Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire If it. "Hits the fan".

Things will get grim fast. No electric power, no food shipped, no mail, no internet, no fuels shipped. No nothing.
We can get by for a while with our stockpiles, but.

IF a true SHTF with power out for over 6 months say with an EMP from a major solar flare from the sun or a nuke exploding 250 miles above Kansas, the US government did a study. 100 million Americans would die within that first 6 months with complete power outage. People dependent on power for dialysis, simple heart surgeries like installing splints. The average amount of food stored by people in big cities is only 3 days, average suburb is 2 weeks, average person in the country 6 months. No power means back to 1900 where 90% of the people lived in rural areas without power. The Amish will do fine. People in the country with gardens and maybe chickens, rabbits, maybe a cow or a draft animal can do ok. A major EMP will take 6 months to a year to get back on. Food canning and processing would be the first on followed by refirgeration. Game animals will probably cease to exist for people in the country or small towns will kill them for food. Fish will be in short supply also. A two year supply of canned and dry foods constantly rotating out the oldest is the only real way to get through something like that. Having a solar cooker for Fresnel lens for cooking would help if firewood is in short supply. Having a large propane tank full would also help. Having a supply of rainwater, or a shallow well would be nice for a potable water source. Having a water filtration system with spare filters would also be nice. Check out some prepping websites.

FYI, our power grid is in pitiful shape nationwide. It needs a few million dollars to EMP proof it, and have enough spare transformers and switches, especially large ones for such an occasion. We also need increased capabilities to supply the power, and not necessarily wind or solar, but nuclear if you don't want coal and gas. More people, more electric cars, more appliances, more electronics, all add up to an extreme strain on the power grid. No one in congress seems to care, too political. However Newt Gingrich warned us about the power grid 15-20 years ago, as well as journalist Ted Kopel who wrote a book about it.

Peritoneal dialysis can be gravity fed. I did mine while at work with a 6ft pole and a diverter valve set.

Many people in developing nations and 3rd world go the Peri route because of lack of electricity.

I can’t get my mind around the 100 million figure but, yes.

I worked with 11 engineers. One guy never had more than a box of pop tarts in cabinets or a 1/2 jar of mustard in his fridge, was afraid of spiders and bugs.

What exactly is your "shtf" scenario? Why is there no electricity or fuel?

People like to speculate about these sorts of scenarios alot and while they certainly aren't impossible, I don't think they are all that likely either. As with most things, the shtf scenario you expect is probably not the one you'll get.

You're showing your age Rene. I think they call them blunts now.

Back around 1980, The American Survival Guide magazine began publishing each month articles about the very thing being discussed here, "TEOTWAKI." (The End Of The World As We Know It.) All kinds of scenarios, "What if what if what if what if??", advice what to do, what not to do, how to prepare, testing and review of related products, etc., etc.

Living in Los Angeles, the home of calamity and chaos, I subscribed and enjoyed many of the articles. Many were interesting, based on common sense and others were "waaay out there." I knew several of the regular contributors.

I have all but about three copies of The American Survival Guide until they stopped publishing around 2000. Lot of interesting stuff there and plenty of hypotheticals, too.

"TEOTWAKI." has been being forecasted in one form or another for several thousand years.

L.W.

There's a Mtch Rapp novel (Author Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills) that's a good read and is centered on this. Whatever you've got stockpiled isn't enough.

IF a true SHTF with power out for over 6 months say with an EMP from a major solar flare from the sun or a nuke exploding 250 miles above Kansas, the US government did a study. 100 million Americans would die within that first 6 months with complete power outage. People dependent on power for dialysis, simple heart surgeries like installing splints. The average amount of food stored by people in big cities is only 3 days, average suburb is 2 weeks, average person in the country 6 months. No power means back to 1900 where 90% of the people lived in rural areas without power. The Amish will do fine. People in the country with gardens and maybe chickens, rabbits, maybe a cow or a draft animal can do ok. A major EMP will take 6 months to a year to get back on. Food canning and processing would be the first on followed by refirgeration. Game animals will probably cease to exist for people in the country or small towns will kill them for food. Fish will be in short supply also. A two year supply of canned and dry foods constantly rotating out the oldest is the only real way to get through something like that. Having a solar cooker for Fresnel lens for cooking would help if firewood is in short supply. Having a large propane tank full would also help. Having a supply of rainwater, or a shallow well would be nice for a potable water source. Having a water filtration system with spare filters would also be nice. Check out some prepping websites.

FYI, our power grid is in pitiful shape nationwide. It needs a few million dollars to EMP proof it, and have enough spare transformers and switches, especially large ones for such an occasion. We also need increased capabilities to supply the power, and not necessarily wind or solar, but nuclear if you don't want coal and gas. More people, more electric cars, more appliances, more electronics, all add up to an extreme strain on the power grid. No one in congress seems to care, too political. However Newt Gingrich warned us about the power grid 15-20 years ago, as well as journalist Ted Kopel who wrote a book about it.

Correct! You better be prepared to produce more, and defend what you have! The farther you are away from the “unwashed masses”.....the better your chances! memtb