PERSONAL READINESS > Hide Site
Hide site, retirement site.
Flyin6:
--- Quote from: OldKooT on August 13, 2015, 08:07:11 AM ---I am also reading this with interest. That said, I have my reservations as to how much one should invest both time and money in trying to prepare for the unknown.
--- End quote ---
Not so unknown Koot
You know you gotta eat, drink, lay down, stay warm, personal hygiene, square dance and so forth. So you makey sure you have those things and you're mostly good. Beyond that it's a regional thing. Considering your excellent location, for you, bugging-in makes a coffee bean pile of sense.
OldKooT:
That's why I enjoy reading other folks ideas/plans. It's different everywhere.... I just wonder if one can really prepare, or does one just need to change how they live? Work into life the common sense society has largely lost sight of? Either or, it's enjoyable thinking out loud.
TexasRedNeck:
So,back from the place and sore from hoisting metal pipe and beams as I add a lean to on the back of the shop. 30ft sticks are a booger to move and lift.
So Norm, my philosophy was that I needed a plan that balances risk and probability and is organized and methodical. Having lived through a few hurricane's and evacuations, I realized that civility is a very, very thin and weak veneer made worse by the just in time inventory delivery system. Remember when you were a kid and a local store had a "back room" with tons of produce and canned goods? Not any more. Very little inventory is available other than what is on the shelf. If something disrupts the delivery, we are going to be hurting.
I saw this first hand in the evacuation from Rita (the one that followed Katrina by a few weeks) Some people sat on the road 12 hours and never made it 100 miles. More people died in the evacuation than in the actual hurricane. Thousands upon thousands of cars were stranded on the side of the road as gasoline was no where to be had. I had a 2 year old and my wife was expecting our second. We had a place at the lake about 90 miles north and was fortunate to be able to get there in only 5 hours. People were losing their minds, running all over the median and shoulders, causing accidents and backing up traffic. Fights, gun play and other violence at the gas pumps was common.
When we got to our place we heard the storm had changed tracks and was headed right towards us. As we prepared to leave and estimated the ability to get gas, I remembered a little out of the way gas station off the main highway and went to check it out. It was closed but the VFD was there gassing up (they have keys) They said she only had about 200 gallons of premium left and opened at 7. I was in line at 5 am (#3 in line) with my old gasser truck. I filled the truck and my 35 gallon rolling gas can I used for my boat. By the time she opened there were 51 cars in line. Somewhere about car 10 they ran out.
We left for Arkansas and saw mayhem and madness everywhere. I noticed that cars were all out of gas, but rednecks in their diesel trucks were having no problem getting fuel. That's when it started for me. I realized how thin the veneer of civility was, and how vulnerable I felt with my wife, daughter and unborn all counting on me. I vowed I would never feel that way again.
I did make it to AR and we were fine, but I was never again going to be caught un prepared. Thus the concentric circles were born.
TexasRedNeck:
Circle One:
Short term bug in: Hurricane, minor civil unrest, minor contagion, short term power outage. (keep in mind not all things get put on the internet for the world to see, but the basics are here).
Have a plan: Put it in writing and share with your family. Practice quizzing each other on the scenarios and actions and contingencies
We had this little thing called tropical storm Allison several years ago before we had kids. It dumped 30 inches of rain in 2 days. Everything was under water. I had just flown back from Oakland and we landed about midnight. I took my chances in my truck and wound up sleeping on the freeway overpass since there was 4 ft of water over the roadway. Cell tower went down and my wife and I could not communicate.
Revelation #1, modern day communications fail in a disaster. In a terrorist attack the plan by the government is to shut down cell towers and internet. How you gonna call your wife to confirm plans, provide updates, or modify standing plans? Amateur radio is the key. I had a VHF/UHF antenna installed in the top of an 80ft pine in my front yard and got my HAM license. I installed a mobile system in the car that I drove to work every day. From anywhere within 35 miles I can hit my own antenna simplex ( radio to radio) without a repeater. Now no matter what, I can communicate with the family at home. I highly recommend making sure comms are one of the first things you consider in any planning.
Next was food and water. I started putting together a food plan that includes: dried and canned goods, MREs, Dehydrated, and even heirloom seeds. I obtained some new HPDE food grade barrels to keep filled with water. Use tap water,if you can. It comes from the treatment plant is has some chlorine in it already which helps it not grow stuff in it. I add a few drops of chlorine for good measure. Change the water out every 2 years.
