{"id":88492,"date":"2024-10-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=88492"},"modified":"2024-10-15T08:26:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T13:26:18","slug":"notes-from-the-soggy-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/?p=88492","title":{"rendered":"Notes From The Soggy Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, I ruffled some of the usual feathers by posting a link to this video by Ryan McBeth<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McBeth is a former anti-tank grunt who now does open-source intelligence and systems work. His Youtube and Substack channels are interesting; he doesn’t get everything right (he is still claiming Mossad figured out how to remotely blow up lithium batteries, although his reasoning for getting to that conclusion isn’t wrong<\/em>), and he certainly runs in official-ish circles, but he shows his math. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I pointed this out, not to “run cover” for officialdom (wtf?) but out of awareness that all “sides” of every issue on social media are farming engagements to draw clicks, eyeballs, and of course the mother of all motivations, “monetization”.  <\/p>\n

The real lesson?  Waiting for government to help you out after an emergency is a sucker bet.  Government may mean well but be incompetent; it may do its best but be overstretched; it might be actively undercutting you; it might be all three and then some.  But one way or another, example after example in the real world shows us you, the regular schnook, are likely to have to see to your own well-being after a disaster.  <\/p>\n

Seeing to that well-being is either a waste of time, or absolutely vital – and you won’t know which until it’s too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This note comes from a friend of a friend:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

“I\u2019m in Asheville, NC right now and we were devastated by the hurricane. Day 5 of no power, water, internet, or even cell service. We are cut off from the world. Here\u2019s what has mattered so far and what hasn\u2019t in my particular situation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life saver #1 = Starlink internet. All our phones say SOS. Can\u2019t text for help. Don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on. I plugged in my satellite internet and have been helping the whole neighborhood call <\/a>loved ones. Everyone is offering me anything from their supplies because it\u2019s so valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life saver #2 = Solar panels and 3000w battery pack. I can run satellite internet, electric kettle to purify water, charge headlamps, electronics, instant pot for cooking, ice maker for the cooler, everything I need. I\u2019ll won\u2019t run out of the sun like I would propane or gas if this extends a lot longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life saver #3 = Gas cans and extra gas. These are sold out everywhere and are harder to get than gas itself. When power goes out so do gas station pumps. When you have portable gas you can run a generator, evacuate, drive to where the supplies are, check on family members, etc. People are stranded and sleeping at gas stations for days in their car waiting for power to come back on so they can get home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life saver #4 = Knowledge on how to survive without a huge stash. Some preppers spend too much on stocking up and not enough on education. None of us knew the hurricane was going to be this bad. Some people lost their entire house including supplies. Those who know multiple ways to collect water, purify it, start a fire, find food, are the ones still alive that haven\u2019t been rescued yet. I could go for another month if I had to with nothing but my backpack and tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life saver #5 = Hand sanitizer. Sanitation is rough here and the hospitals are out of power, food, and water. People are starting to smell and after you touch something you do not want to get sick and go to the hospital because it\u2019s bad there too. The water you do find may not be safe for hand washing without purification. I wash my hands with soap and water and then do hand sanitizer after to stay healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other things I\u2019ve relied on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cash. No power means no debit cards can be used<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disposable cutlery and plates<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 4×4 truck that can drive where others can\u2019t or help tow people to safety<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Solar\/battery radio<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dogs for company and to alert if someone is outside<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hasn\u2019t mattered as much as I thought:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1 = Guns! I haven\u2019t even thought about needing my gun and realized I put too much on this. Strangers have come together in our area and are taking care of each other like you wouldn\u2019t believe. Each person has a surplus of something and is missing something else. We all share while still respecting boundaries and only sharing what we choose. Again, this can depend on the area but here if you are acting paranoid\/standoffish of others and open carrying a gun, the nice innocent people are going to avoid you and you will be isolated without community or resources. I\u2019m still glad to have a gun but I wish I spent more time on other skills too instead of putting so much emphasis on shooting. (And to anyone who says, \u201cit only takes one time and you will be glad for your aim\u201d, you\u2019re missing the point I\u2019m trying to make here.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2 = Food. This is easy to find for me but it may be due to the part of the country I\u2019m in. I can also fish, forage, and don\u2019t cook much because I don\u2019t want to waste water on dishes. I had shelf stable food prepped and lll probably end up only using 25% of it in a month. As people\u2019s freezers start to thaw we\u2019ve had big cookouts so it doesn\u2019t go to waste and I\u2019ve been full most nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this list could be based on location, type of natural disaster, weather, etc But it\u2019s interesting to me because I\u2019m actually living it instead of preparing and wanted to share.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As the correspondent notes in the last graf, it “could” be based on location.\u00a0 And it most certainly is <\/em>based on the relative health of the social fabric in the area.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I ruffled some of the usual feathers by posting a link to this video by Ryan McBeth. McBeth is a former anti-tank grunt who now does open-source intelligence and systems work. His Youtube and Substack channels are interesting; he doesn’t get everything right (he is still claiming Mossad figured out how to remotely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,24,107,30,234,122,51,62,1,22,73,100],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservatism","category-culture-war","category-i-told-you-so","category-liberty","category-modern-plagues","category-oh-the-humanity","category-liberal-tyranny","category-state-of-affairs","category-uncategorized","category-victim-disarmament","category-western-civilization","category-your-papers-please"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88492"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88522,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88492\/revisions\/88522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shotinthedark.info\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}