Steve Martin - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Washington Post article

Posted June 27, 2023

Reply to: News for the week of 2023-06-19 Posted June 23, 2023

In case you havent been paying attention……the russian civil war started in earnest today. This should be interesting.

Reply to: Safe place to live when it goes south Posted May 9, 2023

Just be prepared to be held at a distance. I live in PA among the Amish, while friendly with the “English”, they can be a bit stand offish at first. They do like doing business with you though! Also, expect to be asked for rides to town or distant stores at times. They are truly an industrious bunch and work hard. Be prepared for the kids to get a bit rowdy during Rumspringa where they are allowed to test some limits. Sort of like “The Purge” without all the gunfire.

Strange vehicle spotted

Posted May 3, 2023

Reply to: When and where to not carry concealed firearms Posted April 10, 2023

You risk being charged with trespass and other violations if you carry, even conceal carry where signs prohibit it, because it’s usually private property. And there are activists out there just waiting to make a legal point when you wander in carrying heat and someone notices or an accident happens. I’ve had experiences with both sides of this problem. At one place I worked, the lawyers told us “don’t ask, don’t tell” in hopes of avoiding legal entanglement. At another place, the boss was a jerk looking to score political points and really hoped and prayed some idiot would come in while carrying so he could call the cops on them. If you are finding yourself in places where you routinely feel threatened and feel the need to carry all the time, perhaps a change of venues is in order. I must admit these days I feel like I should be carrying full time but I also know my temper….so I do not.

Test your gear and run scenarios in advance of a real emergency

Advice 2

Posted April 3, 2023

Reply to: How often do you run your portable generator? Posted April 3, 2023

yeah very important to exercise them, also to use fuel additive to keep that fuel from going stale. We’ve had a generator sitting in the shed for the last 10 years…never needed it until 2 weeks ago when a very severe storm hit, causing 3 days of power loss, then followed by another round of storms 1 week later with a 24 hour loss during dropping temperatures…and I was ready!

Reply to: News for week of 2023-02-20 Posted February 24, 2023

Heads up…some news outlets are reporting that Neo Nazi groups are planning a “Day of Hate” tomorrow Saturday 2/25 in Jewish areas across the nation. Marches, protests and potentially violence can be expected.

Reply to: Survival movies Posted February 3, 2023

Part of it was shot in the destroyed Conneaut Lake Amusement Park near Meadville PA. It had suffered a horrendous fire in its 100 year old ballroom just days before while parts of the movie were being shot near Pittsburgh. The producers saw an opportunity to shoot in a still-smoking wasteland landscape. I was the only news photographer on scene the night the ballroom burned and caught spectacular footage. I stayed on scene for 6 hours until the approaching morning show airtime forced me to get back to the station.

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-30 (all current event convos go here). Posted February 2, 2023

Pay no attention to that chinese spy balloon floating over our missile fields in Montana….or the huge grain processing plant the chinese wanted to build just 12 miles from our other missile field in North Dakota until the Air Force stopped them. https://www.yahoo.com/news/pentagon-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-223443979.html

Survival movies

Posted January 25, 2023

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-23 (all current event convos go here). Posted January 23, 2023

Pakistan in nationwide black out today…220 million in the dark. Will be interesting to see how a “modern” society of that size reacts. In other news….the gas stove debate. I’ll give up my gas stove when they pry my cold dead frozen hands off the knobs and wheel it out with a hand truck. It’s a good resource when there isn’t power in OUR country.

Reply to: Grid down – How to recognize it early? Posted January 17, 2023

“Grid down” can mean many things to many people. No power? No internet? No cell phone service? Having been is several outages over the years ( including the big pre-internet black out of 1965), I would think that a clue that it was more than just a local services issues would be a loss of power & internet, cellphone services and internet access on that phone. If that was what I woke up to one morning, I would go to my own version of Defcon 2….and make any last minute preps I needed to, assume the worst but hope for the best. If we’re talking about an EMP type grid failure, then you’d also likely see other symptoms beyond what I’ve listed, such as delicate electrical stuff failing, like your cars, ham radios etc. And seriously, if it was a nationwide failure, the word would be getting around and I’d expect civil unrest pretty early on as looting and theft would ramp up pretty quickly IMO.

Reply to: What are your tips for hiding food/valuables? Posted January 17, 2023

I was just about to write a post about this….stealthy hiding spots inside your house. I was looking at our home’s layout and realized there is a large empty void space above the stairs headed to the basement. It’s empty space. So I put out a call within my group for ideas for use of that space. One member has already put it to use. Unfortunately it isn’t stealthy, although he has plans to do something about that soon. I’ve also seen others use 6 inch PVC pipe hanging from basement ceilings for all intents and purposes, looking like sewer pipe, except for the screw on cap on the end. Great place for hiding stuff.

