MBinDC - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Reply to: Survival movies Posted January 29, 2023

I laughed pretty hard on Twitter when somebody said that his wife turned to him, after this scene, and said “You know I hate you now, right?”

Reply to: Book Review: “Walkable City Rules”, by Jeff Speck Posted August 2, 2022

Thanks for this! I’ve been meaning to get to his books for a while, and this motivated me to order the one you just reviewed. Speck (mostly) describes the kind of place I want to live and raise a family in (and actually do). While I do prepare for the loss of various services (power, water, etc.), my emergency plans absolutely build on – instead of defend from – the community around me.

Reply to: Prepping for self-managed abortion post-Roe v. Wade Posted May 7, 2022

Reply to: COVID at home: prepare for a severe case Posted April 1, 2022

Great advice above. I’d add that one should have the materials for a Corsi-Rosenthal box (i.e., a giant and cheap DIY HEPA filter) on hand. https://cleanaircrew.org/box-fan-filters/ Our oldest picked up Covid in Dec/Jan, and I’m convinced that having one of these running right outside her door (she isolated in her room most of the time) 24/7 was a big part of keeping the rest of the family from getting it.

Reply to: How to survive a nuclear attack Posted March 18, 2022

Funny, I recently found a Civil Defense pamphlet from the same era that accompanied a booklet about constructing various shelters. The then principal of my kids (now) elementary school was the lead civil defense coordinator. 60+ years later, we still haven’t learned our )(*#@#@ lesson about nukes. I grew up, in part, in the Fulda Gap. 11 year old me absolutely expected to be incinerated one day. I cannot believe that’s something my kids could now face. (I don’t think they will, of course, but that it’s even on the table . . . )

Reply to: How to survive a nuclear attack Posted March 10, 2022

I live less than 2 miles from the Pentagon. My prep for nuclear war is making sure that I have the ingredients for a good martini on hand.

Reply to: How to desensitize myself to be able to kill and process an animal Posted October 2, 2021

I grew up in a hunting family. In fact, in a hunting and stockyards and processing plant family. Perfectly capable of field dressing and (somewhat competently) butchering a deer, and will never (again) forget to pick the shot out of the quail (ouch). Will never understand why anyone would eat rabbit or squirrel unless they were starving. Also vegetarian in part b/c of this experience. I don’t have a goal of getting people to stop eating meat, but I sure would like everyone who does eat meat to at least once kill and process an animal.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 22, 2021

For those playing along at home: listen to Bob. Dude’s got a pretty deep shelf of experience. Doesn’t mean you should act on his advice, but you should definitely read what he says and consider why he says it. Me, I take that and discard a lot of things I’m sure Bob would say I shouldn’t. Maybe different for you. But take it, think about it, and use it to improve your own situation.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 16, 2021

Not going to argue about the violence possible in some of the places listed above (tho’ I would suggest that there’s a media magnification of the threat going on). Also dead certain that folks like Prince add to the violence, and the communities he and those like him land in appropriately view them as threats. Which is a bit of a vicious circle, no? In any event, for the pretty much all of the United States, you’d be far better off forging ties with your neighbors instead of preparing to treat them as hostiles.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 15, 2021

Also close to rewriting historical facts on the ground. Those of us paying attention to Katrina at the time were just flooded with reports of lawlessness, looting, etc. But – as usual, in my experience – it turns out to have been grossly over-exaggerated. Which is bad enough on its own, but especially unhelpful in its secondary effect of turning some of us into finger-on-the-trigger-when-your-neighbor-walks-by types. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/16/hurricane-katrina-new-orleans-looting-violence-misleading-reports

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 13, 2021

Amen, Robert. In keeping with the spirit of the The Prepared, I’m just going to roll my eyes at the idea that cities are inherently dangerous places which you must immediately depart at the first whiff of trouble. I’m in DC, and the only thing that would send me to the countryside (pre-selected spot, reachable via a half dozen routes) is a dirty bomb (a proper nuclear attack = I won’t have to worry about a thing). If there are natural disaster threats to your urban location, there’s definitely value in constructing a go bag of things you’d need to go live in a motel/temp housing. Otherwise, I’d focus my efforts on figuring out how to live in your existing space without power/water/etc and locating replacement resources in your immediate community.

Reply to: How to desensitize myself to be able to kill and process an animal Posted September 13, 2021

I agree with most of the advice above – that hunger is a great motivator, that it’ll be easier when you tell yourself that you’re not wasting anything, etc. I don’t doubt that when it comes down to starving or killing an animal to eat it, almost everyone has it in them to kill their food (whether or not they’re any good at it is a much different question). However, I do want to push back, gently – on the premise of your question. I’d urge you *not* to seek desensitization. As you rightly note, you’re taking an actual life, and that should always be meaningful. Good luck.

