What Situation Are You Prepping For?

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phideaux

phideaux

Old fashioned
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Nov 24, 2017
Messages
19,538
Location
West Ky
I'm not sure that I am preparing my self and my family for any ONE particular sitiuation.

Many things , situations, can be described as SHTF , I suppose.

I'm just trying to be prepared for anything that may cause the loss of Electrical power, or failure to communicate, or inability to travel.

This could be a Natural disaster, a man made disaster , earthquake, or nuclear explosion..
Or a total economic collapse.

I lean more towards being ready for the last , than the first 2.

But try to prepare for all 3.
As I said before , prepping never ends.


Jim
 
Exactly! I am just preparing to continue to live life actively no matter what happens for as long as possible. That takes shelter, water and food along with a means to protect what I have for those I love.
 
I think that being prepared for the possibility of any disaster, man-made or natural is more my goal. It takes time to work on the different levels of preparedness. We have no idea what life is going to throw our way. Will we be prepared for everything, even if we work our whole life on it? Probably not.

I have been working for a while to load this as a file, and something about the file is not showing for me when I want to select it, so I will do a copy and paste of it instead. This is from the LDS Preparedness manual.

5 Levels of Preparedness

Level 0 Every Emergency is a Disaster
Less than 2 weeks of food in the home
No water purification system
No bug out bag
No defensive weapons
No way to produce their own food
No physical gold or silver
No tangible assets to barter

Level 1 Can survive two weeks of Minor Emergency (such as ice storm)
Have sufficient water and food for two weeks of emergency
Able to heat house for two weeks without relying on the power grid by use of the power grid
Able to cook their meals for two weeks without relying on the power grid
Has a first aid kit
Likely has no defensive weapons
Must leave their home after two weeks due to lack of preparation

Level 2: Can Survive One Month of an Emergency (such as major hurricane)
Likely has a portable power generator and sufficient fuel for one month of operation
Has handguns or shotgun to defend their home
Has a month’s work of canned goods to eat from
Has sufficient prescription medicines for 30 days
Has enough batteries for power a portable radio for 30 days

Level 3: Can Survive Three Months of an Emergency (such as martial law or impacting earthquake)
Has a deep-short term pantry
Likely has a water purification system
Likely has defensive weapon for each family member
Likely has some type of neighborhood safety watch or 24 hour security watch rotation at the home
Has stocked wood to burn in fireplace and/or iron stove
Has communication gear to keep track of local and world events
Has means to recharge batteries without relying on power grid
Has three months of prescription medications

Level 4: Can Survive One Year of an Emergency (such as currency devaluation, economic depression)
Has a deep short- and long-term food pantry
Likely has their own garden to produce food
Likely has small-sized farm animals to produce protein (chickens, goats, rabbits)
Has a deep supply of ammo (2000+ rounds per weapon)
Has a spare weapon in event of damage
Has means to produce herbal medicines to replace prescriptions
Has a long-term store of antibiotics
Likely has dog for security watch
Has full 24 hour rotation of security watch on the home (requires 6 adults)
Show have secondary off-site storage of food, weapons, and ammo
Is ready to bug-out with full hiking and camping gear, if security situation degrades
Is able to educate their children at home

Level 5: Can Survive Indefinitely from Home during an multi-year SHTF or TEOTWAWKI situation
Has a fully functioning large garden or small farm for food production
Is able to can and store the results of food harvest for the coming year
Is able to harvest seeds for next year’s planting
Is able to raise multiple generations of farm animals (cattle, sheep, horses)
Has horses for local and distance travel
Has enough ammo to last a generation (10,000+ rounds per weapon)
Has spares of each weapon and lots of extra magazines
Able to generate their own fuel (bio-diesel, alcohol)
Likely has fully functional solar power bank with deep storage batteries
Has natural on-site water sources for farm and home
Has home-based business to generate income
Is able to build new building and make any necessary repairs to existing buildings
Is able to provide excess food for charity
Has a secondary residency (such as mountain cabin) for full bug-out
Is prepared for minor surgery and child birth at home
Has stores of gold and silver for barter
Is able to produce their clothing (from raw wool or raw cotton with spinning wheel and small loom)
 
I have two basic threats. The first is an earthquake with or without volcanic eruptions. The second is a major disaster in the contiguous 48 States. Should the States get hit with an EMP or the Cascadia Fault let go there will be no food or supplies coming to Alaska and we will be left to die on the vine.
 
