Home » Posts tagged 'shit hits the fan' (Page 2)
Tag Archives: shit hits the fan
Selco’s Guide to Looting and Scavenging When the SHTF
Selco’s Guide to Looting and Scavenging When the SHTF
Through the media, we have gotten a picture of scavengers, so there are movies and book about guys who ride motorcycles while wearing helmets with horns. These guys are looting and scavenging after the SHTF. And then, in this fantasy, there are good guys who do not do that, except maybe to get some interesting book or similar.
The interesting thing is the fact that guys who “scavenge” somehow through all those movie and book cliches are understood as bad guys and psychos. Through the news, we see folks who loot as a mindless mob who drag out big screen plasma TVs while floods are coming.
It would be cool if we could try to form our opinion and adopt some knowledge and strategies without those images from above.
It is nearly impossible, but let’s try.
Let’s try to form our strategies about looting and scavenging through the following topics.
First, remember that curiosity killed the cat.
One of my favorite sayings is that “curiosity killed the cat” and I think I survived many times during my SHTF situation thanks to the fact that I kept it on my mind all the time.
We are living in the times where we simply we “want to see and understand”, or even better where we want to have that feeling of “amusement”, moments of excitements.
We read about how people get killed or injured just because they want to check how dangerous something is, or just because they wanted to have selfie photo in some dangerous place.
Horse playing has become our culture, and a lot of people do stupid things just because “it looks cool”.
A real SHTF event has much higher stakes, so you need to have the thought constantly in your mind that says: “Do I really need to do that?”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)
Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)
When it hits the fan…I mean REALLY hits the fan in a permanent kind of way, the most likely outcome is death.
That’s not pretty, and I’m well aware of it. I always try to be positive and optimistic, because, for me, preparedness is the ultimate act of optimism, but sometimes we have to look at the numbers and face some things that are pretty terrifying. The first reality check is that some research says that only 3 million Americans are preppers. That means that 315 million Americans are not preppers. Some experts predict that within 30 days of the power going out, 50% of Americans will be dead. Within a year, an astounding 90% of the population will be dead.
Do you want to survive such a scenario? Do you want your children to survive? When you read this information, you have to realize that it’s very unlikely that you and your family would live through a grid failure of a year or more unless you are proactive and develop a preparedness plan that takes all of these causes of death into consideration.
The Top 10 Ways to Die in a Long-term Disaster
So here are the cold hard facts. One of these is the way that you are most likely to die when the SHTF, particularly in the event of a long-term grid failure. The good news is, now that you know this, you can take steps to prevent your untimely demise.
- You die of thirst or waterborne illness. Most people have a case of water bottles kicking around, and perhaps a 5-gallon jug for the water cooler. What they don’t have is a gallon a day per person for a long-term emergency. Most people also don’t own a gravity fed, no-power necessary water filtration device with spare parts and extra filters.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How the SHTF in Bosnia: Selco Asks Americans, “Does this sound familiar?”
How the SHTF in Bosnia: Selco Asks Americans, “Does this sound familiar?”
Selco interviewed by Daisy Luther
I was recently emailing back and forth with Selco and we were discussing the situation in the US right now, with the political polarization, the rage, and the general cognitive dissonance. I asked him if he saw any similarities between our situation and the one in Bosnia when the SHTF there during the war. When he replied I knew I had to share this information with you.
While we might like to think it could never happen here, the current events here are eerily similar to what happened there in the 1990s.
When you read this. think about recent events. The anger about immigration. The destruction of Civil War monuments. The unease between the races. The deep rage about the recent presidential election. The scorn and derision for neighbors who think differently. The way the media fans the flames of dissent between our fellow Americans.
You’ll realize that it definitely CAN happen to us…and there’s not one darn thing we can do except to be prepared.
What parallels do you see with events in the US and Bosnia before the SHTF?
US and Yugoslavia (in 1990) on first look do not have anything in common because people are going to say, “The USA cannot have anything similar to any socialistic system.”
This is true but only on first look.
Yugoslavia had somewhere around 20-22 million citizens, six republics (similar to states in the US), 3-4 main religions, and many national groups (ethnicity).
The official state policy was to build Yugoslavian “nationality” (from the end of WW1) and through different ways that effort was successful until the 90s.
We were “something big, united through differences with a strong connection to make something big.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
SELCO: The Brutal Truth About Violence When the SHTF
SELCO: The Brutal Truth About Violence When the SHTF
Are you prepared for the extreme violence that is likely to come your way if the SHTF? No matter what your plan is, it’s entirely probable that at some point, you’ll be the victim of violence or have to perpetrate violence to survive. As always, Selco is our go-to guy on SHTF reality checks and this thought-provoking interview will shake you to your core.
If you don’t know Selco, he’s from Bosnia and he lived through a year in a city that was blockaded with no utilities, no deliveries of supplies, and no services. In his interviews, he shares what the scenarios the rest of us theorize about were REALLY like. He mentioned to me recently that most folks aren’t prepared for the violence that is part and parcel of a collapse, which brings us to today’s interview.
How prevalent was violence when the SHTF in Bosnia?
