After Armageddon on History Channel

[Lennyjoe]

Am watching that show on the History channel and it is pretty good.  They talk about how it got after Katrina as far as survivability is concerned.  Also talk about weapons and how they play in survival situations. 

The show was based on how a family would handle trying to get out of Los Angeles.  I think folks in big cities may have a rougher time than us country folk. 

The show does make you think a bit on how you would handle it.  Even moreso if your the father of a family.  How are you going to keep your family safe, fed, warm and healthy. 

I don't think I"m as prepared as I should be.  At least where I am now.  Some things I may need to stock up on but the more mobile we are the better because we have a withdrawal plan.

As a family, our rally point is the main farm south of Morgantown.  There we have cellars of canned foods, plenty of wood, clothing and such.  Plenty of weapons, maybe not enough ammo though.  We have enough to keep a family of 25 sheltered and fed for several months.  Not alot of gas though for such things as vehicles or generators.

I know we occassionally talk about SHTF scenario's and bug out bags and such but that's internet talk.  Watching a show like that made me think a bit more about our current state. 

Anyone else see it?

[Northwoods]

Not alot of gas though for such things as vehicles or generators.

Gasoline will turn to varnish over time.  Not something that lends itself well to long term storage.  Sta-bil or similar things help but only so much.  If you're going to keep gas there it's best to use and replace it every 3 months (6 months max).  Even with stabilizers it'll eventually break down and become worthless.

[Fly320s]

Yep. As a general rule, the more refined the product, the shorter the shelf life.

I didn't see the show, but I do agree that the people in a city will have a much more difficult life post-disaster.

[Balog]

A lot less chance of .gov forcibly confiscating your weapons post-disaster out in the country too.

If you're gonna store fuel diesel is the way to go. Aren't a lot of diesel engines more EMP resistant as well?

I think water is an oft overlooked resource post disaster. City water will likely be down, no electricity for well pumps etc. Ditto sewage concerns.

[Northwoods]

If Lenny's got a creek nearby all he needs for water is a filter, and/or a pot to boil it in.  That or plenty of chlorine tablets.

[sanglant]

Yep. As a general rule, the more refined the product, the shorter the shelf life.

I didn't see the show, but I do agree that the people in a city will have a much more difficult life post-disaster.

where does that put lamp oil? i have some that's gotta be at least 15 years old

[MillCreek]

I thought it was pretty darn good.  As a member of the county flu committee, the description of what would happen to services after a major pandemic was spot on with what we have been told to expect.  The show made us think.

[Stetson]

Most people are only a week away from personal emergencies anyway.  They just don't keep enough food and water in their houses.  Most of my neighbors wouldn't know how to survive without a grocery store available.  I don't know the logistics of what stores keep on hand but it can't be much.

[brimic]

Saw it, good show.

The wife and I discussed it for about 2 hours afterwards- would we stay put and have a stockpile of food, water, tools, and have 2 lakes within a mile to draw water from but have security concerns- lots of ingress, egress routes to village, only 25 miles from a major city, difficult to defend suburban landscape, or bug out to the U.P. where there are few people, house is wood heated with lots of trees around, have a large river running behind the house, but other than fish and squirrrels food is scarce, and the soil is not very fertile. Wife has superstitious beliefs and seems sure that something is going to happen between now and 2012, so she is really getting concerned about stockpiling materials already.


We also hashed out some rough  details on getting home from our workplaces- bug out bags, personal protection, footwear, where to meet or leave messages- kids' school which is on the way home for either of us, etc.

[Viking]

Most people are only a week away from personal emergencies anyway.  They just don't keep enough food and water in their houses.  Most of my neighbors wouldn't know how to survive without a grocery store available.  I don't know the logistics of what stores keep on hand but it can't be much.

Two days worth of stock is what I've heard. Sounds reasonable. Stock takes up place, so keeping it like that is probably the most practical and economical.

[brimic]

Quote from: Stetson on Today at 11:17:35 PM
Most people are only a week away from personal emergencies anyway.  They just don't keep enough food and water in their houses.  Most of my neighbors wouldn't know how to survive without a grocery store available.  I don't know the logistics of what stores keep on hand but it can't be much.

Two days worth of stock is what I've heard. Sounds reasonable

I would think that if you don't have your own stockpiles, you are screwed, if disaster happens and it becomes known that help is not coming, the stores are going to be looted within hours- those that aren't might be heavily defended by undesirables or owners.

[zahc]

Yep. As a general rule, the more refined the product, the shorter the shelf life.

The opposite seems to be true of foods.

[AJ Dual]

The part where they got water from the radiator bothered me immensely. The vast majority of vehicles would have ethylene glycol or similar nasty stuff in high proportion.

Dying of kidney failure out on the road seems like a bad way to go.

[Fly320s]

The opposite seems to be true of foods.

I was going to add that on, but fresh foods are an obvious exception, and Velveeta "cheese" would probably begin to evolve into an intelligent life form in a matter of months.

Otherwise, yes, basics such as beans and rice can be stored for a very long time.

[brimic]

The part where they got water from the radiator bothered me immensely. The vast majority of vehicles would have ethylene glycol or similar nasty stuff in high proportion.

That bothered me as well. Maybe antifreeze isn't used in old cars in the desert? Then again ethylene glycol is also mixed to raise the boiling point as well....

