Posted on 12/19/2011 4:02:29 AM PST by Kartographer
Good commentary, and on a much bigger picture issue, but FYI, I was pinging you to the video linked in post #11.
Depends on the suburb, and the situation. “Laws” against keeping livestock will be ignored during times of hunger. Foreclosed and empty homes will be cleared, freeing up more open land. In my area, (North FL), I think that in less than a year “farmers markets” will spring up on the vacant and fallow land where today they are selling Christmas trees. The trick will be finding enough food for the first year. Even if the current national food distribution model can’t be restarted, regional food distribution will kick in. A big question is: can you live off of the food produced within, say, 100 miles of your home? If you live in an arid or mountainous region, and most of your food already comes from 100s of miles away, it will be hard to sustain life. The food model will go from national to regional to local, so make sure lots of food can grow in your local area. Don’t worry too much about becoming an instant success at truck gardening. Local farmers will fill that gap in about one year.
Just survive that one year.
Forget about making the average suburban home into a fortress with ballistic protection. It ain’t gonna happen unless it’s made of solid concrete already. Neighborhood defense has to start at the defended gate, backed up by a QRF.
“But do not agree that a suburban location is more difficult to defend than an urban one.”
I agree with you for several reasons:
1. The suburbs have a lot of organizational talent and would form groups to protect areas. Their organizational talent has been recognized by increases in salary which allowed them move to the suburbs. This is not an attribute which is trivial, it is major. Groups would be formed and would link up with others. Subgroups would be formed with specialties ie., Communications, Food Acquisition, spiritual, area defense, etc. Their organization would reflect corporate organization and would be successful.
2. The suburbs are heavily armed, more so than the urban areas.
3. Gangbangers half life when venturing into the suburbs in a shtf scenario would be ummm.....less than optimal...
4. There is room in the suburbs to grow food. It would have to be guarded, but that would be easy to arrange.
5. Interlocking fire is not a problem.
I would much rather be in a suburb than an urban area. Many more resources available.
Not to mention that urban areas become sniper hells in short order. If you live in an apartment complex or tower,for example, you will have to sneak out to forage/buy food. Every time, you will have to dodge sniper fire. Think Sarajevo.
Best bet is to get your family around you and lock and load all together. Thats what we are doing. There’s a reason why the term “blood is thicker than water” got started.
If you don’t have a family then the banding together with neigbors is probably the next best thing.
Going it alone with only 2 or 3 people is going to be tough unless you are on the top of a mountain with only one way in and one way out.
One of Selco’s posts deals with the snipers in town. I don’t think they would find good positions in the suburbs.
One of the attributes of the suburbs is that it would be much easier to control fires as the distance between homes is much greater than in the city.
I’ll stay in the burbs, thank you.
That’s when you play Sesame Street: One of these things doesn’t belong.
Unfortunately most of my family is too far away so I’m stuck with neighbors. Not the best neighbors either. For financial reasons I’m pretty much stuck for now. If things hold off for a couple more years then more options might open up.
I hear ya. Its only just now that we are able acquire a real retreat that the whole family can run to. I think we will just be getting out in the nick of time. The burbs of Atlanta are no place to be when the SHTF. At least not the burbs we are in. There are too many apt complexes with the wrong demographic in our immediate area.
My prayer is that the govt holds it together until after the election which they probably will.
You might be able to solve that arguement but I don’t know your circumstances.
Irresolable Problem No. 1: You have to have a place where water is available; the problem with the burbs, (or the cities for that matter) is that the water supplies are dependent upon electric powered pumping stations. When the power goes, the water goes. Within 24 hours of the emergency, (or less depending upon advance notice), all bottled water will be scarfed up. You can only survive for three days without water.
Irresovable problem no. 2 is that the denizens of the city will be streaming out of the Urban pits of despair, armed to the teeth and ready to kill for fun or profit and they’ll be streaming right to the burbs, going door to door, looking for.........food, water, money, bullets, booze and sex. They’ll kill you if you’re male, they’ll rape your women and kids and then kill them as well for the fun of it. And they may not kill them quick! See the story about the guy that set the old woman on fire with gasoline? And the problem is, most will be the “Government’s People”, Section 8 HUD types whose dope dealers have run out of “dope”; they’ll be looting the drug stores and killing indiscriminately. Dopers without dope are desperate people.
