Runcible - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Comms Recommendations for Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness?

1

6

Posted October 24, 2020

Reply to: New to Prepping & specific questions re CA/fire strategy Posted August 23, 2020

The one question I still have, as a Bay Area resident surrounded by fires on three sides and water on the fourth is: where to go? The highways will be too clogged! I dread creaking slowly along the road with brushfires burning. Where is safety in all of this?

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

Matt, thanks for the thorough reply! I am grateful for the preps we’ve made, and thinking of those gives me some peace of mind; thanks for reminding me to be grateful. I imagine that its already too late to seriously consider emigrating. Further we have family obligations that make leaving the country seem unfeasable for now. Further, we like our home and don’t really want to leave it unless we have no other options. I suppose in that case, it might be difficult to find a buyer. What is really drawing me is, as you mentioned above, a secondary more rural property we could bug out to. Something within a few hours drive from our population center that would be less drastically affected by earthquake or war. I just don’t know if I can afford to take on another mortgage for a “what-if” scenario. If we wait for further financial collapse resulting in people defaulting on their mortgages, potentially we could afford such a property, but thinking about that feels morally icky and opportunistic. I appreciate your thoughtful post. I know for security reasons you’re not interesting in sharing the specifics of your preps with a stranger on the internet, but perhaps you’d be willing to point me to some publically available resources or thoughts that you’ve felt were admirable or interesting? Who have you been looking to for inspiration, and what specific things have they done that you thought a wise prepper might emulate?

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

I like what you wrote about prepping to assist folks during peaceful and potentially riotous protests, and I think the Go Bag you IDed for this situation makes sense. I guess I’m thinking of a more macro situation than a temporary unrest and more like a general collapse of the town I live in and perhaps our country in general. In my town we have a lot of smash-and-grab-type crimes of opportunity. With the terrible economic outlook, I really fear an increase of crimes like armed robbery. I’m trying to plan in advance for things like financial crises, increases in crime, a significant earthquake, or a contested election resulting in further unrest and potential unlivibility. I really feel like everything is going to get worse before it gets better, and it will take just one of these things to truly destabilize life, but I don’t know how to plan.

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

That’s a good point. It seems like stocking up on a little extra cash each time we visit the ATM would be a smart idea…unless we hit hyperinflation or something! It seems like perils of poor decisionmaking are everywhere when every direction feels threatening.

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

I don’t feel unsafe *yet*. What I’m trying to do is figure out how to make plans for when I do. I want to know if I should sell stock and buy off-grid property now so that I can run away when the shit actually hits the fan. Gah! It’s such an uncertain time and I’m trying to plan on shifting sands. So say we all, I guess

When to bug out… and where?

Advice 15

15

Posted July 30, 2020

Reply to: Worried about the fall season Posted July 18, 2020

Thank you for organizing your fears. I’m feeling similarly bad/anxious/fight-or-flighty. What I want to know is: since I can’t change how the rest of the world is going, how can I do best for my family? We live in a major suburban area adjacent to San Francisco, so add earthquakes to the anxiety too. As we are able to work/school remotely, conversations in our house are centering on where the hell we should ride out this coming storm whether/how to fortify our home: we’ve made friends with neighbors on our street, and suspect we could work to support each other in some ways in hard times looting/violent crime is a distinct possibility in our area, which has a lot of income inequality we have a productive little food garden and chickens If we should sell our house/cash out our assets to give us maximum flexibility to buy a home/property out in the country where there will still be irrational and desperate folks but with lower population density AAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Reply to: Thinking about home-schooling this fall? The time to prepare is now Posted July 9, 2020

I hear you that the time is now, but I am waiting to see if the Bay Area Spanish-language public school we’ve enrolled in will offer a decent distanced learning program. If it’s terrible, we’ll un-enroll and start homeschooling. Thank you for this very helpful overview.

Reply to: Thinking about school in the fall Posted July 1, 2020

We live in the Bay Area and haven’t been told what to expect yet. I pulled my kid out of school a few days before our lockdown orders went into effect, because I could see the writing on the wall. Similarly, I don’t think our underfunded school districts will be able to provide the necessary supplies and oversight to keep our children disinfected and distanced in any meaningful way. I will wait to see what the schools propose, but in my mind I’m prepared to keep my kid home for first grade. In that vein, I wonder if I should be looking into any homeschooling resources or if I should wait to see what materials our enrolled school will offer for distanced learning.

Reply to: If you just started gardening or raising chickens/rabbits, how has it gone? Posted June 3, 2020

I’m about 12 weeks into raising my first flock of chickens. They grow incredibly fast and eat hugely! We live in a suburban area and have about 3/4 of an acre to let them free range upon, which they’ve been doing for about 2 weeks. The first weeks were pretty simple, we got a soft sided octagonal kennel to keep the chicks in and lined it with hay. We needed a watering system, a feed trough, and a heat lamp. All were available at a local feed and seed store, although you could also get them online. My partner built them a run outside from plans he bought online and we also constructed the henhouse from a kit we bought from Amazon. The run was a lot of work for one person, and I think the supplies were about $1K (the chicks were $7 each, maybe?) We wanted 5, but on the advice of a neighbor we ordered 8 “just in case.” It turned out to be good advice, because one of them is certainly a rooster and the another might turn out cocky too. So far, it has been a lot of time and money and energy, and they haven’t started laying yet and now we have to figure out how to kill the rooster. Also, caring for them means we can’t just bug out until the unrest settles, so… so far mixed bag. They’re cute to watch run around the back yard, and my kid likes chasing them. Maybe I’ll feel like this has started paying off after my first homegrown omelette.

Comms Recommendations for Neighborhood Emergency Preparedness?

