SHTF already... but it's OK as long as it's not us!

This is going to be a short post but designed to provoke some thought among my fellow members, especially those in the US as I believe you guys have by far the most active group of people who are preparing for the big 'SHTF' scenario.

So as you are stocking up on tins and dried foods and arming yourselves up to protect you and your own, think about the following and try to imagine how you would feel if the people in these images were your child, sister, father.. anybody you care about. Just because they are on the other side of the world, or have different colour skin, or had nothing to begin with, doesn't make what they have suffered any different to us. For them S already HTF;

Syria - 1.6-1.7 million people have fled the country and nearly 100,000 have been killed since the conflict there began. No amount of food supplies, underground bunkers or small arms could have protected them and their families.



Fukushima - Nearly 16,000 dead, whole towns washed away and decades of radiation poisoning to come. Could their survival kits and B.O.B's have saved them? Did the survivors kill their neighbours instead of sharing what they had left?




Haiti - 220,000 estimated to have been killed by a devastating earthquake in 2010. Most people have forgotten about this but they are still struggling 3 years later to rebuild what was so suddenly taken away. Would they have been better off if they all had 4x4's, piles of tinned food and survival knives? No, they would have lost it all within the piles of rubble that was once their home.



So, when you sit behind your computer screen, planning your great survival, of heading for the hills donning your hand made tin-hat and protecting your family at all costs, I wish you the best of luck. But when S really does HTF, will any amount of prep prepare you? Sure, your odds may be slightly improved and if it does give you that chance but could the people above have done anything to prepare?... DO NOT turn your back on fellow human beings. That starving person you murder may have been the doctor that may be able to save your life further down the line. We need to work together... as they say, strength is in numbers. The world is full of mini Armageddons and it seems that some of the questions asked in this forum are ignorant of that fact. The survivors are the ones that have pulled together, shared what little they have and offered their skills to those in an even less fortunate position. There are no survivors holed up in basements with their families and plentiful food waiting for the dust to settle. Save your time, energy and your money and focus on what's really important. Today. Because IF 'SHTF' then there is nothing that you can do but hope for the best.

reply to post by fiftyfifty

So, when you sit behind your computer screen, planning your great survival, of heading for the hills donning your hand made tin-hat and protecting your family at all costs, I wish you the best of luck. But when S really does HTF, will any amount of prep prepare you? Sure, your odds may be slightly improved and if it does give you that chance but could the people above have done anything to prepare?...

Yes, they could have, at least many of them. And yes, even a small edge is better than none, if it means survival of my loved ones. I could list steps for each of those situations that could have saved many if they had made certain plans and had the means to carry them out (not all, but many). Sometimes, just getting out of Dodge is one of those plans.

DO NOT turn your back on fellow human beings. That starving person you murder may have been the doctor that may be able to save your life further down the line. We need to work together... as they say, strength is in numbers.

I don't know where this "lone wolf" perception of preppers comes from. Most are well aware of the need to work together to survive. Certainly, the less savory characters are going to organize into gangs to take things from those they can. The only defense is going to likewise be organization.

The world is full of mini Armageddons and it seems that some of the questions asked in this forum are ignorant of that fact.

Ignorant of it? No. But realistically, there isn't much I can do to help those folks, so I can feel bad for it, but not much more I can really do (and it isn't my job to save the world)....

The survivors are the ones that have pulled together, shared what little they have and offered their skills to those in an even less fortunate position.

Yes, but you have to couple this with the awareness that there will be those in such a situation that will also kill without remorse to take what you have, so you have to be on guard as well as generous.

There are no survivors holed up in basements with their families and plentiful food waiting for the dust to settle.

How do you know? I'll bet there are. Especially in more remote areas hit by these conflicts and disasters.

Save your time, energy and your money and focus on what's really important. Today. Because IF 'SHTF' then there is nothing that you can do but hope for the best.

