SHTF happens and people start showing up at your house . . .

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I overheard "I call shotgun"...

Great quotes out of this thread

When people say stupid stuff like, "I'm coming over..." I just tell them I need their ATM card and PIN number RIGHT NOW so I can start stocking up on supplies for them "just in case" they actually make it to my house
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I would have all his gold and he would have a quiet burial out back
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I also have heard my friends say stuff like "yeah, we'll just go over to Isaac's house, he's got enough guns for each of us" and then they start calling dibs like "I call shotgun" They're dreamin. I might have a .22 or two and some CupOnoodles for em, but that's it.
 
On a challenge I once made a "bug out bag" for $15.

15dollarbob.JPG


Lessons learned included:
- You can make a viable survival kit with $15 and a Dollar Store
- Just because you can get X for a buck doesn't mean you want to stake your life on it
...and relevant to this thread...
- It's cheap to make a survival kit which is suitable for handing to your "if SHTF I'm coming to your house" friends and bidding them well
- For $150 you can give 10 people a chance.


...though I really like the response "then give me your bank card & PIN so I can stock up for you." Delivered in a serious tone, may jolt them into realizing you're serious and it ain't free.
 
My preparation are strictly for my family. Sorry but if you know me the you have heard me preach about getting prepared for SHTF. If you don't know me then I don't have to worry about you do I.

I really hadn't thought about this before but I guess I'd better get a bit more "supplies" together.

Where I'm at I don't think anyone will "come knocking" but I plan on being prepared for the worst.
 
MPMARTY - "...I asked him how he would do that and he replied he would come over to my house with his gold and barter for whatever he needed. I told him in that case, I would have all his gold and he would have a quiet burial out back,..."

I'd have said, "Fine and dandy. One 15 ounce can of Pork & Beans will cost you one gold 'Rand. One 12 ounce can of Campbell's Chicken & Noodle soup will cost you 1/2 gold 'Rand. One cup of flour will cost you another gold 'Rand. And I'll even sack 'em up for you." :)

Then you make sure you have a couple extra CASES of those goods, and voila, you're an entrepreneur, with lots of gold & silver to make your financial position secure AFTER the SHTF. :)

L.W.
 
Posts: 89

The thing with these people is you really cannot get anywhere with them. Most of the people we come in contact with appear to “admire” our work but have zero appetite for doing a single thing for themselves. The potential for SHTF is not really “real” to them.

Most of these people making the comment are not looking to change their lifestyle, but just making the mental note “If trouble, go to his house”. With anyone but close friends I generally don’t get into why we have what we have. It seems (in many people’s minds) that the only real difference between a guy who lives a little different to a nutcase is just the reason behind why your lifestyle is a little different.

As for finding like minded people in DFW, it seems nearly impossible. I have run into a few people who largely live out of an SUV and are out training each weekend for hand-to-hand combat or out doing night maneuvers, i.e. the really hard core, and there are millions of the idiots, but I don’t find to many folks thinking and then acting on a more middle road. I know there are a few out there, but I guess we all are pretty good a fitting in as best we can.
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Very well said! I know a lot of people with that mindset of "why do all that.." "Guns server no good purpose" yet when SHTF they say "I'll go borrow some of Ruben's Guns. "

I'm like "uhhhh ya sure you will"
 
Did anyone ever watch the episode "The Shelter" from the Twighlight Zone?



[The Stocktons have closed and locked themselves in their bomb shelter; they won't let anybody else in, because there's air and provisions for only the three of them. Their neighbors are all gathered in the basement, just outside the shelter.]

Marty Weiss: ...Jerry, you know Bill better than anybody. Go down and tell him to pick out one family.

Frank Henderson (deadly): ONE family...meaning YOURS, Marty. Right?

Marty Weiss: Well, why not? I've got a 3-month-old baby!

Mrs. Harlowe: What's that got to do with anything? Is your baby any more precious than one of MY kids?

Marty Weiss: I never said that! Listen, if you're going to argue over who deserves to live more than the next person--!

Frank Henderson: You shut your mouth, Weiss! That's the way it is when the foreigners come over here. Pushy, grabby semi-Americans! Crowding us out of our own country! Tainting our bloodlines!

Marty Weiss (in a rage): Why, you garbage-mouthed beast, I'll...!

(He attacks Frank and they grapple murderously until Jerry pulls them apart.)
 
I have a few friends I discuss this with. The latest discussion was about the neat water bottle racks they have in the cafeteria where they work. It's like one of those plastic bookshelves, but it has notches in it to hole 5 gallon water bottles.

Those guys are welcome.

The guy at the table that though twe were wasting money by having a few hundred gallons of drinking water is not invited.
 
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It's easy, just don't tell people where you live.

I've had acquaintances and co-workers say stuff like that before as they know that I like firearms and that I have a few, but then I remind them that they don't know where I live which is kind of necessary information if they were going to come to my house during such an event.

