Or the used ones 
Posted on 03/18/2015 7:43:37 PM PDT by Kartographer
I live in South Oklahoma City. I’m a mile north of where the Moore tornado went through a couple of years ago. We have a nice concrete cellar with food, clothes etc. Also have a generator and a fuel pump. Swimming pool with lots of water in it. We’d be good for a few months.
I’ve got a kit in my car that I could go for three days on. But it just needs to get me home. Then at home I have the “big” kit. At my alternate location I have much more....
The ultimate trivialness of Y2K was a literal miracle; big software projects DO NOT GET DONE ON TIME.
It was the biggest of all.
One vehicles it depends on lots of factors, many would be effected, but not all. The truly devastating damage would be the power grid, which is the most vulnerable to such attacks.
That is if you believe in EMPs there is a small, but
stalwart group of FReepers who argue that there is no such thing as EMP one who insist that lighten proves it.
...as you should. 😃
Or the used ones
Too many people believe that once the SHTF they can ride it out for the first few days, let the majority of people leave the cities, then once it clears out jump in their car and drive to a safe place.
Not going to happen.
Look at what happened with hurricane Rita.
Millions tried to leave all at the same time.
Roads were solid cars for about 100 miles.
Thousands of cars ran out of gas and were pushed to the side of the road. Others were left in the middle of the road.
All of the gas stations were out of gas.
People were on the road for over 24 hours and didn’t get 100 miles before they ran out of gas.
If you live in a major or even moderate size city once the SHTF your car is pretty much useless.
Enameled magnet wire, used for many years for alternator windings, starter motors, lighting and starting relays.
Short out one loop with a high current pulse and the rest of the windings are useless in that device.
“It is how I survived Y2K”
Y2K? You forgot the /s tag... :)
Who in the hell is Bob?
Should I know? lol
Ice/snow storms are pretty common around here. Actually, it’s been fairly mild for years now but that is how I first started thinking about prepping. How would I keep my family warm? How would I cook their food?
One of the first things we did when we moved into this house last summer was to get the fireplaces up and running with new liners. They are gas/wood so we are prepared to use them either way. They would keep a large section of the house warm with a few strategically hung blankets to block off the two rooms.
We finally have space for food/water storage and have been working on that, too. We have four rain barrels that my husband hopes to get up and running before summer. They would help with the flushing of toilets (septic so will hopefully just continue to run) and to keep the animals watered. I wish our baby steps were bigger!
One of the biggest challenges in our house right now is keeping the three year old out of all the stuff. There is no cabinet high enough, no lock strong enough, etc. to keep that child out of stuff! I found some of my seed storage all over the basement floor, pudding cups all lined up in a row (these are super important with kids- ha), and just this morning she had managed to put bandaides on her back. I don’t know how she does it. Quiet, sneaky, curious, and thankfully, really cute. I need to put bells around her neck.
For sure. LOL
The only thing I have problems with is water. Or rather potable liquid storage. I live (for now) in the Northeast. Temps are at or below freezing for 1/3 of the year. I have settled on Gatorade which has a lower freeze temp but it still freezes. Sometimes it damages the bottle. most times not.
How do y'all keep potables stored in a trunk when it gets friggin' cold? Any suggestions?
You and I grew up in a time when “things” weren't so available and there was no “911” to call when someone got hurt or had an emergency illness hit suddenly. It wasn't easy to get to a grocery store as there wasn't one on every corner. People had to be self sufficient, store what they needed from one season to another, can their own homegrown food, and be prepared with supplies, from medical to food to water.
What happened is, by the time our kids grew up, there was gobs of food in multiple grocery stores and there were drug stores everywhere and even gas stations sold food and bottles of water and first aid supplies. Supplies everywhere, easy to get to, so why bother to store anything - just go to the store when they need it.
We now have a whole country with that mindset. Those of us who prepare for emergencies are now considered “nut cases” by that generation and the next one, to store anything when it is so near to get it - and, nothing bad could happen anyway and if it did, the government will send people (FEMA) to give them what they need.
I knew most people in this country wouldn't do jack to help themselves, when Hurricane Ike went through Houston and where I lived north of Houston, and people in Houston started begging for water as soon as Ike departed Houston and water in the tap stopped. All these people begging for water, had not stored ANY water at all!
Power had gone out, but I had a portable TV running on batteries and saw this happen in Houston. I couldn't believe it, these people had stored NOTHING, no water and no food. Well, FEMA can't get immediately to a place after a hurricane goes through. They have to get there first and that took time to get MREs and water to places to pass these items out.
These types of people are going to die if the emergency is so bad FEMA can't get there.
Back in 1998, I thought about how I could survive if trucks stopped for whatever reason. Then, I considered what would happen if there was no power. These are connected, as trucks would stop if there was no power and water would also stop as it takes power to run water plants and send water through pipes. I decided I had to provide for my survival and I wouldn't trust my survival to FEMA or any power company or any water provider - they didn't know me and I didn't know them. So, I made a plan and began to store what I needed to live on my own, not needing other people to save me.
I went back in my mind to the time of our parents and grandparents who had to live independently, providing for themselves. I put together my plan to do what they did and it was easier with modern methods I had to do that.
My advice to others is for them to put together a plan to survive on their own - don't depend on others to save their life.
“Take a look at the Swiss Army Rescue Tool. It’s a nice piece of gear.”
I have a Leatherman and a Swiss Army knife, but I’ll look at the one you mention to see if it has capabilities I don’t have on the two items I have. Can’t have enough tools like this.
I think you’ll like it. I got one as a gift from a vendor. I liked it so much I bought another one for my wife. Not inexpensive but it’s a solid piece of kit and really handy to have. Check out the video on the Swiss Army website or YouTube.
Best,
L
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