I'm trying to be prepared for any/all situations as you never know what's going to be coming, be it Mother Nature or something stupid man did. We did fine here at our place when we had the flooding in 2015, we were landlocked as all the main roads around here were washed out, but we hardly noticed & we've taken side swipes from several hurricanes & lost power, but, hardly noticed as I made sure we had plenty of provisions, generator & manual water pump for one of our wells & oil lamps.
 
My preparedness is based on the possibility and potential of what I believe are plausible events: severe weather, natural disasters, short term social unrest, interruptions in utilities, interruptions in the food supply, government overreach, regional chaos, etc. Although I also have some level of preparedness for doomsday like events. I am a man of faith and hope, so I maintain a confident expectation of good in my life. And while I believe my fate is in the hands of the man upstairs, that does not mean I should not take steps to prepare for the well-being of myself and my family. He gave me free will and blessed me with particular skills for a reason.
 
I too try to prepare for as many things as I can, minor to major.

A big incident happened to us a few years back. I wasn't working (I'm a consultant) then after 30 years, my wife's employer laid her off (they were getting rid of many of the senior people to save $$$).

We had no income to speak of (she did get some unemployment payments) but we did fine. We had plenty of provisions as well as a cash reserve so there were no real issues. If not already prepared, we would have possibly been in trouble.
 
I saw Caribou's comment about the Cascadia fault/subduction zone and it reminded me why I moved out of Seattle. If the event is so big that you can't prepare for it, you move. There is no way to be prepared for a 9+ magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that will follow it. So your home is still ok, but you have no water, no power, no sanitation and no job for the next two years while the state and feds argue about how to fix the ruptured infrastructure. Add to that most of the bridges and roads will be impassible so any help from outside has to come in by helicopter. In the first two weeks after the quake I expect that half a million people will die from lack of resources. I decided that losing everything I owned was not a valid reason to stay,and I had six months of food and water stored. It is going to be the worst disaster in the history of the USA and it will cover the area from northern California to British Columbia. Not even the military has enough helicopters to supply three to five million survivors with a gallon of water a day, much less food and sanitation. I moved to SE Washington so I could still be close to family and I know that when it happens I will likely lose Natural gas for up to a week because of the busted gas lines. I will still have water and power. I have tried to convince the rest of my family to get out too but they don't want to believe it will happen to them.
 
I prepare for life's storms.

The world doesn't have to come to a screaming halt for mine to and Boy! Did I learn that the hard way.

I live in a hostile environment where climate/weather, landscape and wildlife tends to make life challenging at times.
People here either have a prepper mentality, have a high degree of self sufficiency and initiative or they move.
Here in Australia the word "prepping" doesn't even register on the radar even though it's what we do.

The thing I see most chance of happening is cyclones (hurricanes). Living were I do it's a dead certainity
every wet season we get at least two that take down the grid, flood roads and wash out bridges.
You count on the fact that it's just not a matter of surviving the cyclone but also living for the 6 to
8 weeks after the fact for infrastructure to be fixed so fuel, groceries can be trucked in and power can be restored and that water out
of the tap is drinkable.

I also see economic collapse as a most likely event.
I have large veggie gardens, fruit trees and chickens and in the event it does crash
these things will be worth more than gold.

Learning to live a simple life and to be happy and grateful for even the smallest blessing
goes a long way towards thriving and not just surviving even under adverse conditions.
 
Having lived through unemployment, disability, chronic heal issues, unemployed and/or ill/elderly family, forest fire, flood, depression, recession, motor vehicle accidents, volcanic ash, hurricanes, power failure, blizzards and more, knowing refugees, concentration camp survivors, victims of violent crime, and people persecuted and/or killed for their faith or political positions ... I figure that there is no one thing to prepare for. To paraphrase a quote I read once “what we call the end of the world someone else calls a normal day”. Prepare for whatever may come to the best of your ability.
 
