Am I losing it?

[shibumiseeker]

Walter:

Here's a big secret: Throughout human there has ALWAYS been a reason to fear imminent danger or collapse. Yeah, sometimes it has happened, and there are points in history we can point to, but the real truth is that 99% or more of human beings out there live their lives without anything majorly bad happening in their society that directly affects their survival. However 100% of them have something bad happen on a smaller scale to them individually or their immediate families in their lifetimes. For every person murdered by genocide in Rwanda or caught in murderous civil war or starve to death in famine, there are tens of thousands that never have their morning breakfasts disturbed by anything more than a newspaper account of it.

Part of your life should be preparing for bad things to happen but as many of us say, you cannot possibly prepare for every possible thing, and at some point folks need to stop frantically trying to and simply get out there and enjoy life. Prepping for survival should be a part of your life, not its master.


Finally:
SHTF on INGO I've noticed since June 2010:
2 Emergency surgery
1 Divorce
5 Serious car accidents no serious injury but car totaled
2 Serious car accidents- injury requiring hospital
1 Serious at fault car crash, 5 serious injuries, inadequate insurance
8 Lost jobs/no new job ready to go
6 Family deaths
5 children born
2 significant flooding events
2 computer crashes with total loss of data/no backup
1 major house fire-displaced occupants months later
Note there have been no zombie apocalypse or major social collapse in that time, but these are just little figures I've been noting as I see them, and I may have missed a few. I don't think I missed a ZA o major social collapse. Each one of those little SHTF or other events were life changing events for the folks involved.

Just something to think about when you prep and think about it.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

Since you are thinking about evacing to KY, in addition to local preps, you should probably look at how you plan to get to your destination - primary routes, alternate routes, bridges crossing the Ohio River, etc. You ought to also decide what scenarios will cause you to displace and what the trigger events for displacement will be. As someone else said, it's better to go through a couple of false alarms than to wait too long to displace (which most people will do).

 

[Kelevra TAR-21]

Walter:


Part of your life should be preparing for bad things to happen but as many of us say, you cannot possibly prepare for every possible thing, and at some point folks need to stop frantically trying to and simply get out there and enjoy life. Prepping for survival should be a part of your life, not its master.
///////////

I have lived most of my life doing what I wanted to do with no concern, but I have always kept my eyes open seeing things change slowly at first. Now, I see them changing at breakneck speed and it has taken my breath away at how fast they have hurt our country and most likely mortally wounded it. Now is the time to settle down and spend as much quality time with your loved ones as you can.

 

[SemperFiUSMC]

Walter:


Part of your life should be preparing for bad things to happen but as many of us say, you cannot possibly prepare for every possible thing, and at some point folks need to stop frantically trying to and simply get out there and enjoy life. Prepping for survival should be a part of your life, not its master.

I have lived most of my life doing what I wanted to do with no concern, but I have always kept my eyes open seeing things change slowly at first. Now, I see them changing at break neck speed and it has taken my breath away at how fast they have hurt our country and most likely mortally wounded it. Now is the time to settle down and spend as much quality time with your loved ones as you can.

If I could give you all my rep points I would. I wrote a big long reply but I deleted it and am just going to leave it at that.

 

[whipfinish]

If you focus on these three things, you will sleep better at night. There is alot of chatter on the internet to create a sense of chaos. Keep it simple. Start here and you can create your own plan as you go.

1. physical security
2. financial security
3. food security

 

[BigMatt]

I agree.

But don't let it get in the way of living either. It's easy to get caught up in all the doom and gloom.

+1

I did that for a while, and, while I got a lot done, I burned myself out on it.

 

[caneman]

Prepare as best you can. I don't see how a person could be hurt by having 6 months or a years food on hand. A firearm or two per family member and a few thousand rounds of ammo is comforting.

If you have a portable skill set, are financially able and have the support of family I haven't heard you say you are tied to your current location.

If that's all true, it's time to do a decision tree and go with your gut.

