[Opinion] Prepping for Disaster Planning

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Looking at FEMA, here is a page detailing minimum preparedness items on hand in case of an emergency.
If you live in hurricane territory, consider airtight sealing items and burying them, keeping a shovel at hand.

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I then ent back to Cabelas, and in addition to a revolver (self-defense), shotgun (hunting), and crossbow (hunting), I stumbled upon other pages:

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This applies to pretty much rural and urban survival in brief.
Military field manuals on survival, medical operations, etc, may be useful.

Granted, most of us mages could summon beings to help us out, but we also have understanding, knowledge and wisdom.
This includes common sense. If you live in a mundane and magical world, keep mundane supplies handy in case of a mundane emergency.

Now, this is the stinger - poor people cannot afford all this crap that the average suburban family takes for granted. We are the first line.

Post automatically merged: Jan 3, 2023

I think personally, I am going to try to fill in the readiness kit outlined in the second link first, as that is the basic kit to prepare, in case of natural disasters or severe weather.

Post automatically merged: Jan 3, 2023

Amway or similar companies that sell home products in bulk are a good DRK resource as well.

 

[SkullTraill]

Great thread, and thanks for the links. The ready.gov link is a good baseline.

Some time ago I was heavily researching doomsday prepping and urban survival. But most of the videos were focused around the US, and the rules and regulations applicable there.

Also there's not many people where I am that would participate in survival drills and activities. At least not until SHTF.

I have some basic stockpiles at home, and my home is heavily secured with passive security (think window grates). But still, I'm not very prepared to be mobile or to bug out.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

I met up with a friend to exchange a book, so that now I have my Christopher book back. She is prepped minded and gave me some great ideas:
Go to home depot and get a five gallon bucket
Get a small crockpot
Go to an Indian grocery store - stock up on:
Brown and Yellow Lentils - bottom of bucket
Black and Red Rice
Dried Peas
Seeds: Pumpkin, Sunflower, poppy seeds
Nuts: Walnuts, Almonds, Peanuts, Cashews
Dried Berries - Cranberry, red/yellow raisins, dried apples, dried cherries, dried coconut, dried banana chips
Coffee
Dried Meat (top of bucket)
Several gallons of water, possibly hard cider/alcohol. Id add both whiskey and rubbing alcohol - rubbing alcohol for fevers, and whiskey for breaking fevers as well.
Seal bucket for emergencies. If in a hurricane zone, again, shallow burial is a solution.

In the 80s when I was a teenager, I started collecting magazines: Gunbg-Ho, Guns and Ammo, SWAT, Ninja, American Survivalist, etc.
I started experimenting with what we are told not to do, and drew blueprints for neighborhood booby traps.
After the Y2K craze and good employment during the crisis, I realized after that and 9/11 that the crises were over. But boy was I wrong.
I should have bought gold and silver as a teenager that was advertised in the magazines, and collecting food for prepping, we had rough financial times as a family growing top as well. Amway was a household goods solution for bulk foods and dry supplies.

Post automatically merged: Jan 3, 2023

Yeah - if SHTF seriously, Im done and outta here. I have no money to afford to buy all this crap right now, but I do intend to, I may drop 20 a day in savings, one for prepping and the other for apartment savings. Id love to buy land and build a simple log cabin.

 

[stalkinghyena]

I don’t consider myself a dedicated “prepper” in the typical sense, though I do have preparations in case of emergency. I have stocks of food and water, some other stuff, and a decent weapons collection. But for a long time before I ever dedicated any money and effort to acquire these things, I, like many, was lackadaisical about it. It wasn’t until over a decade ago that I was watching the endless flood of End of the World documentaries that I started to gradually get more serious. I was particularly interested in one about the effects of an EMP attack that seemed to coincide with the missile threat potential of a certain country in the news at the time. Then early the next morning the power went out. My realization of my unpreparedness came not so much from the paranoia that such an attack had just happened, or any of the docs on TV. It came down to one simple ridiculous thing: I could not make coffee.

