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Saturday, October 8, 2016

Could be worse



It looks like Florida missed the worse of the storm. A little jog to the east made all the difference. Of course, if you sitting in a house with a huge oak poking through the roof, it's bad enough. Haiti, on the other hand, had it much much worse than initially thought. The death toll keeps on rising there. As I write this the storm is on its way to Georgia. It could just as easily kink to the west so they aren't out of the woods. Besides, the storm surge and rain are going to be bad enough.

Were people wrong to bug out? Heck no. Those who successfully rode it out were just lucky. Is it a good idea to trust your life to blind luck? Not for me.

I had hoped we'd get a good soaking in New England to break the drought. That does not appear to be in the cards. It should be interesting to see what happens to the storm from this point on.

There are lessons to be learned. Once again, basic supplies like bottled water flew off the grocery shelves. With a little planning people could have safely stored tap water for almost no cost. Add a good water filter and you'd be in great shape.

Hurricanes are slow moving disasters. Thanks to modern technology we see them coming from miles away. If you can't successfully deal with a hurricane without panic, how will you survive other disasters? Many of life's trials come without warning. You have to deal with them using the resources at hand.

Here's something to think about. Imagine that instead of a hurricane you have to deal with a massive earthquake. There is no chance to bug out. You don't have any warning so no emergency shopping trips to Publix. The earthquake hits, your stuff is messed up and there's no way to drive out of the area because roads and bridges have been destroyed.

As a thought exercise, imagine having to live for months on end with just the resources you have on hand. To make it interesting, assume 50% to 95% of your supplies were destroyed in the disaster. For an added level of realism, imagine sustaining a debilitating injury at the same time. Do you feel confident about your situation?

-Sixbears

10 comments:

  1. sat and sun days be good soaking weather

    good question raised if losing most of your preps can you survive anyhow?

    good future article question there

    thank you for not being in Florida right now

    would miss you greatly

    Wildflower

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    1. Survival is more than buying the right stuff. Skills have a lot to do with it.

      Thanks your kind words Wildflower.

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  2. One of the reasons I bought land with a pond on it.

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  3. At our farm in Indiana, we had an empty cistern that became my wonderful stock room. I was ready for those tornadoes that DO jump out and yell "BOO!". Earthquakes? Probably not, but you cannot be 100% organized for everything.

    Where we live now, I have two walk-in closets with food we like to eat anyway, and this year I rotated out the 2016 and replaced with 2018 foods. We can't have a generator because we have no place to store it, but I have one of the best rocket ovens and a Berkey filter and 3,000 gallons of water in the pool.

    I also have the main drugs stockpiled for 2 years. The main concern are those meds you can only refill once a month. Either way, I'll be forgetting the obvious,whatever it is. And my sharpshooter medal (honest) I hope I don't need to prove, but gladly will.

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    1. Looks like you'll have something to work with no matter what happens. Congratulations on your foresight.

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  4. My survival kit, if I had one, would be my model 1911 45, my 357s (one with a scope and one without) and my 22 rifle with scope. The 22 is fairly quiet with sub-sonic loads and a quick way to get food.

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    1. I've a .22 air rifle that can take down small game. Also have some bows, including an old 70 pound compound bow with big game arrows. Quiet and deadly.

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  5. We have an abundance of feral hogs on the Red River and other game. They are a nuisance, but they are food. When we first moved here someone gave us a roast. Tastes like pork. haha

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    1. They are destructive beasts . . .but tasty.

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