SHTF with a Family?

[darinb]

Okay there is alot of what I think is a "fighting" approach I have noticed lately. Some cannot pick up their gear and leave their residense never to return and fight off the for lack of a better word "bad guys" due to the fact that they have a family and children like me. I think this would be an interesting topic to discuss. Has any other familyman thought about what you will do with your kids and spouse if SHTF?
My kids are 3,5 and 9 months so the "fighting" aspect is extremely limited. IMO for people in my situation it is more of an escape and evade thing as in leave and get to a safe location as quick as possible with as much suppliesas possible while not drawing attention to yourself. Am I one the right track? We live in a quiet neighborhood very close to deep woods but I realize some are in more of an urban setting so running undetected to the hills is not really an option. How would that figure in? This subject is one I have pondered alot as of late.
Below is an basic outline of our SHTF gear for our family.
My pack (only listed basic stuff)
Glock 17w/ 5mags and 200 rounds ammo
Keltec sub 2000 (g17 setup)
Food for 3days
2 blankets
4 man tent
first aid supplies and basic medicine
2 change of clothes for me
other basic camping gear
Her pack
Tokorov TM9 with 2 mags
Kids clothes
Diapers
Baby food (rice,lightweight food)
wife clothes
hygiene products
lightweight food
H2o purification bottles
Share your thoughts on my gear and your thoughts on this subject. Thanks

 

[haldir]

I think in most instances you are going to want to be prepared to hunker down where you are. You aren't downwind of Chicago so you should be okay for fallout (which is one area that I do worry up here in the North). I have enough supplies to get by with the family for over 6 months for sure. I can hook a hand pump up to the shallow well line in the basement and have all the fresh water that we need. There would likely be six of us with enough arms and ammunition to hold out for some time. I just have the feeling a disaster that puts people on the road is going to be a cluster with very little cooperation and likely bandits.

 

[darinb]

shtf w/ family

Apoligize. I forgot to mention that staying at home is paramount unless we "had" to leave. We have enough basic food water and other supplies to last a month or so. The whole leaving the home aspect is important to think about though.

 

[originalhonkey]

man im glad you made this post. this same thing has been on my mind alot. ive got a 4 year old and my wife is not at all rounded in any kind of survival or any thing else.i have for years training as a marine 0311.if it was just me i know what my game plan would be. hell i had a plan/ b.o.b/sevral safe spots and so on.after i got married i guess i got complacent and know that ive kinda snapped back to reality i feel like im so far behind i dont know were to start. i just started back on 2 B.O.Bs one for me and one for my wife. ive got and always had plenty of ammo,pistols, rifles. maybe have 1 months food at best in the house im in a neighborhood in greenwood between 135 and 31 wich would be impossible to get through. city water is no help. i have been teaching the wife to shoot and she is on board with getting a plan or getting ready for the "shiz" if you will. im not shure of how to go about things or realy what we need and whats a waste of time and money. oh and the safe places i thought i had to go to are not there now. kinda feel like im stuck staying at the house and not sure if thats the smart thing or not.any advice would be great. and thanks darinb rep +1

 

[met eng gun nut]

surround the house with pun-gee sticks with lookout on the roof with savage .308 possible built a quick nest

 

[Arm America]

First priority should be to find like minded families and have a
designated location that all are in agreement will be the safe house.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Each adult and their families should be responsible for sustaining their families.
Food, first aid kits, fuel, generator etc.
These details can all be worked out in advance.

Its simple to plan ahead, there are plenty of like minded concerned adults
that know they can't fend off the bad guys alone.

The more groups that are formed, the better off we all are.

Everyone knows a nurse, invite them into your group,
Know a car mechanic, a farmer, the list is endless,
just make sure they understand what their responsible for.
Soap, toilet paper, toothpaste and batteries would be great to barter with.
It doesn't have to be all guns and ammo. Some would be against it.

Great topic. Hope it keeps going. Who knows what next week will bring!

 

[Calvin]

I'm in a similar boat. Due to the fact that our house is all electric, if electricity is lost we couldn't count on heat or water. Food would quickly follow. All of my long term storage is at another location about 25 miles away. I think about my route and my plan to get there all the time. Luckily I need not go through any cities to get there nor take any large highways. In my case the most important thing would be to take my truck in the lead with my brother in the bed. I would have my wife and kids in the van spaced about 200 yards behind me. If there were any trouble, she would be told beforehand how to backup and keep herself and the kids back while my brother and I made sure we could get through or took the brunt of the clobbering if we couldn't. With any luck, we would be there within 45 minutes with all of our clothes, bedding, etc. If not, there are several alternate routes we could backtrack to and take if needed. It pays to know the back roads very well and be willing to take an alternate route if needed. I am blessed to be starting well out from a city and ending well out from a city. It would be alot tougher to work out exit from a large urban area. I'm glad I don't have to think about that.

 

[6birds]

Haldir, nicely put. The house you're in is a good place to start. Why would you leave the place where you have food and shelter, only to find out you cannot make it in the woods because you lack food and shelter!

DarinB, be prepared doesn't mean you have to be able to take on a platoon with your Mosin and a Radio Flyer wagon full of mil-surp ammo, much to the distain of many people here. It means take care of your family, which for many, means finding like minded people and getting through the event as a team.

Know your strengths and weaknesses, and adapt to reduce your exposure where your plan is weak. For folks with young kids like you and I, warm and dry is important. Keeping healthy is a priority, sick is very dangerous.

