Flintlock muzzleloaders will rule again

[reddogge]

Hell, I'm ready to go anyway. Looks like I'll have plenty of company when the SHTF. How long do you think wild game will feed America when it becomes our food source? "Country Boy Can Survive" sounds nice til you have to make it work.

As usual, lots of pipe dreaming going on here.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

There you go again, being all practical and crushing people's dreams with reality. Of course, most people won't survive long enough to get to the point they need to defend their property from hungry hordes.

After the power goes out, water stops moving, and sewage backs up, a massive cholera epidemic will start dropping people long before anyone starves to death. When die-offs pollute surface water (and shallow wells), the survival rate will dip below 5%, maybe below 2%. There'll be unlimited free stuff, just no way to move it from where it is to a safe space, and most of it useless without power anyway.

Estimate of the casualty rate is extremely high, from pathogens. The cities will run out of food in about 3 days. Then combat would begin. When the armed refugees hit the outskirts of the cities they will be stopped.

When it comes to water, those living in semi-rural and rural areas, plus the few in the city areas that have rural properties, is 20% of the US Population. These are the folks that deal with ice storms, snow storms, earthquakes, forest fires, and tropical storms with little or no help. They don't have much in the way of insurance so they treat all but the very serious of injuries themselves. They have food stockpiles; they understand latrines and boiling of water, and use of wood as a heat source. So US population would be stable at 20%, and could be even higher. The town I live in has good natural resources, and is on a hilltop, 28 miles outside of DC. VERY different mindset here than down there. I work 6 miles from the Capital Building, so I am exposed to the city mentality of DC on a regular basis. Folks coming out of there after an EMP to where I live will have a rude encounter.

LD

 

[ArmorerRoy]

…and tomahawks

 

[Mike in FL]

Honestly..... I'll take my bow over a flinter.

Me too. In an exchange he of shooting, the bow is faster.

 

[Mike in FL]

I have so much 7.62X51 my M1A would get me by until I croaked naturally. True also with the 45acp I have cached.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Another thing people don't think about is that anyone on maintenance medication will die in short order when their supply dries up, diabetics, heart patients on blood thinners or blood pressure meds and a host of other meds that keep people alive.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Zombie Apocalypse would actually be the Hordes of Liberals in Blue Cities. It actually would be self cleaning to an extent. Eventually they would have to expand out to our Rural Strong holds looking for supply's.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

I hear that cats make good chili.

Make good chili??!! Mine won't even make my morning coffee!

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

I will be local and regional.
We have a lot of foreign operatives inside the country now, and no doubt at all that they came very well prepared.
Expect something around, say, November?

I consider Dems/Liberals/Commies to be "foreign operators", and they will probably start their stuff in mid- to late October.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

A Compound and Crossbow are a must have.

 

[David Veale]

Living like our great great grandfathers did in the year 1800 will not be fun?

I've been trying to live that way for years now. I'd be okay with it aside from the fact that all of our nuclear reactors would be going Fukushima on us once the grid fails.

 

[David Veale]

EMP taking down the power grid is largely a myth. Now, mass sabotage of sub stations is a real thing, and doable. Even if the power goes down, most neighborhoods will be self formed into militias or vigilante groups, with criminals sent to the big dirt nap.

If your neighborhood is like mine, the gangs will be the better organized. We're in rural Michigan. The residents of the three houses nearest us never talk to each other -- and all have been here for 20+ years! So far as I know, I'm the only one who makes an effort to talk to all three of them, to the point that they ask me to talk to the other neighbors *for* them when they have something to communicate!

 

[David Veale]

Make good chili??!! Mine won't even make my morning coffee!

Do cats fit in your coffee maker?

 

[waksupi]

What amuses me are the chairborne commandos that think if the SHTF they will run to the mountains to live. Thing is, those of us living in the mountains are NOT going to welcome those coming to take our resources.
Being self sufficient in the mountains takes years of work.
On the other hand, we will appreciate taking all the wannabe gear the invaders bring.

