Survival: So Simple it's Profound

[11Charlie]

Portland has way more people. It would get ugly quick that is why my truck never goes below 1/2 tank.

 

[Camelfilter]

If you're NEVER more than 30 miles from home, fine, but the rest of us may leave the nest occasionally. I have a championship swim meet for my son in Portland this coming weekend and I KNOW I ain't gettin' out of there quickly if the SHTF. If I was alone things would be different, but walking 126 miles home in winter with my family just isn't an option so the several days worth of supplies that I will take will need to be quickly supplemented.

Could I head east quickly ahead of most of the traffic? Perhaps, but then I'm heading in a direction that puts me in the mountains where there are no supplies and it's colder. I make no bones about being able to "live off the land" in the wilderness so if I get stopped by a road blockage there, then there is where we will likely die. Our current culture doesn't support primitive skills, and I'm too busy working for a living to practice them, so when I'm in Portland I will have cash and know where the closest stores are to the motel and to the pool and once the shaking stops I will go there first before they are completely looted, or boarded up.

Depending upon the ages of your kids, and fitness, you could walk 126 miles relatively easily, provided no injuries.

Again it would depend on the nature of the disaster and such, but without bridges it would be an unknown. So in that circumstance it would/might be worthwhile hunkering down for a while before attempting such a trek. After a bit it would be more than likely some sort of raft/boat system would be set up for crossings.

 

[Koda]

If things are so bad your walking home there is going to be nothing easy about it. More than likely any long distance trip is going to be more dangerouse than waiting for FEMA to arrive. 120+ miles isnt anything easy even for experienced UL backpackers.

 

[11Charlie]

If things are so bad your walking home there is going to be nothing easy about it. More than likely any long distance trip is going to be more dangerouse than waiting for FEMA to arrive. 120+ miles isnt anything easy even for experienced UL backpackers.

Especially with kids in tow.

 

[Camelfilter]

I meant relatively easy.

If the water crossings are possible, then it's just a very difficult walk. Not a hike. No bushwhacking, depending on location minimal elevation, an even if so roads are at an inconsequential grade so as to minimize it.

Plus you could also railway walk, again provided crossings are doable.

20 miles per day is reasonable, again just as a walk, provided as I first mentioned, age & fitness.

Difficult? Surely.

Edit adding: the longer one were to wait, if thinking on some similar distance travel following an "event", the higher the risk of trouble from other people.

 

[Koda]

City Club of Portland releases earthquake resiliency report

Oregonian article on the Cascadia Zone Quake includes a link to an 88 page report by The City Club of Portland, dealing with preparing the Portland area for recovering after the big one. A quick skim of the PDF report indicates a couple of interesting points 1) 42% of residents say they prefer to stay, 28% uncertain and 30% said they would chose to evacuate. 2) and this is the one I thought most interesting is the study indicates that "the regions social economic recovery from a CSZ quake will be swifter and more complete if a larger proportion of residents choose to stay" (pg43).

The study then goes on to discuss neighborhood emergency response teams made up of residents.

Direct link to the pdf: <broken link removed>

So I gave it a quick skim reading various random paragraphs that stood out to me. I think there is some interesting points made in there that show the difficulty for Oregon as a whole to work together to rebuild a worst case scenario but what I didn't see was helping residents be more prepared to go it alone for several months without public services. Training citizens to be emergency responders yes, training residents to be self-sufficient... I will have to go back and fully read the report, but no.
I would think if they are going to encourage people to stay, they should help guide many of them to prepping properly enough to make it thru the duration, the more self-sufficient residents are the easier it is to help others and rebuild.

 

[11Charlie]

I would think if they are going to encourage people to stay, they should help guide many of them to prepping properly enough to make it thru the duration, the more self-sufficient residents are the easier it is to help others and rebuild.

Totally agree if people are broke down with no food, shelter or way to protect themselves from those who would loot or harm them then things could get way worse before they get better.

 

[Koda]

Totally agree if people are broke down with no food, shelter or way to protect themselves from those who would loot or harm them then things could get way worse before they get better.

honestly I would be shocked if they brought up personal security, if they did they would suggest throwing staplers at them...

