How prepared are you right now?

[Proud Prepper]

If you had to shelter in place. Its to dangerous to venture out of your property. How long could you live as planned and then survive without any help from outside?


I could live with all neccessities and most luxuries for about 15 months, before propane is gone. Then just solar power for a few years. Then we could survive with all neccessities for about another 12 months. After that would depend on how well our gardens and chickens are doing.

Water should be good indefinitely, medical supplies should last for 5-7 years. Tools and hardware should be good for 10 years.

Guns, weapons, ammo, good for the duration.

Vehicles, tractor, atvs, good for 6 months of fuel.

Unlimited supply of wood for fuel.

That's if not attacked or buildings being destroyed. As well as no major medical needs or deaths.

I don't include outside electricity, cable tv, internet service or other utilities as a luxury to live, I will assume those are not available.

 

[Celeree]

No where near prepared enough. But then survival instincts would kick in. Looking around with what is available right now with what I've got there are options.

With no utilities we are pretty much living how they used to live. Wood, and plenty of it, for heat. Rise with the sun for light, going to bed when dark. Manual pumped water well, with materials already on property to set up rain catchment. Could use generator to run pump for storage tanks for water, if needed. Really need to get bigger propane tank moved and filled soon, that would help immensely.

Food wise the freezer and pantry is full, maybe 6 months with rationing, saving generator and what fuel is on property to use to keep freezer intermittently going. Don't have seeds socked away unfortunately, but there are already established nuts and berries. Wild turkey, quail, rabbit and deer. I regret not having a lot of seeds the most and will be working on this diligently. Water fasting may be in my future, haha.

Weather-wise, there's an underground house belonging to grandmother about 500ft away which retains about the same 65ish degree temp throughout the year we could shelter in, if needed.

Maybe a year? If I'm optimistic. Does not look great.

 

[robprc]

We just started out so not to well prepared yet. But our survival instincts would kick in. Looking around with what is available right now to us with what we have there are options.

We are pretty much living how they used to live. Wood, and plenty of it, for heat. Rise with the sun for light, going to bed when dark. We don't have a generator on property yet but where we live we are on our hospital generator line so if power ever goes out when their generators kick back on which is within only a few minutes than our power kicks back on.

Food wise our pantry, refrigerator/freezer is full along with our stock pile of canned and rice foods. Plus our two berry trees and garden.

Water should be good indefinitely, medical supplies were still working on but at least have a few months worth of supplies so far. Tools and hardware good for a couple years

Vehicles suv, car good for a few months of fuel

Guns, weapons, ammo, good for the duration. Am also working on self made improvised weapons

 

[Jayson]

We’re about 75% self reliant. I’d like to commit more resources to prepping, but with the Feds taking half of my paychecks to give to the welfare deadbeats, it’s not easy.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

We’re about 75% self reliant. I’d like to commit more resources to prepping, but with the Feds taking half of my paychecks to give to the welfare deadbeats, it’s not easy.

Yeah, you are in a bad spot for sure. While the feds don’t take 50%, the state you are in takes a large amount on top of the feds.

 

[Jayson]

Yeah, you are in a bad spot for sure. While the feds don’t take 50%, the state you are in takes a large amount on top of the feds.

There are a lot of ‘hidden‘ taxes that figure in to my 50% estimate. Like, for instance, the self employment tax for a small business owner, who has to add that cost into the price of a product/service supplied to the consumer. The Average Joe Citizen might not realize this...

 

[DrHenley]

Tax his land, tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his ties, tax his shirts,
Tax his work, tax his dirt.

Tax his chew, tax his smoke,
Teach him taxes are no joke.
Tax his car, tax his grass,
Tax the roads he must pass.

Tax his food, tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his sodas, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.

Tax his bills, tax his gas,
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more,
Tax him until he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.

Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"
And when he’s gone, we won’t relax,
We’ll still be after the inheritance tax.

Author Unknown (to avoid getting taxed on writing a poem)​

 

[Jayson]

^ The Democratic Party platform!

 

[Jayson]

 

[Mountain trapper]

^ The Democratic Party platform!

Both sides have taxed the **** out of us for years. The Repubics just do a better job of hiding their tax increases. Even if the fed tax rate is cut, states, local and property taxes always go up. Gas taxes go up, licenses and fees on evertrying always goes up. If a working person ever calculated all of the taxes they have stolen from them its well over 60%.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Please stay on topic, move the others to a tax thread.

 

[Jayson]

Just what I wanted to see....no more tax talk.

 

[ShadowWolf 13]

Myself and my family are 60% self sufficient. I believe we'd be alright should we need to hunker down.