I live in the beautiful state of Arizona. No natural disaster to be concerned about, no earthquakes, floods, hurricane, tornadoes or other event caused by Mother Nature, so my concerns are man made problems. Economic collapse is my number one SHTF prediction and social unrest is number two, way down the scale. I stock pile food, water and heating supplies. I also store sufficient defensive items to deter the most determined home invaders. None of my medication are life support types, especially if I have to limit my food intake. If the country is in a grid down disaster, then I am probably not going to survive. I live too far from a viable food source and am too old and physically worn out to be foraging for supplies. Now with that all being said, if the SHTF event holds off for a few more years, then I will be able to survive indefinitely. Basic plan, do what I can for now and plan to do better in the future.
 
Our main concern here is hurricanes. We can go weeks and sometimes a month or two without power and sometimes water. We recently learned about how bad our area can flood with the last one that blew in that cut our area off from receiving supplies. We did just fine, but not everyone. We like being self sufficient as possible so preparing go hand in hand. I feel better about the economy now than I did a few years ago, but that can always change back. There's still a lot of stupid politicians out there that people vote for.
 
I'm more concerned with Natural Disasters, and Civil Unrest. Here in Missouri we have the New Madrid Fault, and in the last 20 or so years we have experienced several Tremors, one which was strong enough to shift my Deck. We also have heavy Ice Storms which can knock out Power for Weeks or Months at a Time. Fortunately I Heat with Wood and have a Generator that will run the whole House. I am also looking into getting a refurbished Military Grade, Propane Powered Generator for the House. As far as Civil Unrest, I live outside of a small Town in a very large and sparsely Populated County, but I am surrounded by Dirt Bag Cities that are Two to Four Hrs. away, and this could have an Impact even though I am quite Isolated. What's even more Troubling is that being sparsely Populated tends to draw those with Ideas of Manufacturing Drugs and other Nefarious Ideas, so we in our little Community in the Woods keeps a close watch on those who don't live here. Those who look especially Suspect are often met by a Gun toting, Glassy Eyed Ex-Cop who will not Suffer Fools. These are quickly sent packing with a Warning never to return.
 
I am prepping for life.
 
I'm prepping for a month with the possibility of hostilities. And to be a rest and restocking location for the younger family members. I'm too old to go hiking across the country with a full combat load while carrying the wife, mother and mother-in-law.

Once I'm comfortable at the month level then work on 6-month, then a year then longer until I'm pushing up Daisies or strapped to a bed at a nursing home.
 
I try to prep for natural disaters, around here heavy rains/flooding and tornados. But we have been very close to evacuation twice due to train wrecks within 5 miles in two directions. We also have nuclear plants in 2 directions from us, 15 and 35 miles away. So we have a lot of stuff to keep in mind and an eye out for. Having knowledge of one of the nuc plants I don't worry a great deal about that. If it goes off I won't have time to worry about it. The 2nd one is generally out of the prevailing winds so not much concern there either.
I also worry greatly about our Gov edicts and "deep state" BS. EMP is also a big concern. I tend to set us up to life as our ancestors would have in the late 1800's. Level 3 to Level 4
 
In our plan, life as we know it is more likely than a collapse. So we're preparing that way.
#1 is the financial emergency fund. Those little hiccups in life are the most common "disaster". This will help soften the blow.
#2 is the preps for likely natural events (tornado's, blizzards, ice storms).
#3 is funding retirement accounts. B/c we both think we'll get more use out of this than a bunker stocked up for WW3.
#4 is saving for everything else. This is where the WW3 bunker gets funded, although it's pretty low on the list. Funding a homestead is among the top 3 goals here. We both enjoy our jobs so we don't have a desire to work a homestead full time for our livelihood. We need to stay within commuting distance of our jobs, so an off-grid cabin in the Ozarks isn't going to work. Neither of us have a desire to raise animals. It will likely just be a modest plot of land just outside of town, with a small garden and maybe a goat to keep the yard mowed.
 
