A few questions...

Hey folks, I have been lurking on this site for a while and am finally going to make a thread to get some answers and some critic.
First of all Id like to thank all of you for the input you put on this site. I hope to gain the knowledge yall have someday.

My first question is, What kind of SHTF scenario are yall most worried about. Until this past April, economic meltdown has always been worrisome to me. What are your thoughts on this? I know it is talked about all over this site but Id love to hear some direct answers. Thanks.

Second of all, Id like to get some critic from my SHTF scenario.
I live and go to school in Tuscaloosa Al. I live close enough to where the tornadoes ripped through my town that i had trees down in my yard. When the tornado hit, I was definitely more prepared then others. The first thing after it went away was to check on my neighboors. All were accounted for and okay. I couldnt get through on my phone to any of my friends so i went running with my dog to a friends house to see if he was okay. Thankfully he was not in his house but it was ruined. At this point, first responders were on the scene checking houses. I would have helped but I had to go see if my girlfriend was okay. So, I ran to her place and got her. All of the girls in that house were okay so I had them all come with me. When I got back to my house, I made sure all the other girls had a safe place to go. About an hour later I got word that there was looting going on very close to my house(I lived about 200 yards from a pawn shop that got totally looted). This is where I feel like I could have had a better contingency plan.
When I heard about looting, I threw my prepacked bag of supplies, a bag of food, along with my dog and girlfriend and guns and tried to get out of town. Trees were in the way of the road out, so I had to drive through some yards. I keep my canoe on a creek about 8 miles away from my place. This is a very secluded place that i thought going and spending the night. Well the tornado took all of this area out. It was outrageous destruction(I still have not found my canoe even after searching a large area around where it was). So, we went out to an old natural gas extraction field and camped out that night and the next. I had no clue what was going on in the city except for a few random texts that got through from friends and family.
Up to this point I would love some critiquing of my actions.
Now, for the advantages of being ready. I had enough food for the two of us and my dog for at least a week. People immediately started raiding the stores after the storm which I did not have to do. I felt very safe with my guns and dog. I keep my gas tank full all the time so when gas ran out the next few days, I was still able to be mobile. We were able to have hot food even though my power was out the next two weeks. Although when went out to help cleanup, the red cross and folks from out of town were incredibly generous by giving us hot meals and cold water throughout the day. I did not really think about it much during the during and right after the tornado, but I was very proud to have been prepared as I was.
Lastly, I will say that the two best things I have done prepping(at least for this situation) are having enough water(the water treatment plants were putting out bad water) and my physical fitness.
Now Id love to hear some suggestions from yall. I know one thing I need to get is some type of communication device so I can know what is going on.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the advice. The sad/funny thing is I do have a chainsaw, but the cahin broke about a week before when I was helping a conservation group clear some fire hazard brush from an area about a mile away from my canoe spot. I do have 4x4, it helped when I was driving through peoples back yards. Yeah it was foolish of me to try and go to my first spot. It is driectly east of my old house and I didnt even think that the tornado was going that way. The old gas field is north of where I lived and I should have thought of that first. One thing that bugs me is that there were hundreds of tornadoes around the south that day and my first instinct was to go out into the woods. If another one happened to come the area i went to, it could have been a mess. But really I wasnt thinking at that point.

 

But did you learn something from the whole thing .As most of the guys here i started back in the 1980's time frame when a full scale Nuclear war with Russia was the thing that we had to deal with at time.

Now my main thinking is on the fact of what to do if the money market's go south or the dollar is so bad that it worthless .So i basically have shifted my focus to the money problems than a nuclear problem and yes i know it still can happen but it a one in 20 chance if it does happen then i will be ok for my place is protected .

Here is something that you might want to think about it called the 5 -10-20 year plan and it basically goes like this

The first five years after the shtf living your going to be living off your stored food stuff's alot in those lean first year because of every stupid person is out in the wood's trying to hunt and they are driving the game away .So you and the family is going to be living completely off the socalled long term food supplies you have put away in bulk to feed yourself and the family

Second part of the first five years is going to have to deal with people and how they did not think to put something away for the future and your going to have to put some of them in the ground for a dirt nap .Also part of that time frame is going to be hard to put a garden in and tend to animal's that you are raising because of the problem child coming around and causing problems for you

So the garden and animal's are not producing enough food to make though a year time frame and you going to have to use alot of the supplies that you laid in the place for your survival .

