Armageddon/ Apocalypse......what's ya thoughts ?

[SouthernCross]

G'day Pit

...With all that's happening in England right now it got me thinking about this quote~

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ~
Albert Einstein

Since you have quoted Albert, I'll include my all time favourite quote from him.

"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstien.


Kind regards
Mick

 

[skyhorse]

Water is everything,I can still remember using my helmet and a shelter half to catch water 40 years ago.Today Armageddon for some folks is when the power goes out for a few hours or the Internet goes down.Back in the 80s a very old man I knew told me about a flu epidemic that killed about half the people in his small Texas town in the early 1900's.He lost most of his family and they stacked the bodies like cord wood in the school house.He was just a kid,that must have seemed like Armageddon.

 

[TwinStick]

My thoughts on this are pretty simple. If you are a survivalist, you will be prepared to some degree, that degree is totally up to you. The sheepel will not be prepared & expect others to take care of them, which may or (more likely) may not happen.

It is like anything else. Have your eyes wide open going in. Do not buy crap that you can not use in ordinary everyday life. Before Y2K, i had a plan to just stockpile a little more of the stuff we use everyday, but not go to the point that stuff would spoil. It worked out marvelously. It was all used up within 6 months afterwards. I have known people to buy $3000 worth of pre-packaged survival kits for each member of thier house. I would not choose that route even IF i had the money to do that. But to each thier own. Years ago, our parents & grandparents canned everything & some still do. They had shelves & cubbords full of canned goods. Yet today if you do that, many will label you as a wack-o. Funny how times change.

 

[upnorth]

My thoughts on this are pretty simple. If you are a survivalist, you will be prepared to some degree, that degree is totally up to you. The sheepel will not be prepared & expect others to take care of them, which may or (more likely) may not happen.

It is like anything else. Have your eyes wide open going in. Do not buy crap that you can not use in ordinary everyday life. Before Y2K, i had a plan to just stockpile a little more of the stuff we use everyday, but not go to the point that stuff would spoil. It worked out marvelously. It was all used up within 6 months afterwards. I have known people to buy $3000 worth of pre-packaged survival kits for each member of thier house. I would not choose that route even IF i had the money to do that. But to each thier own. Years ago, our parents & grandparents canned everything & some still do. They had shelves & cubbords full of canned goods. Yet today if you do that, many will label you as a wack-o. Funny how times change.

I tend to avoid these discussions precisely because of social labeling. I am a light to moderate survivalist. My trunk and glove box have a light array of basic survival equipment. I also have one back pack with a wider range of outdoor\survival goods in it. I've always viewed extreme anything as fringe behavior. With that said, look around at our world. I don't have to explain that to anyone. I make judgments based on rational empirical evidence as opposed to the irrational religious extremist
behavior (only one example) that now threatens our existence. Sure I tend to ignore or only peripherally watch the horrors around the world, because I choose to live life here and now and seek out the joy of our existence. At the same time I have made moderate catastrophe preparations. Hell, the gov. of Canada even has a web site telling people to have at least a three day survival kit near by at all times. I take all this with a grain of salt and survival prep is just another distant facet of my life. But it makes uncommon sense and I do take it seriously. I run with the old saying "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst".

 

[koyote]

Water is everything,I can still remember using my helmet and a shelter half to catch water 40 years ago.Today Armageddon for some folks is when the power goes out for a few hours or the Internet goes down.Back in the 80s a very old man I knew told me about a flu epidemic that killed about half the people in his small Texas town in the early 1900's.He lost most of his family and they stacked the bodies like cord wood in the school house.He was just a kid,that must have seemed like Armageddon.

+1
+10
One of the key elements out here is water. Hell, water is the life of the entire Great Basin. Which is one reason why a global meltdown means US getting together and making it function. We don't get rainwater in helmets. We manage rivers and snowmelt.

