Guns or "guns" which are better when the SHTF?

What I mean by "guns" are muscles. So which would be better? Or maybe both would be good. All I know is that I'm worried bout my safety when the super storm from the sun happens and makes communication devices stop working as well as all the other things we've grown to need. I fear we are going back into the age of the old west or its gonna be like in the video game "Rage". Either way I wanna know which I need or do I need both.

All I know is I've never seen a fist go through someone's skull and splatter their brains against the wall behind them. I also know you don't want to take a knife (or in this case your "guns") to a gun fight.

Protect yourself, buy a .40 XDM, any .223 and a thousand rounds of ammo.

reply to post by badfish420


I gotta get a gun permit first though, I just hope by the time I can it hasn't already happened.

Guns are awesome... they also have finite ammo. Your "guns" have as much ammo as your will to survive. A gun isn't gonna save you from a flood, or from a drought, or radiation poisoning, but your "guns" can get you out of an area in time to survive if you keep yourself in shape.
Strength can open manhole covers, pry the Gun from another person's grip, and even provide you with the agility to get out of harms way, while a gun will leave you hoping you're a better/quicker shot than the person standing in front of you.

Just remember; people won't be your only enemy in a SHTF scenario. You'll also be battling the elements and your environment.

[eta]: I do believe in both Guns and "guns" for a shtf situation, but again, Guns will run out of ammo eventually unless you personally know how to make gun powder (which some do), how to make and jacket rounds, and have or know how to machine a lifetime's supply of gun parts, springs, barrels, firing pins, etc.
That being said, I will begin my post shtf life with a Glock 17, a shotgun, and anything else I own or can scavenge during the beginning months and years, but after that, should the situation continue to be... $h!tty, I'm also prepared to dig deeper into my more "primative nature"; physicality being a very important aspect of that continued survival.

Getting fit is not a possibility for all who wish to, some of us are just damaged beyond repair.
However, anyone with a will to, can throw several pounds of copper jacketed lead downrange.
Fit would be nice but...

Originally posted by FugitiveSoul
Guns are awesome... they also have finite ammo. Your "guns" have as much ammo as your will to survive. A gun isn't gonna save you from a flood, or from a drought, or radiation poisoning, but your "guns" can get you out of an area in time to survive if you keep yourself in shape.
Strength can open manhole covers, pry the Gun from another person's grip, and even provide you with the agility to get out of harms way, while a gun will leave you hoping you're a better/quicker shot than the person standing in front of you.

Just remember; people won't be your only enemy in a SHTF scenario. You'll also be battling the elements and your environment.

I hate to think that im gonna need to protect myself from these things but if I wanna survive when something like a SHTF scenario happens then I need to know these things. I'm scared out of my mind, I'm hoping that all these doomsday theories are all theories or fear mongering but I have a really bad pain in my gut that is telling me they aren't.

Originally posted by neobludragon

I hate to think that im gonna need to protect myself from these things but if I wanna survive when something like a SHTF scenario happens then I need to know these things. I'm scared out of my mind, I'm hoping that all these doomsday theories are all theories or fear mongering but I have a really bad pain in my gut that is telling me they aren't.

I edited my original post to add more, but I will say this;

Survival is 50% preparedness / 50% will to live.
You wouldn't believe how many people will sit there and literally die waiting for help to come.
You can't think help will ever arrive. Unless your a diplomat or some other noteworthy person, the chances that the government or police will "get to you" are very slim, depending on the scenario. Lessons from history also prove that if help does come, that "help" may place you in worse circumstances than you'd be in if you struck out on your own. It's best to be prepared to move. Have a B.O.B. in the ready and placed in a closet near your front door, and go through it every few months to make sure nothing has expired or been molested by either time or pests. I have a friend who decided to go through his B.O.B. after a few months and discovered that a mouse had discovered his MREs.

In short: Be prepared, but don't dwell on it. No need for it to consume your life. Just know your escape plan (which should involve no main roads), try your best to get in shape, and have a bag ready to go.
There are plenty of threads on ATS which can give you insight into what should be in your bag, which guns are the best for the money, which ammo is good, etc. Search is your friend, and if you have any further questions, feel free to U2U me.

