Lots of interesting discussion here about how to prepare for bad situations. Preppers have romantic notions of what it will be like hunting deer, bartering ammo for other goods, maybe digging into their silver collection to pay for various goods.

 

This is what SHTF will really be like, and it wouldn't take a nuclear war or meteor strike:

 

But trucking and rail are pretty robust systems... all you need are roads, rail, and fuel.  Wanna get scary?  Imagine an extended shutdown of the power grid.

With the power grid down trucking is down, no way to pump gas unless you use manual pumps.

What!!! no zombies? where's the fun in that? now what am I supposed to do with all my Special Edition Zombie Killing Ammo? crap, that was a waste of money.

I have plenty of clean water.  If you don't mind a little pee.

Oh they'll be zombies. Just different then the ones in movies

MOST gas stations have anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of gas in the underground tanks, depending on their situation when this would hit.

I don't think the "trucking system" would be the first thing to fail, but it would certainly be one of the primary aftershocks of some catastrophe, for example an EMP strike.

With the power grid down trucking is down, no way to pump gas unless you use manual pumps.

 

Many gas stations have backup generators now.  I think they got them subsidized post Sandy as part of a government program to keep the fuel flowing during and after a disaster.

I don't think the "trucking system" would be the first thing to fail, but it would certainly be one of the primary aftershocks of some catastrophe, for example an EMP strike.

 

After an EMP not many vehicles will be on the road.  The on-board computers will be fried.

What!!! no zombies? where's the fun in that? now what am I supposed to do with all my Special Edition Zombie Killing Ammo? crap, that was a waste of money.

Plenty of zombies, they're about 200 miles south of Phili straight down I95

Define SHTF.

 

Many scenarios to think about. Most do not involve large scale mayhem. SHTF on a small(er) scale is more likely a realistic scenario.

 

Natural disaster, such as an earthquake, hurricane, ice storm, tornado?

Riots or looting?

Terrorist attack?

Financial collapse?

Power grid failure on a small (or large) scale?

 

 

I was caught in midtown Manhatten during the blackout in '03. In many ways it was a good 'drill run for training' for a real SHTF situation. I learned quite a few things from that experience, and it has certainly changed how I do business, especially when I go into a city for my job.

 

For example, I no longer park in those underground parking garages if I can at all help it. My car was parked at the underground lot at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center. I DID get it out, but it was a nightmare.

I try at all costs to park in an above ground lot. Even if I have to walk, or take a cab to get to my destination.

 

I also make SURE my gas tank is full prior to entering the city. Once i was able to get my car out of the underground garage, I had 1/4 tank of gas. Not good. Took most all of that to get cross town, and wound up camping out at a gas station, hoping power would return, so I could fill up. Fortunately, early the next morning, a few enterprising 'yutes' came by with a 5 gallon can of gas. Most expensive 5 gallons of gas I've ever bought in my life. I was able to expense it later, but damn!!!

This brings me to my next point...

 

Cash. I now always carry a couple of hundred in cash. I was fortunate enough by a fluke to have $300 in cash on me that day. I used to just travel off my credit cards (personal or company expense accout), and had a minimal amount of $$ on me. Not anymore.

 

 

There is always a pocket knife, a small flashlight, my iPhone, and a battery backup for the iPhone with me. At all times.

GHB is also in the car. Among many things, there are some food items, and water in the bag.

 

There are many other lessons I learned, but those are the highlights.

 

SHTF doesn't need to be EMP, nuclear war, terrorists, locusts, fire, or flooding. It will probably be localized, and it can happen any time.

 

Some very simple planning and preps can make your life MUCH easier, and who knows, may save your life, when 'SHTF' happens.

Plenty of zombies, they're about 200 miles south of Phili straight down I95

 

I almost hit afew right of exit 4, on my way thru Chester.  -lol      

There is always a pocket knife, a small flashlight, my iPhone, and a battery backup for the iPhone with me. At all times.

GHB is also in the car. Among many things, there are some food items, and water in the bag.

 

 

 

Why do you carry roofies in your car for emergencies?  What's your definition of SHTF???

GHB=get home bag. Contains some items to make life a litter better in a bad situation.

 

I gave a few examples of more realistic SHTF situations one may realistically encounter in my post above.

Gotcha...I've only heard GHB used in reference to a date-rape drug...and I saw your earlier references to SHTF situations.  Most recent one I can think of is Sandy...and before that the "Halloween Snowstorm" in the NW portion of the state.

Never heard GHB as being in reference to a date rape drug.

 

 

I happened to be working at Johns Hopkins University Medical center a few weeks back when the riots broke out in Baltimore.

I was fairly close to that mess. My hotel (a very NICE inner harbor hotel) was about a mile from ground zero there.

 

Shit CAN hit the fan, in a very bad way, very quickly.

Note to self....Tex has a few hundred in his pocket right now...

 

Golden Corral, here we come baby!

After an EMP not many vehicles will be on the road.  The on-board computers will be fried.

 

That is probably incorrect. It makes for good prepper fiction, but as I understand it cars generally are not a large enough antenna to gather enough energy and are also pretty rugged. They can take direct lighting hits without frying so there is that. 

Note to self....Tex has a few hundred in his pocket right now...

 

Golden Corral, here we come baby!

LMAO!!

MOST gas stations have anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 gallons of gas in the underground tanks, depending on their situation when this would hit.

