Food Prepping the Apocalypse

Off Topic
21

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:

[quote]benos4752 wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
There’s no apocalypse on my calendar…which one are you guys using???[/quote]

Is there a wrong reason to be prepared?

Worst case, I have extra food to eat.[/quote]

I haven’t seen the new NatGeo show yet, but from what I’ve heard…ugh. It sounds like they got some of the kookiest people they could find and showcased them…
[/quote]

Ya they are pretty kookie. There is one couple that actually lives close by to me that was on that show and they were definitely the most extreme. They built a fort, have 50,000lbs of food, and recycle their feces for methane gas. But you can learn alot of things from them. The show is a good watch.[/quote]

I read an interview with that girl from Texas. She said they edited her actions to make her look as crazy as possible. The show reported she was prepping in case of a global petroleum industry collapse, but in reality she told them being in Texas she was mainly worried about a Katrina-style event. Producers told her that was too boring.

Also, in the scene where she said she would shoot her cats if she had to bug out, they left out the part where she said she would do that only if it look like everyone - people included - were going to starve to death. Her statement was that she would shoot them instead of watching them suffer to death. The producer even went as far as offering her $1000 to shoot her cat on camera.
[/quote]

Actually I was talking about the older couple from Floresville. Im not surprised the producers warped her intent. All about show appeal. [/quote]

Those were the ones with the shipping crate houses? haha I have to admit, it seemed like they were hoarders with a purpose.

22

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
Instead of stockpiling stuff, wouldn’t it be better to develop the skills to acquire food or build shelter in a given region?

With a few inches of thread, a feather of virtually any type, and a fish hook I can tie a fly that will catch fish for long time. A small packet that will fit in your back pocket and a twig from any given tree combined with the knowledge of regional fauna will feed me and my wife for months.

Seems a bit more rational and mobile than a backpack of camping gear, a bunker full of dried food, and hoping to win a gun battle with any number of people who want to raid your depot.

And if anybody tries to bully or take your food, just make them a nice meal of fresh caught walleye and amanita bisporigera.
[/quote]

That is certainly good advice, but it doesn’t make having stockpile any less important. What if the issue I’m facing is an especially virulent bird-flu outbreak and I risk infection by standing out shoulder to shoulder with all of the other starving people hoping to catch a fish. I may survive a flu, but I have small kids at home.

In that case, I’d rather hole up for a month and wait for it all to pass.

There are times to shelter in place, and there are times to bug-out. The wisest course of action is to be prepared for both. I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

I think it depends where you live as far as going mobile or bugging in. If you live in a high population area, I would have a pack ready and would get out of there asap. IF you live in a rural area and have basic resources, I would consider staying put.

23

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:

[quote]benos4752 wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]Nards wrote:
There’s no apocalypse on my calendar…which one are you guys using???[/quote]

Is there a wrong reason to be prepared?

Worst case, I have extra food to eat.[/quote]

I haven’t seen the new NatGeo show yet, but from what I’ve heard…ugh. It sounds like they got some of the kookiest people they could find and showcased them…
[/quote]

Ya they are pretty kookie. There is one couple that actually lives close by to me that was on that show and they were definitely the most extreme. They built a fort, have 50,000lbs of food, and recycle their feces for methane gas. But you can learn alot of things from them. The show is a good watch.[/quote]

I read an interview with that girl from Texas. She said they edited her actions to make her look as crazy as possible. The show reported she was prepping in case of a global petroleum industry collapse, but in reality she told them being in Texas she was mainly worried about a Katrina-style event. Producers told her that was too boring.

Also, in the scene where she said she would shoot her cats if she had to bug out, they left out the part where she said she would do that only if it look like everyone - people included - were going to starve to death. Her statement was that she would shoot them instead of watching them suffer to death. The producer even went as far as offering her $1000 to shoot her cat on camera.
[/quote]

Actually I was talking about the older couple from Floresville. Im not surprised the producers warped her intent. All about show appeal. [/quote]

Those were the ones with the shipping crate houses? haha I have to admit, it seemed like they were hoarders with a purpose.[/quote]

Lol ya they were intense. Im sure they have no outside life. You cant when invest all your finances and time into that.

