Have you considered what you would do to protect yourself and your loved ones in your own home? Both during a short-term emergency as well as one lasting more than a few days or a week? Do you have enough food, guns, ammo and proper planning to keep your family safe from the ethically-challenged? Or are you counting on good will and civility to carry the day?
In reality, the biggest consideration in securing a residence: how long will the neighborhood remain relatively safe?
Because if the neighborhood has become unsafe, individual homes will become vulnerable. After all, in a major emergency, responders may not be available. Heck, telephone service might fail along with Internet service. And that home alarm? Good luck with that.
But rather than pondering how long their neighborhood — and by extension their home — will remain safe, most people worry about “stuff.” They wonder just how many guns – and what type of guns and even what caliber – they need to defend their homes and families. Along with how much food, water, medicine, ammo and fuel they will need to hunker down for a long-term, SHTF-type emergency.
Those are all important considerations, but here are a few things to consider.
Rule #1: Have a gun
First off, just having a gun will make you a harder target for the casual looter. Any gun will work, although long guns will definitely trump handguns on your property. Pump-action and semi-auto rifles and shotguns will offer better protection that single-shot guns. Or double-barrel shotguns.
At the same time, handguns can be easily concealed, giving the defender the advantage of surprise. Not only that, but a concealed handgun won’t make the sheep feel uncomfortable.
“How many spare magazines should I have?” you ask. At least two besides the one in the gun. And JHP ammo to fill them. Really, you can’t have enough loaded magazines on hand.
Got revolver? Buy a couple of speed loaders.
A pistol-caliber carbine or America’s favorite rifle, the AR-15, will allow you to reach out and touch someone down the block or across a field if it comes to that. Skill beats luck, so learn how to shoot your rifle accurately by taking some formal training like Project Appleseed. Again, at least two spare magazines in addition the one in the gun. As a bare minimum.
Remember, when it comes to deadly force, the rules of self-defense don’t go out the window just because there’s no electricity or emergency services are overwhelmed. You generally can’t shoot looters for looting. You can shoot them for attempting to set fire to an occupied structure though.
Depending on the location and your ability to articulate the threat, you might have a case for shooting them for trying to steal life-giving medications and similar items. Might.
In other words, you will likely have to explain to authorities how those bodies out back assumed room temperature. Plus decomposing bodies stink. Two more reasons to avoid shooting if at all possible.
What about food, fuel, generators, solar power, gardens, livestock and so forth?
Here’s the thing, you may have visions of waiting out an apocalypse on the mountain of supplies tucked away in your basement and using a garden out back. However, if you are eating well and your neighbors are hungry and their kids are begging them for food, things could get dicey for you and yours.
Desperate people do desperate things. If they smell bacon and eggs cooking and they haven’t eaten in three days, this situation may pose a problem for you and yours.
The same goes for medications. If the kid down the block uses insulin and they run out and you have some for your kid, guess who will come asking you to share. If you say no, they may not ask so politely the next day.
Build relationships ahead of time
Friendships and relationships will prove invaluable ahead of and during an emergency. Neighbors banding together can help keep a neighborhood — and by extension, individual homes — safe.
Build and maintain a network of friends in other defensible locations in the event of a serious situation. They may have the location, but need manpower to help out, so everyone wins. Consider pre-positioning supplies there, too.
At your home, maintaining supplies including food, water, power and medicine for a short-term emergency lasting a week or two at your residence is wise and prudent. However, storing a year’s supply of essentials in a condominium borders on stupid.
At the same time, don’t make the rookie mistake of thinking you’ll just load up your car(s) and head out to a random location “in the woods” to hunt wildlife and live off the land. That will almost certainly not end well. There will be plenty of others with the same idea and there are only so many Bambis, bunnies and feral pigs in the woods.
And the people who own those woods aren’t going to take a liking to strangers tramping around their property with guns shooting at anything that moves. “Trespassers will be shot” isn’t just a sign in some places. It may not be legal to shoot a trespasser, but if you’re dead those legal niceties won’t matter much.
Have a plan in case you need to leave your home, but plan on a specific location that you know you can access and make secure.
Everyone works together…at first
During the first few days of an emergency, most folks will work together to help their neighbors. However, as more and more families in the neighborhood run out of food and water, things will grow more dangerous for the “haves.”
With that in mind, having a place where you and your loved ones can head will make all the difference about the time things grow unstable and untenable.
After all, the best sure-fire way to win any gun battle is to avoid it.
Plan ahead of time
Have a plan to evacuate your home in a minutes, and another one for a more leisurely evacuation in hours.
The “minute evacuation” plan is in case of something like a fire. Evacuate in hours in case of impending weather-related issues such as a hurricane or flood, or a longer-term disruption of modern life.
For those who live in cities, which is most Americans, paying attention to the community will prove key to deciding when to move to a safer place. Making sure one always has at least a half-tank of gas in the vehicle will help ensure you can make the trip in an emergency. Because walking sucks.
In short, the best way to secure the safety of your family and yourself at your residence for a long-term emergency is to not be there when the looters and ruffians show up. And in the meantime, have a firearm or three to defend your home and family from those ethically-challenged individuals.
That photo of the truck is a good learning aid. It’s shtf and you’re bugging out. How much gas do you have? How much can you get on the trip? Wasting fuel and valuable hauling space on a tv and furniture is a foolish waste.
Fuel, food, medical, weapons and other tools, water and clothes. Throw in important papers and you are good to go.
If you’re having to bug out, which should be a last ditch move, weighing yourself down with frivolous junk is a bad idea.
That’s true for me and you, but if replacing the TV would be a huge expense relative to the family budget* then bringing it along could make sense. You have to survive the peace after you win the war.
* I mean look at that thing. They haven’t exactly been upgrading to the latest LED screen every year.
How can you possibly survive the peace without a TV? The mere idea is preposterous.
