[Leonard D Neubache]

Quote:

That's great, it starts with an earthquake
Birds and snakes and aeroplanes
Lenny Bruce is not afraid

As per the request of a member on the periphery of the yellow vest movement.

From prolonged government shut-downs and possible French bank runs to level 99 solar flares and Yellowstone eruptions, this is the thread to discuss planning and preparations for short and long term catastrophes both locally and globally.

[Turnus]

I've been thinking about putting together a "bug out bag" or "survival bag" but haven't done it yet. Went down the rabbit hole a few months ago watching YouTube videos of guys preparing backpacks of bags that they could grab at a moments notice. They'd keep one in their car, one in their office and one at home.

[Foolsgo1d]

I'm of the thinking that it wont be 1 thing but a series of events and we're already seeing them. This is a slope over a long period too so its not something I need to worry about except finding perculiar events and happenings.

Unless you live in a town or city why bug out? Fuck that noise. I would rather sit and wait a bit to see whats what then go nuts with a couple of bags and hope to hell I am faster than many other people.

Other than that I just live happily on a day to day basis as normal. If things happen they're out of my control.

[tomzestatlu]

I won´t call myself prepper definitely, but I consider this situation might happen. For that case (not only for that case) I have got at home AK, some more guns, some ammo, a lot of military gear to survive in whatever environment and I am with connection with group of friends, who are preparing and training for this situation.
I kind of dislike prepper movement, because I used to be member of some prepper group on Facebook and these people are so dumb. But I am thinking about at least diging some plastic bottles of water somewhere.

I read an article from survivor from Sarajevo, that has been occupied for few years and existed without law. The conclusion: the best way how to survive this situation is bring some guns and some good friends with guns.

My little point. War is bad and means a lot of suffering, but our society is maybe in so bad condition, that maybe we should welcome these situations.

[Leonard D Neubache]

It may be splitting hairs but regarding so-called bug-out bags they should be designed as "get home" bags or "get to my pre-arranged retreat location" bags.

Don't bother building one on the premise that you're going to hit the road and somehow live off the land. Really, it's just not going to work.

I'll contribute something more solid than that later.

[Cr33pin]

(01-10-2019 11:40 AM)Leonard D Neubache Wrote:  

It may be splitting hairs but regarding so-called bug-out bags they should be designed as "get home" bags or "get to my pre-arranged retreat location" bags.

Don't bother building one on the premise that you're going to hit the road and somehow live off the land. Really, it's just not going to work.

I'll contribute something more solid than that later.

[Dalaran1991]

Given how a lot of RVF are expats or having a second base, a good consideration is: How to get out of ground zero and back to my home country / second base?

Granted I don't believe we will be caught with our pants down, we should be able to see it coming. But let's say shit hit the fan and for some extreme reason I'm still stuck in warzone Paris, I'd really like to know how to get on a plane and back to Asia.

Or I could man the fuck up and stow away in a container like my ancestors did in the 50s

[ChicagoFire]

I agree with the bold. If our society keeps devolving only the people that have seen real shit will survive. No internet, no modern heating, no porno videos. Most people would meltdown. I remember being on a greyhound that broke down on the side of the road and we had a hysterical woman that wouldn't obey law enforcement. Imagine that except it's widespread and technology is potentially out.

Also nice video Turnus, I'll check it out. Thanks.

I'll outline what I've been doing for several months:
* Buy a trauma kit which should cost about $120 and know how to use it. Tourniquets are essential and if you only have to have one item buy it.
* Look up Traveler Kai's martial arts thread and study a combat system. I currently do FMA and systema. Both are more or less easy to learn but within a year of training you will be deadly. I have a 1000 journal entry log for "preparedness" drilling so hopefully I can fulfill my log once President Trump finishes his second term.
* Practice shooting guns
* Build a career so you are more mobile. My mistake in this aspect is in my current career it's very hard to advance upwards but within a couple weeks my luck will change. From my understanding rural areas are safer than cities since theoretically if there was a SHTF scenario you can hunker down in an area where food production is present.
* Build your own crew. Ideally you're with childhood friends you shot guns with or you served in the military with these guys.
* Buy items in bulk
* Push your comfort zone in little ways everyday. It could be turning on the shower on cold for 10 seconds or 5 more reps of bicep curls. Every little thing helps.

