You're Down For The Count...

[batosai117]

Okay partners, this thread idea came to mind since I'm sick (and feel like dying) and down for the count. I absolutely positively almost never use a sick day but Tuesday I had to call in I was that miserable. Of course with my luck I held out with basic over the counter meds but ended up finding out this morning at work (on Christmas for crying out loud) that I had the tail end of a throat infection. I couldn't get my prescription meds until about an hour ago (because of Christmas) so all day at work I have been losing my voice and wishing I could just toss a match down my throat because the pain would be less severe and perhaps cauterize the blisters. So all this moaning and groaning made a lightbulb go off "if the SHTF what if I'M the first to go??? What? ME?! No way."

We all have our hunkering down plans, bug out plans, escape and evade plans, chop down half the wilderness with our folders (yes, the Sebenza is a miracle ) and survive for generations to come, but what if WE don't make it that far? Our families are left to fend without us. No one to strategize, ration, take charge, use that ferro rod to light a perfect fire bundle for 10,000+ fires, sharpen stuff, purify water, etc. How would our families make due without us if we don't survive the initial SHTF? Do our significant others know how to use the tools that we love to play around in the woods with? Would our children know what to do or where to go to at least wait for you or your spouse?

What if the almighty zombie apocalypse daydream came true and we, the survivalist/hunters/fisherman/gatherers get sick and kick the bucket from a crappy sickness leaving our families who depend on us behind?

My wife and I have always agreed on heading straight to where our children are first above all else and then go to her family's ranch from there. I've told her that if communications are down and she gets the kids first don't wait for me I'll be fine. If possible for her to leave some type of note that I can see. Our littles ones are too young to teach skills to but my wife is THE mother bear when it comes to them. I know she could get them to safety and although she isn't fond of guns she knows how to handle a shotgun and rifle.

Do any of you have a plan already in place in case this were to happen? If your children are old enough have you been able to get them interested in outdoor/survival equipment? For me everything would depend on my wife and family to keep things moving without me if TSHTF and I don't make the first wave. I've seen the movies the cops with riot shields are the first to go

 

[Codger_64]

There is a trueism that detailed battle plans go out the window at first engagement with the enemy. Nothing ever goes as planned. Nothing wrong with making a general plan for something like a forced evacuation. Redundent communication means? Several rendevous points? I think that the Katrina scenario makes for an excellent study begining point. And depending on exactly what is happening, you may or may not want to shelter in place. You may or may not want to be openly armed or identifiable as an authority figure. Don't dwell too much on movie scenarios individually, but as illustrations of imaginative possibilities. You can't prepare for everything, particularly with material goods that can be lost, destroyed, taken or abandoned. But you can prepare your mind to anticipate problems you might encounter and multiple solutions. I would think that having good intel on disruption locations and open travel routes would give you some advantage. As well as posessing good hard maps and the knowledge of how to use them. I would not want to have to count on electronic maps like a gps unit.

 

[mewolf1]

1. Your kids aren't too young to teach, just have them around while you do activities, they'll get it. I assume they are 1-3 years old, any older and it's TIME TO START.
2. Both my boys are competent outdoorsman and can survive, but I started them young, they are adults now.
For X-mas, one got a Gransfors Brux Forrest axe (he pissed himself) and the other got an Avalanche shovel for winter camping.
My Daughter not so much, but I didn't have as much influence on her (that's a whole other story), but she does carry the knife I got her years ago daily.

 

[Greykilt]

Have a real actual plan of action. How to get out. Where to meet. Who is going to get what.
From the beginning, Include the family in the preperation process. Make it enjoyable. Even the youngest child should be hands on. Let your children actually SEE why you put that in the bug out bag. Have the Mrs help you choose redezvous sites. Make sure they know where the cache's are because they've been to the locations.
Don't rely on a well penned set of instructions all folded up in a zip lok bag. "Open in Case"... and hope they can get it right without you. Know in your heart they'll get it right because you have seen them do it. There is no secret recipe in family survival. Everyone in the house should know where the flashlights are, where the spare keys are, where the second exit is, the fire extinguisher, little sisters asthma inhaler, how to turn grandmas oxygen Off AND On, etc.
Make a plan and go over it as a family until everybody has it ingrained. When the lights go out, when the snow slides up against the front door, when the car won't start, when the air horn sounds on top of the elementary school...What to do and how to do it should be automatic and fluid.
If you are injured and in the clutch and your chances of living are not so good, that is a helluva time to teach Junior how to light the pocket rocket or your 6 year old daughter how to load the 12 guage.
Bottom line: Now is better than Later.