[coppertales]

I should have watched the show.  I am pretty well set for when the world hits the fan.  Pretty good stock of the essentials, gun, ammo, food, money.  I need to refine my exit from the city to my place in the country, where I have another stock of survival supplies.  Water is my most pressing concern.  I do have a spring on my camp land which can be used as a source.  Here in town, we try to keep 4 cases of water on hand besides what we use on a regular basis.  If you buy it in gallon jugs it is a whole lot cheaper.  Food is the usual, rice, beans, pasta, canned meat and fish, canned vegies and pasta sauce.  We rotate the canned goods evey 6 months.  Lots of squirrels on my camp land along with a few deer and pigs.  A fishing lake is within a mile.  Our pickups have two gas tanks so we try to keep at least one tank full at all times.  I guess only time will tell us what will happen.....chris3

[zahc]

I'm a city apartment dweller. I suppose in TX we wouldn't freeze if we lost power/water, and we have maybe a weeks worth of food here, but water would be a problem. I usually have 5-10 gallons of distilled water in the darkroom but maybe I should buy a couple cases of bottled water and stick them in a closet. We have a whole pool full of washing/flushing water. There are handsful of squirrels running around. The real question is what you are waiting for for this period of weeks where you are stuck in your apartment. I suppose after a major terrorist attack or something, maybe things would cool down after a few days so that we could get on the road out of the city. With no internet, though, I would have no idea what is going on unless I went out in my car. I should get into HAM, or at least get some battery powered shortwave/battery powered television equipment.

[Tallpine]

I think folks in big cities may have a rougher time than us country folk. 

Out here we have it rough all the time 

We're not going anywhere unless .... well, if it gets that bad then we're probably not going anywhere anyway.

We can live on beans (and maybe a little venison ) for quite a while.  We heat with wood anyway, and we put a hand pump on the well last fall.

But for the long term, I dunno.  I'm getting too old to cut wood with a handsaw.

[SADShooter]

I caught the latter half. The town reaction to looters was surprising in its realism. I also thought it interesting that the program addressed long-term psychological and social impacts, such as an emphasis on religion. Accurate or not, it's an aspect of survival generally not addressed.

[MillCreek]

Post-Apocalyptic themes of the rebirth of civilization are popular in science fiction literature.  I have read probably hundreds of stories/novels on this topic over the years.  I was surprised at how 'spot on' this show was, with scavenging of the ruins, death due to trivial medical mishaps, local jurisdictions securing their borders against the big-city hordes, decentralization of the cities into small towns that can survive on a local food supply and the like. 

My wife thought the show was too frightening, and I thought afterwards that I should be stocking up on ammunition and medical supplies.  Since she is a teacher and I am a former paramedic, perhaps we will be able to trade our skills in this type of scenario. 

[Sawdust]

Hmmm...missed it. I'm big on preps; I'd like to see this show.

Looks like it will be repeated this Saturday evening.

Off to set the Tivo...

Sawdust

[Thor]

The part where they got water from the radiator bothered me immensely. The vast majority of vehicles would have ethylene glycol or similar nasty stuff in high proportion.

Dying of kidney failure out on the road seems like a bad way to go.

I saw that, too. It didn't bother me so much as I watched him "taste" it with a little dab on his finger. Perhaps he tasted that it had no anti-freeze in it?? At least that was my conclusion. It was an interesting show to watch.

As far as food stocks, dehydrated veggies, fruits and meats will last a LONG time especially if they are vacuum sealed. They are easy to rehydrate. Beans and rice are a good staple to keep on hand as well as flour & sugar. I keep a bay leaf (or three or four, depending on the size of the container) in my flour and rice, as that deters mealy bugs from growing in the stuff. Canned foods can last a lot longer than what the date says. As long as the can is not deformed, they are usually safe to eat. I've read of someone opening up a can of food from WWII and found it safe to consume. The average family maintains approx 3 days of food. I'm more apt to do as the Mormons do and keep a years worth of foodstuffs on hand.  I'm working on a plan to catch rain water so I don't have to travel very far from the house and drag pails of water back. I'm looking at roof collection, but I need to take care of the problem of the cats getting on the roof. Finally, woe unto any trespassers.

[RevDisk]

My post-apocalyptic plan is simple.  Go air mobile.  Loot every major ammo dump in the state (I've been to them plenty of times and still know plenty of people that work 'em), and probably "borrow" some light stuff like M1A1's, 155mm, etc.  Maybe a handful of Apaches to provide escort to the utility and cargo birds.  I have the folks to fly them, maintain them and fuel them for "long enough".  Fuel would not be a long term problem.  Probably barter with food distribution warehouses for enough tractor trailers of grub to last me and mine for a bit.

[MillCreek]

A couple other interesting things that we discussed last night:

At least in the Seattle area, potable water is not going to be too much of a problem
I thought the idea of using a closed minivan in the sun as a food dehydrator was an excellent idea.  I am going to remember that. 

The other thing we commented on was that with the demise of mechanized agriculture, a large part of every day is going to be spent tending the crops and food gathering/preparation.  You would have to recreate an economy and medium of exchange to allow for specialization of tasks; farmers, blacksmiths, healthcare providers and the like. 

[DustinD]

Apocalypse Man is going to be on tonight. A former Marine will teach us how to survive the end of the world.