Location dependent: Read the civil war thread, especially the red team planner analysis. If you're in the US it's possible it can happen.

(01-10-2019 11:22 AM)tomzestatlu Wrote:  

I won´t call myself prepper definitely, but I consider this situation might happen. For that case (not only for that case) I have got at home AK, some more guns, some ammo, a lot of military gear to survive in whatever environment and I am with connection with group of friends, who are preparing and training for this situation.
I kind of dislike prepper movement, because I used to be member of some prepper group on Facebook and these people are so dumb. But I am thinking about at least diging some plastic bottles of water somewhere.

I read an article from survivor from Sarajevo, that has been occupied for few years and existed without law. The conclusion: the best way how to survive this situation is bring some guns and some good friends with guns.

My little point. War is bad and means a lot of suffering, but our society is maybe in so bad condition, that maybe we should welcome these situations.

[Sherman]

I would recommend getting out of the city. I remember many years ago being caught in a hurricane. By the time the media was recommending people leave there were already a million people on the roads. I went to the local Walmart and the shelves were completely bare, no batteries, food, etc. You have to stock supplies in advance because when the shit hits the fan it is already too late. Have food, bottles of water, batteries, a portable radio, ham radio, etc. If it is a long term situation, the only people that will survive are those that are part of a strong community.

[Investment Bro]

It's funny, my father and I both prepped over one year of MREs for the 2012 end of the world scenario.

Was talking with one of my friends at FEMA, and when you get an outline of some of the things they're planning for, it really makes you think. If the Yellowstone Volcano, for instance exploded tomorrow we would have ash covering the entire country except for parts of Hawaii, Alaska, and Florida.

How do you think you guys would deal with something of that magnitude? I don't think there's really any way to prepare for something so severe.

[BlastbeatCasanova]

Bug out bag/2 weeks water and rations minimum are a must. How can one call himself a man if he has not made basic preparations for some kind of calamity? I live in hurricane territory and the last few years have been pretty rough with mass evacuations and super markets getting cleared out fast due to the media fueling mass hysteria. I can’t imagine getting caught in a legitimate food riot.

Also it’s pretty freaky how a well timed solar flare could send us back to the Stone Age. But no let’s worry about 57 genders and people who want to cut their dicks off.

[Easy_C]

I'd suggest start by reading this book:




He also has a rather lengthy interview on Youtube with Infowars.

[The Beast1]

I bought a machete.

Everyone needs a machete.

Bring it on solar flares!

[debeguiled]

(01-10-2019 01:57 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

I bought a machete.

Everyone needs a machete.

Bring it on solar flares!

I see your machete and raise you one parang.



https://www.outsideonline.com/2057001/me...er-machete

Quote:

Combining the reach of a machete with the heft of an axe, the parang excels at both chopping and detail work. It’s long been touted as the ultimate do-it-all survival tool by experts like Lofty Wiseman and Bear Grylls, but has lacked widespread commercial availability. Now, high-value tools from Gerber and Condor are changing that.

So the question is: Do you need a parang in your life?

The machete we’re all familiar with found popularity in the jungles and rainforests of Central and South America. There, it’s a near universal tool, used for everything from trail clearing to farm work to rebel uprisings. Long and thin–the blades are just a few millimeters thick—the machete gains its cutting prowess from the speed of your wrist, whipping through thin vegetation like vines and saplings.

The parang, on the other hand, evolved in the denser, woodier jungles of Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. Denser vegetation dictated a thicker, stronger, sometimes broader blade that gets its power from its weight. You swing a parang with your shoulder, and it connects with wood with the force of an axe. You can hack at a wrist-thick piece of wood with a machete for 10 minutes and not make it through. Get your parang swing right, and it’ll sever that branch in a single blow.

[Foolsgo1d]

(01-10-2019 01:57 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

I bought a machete.

Everyone needs a machete.

Bring it on solar flares!

I cannot confirm or deny such tools in my possession.

[Walt_Heisenberg]

Back when we had the 2008 economic crisis, I somehow started buying into all the doom and gloom stuff, and became a sort of prepper for a few years. I was convinced things were about to get worse, and you had (still do) doomers and fear mongers like Gerald Celente, Jim Rogers, Adam Schiff, et al really milking the moment and paint a picture of complete societal collapse. It all ended up being completely bogus, as we have enjoyed an unprecedented recovery in the last 10 years.

