? for The DoomsDay Preppers

[Widder, SASS #59054]

I've heard all the stories about how folks are stocking up on all kinds of stuff to help survive Doomsday.

 

Even having reinforced rooms in their houses or building something underground in their backyard to help survive. And spending all kinds of good money on stocking food and water.

 

Here's what I can't figure out:

 

Why are you buying all that food?

 

I mean, assuming you survive 'The Big One' and most of us won't, all ya gotta do is walk into all the empty houses and take all the food left in the kitchen cabinets. Quite Simple.

 

Shucks, you can even walk into alot of them and have hoards of guns and ammo if you need them.

 

Sooooooo, spend your money on a good trip. Take a few days off and visit a good Cowboy match. Spend the money enjoying life.

 

All that 'stuff' your stocking up on now will be FREE for the taking to those who survive.

 

And Heaven only knows how much bottle water will still be around when the rest of us are gone. Enough for all the survivers to swim in.

 

Have a good day and enjoy the thought!

 

 

..........Widder

[Mink Shoals Bandit, #49388]

I just hope the "Zombie Invasion" comes before "Doomsday".....If it doesn't I loaded a whole bunch of ammo for nothing.........LOL......Mink......

[Tucumcari Tim]

I've heard all the stories about how folks are stocking up on all kinds of stuff to help survive Doomsday.

 

Even having reinforced rooms in their houses or building something underground in their backyard to help survive. And spending all kinds of good money on stocking food and water.

 

Here's what I can't figure out:

 

Why are you buying all that food?

 

I mean, assuming you survive 'The Big One' and most of us won't, all ya gotta do is walk into all the empty houses and take all the food left in the kitchen cabinets. Quite Simple.

 

Shucks, you can even walk into alot of them and have hoards of guns and ammo if you need them.

 

Sooooooo, spend your money on a good trip. Take a few days off and visit a good Cowboy match. Spend the money enjoying life.

 

All that 'stuff' your stocking up on now will be FREE for the taking to those who survive.

 

And Heaven only knows how much bottle water will still be around when the rest of us are gone. Enough for all the survivers to swim in.

 

Have a good day and enjoy the thought!

 

 

..........Widder

 

Wow Widder,

That's a happy thought. Unfortunately true to a certain extent though. If and when it comes to that, I would rather have stocked up on firepower and ammunition. With that, you can get anything. Scary, but a fact.

Tuke.

[Guest]

I've heard all the stories about how folks are stocking up on all kinds of stuff to help survive Doomsday.

 

Even having reinforced rooms in their houses or building something underground in their backyard to help survive. And spending all kinds of good money on stocking food and water.

 

Here's what I can't figure out:

 

Why are you buying all that food?

 

I mean, assuming you survive 'The Big One' and most of us won't, all ya gotta do is walk into all the empty houses and take all the food left in the kitchen cabinets. Quite Simple.

 

Shucks, you can even walk into alot of them and have hoards of guns and ammo if you need them.

 

Sooooooo, spend your money on a good trip. Take a few days off and visit a good Cowboy match. Spend the money enjoying life.

 

All that 'stuff' your stocking up on now will be FREE for the taking to those who survive.

 

And Heaven only knows how much bottle water will still be around when the rest of us are gone. Enough for all the survivers to swim in.

 

Have a good day and enjoy the thought!

 

 

..........Widder

 

 

You mean like when Hurricane Katrina hit?

[Hacker, SASS #55963]

My list of obvious observations.

 

1. some of the food that survives will be past its shelf life

2. their may be gangs better organized than many who may object to your scavenging in their territory

3. you may live in a rural area where there are not so many homes to scavenge from.

4. what if the houses are not empty. until you enter you don't know.

5. there are many doomsday type events. Some survive better than others.

 

Besides the preppers may find that this is the most exciting thing they can do in life.

[Appalachian Alan]

Depends on what your Doomsday senerio is...

 

Nuke or economy colaspe or earthquake or what.

In a lot of these, the locals will already use what they have and riot and plunder all the grocery stores.

 

So "it depends"

[Guest]

I've heard all the stories about how folks are stocking up on all kinds of stuff to help survive Doomsday.

 

Even having reinforced rooms in their houses or building something underground in their backyard to help survive. And spending all kinds of good money on stocking food and water.

 

Here's what I can't figure out:

 

Why are you buying all that food?

