SHTF:What's Your Scenario and Solution?

[35 Whelen]

I see these "SHTF" threads...what rifle would you use, etc. But it seems to me there are a miriad of SHTF scenarios. So instead of "....hey, what's the best firearm if SHTF were to occur", let's define our own scenarios and how we'd be armed.
I'll go first!

I live in north Texas on 55 ac. I'm about 5 miles from a small-ish town and about 15 or so miles from a large town which are both east of me. West of my property is almost totally pasture/woods/creeks with practically no houses for miles and miles.
So, given the fact that there aren't many people around save the few dozen or so houses on my road, I could see my primary goal as keeping the family fed first, then having to defend myself and my house second.

I already have plenty of scoped centerfire rifles with which to hunt, but my 308 Scout rifle would be my first choice as with jacketed bullets it has ample power for the deer and hogs that live around here, could be used in a pinch for extended range self defense, and I also cast my own bullets that could be used for deer and small game.
For self defense, I own a couple of Yugo SKS's as well as a Garand with plenty of clips and loaded ammunition for both. I've also regulated the sights on all three of these so they're spot on 24/7.
I have 4 or 5 handguns including a .22, a 9mm, a 38 Spec. and a 45 ACP, but I have a Ruger Security 6 with which I am particularly comfortable. I could see it or perhaps my Colt Series 70 45ACP being on my persons at all time.

If needed I have several .22 rifles as well as several shotguns and tons of ammuntion for each.
So, any suggestions? Ideas? What's your SHTF scenario and how would you arm yourself?
35W

 

[cslinger]

Well should TEOTWAWKI come I myself will be reaching for a good bourbon................and should any of you sum bi$^hes try and take my bourbon then I will reach for the guns. I take my bourbon seriously and I damn well will take offense to anybody who mentions the words.....on the rocks.

 

[pgeleven]

the person who comes to my door and says 'Mr. B, turn them in' (im looking at YOU Hillary).... actually, the solution would be more fitting in the 'shotgun' forum area

 

[RP88]

let's assume I had the rifle I want already: a quality Saiga or AK-47 model, and then of course my 12-gauge.

break-in: I'm in the room farthest away from the rest of the house, so it would be extremely hard for a perp to get the drop on me, or catch me before I took some 'cautionary provisions'. The windows in my room are nice new storm windows, so getting in through them would take too much time for him to come through my room and have a remote chance of taking me. The blinds are always down since I'm not a day-time person, so he wont know where I am in the room if he were to try and shoot through them to hit me. My door is also always closed, so I would be the last room for a crook to try and take if several were to raid my house. However, my parents' and brother's room are not, and they do not have guns, sadly, so the situation would turn very bad for them if the crooks were armed at all. Our dogs are only puppies right now, so they arent very alert or loud, which means we wouldnt get a warning like we would have if our other dogs were still with us. However, our long-time neighbor is a police officer, and comes home at night in his squad car. Hopefully, seeing a squad car fifty feet away will deter any raiders or invaders. If we had some sort of forewarning to the event (i.e. heard the garage door kicked in or something, since me, my dad, and my brother are up at rnadom times throughout the night for various reasons), I'd grab the rifle, wake my dad (assuming he slept through the racket--chances are he wouldnt) and hand him the shotgun while my mom calls the police. One of us would cover the front door and bedroom areas, and the other would stand in the living room, being able to take out anyone coming through the garage or backyard door. Anyone kicking in the front will go back out without their heads, and anyone coming through the back or garage will end up staining our new carpet.

Then, I would have a talk about why I have guns in the house without my dad knowing beforehand (it's on my list to do, but we dont catch each other because of our daily schedules), but I'm sure he'd not care considering that they could have saved our family in such an instance.

 

[cbrgator]

RP88, Does your dad know how to handle firearms? Because a situation like that isn't the time to be learning...

 

[hankdatank1362]

I take my bourbon seriously and I damn well will take offense to anybody who mentions the words.....on the rocks.

Or anything about sweet vermouth. Effing manhattans.

 

[cslinger]

Or anything about sweet vermouth. Effing manhattans.

Amen, you are welcome to join me for my end of the world get together.

Chris

 

[35 Whelen]

RP88, I think your scenario is more a burglary. I'm talking about a societal breakdown of epic proportions. Each family or person for themselves.
35W

 

[Treo]

In Before The Lock

I wrote this for another board the topic was katrina/L.A. Riots situations.

Given the type situations we've been discussing (Katrina/ the L.A. Riots) they were both localized enough that you'd get a better result driving to an unaffected area and getting a room, than going out to the woods and forting up.

I can't imagine a scenario, so vast that there literally wouldn't be anyplace to go , that wouldn't also be literally The End Of The World (forget "as we know it" it'd be the end period.

