Disaster Preparedness and Survival Training

troll thread or not, "doomsday" prepping has got to be the dumbest thing ever.

Actual legit preparation for natural disasters or other similar circumstances is not. A brand new sealed five gallon water jug(with a spout for ez dispensing of water), anyone of those 7-15-30 day containers of food along with a few packages of paper towels/baby wipes, disposable utensils/plates and trashbags is really all you need. Keep all this in a large trunk of some kind and boom prepared for any disaster.

I realize this is the Grown Up Stuff subforum, so I'll keep it polite. Big Phoenix has the right of it, but if you're actually concerned with the "Doomsday" part of it, I work with a girl and her niece that are into the doomsday part of it full bore. They (and many friends/family) have two shipping containers (the type you put on a train or a boat, the big ones) for storing stuff in, they have several of those 25-year dried food supplies, bows/crossbows, guns/ammo, etc. She's even trying to learn hydroponic vegetable farming with fish in the water. They also have very little common sense, which means they take the first thing they see on YouTube or Art Bell or whomever and run with it. So if that is the sort of thing you're looking for, I'm sure I could give you all sorts of ideas, but honestly just watching Doomsday Preppers is probably more useful than 90% of the content out there. If something on the show interests you, you can easily get more detailed information next.

Im not into this type of thing by any means. But having watched some of the shows about the extreme families that invest everything into this type of shit, it makes me think. Maybe it would not be such a bad idea to have some shit around in the very slim chance of something happening.

Either way we at least have a place to go to. The wifes old man lives on 30 acres n the middle of nowhere in upper Michigan. Hes got an arsenal, tractors, machinery, tools, snowmobiles even shit to make boards out of logs. and pretty much enough space to house several families, or at least out general immediate family. If shit goes down, thats where were heading.

Skills as in what? Reading some shit about how to survive? Not many people that live in the city or burbs (which is where most of us live BTW) have the luxury of leaning life survival skills like hunting, making weapons, trapping, making shelters...etc.. And reading about that shit does not mean you will know it or get it.

I suppose you could watch survivor man marathon next time its on science channel.

Vaclav_sl said:

From the looks of things Hoss is probably part of your retarded club.

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My doomsday preparation is that I have lots of guns. When the SHTF, I'll just go shopping. I used to prepare more, but then I started watching the doomsday preppers show and I saw what a bunch of fucking weenies they were and knew they'd be soft targets.

Just kidding. I won't confirm or deny my prepper status, but I will point out that if I was a prepper, there's no way i'd tell anyone about it.

piggvomit_sl said:

if the shit hits the fan

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You have absolutely no idea how many times I have heard that exact phrase in the last year. You are being reasonable and not linking all sorts of conspiracy stuff, and I feel it is important to let you know that I appreciate that. I actually enjoy talking about the "science" of prepping somewhat, and have tried with my friend, but too often they lapse into full-blown Lumie mode and don't actually think about what they are doing.

Here's a good example. The niece's dad is fairly well off and works all over the world, not really having a home to come back to beyond his kid's home, so he has a lot of money to spend on crazy shit. He's also at least as into this doomsday stuff as the rest of them (he was convinced ISON was going to crash the power grid). Since they were discussing how they were going to get everyone up to the property all this stuff is at, and how everyone wouldn't fit, etc...he bought them a huge 5th wheel trailer, like a 30 footer. Of course, no thought went into this at all, so a month after they bought it when the neighbors complained to the city and they got a ticket telling them it can't just sit in front of their house forever, they had to take it to an RV storage lot. Now it sits there, generating fees for doing nothing, and you have to call ahead of time to have them bring it out for you. How useful is that really going to be if the "shit hits the fan" suddenly? Are you really going to have a day or more warning to get it out, load it up, and then drive it where it needs to go? Not to mention, only one vehicle they have is even capable of towing it, and the guy who drives it often goes several hours away for his job in construction.

And of course, the biggest thing of all the "prepping" is to practice your plan, over and over, to find out how long it will really take, how much stuff you really need to bring, etc. I've harped on that many times (because they won't listen to me telling them they are nuts, so this is the only thing I can legitimately complain about), but have they even practiced once? Of course not. Have they checked out alternate routes in case the freeways are blocked? Of course not. Will they likely all die "if the shit hits the fan" just like me? Probably.

I don't know what you are prepping for, exactly, so that is a start. I also don't know if you intend to hole up in your home for awhile and then find somewhere to go, or if you have a location in mind. Since you said you expect the economy to collapse at some point, I am assuming you are prepping for something with an extended time frame, and that's where Vaclav's advice comes into play. If you expect to only need things for a few weeks or a month or two, you can conceivably stock that up. But if you need to live for years, you can never save enough, you have to have a place to go to and the skill set to make it work. All of my ranting about my friends aside, you need to clarify a few of the things you want to be prepared for if you want real advice.