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Who where doesn't have an emergency backup plan?

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xeemzor said:
No, I live in a city.
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Weird. My answer is also that I don't have a "plan," but that's because I don't live in a city. I'd bet that I could last a hell of a lot longer in most emergency types of situations as a result.

As far as a "plan," I can't say I've never given it any thought. I have enough food to last for at least 2 months on hand. If I really needed to, I could go indefinitely, since my goats reproduce faster than I could possibly eat them, plus tons of seeds saved for next year's crops, plenty of fruit I can harvest, etc. I'd simply get bored of the lack of variety.

I have a generator, and keep 30 gallons of gas in the boat, 20 in the tractor, 5 in the tank for the smaller boat, 2 or 3 in the riding mower, and 2 five gallon cans. Well water, so that's not an issue. And, I don't even know how many gallons of oil I have for the oil lamps. I'd have to switch to wood for heating, but that's no big deal - have at least a year's worth of firewood split and stacked.
 
Not really, I have a few guns and ammo, but so does everyone here. Wild games are abundant, but that's because there are supermarkets. If things go to shit, food availability will be gone pretty quick.
 
DrPizza said:
Weird. My answer is also that I don't have a "plan," but that's because I don't live in a city. I'd bet that I could last a hell of a lot longer in most emergency types of situations as a result.

As far as a "plan," I can't say I've never given it any thought. I have enough food to last for at least 2 months on hand. If I really needed to, I could go indefinitely, since my goats reproduce faster than I could possibly eat them, plus tons of seeds saved for next year's crops, plenty of fruit I can harvest, etc. I'd simply get bored of the lack of variety.

I have a generator, and keep 30 gallons of gas in the boat, 20 in the tractor, 5 in the tank for the smaller boat, 2 or 3 in the riding mower, and 2 five gallon cans. Well water, so that's not an issue. And, I don't even know how many gallons of oil I have for the oil lamps. I'd have to switch to wood for heating, but that's no big deal - have at least a year's worth of firewood split and stacked.
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Sure, you can survive at a basic level in the country longer. However, you are one of the last ones put back "on line". City centers will receive attention sooner barring an extreme catastrophe. You could also have a very localized disaster that only affects the surrounding area and takes months to fix.

I'm hedging on humans being able to eventually overcome the disaster. We are all mostly screwed if something like a nuclear war breaks out no matter the level of preparation.
 
Yeah if I had to pick I'd rather live out in the country than in the city if it came to disasters. In the country most likely means a bigger property too, so it would make being prepared easier. Could have several green houses, wind turbines, solar panels (and spare ones/hardware in a safe location because all of that would get destroyed in a wind storm)

Basically if you are practically off grid anyway, then a big disaster wont affect you as badly.
 
We have a community well. I have the backup generator for that. typical small freezer full of food, normal pantry of canned goods. Nothing I'd call special, but when you take inventory of a freezer and pantry you have a month's worth of food there.
 
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xeemzor said:
Sure, you can survive at a basic level in the country longer. However, you are one of the last ones put back "on line". City centers will receive attention sooner barring an extreme catastrophe. You could also have a very localized disaster that only affects the surrounding area and takes months to fix.

I'm hedging on humans being able to eventually overcome the disaster. We are all mostly screwed if something like a nuclear war breaks out no matter the level of preparation.
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Your perspective is the crux of the problem. A situation which leaves you without power or water for three days is a minor irritant in the country but, a deadly occurrence in the city. Further made dangerous by the gun enthusiast next door. 🙂

I understand my parents much better now. They lived through the great depression and always had 3 months supply of food in the house when I was growing up. Our society is ever more dependent on technology which has allowed people to enjoy it's many benefits. However, when one of the admittedly rare calamities occurs, our society is that much less resilient. Things that were ugly bumps in the road of life in the 50's would bring about widespread fear and panic today.
 
xeemzor said:
Sure, you can survive at a basic level in the country longer. However, you are one of the last ones put back "on line". City centers will receive attention sooner barring an extreme catastrophe. You could also have a very localized disaster that only affects the surrounding area and takes months to fix.