As far as the good friends and close family members go, I've always just said "You're more than welcome to come here, but bring your own food as I don't have enough to feed everybody". If a Katrinalike event (as in a large scale natural disaster and/or civil disorder) were to pop off and they showed up without their own food, it would really depend on how close I was to them on whether they would be allowed to stay or not. Most of the people I'm actually close with are kind of like me in that department.

In the past 10 years or so I've managed to cut the last remaining ties with the bums and leeches in my own family (especially one sister and a brother) and in my wifes family (especially her scumbag brother), so I think that they know better than to show up to my house and expect something. In the event that they did, they'd get the same greeting that any other looter or freeloader would get from the second floor window that overlooks my yard, a shouted "What the #@*% do you want?" or the time honored "Get the #@*% out of my yard and off my street you .................". I don't have any friends like that, they're all more or less like me in that they're all somewhat prepared for a couple months at the very least, in some cases more.

I wouldn't even open the door as they might try and use that as a way of talking their way in. If they wanted in they'd have to break in and then I'd defend myself if that happened (hopefully they'd just go away after my rude reception, but if push came to shove then I'd defend myself). The above sentences may not be nice or polite and I won't be winning any miss manners contests, but delivered loudly and with enough force it's been pretty effective in the past. When I'm forced to I can play the cold hearted bastard pretty well, I dont like that role very much and I don't enjoy it, but when my immediate family is depending on me to take care of them then I don't really care what anybody else thinks of me except for them.
 
So here's something.

In my community, I have the role of treating people when they're sick. There are hundreds of people who come to me for their main source of healthcare. In a crisis, the first thing many of these people will think might be, "i've got to find [me]". Although I don't go around advertising where I reside, It's not exactly the bat cave either. So I expect that people are going to show up, even if they have no Idea about my emergency preparations etc.

My plan is to help these people in any capacity that I can (which will vary according to circumstance), and get payment from them in any form they are able to give.

In normal times, if someone is having financial difficulties, I barter, etc., so this would be an extension of an existing business model, and based in part on the experiences of some family members in past generations.

But of course, if it comes down to saving my family or helping outsiders, the outsiders will have to take a hike.
 
In my community, I have the role of treating people when they're sick.
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I'm in a similar situation, except that I'm a law enforcement officer, and my neighbors often come to me for advice on how to interact with our local PD (I live in one town but I'm on the PD in another town.) They know I'm a cop, they know I'll have some idea of what to do in an emergency, and they know I won't turn them away if they need emergency assistance. I have supplies stored, but if the S truly does HTF, I'll be working at my PD, not at home.

My wife would be here alone, so my only hope is that my neighbors will help her out and help protect her while I'm away. I understand that that's why a lot of LEO's abandoned their posts during Katrina, and it must have been a hard choice to make. I can only say, when it comes down to it, being a cop is just a job. They'll have to get along without me, but then I will probably be villified for being more concerned with my family's safety rather than the public's.

At least your neighbors know that you have a valuable service to render. I'm still not certain of how to make plans for some circumstances other than to arrange for her to stay with friends and hope for the best.
 
Telling people "you can't come over during a crisis" is absolutely worthless. Once they know about your house it's too late. During a major emergency, your next door neighbor is going to react with the feeling of a rat on a sinking ship and head for safety in a sheer panic. Scared people can be dangerous and aggressive.

I may be dating myself, but does anyone remember the Twilight Zone episode called "The Shelter?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shelter_(The_Twilight_Zone)

As panic ensues, the doctor locks himself and his family into his basement bomb shelter. The same gathering of friends becomes hysterical and now wants to occupy the shelter. All of the previous friendliness has vanished and is now replaced with bitter hate and soaring desperation as pent-up hostility and suppressed emotions boil to the surface. The end is moments away and everyone's mind is now vehemently poisoned by the clawing desire to survive, at any cost - the feelings of a neighbor, the sanctity of a friend's home, friendship itself, or the raw submission to violence. The last scene shows the once-friendly neighbors breaking down the door to the shelter with an improvised battering ram.
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I just say''can I come and live off of you till it does?''
That is all it takes.:)

992
 
It's easy, just don't tell people where you live.
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We live two or more states away from all of our family. Only my mom and one of my wife's uncles know where we live. Everybody else gets a PO box for xmas cards, etc.

Since this is a rural neighborhood, most folks are somewhat self sufficient. In a prolonged emergency, I'd guess we'd be trading back and forth.
 
My question is, has anyone actively tried to discourage people’s thoughts of coming over, before actual trouble?
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The people who will be welcome in my home know that they are welcome there (if im not already at one of their houses). They all have firearms and a similar mindset to me.

There are a few people I know who have been to my house, they are already mooches in every day life. A lot of people have told me they would want to bring their family and friends to my house. I've told them I will not be home and neither will any of my supplies, but I dont think that totally discouraged everyone.
 
I have a select few folks, freinds and family that will be welcome. That is because of the materials and skills they would bring to the effort. Most of my family and friends hunt, shoot, and have a medical background. All good "survival" material. (Most of us are also HAM radio operators too).
 
There seems to be a real obsession over this issue with a few people. I wonder why that is. While I appreciate firearms as much as many of the rest of THR posters do, I would not base any kind of disaster survival on firearms.

