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4. Part of HN may be doing doomsday prep, and see this as a confirmation that they are doing the right thing 5. For myself, I always find doomsday prep stuff i

by Zababa 5y ago

4. Part of HN may be doing doomsday prep, and see this as a confirmation that they are doing the right thing 5. For myself, I always find doomsday prep stuff interesting

LinuxBender 5y ago
6. And some of us grew up with relatives that survived the great depression and WWII. We learned to preserve and stock up on foods, save up money, have enough supplies to last for rough times. We learned to not entirely trust and rely on institutions like banks or the governments that regulate them to save us.
- Zababa 5y ago
  Fair point, I didn't mean to imply that people doing doomsday prep were irrational or not justified.
  - pc86 5y ago
    I mean it's a spectrum for sure. At some point you're preparing to survive in a world nobody would want to live in anyway. And the proportion of preppers who are legitimately disconnected from reality is quite a bit higher than the general population.
    - LinuxBender 5y ago
      I can agree with this. I've seen many of the expensive bunkers people are throwing money at. Most of the things in the bunker won't help them survive more than a few weeks. I would have expected the super-wealthy to have dozens or hundreds of 1k gallon stainless steel tanks for pure water, massive battery and generator banks, O2 generators, numerous hermetically sealed rooms of freeze-dried foods, massive tanks for human waste. Nope. None of that. Just really expensive underground houses and expensive toys that won't work when the SHTF. I suppose they will pass in good fashion. [1] [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sxgXLguqI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sxgXLguqI
JohnBooty 5y ago
I don't even do doomsday prep, and I find it interesting. I actually think all people should do some limited "prepping" and there are things that can be learned from the people that are really into it. I try to think about how I might survive for a few weeks if crap hits the fan to a limited extent. In the most basic terms that means food and drinking water for a couple of weeks. This can be done pretty simply for like, $20USD per person - rice, beans, water, maybe some multivitamins, etc. In 6-12 months you can just eat that stuff and replace it in your "mini-prepper" kit. So in a way it doesn't really cost anything, just some shelf space. You'll also obviously need a way to cook the food, too so -- maybe $40 for a little camping stove and some propane. If you have a large-ish chest freezer, that's an excellent asset. Fill it with ice packs, will stay cold for weeks even after the power goes out. An emergency "go bag" / "bug out bag" is worth thinking about as well. The nature of some emergencies is such that you'll need to hit the road. IMO this is more expensive/challenging to do well but it's also the case of "literally anything is better than nothing". A $5 backback with a Leatherman, a purifying water bottle, and a blanket is 1000x better than nothing. (I don't bother thinking about how I might survive individually in the face of complete societal breakdown. The rules for surviving that will be completely different - things will quickly coalesce into gangs/tribes/mob rule, that kind of thing)
- mnahkies 5y ago
  We actually kinda have this after some serious earthquakes - you (now) always keep some tinned food, bottled water etc and just rotate it out now and then.

by Zababa 5y ago

4. Part of HN may be doing doomsday prep, and see this as a confirmation that they are doing the right thing 5. For myself, I always find doomsday prep stuff interesting

LinuxBender 5y ago

6. And some of us grew up with relatives that survived the great depression and WWII. We learned to preserve and stock up on foods, save up money, have enough supplies to last for rough times. We learned to not entirely trust and rely on institutions like banks or the governments that regulate them to save us.

Zababa 5y ago
Fair point, I didn't mean to imply that people doing doomsday prep were irrational or not justified.
- pc86 5y ago
  I mean it's a spectrum for sure. At some point you're preparing to survive in a world nobody would want to live in anyway. And the proportion of preppers who are legitimately disconnected from reality is quite a bit higher than the general population.
  - LinuxBender 5y ago
    I can agree with this. I've seen many of the expensive bunkers people are throwing money at. Most of the things in the bunker won't help them survive more than a few weeks. I would have expected the super-wealthy to have dozens or hundreds of 1k gallon stainless steel tanks for pure water, massive battery and generator banks, O2 generators, numerous hermetically sealed rooms of freeze-dried foods, massive tanks for human waste. Nope. None of that. Just really expensive underground houses and expensive toys that won't work when the SHTF. I suppose they will pass in good fashion. [1] [1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sxgXLguqI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sxgXLguqI

JohnBooty 5y ago

I don't even do doomsday prep, and I find it interesting. I actually think all people should do some limited "prepping" and there are things that can be learned from the people that are really into it. I try to think about how I might survive for a few weeks if crap hits the fan to a limited extent. In the most basic terms that means food and drinking water for a couple of weeks. This can be done pretty simply for like, $20USD per person - rice, beans, water, maybe some multivitamins, etc. In 6-12 months you can just eat that stuff and replace it in your "mini-prepper" kit. So in a way it doesn't really cost anything, just some shelf space. You'll also obviously need a way to cook the food, too so -- maybe $40 for a little camping stove and some propane. If you have a large-ish chest freezer, that's an excellent asset. Fill it with ice packs, will stay cold for weeks even after the power goes out. An emergency "go bag" / "bug out bag" is worth thinking about as well. The nature of some emergencies is such that you'll need to hit the road. IMO this is more expensive/challenging to do well but it's also the case of "literally anything is better than nothing". A $5 backback with a Leatherman, a purifying water bottle, and a blanket is 1000x better than nothing. (I don't bother thinking about how I might survive individually in the face of complete societal breakdown. The rules for surviving that will be completely different - things will quickly coalesce into gangs/tribes/mob rule, that kind of thing)

mnahkies 5y ago
We actually kinda have this after some serious earthquakes - you (now) always keep some tinned food, bottled water etc and just rotate it out now and then.