Problems that even city rich kids prepare now

I know that in part on three other threads there is much debate about surviving in cities, and preparing to bug out of the cities( New York appears to be the num,ber one place to leave followed by London) but i thought it prudent to bring this article to your attention as it seems that even the uber rich city dealers in the big apple ( rotten apple now? ) are assembling BOBs, shelters, retreats and various sorts of bug out transportation... I said it before and I say it again get out of the cities NOW and start laying some roots in Smallville before its simply to late.
Respects as always to all
NR

nymag.com...
During the final months of 2008, as the financial markets imploded, talk on trading desks turned to food and water stockpiles, generators, guns, and high-speed inflatable boats. “The system really was about six hours from failing,” says Gene Lange, a manager at a midtown hedge fund, referring to the week in September when Lehman went bust and AIG had to be bailed out. “When you think about how close we were to the precipice, I don’t think it necessarily makes a guy crazy to prepare for the potential worst-case scenario.”
Preparations, in Lange’s case, include a storeroom in his basement in New Jersey stacked high with enough food, water, diapers, and other necessities to last his family six months; a biometric safe to hold his guns; and a 1985 ex-military Chevy K5 Blazer that runs on diesel and is currently being retrofitted for off-road travel. He has also entertained the idea of putting an inflatable speedboat in a storage unit on the West Side, so he could get off the island quickly, and is currently considering purchasing a remote farm where he could hunker down. “If there’s a financial-system breakdown, it could take a year to reset the system, and in that time, what’s going to happen?” asks Lange. If New York turns into a scene out of I Am Legend, he wants to be ready.
He’s not the only one. In his book Wealth, War, published last year, former Morgan Stanley chief global strategist Barton Biggs advised people to prepare for the possibility of a total breakdown of civil society. A senior analyst whose reports are read at hedge funds all over the city wrote just before Christmas that some of his clients are “so bearish they’ve purchased firearms and safes and are stocking their pantries with soups and canned foods.” This fear is very much reflected in the market—prices of corporate bonds have been so beaten down at various points that they suggest a higher default rate than during the Great Depression. Meanwhile, while the overall gold market has fluctuated, the premium for quarter-ounce gold coins—meaning the difference between the price for gold you can hold in your hand and that for “paper gold,” such as exchange-traded funds—rose to an all-time high of 20 percent. “Gold is transportable, it’s 100 percent liquid, and it’s perfectly divisible in the context of ounces, bars, or coins,” says the head of a California research firm who keeps a supply of it, along with food, water, and guns, on hand. “And most important, there’s no counterparty”—i.e., it’s an investment beholden to no one, and perhaps one of the few assets that will retain value if the financial system collapses.
While it may look like these Wall Streeters are betting on such a collapse, their embrace of survivalism is an outgrowth of their professional habits of mind: Having observed the economy’s shaky high-wire act from their ringside seats, they are trying to manage their risk and “hedge” against a potential fall. “It’s like insurance,” says an investor who has stockpiled MREs and a hand-cranked radio. “And by the time you need it, it’s way too late.” Leave it for others to weep for the collapse of the social order. These guys would prefer to be in a high-speed boat or ex-military vehicle, heading off toward their fully provisioned compounds in pursuit of the ultimate goal: to win the chaos.

Look at it this way my fellow survivalists if the heads of the London and New York financial districts are planning and buying retreats , you know they are not fooling about. These guys ALWAYS use their influence to manipulate events through the banks and stock markets, If they are building up survival kits you can be pretty damn sure they are planning on creating a downturn that will leave them in a better position than before.

[edit on 16-1-2009 by Northern Raider]

interesting read, i live just outside london but close enough to the trees that i can walk with my bag and vanish in a few hours.

Do these city slickers really think they can survive a year of mad max? HA without their hair salons and valet parking they're going to fall to bits -heh, most of them can't even stand a little bit of stress like getting a pizza with red olives not brown like they ordered.

my entire life i've had to learn how to live with next to nothing, i have trusty well used camping kit and a body that won't get tired after a days hard labor - i'll be ok.

Would hate to suddenly find myself unfit (or gymfit -toned and week) and unskilled with a pile of expensive equipment i wasn't sure how to use,thats with my brain as it is -can't imagine the horror you would face if all you knew was BUY BUY SELL SELL and all of a sudden you had to pull yourself together and survive in a world gone crazy.

Seriously i can't see many of the folk used to dealing with office politics, suit fashions and expensive cocktails even being able to cope in most the pubs i drink in let alone after people like them have destroyed the world and starving gangs roam the streets!

reply to post by Northern Raider


Great info. Thanks for sharing this.

Luckily, the area I live in encourages people to stock up at least 2 years worth of food and water. My family and I are working on it. I live by the saying, "I rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

People preparing for any type of situation should know some of the basics:

- Build a fire w/o matchsticks or fuel
- Make bread
- Plant vegetables and fruits
- Hunt game - catch, clean and cook
- Build a shelter

Great thread. I read every word. Makes perfect sense that the people who are in Stocks and in the know would be preparing. Thanks for this thread, gets me thinking.

Originally posted by guppy

People preparing for any type of situation should know some of the basics:

- Build a fire w/o matchsticks or fuel
- Make bread
- Plant vegetables and fruits
- Hunt game - catch, clean and cook
- Build a shelter

This list isn't great and i say this for a couple of reasons.


Making bread in a survival situation? Well unless you are talking about unleven breads you are going to have some trouble. Finding yeast to make bread rise is difficult in survival, although it can be manufactured from the bloom of various fruits. Flour will be hard to come by though if you're talking long term trouble.

In a bug out situation planting fruits and veg isn't going to be immediately rewarding. You're going to be waiting a few months for those things to mature. That is why i started a thread on ATS named;

Make A Local Food Map

Having a map of your local area or your bug out spot, showing naturally occurring crops can greatly increase your chances of survival if such a situation ever happened.

Hunting is all well and good but trapping and snaring tends to be more efficient. I can only speak for the UK but setting up 20 snares for rabbits and a couple of larger traps for other animals would take minimal time and provide the greatest rewards. I have hunted and spent entire days shooting rabbits, pigeons etc, but in the end you would run out of ammunition. Hunting with a bow or spear is far more difficult than most people think and not something you should just try for a first time in a bad situation when other more efficient options are available. That's why i carry a long length of brass wire in my BOB, for snares.

Building a shelter is very good advice, its surprising how few people understand how to do this correctly and make a proper water proof roof. I can build something from scratch and make it nicely rainproof with natural materials. However i carry a lightweight tarp which is brilliant. In an emergency you can make a simple frame and throw that over and you have a good shelter. If the rain is pounding down then the time saved doing that means you have more time to find firewood and can quickly stow your gear out of the weather.