 

[11Charlie]

Oh come on Koda they might mention something maybe a rock or something simple

 

[Srbasbol2]

honestly I would be shocked if they brought up personal security, if they did they would suggest throwing staplers at them...

Staplers?! Are you insane?! You'd hurt one of the peaceful looting protesters! Arm yourself with a rape whistle and you're set for teotwawki... at least until FEMA shows up and fixes everything for us all.

 

[Camelfilter]

Staplers?! Are you insane?! You'd hurt one of the peaceful looting protesters! Arm yourself with a rape whistle and you're set for teotwawki... at least until FEMA shows up and fixes everything for us all.

Brownie mix, your favorite herb plantings and spare bongo drums...

 

[Provincial]

Just a thought: probably, Oregon would be thrown back into pre-industrial times as far as transportaton goes. For instance horses would become serious work animals and an important form of transportation.

Water transportation was the first effective form of commerce here. I expect that it would return to importance. Smaller tankers and barges could bring supplies of fuel, food, and other needed commodities up the Columbia. These could be further distributed up the Willamette by smaller boats. Ironically, this would be more effective in the winter, as the Willamette is so shallow in the summer that it is blocked by sandbars and gravel bars even to small boats. A series of portages could address this difficulty, but it would still be inefficient.

The overland routes in pre-industrial times followed paths that crossed rivers and streams in the foothills of the Coast and Cascade Ranges. This is because the waterways became larger and deeper as they neared the Willamette. There were gravel bars along these routes that could be forded except at times of storm surges if you were on foot or horseback. During low water season, wagons crossed them easily.

Speaking of seasons, the damage in winter would be much greater due to saturated soils. Much of Portland is on soils that would hold up pretty well in late summer or early fall, but would liquify if shaken when saturated by fall/winter rains. Hillsides that would survive in the dry season would landslide in the wet season. On the other hand, river crossings would be much harder to repair/replace in the winter

If the government encouraged private parties to help create temporary transportation routes and waived the regulations that delay such work, I'll bet the loggers and contractors could get dirt roads and temporary crossings going very quickly if fuel could be distributed to them. The Alaska Highway in WWII is an example of what can be done if you concentrate on temporary measures and just get the job done NOW!

Food would keep the population alive. Fuel would speed the recovery of transportation, and transportation is the key to recovery of society.

 

[CoastRange57]

Portland has way more people. It would get ugly quick that is why my truck never goes below 1/2 tank.

A 110 gallon nurse tank plus full tanks is still worthless when you can only go a couple of miles ( if that) due to overpasses down, bridges collapsed, and buildings in rubble.

I mean.. I agree completely and never let mine get below 1/2, but if the quake is that bad, bridges, overpasses, trees down, and wires down are all going to make overland travel by vehicle damn near impossible.

 

[CoastRange57]

Here's something to consider when traveling: carry cash Perhaps you could buy yourself better shelter and a few more days worth of food and fuel.

Well this takes pretty much everybody under the age of 40 out of the purchasing section. They don't carry cash and expect everybody to take debit cards / credit cards. This guy took his kids to the state fair, ordered them ice cream and then whips out his debit card for a vendor who did not take plastic. He is standing there with the kids (probably 6 and 9) slurping on these cones already and him looking like a dufus.

I pay for the kids cones and he said thanks, but really, you go to a fair with no cash ??

I usually carry about $ 200 i cash on me at all times, sometimes more. I buy collectibles and things at sales. On our recent trip to Nashville, I took about $ 500 in cash. I had it split up in different places, hidden in the suitcase, in my shoes, taped in my underwear. I used less than $ 60 of it but had it, since I have had card failures when there was thousands of dollars in the accounts. Phone lines go down, credit machines are down.

Then in Portland at the airport, the gdamn parking lot won't take 2 of my cards at 1 am. The ho in the booth says both are declined, do you have any other from of payment ??

Sure, I just came back from a trip and both my cards don't work..I suggested her machine might be defective...and handed her $ 60 in cash for my bill.

Cash or other tangible tender will go a long ways in SHTF, because after all you can always run the cards later on right ????

 

[11Charlie]

A 110 gallon nurse tank plus full tanks is still worthless when you can only go a couple of miles ( if that) due to overpasses down, bridges collapsed, and buildings in rubble.