 

I mean, assuming you survive 'The Big One' and most of us won't, all ya gotta do is walk into all the empty houses and take all the food left in the kitchen cabinets. Quite Simple.

 

Shucks, you can even walk into alot of them and have hoards of guns and ammo if you need them.

 

Sooooooo, spend your money on a good trip. Take a few days off and visit a good Cowboy match. Spend the money enjoying life.

 

All that 'stuff' your stocking up on now will be FREE for the taking to those who survive.

 

And Heaven only knows how much bottle water will still be around when the rest of us are gone. Enough for all the survivers to swim in.

 

Have a good day and enjoy the thought!

 

 

..........Widder

 

 

Think about what you said here. If there were homes with food, water, and ammo why would the occupants just pick up and leave or just expire?

One cannot just sit back and demand nothing can happen bad to them because they commanded it not to. Most I have met rationalize this. Like most of my neighbors and associates insist that nothing could ever happen because it would cut into their future Louis Vitton purchases, that new set of golf clubs or some other frivolous possession that has no real life function.

Just think of prepping as a life insurance policy that you eat and shoot that you hope you won't have to ever cash in on.

Coming to a barrio near you http://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/article/Zetas-guns-uniforms-captured-in-raid-near-Eagle-1692024.php

[Guest]

Depends on what your Doomsday senerio is...

 

 

The scenario would pick you. Not you pick it.

[Hogleg Hunter]

For those of us in hurricane areas prepping makes sense. Not the end of the world but having water, food and light makes a difference in comfort.

[Guest]

And Heaven only knows how much bottle water will still be around when the rest of us are gone.

The human body holds an average of 13 gallons of clean drinking water that requires indefinite replacement. Add that to your expected longevity

Then add the worlds population doubling in the next ten years into the equation and count up how many bottles of water just laying around you can acquire.

TN the state you hale from has some of the nations best soil so you can grow anything and include 39 inches of rain a year.

That's also 39 inches of rain you can harvest off your roof once filtered.

[Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363]

In a lot of these, the locals will already use what they have and riot and plunder all the grocery stores.

 

From watching news coverage of other disaster events what usually gets plundered is flat-screen TV sets, liquor, and Nike shoes.

 

Groceries? That's what the gubbermint EBT card is for.

[Happy Jack, SASS #20451]

I guess we're prepared and didn't know it. We have been "off the grid" for 17 years now. Generate our own power, store water(have our own well) and food, only go off the property about once a month for fresh milk, fruit, etc. We have 3 years of diesel, 2+ years of propane, about 9 months of water stored, easily 6 months of food, and plenty of firearms and many thousands of rounds of ammunition. The best part though, is we are 65 miles from the nearest town, and have only one way into our place on a one lane mile long road dynamited out of a cliff. Perimeter alarms, visuals of the road, and other security I won't talk about. Next nearest person is 14 miles away. We have no phones, and only satellite internet and TV. If a disaster happened we probably wouldn't know for a couple of weeks unless the satellite kept working.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

Ignore a doomsday scenario. Unless you live next to a port city everything that you consume comes from somewhere else. Gas, food, electricity, clothes etc. If the distribution were interrupted for any reason the grocery stores would be out of food in one day. Panic buying.

So when there is no food your "living" neighbors will soon be your enemy. It may make good sense to have at least a months supply of food stored for the XXX situation. And be more than willing to protect it and your family.

Ike

[Curley Cole, SASS #56849]

Guess it all depends on what yer defination of "doomsday" is. I did survival consultations in the 1980s..back then folks were prepping for the big bomb. I figgured that in so cal with over 200 targets we wouldn't have much of a chance so I was focusing on stuff we might be able to survive and what I knew about....so I was paying attention to earthquakes and other naturals stuff. And my main focus was in the area of first aid. (like did you know how important it is to have a bottle of eye wash in yer first aid kit...how many kids get stuff in their eyes.)

 

but I also discovered quite by accident how others would easily find out about your preparations. During a power outage that covered just a 4 block neighborhood, we lit up our Addladin lantern, turned on our battery tv and other things and from outside it looked like we still had power. We had almost the whole neighborhood come to our door asking if we still had power. If that power lasted a couple of days just how many of those folks would come knocking at our door "expecting us to share"....

 

The old joke about God helping those that help their selves..."God help me in this flood...and God says I sent you a boat and I sent you a helicoptor........" anyways ya get the point...