I’d rather die in the riots.
Living in SoCal my entire life has taught me some good lessons. The 1994 Northridge Quake (I was near the epicenter) was a wake-up call. A burglar attacking with a knife inside my own home was another. You must be prepared, because if someone widespread happens, the emergency services will definitely be overwhelmed and your chances of getting help from LE is low.
True story:
A few years ago, a major 12-inch water main that services the several blocks around my home (about 100 houses) had its pressure regulator fail, sending a high-pressure surge that blew out pipes everywhere before LADWP shut it down. There were more than a dozen major cracks in the asphalt where pipes ran under the streets, with water spurting out and running everywhere. A total of 17 homes saw their water heaters burst, and several homes near the regulator suffered major damage due to multiple broken pipes both inside and under them. I was very fortunate to have no damage whatsoever, as my house is located farthest from the regulator and higher in elevation. But water service to all was gone for an entire week, and it took LADWP a full month to restore uninterrupted service.
Within literally one hour of the failure (it was early evening on a weekday, around dinnertime), I saw all my neighbors out in the streets talking and commiserating, even angry. One man came out with hamburger meat on his hands and asked how in the world was he going to wash his hands. I acted as the quintessential Gray Man, pretending that I was in the same boat and asking questions. Turned out that *NONE* of my neighbors had any extra water for drinking, washing, flushing toilets…nothing. I quietly slipped inside and kept all my window blinds closed for the next week, as I had a full week’s worth of bottled drinking water, plus a filter and buckets for collecting water from the community pool for flushing the toilets (which I did).
My point? The very next day, people were screaming that “somebody had to do something”. It’s one thing to drive to the local grocery stores and scoop up bottled water for drinking, and paper plates for meals. But if you can’t take a shower or flush your toilets (because I apparently live next to people who aren’t smart enough to have buckets available for using pool water), you get angry quickly as the other occupants of your house begin to stink and fill up the toilets.
That was only 24 hours, my friends. The 1994 Northridge Quake was 25 years ago, or in other words an entire generation ago, when most people banded together to help each other out. Now I can only think of one single neighbor who would act as I would, and we’d look out after each other. All the rest…well, that’s why I have guns. Seriously.
Nine meals away, people. We truly are only nine meals away from seeing the social fabric fray and tear.
Crap. Typo.
“You must be prepared, because if SOMETHING widespread happens…”
Well “someone widespread” would work if you were talking the next Spanish Flu. As in, they come in sick on an airplane and give it to most of the other passengers and they in turn give it to others in the airport who take it to other airports… Fast travel means that the next truly virulent disease that spreads quickly could take out enough people to destroy the economy of every first world nation.
Just look at some of the diseases that are coming back to this country across our almost wide open southern border.
I Haz a Question,
(In the voice of Tommy Chong doing one of his skits on drug users) Relax man. Everything’s cool.
Sadly, that is the prevailing attitude in our society. Nothing will ever go wrong. And if it does, someone else will fix it within 24 hours. Therefore, we can all relax because everything is cool, and always will be … until it isn’t of course.
Looks like a CRT which is near impossible to give away now, might have been several hundred dollars at the time of the photo, whenever that was.
You can get a UHD 4K for $<400 now, and a 1080P flat screen for $150.
If you bug out longer than a month, yeah, pack everything and throw a drum of gas in the back for good measure. A custom gas tank can give you a 1,000+ mile range.
Arc,
If your region hash deteriorated to the point that you think you have to bug out, I have to imagine that is even more dangerous than staying put. Why? Bad actors can easily set-up ambushes at pinch-points, such as bridges or highway overpasses.
Unless you are 100% for sure going to run out of resources and face certain death at your home as a result, I think bugging out is a mistake.
During a prolonged disruption event, a quiet home may or may not have resources. And it may or may not have armed defenders inside who are able to take-out invaders at pinch points. Bad actors would be reluctant to march into homes willy-nilly for those two reasons. On the other hand, a vehicle driving down the road almost certainly has resources (gasoline in the tank at the very least) and pretty much zero ability to defend against an ambush. That makes a vehicle traveling down the road a much more attractive target than a home.
This goes both ways I think. Really all you can do is deal with what’s in front of you. If you gotta move you gotta move and you should think ahead on how to do that in case it comes up. Getting caught flat-footed is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you because that’s where people panic and if I’ve said this once I’ve said it 100 times: panic fucking kills.
Yeah, a car can be trapped but a house is a trap if it gets surrounded and a house can’t move 60mph+ and run people over. Also, what percentage of people out there actually know how to set a proper ambush? Not a lot.
On top of that you can learn something from gangs on this one. Most people who are criminally minded can’t shoot for shit and really don’t know much about guns. Hitting a moving target is hard but lighting a stationary house on fire is easy. On top of that your vehicle, again from the gangs, can become a “Crip Gunship” pretty quick if you have three passengers with rifles/carbines/PDWs etc that know how to do simple shit like roll down a window.
If you don’t have to move then don’t but you should probably have a plan just in case you don’t get the choice, which IME, and apparently in JWT’s experience, is really rather common.
strych9,
I hear what you are saying and you bring up some good points.
As for setting a home on fire, bad actors looking for resources would almost never do that because torching the home would destroy any resources inside, which was the sole reason for their activity. Unless someone is seeking revenge on you for some reason, I don’t see them torching homes. Also, when society has descended into chaos, the supplies to start fires are an extremely valuable resource and anyone with such supplies would be very reluctant to waste them setting a house on fire (which is not all that easy and would require a fair amount of accelerant to accomplish).
I still say traveling by vehicle on roads is a really bad idea if your region has descended into chaos. Criminals do not have to be good marksman to relieve you of your vehicle and your supplies in your vehicle: all they need to do is block the road with a large object (like a vehicle or a tree) and be ready to drive another vehicle behind you to box you in. In that scenario, you have just driven into a death trap. Once your vehicle is trapped, one or more criminals can quickly advance on you and you are screwed.
