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The older I get and the more problems in America I see everyday, the more I have been leaning towards the prepper movement. I'm sure I am like most everyone else, live an a regular subdivision with houses stacked on either side of me. Reliant on City water, electricity, big box grocery store couple of miles down the road. No land to grow my own crops and no meat except the rabbits and squirrels down by the neighborhood creek and woods.

While I probably have enough firepower to hold off a mini zombie apocalypse, I'm no too worried about that. And the more I think about it, I realize if the end comes, I'm going to be in the 99% that won't make it. That being said, my thoughts have been running more towards surviving short term natural disasters and things like that.

I've been researching food stores, water purification, solar power, etc, etc. and figure I should store enough recourses for 30 to 90 days. Anything beyond that I figure would be remote and again, probably beyond my capabilities.

So I'm curious as to my fellow Texans and armed citizens, how prepped are you? And just for conversation sake, what are your personal thoughts on prepping?

Here in hurricane country, it's foolish not to prepare for foreseeable risks.

Living on the coast and getting evacuated a few few times I am just modestly prepared. I have a couple of ham VHF/UHF radios a couple large cases of drinking water candles a month supply of canned goods. Water barrels,

Gas grill. What I don't have is a generator I want to get one of those small dual fuel generators.

Not a prepper but do live in the country and already have spotty, rural water supply so we have a pair of 500 gal tanks that will carry us for quite some time if needed, and pantry is ok to hold us a while... Have generators as well and plenty of cooking wood/charcoal and propane to go longer than I can keep meat fresh.

I think every home should be equipped to hunker down for at least a week. And if you live in hurricane prone areas, 2 weeks is more appropriate.

I'm not hunkering down for "end times" so if the worst happens, me and the rest of the fam will be raptured or at least headed UP.

I don't consider myself a prepper. I don't even think about it. But, I have my own well, and I can run the house and shop on my generator. I keep about 200 gallons of fuel on hand. As for food, my land would supply me with enough meat and fish to live forever. Vegetables are a different matter. If times got hard, the first think I would have to do is start a big garden. I have enough guns and ammo to repel a small force for quite awhile, but not because I am worried about it.

I've read Science Fiction about the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it since the 1960's.

My plans (in Houston) depend on which way the world ends.

Nuclear War: I found a map on the internet showing expected Nuclear targets near Houston. There were more than a dozen. My plan? If I can't leave town, put the lawn chairs on the roof to get a good view.

Asteroid or Comet impact: At 56' above sea level. My plan? If I can't leave town, put the lawn chairs on the roof to get a good view.
Deadly virus / bacterial infection / Swine Flu / Captain Trips / Andromeda Strain / deadly Cooties: My plans? Stock enough food, water, and medical supplies for the house to survive 2-12 weeks without getting close enough to anyone else to catch their cooties.

Another Revolution: There is a 38% chance of another American Revolution in my expected 78.7 year life span. My plans? Same food, water, medical as deadly cooties. Plus: guns, ammo, and knowledge and practice on how to use them. I think I need enough to win my portion of the war. For a Texan, I have a fair start. For a Californian, I have an "ARSENAL"

Hurricane: Shelter in place. Food, water, and medical supplies for 1 to 3 weeks. Hurricanes impact my home about once every 10 years. I have a specific check list. I check my inventory every June.

Dirty Bomb: Same as Hurricane.

Not much.

If it's the end of the world, a fait accompli if you will, then a drink of good wine and adios.

Of course, it's easy for me to say. Long in the tooth and not much giving a ... darn.

Frankly, I expect some radical dirt bags to set off if not a real nuke, a dirty one and the fall out misery aint for me...What I hope is our guys find out who did it and smack em with the real nuke thing.

tomneal wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:22 pm I think I need enough to win my portion of the war. For a Texan, I have a fair start. For a Californian, I have an "ARSENAL"

There's the answer! Get together with a handful of like-minded folks and head for California when the troubles come. Most of the folks there are disarmed. We'll rule the countryside!

Just kidding!

While I'm not expecting any real issues in my lifetime, my wife and I do have plans for:
1) Staying in place
2) Evacuating to the South if problems come from the North
3) Evacuating to the North if problems come from a southerly direction

der Teufel wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:51 pm

tomneal wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:22 pm I think I need enough to win my portion of the war. For a Texan, I have a fair start. For a Californian, I have an "ARSENAL"

There's the answer! Get together with a handful of like-minded folks and head for California when the troubles come. Most of the folks there are disarmed. We'll rule the countryside!

Just kidding!

That's it! You, me and a few others can head to California and we can set things right. We can call it New Texas!

