What exactly is a SHTF scenario?

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Don't get me wrong --I don't want to live like that, but when I see people
doing spread sheets for water and fuel consumption to maintain modern
suburban life with air-conditioning, satellite internet, and lawn sprinkling,
it shows me they have a complete lack of long-term perspective.
Click to expand...

Who the hell are you talking about? No one in this thread from what I have read. You have only shown me that you have no perspective on the topic of this thread- not to mention the fact that it's in the 'Gen. Gun Disc.' forum, not the 'what it takes to feed yourself during an emergency' forum. Let's refrain from attacking anyone else and their perceived idea of what firearms will be necessary in an emergency type situation and stay on topic.

BTW, I've seen living like you describe in Iraq here in the South, in several states. You don't have to be a worldly traveled person to be a smarty pants. People have the right to live like they choose in this country, and many have chosen a minimalist approach.
 
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I dunno if it is prudent or paranoid to think about and prepare for this stuff. But that doesn't stop me or most of us from thinking about it and posting. Exactly what the cause or extent of it is varies but I'm pretty sure Ivan and his buddies somewhere are doing the same thing.
 
SHTF is when the bear comes through the kitchen window to get the salmon and stomps the cabbages all over the floor.

SHTF is when the brush fire crests the ridge and panicky, injured steers are "defending themselves" from anything that moves.

SHTF is when the local gang members were paid to torch the house next to yours by a condo builder - and you walk in on the bonfire.

SHTF is when things are going very wrong right now - and help is minutes away.
 
Don't get me wrong --I don't want to live like that, but when I see people
doing spread sheets for water and fuel consumption to maintain modern
suburban life with air-conditioning, satellite internet, and lawn sprinkling,
it shows me they have a complete lack of long-term perspective.
Click to expand...

Who the hell are you talking about? No one in this thread from what I have read. You have only shown me that you have no perspective on the topic of this thread-
...
BTW, I've seen living like you describe in Iraq here in the South, in several states. You don't have to be a worldly traveled person to be a smarty pants. People have the right to live like they choose in this country, and many have chosen a minimalist approach.
Click to expand...

I just made the case for the minimalist approach. Did you knee-jerk because
you misunderstood that or because I struck a nerve and you're defending
those who have personally taken the maximumalist air-conditioned approach?

There were a wide variety of responses to how people defined what constituted
SHTF here. What some people called SHTF earlier in this thread would barely
constitute a shoulder-shrug from some here and would just be considered
another day at work by others.

Here is a bit more of my personal perspective on this topic:

http://thehighroad.org/showpost.php?p=5180819&postcount=14
 
And let's just be clear...

...everyone here has the Constitutional right to have as many betamags
and 75 rd AK drums stacked up as they would like...barring any local or
state laws in their area.
 
To me SHTF is what happens after the Govt realizes there is a crisis looming in the future, builds containment camps in the US "Just In Case" and retasks the military to domestic "protection". Then walks with full knowledge into the crisis by printing trillions of dollars for whatever reason, devaluing the dollar. Eventually other countries will lose faith in the dollar and it will become worthless. Everyone who did not prepare will panic and those who did prepare will become the envy of those who did not.
 
To me, SHTF means, quite frankly, a situation where there is no law. Where I might potentially have to shoot people and know that there are no consequences for doing so, and conversely, that there are no consequences for anyone who would want to shoot me. A SHTF scenario would entail the pre-meditated knowledge that I would have to engage multiple targets, either at once or separately.

In other words, it could only be in the context of some kind of breakdown of society.

A burglar in the house is not an SHTF situation. It's just something I'd have to deal with at the spur of the moment and hope for the best.

SHTF means if the S has hit the F for me, it has also done so for everyone else. There's no such thing as a private SHTF situation in my opinion. The phrase is synonymous with a total breakdown of law and order affecting everyone.

I have no delusions about being able to fight through a SHTF scenario single-handedly like a lone-wolf warrior in an action movie. That kind of mentality is a guaranteed failure. My best hope - all of our best hope - in this kind of scenario is to form groups. The bigger, the better.
 
That is what I was trying to convey with my post, as most of it has already happened. If what I stated in my post happened, the Govt would be there to stop the food riots that would occur and arrest and relocate anyone who protested. Since at least half the voting public believes they are entitled to a basic living and many other things, events such as looting would become commonplace. What would happen if a week after all the groceries ran out of food, people noticed that you had a generator at your house? They might think that you might have food as well since you prepared and all. Anyone that you told about your preparations would know. How far do you think a person would be willing to go if, for the first time in their lives, they faced real starvation?
 
Yikes

hmm...

You make people think, sinixstar....

After much thought (around 30 secs), I've decided to categorize SHTF into a few levels, the Sane Levels I-IV and Level X.

I. Ah ****, my lil sister walked in on me and SO/ I got fired

II. A rapist/mugger/other criminal broke in/something similar

III. Earthquake or hurricane, and no law for a few weeks

IV. No law for a few years, governmental collapse due to economic reasons, riot etc. Projected ~20%, + 15% of the nation dies.

Level X Oil runs out-Nuclear War-Zombie Apocalypse Projected 65% + 50% of the nation dies.
 
I think you have something there. Specific levels of SHTF makes sense.

1. Personal.
2. Home.
3. Neighborhood.
4. Community/Town
5. Local area/City
6. Area/County
7. State
8. Country
9.World

It would be better with fewer levels as not to be confusing.
 
I read a lot of survival fiction, some online, just to see different ideas...
Anyways, I read a very sobering scenario: economic crash, grocery stores have problems getting deliveries, people start to riot.
MARTIAL LAW. Troops come in and start taking guns... & while they search houses for guns, they are also looking for food stockpiles, or what they now call "hoarding". THEY THEN REDISTRIBUTE YOUR SUPPLIES. Remember the recent issues with rice?

That about freaked me out. It's scary. And absolutely plausible with the current socio-political climate.
 
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