The unthinkable - maybe a little "prepping" isn't a bad idea.

[MMtwo]

Not intended to be political - everyone is vulnerable.

At 3AM, I woke up and started thinking about the "What if's" that made me think about planning for contingencies. So we're probably not going to get into a nuclear confrontation. I am a planner and think it may be a good time to take a moment and think about emergency planning at home incase something tragic does occur. Living 100 miles from Washington DC as the crow flies, I am definitely thinking about what we would need to do for peace of mind. I found this website and am printing out helpful literature just incase for the basement. http://www.ki4u.com/guide.htm
Bought a bathtub sized emergency water holder (100 gallons), hand crank emergency radio and other things.

Have you thought about this too? Just curious!

 

[Slickk]

Yes I have. I live within 15-20 miles of a nuclear power plant. Many years ago the local communities gave out potassium iodide to have on hand in case of an emergency. It protects your thyroid in case of nuclear fallout.
I’ve been moving those four tablets around from home to home and now, of course, they’re expired. I ordered a refill. Also, apparently more than 1 dose/person is needed. I ordered enough for all of my loved ones. I still get chills thinking of how the two 911 planes flew over our power plant prior to striking the towers…
I may sound crazy but it’s a small price to pay to feel even just a little bit prepared.
It’s a terribly sad and scary time…

 

[Matata]

What the science says: Could humans survive a nuclear war between NATO and Russia? - Alliance for Science

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has suggested that he would consider using nuclear weapons if confronted with a NATO military response in Ukraine, or if faced with a direct threat to his person or regime. If the war spreads to a NATO country like Estonia or Poland a direct US-Russia confrontation...

allianceforscience.cornell.edu

 

[TooPatient]

Yep. Got a small group of local ladies who think similarly and are helping each other learn and be ready. Learning experiences range from tapping maples for syrup to slaughtering and butchering pigs.

 

[yssie]

Nope.

If we get to the point of nukes used in that context - honestly, no amount of iodine or bomb shelters or stockpiling goods or whatever other precautions one might take is going to save you from evaporating (if you’re too close), the long-term effects of radiation poisoning (if you’re far enough away not to die from the immediate trauma), or the absolute - and, I’m confident, lethal - mania that a devastated supply chain will create.

I’m going to keep living my life and hope we don’t get there, because if we do get there I don’t believe there will be all that much left to live for.

 

[Ionysis]

Funnily enough this is something that has been in my mind / of interest to me for years. Too much Walking Dead probably!

We have a place in France which is almost totally “off grid”. We have our own spring for water and run on oil heating from our own tank which would keep us going for about a year with careful use. Have gas bottles for the hob and solid wood open fire. It’s set in the middle of a forest and you’d never find the house if you didn’t know where it was already. All we need is a generator / solar panels for electric and we’d be totally self sufficient.

It’s got a deep cellar too (which is presently gradually getting filled with wine rather than tinned food and sacks of potatoes - but the alternative option is there!).

My husband had a gun license but we need to get a French permit. Then we would keep shotguns too, as hunting is very common in the region. A lot of wild boar, deer, and even rabbits.

With all that’s going on in the world I said to my husband that when we go to France this summer we should perhaps stock up on some essentials in the cellar - tins, water, dried foods properly packaged, medical supplies etc. and get that gun license sorted out.

The problem is I live a 6 hour flight away from the place right now - which isn’t very helpful! But if things started looking hairy in my part of the world it would be good to know I’ve got somewhere to run to which is adequately provisioned.

You never know when you might run into a zombie apocalypse after all!

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I don't do Armageddon! I just don't! I've had a lovely 20 years or so, I'm quite content.

I have two lobsters in my freezer, a wagyu steak for the kid and a sirloin for the doggo. I hope to be able to cook them up with sides before I go down in flames.

