Nuclear Attack On America?

If in the not too distant future there was an attack on America by some terrorist's group that used a nuclear weapon, would you be prepared for the aftermath?

I'd like to see your responses to some of these subjects:

(1) Survival
A: Food and Supplies
B: Transportation
C: Communications
D: Fresh Water

(2) Defense
A: Protecting yourself, your family, and your food/supplies
B: Arms and ammo (how much is enough in your opinion)
C: Adequate barriers against intruders; safe rooms, fences, gates, and safety doors, etc...

(3) Planning
A: Family planning
B: Personal planning
C: Planning for extended family members such as a pre-planned meeting place for the entire group.

Let me share some of my thoughts as to why I posted this article at this time.

Pakistan is experiencing massive flooding as we have seen in the news lately and their leader is under intense pressure to help the civilians suffering from starvation and lack of medical care. He's becoming more unpopular by the day and could lose his support to be leader. He could even experience an overthrow of his government by Islamic fanatics or his own military.

The problem being if such an event took place, Pakistan has a large inventory of nuclear weapons and it is in the best interest of the United States to keep these weapons out of the hands of America's enemies.

If by chance, one or more of these nukes were smuggled into America and used in strategic places, we would find ourselves on our own. No one is going to come to our rescue. If you believe our government would be any help, then ask the citizens of New Orleans what happened post Katrina. Or the citizens along the gulf that experienced 1st hand how ineffective our government was after the oil spill.

So, the denonation of a nuclear bomb would set off a chain of events across The United States that would take months to correct. The grid would most certainly go down and there would be no electricity at your home or anywhere else.

No television news reports to inform the citizens of current conditions or new possible threats. We might have to rely on battery powered short wave radio receivers and not much more.

Food marketing in this country is quite different now than what it was 20 years ago. Due to computers, most mega-markets do not carry much inventory. Grocers like Wal-Mart rely on daily transmissions sent to the warehouses for how much food went across the check out lane (scanned and all that info is the basis for restocking). Warehouses send out trucks daily to replenish stocks across their network of stores.

So, at best, there may be enough food in a large mega-market to feed everyone for a couple of days, then it is gone. In a crisis, there is no guarantee of when supplies would be restocked. Might takes months.

So all us could find ourselves (6) meals away from groceries and that's only if you're one of the lucky ones able to get into one of the mega-markets and fight your way through and purchase as much as you could pile into your shopping cart. I think it would be mass chaos and violence would be the rule of the day.

People will not suffer through being hungry. Let's face it folks, Americans are spoiled with the ease of having food and plenty of it. The latest generation has no idea of how it feels to be without food.

Back in the depression, my father told me that after a few years, hunters could not find anything to kill. No rabbits, no deer, no waterfowl. He said it even got extremely difficult to catch fish. Everyone was hungry and worked very hard at trying to find anything to bring home to their families.

So, how are you going to feed yourself and your family? You're not going to be able to buy food and after a while, you won't be able to find any wildlife or fish.

What are you going to do?

I'm wanting a discussion from anyone willing to share their thoughts and their ideas. I'd like us to be able to share our knowledge base and skills for survival. If you know how to smoke meat or can vegetables, then please let us know.

If the grid went down, I'd like to know how to smoke or cure meat to keep it from spoiling. I have no idea of how to prepare most foods to keep them from going bad if the electricity was off for months.

I like to eat and I don't want to go without. I don't think any of you do either.

Share your thoughts please and keep politics out of the conversation. Our government will not be the deciding factor (past, present, or future) for our survival.

If there was a Nuke Attack on the US. Smuggled in Nuke or otherwise I think all the buttons are going to be pressed so to speak... I'm not to sure if I would want to live in the aftermath of that. Could be a very slow painful death :( .. I think I'd rather just go in a flash and not feel a thing.

Stink - The heat gettin to you?????

Redboat, the scenario I have proposed is for a limited attack that temporarily disrupts the flow of things.

I'd like to hear ideas regarding survival and what plans or methods the members in this forum have thought about.

If you haven't thought about, perhaps you should. There are multiple forums regarding survival and these folks are very, very serious about this. Matter of fact, they are so serious that I think most of them are obsessed with these thoughts 24/7 and too radical for this ol country boy.

I wanted to receive some input and thoughts from the members here regarding survival skills if you happen to be one of the unlucky ones not at ground zero.

George, this could actually turn out to be an interesting topic if people respect what might be at stake and also that i'm being sincere in my questions.