 

good evening and be safe.

curley

 

and make sure yer first aid kit has a bottle of eye wash in it.....heheheh

[Seldom Seen #16162]

Widowmaker,

 

The problem with your argument is you are relying on other people for your suvival. Your assumption works if you are the last man on earth which is unlikely. As pointed out not everyone is going to bug out and in the absence of police gangs will roam through neighborhoods looting.

 

Here is the midwest we call it self-sufficency. Big Sis recommends that everyone keep at least two week supply of food and water on hand. In other words Big Sis says it will take at least two weeks before some type of law and order can be established. Food? All refridgated food will spoil after three days so it is canned or freeze dried. Canned goods have a shelf life of a year. Freeze-dried 25 -30 years. A pantry full of freeze-dried food and I don't have to worry about what I have on hand and where I am going to get more. Be honest. How much food do you really have on hand? If your wife shops once a week the first week won't be bad but come the second week you are going to be pulling stuff that is way back in the cabinet.

 

I think it is very important to correctly assess your risk. Large scale disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes require a different approach than tornados. I was watching something recently as a lady that had turned a bedroom into food storage. I can't begin to guess how much she has spent but I would start with $5,000 but it could easily go over $10,000. She lives out in California and is perparing for the big one. The only problem with her plan is fire is the greatest cause of property loss and she lives in a wood frame house. Hello! Fire, no fire department.

 

There was a episode of Doomsday Preppers that the couple said they had enough food to feed 22 people for 15 years. This couple was very well organized and had a well thought out bug-out plan except for one thing. They can't take all of their food with them. Which means they will be feeding the very people they are trying to get away from. Hello?

 

All of this prepper talk and shows has increased my awareness for self-sufficency and is taking my level of prepareness up a notch or two. The last situation want to find myself in is having to loot my neighbors to survive.

[Lone Dog, SASS #20401]

Regular canned goods will last WAY more than just a year. WAY more. Heck we ate C rats in Nam that were who knows how old. Left over from Korea was the scuttlebutt.

 

The main thing you will need is ammo.

 

And the will to use it.

[Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363]

It never hurts to be prepared. Remember the Aesop fable about The Ant and The Grasshopper?

The idea of relying on whatever your neighbors left behind ... ? I do believe that's called 'looting' and will likely get you shot.

 

I do have to chuckle at the proponents of the bug out bag. All the expert advice says you should have enough to get you by for three days. So you do bug out ... where are you planning on going and what makes you think you'll be welcome when you get there?

 

Show up on the doorstep of someone who did prepare, and do these buggers think that they'll be given food and shelter while bringing nothing but an empty bag and an appetite? Not damn likely. Show up with a bunch of other stragglers, and the homeowners will likely look upon all of them as a desperate mob intent on looting. All that stockpiled ammunition will likely get used. Not a good option for the hapless refugee.

 

So the bugger heads to a givernment refugee camp ... if any exist and are set up in a timely fashion. Don't count on that either. If you have any weapons when you show up, they'll be seized leaving one totally defenseless. Then you're dependent on whatever inept rationing scheme they have for your food. How long do you think it will be before sanitation fails and you're ankle-deep in crap? A large concentration of people in unsanitary conditions becomes a petri dish of all kinds of disease. All in all, another bad option.

 

Head out and try to live off the land? Sorry - you can count on predators, either individuals or gangs, also being out and about. Unless the bugger is prepared to travel at night and sleep by day while traveling to whatever Shangri La he thinks is out there, I'd give him about two weeks before being picked off and picked clean.

 

Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, infrastructure failures can be expected. Blocked roads, no electricity or running water. If it happens in the winter, you can expect a large segment of the population to either freeze to death or die of carbon monoxide poisoning or house fires when they tried to burn something indoors to stay warm.

 

So it seems the best option is to stock up on enough to get by for at least two months, although I think six would be better. Things might stabilize in half a year, hopefully. Figure out how to harden your house against intruders, and stay vigilant.

 

And don't forget to stock up on the one item that is the lynchpin of Western civilization: toilet paper.

[Seldom Seen #16162]

quote name='Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363' timestamp='1330172526' post='2378688']

It never hurts to be prepared. Remember the Aesop fable about The Ant and The Grasshopper?

The idea of relying on whatever your neighbors left behind ... ? I do believe that's called 'looting' and will likely get you shot.

 

+1 and while ignoring Christian values such as thou shall not steal. Makes a person wonder what other Christian values will be thrown under the bus.