I'm just a bit melancholy that the kid might not live out his full life so my priority is to give his as many happy days as I can, in the event that his life gets cut short.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Im in permanent denial

but a few years ago i read the book 'On the beach' by Nevil Shout (oh that spelling is sooo bad )
it was written possiblly in the 50s but was made into a mini series in the 80s ??
Fu*king scary stuff

A US nucular submarine happens to be in Aussie waters when catastrophe happens in the northern hemispheres due to nucular war

basically they have 6 months to live till the fall out and the nucular winter arrives down here

i don't want to live in a world for even 10 min with out you guys

But an earthquake or a volcanic eruption or maybe a tsunami is more likely to get me

we have a ton of camping gear but when i get a full time job we must buy a generator

Right now i have 4 cartons of extra food in the spear bedroom to be covid prepared
I look at it and want to go camping

 

[kenny]

Well just in case, I'll say my good byes now.
Kiss your children and SO and tell them you love them today.
Have a VERY nice meal.
It may be your last chance since I suspect if it happens there will be no notice - perhaps a blindingly bright flash of light ... then ... nothing.
Well, I hope that's how it will go, instead of infinite terror for some time ... then the flash of light ... then ... nothing.

It's been wonderful knowing all of you and co-enjoying one of the lovely fruits of our labor, diamonds.
Thanks Andrey and Ella. What you do has made my life better.

Humans are stupid, and don't deserve this planet.
If it does happen I hope all humans go extinct, otherwise, eventually, this will just happen again.

Imagine earth, after it heals in a few million years, a natural paradise with no humans to F it up.
That will be nice.

I've said my piece.
So, Bombs Away!

 

[missy]

I've always said I do not want to survive in a post apocalyptic world.
For me it is not life above all else. Quality of life matters.

So yeah, I won't be taking special measures to survive a nuclear Holocaust.
I would embrace as peaceful a death as I could at that point.

Don't misunderstand me. I want to live and am not ready to die but to live in a world shattered beyond repair surrounded by radioactive fallout? No thank you. I will take the alternative.



"It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us.”
― Nevil Shute, On The Beach

 

[Ionysis]

Well just in case, I'll say my good byes now.
Kiss your children and SO and tell them you love them today.
Have a VERY nice meal.
It may be your last chance since I suspect if it happens there will be no notice - perhaps a blindingly bright flash of light ... then ... nothing.
Well, I hope that's how it will go, instead of infinite terror for some time ... then the flash of light ... then ... nothing.

It's been wonderful knowing all of you and co-enjoying one of the lovely fruits of our labor, diamonds.
Thanks Andrey and Ella. What you do has made my life better.

Humans are stupid, and don't deserve this planet.
If it does happen I hope all humans go extinct, otherwise, eventually, this will just happen again.

Imagine earth, after it heals in a few million years, a natural paradise with no humans to F it up.
That will be nice.

I've said my piece.
So, Bombs Away!

Nice to see you're feeling positive today Kenny!

 

[icy_jade]

I live in an island state where nearly everything including food is imported and where most people live in high rises as there isn’t much land. If there is a nuclear strike, chances are that my loved ones and I will vaporize, and hopefully with as little pain as possible. Or possibly die in building collapses. You get the idea. It’s a pretty small place. The alternative ie surviving with radiation burns/poisoning and in agony before dying is too cruel.

Maybe I’ll think differently if I live away from a city in a place with land etc. I’ve read about people building bunkers and stocking up with food, being able to go off-grid etc.

 

[kenny]

Nice to see you're feeling positive today Kenny!

Positivity and negativity do not change what may happen.
I don't see being in denial about a real possibility as being healthy.
Accepting and coming to terms with what may happen reduces my anxiety over what I cannot control.

Fear, denial, and pretending is not how I roll.
Truth and honesty brings me some peace.

 

[autumngems]

I have not made any preparations but I do worry about the possibility of nuclear war. How much time and notice we would have? If I were at work, would I be able to reach my daughter in time to be with her, etc.... it's scary and only makes me depressed

 

[Mayk]

Guilty of being a mini closet prepper. Food and supplies. Nothing in the case of nuclear war Just something if there were to be another lock down or food supply shortage.

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

The problem is less a full on nuclear war, where I'd chose to stand outside and get evaporated in a split second...