The plan is to have food in the pantry that will last a month, a months supply of MREs with heaters and water stored on site. All other food stores are off site in the BOL.
Weapons and training are a necessity. Got a nice Glock or AR? How much professional instruction have you had from guys like Bobby, Nate, Don, Blaine or others that have "been there done that"? How much have you practiced? There is more to being armed than having a weapon and ammo. When I got my CHL as the provider and protector of my family I connected with an outfit of former Spec Op guys and found one of them that would also train 1:1 in addition to the group classes. I began putting 1000 rounds a month downrange from my G17 in private lessons I took every week after work for 2 years, based on my situation and selected scenarios.
Morale of the story: Our government spent millions training our soldiers to fight. Take advantage of your tax dollars at work and find a competent ex-Mil to train you how to fight.
Next was weapon selection and stockpiling:
We all argue for our favorite weapon and those that have read my blathering posts know I am a Glock fan boy. Get what you like and learn to shoot it often. I chose Glock. The originator. Simple. Few parts, standardized parts. Tough. Rugged. Dependable. One helluva weapon when you swap out the factory trigger for a Ghost Rocket 3.5 trigger and Trijicon night sights.
A little side track here (Am I DOTing my own thread??) If you believe in economic collapse as a possibility, then Gold comes to mind as a hedge. However, think about this: Guns never lose their value and only increase over time too. So does just about ANY durable good. Ammo, Weapons, tools, weapon mags, weapon parts. If you buy a bunch and never need them for 20 years, you'll have a nice little investment anyway when you divest them. And you can barter with them nicely in the event of a collapse. Not a lot of need for gold when you have no food and roving bands of thugs are out raping and killing (remember Katrina? Yeah like those guys)
So I wanted to standardize my weapons for multiple reasons. I and my family will all be shooting the same weapon system and thus familiarity and functionality and spare parts will be maximized. Here is what I chose to amass in quantity. ( I sill have the other odd weapons, like my Weatherby 460 mag, etc. but I ain't counting on that when trouble starts)
1. Glock 21 full size 45. I have several still in the tupperware in storage.
2. AR in 5.56. Again, several complete and in parts.
3. AK-47. Cheap and always goes bang. Ammo is cheap. Several in storage and also receiver flats and parts.
4. 12 ga Remington 870. Enough said, always works standard ammo. I have several in storage.
5. Glock 17, just for training and barter. 9mm is cheaper to shoot and since it functions like my other glocks my hands will never know when the time comes that I have something different in my hand. Again, a few in tupperware stored away
The rest are personal use weapons not in sufficient numbers to barter or stockpile.
6. 22LR pistol and rifle - suppressed. If things get nasty you'll want to harvest food quietly. And maybe a few other things quietly.
7. 308 bolt and semi auto AR
8 300 WM for when you really need to reach out and touch someone
Ammo. You can never have too much ammo. As a minimum I would keep 5000 rounds of each caliber as a baseline.
Weapon parts: Don't overlook springs, bolts, extractors, mags and mag springs etc. Stuff breaks and parts are always good for barter.
Cleaning supplies. Same as above.
So you need to decide how much ammo and weapons you keep in your primary residence, how many go to secondary or tertiary locations. I personally keep just what I need to potentially fight my way out. Ammo stored in primary residence is mainly in loaded mags and amounts to more than what military loads out with and I'll leave it at that.
Next is medical kit. Stuff happens. Keep a kit and again, get some first aid training. Short of open heart surgery, I have a pelican case with just about everything I'll every need. Sutures, meds, antiseptics, burn pads/gels, quick clot, israeli bandages, and epi pens, etc. I'll do a complete write up on my kit later.
Cash. I like to keep some funds on hand. If something goes down, then having a few weeks worth of cash is important. ATMs run on the internet and electricity.
Respirators/NBC: I acknowledge that I have a gap here. I will be closing this soon as the kids are of the age where I can get them to wear one effectively.
Tape and plastic: In the event of a nuke, or chem spill ( I am in Houston, the petrochemical capital) you may need to make a safe room, sealed off.
Back up power: I have a gas portable gen set for the primary residence. I plan to add a NG stand by.
Flyin6:
^^^Good write up
Well thought out process, solid reasoning. He has standardized good stuff, and enough of it, AND he has practiced using it.
I wouldn't add anything to all of that
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version