Posted on 04/03/2012 11:13:52 AM PDT by blam
Read This First Before You Decide That Preppers Are Crazy
April 2, 2012
Michael Snyder
Do you believe that preppers are a few cards short of a full deck? Do you assume that anyone that is "preparing for doomsday" does not have their elevator going all the way to the top floor? Well, you might want to read this first before you make a final decision that all preppers are crazy. The information that you are about to read shook me up a bit when I first looked it over. To be honest, I had no idea how incredibly vulnerable our economic system is to a transportation disruption. I am continually getting emails and comments on my websites asking "how to prepare" for what is coming, so when I came across this information I knew that I had to share it with all of you. Hopefully what you are about to read will motivate you to prepare like never before, and hopefully you will share this information with others.
Originally, I was going to write an article about the rising unemployment in Europe today. Did you know that unemployment in the eurozone is now at a 15 year high? It has risen for 10 months in a row with no end in sight.
But I have written dozens of articles about the economic crisis in Europe already. So before starting on that article I started thinking of all the "preparation" questions I have been getting lately and I went over and checked out one of my favorite preparation websites: shtfplan.com.
Well, an article had just been posted over there about a report put out by the American Trucker Associations entitled "When Trucks Stop, America Stops".
I went and found that original report and I was stunned as I read it.
The truth is that our "just in time" inventory and delivery systems leave us incredibly vulnerable to a nationwide disaster.
You see, it is very expensive to hold and store inventory, so most manufacturers and retailers rely on a continual flow of deliveries that are scheduled to arrive "just in time", and this significantly reduces their operating expenses.
This is considered to be good business practice for manufacturers and retailers, but it also means that if there was a major nationwide transportation disruption that our economic system would grind to a halt almost immediately.
Once store shelves are picked clean, they would not be able to be replenished until trucks could get back on the road. In the event of a major nationwide disaster, that could be quite a while.
So what could potentially cause a nationwide transportation shutdown?
Well, it is easy to imagine a lot of potential scenarios - a volcanic eruption, a historic earthquake, an EMP attack, a solar megastorm, a war, a major terror attack, an asteroid strike, a killer pandemic, mass rioting in U.S. cities, or even martial law.
If something caused the trucks to stop running, life in America would immediately start changing.
So exactly what would that look like?
The following is an excerpt from the report mentioned above put out by the American Trucker Associations entitled "When Trucks Stop, America Stops"....
*****
A Timeline Showing the Deterioration of Major Industries Following a Truck Stoppage
The first 24 hours
• Delivery of medical supplies to the affected area will cease.
• Hospitals will run out of basic supplies such as syringes and catheters within hours. Radiopharmaceuticals will deteriorate and become unusable.
• Service stations will begin to run out of fuel.
• Manufacturers using just-in-time manufacturing will develop component shortages.
• U.S. mail and other package delivery will cease.
Within one day
• Food shortages will begin to develop.
• Automobile fuel availability and delivery will dwindle, leading to skyrocketing prices and long lines at the gas pumps.
• Without manufacturing components and trucks for product delivery, assembly lines will shut down, putting thousands out of work.
Within two to three days
• Food shortages will escalate, especially in the face of hoarding and consumer panic.
• Supplies of essentials—such as bottled water, powdered milk, and canned meat—at major retailers will disappear.
• ATMs will run out of cash and banks will be unable to process transactions.
• Service stations will completely run out of fuel for autos and trucks.
• Garbage will start piling up in urban and suburban areas.
• Container ships will sit idle in ports and rail transport will be disrupted, eventually coming to a standstill.
Within a week
• Automobile travel will cease due to the lack of fuel. Without autos and busses, many people will not be able to get to work, shop for groceries, or access medical care.
• Hospitals will begin to exhaust oxygen supplies.
Within two weeks
• The nation’s clean water supply will begin to run dry.
Within four weeks
• The nation will exhaust its clean water supply and water will be safe for drinking only after boiling. As a result gastrointestinal illnesses will increase, further taxing an already weakened health care system.
This timeline presents only the primary effects of a freeze on truck travel. Secondary effects must be considered as well, such as inability to maintain telecommunications service, reduced law enforcement, increased crime, increased illness and injury, higher death rates, and likely, civil unrest.