Semi-wary of the potential end of the world, I got my groggy ass to a convenience store and grabbed a couple of big cups. The outer world was fine and the outage was just another screw up by a local construction crew. But I had to reflect – I had hardly any food in the fridge, no dry stores, water on tap but nothing bottled. I had a good quality 9mm stowed in the closet with about 50 rounds of old ammo. Not much else.

I thought I should do some prepping, but was distracted away from it by the immediacies of normal life.

Then similar occurrences happened again. I thought about stocking up again. And again. And again.

I think it was when I watched that movie The Road that I started to get really fidgety. That was probably the most depressing flick I have ever seen. Plus the idea of waking up without hot coffee was ever more irritating.

So, over time, I gathered stuff. I was no stranger to survivalism, BTW, I was just lazy and locked in the sedentary world of convenience. My military training taught me a lot of things and I still remember them, have even improved upon them. They have even helped in my civilian life and work. However, the half-conscious assumptions of this civilized world are hypnotic, and the endless tasks of maintaining civilized life can be a survival game all its own. Still, there seems to me to be few things as weird as being in a total blackout and still flipping light switches or trying to turn on the TV out of automatic habit.

When the pandemic hit, I had enough stores to not worry about getting caught in the endless lines at the grocery stores or gun shops. Toilet paper was kind of the exception, but there are ways around that if one isn’t squeamish. Fortunately, I never got so low I had to use any special techniques. I did get trapped in a Wal-Mart when trying to buy a cheap watch, but fortunately (and ironically) the gun counter at the back of the store was open and I had a pleasant conversation with a cashier who had the same birthday as me. I even bought a couple of boxes of premium birdshot at a discount.
I guess there’s a little magic in everything, even in clusterfucks.

But anyway, whether you have material survival tools at the ready or not, the ultimate tool you do have is your mind. Any survivalist will tell you that without the proper mindset, you’re pretty much screwed.

Though a Grid Down situation may seem mundane, you can very much tie it in with magic. A lot of our exercises and rituals deal with cultivating mental and spiritual discipline. These are not just some “special case” instructions for people seeking to fulfill a laundry list of middle class life goals, boost one’s self image or attain greater spiritual awareness and personal power, etc. Much of what we call magic was rooted in and developed out of traditional cultures living on the knife edge of survival. Hunting rituals, rain dances, sacrifices for victory in war, fertility rites to ensure the perpetuation of the family or tribe and countless other things were developed out of necessity. Even in religion, when Christ taught people to pray “Give us this day our daily bread”, many of his listeners for centuries onward took that in the most literal, desperate way.

In the Magical Battle of Britain, Dion Fortune describes in her letters the effort by her mediation group to magically induce and maintain the morale of her nation against the German threat. Whether you think Arthurian imagery and mass visualizations of red robed angels patrolling the land is of any value or not, her thoughts on maintaining one’s spirits against a threat are of great importance in psychological and physical survival situations. Considering our worlds current convulsions, it’s worth a read.

One thing that has always given me focus in times of distress was the acronym S.U.R.V.I.V.A.L. Though it appears mundane, it can have real magical value when applied to situations such as psychic self defense and spiritual duress.
In terms of the mundane, the acronym is worth memorizing because it can be useful mental tool of priorities in every situation from Grid Down SHTF, a plane crash on a desert island, broken down vehicle or waking up without coffee.
Anyway, here's the acronym:

S - Size up the situation
U - Undue haste makes waste
R - Remember where you are
V - Vanquish fear and panic
I - Improvise
V - Value life
A - Act like the natives
L - Learn basic skills

Here’s a website that goes deeper. Note that there are variations, and you can even add your own if it seems appropriate:

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[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Excellent replies. Another thing to keep in mind is kerosene, or fuel-oil for machinery that requires it. I think luckily none of us have had to ever really bug-out, but that will frighten most people, and as your acronym spelled out, and the phrase fear is failure, many will fail when the real SHTF.
One thing to consider is where you live - location, location, location. Btw, my magical pentagram idea failed - its sunny out, which is on topic since if you live in rural country, you should keep a serious dedicated garden for food, particularly root vegetables and beans, that willl save you money and protect you in a pinch. Even in off seasons in states like MI, we have rain and sun in winter. This is unheard of. My family left Ireland and Scotland during potato famine years and resettled here, originally taking up farming. I may return to my family roots.
Ive wanted to try an idea I had, to buy a warehouse and grow fruits and vegetables like people do with large amounts of going weed. A lot of care will go into it and could turn into a viable business, as MI requires only one license to grow raw food, churches and schools have kitchens and would probably accept food. Especially in a pinch or until electricity goes out.
Solar/wind/hydroelectric energy. And oil.

 

[Jiggywiggy]

My plan is to not prep, but to learn survival itself. I learned foraging and gardening early on. My heat/cook source is a wood stove. All of my creature comforts are usb chargeable(lanterns, entertainment etc) with a solar panel to charge the batteries. I don't like relying on things that are limited.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

Learning Survival and reading and living by Survival Manuals are not a bad idea. If you are prepared, the less afraid you will be. Even if that prepping is learning survival itself. One of the reasons why even though I dont like firearms (used and respect them), but looked up a 38 and a 12 gauge for self defense and hunting. Also a crossbow. But how many of us remember what we learned in Cub Scouts as kids?

Post automatically merged: Jan 6, 2023

I knew a neighbor who got married, built their own house, got divorced and lost the house.
Just goes to show you when the SHTF, can your partner have your back and vice versa?
SWAT Magazine still advertises and writes about more than weapons.
I would collect a few magazines, see the state of the world, and make hard decisions.
I will post a few links later, and see if I can put together a comprehensive kit, aka a bugout bag.
Faith and the Land was an excellent Firefox Series book. The Appalachian and other mountain folk and farmers knew best. Land is the most prescious commodity.

Post automatically merged: Jan 6, 2023

Learn canning and jarring as well

Post automatically merged: Jan 7, 2023

Going to food pantries this week to hoard. Bad I know, but I need nutrition as well as anyone else. Going to work for a supermarket or nutrition store perhaps. That way I can get deals on stuff to hoard for prepping purposes. Perhaps see if the India grocery store wants some cleaning help or stocking help.
Getting back into exercise and To-Shin Do. If my income improves will take local Karate/MMA classes.
Still aiming for an Associates in Criminal Justice, and a Bachelors in Anthropology. This may offer help and insight in method and technique.
Going to do small batch cooking, vacuum seal, and can and jar vegetables and fruits.
Going to look into buying an acre of land and inexpensive house.

Post automatically merged: Jan 9, 2023

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Post automatically merged: Jan 10, 2023

I would also recommend researching Field Manuals and Handbooks of any title from your local military declassified releases of the manuals.
Read the manual. Also, start a buyout bag. If you are not into guns, get a blade and a taser. Learn to use them.
In urban cities, here is how I would see the breakdown and collapse of a city:
1. Rise of corporations destroying or making it difficult for independent stores.
2. Supply chain, logistics and or stock issues, lack of items on shelves.
3. Banks having difficulties and layoffs of tellers/closing bank branches in mass.
4. Announcement and general panic. In order, here is what is brought to nothing: gas, water, toilet paper, sanitation supplies, food.
5. General rising of violent crime and lack of public safety/police.
6. Military overtakes all cities and enforces law of the land.
7. Stutoff of utilities, gas tanks, ATMs, networks.

Post automatically merged: Jan 10, 2023

That is a worst case scenario, and not unlike content found within the pages of the Art of War. I am a peaceable and peacefully nd for the most part a law-abiding citizen and human being. But, as time goes on and being exposed to suvivalism in the past, and present, it makes me think perhaps I likewise ought to be prepared before the SHTF.