Traveling on foot or bicycle is superior since you can move quietly and go anywhere. Traveling on a motorcycle (of the “dirt bike” variety which can go off-road almost everywhere) or a snowmobile (which can also go off-road almost everywhere if there is adequate snow on the ground) would be close second choices.
Are we talking about this purely as a learning exercise, or has nobody actually considered that these guys might be just moving the contents of an apartment, not escaping some natural disaster?
“Making sure one always has at least a half-tank of gas in the vehicle will help ensure you can make the trip in an emergency”
You must not be married…. every single woman I know thinks the fuel light is just a suggestion
could you send my family the recipe for making ice please?
Lint trap on the dry… I’m the only member of my household who recognizes its existence.
Dryer*
That’s important, because accumulated lint hampers air flow and compromises the dryer’s effectiveness. At least once per year, however, you should clean the entire length of the dryer vent, all the way to the exterior wall of your house.
The dryer will dry better, but you’ll also avoid suffering one of the one-third of all house fires per year, which are caused by ignited by clogged lint traps and vents. Purpose-built cleaning kits are available at home improvement stores, or Amazon, if you prefer, for about $20.
I empty the primary lint trap on the dryer every time I use it, which is a few times per year. Having two clothes lines, one under cover, means I don’t really need to use the dryer very often.
and SAVE THE LINT. it is one of the best fire-starting aids around.. burns hot and slow, will help even with green wet wood… and catches easily from flint ‘n steel.
Amen, brother.
It’s the “Honey, will you go gas up my car? The gas light is on” signal.
My wife is a brilliant woman, but she can run a vehicle into the ground from neglect like no ones business…
Me: have you checked the oil in your car?
Daughter: that is the thing you pull out of the engine? Yeah.
Me: When?
Daughter: I don’t remember, not that long ago.
Me: Here is a paper towel, go check it and bring me the towel so I can see if the oil looks ok.
She now does a better job after I retired the POS Taurus I had her driving for the first few years. I hated that car, but it was a heavy slow four door and as uncool as possible, so she didn’t drive crazy like some of the other kids at her school. How did I know? GPS tracker…trust, but verify.
@RockOn,
Glad to know it’s not just me. I *always* start planning for a top-off at the gas station when my fuel gauge shows only half full, but my wife insists she still has 30 miles left when her car’s dash light comes on, despite my repeated insistence that she please consider one-quarter full as the minimum.
Same as how she considers “time” to only be a concept. Being on time to church, or to meet friends, or an event…I always plan for possible traffic and try to leave early accordingly. She has no hustle and always wakes up at the last minute, then has to fuss with her hair, and get something to eat, and, and, and…while I was ready half an hour ago and am waiting in the car.
“She has no hustle and always wakes up at the last minute, then has to fuss with her hair, and get something to eat, and, and, and…while I was ready half an hour ago and am waiting in the car.”
True story, brah.
This is why you take up guitar. While Momma is getting ready, you grab your guitar and get in 20 minutes of practice. . I’ve learned a lot of songs that way, man. Or grab your gat and get in some dry fire practice. Put that time to good use!
Yep, If we need to be someplace at 10:30, I tell her it’s at 9:30. Mostly works, I am surprised that after more than 30 years she hasn’t figured it out.
My wife’s the anal retentive one about gasoline levels.
She noticed my tank was right AT half and gave me a talkin’ to.
OtOH, she’s also the only Asian chick I know who drives a truck big enough to make rednecks question their manhood.
My wife is not really into an… wait, that’s not what you were saying…
*snicker*
I hear you, Brother! My wife was like that until she ran her car out of gas and had to walk 7 miles in 100+ degree heat. Now she panics when the gas gauge gets close to half.
My “Alien Vampire Zombie Virus Apocalypse, SHTF, Natural Disaster, Foreign Invasion, Collapse of Social Order” plan revolves around my Cabela’s-Bass Pro MasterCard (Black Edition!) and the points I have stored up on it.
I figure I’m good to go.
So? What’s next?
Kick back and relax you’ve got it done!
Mastercard? Oh good…so the Gov’t knows all the goodies you’ve purchased at Cabelas/Bass Pro and can approach your house accordingly when the Great Roundup commences.
The survivors use cash.
If you have ever had a hunting license, CHL, filled out a 4473, got public mail from the NRA, GOA, etc… then uncle sugar has your number…
Boy, are you guys generous with he compliments! Uncle sugar demonstrates constantly that his shit is in a hundred different buckets WITHOUT any particular emergency, and you think they’ll somehow, magically know all your data when SHTF? Pardon me if I’m not worried.
You’re adding a connotation to it that I didn’t imply… it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to know an LTC or hunting license holder has, at least, a gun…
Larry, add to that if it is a real SHTF they may need to access those computer databases by candle light! By the way two bright guys with a candle almost caused a melt down at Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Station back in 1975.
But there will also be a lot of inexperienced newbies running around the woods. Just in case you can’t find any Bambis.
Tastes like chicken.
Life ain’t fair. Couple of years ago on one of these ‘shtf’ posts I opined that after a major event that if my grandkids were hungry I would loot food from a store.
I got called all sorts of nasty names. Was unfriended. Told I deserved to be lynched.
Now you 2 talk openly about having a bbq with people as the main course and not a chirp.
There ain’t no justice.
Wouldn’t eat that.
But would use it for bear bait. Bear is a little greasy, but will feed you and yours for a while and the skin is a great blanket.
@jwm,
I once read a good article discussing the ethics of “looting” abandoned stores or homes after SHTF. I agree with the author’s premise that any entry should be done only (1) after you’ve positively determined that nobody is there and the former occupants will not be returning and (2) with minimal or no damage just in case.