Irresolvable Problem No. 3: Assuming you did have a back up generator and a weeks worth of water, there won’t be any gasoline; store up gasoline, crank up the generator and some low life scum comes to kill you for your fuel.
Irresolvable Problem No. 4: Your trapped; the Government doesn’t much care if you live or die; but they won’t want the chaos and disease (there will be regardless because of the piles of dead bodies of people shot or starved to death), to spread. The so-called “First Responders”, cops, EMT and Fire folk will be the first people outa town. But a couple of weeks into the calamity, the Army/National Guard will encircle you to enforce a “DIP” plan, i.e., Die-In-Place, meaning, you won’t be able to leave.
So......the only option is to prepare a place, at least 80-150 miles from any major urban area and I’d stay away from the small towns as well. You need land; shelter, water, food stores, firearms, bullets and lots of them. But the further away from Cities/Suburbs-People you are, the better your chance of survival.
“But the further away from Cities/Suburbs-People you are, the better your chance of survival.”
Unless someone decides to go out there and take what those folks have.
There is no perfect answer except keeping our govt in place or the return of Jesus.
I agree!
Its all in the odds; when the gas trucks stop running, the gas stations are outa fuel within 24 hours. If you’re too far out for them to walk to you, your “chances” or your “odds” of surviving go way, way up. And it’s all about increasing the odds.
“If you’re too far out for them to walk to you, your “chances” or your “odds” of surviving go way, way up. And it’s all about increasing the odds.”
Not sure I agree with that. The average out of shape entitlement minded person isn’t going to be walking 20 miles in the hot Florida sun. Organized gangs will be driving though and stealing what gas they need.
As you say it depends on a million variables.
I’ve told you this before but I’ll repeat it for the benefit of newcomers to the forum.
About 8 years ago my wife and I started our Neighborhood Watch because of some problems we were having. We ended up with a pretty good sized group of folks, about 45 or so. Over the next few years we identified like minded individuals and got to know them. Then we formed a sort of Super Neighborhood Watch with this group.
These are the folks with supplies, skills, weapons, ammo, etc and who were willing to work on the planning. Now it helps that there are only 3 ways in or out of our little corner of the world. A few well placed cars will block those. Then we started scoping out good spots for fighting holes, 2nd floor shooting positions, and things of that nature.
Ranges to known landmarks were learned, likely avenues of approach for bad guys identified, you know, stuff like that. Now could we hold off a determined Company of the Illinois National Guard? Nope. Could we put a serious-ass hurt on them? Yep. But this isn’t what we’re seriously worried about anyway.
If the ING gets called out on Mr. and Mrs. Suburbia then we’re all pretty much f***** anyway and we might as well go down with the slides locked back. But if we’re up against roving gangs of feral entitlement zombies, well we’ll rather quickly convince them that the pickings are much, much safer and easier elsewhere. And I figure that’s about the best we can do.
The NW thing had another unexpected side benefit. We got to know the local cops pretty darned well. So when the crap hits the fan we won’t be just some bunch of unknown yahoos with guns. We’re a known quantity to them. Will that make any difference? I don’t know. Is it something we may be able to use to our advantange? Maybe.
Take care my friend. I have a feeling we’re in for a very interesting 2012.
Unass the Area of Operations. Get one’s butt out of the danger zone. :)
Most suburbs allow pets. Rabbits, doves, fancy quail, etc, can all be found at the pet store . . .
Yup. But I guess for most of us, we are where we are, and all we can do is improve our present position.
I would love to have 40 acres 30 miles outside of town with a large house and barn with cows and chickens, etc; but the reality is I've got a small ranch-style in an old sub-division on a 1/2-acre lot a mile ouside of a small city.
Not selling my house in this economy, so I've got to do the best with what I've got - like the rest of y'all.
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