I do have to chuckle at the proponents of the bug out bag. All the expert advice says you should have enough to get you by for three days. So you do bug out ... where are you planning on going and what makes you think you'll be welcome when you get there?

 

A true well thought bug-out plan requires years to prepare. The first and most important thing is having a place to bug-out to. This means buying some land somewhere, at least making it suitable for long-term camping/RVing with hook-ups or better building a house/cabin. This will establish you as a taxpayer.

 

Next you need to make frequent trips to your hide away getting to know people, spending money with local merchants and building friendships.

 

Show up on the doorstep of someone who did prepare, and do these buggers think that they'll be given food and shelter while bringing nothing but an empty bag and an appetite? Not damn likely. Show up with a bunch of other stragglers, and the homeowners will likely look upon all of them as a desperate mob intent on looting. All that stockpiled ammunition will likely get used. Not a good option for the hapless refugee.

 

So the bugger heads to a givernment refugee camp ... if any exist and are set up in a timely fashion. Don't count on that either. If you have any weapons when you show up, they'll be seized leaving one totally defenseless. Then you're dependent on whatever inept rationing scheme they have for your food. How long do you think it will be before sanitation fails and you're ankle-deep in crap? A large concentration of people in unsanitary conditions becomes a petri dish of all kinds of disease. All in all, another bad option.

 

Hurricane Kat proved time and time again how all law and order broke down and people were left on their own includng the refuge camps.

Head out and try to live off the land? Sorry - you can count on predators, either individuals or gangs, also being out and about. Unless the bugger is prepared to travel at night and sleep by day while traveling to whatever Shangri La he thinks is out there, I'd give him about two weeks before being picked off and picked clean.

 

Where do you think all the deer and other wild game is heading to with a bunch of people tramping through the woods?

Depending on the magnitude of the disaster, infrastructure failures can be expected. Blocked roads, no electricity or running water. If it happens in the winter, you can expect a large segment of the population to either freeze to death or die of carbon monoxide poisoning or house fires when they tried to burn something indoors to stay warm.

 

So it seems the best option is to stock up on enough to get by for at least two months, although I think six would be better. Things might stabilize in half a year, hopefully. Figure out how to harden your house against intruders, and stay vigilant.

 

Works for me. My wife has a friend that knows how to can and a food processor and one of those vaccum baggers would be a way to store a lot of food.

And don't forget to stock up on the one item that is the lynchpin of Western civilization: toilet paper.

 

Can you say "black market".

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

In southern California we won't be able to go anywhere unless there is a LOT of advance warning. A light rain jams the freeways up no end. What would a panic evacuation or other disaster do?

 

Me and Ma will sit it out at home and do the best we can with what we got.....which realistically should see us through about three or four weeks. After that we're gonna be in deep doo-doo, both figuratively and actually.

 

If nasties come calling we'll stack a bunch up in the yard before we go down. Hopefully they'll decide to work on softer targets first, but I'm not going to bank on that.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

On the other hand we not survive these dang double postings.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

Widder Dear,

 

I didn't know you were such a pessimist or is it optimist.

 

For years, Hubby and I wanted to move to the country. After 9/11, we knew we didn't want to live six blocks from the state capitol. Finally, in 2004, we found the property in the boonies. In 2008, we finished the house and moved in.

 

We have made "friends" with three flocks of turkeys and lots of deer. Hubby can strew seed and within 1/2 hour the turkeys are here. The deer love it when Hubby cuts shrubs and we have a huge supply to cut.

 

We are close friends with two neighbors.

 

One neighbor, who we hear has five homes, has a lake (never met him; he's rarely here). In the winter, another neighbor has a creek. We have a potbelly, wood burning stove.

 

We are planning a garden. Need to get moving on that.

 

So far, that is as prepared as we have gotten.

 

Regards,

 

Allie Mo

 

PS I buy my TP at Costco.

[Badlands Beady]

I'm 62, with high blood pressure and bordering on CPD. My wife is 62 with diabetes and a wonky thyroid. If TEOTWAWKI happens anytime from now on, we're toast no matter how you figure it.

 

I'm not being pessimistic, there's something liberating about inevitability. There's absolutely no reason to worry about the future.

[Seldom Seen #16162]

"When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened”

 

Winston Churchill

 

On the other hand even the Bible teaches to prepare for the future.