24

It IS good to be prepared in the event of catastrophe. But this all reminds me of the Y2K scare.

Back in '99, a very left-wing friend of mine went on and on about what a downed grid will mean, and that I should take action to prepare for the worst. I thought he was just an alarmist. Then an extreme right-wing family member (with a friend in the Pentagon) warned me of the disaster coming in 2000, and that I should stock up on food, water, generator, etc. Well, since I heard it from BOTH sides, I figured I should do SOMETHING.

So I built some sturdy shelves in the basement and bought jugs of water, packaged and canned goods, etc. and stocked them fully.

Then 2000 came… and NOTHING HAPPENED.

So we had some extra food and water to consume over the next few months.
Now the shelves just hold more crap we keep in storage.

25

[quote]borrek wrote:
I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

But that is my point. Become familiar. If a bug out plan is to work, where will that bugging out be taking place?

And on the cat woman- Also my point- She misunderstands that it is not her that will be sharing the food with the cats, but the cats who would be sharing their food with her.

The use of animals as tools and assistants for hunting and gathering long predates modern society.

I’d look to a guy like BG who already hunts with dogs and is learning falconry for more and better survival skills than modern gimmickry. Not that this isn’t kinda fun and somewhat entertaining to imagine, but for the real deal on an apocalypse or breakdown of society, I would consider doing what worked prior to modern convenience rather than rely on a product of the society that has broken down.

Manufacturers aren’t going to be replacing or refunding for defective products if the shit actually hits the fan.

On the fishing- I wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with the great lakes combat fisherman hoping to land a steel head. More like upstream trickles of naturally occurring spring creeks. A pan full of minnows is still a pan full of fish.

26

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:
I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

But that is my point. Become familiar. If a bug out plan is to work, where will that bugging out be taking place?

And on the cat woman- Also my point- She misunderstands that it is not her that will be sharing the food with the cats, but the cats who would be sharing their food with her.

The use of animals as tools and assistants for hunting and gathering long predates modern society.

I’d look to a guy like BG who already hunts with dogs and is learning falconry for more and better survival skills than modern gimmickry. Not that this isn’t kinda fun and somewhat entertaining to imagine, but for the real deal on an apocalypse or breakdown of society, I would consider doing what worked prior to modern convenience rather than rely on a product of the society that has broken down.

Manufacturers aren’t going to be replacing or refunding for defective products if the shit actually hits the fan.

On the fishing- I wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with the great lakes combat fisherman hoping to land a steel head. More like upstream trickles of naturally occurring spring creeks. A pan full of minnows is still a pan full of fish.
[/quote]

I agree to an extent. I have two dogs trained for hunting squirrel and hare and have had dogs trained to hunt hog. I think that can be very useful in a scenario that we bring up. BUT, the population gets in the way of this thinking.

Even in my area, which is scarcely populated, there will be many who will have the same mindset that you do. Even if the majority have no clue how to hunt or fish, they will attempt to from lack of other options. With no hunting regulations and a lack of property boundaries, not only will the animal resources become scarce, you also become a concern to others. They would view you as a threat to the surrounding resources and may come to the conclusion that you are better dead. Now imagine that in a densely populated state or region.

Thats why having some sort of food and water stockpile could be very beneficial.

27

[quote]farmerson12 wrote:

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:
I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

But that is my point. Become familiar. If a bug out plan is to work, where will that bugging out be taking place?

And on the cat woman- Also my point- She misunderstands that it is not her that will be sharing the food with the cats, but the cats who would be sharing their food with her.

The use of animals as tools and assistants for hunting and gathering long predates modern society.

