FUTURE PLANS

[blackhawk]

what are peoples or groups plans for after a year and things arent back to normal or slow getting back to normal.
we prep. for many reasons weather ,our gov,forgein gov, little green men or woman.
every body has a year supply of food in one year it will be low or starting to get low what will you do?
some fears
1.food
2.water
3.people
4.homes
5. air quality
6.war
7.roaming gangs
what are your thoughts as a liked minded group?

[1Admin]

1. A year supply should be viewed as a starting point IMO. Easy enough and affordable to everyone to put up a basic year supply of grains for less than a dollar a day. No one on the net has an excuse IMO. Put $.75 in a jar every day and see how it builds up.

1b. We need to get to the point where we are producing a good portion of our own food. This isn't easy. We've been working at it well over a decade and the best years have brought maybe 60% or slightly more.

2. I think it's important to have a multi layered plan here like in other things. Mechanical and electrical ways to get water wherein YOU control the power source. Other options including rainwater harvest, use of ground water resources, etc. See the thread "Water Resupply plan".

3. People- hopefully a YEAR into it, security issues will be lessened. Also, the way I see it any survivors after that long are either-

A. Going to understand WORK finally. Most Americans really don't understand it, hard physical labor, being RESPONSIBLE for your own well being, etc. These things are LOST currently. Survivors a year later will understand this concept.
B. Or their will be really good at looting, theft and murder. I.e, looters/raiders that made it a year plus into it. These are going to be the ones that the half arse community watch are not going to present a challenge for. These are the ones that you WILL have to hunt down, snipe at from long distances, kill with boobytraps, ambush in the middle of the night, etc. Raiders that make it this long will understand that they only survive through RUTHLESSNESS. They will know that and they WILL USE THAT. If anything raiders will be MORE dangerous a year into, just hopefully less of them.
C. Their will still be a handful of people that just wander aimlessly and that for whatever reason still make it. They will get r%ped, robbed and abused by the raiders. The true survivors will likely have a disdain for them since they don't fight.

4. Homes- unless a Jdam hits us, the worse we could end up with is a solid masonry shell that is still bullet resistant. Worse case we will camp/make do/live inside that shell for the ballistic protection it provides. If we have to rebuild with pine slab and car hoods for a roof, so be it. Only small portions of our dwellings can burn, the rest can be around for decades and decades as witnessed by 50-60 year old buildings built similarly that although the roof collapsed, the walls still remain. Ours are a little more solid also ;)

5. Air quality- with NBC events this is an issue. Only so many C2A1 filters you can stock.

6. War- expect that if things go that long that some foreign country WILL make use of our inopportunity. I expect Cuba will take most of Florida south of the Mickey Line, Mexico will retake a good portion of AZ, NM and maybe parts of CA. Africans in certain areas will seek to establish "new afrika" and Hayden Lake will be a mecca for skins. Will a weak willed administration give up Alaska, or parts of Washington state, etc. to Russia or China for "aid"? Well they all seem to be socialists so they might think what's the difference? Dunno.

7. See #3

[rice paddy daddy]

We live in a rural area. The small towns nearby most likely would not descend into anarchy. The cities may very well, though. I doubt if "roving bands" would make it this far away from the big city. If there is no motor fuel available at all, they would never make it this far.
We raise chickens for eggs, grow vegetables, have plenty of rice and dry beans and canned food put away.
Our weak link is water - we draw from a well in the yard, but that is dependant on electricity. I have to make some kind of solar set up, the water is too deep for a hand pump.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

1. I currently produce most of my yearly food with enough extra to sell at market. Not a big money maker by any means, but if things get bad I'll have enough to feed myself as well as friends without having to switch gears and ramp up production very much. There are some things I just can't grow here, but I have a good mix of fruits, vegetables and meat. I'd miss things but it wouldn't be doing without.

2. I have my own well and above ground storage. I live in a desert, so praying for rain is nothing new.

3. Very few people know where I live and how to get here. Only those that are supposed to get here know how to get here safely.

4. This is something I've been pondering for a while. This year I'd like to give earthbag a try. I have no shortage of dirt, sand and rocks. I'll probably start with something small like retaining walls, dog kennels and the like. If it works out I'll probably stock up on bags and use them as needed. They're extremely cheap so loading up on a bunch isn't a big hit to the wallet.