The more likely option is unfortunately another Chernobyl -like scenario. A plant in Ukraine releasing a nuclear cloud or a missile striking a plant elsewhere. And if the wind goes into the wrong direction (us) and one isn't prepared then ( basement with thick walls that's airtight (-ish), emergency water ) out deaths will be horribly painful and long from the radiation. No thanks .

Apparently with relatively small preparation one can survive the critical 4 days and significantly increase life expectancy and then die 20-30 years later ...

Also there's not necessary an apocalyptic world (see Chernobyl) - that zone would be fairly contained and as a survivor one would move a few hundred miles and still live a "normal" life.

So, to me it makes sense to able to survive that kind of scenario (nuclear power plant incident) and I have stocked up on what several websites tell me is essential.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Im.more worried for the animals
Entire Species of animals
If humans have cooked their goose then so be it
but the animals deserve to go on

i am primary thinking about the crocodillions, the most successful group of predictors the world has ever known
So succesful and so perfectly created they still remain with us here today

They deserve better

And like so many other species they deserved the bigger brain over us stupid and selfish humans

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I've always said I do not want to survive in a post apocalyptic world.
For me it is not life above all else. Quality of life matters.

So yeah, I won't be taking special measures to survive a nuclear Holocaust.
I would embrace as peaceful a death as I could at that point.

Don't misunderstand me. I want to live and am not ready to die but to live in a world shattered beyond repair surrounded by radioactive fallout? No thank you. I will take the alternative.



"It's not the end of the world at all," he said. "It's only the end for us. The world will go on just the same, only we shan't be in it. I dare say it will get along all right without us.”
― Nevil Shute, On The Beach

When did you last read it Missy ?

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

Im.more worried for the animals
Entire Species of animals
If humans have cooked their goose then so be it
but the animals deserve to go on

i am primary thinking about the crocodillions, the most successful group of predictors the world has ever known
So succesful and so perfectly created they still remain with us here today

They deserve better

And like so many other species they deserved the bigger brain over us stupid and selfish humans

They might survive Daisy!!!! Probably not our pet cats and dogs but some of the others might mutate and survive!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

They might survive Daisy!!!! Probably not our pet cats and dogs but some of the others might mutate and survive!

I love your steak and crayfish in the freezer ...but id provably just have a regular old bad day ...and eat them

 

[MamaBee]

I prepared like a crazy woman before Covid..I’ve done zip in case of a nuclear disaster…My husband thinks I’m crazy to worry about it. I don't know that any preparation would be helpful..Putin is a crazy man…I hope someone close to him takes him out..This is from a person that doesn’t even believe in capital punishment.

 

[mellowyellowgirl]

I love your steak and crayfish in the freezer ...but id provably just have a regular old bad day ...and eat them

Haha we eat it every 6 months and replace it with new stock

 

[SparklieBug]

Im.more worried for the animals
Entire Species of animals
If humans have cooked their goose then so be it
but the animals deserve to go on

i am primary thinking about the crocodillions, the most successful group of predictors the world has ever known
So succesful and so perfectly created they still remain with us here today

They deserve better

And like so many other species they deserved the bigger brain over us stupid and selfish humans

We've watched fascinating documentaries on the effects of Chernobyl on wildlife, and plants too, for that matter. It's surprising how the animals have survived and even thrived, sans further intervention from humans. The planet will surely go on, in spite of we ridiculous humans.

 

[AprilBaby]

If it happens I would rather not survive. The earth will be desolate and sad. Good knowing you all!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

A couple of years before we moved we had some really nasty big earthquakes
A ne2 office building on the waterfront would have killed many people except it happened at night
lucky we lived on rock
but it was very scary
I used to like all of us, humans and kitty to sleep together so if the end of the world came we would be together
but i slap slept with my work boots on for a few nights so maybe i have some survivor instant
Anyway now days we all have separate beds and rooms

I often think of the bit in on the beach where the little kiddie starts to get radiation sickness so they eat the fresh season strawberries from the garden and take cyinide tablets (?)
But im afraid of purgatory (or worse)

 

[jeaniefish]

I prepared like a crazy woman before Covid..I’ve done zip in case of a nuclear disaster…My husband thinks I’m crazy to worry about it. I don't know that any preparation would be helpful..Putin is a crazy man…I hope someone close to him takes him out..This is from a person that doesn’t even believe in capital punishment.

