If there was no threat of BirdFlu?
Yes. We have the yearly hurricane season. And, with a family of 7, I just can no longer take the chance that some economic crisis might mean that I can’t feed my kids. Prepping means that there is at least a cushion between income streams.
Between one thing and another … primarily because of economics … I’ve already benefited tremendously from prepping.
The fluwiki brought me to prepping, but we have found it a good concept to integrate into our way of life. We live about ten miles out of town (although the town is growing out towards us!), so I always had a decent pantry. Preparing for a possible pandemic has made me round out both canned and dry foods, allow for energy supplies, plan for water usage and sanitation and stock/maintain a medical/first aid kit that can handle most basic emergencies. I work in health care, so I already had the basic first aid training (CPR, etc.) but I am considering extra training as a paramedic as well. So, all things being equal, prepping is a natural extension of our normal lifestyle.
Probably not. The threat of panflu has shown me the error of my ways. We’re living in precarious times, to say the least, and the thought of living unprepared now, scares me to death.
We always prep for hurricanes — only difference is the amount of food. If there is no bf, we’d cut down on the food supply.
No - if not for bird flu I wouldn’t bother. I do sleep better knowing I am prepared for other calamities such as ice storms, terror attacks, earth quakes, etc.
I view the expense as more of a reallocation of funds rather than an expentiture. My biggest expense was a 720 gallon propane tank, and I am confident that energy savings will pay for it many times over whether flu hits or not. The canned goods will be donated to shelters prior to expiration and replaced. That money will come out of what I normally donate to charity so that is not really an expense. Other preps will simply be rotated so as not to cost anything. The N95 masks is money gone…though. I guess I could always hock them on ebay. I’ve often wondered what n95 masks will bring once the flu hits.
My family, friends, and aquaintances who snicker at me at least have had a good laugh over all this (although I think they secrectly respect and envy me).
Probably I would now, but not quite as intensive. We have tornadoes, ice and snow storms. Usually not everyone is hit at the same time or as badly and I or the rest of my family usually have someplace to go to take a shower… everyone I know lives within a 20 mile radious. I never feel safe at my job, so having food supplies now gives me a little bit of security.
Yes. I am as concerned about the possibility of supply chain interruptions resulting from economic shocks, oil shortages, and/or war as I am about avian influenza.
I have kept a six month supply of food and personal supplies for most of my adult life. It is about being prepared for all of life’s “adventures” that seem to come. However, I will say that the threat of Pandemic Flu - coupled with global warming and peak oil issues - has pushed me to add another layer of 1 year longer term storage supplies. I have also made sure to have a backup water and heating supply - something I did not worry about before.
Yes. you never know when life will throw a curve ball. For instance my son-in-law was laid off a few weeks ago and the combined prepping of my daughter and myself has lessened the impact.
I will never go back to not being prepped. The prospect of panflu kickstarted me. Just two terrorist nukes going off simultaneously in two different cities or the release of weaponized anthrax similarly would justify everything that I have planned and prepped. Too bad the rest of “thinking minority” in this world do not get on board. That 20 to 30 per cent of the population in the developed world could make a big difference, if they would do as we have done.
For a 2-day car trip, I always pack lots of camping-type stuff, just in case. (After seeing our stuff unloaded at her house for a week’s visit, my mother commented that my husband is a saint!) Now after pandemic shopping, I have more interesting stuff-LED lantern, candle lantern, windup radio, Kelly Kettle, stainless steel thermos bottles, that can keep us going longer if need be. (Even for a 4-hour car trip, I have always packed my folding stove and fuel, tarps and rope, work gloves, saw, firstaid kit, a bag of car food and some just-in-case food, etc.) Flu prepping is like blizzard prepping times 10 or 20 plus the sickroom supplies, so no, I wouldn’t have done it all.
I have always stocked up on water, but thought that any disaster would be short term, maybe a day or two. Therefore, I figured I always had enough food for that. If bird flu didn’t exist, I would not be prepped like I am now, but I think I would keep more food and supplies in my house that I did before I knew about bird flu.
HAve prepped before, will continue to do so. H5N1 is just one of many uncertainties.
No - not like this. We are at greatest risk of tornados. Tornados have caused massive damage in years past (1930′s) and we have “tornado alley” areas. No hurricanes, floods or wildfires. We DO sit near an old earthquake fault line.
I’ve always made sure that I keep certain foods and household items that we use regularly “stocked”. You would never find me without TP, or peanut butter for example :-)
Humor aside, I don’t think I’ll look at preparedness in the same way again.
