Staying in the City during a pandemic

Go for it - I made nettle wine years ago and it certainly did the trick

dennis2 is right. If you live in a place you may have to leave, you must have a plan. Get a map. See how far you could get in 4 hours if you were walking? riding? Hide or bury some food and water in multiple sites along the route. Have multiple routes just in case one way is blocked or dangerous. Observe the crowds and do the opposite.

A while ago I purchased a small cheap gas stove which does not use electricity to restart the oven. I plan to plumb the laundry room for gas. We are all electric now. I have been putting off the plumbing part. Also getting the big gas tank. I also purchased a dutch oven to use over a fire pit. I believe we will live in the 1800's for awhile after the pandemic is over. I think it will take 10+ years for the country to recover.

I hadn't thought of reflecting radiated heat back in, but that would definitely make it more efficient. Maybe bonding some mylar or aluminum foil to the foam surrounding the pot would do it.

jacksdad wrote: I hadn't thought of reflecting radiated heat back in, but that would definitely make it more efficient. Maybe bonding some mylar or aluminum foil to the foam surrounding the pot would do it.

Been reading up on foams. Could be dicey. They refuse to burn, but when they do, they reach some pretty amazing temps.

Turboguy wrote:    And Mom: skip one of the shotguns and make sure you have an intermediate power, semi-automatic, high capacity firearm. Look at AR15's or an AK. They're relatively cheap reliable firearms that have very common ammunition that does not cost a lot. If you're buff enough, look at an M14/M1A from Springfield armory. Some of them are very good.

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thanks turboguy,,i will check it out!

Doubtful. The Democrats remember the absolute political disaster the 1994 assault weapon bill was. Bill Clinton specifically cited that single piece of legislation as why the Democrats lost both houses of congress in 1994 and then again Gore's loss in 2000.

You might be right that the Libs will keep quiet until they get elected, then kickoff some of their Socialist programs, or hell just hand our soverignity over to the corrupt UN, but I doubt it. I think that if Hitlary gets the Democrat nod, it'll energize each and every conservative into voting against her, and let's face facts: There's quite a few more conservatives than there are liberals.

[QUOTE=johngardner1]     As someone who actually has lived in the city all of his life, I'm fairly confident I will survive pandemic disaster. QUOTE]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i am hoping to ride it out in a city as well. however,,it is on the smallish side,,57,000 residents in our city. a suburb of washington d.c.
we simply have no choice and we will do what we have to do.

     
    

    I think that those here who live in rural areas are overestimating their safety and prosperity as opposed to city folk. Remember, birds are what spread the disease in the beginning. Your dogs and cats can spread infection. However, I think that what happens in a small town is different than the city.

My projected worst case scenario this flu season is maybe some areas in larger cities will be quarantined but eventually if any infrastructure is damaged it will be rebuilt. I think it will take several more flu seasons before pandemic armageddon occurs.

Hmm... the feathered rats you've got flying around big cities spread all kinds of disease quite a bit better than the sparrows.

Just because people are smart, or intellectual, does not mean they're any less prone to panic mode when they think the S is about to HTF. In fact they're probably more apt to act like reards as they're going to hear and fully understand the ramifications of what might be going on, and are probably more woefully unprepared than the non intellectuals who probably don't have the money, and thus buy things that have longer storage lives.

So again I have to ask: with 560,000 people, 90% of which maybe have a three day supply of food and water all crammed into an area twenty square miles in diameter, all near starving within a week, and you think that's a good place to hang out?!? Hey, whatever stirs your oatmeal...

Diego, that High-Point carbine of yours *IS* a death dealing weapon of mass destruction! I heard that the bullets, when fired, split into miniature nuclear warheads, each with the power to level a city block! Even my M1A with 20 rounds of .308 on tap or my G36 with the Beta C Mag pales in comparison to the utter destructive firepower of your High-Point. You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself for owning something like that! What ever happened to giving elephants and hippos a fighting chance!?!
     

This is a lengthy article..but worth the read..."Thoughts On Disaster Survival"   http://www.frfrogspad.com/disastr.htm

    You'd better be prepared to kill hundreds of thousand of people fleeing the cities then. Country folk don't know weapons compared to the average gang banger. I assure you that you don't have the numbers to fight them off. They want to escape the pandemic and they'll stop at nothing to get your preps and whatever else you may have of value.

diego wrote: any gang banger around here would have the life expectancy of a house fly. yahoo search Mackinac bridge. the trolls will not cross. they would go south anyway. it's to much WORK to live in the north. we don't know weapons? that's a good one. oh, wait..... I'm still trying to find the select lever on my high point.

