# Are You Realy ready if the SHTF ?



## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

OK ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Are you ready if the SHTF ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I really want you to sit back and think of everything that may happen ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have and I have a lot of questions in my mind on what to do and will I do it right ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I think back on what I was trained to do in the Army ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, books I have read on survival ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and a hell of a lot of post on this forum ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have supplies to last me and my wife and dog 18 months ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that's everything ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So are you ready ????????????


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

It depends on what you mean by SHTF.

Plague? Yes.

EMP? No, and nobody else is either (even those that think they are).

Nuclear War? Yes.

Civil Unrest? No, but again nobody really is (even those that think they are).

Etc.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Not quite operational on this end yet.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

Not quite yet, I'll make it up as I go.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Salt-N-Pepper said:


> EMP? No, and nobody else is either (even those that think they are).


I would like to disagree...

An EMP would take us back to pre electronics days..although we would have some older motors available

to be prepared for EMP we need

1. food and ability to be self reliant

2. Water

3. shelter

4 medical or enough to get by

5 Protection

For preppers an EMP would be the best type of event... it would limit the ability of non-preppers to get around... the first winter would most likely reduce the population by around 75%

I think I am well prepared for an EMP..if I am not , I would like to know what I am missing


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## dwight55 (Nov 9, 2012)

Having no choice but to do what needs to be done under the circumstances, . . . I guess I'm ready.

Fully prepared? None of us will ever be that, . . . 

Prepared is stuff..........

Ready is mind set..........

May God bless,
Dwight


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## M118LR (Sep 19, 2015)

Having served operationally, no matter how many mock ups, dry runs, extreme training exercises, and successful Missions you have survived, There is no such thing as being Really Ready when SHTF. If you think you are, well perhaps it's time to introduce Mr & Mrs Murphy. JMHO.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

We will deal with it.


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## M118LR (Sep 19, 2015)

Smitty901 said:


> We will deal with it.


I hear you Smitty901, but it's like those disclaimers on stock market commercials. Past performance is not a guarantee of future success.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Food supply? Inexhaustable - crops grow, our chickens reproduce.
Water? A well, plus a river one mile away.
Transportation to get water jugs to the river and back? Horses.
Electricity? Don't really need it to survive. It is merely a luxury.

Our God led us here, my trust and faith is in Him.
And if we die before the end of civilization as we know it, we still have lost nothing.


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## PCH5150 (Jun 15, 2015)

Am I ready?? Nope. Am I better off than I was a year or two ago?? Yep.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

I am emotionally, spiritually and physically ready. Will it be easy? NO. I will find what I need to make do! My family will not go hungry. My animals will not go hungry we have 100's of pounds of dried spent grains so they will supply us with eggs and meat. We have barter items for what items we have not thought about. 

I do not think it is possible to prepare for every scenario. A nuclear war would depend on where it is located if we would survive.


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## Linedog (Jun 29, 2015)

Hopefully I'll never feel like I'm ready. Hopefully I'll never become complacent, always on guard, always looking.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

I think the best we can hope for is being ahead of the curve compared to most. As preppers we already have the mindset, we are prepared to deal with what comes the best way we can. Most people are not prepared to deal with it at all. If one thinks they are ever 100% prepared I think they would be mistaken. The opportunities for things to go sideways will be great. As mentioned, Mr and Mrs. Murphy are a bitch. I am never no where near being 100% ready.


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## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

There is a lot of mix reviews here I see ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that's what I was looking for ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you do what you can at the time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope for the best ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,pray everything works out for you in the long run ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that's all you can do ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, some people are ready for something ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but not everything,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you can't be ready for everything ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, because you don't know what's going to happen ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, SO ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, food , water , shelter , cloths , first aide , fire ,protection ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if you have that then you have a good start .........................


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Being ready or being preppered????

frankly..i have a bunch of food and water etc.. that will give me time to work out the other things....I have a wood stove and a shed full (almost) of wood..

I can stay warm with out electricity and no electric, no work truck, no job..I stay home... that means i have an extra 8 hours a day to adapt, overcome, and improvise


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## PCH5150 (Jun 15, 2015)

I think my biggest liability is the fact that my house has no fireplace!! I have two years left on my mortgage, and sure don't want to jump into another one (nor can I afford to). In a grid down situation that puts us at a real disadvantage as far as heating goes. I'd really prefer to get a cabin on some land with a fire place or two as opposed to trying to do the whole generator thing...


