You know what?

[old steel]

I just came to the realization today that a lot of us aren't going to make it. No matter what preps we made or what mindset we are in the odds are way stacked against us.

Couple of unforeseen events slap you up the side of the head can leave you reeling even with support around you.

Take away that support as in everyone is reeling at the same time from major events and everything will go to hell in a hand basket overnight.

We are in the perfect storm it's just in the process of developing into it's full potential but i don't think very many people are paying attention due to they don't want to know or they are hoping it will all just go away if they ignore it.

We could be mere days away from an event/s that could change the face of this planet, the very fabric of society w/e you want to call it and there would be no going back. Been waiting for another huge shoe to drop for awhile now so maybe it's just me, i dunno.

I thought i was prepared pretty good for what we all see coming.

Today i'm not so sure anymore.

I think we are in over our head, way over our head and it's going to get a lot deeper till we will begin to wonder if there is a bottom or we will have to tread water until we can't anymore then it's game over.

I hate it when i feel this way but i had to get it off my chest.

Hope y'all are having better thoughts about things than me today.

[milehi]

That's why you live every day to the fullest. 100%. Without a saftey net.

[old steel]

Then again there's this...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfKBK10af_M

[sirgonzo420]

I hear what you're saying, old steel, but I wouldn't worry about it.

[Heimdhal]

There are things you simply can not prepare for. You can spend your whole life preping for every imaginable situation and still die in the first hour of a riot simply because.


Being prepared is important, being obsessed will bring you nothing but heart ache. Always chasing an unobtainable goal.

[Hillbilly]

I have thought the same thing myself. In fact my buddy and I were talking about this just the other day and Cody Lundin came up and we both agreed that he could survive anything but I said you know what? He could survive anything but probably will get struck by a stray bullet or something and never even get to put his skills to the test. I hope not cause somebody like Cody could save many many lives and probably already has with his book and articles on survival.

We just have to have faith and live a good clean life and do the best be can and give our worries up to God.

[Twisted Titan]

Do the best you can with what you got and the rest will take care of itself.

[General of Darkness]

I work 30 miles from my home in Van Nuys. If the SHTF it would not be an easy task to get home is all I have to say.

BUT, I have my bugout bag with food, water etc etc, a 45, 6 clips, 2 hatchets and a machete with me at all times.

[Libertytree]

I came to the same conclusion about a year ago, it's a depressing thought but it does offer a lot of mental freedom. Whatever happens happens, how you respond with whatever you have on hand will determine the results and the most important thing you bring to the table is your mind, your mindset and ability to think WAY outside the boxes. Think McGyver on steroids, do a lot with a little. Sure, I'd love to have the perfect BO location or homestead but most folks don't either, so....lets party.

[slowbell]

I've got the odds against me as well.

Milehi is right, old steel. Live life to the fullest each day we have. Each day, is a blessing from God, imo. I do my best to be prepared, but I'm not. I know that, and accept it. Rome wasn't built in a day. As each day passes, I know I'm making progress though.

[Libertytree]

I've got the odds against me as well.

Milehi is right, old steel. Live life to the fullest each day we have. Each day, is a blessing from God, imo. I do my best to be prepared, but I'm not. I know that, and accept it. Rome wasn't built in a day. As each day passes, I know I'm making progress though.

I think that's the point.....you can NEVER be totally prepared, period. Partially, yes, but totally? never.

[slowbell]

I think that's the point.....you can NEVER be totally prepared, period. Partially, yes, but totally? never.

That's the thing, I don't even think I'm even partially prepared. Heck, I don't know. I'm trying though. I guess I don't see the point in worrying about it. We all will do our best when that time comes, with what we have.

One thing I think I've got nailed though, is going the distance with lack of sleep. Man, I can keep going. Right now, I've been up since around 9 am yesterday. I worked almost 23 hours in a row.

[LuckyStrike]

I just came to the realization today that a lot of us aren't going to make it. No matter what preps we made or what mindset we are in the odds are way stacked against us.



I think you are right for sure.

All the guns, ammo, gold, silver, and preps aren't going to save you if the Creator of the Universe decides it's your time.

The hardest part like anything will be the mental part, a lot of scenarios that none of us can even think up will happen, and even if we have thought and planned for them when you are facing them it's different than thinking about it.

People will be out of their minds, many of your own family members even. IMO I think you just have to flip a switch in your head, things are different now, don't think about it, just go into that mode because people are going to need order more than anything and you are going to need to provide that order. So much mental energy is consumed now with paying the bills, your job, planning for retirement etc. ALL of that becomes of 0 importance the second SHTF occurs so being your old self in your old ways for even a second is wasting time. Focus on survival of yourself and your group above everything.

I would also like to add that even if you see it coming I don't think anything can prepare you for the reality of living without electricty, if you live in the South you will be burning alive, there will be so many bugs and so much heat that your sleep will be shit. How will your decision making and leadership skills be then?

I think a hard part will also be that any minor thing can kill you, get an infection, you might die, break your leg, you might die, drink crappy water, you might die. Life now is so easy that you don't even have to think.

[LuckyStrike]

I think that's the point.....you can NEVER be totally prepared, period. Partially, yes, but totally? never.

I agree with the caveat that you live in a remote location currently and are self sufficient. Then if the SHTF you wouldn't even know.

[freespirit]

it's important to be as prepared as possible. It's impossible to be totally prepared. if it all goes completely south and the light of humanity on this world is snuffed out, there is still an afterlife. this existence is a mere drop in the bucket by comparison. until my card gets punched, i will do my best to fight the good fight.

the rest is in God's hands... and i'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing.