*****
Earlier in the report, the reasons why America's water supply would be in such jeopardy are described in greater detail....
According to the American Water Works Association, Americans drink more than one billion glasses of tap water per day. For safety and security reasons, most water supply plants maintain a larger inventory of supplies than the typical business. However, the amount of chemical storage varies significantly and is site specific. According to the Chlorine Institute, most water treatment facilities receive chlorine in cylinders (150 pounds and one ton cylinders) that are delivered by motor carriers. On average, trucks deliver purification chemicals to water supply plants every seven to 14 days. Without these chemicals, water cannot be purified and made safe for drinking.
Without truck deliveries of purification chemicals, water supply plants will run out of drinkable water in 14 to 28 days. Once the water supply is drained, water will be deemed safe for drinking only when boiled. Lack of clean drinking water will lead to increased gastrointestinal and other illnesses, further taxing an already weakened healthcare system.
Can you see why I always recommend that you make sure that you and your family have access to fresh water and a way to purify it?
This report should be very sobering for all of us.
What would you and your family do if you had no food, no clean water and the stores were shut down because their supplies were gone?
An article by Tess Pennington entitled "Emergency Items: What Will Disappear First" contains a list of 100 things that are likely to disappear from store shelves first. The following are the first 10 things on her list....
1. Generators (Good ones cost dearly. Gas storage, risky. Noisy…target of thieves; maintenance etc.)
2. Water Filters/Purifiers
3. Portable Toilets
4. Seasoned Firewood. Wood takes about 6 – 12 months to become dried, for home uses.
5. Lamp Oil, Wicks, Lamps (First Choice: Buy CLEAR oil. If scarce, stockpile ANY!)
6. Coleman Fuel. Impossible to stockpile too much.
7. Guns, Ammunition, Pepper Spray, Knives, Clubs, Bats & Slingshots.
8. Hand-can openers, & hand egg beaters, whisks.
9. Honey/Syrups/white, brown sugar
10. Rice – Beans – Wheat
You can find the rest of the list right here.
Most Americans just assume that they will always be able to run out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart and buy anything that they need.
But if the trucks stop running that will change almost overnight.
After reading the information above, does anyone out there still believe that preppers are crazy?
The truth is that there are good, solid reasons why millions of Americans have been storing up food, water filters and other supplies.
Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, and all of us need to get educated about how to prepare for the difficult years that are coming.
One nightmarish event can change everything that we take for granted in a single moment.
Just remember what happened after Hurricane Katrina. Even though that was only a regional disaster, millions of people had their lives completely turned upside down by that tragedy.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that just because the U.S. has always known tremendous peace and prosperity since World War II that things will always be that way.
Our lives will only continue to be "normal" as long as the trucks continue running.
When the trucks stop running in America, there will be mass chaos.
Are you prepared for that?
bttt
Not to interrupt this fin impeachment of ... whatever, but ...
K - I have had a brain phart. Make an upper pipe extension for that fine rocket stove you built, and a lower fuel box extension for the fire.
Rig up a metal trash can with racks, and a hole in the side.
When the power goes out, use the rocket stove for a heat source, flip the trash can over it, and smoke everything thawing in the freezer.
This has been bugging me, because we have half a cow in the freezer - hate to lose it.
Meanwhile, my neighbors continue to stock food & fuel, while I stock guns & ammo - when do think I should tell them that we will share?
(Has everyone lost their sense of humor?)
I have a generator and save my food in the freezers though.
I, too, have a generator - but that will only work for a couple of weeks, given the fuel on hand.
After that - time to smoke a cow.
And we have done, in this suburb of DC - lost power for a week in Isabel, los not one pound of hamburger to thawing.
But there are limits. At some point, you have to ask, is the outage local, and is is temporary?
Because fuel might have a better use than running the generator.
Well, telling people that they will share is a whole different kettle of fish than having neighbors that you have previously worked out arrangements with.
One I'm fine with. One I'm not.
And if you try to use a rocket stove to smoke meat, you are going to cook it. And it will spoil. If you are serious about smoking meat, I have years of experience at it, and am a culinary school graduate (I won't poison you). I'd be glad to pass along some tips.
Guns and ammo only go so far. Real world skills that you have practiced are much more valuable than threats and trying to wing it.
