Let's say the doomsday people are right

Just for (*)(*)(*)(*)'s and grins...Let's say some worldwide catastrophe strikes...A huge solar flare creates an EMP and all the world's electronics are fried...Where would you rather be, in one of the large cities competing with a hundred thousand others for a limited amount of supplies...Trust me the cities would become a war zone...Or out in the sticks with us hicks that know how to hunt and fish and make a fire and an emergency shelter...And what makes you think all of us would welcome you...Better hope there is still a lot of that Christian charity, rural hospitality still alive. Do I believe this will happen...No, but everyone should reflect on what happened in NO after Katrina...The looting, high crime rates...What do you think NY, Detroit, Chicago, Atlanta, and other large cities would be like...Hell on Earth comes to my mind.

 

The Amish are one of the best prepared doomsday groups. But they'll be quickly overrun by the urban zombies. (Zombies, in this case, are those who have no clue about survival and personal defense and are forced to try to take what others have to survive.)

There is no question where I'd rather be; far, far away from urban centers.

 

I lived in the path of Katrina when it hit. But there were so many WASPs living in our area, that there was very little crime, even though the stores were empty, the power was out for days and the gas lines were very long.

I didn't live in the Liberal-Dem stronghold of New Orleans, of course, and it is those people in cities like that who would be the very first to loot, riot, shoot at relief helecopters and gernerally go ape.

If it makes you feel better, only a very large nuclear payload EMP would fry most modern cars with computers (post 1980). Newer cars would have electronic problems, but most would still be drivable. The Power Grid would be toast.

 

What makes you think anyone would be looking for a friendly Christian welcome from you? In fact, a far more likely scenario would be a wave of humanity flooding into rural areas, most of them looking to take what you have by force. Your guns, supplies, land and shelter, they're going to want them all and your Christian hospitality will be met with someone smoking you out of your home in the middle of the night and firing on you when you exit the doors. You'd be no safer than anyone else.

 

Good luck with that, considering that the last seven hunting seasons (deer)...I have yet to hear another rifle...And it is hard to burn down a shelter that is made up of shipping containers buried in the ground...As for people trying to take...I'm more than willing to barter...But I don't tolerate thieves very well....And in a situation like that...I'm the law on my land...That's police, judge, jury, and executioner if need be. So please venture on to my land with bad intentions...The hogs will eat well.

 

I know, everyone is Rambo.

If your shelter is a underground shipping container, what you've made is your own tomb in that scenario. I didn't say burn you out, I said smoke you out. Your best bet is just to hope it's in such a remote location it's never found. It's got one, at most two exits and some sort of air intake if it's underground, correct? I'm assuming you didn't drop 10 million dollars into this shelter to have its own life support system with thousands of gallons of oxygen. Some inbred hillbilly with a 200 dollar generator, a gallon of gasoline, a hose and a rifle could quickly put a end to all of that...And that if your lucky. The reality of this type of situation is that the worst among us will rise to the top, regardless if it's your land or not.

 

I don't think this idea of ravening hordes roving the countryside is viable. The vast majority of preppers are looking to migrate into the deep back country. There would only be a few preppers left to loot, and there are millions of people in our suburbs and rural areas. Survivors would be many and they would probably be joining the hordes themselves once the grocery stores are empty.

And there is also the historically validated common sense assertion that hungry people are generally weak, and particularly unable to range out over vast distances. Additionally there is the fact that hordes, generally, dont' really travel well, they block up rather quickly. Refugees couldn't even get away from the Armies they were fleeing in WWII and the German Stukas counted on that.

Given there is no foreign invasion I think the Army would take over rather quickly and enforce some sort of standard of humanity in short order. The problem there becomes how long will that last. I can, in fact, see several scenarios in which people would actually LIKE that and under the right circumstance even I, for one, might welcome our new Military masters

Finally there is the fact that we don't need to speculate. The Great Depression was, at least in the early stages, pretty much a thorough meltdown of our economy, what happened then?

 

No I didn't drop 10 million dollars on this and it is three 8' x 20' shipping containers welded together, there are two exits and yes there is an air intake and exhaust...However I do not advertise where this is...And unless you get within 25' of one of the doors, I doubt you would even realize it is there. It is more of a shelter, storage area than it is a survival bunker...And I built it myself for less than $10k...Good old American ingenuity and elbow grease...And yes it is pretty remote, 50 acres in central Texas within 2 hours of Austin. I disagree that the worst will rise to the top...The best prepared, best trained will be the survivors...Unless by worst you mean those that actually are willing to take another's life...

 

Which you seem inordinately anxious to do.

My prediction here is that your type would be among our worst problems, although you won't really be much of one to anybody but yourselves. The Army will take your guns and supplies, billet some troops in there with you and probably pay you in gold. They'll also cheerfully shoot you if you give them any trouble and then send you to a military graveyard for a full honors funeral if you've ever served.

I don't know who'd you'd be but it wouldn't be Rambo. At the end of those movies he was just a war weary recluse who wanted nothing more than to be left alone with his snakes.