CR
I see the distinct possibility of five events that ALL require advance planning and preparing to be ready for. And, it is certainly something to consider that several or all of these events could happen nearly simultaneously in sort of a “Perfect Storm” of disasters: 1. A severe economic downturn/depression. This could be a likely result of items 2–5, or it could come about from the U. S. going bankrupt from its multi hundreds of trillions of dollars in unfunded obligations. Or, it could happen if the Middle Eastern oil exporting countries shift from oil being dollar based to being priced in Euros. 2. A terrorist incident in the U. S. Two likely scenarios involve an anthrax release or one or more nuclear weapons being detonated in cities. 3. A massive Cat. 5 hurricane hitting the Galveston/Houston area in a direct hit (after taking out many of the Gulf of Mexico drilling platforms) and destroying a big chunk of our oil refining capacity ($10+ a gallon gasoline then becomes likely). 4. One or more major oil exporting countries stops oil production/exporting (either as a reaction to an attack or because of a terrorist incident, or because of anger like resulted in 1974 from the Arab-Israeli war). Major oil exporters include such unstable countries as: Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Russia. 5. A flu pandemic
John-Ohio
I’ve been prepped for 1st aid and bugout since after 9/11….duplicate kits of clothing, survival gear and rations, pet food and medical, maps in both cars, which are always filled up when they hit half-empty. I do some food preps every year at the start of hurricane season but nothing as mammoth as this has been. I’m also now much more attuned to thinking through each daily need in terms of electrical power, gas and water. The wiki has made an enormous difference in my all-threats awareness index. I hope I can exercise the discipline to keep this up.
Bird flu woke my husband and I up to the fact of the fragility of our current world. Just in time delivery, going to the market twice a week to get fresh stuff, basing our lives on service jobs that depend on a good economy, not knowing how to grow food for ourselves… all this became apparent as we considered bird flu.
Just look at the world situation right now. Oil prices likely to go way up, jobs will be at stake, global warming brings more eratic weather, terrorism anywhere, wars creating economic issues, over population threatening collapse of many things… I’m very grateful to be awake now, learning to garden, and storing lots of food in the cellar for any possible situation. It only makes perfect sense.
We all are not crazy to be preparing. What is nuts, is thinking this world will go on in a secure way for the rest of our lives, goods always available, jobs secure, peace and prosperity in our country. If I’ve learned anything over the last few years, it is that things can change radically in a very short period of time.
I have always kept at least a 30 day supply on hand. H5N1 has me out to just over 6 months and growing. I never went to the extreme’s that I have now. Being able to go with out power or water for as long as I can now. If H5N1 were to disappear tomorrow, would I keep up this level?? I really do not know. I would like to think that I would as a Just in case.
John-Ohio You pretty much described the perfect storm that I see brewing as well… only I see the global issues surfacing as much more than just a major hurricane event… rather I see us in for a dramatic and sudden climate change… because I believe we are at the tipping point with the “thawing” of the greenland and the polar ice caps. So you can add massive climate change and the resulting significant drop in food production and water availability (famine and drought) to the list of 5 you presented… and then you have the perfect storm.
Yes. “Katrina” woke me up..
Yes, I would prepare. I do for hurricanes. I’ve just wanted to do more and now I can. My grandfather was a Safety Engineer, he was also an Okie. My grandmother was the daughter of “dirt farmer’s” in Oklahoma. They always taught us to prepare and have back-up plans. I have always done that, always looked for the “what could go wrong scenario” and tried to plan for it. I’ve kept a month or more worth of food routinely. Even as a college grad just out of school. I’ve beefed it up to 3 months so far, and will go further very soon. This is also allowing me to start doing things I’ve always wanted to do such as garden, and can my food (I’m just starting). I’ve always felt I needed to know how to do these things, and now I know why. I didn’t want to have to collect water, but I will. My great-grandmother was a small Choctaw woman, and I can almost feel her over my shoulder guiding me, helping me, and smiling.
I’ve thought of threats such as the predicted East Coast Tsunami, the earthquake fault line the Mississippi River sits on finally going, even the NSA scenario of three bridges across the Mississippi River being blown up at one time would cause food riots in the Northeast within a week. Not to mention the “big one” in California. Of course, all of these would have accompanying economic downturn and I do the best I can with that. Prepping is smart.
I’ve prepped for years but I can’t say how or why I got started. The closest thing I can think of is that we moved to the country in ‘87 and we didn’t have any supplies within 10 miles. My mother was always a prepper but she didn’t know the term. I can recall how she loved coming to visit knowing I loved to shop at Costco just like here. She always had plenty on hand and I have as well.