To answer your question, yes, my wife and I have a plan for the contingencies that commonly occur in and around Roosevelt National forest Colorado, things like wildfire, avalanche, power outages, and most recently the flash flooding of the St Vrain, Big Thompson, and Cache la Poudre rivers that took out State Highway 7, Highway 36, and Highway 119 and destroyed over 8000 linear acres displacing some 1600 folks in Larimer Weld and Boulder counties. We were cut off on 3 sides. We live at 9600 feet above Pinewood Springs 800 feet above the St Vrain hollow bend. The house, and barns were fine but my brother and I lost the shop in Lyons. Anvils and plate can be dried but the building is just gone. Gone.


I have kept a good North Fork wet/dry bag ready to go for several years. Whats the most important piece of gear to pack you ask? My knife? My axe? My mjolnar? My jeremiah johnson vhs tape? The answer might surprise you.
Good legible copies of drivers license, birth certs, marriage license, bank book, property tax number and bussiness license, deeds and bussiness registration are an absolute must! I cant stress this enough. Put them in a whitewater rafters map case. We were evacuated with only 25 minutes. Getting out was nothing more than grabbing that bag my wife the dachshund shut off the propane slam the barn doors and hop in the truck and go.

Coming back some 19 days later was an entirely different story. You see son you need all that paperwork to PROVE who you are and where you live or the authorities don't let you back up the mountain. I couldn't get into Lyons for 16 days. Took the Farmers agent 9 more days to simply look at the shop or I should say the pad it sat on. And FEMA well thats another post on another thread. $6K don't buy much.
The water and sewer was returned 3 days before Thanksgiving to my neighbor Andy. He ran 6 high grade hoses over all screwed together so we had water. They opened HW7 up 3 weeks ago. And I'm happy to report that here things are almost back to normal.
It puts things in perspective driving down the canyon seeing houses on thier side half of them gone. Seeing old cabin resorts been there 30 years just washed away. Or standing on empty land where the storefront and shop your father and your grandfather forged and repaired plow blades and logging chains used to be.
Make a plan. Pack that bag. Copy those docs. Train your wife and your sons. You just never know when that horns going to sound. There are a lot of real things to ruin your day besides zombies.

 

[gadgetgeek]

When it comes to self-reliance, It's easy to take all the responsibility onto yourself. I'm quite sure my wife can handle things herself, and I can rely on her to think. The advantage we have here is its her home turf as it were, so she's grown up with storms and floods, and can make better decisions here than she might have when we lived in the frozen north.

I'll second the thought about having backup paperwork. a couple of years ago my uncle and aunt had a malfunction in their travel trailer fridge, and it caught fire. They were in the middle of a provincial park, in their sleepwear, no ID, no cash. I think he managed to get the truck far enough away to protect it. But it took months to get all the paperwork replaced. I keep digital copies on a USB stick with me at all times.

We don't have kids, and have the advantage of a very bug-in friendly home, but when I was at home we had plans in case of emergency. Since our house relied on power to circulate heating water, we would have had much more work keeping the house running.
Part of the plan was also to travel the mile to my grandparents house to ensure that they were able to keep the fire lit in their house. With both of my parents working away from home, the plan assumed that neither of them would be able to get home (my mom being a nurse, the assumption was that in a disaster she would "shelter in place" at the health care center since that was where she would most be needed) And any disaster bad enough to cause major power problems would also cut my dad off from returning. So it would have been my job to ensure everything kept going. Never had to do it for long, but 12 year old me did take it seriously, and I feel now that I would have been fully capable of doing what needed to be done.

With kids, it just a matter of getting them to do things, giving them responsibility and ensuing they understand the importance of the situation. Having a reference guide to the farm or house isn't a bad plan, my Dad figures the main flaw with every self-sufficient farm he has ever seen is that only the guy that built it knows how it all works.

Is there a trick for getting the furnace lit some days? does the stock well pump go off prime some times? whats the procedure for starting the old farm truck when its been flooded? all that stuff that you can show someone, and they may very well remember. But also having a reminder is great too. My dad took to drawing wiring diagrams on the wall next to every component of the heating system, and it helped one night when one of the relays failed, and I had to swap some wiring around.

It may not be a major disaster, but even a small one can be avoided by someone who has the right mindset. We talk all the time about personal awareness, and responsibility, and the natural outcome of that, is that when you impart that to the people around you, then your house is the one who calls 911 when the house across the street starts smoking, or knows when you haven't seen your elderly neighbor in a few days. Part of any survival plan should also involve your team, and your family, as young as they might be, are the best team you'll ever have.