast and no survival skill other than yelling “Mom, When’s Dinner?” The elderly may fair well, cause they did not rely on tech most of their lives. Some preppers will loose it, cause they wont be able to log onto SHTFPlan site every day.. ha… DK will be OK since he is pegged to this site in the 4th dimension.
~WWTI.
Wudda ur methhead will get u early
Idiotic article. The Internet cannot go down.
For you survivalist fanatics out there, keep in mind that the Internet routes around failure.
My thoughts are for the thousands survivalists who die every year without having seen their fantasy come true. And for the live one who are still hoping that Bible-thumoing, amos & canned foods make them better individuals than normal people.
Yeah, I’ve read all your arguments. Pathetic bunch. Only in America do you find such nutcases.
Caveman, well its sooo easy even a caveman can do it.
Anybody still using WiFi to do electronic payments or any bankng period, deserves to get hacked and robbed.
~WWTI.
Linux machine. Short of supercomputers that only
governments operate, it takes years to break the
security. I’m a picky paranoid sort of guy.
Most of the internet traffic goes through the US, so if we get EMPd, the internet would be down here, and there would be problems in other parts of the world.
Dude most of the traffic is Fiber optic, from hardened centers.
Well why read the article? Go back to watching America aint got talent and leave us be, we’re happy.
If the Internet goes down, a LOT of preppers will wish they had gotten around to printing or saving all those bookmarked survival web pages they were meaning to get to!
What do you think powers the computers which make up the internet, Caveman? It’s electricity, which is generated by spinning magnetic fields that require some kind of energy itself. How will the system be restarted after a major outage occurs? How will the men and women who are needed to install and repair the parts of the electrical grid going to be paid for doing their very dangerous jobs when the hyperinflation hits us right in the face?
So go back into your cave with your sharp stick and starve to death while you wait for someone to come and rescue you!
Randy
Yep.
I wanna go full-on grid tie just as an immediate bill cut (payback period looks like 2.5 years) and an inflation hedge.
But ideally… I want enough system and some spare batteries just “kicking around” to run a fridge and maybe a light or two. Lights are optional, there are self contained solutions for that.
Full off-grid is stupidly expensive and the batteries from what I read are a nightmare. In any event, my little plan would only get me 5 years at best before the batteries are piles of slag.
… but then something tells me Los Angeles is not the place to be. Why invest in a 30-year full load capable off grid system here? If such a thing can even exist. With the battery tech I kind of doubt it.
Refrigeration is my greatest hurdle in a grid down situation. I don’t have the money for a big solar setup.
Yes, before you say it, I know about digging root cellars and the clay pots and sand thing, but I can’t find anything short of a dedicated solar power source for my fridge, that will give me real refrigeration options long-term. Our winters here the the PNW are rather short and mild.
I’ve got pretty much everything else covered, or improvised.
The lay down fridges suck less juice.
Like the kind that open from the top like a foot locker.
Hmm. I forget how many panels it takes to run them. They do make some small foot locker types that can run on a single 80 watt.
But… then you got compressor start up loads and you got like several days of no sunlight and that part’s where the fun really starts. That last part. Even the best batteries will only go you 5-7 years. Seems like there must be a better way.
Plus… it’s small. Key word: small. As in a week kind small. How you get food to put in it every week?
Well fishing I suppose.
Look up how to turn a chest freezer into a fridge.
They do have batteries that last up to 20 years! Very expensive go to IronEdison.com
Everyone seems to overlook the best fuel source on the planet: propane. It can heat your home, run your generator, refrigerator and has no shelf life. Get a 500 gallon tank (underground if possible) fill it up and you are good for quite some time. Buy it now while the price is down and you absolutely cannot go wrong. Gas and diesel have a shelf life and it is not as long as you would think. Good luck to all of you!
We just filled our 1000 gallon tank (not buried though) for 0.99 a gallon. Really good price right now, I’m considering getting another tank.
We were off for about 3 weeks during a bad ice storm.
lights were kerosene had about 10 gals and it was very old keep in a big gas can in our basement for about 7 years.
We ran our gas generator out side under wood deck with a 220 wire running in the house though our dryer vent to plug in to our 220 dryer plug. AFTER we had flip breaker out side to disconnect from our power pole, We ran a lot of the house that way. ran it about 2 hours a day and that kept the freezer, re frig cold. We pumped well water into containers and bath tub for flushing stools.
we heated with propane fireplaces.
So only needed generator on about 2 hours a day also go the news off TV during that time.
Grandma and Grandpa did all this living by creek, fire wood lite and heat, beans and corn bread for years. You’ll be fine.
Grunty:
I believe you are quite an optimist. I don’t see how it could take a year for 90% to die. If most of the media generation cannot take a selfie, that alone is enough to end it all.
-Max
Let’s hope so..
There is a survivalist/prepper show this weekend in Lawrenceville GA.
ht tp://atlanta.eventful.com/events/atlanta-prepper-show-/E0-001-084406632-4
Hope to see some of us….
Grandpa said that my generation relied too much on technology. I said his did, then I unplugged his life-support machine.
Sad.
When SHTF These 10 Items will disappear first: In no particular order.
1. The unprepared
2. The Thirsty
3. The Hungry
4. The Religious
5. The Homeless
6. Refugees with no where to go.
7. Corrupt POLITICIANS.
8. Those Dependent on the Givernment for Payments. EBT to Social Security.
9. Medically Disabled.
10. And those who didn’t read SHTFPlan for Survival Tips and Instructions.
~WWTI
Wudda don’t forget lone wolves
Lone wolves are disappeared by definition.
Have you ever considered that many religious people are focused and don’t fit into your other categories?
You may disagree, but God is telling his warriors to prepare.
The legend of Noah is prevalent in all cultures. What a coincidence that Noah, or some version of Noah, exists in every culture on the planet.
What are the odds of that? Seriously every culture has that same story. The details might be different but the essence of the story is the same. In all cultures (even those never exposed to Christianity) there is a story of the flood/disaster that Noah is prepared for.
Maybe it’s because most civilizations started up around the Levantine area where there was a giant glacial melt about the time we started learning how to tell stories…
But what do I know?
I do know that your god isn’t going to help you. There is no jesus to come back at the end; just the Juden to rule over the goyim in the end, before the Mossiach turns the entire world to come to ash.
Only 225 years left in the Juden calendar before he’s supposed to either be here or never be.
Another very prevalent story on Earth is the one of the Seven Sisters (Pleiades). One story in North American Native lore tells us that there were seven very beautiful sisters who were being chased by a hungry bear, and The Great Spirit placed them on top of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming to keep them safe. But the bear was very persistent and tried to climb up the mountain, making the grooves you see in it. So The Great Spirit put them up in the sky where they would come to no harm, ever.
Carl Sagan once said that if you want to search for life in the galaxy, to look in the Pleiades, because it is the one place that is mentioned in more cultures here than anywhere else!