I'm hedging on humans being able to eventually overcome the disaster. We are all mostly screwed if something like a nuclear war breaks out no matter the level of preparation.
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I'm not quite sure what you mean, "survive at a basic level." Provided my house was left standing, my point is that it really wouldn't matter; it'd just give us something to talk about with the neighbors while we listened to the generators running. We wouldn't even go 5 minutes without power, water, or heat. (Though, I'd have to manually switch the power over for the pump before we ran out of pressure in the holding tank). "Put back online" - the thing is, I'm not "online" for very much.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
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Your perspective is the crux of the problem. A situation which leaves you without power or water for three days is a minor irritant in the country but, a deadly occurrence in the city. Further made dangerous by the gun enthusiast next door. 🙂

I understand my parents much better now. They lived through the great depression and always had 3 months supply of food in the house when I was growing up. Our society is ever more dependent on technology which has allowed people to enjoy it's many benefits. However, when one of the admittedly rare calamities occurs, our society is that much less resilient. Things that were ugly bumps in the road of life in the 50's would bring about widespread fear and panic today.
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what realistic scenario do you really see where the food supply chain is going to be cut for +3 months, though?
 
I'm in the country also. Power is the only thing I have to deal with and to that end I keep at least 100gals. diesel on hand, a 10kw and 6kw generators. Also have numerous gas generators and at least 50gals. gas. Food gets a little sparse but I'd guess about two weeks before I'd worry. Squirrel hunting in the front pasture has been pretty good lately so who knows? The Mrs.would get really pissed if she caught me barbequing one of the horses.
 
loki8481 said:
what realistic scenario do you really see where the food supply chain is going to be cut for +3 months, though?
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That's just it. Today it would only take 3 days for things to come to a screeching halt. For instance, if for any reason trucking were to stop for a short time, in three days there would be little food, fuel or, anything else. Widespread fear and panic would result.
 
Richard N said:
I'm in the country also. Power is the only thing I have to deal with and to that end I keep at least 100gals. diesel on hand, a 10kw and 6kw generators. Also have numerous gas generators and at least 50gals. gas. Food gets a little sparse but I'd guess about two weeks before I'd worry. Squirrel hunting in the front pasture has been pretty good lately so who knows? The Mrs.would get really pissed if she caught me barbequing one of the horses.
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Tip: Don't kill the squirrels, stalk them, and steal their food stash. You get more to eat that way. 😛
 
DrPizza said:
I'm not quite sure what you mean, "survive at a basic level." Provided my house was left standing, my point is that it really wouldn't matter; it'd just give us something to talk about with the neighbors while we listened to the generators running. We wouldn't even go 5 minutes without power, water, or heat. (Though, I'd have to manually switch the power over for the pump before we ran out of pressure in the holding tank). "Put back online" - the thing is, I'm not "online" for very much.
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Do you have any need for commerce with the city? Ever need to buy more gas for the generator? While I'm sure you could last a while without resupply the first shipments are going to be to the city center. Rural areas suffer the immediate effect of emergencies better but take longer to recover. Like it or not we are all very interconnected.

To clarify, what I meant by "online" was access to services and goods provided by an infrastructure.
 
I see what you mean. Hmmm... commerce in the city. Hey! I was just in the city today! I'm set on toilet paper for the next 2 months as well. Let's put it this way about that "city online first" - if it's ever so bad that gasoline isn't restored out here before it's more than a minor inconvenience to me, you're truly fucked in the city. That's the thing about living in the middle of nowhere - you don't go to the city every day, or every other day. It's too inconvenient to do so. So, you keep track of what you need, and you stock up. I'll admit that I do spend a lot of time in the local grocery store - but that's because I prefer fresh stuff. But, other than that, and filling up the gas in the car, I really don't go to the city more than once every couple of weeks, and could easily go months without going into the city.
 
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I have no plan really. I have a go-bag which includes a few days worth of food and water, but its probably expiree by now.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
That's just it. Today it would only take 3 days for things to come to a screeching halt. For instance, if for any reason trucking were to stop for a short time, in three days there would be little food, fuel or, anything else. Widespread fear and panic would result.
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I feel like grocery stores and gas stations were shutdown longer than that after Sandy without the region decaying into widespread lawlessness and chaos.
 
xeemzor said:
Can I sell you some volcano insurance? Hey, it might happen!
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You might try, but I don't live near a volcano. Funny thing though. I'm sure some in New Orleans felt pretty cocky some years back. What could happen? Not like a hurricane would wipe the place out.

But it really doesn't matter since I don't live in a place I can't get out of.
 
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