I’d look to a guy like BG who already hunts with dogs and is learning falconry for more and better survival skills than modern gimmickry. Not that this isn’t kinda fun and somewhat entertaining to imagine, but for the real deal on an apocalypse or breakdown of society, I would consider doing what worked prior to modern convenience rather than rely on a product of the society that has broken down.

Manufacturers aren’t going to be replacing or refunding for defective products if the shit actually hits the fan.

On the fishing- I wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with the great lakes combat fisherman hoping to land a steel head. More like upstream trickles of naturally occurring spring creeks. A pan full of minnows is still a pan full of fish.
[/quote]

I agree to an extent. I have two dogs trained for hunting squirrel and hare and have had dogs trained to hunt hog. I think that can be very useful in a scenario that we bring up. BUT, the population gets in the way of this thinking.

Even in my area, which is scarcely populated, there will be many who will have the same mindset that you do. Even if the majority have no clue how to hunt or fish, they will attempt to from lack of other options. With no hunting regulations and a lack of property boundaries, not only will the animal resources become scarce, you also become a concern to others. They would view you as a threat to the surrounding resources and may come to the conclusion that you are better dead. Now imagine that in a densely populated state or region.

Thats why having some sort of food and water stockpile could be very beneficial.[/quote]

That brings up another wholly different skill set. Developing alliances. Do you want someone around who is solely a consumer, or do you want a producer? Are you (and they) better of as a part of their group, or eliminated?

In a breakdown scenario, I want to be with people who are skilled and knowledgeable, not well fortified and tied to a stockpile of consumables. They’re a sitting duck to a skilled group of hunter gatherers.

28

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:
I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

But that is my point. Become familiar. If a bug out plan is to work, where will that bugging out be taking place?

And on the cat woman- Also my point- She misunderstands that it is not her that will be sharing the food with the cats, but the cats who would be sharing their food with her.

The use of animals as tools and assistants for hunting and gathering long predates modern society.

I’d look to a guy like BG who already hunts with dogs and is learning falconry for more and better survival skills than modern gimmickry. Not that this isn’t kinda fun and somewhat entertaining to imagine, but for the real deal on an apocalypse or breakdown of society, I would consider doing what worked prior to modern convenience rather than rely on a product of the society that has broken down.

Manufacturers aren’t going to be replacing or refunding for defective products if the shit actually hits the fan.

On the fishing- I wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with the great lakes combat fisherman hoping to land a steel head. More like upstream trickles of naturally occurring spring creeks. A pan full of minnows is still a pan full of fish.
[/quote]

If that’s what you want to do, more power to you. I’m not sure where there is gimmickry in putting food on a shelf. I’m not going to say wilderness survival skills aren’t useful, and I’m not sure why you think storing food precludes having survival skills.

I can point to multiple times in my life when it would make sense to have extra food on hand, but would not make sense to go out fishing or falconing. When I was young in Ohio, there was a Conrail derailment that dumped 15 rail-cars worth of phosphorus all over the place. The Phosphorus ignited and blanketed the area with deadly fumes. We had to shelter in place for three days, and leaving to hunt or fish was not an option. Three days is not a big deal, but it could have just as easily been 7 days or more.

I take comfort in knowing that if something like that happens now, I can not only feed my family, but I can walk up and down my street and make sure my neighbors aren’t hungry.

Other very recent examples are the 2003 Northeast blackout, which took down Detroit Edison’s entire grid. Just this year a colleague of mine in Connecticut lost power for 7 days due to that freak late fall snow storm. Three years ago my parents were without full power for 2 weeks when >75mph sustained winds blew through Ohio. In my opinion, none of these occurrences scream a need to go fishing as opposed to pulling a bag of rice and beans off the shelf.

29

[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
It IS good to be prepared in the event of catastrophe. But this all reminds me of the Y2K scare.

Back in '99, a very left-wing friend of mine went on and on about what a downed grid will mean, and that I should take action to prepare for the worst. I thought he was just an alarmist. Then an extreme right-wing family member (with a friend in the Pentagon) warned me of the disaster coming in 2000, and that I should stock up on food, water, generator, etc. Well, since I heard it from BOTH sides, I figured I should do SOMETHING.