[Burt Blade, #25657]

One man's "doomsday prepping" is another man's "getting ready for the next hurricane season". Once upon a time, most of us were farmers, and we put away enough to get through a bad year or three. A long time before that, we were mostly hunter-gatherers, and had to put away enough to get us through an overly-long and rather-bad winter. (In the middle of an ice age.)

 

I suspect there is something like a “squirrel gene” in humans, that compels us to horde stuff for the bad times. Look at how much stuff we acquire for our daily lives, from books to CDs to clothes to hats. Some folks turn that thinking to long-term planning. Nothing inherently wrong with being ready for rough times. They happen, unpredictably. Think of that year of food, in terms of having lost your job and needing to feed the family. Few things will drive a man to irrational behavior more than “my kids are starving”.

 

If you can live two weeks without anyone leaving your house, you are pretty well proof against desperation for a large number of foreseeable events. You are also in a position to help family, friends, and neighbors. Charity is not just putting a C-note in the Salvation Army kettle every year.

 

Knowing how to purify large quantities of water from scrounged materials is gold. So is knowing how to make soap. So is knowing proper “field sanitary procedures” – knowing how and where to dig the latrines, and why the kitchen and water supply is _way_ the heck away from them. If you can do all three, you just knocked down about 95% of disaster-opportunistic diseases.

 

Clean water, clean bodies, and excrement managed strictly = healthy camp. Miss any one of these = plague camp. (over simplified, but it makes the point.)

[Dusty Morningwood]

In most speculative fiction dealing with a major social collapse, lone wolf or isolated survival types will eventually fall prey to well organized gangs. In most of these works, long term survival only works in cases where large groups of people pool their resources and skills. So if you have not so much food,but lots of guns and ammo, then you have some bartering power to be allowed into a group. A large group is better prepared to scavange safely and pick up other "strays" who might have something to bring back to the group. I remember a part of "The Postman" that said how every "survivalist" bunker changed hands a dozen times until every solar collector and wind generator was destroyed. If you are fortunate enough to live in an isolated area and can farm and hunt, that is great. But eventually someone will find you and you can't stay inside all of the time. Having lots of guns and ammo is great, but how much can you carry in your vehicle and then on your back? Like it or not, the best way to survive a major disaster or social collapse is to do everything you can to try and keep some cohesive and "official" order.

[Guest]

Hopefully this will not fall on deaf ears.............

[Dusty Morningwood]

never mind. thought this was new.

[Lou Graham, # 26112]

There weren't many "lone" cavemen. There's a reason people band together. Part of the prep is putting together your "team" for the upcoming "event" - whatever that is. Can you shoot, build a dam, set a broken bone, build a cabin with non-power tools, make soap, etc? You need a skill and/or some supplies to contribute. Your skill will last, supplies run out, it's best to have both.

 

Example: I could easily shoot one of the deer that roam through the back of our property. I can cook it and feed the whole neighborhood. Whatever happens in between shot and pot is an issue. My neighbor 2 doors up is going to have to help with that Teamwork.

 

Besides TP, foil, bleach and matches are good to stockpile, not to mention ammo or the components to make it plus a non-electric press. The ammo may be more valuable than gold coins.

 

TIP: In most types of "events" the hot water heater survives, even if the power is out, that's a substantial source of clean water.

[Manatee]

3 minutes without air, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food. You can go a pretty long time without food and you could always eat yer favorite dog if necessary.......but, if it lasts longer than 3 weeks, something like 80% of the people will make it less than 6 months.

 

Good thing you're skinny. Not much meat on your bones.

 

Your zombie friend,

 

Manatee

[Russ T. Sites]

We all think nothing will happen , 911 was strange when you looked into the sky and and it was quiet, then the power gride went down a few years later. Both these open my eyes how fragile we are. I would love to live off the grid but at this point I have to put my trust in the people who are running the show. My wife wouldn't last long after no meds, I'm like the eveready bunny I'd find away to keep going. We try to save money and food for a rainy day but you have to take reasonable precautions not go over the edge

[Rowdy Yates, SASS #141]

No offense to anyone but from a fire-rescue standpoint we always appreciated those that took care of themselves well in a disaster whether it was local or larger.

Looters should be shot on sight and those sponges that depended on someone else to take care of them....well they are who they are I guess.

[S. Quentin Quale, Esq. SASS 9953]

I have a good friend who once noted that "all civilization is four meals away from collapse."