It was wartime and chaos, from all conflicts in those years in the Balkan region Bosnian conflict was most brutal because of multiple reasons, historical, political and other.
To simplify the explanation why violence was common and very brutal, you need to picture a situation where you are “bombarded” with huge amount of information (propaganda) which instills in you very strong feelings of fear and hate.
Out of fear and hate, violence grows easy and fast, and over the very short period of time you see how people around you (including you) do things that you could not imagine before.
I can say that violence was almost an everyday thing in the whole spectrum of different activities because it was a fight for survival.
Again, whenever (and wherever) you put people in a region without enough resources, you can expect violence.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
How To House the Whole Family in a SHTF-Emergency
How To House the Whole Family in a SHTF-Emergency
The imposition is that we all are channeled to live in “cookie-cutter” houses, plopped down akin to so many Hershey kisses in a row: identical construction in an approved, regulated, homeowner’s association-sanctioned manner.
We’re referring to the end of the society, and if you’re a multi-millionaire and you want a house for each member of the family retreating to your location, more power to you. We do what we can in life, and do the best we can. In the absence of millions, there is another route. Let’s go over the basics first.
The principle is for all the family members (and anyone close to that family) having a place to meet up and reside together when it all falls apart. From a logistics perspective, unless you have a gigantic manorial-type residence, your space and resources will be stretched thin. What I propose here are sheds…cabins, if you prefer. You can build them yourself or you can buy them.
Once again, much of this is going to depend on the geographic location you reside, and the social and legal impositions placed upon you. Only you know them. Armies of bureaucrats who want to tax you into insolvency are behind the hordes of conformists (commonly labeled as homeowners’ associations) and “friendly” neighbors who wish to impose their wills upon you.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Operational Essential Task Lists for When the “S” Hits the Fan
Operational Essential Task Lists for When the “S” Hits the Fan
Try and understand that this list can be changed and modified to fit the needs of a family and their idiosyncrasies. Each family is different and unique in terms of physical conditioning, skill-sets, geographic location, and family demographics, there will be different challenges facing each family even in the same disaster.
These are tasks that all the family members…the ones able physically, mentally, and chronologically…should be proficient in. Let’s do it!
- First Aid: Everyone in the family should learn about bandaging and splinting (termed “sticks and rags” in the Army). How to dress a wound, run a simple set of sutures, clear and maintain an airway, perform CPR, treat for heat and cold weather injuries. About a year ago, we did a series on Field First Aid that you may wish to refer to for a refresher on these tasks. Also: if you have any family members who have special medical needs…all the rest of your family needs to know how to take care of them…from injections to the administration of oxygen.
- Essential Outdoor Survival Skills: Building a Fire, Disinfecting/Treating Water, Construct a Lean-to or Erecting a Tent, Cleaning and Cooking Wild game, fowl, or fish. These are some of the tasks. Depending on your geographic locale and the season of the year, there may be a substantial number of tasks added that require proficiency.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)
Here’s How You’ll Die When the SHTF (and How to Prevent Your Untimely Demise)
When it hits the fan…I mean REALLY hits the fan in a permanent kind of way, the most likely outcome is death.
That’s not pretty, and I’m well aware of it. I always try to be positive and optimistic, because for me, preparedness is the ultimate act of optimism, but sometimes we have to look at the numbers and face some things that are pretty terrifying. The first reality check is that some research says that only 3 million Americans are preppers. That means that 315 million Americans are not preppers. Some experts predict that within 30 days of the power going out, 50% of Americans will be dead. Within a year, an astounding 90% of the population will be dead.
Do you want to survive such a scenario? Do you want your children to survive? When you read this information, you have to realize that it’s very unlikely that you and your family would live through a grid failure of a year or more unless you are proactive and develop a preparedness plan that takes all of these causes of death into consideration.
The Top 10 Ways to Die in a Long-term Disaster
So here are the cold hard facts. One of these is the way that you are most likely to die when the SHTF, particularly in the event of a long-term grid failure. The good news is, now that you know this, you can take steps to prevent your untimely demise.
- You die of thirst or waterborne illness. Most people have a case of water bottles kicking around, and perhaps a 5 gallon jug for the water cooler. What they don’t have is a gallon a day per person for a long-term emergency. Most people also don’t own a gravity fed, no-power necessary water filtration device with spare parts and extra filters.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
When The SHTF, These Cheap Items Will Be Worth Their Weight In Gold
When The SHTF, These Cheap Items Will Be Worth Their Weight In Gold.
If society were to break down tomorrow, the value of the things we own and the skills we have would be turned on its head. Everybody knows that certain items will be far more valuable after a grid ending event. Stuff like gold, guns, and food are a given in any conversation on preparedness. Skills like hunting, reloading, and first aid would be indispensable, while skills accounting and day trading would be completely worthless.
There are of course, other items that we may be overlooking. While things like gold and guns will be expensive in the future, they’re already quite expensive now. Once you have those bases covered on your preparedness checklist, you can start thinking in terms of “What’s really cheap now, but will definitely be more valuable when the SHTF? What’s going to give me the greatest return on my money?”
With that said, here’s a few barter items you can buy right now, for a fraction of what they’ll be worth when the grid goes down.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