There are those who argue it’s all fake and will eventually come crashing down, all we did was delay the inevitable thru the Fed’s cheap money policies. That’s a good discussion to have, but to stay on this topic, after stocking my house with up to a year’s worth of food, water, and all sorts of other supplies and keeping that going thru about 2014, I realized I was totally overdoing it. Ended up donating a lot of the food and started enjoying life more.

But I’m still prepared, just not as hardcore. I have some freeze dried food in the pantry, I’d say about a month’s worth. 2 weeks of water. Batteries, flash lights, 2-way radio, a couple of first aid kits, a water filter. So if some big emergency happens, I can hunker down in my house for up to a month and survive.

But if things get so bad that you need more than a month’s preps, than we got bigger problems anyway.

[HighSpeed_LowDrag]

The example of Venezuela shows that the best tools for prepping are foreign assets, a second passport, and a plane ticket.

[Laner]

I have a concrete bunker in the basement of my high rise building. I have lots of water, canned food, first aid, radio, stove and things to keep us warm. I have a couple guns and a bunch of ammo as well as things like hatchets. I can access the Metro tunnels through a hatchway which would be ideal for foraging the city if it came to that. I should keep booze and smokes in there for trading too.

My biggest concern is being away from home should something hit. My first priority would then be to get home and make sure the family is OK. After that, assess the situation and see if we even need to hit the bunker.

If things get bad I have a bug out location to a friends place where he will be bunkered with his family, 4km from me. He is ex special forces and has an arsenal. From there we assess and see if we need to make it further, which will be my farm 22km from my home and original concrete bunker. From the farm we are in a near fortress (even looks like one) and would likely be OK there for a while. We have a view of the land for many Km's and its on a series of dykes with water filled ditches.

I sure hope nothing happens, but I feel like we are prepared without feeling paranoid. This plan involves three steps, but millions of things could go wrong at any time, and this is what I would be afraid of.

[Oberrheiner]

Yeah, a bug-out bag is a funny idea.

When people talk about what could be done in a collapse I usually tell them to buy some land with a water source, build a house, grow vegetables, etc.
They always look at me like I'm crazy - "do you know much a house costs" etc.

Ok, point taken but then what the hell is with a BOB ?
This assumes you're living in your flat in the city or something, and will use the content of the BOB to get to your safe house in the middle of nowhere.
So not only it does involve having a house, and water and food, but also that it's not your primary location.
Well how much would that cost now ?

I can definitely get the appeal of getting many cool gadgets though, but there's no need to rationalize it behind some funny idea like a BOB - just admit you wanted some cool gadgets

[Kona]

(01-10-2019 02:16 PM)debeguiled Wrote:  

(01-10-2019 01:57 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

I bought a machete.

Everyone needs a machete.

Bring it on solar flares!

I see your machete and raise you one parang.

Debguiled is lucky since he lives in Portland. He can just get in his food truck and go.



Everybodys got those up there.

Me, on the other hand, I'm screwed.

Aloha!

[Dr. Chim Ritchalds]

(01-10-2019 01:05 PM)Easy_C Wrote:  

I'd suggest start by reading this book:




He also has a rather lengthy interview on Youtube with Infowars.

[video=yout ube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paJErIIMia8[/video]

Lol. Strategic Relocation by Skousen is the biggest piece of 'get you killed fast' government disinformation that you could possibly buy into. The nuclear data is tremendously out of date - and is relatively unimportant now, anyhow. No one is going to nuke the breadbasket they need, beyond a couple of major cities. Places he rates high, like Utah and Colorado, are either impossible to survive in without petroleum heat, or high guarded by survivalists who are already entrenched there anyhow.

Combined with known high-focus government awareness of 'where the good spots are', and the fact that NDAA made it possible to initiate martial law to simply take all that you've 'stored and prepared' for, you are in effect, the greatest storehouse the government could ever want FEMA to have, without them having to pay for it. There will be a LOT of dead pillaged fools in some beautiful, rugged, pristine areas, if any collapse comes - and people like Skousen can take a lot of credit for it, too.