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

PCH5150 said:


> I think my biggest liability is the fact that my house has no fireplace!! I have two years left on my mortgage, and sure don't want to jump into another one (nor can I afford to). In a grid down situation that puts us at a real disadvantage as far as heating goes. I'd really prefer to get a cabin on some land with a fire place or two as opposed to trying to do the whole generator thing...


Why don't you install a wood burning stove?


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## hawgrider (Oct 24, 2014)

Sure Im ready. I've got booze and a over hang on my porch. Bring it!!! I need some cheap entertainment. Stop on over I'll be hangin with my Porch Honkys.


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## PCH5150 (Jun 15, 2015)

Auntie said:


> Why don't you install a wood burning stove?


I think that is exactly what I need to do, Auntie. You may have just spurred my next big project to save up for.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Auntie said:


> Why don't you install a wood burning stove?


Wood burning stoves are a heck of a lot more efficient than fireplaces.

Got this one free from my Father-In-Laws barn this past summer. A couple of hours of elbow grease, a few new nuts/bolts and some Stove Black Polish was all it took. 
View attachment 14898


View attachment 14899


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Good points on unforeseen circumstances arising unexpectedly. In fact there is an old adage about that dilemma..goes something like this: "There is many a slip twixt cup and lip." (rough paraphrase)


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## SDF880 (Mar 28, 2013)

Ready as can be with my 4G plan.

GAS (Kero and propane too)

GUNS 

GRUB (short and long term food)

GALLONS (water and filtration)


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## Blendingin (Feb 13, 2016)

I don't think I will ever be ready. No matter how much I stock up I always feel there is something lacking. what have I forgotten that may save my life? It is impossible to guess at what will happen or when, so I just keep on getting ready for what ever happens


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## Blendingin (Feb 13, 2016)

Auntie said:


> I am emotionally, spiritually and physically ready. Will it be easy? NO. I will find what I need to make do! My family will not go hungry. My animals will not go hungry we have 100's of pounds of dried spent grains so they will supply us with eggs and meat. We have barter items for what items we have not thought about.
> 
> I do not think it is possible to prepare for every scenario. A nuclear war would depend on where it is located if we would survive.


Auntie, my animals are a concern for me. I don't know how to store enough for them and keep thinking I will just have to start butchering or loose them to starvation. What is "dried spent grains"? Around here spent grains are what is left over from the many breweries and you can often get it for animal feed but it is wet and fermented. This would just continue to rot. 
Right now I have enough for 4 or 5 months of food for my animals which I could stretch to a year if I butchered all but the smallest amount of breeding stock. not enough to continue my breeding program for years, but enough to supplement the family food supply as long as someone doesn't steal them from me.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

PCH5150 said:


> I think my biggest liability is the fact that my house has no fireplace!! I have two years left on my mortgage, and sure don't want to jump into another one (nor can I afford to). In a grid down situation that puts us at a real disadvantage as far as heating goes. I'd really prefer to get a cabin on some land with a fire place or two as opposed to trying to do the whole generator thing...


wood stove and pipe would cost under $1,000... heck woodstove and put it out through a window even cheaper


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## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

PCH5150 said:


> I think my biggest liability is the fact that my house has no fireplace!! I have two years left on my mortgage, and sure don't want to jump into another one (nor can I afford to). In a grid down situation that puts us at a real disadvantage as far as heating goes. I'd really prefer to get a cabin on some land with a fire place or two as opposed to trying to do the whole generator thing...


I installed Contora 520 years ago not as a prepp but to save heating costs, this brand might not be available on the US market but im sure simular products are. I does not offer cooking possibilitys but as far as the heat it produces per log and retains over night you just cant beat it! I think payed about $3000 for it so they are expensive but over the course of 3 years it has more then payed for itselfe in saved heating costs.









I dont know if you have tiled stoves in the US or its something that only exists in Scandinavia? They where common in the 19th and 20th century and they are the absolute monsters when it comes to the heat they produce and retain per log.


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## Doc Holliday (Dec 22, 2012)

AS I have said before, I have plenty of guns and ammo, there is an abundance of water here in Oregon (but we still stock up on it) and there are a lot of chubby people running around out there that I would have to trap and eat..... survival of the fittest. :joyous:

We would probably be bugging out to another state that is close to us that family has a lot of land and plenty of animals..