Will this nuke attack kill the fish. It not, I aint going hungry.:rolleyes::D:D:D

Stink i think your on the right tract, those that are not taking this Serious Really should, I agree with you, we are working on some things here. I think one of the main problems are that most of us don't have a place to store what we will need, to be able to keep it fresh enough to be eaten, or drank.

D. Pointer

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Originally Posted by gabowman

Will this nuke attack kill the fish. It not, I aint going hungry.:rolleyes::D:D:D

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Gab, please re-read if necessary, I didn't say a nuclear blast is going to kill the fish, I mentioned that my father had lived during the depression and game was hunted til it virtually disappeared and yes, the fishing got really hard because you had so many people fishing that the supply dwindled during the depression.

This post is intended to survey what people have considered for survival if food could not be purchased at grocery stores for a few months.

This is not a "doomsday" scenario, just a glance at the day after a nuclear weapon totally disrupted the nations communications and electricity grid.

EMP (electro magnetic pulse) could potentially fry every communication device within several hundred miles of a nuclear blast, including orbiting satellites, and put us all in the dark when it came to knowing what was going on at any given moment.

If a snake can disrupt an entire grid by shorting out a major sub station that supplies power to the entire Northeast, then imagine what a nuclear blast could do.

Most states are interconnected to the grid, so if one state goes down, so do the rest. Texas is the only state in the union that is completely within its own grid and does not rely of the power from other states. Down side of that is, if Texas loses it grid, its not likely to be able to receive temporary or emergency power from other suppliers.

To give you an understanding of the necessity of having power, just unplug your fridge and then sit down. While you're sitting in your easy chair, try and figure out how you're going to keep your "perishables" from going bad. Now imagine that the fridge might not come on for months.

This is not a real difficult drill, just a way to spark some thoughts and hopefully, it might prepare a few people to begin to think that someday they may be faced with some difficult decisions.

Minnowman, thanks for your input. I don't suggest anyone start stockpiling vast amounts of food like the Mormans do. They are required to have at least a one years supply at any given time. To me, this would be a nightmare and very expensive and out of the reach of the common person.

I think a two or three week supply would be of great benefit and that amount of food wouldn't take up too much room. It would all fit into a closet or large pantry.

Whats The Point Of Living Like A Hermit Underground, And Hiding From The World. I Would Be Helping Anyone I Could In Any Which Way I Can, And Enjoy The Rest Of My Time Here, If Youre Right With The Lord, It Wouldnt Matter How You Went Down. I Fear It Would Be Slow And Painful. But I Think 99% Of The People In The World Would Succomb To Vigilantes Before The Radiation Cloud Settles In.

400lb Gorilla: That's My Opinion I Could Be Wrong!!:d

Re! I Didnt Read It The Right Way Either. I Percieved It As A Doomsday Scenario.

Chance, I'm not talking about Armageddon, I'm asking what people would do to be prepared in case our grid went down, our stores were emptied of food, and none of us knew the extent of the tragedy.

Does anyone remember what happened that Tuesday evening after the attacks of 9/11? Remember what happened at gas pumps across the land? The price of fuel skyrocketed within a matter of hours. People were in a state of panic because at that time, no one knew for sure if the attack was limited or a full scale attack.

Now, later we know it was an orchestrated attack by a mob of 19 terrorists, but at the time, we didn't know how many attacks were planned for that day or the next.

People began to buy gasoline even as the price climbed to around $5 per gallon. Filling gas cans and even 55 gallon drums. No one knew if gasoline would be available in the days to come.

Panic......... that's the thing people are going to have to deal with. General mass hysteria where the public goes wild and empties every grocery store of food and drains every gallon of gas available.

So, the topic remains, what would you do in this situation? How prepared are you and have you had any thoughts of what you can do before or after an attack.

Because in my mind, I do believe eventually a nuclear device of some sort will be used against this country and I think the aftermath will be panic on a grand scale such has never been seen.

One thing they learned after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was to jump in the creek and wash with soap and water. The ones that did that were without the skin poisioning etc.

Next keep a stock of Dried soups etc on hand. Water will come from the sky eventually.

My thoughts on the NUKE....something I wrote up in 03 or 04 are "suitcase nukes" smuggled in from Mexico.

Achmed is going to land in Mexico, gather a big truck, loaded with Sony, Westinghouse, etc boxes.
In those boxes will be NUKE's of limited size.