I figure there are basically two choices - hunker down or get the heck out of Dodge. If you are reasonably well prepared to effect the one of these two choices that makes the most sense when something does happen, you are probably going to be OK.

My guess is when something does happen (murphy being the clown that he is), none of that stuff you have stored in the basement will do you much good because you will get 5 minutes notice from armed persons ordering you to vacate to the nearest homeless shelter, and you get to bring one bag with you.

If Katrina showed nothing else it is that when there is a crisis, government will make mostly bad decisions for you. You may be ordered to leave when that is not your choice, or you may be prevented from leaving if it is your choice. And you won't be making the choice.
 
My guess is when something does happen (murphy being the clown that he is), none of that stuff you have stored in the basement will do you much good because you will get 5 minutes notice from armed persons ordering you to vacate to the nearest homeless shelter, and you get to bring one bag with you.

If Katrina showed nothing else it is that when there is a crisis, government will make mostly bad decisions for you. You may be ordered to leave when that is not your choice, or you may be prevented from leaving if it is your choice. And you won't be making the choice.
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Wow! Talk about the voice of negativity. And I don't think the data supports your assertions. IIRC, although NOLA residents were ordered out, and military/police strongly encouraged compliance, I don't think I heard about any government entity actually forcing people at gunpoint or gun battles with ordinary homeowners. I do know the "encouragement" got stronger as a WEEK went by but of all the videos I saw, people who did not open the door were fine. People who opened the door did not fare as well (got their guns taken).

I know if I had been living in NOLA, no government action short of door broken down/shots fired/tear gas would have gotten me out, as I would never have opened the door for .gov. And my door won't open if simply leaned on.

As for one's preps, well if the sum total of a persons preps are a couple of ginsu knives, spam from the 40's, and a rubber blow up doll, ok point taken. But if your preps include a generator, gas for the same, lanterns with fuel, a good stock of food and capacity to cook it, and clothes approperiate for the weather, and of course bearable arms, just how exactly will you be enticed out of your house and into the camps?

I think your using your though process to justify a lack of action. Hay, if you don't think you need to act, that's ok. But to me your reasoning lacks a sound foundation.
 
Readyontheright,
thanks for that link. Nice to know that some still defended themselves after katrina. Proof that guns save lives and protect property.
 
Reading all of this makes me realize that my home is nearly undefendable.
I live in an already too close for comfort suburb.
Most of my neighbors are illequipped to handle a whole day of power outages, my judgment of them comes from past experiences.
While my neighbors are mostly all nice people, I know they would flip out come major trouble.
Although I live as the sheepdog, I am not equipped to handle such a large flock.
I think this weekend I will go find a good place in the hills to fall back to just incase the need should arise.
I do think if a quick exit is needed a few well packed bags of supplies to toss into the old f-350 will be stored in my coat closet for emergencies.
 
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I do think if a quick exit is needed a few well packed bags of supplies to toss into the old f-350
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So you can be stuck on the freeways with the rest of them. Remember the traffic snarls of Katrina? I'd feel safer at home, I have no problems turning folks away.

I'm a gear head type that always used to have friends pull this crap on me for their broken down cars so they could save a buck. We all make decent money, but these folks are really cheap. I'd work on their car with them all day, literally save them hundreds of dollars in most cases, and then they'd provide me with a half rack of beer like it was "real" compensation. This got old quick and I started telling them to find a good mechanic, their means of compensating me was not worth 15 minutes of my time anymore. It took about a year, but I've put a stop to it.

Anyone calls for help now, I give them 5-10 minutes on the phone and I give them my mechanics' numbers, period. Same goes for SHTF. Bimart has this on sale, that on sale, they have guns, you might want to look into it yourself. If you think I'm going to be there to help you, just think of how many times you've been there to help me. This usually stops them in their tracks because they all have good intentions, but truly the only welcome person I can honestly think of that has been there for me is my neighbor, and he's right next door. As for the ne'erdowell family members on my wife's side. His family has been in my house once in 12 years. He knows better. Her sister, maybe, but that family is smart enough to actually contribute, not freeload. They would be welcome.
 
If Katrina showed nothing else it is that when there is a crisis, government will make mostly bad decisions for you.
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A lot of things happened during Katrina that will NOT happen again.

Once bitten, twice shy.


CHP will likely not be anywhere near our citizens.


-- John
 
allPine : We live two or more states away from all of our family. Only my mom and one of my wife's uncles know where we live. Everybody else gets a PO box for xmas cards, etc.

Since this is a rural neighborhood, most folks are somewhat self sufficient. In a prolonged emergency, I'd guess we'd be trading back and forth.
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That's basically the way it is with my family. With the exception of my wifes Dad (who's a Air Force veteran and hardcore hunter with 50 or 60 animal mounts in his house and who in addition to hunting all over N. America has gone to Bostwana, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe on Safaris 15 times, so I'd be more than happy to have him show up) there really isn't anyone around here to come over in the first place with the exception of a couple friends who are about like me (they all like guns, have some food, are all mostly in EMS and are kind of prepared for whatever).
 
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