First, as stated earlier, we aren't survivalists and this is not a survivalist forum. We're about preparedness. I look to earthquakes and wildfires when I think of likely situations. Others here look at hurricanes, tornadoes and serious floods. How about a routine drive out west and a winter storm brings you to a stop in a mountain pass. Survival may mean nothing more than extra clothing, blankets and a way to cook a small meal in your vehicle. For me it's about continuing to maintain the kits that will get me through that cold night. It's doubtful though that I'd ever let myself get that far into the mountains without knowing that the weather was closing in. Avoiding those situations is very doable.

I don't want to test my mettle in an EOTWAWKI scenario. There are enough natural situations in the real world that kill folks everyday.

I don't like being inconvenienced. I figure that if I am prepared, i would be a lot less inconvenienced if there is a quake, volcano eruption, flood, toxic spill or wildfire.

Our state weather service is warning of 70-90 mph winds tomorrow, and nearly a foot of snow on top of the eight inches we're got now, and a windchill down to zero, with power outages in many areas nearly a given.

But I've got a bunch of wool blankets, a load of firewood, food, water and pet food. And I hope that that is enough.

Sue

Not me.

That doesn't sound like me either, but I'm not sure I understand the question. Is it about weapons? I know many people here are pro-gun, pro-knife and pro-self-defence; are you asking whether they have moved towards a fight instead of away from it because they thought they had superior fire-power?

and it's going to start warming up. All that snow and then it warms and starts to rain. . .

My answer is an exact copy of comm's



Having said that ( well, comms said it ) , I sometimes wish a tiny disaster disturbs our (family) life. Not a life threatening thing, but a big inconvience shakes my wife to start prepping, or at least stops laughing at me when I prep. A loss of power for two days and a wife shaken at the possible loss of her frozen stuff is not too bad.

A few such events have happened already and my wife started the first step of a 1000 mile.

I do not wish anyone to get hurt in the meantime - not at all.

Be careful what you wish for. . . IMF warns of economic riots, police ready for civil unrest

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That doesn't sound like me either, but I'm not sure I understand the question. Is it about weapons? I know many people here are pro-gun, pro-knife and pro-self-defence; are you asking whether they have moved towards a fight instead of away from it because they thought they had superior fire-power?[/quote]

That's pretty much what I was thinking of when I asked. There are a lot of folks who talk a lot about weapons, just wondering if any of them have ever as you say, moved towards a fight, rather than moving away.

I'd be shocked if anyone actually fessed up to doing so, not that they did it, but if they admitted it.

Thanks to everyone who's posted so far. The info isn't going anywhere, just for my own edification.

JohnE

Actually I have moved towards a fight once. I was at the age of about 15. A newcomer in the school class turned out to be a bully and he chose to bully me. It was fight or be bullied for at least a year or two. So I chose to pick the time and place. It was an unarmed fight but with 9 years of martial arts training it was not a fair one.
Apart from that I avoided fights. Good self defense instructors always tell you that you don´t loose a fight if you manage to avoid it in the first place.

Much like others collect stamps or coins or whatever, I look at preparedness as a hobby. Unlike a coin or stamp collector who would never consider actually using the items they collect, I actually get to use of most of my items through various training exercises, as well as during camping trips on weekends.

While it's unlikely we'll ever experience TEOTWAWKI or a zombie-infested PAW, I have had opportunities to use several of my items during a few SoCal earthquakes, a couple of extended power outages, and once when a week-long expedition into the mountains got quite ugly.

Although I also don't expect to ever witness a major civil disturbance scenario, I do have a collection of various firearms and a significant cache of spare mags and ammo. I enjoy most shooting sports and having lived through the last assualt weapons ban in 1994, I simply didn't want to find myself wishing that I had bought an AR-15 and a bunch of PMAGS two months into the next ban. One only has to look at how crazy everything has been over the past six weeks since the election to imagine how difficult it would be if you actually needed to acquire anything during a legitimate crisis.

Jim