I don't plan for tomorrow at the expense of today. I get out, I enjoy life. That's why I make sure my preps also have an immediate, real world benefit too, or I don't invest in it.

The biggest tool that you have in a SHTF episode doesn't go into a bag.
It is inside your skull.
Train your brain and you will have less need for the 'BOB'.

I am not saying that you shouldn't prepare. BOB's are a good thing. Jugs of drinking water in your basement are a good thing. A first aid kit too.

You can have all the first aid supplies that you need, but if you don't have any first aid training or knowledge, what good is it?

Well well, i see somebody has figured the scam out.
Yep, the prepper caught on the 18th floor of a damaged office building is hardly at any advantage .
The funny partof prepping is that you dont get to pick what will happen.
The very small % of preppers who will find all their work to an advantage when the BIG SHTF scenerio hits. may take comfort in winning the lottery.
The rest will be stuck in the rubble with the rest of humanity......

My my, getting a little fatalistic are we ?

(Maybe we should just give up, go crawl in a hole somewhere and die?)

Not. Being prepared is half the battle, IF . . you want to survive.

reply to post by stirling

Agreed.
Prepping would suit best for an economic crash.

Worst case scenario is the only one that matters, if one is prepared for it, one is prepared for anything else.

You will not be able to stay in your comfy, well stocked house.

People turn into animals when they can't get what they need, and you who prepared for the worst, will be the ones who are targeted by those who did not prepare, and that is by far the majority of people on this rock.

Raingear, shoes and socks, cold weather gear and a bit of food and a lightweight water purification system.

Don't use an orange pack, make sure you can drop it and find it if you note where it is.

Save yourself, nobody is any good to anybody if they are dead.

Turn off your TV and practice thinking your own thoughts for the first time in your life.

reply to post by MyHappyDogShiner

You will not be able to stay in your comfy, well stocked house.

Says you. I'm damn sure going to try. I'm in the country, have lots of fencing to slow up attackers, open ground to pick them off, and I will have friends & neighbors, and defenses. Not to mention a well, and grounds to grow things. None of which is present in the woods.

People turn into animals when they can't get what they need, and you who prepared for the worst, will be the ones who are targeted by those who did not prepare, and that is by far the majority of people on this rock.

Most of them then, haven't prepped with guns. Plus, they'll have to get here by picking the one road, avoid sentries, then climb over fences and cross open ground guarded by folks with rifles and scopes. Good luck with that.

reply to post by butcherguy

Prepping would suit best for an economic crash.

Isn't that the most likely scenario?

reply to post by Gazrok

I wish you luck if TSHTF, but I don't think that will help you much.

Prepare for the Worst Case scenario (WCS), or you are not prepared.

If you don't live in a missile silo, which you can seal yourself inside of and live, you are a sitting duck.

Don't underestimate the determination of hungry people, and the sheer number of which there will be.

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by butcherguy

 

Prepping would suit best for an economic crash.

Isn't that the most likely scenario?

Most likely to affect people nationwide.

Natural calamities usually are more limited in scope. The exceptions would be a large CME or Yellowstone erupting.

But posters mentioned being buried in rubble and not really needing a BOB in that case. Chances are, you won't be buried in rubble in a SHTF scenario.

reply to post by MyHappyDogShiner

Don't underestimate the determination of hungry people, and the sheer number of which there will be.

I'm not saying I wouldn't bug out if I had to. I'm just saying it isn't my first preference (more of a last ditch effort), and just how am I better equipped to defend the meager stores I can carry on my back, into the woods?

Besides, there are contingency plans of course, like a place to lay low/restock, then re-infiltrate, and regain my place, etc. (and quickly, before they find the hidden vs. overt stores). Run around in the woods like a hermit if you like, but I'd prefer to have some sense of being civilized, even after society crumbles.

reply to post by fiftyfifty


You will save more people by encourageing them to prepare, than by encourageing those who are prepared to commit suicide! There will be too many people in a catastrophy for the few preppers to help. Charity begins at home!