I’m with you, dude. I’d loot to stay alive… not to get a big screen tv or designer jeans like during the LA riots, but to feed my babies, hell yeah.
I’m sure folks are thinking about the small business owners and their livelihoods and whatnot. But in the immortal words of Tupac…”f*ck ‘em all”
@RockOn,
Well, you’re the reason I have guns, train with them, and always have at least one at the ready and within reasonable reach at all times. You come to my house with that attitude of “f*ck em all” to take the food I have for my babies to feed yours because you didn’t plan well enough, and I’ll make sure I don’t miss. And don’t think you’ll easily approach under cover of night or otherwise unnoticed. If the S truly does HTF, everyone will be hyper-focused to their surroundings and protective of what’s theirs.
Now we all know what you are. And you’re not part of my trusted team.
I’m not on your trusted team… Oh, no! What ever shall I do…
@RockOn,
Starve outside the gates, apparently.
Strange little fantasy you’ve created…
Read a sci-fi story a few years back where the survivors ‘processed’ the roving looting folks as a dried jerky to feed their dogs…
John, not a bad article, but a bit simplistic. On the other hand I can understand the literary restrictions you must face. In my neck of the woods it’s hurricanes. Lots of them. Last one I worked was Katrina. Last one I lived through was Michael. You better have a full tank of gas in every vehicle and as many gas cans as you can. Generator is damn near mandatory. Food and water goes without saying. Every hurricane I worked I had a rifle and at least four spare mags. During Michael a running gunfight broke out around the corner from my house. Guys I worked with before I retired. Bad guy shot in the head (among other wounds.) Good guys zero injuries. No such thing as too much preparation.
Oh, hell yes. But I’m trying to get the average city-dweller to think more about planning on evacuation after a week or so (or beforehand in case of a hurricane) instead of sitting on a mountain of crap only to get killed by roving gangs looking for food, liquor, drugs and teenage girls. Not necessarily in that order.
John, I understand. But, when I worked Opel I was one of the first on Navarre Beach after the hurricane. First stop was a house that the owner refused to evacuate. The house wasn’t there. Neither was the homeowner. Body never recovered. You can’t fix stupid.
BTW, Michael was ten months ago. We’re still trying to recover. It lasts at lot longer than the looters.
Always followed the teachings of my father. Who grew up during the depression. He said the 2 most important things you need are butter and bullets. Butter translates to food and bullets is self explanatory. Have as much food as possible stored up. Bullets to protect said food or to attain more food. While stocking up on prepossessed foods is all the rage. It’s best to learn how to pressure can food yourself. I grew up eating foods raised on the farm that were pressure canned and stored in a root cellar. Everything from fruits and vegetables to meat. While I know most people don’t grow their own food these days and certainly not in the quantities we did back then. Pressure canning is still a viable way of stockpiling food. Done properly the shelf life can be upwards of 2-3 years. Water is less of a concern depending on you location. One gallon per person per day is survivable. The ability to purify existing water from natural sources is a more important concern. Medications are definitely on top of the list. Which can be the most difficult concern to deal with. In a grid down SHTF event. There will likely be a run on drug stores by people attempting to obtain needed medications. Money will be worthless even if you have cash. These will be the places where chaos will rule. While these are only some of the most important things to consider. Once chaos takes over everything goes out the window. Now for a dose of survival reality. A number of years ago a group of people devised a plan for a Total Grid Down SHTF scenario. It involved the assemblage of a multi talented group of people taking over a large full service store. This store had everything needed for long term survival. Food,Medicine,Guns,Ammo and it’s own video surveillance system with back power supply. With limited access points it was defensible. While at the time it was considered a interesting plan that would most likely never be used. It was well thought out and planned extensively. In a time of extreme chaos and all Hell has broken loose. These types of things can and will happen. So know society will devolve in to it’s most brutal form and may require actions that people never thought they were capable of. Having the necessary mindset may be the most important resource of all… Keep Your Powder Dry.
Here in SoCal, water is the #1 concern. We need enough on hand (bottled and sealed) for two weeks, plus a nearby source (swimming pool) for flushing toilets and possible bathing, then filtration for longer term. All of SoCal – including coastal areas such as Malibu, Santa Barbara, etc. – is one big vast desert. I personally have never known anyone with a water well my entire life, even though I’ve always lived in semi-rural/suburban outskirts.
Water, water, water. Food can be rationed. Medicines and gasoline can be stocked. But water = life.
The ocean is full of water…With very rudimentary equipment you can desalinate ocean water for drinking. Basically all you need is a Still much like what is used to make moonshine. There are numerous vids on YouTube and other survival sites instructing how to do it.
Sure, Darkman. Except that I live an hour inland from the coast, with millions of other Californians. We have a large freshwater lake several miles away, but in an extended emergency it won’t be an easy thing to clandestinely drive one’s vehicle to a source of water that’s now on everyone’s mind, then collecting whatever you can and bringing it back home unnoticed. In the middle of the night, you say? So one should drive with his lights off during a time of extreme societal duress, but NOT look like he’s someone with nefarious intentions, and try to avoid pulled over by any remaining LE or shot by zealous people?
In a more realistic situation of a four-week grid down scenario, such as after a major earthquake, you should have enough on hand to take care of your household.
Yeah, every situation is different. My back yard is a freshwater lake 60 miles long, I would *hope* people cart a bunch off, as I am not certain what control would be available at the dam, and if downstream flow were cut off due to electric problems, eventually my house would flood. But main problem would be folks coming for water might think one-stop shopping would be nice and come to the house. Hopefully, a couple of Bidenesque 12-g blasts out the door will discourage, but I don’t intend to go hide.