If you want to survive, go where they do NOT expect survival to be easy. Not to a place where your Grizzly Adams and Jeremiah Johnson fantasies will never come to light. Most potential invaders also know what you profess - and they actually train for 'asset reallocation', just like our troops do. If only DHS and FEMA would come clean, and tell you the 'inside plans' of what they already plan to do, in event of a catastrophe, you'd be terrified. There's a reason why they request quotes on bodybags by the millions, but you don't see anything on water storage, purification, cots, food stores, etc. Because you ARE their stockpile.

Look at what they AREN'T buying, then ask 'why'? There's a reason Denver International was built, there's a reason why Colorado is the 'new D.C.' in the works, and there's a reason why they predominantly put economic and administrative functions in Kansas City - because they KNOW you are going to Colorado - and they want to be in the middle of it to still lead, once it collapses.

[Greyman]

Book/Audio Fiction but good:
One Second After (A John Matherson Novel)

Food prep/homestead:
http://readynutrition.com/

On Training:
Verified SF guy I talked to once upon a time. Go back to some of the first posts for unconventional urban tribe/tactics building...He's a gruff funny as hell no-shitter type of old school that some of you old hats may appreciate; and some of you younger dudes can learn from. No, I'm not affiliated with him in any way, other than being an old guy compared to most on this forum, and a 6 tour Veteran in the operations community myself.

https://mountainguerrilla.wordpress.com/

An Example of his writing...

Skull-Stomping Sacred Cows: Reality Isn’t Nice. It’s a 2×4 to the Teeth.
February 7, 2017

".....A whole lot of ‘ardent patriots’ and ‘expert preppers/survivalists,’ breathed a giant sigh of relief on the morning of WED 9NOV16. They woke up to the news that “R” had one, both the White House and a majority of Congress. All was saved from immediate damnation, and since everything was cool now, they could get on with not worrying about the future anymore. Big D got this, right?

There is a huge problem with normalcy bias in this country—a subject I’ve written about a lot on this blog, in the past. As long as “our guys” have control in DC, all is fine, right? Well, just like this last presidential cycle demonstrated that people on the Right were no longer content with the Beltway status quo, it should have demonstrated that people on the Left were no longer content with the Beltway status quo as well. The DNC pissed all over their own party, broke their own rules, and then basically, told the voters to “go fuck yourselves if you don’t like it,” in order to get their gal the nod to run. People on the Left are not fucking happy, and just like people on the Right swore they would contest the election results, and be ready to take up arms if Hillary Clinton got the White House, people on the Left are ready to take up arms, since there is a dude with an R behind his name sitting their instead.

It’s not that they wanted HRC—although, I know for a fact, some of them did—it’s that they didn’t want a person with an R behind their name in there. Donald Trump getting the White House was, to the modern day Left in this country, the exact same as Abraham Lincoln getting the White House in 1860 was to the Southern States. We are, make no mistake, in a Civil War. Fort Sumter is past, folks. Seriously. Wake the fuck up already.

Now, before I’m accused of being melodramatic, or hysterical, slow the fuck down for a second. There are some pretty serious differences that DO have to be taken into account, when we look at this.

#1) The people of Dixie weren’t stupid, and neither was their leadership. They didn’t run right out and start attacking the Army of the United States. They took a defensive role, and said, basically, “Hey, leave us alone, and all is well.” They didn’t want a fight. The Left today isn’t content with that, for a variety of reasons. They DO want a fight, and they’re not taking a defensive role. They are already attacking their enemies. They’re just not doing it with guns…yet….much.

#2) The Confederate States of America was the disgruntled party in the last go-round, and they were the more “libertarian/anarchist” of the belligerent parties. In this go-round, the roles have reversed; the “disgruntled party” is the statist party that wants to control everything, in accordance with their world view.

#3) While not technically accurate, Fort Sumter was the first “official” battle of the War of Northern Aggression. It was the real opening of hostilities between the uniformed services of two distinct, autonomous governments. In the current conflict, the legitimate government of the United States is, at most, a bit player, thus far. The War of Northern Aggression, while labeled a civil war, was not. It was a conflict of conquest by a sovereign state, against a sovereign state, that had declared its independence, and been recognized as a sovereign state, in accordance with international law. None of that mattered of course, but the difference with the current conflict should be obvious.