 

[Acdoctor]

Security 95% food90% for up to one year, power 95 % non life threatening general medical . Seed bank in place. As ready as I can possibly be on a budget. What ever comes we will deal with it. Shtf I will see you on the other side if we all come thru it. This is going to be a November that we wont soon forget.

 

[Morgan101]

We are not as prepared as I would like to be. Looking at the major categories:

Shelter: 100%
Water: 100% - Plenty of sources, and ways to purify.
Food: 50% - We could last several months - Maybe a year.
Fire: 100% - Plenty of firewood - No issues keeping warm.
Security: 90% - Ample firearms and ammunition-House is reasonably secure
Medical: I wouldn't even hazard a guess. Several family members are reliant on maintenance medication. By far our biggest weakness.

Have you factored weather or climate into your thinking or preps? IMHO surviving in warm weather is much easier than cold or worse, severe cold. Our Winters are not that severe, so IMHO we would be O.K.

Great post, Rellgar. Makes people think, and makes you assess your own situation.

 

[user 6493]

I can go about 9 months maybe more,,,,

but no one is as prepared as they think they are,,,,, the power goes down and each and everyone of us are in deep chit

 

[Mountain trapper]

I'm about 75% of where I'd like to be. We have a lifetime supply of beef, chicken and eggs. Our orchard, berries and garden are well established and producing well. The wife has all the canning stuff needed to last for years. Ammo and reloading components will last a lifetime. We're on solar so electric should last until I run out of parts to keep it going.
Where we fall short on is: water and food storage.
Our well is 650' deep and 1/4 mile from the house, so it only as good as long as we can run the generator to pump water. We have springs and a pond on the property which is ok for drinking water but too far away for watering the garden. We get zero rainfall during summer so rainwater collection isn't going to do us much good. I need to drill a new well closer to the house and hope I don't have to go as deep as our current well.
Food storage: I plan to dig out a root cellar next year for dry food, canned food and root vegetable storage.
I'm still planing on putting up a greenhouse to give us a longer growing season. Normally our first frost comes in September and last frost is in June.

 

[TexasFreedom]

Weakest point: dog food. But I'm counting on zombies to provide a steady supply of that. Dogs are already on a 100% raw meat diet, but chicken/turkey/pork for the most part (cheap cuts). They haven't eaten zombie yet, I'm counting on them eating it. Don't have a good way to let them try it out right now! (oh wait, rioters!) (and if you don't get that this is 1/3rd tongue-in-cheek, step back & take a breath... but only 1/3rd)

 

[Jayson]

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

Not sure I will ever feel 100% prepared for a permanent grid down situation.

Shelter is good. Location is good. Water is plentiful and numerous sources on property and close to the house, as well as plenty of ways to filter it.

With our chickens, rabbits and lake filled with fish I feel pretty set with protein. But I have on my First Day Disaster List to go directly to neighbor who has beef cattle and buy one to process right away. Have money stashed for that and other purchases, before money is worthless. Saving silver and gold for after the money is used for TP! Will then head down the road the other way and see about a goat or two and some sheep. If they won’t sell, will be okay, but would rather have them...unless it is winter.

I keep pounds and pounds of heirloom seeds put away. These are rotated and replaced every spring. Have bags of dent corn, rye and oats to use for animals. Wheat for us and sweet corn for us too.

Have plenty of long term storage food for our entire group and some neighbors for a couple of years. Including canned veggies and 10# cans of dried butter and cheese. Think I’ve overdone it with the red and white wheat berries. Since it keeps forever if stored properly we’ve got a few thousand pounds.

Our fruit trees are finally old enough to be putting out quite a bit of fruit as is our vineyard. The green house is great, but would need to add some cold frames and a high tunnel for extra veggies. Have put away lots of wood and materials to build those. Praying our small tractor and rototiller will still work! We do have many hand tools if not.

We have lots of propane and a generator. Considering a back up that would run just the chest freezer, fridge and LED lights, which would use less propane. Hubby is finally going to purchase a solar system and backup for it. Think he’s getting nervous guys?

Not too cold here, but would need to install the wood stove we have to keep us from freezing during December, January and February. Lots of woods on our property so we would be okay in that respect for some years.

With our large group coming, there will be more than enough weapons Shoot:ar15: and ammo for at least 2 years. Would really like to have more and also loading equipment. I see that as PERFECT!

Thankfully none of us have medical needs. Praying it stays that way. I do have plastic containers filled with medical supplies, pain meds, allergy meds, antibiotics, aspirins, Neosporin, iodine etc, and a large, well stocked medical bag.

