One has to wonder...
 

Are we (GIM'ers) that far ahead of the curve, or are there just a few out there who are so clueless that they are destined to die quickly when TSHTF? Case in point...

2 nights ago we had strong thunderstorms in the area. I think most of the east coast did. I was working, so we were able to keep track of the storm as it approached, and could tell it was wreaking havoc in some areas. One of our dispatchers lives on a small farm, and called to tell her husband to bring in some loose lawn furniture and such. Shortly thereafter, dispatcher's daughter-in-law calls..."Are we going to lose power?" (Like we're psychic about that stuff). She wanted to know if she could borrow a flashlight. They don't own one. She did have one scented candle she could light if she had to, but wasn't sure she knew where there were any matches.

A short power outage from a thunderstorm, and you're already relying on others for help? "We don't own a flashlight." I guess I thought EVERYBODY owned a flashlight. I don't even consider that a "prep". Just an everyday tool.

I got to discussing things with the dispatcher, and she tells me her D-I-L buys groceries "a day or two at a time", and picks up dinner on the way home three or four times a week. We do not live in the city, it's rural north-central PA. This girl is doomed the day after the supply chain goes down.

Is she on the far end of the "unprepared" spectrum, or we that far ahead of everyone else?

Re: One has to wonder...
 

WOW that surprises me having just moved from central PENN. I thought only state college had those kinda idiots. I have known very few people in PA who are not well prepared for bad times at least for storms.
I mean heck it's rural PA. Snow storms, floods and contaminated water were contant last couple years around central PA.

It just seemed necessary out there.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

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Re: One has to wonder...
 

GIM'ers, Savers in general are far ahead of the average consumer. It's in our character to be prepared for bad times, we can't help it.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

I try to buy a few things here or there when I can. I've got ~100lbs of basmati & jasmine rice and dried beans, but mostly rice. Lots of canned veggies, lots of meat in the chestfreezer. I live near the water, and as much as I'd like to fill a 55 gallon barrel with water, I don't have anywhere to put that, so I plan on filtering/distilling water from nearby sources. I mostly just buy guns and ammo, I'd like more medical supplies and maybe some mountain house food or really good MRE's.

I tried to talk to people in college about this sort of stuff, they looked at me like I was nuts. Their idea of stocking up for an emergency is having no less than two 30 packs of keystone on hand at all times :confused_ma:

Maybe its just some sort of "natural" selection? I'm still waiting for a pandemic, not sure how I'd survive that, but it might make people realize a few things.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

Lights....hmmmmm..let me think....

Master bedrm:

3 cell Maglite on the bedside table.....another on the dresser.
Surefire mini in the bedside table drawer.
Aladdin kero lamp on another table in the bedroom.
Regular wick type kero lamp on wife's dresser.

Dine Rm between master and kitchen:

One of those emergency lights plugged into a receptacle that comes on when the power goes out.....lights up a pretty good area. Another one of those in a kitchen outlet above the counter.

Kitchen:

Million power spotlite, one of those rechargeable kind....grab it up when the dogs get a bear going outside.....
Wind up LED lantern.
Small LED flashlite in the rack with the Glock and MURS walkie talkies.

Garage, just outside the kitchen door:

Coleman single mantle propane lantern. Another one on the shelf in the back of the garage.

That's the stuff for "other" light sources I keep handy.

The really serious stuff is packed away.


But to answer your question, Silver Bullet....yeah, GIMer's ARE ahead of the curve.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

Nature has a way of thinning the herd, brothers.

Don't be alarmed at what's comming, it's been going on for millions of years...

Re: One has to wonder...
 

I bet that these 8 idiots have less than 2 days food in their homes and do not know silver's spot price....enjoy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54uiGQTyvz8 :emotions16:

Re: One has to wonder...
 

I'm not super-prepared, but I had a chance to test some things out last week.

A truck hit a power pole up the road, snapped it in half. Power was out for about 5 hours. My solar system and battery for my ham radio was fully charged, so I hooked up my small inverter and cranked up the laptop. Phones were working, and I was back on the Internet (dialup) in 10 minutes. Also, it was getting quite hot, so I plugged in a fan and used it to cool both myself and my 7-month old son who gets quite fussy when he is too warm.

Had the situation continued, I would have had to use my backup battery, or my backup backup battery :wink: but eventually the electricity was restored. We had no water with the well pump unpowered, but I also have a hand-pumped filter and two sources of water nearby. Light would have been easy with two kerosene lanterns. Short term, we could have eaten MREs or canned food.

If the power had stayed off and/or if this had been a widespread situation, it wouldn't have been fun but we could have managed. I have about a month worth of food for us adults and our baby.

I pity the poor folks that have no preps at all. :shocked_ma:

Re: One has to wonder...
 

Is everything keeping in tune with the timeline Keef?

Re: One has to wonder...
 

Most people are happy just plodding along in their daily lives oblivious to what is going on around them. After all the government will take care of them, right?:puke: It isn't until a disaster happens that they say "OH SHIZZLE! What do we do now?" I just try to educate them when they come to me with questions, it their perogitive to listen. I am constantly reading, learning and listening.
Yes, I think that GIMers are way ahead of the curve.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

Too bad government seems occupied with protecting a large portion of the population from the "darwin effect". It most cases government actually encourages the population to be "stupid" by giving them government jobs and putting them in positions of power. I'd suspect most college "educated" goverment workers would have a hard time getting a job at the golden arches if they had to rely on "real" skills in the world of reality.

Re: One has to wonder...
 

GIMers are ahead of the curve, but are far from the only ones. I think a lot of Americans know that something is fundamentally wrong, and are searching for some sort of solution. For some, it's the allure of religious beliefs that offer black and white answers in a grey world. For others, it's affluenza--the belief that nicer and bigger stuff will fill the void. Still others are blunting their sensitivities with drugs.