This is an actual civil war, as in a conflict between ideologically-opposed factions within the civilian and political population of a country. Like real civil wars, it is not going to be pretty. It’s not going to be armies, in pretty uniforms, fighting pitched, conventional battles. It’s going to be a matter of assassination, sabotage, hit-and-run raids, targeting ideological leadership figures, enemy families, etc.

As Matt Bracken pointed out in a recent Facebook post himself, we’re looking at more of a Balkans and/or Argentine “Dirty War” conflict. People just haven’t accepted that, because it doesn’t fit their mental images of what “war,” even “guerrilla war” looks like. That, in turn, is because, even the most devout conversions to the “Church of the Anti-Media” in this country today, have a lifetime of conditioning to the media’s portrayal of what “reality” is. From what a “proper” war looks like, to what “collapse” looks like, to what “bad guys” look like.

We commonly jump to the idea of “well, George Soros is funding this shit, so it’ll cause a breakdown, and currency collapse, and he can make a fortune off it.” There’s probably a lot of truth to that. I don’t know Soros, so I can’t tell you what his ultimate goals and motivations are. I have however, met a lot of Leftists, both in the US and elsewhere, and I can tell you, they are not looking for a currency collapse, in order to get richer.

It’s easy to sit in your lounger, with your laptop across your knees, and pontificate on the false motivations of the Leftist activists. “Oh, they’re just attention whores!” “Oh, they just want their safe spaces!” “Oh, they’re just useful idiots being played.” “Oh, they’ll quit as soon as the money stops.” There’s a very real problem with that though, and it’s called underestimating your enemy. If you don’t believe that a dude who is out, in wintertime, in a protest/riot, and eating some riot cops baton, as he receives a solid washing with “hickory shampoo,” is not a dedicated True Believer, you’re deluding yourself.

If you think that some twenty-something kid, who just saw his buddy take a bean bag round from a PD riot gun, in the dick, and then ignored his friend’s screams, to continue advancing, is not dedicated, and a True Believer, you’re fucking stupid.

If you think POTUS is going to magically save you? You’re dumb. Large urban areas and entire states are telling the federal government to go fuck itself on the immigration issue (and granted, the states are wrong on this one, but that doesn’t change the fact that this—as I mentioned, in detail, in Forging the Hero—is symptomatic of the collapse of the American Empire.) Things are not normal, and if you’re still stuck in your normalcy bias about “Make America Great Again,” you’re WAY behind the learning the curve.

I’ve talked with a number of friends in recent days; police officers and public services personnel, in large urban areas, across the country. None of them are taking this shit lightly. A fireman friend, from a major urban enclave on the east coast, that has been the scene of a number of ethnic conflicts in the last year or two, posted the following on FB recently,
“They are organized, they are violent. The cops aren’t shooting back because when some Tumblr shit biscuit doxxes them, their kids will be targets. Molon Labia and snowflake bluster isn’t cutting it anymore.
I’m a fucking fireman and have had body armor issued. That should say something very loudly and clearly.”

A cop friend told me, in private conversation, “Yeah, man. It’s serious. We know it can kick off at any moment. Sitting in your cruiser, at a stoplight; writing a citation, sitting at lunch. We just have to be ready to rock, all the time.”

Another cop friend, “Man, I’ve upped my off-duty EDC to three twenty-round mags for the Glock, and I keep eight loaded mags for the AR in the plate carrier behind my seat. It’s getting weird out there.”

So, if THEY get it, why don’t you, Mr. Expert Prepper/Survivalist?

————————————————————————

This is not about being a tough guy. This is not about the questionable PSYOP value of talking shit with social media memes about the opposition. This is about knowing, and understanding, the realities of the battlespace....."

"...The Right—especially the preparedness/survivalist/III/Threeper/Militia segment of the Right—is full of tough talk from self-professed badasses about how they’re gonna “slaughter” the other side when “open season on Leftists” is declared. It’s all a bunch of bullshit, written for an audience of people they don’t even know, but need to feel big in front of, for whatever reason.