He's gonna migrate to America, and start renting houses, stashing the NUKE's in the houses, Boats etc. Stuff he can pay for in advance, leave a NUKE and go on to the next drop.

Then...about Two days before Christmas, when everybody is out shopping, about 2: PM Pacific Std time, those NUKES are all gonna go off at the same time.
He'll have four or five on the west coast, some in the midwest, and some on the Western side of the Applachians, and some up from D.C. to Boston.
Nothing north of Boston is worth the time and money.

That will stop our financial system, all the Transportation systems will go down. The Hiway's will still be open, but fuel will be a problem.

Groceries, Medical help, other forms of goods n' services will be curtailed because a helluva lot of folks wont be at work ever again.

So you'll need Food, medical supplies and knowledge, a battery powered radio, and some form of protection from looters, and plenty of room for visitors like friends and family.

If it were to happen like that now, I'd bet we still have Cell phone service and the Internet.

I seriously doubt if any Super power could reach us with a NUKE from the air.
But it could come in on a Cargo ship into Los Angles, and the winds would carry the fallout all the way to New York.

It could come in on a Cargo ship, or an offshore fishing vessel. Loaded onto a leased or hired Cargo plane, and dropped over Chicago, etc.

So it seems the whole U.S. infrastructure cannot be shut down by a NUKE.
But we'd sure be slowed down for awhile.
By then, the Rest of the world had better cough up the NUKERS, or they could expect a Visit from the Skies. Sent by a bunch of very angry USAF pilots.

One of the channels TLC, TDC, History I forget has run a survivalist
scenario show quite a bit. Interesting things there, as I recall it showed
the violent tendencies of big city people, the salvaging of the skilled and
surprisingly how single mothers and children will become some of the most
violent. One thing I remember the most was the need for medicine, esp
antibiotics. Panic is our demise and will bring the whole system down. But
after they kill each other off, the collected will emerge and provide the social
network or civilization mankind mentally needs. Storing food and water is a
futile point if it becomes radiated, the question is how do we tell if its toxic.

Stink - I was teasing you as you know but this will be an interesting topic. I will give it some thought and post shortly.

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Originally Posted by cricket george

Stink - I was teasing you as you know but this will be an interesting topic. I will give it some thought and post shortly.

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You go to your room young man and stay there til you can play nice.:D

I'm no survivalist, but to me the first thing you will need to do is set up a good sound infrastructure.. Assuming that your house is fine and you don't have to worry about fallout, I would begin by installing solar panels and make your own electricity. Also have a working well. to provide drinking water. The solor panals should be able to power all this.

Good idea redboat, thanks for the input. A working water well would go a long way in helping a family to survive having fresh uncontaminated water. A shallow well could even be used with a handpump. Most well pumps are 220V and unless you have a generator that can deliver this much electricity, the water will set in the bottom of the well.

I used to fish with a guy at Twin Lakes west of Shawnee that was from Thailand. He kept every fish he caught, regardless of size, even fingerlings.

One day I asked him why he kept those small fish and he explained that he used a cooking process like they do in Thailand. His family was mailing him a package from Thailand periodically that included some spices grown in that area.

He would coat the small fish in a mixture of spices, then bake them in his oven at 160 degrees for at least 12 hours until the were completely dried. He then stored them in an air-tight jar or canister without the need of refridgeration.

When he wanted to eat the fish, he would deep-fry them until they were dark brown and crispy. He smiled and said they were delicious.

I realized that in his part of the world, people were desperate for protein sources and often their survival was dependent on their ability to eat stuff us Americans would push away. I'll pass on the grubworms.

But I am glad to know about his method of preparing fish for later use without the need for refrigeration. Keep telling myself I am going to experiment someday and try this technique. I think a mixture of seasoned salt, pepper, and maybe a little garlic powder will work.

I'd like to know how to cure a ham and smoke meats. Beef jerky is not a real tough trick, but I want to know how to do other meats, larger meats. Occasionally I see a ham hanging openly in the meat market section and I would like to know how they do that. I know they use different methods, smoking, salt, sugar curing.... I'd like to know the process.

I'd like to know how to build a smoke-shed where a person can cure an entire pig or side of beef, even fish. Knowing the process is the key, building the smoke-shed wouldn't be that difficult.

I don't understand how these farm gals know how to can veggies from the garden and then have them setting in the cellar or pantry all winter ready to open and cook.

If I had a 100# sack of whole wheat, I'd like to know how to mill that wheat and turn it into a loaf of bread.