We’re in Alberta, Canada and as for oil supplies they did a recent survey “A new poll suggests the vast majority of Americans are unaware that Canada is the largest foreign supplier of crude oil to the U.S.its survey of 1,000 Americans found that only four per cent of respondents thought Canada was the country that provided them with more oil than anyone else.” Betcha didn’t know that and to top that off we are friendly neighbors so you can relax a bit on that score.
Ooops I don’t know if your President wanted you to know that; sorry if I let that out of the bag.
Yes and No. Bird flu gotten us to prepare for a good number of months, but if it hadnt been for that, we would not have nearly as much on hand. Normally we do keep a very stocked larder because we buy lots when things are on sale, but it was not organized, more price related. Here in earthquake country, we always knew we would have enough to tide us over for a few weeks, even if it was unbalanced eating. If the threat of a pandemic passes over the next few years, I fully imagine our stores to dwindle again, but prehaps not as low as before. Or not. I really do like the feeling of security having an extra room of food brings. :-)
Prepping Gal-
Canada supplies more energy supplies to the US than any other single country, but it’s a plurality of our oil, rather than a majority of our oil. I think most Americans consider the ME oil suppliers as a block, or OPEC as a block, and Canada by itself.
Yes, although probably not as much. For several years I lived abroad in a country where it was often (but not always) difficult to find certain foods, so I would stockpile some when I did find them. Now, where I am in CT it’s a bit a schlepp to the store so I keep extra milk, yogurt, food, etc. in case I run out and don’t have the time to go to the store. I’d say normally I had enough food to last two weeks anyway (excluding fresh dairy and produce). We always have extra water on hand because we get bottled water delivered. I never prepped when I lived in CA, despite many close calls with wildfires and earthquakes. But last year, between Katrina and other hurricanes that greatly impacted ones I love, AF plus they are saying the East Coast may get hurricanes this year, I started prepping. And my three little ones are my main motivator.
Yes we would prep. My husband and I were raised prepers.
No - sort of. I’ve always bought a bunch of extra food and dry goods in the spring and summer for eating/using in the winter because DH has a seasonal job. My dangerously overstuffed pantry has often fed friends and relatives in crisis. But I’ve never planned for the possibility that my home could become a shelter for several families at the same time, and possibly for an extended period. We’ve had people living with us temporarily several times in the past, but it was only one extra family at a time and only for a few months each stay. Planning for a pandemic is sort of an extension or expansion of my normal life.
Yes, having been in the fire service for 26 years before retiring, and having seen the many things that can happen in this world, most of which come unsuspectedly and suddenly, I would prep. Teaching preparation to others while in the Fire Marshals office, I prepped along with them and still prep big time. The world itself is far too unstable, enviromentally wise, politically wise, weather wise to even think nothing can go wrong. Unfortuneately it does when we least expect it. Remember our parents always telling us to have clean underwear on when going on a trip,,,,,,always thinking ahead is the prudent thing to do. All is not right in the world.
lurkerMartha: Yes, some of us were raised prepers. I so agree!
Now I don’t know if I can ever stop. When I am in a store, I am always looking for a “great deal” in which to stock up on. I do control myself and only buy items that I know we will eat eventually. It does pile up though and I think my husband is now worried that I won’t stop.
I have enough for my family for probably 5 months. Now, I am prepping for other family members - just in case. If this pandemic keeps threatening for year after year, I am going to need a bigger house!
Yes, I would have prepped because of the uncertain times, but not food for 6 months duration, like I have now.
Other than greater attention to the medical side, bird flu has not so far galvanized me to do any [additional] prepping, so if the danger of a pandemic were to pass I don’t see that affecting me either. Conditions in the Middle East have been much more of a catalyst to top off supplies.
This has woken me up. I can’t say I ever “stocked” a full pantry, but this prepping exercise has made me pull it all together and learn to stock it. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t enough to wait out the storm if BF hits, but I sleep a bit better knowing we have more than we had yesterday prepped! I will never go back. It feels better this way - I want to learn to be fully self sufficient now.
If not for bird flu, I would not be prepping. If BF went away tomorrow, my pantry would live on. It really has made our every day life easier, to have extra supplies so we’re not always running to the store. We have also been prepared for a few power outages we’ve had.
If there were no threat of pandemic flu, I’d be all set, prep-wise. I live in inland rural New England, so the biggest threat here is a big storm (most likely an ice storm) that would both make travel difficult and would take out electrical power for a while (by taking a lot of lines down over a wide area). I have been prepared for that kind of emergency my whole life, said preparation consisting first and foremost of know-how and relationships with a good community and good neighbors, and secondarily of having supplies and tools.