Let me tell you a couple of trade secrets:

#1) I can train a fucking monkey to run an AR or an AK in three days. Give me ten days, and I can bring a complete novice to a near-expert level of proficiency with the gun. That’s fucking easy. The hard part? Convincing somebody to actually use it. Convincing someone that they actually need to overcome the culturally conditioned aversion to interpersonal violence that Americans have been spoonfed for the last sixty years, is far more challenging than teaching someone the mechanics of gunfighting. Guess which side has already overcome that cultural conditioning? I’ll give you two hints: first, it’s not the guys typing away on FB about how they’re gonna “slaughter” Leftists, as soon as they get permission from their Mommy. Second, it’s the people that are already cracking complete strangers in the head with bricks, then putting the boots to the unconscious victims, before throwing a Molotov Cocktail through their car window.

#2) The Left has won far more dirty civil wars and insurgent conflicts than the Right has won. There are a host of reasons for this, but most notable is the aversion, on the Right, to give up the security of law-and-order. As long as there is a politician telling them, “Now, now, let’s all keep calm. Let the authorities sort this out,” the Right is content to sit at home and bitch about those juvenile delinquents. The Left? They’re all, “FUCK THE MAN! LET’S MAKE IT BURN!” As long as there is a police officer in uniform…even if he is, like so many are currently, telling people, “Hey, we’re probably gonna be busy with other catastrophes when your personal catastrophe happens, so you’re on your own….” as long as he is on the job, the Right is going to say, “Meh, we’ll let the police do their job.” The Left? They’re going, “FUCK THE MAN! KILL THE PIGS!”

#3) The government isn’t going to save you. The government isn’t going to save your neighborhood, your city, or your state. The government MAY try and save itself. Those piranhas in the Beltway, on both sides of the aisle? They don’t give two shits about Mayberry RFD, until Mayberry RFD isn’t paying it’s taxes anymore, and by then? It’ll be too late for Sheriff Andy, Deputy Barney, Aunt Bea, Opie, and all their friends and neighbors. You want to be saved, you’d better be looking around and building what SF once upon a time called “CIDG,” or “Civilian Irregular Defense Groups,” among your neighbors and friends and families….you know…your tribe: the people in your local community that share your values and traditions...."

[ChicagoFire]

@greyman
I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with what you just posted. It's interesting to say the least. Bottom line with what you just stated is we're in the middle of civil war and the left can kick the right's ass even with President Trump in power. I think at bare minimum everybody that posts here better be ready one way or the other. Even something as basic as attending boxing classes or learning to do CPR, anything is encouraged. I'll just throw the following high liked posts from the civil war thread:

(01-23-2017 03:26 PM)Dan Woolf Wrote:  

Old post from /pol/:

Quote:

Former red team planner for the government here. If there was a revolution in the US, the rest of the world would get involved, fast. Depending on the type of uprising, there is a large chance that it would not be a quick affair. It would be brutal, it would be bloody, and the US government could start a global scale war. Here are the top ten issues that came up.

1) The US power grid can be taken down by a series of “surgical strikes” with the exception of the Texas grid. By surgical strikes, I mean a few marksmen (US army-tier Marksmen–the minimum requirement) hitting certain spots on the grid would fuck a lot of the military and government because they need the grid more than Bubba and his friends do. Additionally, while all government agencies have backup generators, they will be hard pressed dealing with the resultant looting and other madness that would come with power outages. This would effectively create another front for the military. It would also turn the people against the government more quickly and paralyze the government’s propaganda machine. Worse still–the key points of the US power grid are publicly obtainable information, and not only are the points too many to be effectively guarded, they are not guarded anyway.

2) The estimated desertion rate in case of a civil war is 75% in the case of a left-wing president. 50% of that would be assumed to immediately betray the president. The remaining (treasonous) military would be fighting its own. Yet another front created in the war. Additionally, there is an assumed 25-50% desertion or outright betrayal rate in three letter government agencies (FBI, CIA, NSA, ATC, TSA, etc.). Additionally, it is assumed that 5% of the initial 50% betrayers would stay in their job and become saboteurs. 10% of that 50% would contain key information that would be of critical danger to the US government. Of that 10%, 1% would be able to deliver that information to the US’ foreign enemies. What you should get from this is that the second the United States government declares war on its own is the second it ceases to exist as the state we know it.