I mean.. I agree completely and never let mine get below 1/2, but if the quake is that bad, bridges, overpasses, trees down, and wires down are all going to make overland travel by vehicle damn near impossible.

Totally agree. My route home doesn't have any bridges and I try to carry a chain saw with me at all times. I totally get that I would more than likely have to leave them behind but I would try and stay with my truck as long as I can. It would give me the best opportunity to get home. I am prepared to leave on foot if necessary.

 

[Provincial]

Well this takes pretty much everybody under the age of 40 out of the purchasing section. They don't carry cash and expect everybody to take debit cards / credit cards. This guy took his kids to the state fair, ordered them ice cream and then whips out his debit card for a vendor who did not take plastic. He is standing there with the kids (probably 6 and 9) slurping on these cones already and him looking like a dufus.

I pay for the kids cones and he said thanks, but really, you go to a fair with no cash ??

I usually carry about $ 200 i cash on me at all times, sometimes more. I buy collectibles and things at sales. On our recent trip to Nashville, I took about $ 500 in cash. I had it split up in different places, hidden in the suitcase, in my shoes, taped in my underwear. I used less than $ 60 of it but had it, since I have had card failures when there was thousands of dollars in the accounts. Phone lines go down, credit machines are down.

Then in Portland at the airport, the gdamn parking lot won't take 2 of my cards at 1 am. The ho in the booth says both are declined, do you have any other from of payment ??

Sure, I just came back from a trip and both my cards don't work..I suggested her machine might be defective...and handed her $ 60 in cash for my bill.

Cash or other tangible tender will go a long ways in SHTF, because after all you can always run the cards later on right ????

Are you sure that she processed the transaction, instead of pocketing the cash and just opening the gate? I was stuck at PDX for over an hour once because the computer had gone down and the idiot in the booth wouldn't take cash for a weekly rate. My ticket showed four days and I was paying the weekly. He couldn't grasp the idea of taking the money and ticket and processing it after the computer came back on line.

 

[The Heretic]

Cash or other tangible tender will go a long ways in SHTF, because after all you can always run the cards later on right ????

I always have at least a few hundred in cash, well hidden on my person.

Twenties and hundreds - twenties when you don't want to flash a lot of cash and just need to pay for something, hundreds when I want to buy something for more than a hundred dollars. But generally I go to the CU or ATM to get the cash first so I don't deplete my stash.

The stash is mostly for emergencies - to get home, or as you mentioned, when my plastic unexpectedly does not work - which is pretty rare.

In a SHTF or other "emergency" situation, waving a twenty or hundred in someone's face may convince them to do the thing you need them to do - like tow your car to a repair shop, or give you that can of gas/diesel they have, or give you a ride somewhere. At the repair shop or gas station, if the card machine is down, cash will still be accepted - at least for a while, regardless of why the machine is down - even if a nuclear war breaks out, people will still take cash for a while, at least until it becomes apparent to everybody that it has become worthless and that will take a while.

Having the financial resources has helped me and my family make it through bad times a number of times - such as now, when my kids have medical bills due injury, need home repairs and do not have income. While my child recovers, they at least do not need to worry about money - just get better, go back to work and continue with life. Otherwise a bad situation would escalate into something much worse and longer lasting.

 

[Defense Minister]

In a SHTF or other "emergency" situation, waving a twenty or hundred in someone's face may convince them to do the thing you need them to do - like tow your car to a repair shop, or give you that can of gas/diesel they have, or give you a ride somewhere.

Or use their boat to get you across the river because the bridge is out and you're trying to walk home... I keep about $200 in cash on me at all times split between my wallet and backpack. When traveling, I double that at least.

 

[CoastRange57]

Are you sure that she processed the transaction, instead of pocketing the cash and just opening the gate?

I made her give me a receipt, just for that reason, and it was one of the machine receipts. When she ran one card and then the other and both declined, I knew something was up with their machine. She caught an attitude with me right off, I did not really want that at 1 am after 5 hours on a plane. She quickly got back to sucking down her Marlboros and watching some sh*t show on TV.

 

[bbbass]

Depending upon the ages of your kids, and fitness, you could walk 126 miles relatively easily, provided no injuries.

Crud man, I can't walk around the block! I'm stayin home.