 

So having a reasonable "reserve" of essentials is a Good Idea.

 

I was "surfing" the other day and ran across a program about a guy who builds bunkers for "preppers." Since it was the best offering of the 126+ channels I've got for that day (pretty sad, eh? ) I watched it. He had four different ones on that ran from a "buried closet" to a multi-room, underground "taj" with all the comforts of life. He was touting his "security" features loudly (which was great until one of his clients reported that his "secure generator" had been stolen ). The funny thing was I could bust any one of these bunkers with what I've got on my farm right now. I would not have to acquire a thing.

 

Further, no prepper I've ever seen had any livestock, seed, fertilizer, harness, etc. Some "off the grid" folks have these things, but even they are not "self sufficient" because they also use windmills, pumps, solar cells, lead acid batteries and inverters.

 

Short-term events (mostly "natural disasters") call for reasonable preparation. If you really think society is about to collapse you'd best be living on some good land with the tools and skills to work it.

 

SQQ

[Slowhand Bob, 24229]

What percentage of the population is well post fifty? How many of those require specific drugs for any long term survival? What is the non refrigerated life expectancy of those drugs? Even the non combatant related injuries, frequently including minor ones, can go south on us and this goes double for those with diabetes or liver problems combined with a less than sterile environment.

 

The zombies will spill out of the large cities like a swarm of maddened fire ants leaving the mound, just as soon as they have depleted the city stores. For a short while their sheer numbers will overwhelm anything in the way. You will be on the menu next if you live anywhere near and along the primary evacuation routes out of town. Eventually a few zombies will even stumble onto the most remote and hidden retreats. These will have become the most dangerous and smart predators of the new world and will not confront you but simply set traps for those times that your guard must be lowered.

 

You will need to come out of your well hidden retreat to hunt and gather at some point and there is when you will be vulnerable to the hidden snipers. Its eve worse if one must depend on the rural farm and his labor to work it, a good handy assault weapon will still put you in second place to someone, armed only with a crossbow, hiding in the woods beside your field while you work! As time goes by your neighbor just might become your worst enemy unless there is a special or cooperative bond between you.

 

In a total collapse, you will likely not last beyond short to mid-term survival no matter the plans and preparations made for an individual or small family group. Larger groups will even become a part of a power struggle with other groups with only the most powerful surviving. Picking those who survive into a long term 'new society' era would be more a crap shoot than an intelligent selection.

 

These were great mind games to play as a young man but alas the truth set in when we become old and disease ridden. All of those plans of having a secret little hidden kingdom and offering shelter to all of those poor movie starlets wandering around and in need a big strong man to protect them, well now they would have to protect me! As far as toilet paper, you will not use near as much of it when you only eat a tiny meal every few days or so! Fingernails and toenails do not offer much nutritional value either. As to eating Fido, just hope he doesnt figure that one out before you do!

[Brother King, SASS #69031]

I guess we're prepared and didn't know it. We have been "off the grid" for 17 years now. Generate our own power, store water(have our own well) and food, only go off the property about once a month for fresh milk, fruit, etc. We have 3 years of diesel, 2+ years of propane, about 9 months of water stored, easily 6 months of food, and plenty of firearms and many thousands of rounds of ammunition. The best part though, is we are 65 miles from the nearest town, and have only one way into our place on a one lane mile long road dynamited out of a cliff. Perimeter alarms, visuals of the road, and other security I won't talk about. Next nearest person is 14 miles away. We have no phones, and only satellite internet and TV. If a disaster happened we probably wouldn't know for a couple of weeks unless the satellite kept working.

You do live in a specatacular part of this planet. It's certainly one of my favorite scooter rides down the Colorado and into the Monument Valley. I always feel like the Duke... and I'm usually riding with 100-200 Natives, which brings a grin whenever I think on it.

 

You're also, uniquely situated among a population that practices preparedness. It was ridiculed for a long time, but it seems that others are beginning to wake up to the idea. It's a different way to think when you don't assume that the grocery store will always have been re-supplied.

 

Hat's off to you, HJ. "Off the grid" has been a life-long wonder to me. I have a good friend who was featured on the Nat'l Geo episode about 'preppers', but even he doesn't make it an entirely self-sufficient way of life. Good on ya!

[Manatee]

Here's one of the best I've had. Now....bring it along with a nice Barolo or Valpolicella and you've got a fine dinner. Violin music optional.

 

Freeze-dried Lasagna