My mother had a shelved room in the basement for her personal canning. Pickles, green tomatoes, peaches and so on. A wooden sauerkraut barrel with a wooden lid and stone on it. A pantry with canned goods. Always a gallon of vinegar, and a large tin of flour. It seemed normal. She shopped once a week if that often. There was a butcher a few blocks away. When I lived in Switzerland I had a tiny fridge, shopped every day. Walked to the bakers in the early morning for breakfast things every day. Walked to the local shops for each days meals, never had more than a days food available. About the only thing I did in the past was stock up on the special specials, and usually they ended up in a food pantry for people having hard times. Hopefully there will be no pandemic. I have enough to get by if quarentined and some to give to others. Every now and then I stock up a bit. Bought baby food as it was 3 and 4 for a dollar. In case I fell ill and needed nourishment. Last thing I bought was a few bags of lentils, as there will be a price hike. The lentil crop being hit in India. I really am not a prepper in the rational sense. Am not a real flubie either. I just like buying things on sale. I consider it a weakness to have shelves of jams, every variety from pepper and grapefruit marmelade, to boysenberry and lingonberry. I like to look at the stained glass effect on the shelves. Everything I do had to please me asthetically, more than practically. I like the look of golden pots of honey, and the boxes of every kind of tea, along with whimsical teapots of every sort marching up on top of my hutches in the kitchen. Dancing rabbits, iron, porcelin. I really should run a boutique, A hugh bat is flying around the library. Never saw one so large. Lucky omen. Its very tired, finally resting up in the eaves, trying to hang upside down. The librarians and others are marshalling forces, boxes, tableclothes. It has to exhaust itself.
Glancing over the posts on other threads, I see that a lot of people aren’t really flubies. They seem to have other issues, and many fears. We all want to be taken care of, we want to lean on someone once in a while, rest. If it wasn’t the avian flu that many talk about it would be something else, because they are now the caretakers, and caregivers. So concentrating on prepping is soothing.
The animal control officer caught the bat in his big net. Kids had a lesson in natural history. As they can be ferocious when caught, the little ones had to be restrained as they wanted to touch it. Interesting.
I got religion on prepping after the last Northeast US blackout. Our social infrastructure is a lot more fragile than we think.
Melanie, are you talking about the blackout from a few years ago? There are so many things meant by prepping. I think the main lesson from that one, for us urban commuters, is extra water, cash, a radio, and a decent set of walking shoes. I was appalled at the pictures of hoardes of women walking out of NYC wearing high heels. Since 911 I have made sure I could walk to my car which is garaged several miles outside the city, in case public transportation is down. Also, that I could descend from my high rise in the dark and some amount of smoke. Easy enough to hunker down at home, but what if I wasn’t at home?
It’s about visualizing the possibilities unique to your own situation and tailoring your supplies and response accordingly. Never good, though, to get too caught up in preparing for a limited ranged of scenarios.
ditto Melanie. Strange story about that blackout. My father passed away, and we were at the closing to sell his house. As it was, I was selling it to my Cousin. We are at the table, ready to sign, pens poised, and the room goes completely black, then lights come back on, off, then on. I look up to the ceiling and say “Dad’s….it’s o.k.!!!”. Little did any of us know the magnitude of the blackout!
I have always liked grocery shopping. I enjoy going to new places and checking out the grocery stores. I feel secure putting canned goods away and organizing my canned goods. My parents always had a basement filled with food. It is a good thing that this isn’t a disaster in which I would have to go clothes or shoe shopping as I would be lost.
“It is a good thing that this isn’t a disaster in which I would have to go clothes or shoe shopping as I would be lost.” HAHA! By January 2000 I had a rather swell “y2k trouseau” assembled. Some basics like extra sneakers and pumps and jeans. OK, I didn’t need them as a result of y2k, but I did enjoy opening my supplies box over the next year or two as I ran out of certain clothes. Are you sure you need bird flu as an excuse? LOL
Brooks – at 14:18
Had to go get hiking shoes this week for a child, found a great deal, bought a pair marked down to $20, then the next 2 sizes up for $5 each, can’t beat that!
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a few things in a larger size for my two sons and (hopefully hopefully hopefully) some things in a smaller size for me. Am I the only person who is gaining weight as part of my prepping? Ugh
katherine - I gained weight and am in the process of loosing it but it was from sitting in front of this blasted computer. If this was a disaster that I would have to go shoe shopping - I would surely stick my head in the sand!!! That’s the worse shopping for me.
