How self sufficient are you ? Honestly ?

[forgeblast]

Appreciate it. I think i have everything to make one.

 

[Egon]

For under $20 you can make a "bucket" that would go down your well to get water. Add in 200' of rope and a way to hoist it and you could get water out of your drilled well. See How to get water from a drilled well when the power is off by Steve Belanger from the January/February, 1999 issue of Countryside & Small Stock Journal for an example device.

Aaron Z

Your going to pull the existing pump and tubing first aren't you.:thumbsup:

 

[aczlan]

Your going to pull the existing pump and tubing first aren't you.:thumbsup:

Would be a good thing to do...


Aaron Z

 

[ustmd]

I think that a lot of people there could have done more to prepare but thought that the weather man was crying wolf. Many of those folks that were flooded DEEP seem to be the working class and not 2nd homes on the beach type (not much sympathy for the 2nd home beach house owner). It seems like their homes were handed down from before it was high dollar beach front prop. But all in all I think that city living on a lot that is prolly smaller than many of our shops or barns, leads to dependancy and prohibits the lifestyle that allows self sufficency.

What did Hank Jr. say... a country boy can survive!

Good point--especially about the city. It is easy to forget that NY City has about 8.5 million people in only 303 sq miles. If the city was a state, it would rank somewhere 10-12 in terms of population. To keep all of those people fed, watered and warm takes a lot of modern infrastructure. if you are living in a 5th floor 400 sq ft apartment, you do not have a place to store 6 months of food, run a generator or light a wood burning stove.

 

[brin]

if you are living in a 5th floor 400 sq ft apartment, you do not have a place to store 6 months of food, run a generator or light a wood burning stove.

I agree ustmd, So it is all about choices...these people either knew the risks of living in a densely populated city and a 5th fl. 400 sq. ft. apt. or whatever or they are Morons....All about choices...

How could anyone in this post 9-11 era...not think this country always is just barely held together by a very ...very thin thread....that really is all...when 9-11 happened...Bush ran and hid, the only one running things was Rudy - the mayor of NY....

 

[pilotman]

I agree ustmd, So it is all about choices...these people either knew the risks of living in a densely populated city and a 5th fl. 400 sq. ft. apt. or whatever or they are Morons....All about choices...

How could anyone in this post 9-11 era...not think this country always is just barely held together by a very ...very thin thread....that really is all...when 9-11 happened...Bush ran and hid, the only one running things was Rudy - the mayor of NY....

Brin I agree people make choices and will pay the for those choices but to say Bush ran and hid during 9-11 shows a lack of understanding of the role of the secret service during an attack on the U.S. The president is not in charge of his activities. If you would take the time to research what the retired commander of Air Force One said about those 48 hrs and it is available on the internet you would not say Bush ran and hid. Do you think our current community orginiser would stand on ground zero and wait for more incoming?

 

[Rob-D]

After watching all the news stories about the people affected by the Sandy storm and the problems they are enduring ,How self sufficient are you and could you take care of your family and yourself in the event you had no power / water/ or communications with the outside world ?:confused3:

Off the grid on alternate energy.
Full machine shop to make my own parts.
Stores of metal, wood, electronic components, etc.
Full electronics lab with circuit board prototyping capability
Lots of land and gardens.
Lots of water.
Stocked pond if we ever get that bad off (we're vegetarians)
Lots of food storage from our gardens
Fruit orchards
Extra class radio license
Working on electric tractor, microhydro and wind installation

If we don't get a direct hit we are pretty much bullet proof for years.
We went to the store the day before Sandy and couldn't figure out why there were so many people buying stuff, that's how prepared we are. I can't imagine people not being prepared in this day and age.
We've become corporate guppies, we have a storm and everyone runs to the store to buy their lives. Energy, food, drugs, water, etc. We are on the hook in this country what has happened to the independent thinking that made the USA number 1?

 

[MRSDOUGLAS]

Great post John, were you in Jarrell when the twister hit there that lifted foundations?

Always interesting to hear people with resources and not in a disaster tell others without resources and in the middle of a disaster how they should behave. The reality is that while those of us who are reasonably well prepared can get along for a while when faced with a disaster, if you have ever been in such a situation, you quickly discover that personal energy and capability is far shorter than you thought it would be. Exhaustion is real.

Ever actually try to hunt and fish for food for a family of maybe 5 for a period of say 3 days?? Easy to talk about, hard to do on a schedule dictated by hungry tummies. Yep, maybe if you are in a scarcely settled game rich area you could do it for a few days, maybe a week. However, as the American Indian discovered, when people begin to take resources faster than replacement rate....food gets hard/impossible to find. Veggies take a while to grow...and it has to be the right time of the year...and preserving for long term is non trivial.

In a disaster, you run out of stuff quickly...note the long lines of people with a 5 gallon can waiting for gas for generators....etc... And replacing batteries, diapers, water, fuel, tires, parts, whatever breaks, is no longer a simple trip to the store. You just do without or use less effective methods.

Now, throw in the oft cited specter of attacking hoards wanting the remaining resources you do have because they are completely desperate, and suddenly you are no longer performing the tasks of providing food and shelter but now are also tasked with security although the other needs have not diminished.

Yes, I have generators, hundreds of gallons of gas and diesel, multiple vehicles, weapons, all sorts of tools and knowledge of how to use, etc. Nevertheless, living in a community hit by tornadoes which have killed dozens and injured more, I realize that preparations I make can only ameliorate the effects of a disaster for a while...sooner or later, either services and support systems are restored, or things go down hill and not in a good way. I recall the following poem:

No Man Is An Island

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friend's were.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne

 

[Rob-D]

No way and anybody who says they could are delusional. The folks in Sandy's path are getting water from the outside world. If they weren't they would all be dead by now!

If you are saying no outside power and water. Then the answer is yes we can. If you are saying no power or water by our own hand the answer is no, no one can.

 

[Rob-D]

You heat your house, put gas in your car. Who here is not at the mercy of corporate energy? Who here is not under control of the pharmaceutical companies? You go to a doctor and he puts you on a pill for the rest of your life. Did you say no I won't do that? How many of you know how to take care of yourselves and your loved ones? You can't take care of yourselves but you want to blame *****. Hey, get a mirror that's the guy you want to blame.
These talk radio guys are professional blamers, they get you to blame this group or that group but if tomorrow there was no more energy and no more food you wouldn't be any better off than the next guy for very long because he spent his life listening to the blamers too.

You guys crack me up!