So I built some sturdy shelves in the basement and bought jugs of water, packaged and canned goods, etc. and stocked them fully.

Then 2000 came… and NOTHING HAPPENED.

So we had some extra food and water to consume over the next few months.
Now the shelves just hold more crap we keep in storage. [/quote]

I was working for the Feds when the 1999-2000 roll-over happened. I will say there was a ton of work going on so that it would not be a major deal. A few things here and there caused issues but for the most part a lot was avoided. Remember, the issue was mainly in how computers were programed.

30

I probably do not have enough food to make it to the end of the week.

31

[quote]borrek wrote:

[quote]SkyzykS wrote:

[quote]borrek wrote:
I’d say the rarest of all possibilities is to have to fend for myself in an unfamiliar wilderness.
[/quote]

But that is my point. Become familiar. If a bug out plan is to work, where will that bugging out be taking place?

And on the cat woman- Also my point- She misunderstands that it is not her that will be sharing the food with the cats, but the cats who would be sharing their food with her.

The use of animals as tools and assistants for hunting and gathering long predates modern society.

I’d look to a guy like BG who already hunts with dogs and is learning falconry for more and better survival skills than modern gimmickry. Not that this isn’t kinda fun and somewhat entertaining to imagine, but for the real deal on an apocalypse or breakdown of society, I would consider doing what worked prior to modern convenience rather than rely on a product of the society that has broken down.

Manufacturers aren’t going to be replacing or refunding for defective products if the shit actually hits the fan.

On the fishing- I wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with the great lakes combat fisherman hoping to land a steel head. More like upstream trickles of naturally occurring spring creeks. A pan full of minnows is still a pan full of fish.
[/quote]

If that’s what you want to do, more power to you. I’m not sure where there is gimmickry in putting food on a shelf. I’m not going to say wilderness survival skills aren’t useful, and I’m not sure why you think storing food precludes having survival skills.

I can point to multiple times in my life when it would make sense to have extra food on hand, but would not make sense to go out fishing or falconing. When I was young in Ohio, there was a Conrail derailment that dumped 15 rail-cars worth of phosphorus all over the place. The Phosphorus ignited and blanketed the area with deadly fumes. We had to shelter in place for three days, and leaving to hunt or fish was not an option. Three days is not a big deal, but it could have just as easily been 7 days or more.

I take comfort in knowing that if something like that happens now, I can not only feed my family, but I can walk up and down my street and make sure my neighbors aren’t hungry.

Other very recent examples are the 2003 Northeast blackout, which took down Detroit Edison’s entire grid. Just this year a colleague of mine in Connecticut lost power for 7 days due to that freak late fall snow storm. Three years ago my parents were without full power for 2 weeks when >75mph sustained winds blew through Ohio. In my opinion, none of these occurrences scream a need to go fishing as opposed to pulling a bag of rice and beans off the shelf.
[/quote]

Those aren’t apocalyptic. Those are inconvenient. A regular shopping trip or a drive outside of our comfort zone to stay in a motel will solve that. And storing food doesn’t preclude survival skills, but certainly shouldn’t either.

And try not to take me the wrong way. I’m not ridiculing the idea, just challenging it a little bit. As basic ingredients of a normal diet, I have enough dried and canned goods in my pantry to last quite a while if rationed properly, but rations run out.

What then?

Bug out plan is great, but what are you gonna do when you get to where you are going? (not you specifically, but generally)

Or the wolves come a knockin’ after doing some recon on a cozy little well stocked depot? They know your location, your daily structure patterns, and aren’t there to borrow a cup of sugar.

A friend of mine was in the area of that black out this year too. He kept us updated on facebook with energy derived from his propane/electric generator system that heats his house and runs the appliances.

32

I’m hungry now and there is shit-all food at home. Apocalypse on the daily 'round my house.