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## tango (Apr 12, 2013)

I am as ready as I know how to be.


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## Farva (Aug 26, 2015)

If by SHTF you mean PAW, Nope. If you aint living the life now, you aint gonna be living it then. That includes me.

If by SHTF you mean any myriad of other mundane disasters, I'm doing OK.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

Targetshooter said:


> There is a lot of mix reviews here I see ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that's what I was looking for ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you do what you can at the time ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hope for the best ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,pray everything works out for you in the long run ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, that's all you can do ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, some people are ready for something ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but not everything,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, you can't be ready for everything ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, because you don't know what's going to happen ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, SO ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, food , water , shelter , cloths , first aide , fire ,protection ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if you have that then you have a good start .........................


Pssst... your comma and period keys are sticking


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## darsk20 (Jun 1, 2015)

For me, SHTF is most likely a weather event: tornado, blizzard with a power outage, etc. In that case I feel about 95% good. Would like some more propane, but I have enough for about 4 days worth of heating with my emergency heaters and adequate clothing.

For any other event . . . probably nowhere near ready enough.


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## I'd_last_a_day (May 12, 2015)

Wow i'm behind the 8 ball...I want a wood stove, or a tiled stove sounds even better! Time to search for a good one that can both heat and cook. I would very much appreciate any recommendations!!



Maine-Marine said:


> I would like to disagree...
> 
> An EMP would take us back to pre electronics days..although we would have some older motors available
> 
> ...


Do you have an EMP proof generator?
I barely remember awhile ago reading about those old school Listeroid generators, what a plus owning one of them would be!

...Edit...this Sedore 3000 i'm reading up on looks pretty damn sweet

...Ohhh, Woodstock Soapstone!! God i love spending money


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

Here at the primary (pre-retirement) homestead, we're in pretty good shape. Plenty of food, water, firewood, alternate energy sources, tools, etc. Fairly defensible and reasonably hardened. Closest neighbors have a clue, valuable skills and are reasonably prepared.

The "mountain retreat" (retirement property) has exceptional natural resources. A significant brook (more like a small river), a natural spring, thick with deer, moose and other yummy critters, mountains to the north and west, easily controlled access (gated, dead end, private road with features that be made to restrict vehicular travel)... extremely defensible. The dwelling is still on the drawing board though. It'll be 3-6 years before the buildings are built and ready for occupancy and then a couple of years to complete the out buildings (garage, livestock housing, green house, etc.)

So, given a choice, I'd prefer maybe a decade before the S hits the F please. At that point we probably wouldn't even notice it.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

How can one know what is the correct level of preparedness?
There will always be some item or bit of knowledge that you will find to enhance your current level.

Today I got extra gas generators for my Coleman lamps, that makes about 20 in my stores along with all the other spare parts. 
There are five different generators for the different model lamps I have from years of yard sailing.
Now, I think I need more Coleman fuel, have 50 gallons, tomorrow when I go to Walmart I will pick up two more, target now will be 75 gallons.
That will give me roughly two years of burning one lamp 10 hours a day, excluding stove usage.
The lanterns are 200's, 220's, 285's, 290's and 295's.
I do have other alternate light sources, this is just an example of the continued evolution of prepping.

I don't think anyone can ever think they could be prepared for every scenario.
I have be prepping since 1979, primary reason was for winter storm power outages, it has since morphed into almost every other what if situation.
Food, ammunition, fuel and more food are a never ending quest.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Am I really ready for a SHTF scenario?
Live on a two hundred acre fully off the grid farm.........CHECK
sixty member family all trained from medical, weapons, farming, fabricating....ect....CHECK
enough supplies to last years.......CHECK
Only bad side none of this is true. Bottom line is I'm better off than some, worse than others, but I'm determined we'll be OK.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

Targetshooter said:


> OK ,,,,,,,,,,,,, Are you ready if the SHTF ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I really want you to sit back and think of everything that may happen ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have and I have a lot of questions in my mind on what to do and will I do it right ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I think back on what I was trained to do in the Army ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, books I have read on survival ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and a hell of a lot of post on this forum ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I have supplies to last me and my wife and dog 18 months ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,that's everything ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So are you ready ????????????


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density
(
Yes pretty much, North Carolina with about 200 people per square mile, you are basically screwed, here in Montana (which sucks big time, tell your friends) we have .. wait for it...

7 people per square mile

Actually in the valley I live in it is 9 people per square mile, that makes it easier to prep.


