Posted on 10/19/2012 10:08:13 PM PDT by Feline_AIDS
Preppers,
I'm new to this prepping thing, and I have some questions.
I don't know exactly what you're all prepping for, because I know there are different concerns in different parts of the country. Californians, for example, are more concerned about the big one than I am on the east coast. I'm more concerned about an EMP than people in Wyoming, probably.
But what about when the SHTF? I'm assuming by SHTF everyone means economic and thus governmental collapse. Is that right? No more USA?
I have some questions that are ignorant and simple, but I was born that way, so bear with me.
Even when the SHTF, the government of the United States will persist, simply because the government is the original prepper. Mt. Weather facility and all that. So what we really mean by "governmental collapse" is extreme lawlessness and no new goods or resources. Plus government non-intervention. The government may exist, but that doesn't change the fact that hungry/thirsty/angry people will be fighting for resources. When the SHTF, Americans will have to be self-reliant without any support from any public utility or service. Many, many people will die. Many more will be desperate and act in ways they'd never imagine before they die.
How long do you all expect this state of things to last? If all public utilities in the US were permanently shut off, wouldn't it only be a matter of weeks before the great die-off happened? Dehydration would get most of them, then the rapid spread of waterborne illnesses would get lots of those left. Gangs would form and survive longer through unpleasant means. When will the well-prepped prepper stick his head out of his hidey-hole?
Because the government will persist in some capacity, it's reasonable to expect they'd eventually try to straighten things out. Maybe I'm crazy for thinking that, and I don't mean that the correct response to disaster is to sit and wait for Uncle Sam to carry us out on his shoulders. What I mean is that I don't see how the SHTF situation would last more than 6 months, max. A new, smaller society would form and rebuild, most likely without the tech we have today because the industries that support that tech would be gone.
I guess I'm just trying to reconcile two things in my brain. 1) The US government will be present in some form not too long after the catastrophe. Less than a year. Not in its ubiquitous wannabe-omnipotent present state, but it would return. This doesn't mean safety or salvation, but it probably does mean cooperation. Possibly the return of some order. And some society would develop that is fueled by the self-reliance of the remaining people. 2) Most preppers seem to be expecting a lifetime of bushcraft.
Parting thought: If Obama wins reelection, I will take prepping much more seriously in the next few weeks/months. If he doesn't, I will continue to prep for more localized catastrophes.
So you are planning to become a Liberal? :)
First of all the weak spot for most doors is not the door, but the lock. One good kick and the door jamb shatters and the door flies open. Most door frames are wood so most people have an inch of pine keeping the door closed. I was recently robbed and the door was fine, as was the lock. The inch of wood was laying about 8 feet inside my house and that little metal security bar that allows you to open the door a few inches to talk to people, well that shattered as well.
As to whether your door, brick, concrete block, or wood home will stop bullets. No it won’t. It takes about a quarter inch of steel to stop a lower caliber bullet.
There are plenty of video’s on youtube which demonstrate this. Every caliber from a handguns .38, 9mm, .45acp, and rifles 5.56, .308 and 7.62 will penetrate into the home through wood, brick, or concrete block. Not just through the exterior wall but into the home and interior rooms. generally stopping at the second exterior wall. The rifle rounds will generally go all the way through the home although the 5.56 tend to fragment and have less overall penetration.
/johnny
Wish I had that capability. The door is solid except for a peep hole and it's useless, can't see squat through it.
When the doorbell rings, unless I'm expecting someone, I hate opening that door. There is a glass door in front of the metal door but glass is not a great deterrent even if it's locked.
Late at night someone rang the doorbell and I really hated opening that door. It was the fellow next door whose cat had scaled the high brick wall in back and came into my small garden. I let him go through to the back to get his cat.
Average life expectancy in 1812 was 32 years.
Survive childhood and the life expectancy of an adult is much higher.
Don't have 1812 data handy, but
in 1850 a 20 year old could expect an additional 40.1 years.
in 1900 a 20 year old could expect an additional 42.2 years.
in 1950 a 20 year old could expect an additional 49.5 years.
in 2000 a 20 year old could expect an additional 55.7 years.
That's about a 15 year improvement, the same table shows a 36 year improvement for expectation at birth.
FWIW, YMMV...
If its not a neighbor that I want to speak with the door doesn’t get opened. There’s nothing they have to sell that is more important than your safety.
Where’d you get that stat?
I was happier when I didn’t...
” there are those on FR that have NO clue how the real world works outside of their carefully guarded lives.”
ahh to heck with the world, I have water out of the tap, and a fridge with cold beer. If I want more I’ll just drive down to the supermarket and use my atm card.
:)
I know that and I have a heavy duty Buddybar under the door knob that prevents the door being kicked open. Most of these bars are light and cheap, but this one is made like a tank. The door won't be kicked open without a bunch of trying. A person would have to kick and kick and kick and I would hear that. I also put a vibration door stop under the door and it screams if that door moves any at all.
An FBI report says most burglars get in by kicking open the door. When I read that, I looked for this heavy duty bar and bought it.
My house is brick.
I know that and I have a heavy duty Buddybar under the door knob that prevents the door being kicked open. Most of these bars are light and cheap, but this one is made like a tank. The door won't be kicked open without a bunch of trying. A person would have to kick and kick and kick and I would hear that. I also put a vibration door stop under the door and it screams if that door moves any at all.
An FBI report says most burglars get in by kicking open the door. When I read that, I looked for this heavy duty bar and bought it.
My house is brick.
/johnny
Brick doesn’t stop bullets. It provides some protection from high angle shots but repeated impacts will shatter the brick even with those.
I was asking for the name of the book.
I was asking for the name of the book.
There’s better videos but this shows what happens to brick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw9STw0BKgM
In short they offer very little protection from bullets, especially rifle rounds.
The federal government has stored water and food for President Hussein and his family to last a long time. The government knows a disaster could happen and they used your and my tax money to provide a safe place and supplies for Hussein.
I'm as important as Hussein - in fact I think I'm more important than he is - how about you? I didn't use your tax money like he did - I paid for my own. You want to see Hussein live and you die because you have no preps?
/johnny
“Tough call...”
Yeah, thank God I married a therapist! (that also loves guns)
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