Prepare? Prepare to Die!

Sure, you can all stockpile what you like but the truth is, you could be preparing for the wrong scenario. A stockpile of anything could be no good at all depending on what sit-X is.

If you insist on surviving ANY eventuality, you must have two things…

1) An underground, self sufficient, radiation proof, bomb proof bunker with enough food, water and sewage facilities to last several years.

AND

2) The correct equipment to live off the land, in the wild and on the move. All with the knowledge to do so and with little enough equipment to carry.

If you don’t have those things, then any preparation could be a waste of time. Even with those things, there’s no certainty but these would give you the best chance IMO, even if no. 1 is probably not realistic.

If you really want to prepare, then you must do so mentally. If you aren’t ready mentally, you’re also wasting your time but most importantly, you must be ready and prepared to die.

And don't come on here and say you are ready, if you were, you wouldn't be preparing, or would you?

Are survivalists, survivalists because they fear death? or not?

What say you?

reply to post by Prote


Beyond my immediate provisions, I dont have any of those physical preparations you suggest. The one ace that I do have is that when the time comes, I know I will be able to accept my certain death with a detatched calmness...

Unless the end comes in an instant from bullet or bomb, once the shock to the body sets in from injury/bloodloss/hypothermia/sheer pain, everything is blotted out by the most blissful endorphin high and nothing matters or worries you anymore

I must add that I know this personally from suffering a near-fatal injury in a road-crash some years ago, and is a sensation nigh on impossible to comprehend unless you've been that close to death yourself





[edit on 7-2-2008 by citizen smith]

Just because someone prepares for the worst does not mean they are afraid of dieing or not ready to die maybe it just means they want to be comfortable personally I am not so concerned about myself as I am my wife so my goal with emergency preparedness is to make her more comfortable..

as far as preparation goes I agree one hundred percent that more than anything else you have to be prepared mentally or you will get no where no matter how much stuff you have..

I might also add that being prepared at home give you a list of ideas of things that if not at home or unable to get home to your stash if a SITX occurs that you can pick up along the way as you go through whatever motions you have to go through to survive..

In all the things you do to prepare so often people forget to prepare themselves internally for what they might see and what they might encounter these things can be disheartening at the least and can stop some dead in their tracks..

Respectfully
GEO

It takes a lonf time to get ready nearly 10 years and 50k$ for me but I am. Undergroung with 2 years of supplies dry and warm with room for the dog.

mikell

No offense OP, but your post is disconnected non-sequitur. There are many ways to prepare and to choose one over another is foolhardy to say the least. Your post assumes only the worst possible scenario and provokes the reader to do nothing except to prepare for the worst - an argument with which I couldn't more vehemently disagree.

I simultaneously prepare for all possible scenarios to include something as simple as a long-term power outage, or more dire circumsytances like economic collapse leading to depression, attack and warfare, natural disaster etc... In this way I am prepared REGARDLESS the exact circumstances.

Your premise that stockpiling is preparing is a misnomer as stockpiling is simply a task within the act of preparing. As an athlete trains physically for competition, it is given that they prepare mentally as well. It is implied and understood as being a necessary component of true preparation.

I would much rather be stockpiled AND mentally prepared for WHATEVER comes my way than to simply be mentally prepared and have no supplies whatsoever. It is in this way that I will options regarding how to react to sit X. In fact, dare I go so far as to say that mental preparation taken by itself is akin to surrendering to the event itself and its inevitability. And to that I say that death during sit X is only inevitable if you make that your ultimate preparation.

So, stockpile and prepare with the knowledge that it is better to have options than to surrender control to sit x.

In my opinion Survivalist are survivalist because of a reverence for life. We are doing no more then what we were designed to do. Well most also know death will come it is our job to hold it off as long as possible. I don't think we are afraid of it. We just are not built to submit.

Just because it seems like a huge task to prepare for all Sit-X doesn't mean we shouldn't try. Trying is what we do best.

