In my opinion this sums it up. Preparing in a 'normal' world for TEOTWAWKI is pointless. The 'rules' will change in unknowable ways. If you are a resource rich target, you will be overwhelmed by masses of people wanting what you have. People have been trying to prevent this for centuries, and have ultimately all been unsuccessful.

I think that this hits the nail on the head. The three days/72 hours is a rock bottom "best" case minimum. What is a realistic period? I don't know, and any guess I make would depend on so many local and personal family variables that it would probably be meaningless to anyone else.

That being said, IMO, a three week preparation of food, water and meds does not seem impossible, nor totally unreasonable or extravagantly expensive. Going to 3 months would be harder, especially in things like water, but not totally impossible given the right conditions. 3 or longer years on your own? Doubtful without a lot of help, or reverting to basically a pre-Columbus native American level of sustainable technology.

Hi,

I don't consider myself a Doomsday type, but I have concerns about certain issues combining in a domino effect with panic tipping the pot.

I am working towards a homestead that I will continuously strive toward making as sufficient as possible. Yes, I'll build in "retreat" aspects, including long-term storage; but, I want the entire effort to be a living, working farm & home.

For protection, I intend to be remote with a network of good neighbors in the whole community. I'm not being rosy-eyed, just optimistic. My own stead will be as protected as my experience & education can make it, but I don't want a fortress.

If nothing catastrophic occurs, then my children will inherit a sturdy home and good farm. They can turn it into an artists colony or fort or sell it. Or, it can be the family home through generations.

Sorry, think I went OT.

Finn

IMO, if you can survive for a month without outside help your chances of surviving any disaster are greatly improved. I am prepared for about 90 days and even though I know an event could last much longer I can't let fear rule my life. Don't spend your whole life preparing for something that may or may not happen or you will miss out on life itself!

Its funny how my grandparents had the homestead/farm that was pretty self sufficient. Then my parents generation tore down all the buildings and orchargs and gardens and put in electric lines and telephone wires and satalite dishes and now my generation wants to plant an orchard and rebuild the farm.

I think we are all Doomsday people .. you know why ? Cause we insist on carrying that fifth tire in our cars, (JUST IN CASE) we ever get a flat. We maybe carrying it around the whole year and nothing happens !!

We all need to be mentally checked for doing that .
LOL

I often read "Countryside" and "Backwoodsman" magazines and there is a growing trend of getting back to the values & skills of our parents, grandparents & further back. Too often, our parents, in seeking a better life, shunned (and sometimes destroyed) those things which helped make them. Now, we struggle to re-learn those skills. I still regret that I didn't bother to learn canning from my mom.

Preparedness for emergencies (blizzards, drought, etc.) isn't crazy. However, expecting a full-blown nuclear holocaust with mutants, zombies and road gypsies...

Skills are good, but they will perish unless they remain practical for the changing times. A very good book for the anthropological readers is The Invention of Fire by R. Wrangham. As you probably can guess, the book is about how fire changed human physiology, society, and behavior. A part of the chapter mentions some primitive, but ingenious cooking methods that certain Stone Age tribes still use today (or in recent history until they discovered the iPhone like the rest of us). Many such clever techniques are now lost, because we no longer need them, and haven't needed them for thousands of years.

It would be nice to have a compendium of pre-industrial and primitive techniques and technology, if only for our intellectual curiosity and for posterity. (It would be dreadful if we have to reinvent the wheel!)

As for getting back the values of our parents, I dunno. Guess our parents are very different. I didn't like all that sexist and racist crap.

Bingley,

Hi! I simply meant values of preparedness and some practicality. My mom had some racism, but that didn't detract from her skills & knowledge.

Thanks!

We can thank our lucky stars that we have those splendid folks known as archaeologists. That is a large part of what they do - learning about flint knapping, stone boiling, and other esoterica.