Adamsc76 wrote..

It can be illustrative to study the past...Argentina...

Argentina: A Case Study in How An Economy Collapses
http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/argen....

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Once again look at who your friends are - and aren't. Many who you think are "friends" are really "acquaintances." They're fine when things are good and ok to share a beer with, but trusting them with your life is another matter. Again, this is "no foolin'" stuff - take stock of those who are in your circle and make changes as required.

I figure it like this -- if I trust them well enough to go cave diving with them, I can call them friends.

OT - but worth posting somewhere:

Wow 6 pages before I found this one.

I, at 50 and 75 lbs over-weight can run about 1/10 of a mile at a 6 min mile clip then I have to go back to walking. I can however, bike 2 hours non-stop on my 21 speed bike holding about 13 mph the whole time.

Way back on page 2 or so it was suggested that swimming is a good substitute for running as it builds cardio. I agree that it builds cardio and upper body strength however, it does not build leg strength/endurance. Therefore, I suggest bicycling for cardio and leg strength/endurance. The trick to bicycling is get your seat the right height (most people have it to low and stress their knees) and use an easier gear and keep your rpm's up on the pedals. A good pedal RPM is 80 to 100.

I hate it when I read posts/threads like this one because I know it is all to real a possibility it could be needed.

One thing I didn't see if we have a true SHTF scenario is the need for a reliable motor vehicle. What good is that cabin in the woods or that farm in the country if you just can't get there when you need to because the old beater won't make it.

With that out of the way I just don't think that the SHTF scenario will play out the way most of you are talking about. I may be wrong about this but what I see is a long slow decline over several months to a couple of years. And even in the worst case scenario when things break down very quickly I don't think we'll get Mad Max or zombiland. If there is a break down in local and state government law enforcement the roving bands of thugs out to take your **** will soon be put down by the local citizens banding together to protect their communities. Things are going to get a lot more local. It's the way people have done it for 10,000 years of human history. Yeah, sometimes the barbarians at the gate win but most of the time the people find a way to pick up the pieces of their lives and and move on.

How do you all think things will play out? I think we are entering the next big down turn right now and by the end of the summer things could get very scary indeed.

Tickerguy wrote..

Be prepared to "shelter in place" or "bug out" as appropriate.

I'm prepared for the former. The main attraction being, as I understand it, the abundant opportunities that will open up in the warlording business.

A dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

Re: Cardio

There is a guy Al Sears - he was in Fat Head, who says we really should be doing high intensity training. Obviously for most couch patatoes that's getting off the couch to change the channel instead of using the remote but the idea is to train for the max you will encounter so you don't blow your heart out.

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Argentina: A Case Study in How An Economy Collapses

The fellow being interviewd there wrote a book (though written along the lines of a collection of articles) regarding his and others' experiences during the 2003 Argentinian economic collapse.

I found it to be a great resource for ideas and insight.

http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Survival-Ma....

If you're contemplating the possibility of having to abandon the car and take a hike in hostile or uncomfortable territory, here's a good writeup on how to prepare for it:

A High Mobility 72 Hour Kit - Revised and Updated

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-blog....

One advantage of being an old bastard is that running, cardio, bugging out, etc., and all that this entails is simply a non-issue.

A couple of neighbors intend to "dine in" with me if that time ever comes and between us it won't make a dam bit of difference if others are intent on seeing us gone.

Most of us have befriended the fact that any day we wake up is simply one more day and none of them are guaranteed.

Play with your kids and enjoy these moments. If it all goes to hell your best laid plans will probably go with it.

(And yes we have more dam guns n' grub than we'll live long enough to use. I think this amuses us more than it comforts us.)

If those 'zombie' bastards make me have to go through a bunch of tiresome running, they'd best go ahead an kill themselves, because when I catch their asses, it will NOT be pretty!

Knees can be improved. My Dad was supposed to get total knee replacements by 40 but he chose to try another route. He bought a gym-quality treadmill, turned the incline all the way up, and walked for an hour. Eventually he could run for an hour, especially at 6am on Saturday morning blasting "Eye of the Tiger". By strengthening the smaller accessory muscles around the knees he was able to make up for some really genetically horrible knees, even without losing a ton of weight. I'm 30 and a year ago I realized that it had been about 12 years since I had really exercised in a sustained way. My first mile of running 4 months ago felt like hell, but I ran a 10K on Memorial day. My time is a little slow. The point is that this is entirely doable. Most of us could stand to lose a little weight, but even if you can't, running is indispensable for your overall health. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, but anything really worth doing is worth doing poorly. Start where you are now, today, and just work up from there.