Originally posted by Prote
Sure, you can all stockpile what you like but the truth is, you could be preparing for the wrong scenario. A stockpile of anything could be no good at all depending on what sit-X is.

If you insist on surviving ANY eventuality, you must have two things…

1) An underground, self sufficient, radiation proof, bomb proof bunker with enough food, water and sewage facilities to last several years.

AND

2) The correct equipment to live off the land, in the wild and on the move. All with the knowledge to do so and with little enough equipment to carry.

If you don’t have those things, then any preparation could be a waste of time. Even with those things, there’s no certainty but these would give you the best chance IMO, even if no. 1 is probably not realistic.

If you really want to prepare, then you must do so mentally. If you aren’t ready mentally, you’re also wasting your time but most importantly, you must be ready and prepared to die.

And don't come on here and say you are ready, if you were, you wouldn't be preparing, or would you?

Are survivalists, survivalists because they fear death? or not?

What say you?

...........

I say you write a good post and it's starred

As you no doubt realise, some may find what you've written to be confronting and frightening .. even challenging. My opinon is that you have the best of intentions, however.

I agree with what you've written regarding survival preparations. Despite the most thorough possible preparation, it comes down to circumstance .. to time and place.

Obviously, if the SHTF, many of those with superior plans in place are nevertheless going to be in the wrong place .. or their loved-ones are. Not everyone is able or willing to pull their children out of school or away from fledgling careers, in order to move to their mountain-fastness, to hauling water and digging holes as substitute toilets -- in order the family is together and ready for a possible SHTF scenario. Teenagers may decide they've had enough and just want to get back to their friends life and .. if the stuff DOES hit -- then they'll take their chances. So what then? Do Mum and Dad lock up the cave and head with heavy hearts back to the all-electric homestead .. just in time to be killed ? Lot of hard decisions inherent in survival plans.

Others may be organised to the Nth degree and practice emergency evacuation or other procedures weekly. But if the mother is ten miles down the road at the supermarket and the kids are five miles the other direction at a sporting event when the stuff hits .. then what is Dad going to do ? By the time he's rounded up the clan and they're all in the car ready to head to the mountains or desert or wherever the family bolt-hole is ... it's too late; the roads are jammed; the military has blockaded the street, etc.

Those able to put their plan into practice, most likely, will be those who already live close to their bunker and who rarely if ever leave the house. Not many families are in that category.

Some will survive. But they may not be those who've planned and organised their own survival. And they may not be those we believe should survive.

Personally, I'm not sure I'd choose to survive. If it came down to being surrounded by those I love most in a jail of our own making, surrounded on all sides every second of the day and night by gangs of crazed Mad Max types desperate for our hoarded food, water and weapons, etc. ... no, that would be the worst kind of hell. For if I fell, my family would be torn apart and worse -- and I wouldn't be there to help them.

In a SHTF situation, the more you had to guard and fight for, the more a target you'd be. You only have to watch tv coverage of people fighting each other like crazed animals at department-store sales to know how bad it would be ... multiplied in horror and terror by a thousand.

The awful thing is (imo) that even though intellectually we may choose to die and get it over with ... the survival instinct thinks otherwise. It drags us on, compells us to do the unthinkable, makes us 'less', but doesn't care. The survival instinct is a wild animal. It's not pretty. It's fine for us to watch a tv documentary about the famines in China, for example, where ten million people literally starved and resorted to cannibalism ... even murdering monks for food, as reported .. and say we 'could never do that'. But[b[that is the survival instinct in action. Anyone who believes they wouldn't behave similarly under the same circumstances needs to rethink it. People adrift in open boats, or marooned on barren islands have commonly resorted to murder, rape and cannibalism. They weren't monsters prior to their desperate circumstances .. many of them were educated, cultured, generous, peaceful, spiritual. But their survival instinct compelled them to survive at all costs, at the expense of everyone else .. family, friends, lovers, babies .. everyone.