I'm preparing for the future....even if it is without me. I want my family to be taken care of. My main focus is on:

*personal finances - no debt, PM's, assets, IRA's, savings, cash, etc.....basically anything worth anything
*safety - medical supplies, meds, protective clothing, weapons, etc.....basically anything that will keep my family safe
*food - gardening, canning, hunting, fruit trees, stocking up on foods, etc.......anything we can eat!
*shelter - trying to make sure our home is always comfy & secure, but have secondary options if ever necessary.
*skills - try to learn something new all the time!
*water - have some stored, filters, dispensers, transport of local sources, hand pump well, etc.

I'm mostly preparing for life's unexpected surprises like a home fire, family death/injury/illness, inflation, power outage, etc. If S does ever HTF, I'm likely better than off many but certainly won't be comfortable for an extended period of time. I'm doing what I can, but I feel like I have to concentrate my efforts on the most likely case scenario's such as retirement or family illness such as cancer. Anything I can add above and beyond that is a bonus. I take advantage of bargains and other opportunities as much as possible to get closer to being as prepared for Murphy (and his law) as possible.
 
angie_nrs said:
I'm preparing for the future....even if it is without me. I want my family to be taken care of. My main focus is on:

*personal finances - no debt, PM's, assets, IRA's, savings, cash, etc.....basically anything worth anything
*safety - medical supplies, meds, protective clothing, weapons, etc.....basically anything that will keep my family safe
*food - gardening, canning, hunting, fruit trees, stocking up on foods, etc.......anything we can eat!
*shelter - trying to make sure our home is always comfy & secure, but have secondary options if ever necessary.
*skills - try to learn something new all the time!
*water - have some stored, filters, dispensers, transport of local sources, hand pump well, etc.

I'm mostly preparing for life's unexpected surprises like a home fire, family death/injury/illness, inflation, power outage, etc. If S does ever HTF, I'm likely better than off many but certainly won't be comfortable for an extended period of time. I'm doing what I can, but I feel like I have to concentrate my efforts on the most likely case scenario's such as retirement or family illness such as cancer. Anything I can add above and beyond that is a bonus. I take advantage of bargains and other opportunities as much as possible to get closer to being as prepared for Murphy (and his law) as possible.
Click to expand...

Welcome aboard Angie! We were hoping you would find the bread crumbs.
 
SHTF scenarios happen every day, but on an individual rather than a local, regional or global scale. Prepare for the small stuff - unexpected expenses, loss of work, medical emergency, death of a loved one - and the big stuff doesn't seem quite so bad.

What I've learned about prepping, particularly in regard to providing much of my own food, is I save money and eat better. Who needs a disaster to see the benefits?
 
Being a rather obsessive type A person, I did an excel spread sheet threat assessment. The main threats I see on a personal level would be health issues and loss of income. On a local level, I worry about extreme winter weather (yes, we do sometimes get a LOT of snow here!), epidemics, and forest fire. On a national level, I worry about civil conflict/insurrection, collapse of the economic system, nuclear attacks (including EMP), and pandemic infection.
 
I look at preparedness as a form of insurance. I think a lot of people view SHTF as a large scale major event but we can each endure personal SHTF situations. I prepare for TEOTWAWKI type events but I also prepare for personal SHTF situations like losing a job and not having money to buy food.

IMO preparedness is not about doomsday it's about personal responsibility. Am I prepared for big events? Yes I am. But I didn't start out thinking of preparing for world wide disaster. I started out with a plan to be able to provide for myself and my family no matter what the situation demanded.
 
We prepare mostly for natural disasters but with a touch of financial crisis. Having just bought our house on 1 acre 6 months ago, things are not going as quickly as I would like. There is a 20X30 concrete block building to fix up and we have goats to maybe breed, but that is all in the future, hopefully. I will probably have to rent a garden tiller if I hope to plant anything in the Spring. So I guess in general, I am prepping for life also!
 
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