Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

As I said AOT, I'm not meaning to be nasty, but I do fear for some people, should the need, to Bug Out on foot, arise.

armyknife

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

looks like hsbc are wobbling again, if you have an account with them, i suggest moving to another bank asap

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/epic/hsba/

Why, they seem no more vulnerable than the rest of them and given their focus in the Far East/China they might survive a bit longer in another serious downturn, than most of the rest.

The headline for the article says this:

Britain's largest bank, HSBC, has reported a fall in first-quarter profits as its investment banking arm was hit by the same drop in earnings that has hit every other major lender

armyknife

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

As I said AOT, I'm not meaning to be nasty, but I do fear for some people, should the need, to Bug Out on foot, arise.

Nah, you're all losers if you haven't got a bike with an inexhaustible fuel supply (pedaler). :-)

nuatha

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Not meaning to be nasty to anyone, but many of the obese people you see, lumbering around the streets, wouldn't stand a chance, if the needed ever arose, for people to Bug Out on foot.

In my 20s I had a consultant report to my GP that some damage to my hip was purely down to being obese. My GP struggled to understand this, yes I had a 64 inch chest and 38 inch thighs, but simple looks can be very deceiving - at the time I taught martial arts and competed professionally.
I also used to climb mountains with a guy who described himself as seriously overweight.

Its surprising who the survivors in real crisis are, generally they aren't the folk who you would expect.

Frugalsod

GreyQueen wrote: »

Things which move slowly tend to eat things which barely move; vegetable matter. So that big nasty grub curled in the soil is no friend of the gardener, whereas that speedy beetle or centipede is accidentally on your team. I've been known to gently lift good bugs out of harm's way whilst digging, so I don't accidentally injure them.

Wasps while they might be a pain if you are eating in the garden are also very good pest control. I once found one chewing the head off a grasshopper. Insect predators are great all round. It is also why I never clear spiders from my home.

[Deleted User]

We've just been down to the local as He Who Knows fancies a bevvy and heard an extremely interesting debate between two youngish lads, both merchant seamen here on courses, both working the north sea rigs worried that if Scotland does get independence they will only employ scottish people on the ships? then consensus of opinion was that it really didn't matter as there were only 5 years left??? Is this something to be aware of both in terms of oil supply and in the light of possible enormous price hikes from the energy suppliers in that eventuality???

GreyQueen

There's an old saying; many a creaking gate hangs long.

I've known people who were never 'strong' and in fact came across as poorly for decades, live to a ripe old age, and other people who fairly bounced with vigour drop dead of fatal heart attacks or succumb to terrible illnesses in their prime.

One of the strappingest men of my acquaintance, a stereotypical rugby player, had a serious heart attack in his twenties and required surgery to save his life. If you wanted a big strong man to be on your side in a crisis, he sure as heck looks the part, but is a broken reed in terms of health.

I've given a lot of thought to the bug in/ bug out debate and think I would be reluctant to bug out for several very good reasons;

1. We are a small island with a huge population and such wilderness areas that exist were left long enough to become official preserves because they were pretty inimicable to human settlement in the first place. I don't want to be on high moorland, or fells, in a crisis, no matter how fetching they are as places to visit.

2. Once you start moving, you've usually pretty visible. If law and order has broken down, crims will be targetting refugees. They might correctly guess that you are carrying valuables, or at least things which they want to take from you. We women would be particularly vulnerable out on the road, as would children.

3. Once you're out in the open, as opposed to sheltered by a building, you have immediate concerns about preventing exposure, which can be fatal even in our temperate climate. You can transport fewer supplies than you can stash at home, and may have to abandon modes of transport such as cars, when roads become impassible or fuel runs out. If you have relied on motorised transport to take supplies, which of them will you be abandoning first?

4. Bugging out presupposes that you have somewhere to bug-out to, that you would be welcome there, that others haven't compromosed your bug out location (BOL) by being there first. In the modern world, there are fewer and fewer places which are really invisible and unknown.

5. Once you are in your BOL, what are you going to do, hide until you consume your supplies, then venture out? Do you have enough adults in good enough physical condition to man a perimeter and protect the vulnerable members of the party? Are you thinking that you can be Mr or Ms Macho and live alone in the woods forever with a firesteel and your bushcraft knowledge? You do realise that one bad dose of the squits could fatally weaken you, or that an injury could kill with no one to tend you in your hour of need?

6. If civil society is re-established after a period of anarchy, the centres of population are liable to get there before the hinterlands. If you're at the back end of nowhere, and a gang of robbers come through, who is going to be there to help you?

I would only consider bugging out if my home became unlivable, and then I would give serious consideration to bugging into something else in the city. If I had to, I would bug out to re-unite with family, but since I'm the prepper it might be more sense for them to bug out towards me.

I'd abandon the city if there was a serious threat to life by staying, such as rampant disease, (waterborne diseases run riot in conflict areas), widespread fires or such total breakdown of order that hiding in the countryside seemed safer than hiding in an urban area with lots of habitat and resources.

I may not be the strongest person you will ever meet, but sometimes the strongest take risks which the weaker and wilier won't entertain, and then it's not necessarily predicable who will survive a time of trouble.

[Deleted User]

It's been a pretty rotten day, over here, weather wise.

Virtually non-stop rain and wind.

[Deleted User]

Well said GQ I think those most likely to survive an 'event' are those who actually believe they have a chance to do so because of aquired knowledge and skills, fat or thin, old or young, fit or obese won't matter a jot if you can only open a packet and don't know how to obtain drinking water and forage for food. You can die of exposure and hunger if you're young, fit and healthy but don't know how to make a shelter or what won't kill you to eat and drink. I wonder if the little knowledge and experience we have as a collective will be enough to make the difference?

VJsmum

I still have a dicky leg

I wouldn't last long bugging out anywhere.