1

6

Posted October 24, 2020

When to bug out… and where?

Advice 15

15

Posted July 30, 2020

Reply to: New to Prepping & specific questions re CA/fire strategy Posted August 23, 2020

The one question I still have, as a Bay Area resident surrounded by fires on three sides and water on the fourth is: where to go? The highways will be too clogged! I dread creaking slowly along the road with brushfires burning. Where is safety in all of this?

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

Matt, thanks for the thorough reply! I am grateful for the preps we’ve made, and thinking of those gives me some peace of mind; thanks for reminding me to be grateful. I imagine that its already too late to seriously consider emigrating. Further we have family obligations that make leaving the country seem unfeasable for now. Further, we like our home and don’t really want to leave it unless we have no other options. I suppose in that case, it might be difficult to find a buyer. What is really drawing me is, as you mentioned above, a secondary more rural property we could bug out to. Something within a few hours drive from our population center that would be less drastically affected by earthquake or war. I just don’t know if I can afford to take on another mortgage for a “what-if” scenario. If we wait for further financial collapse resulting in people defaulting on their mortgages, potentially we could afford such a property, but thinking about that feels morally icky and opportunistic. I appreciate your thoughtful post. I know for security reasons you’re not interesting in sharing the specifics of your preps with a stranger on the internet, but perhaps you’d be willing to point me to some publically available resources or thoughts that you’ve felt were admirable or interesting? Who have you been looking to for inspiration, and what specific things have they done that you thought a wise prepper might emulate?

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

I like what you wrote about prepping to assist folks during peaceful and potentially riotous protests, and I think the Go Bag you IDed for this situation makes sense. I guess I’m thinking of a more macro situation than a temporary unrest and more like a general collapse of the town I live in and perhaps our country in general. In my town we have a lot of smash-and-grab-type crimes of opportunity. With the terrible economic outlook, I really fear an increase of crimes like armed robbery. I’m trying to plan in advance for things like financial crises, increases in crime, a significant earthquake, or a contested election resulting in further unrest and potential unlivibility. I really feel like everything is going to get worse before it gets better, and it will take just one of these things to truly destabilize life, but I don’t know how to plan.

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

That’s a good point. It seems like stocking up on a little extra cash each time we visit the ATM would be a smart idea…unless we hit hyperinflation or something! It seems like perils of poor decisionmaking are everywhere when every direction feels threatening.

Reply to: When to bug out… and where? Posted August 7, 2020

I don’t feel unsafe *yet*. What I’m trying to do is figure out how to make plans for when I do. I want to know if I should sell stock and buy off-grid property now so that I can run away when the shit actually hits the fan. Gah! It’s such an uncertain time and I’m trying to plan on shifting sands. So say we all, I guess

Reply to: Worried about the fall season Posted July 18, 2020

Thank you for organizing your fears. I’m feeling similarly bad/anxious/fight-or-flighty. What I want to know is: since I can’t change how the rest of the world is going, how can I do best for my family? We live in a major suburban area adjacent to San Francisco, so add earthquakes to the anxiety too. As we are able to work/school remotely, conversations in our house are centering on where the hell we should ride out this coming storm whether/how to fortify our home: we’ve made friends with neighbors on our street, and suspect we could work to support each other in some ways in hard times looting/violent crime is a distinct possibility in our area, which has a lot of income inequality we have a productive little food garden and chickens If we should sell our house/cash out our assets to give us maximum flexibility to buy a home/property out in the country where there will still be irrational and desperate folks but with lower population density AAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Reply to: Thinking about home-schooling this fall? The time to prepare is now Posted July 9, 2020

I hear you that the time is now, but I am waiting to see if the Bay Area Spanish-language public school we’ve enrolled in will offer a decent distanced learning program. If it’s terrible, we’ll un-enroll and start homeschooling. Thank you for this very helpful overview.

Reply to: Thinking about school in the fall Posted July 1, 2020

We live in the Bay Area and haven’t been told what to expect yet. I pulled my kid out of school a few days before our lockdown orders went into effect, because I could see the writing on the wall. Similarly, I don’t think our underfunded school districts will be able to provide the necessary supplies and oversight to keep our children disinfected and distanced in any meaningful way. I will wait to see what the schools propose, but in my mind I’m prepared to keep my kid home for first grade. In that vein, I wonder if I should be looking into any homeschooling resources or if I should wait to see what materials our enrolled school will offer for distanced learning.

Reply to: If you just started gardening or raising chickens/rabbits, how has it gone? Posted June 3, 2020

I’m about 12 weeks into raising my first flock of chickens. They grow incredibly fast and eat hugely! We live in a suburban area and have about 3/4 of an acre to let them free range upon, which they’ve been doing for about 2 weeks. The first weeks were pretty simple, we got a soft sided octagonal kennel to keep the chicks in and lined it with hay. We needed a watering system, a feed trough, and a heat lamp. All were available at a local feed and seed store, although you could also get them online. My partner built them a run outside from plans he bought online and we also constructed the henhouse from a kit we bought from Amazon. The run was a lot of work for one person, and I think the supplies were about $1K (the chicks were $7 each, maybe?) We wanted 5, but on the advice of a neighbor we ordered 8 “just in case.” It turned out to be good advice, because one of them is certainly a rooster and the another might turn out cocky too. So far, it has been a lot of time and money and energy, and they haven’t started laying yet and now we have to figure out how to kill the rooster. Also, caring for them means we can’t just bug out until the unrest settles, so… so far mixed bag. They’re cute to watch run around the back yard, and my kid likes chasing them. Maybe I’ll feel like this has started paying off after my first homegrown omelette.