Read how things went in Argentina from somebodsy who experienced it. Lots of good practical advice about food, fuel, weapons, supplies, etc. if you spend the time:

http://ferfal.blogspot.com/search/label/....

Last year in march we had a hell of a storm go through coastal Connecticut. We had downed trees and power lines all around our home, and more downed trees and power lines on our way to work. Plus an electric transformer fell just outside of our driveway and we couldn't get either one of our cars out of the driveway.

How did we get to work? We live about two miles from our office, so we walked to work. We called in and told the managers that we would be walking so we would be late. Not a problem for us, we love to walk anyway.

The bigger problem was that we were without power for about seven days. We made it through by filling a couple of huge coolers that we have with ice, and we put everything in our fridge and freezer into the coolers. Now long term this would have presented more of a problem, but for a week we decided we could get away with this. We didn't lose a bit of food that we stored in the coolers. We cooked using our charcoal grill and our fireplace.

It was the people who moaned and groaned that lost the most and had the most trouble. We took everything in stride and had fun with it. How you think under pressure is going to be a big part of how you make it through the big stuff in life. Most people just throw up their hands and eith give up or lookfor someone to take caree of them. Being independent and having a good attitude can save your life.

BTW...I have had knee problems since I played basketball in high school. I just go out and walk. I don't worry too much about the pain. It feels better when I walk.

Gen wrote..

If you can't jog a couple of miles non-stop you're not in acceptable physical shape.

hmm.. all I really have to do is outrun my fat-assed neighbors, don't I???

BTW, if you can, live in a house with multiple floors, or an apartment building with stairs.

It's crazy: my brother came to help pack and move things down 2 flights of stairs and the poor fellow was knackered after 2-3 trips while I was just a bit warm.. He lives in a ranch on one story and my townhouse has 3 floors.. I'm not the fittest fellow but even just having to walk up and down stairs regularly helps a bit.

(I also can do stationary bike for 1hr at a stretch with cadence of 70-80 and resistance of 16/20, but I find that my lower back knots up if I walk for more than a mile :/, but you gotta start somewhere..)

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hmm.. all I really have to do is outrun my fat-assed neighbors, don't I???

You mean the ones without guns?

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hmm.. all I really have to do is outrun my fat-assed neighbors, don't I???

That's the diver's shark defense: You don't have to outswim the shark, only your buddy

Gen wrote..

That's the diver's shark defense: You don't have to outswim the shark, only your buddy..

Bingo!

What if there are 500 sharks behind you?

Then you're ****ed.

Gah. First nutrition and now exercise. This SHTF crap is really going to suck. Luckily I've included booze and tobacco in my stockpile, which should take the edge off.

FWIW, last night a strong line of thunderstorms came through my area and a big tree landed on a power line just a few doors down from me, so my electricity was out for a full 24 hours. I survived it, but learned that life without air conditioning is only marginally worth living.

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I survived it, but learned that life without air conditioning is only marginally worth living.

Reminds me of my biggest fear of waking up one day and having to live in Zombieland.

Warm Beer.

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Warm Beer.

Stock up on Guinness in teh storm/root cellar, that's its ideal temperature..

Rickl for the WIN!

Rickl wrote..

Gah. First nutrition and now exercise. This SHTF crap is really going to suck. Luckily I've included booze and tobacco in my stockpile, which should take the edge off.

FWIW, last night a strong line of thunderstorms came through my area and a big tree landed on a power line just a few doors down from me, so my electricity was out for a full 24 hours. I survived it, but learned that life without air conditioning is only marginally worth living.

Enjoyable read. I'm in the process of loosing weight and building endurance. Thanks for the interesting links, guys.

One thing I think Karl overlooked on his list is diversifying your skill set. I am self-employed in a very "discretionary spending" industry- car washes, but I was a FF/Paramedic in a former life. If it gets bad enough that people have to choose between food, gas in their car, or washing their car, I'm screwed. I'm in the process of getting my paramedic license renewed. I think if things turn really ugly,health care jobs will be some of the last to go. The income isn't great, but it may be very well put food on the table if things got tough enough.