Preparing today for a disaster tomorrow

first off Id like to say there are some great threads here for survival so kudos to you all.

One drawback Ive found with survival is most folks plan and pack for short-term survival mode. It comes down to being able to pack light and get out of town quickly. this makes sense of course.

however what if things dont return to normal after a few weeks ? what if we cant go home anytime soon ?

I began to look hard at my bug-out bags. I realized that long-term survival would be at the very least uncomfortable and likely impossible. The main issue being the limitation of sheer amounts of supplies i can carry.

My solution is to bury the supplies i need tomorrow today.

I have own a piece of land in a remote part of the country that i can reach in less than a day's drive. it has the basics, running stream and some edible huckleberry bushes growing.

I decided to build basically a waterproof cement bunker underground and stock it with essential supplies. Nothing huge, just a way to keep supplies from rotting or being dug up by a bear.

I built a 8x6x4 cement storage container underground. Its not hard or expensive and you dont need construction knowledge to do this.

I used 6 bags of cement premixed with sand already. I poured the cement into a hole I dug, 8 feet wide and 6 feet across. i poured the cement 4 inches thick. i rough smoothed it with a hand trowel.

I let the cement set for 24 hrs and then returned. this time i had my truck loaded with cinder blocks and more cement. Put the blocks down using cement as a glue to stick to floor and each other. let this set for another 24 hrs

next step, sheet metal for the roof bolted down with a hinge to open of course. and then waterproof the heck out of it roofing tar (3 - 5 gal bucket). I put a waterproof 1x4 on one side of the bunker before i put the sheet metal down so it was sloped slightly.

make sure the sheet metal is larger than the opening and bend the extra downward.

did some touch-up cement stucco work under the roof where blocks met to ensure no gaps and cracking.

last step, take some river rocks and pour at the base of the bunker all the way around each side. This allows for drainage so water doesnt build up and potentially seep in. even the best waterproofing wears off after years of water exposure.

i cover the roof with a tarp and cover with dirt so its hidden. i only put 4-6 inches of soil over the roof.

As a test I put in 6 cans of Harvest of the West food (10-15 yr survival food) i bought from walmart. i went back and checked on the cans after 5ish weeks and they were perfectly fine. not a single drop of moisture got inside the bunker

Ive slowly filled the bunker with basics that I wouldnt be able to carry in my bug-out bag. Things like toilet paper, clothing, blankets, air matress (2), a tent, books, board games, and plenty of food. I even put in a cheap television i bought from a garage sale. For power I put in a foldable solar power panel and a battery but i can plug things directly into the panel (if i had the money i'd buy a solar power generator)

I plan on building another bunker next spring and filling it with sugar, flour, cooking oil, honey, etc basically things that dont rot and would probably make good trading / bartering items (assuming i ever see another person again). More food, cooking supplies, and a woodfire cooking stove.

Ive also started to plant edibles on the property. I have 6 cherry trees, 3 apricot trees, 3 pear trees, and 2 apple trees. all self-pollinating.

Next spring I will add 3 white walnut trees. I might try pecan trees too but I cant find any self-pollinating varieties yet.

Im also going to plant a few of the perennial vegetables like rhubarb and asparagus as they come back yr after yr.

heck I might even stock some building supplies eventually. I dont want to sleep in a tent in the wintertime.

You might not own a piece of land but this shouldnt stop you from stocking supplies somewhere. everyone can probably find a small area like a park or small wooded empty lot someplace nearby.

A buddy of mine has put in a cement bunker like mine in a national park land. Nobody will ever find it. And he has begun to plant a few edibles out there as well. apple trees are especially easy to grow in the area without needing to intervene.

Anyway, thats my two cents on survival. I know some might want to stockpile weapons and ammo and seeds but those are no guarantees of getting food. With a decent bunker you could stock enough food and comforts to last a year easily.

and with edibles growing and some cheap snares, you could easily stretch your food supplies maybe 2+ yrs without any effort.

Thats my goal anyway. survive comfortably for 2 yrs and hopefully by then the world has fixed whats ailing it

[edit on 12-9-2009 by admriker444]

reply to post by admriker444


Very nice, I wish I would have invested in land a few years ago when I had the money

Since I don't have any land available to do anything like this I am just stocking up on food and bartering items. I am also going to build some solar arrays that will power small things like radios, walkie talkies, cb, battery charger ( for flashlights, microelectronics) , etc.

My latest project is converting a couple of ammo boxes into faraday cages (hopefully protect from emp).

If you're going for comfort you might want to look into a solar shower. you never know when running water may be cut off.

store.sundancesolar.com...

reply to post by lucentenigma


even if you can find some public land, use it.

My buddy doesnt own land. He is using national park forest nearby to stock supplies.

I know a couple of guys who just tossed a cooler into the ground and covered it with cat litter (keeps animals from finding it as it absorbs smell)

a bug-out bag is nice and necessary but for me its just to use until i can get to a place thats safe. its short-term, you cant possibly fill it with enough food to last long.

hunting in the winter isnt going to work where i live. bears are hybernating and deer are nowhere to be found. only game around are rabbit which i have snares for but i cant count on them for 3 meals a day

cant grow food in the winter either.

so it comes down to needing a stockpile of food. bury a couple of coolers of canned food and you could survive for months on that alone

Good ideas and I'm glad you have the money to implement your
plans.

