libertarian socialism! 
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Because I work in The City and the wife and kids do not, we’ve talked about a plan on what to do if something occurs, kind of like the family having a place to meet if the house burns down.
We are a big camping family, so all that great is readily available, we’re just not stocked on food too a crazy amount, as if something goes bad here we don’t plan on being here. Sandy was bad enough when we lost power for a week that we fled to a friend’s house. Since then we plan to stay mobile for most similar emergencies. A lot of family near nothing.
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Typical suburban disruption. To be able to be self contained for 2 weeks while waiting for re-establishment of emergency supply lines.
San Francisco area, so most likely large scale event would be a large earthquake that disrupts electricity, gas, water, and transportation temporarily. Biggest issue will be getting back home if I am in SF at the time as I live about 30 miles east of SF. So making sure my tweenish kids and neighbors have a plan.
Most likely the area will remain habitable and not require permanent evacuation.
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Ultimately, people who need guns to defend themselves lack creativity:
I think cities are generally a great place to be when the system is working, and a really bad place to be anywhere near if/when the shit hits the fan. If you want to be self-sufficient in a time when that system breaks down, you have to worry about literally millions of people with no means of supporting themselves – no land, no relevant skills, no experience with a lifestyle where they are self-sufficient. I remember hearing one person mention that they would save money and fly to South America if that happened. A lot of prepper (or maybe wannabe prepper) ideas seem like a less extreme version of this; if civilisation were to collapse, the kind of structures that are necessary to make this plan work don’t exist any more.
I suppose the individualist strategies could work to some extent in parts of the US, but not anywhere in the world that I’ve lived. I guess there is value in things like the traditional Jewish method of owning valuables that can be easily transported in the event that you personally have to leave town quickly, or supplies like food, water and medicine to last you a few weeks if a localised disaster happened. Knowledge of local plants and survival techniques could be very useful too. But where you’re talking about a more apocalyptic scale of disaster, I think the people around you are your greatest resource and your greatest threat. A strong and supportive community where people feel a sense of belonging and responsibility to each other and a government that emphasises everyone’s right to basic welfare are the kind of things I would want if a long-term regional disaster happened. I guess a decentralised energy system and a suitable environment (access to fresh water, good conditions for growing food, not much need for heating or air conditioning in your current home) would also be very helpful. Unfortunately though, the size of the population and the globalised economy mean that without a centralised system, most of us and our communities are woefully unequipped to deal with a disaster that would require us to rely on our own resources for survival. Those who are could easily be overwhelmed by those who aren’t.
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I agree completely. I live in a place where some people keep long guns for hunting (mostly wild turkey and deer, sometimes groundhogs), but more keep compact bows for hunting. The problem with bows and guns is reloading, running are out of ammo, and having to wait for your target. At least arrows might be reusable, but guns are loud and once bullets are spent they are gone. I’m a fan of snares and traps because they are reusable and repairable, and you don’t have to sit there and wait all day. You set them up and come back later so you can use your time more productively.
I think the best thing most people can do to get ready for any emergency is to practice going a whole 24 hrs without electricity at least once a year. That way you find out what you need to get by and can make sure you always have that stuff on hand.
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My mom brought me one back from Costa Rica on the delusional premise I could use it to prune my grapevines. My son tagged it with a note “Dibs in case of Zombie Apocalypse”.
We’ve filled water containers and gotten food for Y2K and hurricanes, but I guess I’ve not given thought to bugout, it would just be impossible from the shores of the Hudson surrounded by millions trying to do the same. My son the Eagle Scout and hardcore outdoorsman has the skills and fitness to survive, but I’m afraid he’s too goodhearted and not ruthless enough for TEOTWAWKI.
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I think that I would be drug tested out of spite before being deported.
Make about as much sense as anything else this administration is doing.
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This subject is one that I have put some thought into, even academic research.
What disaster? My guess would be interruption in the supply chain, followed by civil unrest. It could be petroleum, electricity, water or something else.
Personally, I always expect medium duration power outages.
We have at least a year’s worth of stored food, in steel drums with removable lids. The drums keep the humidity and rodents out. We have a few hundred gallons of water in drums as well. Our farming activities are fairly self sustaining. I would definitely not say that we have purchased guns especially out of any sort of fear, but we do collect them, and spend a lot of time at the range. If something did happen, lack of guns and ammunition would not be issues for us.
We have backpacks for everyone, with a couple of MREs, water bottles, IFAK, fire starter, a knife, a pistol, a compass, a fleece blanket. Plus whatever personal items The main use that these get is when one or more of us goes up into the mountains, we routinely grab our pack, just in case.