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-09 (all current event convos go here) Posted January 10, 2023

This just in….. an undeclared shipment radioactive stuff was just seized at Heathrow Airport by British Intelligence. It had been sent from Pakistan to Iranians based in Great Britain. Perhaps a dirty bomb in the making? Sensors at Heathrow alerted officials.

The economy

Posted January 9, 2023

Reply to: Anyone else wondering if recent substation attacks are “white hat” efforts to accelerate/prioritize grid hardening? Posted January 7, 2023

I agree with Amy….their quick and easy confession seems a bit too easy.

Reply to: Is using natural gas a realistic option in most grid-down scenarios? Posted January 7, 2023

Ok talked to two different people who work in the natural gas industry. Both tell me that in our region, the compressor stations all have generator backup to keep gas moving when the power goes out….but what about long term? Say an EMP or some such that takes out the grid for weeks or months…or worse? They didn’t have any info on that scenario.

Washington Post article

Posted June 27, 2023

Strange vehicle spotted

Posted May 3, 2023

Test your gear and run scenarios in advance of a real emergency

Advice 2

Posted April 3, 2023

Survival movies

Posted January 25, 2023

The economy

Posted January 9, 2023

Help me decide on a portable generator. Single fuel but fuel injected or tri fuel with a carb?

AdviceGear 4

Posted December 21, 2022

Do you know who the enemy might be?

Advice 5

Posted December 12, 2022

Just another reason to be prepared!

News 19

Posted December 4, 2022

How do you decide that bad just went to worse?

Posted December 3, 2022

Reply to: News for the week of 2023-06-19 Posted June 23, 2023

In case you havent been paying attention……the russian civil war started in earnest today. This should be interesting.

Reply to: Safe place to live when it goes south Posted May 9, 2023

Reply to: When and where to not carry concealed firearms Posted April 10, 2023

Reply to: How often do you run your portable generator? Posted April 3, 2023

Reply to: News for week of 2023-02-20 Posted February 24, 2023

Reply to: Survival movies Posted February 3, 2023

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-30 (all current event convos go here). Posted February 2, 2023

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-23 (all current event convos go here). Posted January 23, 2023

Reply to: Grid down – How to recognize it early? Posted January 17, 2023

Reply to: What are your tips for hiding food/valuables? Posted January 17, 2023

Reply to: News for week of 2023-01-09 (all current event convos go here) Posted January 10, 2023

Reply to: Anyone else wondering if recent substation attacks are “white hat” efforts to accelerate/prioritize grid hardening? Posted January 7, 2023

I agree with Amy….their quick and easy confession seems a bit too easy.

Reply to: Is using natural gas a realistic option in most grid-down scenarios? Posted January 7, 2023

Im in the same boat…..just last week, there was a natural gas shutdown that affected a huge area for a couple days…dont remember where. I have a non-electrical natural gas wall heater in the basement for emergencies. At least should be able to keep the pipes above freezing. Just installed a tri-fuel generator….gasoline, nat gas and propane. In my area, there are numerous gas wells. Those wells feed into compressor stations that compress the gas and send it on in pipelines. I imagine in a true large region power loss, those compressor stations won’t work for long., but I dont know that for sure. I have a friend who works in the gas industry, l’ll ask him his thoughts on this subject and get back to you.

Reply to: Favorite source for storm warnings? Posted January 7, 2023

As a retired tv news Meteorolgist, I do my own warnings most of the time.

Reply to: Favorite source for storm warnings? Posted January 7, 2023

Do you have an “Alexa” in your home? Do you know it will do weather warnings?

Reply to: Help me decide on a portable generator. Single fuel but fuel injected or tri fuel with a carb? Posted December 22, 2022

Sorry having grown up in the city, I forget a lot of the country doesnt have natural gas service. Yes I have natural gas in the house and have a convient outlet out on the patio that can power a gas grill. I pulled the trigger this morning on it cause of a sale, took advantage of my Veteran’s discount and got a great deal for the tri fuel version.

Reply to: Twenty ways to prepare for civil unrest Posted December 12, 2022

nothing like sneaking in a commercial post for your real estate company.

Reply to: Twenty ways to prepare for civil unrest Posted December 12, 2022

Most civil disobedient types ignore security cameras. Now everyone wears a hoodie to hide their faces too. They’re caught up in the moment and don’t care who sees them. I spent some years as a firefighter in a big city and actually fought fires during civil unrest. Situational awareness is the number one defense in advance. Staying the hell out of the riot area is #1 once it starts.