You forgot Lawyers 😉
The other side of the coin – when SHTF
those that would be in demand;
Doctors
Chemists
Nurses
Plumbers
Mechanics
Electricians
Farmers
Horse Veterinarians
Policemen
Military [Vets too]
Telecommunications [shortwave radio]
Probably missing some…
A lot of poor people are already in the know about surviving without all the luxeries… I have lived in a house with no heat in the middle of winter, have lived in a SUV at sub zero temperatures (I was actually much warmer in my SUV than in some rooms Ive rented! Long story, but basically I learned how to not only keep warm, but REAL warm and cozy in my truck!); I have lived without a refrigerator the last few months (really f– sucks! And extremely expensive getting food to eat daily!); I have lived withuot shower and/or toilets… so I guess, basically, poor people have an advantage in that for many, the S has ALREADY HIT THE FAN… and they survived. I know many wonderful, kind, sweet, optimistic people who live in the forests, in tents, under the bridge, by the river, etc.
I think Professor Chissodovosky put it well.. In his book called, “From Poverty to Despair”– thats where many are now. No longer just poverty stricken, but down right cave man living standards!!!
Also, would like to mention…I left the city, where I was surrounded by all sorts of big, scary cities… and came out to the boondocks– the mountains, sustainable living scenario.
And all I see are these f– cameras every where!!! Its really wierd. In the city, I never saw any camera or other BIG BROTHER crap! I come to the rural area– away from the big crowds and these big cameras are everwhere!!!
In the Greyhound bus station is a sign that says you are being recorded by camera and sound systems. I go to fast food joints and these HUGE cameras watching you from the periphery. I go down town and big sign says you are being watched! On the bus is sign that says you are being recorded… I never had to put up with all this BS back in my hometown!!
Holy Cow, was not expecting that…
Turn the Main-Breaker off in your house ….it is a eye opener. I work as a electrical lineman and see snow storms and hurricane restoration every year up and down the East coast. It can and does happen to families like all of us. Most prepared people i ever have seen were country folk in a massive snowstorm in Connecticut back a couple years. When the power stops flowing, what you have in your house/possession is all your gonna have
climber- we’ve done that a couple times just for practice. Turn off ALL electric power to the house for a while and see what happens. You’re right- it IS a big eye opener. Most Americans, even those of us who live in the boonies, are not nearly as ready to live off grid as we think.
i am mentally, emotionally, and physically prepared to live in a world without the grid, however i am NOT prepared to live in a world without coffee.
officeninja, now you’re speaking the language of my peoples. Just to let some of you here know, I’m still using (and grinding) coffee bean that has a best buy date of 6/12. Still just as good.
Ok, Officially 6 Mts out at the BOL. Single Prepper here. I would agree with the coffee prep. Forget the coffee pot maker. Sucks like 850 watts of Power. I grinded maybe 10 lbs of coffee beans and vacuum packed that in masson jars before I bugged out. One of the beat prepps I did by far was the pre-grinded coffee. I still have a case of jars left, and besides a few days, I had tasty coffee every morning. The best most efficient way I found was a tea kettle on. Propane stove. 5 mins boiling water poures over the coffee in a coffee strainer cup into a tall insul cup. My reg size propane tank lasted about 5.5 months. I have 4, and may pick up a few more. But i now have almost 2 yrs of propane. I used.for cooking as well. Steaks go on the carcoal grill.
~WWTI
Would you like cream in your coffee? ???
TODAY’S SUPER PEPPER FIND
go to ebay and put “mini moo half” in the search box. You’ll get about 20 hits. You can purchase 192 mini half and half creamer cups for $10.
TO THE DOOR! !!
REAL LAND O LAKES shelf stable cream.
Enjoy! !
How horrid! I would never ruin my coffee by putting anything less than the raw unpasteurized cream from our jersey cows in it.
By “awhile”, how long exactly to you mean? A few hours, a few days, a few weeks, a few months?
I’d guess that you’ll learn new things from each.
Ame, take it from me, I’m THE expert on what ” awhile” is. It’s the term I use when making my daily end o’ the world trumpets of doom proclamation to the faithful. If I was to ever be so damn stupid as to be even remotely specific about a time frame, the sheep would wake from their slumber, leave my website en masse, and the advertising revenue would disappear overnight. So “awhile” is every prophet of dooms favorite word, it’s the only thing that keeps us from losing all of our credibility.
Ame- first time we just tried an overnight practice run. Turned the main breaker off at the pole about dark:30. We soon discovered we’d misplaced the wind up alarm clock, a couple of the flashlights among other things, and hadn’t drilled everyone on “keeping the damned fridge door shut!”
But we got through it okay. Several months later we tried again. Friday sundown til Sunday morning (if memory serves correctly).
Still found a few holes in our preparations but, again, we got through it.
Both these were several years ago when the kids were still at home. Surprisingly, they didn’t seem to mind. Probably because we raised them without the usual flood of gadgets and games when they were little. Even went without a tv in the house for 5 years when they were all grade school age. Once they adapted, things were fine. They just learned to go outside and amuse themselves with non-electric activities. Plus, they all learned to read actual books. It’s quite satisfying when you come home from work and your teenage boys are sitting on the sofa debating the finer points of quarks, nano-particles and anti-matter, rather that talking about some lame-brained celebrity athlete. I give Mrs Okie all the credit for properly raising the kids.
Later, when we moved to the country (the okie compound as I call it) they did fine whenever an ice storm knocked out the power for a few days. They, and the Mrs and I, simply heated water for bathing and cooking on the wood stove, did out cooking there or outside, and kept on with our normal routines in spite of the inconvenience.
It’s all a matter of perspective. If we could learn to see most of our modern technology for what it is- a ‘convenience’ rather than a necessity, we’d weather the storms of life much easier.
No doubt, I’m just as reliant (or even dependent) on electric power as anyone, but at least I’ve seen that the alternative isn’t really that bad. we just need to be flexible and adapt to the situation.
Lol I can relate. I had that same satisfied feeling when our oldest two were in a heated debate over Latin declensions and then later whether Mozart was better than Beethoven.
We do letter the older ones have some gadgets though. Since we home school them and we live pretty far out of town we’ve made some allowances so they talk to their friends.
Proud Prepper here to say I own my own “Energy Co” off the fragile grid. Enjoying the fan and radio at the moment. The Heinekin is chillin in the fridge. Meat Frozen in the freezer. Cycled out 20 gal of gas, replenished the Jerry Cans added the PRI-G. Good for another year, JIC.
~WWTI
I may not be totally set up and ready to live completely off the grid, but I don’t panic, and I’ve lived long enough during my lifetime without “amenities”, that I can damned well improvise in a pinch. I know how to make many things work and how to usually get around things that I can’t make work.
I’ve lived without electricity and indoor plumbing, for more than the duration of a temporary power outage.
I know how to make it with just the bare minimum, and I pretty much live that way now. My one goal is conquering my physical disability.
Even with my disability, I don’t ever give up or surrender to it. In SHTF, I’ll make it longer than many healthy people will. I’ll have no regrets.
Climber,
We went six weeks with no power due to an ice storm. It was cold enough the freezers didn’t thaw. Other than that if your ready for it , it’s pretty doable. I do have enough jars and lids now that I can can all my meat in such events again so it’s not spoiled. We ate well and stayed warm.
Learned a lot about what’s needed for long term.
Anon, every one of my relatives in GA has a solar system for backup on their homes. In 2013, they all shut off the main switch and ran off solar for a month. That was a real eye-opener and they learned some things from it. It’s different from being on the grid but is very doable.
If the grid went down, we’d have to live like Africans. Damn.
No, we will be forced to live like American lived in the 1600’s, 1700’s and 1800’s. We can do it!