I guess I'd like to have a time traveling machine and go back to around 1875 and spend time learning how people lived their lives without electricity. Who knows, I might just opt to stay there.

Stink, I have a solar powered water pump on my farm that pumps 1000 gallons or more a day (it don't have to have full sun to pump). It's pumping from 95 ft deep. So the solar water pump would be a good investment, with a water well. My 2 cents.

I agree the big city's are where most of the violence would be....stay well clear of those. I dont think gasoline is a big deal, they will declare a state of emergency and lock down all the roads anyway, if that dont work they will flip the switch and all cars will be dead clogging the roads making them impassable. I for one think I can get enough fish & game to make it on. I agree Stink in the 30's it was tough but look at all the lakes and rivers with fish vs. back then? We were raised tough on a farm and ate alot of raw foods and different things most people find nasty....but if your hungry Bear Grills food will do.

What about family? How would you contact family members? Do you have a plan in place for what every family member is expected to do in case of a nuclear emergency?

not something i really wana think about but i think its a good possibality expecily since the way the world is today but our armed forces do a good job defending our freedom and keeping us safe im not a really a church going person but i belive that there is a higher power i just pray we dont ever have to see that day

but on the other hand i work in a necular fallout shelter but as far as a plan i dont really have one just defend my family and self at all cost live or death got to do what you got to do and as far as ammo and guns you would probally want about 10,000 rounds per weapon and a good pistol,rifle and shot gun and lots of M.R.E.'s probally about 3-4 weeks worth and i would probally meat family out in the middle of nowhere and probally make my way to my aunt and uncles farm in SW oklahoma

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Originally Posted by crappiedoc

Panic is our demise and will bring the whole system down.

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Originally Posted by The Lip RIPPERS

I agree the big city's are where most of the violence would be....stay well clear of those.

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This is an interesting topic - enough to bring me out of hibernation on the internet. As an old retired guy it's time for a war story.

On 9/11 (before I retired) I was the Regional Director of Investigations for a government security organization. Our regional headquarters was in Irving, TX and I oversaw offices from Houston throughout the central US to Chicago. My Admin Officer and I were visiting a few offices and had just left Detroit on our way to Chicago. We landed in Chicago at almost the same time as the first plane hit the twin towers. We watched the second one on TV. Our Chicago office was downtown and the building was evacuated so we moved to a sub-office at Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Knowing we could not fly and thinking we needed to get back to Dallas I grabbed a government car from the Chicago office and we began driving. We had to go back through Chicago and there were visible signs of panic along the way. That night we got to St. Louis where we planned to gas up and spend the night. The panic had set in there. Long lines of people at gas stations and persons with bull-horns in the street. One guy at a gas station even had a shotgun. We kept driving and stopped for the night down the highway, in the country, where it was more sane. Because it was localized to NYC the panic appeared over the next day when people settled down some (away from where it happened) When the Murrah building was bombed panic didn't set in because it was an attack on a specific target. There was shock and disbelief, and lot's of anger but no panic.

From 42 years in the intelligence and security field I certainly believe this scenario could happen, and may be inevitable with all the terrorist groups out there today. I'll follow with interest the comments in this thread.

Floyd

Thanks for your reply and an interesting read. It appears that your acknowledgement of how panic can lead to chaos reinforces the need for preparation.

I'm reading a new book and I want to share some details of this interesting read:

"The inhabitants of these wild but wealthy valleys are of many tribes, but of similar character and condition. The abundant crops which a warm sun and copious rains raise from a fertile soil, support a numerous population in a state of warlike leisure. Except at the times of sowing and of harvest, a continual state of feud and strife prevails throughout the land. Tribe wars with tribe. The people of one valley fight with those of the next. To the quarrels of communities are added the combats of individuals. Khan assails khan, each supported by his retainers. Every tribesman has a blood feud with his neighbor. Every man's hand is against the other, and all against the stranger."

This book is not the cause for me to pen this thread, but it played a part as well as other bits of information I have been studying during this long hot summer while holed up under the air conditioner.

"More than a century ago, when Britain's empire was at its height, the colonial British couldn't control any more than Pakistan can today the lawless, violent tribal areas that comprise the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In 1897, Winston Churchill was a 23-year-old journalist attached for about six weeks to the Malakand Field Force in the Swat Valley as Britain fought rebellious Pashtun, or Pathan, tribesmen in the region -- at the time, the northwest frontier of British India. Churchill sent dispatches to The Daily Telegraph about the brutal campaign, writing vividly and engagingly about the land and the warlike nature of its tribes "where every man is a soldier." The letters were incorporated into Churchill's first book, The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War (1898). Here is an excerpt from the first chapter."