So many good thoughts here. 9/11 and especially Katrina woke me up to the need to *really* prep. Prior to that, I always was “stocked up” to about a month’s worth of goods just because I shop at Sam’s and always stock up on deals when they arise at the grocery store.
As for some people being born preppers, I do agree with that. I jokingly attribute it to growing up reading things like Reader’s Digest “Drama in Real Life,” and watching news like the US/Iran hostage crisis unfold during the Carter admin when I was a pre-teen. Whatever the Woody Allen-esque reason, when bored I tend to look at my surroundings and think, “If I were stuck here for the long haul, how well would I/could I survive?” I’m also the person who anticipates accidents/mishaps before they happen with my kids, on field trips, at summer camps, etc.
I doubt I’d be going to quite the lengths I am if not for bird flu, though.
No, before I started prepping a few months ago, I had at most a couple weeks of supplies (and most of that was in the fridge) This despite the fact that I live in earthquake country. Katrina was my wake up call but I am a major procrastinator so it was not until I found the FW that I really started prepping in earnest.
Now I am up to 6 weeks supplies of food and growing. I am now working on water and power alternatives. Prepping has not taken over my life. It has just become another facet of it. An important one but not all consuming.
Mike
9–11 was my wake-up call, for a long while I thought I was prepping, the longer I prepped the more I learned and the more I bought. I know I still need more, somehow I enjoy the goal of finding stuff and getting it and researching what to get, it is just part of my everyday life now.
Yes,
I started prepping after seeing the footage from Katrina. Living in earthquake/volcano/tsunami country I realized the last people I wanted helping me was FEMA.
The potential if a pan-epidemic has me slowly extending my prep supply.
Yes. Prepping gives me a sense of control over whatever might happen.
Not to the extent I’m planning for this yr. I’m not however living in fear of this or anything else. Fear mongering is the MSMeida’a and the Bu$h administrations favorite past time not mine.
Are you kidding? Thisi s GREAT! I LOVE having shelves full of everything we need. It is delightful to know I am not going to run out of anything. We just keep the inventory current and TRY not to eat all the cookies at once.
My Mormon neighbors were SO right all along!
Nearly Ready – at 18:51
You are so cute! It is fun to stock shelves, and count rolls of toilet paper, isn’t it! ALthough, I still sometimes will borrow an egg from my neighbour, rather than crack open my 10# can of powdered eggs!
CAMike – at 17:12 That’s great, about your progress, and how prepping just becomes are part of life, it doesn’t have to be all consuming.
long term prepping is something else than a full pantry.. my goal is to prep for energy shortness, rising costs of food and other essentials. In other words getting a scooter that runs on biofuel (ethanol or diesel) and a heath pump and solar heath for a house.. a greenhouse, and to live near a good public transport system like train. Getting a carrer in substainable industri somehow.. Learning a lot about technical thing, DIY and buying technical equpment that may come handy, to fix and repair, before any shopping of silly produckts like a new sofa..
and I will also take a good airplane hollyday for the last time. mys kids will not have the luxury of traveling by plane so it will be nice to show the photos ;-)
take a look at this art project, its a good fiction on many of our discussions here. http://www.ark-inc.info/
I would probably not have prepped to the extent that I have so far if not for the birdflu…I always have enough food in the house to get through for about a month. But that is just because when I was a kid there never seemed to be enough food and now having alot of food in the house and lots of choices just makes me feel better.
I began with Y2K - Having worked in Technology I knew that most of the world was not ready for the changeover. I began to think through what the various infrastructure failures would have - If power is out the whole thing falls apart - Couple that with a report I saw by the US army that detailed the fragility of the power grid and I was hooked. Then came 9–11 - Add to Cart! Add to Cart! Add to Cart! got me to 4 months worth. Then you have Katrina, which reinforced everything I suspected about our government’s ability to respond. Pandemic Planning has formalized my approach and dedication. We now truly have a pantry of everyday things we use rotating them in and out and are finding it is a much better way to live
Always kept a pretty full pantry, then a bit more for Y2K in case of store delivery interuptions, then more after 9/11. It got to be a bit of game for me to see how much $ I saved buying in bulk/on sale and when I realized just how much that was, I really started- not prepping exactly- more like keeping myself from making those afterwork bread and milk runs that end up with a full carriage 100.00 later. It is just so damned convenient to have all that food, and other stuff that we use from day to day, in the house. I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t do it this way. But after my husband, who rarely buys into “disaster proficy” made a comment when we first started to hear about AI that he was really worried about it, I got very serious. So- No- I guess I wasn’t exactly prepping, not like I am now- but I was always having enough for a very long storm- so Yes- in a way -I would have been ‘collecting food’ no matter what, just maybe not as much of the kind for long term storage. Now- with Hurricane season coming on, the trouble in the middle east, North Korea and all that- I’m so very glad I have all that I have put away.