3) “Tea baggers,” “right-wing extremists,” and “oath keepers” which are considered untrained racists who aren’t “good with a gun” often are A) veterans who now have more time to have fun at the range, sometimes more than some Army units or Marine units. In addition to previous military training, B) often camp and do other outdoor activities–more than many in the military do, as the focus has gone away from field exercises, and C) often have better equipment–outside of armor and heavy weapons–than the military. However, C) is kind of irrelevant because many of the places in which these people could hide would make the kind of war the US fights with the equipment they use pointless.

4) Outside influence is a huge problem. Russia has already stated they would back a Texas separatist movement, and right now we already have enough problem keeping Islam in check. The second the US has to fight in a “civil war” is the second it becomes a proxy war between NATO and whoever wants to mess with America. While America has amazing nuclear and air defense, if it comes to a civil war you have to assume that in a best cast scenario the US military is going to be operating at 50% capacity at best. Shit would go down. Hard. And fast. And if Russia–spoiler alert: one of the best militaries in the world at fighting in an urban environment–sent trainers and helpers to rebels, you can reliably bet that they would also possibly deliver weapons to them. So instead of fighting “Timmy TeaBagger,” you are fighting “Timmy TeaBagger who is buddies with Vlad.”

5) A civil war is not just the US versus the rebels. There will be looting. There will be rioting. Cities will burn. The National Guard cannot fight both the rebels and rioters in a city that would also cut off their supplies. Additionally, if you don’t think that the rebels will send in instigators into the cities–or worse, stand alone actors (A Lone Wolf on steroids. Think Timothy McVeigh, but instead of one van they have a whole fleet of them. A good movie example would be Bane)–you would be mistaken. If the US government cannot even help its own people, why would its own people support the remaining (treasonous) military? Worse yet, if someone emptied out prisons (There are more prisoners in the US than there are people in the entire Chinese Army), you would have more crime than the police could ever handle.

6) Logistics and infrastructure in the US are crumbling and failing. Any war fought against a rebellion in the US would be a logistical nightmare, even before the rebels started going full Al-Qaida and putting IEDs in the road. A retired general who was contracting with us on the team said, “The only thing holding together the US’ infrastructure is duct tape and the will of the Department of Transportation. And often enough, there isn't enough duct tape.” Your most loyal cities to the US government, as we polled, are also the most logistically easy to cut off. NYC? San Fran? L.A.? D.C.? Baltimore? Most of them require crossing water to enter, from certain directions. Most of them have critical airports. Some of them have critical ocean ports. If anything happened to just TWO of the cities on the list, it would create a logistical clusterfuck.

7) Your “Johnny Reb” and “Timmy TeaBagger” states (i.e., “red” states) all have something most of your “oh so progressive,” “Aren’t we so European,” “Oh my god, we are just like Sweden,” blue states don’t. Blues are mainly consumer states. Reds are producer states. Urban areas don’t have farms. The second that shit goes down, realize a lot of those blue areas are likely to starve. In a civil war scenario, we predicted that at least 10,000 people would die of starvation if the war was not finished in a year. The numbers get worse after that. Or better, rather, for the country after the war.

8) The US has way too many choke points, and the government forces would often be on the wrong side of them. This ties into the logistical nightmare, but it also has to do with an odd phenomena. Liberals like to live near the ocean. Many of the dividers of the country, like the Rocky Mountains, the Mississippi River, Appalachia, the Missouri River (fun fact: the biggest choke point for the US government is in Missouri) are red state areas. Sure, air travel is a thing, but a majority of the US government's needs would have to travel by ground. Even still, many of the major airports are outside of the city. Of course, the US would use military base air fields, but if civil war did break out… which bases would be safe? Which ones would have fallen to the deserters?

9) PR Nightmare. Every rebel killed on CNN would be spun as “the US government killed X Civilians today in a strike” on foreign news and pirate media not owned by the government. That is–as pointed out earlier–if the US media could even function in a civil war or uprising. Your “rebel scum” know that the main thing that holds together the US–nay life in the US as we know it–is the 24 hour news cycle and the media. The second it's gone, you are going to have urban anarchy. If you are from America, can you imagine a day without TV, newspaper, or Internet? Your average urban youth can’t. If you don’t think that isn’t going to cause rioting, you must have a real high regard for how much restraint they have. Assume in a civil war that your ability to talk to the people is compromised. Also assume that in the case of a civil war that rebels may know how to monitor conversations like the US does, as there are manuals online on how to do so.