I have that monster in me .. so do we all. It's not a matter of blaming or judging: it's just the way we are. Civilized behaviour is superficial. Underneath, we're what we are .. born survivors.

I'm a coward as well though. It's easier to die than to fight death sometimes. Death is a release. Surviving is living hell. I'm haunted by the passage from the Bible (apparently): ' The living will envy the dead'. I can believe that. How ghastly to want with all your will to be dead and out of it, with that mind and will trapped inside a ruthless animal that will fight to survive until it's final breath.

So, I hope if the Big-SHTF occurs, my loved-ones and I will be right under the target zone ... whoosh ... vapourised in .003 seconds flat. Then it's 'Hi God .. sur.... priiiiiise ! '

Originally posted by Prote
If you insist on surviving ANY eventuality, you must have two things…

1) An underground, self sufficient, radiation proof, bomb proof bunker with enough food, water and sewage facilities to last several years.

Ah, actually, even that won't prepare against ANY eventuality.

A Texas-sized asteroid hitting the atmosphere at average asteroid speed will release enough heat energy to liquify the land for up to 65 miles down. The smaller the asteroid, the less number of miles down will be boiled, but you get the point.

A non-airtight bunker runs the risk of airborn contaminants, blockage of the airways, flood, &c...

An airtight bunker runs the risk of killing everyone inside with a pressure difference due to a large enough shockwave sent through the earth (from, say, a nearby nuclear explosion, meteor impact, earthquake, or a massive tidal wave).

A fire that breaks out inside the bunker will, of course, either require evacuation, or immediate fire management and replentishment of the oxygen supply (difficult in a sealed environment).

The risk of denizens of the bunker getting cabin fever and attacking each other after a prolongued period of time will only continue to escalate with each passing day. Especially if food and water are in either short supply, or in limited variety.

Volcanic activity will almost certainly melt the bunker from the outside. Even if the bunker can avoid being melted, the intense heat would pressure-cook everything and everyone inside.

Even a water-tight bunker might find, in the event of a large and deep enough flood, that it is crushed.

Even a "radiation proof" bunker is liable to be vulnerable to neutron radiation, which will even penetrate lead, steel, and concrete. Conceivably, if you could somehow immerse your bunker in water that has been saturated with boron, you could adsorb much, but not all, of the neutron radiation. This would, however, require a water-tight bunker pressurized to the point where, in addition to the sheer impracticality of the situation, it becomes vulnerable to the aforementioned shockwave.

Originally posted by Prote
2) The correct equipment to live off the land, in the wild and on the move. All with the knowledge to do so and with little enough equipment to carry.

The equipment and knowledge, of course, being unique to the land you are on. Different soil types will support different agriculture. Different rainfall amounts and salt content will require different tolerances, and different locations will have differing seasons, and thus, different planting and harvest cycles.

Originally posted by Prote
If you don’t have those things, then any preparation could be a waste of time.

Were it not for your use of the words "could be," I'd disagree 100%. It is entirely possible that any and all preparations could be utterly worthless if a bad enough Category and Class of Situation X occurs. Even if you had a supreme bunker of doom 100 miles below the Earth with it's own complete and sustainable ecosystem that could last you and a handful of people for life, what would then be the point if the entire surface of the planet were forever unlivable? To live out the remainder of your days in a tiny little prison? You'd go mad long before you died, unless you died as a result of someone else going mad.

However, you need to consider probability.

Of these three things, what is MOST likely to happen?

A Texas sized-asteroid smashes into the Earth, boiling the crust of the Earth up to 65 miles down.

Nuclear bombs get dropped on or near your location.

A natural disaster disrupts the electricity in your area for a few days.

The intelligent Survivalist prepares against the things he/she knows is MOST likely to happen FIRST, and gradually works their way towards preparing against increasingly unlikely disasters. That bomb shelter isn't going to do you a whole lot of good if you never got around to just buying a first-aid kit.

Now, granted, nuclear war COULD break out less than five minutes from now, but far more likely to happen on any given day is that someone accidentally cuts themselves and needs a tourniquet, or they have an allergic reaction to something and need Benedryl or an Epi Pen.