No, look around at the changing demographics, especially in places like California… It would indeed be like Africa.
Or Sonora.
welcome to the jungle
Amish do it every day and they are making it just fine.
John:
The problem, as I see it, is not so much of what we can do but rather what we think that we cannot do without. The Amish have chosen their path. It was not thrust upon them. Mindset makes all the difference. A little panic goes a long way.
-Max
Sorry, but I refuse to bath, piss, and shit in my drinking water.
Why would you do that anyway?
The whole world is a bathroom, at least for guys.
I’m not shy, I’ll shake a branch to let you know where I am…LOL
Party like its 1899
Im figuring on a low tech lifestyle,
Got my big cast Dutch ovens, big cast griddle and fry pans, its too hot to cook inside anyway if its a wood stove so cooking outdoors, and i really dont chit chat anyway unless its in person,
Will miss the entertainment of sites like this but will just spend more time in the garden if it goes away, im cool with that, lights,,,, meh, got enough candles and oil to last about 20 years,,,
Internet and digital communications? Meh Can get by without it.
Kula, how’s the weather? Any storms?
Not yet, had a very wet weekend but today looks fairly clear,most likely get afternoon rains, have another storm brewing though, but its the season and sooner or later the weather patterns will start sending us storms. Gotta just deal with it, life goes on!
Send us your extra precipitation, okay? (West Coast)
The deer are desperate around here.
I read an article a while back, where the deer and other wildlife was coming out to drink from the spigot at a national forest rest area. The vitriol from the commenters was stunning. Most of them advocated killing the animals to keep them from drinking “their” water. Apparently, they didn’t think the wildlife that lived there, had a right to water, since the drought took their usual watering holes from them…
Did I mention that I dislike people in general?
Only Liberal-minded fools would think of killing animals over what they consider to be “their” resources.
In this scenario – it’s the Liberals that need to be killed.
“Did I mention that I dislike people in general?”
I completely agree with that statement, seriously… it isn’t that difficult to dislike people – especially the “Americanized Culture” in general.
Absolutely.
Kula, I’ll be at the BOL before an EMP hits. I’ll also miss shtfplan and other sites like it, but I can manage. I lived without internet and digital communications before they came along and I can live without them again. The electronics I’m saving have already been in a faraday cage for 2 years and I’m also loaded with candles, matches, etc.
The Amish live without electricity and do just fine. Learn the old ways, you will be better off.
Agreed, most people wont do without their modern conveniences, is real interesting
The Amish and Mennonites do pretty well, but even they are dependent on our high tech, at one remove. I see families shopping at my local food market quite often. I’m not nosey, but I’d assume for medical supplies, specialty foodstuffs, cleaning supplies, etc. I’ve met several Amish or Mennonites around here who are loggers. They buy fuel for their saws and skidders. (They’ll drive a skidder in the woods, but not a truck or a car on the road, so they hire friends who do.)
The Amish and Mennonites are a cult. Amazing how all humans no matter how supposedly spiritual are always able to find a loop hole or work around for something when they want to.
They’ll do better than the majority of folks out there when things go south.
The Amish are a COMMUNITY.
How long does a single isolated 67 year old Amish guy all by himself live? My guess would be two weeks.
Very good assessment.
BTW a cult they most definitely are not. Both Amish and Mennonites are what are known as Anabaptists. They do not subscribe to infant baptism. Baptism is a choice to be made as an adult. Their children are free to leave the community as they choose, to live in the modern world. Some do, but a large proportion of those do leave come back quite soon. I for one really respect that. And their numbers are growing, while every other Christian denomination in America is shrinking.
Amish DO have a serious problem with inbreeding. They misunderstood the whole ‘be fruitful and multiply’ thing. They thought that meant ‘Form a closed society and marry your cousin’
“If Internet Goes Down… Preppers Will Be Last Ones Standing”—
And the problem with that is ???????????
^^^ This. “survival of the fittest” is a perfectly reasonable outcome, IMHO.
Time to take the floaties off the human race and see who swims.
Marcus. I think brains and wit will outwit braun or fitness.
Now those fit with brains and a shitoad of guns and ammo will far surpass and outlive just the fit. You need to be Cunning and 3 steps ahead of the shake down shisters poat SHTF.
~WWTI
“I think brains and wit will outwit brawn or fitness”
Boy, am I counting on exactly that!
As well you should. Think of all the different species that are stronger than people yet we are top of the food chain and not them. Preparing your mind is as important, if not more important, as preparing your body.
Being a disabled veteran on a large piece of land, I have always wondered how many of the wolves and ‘zombies’ have ever hit a dinner plate sized target at 800 plus yards – let alone done so consistently. As for me, I am just popping some popcorn & melting some butter for the eotwawki show.
It is kind of funny to read some of these comments while wondering how many of the commenters have ever lived in primitive conditions during a life and death situation. Amazing how all other issues become rather unimportant when really bad people are trying to kill a really nice guy like me – EXCEPT for the coffee, as someone else already pointed out.
I am going to love it to see people freak out because they have no phones. Have to sit in the dark. Most will go on an eating binge to replace the “high” they lost from internet addition. They will walk the streets and ride around like they do in major storms. Nothing gets serious till about 3 weeks when help does not arrive or anyone to give them instructions or a free meal.
Take a good look around you. At the Malls and supermarkets and parking lots. Watch what people do when they feel they are not seen.
“watch what people do when they feel they are not seen.”
You’re right – there’s a lot of nose picking, crotch grabbing and ass scratching going on.
It’s ok if it’s your own nose, crotch, ass etc.
“Cleaning one’s ears should be done in private, with one’s OWN truck keys”–Jeff Foxworthy
Slingshot, it’ll be a lot worse than that. people like us will swim while the sheeple sink.
“I am going to love it to see people freak out because they have no phones.”
LOL! That’s my New Jersey contingent of grandkids. During the Sandy debacle they lost power for almost 2 weeks. The lack of heat, lack of hot water, and eating foood cold didn’t bother them nearly so much as not being able to charge their iGadgets. Somebody dug up a car charger, and I’m told they burned up all the fuel in Dad’s pickup, just to keep their gadgets running.
Writeoffs, I’m afraid.
People need to remember that the government is just people too. When a town is destroyed by a hurricane, the police, fire, city workers and other also loose their homes along with the rest of everybody else.
How can people expect the government to help them when the people that comprise the government are in the same deep shit that everybody else is too.
You’re exactly right. If there were a prolonged outage, it wouldn’t take more than a few weeks for the government’s ability to help to go belly up. Law enforcement and emergency workers aren’t going to be interested in putting their uniforms on and heading back into work if there is no food or power. Eventually those people are going to have to look out for themselves and their families.
Dave, I would reference the New Orleans Police Department post-Katrina as the perfect example. Post-storm, 68% of NOPD refused to report for duty. They opted instead to stay home and protect their OWN scared and vulnerable families from the bangers, looters, the desperate and the crazy…..
No, reliance on govt to mitigate pain and want post-SHTF is an act of pure foolishness and naivete. The rule of law will disappear, and so will whatever sense of inhibition that remains with the grubber class. When douchebags no longer feel fear from the rule of law, it will be every man for himself.
John Steiner. There are 2 Types of Government. Those who help you and those who wish to harm you.
Big difference. Remember after a disaster, don’t be the first rat to rush in for Aid. Its the 2nd mouse that gets the cheese.