FRONTLINE: return of the taliban: tribal areas: winston churchill on the tribal territories | PBS

I recently completed another book concerning this hotbed of activity in the mountains of Afghanistan, "War" by Sebastian Junger, the same author that wrote "A Perfect Storm" later made into a movie starring George Clooney.

The first book mentioned above was written more than a century ago and the descriptions of the indigenous peoples that inhabit those tribal areas are almost identical to the description given by Junger in his book.

It tells me those people are not going to be changed or motivated by any means to become tranquil and become part of the community of civilized people. They're living in the stone age and quite content to continue their way of life which sadly, is death. Death has no meaning to them. They have no respect for life, not even their own. And I'm not talking about suicide bombers, I'm speaking about a large population of people living in those mountains that know no other life besides constant fighting, war, feuds, and death.

So, as long as those people inhabit that area, the Taliban and other terrorists, mainly Al Queda will have a foothold in that region and will not disappear.

We pull out our troops, that country will dissolve into the same type of country it was before we invaded. Nothing has really changed, only a temporary cessitation of them being able to plan and carry out attacks around the globe from Afghanistan.

So, we will pull out, eventually. Maybe next year, maybe in 3 or even 10 years, but we will leave that land. Afterwards, it will fall and we'll find ourselves waiting on the next attack.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, Pakistan could fall and with it, the nukes in their stockpile. Then its only a matter of time. The terrorists can make mistake after mistake, we only have to make one.

My intention was not to alarm anyone in this forum, but to promote or stimulate people to be aware that being prepared might make the difference in short term survival of not only yourself, but family members. Family members that depend on you to care for them.

I'm just now making a few short term plans myself and intend on having a family meeting in the next 30 days or so to begin making plans for my entire family. If nothing else, at least establish a means for us to all be on the same page if some disaster occurs.

We have no guarantee of being able to communicate with our loved ones if an attack were to happen.

I wondered if I went out on a limb when I decided to share my thoughts regarding this topic and made the decision it was better for me to share than not to speak up. So, really it doesn't makes two whoops in a briar patch to me if someone finds this all too silly to be realistic.

The bottom line for me is I hope, I truly hope from my heart that none of us ever have to experience what I fear may happen.

I'll just drive up to Canada and spend a few months fishing for Walleye and Northern Pike. I don't believe the extremists hate the Canadians, yet.

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Originally Posted by rigrunner(236)

Stink, I have a solar powered water pump on my farm that pumps 1000 gallons or more a day (it don't have to have full sun to pump). It's pumping from 95 ft deep. So the solar water pump would be a good investment, with a water well. My 2 cents.

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Thanks for your input RR, appreciate you and lipripper getting in along with the others. I'm hoping a few more will share some ideas and thoughts.

I found a youtube video explaining the process of curing ham. Pretty interesting and I think I could do this.

Thanks again and Marv, make room for me to go with you to Canada if necessary.

I will submit this: Since 9-11 we have lost alot of things legislated away from us by the elected ones. No terrorist's have managed to do that! Bin Ladin if they wanted him that badly could have EASILY been taken down. Do any of you remember Jesse Ventura's "Conspiracy Theory" TV show? Wonder what happened to it??? They have pushed through a number of things on fear. If you want the real news watch "Democracy Now" with host Amy Goodman, on 9415 Dish network. Think I'm crazy? Google up Youtube....type a search on Greg Palast.com investigative reporter for the BBC, They wont even air him on the mainstream corporate controlled media. Our problems dont lie with these other countries....it's right here folks.

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Originally Posted by The Lip RIPPERS

I will submit this: Since 9-11 we have lost alot of things legislated away from us by the elected ones. No terrorist's have managed to do that! Bin Ladin if they wanted him that badly could have EASILY been taken down. Do any of you remember Jesse Ventura's "Conspiracy Theory" TV show? Wonder what happened to it??? They have pushed through a number of things on fear. If you want the real news watch "Democracy Now" with host Amy Goodman, on 9415 Dish network. Think I'm crazy? Google up Youtube....type a search on Greg Palast.com investigative reporter for the BBC, They wont even air him on the mainstream corporate controlled media. Our problems dont lie with these other countries....it's right here folks.

