Definitions

[ravensgrove]

I think we cover this on all of these boards at one time or another and repeatedly, but I often find it hard to talk to people without banging my head against the wall on these forums because their definition of SHTF...is so far removed from my definition of shtf....that...their ideas of how to prepare seem ridiculous to me and short sighted. In the same way I am sure I seem just way too extreme for some people and they can't relate to me. I haven't seen in this board yet where people ponied up and said this is what I am preparing for.

It'd help me immensely in giving advice if I knew your idea of shtf was a localized natural disaster that took you out of food supply for two weeks...for instance. When every last thing we do is revolving around much deeper darker scenario and surviving past that, creating not only our own systems for living now that subjugate the need for the current system at all...but also creating networks and communities of people now...post collapse.

Sometimes...I think, people spend alot of time online...and alot of time reading hobby farm magazines, or firearms catalogues...and don't give a lot of thought to what you actually Can do...vs. your pipe dream reality. I hate to always be the bubble burster...and maybe that is it with most of these boards..they are just another form of irc chat and fantasy role play for the vast majority of people. I didn't get that then, and I don't get that now.

I have gotten so burnt out from listening to people and banging my head against the wall I often think..."I am moving to NY, and the whole world can crumble around me for all I care..I know I will be just fine". So if I disappear...I have decided being a hermit...is a smarter prep than being in forums.

[ladyhk13]

I think that it means different things to different people and at different times. When the tornados came through AL, MS,MO,and TN I think it hit the fan for a lot of people for a short period of time, many weren't prepared. Our little area got bombarded by Huntsville Al because they ran out of gas, food, generators and every other supply you can think of. Within one day our shelves were empty. As we drove through town and saw the plastic bags on the gas pumps and the lines of cars down the road at the stations who did have gas I thought how lucky we were that we didn't need a thing. We needed no food, no gas, no power...nothing. We were prepared. It made me feel good but this was not our main goal to make it through the short term SHTF scenario.
In my mind and many may not agree...it is not necessarily a natural disaster or an EMP or even the government shutdown that I am working towards. I want to be able to work towards creating our own electricity so we are not dependent upon the government should that tornado take out the grid or the dreaded EMP hit. I want to have enough animals on our property to feed ourselves so we are not eating shit that the government puts out and the corporate farmers decide to inject into our meat and the inhumane way they treat their stock. I want to be able to grow enough veggies throughought the summer without pesticides and I know grown in this country that I can "put up" to last us through the next year or more.
I want no payments of any kind and pay cash for everything so should someone come to our land we can tell them to get the hell off of our property.
I want a choice. I want to know that when the really big shtf we are ready to continue our lifestyle the way we are. I don't want to be thrown into the dark ages. I want to build now, learn now, make my mistakes now. If things don't go bad, that's ok. I want to be able to have the option then...we can still go to the movies and do all the wonderful stuff we have now but if the shtf then I hope by that time we will be ready. It is going to be a long process since we are starting all over again. There is so much to learn. I know many things...there are a lot of things I don't know. I hope I have time to learn. I do know that I am not willing to compromise on what I want. I am not going to live in a one room shack with no power in the middle of the woods. I don't have to. If that makes some people uncomfortable, I'm sorry. It's not meant to but I think each one of us needs to take away the knowledge here that we need, share when we need to and figure out what shtf means to our own situation. I think it is different for all of us.

[The Stig]

My thoughts on the subject are spelled out here (http://www.shtfready.com/announcements/welcome-aboard-all-members-please-read-2.html).

The official viewpoint of the forum, as well as my own, is that one should prep for anything live throws at us. That's the essence of prepping, to not skip a beat whether a tornado tears up your town, a chemical spill forces an evacuation, an earthquake destroys your county or the entire descends into civil unrest and anarchy.

To me, the worst thing a "prepper" can do is fixate on the end of the world, doom & gloom, Mad-Max, I'm going to live in a cave and roam the countryside looking for villagers to pillage. Can those scenarios unfold? Of course, and one should prepare for them. But in the meantime, one should also be preparing for all the other junk we face on a day to day basis.

I look at it this way: If someone said they are ready if their house burns down, but has no way to deal with a food shortage, you wouldn't call them prepared. Same thing applies to the Mad-Max jerk-off fantasies. If you are ready to go all Wolverine but would be sunk if you lost your job you are missing the boat (and you damn sure aren't "prepared"). If you think you and your MAG will become feudal warlords, but a simple thunderstorm knocks you out of commission you're wasting your energy.

Further, if I may be so bold, I think in a lot of cases, people tend to rate their skill levels higher than they should. See it all the time with shooting. People pretend to be a pistolero....until you get them under stress or in a formal class....then they fall apart. Same applies in many ways to prepping. People will post about how they are going do this and that....but are 100lbs overweight, can't work for more than 10 minutes without collapsing and have bad knees.

Prepare for all things, big and small. Be realistic about your current situation and shortfalls. Realize that prepping isn't about throwing gear on a shelf or posting on a forum.

Don't know if I've hit the mark with my reply but that's how I see it.

[Sniper-T]

Well put Stig, I was going to write almost exactly what you referenced, so instead I'll just steal a quote:

"We believe that a SHTF event is not one monolithic, specific, end of the world, Mad-Max scenario. Instead we embrace the concept that SHTF events encompass all of the bad situations life can present. A total meltdown of society is possible and should be planned for, but so should situations like the loss of a job, your house burning down, the need to evacuate your home for a chemical spill or dealing with a hurricane. "

IMO the people who think that SHTF represents this:
http://i1084.photobucket.com/albums/j417/Yushinoki/rsz_1222899160418il6.jpg

And think that they can prepare for it are the lost causes, even more so than complete non-preppers.