~WWTI
That reminds me of a cartoon I used to have. There was a mouse with his head caught in a trap with his tail in the air. There was another mouse right behind him, going for it. There was a line of other mice, checking their watches and reading newspapers, waiting for their turn.
The title was something like: “When you’re down and out, EVERYBODY wants a piece of your ass.”
I found a copy of it here
ht tp://www.jokersrevenge.com/cartoon17.htm
Did you know you can throw a couple 100 watt solar panels on your roof(about $100 to $150). Buy a $50 charge controller then buy 4 to 6 (12 volt) deep cycle batteries and run all your living room, kitchen & dinning room lights 12 volt Super LED’s, PLUS you can use 12 volt fans, 12 volt coffee pot, 12 volt electric blankets, 12 volt alarm clocks and more ALL 12 volt. I was using over 900 watts in my kitchen, living room dining room and NOW I am using 12 volt super LED’s and ONLY using 33 watts. BUT ssssshhhh (the power companies DO NOT want you to know (OR DO this)..
It’s OK to save power but not OK to be energy independent
Though I have a 6500 watt generator, I have solar backup for long term power outages.
Small to Medium sized unit – main use – to keep the Sump Pump operating and the Fridge cold.
FTW
You and I think alike. I have two 20 Watt., one 110 watt., and four 7 watt. for back up. When the time is right I’m going to get a wind generator.
I have one 6500 watt genie, 4500 watt genie, and a 2500 watt genie. I always have a back up for my back up.
I can run my house with the 6500 Watt genie, but I know that there is going to be people come so I back up my back ups to help them.
It is a good idea to have back ups for your back ups.
Sgt.
Yes, yes we did.
Everyone has a large refrigerator, but most of the space is wasted on leftovers, old stuff hidden in the back, and things like mustard that don’t need refrigeration. Most people could actually do with a dorm-sized refrigerator. I have one that we will switch to and run on solar when it becomes necessary.
My great-aunt went for many years without a refrigerator. She would keep milk, butter, and cheese in the spring house. She was glad when she eventually got a refrigerator. She said that she finally had someplace to keep eggs where they wouldn’t freeze in the winter.
Ain’t that the truth. I have “ballasted” mine by keeping several jugs of drinking water in the back. If I lose power, it’ll stay cooler longer.
Yes, I do.
The problem is permitting, since I don’t want my house insurance to go t*ts up. Fire? Hey guess what, even if someone committed arson, it’s still your fault for the non-permitted electrical system.
That said I believe I can do grid tie and handle 100% of my load for about $800, minus the permitting fees.
Don’t worry….Obama has our back!
Old, with a long list of ailments, I already know, when it happens, my days will be shortened. I am ok with that. My Mother spent 3 years being told she would die any day. I don’t fear death nearly as much as the torture she went thru, gasping for each breath, in constant pain. I pity my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. I know that my soul is eternal, and that where-ever I will be, I will grieve for the Earth and this once great Country.
May each of you take a deep breath, fill your hearts with love for those around you, and dance the trail of your life. Life is too wondrous to live in fear. Yes, plan, prepare, but don’t forget to dance!
Kyrathyel.
Starting to feel the mortality of life. Me too.
With that come a different set of choices. An adaptation.
Take time to smell the roses but after exploring all the options there may not be more to do.
A person told me long ago. When you get old, just keep moving.
When I die want to die in my sleep like grandpa. Not screaming like the people in his car 🙂
LMAO!
RiI
Thanks for the laugh. I needed one after last night.
Sgt.
RiI.. yeah funny. Subtle punchline… im still laughing.
~WWTI
lmao!!
Kyrathyel
Thanks for the advise. I guess we were lucky. My Mother-In-Law two weeks ago was given 6 mount to live. DAMN lung cancer. She passed away last night.
I’m sorry to hear about your Mother and how long se suffered.
Sgt.
Sorry for your loss Sgt.
Sarge, my condolences on your mother-in-law. At least she’s in a better place now. I lost my mother-in-law in 1987. I know the feeling all too well.
I will give Braveheart mine. she lives in San Fransisco. She could teach you plenty of survival skills….like eating pussy.
Don’t waste her on braveheart, anon, brave wouldn’t know what to do with pussy, he hasn’t had any in more than 30 years, he paints his hand to look like Sophie Marceau.
You can do that? 🙂
Is there anybody in San Fransicko that ISN’T a phuckin freak? Anybody?
Do you live in the area also?
You guys should be proud of yourselves. Losing the mother-in-law is the stuff long-loved jokes are made of. I guess not everyone likes their MIL. I know I despised mine, but I never wished the old witch would die either.
Gasoline storage.
Depending on what type of vehicle you drive you can store from 15 to 20 gallons of gas.
Get a siphon kit or leave how to siphon gas. Some cars have anti siphon but you can work around it. Google it.
Keep you vehicle gas tanks pretty much full. Then top them off when needed. Plus Jerry Cans.
The low info people are just poking holes in the bottom of the gas tank and letting it drain into a container.
in newer cars, all you need to do is cut a hose.
Actually, my chevy luv PU had an in-line fuel filter easily accessible in the drivers side wheel well. I had to remove the filter and crank the engine over to check for a clog in the fuel line, many times. I got the truck for a few bucks, because the fuel filter was clogged and it wouldn’t run, no matter how many carburetors those dummies put on it. 🙂
Doesn’t that just make your day, though?
Yes it did. When the only skirt in the room knew what was wrong, and got a very very good deal…they didn’t laugh for long. I drove up to them in it the very next day.
And I did it MY way.
Just siphoned today. Get a shaker hose, has a one way ball valve. You do Not want tinhale gas. Keep the supply can above higher than the bottom of the fill hose. Basic gravity folks.
Best place for Jerry Cans, shaker siphon hoses, is Gemplers Dot com. Out of Wisc. Tons of great prepper hardware supplies in every category.
~WWTI
Gas keeps going down here, down to $2.17 today in eastern NC.
Slingshot, all vehicles built within the past 10 years have that anti-siphon device built into the tube of the tank; on the other hand, all vehicle gas tanks now are made of plastic instead of metal. A cordless drill or a good strong fixed-blade knife will put an opening in that tank but be sure to have a gas can or two underneath with you when you make that hole. It’s easier to do on full-size trucks and SUVs since you have more space to crawl underneath and won’t have to jack up the vehicle.
My town had a power surge on one of the lines. Blew out all the circuit boards on the new furnaces. Nobody had that many circuit boards available for the replacements. People had to go without heat for awhile. They struggled to keep the pipes from bursting. Just one of the things that can go wrong. If the problem wasn’t just local, many people would be in big trouble.
You can always throw another log on the fire but you can not take off enough clothes to beat the heat.
Bugs are another plague. Mosquito’s fire ants, bees and wasps, chiggers, ticks, spiders, deer and yellow flies, gnats, sand fleas, no see’ems and other crawling/flying/buzzing sons of bitches.
SS
but they are high in protein! LOL
Sgt.
Ever tried to catch enough gnats or noseeums to make a meal? Or even a side dish?
Low-tech life means locating your BOL where it’s already been proven that people can do it. i.e. not on dry, remote mountaintops. Land that can be successfully farmed without pumped irrigation and man-made fertilizers, decent growing season, easy access to navigable waterways, (you will need to trade for things), springs for clean domestic water, sources of salt, adequate firewood or coal, all will be essential.