So, I accept that I have afforded my family the best protection I can, within my means, against Situation X starting from the most likely and working my way downward. It's an ever-ongoing process that lasts one's entire life.

This certainly doesn't mean that the time is wasted, even if a nasty Situation catches us off-gaurd.

Say you've made all the preparations in the world...at home... and your flight crashes into a hostile climate and you survive. Sure, you're now without your fully-stocked bomb shelter, you don't have your handy tools, or your medical kit, etc, but you've become so-well practiced at preparing and managing potential crises, that you calmly go about making the best of the situation with the materials at hand.

Your previous experience in ensuring survival leads you to make sure you are medically okay, treat cuts for potential infections, make shelter, make fire, procure food and fresh water, and will generally give you some ideas on how to go about it. This is as opposed to Joe Ave who panics, and spends his first vital few hours screaming and walking around looking for rescue, till night falls and he has nothing.

So, yes, when the ultimate fate descends upon us and claims our lives, then, yes, any preparation at that moment in time is pointless. But previous to the point where something actually kills you, every attempt you have made to learn or practice survival preparedness is an exercise in ensuring your best odds of future survival for yourself and loved ones in any given situation.

That, to me is far from being "a waste of time."

Originally posted by Prote
Are survivalists, survivalists because they fear death? or not?

Far from it, personally. Why would I fear death? I'm good with God, I know I'm going to heaven if It exists, and thanks to Pascal's Wager, even if God doesn't exist, I still win because I simply won't be around to care.

What I fear is helplessness, enslavement, and failure to have provided for my family. If, in the event of an emergency, I cannot provide the absolute basic necessities for my family, then I have failed in my primary duty as Man of the House. We live in an illusion of security because yesterday the water, electricity, and social order still worked, as it did the day before, the week before, the month before, and the year before.

Relying completely upon the status quo enslaves you to it. In such a situation, removal of the status quo leaves you helpless. As a result, you then fail to provide protection, food, water, and shelter for your family. Congratulations, you have just failed in the only true duty you were ever put on Earth to perform.

I'm a Survivalist because providing for my family is my primary duty.

Originally posted by Prote
What say you?

I say you're looking at Survivalism the wrong way. Your energy would be better spent learning than scorning.

Thanks to all of you for replying, very interesting viewpoints, thanks to you, I would like to hear more.

Originally posted by thelibra
I say you're looking at Survivalism the wrong way. Your energy would be better spent learning than scorning.

Scorn? No. I pose the questions to learn.

I often think about certain situations but have never done any preparations at all. My opinions of survival changed once I got over any fear I held of death and often thought the two were inextricably linked.

I read this forum and others and am surprised at the lengths some go to. I'm not intending to pour scorn, only inquisitive as to the psychology behind wishing to live through certain situations which seem to me to be hell.

Sure, we can prepare for a power outage but that isn't situation X, that's preparing for a power outage and really, I'm not talking about situations where there are mild annoyances to the structure of things.

You said it better than I, it's nigh on impossible to prepare for any or every eventuality. So why bother. Isn't it a "cross the bridge when you come to it" kind of thing?

So to you and any others that think I scorn on survivalists, know this: I am interested in the psychology of those that do nothing and those that will go to great lengths to try and survive no matter what.

I'm pretty sure it's linked to how we view life and death and that is what I'm interested in.

I'm also saying, if you want to stockpile, go ahead but if you aren't mentally prepared to either face your sit-X or die, then no amount of food or water will make your world a good one when the SHTF.

I am also interested in the notion that some forms of survival preparation are actions driven by fear, are they not? I find that interesting.

The bottom line is... prepare mentally for sit-X and death.... then be happy that your other preparations are worth it because my opinion is that nothing is more important than mental preparation... and that's the only preparation I've done and probably will ever do. Unless I'm educated to the contrary.

Originally posted by Prote
Scorn? No. I pose the questions to learn.