Prepping starts with concealment. Whether you countersink your water barrels into the ground and run lines, have an under deck rain water collecting bladder, or even choose to hang out in the woods indefinitely with only what you can carry in a small pack, none of it is any good if someone recognizes and lusts for what you have.

Boondocker wrote: Prepping starts with concealment. If shtf, I'll survive by being as quiet and unnoticeable as a field mouse and leave the heroic last stands for those with a death wish.

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i admire your plans and you have awesome ideas,,but totally impractical for someone like me with four kids in tow.
     

johngardner1 wrote:     I'm holeing up in the city. It's more realistic than fleeing to some remote campspot. And there are only so many campspots in washington state. Everyon'es momma is going to be there, and some of them have the flu.

Jacksdad: If you do SIP and you're one of the few (if not the only one) that prepped in your neighborhood, how would you mask the smell of food cooking to avoid being overrun by those who hadn't had the foresight to stock up? Cooking indoors with windows and doors shut puts you at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, whereas the alternative is to advertise to the hungry masses that dinner is ready. Any thoughts?

If you have to SIP in close quarters, apartments/condos, can your food. When chicken goes on sale, buy extra and can it. Same with fruits and vegetables.

You can cook until you notice others have stopped and then start eating your canned foods. Open a jar of chicken, a jar of carrots and a jar of boiled potatoes. Not hot, but nutritous and no odors alerting the neighbors you have food.

Canning is a lot easier than it appears. You can get free canning jars from people listing them on craigslist. You don't need to buy special foods to do it..just prepare the foods you are canning in broths and seasoned liquids. People who have fruit trees often advertise in craigslist for people to come and take some rather than letting it rot. You don't even have to buy recipe books. There are all kinds of websites with instruction, directions and recipes.

Even if you only do 2-3 jars of meat & veggies a week that is three meals. Once you have a good cache you can start rotating it...use the canned goods to make your meals. Use the money you'd normally use for groceries to buy in bulk and can, get cheaper prices.

Another bonus...you can stash a lot of jars under your bed so you don't need to find storage for it & others don't even know you have it. A piece of plywood and you can get two layers under there.

Don't forget you can drink the syrups and liquids too.

Just a thought.


    
    

I may be one of the only ones, but I am at least afraid of fire as I am of the starving hordes. If this thing starts in the winter, someone is likely to start his home on fire trying to keep warm, or any time of the year may start his home on fire trying to cook or have light in the evening with candles or kerosene lamps. The fire could easily spread house to house without a well functioning fire department to stop it.

Out in the country something similar applies. Lightning strike wildfires would spread like, well, wildfire, without the fire crews to go out and battle them.

In town or out, you're screwed if a fire gets out of hand.

AVanarts wrote: I may be one of the only ones, but I am at least afraid of fire as I am of the starving hordes. If this thing starts in the winter, someone is likely to start his home on fire trying to keep warm, or any time of the year may start his home on fire trying to cook or have light in the evening with candles or kerosene lamps. The fire could easily spread house to house without a well functioning fire department to stop it. Out in the country something similar applies. Lightning strike wildfires would spread like, well, wildfire, without the fire crews to go out and battle them. In town or out, you're screwed if a fire gets out of hand.

JONESIE wrote: AVanarts wrote: I may be one of the only ones, but I am at least afraid of fire as I am of the starving hordes. If this thing starts in the winter, someone is likely to start his home on fire trying to keep warm, or any time of the year may start his home on fire trying to cook or have light in the evening with candles or kerosene lamps. The fire could easily spread house to house without a well functioning fire department to stop it. Out in the country something similar applies. Lightning strike wildfires would spread like, well, wildfire, without the fire crews to go out and battle them. In town or out, you're screwed if a fire gets out of hand.   Aldi's has fire extinguishers, nice ones, for $9.99. I bought several last week. In the hardware stores, the same ones sell for $19.99.   http://www.aldifoods.com/us/html/service/store_locator_ENU_HTML.htm     Maybe there is a store near you.

I have several extinguishers, but they aren't going to do much good if a raging fire is coming down the street jumping house to house.