Prep spending???

nwslopoke · Sep 28, 2021

I am not sure how oil rich Venezuela has been allowed to self-destruct and no one seems to care. South Africa is a mess. I guess even China says, no thank you, to that. Isn't NZ more of a UK problem?

These are confusing times. Lots of experts but no solutions. I'm overweight. I know how to diet but I can't get anyone to listen.

Nosferatu · Sep 28, 2021

I bought some TP futures in 2019. I'm golden.

TTSX · Sep 28, 2021

They have fairly plain smartphones that incorporate thermal/flir tech. Likely not as good as a larger dedicated unit, though the fact that they're available at all is telling about where tech will be very soon. As for NVGs, to be frank, I don't see a single reasonable scenario where I'd be likely to use them. Possible scenarios, yes. Million to one.

What I REALLY need is more/better water storage. I have what I figure would last me about a month of drinking with very little washing.

Don't forget critter supplies. They need to eat, dunno and poop, too

The Heretic · Sep 28, 2021

TTSX said:
They have fairly plain smartphones that incorporate thermal/flir tech. Likely not as good as a larger dedicated unit, though the fact that they're available at all is telling about where tech will be very soon. As for NVGs, to be frank, I don't see a single reasonable scenario where I'd be likely to use them. Possible scenarios, yes. Million to one.

What I REALLY need is more/better water storage. I have what I figure would last me about a month of drinking with very little washing.

Don't forget critter supplies. They need to eat, dunno and poop, too

I have food and water - the latter as long as I can power the well pump, I can get 5 GPM for the foreseeable future.

As for why I would need/want to see in the dark - I think that is pretty self-explanatory, but here goes:

1) To be able to see someone who doesn't want to be seen trying to sneak up on me when it is dark.

2) To be able to see & hunt game when it is dark and I do not want to give away my presence for long periods of time by shining lights around indiscriminately.

I don't think either of those scenarios is a "million to one" scenario. If SHTF and I was thinking I would be needing firearms to defend myself and mine, then I think it is more like a 50/50 chance that I would want and need to be aware of persons approaching my location when it was dark - and again, I would not want to be giving away my position by having my property lit up with lights so marauders knew where I was.

Also, if SHTF, I probably would almost assuredly be hunting when it was dark - preferably with a suppressor.

TTSX · Sep 28, 2021

The Heretic said:
I have food and water - the latter as long as I can power the well pump, I can get 5 GPM for the foreseeable future.

As for why I would need/want to see in the dark - I think that is pretty self-explanatory, but here goes:

1) To be able to see someone who doesn't want to be seen trying to sneak up on me when it is dark.

2) To be able to see & hunt game when it is dark and I do not want to give away my presence for long periods of time by shining lights around indiscriminately.

I don't think either of those scenarios is a "million to one" scenario. If SHTF and I was thinking I would be needing firearms to defend myself and mine, then I think it is more like a 50/50 chance that I would want and need to be aware of persons approaching my location when it was dark - and again, I would not want to be giving away my position by having my property lit up with lights so marauders knew where I was.

Also, if SHTF, I probably would almost assuredly be hunting when it was dark - preferably with a suppressor.

Is this thread specifically about you? I thought this was more or less an open forum for ideas so I was giving mine and my personal feeling towards some stuff you mentioned. I certainly didn't say NVGs don't have a use but rather for myself they're less than unlikely to be useful. Take it for what you will and I'm glad you have lots of water

The Heretic · Sep 28, 2021

TTSX said:
Is this thread specifically about you? I thought this was more or less an open forum for ideas so I was giving mine and my personal feeling towards some stuff you mentioned. I certainly didn't say NVGs don't have a use but rather for myself they're less than unlikely to be useful. Take it for what you will and I'm glad you have lots of water

The thread was started by me, and I was presenting my view on the issue.

I welcome other viewpoints, but that doesn't mean I won't note whether they apply or don't apply to me.