We have lots of lanterns, wicks, fuel, batteries, flashlights and a few kerosene heaters with a lot of fuel for them. Backup for the woodstove.

ive gathered plenty of sewing items as well as lots of material,
patches, thread, hooks and buttons.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

Weakest point: dog food. But I'm counting on zombies to provide a steady supply of that. Dogs are already on a 100% raw meat diet, but chicken/turkey/pork for the most part (cheap cuts). They haven't eaten zombie yet, I'm counting on them eating it. Don't have a good way to let them try it out right now! (oh wait, rioters!) (and if you don't get that this is 1/3rd tongue-in-cheek, step back & take a breath... but only 1/3rd)

It is a solid plan to keep a big bag of sweet potatoes to plant to help feed your dogs. i keep lots of carrot, zucchini and pumpkin seeds to grow for mine too! Try to keep enough dog food to last until the plants can grow to feed them.

 

[KateMTx]

I'm no where near prepared enough, but I could survive for a few months or so. . . probably a bit longer. Then I would have to rely on my skills rather than my stuff.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

I wanted to add that one would need to add grains, beans and corn to the sweet potatoes and veggies I named above to keep your dog healthy. My plan is to only do this until our rabbits are sufficient in number to feed the dogs as well as us. Then we would still make dog food with some sweet potato, grains and veggies included.

 

[Digout]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but how well would a generator or Solar Controller/Regulator stand up to an EMP?

 

[Proud Prepper]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but how well would a generator or Solar Controller/Regulator stand up to an EMP?

As the topic says, how prepared are you for that right now?

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but how well would a generator or Solar Controller/Regulator stand up to an EMP?

There are varying views on if and how much a solar system and generator would be affected by an EMP and or CME. From what I understand it depends on numerous factors whether or not these systems get affected and to what degree. Having backup parts for the solar system is very much advised. We are getting a smaller backup generator and protecting it in a faraday cage.

I'm sure some of the guys in the group who understand electric and affect of an EMP will jump in here.

 

[DrHenley]

It's a complicated situation. There are three components to an EMP that are at different wavelengths and behave differently and affect different types of circuits.

E1 - very brief (less than a microsecond) but able to fry transistors and other solid state components of modern electronics with tiny circuits. They are less effective against tube electronics and non-solid state electrical devices. Because they are ultra high frequency they are line of sight waves, and so may or may not effect generators depending on a lot of factors.

E2 - similar to lightning, in fact, lightning produces a more powerful E2 wave locally than a nuclear EMP does. Lasts from a microsecond to one second. The easiest to protect against using lightning suppression but can be destructive under the right conditions. Here's the catch: The E1 component can fry lightning suppression devices, leaving you without any protection against the E2 component.

E3 - the one that fries long wires and melts down power lines, and can last from seconds to hours to days. It is actually caused by the disruption of the Earth's magnetic field. If the generator is not hooked up to anything, it will survive that just fine. But if you have long power cords attached they could possibly backfeed a high voltage pulse into the generator as well as fry anything connected.

I would think that a standby generator, not hooked up to anything, or only hooked up to short power cords, and reasonably well shielded should survive under most circumstances.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

It's a complicated situation. There are three components to an EMP that are at different wavelengths and behave differently and affect different types of circuits.

E1 - very brief (less than a microsecond) but able to fry transistors and other solid state components of modern electronics with tiny circuits. They are less effective against tube electronics and non-solid state electrical devices. Because they are ultra high frequency they are line of sight waves, and so may or may not effect generators depending on a lot of factors.

E2 - similar to lightning, in fact, lightning produces a more powerful E2 wave locally than a nuclear EMP does. Lasts from a microsecond to one second. The easiest to protect against using lightning suppression but can be destructive under the right conditions. Here's the catch: The E1 component can fry lightning suppression devices, leaving you without any protection against the E2 component.

E3 - the one that fries long wires and melts down power lines, and can last from seconds to hours to days. It is actually caused by the disruption of the Earth's magnetic field. If the generator is not hooked up to anything, it will survive that just fine. But if you have long power cords attached they could possibly backfeed a high voltage pulse into the generator as well as fry anything connected.

I would think that a standby generator, not hooked up to anything, or only hooked up to short power cords, and reasonably well shielded should survive under most circumstances.

Very informative Dr Henley! Can you give a run down on solar systems as well? I read at one time that the inverter would be fried and perhaps the charge controller, but most likely the panels would be ok.

 

[DrHenley]

Same applies to inverters as to generators. Although with more solid state components, they may be more susceptible to E1. As far a solar panels, I have no idea how they would be affected, sorry.

 

[GeorgiaPeachie]

This is an interesting read...

Will Solar Panels Survive An EMP?

https://www.agilesurvival.com/will-solar-panels-survive-an-emp/

EXCERPT...
“But, how certain can you be that your solar panels will survive and EMP? The truth is, these systems can be vulnerable to an EMP attack.

The national power grid could be destroyed. Taking your system with it. But, solar panels will survive and EMP if you take the right precautions.”