I don't post often but I always learn something new when I read other PS members' posts. I'm pretty safe in assuming that I am one of the oldest members. Does anyone else recall getting under your school desk for air raid drills (Duck and Cover!!) or neighbors digging holes in their backyards for fallout shelters? There wasn't really much we could do to protect ourselves and I don't think it's al that much different today if "the big one" happens.
I completely agree with you, Mama Bee, on your assessment of Putin and your hope for his demise. Unfortunately, it seems that the truly evil humans rarely get the punishment they really deserve while they are alive. It continues to astound me how just one evil man or woman can amass so much power and control over so many, only to use it to fulfill his/her own depraved desires and thirst for power.
Apparently, we haven't actually learned the lessons of history ( monsters like Stalin, Hitler, recently Syria's Bashar al-Assad who used chemical warfare on children) so we do seem to be doomed to repeat those horrible times in too many countries of the world. Actually, even one country is one too many!
I also agree with Kenny: tell your loved ones how much they mean to you, including your pets , and try to appreciate every day you have for as long as you can. That's really all that most of us humans have the power to control.....our own thoughts, feelings and actions. Peace out!

 

[MamaBee]

I don't post often but I always learn something new when I read other PS members' posts. I'm pretty safe in assuming that I am one of the oldest members. Does anyone else recall getting under your school desk for air raid drills (Duck and Cover!!) or neighbors digging holes in their backyards for fallout shelters? There wasn't really much we could do to protect ourselves and I don't think it's al that much different today if "the big one" happens.
I completely agree with you, Mama Bee, on your assessment of Putin and your hope for his demise. Unfortunately, it seems that the truly evil humans rarely get the punishment they really deserve while they are alive. It continues to astound me how just one evil man or woman can amass so much power and control over so many, only to use it to fulfill his/her own depraved desires and thirst for power.
Apparently, we haven't actually learned the lessons of history ( monsters like Stalin, Hitler, recently Syria's Bashar al-Assad who used chemical warfare on children) so we do seem to be doomed to repeat those horrible times in too many countries of the world. Actually, even one country is one too many!
I also agree with Kenny: tell your loved ones how much they mean to you, including your pets , and try to appreciate every day you have for as long as you can. That's really all that most of us humans have the power to control.....our own thoughts, feelings and actions. Peace out!

@jeaniefish I’m also one of the oldest members. I was 7 years old when President Kennedy advised us to build bomb shelters. I vividly remember having to retreat to our classroom coat closet. Fifty kids would fit inside along with the teacher..(nun).

I agree with everything you said. Hopefully this man will receive his karma.

 

[123ducklings]

Nothing in response to current events, but I grew up and continue to live in an area where although rare, the risk of natural disaster is ever present. I’m far from what could be considered a “prepper” but maintaining an extra store of water and pantry goods has been a natural part of life.

Kind of tangential, but I read an interesting article a few years back about gender as it relates to prepping. I’ll post it if I can find it. The main point was that male preppers were really concerned with security and building an arsenal to defend their supplies; more motivated by end-of-days violent scenarios. Women on the other hand had often gotten into prepping after experiencing an episode of financial instability; being motivated by the need to care for children they would use their regained financial footing to set aside for a rainy day.

 

[jeaniefish]

@jeaniefish I’m also one of the oldest members. I was 7 years old when President Kennedy advised us to build bomb shelters. I vividly remember having to retreat to our classroom coat closet. Fifty kids would fit inside along with the teacher..(nun).

I agree with everything you said. Hopefully this man will receive his karma.

Hi MamaBee,
The image of fifty 7 y.o. kids and a nun in a coat closet made me laugh! As a retired elementary school teacher, I can only say that it would take a nun and some divine intervention to pull that off!
I also choose to believe that Putin will get what he deserves. ….and the President of Ukraine will win the Nobel Peace Prize.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Another ancient PS'er here.....I've been practicing hiding under the desk....if it was good enough for us in the '60's......