Look to where population centers were in, say, 1880.
My area was more populated in 1880 than it was now, tons of farms and such, through the early 1900s the farming dropped off and people moved, now population is up but with a variety of transplanted mainland suburbanites and wealthy transplants along with a salting of old local families and people like us who moved from another part of the island or islands,,,
Water is the only issue, if you have water storage you might make it if the public system goes down, but without water most of these places are worthless.
Eastern NC has water everywhere you look. You have to cross bridges to get anywhere. It rains plenty here, like the thunderstorm we’re having right now. And there’s still plenty of water underground. A lot of our aquifer is under rural property, so there’s not millions of people or major industries pumping out of it. And the water table is really high, unless it gets contaminated somehow. Our well is deep anyway.
What I like to tell my friends in southern Idaho is that where I live, water is a damned nuisance, and we pay good money to get rid of it so our crops won’t die of immersion.
Archivist, the BOL I just recently got back from sits on 30 acres with a very deep well and a year-round creek out back. No water issues in north GA.
my well is 18 feet deep. it took me 3 weeks to dig it, drop a culvert in and seal it with 400 lbs betonite.
Just so you all know. I will help any good God fearing Christian that comes through my area. There are 2 shtf’rs that can vouch for that statement.
What a blessing.
Off topic, I am aware most here know about the extent of Bill and Hillary corruption. An excellent rundown can be read titled: The Hillary E-mail Scandal, The Scandals behind the Scandal at whatreallyhappened.com, “the greatest espionage scandal in U.S. history run out of the U.S. State Department by the Secretary of State herself, evidence proving the war on terror is a hoax”.
I’ve always known the war on terror was a hoax, as soon as I found out that WE were funding the terrorists.
I prefer the little Bush quote “The War Against Terror” T W A T.
There are old tech slow turning diesel water cooled engines on generator sets available that you could keep running for long periods of time on very little fuel. Anyone here know what I am talking about?
Skeptic. yep. Lister is one. Some old can get sets would run off of motor oil and diesel mixed @ 450rpms.
/sigh/
Most will turn quickly turn to government for help
Thanks, Mac, for caring more about making sure your crap gets posted so you can start earning ad revenue instead of taking an extra 5 minutes to review your so-called “work” before you post it for all your readers to see.
(Hint, when you decide to change part of a sentence, go back after you’re done and read the whole paragraph. I’ve changed the previous paragraph 3 times and I think I STILL got it right, and I don’t get paid for this crap any more!)
Sorry, Mac, I know you’re busy and all. Being your own boss is tough. Question… if you were paying people to write your posts for you, how would you feel if they posted the same obvious mistakes day in and day out that YOU post?
Would you fire them? Or just blow it off?
BH,
Get a life.
egore, get an education and quit settling for crap all your life.
Billy, I agree about the grammar mistake. mac must have been distracted or something. and egore can go f#$% himself.
“Most will turn quickly turn to government for help”
That statement is not only true, but accurate.
Billy Hill, have you taken a good look at America and the large population of idiocy that runs rampart in this country?
Maybe you don’t, .. maybe you are just a small part of the 90% clueless morons that think things are just splendid and there is nothing wrong.
Question should be: “What Alphabet Agency is paying you … to post up a message such as yours?”
Small part? Most likely just a part of part of the mo’s
That part of part of fart was for you you billygoat
I’m here for the same reason as you; to educate myself about the fucked up shit that’s been done to this country and the world, and how best to prepare for it.
I just get sick and tired of reading 3rd grade-level literature on sites that are pulling in serious bank due to ad revenue. Mac needs to take a bit of pride in his work, that’s all. He thinks it’s OK to put out mediocre work and that people won’t give a crap about it.
Billy Hill.
I would agree if you were paying to enter this site. It is free and you can move on if you want to if it pains you so. To add Mac could decide by punctuation and grammar who can post on his site. Who would that leave to express the concerns of many not so educated.
The advertisements do pay his bills and make it possible for this site and for the information from which you can prosper. Why complain on this issue so small in comparison to the need to provide information to the public.
And if you think this is horrible. Wait till you confront those who can hardly put a sentence together.
I just have to smile.
I already covered some of this in another response, but wanted to touch on this:
The advertisements do pay his bills and make it possible for this site and for the information from which you can prosper. Why complain on this issue so small in comparison to the need to provide information to the public.
On good sites I DO pay to read there; by clicking on advertising and buying from them from time to time. In fact, the current company I buy my silver online I got from this site by clicking on the link (it was JM Bullion and I’ve spent nearly $1,000.00 with them since). So yeah, I kind of am paying to read here.
And if you think this is horrible.
Wait till you confront those who can hardly put a sentence together.
Notice I don’t give ANYONE crap about it here that comments. These are regular people from all walks of life and all corners of the world. Mac, on the other hand, is providing a professional service for people and he’s getting paid nicely to do it. He really needs to take more pride in his work.
Billy Hill
Points noted.
Billy, now you’re crossing a line. Like I said earlier, Mac might have been distracted by something and just made an honest mistake. It happens with some of us who post comments here sometimes. Sometimes even I make a mistake in spelling a word or some wrong punctuation, etc. Hell, man, we’re all only human, give Mac a break. Plus I believe he DOES take a lot of pride in his work or this site wouldn’t be here. I believe Mac has his shit together. What about you?
Brave..lay off the Smirnoff. Egore pointed it out and you told him to fuck off. Probably because he used the initials BH for billy hill, and your juiced up brain cell thought BH stands for BraveHeart. If I let you in my camp, you are going to have to limit the white lightning to 8 oz a day. ( and only 1 joint)
I know a large number of people, who are full of information that the rest of the U.S. should know, and many of them don’t read well and thus don’t write well. I would pay for their information anyway, because of it’s value, even if they wrote that same information with poor grammar, bad spelling and incorrect sentence structure. Value has nothing to do with education and even sadder is the fact that education has nothing to do with value.
Billy Hill
May I ask what instilled you to write a post like that against Mac?
Slingshot.
We shouldn’t give this self-righteous SOB the time of day.
If we don’t respond to the troll just maybe it will go way.
Sgt.
Self righteous SOB, that’s funny coming from you of all people sarge.
lt treatell
What does the lt. stand for little turd, or little troll?
I never cut people down until they cut me down. So you little turd/little troll can go suck an egg.
Sgt.
By the way sarge, the name is Treadwell, not treatell. You may benefit from remedial English lessons even at your advanced age.
I never cut people down until they cut me down Unless you’re a kid in a school that needs to be roughed up, eh sarge?
I hope you are learning to quit telling people you’re LEO. Bad things are coming to you! 🙂
Little Turd/Troll or what ever you call yourself today. Go cry some where else you piece of SHIT. BECASUE NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOU. YOU CRY BABY!
Bad things are coming to me?
While don’t you bring it on Scumbag! I hope you when the time comes we meet face to face. Because you need your ass whipped. You don’t have the ball to say this to my face. If you had the chance, but like the Pussy that you are you would never showed up.
“Sorry” if I offended any of the GOOD FOLK here, but enough is enough, and I have had enough of this low life piece of shit!!!
Sgt.