my mom and dad were raised dirt poor and worked for everything they had, and we grew up the same way, working gardens, milking cows, feeding chickens, and pigs, canning everything we grew and then some, I live as much like that as I can now, I still cann and make bread and live as selfsufficent as possible. I have always felt secure knowing what I had in my house, I have had people laffing at my pantry ever since I have lived out on my own. I also know what it is llike to do without so I have always told myself that I would never be in that boat again. I hope and pray that I’m not anyway and so I keep buying and puttiing away and I just bought a new pantry cabinet and found another one that I want to get later. I don’t want to have to rely on anyone to take care of me, cause it usually turns out that you got to put yourself first cause if not you will get lost in the shuffle.so for yourself and your families don’t stop now. :)
I’m with Jane way up near the top of this thread…..I overpack the car with safety stuff just to go to the grocery store!
Y2k woke me up, then I snoozed and 9–11 startled me awake again, then I snoozed only every once in awhile, prepping more then resting, then prepping more. Then I realized what needed to be done for BF & got busy and have pretty much stayed that way.
My greatest concern is not so much my personal level of preparation, but the astonishing lack of preparation of my friends, relatives, and neighbors. I seriously doubt that even one percent of the U.S. population could get by in their own homes without shopping or public utilities for one full month. Within a week, real hardship would become despair and despair would lead to criminal activity. How long did it take for things to erode into absolute anarchy in New Orleans? All of one day, wasn’t it?
I agree — I commented on my brother’s fridge to my husband last night….they travel to their son’s to babysit a lot so they’re home a few days then away a few, so it’s hard to stay stocked with fresh stuff, but I don’t think they keep powdered milk & things like that either. sigh. I bought 2 more huge boxes today.
I had always been prepared to some extent, for a week to a month. “Katrina” hit and we saw everything break down, and that got me thinking and then I saw an article on BF and I started reading Flu Wiki. That made me get organized and found out I was not as ready as I thought. BF kick started me but I will always be prepared now for what ever might happen. I am organized now…never thought I would know off the top of my head how many rolls of TP were in the house!
Food is one thing, but what will people do if the supplies chains are seriously disrupted and they do not have elctricity? Before long, they will be without water, because the pumps require electricity, too. Then, it is just a mater of time before the local sanitary district can no longer process sewage. No food, no power, no water, and they can’t flush their toilets. For most of the population, this will be hell. For the rest of us, it will be no worse than camping.
Until now, I’ve never done any more than make sure we had groceries in the house before a winter storm hit. I share Dr. Dave’s concern about social anarchy. If it weren’t for that, I’d think I have a fighting chance given the preparations I’m making. But given the fact that my community is not preparing beyond some plan known only to emergency management personnel, all bets are off.
Yes. Because I live in a hurricane prone area, and outside of Houston, I have prepped for quite awhile. However, this thing has me prepping on a whole new level. Also, last hurricane season (2005) really spurred me to be even more proactive in my preparations… couple that with this & I am just … well up at 3:40 am. Kids are asleep and I am not having to dodge nerf bullets or break up squabbles or answer non-stop questions!
Yes. Though not as much as now.
Because I can remember that my first husband didn’t keep his jobs because of his drinking and at one point we used the last little money left to buy five weeks of milk powder for my son, nothing for us, and me looking at him telling him to straighten out because we might have to give my son to social services. (Thankfully he then did rise up to the challenge and got himself a job which he kept)
Because I can still remember my despair, several years later, in not having enough food to feed my son properly, after I’d finished a month of food stores, not going to shops since I had no money, and how difficult it was to give him whatever was left while I just watched him gobble it down. My shame when the director of the school called me and said he had noticed my son eating huge amounts at the lunch time canteen (I’d told him to do that), and did I have financial problems? And assuring me the school ladies would make sure my son had two portions of food every day. I remember taking my calculator to the supermarket and add up all the items in my cart to make sure I had enough money to pay at the till (as I once was one penny short and was so embarrassed and had to not buy one item).
Because my two husbands came from very poor families and the view of empty shelves at home made them sick, so they would drag me in the shops (I hate shopping) whenever there were sales so that our cupboards would always be full.
