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skybytch

Prepping?

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Sitting here babysitting the generator. Everyone around us is also in the dark. Public safety power shutdown is what they call it. I'm cool with it, much rather be in the dark for a few days than have a fire in the area.

Friends lost their house in one of the big fires, another friend spent a week evacuated before they learned their house was still standing. Both had to get out in the wee hours of the morning, as fast as possible. We have our evac plan and have drilled getting the fuck out of here fast (15 minutes or less). Still damned scary; I'll be on edge until the rains start. 

The first PSPS, we were not ready.  We had only been here for a couple months. It was 5 days without power in 90 degree heat.  I was not a happy camper. By year 2, we had a generator and these power shutdowns are much less of a PITA.

With all the fires, power shutoffs, COVID, right/left wing extremists and anticipation of November 4, I have become a prepper.  We have at least 2 months food on hand (and 60 rolls of tp because people are stupid).  We have appropriate tools to defend the property  (and the ability, training and knowledge to use them properly). We are continuously  working  on our defensible space (for wildfires, not tactical fortifications). We have (safely stored) fuel on hand for the generator.  Still need to up the booze backstock; my cannabis backstock is about 3 weeks away from harvest (California legal, helps reduce seizure activity).  I have a 3 month supply of my prescription seizure meds (without which I will carpe every diem). We are prepped to not leave the property for at least two months should SHTF. 

Getting all Boy Scout has significantly reduced my stress levels this year. Am I being paranoid? Maybe. But judging by how 2020 has unfolded,  would it surprise anyone if December brings a zombie apocalypse?  :p

Seriously though. Are you ready for the rest of 2020?  What are your plans should things get really nasty over the next few months?  Where's your bunker so I can come join you when the orange idiot pushes the red button? 

 

 

 

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We're currently on 2-week quarantine because we traveled out of state. Our prepping has consisted of having my sister-in-law get groceries from us, and eating down our pantry and prepared-ahead-of-time refrigerator. We do have 2 alternate places to live (an RV, and a property I share with my brothers). But if SHTF, we'll be counting on still trading with people.

Wendy P.

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59 minutes ago, skybytch said:

Seriously though. Are you ready for the rest of 2020?  What are your plans should things get really nasty over the next few months?  Where's your bunker so I can come join you when the orange idiot pushes the red button? 

We are OK for power and water.  Good reminder on food though; I should look into some long shelf life camping food.

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The best prepping I heard of a few years ago was a guy here in CO who had a home in the mountains. He spent a pile of money to install a fire-suppression-foam system. When a wildfire came through he saved his home. And he also became a hero to his neighbors, because they believed that had he not stopped the fire at his property, it would have continued on and taken out the rest of the neighborhood.

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We've got a couple of months of MREs and additional long shelf life food as well as water stashed away. Plenty of stuff like powdered milk, sugar and coffee too. I also bought a really good water filter / purifier.

I tend to have 3 month supplies of medications on hand all the time, so that's not too much of an issue for me.

The generator would be helpful, but I do wonder if in that situation being the only house in the neighborhood with lights and AC doesn't make you MORE of a target.

 

I really need to do a load of wildfire prevention this year. 

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20 minutes ago, billvon said:

We are OK for power and water.  Good reminder on food though; I should look into some long shelf life camping food.

I think we have a couple of those meals in the backpacking stuff. Instead of stocking up on those, we have a pantry filled with long shelf life "regular" foods (rice, canned food, etc) and two freezers full of meat and frozen veggies.  Less expensive and a greater variety of meal choices than backpacking type dehydrated meals. We can survive off the pantry alone for at least a month should the freezers fail. 

Dehydrated meals have been kind of hard to find this year, especially the large quantity prepper buckets. 

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7 minutes ago, yoink said:

The generator would be helpful, but I do wonder if in that situation being the only house in the neighborhood with lights and AC doesn't make you MORE of a target.

A good argument to have a system that lets everyone else have some lights on, too!

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Sorry to hear that your friend lost their house. There has been a lot of that going around this summer. I'm glad you have another friend whose house was spared. I had to help a friend evacuate in August but thankfully the fire was stopped before it got to their neighborhood. So far, anyway. Even contained, none of them are actually out until rain comes.

Although I am definitely affected by fires all around me, I am fortunate that the area where I live is unlikely to burn. It's very urban and only about 500 meters from the ocean as the crow flies. I do have a respirator & fire blanket in my car, but I mainly prep at home for earthquakes as I am almost right on top of the San Andreas fault. I have food, water & camping supplies that would carry me for well over a month as long as my house was still standing and water was available. If not, I do know where I can get water and have filtration but it would be a huge pain to go get it. Besides, if things were that bad I expect my neighborhood might get a bit chaotic. But I also keep a small storage unit near work which I mainly use for tools & equipment that I sometimes use as I still do some independent projects. It's in a one story facility so I think it is not prone to collapse. There's probably a month's supply of food there and some water, but there's no way to store enough water. You have to find a source if things go long term. My backpack & hiking boots are always prepped & ready by the door, mainly because I use them often, but they're also what I plan to grab if have to run out of the house naked in the middle of the night.