Other items you may want to stock would include:
Hand tools / axes/ saws/ nails/screws/hand powered drills
Plastic bags and sheet plastic
Medicines
Tarps

Don't count on anyone not finding you or your supplies, it's bound to
happen. You should be well-versed in boobytraps or have a small
group to enable you to defend your land should need be. If the SHTF
there will be many who don't care if you own the land or not, all they
will know is that they have starving children or spouses.

Be prepared to deal with those eventualities and I would say that
you are as prepared as anyone could possibly be. One last note:
always keep your BOB ready, sometimes it's wiser to just get the
hell out of dodge rather than face certain death. Good luck and
best wishes, let's hope that all our collective preperations will
never be needed. But a TV? c'mon, save something worthwhile!

reply to post by admriker444


Good stuff.

I have considered this route as a viable option and am actually in the process of helping my friend set it up on his land (on the condition that I, his landless friend, am part of his survival party when the time comes)

You may consider getting your future crop sites fertilized now, as you won't be able to go to Farmer John to get some steaming steer manure when you really need it. Till it in and plant cover crops like clover or legumes, nitrogen fixers, so that you will have soil that can sustain a healthy garden.

As to tools, if you have woods nearby you have handles, so just store the metal parts of them for space reasons. You can almost buy 2 rake heads for the same price as a rake with a handle, so why not plan for the eventuality of a tool failure. Same goes for everything else. Redundancy is key to long term survival.

Also, a couple of 55 gallon drums of water would be a necessity, and they can be reused in conjunction with a simple tarp for rainwater collection in the future.

that said, good job and good luck. sounds like you're well on your way to being prepared.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
But a TV? c'mon, save something worthwhile!

I have to second this one.

If you're thinking for entertainment purposes, space would be better used on a little netbook like an acer aspire one with a couple of external hard drives of music, movies, pdf files of anything and everything you need. mine has a battery life of 6.5 hrs with just the basic battery watching movies, it can go up to 11+ hrs with the new $80 battery. and if you're really space conscious, you can pick up 32gb thumb drives or SD cards for your media library, but it will cost a little more, but save some space.

if you're thinking for information purposes, a survival radio with shortwave capability or cb or ham setup would be better, as any media that is broadcasting on the tv in an emergency is going to be closely controlled by tptb, which is not where i want my info coming from.

the tv is to keep in touch with the outside world. how else would we know its safe to return to our homes otherwise ?

I have a radio also but television reception is better where my site is. i can pick up a local PBS channel and CBS channel.

as far as someone else coming onto my land, meh im not too worried about it. i have a shotgun and a 22 and bear mace but my state is pretty remote and my land is isolated. its accessed by a dirt road only and pretty remote. you would pass miles of land before you got to my lot anyway so why pick my spot when there are miles of wooded land with a creek running through before.

the western states are pretty large and have low populations. there are more cows than people in my state. most cities back east have more people than my entire state combined.

reply to post by admriker444




what do you think that the Government is hiding?
whay do you think that in 2012 there will be great cataclysms, but that the Government hides this?
I am worried for the future.......
I have spoken with people that live in Australia.
These people have built transparent domes, to shelter them after 2012....
they is very organized...
but also you are very organized.

reply to post by admriker444

Ilm curious are you expecting world wide breakdown. I ask because if there is a disaster then usually people from other countries usually come forward to help and provide food/water/shelter and try to get things up and running and back to normal. Unless the disaster is world wide I can't really see why anyone would need more than a few weeks supply of goods.

I can't give enough props for the emphasis on permaculture over normal gardening, a lot less hassle and you can prep a location years in advance and not have to stress over weekly maintenance of crops and such.

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Reply to keldas

Ilm curious are you expecting world wide breakdown. I ask because if there is a disaster then usually people from other countries usually come forward to help and provide food/water/shelter and try to get things up and running and back to normal. Unless the disaster is world wide I can't really see why anyone would need more than a few weeks supply of goods.

Keeping only a few weeks of supplies leads you to become very dependent on the store to resupply, especially when most of your goods are perishable and must stay refrigerated. Imagine a 3 week disruption to food distribution (think fuel issues or widespread unrest) and then see how long you could last beyond that period with only a 'few weeks' of goods.

The more you depend on others the greater the chance for things to go south in a hurry. In the current economic climate a disaster in say the United States might not get immediate (or any) aid from other countries because they are in their own tough times thanks to a piss poor economic situation.

The bottom line is that the more you prepare today the less you will suffer if tomorrow turns out to be a SHTF situation.

reply to post by keldas


I just dont like the idea of having to rely on my goverment or any other goverment to feed my family if things go bad.

And there is no guarantee another country could come to our aid. It could be a world-wide disaster.

People have forgotten too easily how much food a small piece of land can provide. Its simple to research and find edible plants that can be planted and produce food year after year with little effort from us.

So why not plant a fruit tree instead of a maple ? why not plant a blueberry bush instead of a hibiscus ? even asparagus makes for a fine border hedge and you get free vegetables without the chemicals.

And if things go bad and we have to leave our homes, its likely we would end up in some massive tent city. any natural disaster people end up in tents and waiting in a line forr food and medicine. Thats not going to be me.

everyone can prep a piece of open space. go drop some seeds in an empty field thats out of site. pick up a couple of apple trees for 40 dollars at a nursery (or oranges if you live in the south) and drop them in that area. toss a cooler in the ground with 50 cans of spam.

for less than $100 you could supply this area with emergency food.