Guns are great, "guns" are awesome if you are physically able to get into shape, but knowledge is the best survival tool of all. The knowledge of what to do in any situation will get somebody much farther than the other two guns, IMHO. Knowing which plants are edible, which are medicinal and which parts to use and how to use them, how to survive in different environment conditions, things you can scavenge in order to create fire or shelter, and how to purify water that you do find are things every post-SHTF survivalist should know.

All three would make one almost unstoppable.

Originally posted by FugitiveSoul

Originally posted by neobludragon

I hate to think that im gonna need to protect myself from these things but if I wanna survive when something like a SHTF scenario happens then I need to know these things. I'm scared out of my mind, I'm hoping that all these doomsday theories are all theories or fear mongering but I have a really bad pain in my gut that is telling me they aren't.

I edited my original post to add more, but I will say this;

Survival is 50% preparedness / 50% will to live.
You wouldn't believe how many people will sit there and literally die waiting for help to come.
You can't think help will ever arrive. Unless your a diplomat or some other noteworthy person, the chances that the government or police will "get to you" are very slim, depending on the scenario. Lessons from history also prove that if help does come, that "help" may place you in worse circumstances than you'd be in if you struck out on your own. It's best to be prepared to move. Have a B.O.B. in the ready and placed in a closet near your front door, and go through it every few months to make sure nothing has expired or been molested by either time or pests. I have a friend who decided to go through his B.O.B. after a few months and discovered that a mouse had discovered his MREs.

In short: Be prepared, but don't dwell on it. No need for it to consume your life. Just know your escape plan (which should involve no main roads), try your best to get in shape, and have a bag ready to go.
There are plenty of threads on ATS which can give you insight into what should be in your bag, which guns are the best for the money, which ammo is good, etc. Search is your friend, and if you have any further questions, feel free to U2U me.

edit on 7-2-2012 by FugitiveSoul because: (no reason given)

Yea... I don't know if i'll be able to get in shape though, I mean as it stands right now I have a bad back, It would take a year to fix my back, which is probably not enough time to get it fixed. I guess I could always hold down a fortress and be ready for any scavengers that try to steal my stuff.

reply to post by neobludragon

"The deadliest weapon on earth
only fires neurons."

nuff said

FissionSurplus makes an excellent point. Knowledge is power.
Your library will have books on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants.
If you know your destination, you can get a book for that area, which discusses regional foliage and their purposes.
Knowing the local fishing seasons and the basics and hunting and skinning are also good.
Make yourself a small book with pictures and info showing the local plantlife, then break the book into sections;
Foods, Medicines, Poisons.

Other things to know:
-Basic Dentistry (extraction to be precise)
-How to suture a wound
-Set a broken or dislocated bone
-Basic Human anatomy for both healing and killling purposes (as horrifying as that sounds)
-How to salt/smoke meats

If something does happen, and you do find yourself surviving in the wild, make sure you don't bathe or clean food in the same place you get your drinking water. In fact, don't do either of those near water.

Originally posted by FugitiveSoul
FissionSurplus makes an excellent point. Knowlege is power.
Your library will have books on edible, medicinal, and poisonous plants.
If you know your destination, you can get a book for that area, which discusses regional foliage and their purposes.
Knowing the local fishing seasons and the basics and hunting and skinning are also good.
Make yourself a small book with pictures and info showing the local plantlife, then break the book into sections;
Foods, Medicines, Poisons.

Other things to know:
-Basic Dentistry (extraction to be precise)
-How to suture a wound
-Set a broken or dislocated bone
-Basic Human anatomy for both healing and killling purposes (as horrifying as that sounds)
-How to salt/smoke meats

If something does happen, and you do find yourself surviving in the wild, make sure you don't bathe or clean food in the same place you get your drinking water. In fact, don't do either of those near water.

Well I'd probably be traveling with my brother so I think I'll have him learn this stuff (I've never been good at learning .-.) or just hope to find someone I can trust that does know that kind of stuff.

Originally posted by neobludragon

Yea... I don't know if i'll be able to get in shape though, I mean as it stands right now I have a bad back, It would take a year to fix my back, which is probably not enough time to get it fixed. I guess I could always hold down a fortress and be ready for any scavengers that try to steal my stuff.