LarryinTX, I suspect you don’t have a problem with flood from dam not being able to open spillway. I don’t know about TX, but where I use to live in TN there was an elevation that you were not allowed to build a house below. This varied by the lake and was based on the max water level the lake would hold before spilling over the top of the spillway gates, even if they were jammed shut. These were TVA rules, but I suspect there are similar rules where you live.
@Rusty,
Even though I’m literally more than 100+ feet above elevation of the nearest water channel, and that channel has filled with water only once during my entire lifetime (and came up only five feet), I’m still required by my homeowner insurance underwriter to carry flood insurance. Why? Because Ye Olde Google Earth tells them that I’m within 1/4 mile of the channel.
I called the office – located two hours away from my mountaintop home – and explained that if I ever had to file a flood claim on my policy, the smarmy lady listening to me on the other end of the phone wouldn’t even be there to accept my call because her office and all its employees would already be belly up and under an ocean of water long before it touched my front doorstep.
I could almost hear her shrug her shoulders as she said “that’s what the computer tells me.”
No critical thinking left in this world anymore.
Darkman, I’ve ate many a meal from a Mason Jar. Mom’s 90 now so she doesn’t put up as many preserves as she used to. Mostly figs and mayhaw jelly today, but home canning is still a viable option. Besides, it smells good.
Me and the better half put up 2-3 hundred quarts every year of various veges and meat(mostly venison). Ain’t much better on a cold winter night than venison/veg stew.
This is retarded.
We are living in the long-term emergency. How will you survive if you say “I don’t think drag queen story hour is a good idea”, then you loose your job, get blacklisted from your industry, and then your wife leaves you (thanks no-fault divorce courtesy RONALD REAGAN) you daughter; she attends the THOT factory known as public schools
i lost my job as a senior software developer for questioning my company’s plan to spend over $500k on the SF pride parade and a float- this company recently filed an S1 and they are losing so much money i have no idea who is going to buy this shit ipo- pump and dump i guess. oh, and they retroactively canceled the stock options i vested, because “racism and bigotry is FOR CAUSE”
i have an advanced degree in math and CS- but can’t find a job because of the blacklist
this is lol-collapsitarian bull shit
bring prayer back to schools. throw anyone who objects (the netflix-americans) into concentration camps
this is why we were endowed by our creator the 2nd amendment.
no red flag laws. no jews in gov. no risperdal or abilify
eat real food now- you can go a long time on limited calories
we did 2 MREs a day in ranger school . we all survived. i was not airborne so i rode on the bus? maybe that helped
who cares about the apocalypse if you are going to hell? we must welcome if it is God’s will
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. (JOHN 3:16!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
don’t censor me- i am preaching the gospel!
keep all your guns. don’t give up a single inch! these jews won’t stop until YOU and your family are genocided
wake up america- we live in WEIMERICA
AMEN!, truth man- preach!
*** countdown to TTAG banning comment section ***
(thought bubble forms over Haz’s head as he reads Truth’s rant and considers the incompatibility of his various statements)
****
Uses language not typically associated with Christian circles:
“i have no idea who is going to buy this shit ipo…”
“this is lol-collapsitarian bull shit”
Is anti-Semitic and advocates removing Jews.
Then mentions Hell and yells out John 3:16 and claims to be preaching the Gospel with oh-so-many exclamation points.
Kinda hypocritical, yes? From this point forward, nothing Truth Man says in any future comment will mean anything, as his credibility is now shot to…well…Hell.
What is incompatible about:
-questioning an over-priced IPO? The idea of people being suspicious of greedy VCs unloading over-priced IPOs onto the public is nothing… new?
-naming the group (Jews) that are causing problems for you
-John 3:16
I don’t see how the three are incompatible? Genuinely curious to understand. Truthman transcends categorization! A true renaissance man, a polymath!
I get the feeling Truthman has seen things most of us haven’t- and lost his mind in the process.
Most of us would just keep our mouths shut, and “rest and vest”. Truthman didn’t, and paid the price.
I wonder why he doesn’t like Jews?
Simple answer, Tyson. He’s an idiot.
Are you Jewish JWM?
Are Jews working in your best interest?
@truthman,
Didn’t address the core of what I said, but nice try at attempting to deflect.
The trolls are multiplying here.
Not a jew, truthman. Got to meet some Israelis in 1973. A hellfire and brimstone country Baptist marine I knew at that time told me we did not have to worry about the Israelis losing their little dispute. He said they were Gods Chosen People. He was serious as a heart attack.
I claim no religion. But those that hate based on religion or other such foolishness are no different from the Ayatollahs or the Aztec priests at the top of their temples.
The lake of fire, from my understanding of it, is big enough for them and you. Have fun being turned away from the gates. All that hate in your heart is a one way trip to the lake.
I suspect his questions related to the cursing, not the IPO comment.
Blaming Jews for societal ills is also not a typical Biblical Christian response. Jesus is Jewish and they are God’s chosen people. Don’t like that? Argue with Him.
So…the only reason your wife stayed with you was she couldn’t leave cause…Reagan? Did you have her chained in the basement?
If the only reason a woman stays with you is because the law makes it difficult for her to leave you don’t have a wife. You have a slave.
JWM supports broken families.
I’ll pray for you JWM. Do you really think NETFLIX and Facebook and BUZZFEED streaming LBGTIQQAM xi/xim INTERSECTIONAL feminist propaganda straight to your wife’s smartphone is helping families? Why are half of marriages ending in divorce? WHY? This is new. There are causes!
***
And yes, Reagan hastened the beginning of the end with no-fault divorce. He was doing Satan’s work.
Reagan also legalized abortion in California. In some ways, Reagan was the anti-Christ. He used psychics and mediums. He lived in sin after his divorce! He was a bad parent- look at his kids!
***
and yes, families stay together if you make divorce harder… this is not rocket science
Cool story, bro. Not even close to what I said. But thanks for playing. And don’t pray for me. I figure I don’t want to spend eternity in the lake of fire, next to you.
