Post by missj on Jun 25, 2012 22:45:10 GMT -7
So here is my "would you rather" scenario. It basically involves a "Bug In or Bug Out" question. Try your best not to apply it to yourself but instead try to walk in the shoes of the hypothetical person making the decision. Without further ado:
You are the family leader. You are the prepper, but your spouse goes along with it for the most part. You've been prepping a few years and you have a lot of stuff. A lot of food, weapons, ammo, outdoors supplies etc. You have 2 children ages 9 and 12. the 12 year old can shoot reasonably well for his age, the 9 year old knows gun safety and has shot a .22 a few times. Your spouse is somewhat trained with firearms.
You live on 5 acres just about 20 miles outside of a major metro area, in a rural neighborhood that's not too hard to find, but not visible from a major road or anything. You have well water and septic (both electric). Electric heat with wood backup. Electric oven.
Well....TSHTF and now the major city you live outside of is dangerous by day, and chaotic at night. There are 4+ hour long lines at gas stations to get a maximum of 10 gallons of gas. Grocery stores are mostly closed, but those that are open take only cash and limit you to $100 per transaction and have jacked their prices way up. You hear rumors of civil unrest and "mini riots" deep in the city; some buildings that the fire dept. just had to let burn, some neighborhoods the police are no longer trying to control....
But during the day some people are still going to work except in the worst parts of town. Public transit is barely running. Lights are on and water is flowing, but lots of vandalism, robberies, car jackings etc. are being reported. School is out for the summer. Other than the long lines, the suburbs seem somewhat normal except that everybody is on edge, and a lot of adults are at home in the middle of the week. Your employer told you a couple of days ago that the business would close "For a few days until things calm down" so you are not expected back at work until further notice.
Communications have been difficult, but are still happening on a hit or miss basis- for whatever reason it seems the phone lines are often busy and cell phones are worse than landlines. Emails are still going through- but some people's internet service has gotten spotty over the last few days. Most of your emails have been successful and about 20% of your recent phone calls have been successful but this seems to be quickly getting worse.
You have a few trusted friends in the area who know you are a prepper, but they do not know the extent of your preps. A few of them do a little prepping themselves. You figure that if things get bad enough friends might start showing up at your place, but you have no firm plans with any of them. You do some math and figure you could support 8 extra adults on strict rations for a total of 12 months if need be. (based on food and shelter needs)- maybe more if they bring food.
On the other hand, you have an offer to be part of a group. A not so well organized group but nonetheless they have manpower, infrastructure and supplies and they would welcome your skills and family if you could get there. They are in an ideal and remote location that is normally an 8 hour drive from you You have stored enough gas for 1 SUV to get there carrying just the 4 of you and a few supplies. You could not take very much, some guns a few weeks of food and some outdoor gear. That's about it. You would have to cross several bridges and travel mostly by freeway. As far as you know, it is still safe to travel on major roads but you really haven't heard too much news about travel. You have no supplies pre-positioned for your arrival. You will live out of a tent with your family and you'll need to earn your keep by excelling at your skill (whether that is hunting, building, foraging, medicine etc. whatever your special skill is that they want). You don't know anybody else in the area to turn to if it doesn't work out with that group, and you wouldn't have enough gas to make it back home.
so....would you rather stay or go?
You are the family leader. You are the prepper, but your spouse goes along with it for the most part. You've been prepping a few years and you have a lot of stuff. A lot of food, weapons, ammo, outdoors supplies etc. You have 2 children ages 9 and 12. the 12 year old can shoot reasonably well for his age, the 9 year old knows gun safety and has shot a .22 a few times. Your spouse is somewhat trained with firearms.
You live on 5 acres just about 20 miles outside of a major metro area, in a rural neighborhood that's not too hard to find, but not visible from a major road or anything. You have well water and septic (both electric). Electric heat with wood backup. Electric oven.
Well....TSHTF and now the major city you live outside of is dangerous by day, and chaotic at night. There are 4+ hour long lines at gas stations to get a maximum of 10 gallons of gas. Grocery stores are mostly closed, but those that are open take only cash and limit you to $100 per transaction and have jacked their prices way up. You hear rumors of civil unrest and "mini riots" deep in the city; some buildings that the fire dept. just had to let burn, some neighborhoods the police are no longer trying to control....
But during the day some people are still going to work except in the worst parts of town. Public transit is barely running. Lights are on and water is flowing, but lots of vandalism, robberies, car jackings etc. are being reported. School is out for the summer. Other than the long lines, the suburbs seem somewhat normal except that everybody is on edge, and a lot of adults are at home in the middle of the week. Your employer told you a couple of days ago that the business would close "For a few days until things calm down" so you are not expected back at work until further notice.
Communications have been difficult, but are still happening on a hit or miss basis- for whatever reason it seems the phone lines are often busy and cell phones are worse than landlines. Emails are still going through- but some people's internet service has gotten spotty over the last few days. Most of your emails have been successful and about 20% of your recent phone calls have been successful but this seems to be quickly getting worse.
You have a few trusted friends in the area who know you are a prepper, but they do not know the extent of your preps. A few of them do a little prepping themselves. You figure that if things get bad enough friends might start showing up at your place, but you have no firm plans with any of them. You do some math and figure you could support 8 extra adults on strict rations for a total of 12 months if need be. (based on food and shelter needs)- maybe more if they bring food.
On the other hand, you have an offer to be part of a group. A not so well organized group but nonetheless they have manpower, infrastructure and supplies and they would welcome your skills and family if you could get there. They are in an ideal and remote location that is normally an 8 hour drive from you You have stored enough gas for 1 SUV to get there carrying just the 4 of you and a few supplies. You could not take very much, some guns a few weeks of food and some outdoor gear. That's about it. You would have to cross several bridges and travel mostly by freeway. As far as you know, it is still safe to travel on major roads but you really haven't heard too much news about travel. You have no supplies pre-positioned for your arrival. You will live out of a tent with your family and you'll need to earn your keep by excelling at your skill (whether that is hunting, building, foraging, medicine etc. whatever your special skill is that they want). You don't know anybody else in the area to turn to if it doesn't work out with that group, and you wouldn't have enough gas to make it back home.
so....would you rather stay or go?