I tend to avoid these discussions precisely because of social labeling. I am a light to moderate survivalist. My trunk and glove box have a light array of basic survival equipment. I also have one back pack with a wider range of outdoor\survival goods in it. I've always viewed extreme anything as fringe behavior. With that said, look around at our world. I don't have to explain that to anyone. I make judgments based on rational empirical evidence as opposed to the irrational religious extremist
behavior (only one example) that now threatens our existence. Sure I tend to ignore or only peripherally watch the horrors around the world, because I choose to live life here and now and seek out the joy of our existence. At the same time I have made moderate catastrophe preparations. Hell, the gov. of Canada even has a web site telling people to have at least a three day survival kit near by at all times. I take all this with a grain of salt and survival prep is just another distant facet of my life. But it makes uncommon sense and I do take it seriously. I run with the old saying "Hope for the best but prepare for the worst".

Everyone out here is a moderate survivalist.
That might be part of what makes us who we are. Part of why I do trust in a community based survival mechanism for this region.

Of course, "urban" to us means...fernley.

 

[stabman]

Before Y2K

Y2K is EXACTLY what I think of those who incessantly plan for world ending events.

 

[rwc53]

Living on a small ranch, we are constantly considering what we would need to keep going should we lose power and water, etc. It's just a part of normal planning for us, not getting ready for some obscure "doomsday" scenario. We can food, raise chickens and ducks and have a very large garden. And we are constantly looking for alternative ways to take care of what we have should there be an infrastructure failure, for whatever reason.

I am amused by the "lone wolf" view of taking to the hills and woods and somehow "surviving" "doomsday." That only works in the movies. You need a support group, and your own, homemade "infrastructure" to make it when things go wrong.

Just my $0.02 worth!
Ron

 

[mtwarden]

I am amused by the "lone wolf" view of taking to the hills and woods and somehow "surviving" "doomsday." That only works in the movies. You need a support group, and your own, homemade "infrastructure" to make it when things go wrong.

Just my $0.02 worth!
Ron

agreed, I think there are too many folks enamored with some fantasy of surviving in the hills- blasting away at the hordes w/ their 1000+ rounds of ammo and slicing away w/ their zombie stickers

 

[Cpl Punishment]

Here's my take:

End of the world scenarios generate good ratings, so the TV channels will flood us with them until public interest wanes.

Most of these ideas like global warming are junk science made up by crackpots, taking little pieces of a big picture from here and there and trying to capitalize on them.

I have to laugh at these scenarios. "What happens when da grid goes down and we gots no moe intewebz??" Know what happens? We look like the rest of the world. Yeah, I'm sure you heard it: if you own more than one set of clothes, drive a car, have your own home, etc., you're in the top 5% richest people in the world. The numbers change, but the concept stays the same.

In the early to mid 1900s, the majority of Americans were either involved in commercial farming to one degree or another, or at least grew some of their own food. We'd go back to that. Somalia and other african crapholes do not reflect what would happen here. People too stupid and lazy to do anything but slaughter each other when they aren't busy getting messed up on khaat, is not the demographic we have. The fall of a first world nation looks like it did when Eastern Europe fell. There will be a short time of very bloody conflict, and people will adapt to a new, lower lifestyle and move on.

Bottom line: the "end of the world" for us, looks like a normal day to most of the world.

Now, if you want to talk about a real end of the world scenario like a supervolcano explosion, massive asteroid strike, pandemic, global thermonuclear war, etc. Why worry about it? There isn't a damn thing you can do about it. Roll the dice, and if you make it, then you can stand around with the other survivors and be surprised that you lived.

Me? I'm going to get my ducks in a row for the surgery I have tomorrow, which requires a first world nation's operational power grid and high-tech society to accomplish, and getting a stack of books and DVDs together for lounging around the house for the next couple of weeks while I recover in the A/C.

Enjoy your life and don't worry about the things you can't control.