10) This one is either 1 or 10, depending on who is asked. The US will never nuke its own. The second it does, they have lost the civil war and other countries will come to “liberate” the US from its own “repressive regime.” Additionally, if any general, minuteman, nuke tech, or nuke sub captain decided to side with the rebellion, the US government is immediately SOL.

In short: The second that a “civilian uprising” or “extremist group terrorist attack” turns into “civil war” is the second the US loses. As a result, you will never see a civil war. You will see Waco, you will see Bundy Ranch, you will see all sorts of militant group confrontations and maybe even some skirmishes. But the US government fears its own people way the fuck too much to ever start a civil war.

(01-22-2017 09:14 PM)scorpion Wrote:  

An interesting analysis. I think he overestimates the effectiveness of the militant left (antifa). Just because they are presently more organized and enjoy greater institutional support does not mean that will translate into operational effectiveness. The entire basis of guerilla warfare lies in turning those perceived advantages into liabilities. Their organizations can be infiltrated. Their members sleep in a bed somewhere at night like anyone else. The institutions that support them are staffed by people with families. A dozen undisciplined twenty-somethings throwing Molotov cocktails are dangerous sure, but they're not more dangerous than four guys who grew up together, trust each other with their lives and who have been shooting rifles since childhood. Once those guys decide the time to spill blood has arrived, they're going to bring violence to bear far that is far disproportionate to their numbers. A four-man fire team with moderate tactical training can kill dozens of people in minutes and likely disappear on motorcycles before the cops arrive. And after a few shootouts with fire teams that don't escape that wind up with dozens of cops dead, you can be sure that cops will be in no hurry to respond to such happenings in the future.

What is the left going to do if/when all of its institutions are being targeted by literal right wing death squads of this sort? Are they going to have their legions of emaciated, faggoty antifa stand outside and throw bricks at them? How will the leftist media respond when journalists start being dragged out of their beds and shot in the street? Where will the left gather when the universities have been shut down due to repeated mass shootings and assassinations of leftist professors and agitators? I think the left will lose its appetite for violence very quickly in the face of such opposition. The left is essentially a bully operation. Its success relies entirely on its targets not fighting back and being gradually cowed into submission until they accept the demands of the leftists. They are unprepared for direct confrontation. They only play at violence. They don't know what ultraviolence means. They don't know what horrors await them when they summon the ancestral bloodlust from the hearts of formerly peaceful men. They simply can't comprehend the hellstorm that will be unleashed upon them when the Saxon begins to hate.

[Donfitz007]

Depends on how serious the events and the duration of the event.

Some overlooked aspects are:
1. The ability to work with animals, Meaning learning how to skin, cook, use bones as weapons (a sharpened bone makes a great arrow tip) and using the skin/scales as leather (actual quality leather is hard to make, but decent tanning gets the job done)
2. Learning how to start a fire and keep one both discreet and long lasting.
3. Learn to work with a great Knife, A great knife is a tool and a weapon.
4. Work on bartering skills, The book Maus taught me that sometimes you have to be worth keeping alive. Certain skills, items, and information can be bartered for greater supplies.
5. Medicine is VERY important. Knowing about herbs and their effects can help some diseases.
6. Like survival video games some people need a morale boost. There are A LOT of addicts, Porn (playboy magazines), cigarettes, alcohol, candy, good food, even a deck of cards can be the difference between a fight breaking loose in a group and peace.
7. Know how to make improvised weapons and improvize security.
8. Know how to stockpile water.
9. Always have a plan, not only have a plan but test the plan and make sure your plan works. EVEN THEN have a back up.
10. A 22 or pellet gun might be the best options, Good for small game, and ok for protection. Whatever weapon you use, make sure it uses common ammo.

Depending on the situation people natural instinct is to move to the city.

[hedonist]

Location,location,location no1.......Most of the above loses value if you are in a "progressive paradise" when the SHTF, they will be the first places to go lord of the flies.