 

Of course I mean those willing to take another's life, property, etc without thinking twice. And I didn't even mean in the general sense of self defense, I'm talking about those who will become active hunters of competition. Those types will excel. You and I become competition and a potential source of exploitation. I could be the nicest guy in the world, but if my child is starving and you're the only thing in between me and a MRE or a can of beans, you're up (*)(*)(*)(*) creek. If a hear you fire a gun, you have become a resource to me. If I see your tracks, see the smoke from your fire, or simply hear you step on a twig, taking your life is potentially far more valuable to me than simply killing a deer in this scenario. Understand? Guys like you are the first to go in a doomsday scenario.

 

Guys like me are the first to bug out...So if you mean disappear, yeah I would...I'm sustainable for me and my family for at least a month with current supplies...Longer on short rations supplemented with game...AS for the post above yours by Aleksandyr Ulyanov...I am retired military...and trust me, the military is not going to worry about me and mine that are twenty miles from the nearest town...They are going to be concentrating their efforts in urban areas...And I'm sure my definition of rural and yours are two very different things....You're probably thinking a small town of 5000 to 10000 people...Rural to me is what you would term wilderness...It's funny how these so called people like you...Environmentalists that think we should leave less of a carbon footprint...Deem guys like me, that have a place that is totally off the grid a prepper nut.

Am I Rambo...not even close, I'm not a fictional character in some stupid movie...I'm just an average guy that will protect his family in all cases and scenarios that I can handle.

 

Sounds to me like your neighbor who knows how to track and hunt might pick you off on the way to the outhouse so he can have his way with your wife, dog, and stockpile of grits. Country folk going go mad crazy too when the electric coming from the big cities stops coming and they have no way to get water from their well.

 

what if the doomsday prophecies don't come true for another 50 years?

I'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do.

 

Watching a field of corn stand itself back up after a thunderstorm flattens it is pretty cool. Strategic roots are amazing. Daffodils even have them. If you plant them too deep, the roots will pull the bulb up to the correct depth.

 

What neighbor? There are none where I am at?

 

look what happened after the black plague, Christians fanatics will blame it on non-believers and going on a killing spree thinking their God is unhappy because of them

 

You used the phrase "us hicks" so whoever the other members of "us" is.

 

my family, 5 kids 3 grandkids, a son-in-law, his brothers and sister, and parents...all told there are about 25 of us

 

Okay then, your thirsty son-in-law will do you in when he has no water.

 

That's why we dug a well...You see some people plan for contingencies and others hope the government will take care of them...I'm part of the first group, I grew up in the middle of Tornado alley, there were always power outages that could last for days...We always had a backup windmill generator and the new ones today are much more efficient and cheaper to boot...You see I don't fully trust my government, I don't believe I will ever collect Social Security, And I know guns and ammo will be worth more than gold if anything happens...In which case I am a very rich man...And when I retire up in Alaska I won't even worry about my government anymore.

 

I've yet to meet a Doomsday blogger who is actually prepared for what they claim is "just around the corner".

They NEVER have some isolated farm 50 miles from their nearest neighbor or town. Nor a "Doom Bunker" up in the hills decked out like Mt. Weather, ready to "emerge after the majority are killed in food riots and anarchy".

Mostly they are living perfectly ordinary lives in medium to even larger towns and cities.....in a house surrounded by dozens of other houses in a cul-de-sac or in an apartment....

and their only "Doomsday supplies"....are three cans of Campbell's soup, a few Raman noodle packs, a half-box of shotgun shells, and a 38 Police Special their Granddad bought at an auction in 1975 and gave them them for their twelvth birthday.

 

Sounds like you haven't met too many preppers.

But what you seemingly mistake for hypocrisy, is actually an issue of limited resources. Not everybody involved in prepping has the financial resources to buy land and build a bunker type structure. Hell, even the amount of ammunition and guns required to be truly prepared would be a limiting factor to many who would become preppers. Most just acquire useful items over time.

 

Everyone who can afford it should e prepping. The government wants you to do so. From the DHS to Fema all have list of needed preps in every home. The government is prepping and so should you. Trust me the government can't save you. At some point you will be left to fending for yourself. When they do come they won't be there to feed you at first. Guns and protecting critical utilities will be their first goals. Thugs will be allowed to run amuck like in the big easy. Only you will not allowed to be armed to protect your family. While they protect corp buildings.

 

Well, now you have met one...You see the state of Texas has what's called the TX Veterans Land Board...This is where they sell off government land and veterans get first preference...I bought my land, 40 acres, from an ariel survey...for less than $400 an acre...There is no power within 3 miles, I have yet to see another car on my old road in the years I have owned it and seldom see another vehicle on the road leading to my road. I am up there at least once a month...I have yet to hear another gun in 7 deer hunting seasons...And I prefer it that way. So please scoff all you want at us preppers...If it ever does hit the fan...I wish you the best...But I will only worry about my immediate family...The rest I will leave to Darwin.

 

My philosophy is and always will be...(as it relates to prepping for disasters, man-made and otherwise).

Get outta dodge.

I have a couple BOBs (Bug Out Bags) with enough rations and supplies for about 72 hours per bag. I have no intention to rough it out, or ride out the storm. I intend to bug out of an area when it gets hazardous to one's health.