Ah, truthie, you need to wipe that drool off your chin. Your meds are running low…
Ronald Reagan bad parent. This is the funniest shit ever. Thank you truth man.
Guess how I know you never went to Ranger school?
That was impressive. We’ve had trolls out themselves fast before, but this might be a new record.
He likely rode the short bus. You can’t be a Ranger without jumping out of perfectly good air planes.
yes you can
you do not need to go to Airborne school to go to ranger school- this happens for infantry officers a lot
go back to larping about doomsday preppers
Sorry, Liar Man, but JWM is right. You do have to go airborne before you can be a Ranger. This isn’t a debate. You already knew you were lying.
Army Ranger School consists of three major phases: crawl, walk, and run. In each of these, you’re learning leadership techniques for different combat scenarios and environments. This is very advanced training, not “Intro to…” coursework.
Don’t take my word for it, take it the Army Ranger school’s: “Training at this school is not MOS dependent. It is a prerequisite for Soldiers to have completed Airborne School.”
https://m.goarmy.com/soldier-life/being-a-soldier/ongoing-training/specialized-schools/ranger-school.m.html
So, we all know they didn’t just change the school pre-reqs five minutes ago. It’s obvious you were never a Ranger; and never even attended the school to drop out of the school.
You know, lying about military service is a crime. It’s called the “Stolen Valor Law.” If you just do it online without actually obtaining anything of value for your fraud, you can get away with it, until others bust you for lying, that is. Do it out in the real world, like on a job application, and you’re setting yourself up for real trouble.
I’d recommend you limit your military fantasizing to your usual one-man, mil surp, dress-up parties and pleasuring yourself in front of the mirror.
No kidding. I was never in the military myself, and even I could see through it.
Ugh. In 2010 there were guys that came straight from IOBC that hadn’t gone to Airborne School yet. They got to ride the bus instead of jump. And sleep. I don’t remember any bat boys being legs.
Truth man is probably insane, but no – you can be a leg ranger.
https://www.quora.com/Is-doing-the-parachute-jump-at-Ranger-School-mandatory
If you weren’t in the Army- STFU.
“This is very advanced training,” i wouldn’t call it that- it was mostly being hungry and sleep deprived
I guess- saying “bang bang bang” and then the range walker comes over and says: “you’re dead, you’re dead, you’re dead”
“PL- do you know where you are? point to it on a map. not with your finger jackass”
ok but now we have the online IDF calling me out for not being airborne when i went to ranger school?weird flex, but ok lol. i guess i’m not as cool as you.
i’m just a divorced, out of work, former infantry officer, senior python/django dev ok ok ok just trying to spread the gospel- but the people here at TTAG reject christ and embrace the jew
where is your compassion for someone like me? no wonder gen Z is altright
Former officer, truthie? Maybe a section 8.
Oy gavult!
Come and join us in Texas. The economy is booming, living expenses are low, and the state is (mostly) 2A friendly. Of course, being a software guy you will have to work in the commie mecca of Austin. You could either tolerate the weirdos or live in the country and commute in.
What company? You are already blacklisted, so name ’em.
Cloudflare
I worked on the Argo tunnel. And some DNS stuff
I attended usafa (fast neat average friendly good good) cross commissioned into the army branched infantry. Yes I went to ranger school. Went to airborne school afterwards. Yes you can go to ranger school without being airborne. Seriously STFU if you weren’t In the army JVM. Cool, you met a marine who follows heresy of worshipping the people that killed Christ. All infantry officers did go to ranger school. Did not go down range. Went to Korea. Studied cs at USAFa. Did online masters at Virginia tech in CS.
Maybe I lost my mind after the divorce, taking kids away. Now I see them on weekends. Can’t afford child support after losing tech job. Drive Uber now. Humiliated. Live in studio. Not homeless. Used to life in car. Had guns in storage locker. Got broken into. Lost all guns. Now all I own is j frame. Went to a doctor. Was proscribed Prozac and abilify!!! Decided not to take!!! Nb4 take your meds joke. Yes I blame Ronald Reagan. He legalized no fault divorce! Abortion!
Was fired from cloud flare after the they wanted everyone to wear “proudflare “ shirts. Wear the shirt bigot! I worked in their soma office.
Probably doxxxxx myself. But I’m drunk. And don’t care.
Why do I feel like truth man is telling the truth about everything except living in a studio apartment.
Are you homeless truth man? Do you need help?
I bet this would make a great movie
“Homeless with a J-frame”
After hitting rock bottom- he decides to get clean and turn his life around stop drinking truth man. You’ll find work and figure things out again. I’m rooting for you!
Truthie. You can’t turn your life around until you stop blaming others for your failures. Until that time you will continue to spiral down.
If you meet a random asshole first thing in the morning then chances are you just met an asshole. If you meet assholes all day long, then you’re the asshole.
Truthie’s a troll, guys.
Truth, you were a leg Ranger? I bet the R.I.s gave you hell. You must have been a winter Ranger if you got two meals a day, or things have changed.
Was not winter ranger. 2 mre’s was normal daily food. Wonder if I will get cancer from MREs. Nutrition is a force multiplier!RI did not care I was a leg. . I recycled mountain phase- does that make me less of a person? Yes according to you internet ninjas. It says so on a website!!!!!!!!!
You guys thought you were so HOOAH for exposing me as a fraud! I’m not a fraud- just an Uber driver. I am just truth man – inventor of phase”Netflix American”
I have an unusual amount of experience with this subject, dealing with, and rescuing people from, natural and man-made disasters both inside the United States and beyond.
I continue to do this kind of work.
I have learned a few lessons.
Here is one everyone needs to understand:
A. Protect your home.
B. Protect your family.
You only get to pick one.
Put family in home. Protect home.
You beat me to it.