Ah, okay, good. We get a number of people in here and, almost monthly, end up with someone posting a typical "you can't prepare for everything, so there's no point in preparing for anything" sort of post, or takes a jab at the Survivalists for some sort of perceived hollywood nutso image they've been shown in the movies.

I think you'll find most Survivalists are just normal Joes who've been through enough bad situations that they've learned it's a lot better to be prepared.

Originally posted by Prote
I often think about certain situations but have never done any preparations at all. My opinions of survival changed once I got over any fear I held of death and often thought the two were inextricably linked.

This is a common misconception, and we hear it all the time, hence my assumption as to your saying it in scorn "Do you Survivalists prepare because you're afraid of death?"

No. If anything, we're a lot less afraid of death than most people, because we've prepared for that eventuality. Coming to grips with your own mortality is absolutely essential to being comprehensively prepared.

I would, however, go so far as to say it is a good thing you are comfortable with the thought of your own demise if you choose not to make any moves to prevent it, because your chances of dying versus mine are significantly higher.

Originally posted by Prote
I read this forum and others and am surprised at the lengths some go to. I'm not intending to pour scorn, only inquisitive as to the psychology behind wishing to live through certain situations which seem to me to be hell.

I should think anyone with a basic understanding of biology would realize that the person who does not care about survival is in the aberrant mindset. As living organisms, we have three ultimate purposes:

To transfer energy from one form to another.

To procreate.

To fulfill those two tasks for as long as possible.

Now, because we are self-aware creatures, we can choose not to do any of the above. And because there are aberrants in any gene pool, we may have no choice at all about not being able or willing to do any of the above. But as a whole, those are the ultimate purposes of any species.

So, in all reality, the Survivalist mentality would be the "normal" psychology.

Originally posted by Prote
Sure, we can prepare for a power outage but that isn't situation X,

Ah, allow me to educate you then.


What is Situation X?
Situation X is any major crises in which the local services, infrastructure, and/or commerce is unavailable for an extended length of time due to some manner of catastrophe.

What are the Categories of Situation X?

NATURAL DISASTER - Floods, fires, earthquakes, meteor, etc.

NUCLEAR/BIOLOGICAL/CHEMICAL (NBC) - Nuclear war, global pandemic, etc.

CONVENTIONAL DESTRUCTION/VIOLENCE - WWIII, Civil war, bombings, etc.

ECONOMIC - The Great Depression, banks failing, etc.

WARGAMES/THEORETICAL - Robot uprising, zombies, alien invasion, etc.

What are the Classifications of Situation X?

Class 1 - City-level impact, 0-99 Deaths, 1 month or less.

Class 2 - 100 miles or less impacted, 100-999 Deaths, 1 year or less.

Class 3 - Less than 1500 miles impacted, 1k-1mil Deaths, years.

Class 4 - Global impact, 1mil+ deaths, indefinite timeframe.

Class 5 - End-Life-Event, Deaths measured in % of all life. Permanent.

A power outage is most certainly a Situation X. It would be a Class 1, most likely a Class 1 Natural Disaster, which incidentally could, in turn cause secondary and tertiary Situation X's of their own.

Originally posted by Prote
that's preparing for a power outage and really, I'm not talking about situations where there are mild annoyances to the structure of things.

Oh, really? Just a minor annoyance you say?

Sure, when you know the local transformer got blown up by a stray lightning bolt, and you get to spend a couple of hours with a candle, it's a mild annoyance. But you know the electric company will be out there, lickity split, and worst-case scenario, everyone will probably have power by morning, and be startled when, in the middle of the night and everyone's asleep, all the lights come back on. That's a mild annoyance. A laughable annoyance even.

Let's take JUST the example of a power outage, however, and up the ante.

You're a diabetic. You need insulin, and you don't have one of the powder-delivery systems. You need the refrigerated kind.

You have a formula-fed infant. The formula must be refrigerated.

It's the middle of winter, you're in a nasty location like Minnesota, and you have electric heating.