 

Gone in 1 day with the panic

 

The costco gas by me gets 3 to 4 deliveries a day just to keep up with their normal, everyday  volume

Gone in 1 day with the panic

 

The costco gas by me gets 3 to 4 deliveries a day just to keep up with their normal, everyday  volume

Yeah -- at an average fill of 15 gallons, that's 2,000 vehicles, assuming they had 30,000 on hand......

 

The Levitt brothers built 17000 homes here in the 50s, and that's just one community.....

 

Granted there are multiple gas stations, but it won't last long....

After an EMP not many vehicles will be on the road.  The on-board computers will be fried.

if i'm not mistaken, only those that were running, or powered up will be?

Define SHTF.

 

Many scenarios to think about. Most do not involve large scale mayhem. SHTF on a small(er) scale is more likely a realistic scenario.

 

Natural disaster, such as an earthquake, hurricane, ice storm, tornado?

Riots or looting?

Terrorist attack?

Financial collapse?

Power grid failure on a small (or large) scale?

 

 

I was caught in midtown Manhatten during the blackout in '03. In many ways it was a good 'drill run for training' for a real SHTF situation. I learned quite a few things from that experience, and it has certainly changed how I do business, especially when I go into a city for my job.

 

For example, I no longer park in those underground parking garages if I can at all help it. My car was parked at the underground lot at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer center. I DID get it out, but it was a nightmare.

I try at all costs to park in an above ground lot. Even if I have to walk, or take a cab to get to my destination.

 

I also make SURE my gas tank is full prior to entering the city. Once i was able to get my car out of the underground garage, I had 1/4 tank of gas. Not good. Took most all of that to get cross town, and wound up camping out at a gas station, hoping power would return, so I could fill up. Fortunately, early the next morning, a few enterprising 'yutes' came by with a 5 gallon can of gas. Most expensive 5 gallons of gas I've ever bought in my life. I was able to expense it later, but damn!!!

This brings me to my next point...

 

Cash. I now always carry a couple of hundred in cash. I was fortunate enough by a fluke to have $300 in cash on me that day. I used to just travel off my credit cards (personal or company expense accout), and had a minimal amount of $$ on me. Not anymore.

 

 

There is always a pocket knife, a small flashlight, my iPhone, and a battery backup for the iPhone with me. At all times.

GHB is also in the car. Among many things, there are some food items, and water in the bag.

 

There are many other lessons I learned, but those are the highlights.

 

SHTF doesn't need to be EMP, nuclear war, terrorists, locusts, fire, or flooding. It will probably be localized, and it can happen any time.

 

Some very simple planning and preps can make your life MUCH easier, and who knows, may save your life, when 'SHTF' happens.

1)always keep cash on ya. i know you know that....but i felt it worth repeating.

2) the halfway mark on your gas gauge should be used as your "empty" mark. even if it's not that low, but say at 3/4? fill it on the way home. keep your vehicles "mission ready"

3)water/food in the vehicle. if you can only fit one or the other, water wins.

4)warm and/or waterproof or water resistant clothing. you can die from hypothermia on a 70 degree day if the conditions are right(or wrong as the case may be)

5)some form of comms besides your cell phone. towers can/will become overloaded if they still work.

6)scanner

 

prolly bunches o stuff i'm missing

Gone in 1 day with the panic

 

The costco gas by me gets 3 to 4 deliveries a day just to keep up with their normal, everyday  volume

you're forgetting normal gas stations though, ,ost are lucky to sell 8,000 gallons in a week.

one other thing i see, is improvising types getting their gas from.........you....as they punch a hole in your fuel tank to drain it. i saw a few cases of that when gas topped 4 bucks a gallon. in cap, my squadrons wanted to put locking gas caps on their vans. i wouldn't approve them, as i'd rather lose 50 bucks of gas, rather than a 700 gas tank PLUS 50 bucks worth of gas. as it was, we didn't have any problems ourselves......

and finally, remember, that "E" on your gas gauge does NOT mean "enough"

That is probably incorrect. It makes for good prepper fiction, but as I understand it cars generally are not a large enough antenna to gather enough energy and are also pretty rugged. They can take direct lighting hits without frying so there is that. 

But they couldn't handle a static spark from your hand if you walked across a carpet and touched the wrong spot on the board.

 

A lightning strike is not a valid comparison because it would not induce a great deal of voltage in isolated circuits. Length of conductor exposed to flux is only one factor. An equally important factor is voltage sensitivity, and ICs are extremely sensitive. Finally, lightning strikes on cars do disable electronics, but it is not the same pathway. It's generally not induced voltage that does it.

 

But it is not a sure thing IMO, I agree. I do believe cars can be disabled, I just don't think they'll all be turned off like a light switch over thousands of miles with 100% losses.

 

if i'm not mistaken, only those that were running, or powered up will be?

No, that doesn't matter.

Yeah, there are some references to US military testing of EMP on cars. If I recall correctly the answer was at full ground zero type EMP (not the nuke itself, but highest emp) everything dies, including 1950's diesel engines, because the spark plug and battery wires melt. At reasonable distances it will depend from car to car, and they are all more vulnerable while running, but overall most continue to run, even if dash functions, various electronics, etc go haywire and dash lights start flashing alarmingly. This included fairly modern vehicles. 

and finally, remember, that "E" on your gas gauge does NOT mean "enough"

I thought "E" meant Excellent