5. Worst we get here is wildfires. Last year I was surrounded by 2 big fires. I've done what I can to lessen the damage a fire can do on my place. Things would burn, but it would be somewhat controlled. I'm not too worried about bio/chem/nuke simply because of my location. Too far away from anything of value for someone to waste that kind of thing on this place. A lot of areas around here someone could detonate a bomb with a 20 mile blast radius and it would only kill a handful of people and some cows.

6. My biggest concern with this is the militarization of the border and the "War on Drugs". It's already happening and I'm not that happy about it. There's only one cartel in this area and because of that things stay fairly peaceful. There have been some dust ups over the years, but they don't want this turning into a warzone either.

7. Same as 6.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

We live in a rural area. The small towns nearby most likely would not descend into anarchy. The cities may very well, though. I doubt if "roving bands" would make it this far away from the big city. If there is no motor fuel available at all, they would never make it this far.

I would not be so sure about that.

Cut off food and place some fear of a new and unknown reality of SHTF or WAR or TEOTWAWKI and anarchy happens fast even in nice small towns. Don't count on your town staying out of anarchy. I am sure your town is pretty much like the other small towns in the south east... We all rely on outside goods and services. Guessing at least 60% of your town's daily food comes from over 100miles away... Cut that food off and your neighbors are likely to try take what others have to make sure their children don’t go hungry

I am fat and out of shape but I know I can ride a road bike on flat to rolling hills like North Florida has for 100 miles in 1 day actually only 8-10 hours (I have completed several rides of such nature)... If I was making a long trek carrying a pack or trailer I would then reduce my daily ride to 60-70 miles a day so that I had time to set up camp, rest and "refuel" properly for the next day. So that means if your in the southeast U.S. you are within a couple of days ride of a large city.

For that matter if your in Northeast Florida you are within 5 days or less ride from Atlanta, New Orleans, Mobile and Orlando. NOW that’s alot of people that could be on your door step in less than a week. It maybe highly unlikely but it is definitely a possible problem.

[rice paddy daddy]

[QUOTE=Not_Yet_Prepped;39240]I would not be so sure about that.

Cut off food and place some fear of a new and unknown reality of SHTF or WAR or TEOTWAWKI and anarchy happens fast even in nice small towns. Don't count on your town staying out of anarchy. I am sure your town is pretty much like the other small towns in the south east... We all rely on outside goods and services. Guessing at least 60% of your town's daily food comes from over 100miles away... Cut that food off and your neighbors are likely to try take what others have to make sure their children don

[blackhawk]

use to live in the city no one ever came to the house moved 1 hour away in the middle of nowhere people come over all the time now.

[Grinnan Barrett]

If things get truly bad and I mean really down and dirty like the total grid failure, a year is an eternity. After one month or less people will be dying off like flies. Nursing homes will be morgues. Starvation will set in for most people in less than a month. Lack of sanitation will spread disease in any urban environment. People who need daily maintenance medications for life threatening disorders like heart, cancer, diabetes etc will start to die off. After two months things will get even worse as people will have eaten all the livestock. After three months it will be hard to find a dog or cat in most cities and the forests will be overrun with idiots trying to hunt for survival. Within six months deer and other wild life will disappear from the forested areas. Lakes will be contaminated by campers trying to get by in the wild. Within a year half or more of the population will be gone.

After a year what is left of civilization will begin to try and rebuild but communications will be sparse at best. Clans will form for self defense even where there were groups. Without a power grid, phone lines, Internet, radio or cable communication Society may be reduced to a form of feudalism like the middle ages. There will be pockets of reason mostly where organized groups were prepared for the worst.

To get the grid back up best case would be 2 to 3 years. What is scary is we do not produce anything anymore so drugs, textiles, steel, electronics, we would be without. These are products we get from China and others.

It would come under good luck. GB

[SeldomSeenSlim]

Grinnan, I think a lot of what you say is true, but there are some things I differ on.

I really don't see there being an issue in terms of wildlife. If anything animals will flourish as habitat increases. Except in areas where failing human infrastructure contaminates the environment. People may turn to hunting for survival, but most people that hunt now would not be very successful and those with no experience even less so. A lot of folks like the romance of the Jeremiah Johnson movie. I do and in some ways have lived it. What most forget is that if it wasn't for that old bear hunter it would have been a short movie. "Forget what you learned in the flats. It will serve you no purpose up here." I've recalled that line of the movie several times because of how true it is.