We camp and hike together, which is good practice for living outdoors. We can use our camping gear in the garage, an old warehouse or abandoned house. We can hunt and gather, we know our plants and leaves for nutrition. I am prepared to heat one room of our house to make it through a 1 month power outage. We have a well stocked pantry of canned goods that does not need refridgeration. This didn't take a pile of money and a lift truck to move the ammo!
My plans are to provide for my family during and emergency, not stave off a zombie attack.

Hope that helps.

 

[Bisley Man]

Great thread,darinb

Your way of thinking on SHTF is refreshing.It may seem too many of us think SHTF is long term "reddawn" type combat. Nobody knows what super bad SHTF WILL be. We prepare for what could be. Bugging out is my last resort. My wife is my only concern, our son is grown, on his own.I agree with the others that hitting the road may be worse danger.We prepare for bugging out (cars full of gas,pre-pack suit case) in case of train, highway disaster. A rep for you Mr. darinb for great thread.

 

[clfergus]

Great thread..I too am in the same boat and am planning more for the few weeks without gas, electricity, food more so.

One item I noticed you didn't have on your list was a good pump shotgun. That would be my first choice for basic home defense with my G17 on my side. Early on when if you need to protect you house and family you might want to have the reliability of a good old pump, not to mention you might be a little nervous and the killing power and spread will help. ts would also be really easy to show your wife how to use should she need to hunker in a room with order to shoot.

You would also have a gun you could hunt with if we ever get too bad off. Head out into the countryside in Columbus and take a deer with slugs or small game with birdshot.

Just one suggestion.

 

[Delmar]

darinb +1
Having a family is the greatest reason you need to be prepared for emergency situations.

 

[bullet293]

stay on my farm, looks like ill be eating chicken and eggs for a long time

 

[IndyBeerman]

My home is my castle, that said I am staying put in a SHTF case, and I have neighbors around me that are prepared for natural disasters, and I think more than likey could change over to a SHTF situation in a heart beat.

All are either avid hunters of fisherman that go one extended trips for pleasure and thrill with a wide range of professions that would benefit us all to some extent or another.

The only two reasons, and I do mean only two that I would leave my home would be to aid our family or our very closest friend. If that were to happen, no less than a 2 week supply of food and plenty of ammo and a few choice weapons and the prepacked B.O.B's with tons of nice goodies in them.

The rest would be squirreled away in a hiding spot within the property that is totally hidden and not found unless you got metal detectors and ground pentrating radar. It's nice to have a creative mind at times and use it build hiding places.

 

[RachelMarie]

We are somewhat in the same boat. Except in a SHTF senerio, we don't plan on staying here. AT ALL. Too many people.

What I thought about, and am not sure a lot of others have is... The clothes you pack for your BOB, should ALL be winter clothes. You can take winter clothes and make them usable for summer. You can't take summer clothes and make them usable for winter. Also, everything in our BOB that can not get wet, we have in food saver bags. Vaccum sealed. Make sure you have a good 4-5 paris of socks for each member of your family.

 

[Joe Williams]

Okay there is alot of what I think is a "fighting" approach I have noticed lately. Some cannot pick up their gear and leave their residense never to return and fight off the for lack of a better word "bad guys" due to the fact that they have a family and children like me. I think this would be an interesting topic to discuss. Has any other familyman thought about what you will do with your kids and spouse if SHTF?
snip

Yeah... I know what I'll doing with wife and kid. Arm them if needed. We can hunker down in the house. We can run if we need to, fight if we must to get to a pre-planned gathering point. My 9 y/o boy has known for two years the basics of how to find water, how to navigate with and without a compass, he can build an emergency shelter. He knows how to shoot rifle, shotgun, and handgun, and is starting to learn to fight with them. As you said, our plans, if we must leave our home, is more likely to be E&E than blazing gunbattles, since we'll lose those, but fighting may be necessary in some scenarios. If we must run, even on foot all three of us have a pack to carry. Sean is responsible for our important papers and big first aid kit.

Learning to survive is just camping with an attitude

 

[Joe Williams]

Oh... I forgot to mention that I don't see a .22 on your list. There are plenty of small, packable .22s available. Everyone should have one on their emergency supply list. If all else fails, it should be the gun you take if you can only take one.

.22 ammo is cheap... you can buy lots of it. It's small and light... you can carry lots on your back, and have room for lots in your packs. It's quiet. If you are forced to hit the road, or poach, it's hard to locate where the shot came from. It can take any game you can feed your family with if properly employed, and can defend against humans if need be and properly employed.

 

[ddenny5]

If anyone wants blueprints for a hideout shelter let me know. I am designing one. I can design almost any style.

 

[Glocker]

What about someone like me? I don't have a family I'm single but I am reliant on a eye prescription med that I have to take everyday for eye pain/swelling from an eye trauma when I was a child. And you can't stock up on the prescription because they won't allow you to, so if the bottle says 15 days supply on it you can't refill unless its the 15th day or longer.

 

[Cpt Caveman]

You might wanna look into a different kind of medication.

 

[irishfan]

Its not easy to find many like minded people as most people look at you like a nut if you store extra food and supplies. I for one learned my lesson during the Muncie ice storm a few years back. Delaware county was out of power for quite a while and the house we lived in didn't have much stocked being a college house. As far as a "SHTF" situation I am staying in first and will exhaust all supplies I have before looking to leave.