It's the middle of summer, you're in a nasty location like Odessa. Your A/C no longer works, and it's 120+ degrees outside.

Those are situations where even one night or day can cause considerable duress. Now let's up the ante some more. Our electrical outage no longer just applies to your house, your side of the street, or even just your neighborhood.

Instead, the local power plant and/or power infrastructure has been destroyed, for one reason or another. It will take several days, perhaps even weeks, before power is restored to your area. Now, not only must you take the above into consideration, but you now will have to consider:

How will you preserve your food/drink items that require refrigeration?

How will you cook your food, warm your house, cool your house?

How will you obtain more food, since the preishable food in the stores will have spoiled, and the canned foods will be gone from the shelves?

How will you light your home at night?

How will you be protected from the human and animal predators that come out when the lights are off?

What will you do in the event of a fire, if there's no juice for the phone lines or to recharge your cell phone?

How will you get out of town, if need be, without being stuck in a line of traffic for dozens of hours (such as with the Houston evacuation a year or so back?). If you have to sit in traffic for hours on end, can your car take it?

How will you communicate with anyone outside of your immediate presence?

How will you maintain any sort of communication, even one-way, with the outside world? (radio...batteries?)

What will you do should you need police presence? We are but two meals away from barbarism.

Will you and your neighbors work together? Can you trust them? Do you even know them? Will they be an asset or a liability? Do they have any useful skills that you can pool together?

Did the local jails, mental asylums, and other detention type facilities suddenly open up? Most are locked with electromagnetic locks, or failsafe systems. Once the power is gone, the doors swing open.

Where will fresh water come from? The pumping stations aren't going to be functioning without power, neither will the water treatment centers.

Where will you go for medical treatment in the event of an emergency? Your hospitals and clinics? Without power? You think they might be a little crowded in this type of situation?

What if whatever damaged the power infrastructure also tore a gaping hole in your house, fence, etc... Do you have enough non-power tools and lumber or building materials of any sort nearby to at least do a patch-job till normalcy is restored?

How about gas for your car? Was it full before the disaster? Or was it, like most people, nearly on Empty. The gas pumps certainly won't be working without electricity.

How will you pay for anything? Do you happen to have a lot of cash on hand? Probably not. Most people operate on a plastic economy. Without power, your credit/debit/checks are useless.

It took me longer to type those questions out than it did for me to come up with the questions themselves, if that gives you any idea as to the obvious and not-so-obvious depth of trouble a "minor annoyance" like a power outage can cause.

Originally posted by Prote
You said it better than I, it's nigh on impossible to prepare for any or every eventuality. So why bother. Isn't it a "cross the bridge when you come to it" kind of thing?

You misquote me, good sir. I never said it was impossible to prepare for "any" eventuality. You just can't prepare for "every" eventuality. There's billions of lives worth of difference there, my friend.

Frankly, if you honestly feel there's no need to ever prepare for anything at all, and should always approach life with a "why bother" and "cross that bridge when you get to it" mentality, then my words are wasted, because it's statistically amazing that you live from one day to the next.

Why bother wearing a seatbelt or stopping at a stop light? It's not like doing so will gaurentee you never experience a car wreck.

Why bother locking your doors? Doing so won't guarentee you never get robbed.

Why bother following laws? It won't guarentee you aren't charged with something.

Why bother cooking or refrigerating your food? It won't guarentee you'll never get food poisoning, or e. coli,

Why bother washing your hands, ever? It won't guarentee you'll never get sick.

Hopefully you get the hint. Walking around with a "why bother" attitude is, with all due respect, idiocy. If you truly felt that way, it's a wonder you're alive, and if you don't feel that way, it's hypocrisy to suggest other people are at fault for not feeling that way either.

Originally posted by Prote
I'm also saying, if you want to stockpile, go ahead but if you aren't mentally prepared to either face your sit-X or die, then no amount of food or water will make your world a good one when the SHTF.