Now after the first five year's have passed the people have been thinned out and the game is slowly coming back into the area and the stock of supplies you have put in for the long run is more of the socalled bulk items like rice & beans & potatoes in large 5 or 6 gallon sized bucket's of them for makeing your meals up as it need

Also in the time frame your garden is now starting to produce enough for it to feed the family and put enough to see you through to the next year .plus given the basic fact that there is going to a bad year for the corps and you are using more of the socalled long term food items that year

The last 10 years are going to be using the long term bucket's of food items that you have stored away to make up meals as it need because of the place you have is started to produce food for you and family with a couple of bad year's or lean year's that the garden did not have enough or the animal's did not produce enough so it going to be a time to did in the extras bulk food bucket's to help you and the family make through the year .

also by this time some form of trading post has been made in the area your in and you doing some basic trading for other thing's that you want .

Also remember to lay in a good supplies of soap & other items for personal grooming & school book's for the kids & game's & books at the same time when you laying in your food supplies also and lay in some trade goods that someone or some place might want to trade for down the line for .

by the end of the 15 year some type of law & order is in the area you live in along with some basic service's also working in the area's some trade good's are also good for those typle's of trading deals

by the end of the 20th year if this has not happen then it going to suck and it you might have to deal with it in another way but after 20 years there should be some type of living & breathing working town around filled with people to trade or have some basic service's for you to enjoy then not it going to be a long hard road ahead

 

All in all, it seemed your preps were sufficient for that emergency. You can work on the weak areas.

My own 'worst case scenario' is a Cat Five roaring in on us. I live in north Florida about twenty miles from the Gulf Coast. Hurricane Irene could have caused us some hurt had she crossed over into the gulf.

 

Sounds to me like you did overlook a couple of tiny little things. How about a small wind up radio ? How about a small gennie, like a honda etc and some gas and oil for it ? Also, whatever you do, be sure to put the biscuit makings and gravy stuff in your bob > LOL

 

Thanks for the advice folks. I do need to step my prepping up to a larger level. A wind up radio seems to be the most obvious item that I did not have. Id love to get a generator but im a college student with a low paying job, so I dont really have the funds for one. And yes, Biscuits and gravy are essential because I cant tell you how much I would miss that if something happened. haha. thanks guys

P.S. I dont know if I should make a thread about this, but is water travel a thought for anybody. I have family farther west of Tuscaloosa and have the water navigation charts to get me there. Of course my canoe is gone but that can be replaced. I feel like there is a lot of exposure on the water but if all else fails it could be a good way to get around.

 

bullets can reach you on the water
eyes can see you easily
and if its a small river it can easily be blocked
traveling at night would be safest id think

 

Water travel is common in my area,lots of rivers and streams and other assorted waterways.It is a great and safe way to get around in this area.I can get to any general area in my county and some other counties if I use precautions. Beast is right,use common sense and be very aware of your environment.It can get you killed just as quick as it can save your life.

 

Your plan seems to have worked just fine for you. Personally, remaining on my own ground protecting my family and property and letting the looters take their chances with me seems much safer.

 

Whenever i think of canoes in the back country

I think......Deliverance...and... "squeal like a pig"! : O

But seriously.....it's always good to keep the broadest possible range of options open. The limitations that Beast has identified, ought be factored into your planning....against the advantages and disadvantages of other movement modalities.

Some disadvantages may be minimised by route selection, camouflage and concealment, time of travel to coincide with darkness, rain, mist or fog; minimising detection signatures (noise, visual, heat); using deception / disinformation; movement by bounds or overwatch to provide security and fire support. It would probably be worth having a look at sites that host tactical doctrine on riverine operations.

http://www.theusmarines.com/downloads/FMFM8_4/MAIN-1.pdf

probably has more info and at higher levels of command than may be pertinent to a canoe full of E&Eing preppers, but I'm sure that you'll probably glean some things things that may be useful.

Just one further bit of advice........"never get out of the boat"

Never Get Out Of The Boat - YouTube