Not sure why someone would not want to be able to see in the dark if SHTF, I am thinking it less likely than that they would, but you didn't say why you wouldn't, so I said why I would. In short, I don't care about your "feeling" towards something, I am more interested in your thinking and reasons.

TTSX · Sep 28, 2021

The Heretic said:
The thread was started by me, and I was presenting my view on the issue.

I welcome other viewpoints, but that doesn't mean I won't note whether they apply or don't apply to me.

Not sure why someone would not want to be able to see in the dark if SHTF, I am thinking it less likely than that they would, but you didn't say why you wouldn't, so I said why I would. In short, I don't care about your "feeling" towards something, I am more interested in your thinking and reasons.

Ok. I don't live in a dark environment. I'm not worried about being snuck up on. They're not worth my time, energy or money as far as what I'm personally likely to deal with. Therefore, to me, a million to one odds that they'd be useful. Or if we assume I'll live an additional 50 years and they'd be useful once, a roughly one in 18k chance. Again, not enough for consideration "to me" though IR type devices I already use from time to time so those, certainly, are useful.... "To me."

I'll apologize if I'm getting antagonistic or confrontational. Feeling irritated for reasons outside the forum

The Heretic · Sep 28, 2021

TTSX said:
Ok. I don't live in a dark environment. I'm not worried about being snuck up on. They're not worth my time, energy or money as far as what I'm personally likely to deal with. Therefore, to me, a million to one odds that they'd be useful. Or if we assume I'll live an additional 50 years and they'd be useful once, a roughly one in 18k chance. Again, not enough for consideration "to me" though IR type devices I already use from time to time so those, certainly, are useful.... "To me."

If SHTF do you think all that lighting you have now will still be lit?

TTSX said:
I'll apologize if I'm getting antagonistic or confrontational. Feeling irritated for reasons outside the forum

Not feeling any animosity, just interesting in reasons and thinking.

The reason I had for starting this thread is the fact that my own reasoning towards putting off buying night vision capability seems illogical to me; I know I would need it if SHTF, but I am loathe to spend the $ on it, even though I have spent much more on guns & ammo, or on a dirt bike, or two trucks, and LOT more on my property.

slimmer13 · Sep 29, 2021

The Heretic said:
If SHTF do you think all that lighting you have now will still be lit?

Not feeling any animosity, just interesting in reasons and thinking.

The reason I had for starting this thread is the fact that my own reasoning towards putting off buying night vision capability seems illogical to me; I know I would need it if SHTF, but I am loathe to spend the $ on it, even though I have spent much more on guns & ammo, or on a dirt bike, or two trucks, and LOT more on my property.

I guess it depends on how you define "SHTF" and how likely you see it happening.

In my mind, it doesn't make a lot of sense to prepare for a massive grid down scenario when you can't climb a flight of stairs without risking a coronary, or you are living paycheck to paycheck.

If your life is sufficiently squared away, where the most pressing unaddressed need is NV during a grid down scenario, I applaud you.

The Heretic · Sep 29, 2021

slimmer13 said:
I guess it depends on how you define "SHTF" and how likely you see it happening.

In my mind, it doesn't make a lot of sense to prepare for a massive grid down scenario when you can't climb a flight of stairs without risking a coronary, or you are living paycheck to paycheck.

If your life is sufficiently squared away, where the most pressing unaddressed need is NV during a grid down scenario, I applaud you.

All valid points.

Let me put it this way though; I live west of the Cascades. A Cascadian Subduction Zone earthquake has a 37% chance of occurring within the next 50 years. It is predicted that we (west of the Cascades) would be on our own (little to no outside support, no real support for individuals), without power for up to six months. That is a SHTF situation.

In the past year, I have had 8 power outages, one that affected 100K+ people in the region. Stuff happens. If really bad stuff happened for an extended period of time, how people respond would make it worse. So yeah, I prep for the worst case scenario. I do have other areas that I am working on too though, so no NV is not high on my list, but I am thinking about it - I just am procrastinating.