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I agree 100%, LR!!!

My experience these last few years with various speakers that have theories related to anything from the attacks on 9/11 to the Triad running the world has been to never take any of it too seriously. Not disregarding it as fiction, but not accepting it as fact either.

But anyone with a lick of common sense knows that things on this ol earth are volatile and nothing can be ruled out at this point in history.

I've just got a gut feeling that folks need to do a little preparation in case things go sour and go sour fast.

Everyone can take a few precautions and store away some essentials to get you and your family through a couple of weeks of rough times without spending an arm and a leg.

I plan to use one of those upright metal cabinets to store things like rice, beans, shortening, salt, and other dry goods to eat. Maybe a ham or two, some beef jerky, and even some smoked fish if I can figure out how to do it.

I ate so many ramen noodles when I was going to college that I just don't have a taste for them anymore, but I figure a case of them (they're cheap) might come in handy.

If anyone else has any ideas, please share.:)

Wow Stink, you have to get out more often!!

Seriously, I find it humorous that so many people in the Poll believe they would be ready for such a disaster. People just don't know what they're in for if the SHTF.

I lived just outside of Houston in a rural area during Hurricane Ike. Even though we had a 7 to 10 day warning (longer if you stop to realize that the Gulf Coast is a Hurricane target), many folks did not get out and get the necessities even though they knew this monster was coming. Most of those that did, didn't get near enough.

In our area, we were 19 days without electricity. Some were without electric for longer, some were only out of power for a week.

The Government is so large, the earliest they could mobilize relief centers and get them set up was nearly a week. The first relief centers went to high population centers like certain parts of the City and then in the suburbs...the high end suburbs first. Those in the poorer sections of the County had to wait over a week for a relief center to be set up.

Can you imagine none of the convenience stores in your area having gas or groceries? With no electric, gas pumps, coolers and freezers don't work. Even those stores that had generators had no gas because no deliveries could be made. When a few did reopen after a week, the site was something to see. Lines of people standing along the highway with gas cans in their hands. Cars backed up for miles. State Troopers stationed at the gas pumps rationing out gas 10 gallons per person.

Some of these people waited 8 hours in line just for two cans of gas!

People were getting into fights at the relief centers. Most Centers gave out a case of bottled water and a bag of ice at first. Then a few had MRE's later on. You can't really imagine anyone fighting over a case of bottled water and a bag of ice until you see it happen!

The quickest relief our area received was not from Uncle Sam or the Red Cross, it was from religious organizations such as the Southern Baptist. I don't know where they got all the food and water, but in our area of the County they were quite literally life savers. They had a center opened two or three days after the storm went through.

As usual, you had many people, and not only the low income folks, hollering that the Government wasn't doing enough. Rich people get bent out of shape when they get hungry also!

We always try to keep extra food in the house. Before the storm hit, we added quite a bit to the pantry and made it okay. Since I didn't have a generator, we ate like Kings the first few days trying to eat everything in the Freezers before it went bad.

The grocery stores in the area ran out of food fast. After about a week, the larger ones like Wal-Mart and Krogers opened a few hours each day, but I'm not sure why. Can you imagine Reasors or a Wal-Mart Supercenter having bare shelves? I've seen it and it isn't a pretty sight. I remember when we were let in, about the only canned goods Wal-Mart had was Campbell's Red Beans and Rice. I thought that was funny. Even when hungry, people have their limits as to what they'll eat!

Cell phone communications was spotty as their generators can only run so long before they too need fuel. So don't think you're going to be a chatty Cathy if the lights go out.

The price of many things went through the roof. I called as far away as Dallas looking for a generator 2 days before the storm hit and couldn't find one. Afterwards, people came into the area from out of state with cheap generators and were selling them in parking lots and along the side of the road. A cheap Chinese generator that you could have bought for 300 bucks before the storm now cost you $2000.

I actually enjoyed the peace and quiet. The downside was at night you fell asleep to the drone of numerous generators of your neighbors! I actually was a little sad when the power finally did come back on. My Wife on the other hand wasn't. It was 11 p.m. at night and she was asleep. I was listening to the radio in the Living Room when it came on and she jumped up and turned on the TV! Boy, how she missed that TV!

Since that time, I've taken emergency preparedness a little more serious.

Stink, meat can be canned just like veggies. There are a number of good canning books out there now, Ball's Blue Book is one of them.

