The City Prepping channel strikes me as a good one. Its not one of those ‘hair on fire’, run screaming out the door and shooting at everything that moves channels. Being all tactical and that. ‘Range Rider’ had a great comment: “You can’t do everything, but do what you can with what you have.” My thought was a good one, know Jesus as chances are good you’ll die, so don’t miss out on the ultimate prep. ‘Kris’ (the host) had a good point. God forbid we do face a severe crisis, much of it could be a physical challenge. Essentially he was saying that there are no fat survivalists. You better be in shape. This is going to be Darwin’s finest hour (that takes me out).

There are a handful of key items that without which, everything else falls apart. Linch pins if you will. Generator. Without electricity, your gas stove, gas water heater, gas furnace, none of it works. And refrigerator obviously. Garden. Gardens are great, but it won’t be up and running for 4 months. Security. Having a ton of ammo and being good with a gun is great, but what about when you have to leave home? Are you going to time it so someone is always home? Have neighbors on each side watch for burglars? Food & water. Obvious. Transportation. You can’t safely keep enough gas on hand to run your car for very long. But what about a moped? A bike with a good carrier?

Thinking back to the ‘Derecho‘ (severe wind storm) we experienced here 15 months ago, I was reminded how completely unprepared the city (and me) is for even a little disaster. Power was out. No gas stations. No grocery stores. No radio. No TV. No emergency broadcasts (how can a radio station not have a generator?). They had absolutely no plan to ensure any critical facilities were prepared to operate without city electricity. Nobody had a damn generator! The sum total of city preparedness was to take a generator to a park and let people charge their cell phones! I am not shitting you! A lot of people were without power for 5 days.

Remembering the Derecho last August helped solidify my thinking on a couple of fronts. 5 days is a good time frame to be prepared for absolutely no outside help. And when you’re trying to decide what size generator to buy, while a ‘whole house’ generator that would power central air, electric stoves and hairdryers would be nice ($2,000), a $750 dollar one will get you by. You can make do just powering your fans and a frig in the summertime. And if its winter and you have a gas furnace, its nothing to power a blower. Now if you have electric heat, that’s another thing.

It seemed like about everyone was without power for nearly a day. A lot for 3 days. And a few were out for 6. But a lot of the confusion was caused by not knowing who was open for critical needs (gas stations and grocery stores). There was no central information hub, and for a lot of people no electricity or internet to get there even if there was. Or radio station.

“If the L.A. riots taught me anything, it’s that the safest place to be is in a book store. I drove along Sunset Blvd. after the riots and all the stores around the local Crown Books had been looted, yet that store was intact. But apparently all night long, not one person wanted a book or knew anyone else who wanted one either.”

“We saw how people will react over toilet paper. Can you imagine when people get hungry?”

“Some will doubt what you say about who people will become. After 3 days of snow and no power or water, a normally rather pleasant neighbor came to our door crying, screaming, and cursing like an angry Marine. She demanded immediate assistance since our lights and heat ran on generator. A minor event made her crazy. I’m a believer.”

“In 1906, Alfred Henry Lewis stated, “There are only nine meals between mankind and anarchy.”

[Its easy to get caught up in the adrenaline rush of doomsday role playing. This morning City Prepper was talking about “why it might be a harsh winter!” Ya think? Yeah it generally gets cold in the winter. Now you’re into weather forecasting? Another of his was: “5 things to get before SHTF!” I got through 3; food, metals, crypto, before an ad came on and I said to hell with it. They all love to act like they know how a never before seen event is going to play out. Gimme a break.]