I think Katrina showed us that you'd want to avoid the cops as well as the robbers. I'm not quite sure how to do that but if it even looked like evacuation was going to be mandatory I'd load up the car and go I'd head for anyplace but a government run shelter. That would likely be the first priority staying out of government control. Once I got out of the danger zone I'd evaluate and go from there.

Long term I'd like to live far enough out of the city that evacuation wouldn't be an issue.

I think the most likely long term situation would be something like collapse of the dollar, long term depression and a sky rocketing crime rate. In that type of situation 90% of your problems would be avoided by simply not being in a city.

Short term stay in place scenario, I'd do every thing possible to stay off the radar, and avoid the notice of the government as well as the thugs. That means no generator to make noise. We invested in 5 or 6 wind up lanterns, a vampire pump to draw water from our well ( and a micro purifier) a solar powered short wave radio & a colman stove / as well as propane. The idea is to stay far enough off the radar that you don't NEED a SHTF rifle .

That also means that now before anything goes crazy, I don't tell my neighbors I have guns, I don't tell my neighbors we have food in the basement. I don't have the discussion we're having here W/ my neighbors. I do what ever I can reasonably do to make my self as small a target as possible

 

[theken206]

step one, drink scotch, step 2, drink scotch with good looking young women and my friends,

havent got to step three yet

 

[cslinger]

step one, drink scotch, step 2, drink scotch with good looking young women and my friends,

Ok, you can come too, but only if it is good scotch and if it is consumed...neat the way good scotch whiskey and all good whiskey should be consumed.

The fact is a couple hundred rounds, a good longarm and handgun as well as a modicum of smarts will do you well.

 

[Treo]

Having Some Fun B4 The Lock

After reading RP88s post, the first thing that came to mind was, you've got this scenario all planned in your head but nobody else in the house knows about it.

Unless you've got a REALLY big house you are (most likley) NOT going to have time to in form your family that you are now "in charge" & direct them to their battle stations.

Ya need to let dad know there's gun in HIS house before he finds out the hard way that his homeowners insurance won't underwrite him if there's guns in the house.

PS cslinger, I want to come to the party too ( I'm more of a Bud man )

 

[nathan]

Mine is urban housing subdiv. Back is wooded and front is usual houses. I have a good field of fire if things go haywire.

 

[philbo]

I'm talking about a societal breakdown of epic proportions.

If that's the case a portable supply of food, water and other commodities like medications, toilet paper, batteries, and the million things we take for granted on a daily basis are likely more important than what caliber firearm you have. Just make sure you have one that's versatile enough for self defense and hunting, and practice till you know how to use it. After that make plans for both staying put or moving as circumstances dictate.

 

[Treo]

This Thread Aint Locked YET?

My favorite SHTF sceneario has to do W/ me standing in my yard, ankle deep in hot brass, in the pre-dawn mists. With the corpses of Zombie hordes, outlaw bikers, phsyco tweekers, or enraged soccer moms. stacked up like cordwood along my fence and the waitresses from the local HOOTERS, huddled behind me begging me to father their children.

Not sure where I got that idea but I do like the sound of it.

 

[theken206]

"but only if it is good scotch and if it is consumed...neat the way good scotch whiskey and all good whiskey should be consumed."

oh indeed, two fingers neat, drink, repeat process untill proper effect is achieved

 

[Guitargod1985]

In the event of a complete societal breakdown (widespread civil unrest and cessation of industrial and commercial production) there would be a few priorities I would have above others.

1. Self-preservation - I happen to be young and single, so there would not be anyone holding me back. The first thing I would do is get away from the metropolitan area. Hanging around in an area with a high density of people is not something I think would be a great idea (New Orleans). My go to gun for getting the hell out of the city is an AR15 setup for CQB. For a sidearm I would take an HK USP compact in .40SW.

2. Food/water - The next thing I would want to do is find somewhere with a clean water source where I can reliably hunt for food. Unfortunately, this is a tricky proposition is Florida because almost the entire state is developed land and nearly any water source could be polluted during such a TEOTWAWKI scenario. I would most likely head north toward the appalachians. I do have several cases of bottled water and various canned foods for emergencies of a disastrous proportion. I could use these temporarily until I find a good place to "settle." For hunting purposes, I would use my Romanian WASR (7.62x39).

3. Gasoline - More than likely I would have enough gas to head for the hills. It wouldn't be prudent to depend on gas stations or any external means for gasoline acquisition, but it may be possible to siphon some in a pinch. In a TEOTWAWKI situation, the means of production and/or distribution for gasoline will be interrupted, so a temporary gas supply will need to be stockpiled in advance.