 

[cumminspwrd02]

SHTF could be many things:
kids found Jumanji game and unleashed hell

LOL! I like that one, a Jumanji Event might end up kinda entertaining if preppared for it. Actually if anyone asks me why I'm prepping that will be my answer from now on, i'm sure I'll get some interesting responses.

 

[MJ45]

I agree with several of the other posts on here. if SHTF I think it would be rather difficult or possibly dangerous depending on the situation to travel very far.

 

[Sailor]

What he said. + 1

Walter:

Here's a big secret: Throughout human there has ALWAYS been a reason to fear imminent danger or collapse. Yeah, sometimes it has happened, and there are points in history we can point to, but the real truth is that 99% or more of human beings out there live their lives without anything majorly bad happening in their society that directly affects their survival. However 100% of them have something bad happen on a smaller scale to them individually or their immediate families in their lifetimes. For every person murdered by genocide in Rwanda or caught in murderous civil war or starve to death in famine, there are tens of thousands that never have their morning breakfasts disturbed by anything more than a newspaper account of it.

Part of your life should be preparing for bad things to happen but as many of us say, you cannot possibly prepare for every possible thing, and at some point folks need to stop frantically trying to and simply get out there and enjoy life. Prepping for survival should be a part of your life, not its master.


Finally:
SHTF on INGO I've noticed since June 2010:
2 Emergency surgery
1 Divorce
5 Serious car accidents no serious injury but car totaled
2 Serious car accidents- injury requiring hospital
1 Serious at fault car crash, 5 serious injuries, inadequate insurance
8 Lost jobs/no new job ready to go
6 Family deaths
5 children born
2 significant flooding events
2 computer crashes with total loss of data/no backup
1 major house fire-displaced occupants months later
Note there have been no zombie apocalypse or major social collapse in that time, but these are just little figures I've been noting as I see them, and I may have missed a few. I don't think I missed a ZA o major social collapse. Each one of those little SHTF or other events were life changing events for the folks involved.

Just something to think about when you prep and think about it.

 

[4sarge]

Due to recent events, I've started having real thoughts of SHTF.

I don't really consider myself a "prepper," and the fact is that I can barely afford to live day-to-day as it is where I am in the suburbs, and I realize I'm a little late to the party.

But...I had a VERY interesting discussion with a brother-in-law, (former Army tanker), who lives in Kentucky and recently purchased 30+ acres of land out in the boonies.

We discussed SHTF and how I would like to displace to this area if necessary. He was VERY agreeable to this, and he showed me the Google Earth image of the property.

My first comment upon seeing the image was something like, "Nice! One way in, terrain easily defensible on three sides due to natural obstacles, a fresh water source, room for a shooting range, livestock, gardening, etc...

I asked him, "When can I and my family move in?"

I was mostly serious, and I'm pretty sure so was he.

Am I losing it? Do I need to quit reading/listening to right-wing material?

Or...are my spider senses, which have been extremely accurate of late, telling me something?

Your thoughts?

I agree.

SHTF could be many things:

job loss
ice storm
blizzard
drought
kids found Jumanji game and unleashed hell

you never know...

I think you need a plan for how you are going to GET FROM Indianapolis to someplace in KY in the event of any legitimate SHTF event.

How could you possibly be of significant use in doing the WORK part of prepping?

I think you'll have to spend a lot of time on the road getting an early start a lot of times that turn out to be false alarms. I think if you are serious, you need a better plan.

I'm in the same boat and having real thoughts of SHTF. Being Prepared is Prudent. I'm buying things that can be used in everyday life situations. I think that the densely populated urban areas will be problematic from the get go. Isolated rural areas will feel the heat in an extended SHTF crisis. Better to be with relatives who you can trust than with strangers or acquaintances that you thought were friends. Travel to your destination could be very problematic or non existent. Alternate planned mapped routes, (do not count on a GPS) refueling supplies, good vehicle 4X4 preference. Let's hope & pray that this will not be needed

 

[shibumiseeker]

