Escape from New York: City Dwellers Prep for Doomsday August 25, 2014 08:36am ET EXCERPTS: Quick: In the event of a zombie apocalypse, how would you make it out of New York City alive? If you're like most New Yorkers, you probably have no idea. But a small group of folks in the city are gearing up for the next doomsday scenario by prepping survival gear, planning escape routes, and training to get out of New York City — even by inflatable kayak if necessary. These urban doomsday preppers look very different from the stereotype of the rural, gun-toting conservative depicted on shows such as "Doomsday Castle," Anna Maria Bounds, a sociologist at Queens College, City University of New York, said on Monday (Aug. 18) here at the 109th annual American Sociological Association meeting. Instead of creating a self-sustaining fortress for their families, urban survivalists focus on getting out quickly. ..... Urban survivalists also worry less about government conspiracies and end-of-days scenarios, and instead plan for threats, such as terrorist attacks or natural disasters, that have already materialized, Bounds said. ..... Urban preppers usually don't own guns, their political views are all over the map, and they are often people of color, Bounds said. Many have seen firsthand, in disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, how long it can take for local and federal government agencies to restore order, she said. Urban survivalist culture also overlaps with sustainability and homesteading culture. Many preppers are interested in organic and local foods, farmers' markets and the reduction of toxic chemicals. Some meetings, for instance, have focused on such things as how to make deodorant and laundry detergent at home, she said. Bug out Few New Yorkers are going to cram their fifth-floor walkup with 500 pounds (227 kilograms) of food (one estimate of how much food a person would need to eat for a year). So survivalists focus on getting out of the city fast. One simple step is to make sure the car (if you have one) is always filled with gas and that medical prescriptions are always filled. ..... Another essential for a mass New York exodus is to have a "bug-out" bag ready. ..... Urbanites should also plan their escape route, which includes knowing how to evacuate a tall apartment building when the power goes out, and how to get out on foot, Bounds said. Manhattan is an island with just nine bridges and four tunnels off the island, and a workday population of more than 3.1 million, which means there could be several chokepoints in the event of a disaster, she said. Some people even have inflatable kayaks on hand just in case. The best escape routes will depend on someone's origin and destination, but preppers often talk about the Catskills or even Upstate New York as potential safe havens, Bounds said. ..... "What you have to understand about New Yorkers is we're used to convenience and we're used to immediate gratification," Bounds said. "So to get our arms around the idea that we may have to be roughing it? Roughing it, for us, is not having takeout." Escape from New York: City Dwellers Prep for Doomsday Valrico prepper Winters takes plea deal in federal gun case Wednesday, August 20, 2014 12:28pm EXCERPTS: TAMPA — Doomsday prepper Martin Howard Winters, the subject of a June manhunt in eastern Hillsborough County, admits in a signed plea agreement that he illegally designed and owned destructive devices. Winters, jailed without bail since his June 18 surrender to the FBI, is the latest of six people in a federal gun investigation to strike a deal with prosecutors. Under its terms, he must disclose the location of at least 30 semiautomatic rifles obtained through straw buyers. The government would drop two existing charges and not prosecute him for the straw purchases. The 55-year-old Valrico man led a group known as the River Otter Preppers, which advocated survival preparations in advance of an end-times event foretold in the Bible's Book of Revelation, court records state. An undercover FBI agent reported that Winters talked of buried guns, booby traps and his plans to kill government agents if they raided his property. Winters is scheduled to enter a formal guilty plea Oct. 2 in U.S. District Court in Tampa. The offenses are punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Co-defendant Michael Bonta, 49, who also signed an agreement, is expected to plead guilty to making destructive devices. His plea agreement states that he made about 20 devices that Winters called "rod holders." The devices, according to court records, were designed to function as booby traps and could fire 12-gauge shotgun shells. ..... Valrico prepper Winters takes plea deal in federal gun case | Tampa Bay Times
He deserves the sentence he gets, as he isn't near as smart as he thought he was.... Making Destructive Devices is just DUMB, on its face, and then talking about it, to ANYONE, is just DUMB & Dumber. Especially to someone who is a Turncoat Confidential Informant with the FBI.... I mean REALLY, DUH.... What was this YAHOO, thinking? Obviously not OpSec..... If one is going to BUILD & Posses Destructive Devices, the time to do so, IS AFTER the SHTF, and the FEDs have much Bigger Worries, than some Yahoo, living out on some Mountain, with his Group. Not NOW, when they are itching to Arrest every Yahoo, and Group Leader, they can infiltrate. Knowledge is something that they can NEVER prosecute you, for having, but ACTIONS are what get you a Long Stint in the GrayBar Hotel, and losing your Gun Rights for EVER, plus One Day.
They aren't "destructive devices" unless we live in a tyrannous police state which defines anything it wants and criminalizes everything it wants. It's a plate which hold a 12 ga. shotgun shell with a spring and a string attached to a striker. Simple. It's not a WMD, and they have been used for a VERY long time. The term "destructive device" is a recent political legal term and it is broad sweeping. Essentially, it's how they criminalize a free people by sweeping everything under the "destructive device" label. People get scared when they hear it. Works every time. Seriously, this is insane. Section 802 Patriot Act. Tyranny. "straw purchases" aren't illegal for long arms, and I am sure he wasn't buying automatic ones, either. Another crock. Yup. His FIRST mistake was going on that stupid TV show, and his second was starting up a group. The government hates competition.
Exactly BT. Today OpSec is more important than ever for like you said, they are looking for any who might meet them at the "bridge". One can have lots of things laying around that are completely harmless by themselves and that is the way it should be if one is of a mind to be a serious prepper.
You might check that a bit. Those guns that walked across the border seem to have been, ah, bought or sold illegally. The book might have tripe in it, but it's still the book.
Like I said, they get to define and criminalize anything they want. We live as slaves to the government. Obviously, they are our masters now.