Sarge, did you just shit your pants? Old people have been known to do that when they get upset.
little turd/troll. Why are you hungry?
Sgt.
Congratulations sarge! You’ve actually spelled the words in a sentence correctly! Tomorrow we’ll work on numbers from 1 through ten. If you like, we’ll use your favorite toy bunny dolls from last time.
Sarge, I’d be willing to have a piece of his stupid ass also. I wouldn’t have any problem blowing his stupid ass away.
Oh no! NOW I’m in REAL trouble! Braveheart is going to blow me away with his ” ventilation team.” Sure, me and the thousands of others that have suffered his ” accidents”. There’s a repeating line on this site that you can’t fix stupid. There should also be an additional line that you can’t cure shithouse rat crazy either.
Ignorance,,
Arrogance,
Or both i suspect
slingshot, fair question and thanks for asking instead of just flying off on a tangent like many here.
I used to write for some very big companies (The New York Times, AOL, Vertical Press) and a ton of smaller companies and magazines (print and online).
As someone who used to make a somewhat decent living doing this, I can’t stand when successful sites like SHTFPlan let crap like this get published constantly.
I started out ignoring it like most of you (or maybe, egore, some of you just don’t notice it and therefore need an education), then I started giving Mac a little heads up about it here and there. Then it started getting worse and it seemed like Mac was doubling down on posting crappy copy and I started getting frustrated having to slow down my train of thought to figure out WTF he was trying to say.
I had to look at the ads plastered all over, I had to deal with that damned screen-covering request to join the mailing list, I felt like an actual customer… having to practically pay for the privilege of reading here.
So I installed Firefox, NoScript and Adblock and I don’t have to deal with the overkill ads any more, but that damned crappy copy is still there! So I point it out to Mac and I don’t mince words any more when I do it.
If he is intent on having me read bad copy I’m going to be sure to point it out to him and his readers.
I dunno, seems like the quality of everything is going into the toilet in order to make a buck. You can’t make money off of copy any more because it barely pays pennies per word so you are left with ad revenue and it’s not about quality any more, it’s about quantity.
You lucky consumers, you!
Billy Hill
Just caught you post here.
You said,
I dunno, seems like the quality of everything is going into the toilet in order to make a buck. You can’t make money off of copy any more because it barely pays pennies per word so you are left with ad revenue and it’s not about quality any more, it’s about quantity.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
You have no idea how I can curse up a storm on Quality vs. Quantity. There are things That make so much money that I would not give you a plugged Nickel.
I am computer ignorant and have to fight the pop ups, the long scripts and those automatic videos. Plus you have to listen to an advertisement before you get to the information you seek. Another point is that you go from one site to another so you can read the full article.
I have to leave sometimes to ease my mind of the trash that is forced on me to view.
I get it.
I’m glad you get it. I wish I could help you get your computer set up so you don’t have to deal with some of this shit.
Hopefully this will help…
Get Firefox browser installed, then install the Add-ons called NoScript and Ad Blocker Plus.
Set them both to block everything by default then you can unblock individual things as you need them. I rarely unblock anything from ad blocker, but scripts take a lot of work sometimes.
With youtube it’s great because I don’t have to sit through those ads at the beginning of the video, but I also can’t view full screen. Easy choice there!
Part of the reason I stopped working for the NYT was the sites were 75% adds and 25% copy. Not to mention I was at constant conflict with their liberal mantra.
The sites that make you go to multiple pages to get to the real story get put on my do-not-visit list. No exceptions.
Billy Hill
Thanks for the info. I am restricted from making adjustments. I once turn the background into forest green and titty pink. Some painting section. Oh, Man my eyes hurt so bad. I will inform my wife. A Life Saver she is. ;0)
Typo”s on the many websites I read used to make my blood pressure go up. But I’ve trained my eyes to note them, glide over them and get on with my life. Just like shit, TYPO”S HAPPEN! I don’t have time to worry about them anymore. Breathe deep Billy, count to 10, etc.
When the lights go out, and they are, stay in the dark. Forget solar, candles, generators, flashlites, and so on. Everyday for one hour we practice finding our preps in the dark by wearing blind folders. You can get them at the local drug store. We have to keep tightening the parameters on ourselves to make lights out teotwawki as less traumatic as it possibly can be. Working in the dark in broad daylight will also increase your memory as to where items are. It’s a game changer that will hone your skills and fine tune your ability to find everything you need with your fingertips. Try it please. thanks
Thats why I have flashlights all over the house lol.
Most preppers fantasize about how life will be in the future, and it all is pretty much the same. It goes like this, things will get really bad, most people will be unprepared and will wonder around kicking themselves for not listening to these few people who were prudent an spent there time preparing and are now living above everyone else. Eventually they will be the only ones left to rule and repopulate the earth.
Can you still buy a GOOD can opener? Not the P-40s(?) or whatever, but the old hand crank types.
I found myself trying to open a #10 can the other day that wouldn’t quite fit under the electric opener, so I dug out three hand openers from the junk drawer and, son of a gun, none would work right. They are made with junk nylon or cheap metal gears that don’t grab the can right.
I was tempted to go get the hammer and cold chisel, but the neighbor bailed me out with his electric one…we had a beer and laughed and laughed at modern junk.
Swing away makes a decent opener for 10-12 bux. I have 3.
Get the swing away brand. My hand crank style works just fine on my #10 cans. Extremely sturdy and can be purchased on ebay.
They come in 3 different models.
Approximately $10.
Well, if a genius and a cookin mom recommend the same opener, I’m sold.
I see Ace has one for 10 bucks, and they’re local, so I’ll get one.
The one opener I have looks exactly like a Swing Away, but no markings. It’s stripped. Must be a knock-off.
Thanks for the heads-up.
I got my last one at True Value Hardware.
I got one at Wallys world all its says on it is made in USA
Believe it or not , its great , heavy ,sturdy and 5 bux.
Yes indeed. When Genius and Cookin’ Mom endorse a can opener I open a new tab and click on Amazon lol.
So the Swing-away 407BK model is $5.99 right now at amazon. I bought 3.
Thanks,
Just turn the can up side down and scrape it on the cement until you grind the rim off. Or buy a swing away (or 2) work great.
Get an old-fashioned can opener that’s one piece and manually operated. For a photo, see here:
ht tp://www.amazon.com/Old-Fashioned-Can-Bottle-Opener/dp/B004PC4XPW
They last forever and are easy to use.
An antique one with a wooden handle is more comfortable to use.
Another recommendation for Swingaway. American made, real steel.
Mine’s ever bit of 12 years old and works like day one!
JRS, I have several of the hand-crank openers. can’t have too many can openers I’ll look into swing away.
You surprise me Brave… Thought you’d use a twelve gauge.
Go to antique stores, only ones that still work
“Off grid solar systems offer a best medium or long term option, but they may not be right for everyone, and aren’t necessarily reliable.”
Living off grid now for two years. 890 watts of solar panels and eight 225 amp hour batteries. I run my entire home. Full sized refrigerator, Sat tv Sat internet, all my lights. I have a back up generator when the sun doesn’t shine for 3 plus days. or when I need a boost in the winter. not sure what “long term” might be, I guess when I swap out my batteries in 4 years to the 20 year warranty ones maybe I’ll be long term. Total system cost me under 3500.
