Come Back To My Place and Check Out My Red, Hard....Wheat

I'm completely fucked if this ever happens. I have no useful skills in such a situation, with the possible exception of being able to keep a cool head, not do anything stupid, and figure out mechanical things occasionally. If I saw something bad coming down the pike, I'd probably head out to the middle of nowhere and find a small one-horse-town/farming community to join up with, far away from the city. My reasoning: if something bad happens that's deliberate, they'll go for population centers. If it's not deliberate, I don't want to be sitting in traffic with 2 million other people trying to get out.

 

It depends largely on the "what if" situation. I'm not a survivalist in the way some of my friends are (including one who was seriously thinking of building his next house as a warren of cargo containers hidden underground and couldn't understand why the local government may have an issue with that in the building approval section), but it's something that floats around the back of my head with a ton of other stuff.

- In the event of nuclear attack, I'd hope I go in the first blast. I've read enough books and played enough games to know that trashing mutants and dealing with radiation sickness is not fun. Plus, unless you live a sufficient distance from anything worthy of blowing up, survival means you're going to be pretty sick from radiation burns/fallout.

- With biological attack I'm screwed. I get sick easy enough as it is. Captain Trips would fuck me wholesale.

- Zombies? I'm already in a reasonably defensible position at home, and it's elevated. I've got several hundred rounds of ammunition, rifles and handguns on premises, plus axes, sledgehammers, swords, picks, drills, circular saw, jigsaw and so forth.

- Home invasion, as above. Except for the guns, as they're locked in a gun safe per government requirements, I have weapons within a maximum of 10 feet of me at all times when I'm at home.


My biggest problem is food, mainly because I donated most of my dry stores to the flood appear and haven't replenished them.

 

Neil Strauss's Emergency is about this specific topic. It's the story of him going through the process of becoming able to survive the shit hitting the fan, from executing a goat to setting up an off-shore bank account with a second passport.

There's nothing I've done to prepare, because frankly, there's shit that's more reasonable for me to worry about. Checking your tire pressure regularly is probably a better use of your time if you live in America Proper (US, Canada, UK).

But, I do live in the only city in the US to have active fallout shelters. We house the strategic missile defense command here, and are rumored to be Russia's #4 target in the event of nuclear war (after DC, NYC, and NORAD). It's first-come-first serve, and Bring Your Own Everything, but the combined space from all of the locations is enough for the entire metro area.

Alt-Focus (Maybe?): The two main strategies are to barricade yourself, or get the hell out of Dodge. Are you the type to Bug In, or Bug Out?

 

One of my favorite topics reappears.

I am paranoid. I don't have a strong belief in the social contract that we all agree not to hurt each other. I tend to sit with my back against the wall, facing the door, when I eat out. Now that I live in the District of Columbia, I have a mild level of constant uneasiness. Part of it is from just the massive amount of people living on top of each other, and the other is the fact that DC would be one of the first cities to be attacked if something happened. Prior to getting my car up to DC, I was a bit nervous. I like the idea of taking the metro everywhere, but having my car here provides me with some peace of mind. I suppose the idea is that if shit ever hit the fan, I'd have a way out of the city (which is a pipe dream, with traffic in the DC area). Besides that, getting out of the District back to some green landscape is good for the soul occasionally.

Although I am getting my PhD, I am not lost without any usable skills. My father was a practical man, and he made sure to give me a wide range of experiences. So while by no means am I as good as a specialist in any particular area, I can typically jerry-rig something up to meet the particular need at the moment. It won't be pretty, but it'll get it done. Essentially I'm a generalist. I'm a decent shot, but not great. I have some medical knowledge, but not on par with a paramedic or a nurse (though I'm hoping to get some training to change that). If it's a fairly simple mechanical problem, I can handle it.

My preferred option would be to bug out. Unfortunately, because I live in DC, that would mean getting stuck in the traffic. So realistically, my best option would be to hunker down in my apartment and wait til the initial panic is over, and attempt to make my way out of the District then.

 

Well, it all depends on how much shit and how big the fan.

If a very large meteorite hits Earth and messes up our shit worldwide; like it did for the dinosaurs, do you really want to be one of those that survive and live like shit for the rest of your miserable life?

 

I felt the same way about the whole idiotic Y2K bullshit over a decade ago: if my option to "survive" means living under my darkened basement's stairs eating pork n' beans and drinking my own recycled piss, thanks but no thanks. I'd rather punch out with the cool kids and take my chances in Thunderdome.

 

Since there's a lot of talk about sex in the post-apocalyptic world, what's the plan for staying healthy?

Condoms expire, and antibiotics are going to be scarce.

 

They used to make reusable latex condoms. Some folks might still do that.

 

While I don't think that the "zombie apocalypse" is imminent, (although it would be a scary shit ton of fun) I do take pride in having made moderate preparations for my family in case of a disaster. I have a bug out bag, water, and dehydrated food for a few weeks for the whole family. Do I think that the likeliness of a disaster makes it necessary? No. Would I rather have it and not need it instead of need it and not have it? Yes. And no, I am not some black helicopter wacko. I just believe in the old axiom "hope for the best and prepare for the worst".

 

Cosign. I realize I'm rationalizing. But I live in Los Angeles. Short of growing gills, there's no way I could adequately prepare for all of the Big Ones that could possibly strike this place without getting beyond obsessive. I have a crank radio, a first aid kit and a few MREs. If anything happens, my survival instinct will kick in hard and I'll go down swinging. But I'd rather enjoy my life than focus on all the awful shit that probably won't happen. It's a time-management issue.

 

In a real shit-hits-the-fan scenario, the best thing to do is to stay put. All those people who are saying "Run for the hills" are missing the fact that everyone else is going to be doing the same thing, and the chaos will be more deadly than any disaster that could possibly hit, especially if you live in a city. Millions of people leaving with everything they own = ripe opportunity for robbery and banditry (I was going to say "brigands," but that word seems weird for this day and age).

The moment you leave your house, your survival chances drop precipitously. It might be required to get away from something that is about to directly affect you, (Fire, for example) but leaving should be a last resort. Barricade the door and survive on what you have.

 

That might be true for short-term disasters, but any invasion and you want to get the hell out of there. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to escape later.

As for me, I'm in DC, probably the most protected city in the U.S. There's a military base from every branch within 2 hours travel of the city, so if shit hits the fan, I'll probably wait it out. The beltway is so fucked that during the last snowstorm (6 inches of snow) it was literally faster to walk 20 miles than it was to drive. People abandoned their cars.... yeah the city is not designed for evacuation.

 

I suppose I should get a gun....just in case. Basically I will need it to off myself to cut down on any needless suffering. My survival skills are basically non-existent so that would be my grand "escape" plan.

 

My first reaction to any disaster scenario would probably be just to curl up in a ball and cry for a couple of hours/days.

Then, I would do whatever possible to get the fuck out of New York City.

Then, I'm not really sure. I was pretty obsessed with those books My Side of the Mountain/On the Far Side of the Mountainwhen I was younger and built some kickass forts in the woods (specifically the Catskills, where the book was set). So I guess I'd swing by my dad's house and get the books first and then head to the woods and I'd probably be okay.

Right?

 

I can't see anyone actually wanting to invade the US. Too many people, too much space, too much military power. I doubt even China could invade, just like I doubt we could ever invade China.

I'm thinking more like disasters - nuclear attack, viral pandemic, (kicks self in nuts for saying this) zombie apocalypse, etc. In any disaster, even if help is months away, it's far better to wait it out than to take to the streets along with every other kook. If shit comes my way, by all means I would escape... but I would never abandon my home until I absolutely had to.