When reality sets in

With everything going on in the world right now, I'm surprised to not see more SHTF scenarios here.

The fact of the matter is if/when it goes down...most of us are not gonna make it. In the U.S roughly 56 million people are over the age of 65 and most of them are on one medication or another that will not be available when things go sideways. Sure, you may have stocked up on medical supplies, but they expire and there's no more coming.

In all age groups, 37 million people have diabetes and 8.4 million of those rely on insulin.



If you live in a large city, you're in trouble. Not knocking "city folk" but many depend on having everything at their fingertips. Hungry ? Run to the deli down the block.
Coffee ? Starbucks on the corner.
Clean water ? Just turn on the tap.
The same goes for most people under 30. They've grown up in a world where everything they need is at the local store or delivered right to their doorstep. Imagine someone who has food delivered because they just don't feel like getting out, suddenly has to survive on their own. They get all their information from Google and when there's no more cell phones, no more information and I can almost guarantee none of them have Googled survival tactics.
Oh, you have a plan to get out of the city and go to the country ?
Yeah, you and the majority of people in that city have the same idea. Can you shoot, trap and clean game ? Do you even have a gun ?
And how do you think those country folk are gonna react when you decide to go native ?


Even many "country folks" will not know how to function without electricity and water. Some people think because they grow tomatoes, they're "gardening" and "fresh meat" is what they pick up at Wal Mart. I have Walnut trees and so many nuts I try to give them away by the 5 gal bucket. They say "Thanks but I'll just get some at the store".

Out of 335 million, I'd guess at least 1/3 will be dead in the first 6 months and 1/2 after a year. One hard Winter will finish off even more.
How many will survive a Summer with temps well over 100 with no A/C ?
The very old and the very young will be first to go.

When you get cut on rusty barbwire or miss with that ax, you better go get some stitches and antibi.....oh wait.
Break and arm or leg ?
Found a stash of canned food and now you're vomiting with diarrhea ?
Common cold turned into pneumonia ?


This will not be some romantic version of Mad Max, with you bravely fighting the hordes of people coming after your food.
You will be one of the horde.

Have a nice weekend.

a reply to: DAVID64

Yes nature doesn't care about your gender, your politics, your religion. In many ways nature is what the law was meant to accomplish to treat everyone equally...

We failed big time and nature will set it straight eventually.

Out of 335 million, I'd guess at least 1/3 will be dead in the first 6 months and 1/2 after a year. One hard Winter will finish off even more.

Yeah... I think that 6 month number will be a lot higher honestly.

If for some reason I do survive the initial event, I will try to survive a bit longer, just to teach my grandsons what I've learned about plant medicine and survival, so they will be ok. We actually work on that stuff now.
After that, I won't care.
Probably better off dead.

a reply to: DAVID64

Expectations. That's always the thing when you prepare yourself. I felt fairly secure because I prepared for self defense for over ten years doing Wing Tsun and progresses through technician grade even teaching teens on my own helping out sifu.

Still got beaten up by a relative non muscular guy because I was not prepared, because I wasn't expecting to be punched into the face right away because of a verbal confrontation.

About city people, we live in a bigger city now and I still keep food for two weeks inside the flat. Someone here I know does not even have a fridge. She get's takeout or goes eating out everyday. If SHTF she will be hungry without food in less than 24 hours.

a reply to: DAVID64

Deagel Countries Forecast 2025 says US has 99,553,100 population hmm...


Pfizer Docs. prove Deagel’s 2025 Depopulation Forecast isn’t Fantasy!


The covid injections will cause a lot deaths i think , many different ways...and connection to the injection /deaths remain hidden....

a reply to: chiefsmom

Even people who prep kinda fool themselves. With all that preparation, they still have it in the back of their minds that'll it'll never really be that bad. The government will save us. They think they may have to make due for a few days till the calvary rides over the hill, the electricity comes back on and the tap works again so they can take a nice hot shower and laugh about how they had to "survive" on own.

Notice how people freak out if their internet or cell service goes down for a few hours ? Imagine that on a global scale and it's never coming back.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

Still got beaten up by a relative non muscular guy because I was not prepared, because I wasn't expecting to be punched into the face right away because of a verbal confrontation.

"Everybody has a plan till they get punched in the face "

- Mike Tyson

a reply to: DAVID64
This 100x.

Same is true for SHTF scenario. Everyone that made just a single plan will get punched into their faces.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

You can plan for general things, but you can't plan for everything and sometimes all it takes is one mistake.

a reply to: DAVID64

Thanks for that honest ... if not depressing outlook.

a reply to: DAVID64

It's not so bad actually back in the day when we were hunter gatherers we also went for days sometimes a week with nothing in winter even worse with the cold.
Humans survive. Like cockroaches.