I used to have a similar system. I got 7 years out of a set of 220ah US battery 6 volt golf cart type. The secret is to not overly discharge them and use a good desuplphator (batterylifesaver.com) When you add water be sure to shake them up to help avoid stratification. With a good desulphator you don’t need to equalize nearly as much which destroys the battery plates. I use 420ah L-16’s now and I expect 10-12 years easily. I only equalize twice a year. I only discharge to about 30% DOD. Avoid trojan batteries they are shit 🙂
Catch rainwater and boil on outside fire. Cook food on outside fire. Hunt dinner or fish. Grow fruit and vegetables. Sounds about right survive. Don’t do any of this survive not.
I have about 5500 into my system which is…
4- Trina 290 watt panels
Midnite solar 80 amp mppt charge controller
6- US Battery 420ah HC XC L-16 6 volt batteries
Magnasine 2000 watt 12 volt inverter with 100 amp charger
Top of pole mount for 2 panels and the other 2 on the roof
T class 175 amp inverter fuse
Misc. wiring etc.
This powers 2 small refrigerators, an icemaker, a vaccum cleaner, lights, water pump, radios, tv, power tools, etc.
I have yet to use a gen for backup. If the power starts getting low I take some of those blue plastic ice packs out of the freezer part of the refers and put them in the lower part of the fridges to keep them cold and shut off the fridges. Next day when the batteries are charged just turn them back on and put the ice packs back in the freezer. I have led and cfl bulbs 12 volt. All my lights are 12 volt DC so if the inverter goes out I still have lights, radio, water, etc. I use a small on demand propane water heater and small stove/oven. I have been using the same 25 gallon tank for over 2 years now without changing it. I figure the 5 tanks I have will last 8-10 years at that rate.
Thanks for the post Genius. Could you please tell me what brand and model propane water heater you are using. I need to buy one. Thanks in advance.
It is an ecotemp, I got it at camping world for 150 bux. It is ventless because it is small but works fine for showers, dishes etc. Be sure to use a wrench to hold the upper part of the water hookups steady when you tighten the water lines to it. Its about 14X22 inches and 5 inches thick.
Thank you sir. I greatly appreciate it. I am sure my wife does also. Thanks again
I love the on demand propane water heaters, too. Been using them for almost 6 years now.
First one was the Ecco temp and it barely lasted a year, maybe a year and a half.
Now using the Marey brand, much better and seems more reliable. FWIW.
And again, was it Satori who was going with an Aims inverter? JUNK, and it won’t last long.
Please tell me about AIMS Inverters.
AIMS is generally very repairable
in the field. I’m an old electronics Tech,
that got a degree, I can fix anything
or design a work around.
I can obtain in a remote location all
the parts to fix AIMS Inverters.
Aims uses old technology. I talked
to the people that do for a living.
I can get all the parts
( except transformer and program)
to repair an AIMS from Digikey.
Generally it is the Caps that dry out and
fail. They are cheap
I’d build my own Inverter, but the part I’m not
good at is building transformers, custom ones out
of Chicago are expensive.
I’m looking to buy AIMS, as
opposed to Outback because of
repair-ability. Outback et al.
is a much more sophisticated
Inverter.
I’d take a brutally simple design
I can fix in Antarctica over having
a Inverter with a interface monitoring
every single Joule in or out.
Thanks for your feedback in advance!
I am no expert at all on solar. Had the Aims 3000w pure sine inverter , got about 2 years out of it (it was the 2nd one, first one about the same).
Now using a sub brand of Samlex called, believe it or not, Cotek (how would you say the plural?) and it has been excellent. Found it on ebay.
It seems to be a price equals quality thing with these as I don’t think a cheap one will last long. But if you know how to repair one, all the better.
As for Aims, I don’t have the phone # anymore but try calling their tech support. They will NOT answer, nor will they call you back.
Thanks for the Advice.
Cotek is Taiwan made,
so should be good quality.
My system requires split phase 220
VAC. My design acts exactly
like a generator, so you can
manually switch your entire home
“as is”
Cotek doesn’t do that.
Your inverter is the weak link in your system. should be a 24 volt min but 48 volt prefered. Only parallel batteries if you have to. series is fine. Your bank will last longer and will charge quicker and evenly.
I REALLY appreciate the technical info. I learn a lot from your posts and have been saving all the links you’ve left me in the past.
Thanks again,
RII
When I’ve had this much wine I just copy and paste your comments into a word document and read them later. I can recognize your genius but would never remember it 🙂
Farm and Fleet sells a motion detector solar light that works great. I have two set up in my house now one setting in the kitchen window, and one in my upstairs hall way. No need to turn on light in the middle of the night and they light up the area real well. These also work well in a OH Shit scenario, like intruder.
Did a test with them with my brother-in-law. He didn’t know I had then set up and I had all the lights off in the house. Told him to try and find me. He told me that when the first light turned on he knew he was in trouble. He still tried to find me he came up the steps and when he made it to the top and turned down the hall way the second one went off and I was standing there. If that would have been a bad guy he would have been looking down the barrel of a 12 GA. They have been in use for about 3 years now, and still going strong.
Sgt.
I am certain that everyone may have tried my prepper formula recently
In guy in my office decided to bail last week before it was announced that the market was going to crash, he decided to listen told me literally today thanks for saving his sorry ass.. he said he is going to start prepping.
Aka
HCKS..
hcks, are you sure he told you literally today or figuratively today?
I had a similar experience
a co-worker moved her money literally days before the crash
she was going to wait until this week to do it
but decided to go ahead and get it done last week
she couldn’t thank me enough
The biggest mistake preppers make is to discount human ingenuity. Humans are immensely clever and find ways to get around obstacles and system failures. Just as the grid goes down, there will be entrepreneurs up and running and delivering electricity, water and food – for a price. I speak from experience: have been in the worst situations on this planet and every one of them had entrepreneurs selling stuff and providing services. If you had cash, you got beer, food and p#ssy. Always.
The only thing to consider is what you will do to pay for the stuff until the system comes back online and things become more normal. Smart people have lots of options. And trust me, young women will also be some of the richest people because they will have something very special to sell in return for food etc.
Beer food and pu$$y are not electricity and internet connection or cell phone service!
Big diff, but get your point, the stuff that requires infrastructure will be out the window for an extended period.
Moonshine is easy to make, beer takes longer and very hard to make when it’s cold out. I don’t know if we could sustain growing food and shooting game, If I could there sure wouldn’t be any extra. Lots of people around here grow pot, it’s almost like cash to those that grow it. A guy down the road grew 40 plants, the sheriffs showed up looking for someone else. They didn’t care at all about the plants cause he had a doctors note.
Historically,
young women get raped
and abused.
They don’t get rich.
Preppere. Some of you are not thinking straight. Comments about prepper being ok after EMP for example. Your solar cells on your roofs all contain diodes which will be fecked with EMP.
Diode PN junctions in Solar panels are pretty robust. I’d worry more about the Inverter. It has things called MOSFETS in it. Those will look like a volcano if they weren’t properly protected, by the designer. Most panels can take a direct lightning strike, which has a lot more Joules than any EMP could induce.
I live at about the 1600 foot level in the pacific north west, every year we get snow from 6 inches to 3 feet. Every time we get a foot of snow the power goes out. One year we got 3 1/2 feet. The power was out for 22 days. When it came back, we had to get use to it again. I went thru 30 + gallons of gas in the generator. Close to 3 gallons of kerosene. I burn about 4 cords of oak a year. Just saying..