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## Arklatex (May 24, 2014)

Montana Rancher said:


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_population_density
> (
> Yes pretty much, North Carolina with about 200 people per square mile, you are basically screwed, here in Montana (which sucks big time, tell your friends) we have .. wait for it...
> 
> ...


Montana really does suck. I heard most of the ranchers up yonder are gay too. Who the hell would wanna live there anyway?


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

Arklatex said:


> Montana really does suck. I heard most of the ranchers up yonder are gay too. Who the hell would wanna live there anyway?


exactly, and bad weather, and native americans, and liberal colleges, it sucks bad!!


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## beach23bum (Jan 27, 2015)

I believe I would be Ready, but we could always use more or better equipment. I would love to have an 100 acre ranch, but we are a military family and go where the military sends us.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

beach23bum said:


> I believe I would be Ready, but we could always use more or better equipment. I would love to have an 100 acre ranch, but we are a military family and go where the military sends us.


Bless your heart, only spent 12 years in the service, you are probably better than me.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Blendingin said:


> Auntie, my animals are a concern for me. I don't know how to store enough for them and keep thinking I will just have to start butchering or loose them to starvation. What is "dried spent grains"? Around here spent grains are what is left over from the many breweries and you can often get it for animal feed but it is wet and fermented. This would just continue to rot.
> Right now I have enough for 4 or 5 months of food for my animals which I could stretch to a year if I butchered all but the smallest amount of breeding stock. not enough to continue my breeding program for years, but enough to supplement the family food supply as long as someone doesn't steal them from me.


We get grains from the brewery then I dry some of them. Imagine a huge drying rack, that is what I use. I also freeze some.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

I am and have prepared. Ready??? More so in some areas, less in others. I will stand and persevere as best I can and be satisfied I have done my best.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

A Watchman said:


> I am and have prepared. Ready??? More so in some areas, less in others. I will stand and persevere as best I can and be satisfied I have done my best.


That's all any of us can do, really. Stand and deal as best we can with the what we know is coming in some form and fashion. Brace against the storm that surely comes.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

I've got 100lbs of beans, 60(soon 80)lbs of long grain rice, 20lbs of rolled oats, 10 gallons of wheat berries, a month of two worth of canned goods, and ~300 gallons of water on hand.
I've got boo-boo kits, medications, various other medical supplies, and extensive reference materials.
I've got manuals for bio/chem/nuke attack, survival in extreme conditions, self-reliance homesteading, and lost crafts of times long passed.
I've got a wood stove that's yet to be installed.
I've got a small solar generator setup that should be adequate to provide nighttime lighting
I've got weaponry to arm my family, and a few others if need be.
I need to start a garden.
I need to get my rabbits going again.
The wife wants to start canning!

Am I ready? No.
Will I ever be? No.


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## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

I seriously doubt that many folks are really prepared for a SHTF event. I am not saying that they may not be well prepared in preps, but not likely mindset and training. It will be a great shock to all. As far as I go...I keep prepping, but far from ready.


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## Labello (Jan 31, 2016)

No I am not. But what I have in mind is : food and water stock for at least 6 months,medications, first aid kit,wood stove and logs, candles, matches, blankets, shout gun and ammo. :Confuse::armata_PDT_15:


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

I'm more ready than i was yesterday and less than i will be tomorrow.


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## phrogman (Apr 17, 2014)

I'm better than most but no where near as ready as most of you. We should be fine for short term, maybe two moths but if the lights don't come on soon after that we will be in deep $h!t.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I am never as ready as I want to be. I can't help but feel that the SHTF event will be something 
I never thought about. Like a tidal wave that hits me in my house at 2650 feet elevation, or an 
attack by carnivorous butterflies, or an elephant stampede prior to the elephant uprising that 
takes over the world. And I guess I have to assume I should include a *Zombie of folklore* attack.

For all the newbies:
From the Paraquack book of collected prepper wisdoms: 
Zombie: [note upper case Z], a ghoul or reanimated human corpse. The term Zombie, an English 
word first recorded in 1819 by Robert Southey, in the form of "zombi", a Brazilian word. However
the Oxford English Dictionary gives the origin of the word as West African, and compares it to the 
Kongo words nzambi and zumbi. While Zombies are said to be created by African or Haitian witch 
doctors through the use of voodoo (in New Orleans pronounced with a hard letter o after the v) 
rituals and voodoo drugs, no true Zombie has been found or examined by Western medical science 
and therefore is considered part of folklore.

