This may be obvious, but:

During the recent tornado outbreak here in north Alabama, we were without power for 5 days. Our house can be opened wide, so lack of AC was no problem. There was no gasoline to be had, but we have bicycles, and we're in reasonable physical condition. We have a gas stove, so we could cook, and we had quite a good bit of food stored. But we realized that our food strategy was flawed.

Refrigeration is one of the sine qua non of a modern society. Yes, we could open that gallon can of beans, but we sure couldn't eat it before it started to go bad. As we're restocking, we're opting for smaller quantities, which is more expensive and more hassle.

FWIW.

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Do we have a lot of ex-football players on this site? Genetics? Accidents? Honestly curious...

It's the shoes. Period. Take 2 minutes and watch this video. We should start a new thread if you guys want to discuss. Don't want to hijack the thread.

Bad knees and joints? Shoulder or lower back pain? Consume bone broths, not the boxed crap from the stores. Make your own. It really helps repair the damage. Can't make your own broths? Supplement with gelatin and glucosamine. A friend of mine couldn't button his shirt, started this protocol and was 100% healed in 10 days. http://criticalmas.com/2011/04/homemade-.... Also see p134-135 of Deep Nutrition by Dr. Shanahan.

Can't do cardio? Do leg presses at the gym. Do the motion very slow and don't lock out. 1 set to failure. You'll activate all fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. Then rest for a few days. Stronger muscles make cardio much easier. For a more detailed explanation of this read Body By Science by Dr. McGuff.

Vibram Five Fingers

^^^^ I WANT

thanks

Vegas: It's for your feet not for......

Oh, wait... sorry. :P

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Vibram Five Fingers

^^^^ I WANT

thanks

No doubt! I haven't seen those...pretty cool...

@Montysano: another problem with dry food is the amount of energy (heat) and time required to cook them. 17 minutes for rice is fine until you need to fire up the grill and cook it outside.

Possibly OT, but did anyone notice that Mountain House has been out of stock for several months now for all their #10 cans of freeze-dried foods?

Local, yeah, they basically told everybody to stop selling them as they are VERY far behind. I was very disappointed to see that too...blew our method of ordering a case per month...

BTW, motorcycle is the best choice for a true 'bug-out' vehicle for its speed, efficiency, and nimbleness. Just have a 'bug out' bag or set of bags that can be bungeed or strapped to the back. I'd say get a dual-sport (BMW, Suzuki V-Strom, Kawasaki KLR650) in case you need to go offroad to avoid traffic or populated areas, stay at or below 800cc for maximum efficiency..

(And kinda glad I got the year supply of dried foods on sale last year.. Now I just need to get some large water containers and a bunch of sterno cans after I move..)

Vibrams are nice; steer clear of the heavily marketed Nike Free - just one more attempt by the Beaverton behemoth to cash in on the trend toward free form running.

One caution from a 60 year old coot that still bangs out an occasional half marathon - DON'T switch to Vibrams overnite. You need to gradually transition from "normal" running shoes to Vibrams (or, if you're really daring, barefoot). If you make the switch cold turkey, you'll screw up your lower legs something fierce, since your foot will strike the ground in a fashion completely new.

If things get bad - most of you will not be in a city or urban environment to begin with, so where would you be running from and where are you running to.

Are you thinking local road blocks by zombies where you abandon your transportation to get home on foot?

I started barefoot walking first on grass, then moved on up over a period of almost 3 months. Now my feet are stronger enough to run until I'm done.

When I'm thinking optimistically, I hope things will casually mellow down to a tent city / soup kitchen scenario, as opposed to zombieland. The pessimistic thoughts generally turn something like what was depicted The Postman.

I try to stay off the grass bare-foot if I can help it...I've seen a number of velvet ants and copperheads to keep me thinking more of some foot protection...

I guess I will need to load up the bug out back pack and have the other items ready to go. I have MREs, energy bars, first aid kit, flashlight, solar charger / radio / camping stuff etc.. it is in one place just not in a bag.

I am in decent shape. I run with my dog several times a week -jogging and interval training and I lift weights.

My large dog has enough German Sheppard in him to be scarry. (Your dead if you are a ground hog and he is off leash) He is protective and he has a mean bark with teeth.

I want to get a dog back pack so he can carry his stuff.

My area is ok but 1/2 mile down the road is FSA divisional HQ. That has me concerned.

http://www.idcide.com/citydata/pa/norris....

Play softball, the bats may be usefull someday.

In all seriousness (lethal force). train and utilize the "Mozambique".


Remember: 2 to the body, 1 to the head. Always leave the target dead.
Winning hearts and minds: 2 to the body, 1 to the mind

*Edit: You need not dress or act like Tom Cruise for this to be effective.

Yeah, velvet ants are brutal. I grew up in copperhead country and went barefoot all the time. They can mostly be avoided if you think about where you are putting your feet (step up on things, look, then step down). I got hold of a velvet ant in a shipment of nursery stock one time. Those things are from hell for sure.

I'm stuck in an urban environment. I can't get the wife to see what's coming. She's still overdosed on hopium. I've got a good fallback location about 70 miles away - the trick will be getting to it safely.

Running shoes could be the problem for some of you. Do not buy a cheap pair and think you're just as well off with a crap pair shoes if you can save a few bucks. The sneaks themselves are very important and you should certainly spend time feeling out what's right for you. If you have a normally-sized foot with a normal arch, try out Saucony. If you have a more narrow size try Mizuno. Those are the two most comfortable brands I've worn.

We have fire ants everywhere around here and those ****ers are NASTY. Barefoot is not much of an option where you could step on them, which is pretty much everywhere.

Man, all of "rules" talking is making me want to watch the first 3/4 of Zombieland again. The last part was just horrible because they originally wanted that movie to be a pilot opener for a TV series. Last part of the money was the first episode.

What will happen to all the debt (even student loan debt) in the event of an economic collapse?

There is many times more debt in existence than there is money, no? And if all the "TBTF" players are knocked out there will be no one to purchase it and therefore no one to pay.

While it would be "nice" for everyone to get off free, I suspect the debt collectors, be they the government, banks, or chinese, will not allow that.

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about 70 miles away - the trick will be getting to it safely.

That could really be a 'trick' too...I work downtown Nashville but live 50 miles out so hopefully there's enough warning to get out of town through the back roads.

A 'survival' thread, on Tickerforum?

Things might be going downhill faster than I thought.