'Study to show thyself approved of God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed...' 2 Tim 2:15
/johnny
You are probably right - a rocket stove would be too hot to smoke meat.
Unless you only burned little sticks in it, and slowly.
I dunno, just thinking out loud.
From reading your cooking posts, I readily admit that you would be better at it than I - and a great one to have in the bunker (except for your odd dog.)
I am a scientist, a mathematician, and an engineer - by definition, I am a lousy cook. For example, I LIKE army chow. Better than what I produce.
As for telling people that they will share - sheez, that line is funny.
Not that I would ever do it.
I also have an engineering background. Did AF, DOD contract, and telecom, in that order for most of my adult life. I build a good, solid network.
As an engineer, I would tell you to keep the temp (for beef) near 140F to dry 1/4" strips after salting for 12 hours in a brine that you can float a raw egg in. Use enough slightly wet wood to create a thick cloud of smoke. However you get to those conditions is up to your engineering mind.
As far as science goes... (most) dangerous bacteria require several conditions to thrive. take away any of them and they don't do well.
Water is #1. Salt, drying, and smoke help with that.
Temperature is #2. If you keep the meat at or above 140F, bacteria won't grow while you dry/smoke it. Keeping it frozen works well, too, but that's your engineering problem. ;)
/johnny
“Brine you can float a raw egg in.”
That, actually, is a usefull standard. LOL.
Thanks.
I have a sudden vision of myself, slowly adding salt to a beaker of water, until an egg floats - cackling madly, and tacking notes about ppm -
I assume you mean an egg in the shell? No pickled, like my grandad?
God has provided some useful benchmarks for us. Freezing and boiling of water... floating eggs in brine... stuff like that. ;)
/johnny
You have to stir and may have to heat the water to get the salt to dissolve. Hot liquid and stirring with a raw shell egg involved turns into badly made poached eggs.
Besides throwing off the specific gravity, which is measured at standard temperature.
And it's not ppm. It's ounces per gallon. Is why I have cheap SALT (not mineral) blocks that weigh 50 lbs.
Did you know that roman soldiers were paid in salt originally? It's a precious substance, if you can't get it, and need it.
How much salt do you have in your house right now? How much do you need to live per year?
/johnny
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/poulsci/tech_manuals/gravity_determination.html
Who knew eggs were so complex? LOL.
Salt? A few thousand pounds. I own a plow truck - the stuff is everywhere.
Actually, I tried to reduce my salt holdings this year - but the weather did not cooperate. Only used up #900. Sigh.
IM,
I read Matt Bracken’s Enemies trilogy over the past two weekends. Now there’s some stuff to get you in a prepping frame of mind. Very telling scenarios, kind of felt like we’re on the verge of living them, real soon......
The 101 pleats in a chef's hat represent the 101 ways he demonstrated to prepare eggs. ;)
Escoffier has pages and pages in his old book, just on eggs. A friend of mine, retired cardiologist, raises chickens and thinks eggs are one of the great foods.
I have to agree. I even had one as a project in an early structural engineering class. Mine did survive the drop with help from paper and plastic straws and elmers glue. ;)
/johnny
bttt
Rich man.
That will preserve several tons of meat, and vegetables (hope you like kraut and kimchee).
/johnny
Thanks for the ping!
Actually, I love both kraut and kimchee. Good for you, too, as long as it is unpasturized.
Salt is as easy to get as water from the Chesapeake bay - go collect a gallon of bay water, pour it in a cookie sheet, set it in the sun, and let the water evaporate.
Water one gets from the Patomac river - right above great falls. That is where the water intakes are for DC, Southern MD, and NVA. Sure, it is treated with chlorine, et al. but it needn’t be. You can drink it right out of the river.
If one lives in MI - you are sitting on the biggest salt mine in the world. It is under the city of Detroit.
Funny, huh?
So that's pretty standard for pre-industrial age societies. Which is when most of the east coast cities were settled.
Now, in the industrial age, we can get salt anywhere, as long as the technology holds out.
/johnny
I think you are correct - the events seem perfectly plausible today, probably in part because we have actually watched (lived through) much of the groundwork being laid by the government.
ie: Why does Homelend Security need 450 million rounds of high performance HST ammunition?
The Department Of Homeland Security Is Buying 450 Million New Bullets
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