I can relate, as I've had some serious back problems myself (several of my discs in my spine have been nearly worn down to nothing from years of hard labor), but I've been able to stregthen my back beyond those issues though yoga and (oddly enough) sleeping on the floor. I haven't slept on a bed in over 2 years. Now I'm better than ever. I still don't have those discs, but the muscle seems to have taken the weight off of my spine, making the pain go away.
Pain, though, has more to do with will to survive, as pain is what makes most people tap out in a fight, or stop exercising, or in a survival situation, makes people stop swimming and drown, when they were only another 1/2 mile from the shore. Pain can be fought through. I wouldn't recommend sitting in one place to fight off scavengers. People are petty things, and if you hold them off successfully and they realize they can't get in, they're more likely to just burn your house or apartment down, which will only place you in another situation where physicality is paramount.

[eta]
If you can't be physically superior, then you'd best be smarter than your enemy.
This may come across as extremely f***ed up, but the truth is, the people trying to get into your home for your supplies won't just be "unprepared" or the marauding gangs like they show on tv. You'll also have the people with children, who's parental instincts will trump their previous views on peace and humanity. As a parent myself, if I learn of a place that has medicine, and my child is very sick, as much as I'd hate to admit it, the people holding that medicine now have zero value, especially if they aren't willing to barter. I'll always present the chance to make a deal, but if a deal can't be made, I'm still going to be leaving with that medicine. That's the reality of a post SHTF world. A parent will have one goal, to protect their children. A survival group leader will have one goal, to look after his people.
I would dearly try to preserve a sense of humanity when the world falls apart, but not at the expense of my son or wife. I've had this discussion with my wife before. You should have this discussion with yourself.

Just my two cents:
You're Really Big "Gun" is Between Your Ears - use it as your primary devensive weapon and survival tool.

For those of us not blessed great "guns" or have physical limitations: engage primary weapon and learn defensive techniques employing momentum and leverage to maximize your own "guns".

And when it comes to Guns, be proficient, be safe, be prepared.

ganjoa

reply to post by neobludragon


i think that for shtf, being able to sprint, run, walk for hours and being very flexible will help more than brute upper body. Flexible so you don't sprain as easy, thereby ruining yourself for god knows how long. If anything climbing and being a monkey would probably help alot.

Of course get a gun too. Most would recommend a pistol a shotgun and a rifle, all are better at different things.

Originally posted by neobludragon
What I mean by "guns" are muscles. So which would be better? Or maybe both would be good. All I know is that I'm worried bout my safety when the super storm from the sun happens and makes communication devices stop working as well as all the other things we've grown to need. I fear we are going back into the age of the old west or its gonna be like in the video game "Rage". Either way I wanna know which I need or do I need both.

Depends if going back to SWORD play then mucles would help
if some type of gel was released into the atmosphere that would bind to all mechanical parts including guns then.......
yup your natural strength would assist. the gel tho would cause no guns to be fired as it would be a light weight material able to float into vents ect so. JUST KEEP FAITH SOL LOVES YOU you are all star material

You would probably lose all muscle after a short while, when SHTF it would be hard to get the over 2,000 calories a day to maintain it.

reply to post by badfish420


just how much bloodshed have you created? I am not talking XBox here. Like to do a lot of talking about smashing skulls, taking lives, as compared to bloody fists, broken jaws, do ya?

I dont think this is quite the thread ATS had in mind, Go now , take some lives and let me know how your soul searching goes, let me know what is in your dreams, Tell me what smells fill your nostrils. Tell me about the violent horror that fills your minds eye when you close your eyes, look at your family, when you look at your self in the mirror...

A scrawny little dentist/gambler name John Holliday AKA Doc Holliday didnt die from a bullet...

muscles maybe important, but a perfect bullet cant be beat..

cant hurt to have both though..

Originally posted by g146541
Getting fit is not a possibility for all who wish to, some of us are just damaged beyond repair.
However, anyone with a will to, can throw several pounds of copper jacketed lead downrange.
Fit would be nice but...

To be honest with you... If you're "beyond repair," you'll die when SHTF anyway.

Being physically fit and strong is a lot more important than having a gun. If you're so unfit that you're "beyond repair" you probably wont have the speed or energy to sustain a gun fight anyway.