 

[cappaletti]

Living on a small ranch, we are constantly considering what we would need to keep going should we lose power and water, etc. It's just a part of normal planning for us, not getting ready for some obscure "doomsday" scenario. We can food, raise chickens and ducks and have a very large garden. And we are constantly looking for alternative ways to take care of what we have should there be an infrastructure failure, for whatever reason.

I am amused by the "lone wolf" view of taking to the hills and woods and somehow "surviving" "doomsday." That only works in the movies. You need a support group, and your own, homemade "infrastructure" to make it when things go wrong.

Just my $0.02 worth!
Ron

+1..u will definitely need a close knit group of family/friends that are like-minded!

 

[ROCK6]

Not seeing it. Not here. Oh, there may be some crazy fuedalism thing going on if things get really bad. Or a timocracy. But out here there's too much make do, too much independence, and too much infrastructure in ranching for a global social meltdown for the great basin to read like California in the Change series or anything like that.

There'd be plenty of ugly, yes. but "every man for himself?" ... nah.

Yeah it would be plenty of ugly, but those that are prepared and work together in small communities will come through in good shape.

I’m more of a “realistic” Christian. It is sad, but those that are not prepared will most likely perish even in a small, localized catastrophe. Whether you believe in a god or not, man can create localized imbalances in the environment and will not be immune to the effects…think flood plains, building near quake/volcanic areas, polluting water sources, creating areas more prone to wild fires or erosion, etc. Apocalypse doesn’t always have to be a world crisis despite the definition.

Living on a small ranch, we are constantly considering what we would need to keep going should we lose power and water, etc. It's just a part of normal planning for us, not getting ready for some obscure "doomsday" scenario. We can food, raise chickens and ducks and have a very large garden. And we are constantly looking for alternative ways to take care of what we have should there be an infrastructure failure, for whatever reason.

I am amused by the "lone wolf" view of taking to the hills and woods and somehow "surviving" "doomsday." That only works in the movies. You need a support group, and your own, homemade "infrastructure" to make it when things go wrong.

Just my $0.02 worth!
Ron

Food and water have always been critical factors…most people won’t live long without them. Electricity/power is now an “essential” in modern society and the loss of electricity would most likely impact water and food supplies not to mention the impacts of environmental conditions and medical dependencies. Most people can only get their water with electrical power and the only way they can preserve or prepare food is with electricity…we’ve add another significant, albeit artificial, lynch pin in our society. I’m in the communications business which is also tied to power/electricity and the loss of communications would have disastrous effects on critical systems and life support all over. With the loss of power, communication, food and water distribution, we have manufactured another subsequent crisis of what you’re now hearing on the news as “flash mobs” (yeah stupid name). If the United States went without power, communications and a breakdown of food, water and medical distribution for more than three to four weeks, there would be some serious lawlessness, massive amounts of property damage, unthinkable losses of life and a very difficult road back to civilized society. As Koyote mentioned, we have some decent communities that would withstand that type of catastrophe and would be active participants of recovery. Despite the impacts of social liberalism (not always a bad thing), we do have a fair number Americans who subscribe to the theory of “rugged individualism” that gives them the drive to survive. However, individuals would not survive long-term and Ron is spot on that the only way to really survive and recover a major catastrophe will be small communities working together…

Still this in an interesting and fruitful topic of discussion…I’m just dreading a Mad Max scenario and seeing Pit in a leather bikini, large knife and Maisy running around in the aftermath

ROCK6

 

[Zombie Zeke]

+1
+10
One of the key elements out here is water. Hell, water is the life of the entire Great Basin. Which is one reason why a global meltdown means US getting together and making it function. We don't get rainwater in helmets. We manage rivers and snowmelt.



Everyone out here is a moderate survivalist.
That might be part of what makes us who we are. Part of why I do trust in a community based survival mechanism for this region.

Of course, "urban" to us means...fernley.