You can go a week without water too if you know what you're doing and avoid the sun.
To bank in a fight for survival that you've prepped enough is really only post poning the inevitable.
Scavengeing hotspots are especially in a city a lot easier to find in the beginning or when you work your way out of the 'insane monkeys going nuts area'.
That's the only real danger in such a scenario the animals without self control our fellow humans are.
But I am sneaky I can turn basically invisible and noiseless.

Much more useful skill than fighting, be like water and just slip through the fingers...

a reply to: DAVID64

hehe I love walnuts, screw the 5 gallon bucket, ill take a 55 gallon drum of your walnuts. That's nuts people turn them down in favor of store bought. Ew. Don't think ill be one of the horde but thats only because I have been preparing for quite awhile.

Sounds like you are getting some of those Gaza vibes. The WW2 bombers did not see there damage, a few felt it. While the USD holds America is ok. If it falls, some martial law until its stable is standard practice.

Yeah, the vast majority of people in the US wouldn't last through the 1st week without electricity.

I'm not in position to prepare the way I would like. But I can last for several weeks in the State forest right behind my place while all the idiots kill themselves off.

After that my plan is to make my way across country to help my brother who has a young son. The odds of making it to him aren't very good, but that's the plan.

Good luck to the great people of ATS. There are lots of doomsday scenarios or so it seems. Supervolcanoes, nuclear war, ALIENS.....

Half my life ago I lived in a remote location where the power used to go out regularly for days in the winter and I prepared accordingly for such events happening.

What shocked me was older people who were born in that area banging on my door one time the power had been out for 3+ days demanding to know why my house was all lit up like normal television going and coal fire blazing, I invited them in and made them a cup of tea and offered them a meal and showed them how I had everything working from 12 volts and propane for heating the water .

Another place I lived had massive warehouses for a supermarket chain , it took over a minute to drive past them but one winter because the trains were not able to stock them up they were totally empty in 3 days , not one thing was in either warehouse after just 3 days .

When covid struck it really shocked me the speed that my local store was stripped to bare of everything and I do mean everything I filled 10 + suitcases of food after that ,

I never stay far from running water and have a bolt hole ready wshtf , 50% of the population would be dead in the first month and higher if it was the winter when things went down , suicides would go through the roof as most would not be able to handle the reality of the situation.

I am one of lifes cockroaches it seems

a reply to: DAVID64

Community is where the power will be. Those who think they will take their family and things and hide out, all I can say, good luck.

All that food storage and ammo just so someone can come kill you and the family in the middle of the night to take everything. These survivalist have probably told at least one other person their plan, when the time comes that other person, who is now starving, will come looking, and probably bring others too.

Keep your food and ammo hidden somewhere else than where you are residing. Never sleep in the same area you occupying during the day. Maybe even stage an area with food, so scavengers will think they have gotten it all and move along.

If you are scavenging never return straight back where your family and things are hidden. Stay overnight in another location to make sure you have not been followed before going back. Whoever is following will think the first place is your hideout. If they attack at least you didn't lead them back to everyone else. You may even rig that location with traps.

Cook everything using a sightless fire. Keep the light from the flame hidden and the smoke concealed in the dark. If you are cooking outdoors look up the "Dakota fire hole" for reference. It is two holes dug and connected underground, one hole for fire, and the other for air intake.

Most friends I know say "I'll hit the woods hunting" as they forget so will everyone else. If you want to survive you will need livestock of some type. I prefer chickens and fish. Some chickens give close to an egg a day, while certain breeds of fish are prolific breeders, given the correct air and water temps. For those who do not know, Roosters are only needed to produce more chickens, a hen will still lay an egg without a rooster, the unfertilized egg will not hatch into a chicken. A Rooster is loud and can give away your location.

Learn about natural herbal medicines in your area. You can harvest it in the spring and make tinctures, or dry it out for later use.

After an EMP attack it is estimated that 90% of Americans would be dead within a year, so no matter what the cause is, the outcome is very grim. The US is the most armed civilian population in the world, but with an end time scenario, where it puts neighbor against neighbor... again good luck.

If you haven't been educating yourself and practicing survival skills for the past 10-plus years, you won't be prepared to bug out much less ride it out by bugging in. First aid and other health issues are going to be super important, so study and practice that. A good book for overall survival skills is the Boy Scout Handbook which has a section on first aid that is very good. It doesn't have hand-to-hand combat training, martial arts, or how-to-make weapons and man traps, but there are publications available for that. In fact, the government has free manuals for a lot of military training in the form of online PDFs.

Here are some links . . .

survivalblog.com...
www.shtfplan.com...

And this last link is an interview with Selco. It's good info as this guy lived through it.

www.theorganicprepper.com...

a reply to: watchitburn

The odds of making it to him aren't very good, but that's the plan.

At least you have a plan.

Most peoples plan is someone else's plan.

i'm reduced to relying on my friend 'Taurus' to watch my back as i navigate the coming unknown path that lays ahead