Being prepared and putting back food isn't hard nor is it expensive. For starters, just buy extra canned and dried goods (such as beans, rice, etc) each time you go to the store. Buy the stuff you eat. I always look at the "best by" date. I want something that last for at least 2 years. Remember to rotate your stock out. First in, first out.

Storage is the big thing. Probably the best thing is to turn an extra closet into a storage pantry. You may think it's a big inconvenience to store food, but trust me, it'll be an even bigger one not having food!

Water will be a huge necessity that people don't take serious enough. Without electric, there'll be no municipal or county water service. You can store a few days of water but you should also look into a water filter such as the Berkey.

I could go on. I just realized how long this post was! Sorry!

Here are some resources you need to look into when you get serious about emergency preparedness.

A few good emergency preparedness and survival blogs:

Survival Preparedness Blog

Survivalist Blog

Here's some books you can read that will open your eyes and help you get prepared. Just look 'em up on Amazon.

"When All Hell Breaks Loose" by Cody Lundin - I highly recommend this book for anyone!

"When Technology Fails" by Mathew Stein

"Putting Food By" by Ruth Hertzburg - Another "must read" book if you're serious about being prepared

Once you get the basics down, then you can start getting hardcore by storing wheat and other grains. No power? No problem. Lehmans has hand operated grain mills and other such things to help you out.

Lehmans Non Electric Catalog

Hope this helps Stink!

Thanks Don, I read every word with interest and wish you had written more. So, it wasn't too long at all. Also, thanks for the links and references, I will incorporate them into my info bag.

I drove over to Ada yesterday and helped my son with his new room addition. He poured the slab for the basement and it measures 16x16 with an 8 feet ceiling. One corner is dedicated to a small storage area. He has a water well and a 220v generator. Cattle, sheep, goats, chickens and one mule.

Everything I prepare here will be light and easily transportable because I plan on "bugging-out" if an emergency arises.

I've seen this acroynm used in some of those survival forums: WTSHTF and know what it stands for. Like I said earlier in this thread, those folks get plum radical with all ideas and plans. If I didn't know better, I would think some of them are looking forward to some major disaster.

Thanks again Don and if you come up with anything else, please share.

Storage for emergency food supplies can be a problem for many of us. But don't let that deter you.

I can get quite a few cans of Tuna under the bed. Tuna, Spam, Canned Ham, Canned Chicken, Vienna
Sausage, Wolf brand Chili, Canned milk, Canned beans, vegetables and fruits. Anything canned that is high
protein and nutritional that can be eaten cold if necessary. Don't forget jars of baby food and canned baby
formula for infants.

If you fish, I understand that fish can be canned by pressure cooker method, for non-refridgerated
storage. They say it's similar to canned salmon.

If water supplies are unavailable due to pump stations not working, or if water sources are contaminated, it
would be wise to have ample supplies of water. Not only for drinking, but for sanitation of dishes and utencils,
flushing of toilets, and basic spit-baths. It's amazing how much random water we use daily and not give it a
thought..... until it stops.

The wife saves the gallon size bleach bottles and laundry detergent bottles, rinses them and stores auxilary
water for emergency. It's clean enough to wash with, and probably ok to drink in absolute emergency.
It would be good to have as many as possible stored everywhere you can find an extra spot... closets, garage,
storage sheds, attics, basements, buried in the backyard... everywhere. The containers are free... no reason
to not have auxiliary water. This small savings, can free up monies to purchase other needed items, such as
bottled drinking water. We can do without lots of things. But water would be the hardest.

And CASH will rule. If the power goes out, the banks won't open..... Nor will the ATM's work, or the credit
card machines at merchants won't transmit a transaction. So whoever has cash money will rule, together with
guns and amo, .......when push comes to shove.

We aren't alarmists, but the world we live in..... ain't your grandpa's peaceable place it used to be. Better to
be at least semi-prepared, than to fall to the mercy of a jerk neighbor that is. haha. Just kiddin, I hope
everyone has lovely neighbors that would be more than ready to share what they have put back for their own
families. (tongue-in-cheek).

Hopefully, none of this will ever be needed. But, who knows for sure ?

Now that bin Laden is gone.... some folks think the threat of terrorist attack is lower. Unfortunately, there
is no shortage of hate-filled individuals, willing to carry on his deeds to honor him for his martyrdom and
watching constantly for an opportunity.

Wishing and praying for peace for all of us. But it's a time to keep our eyes open and not get caught unaware.