I have cousins in Texas who are prepping for the election. They expect that Trump will win a second term, and they fully expect the left to riot nationwide when that happens.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, murps2000 said:

I have cousins in Texas who are prepping for the election. They expect that Trump will win a second term, and they fully expect the left to riot nationwide when that happens.

I find it interesting that they don't think the Dems will concede, when it's Trump who has indicated that he doesn't trust the election.

Wendy P.

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16 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

I find it interesting that they don't think the Dems will concede, when it's Trump who has indicated that he doesn't trust the election.

Wendy P.

I think they pretty much only watch Fox news. Through that lens it is understandable. But I agree it is interesting as well.

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27 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

I find it interesting that they don't think the Dems will concede, when it's Trump who has indicated that he doesn't trust the election.

I think that's more a strategy than anything else. 

If you are feeling a little senile dementia creeping to yourself, you blame your opponent for being demented first - so you can attack him with that, and by the time he mentions your dementia, you can say "well, I'm not as demented as you!"  If you think you are going to get some benefit from mail fraud, you accuse your opponent of it right away - so if you do get the benefit, you can use the "no, I accused you of that first" angle.

And if your base isn't going to concede, you accuse the other side of harboring those thoughts first.  Then if your base actually does refuse to concede, you can say "I support them!  After all, the hypocrite Dems said they weren't going to concede - so let them have a taste of their own medicine."

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39 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

I find it interesting that they don't think the Dems will concede, when it's Trump who has indicated that he doesn't trust the election.

Wendy P.

HRC said,

“Joe Biden should not concede under any circumstances”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/25/hillary-clinton-joe-biden-election-advice-401641
 

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8 minutes ago, wmw999 said:

Um -- if the election is close. If it's clear, he'll take his medicine. Not so sure Trump and the Trumpets will -- they'll doubt that "those types" of voters could possibly be honest.

They are already priming the pump for that.  Trump's new Postmaster General is doing his best to muck up the post office so if Trump loses he can say "the postal service failed!  I would have won except the democrats messed things up purposely!"  Look for every single Post Office problem to be the subject of tweets between now and election day.  The more doubt they can sow the better.

 

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14 minutes ago, murps2000 said:

I'd go with Senator Durbin on this. She is flat out wrong.

Very first line of the article:

"Hillary Clinton is predicting Donald Trump's reelection effort will be a messy affair, and the former Democratic candidate has some advice for Joe Biden: If the race is close, don't concede."
 

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2 minutes ago, billvon said:

Very first line of the article:

"Hillary Clinton is predicting Donald Trump's reelection effort will be a messy affair, and the former Democratic candidate has some advice for Joe Biden: If the race is close, don't concede."
 

Point taken. It's the any circumstances part I don't agree with. I hold the same standard for the incumbent. And I feel that in all likelihood the circumstances will end up being such that neither side should concede early. So perhaps I should have kept quiet. I just have difficulty accepting any conditions that are absolute.

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To get back on topic, one should have at least one month of food on hand.  Rice, beans and vegetable oil, canned meats, peanut butter, crackers  w a vitamin supplement is a good, low cost start.  A reliable source of water, a means to cook and heat (a few cords of wood and/or a few hundred gallons of propane. For the luxury minded, a generator and a few hundred gallons of fuel, (A solar panel or two would not be out of order, but don’t tell BillV). And of course one needs to have the means to protect all of that. 

 

Edited by brenthutch

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15 minutes ago, brenthutch said:

To get back on topic, one should have at least one month of food on hand.  Rice, beans and vegetable oil, canned meats, peanut butter, crackers  w a vitamin supplement is a good, low cost start.  A reliable source of water, a means to cook and heat (a few cords of wood and/or a few hundred gallons of propane. (A solar panel or two would not be out of order, but don’t tell BillV). And of course one needs to have the means to protect all of that.

 

I have 20 cases of fine Oregon Pinot, French Burgundies and a fuel bladder ready to load into a 200kt 850HP Caravan. I'll also bring some cash and my trusty Beretta 1301 Tactical. Add to that some nice chow in the cooler bags and a few piss bottles and it should be a pleasant trip. Good luck with your water filter and peanut butter.

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21 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

I have 20 cases of fine Oregon Pinot, French Burgundies and a fuel bladder ready to load into a 200kt 850HP Caravan. I'll also bring some cash and my trusty Beretta 1301 Tactical. Add to that some nice chow in the cooler bags and a few piss bottles and it should be a pleasant trip. Good luck with your water filter and peanut butter.

I wasn’t being jerky, I was actually giving some proper advice.  BTW w my AR-15 or my 6.5cm RPR, I could have all of your booty if the notion took me.  A shotgun doesn’t do much past a hundred yards.

RPR, 1000 yards, three for three on a 12 inch gong,

 

Edited by brenthutch

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4 minutes ago, brenthutch said:

I wasn’t being jerky, I was actually giving some proper advice.  BTW w my AR-15 or my 6.5cm RPR, I could have all of your booty if the notion took me.  A shotgun doesn’t do much past a hundred yards.

Of course, I'd be standing stock still holding a case with a bullseye on it to ease your job. And then what would you do with the booty Rambo? Save your shot for someone with a case of Old Milwaukie and a bus ticket.

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