Be prepared...Let Sandy be a lesson to everyone for WHEN the dollar crashes.

Hello ATS, I live in an area hit by Sandy, and I am also what you might call a prepper, as I'm sure a lot of people here are to some degree. I prep for realistic events, like weather, economic collapse, civil unrest, etc.. I don't prep for other situations such as massive solar flares, comet/asteroid strike or alien invasion, because I figure that there isn't a whole lot one can do to prepare for such things, and even if I were to survive something of that magnitude I probably wouldn't want to, but for those who do prep for such things then that's fine... there is nothing wrong with that. Having said all of that, this past weekend was quite educational in regards to how ill-prepared the communities around me are. The same stories have been told from all over the east coast, stores getting ransacked, gas stations running out of gas, people fighting over the last couple cases of bottled water at the grocery store, Home Depot selling out of everything, etc... I know that this comes as no surprise to a lot of you, myself included. If this is how people react to a storm coming, how in the world will they react when the sham that is our debt based fiat economic system comes crashing down, which IS going to happen in the not too distant future. The reaction will be HUNDREDS of times worse than this past weekend. Now that the storm has passed, there will be looting, robbery, and various other criminal activity all over the place because there are people that were not prepared, and then of course the criminal types will see this as an opportunity.

I would like to use this thread as a forum for discussion in regards to getting preparred. What are your top essential items? What lessons have you learned from past experience, etc... As for myself, I have a 6 month storable food supply, gravity fed water filtration system, plenty of batteries, flashlights, and all of the normal stuff. I have a generator with plenty of gas, however, I will be upgrading to a solar powered generator to relieve me of the need for gas in the future. I have non-GMO seeds of various fruits and veggies, plenty of silver in the form of pre 1965 quarters, dimes, and half dollars, and the staple of anyone serious about being prepared... plenty of firepower to protect it all. I welcome anyone's thoughts on this subject.

reply to post by OptimusSubprime

Nothing like a current catastrophe to bring it all home. A timely thread. I'm one of those preppers similar to you, in what is stored in the event of some earth or social disaster.. I've often thought about the people I'm now watching on TV who *knew* well in advance, that something not good was going to happen. Yet, either waited until the last minute to buy in a frenzy, or do nothing at all, just expecting that someone else would pick up their slack, if something bad happened to them.

I think the whole societal bred entitlement attitude, will possibly be the death of many, should society as we know it, fails.

It's time for people to wake up...realize they need to take an active role in their survival in the event something does happen. Too many people laugh at us so-called-preppers. But, we are also the ones, ready with needed stuff when there are localized disruptions to regular supplies of necessities. I've ended up feeding half my small community when power was out here for 10 days in the past. Winter time, very rural Mountain area, all snow plows being used by more populated areas. It was doable for a week...I couldn't, and wouldn't do it in a long tern survival situation. I'd run out of everything fast. I'm rethinking a lot of my options now....

You give a lot of pause to think with your thread....

Des

reply to post by Destinyone

I've ended up feeding half my small community when power was out here for 10 days in the past.

Yikes. That's not the wisest of moves. Next time, they'll know what you have, and come a knockin'.

I think everyone should keep the basics on hand at all times. I keep a dozen gallons of water, and 5 gallons of gas, 5 gallons of kerosene, a 50,000 btu kerosene heater, candles, spare lighters, and plenty of canned foods around at all times. Be sure to rotate stocks periodically.

That's the basics: water, food, heat, and light. (Anything extra needn't be listed here, lol, MYOB!)

I don't have enough for long term survival, but enough for a short term emergency.