 

[David Veale]

What amuses me are the chairborne commandos that think if the SHTF they will run to the mountains to live. Thing is, those of us living in the mountains are NOT going to welcome those coming to take our resources.
Being self sufficient in the mountains takes years of work.
On the other hand, we will appreciate taking all the wannabe gear the invaders bring.

While I love spending time in the mountains (and spent nearly every weekend of my teens and 20s there), they're a tough place to grow food. Back when that was important, there's a reason that few ventured into the mountains or stayed long when they did. I opted to move to the rural midwest for precisely that reason.

 

[jdw276]

What amuses me are the chairborne commandos that think if the SHTF they will run to the mountains to live. Thing is, those of us living in the mountains are NOT going to welcome those coming to take our resources.
Being self sufficient in the mountains takes years of work.
On the other hand, we will appreciate taking all the wannabe gear the invaders bring.

Agree, the other problem is getting there. Everyone is headed to the hills. Vehicles run out of gas, break down, small town residents will band together to take what they need in terms of supplies. Roads will clog up quickly. Bridges are choke points for crossing tolls from the locals. Travel in a TEOTWAWKI situation is you better be where you want to be for a long time before it happens.

I live in the middle of a residential neighborhood. I am to old to run. The bad folks will hit the neighbors first because they are closest to the road. Most have a small stockpile of ammo etc for defense purposes. I mean small stockpile. Like a box. I will hear and see em coming I hope. Will not be pretty but to old to run and I may have a warm cup of coffee on the stove waiting for me. Being self sufficient in a town takes a lot of prep work as well. Decent size dogs that alert on folks are a big help when you are few.

 

[smokeum54]

Me too. In an exchange he of shooting, the bow is faster.

Yep. Also quieter
Doesn't give away your location like a puff of smoke.
Not always but arrows can be immediately re used. Yes you can recover balls, but try stuffing it right back down the barrel.
The right bow set up is 100 percent water proof.
In my neck of the woods the only flint source is tan. I found quite a few arrow heads as a kid. Tried some of the broken ones in locks and your lucky to get 4 sparks.
You can make bows and arrows from trees, also don't forget hardware/ lumber stores. How many people are going to loot the 3 and 4 foot dowel rods. May not be the strongest grain but it'll work.

There's pros and cons to every plan, let's just hope this is all hypothetical. I know i could deal with it, but i wouldn't want my nieces and nephew to go through it.

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

Some years ago, I read that if a large enough EMP bomb was set off over Kansas it could knock out the entire electrical grid over all the US. The essay further proposed that if the electric was out for one year that somewhere between 70% to 90% of the population would be dead within that year.
No gasoline could be pumped. There would be no deliveries of needed supplies such as food, medicine, heating oil, etc. No communications by phone, radio, or computers. Vicious gangs would roam the streets. Looters would ravish and destroy. Choas would reign. (and maybe a great reckoning and restructuring)
Like the old song says; "A country boy will survive."

it would be hard

 

[oldschoolhunter55]

Read this book, or watch the movie.

" Be prepared" is a double edged sword. Yes, have food sources, water, a plan etc. but also be prepared to watch your loved ones suffer and die, one by one; mainly children , elderly, and the sick.

Living like "the 1800's" is NOT the same as a total collapse of society. You can't boy scout or country boy your way out of a hoard of desperate starving worst of the worst humans. You may last much longer than 95% of the people but your day will come sooner or later.

liked that movie

 

[sethwyo]

Does anyone here remember back sometime around 95 when there were enormous power outages in the United states? The news media was saying it's because people are using so much power for their air conditioners but men who worked at these power plants said that the grid is not connected in such a way that all these power plants would be shutting down and there was something else going on.

I think it was in 95 or 96 for most people it's long forgotten like things that happened a few months ago were last year