All these ideas about being prepared are great. We should be PREPARED, and we can be at PEACE, because God is SOVEREIGN.

Just want to point out that being prepared can actually be less expensive than not, not to mention more healthy and more tasty. We buy rice & grains in bulk because it's cheaper that way. Buying big cuts of meat on sale(especially after the holidays) and then pressure canning them is not only cheaper, it provides a delicious quick meal. A pint of canned lamb shoulder and a pot of rice is really a good meal .... add some home canned or store-bought peas and it's pretty well balanced. You may not know what goes into the meat before you get it, but if you home can it at least you know what goes in after.

We can as many of the fresh veggies as possible from our small garden (we re-discovered home canned 'maters a few years ago and store-bought can't compare).
Home canned foods can be eaten straight from the jar, requiring no fuel at all.

A small home drier can also provide easily stored food that is really good to eat. Try some dried tomatoes, they take much less room than even home canned 'maters and come back well with minimal fuel usage. You can also dry onions, squash, most fruit(even watermelon), greens & cabbage(which dry to almost nothing and "cook" in just a couple minutes), peppers & mushrooms can be simply dried on a string hanging in the kitchen. Dried food takes less room to store and is "edible" for a long time.

There are a lot of edibles growing in and around your yard if you know what to look for. Having a few field guides on the shelf is smart. Even if you never have a reason to try dandelion soup or steamed nettle, knowing what & where they are could come in handy.

Fuel to cook with is something to think about. The Haitians stripped most of their side of the island of trees in just a few months after the quake. If you have to cook or boil water you need to have plenty of dry fuel on hand. If you don't or haven't heated with wood you'd be surprised how much you can go thru in a month. Most of us would be hard put to keep warm with nothing but an axe to cut wood with.

Bottom line for me, I'm not considering a nuke attack, natural disasters are more likely to put us in a bad spot. An economic crisis is also more likely to cause long term hardships than a hostile attack. I've enough put away to get us thru a few weeks if we're careful. Not because I'm necessarily planning for a disaster, but mainly because it's cheaper and healthier.

Beyond a month or 2 is a whole 'nother ballgame. I don't believe that many folks could make it more than 2-3 months no matter how well prepared they think they are. I'm not knocking those folks that stockpile thousands of rounds of ammo, it's their $$. I just don't think you can keep people from getting your supplies if they know you have them. You have to remember that in the apocalyptic situation there will be remnants of the military roaming about. Sorry boys but an AK with 1000 or 100000 rounds won't help much against a tank or mortar. The people that will make it the longest in that scenario are the most predatory. I don't personally think I have what it takes to steal from other families (or even refuse to share) if it means that they won't have what they need to survive. Guess I'm just too civilized.

Wow, this thread has some legs!!!

I would agree with Crappiefishing Guru except for one thing. If it's an economic disaster, the Cash will be worthless. Precious metals, ammo, guns and food will be the new money. If you really want to get an idea of what America would look like in a financial crisis, take a look at what happened in Argentina a decade ago. Argentina financial collapse

@Papadave

Thanks for the thread, very informative and on the mark.

In case most of you haven't realized it, commodities like Corn and Sugar are skyrocketing. I read an article a few months ago that said Sugar has soared something like 35% in the last 6 months and Corn was up even more. When I asked my Wife, she did some checking and confirmed that the increases were real. She said she hadn't noticed because they'd went up slowly but steady.

If you try and buy just about any bulk grain or other food, many places will be out and you'll be placed on backorder. It's just my opinion, but you can buy bulk grain at the feed store. Corn and what can be had in 40 and 50lb bags much cheaper than what you can buy it elsewhere for.

Since this thread was started late last Summer, I thought I'd give you an update on what I tried last Fall. I started canning Venison. Started seeing some guys talk about it on the Archery forum and decided to give it a try myself. Not the most appetizing looking stuff, but it tastes better than any beef you could imagine. I started adding salt and onions to mine and it tastes as good as any seasoned beef you ever had right out of the can...I mean jar...:) You can also put the cubed meat on a club cracker with some cheese and just make a fool out of yourself eating it all!

This year, I'm going to try canning some venison stew made with vegetables out of my Garden. Can't wait!

So what do we do with our crappie?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SmokyOkie

So what do we do with our crappie?

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If someone would come up with a good rub, something smoky and spicey so I could rub it into my crappie, then dry it in the oven, I'd keep it in case we lost power.

Anyone know of a good spicey rub for smoking meats?Rofl