Frankly, you're kind of telling your grandfather how to chew bubblegum. If you couldn't possibly imagine how an electrical outage could be anything other than a mild annoyance, then it's understandable that you wouldn't already know that every one of us who is a Survivalist has already acknowledged our mortality, taken stock of what we will, and will not survive against, and chosen our own battles as to what to prepare for.

What you are stating is kind of like going to your local mechanic and telling him he'd best accept the fact that there's some cars he's not going to be able or willing to fix, regardless of the amount of tools he has. It's not exactly a ground-breaking revelation, my friend.

Originally posted by Prote
I am also interested in the notion that some forms of survival preparation are actions driven by fear, are they not? I find that interesting.

Yes. Some are. Some aren't. Fear is certainly an evolutionary force. For instance, I fear that if I leave my infant son out in the back yard in the sun all day, that he would probably be horribly burned and dehydrated at the end of the day. Thus, I don't do that.

You're kind of new to this whole "cause and effect" thing, aren't you?

Originally posted by Prote
because my opinion is that nothing is more important than mental preparation...

Yes, the Army Field Survival Manual would back that statement up, as would pretty much anyone here. Attitude matters more than anything else in survival. Very good. Step one accomplished.

Originally posted by Prote
and that's the only preparation I've done and probably will ever do. Unless I'm educated to the contrary.

Well, I might try to educate you, it really depends on the responses I read. But frankly, I think you would be surprised to admit to yourself exactly how much non-mental preparation you already do on a regular basis, and would be equally surprised at how dim a view most of us take on people who think they don't have to prepare, and then become a burden the rest of us to have to support when "minor annoyances" leave you living, but stripped of every resource to take care of yourself.

reply to post by Prote


Do you have insurance?

It cannot cover every possibility, you know.

Whether its health or life or homeowners, even renter's insurance, it only covers part of some issues, minus the deductible.

But according to your logic, there's no point in getting homeowner's insurance, since it doesn't cover flood. Even though I live in the arid quarter of an arid state, on top of hill on a desert plain, you're saying I'm wasting my money on any insurance, since it cannot cover everything, right?

Does your car have a spare tire? why? you know the weight of lugging that spare around is hurting your gas mileage . . . . and won't make a bit of difference if you water pump goes out.


.

I'm going to reply to this topic, only because i have answered this same question in one form or another for over 30 years.
First, every sit-x has some degree of common denominators involved in any scenario.
The more prepared you are for the most drastic scenario, the easier you will survive all the varied lesser degree of disastirs that may befall you.
That being said, Murphy will have a say in whether any of us will be amoung those left in the end.
As was once said( and I think it's applicable ) " No Battle plan survives the first shot "
I made my peace with my morality on my first trip into the bush in 1969.
In 1971, I was blown up by a mortar and pronounced dead by the medic.
Another medic who was on board a recovery chopper, noticed i was still bleeding and changed the tag on my bag so that I went to the Dr's instead of the morgue. Long story short, I have been on golden time since 71, and I value the life I have had after being for all practicle purposes DOA.
Death holds no fear for me, nor does it hold any attractions.
None of us are getting out of this world alive, But i will do my best to choose when and how I die, and to make my life until then count for something.
Dieing is easy, any incompetent lame or lazy idiot can die. Liveing takes effort and dieing with purpose makes Living until then perhaps a little better for those who are left behind.
For those who think preparing to survive is a waste of time, I promise i'll do my best to give you a proper funeral if we find your body.

Click here for more information.

reply to post by 1ShotDeal


Hey thanks for your service My Dad was in Nam in 70-71
LZ baldy hill 63 hill 55 any way thanks again for your service


Respectfully
GEO

reply to post by Prote


Be ready for anything. That's my motto.

We don't know what a 'Situation X' could be that's why its X. Unknown.

Knowledge is key as is a level mind. If you panic in tough scenarios you don't stand a chance.