I would say that normal, sensible precautions for living in the mountains sort of intersect with prepper behavior.
My parents grew up in a lifestyle where almost complete self reliance was normal. They felt it important to pass those skills down, and I am pretty adamant about my kids learning them as well. Anything we can make, we make, and when something need repair, we learn to do it ourselves whenever possible.
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Foxfire books. I highly recommend them.
What kind of food do you keep? Dried, canned, or…? I’m curious because that’s my main concern right now - I’d like to have a week or two on hand (I don’t have space for more than that) but not sure what’s the best option for long-term storage and true edibility.
We eat lots of rice, so several hundred pounds of that. Ramen, canned veg and soups, mac and cheese,
An important point is that these are things we eat anyway. When we need a new bag of rice, we get it from the vault, and put the new one down there after we get to the grocery store. So very little gets left down there long term. The exception is MREs. we have lots of cases of them, which I bring back from deployments.
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The trick for NYC is going to be basically sticking around for 24 hours. Once the initial rush has left town we might have a chance. If I’m stuck at work when something happens the family has instructions to get out as soon as they can and if it takes more than two hours, shelter in place.
The first day is going to be terrible, but around four in the morning the roads should hopefully be clear enough. Just stay off 95 and take something less common like the Macombs Dam Bridge and stay on surface streets to get past the Cross County, that’ll be the worst of the lot.
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Are you fucking kidding??? This isn’t thanksgiving weekend we’re talking about. There’s 20 million people in the NY “Metropolitan Statistical Area”. If there was an evacuation the roads would never be clear, haven’t you seen what happened in NO or other areas in track of hurricanes? And those were a fraction of the people and density. Cars would stall or run out of gas and be abandoned, and the roads would be miles of parking lot.
If it were really that bad and I really needed to get the family out, I’d hustle them the mile walk to the marina, steal a sailboat and head south. The machete I mentioned might come in handy for this bit of piracy, my only other real weapons are a compound bow and a civil war Union cavalry saber. The latter would sure scare the shit out of anyone in my way, especially as in Jersey they’re unlikely to be armed. Desperate times and all that…
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20 million people, but they’re not all leaving nor do they have the same issues. Some will refuse, others can’t afford to (see Sandy and Irene). But the main issue is going to be Long Island. Those without needing to take a bridge I don’t see as a huge problem. The Bronx, Connecticut, New Jersey, these places are not forced into using major roadways, there’s no bridge that everyone has to take.
Long Island? Totally SOL. Even Staten Island has it easier. Manhattan only has 1.6 million people. Queens and Brooklyn are 5 million people alone, all trying to avoid going through Manhattan and wondering if they can all fit on the Throgs Neck and the Whitestone together (answer, no).
I’m in NJ, I’ll be heading westward and then north. I might cross the Hudson as soon as Poughkeepsie, but certainly wouldn’t even try further south.
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Doesn’t it all depend on what shit hit the fan? I assume dirty nuke, highest probability of a man-made event. In that case you DON’T want to head northeast, that’s the wind direction. I sail south, and keep going as far as I need to: Chesapeake, Bahamas, Rio, whatever. I never learned bluewater navigation, but as long the the GPS sats aren’t taken down, I’m good. Don’t need gas unlike everyone on the road, we learned in Sandy how fast the fuel is gone. Could use more than fish for food, but you can go a long time on just what you catch, both my son and I have read “Survive the Savage Sea” about a family surviving 37 days in a lifeboat drifting in the Pacific.
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I figure I’ll have to get east of the Hudson at some point before Albany, they’ll be freaking out just as much. I’d rather take my chances with the hippies of the Berkshires than the methheads of western New York. Straight north into Canada is the eventual goal, they’ll have their shit together on a federal level while I can call on family.
Having read Survive the Savage Sea myself I’m less interested in hoping it rains so I can be allowed to drink some water because the solar still gets a hole in it. Having known my fair share of Hudson sailors, I’m willing to bet the sailboat you steal isn’t ready for any kind of real trip and has half a tank of gas, four packets of ramen and one life jacket. Children’s small.
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What makes you think you’ll ever refuel on this journey? You won’t be driving 75 mph, one tank likely won’t get you as far as Albany even if the roads are passable, which they won’t be. They’re not passable on a ordinary rush hour. Yes, the sailboat will have to be chosen wisely, still the best option to exit serious mayhem when you live so close to the center of population density.
I hear new zealands nice.
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The same thing that makes you think there will be a sailboat for you to pirate with your machete.
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That’s my excuse. I have two large bins full of camping equipment ready to put in the van at a moment’s notice.
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