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Wait a minute! Hold the phone! No worries guys, don't you know the government will take care of you???? Just lay down your arms and line up like good little sheeple. By the way, if prayer is usless then what are you saving yourself for?
 
True. Even if you don't believe in prayer what's it gonna cost you other than a minute or two to say one? Level heads will prevail and "acting" insted of "reacting" will be key.
I like the idea about the fabric store and it got me to thinking about the hardware store as well. A good set of hand tools and lumber,cement,tarps,etc,etc. Will get you along way.
This has even gotten me thinking about steam power generation for electicity.
 
I'd go get me a big screen TV, because I'm gonna get mine! Then, off to the liquor store....

But seriously....

I'm actually going to disagree with the "get water first" suggestions. I doubt that water would run out in the first days/hours of a collapse. Getting water in this situation would be high on my list, but not first on my list. No - instead I'd actually wade into the unwashed masses at the stores and look for things that I wouldn't be able to make/find on my own in the coming months. Things like OTC/prescription medicines, first aid supplies, bleach, extra food, spices, salt, thread/needles, matches, maybe booze, etc.
 
I've been on my acreage for 28 yr and I'm a packrat so i've got several of most things. 1st thing I'd do is fire up a generator to keep freezers and wells working, but after a brief prayer!
 
Water would not be the first for me either. I am close to 2 large rivers, less than 5 minutes walking from one. I would go shopping as well, right after checking that my wife is safe. Would specifically look for those items on my list that I did not have yet then those I felt I needed more of.
 
First I would try to rally the troops and make sure everyone is safe and their heads are in the same place. I would then get out all my lumber and secure all our entrances and block out the windows and start filling up water containers.

Everyone has great ideas in here and it really helps to get these ideas on the forefront of our minds.
 
30 minute walk to water is not going to cut it. And that is what we would be up against sense we live in the middle of Portland. We are leaving!

I live in Portland proper as well...and I've got millions of gallons of water about a 5 minute walk from me. Not that nasty river water either...

But my first action would be to secure the car, hook up the trailer, stage a section of our supplies for quick loading, put batteries in the portable radios, board and bag the windows and then have a beer. Prepared but not hauling arse away from the city is my thought on the matter.
 
Timing is almost everything in this scenario. Each decision comes down to where you and yours are on Maslows Hierarchy of needs, especially the bottom two rungs.

The first big decision is to stay or displace. No matter where you are, then this decision will have to be reevaluated periodically.
Any catastrophic scenario has far too many permutations to accurately forecast, the only thing we can control are our responses.
The best way to ensure correct responses to above challenges are planning, training, practice, flexible ample logistics and the will power to execute.
 
I live in Portland proper as well...and I've got millions of gallons of water about a 5 minute walk from me. Not that nasty river water either...

But my first action would be to secure the car, hook up the trailer, stage a section of our supplies for quick loading, put batteries in the portable radios, board and bag the windows and then have a beer. Prepared but not hauling arse away from the city is my thought on the matter.

Me, wife, 4 children makes 6 and use a bunch of water daily. We would have to leave our location if the water was ever cut off. Why wait until then? It would happen eventually in the scenario posted above.
 
I live in Portland proper as well...and I've got millions of gallons of water about a 5 minute walk from me. Not that nasty river water either...

But my first action would be to secure the car, hook up the trailer, stage a section of our supplies for quick loading, put batteries in the portable radios, board and bag the windows and then have a beer. Prepared but not hauling arse away from the city is my thought on the matter.

Have you thought that there may be some people that might try and stop you from taking that water? If you are talking about a water supply like Mt.Tabor water shed I bet in time you would have to fight for it.
 
I don't know but i see alot of people saying first thing they will do is go to a store and 'buy' such and such things..... I honestly doubt there will be many stores left that aren't being continuously looted. Likely from the workers just as much as anyone else. So first thing i'd do is stock up before the collapse & stay the **** away from any stores & tom foolery. Why put yourself in danger from the get go.
 
Well, going to the stores is assuming that you react quicker than most people. Of course if it is utter chaos and pandemonium, then stores and such are out of the question and since most of us on this forum have been preparing so it wouldn't be a deal breaker for us. However, it could take a day or so before people catch onto the fact that things are going south fast and by then we could have done a little "last minute shopping" and be out of town by the time they do.
 
History is our teacher.
Look at past hurricanes and what happened to stores.
They were sold out in less than 2 hours.
Think about how low inventory is in grocery stores.
Lots of selection, but not lots of each item.
They only have a small supply in the back of certain items.
They depend on daily truck deliveries from the main ware house.
You snooze...you lose!

Well the thread is about an economic collapse not a hurricane so there MIGHT be a chance you could get to a store. But since I have never personally been through an economic collapse (or a hurricane for that matter) maybe that would not be an option. Luckily I have enough supplies (and I would hope enough brains) that I would not NEED to go to a store if it was indeed emptied out or there was rioting or whatnot.

You can not assume that everything and everyone will fall apart in an instant, there are a million different situations for every "senario"... It could be like the Great Depression or it could be like 28 Days Later. Point of the matter is that no matter how prepared I am for an event I could always use another trip to the store if it is a possibility. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
 
When I lived in the South, I endured a few Hurricanes and I can tell you that if it is not bolted down it will not be on the shelf. I was shocked when I went to the corner store in 1996 (my 1st Hurricane) to pick up diapers for my Son and there was nothing in the store but a few items and this was on a Military base. We drove to a few stores around the area and the same thing- and the storm was a day away. Ended up using cloth. And we had to borrow Formula from our next door neighbor after it hit because we ran out. Learned my lesson. If you do not have it on hand now, you will not have it.
 
I'd tell my neighbors to hold down the neighborhood while I pack my crap and leave in the middle of the night...if they're not willing to help themselves, even after I've gone door to door with suggestions and shown them some of my provisions, then there is nothing I can do for them. They've already stated they would come running to me if some zombie apocalypse or other SHTF scenario occurred.

Call me cruel, call me shrewd, heck call me selfish- I don't care. While you're "praying" for things to get better and the boogieman to leave your section of town alone, I'll be in the woods delegating group members on tasks (like building a cabin, hunting, setting traps, conducting a patrol, etc.). Do I think I'm better off than most? No. Some? Yes. I wish I had a piece of land out in the boonies with a farm and a ranch; but I don't, so this is this plan.

Do I think it will be easy? No. Do I think my house will still be standing when things come back? No. Do I hope TEOTWAWKI never happens? Yes.

Unlike many people that like to call themselves "preppers", I have no illusions of an easy, fun time out in the woods getting fat on deer meat and wild raspberries. Having said that, I also just don't stock up a safe full of guns and ammo (thinking I can just take what I need) or gold and silver (thinking everything I'll need I can just barter for). Nor do I sit in my corner polishing my firearm hopping the police don't come to work in the morning.
 
If TEOTWAWKI, I don't expect to survive. I'm well prepared here and I'm not going anywhere. I can't carry our supplies and I don't want to be out driving. I'd rather try to defend the place. We have way more than enough clean water, even for the neighbors, and we have food and medicines, guns and ammo. We are in a good spot in the country with as good a chance of defending as most.

I still believe that a large enough rioting, robbing and looting crowd could overwhelm us or anyone else. I'll get a bunch of them and do the best I can, but if it goes on for a year or two, I don't think there's anything one can do.
 
Obviously some of you don’t understand the severity of the scenario :s0112::s0112: The very first thing that must be done is take care of anything you have on ice. There will be no ice. My plan is to use what ice I can with my bourbon. Once I take care of my stock I won't give a hoot about what happens then:s0155::s0114::s0114:

jj
 

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