I'm in the same boat and having real thoughts of SHTF. Being Prepared is Prudent. I'm buying things that can be used in everyday life situations. I think that the densely populated urban areas will be problematic from the get go. Isolated rural areas will feel the heat in an extended SHTF crisis. Better to be with relatives who you can trust than with strangers or acquaintances that you thought were friends. Travel to your destination could be very problematic or non existent. Alternate planned mapped routes, (do not count on a GPS) refueling supplies, good vehicle 4X4 preference. Let's hope & pray that this will not be needed

Here's what I've written before on bugging out:
Bugging out:
Bugging out in a vehicle is easy. Stock MREs, bottled water, and a few bulk water containers. Mix it up a bit with other foods. What specific containers to use are hard to say since vehicles are different. Pack in a modular format that breaks your supplies up into complete units on a per day per person basis (one module contains one day's supplies for our 3 person family). Make your FIRST module Bug Out Bags for EACH family member, including little ones. Make a vehicle kit that includes spares for common fail items (fuses, belts, fuel filter, air pump for tires, etc) and the tools to use them. That should live in the vehicle anyway along with at least one day's supplies. Ensure you have enough fuel to go twice the distance you need to go since fuel economy goes to pot when you are backtracking all of the time.

Make SURE you have paper county road maps as well as larger area topo maps, and a couple of compasses (they can fail riding around in the vehicle all the time) stored in the vehicle. On those maps mark routes to your Bug Out Location, and then ACTUALLY DRIVE THEM. Note choke points, potential problems (bridge out, flood zones, possible mudslide areas (we get them here in Indiana after rains!), dense woods where trees can completely block the road,etc. GPS is fine, but do not assume it will be working. Get some recovery equipment (good quality comealong, cables, jack, etc) and then learn how to USE it!

Keep in mind that living in the woods for a few months is a fine fantasy, but unless you have actually practiced doing so, it's a fantasy that is loaded with fail. I'm not saying it is impossible, just that it's a whole hell of a lot harder than it looks like from the perspective of a few days backpacking or car camping most people have. And if it is under adverse conditions it's even harder than that. Stockpiling enough food for several months living out in the woods requires a lot of space, and while you may THINK you can hunt to supplement, you'll very quickly find that after a week or so the game in your area is gone, and that is assuming that no one else is nearby for any length of time. Indiana simply does not have enough wilderness for a family to Grizzly Adams it after a major disaster unless you are the only people left alive.

Folks ask about lists of stuff: I highly recommend TRAINING first, because once you have training, you can make your own lists. Too many people want to invest first in gear, when training will enable you to figure out for yourself what gear you actually need and what will work and what is just for posers. Above all, if you don't have it, get some emergency medical training. Simple medical issues can turn into major problems if not attended to.

 

[teddy12b]

Due to recent events, I've started having real thoughts of SHTF.

Am I losing it? Do I need to quit reading/listening to right-wing material?

Or...are my spider senses, which have been extremely accurate of late, telling me something?

Your thoughts?

I've felt the same way for about a year or two now. I don't think you're out of line with your thinking. The way the world is going now who wouldn't think we were heading to destruction. I desperately hope we're not living through the "fall of Rome" so to speak, but it often seems to me that we are. The US government has gotten so big causing an unsustainable overhead that the country can't support anymore, while other countries like China just suck it up and get the same products built for cheaper. Bottom line is going to be that our advantage of being the only manufacturing country left standing after WWII is fading away and other countries are seeing that they have other options that what the US is doing or saying. We're just paying too many people in the government too much to tell us how to live our lives while their's is a total cluster. To be honest, I'm very surprised the country hasn't had massive riots and violence already. I hope it never happens, but I think it will and sooner rather than later. Rant off.

I think you're farther ahead than you think you are. Guessing by your avatar that you've carried a rucksack with everything you need to survive before and could probably do it again. Military service teaches a lot about the mindset to survive and the fact that you recognized terrain features immediately says a lot. Definately link up with your brother in law and work together. My family are mostly sheeple and don't know how much I can truely trust some of them due to their spouses. I'd trade a few of them for old service buddies in a heartbeat.

The way I look at it, is if I buy supplied like food, water, shelter, medical & a means to keep all of that, then I'll probably not need it with my luck. On the other hand if I didn't have anything then it'd probably have already hit the fan.