I spent some time in Fernley, with all the bay area transplants living there it would be Dawn of the Dead meets Soylent Green as soon as the SHTF.

I agree that water is everything, where I am no amount of "prepping" is going to be enough, too many mouths, too little resources, it will be terrible, end of story. My extended family have plotted out a fallback to a rally point in the mountains we are both familiar with, is unpopular and teaming with natural springs, it's a 7 day hike or a three hour car ride. I don't like thinking of the end of times, but as my mind wanders it's always better to have a well sorted plan for a bad circumstance than to hope.

 

[pitdog]

Still this in an interesting and fruitful topic of discussion…I’m just dreading a Mad Max scenario and seeing Pit in a leather bikini, large knife and Maisy running around in the aftermath

ROCK6

I guess on the plus side ,computers will be down, so your eyes will never have to witness that image !:thumbup:

 

[LMT66]

A little off topic.
Seeing as all here have the same interest as far as wilderness survival, and there are some scenario's that could happen where people do need to get out of town for a while, maybe some sort of meeting points for W&SS folks could be setup in each state.

 

[batosai117]

As part of the discussion, we mention things like groups and communities work better and that is the time tested truth, but what about the new movie coming out CONTAGION, if you haven't seen the previews yet, check it out. Interesting scenario where people isolate themselves from everyone else, even families are torn apart due to contact being the way of transmitting some deadly virus. In that case you have no choice but to go solo or keep to your immediate family and hunker down or go head to the hills. Just an idea of topic that seems related to this discussion.

 

[Corso]

I know that we have many church goers on the forum, do think what is happening is what was predicted in Revelations ?

With all that's happening in England right now it got me thinking about this quote~

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ~
Albert Einstein

It was allowed to get way out of hand from the word go, why was the original protest undermanned by the police, knowing alot of the attendees would be gang members, why didn't they stamp on it straight away, why was there no interaction with the local community

The media have as much to blame as anyone replaying the same single burning building for 6 hours just inflamed the situation and made London look lawless and fair game.

Thy've rounded up over 1000 in London alone and most are getting jail time, they will think twice next time - obvously they weren't that bright
didn't they know its the most heavily CCTV'd city in the world - aside from the brainless ones trying on looted stuff out side the shops even those who were hooded up got caught - They just rewinded the tapes and tracked them back to their houses...

I tell you one thing though noone wants police fund cuts now.....

As far as EOTWAWKI

It shows if there is no authority evident you need to hide your stuff cause someone little rat will want your sneekers

 

[Erasmus]

Remember how we were all going to be eating Soylent Green when the population reached 5 billion?
Remember how we were all gonna be dead by nuclear war long before now?

Nothing big is going to happen.
We won't even starve...although we MAY end up eating recycled sludge patties.

SSssshhh You. W/ a 20% unemployment rate around here, we've been eating Soylet Green for weeks. You people need to add Hot Sauce to your survival stash! Makes Soylent Green much tastier.

I thought "Apocalypse" was the biblical concept that in times of liberal government that hoarders would besiege WalMart's gun counter, making .45 ammo unavailable for years on end. Possibly my ancient greek is not up to snuff?

 

[Erasmus]

agreed, I think there are too many folks enamored with some fantasy of surviving in the hills- blasting away at the hordes w/ their 1000+ rounds of ammo and slicing away w/ their zombie stickers

I didn't get the memo.
Everybody else has zombie stickers?!
I am always the last to know.

This thread "Need Pics"

 

[mtwarden]

I thought "Apocalypse" was the biblical concept that in times of liberal government that hoarders would besiege WalMart's gun counter, making .45 ammo unavailable for years on end. Possibly my ancient greek is not up to snuff?

if this is the case then it's much too late, the Apocalypse is already at hand

 

[crossada]

I didn't get the memo.
Everybody else has zombie stickers?!
I am always the last to know.

This thread "Need Pics"

You're right, what good is a zombie thread without pics