However the first re-animated dead were believed to have been from Africa. In Africa, a significant 
number of tribes believed that a person had in fact not one but two souls. A "big" soul which was 
that which made a person who he was, his intellect, memories, his essence. He also had a "small" 
soul which was responsible for the animation of the body. Witch doctors were supposedly able to reunite 
the "small" soul with a dead body, thereby reanimating the body but were never able to reunite the 
"big" soul. Therefore the reanimated body was not the person he was in life. The Prepper need not 
worry about the Zombie described in folklore unless a new unknown disease process comes about such
as a mutated strain of Rabies or some other disease renders the human brain so damaged that the 
actions of the human act in such a way that they imitate the Zombie of folklore by trying to consume 
another non-infected living human being.

In the non-fictional reference for the modern Prepper, the zombie [note lower case z] is an analogous 
description of the unprepared [for a SHTF event] person who will wander the land looking for food and 
supplies to sustain them. These zombies will seek out the prepared (or Prepper) and attempt to take 
by any means necessary, including the killing of those Prepared to achieve their end, survival at any 
cost. The zombies most feared by Preppers should be considered a more dangerous adversary (to 
Preppers) than the Zombie of folklore due their ability to work together for their common goal and the 
fact that they can react with normal speed and muscular control unless severely undernourished.

While the Zombie of folklore can only be killed or destroyed by the destruction of the Zombie brain by 
gunshot, crushing or impact damage or penetrating injury to the skull inflicting mortal damage to the 
Zombie's brain, the zombie of real concern to Preppers can be killed or mortally wounded in any of the 
normal manners. Extreme care must be exercised when approaching an obviously wounded zombie. 
The wounded zombie may play possum, possible exaggerating their wounds and pretend to no longer 
be dangerous to the Prepper. This is when a Prepper must be on heightened vigilance and treat a 
wounded zombie with all due caution as he would give a Zombie of folklore.

I also warn preppers to be wary of the zombie child or mother with child. These zombies can look 
innocuous and therefore lull an unsuspecting prepper into feeling sorry for the zombie. The zombie 
could be by himself but COULD also be a scout or act as a Trojan Horse. If you are moved to share
your food and water with a zombie, you might be initiating your own demise.

Some have suggested that zombies could turn to cannibalism. I suppose it is possible and has been 
mentioned in the bible. Given a state of extreme hunger, I feel is is a possibility depending on the 
terrain you live in. Since arid climates such as where I live, I feel most zombies will suffer dehydration
and die before cannibalism become an issue. But eventually as food runs out, cannibalism could occur.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

I'm ready for some things (grid down, economic collapse). No one can be ready for others (nuclear war). No one lives forever; the best I can hope for is that my preps can help my loved ones and some of my countrymen survive to carry on the things I believe in.


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## SittingElf (Feb 9, 2016)

Unless a nuclear bomb drops on our head, I think my neighbors and my family are 90% prepared for any SHTF situation, except perhaps an alien invasion....and even then, we may be OK.

The key is not buying everything that every prepper website, forum, or blog recommends. It's about sitting down with your trusted partners and gaming out every situation you can think of, and how to survive it. Whether Hurricane, (I'm in Florida), civil war, Civil unrest, EMP, CME, Economic Collapse, Agenda 21, Gun confiscation, racial riots, gang attacks, FEMA camps, or so many other potential SHTF situations....once you have a plan, and continuously reevaluate your plans and options, you CAN survive... and thrive.

Our group of folks try to think outside the box, and plan contingencies for even the most unlikely situations. That allows us to carefully craft responses to a number of events that others may have never considered.

In answer to the OP's question... I'd give us a 90%+ chance of surviving, thriving, and defending our community....even though we might have to dig a lot of graves in the process...(though decomposition is a great fertilizer!)


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## I'd_last_a_day (May 12, 2015)

Does anyone breath a sigh of relief every time March arrives?? I always do. SHTF in winter has to be twice as worse! Heating your house is so much of a liability. Not that March is warm but at least you know winter is behind you. Even if it's 45 degrees you can get by with blankets & thermals...20 degrees forget it you have so much more energy demand.


