How Prepared Are You for a Long Term Crisis? (Page 4)

A friend of mine from high school (swim teammate) had a bomb shelter in her backyard. Only family/house that I knew of with a bomb shelter; the father was considered somewhat of an oddity.

In 2004, people all over the area lost power after Hurricane Frances swept north of the area. I think my neighborhood was out of power for about 2 days. On the second day/evening, my neighbors and I congregrated on my driveway and drank beer. One neighbor made bbq ribs, I can't remember what I made. It was a nice evening. No lights on anywhere around us. Things were pretty quiet.

Life is a risky proposition. It always has been, always will be. We aren't promised tomorrow, just this moment. I accept that.

There is one thing I am certain will happen: I am going to die. I can still enjoy the uncertain life I have even while knowing that disasters and catastrophes will eventually occur.

I used to think people who prepared for "the end of the world" were a little crazy, but after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans I had a serious change in attitude.  I don't think there's any chance of the Mad Max scenario happening where I have to fend for myself for decades, but I think there's a real chance that a natural, economic, or man made disaster could force me into a situation where I had to protect and fend for myself for weeks or possibly months.

Nice, I have mine in Spam cans...

You all know we joke around talking about the zombie apocolypse.  But being prepared in some ways for bad scenarios can be a wise thing.  The most likely WORST being civil unrest, local panic and instability in which gangs of people become violent or looting.  Or natural disaster which takes out services for an extended period of time.  And if you think, "that can't happen here in America." or "But I live in an afluent suburb, not an inner-city."  I give you...

Greece.  3rd world?  Certainly not.  Potential for very bad local scenarios, very high.
Avon, Connecticut.  Certainly a wealthy suburb of insurance-industry-rich Hartford.  Been without power since that snowstorm for a looooong time.  Who's prepared?  Some of the roads have big trees down blocking them entirely and people cannot get out.
London riots back in August.
Anders Behring Breivik who went on a killing spree in Norway and murdered 69 people.
House fire, robbery, rabid dog loose in the neighborhood
How many people die each year when their car gets stuck in a blizzard?
Tornados, hurricanes, natural disasters...

None may be end-of-the-world scenarios.  But having a thought-out plan for you and your family in case something bad should happen costs about an hour of thought and documenting, a couple of hundred in simple supplies and a simple drill once or twice a year.  Not much compared to if any of the above should happen, you wind up standing around like a lemming, not knowing what to do.  Desperately trying to get to Facebook from a mobile phone with no service and being simply clueless.

I'm not advocating loading up on weapons and ammo to prepare for a second stand at the Alamo.  But when I tell the kids we're going to do a fire drill at some point tonight...  I tape a sign to their bedroom door that says, "your door feels hot"...  I set off the smoke detector...  And within 2 minutes the whole family meets together at the mailbox with the grab box and cell phones, without me leading them - that's a good feeling!

My definition would rather be "A focussed and organized Parent and Family member".

I did the same with my kids. Same as having a code to text them if there is a family emergency and knowing where they are at all times. And locking the house up at night and turning on an alarm system. Keeping batteries, water, and some canned food in the house. Planning for floods and other natural disasters makes sense. And having insurance. A reasonable and proportional response to potential problems, not paranoia. Planning for a total breakdown in the social structure by stockpiling weapons is, IMO, paranoia. 

Weapons, beans, bullets, bandaids, and silver coins will be your next currency.  So stockpiling now with these, I'm as good as Warren Buffett.  Besides, a can of food that costs $1.00 now, could be $5.00 next year.  Thus my ROI has increased.  If it does't increase, then good, I'll be eating the food anyway.  Ammo stays good for decades.  And guns increase in value (depending on how you treat them).

Uh.....all good except for the one tiny fact that it WASN'T necessary in the past.

Personally, I'm developing technology for dehydrating water so that I can keep my future supply in flat plastic bags that don't take up much room.  Through a process known as hydrogrommeticalionisn I have been successful in dehydrating water in one gallon zip lock bags.  I then store the bags on a shelf in my underground bunker.  I can store 160 gallons in a 2X6X12 inch space.  When the coming zompocolypse hits, I'll merely add water to the bag to rehydrate the hydrogrommeticalized water and I have instant water.  As soon as I figure out a name for the product I will offer dehydrated water to the world via e-bay. 

One less thing for you all to worry about.

I would like to see a show of hands from the ones that are poking fun at this thread that does the following:

1.  Going to the restroom #2 without toliet paper.

2.  Go shopping without money.

3.  Drive to your vacation spot without plans or gas.

4.  Attend a triathlon without race gear.

5.  Buy a smoke detector without buying a battery.

6.  Take a test without reading the material.

7.  Jumps out of an airplane without a parachute.

The list goes on.  Everyone needs to prepare for the future.  Some do it more than others.  Its not that "preppers" are horders or paranoid people.  We don't predict the future, nor do we watch "too many zombie movies". 

20 years ago I would have made fun of this thread as well, but the disasters that I have witnessed in my life has changed me.  I sleep better at night knowing I'm prepared.

Like Brian posted above...

A reasonable and proportional response to potential problems, not paranoia. Planning for a total breakdown in the social structure by stockpiling weapons is, IMO, paranoia. 

I'm not necessarily making fun of it. It's just not something I chose to spend a disproportional amount of my time and money on. Disproportional in relation to the actual probability of a total worldwide breakdown.

I think it's funny to talk about.  You REALLY want some good laughs, go to some of the survivalist websites.

TeamAngel, as far as planning for the future and using the examples above that you gave.....I have no problem planning for the KNOWN future, which is what each of those examples entails.  You are talking about planning for something you can't even conceive in your collective imaginations.

We keep some water.....but also realize we have a swimming pool with 23,000 gallons of it.  We keep some food as well, realizing we can eat the horses we have.  I have a bunch of guns and am an avid hunter....they are in a giant safe in my basement away from my kids and their friends. (this is the part where I'm supposed to pontificate on how badass I am if you try to hurt my family, right?)

I don't have a "shelter" because, frankly, if I have to be locked in a small room with my children for an extended period of time while they bicker with each other I'll just take my chances with the zombies.

I dont feel that I'm a paranoid freak for planning. I don't think people who choose not to plan are ignorant or lazy. I feel as a father and husband, I have some responsiblilty to keep my family safe as all costs. So I when I take an hour here or a $100 there to plan, prep or stock up for a potential crisis, it makes me actually feel better. I'm not a doomsday freak but I have given my family and myself a piece of mind, that if the worst case senarior happens, I can say I was prepared and not panic at that time.

Now all I do from time to time is cycle out old food and rations with new since everything in the panic room is done, my bug out bags are ready and plans are in place.

^^^^

I feel like such a poor excuse of a husband and father. 

Yeah, what she said.

4-5 people living in the house, 10 bikes.  We can outrun the disaster!

We do have food and water - enough for 30-40 days.  We're in earthquake country.

My wife (god bless her) took a CERT class last summer, and got very into it.  Also in EQ country.  We are pretty well stocked up.  On the more extreme side, word is someone in the family is looking into some southwest desert property as a compound   great

So, what do you care?  There's a guy who lives around me that crosses the street in a full sprint - every time.  I have no idea what compels him to do so, nor do I care.  I figure he's doing it to make himself feel more safe.  Maybe, it's based on a past experience.  I have no reason to call him paranoid because he chooses to cross the street in a manner different than me.  And yes, to call people paranoid is insulting, IMO.