[danf_fl]

Looking at the thread of "Been on the site for a while", got me to wondering.

How many of us have had an oppurtunity to test our plans on a "dry run"? Take a week vacation, cut the water, cut the electricity, use generators, use only cash, cook on the grill, use only the fuel we currently have on hand, etc... to see if there are any changes we would make.

Or hope for the best?

[IDVague]

Better yet, go camping.

[jbd]

We go camping at least 15 times a year. You will find out real quick how prepared you are without power,ac, and all the comfy stuff of home. We have had a camper for the last couple of years so its a little more like home but we still do the tents and sleeping bags in the winter just for simplicity and to teach the kids the real way people camp and get by. Memories I would not trade for anything.

[danf_fl]

Camping is great, but it is a "planned" exercise (if you will).
Scenario, no electricity for refrigerators/freezers, no water, no outside source for fuel/food. No electricity to get gas from the pumps, no atm's or any way to cash a check, and all happens at once (as a natural disaster).
Would your supplies last a week?

[orangello]

Originally Posted by danf_fl

no atm's or any way to cash a check, and all happens at once (as a natural disaster).

I noticed when i moved back down here, many months after Katrina, that the local banks had shinynew natural gas generators online now. I wonder, is that for the ATM's & such or just the security system? Most seem to be fairly large units, bout like a sub-compact car.


BTW, "dry runs" sounds like a truly pitiful and unpleasant condition; maybe some Pepto would help.

[IDVague]

Originally Posted by danf_fl

Camping is great, but it is a "planned" exercise (if you will).
Scenario, no electricity for refrigerators/freezers, no water, no outside source for fuel/food. No electricity to get gas from the pumps, no atm's or any way to cash a check, and all happens at once (as a natural disaster).
Would your supplies last a week?

Actually any "dry run" will also be a "planned exercise" if you take a week off from work to test your capabilities. If you have a "bug out plan" in place, you might want to run through that at some point to test its viability. If you are married, and have children, I would not encourage you to try this without giving the wife a heads up, but you might spring it on the kids in order to emphasize the nature of the idea. Good luck if you try it and please report back as to how it went.

[danf_fl]

Originally Posted by orangello

I noticed when i moved back down here, many months after Katrina, that the local banks had shinynew natural gas generators online now. I wonder, is that for the ATM's & such or just the security system? Most seem to be fairly large units, bout like a sub-compact car.

I've seen them too, but if the stores have no communication to the banks, your debit card is useless except for possibly the bank itself.

When I hear of "I've got 15 gallons of fuel and a bathtub of water...", would that be enough? What amount of time is one talking about "when SHTF"?

[falseharmonix]

Originally Posted by danf_fl

I've seen them too, but if the stores have no communication to the banks, your debit card is useless except for possibly the bank itself.

When I hear of "I've got 15 gallons of fuel and a bathtub of water...", would that be enough? What amount of time is one talking about "when SHTF"?

Depends on what kind of S is HTF. Another Katrina type weather incident? I'd plan for 6 months minimum, and pray for less. Red Dawn invasion? Well, we've all seen the movie......

[jbd]

I think that camping keeps you on the right path because we keep the supplies we will need to get by for a good amount of time. I try to keep water,can goods,mre,firewood,meds,ect. I have five in my home. I try and keep supplies for about three months. My thought being if we need longer than three months it will be truly a shtf situation and we will have to leave and try and get more supplies. Keeping three months for five is expensive and the space it takes up makes three months about the max I can do.