I don't prep for, or because of the hurricanes in Haiti. Or the Tsunamis in Asia. Although that is S htf for them... it isn't for me. I prep for The Blizzard that will knock my power out at some point this winter. I prep for the roads that will be snowed in and impassible. Are these SHTF events? Not necessarily in themselves. But if the power gets knocked out, and I cannot get home... then all my water lines will freeze and burst, my sewer line will freeze and burst. As will my water heater, hot tub, well pump, etc etc etc. In addition, my cat will probably freeze or starve to death. My home will become unlivable probably until Spring, and then there would be huge costs and work to repair it; assuming that it is repairable at that point, and that I can afford to fix it.

So by prepping, I can hopefully prevent this type of SHTF scenario from happening to me. I have secondary, and thirdary heat sources. I have the means to make it home if the roads are un-drivable. I have enough food/water to be comfortable for even a long outage.

Avoiding or heading off a SHTF scenario is more important than accepting it and trying to eke your way through it. IMO

[MegaCPC]

Definitions. Hmmm.

Maybe it's the Wolverine in me :cool: but when I think of the term "SHTF" I think of a major incident, on a national level. Economic collapse, civil unrest, zombies, etc.

I tend to think of localized incidents as disasters as these are usually weather related.

I don't think there is any specific criteria for shit hitting the fan, except for unexpected events that are potentially hazardous to your health. It is indeed a very broad term that means a lot of things to a lot of people.

[ravensgrove]

I think I just don't like women any more online then I do offline...and that's all I care to say about that.

I too think people in general very much over value their book, online "knowledge" vs. reality. Time and time again in farming and gardening a book tells me one thing and I set about to do whatever it is the book said...and guess what...the reality is so far removed I want to B slap the author.

I also think people really grossly underestimate half of the work involved in doing most things they outline on these boards...especially regarding livestock/gardening et all. Finally, I think it is really short sighted to be prepping in such a way that A) you never actually do anything you collect books etc and "someday" you're going to try and do x, y or z...good luck with that learning curve. B) I think thinking you can live post a real shtf exaclty as you do today...all comfy cozy and fat and sassy...is just so ludicrous it cracks me up. That mindset I believe strongly is why we have so many peak everything problems....consume, consume, consume. But get on with your bad self.

I am not a fan of doom and gloom either...I think whatever comes down the pipe we are infinitely resilient, and can and will adapt. I want to thrive not just survive.

[Stg1swret]

SHTF - can mean different things to different people, and we all face it some time in our lives. It is more a matter of scale then anything else. You can have a personal SHTF such as catastrophic illness, or financial ruin. Then there are local weather events, hurricane, flood, tornado, blizzard etc. We should prep for evertything we can, but it doesn't mean having every gadget available to man. Sure we stock food, first aid supplies, have weapons and ammo. We shouldn't be prepping to hold off an army, but to deal with the occassional neer do weel , and to hunt if need be. Yes we want to get through any disaster that may be fall us, but some events are going to require we cooperate with other like minded individuals.
Don't fixate on terme but rather events and the scale of the event in question.

[Gunfixr]

Let me see if I can do this without getting into tinfoil hat area.
Basically, I prepare for social or economic collapse. This I believe will happen soon.
It will not be the end of the world, only a major change. But like all change, there will be hardship.
Many of these preps are simply a much larger version of prepping for smaller shtf events, such as natural disasters, with a few minor exceptions. I don't need near the ammo stocks to prep for hurricane season, however, my food and water preps work great for said hurricane season.
So, when these small shtf events happen, we do fine, as we are looking at a much more long term problem, and prepping for same.

[Fatty]

Shtf= adapt to your obstacle and overcome it.

If you work out the little things, they'll work out the big things
:)

[Brownwater Riverrat 13]

If I may....the way I was raised/trained then passed on to others it was based on "Mr. Murphy" fame. No matter how easy the mission, op, patrol, or deployment, that SOB is along for the ride. So you always had a contingency, and a back up for that. Then.......Start swimming after that. But yes, basicly, it's scenario driven in each individual's mind here on this forum. That each one of us has an idea of what "IT" being "SHTF" really is. So not everyone speaks the same language here. But everybody came here to learn something didn't they, ya'll came here to see what was going on and find out what they could take away for themselves to help them in their own personal "SHTF" struggle. That's what ultimately drug them here in the first place. So admit it to yourselves and "spare me the poisonous barbs Major" have a good time, learn, share, do come up with any Ideas you can think of! REMEMBER: THE ONLY STUPID QUESTION IS THE ONE THAT WAS NEVER ASKED! That's what it's all about, spread the knowledge. UNITE THE KLANS!

MURPHY'S LAW: ANYTHING THAT CAN GO WRONG.........................WILL ...................and that my friends is what you plan for.

Be safe.........the night is your friend

[GunnerMax]

Due to where I live, and the fact that my neighborhood is a 175 unit apartment complex in the ghetto, I live on the first floor, and the windows are paper thin, I have focused my efforts in being able to bring my wife and I (or just I if she is too stubborn :P ) far inland safely. I dont focus on comms, or underground bunkers, or the sort. I have a 2 bedroom apartment. I cant make a safe room, or farm animals, grow crops, make a barbed wire fence, or a defensable location. I cannot store enough food for a year, or even have a closet to myself for my preps. So I focus on keeping my stuff on what I can wear and carry, and/or load in the 30MPG VW car we have. I am looking to get a good wagon soon.

I keep all of my stuff non-electronic. If there is a 2 week power outage, I will stay where I am, unless there is a fire near me. If there is a flood, Ill go to higher ground inland. If there is a hurricane I will go inland. Snow, Im going to be prepared for that. Socialeconomic collapse, ill be prepared for that, with alot of ammo.