[slowbell]

the rest is in God's hands... and i'm pretty sure he knows what he's doing.

I hope so. I doubt there's a man on this board, who can claim he knows what he's doing...with any faith, that is.

Basically, all hands are going to be called, in my opinion. When the system fails, we are all left with what we have, and our faith is part of that. It is what it is.

[gunDriller]

things like

adaptability
resilience
willingness to suffer

team up with preparation to vastly increase your chances of 'making it'.

[Horn]

Try to remain flexible, old steel :)

[Sparky]

It's all perspective. If TSHF, conditions will not be as challenging as they were for the 5,000 years leading up to 1900 A.D. Hundreds of generations came and went during that period. Were all those lives futile or meaningless? The crumbs that TBTB throw you after TSHF will be more than what most of them had to work with.

[Neuro]

Like some has already pointed out, being prepared is a mindset, much more than what you have squirrelled away. Going around being obsessed with storing away food for many years, or huge amounts of guns and ammo, is IMO NOT the mindset, being flexible and able to take losses and hardship when they occur, and still keep your spirits high with what you got will prove far more important. Don't be a hothead that jumps into trouble whenever it shows. Sure get some preparations and some means of defense, but stay sane and load up on survival knowledge, be physically fit, and work on your mental stability.

[Neuro]

It's all perspective. If TSHF, conditions will not be as challenging as they were for the 5,000 years leading up to 1900 A.D. Hundreds of generations came and went during that period. Were all those lives futile or meaningless? The crumbs that TBTB throw you after TSHF will be more than what most of them had to work with.
Optimist!

[Horn]

for the 5,000 years leading up to 1900 A.D.

Why don't you just add 13yrs. for good measure?

[JDRock]

children are the wild card imo.....you cant move far or fast, they mean more to us than ourselves....and they are so vulnerable...but, i dont see why any healthy single guy couldnt run circles around or make fools of those who who would attempt to enslave him.

[Neuro]

children are the wild card imo.....you cant move far or fast, they mean more to us than ourselves....and they are so vulnerable...but, i dont see why any healthy single guy couldnt run circles around or make fools of those who who would attempt to enslave him.
In a way though I think children have more of a survivalist mindset than most adults. I am thinking of the street children I have seen as I have travelled. Children has a much stronger will to survive, and they get over grief etc. quicker than adults. It is a worse blow to parents to lose their children than vice versa...

[freespirit]

It is a worse blow to parents to lose their children than vice versa...


...depends on the child, depends on the parents...

[sirgonzo420]

I work 30 miles from my home in Van Nuys. If the SHTF it would not be an easy task to get home is all I have to say.

BUT, I have my bugout bag with food, water etc etc, a 45, 6 clips, 2 hatchets and a machete with me at all times.

It must be a real bitch to carry all that all the time.

And I bet you get funny looks at metal detectors.

[Neuro]

...depends on the child, depends on the parents...
Sure it depends, but I think as a general observation it is true. But I think as part of survival prepping, one should teach your children to be as independent as possible. Probably that is the most important preparation there is!

[General of Darkness]

It must be a real bitch to carry all that all the time.

And I bet you get funny looks at metal detectors.

In my diesel you funny guy.

[old steel]

Lots of good responses here much appreciated.

I guess what's bugging me more than usual is the fact that it might not even be me.

Could very well be my wife or one of the kids that goes down gets really sick or hurt and you are stuck in a situation where you watch them suffer imagine what that would do to your psyche when everything is already heading south like a freight train on steroids.

Guess it's best to cross that bridge if or when it shows up been a couple of hard days here and i'm kinda projecting a bit as i have lots of support to help me cope.

Dunno what i would do if that support was pulled at a moments notice.

[freespirit]

Dunno what i would do if that support was pulled at a moments notice.


...God never gives us anything we can't handle. :)

[zap]

One thing you gotta remember is your family/your family name has been around for centuries, or you wouldn't be here, so I figure we come from survivors.

It has been mentioned here....
The biggest thing I think we all need is mental strength the ability to think under extreme pressure.

You can have all he food preps, silver,gold, it isn't going to do you any good if you can't function.

[zap]

...God never gives us anything we can't handle. :)

Ya free I hate that saying,:) you can handle anything if you have to.

[sirgonzo420]

Ya free I hate that saying,:) you can handle anything if you have to.

That's the gist of it.

God is interesting, but He can also be a dick.

[Buddha]

I know that I'm not going to make it to the other side, but I'm ok with it.

Just a strong feeling that I have.

Doesn't mean I won't try, or have accepted defeat, I just think I know how it's gonna go down.

[Gaillo]

What a GREAT thread this is! THIS is the kind of thing that makes me come back to this place day after day wading through the drama BS... ;)

[Buddha]

What a GREAT thread this is! THIS is the kind of thing that makes me come back to this place day after day wading through the drama BS... ;)

The thought of me shot to death in my own home by evil's minions. I'm glad that I could lift your mood Gaillo. ;)

[Gaillo]

The thought of me shot to death in my own home by evil's minions. I'm glad that I could lift your mood Gaillo. ;)

Well... now that you put it THAT way... ;D

[Skirnir_]

I am likely not going to make it, but I consider that a fortunate thing given the state of the world. The only reason I am still around is because I would prefer to enjoy what little time I have left, and to cross off what I can from the bucket list.