Syntyr wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 2:43 pm

der Teufel wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:51 pm

tomneal wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 1:22 pm I think I need enough to win my portion of the war. For a Texan, I have a fair start. For a Californian, I have an "ARSENAL"

There's the answer! Get together with a handful of like-minded folks and head for California when the troubles come. Most of the folks there are disarmed. We'll rule the countryside!

Just kidding!

That's it! You, me and a few others can head to California and we can set things right. We can call it New Texas!

But... how will we eat meat? Aren’t they all vegans?

AndyC's list is a really good one and very easy to implement.

I'd only add for #1 get some reusable filtration like a berkey filter. if you have to burn through your stored supply or run out of purification you just need a source of just about any kind of water and you're set. stores forever too.

#6 is one lots of people don't really think about too but if you really need something or need to help someone else, keep good bartering items/a handful of duplicates you can do without.

I probably went overboard on #5, everyone at my place will be packing nice brand new full auto rifles.

The only other thing I would suggest is equipping vehicles with a get-home bag. I have small sling packs in each car that'll provide basic tools and food/water for 24-36 hours in case car travel suddenly becomes impractical. Like AndyC mentioned, those lifeboat bars are perfect for things like this. I have those things all over the place

AndyC wrote: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:33 pm 1. Water first - not just for drinking/hygiene/etc, but dried foodstuffs such as rice, beans, pasta etc need water to reconstitute them, so you actually need a lot for even 30 days. Water purification using unscented bleach - 8 drops of 6% bleach or 6 drops of 8.25% bleach per gallon of water. Check

2. Shelter ie. environmental controls: Blankets, space blankets, source of heat/cooking, propane, etc. Check

3. Regular bulk foods eg. Costco cans/jars and rotate them through your regular current meals - fancy survival foods aren't really necessary (unless you specifically want to anyway), but I'm fond of stashing those lifeboat cookies. Multivitamins etc aren't real expensive and are nice supplements. Check

4. Comms/electricity etc - hand-cranked and/or solar radios/flashlights, solar battery chargers. Check

5. Arms to defend your family and stash as well as some medical supplies. Check

6. Some trade goods/extras for neighbors. Check

I don't see prepping as a bad word - it's simply being prepared to go it alone for a month or so eg. Hurricane Katrina in N.O.

Everything on Andy’s list, plus I would add tents, and other temporary shelter. Having lived in SoCal for so many years, we always had a multiperson tent as part of our prep gear. If an earthquake knocks your house down, a tent is cheaper than a hotel .....which may not be available.

And like Andy says, “prepping” is not a dirty word, it’s just plain common sense. It’s people who don’t prep who are behaving irrationally. The whole movement of prepping for certain bizarre kinds of disasters - comet strike, the earth’s magnetic poles switching, etc., etc. - are kind of silly simply because they just don’t have much chance of happening in our lifetimes .....plus, prepping is prepping. It’s all the same list of needs/priorities; and the odds of events happening like an extremely destructive earthquake in California, or hurricanes and tornados in Texas are fairly high odds. If you have a family, it’s just plain irresponsible to not make contingency plans for their safety and survival, and then acquiring the means of fulfilling those plans. And the bottom line is, if you’re well enough provided for surviving weather or geological disasters, you’re well enough set up to survive pretty much any kind of apocalyptic event.

I don’t worry at all about the really far out scenarios. In fact, I don’t worry at all because I’ve been preparing. It’s a decades long habit. But the kinds of things I think about are much more pedestrian than the zombie apocalypse .... stuff like weather/geology related events, and also possible lawlessness in the wake of a breakdown in social order due to political and/or economic pressures. Venezuela didn’t used to be “Venezuela”, and exactly NONE of what is going on there has anything to do with any kind of natural or sci-fi disaster. It’s all man-made.

#7. whatever emergency supplies you might need for "four-legged family members". :-)

I live right in the middle of whats known as Tornado Alley. I'm sure MANY of you are familiar with that term. Living out in the boonies with no (reliable) internet/tv news stations/cell phone coverage I've taken a few steps to help survive on my land in the event of a mini disaster like a tornado or even a governmental collapse for at least 4-6 month. storm cellar, genny, various guns/ammo from a .22 rifle to .357 mag, to a mosin-nagant (for hunting or self defense), dried/emergency food/rations, potable water. and even if i run out of food I could possibly survive by hunting. squirrels, feral hogs, deer, wild hare. I've taken time to learn online how to create a few different kinds of snares for small game and even learned how to spot game trails so i know WHERE to set them up.. i wouldn't say im a hardcore pretter like doomsday end of the world post apocalyptic type prepping, but in case stuff gets real and it hits the fan, I'll be able to survive until the aftermath of the tornado is over with or until the "elites" get things settled and figured out (whatever the scenario).