A foot of snow, and power tends to go out?
Sounds like the Utility Company needs to do their job and clear their power line lanes from tree limbs.
There is no reason for anybody having to tolerate that kind of service year in and year out.
Maybe he lives in Calaveras County. PG&E
Hillbilly;
You may be real close to us. Can you say West Oregon Electric? We lose power when a deer farts in the woods.
GruntyMcphereson, welcome to the board. You are one the 3-5,000,000 survirors.
3-5,000,000/48 states=50-75k per state. Where is the 340,000,000. These are dead, or have been huned for food, etc, busy stinking up the air in all the major cities.
Hey Caveman, you dip sh..t. No one is asking you to read this site. Since its all crap, then why do you come here to post. We are a website of negative pessimist. We are not convinced that governemt that your serve loves us. When the f…k did i ever get a call from the govenment, senator, state official, state employee asking me to come pick up my food and hand me my ticket to the DUMBS. We do not report good news around here, we are pessimist and negative people. We are doom junkies.
The basics for you new folks just discovering this board.
Food,water
good strong clothing all weather./multi-role/warfare/commo/bullet proof vest
guns and ammo, anti dred lock accesories, etc
COMBAT READYNESS POST SHTF HOUSTON AREA.
Thugs are and epidemic in my city. In the last few years between 2011-2014, hispanic illegals commited over 100,000 assualts, 9,000 rapes, then multiply that times 100,000,000. This result is the real math. Cut off the food supply and water.
Oh well, you get the drift.
Aka,
be on the look out for violent dred lock attacks post shtf.
DOW down 205
Dow Futures. Plus 11
Having material items is not the only thing of value.
Skills and education will be traded, taught and learned.
There are thousands of people that know how to weave, knit, farms, carve wood, build houses, give First Aid, do pottery, Midwifery, etc.
Those are valuable also.
I’m a network engineer and I tell folks all the time….I would love to go back 100+ years w/no cars, no computers. I would prefer to work on farm!!! If you don’t work…you don’t eat!!!
Eh,not too worried,though set up for longer figure 3-4 days at best for me,will see evil I cannot/will not ignore and die shooting at it taking away some of that evil no matter the odds, to the rock in hell,and laugh at the shocked evil minions coming thru
I suppose the gods could have in store a cosmic joke and get stuck with orphans(damn narns!)but unless that happens ain’t long in the breakdown which is fine by me,just a final few drinks of #7 and some Tull to lead me out of this life and on to the next!
Mac, I like what you said “A better strategy is to prep for a low-tech lifestyle during the worst, and utilize alternate power systems only as an optional luxury.” Never thought of that. We have a whole house generator but just using it as a luxury item is something I hadn’t considered. We can turn it off to conserve the propane can’t we.
Thanks for what you do for us.
I will survive I don’t even have a cell phone I’m not worried. Low tech stuff works every time. I wouldn’t say go backwards but know how to operate with simple methods. To me if you can’t drive a stick shift you cannot drive. You will do what you need to do to eat and survive. This is just how it is or you will suffer.
I will forward these thoughts for folks that are serious about SHTF mitigation.
I think it is universally agreed amongst the faithful here, that those that remain in the cities are hosed.
The haunting question here however,is “HOW hosed?”
This is significant. We’d all agree that the “Wine & Brie” crowd is done for. These unarmed, unprepared yuppies will be whittled down within the first 10 days. Also in that mix, include the elderly, the sick and the vulnerable… from rape, robbery, thirst, and disease such as Cholera.
Now, what of the gangbangers and the ghetto rats? With no remaining fear of the rule of law, and no one to enforce it, they will over-run their cities and gnaw it bare of remaining resources in mere weeks. THIS is where the problem comes in…..
After about a month, when the resources within the cities dry up, THIS is where it becomes a problem for folks like US. These elements WILL become nomadic, because they’ll HAVE to in order to survive. It is THEN that they will begin venturing into the suburbs and outlying areas in search of resources.
My fear is that it won’t be small groups of them either…. It will be literal ARMIES of them hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them strong, joined together for mutual survival! Weaker gangs will melt into the stronger gangs for mutual self-preservation. And the longer they run rampant, the more formidable they become.
And they will descend upon us like locusts. And the worst part? They will not get weaker with time, they will only get STRONGER. With every neighborhood and town they over-run, they will have new recruits, new firearms, ammo and supplies, and will continue to spread outward from the cities like a dirt ring.
Think Latino gangs out of California and Texas, and black gangs out of Philly, Chicago and Cleveland, WITH NO RULE OF LAW to restrain them.
Us regular folks are going to have to commit to coming together with others, and creating forces and militias of our own to combat this.
They WILL come. It’s inevitable. Circumstances WILL force them to go mobile, and OUT of the cities. I throw this out there for some of the more stalwart minds amongst us to digest, ponder on, and plan for…..
Some observations.
If a problem occurs in winter do you have a strategy for keeping your pipes from freezing? Anti freeze for drain traps?
I have a fireplace and keep firewood, but it can’t heat the whole house! That’s the room I’ll be sleeping in though. Wish I could buy a couple ton of candle coal that would burn nice in literally any fireplace. Blue coal burns too hot for any fireplace not designed for it.
I have natural gas and a water heater that needs no electric. I’ve considered those instant hot water pumps that circulate the hot water back through the cold water for instant hot water. A battery/inverter could run those tiny pumps. It would warm the house and definitely keep plumbing from freezing. In a super crash nat gas should run for a couple of weeks, longer if no one is drawing on it because their furnaces aren’t running with no power!
I do have a compressor, and I can run it off my generator, I have fittings that let me pressurize my plumbing that means I can completely blow out any water lines I choose. I’ve used this for clearing lines so I could solder plumbing. But I could also clear lines so they don’t freeze.
Floods, when the big storm was headed my way, and I do have city sewage, I bought enough drain test plugs to seal off all first floor drains, yes I’d pull toilettes and plug those drains before sewage came up into my house, along with sink drains. Let the sewage back feed into my neighbors houses, while I’m high and dry using my second floor facilities!
Tech is great, but have a backup plan. A great set of encrypted waki-talkies is a good plan for family, neighbor communications. A ham radio, awesome! Do you have a roof mount antenna for your TV and radio! Google “DIY Gray Hoverman TV antenna” build one for ten to fifteen bucks. It will provide superior reception if cable or satellite dies. I used mine when the SHTF. Plus I get full 1080 resolution for big events when cable and dish only give 720!
Consider buying flare guns and some air horns. Shotgun flare round counts. A neighborhood signal system between connected preppers could bring many guns to bear against a dangerous situation. Shotgun flare rounds can be set up with trip wires, no danger to anyone, but a signal that can’t be missed. Disclaimer, I’m not suggesting anyone create a dangerous device that could injure anyone. Keep the safety of everyone into account!
I hear the mantra “toilette paper and freeze dried food…… Don’t forget the tampons! Silly boys!
Ak Johny, you aint kidding, what you posted are the facts. Let me correct you on something. Its worst that what we can ever imagine. Our comments and words are like a joke in comparison to what i was told. the 3-5,000,000 end game survivors is the real left overs, in other words, us.
Aka,
HCKS.
A literal end to feel good porn news reporting.