If you are planning to hunker down in your home in the city, what will you do when the food runs out? A small backyard garden/livestock would be raided long before one could harvest. Indoor hydroponics/aquaponics rely on electricity which would be unreliable at best or on a very small scale could be done in your window, but then that would also make one a target.
I know most people prep for more self reliance but this question is specifically for SHTF/WROL.
I agree with you, I think that if a textbook SHTF/WROL occurred anything that is within sight would quickly be raided. You could try defending it but the gunshots would just let someone know that you are serious about protecting something and you would compromise your hunkering location. I think the true benefit of things like aquaponics and self reliance gardening, etc, is that your prep budget increases eventually. When I watch videos on people that go all out on self reliance they end up saving so much money. This could be the difference between the budget for great bugout gear and just barely going to scratch by gear. That is just one possible benefit. Another would be your diet. In all honesty, you can have all the equipment you want but if you dont have the mind and body ready then you will find it to be very difficult, especially urban bugin/bugout. Eating natural, high nutrient value, from your own garden, aquaponic, chickens, etc, will increase your health and stamina, giving you an INCREDIBLY better chance of survival, whether a natural or non-natural disaster. All in all, I think it ends up being for the best, even if you have to eventually abandon it in bugout because you only had your viewable back yard to do it.
Guess I kind of danced around a straight answer. My answer is "eventually bugout". I think the first few days would be too dangerous to travel, depending on the situation. After that, I just bugout. However, I simply wanted to mention how the benefits of self reliance would still be seen with budget, gear, body-mind, etc.
Yep, that's the point I'm trying to make. People need to leave the cities behind to the looters, as much as one makes food preps in the city it's not sustainable.
I have thought about this for some time and it is a scary situation. I think that if SHTF there would be a lot of desperate people after just a few days. It would be extremely difficult to protect your resources in a city for very long. Sure you could plant a garden, and plan on self sustaining, but that would be extremely difficult to hide. A bug out situation would be my option, but would not be easy. I would need a long term supply of food, and would have to start planting as son as possible. The season would be another thing to think about as far as shelter and food supplies. It is very difficult to forage for extended periods of time and I would imagine that there would be lots of pressure on wildlife for survival, so that supply would probably dry up fast around the big cities. I am working on a plan, but it sure wont be easy.
Google "72 hours from Anarchy" /// Real eye opener...
On the benefits of keeping food stores.
While I don't think anyone is going to argue with you that living in the city is less than ideal should a highly unlikely event that a long acronym occurs. Still, might it not be more likely that the event occurs more on a personal level? You lose your job or are injured on the job and money gets really tight for an extended period of time? I think about all of those foreign workers at Excel Foods last year who emptied out the food bank in Brooks. The packing plant was forced closed for tainted meat found in their products. A three month or longer closure was the shit that hit their fans.
Antsy
Needs must when the devil drives.
Super tough to decide. I would be a looter for as long as possible and once the supplies dwindled or gangs got dangerous or both... I would head for the hills. Its easier to loot than it is to hunt game and then prepare it not to mention... you cant eat meat all the time in the hills, you need vegetation as well which is even harder if you dont know a thing about it.
Here is a great article I came across which is relatable. We only have a year roughly before extreme rioting and unrest start becoming an everyday occurence and the revolution begins in ernest. This will be brought on due to famine. Yikes. Not sure what to believe or how much of course but its good to learn as much as possible so we are better prepared than those who are completely ignorant to what is going on.
http://theprepperproject.com/we-are-now-one-year-away-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say/
No matter how good or bad your life is, wake up each day thankful because someone somewhere else right now is fighting for theirs
Super tough to decide. I would be a looter for as long as possible and once the supplies dwindled or gangs got dangerous or both... I would head for the hills. Its easier to loot than it is to hunt game and then prepare it not to mention... you cant eat meat all the time in the hills, you need vegetation as well which is even harder if you dont know a thing about it.
Here is a great article I came across which is relatable. We only have a year roughly before extreme rioting and unrest start becoming an everyday occurence and the revolution begins in ernest. This will be brought on due to famine. Yikes. Not sure what to believe or how much of course but its good to learn as much as possible so we are better prepared than those who are completely ignorant to what is going on.
http://theprepperproject.com/we-are-now-one-year-away-from-global-riots-complex-systems-theorists-say/
Interesting Read.
I'm in a smaller "City" in a Rural Farming area where almost every yard has a garden, wildlife often sleeps in my backyard and countless farms surround us. If the SHTF I'll be buffered here for the first little while, after that the trick will be to Blend in with the hungry hoards while quietly using my own stores. Eventually everything runs out, the trick will be to hold that off as long as possible.
But I think the main SHTF situations I'd have to worry about are natural disasters (tornado, winter storms that knock out power, flooding). I'm not expecting a Mad Max WWOL anytime soon.
DaScribbler
________________________
Today in Calgary makes a good case for having food and water stores. One might call it a SHTF situation, but not one that would tolerate Scotty's strategy posted above... at least not if he hits my home 😉
Needs must when the devil drives.
In reading this thread the other day I was reminded of a story of a guy stuck in an urban setting during the Bosnia war.
I know this link has floated around before, but you might find it an interesting read, as bugging out isn't always an option:
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/a-survival-q-a-living-through-shtf-in-the-middle-of-a-war-zone_10252011
DaScribbler
________________________
So Alberta had TSHTF, and many had to GOOD, and I bet only 2% where prepared to do so. 😈
"We 'Prep.' to live after a downfall, Not just to survive."
This is a very interesting topic and one that I have thought about a lot. I am in the city, moderate in size, have no BOV or BOL, but I am building my skills to survive via hunting and foraging. I believe having at least three months of stores is not a bad thing and even six months because the amount of looting and such is going to depend on the type and severity of SHTF. As Ansty pointed out, there are personal SHTF scenarios that would require one to be prepared with extra provisions and supplies. In a larger SHTF situation, it would depend. For instance, if a pandemic were to occur, it might result in a few weeks or even months of the deterioration of society, if it was a big enough pandemic, or if it spread quickly, could cause chaos in a shorter amount of time. Mostly likely we would have weeks. In a really bad SHTF scenario we would likely have a week or two tops to GOOD, so in that situation our months of supplies wouldn't be very useful.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that there are situations in which weeks or months worth of food, water, and supplies stored up is important, but that can't be the only preparations made. Building the skills to live in the wild would be of the utmost importance as well. By having food and supplies on hand AND having the skills to survive in the wild, you will be prepared for any situation. If you don't have to leave your home, all the better, but if you do, then you will be OK. I have also thought about what DaScribbler said about blending in with the hungry masses so it isn't obvious that you are eating and they are not. This I would do in the early days for sure, but eventually, they would look like they haven't eaten and you would still look plump and healthy, and then the gig would be up.
Anyway, great food for thought.
WOW! This article was an amazing read! I hope many others will read this!!
In reading this thread the other day I was reminded of a story of a guy stuck in an urban setting during the Bosnia war.
I know this link has floated around before, but you might find it an interesting read, as bugging out isn't always an option:
http://www.shtfplan.com/emergency-preparedness/a-survival-q-a-living-through-shtf-in-the-middle-of-a-war-zone_10252011
WOW! Absolutely an amazing read! Thank you very much for posting this article.