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## M118LR (Sep 19, 2015)

I'd_last_a_day said:


> Does anyone breath a sigh of relief every time March arrives?? I always do. SHTF in winter has to be twice as worse! Heating your house is so much of a liability. Not that March is warm but at least you know winter is behind you. Even if it's 45 degrees you can get by with blankets & thermals...20 degrees forget it you have so much more energy demand.


The colder the temperature, the longer it takes to bleed out, the better your chance to effect a self rescue. Every cloud can have a silver lining. JMHO.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I'd_last_a_day said:


> Does anyone breath a sigh of relief every time March arrives?? I always do. SHTF in winter has to be twice as worse! Heating your house is so much of a liability. Not that March is warm but at least you know winter is behind you. Even if it's 45 degrees you can get by with blankets & thermals...20 degrees forget it you have so much more energy demand.


Yes, Yes, Sunday and Monday here was -15 degrees with a high of -7 during the day.
Today it was +54, the extreme shift caused my throat and tongue to swell.
+32 is easy to deal with for the most part as far as keeping from freezing here in a survival situation. 
Those two days required wearing a parka over the winter coat while outside, wind chill was about -50.
At least I could close the kitchen cabinet doors, not have to worry about the pipes freezing behind them now.


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## txmarine6531 (Nov 18, 2015)

Not so much, but I'll be alright.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

PCH5150 said:


> I think my biggest liability is the fact that my house has no fireplace!! I have two years left on my mortgage, and sure don't want to jump into another one (nor can I afford to). In a grid down situation that puts us at a real disadvantage as far as heating goes. I'd really prefer to get a cabin on some land with a fire place or two as opposed to trying to do the whole generator thing...


Got to agree with Auntie. Find a way to add a wood stove, punch a hole and run the pipe. I've got 2 (living room and master bedroom) (both added after house was built) and when the power went out for 3 days last winter the neighbors with or without fireplaces froze while I just tossed another log in and invited their kids over to watch TV (solar system). Get a good woodstove, large is nice, pretty is nice, well designed is much more important. Bedroom stove is a beautiful to look at "Elm Stove" but tough to regulate temperature and long burn. LR stove is a large basic heavy stove that can burn 10+ hours if loaded correctly and is much easier to regulate temperature


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Plumbum said:


> I installed Contora 520 years ago not as a prepp but to save heating costs, this brand might not be available on the US market but im sure simular products are. I does not offer cooking possibilitys but as far as the heat it produces per log and retains over night you just cant beat it! I think payed about $3000 for it so they are expensive but over the course of 3 years it has more then payed for itselfe in saved heating costs.
> 
> View attachment 14905
> 
> ...


Oooh, I'd like one of those.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Does anybody know why the sheep in Montana are scared? It's related to why men in Montana wear cowboy boots with their loose fitting uppers.

Montana Rancher,,, joking but too good a line to pass on.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

I'd_last_a_day said:


> Does anyone breath a sigh of relief every time March arrives?? I always do. SHTF in winter has to be twice as worse! Heating your house is so much of a liability. Not that March is warm but at least you know winter is behind you. Even if it's 45 degrees you can get by with blankets & thermals...20 degrees forget it you have so much more energy demand.


That's why in addition to wood heat we all have serious long underwear and other warm clothes as part of the preps. Hard to stay vigilant watching the property outside while freezing.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

The original question is like asking if you're ready to get a tooth pulled. 
NO, oh hell no. but we are better prepared than the average family with better than average neighbors in a better than average county. Still, if the big city empties in this direction we may wish we had more shells and barbwire. Personally I suspect we're as ready as reasonable while balancing a good life with SHTF insurance.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Freezing? What is this you speak of? 

I remember 15 years ago in NE Texas we had several deep freezes a year that lasted up to a week. Now days, we are lucky to see the temps drop to 30 degrees overnight. Can't even remember the last sustained deep freeze here. Winters have been 50 degree weather the last few years.


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## T-Man 1066 (Jan 3, 2016)

Like everybody else, this is a process. I am ok with food and protection, reasonable water, probably a little weak with heat, and medicene. Cash on hand is rough sometimes, fuel could be improved. Like someone said earlier, I breath a sigh of relief when spring comes.


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## ghostman (Dec 11, 2014)

not even close but getting there


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## I'd_last_a_day (May 12, 2015)

Food & water is great and all but there is something just as crucial that everyone is over looking, the Bubba Hovercraft...






Ok just kidding, but after the collapse, when my silver makes me $9,000,000 i'm buying one lol


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