Because when my first husband died, I had to go abroad to earn money to pay for my son’s studies and could only fly back at weekends, so I had to leave enough (easy to cook or reheat) food so that my son could feed himself during the week.
Because when my second husband died, I spent weeks at home, almost not going out, grieving, and thankfully he had stocked up (with the forced shopping trips) so much food and other items in the garage that I did not need much. This, btw, also saved me a lot of money because a death brings all sorts of unexpected bills that you have to pay for and which are not reimbursed by any type of insurance. The money not spent on food went for the bills and therefore my income was not diminished too much. After my grieving was better, I stocked up again.
Now that I have enough money, I just cannot stand empty shelves, so I stock up for whatever, bird flu or anything else. I advocate the same with all my friends and tell them what it’s like to be poor. Never again.
After a very poor upbringing in a family with a low wage and severe disability in the family never anything spare no matter what we did not have we had food.After a very bad marriage i went to my old family ways and stocked up and everytime i see a disaster or get a hint of anything to come out come the lists and them i move this here and that there rice in a dryer space even anything anywhere as i cannot think about mine going to bed hungry.It will not happen to me not again once the bird flu has gone if we survive then i will always be the same buy rotate and eat
without the panflu threat I would only be prepping about 20% of what I am or am planning to prep with it.
Dr. Dave and InKy-
Fail to plan, plan to fail. If you expect anarchy, then plan for that. If you expect most to be unprepared, plan for that. Have a backup plan. If you expect long term outages, plan for that. If you anticipate this might be TEOTWAWKI, think about how you’d respond. (you probably cannot *plan* for THAT, but at least have some strategy in mind.)
People say that I am incredibly quick to respond in a crisis. Maybe, but the big reason I respond so fast is because I don’t spend any time being surprised; I have a plan. It’s like the reason I rarely ever get lost. I have a map. (I have lots of maps!)
LMWatBullRun at 7:51-I, too, am fixated on maps. It might be one of those touchstones for survivor types. I have another word for us-“scavengers”, (proudly said, by the way).
Long before I was realy aware of the threat of a pandemic, there were various events for which I would prepare. Ice storms and thunderstorms are the primary ones here in northern Illinois. For example, where I live power disruptions are fairly common and they can last for a day or more, so I have two generators— one 7,000 watt and one 10,000 watt. Without electricity, I can not heat my home, keep my basement dry, or draw water from the well. I have also been building up a diversified inventory of appliances for heat, light, and cooking. I now have kerosene, propane, and Coleman fuel/gasoline lanterns and stoves. If I had to, my family of four could get by without modern utilities for at least a year.
Until this pandemic threat came along, however, I never stocked food for more than a couple of months. Thanks to the articles and tips from all of you at Fluwikie, I have become much more aware of the fragility of our supply chains. I now realize that most of the people in the U.S. are just a few delivery trucks away from being in real trouble. So, over the last several months I have deliberately acquired enough food, toileries, pet supplies, personal protection equipment, and OTC medications to last a year. And I am not really sure if that is adequate.
My next quest is to stock up on socks, underwear, shoes, gloves, etc., because if the supply chains are disrupted as badly as I anticipate, everything will become quite scarce and terribly expensive long aftr the pandemic has passed. If I overestimate the impact, I will simply have a hedge against inflation.
Knowledge is power.
Maps are a very large dose of knowledge about your environment.
As a Boy Scout, I was trained on map reading and orienteering. One of the things my instructors told me was that it wasn’t much use having map skills without maps. I subsequently made it a personal policy to buy the 9 quads around every residence. Subsequently I expanded that to 25, and included 1:100,000 and 1:250,000. I have *lots* of maps.
I was also taught that an officer can be forgiven for being defeated, but never for being surprised. (Cooper and RAH again…) One of the things I always think about is how things can go wrong and what I’d do if they did.
As regards preparation, both my parents survived the 1918–1920 epidemic and the Depression, and although we were a solid middle class family, we always canned food and kept a full pantry. (On a side note, I now understand where my father and mother’s preoccupation with cleanliness, hand washing and cleaning up after going out came from, not to mention their strictness on sneeze and cough etiquette….)
I’ve always prepped in the fall, to stock up going into winter. That’s when soups and baking supplies go on sale anyway. I can’t imagine going into winter without a full pantry. My parents always had stocked basement shelves with sale items and stuff my mother spent canning over the summer and a full freezer. This year I’ve been stocking up more over the summer and I feel pretty good about what I’ve accomplished. BUT, now that school is back in session and I’ve reconnected with families I haven’t seen all summer I feel very hopeless about their situations. We know so many single parents, some who only eat out, some you can’t afford to eat out at all. I’ll eat my hat if they’re prepped for a Chicago winter let alone something worse. It’s too overwelming to think about …..