4. Medicine - A basic first aid kit is a no-brainer. Those who require prescription medication may want to loot a supply of necessary meds at the nearest pharmacy.

There are so many other necessary things. A mulitool and a hunting knife are very important tools, and a tent should not be overlooked. DO NOT FORGET EXTRA CLOTHES (especially underwear)!

 

[Wetawd]

When SHTF

portable supply of food, water and other commodities like medications, toilet paper, batteries, and the million things we take for granted on a daily basis are likely more important than what caliber firearm you have

Toilet paper is not an issue, just use your sleeve.

Anything in typical 7.62x39 ak type of weapon cause they rarely jam. and tons of ammo cause it's so popular.

 

[elmerfudd]

In a real longterm SHTF situation, most of us will have to rely on handguns as our primary weapons. Why? Because we will be busy doing the same things we do now: trying to earn a living. Maybe not for the first month or two, but eventually, most of us are going to have to pay for food, housing, fuel, etc... To do that we'll have to work and chances are our employers or the public at large won't let us work with an AK across our back, so we'll have to rely on concealed weapons. Of course you can always keep a rifle in your house or your car, but if gas is $20 a gallon and you're already hard up, you're probably going to walk, bike or take a bus whenever possible. Also, criminals are opportunists who look for easy victims. One thing you can safely assume is that they will attack you when you are most vulnerable. Maybe when you're entering your house. Maybe when you're stopped at an intersection, but rest assured they won't be storming your house like a platoon of marines if they can put a bullet in your head while you're working in the yard.

 

[JWarren]

No lock yet... Moderators have to sleep, too it seems.


For me, my most realistic SHTF is a regionalized, wide-spread natural disaster.

Living where I do, that means a hurricane such as Katrina.


For some, a localized societal meltdown on the terms for LA riots is realistic as well. Here, that really isn't a concern. Anything like that around here would be logistically improbable and would not make much headway.

I really don't consider things like a carjacking or home invasion a SHTF. I think of that as an 'incident." Likewise, I don't think of Road Warrior postapocalyptic we-must-fight-zombie-monkies scenerios as SHTF. They go into a whole new paradigm where the rules are completely different.


So, to answer the question of weapons, the ones I have will do. If I have to go anywhere, I'll keep a long gun in the vehicle and have either my 1911A1 or Glock on my belt. At home, I'll have a long gun where I could get to it if needed, but would actually have a handgun on my belt.

If anyone's read any of my Katrina posts, you'll see my reasoning for placing importance of a handgun a bit higher. It was with me FAR more than the AK that I kept handy as well.


Now that we've got that covered, I'd then focus on the 4,728 other things that we would need to consider to get through other than guns.


-- John

 

[chupacabrah]

when I think of SHTF, I'm thinking fleeing away from society in general and holing up in the wilderness somewhere. TOTAL societal breakdown. I only have 2 guns.... 9mm handgun and 7.62x39 Saiga/AK. Naturally these would come along. My wife and baby daughter and I would hop in the car and drive to some predetermined location, find a low key place to set up camp. and continue to survive. Existence may need to be nomadic, depending on search parties and things of that nature, to remain undiscovered.

that's my plan...now I just need a stockpile of ammo and some more camping supplies....

 

[Avenger29]

My favorite SHTF sceneario has to do W/ me standing in my yard, ankle deep in hot brass, in the pre-dawn mists. With the corpses of Zombie hordes, outlaw bikers, phsyco tweekers, or enraged soccer moms. stacked up like cordwood along my fence and the waitresses from the local HOOTERS, huddled behind me begging me to father their children.

I've got a new sig. Thanks, treo!

 

[H2O MAN]

35 Whelen SHTF: What's Your Scenario

Scenario: Running out of high end Scotch.
Solution: Keeping high end Scotch stockpiled.

 

[Guitargod1985]

This is my primary SHTF/TEOTWAWKI rifle.

 

[Andrewsky]

elmerfudd:

In a real longterm SHTF situation, most of us will have to rely on handguns as our primary weapons. Why? Because we will be busy doing the same things we do now: trying to earn a living. Maybe not for the first month or two, but eventually, most of us are going to have to pay for food, housing, fuel, etc... To do that we'll have to work and chances are our employers or the public at large won't let us work with an AK across our back, so we'll have to rely on concealed weapons. Of course you can always keep a rifle in your house or your car, but if gas is $20 a gallon and you're already hard up, you're probably going to walk, bike or take a bus whenever possible. Also, criminals are opportunists who look for easy victims. One thing you can safely assume is that they will attack you when you are most vulnerable. Maybe when you're entering your house. Maybe when you're stopped at an intersection, but rest assured they won't be storming your house like a platoon of marines if they can put a bullet in your head while you're working in the yard.

I think someone's read FERFAL's stories.