Unless jwtaylor was subtly referring to the possible need to G.O.O.D. with your family because the home is no longer sufficient cover. In that case, family first. Take all you can (by order of need) from the home, then booby-trap it and lock the door behind you.
If you have a family, getting out and away is your priority. For a family, a home is eventually a coffin. Stillness is death. Mobility is life.
I’m thinking you picked the wrong home. If I ran from my home I’d have to be heading for someplace better. Can’t think of one. Plenty of water, gas grill with extra propane, lots of canned and refrigerated/frozen food waiting to be prepared, deer in the woods, and more guns and ammo than I could carry in my car. You go ahead and run screaming for the woods, I’ll stay here, thank you. Figuring *any* plan would apply to everyone is idiotic.
Fire, naturally or intentionally started around your home, flood, tornadoes, earthquakes…none of those things care about how well your house is stocked or how many deer are in the woods.
In SoCal, we constantly have earthquakes and fires in mind.
I would tend to agree with this.
In such a SHTF circumstance you’re going to end up leaving the vast majority of the time. The question is mostly when. (Also how.)
Home’s the place you have your stuff. The situation dictates what stuff you need to take with you, how and when.
Mobility requires flexibility. Flexibility gives you options. As I say from time to time, Options: You want them. As many as you can have.
I look at it as follows. There’s a scene in the Yellow Submarine movie with a hallway that’s basically all doors. Whenever the band picks one crazy things happen in the halls and then all those “things” go through all the doors and disappear before Ringo and the guys come back into the hallway.
Life’s like that. A hallway full of doors and loads of crazy shit. You want as many of those doors to be open to you as possible at any given time. Try to pick a path that leaves as many doors open as you can while closing/locking as few as possible. You can never have ALL THE OPTIONZ!! but you should damn well try.
+1 for the Yellow Submarine reference. I haven’t seen that movie in perhaps 30 years. Now I’ll have to find it online and stream it this weekend.
Ahh, childhood.
“Mobility is life.” Amen. I lived through Harvey. I had gas, food, water, emergency supplies, weapons, and plenty of ammo. I even had a bug out location pre-planned. What I did not consider was mobility. My bug-out location was a friend’s ranch that was close enough to Houston to get a pretty good soaking. There was no way that my four cylinder Japanese sedan was going to get me through all that mud. I was stuck – well provisioned – but stuck.
I ain’t gonna tell any of you what I have, where I have it or where I’m going.
As for city dwellers. Just the walking dead to me, and they don’t even know it.
The gangs WILL kill you. Shoot at ’em will only make ’em mad(er) and want your stuff more.
And all the fools with gold stashed; how hard can you throw a Krugerrand?
Also, get a good bow or crossbow and stash some arrows for it. A very quite weapon and food getter.
Gold is something that always makes me laugh.
If you’re gonna stock up on trade goods pints of booze and vacuum packing smokes by the carton are the way to go.
Addictions ain’t gonna magically stop if shit goes sideways and Johnny Appleseed didnt make his fortune because the people behind him were tea totalers.
Three things always have and always will sell at stupid prices when in short supply. Ass, booze and tobacco. No shortage of buyers either.
Yep. Been investing in commodities market for quit a while now.
Mostly investing in brass, copper, and lead.
A box of 50 .22lr rounds will be better for trade than almost anything else.
Even more valuable from your point of view if the trade is 1 round for all their stuff…
Have a plan for the family, meeting if separated, assigned jobs. Maintain a level of OPSEC among fellow prepper vs the unprepared. Have portable solar panels and back up power banks. For perimeter lighting have solar powered and battery powered motion detection lighting. Have a dog to assist with perimeter watch. Have materials to close up any broken windows. I think most of us have the mindset for preparedness, but also consider you and the family staying or geting physically fit, if possible. I also have a small UAV (drone quad copter) with live video to my smart phone to check out the neighborhood.
Neighborhood. Lol. No thanks.
But seriously, are most of us “prepared”? No. Shit could go south really quick and get worse even quicker. Who knows… Just stock what you can, where you can, when you can and have somewhat of a basic plan.
Good luck all. This shit won’t last forever.
I’m better prepared than I was yesterday. Just mounted a weapons light on my AR15 today. Got lots of food,water and (some) gas. For a bunch of good prepper suggestions go to SootchOO YouTube “Sensible Prepper” channel. LOTS of great suggestions…
With regards to insulin, since it was specifically mentioned… uh, this is going to sound kinda harsh but it’s pretty much true.
If they don’t have an extra six months supply of insulin on hand within six months to a year after the time of diagnosis they AND their family endocrinologist are… well really, really stupid. Stupid on a level that suggests that the problems go far, far deeper and those people are people to stay the hell away from in general.
No endocrinologist, or really any doctor at all, is going to write an Rx for insulin for “just what you need”. That’s quite literally not possible and the docs know it. They’d do a baseline calculation based on sugar logs and add 33-50% on the monthly Rx. Need more? Call ’em. This isn’t a “here take one a day” type of thing. Insulin dosages vary so much that it’s not possible to know this and the doctors know that this is the case.
If you’ve got a kid with T1, it’s due diligence time if you give a shit about your kid. If you’ve got a kid with actual childhood T2 then you clearly don’t care about them in the first place so kill yourself because you’re an awful parent and the kid’s better off without you.
Your correct, my prescription is an open prescription for insulin and supplies. I start out the year buying as little as I can then as I reach the magic spot where my cost drops I start buying more than I need. . Like many diabetics who have gone through hurricanes and such here I maintain enough insulin to keep me going. In my case for over a year. It is split it between the house fridge and one out in the workshop and I have both a house generator and 2 portable inverter types too.