LMWatBullRun I guess my biggest fear is not my failure to preparare adequately, but my neighbors’ collective failure to prepare at all. So, I have quietly been suggesting to my neighbors that they do something to take care of themselves when it hits. It’s not that we are all that close. It’s just that I may have to rely upon them to join me in a neighborhood watch of some sort and I really do not want to have to share my supplies with them.
Anarchy? Yes, I think I’m ready, but I do not cherish the thought of boarding up the first floor windows and doors and then keeping an armed watch from the roof. In a pinch, however, my contingency plan is to load my supplies into my Express van and take the family to live with frinds in a rural community. But things will have to erode into a life and death situation before I abandon my home.
Dr. Dave-
You know your situation and I do not.
I know nothing about you, your neighbors, or your capability.
But I cannot forbear offering unsolicited advice. I hope you will forgive me.
If it were me, and I knew something bad might/would happen to my family if I stayed, I’d leave SOONER rather than later. Anarchy and riots have a way of devolving in a geometric regression. Rapidly. Your unprepared neighbors may not view your departure with your supplies in a kindly light if the situation has already degenerated; if you doubt the long-term viability of your present situation then leave sooner rather than later. I’d be talking to my rural friends NOW, and I’d think about prepositioning some supplies there NOW. Better to have your eggs in multiple baskets…
LMWatBullRun
I do appreciate the advice and yes, my rural friends will welcome us. Our presence would actually be mutually beneficial.
The most critical issue to me is knowing when, or if, to abandon my home. Right now, all I can do is speculate on what sort of scenarios might unfold and in what sort of time-line they might occur.
Thanks.
I have been prepped for years and years, while in the fire service, and now retired from the fire service. The only thing I am adding is some top off of supplies, and replacing some that need replaced. Most of what I have is dried food, or prepackaged #10 cans, along with many other items that could see my wife and I thru at least 2 to 3 years without setting a foot off the property. Some of our preps can be seen on the thread Pictures of Preps.
I prep for “All Hazards”.
Have since the 70′s.
I’m also in the fire service as a volunteer.
Bird Flu preps are just an additional module I had to add.
Disinfection supplies, more PPE, some additional Rx, and most of all KNOWLEDGE.
Yes, I would be prepping even if bird flu was not on the radar.
Bird Guano – at 16:45 you know it seems that those of us that are in or have been in the emergency service (medical field, police, fire, etc) usually prep much more in normal times due to the fact we know what it is like when someone does not prepping at all. And most of us has been involved in large scale diasters during our career at some time or another, and know how prudent it is, to be able to take care of our own needs rather than wait for government to come to our aid.
Yes, prepped in the Aleutians when there could be a disruption of shipping. Prepped when married to a service man when there was a disruption of allotment check. Prepped in the 80s when I lived with my Mom and my Dad died. Prepped in the 90s during a divorce. Prepped in 2004 when hubsand lost his job. Prepping today when my vision is going and I can’t work anymore. I have always prepped. 2001 we had an earthquake and stores were closed for a couple of days. Prepped in 2000 when we had a five day ice storm. Why wouldn’t you prep?
I started prepping a year ago when I became aware of avian flu. Have read much since then on the subject and I now have about 8 months worth of food and supplies (except for water which I continually add (bought a pool also)). I feel better knowing that I can take care of my family if/when a pandemic evolves or in the event of a hurricane, earthquake, etc. ….but it was the fear of avian flue most definitely that lit a fire under my arse.
Gary Near Death Valley – at 17:19
Bird Guano – at 16:45 you know it seems that those of us that are in or have been in the emergency service (medical field, police, fire, etc) usually prep much more in normal times due to the fact we know what it is like when someone does not prepping at all. And most of us has been involved in large scale diasters during our career at some time or another, and know how prudent it is, to be able to take care of our own needs rather than wait for government to come to our aid.
I was going to make the same observation.
Those in public safety seem to have a higher PPF, as well as a higher level of preparation in general.
Yes, we seem take the “lessons learned” from others to heart and act on them.
That and we know that most of the time, we need to prep for our families, because they will have to be self-sufficient while we go out and do what it is we do.
Naw I only had enough food and gas on hand for storms. did the mother earth thing back in the seventies, never thought that the skills I aquired then were gonna come in handy. i know we can be fairly self sufficient on our 5 acres without to much sacrifice of comfort. I can grow raise or shoot most staples. Rx meds are the only nessesity I am dependant on society for.
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