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On one side we have preppers that spend countless thousands of dollars on food and goods waiting for TEOTWAWKI on the other we have those that don't believe a single thing and that there are no threats.
SMH...
There is proof an EMP could impact the grid, vehicles, pumping stations, etc....to what extent , well that we don't know.
There is proof, that society will start to break down within days of a full scale outage. Now add no transportation, Police , Fire, and ambulances... it won't be a pretty picture in our large cities.
As much as I would like to say I was prepared, in reality I'm not. Our rural cottage is 230 miles from our urban home. We have two dogs, and two cats that my wife will not leave. So there would be no feasible way for us to become mobile if something catastrophic happened. We would just sit on the porch, finally open that bottle of Pappy VanWinkle we've been saving, light up a couple of good cigars and embrace the end.
In 1859 there was a solar storm so large that it started fires on telegraph wires. Northern lights were seen as far south as Florida.
North Korea is not capable of that sort of thing, of course, and besides, it would be suicidal for them. A ballistic missile headed for America would be answered before it got here.
The event in 1859 is called the Carrington Event. A similar event these days would, indeed, kill many millions. Imagine a world that has gone suddenly silent and dark. Every integrated circuit in every computer has been destroyed. No power; no water pressure; no TV; no radio; no automobiles, no fuel. No word at all from anyone to explain what has happened. The power will never be restored.
A Carrington Event would halt history, and history would not resume for a century or more.
An EMP attack could happen. Would it knock out the grid and kill 90% of Americans? I highly, highly doubt it. That seems like a great subject for a dystopian future disaster movie.
Those that don't believe this, I have a few questions.
If you live in the city. Where will you get food for your family once your supply is out ? Remember, no one will be restocking the shelves of the stores because they can't. If anyone of your family needs medications to stay healthy or live, where will you get them once your supply runs out ? How will you pay for items , do you have cash on hand ?
If you live in a northern city , and it happened in the winter months how will you stay warm ? Home have a fireplace? Trees around to burn ? What about water, do you have a steady supply of it ? One that won't freeze ?
The simplest things we take for granted. Toilet paper,Soap, just being able to stay clean and shave would become tough once supplies ran out. Coffee....oh sweet coffee... I could see that, toilet paper and handywipes becoming currency
Those that don't believe this, I have a few questions.
If you live in the city. Where will you get food for your family once your supply is out ? Remember, no one will be restocking the shelves of the stores because they can't. If anyone of your family needs medications to stay healthy or live, where will you get them once your supply runs out ? How will you pay for items , do you have cash on hand ?
If you live in a northern city , and it happened in the winter months how will you stay warm ? Home have a fireplace? Trees around to burn ? What about water, do you have a steady supply of it ? One that won't freeze ?
The simplest things we take for granted. Toilet paper,Soap, just being able to stay clean and shave would become tough once supplies ran out. Coffee....oh sweet coffee... I could see that, toilet paper and handywipes becoming currency
You are right that you would not want to STAY in a highly populated area if something like this happened.
I live in a southern city on the coast, my first goal once I realized we were on our own would be pack up my guns(probably take a rifle if you only can pick one), ammo, fishing gear, a tent, some lighters and candles, a magnifying glass, hatchet/knife/both(having some sort of chopping tool will be needed later for shelter), and a compass, and hike down to the river a few miles away. I would then hike inland along the course of the river, taking time to camp and attempt to fish along the way. Use the magnifying glass to start fires (I have one of those 11x8 computer paper sized freznel ones, it is actually pretty freaking easy to start a fire with it, 1-5 minutes tops) for cooking and water purification, keep the lighters in reserve to use if there was no other options. Keep up this course of action until you start getting out into very sparsely populated wilderness, then begin to build some sort of shelter at a distance that is at least out of sight from the river but still close enough to have it as a resource. Most of that sh*t I have accumulated from just occasionally going camping. Also would be smart to pack any kind of OTC pain medication or antibiotics you have access to and bring them as well.
Toilet paper, soap, shaving all nice but not survival necessities. Most important thing is having access to water, with that you have everything you need to maintain a survival level of cleanliness but admittedly it would not be pretty.
Bare minimum you are going to need some sort of bladed/chopping tool, some way to make fire or you will end up sick from the water, some sort of fishing apparatus or other way to get food (Could just be a roll of string with a hook). Ideally you would also want a weapon to defend yourself from wildlife/other people if you ever had to.
I nor my wife need medications, and you would be pretty out of luck if you did.
There now I have revealed my SHTF contingency plans...
Last edited by zzzSnorlax; 10-13-2017 at 10:42 AM..
You are right that you would not want to STAY in a highly populated area if something like this happened.
I live in a southern city on the coast, my first goal once I realized we were on our own would be pack up my guns(probably take a rifle if you only can pick one), ammo, fishing gear, a tent, some lighters and candles, a magnifying glass, hatchet/knife/both(having some sort of chopping tool will be needed later for shelter), and a compass, and hike down to the river a few miles away. I would then hike inland along the course of the river, taking time to camp and attempt to fish along the way. Use the magnifying glass to start fires (I have one of those 11x8 computer paper sized freznel ones, it is actually pretty freaking easy to start a fire with it, 1-5 minutes tops) for cooking and water purification, keep the lighters in reserve to use if there was no other options. Keep up this course of action until you start getting out into very sparsely populated wilderness, then begin to build some sort of shelter at a distance that is at least out of sight from the river but still close enough to have it as a resource. Most of that sh*t I have accumulated from just occasionally going camping. Also would be smart to pack any kind of OTC pain medication or antibiotics you have access to and bring them as well.
Toilet paper, soap, shaving all nice but not survival necessities. Most important thing is having access to water, with that you have everything you need to maintain a survival level of cleanliness but admittedly it would not be pretty.
Bare minimum you are going to need some sort of bladed/chopping tool, some way to make fire or you will end up sick from the water, some sort of fishing apparatus or other way to get food (Could just be a roll of string with a hook). Ideally you would also want a weapon to defend yourself from wildlife/other people if you ever had to.
I nor my wife need medications, and you would be pretty out of luck if you did.
There now I have revealed my SHTF contingency plans...
I have all that stuff as well. Packed in a bin that we could quickly and easily grab and gear up. The only problem is, like mentioned... the 240 mile trek. We could start to walk it , if it was just us, it would probably take 15-18 days. There are several large cities we would have to skirt. So it is plausible but I doubt we could pull it off. If it happened when we were at the cottage, chances are we could survive or at least prolong our existence , if it happened at home...well that is the scenario I don't want to think about.
I have all that stuff as well. Packed in a bin that we could quickly and easily grab and gear up. The only problem is, like mentioned... the 240 mile trek. We could start to walk it , if it was just us, it would probably take 15-18 days. There are several large cities we would have to skirt. So it is plausible but I doubt we could pull it off. If it happened when we were at the cottage, chances are we could survive or at least prolong our existence , if it happened at home...well that is the scenario I don't want to think about.
1st priority is finding a water source, as long as you have a reasonably sized river within 20-30 miles or so, you could make that in one very stressful day. Once you have water sorted, the urgency is diminished and you can make slower progress and still be fine. Assuming the river does not just terminate somewhere, if you follow it long enough you will eventually get away from dense civilization.
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