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Reply to: Survival movies Posted January 29, 2023

I laughed pretty hard on Twitter when somebody said that his wife turned to him, after this scene, and said “You know I hate you now, right?”

Reply to: Book Review: “Walkable City Rules”, by Jeff Speck Posted August 2, 2022

Thanks for this! I’ve been meaning to get to his books for a while, and this motivated me to order the one you just reviewed. Speck (mostly) describes the kind of place I want to live and raise a family in (and actually do). While I do prepare for the loss of various services (power, water, etc.), my emergency plans absolutely build on – instead of defend from – the community around me.

Reply to: Prepping for self-managed abortion post-Roe v. Wade Posted May 7, 2022

Reply to: COVID at home: prepare for a severe case Posted April 1, 2022

Great advice above. I’d add that one should have the materials for a Corsi-Rosenthal box (i.e., a giant and cheap DIY HEPA filter) on hand. https://cleanaircrew.org/box-fan-filters/ Our oldest picked up Covid in Dec/Jan, and I’m convinced that having one of these running right outside her door (she isolated in her room most of the time) 24/7 was a big part of keeping the rest of the family from getting it.

Reply to: How to survive a nuclear attack Posted March 18, 2022

Funny, I recently found a Civil Defense pamphlet from the same era that accompanied a booklet about constructing various shelters. The then principal of my kids (now) elementary school was the lead civil defense coordinator. 60+ years later, we still haven’t learned our )(*#@#@ lesson about nukes. I grew up, in part, in the Fulda Gap. 11 year old me absolutely expected to be incinerated one day. I cannot believe that’s something my kids could now face. (I don’t think they will, of course, but that it’s even on the table . . . )

Reply to: How to survive a nuclear attack Posted March 10, 2022

I live less than 2 miles from the Pentagon. My prep for nuclear war is making sure that I have the ingredients for a good martini on hand.

Reply to: How to desensitize myself to be able to kill and process an animal Posted October 2, 2021

I grew up in a hunting family. In fact, in a hunting and stockyards and processing plant family. Perfectly capable of field dressing and (somewhat competently) butchering a deer, and will never (again) forget to pick the shot out of the quail (ouch). Will never understand why anyone would eat rabbit or squirrel unless they were starving. Also vegetarian in part b/c of this experience. I don’t have a goal of getting people to stop eating meat, but I sure would like everyone who does eat meat to at least once kill and process an animal.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 22, 2021

For those playing along at home: listen to Bob. Dude’s got a pretty deep shelf of experience. Doesn’t mean you should act on his advice, but you should definitely read what he says and consider why he says it. Me, I take that and discard a lot of things I’m sure Bob would say I shouldn’t. Maybe different for you. But take it, think about it, and use it to improve your own situation.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 16, 2021

Not going to argue about the violence possible in some of the places listed above (tho’ I would suggest that there’s a media magnification of the threat going on). Also dead certain that folks like Prince add to the violence, and the communities he and those like him land in appropriately view them as threats. Which is a bit of a vicious circle, no? In any event, for the pretty much all of the United States, you’d be far better off forging ties with your neighbors instead of preparing to treat them as hostiles.

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 15, 2021

Also close to rewriting historical facts on the ground. Those of us paying attention to Katrina at the time were just flooded with reports of lawlessness, looting, etc. But – as usual, in my experience – it turns out to have been grossly over-exaggerated. Which is bad enough on its own, but especially unhelpful in its secondary effect of turning some of us into finger-on-the-trigger-when-your-neighbor-walks-by types. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/16/hurricane-katrina-new-orleans-looting-violence-misleading-reports

Reply to: Urban bugging out Posted September 13, 2021

Amen, Robert. In keeping with the spirit of the The Prepared, I’m just going to roll my eyes at the idea that cities are inherently dangerous places which you must immediately depart at the first whiff of trouble. I’m in DC, and the only thing that would send me to the countryside (pre-selected spot, reachable via a half dozen routes) is a dirty bomb (a proper nuclear attack = I won’t have to worry about a thing). If there are natural disaster threats to your urban location, there’s definitely value in constructing a go bag of things you’d need to go live in a motel/temp housing. Otherwise, I’d focus my efforts on figuring out how to live in your existing space without power/water/etc and locating replacement resources in your immediate community.

Reply to: How to desensitize myself to be able to kill and process an animal Posted September 13, 2021

I agree with most of the advice above – that hunger is a great motivator, that it’ll be easier when you tell yourself that you’re not wasting anything, etc. I don’t doubt that when it comes down to starving or killing an animal to eat it, almost everyone has it in them to kill their food (whether or not they’re any good at it is a much different question). However, I do want to push back, gently – on the premise of your question. I’d urge you *not* to seek desensitization. As you rightly note, you’re taking an actual life, and that should always be meaningful. Good luck.