I have to admit I haven't been through what most of the posters on this thread have been, but I can't over look that the future is uncertain. With that uncertainty (I can imagine the best outcome or the worst) I would be prudent to plan and prepare for the worst to happen. To ignore the fact is to ignore the future.
Do I want to die right now, (no of course not), will I die yes, (no denying that). If I can prolong my life through preperation would i, yes.
I would rather prepare and stock up than run around needlessly killing to get what (with a little foresight) what I could of gotten before hand.

I don't fear death, though I'm not going to jump into it needlessly.

If I die in the beginning of SitX, thats better for me, it will be alot easier than surviving.

(IMO)

We had a major ice storm here and were left totally unprepared for this relatively minor emergency situation.

We have all sorts of outdoor survival gear, but no way to heat our house no food supplies on hand that didnt go bad within a few days with no power, we ran out of dog food within 3 days and had no cash on hand to restock basic supplies that were sold out anyways or unavailable due to stores not having electricity, we couldnt get any cash because atm systems were down and the banks were closed for nearly a week.

honestly we would have been more comfortable camping in that weather, except for the extreme danger from falling trees.

so now I have more freeze dried and canned items slowly being stocked, we are saving up for a generator and keeping more cash on hand

so according to your theory we should have just not bothered to prepare at all, even though most of our preparations were made according to the plan of needing to leave the house and city and travel to a longish distance to get to a safe place.

[edit on 7-2-2008 by gluetrap]

Being prepared means different things to different people. I am prepared for any realistic situation, but not ANYTHING. I would say that even if it came down to an ANYTHING situation I am sufficiently well-prepared to deal with it ad hoc. I suppose it all depends on just how bad one thinks things will get.

If situation X is bad enough that you need to live in a bunker for 2 years or more wouldn’t the question really be do I want to survive not how can I survive? What am I surviving for? Life is about “living it” isn’t it? Do I want to live on a “scorched earth”? Do I want my family to live on said earth?

Some people might say you’re a coward for not trying. I say people who don’t know when to say “enough is enough” are cowards.

I would say in this scenario “die and let die”.

Originally posted by MuLongQun
If situation X is bad enough that you need to live in a bunker for 2 years or more wouldn’t the question really be do I want to survive not how can I survive?

Two points:

One, there is no reason to believe that all Situation X's will require you to live in a bunker for 2 years. The vast majority of Situation X's out there will simply leave you without running water, food, transportation, money, heating, or cooling. You don't have to live in a bunker to get past those events, you just need to be prepared enough not to end up a parasite, or worse yet, having to kill and loot for what you need in order to get by.

Two, even if a Situation X did require one to live in a bunker for 2 years, there's a number of us who are mentally strong enough and prepared enough to make it through that. It won't be a happy existence, certainly not a care-free, fast-food gorging, mall-shopping, TV-watching happy fest. BUT...

...If some of my ancestors could cross the Atlantic ocean in a cramped, stinking, no-frills disease-ridden hull of a boat, packed in like sardines, then make it through SEVEN years of indentured servitude, working backbreaking labor in conditions often worse than slavery (because at least slaves cost the plantation owners money, whereas indentured servants were a dime a hundred)...

...and the other half of my ancestors could be moved off their ancient lands, forced across state lines where they were shot at by each state's militia, gunned down in cold blood, made to march hundreds of miles till they got to a stinking, waterless, god-forsaken barren land where they were cramped into the equivolent of a concentration camp, and hung or shot if they so much as spoke or taught a non-English word...

...and if I myself could survive months of TRUE homelessness, living in dumpsters, bushes, alleyways, eating out of trash cans or whatever good samaritan happened to be passing out food at the end of the day, and never once pandhandling for a dime...

then I think just maybe I've got enough fortitude to last a mere 2 years in a well-stocked bunker, where my only real concern is boredom.

The attitude and acceptance that you think such laughable "hardship" as two years in a bunker is impossible to face, and indeed, worth dying to avoid, only goes to show how little hardship you've ever had to face. To have lived such a priviledged life must be nice indeed, but some of us never had that choice.