Most people aren't comfortable in wild places. Some go camping and 'rough it' for a few days, but that is the limit of their experience and they are usually dragging butt when they get back home. When there is no home to get back to... Well, it will be a short story.

[MustangGal]

There is some historical support for the destruction of wildlife - the Great Depression. However, at that time, more people lived close to the land and most were armed. As far as successful hunters, if there are enough of them, they could decimate the animal population - even the broken clock is right twice a day.

[Buktoof]

I doubt I make it to a year myelf. First off I am not very skilled in the outdoors though have been steadily improving in this aspect, so not much of a hunter or fisher. Second off I have a black thumb, cant grow anything. . .not even weeds lol. Have done a soil test and everything but Im just not very good at growing a garden. Lastly I have asthma that requires medication, any kind of respiratory sickness would kill me as it exascerbates my asthma 10fold. I have enough food/water and medicine to last about a year. However if the situation lasts more than a year Im pretty screwed.

Those three things are aspects i have control over. The things I dont have control over that I feel impact my situation is I live in very close proximity to one of the largest if not thee largest military installations on the east coast. . . hence better trained and better equiped people with firearms, so in the event of martial law/disarmament/looting/scavenging/war/etc Im up the creek without a paddle. In addition my location is situated between 4 nuclear power plants. In the event of power grid malfunctions I imagine they only have so much fuel to keep the generators going before they are unable to pump water to cool the reactors. And we all know what happens when the reactors dont get cooled.

To be honest the only reason I got into this is because of my son. I owe it to him as a father to provide him with all I can to ensure his survival until the time comes he is an adult and is responsible for himself. I dont call myself a prepper/survivalist or any of that. Im more of a hoarder as I have no skills other than my medical knowledge and at times I wonder how much I could actually do if I was praticing in a 1700's environment.
But I still ask this question to myself all the time . . .

Do I even want to just survive? Life without happiness, without joy, without love is just a clock ticking away. There is more to living than just "surviving". I look at patients i deal with on a daily basis and I would much rather be dead than just surviving. To me its much more about quality than quantity if you can understand that.

On a side note I love your quote mustanggal and have added it to my favorite quote book . . . "even the broken clock is right twice a day".

[barfife]

We live in a rural area. The small towns nearby most likely would not descend into anarchy. The cities may very well, though. I doubt if "roving bands" would make it this far away from the big city. If there is no motor fuel available at all, they would never make it this far.
We raise chickens for eggs, grow vegetables, have plenty of rice and dry beans and canned food put away.
Our weak link is water - we draw from a well in the yard, but that is dependant on electricity. I have to make some kind of solar set up, the water is too deep for a hand pump.

simplepump.com makes a hand pump that goes to 330 feet! You can add solar to it an pressurize your home to 50 psi.

[SeldomSeenSlim]

simplepump.com makes a hand pump that goes to 330 feet! You can add solar to it an pressurize your home to 50 psi.

WOW! Thanks for this link. I didn't know such a thing existed and it is perfect for my situation with the ability to have 2 pumps in the same casing. Thank you.

[Pete]

simplepump.com makes a hand pump that goes to 330 feet! You can add solar to it an pressurize your home to 50 psi.

Wow! I always thought that water would never be an issue with me...not even thinking about not having the juice to run the pump. Oops. Thank you for adding this (and rice paddy daddy too). It is definitely something that I overlooked.

[ssonb]

I am not sniping"pun intended" this is just fud fer thunkin... when people have survived the first dieoff and are walking the "hard to notice" driveway will stand out like a neon light, EVEN THE SMALL USED PATH WILL BE A REASON TO EXPLORE and if there are traps on the trail that means food ahead. Dont worry, I figure that we that are trying to be low profile will adapt also.. To another post..Yes I am getting older and like you I am helping insure that my children and grandchildren will have a better chance thru preps and knowledge, I am trying to teach my son(hard job there) but my grandson is eager to learn, there is where some earthly contentment comes from I will be happy seing them survive and prosper and just mabey I can make someone who is willing to loot unhappy.