As the older stock gets closer to aging out what I can’t use is donated to Insulin for Life out of Gainesville FL. Also make sure you have plenty of supplies like needles, test strips, extra meters and batteries. Lances, well I like most use them till they hurt. So I have box upon box of them. For those I am probably set for life
But like many of us, long term would be a real problem. Make my own? Sure I read how it was done under occupation but she was trained and had access to supplies and organs. Odds are procuring the organs needed in amounts to produce a usable product would be next to impossible.
So if a real SHTF situation were to happen and it was obvious it was long term I’d partially go back to the old treatments, very little carbs, alcohol ( slows the liver down) and such that was used to prolong life so I can conserve my supplies.
I’m a decent shooter so anyone trying to take what is mine will get free lead.
Real SHTF over the long term, like Book of Eli style, you’re fucked. No offense, so am I. That’s just the way it is.
Making porcine insulin is a pipe dream unless you run a pig farm and have an army to defend it plus the supplies and the knowledge. Definitely doable under occupation but out of the question in a world gone Mad Max.
“TEOTWAWKI” aside, if you want to stretch your supply ask your doc for Metforin XLR. They’re not supposed to give it to T1’s for T1 but you can use it “off label” for the other benefits. Your endo will know what you’re doing and why but that’s between you, the doc and the fencepost. The government need not know why you’re taking it.
The metformin does something similar to a shot of whisky for the liver. And also increases sensitivity to insulin in those who’s cells are not sensitive. Since I watch my weight and exercise a lot I am still very sensitive to insulin. So the metformin would not help me at this time. Maybe when I am real old it could come in useful. It amazes me when I see someone taking huge doses, in one case someone I worked with was taking 80 units of Tresiba and 40 units of Novolog with breakfast. That would kill me many times over.
Now inhaled insulin , Afrezza is very interesting. Can be stored at room temp for long term. Probably even longer if chilled. But it is not on my plan so I’d pay market rate, but with the card you can get it would be affordable. I’m not sure I want to inhale insulin. It has to do something long term to the lung tissue. Look at what injecting in the same spot over and over can do.
Probably not many folks who take medicines to live would make good preppers.
So, without getting real deep on this.
So, the reason that booze works is because it prevents your liver from producing glucose by making it do something else, which is process out poison. Interestingly that’s been studied heavily and the best drink to reduce blood glucose, without a spike up front, is tequila. There are actually a bunch of major studies ongoing as to why that is and if the compound that causes this effect can be isolated/used.
There are people without insulin resistance who need big doses of insulin. It sucks for them. They’re pretty well guaranteed to have future heart problems but they need it because they have an immunological oddity where their immune system is actually making glucose. Rare, but it’s out there. My wife’s coworker has that problem. She goes through a vial of Humalog on her pump a week.
As for the Metformin, I really see no reason not to take it. First off, it’s method of action means that it works for everyone. It quite literally cannot not have that effect. You do have to recalculate all your numbers though to avoid hypoglycemia. Anyone who says otherwise doesn’t understand how it works or is lying to avoid writing the Rx because they fear the regs on writing Rxs. Metformin increases insulin-glucose efficiency regardless of person or insulin source. This is proven and known. Again, because of how it works this literally cannot be untrue. How effective it is varies but it cannot do nothing. The only way it could do nothing is if your insulin resistance was 0 which is chemically and physically impossible. The reason it’s not FDA approved for T1’s is it’s generally regarded as unneccessary, just take more insulin, and because it’s so cheap no one is gonna pay $1 billion for the clinicals to get it approved for T1 use.
Not only does it make stocking insulin way easier and cheaper but it has a bunch of nice side effects from preventing cancer to pushing your cholesterol in all the right directions. The second benefit is actually doubled because it reduces the amount of insulin you need and insulin pushes your cholesterol in the wrong direction. So now you’re getting heart bennies on both sides, better from less insulin and better from the metformin.
The article failed to mention claymore mines. Only $200 tax each and a year’s+ wait for approval on a Form 1. Protip: submit multiple forms together so the NFA agent will put it at the top of the stack to clear many forms with 1 background check.
Umm…yeah, sure. I’ll look into it for my Bug Out Bag right way. Claymore mines. Wonder why they weren’t in the article?
Oh wait.
Well back to the wife issue, although I love her, in a SHTF scenario I don’t think I could depend on her. Hell after 30 years I still can’t get her to remove her shoes when she comes into the house. Brings up a good point, if friends / people you know can’t even keep a meet time, you know the ones always 10 minutes late and always think it’s not a big deal when they inconvenience everyone else. Won’t be waiting for them, can’t trust them to be on time, what can you trust them with. I have a few friends more then family that I would trust more. Think about people you know and how they reacted to crisis in their life, tells you a lot about how they react when a real crisis develops. Past performance is indicative of future performance. Your life may depend on it.
“…storing a year’s supply of essentials in a condominium borders on stupid.”
Actually, a year’s worth of some essentials can be stored in a highly portable manner in a small space. One can easily fit a year’s supply of food and first aid supplies for one person under a twin bed with a little forethought: pasta & tomato sauce, pancake mix, dried soups, and other types of food. And the compact nature of those supplies makes them easier to move if bugging out. The real trick is to rotate through supplies before the shelf life expires. So maybe not so stupid after all.
While I’d personally go for a little more variety, here is something that will start the mental gears turning: http://www.calamityjanet.com/one-year-supply-easy–cheap.html.
Not being a city dweller and pushing 60, I’ll be bugging in. Balance is crucial. You have to be able to live your life, while making preparations for a “rainy day”. Our existence hangs, each and every single day, at the pleasure of Mother Nature/God/Murphy’s Law/Etc.
One second, you’re a defender of your home and family. The next, you’ve been cast out by an unforeseen circumstance and are now a marauder by necessity.
If you’ve made modest preps, at least you didn’t lose too much. Conversely, if you win the existential lotto and no TEOWAWKI materializes, you didn’t spend too much time, effort and money.
Comments are closed.