How long would you make it??

[PamsPride]

If there was a natural disaster in your area how long would you last? 2 weeks, 2 months, 6 months?? Longer??
Assuming that the stores are without power and supplies, gas stations do not have power so no gas.
Do you have a generator? Do you have gas stocked at your house for the generator to keep your freezers from thawing out and loosing all that food?

Then....What else do you think you need to do to last 2 months?? 6 months??

 

[dacjohns]

I would lose all the perishable food (freezer and 'fridge) but other than that we could go for quite a while. We have an ample supply of canned goods and dried goods, including wheat. We have a grinder that can be easily converted to hand use. We have chickens and a pond with fish. We have a wood burning stove that we can cook on.

We don't have a generator but it is on the wish list. The camp stove fuel wouldn't last long.

The biggest problem would be watering the chickens if it is cold but we could do it by melting ice on the stove and changing out the waterers (we have 3).


Not really needed but nice to have to make life easier:
Generator and a supply of fuel and fuel stabilizer.
A supply of diesel fuel and stabilizer.
A supply of automotive fuel and stabilizer.
A supply of kerosene/lamp oil.
A supply of camp stove fuel.
A supply of chain saw oil and bar oil.
A few bottles of propane.

Wow, talk about dependence on hydrocarbons.

 

[PamsPride]

Basically you are lacking all of the flammable stuff???

 

[dacjohns]

I have lots of wood.

 

[FarmerChick]

I could last probably 2 months without going totally insane.

For me---do I have time to prepare a bit before this disaster is coming? If not I will get caught in a bad way with water for animals. If I hear something like a monster hurricane is coming, I can prepare....all I need is a 1 day warning and I could be prepared better.

Food is not a problem. We have canned items from green beans to field peas to jams, etc. My pantry has pasta and all that. We would eat. Wierd combos but we wouldn't starve. I could bake bread on a BBQ.....I have 2 proane tanks for the house fully loaded, and the camper has 2 100lb tanks on it....so I have a propane stove in there.

I would eat all freezer stuff fast...LOL....cook all I could as fast as I needed and hope to drag out its shelf life.

I have animals to eat. Hogs, chickens, goats.

I have heat, propane fireplace so no problem there. We would not freeze if winter time disaster. 100 lb tank would last wide open at least over 1 month...more cause I would conserve.

Feed for animals is my problem. Goats can eat hay, so can cattle. Chickens, hmm......somehow let 400 chickens forage I guess. My ton of chicken feed last about 4-5 weeks so depends how long I could go if disaster. Hopefully disaster right after I get a new load..HA HA

Hogs, oh boy, they need feed. I buy 1 ton per week. SO, I would have to turn them out with the cattle in the pasture I guess.....oh the headache I see coming from that!

Water, if I have time, I can fill 2 350 gallon tanks I own.
If no time and well shuts down, I have a small generator to run the wells but animals would be on limited supply of drink.....plus I have 2 big creeks running thru the property. And I have a small pond. So there would be water....quality not sure of.....but boiling can handle that.

Funny thing is I would be OK for a while, animals would have it tougher.

I have 2 monster barns filled with hay. No shortage there.

I have battery lanterns, candles, all that stuff.


Wish list

build an outside wood fire oven

get 2 more 5 gallon canisters for gas storage over winter

take stock of what batteries I need, buy some replacements for radio and such


I know I would be OK...what choice would we have..LOL...my farmer friends have it all also.....Barb has 150 heifers she is milking...so fresh milk etc. We would team up with a few friends and we all would make it thru. I think having people to rely on in this type of situation is so important.

Hmm...you have me thinking. I don't want a disaster!

 

[Beekissed]

With water and heat, you would be surprised what you can do and how long you can do it! When I look back at how I was raised, it always amazes me how little we really needed to live.

I can see gasoline becoming a problem, as eventually we would run out and couldn't run the chainsaw. Fortunately, we have a cross cut saw up in the building and axes. We have two wells here, one on a pump and the other is just sitting there under cover~the neighbor assures me its a hand-dug well with good and plentiful water, so we would just need a long rope, which we have!

People would quickly adapt to working very hard in the daylight hours and sleeping at night~just like it used to be!

We could survive for some time on our food stores and animals on the hoof(dogs too!), so to speak, and local wildlife. I have lots and lots of wheat and would have to devise a way of grinding it the old fashioned mortar and pestle way.

I know that people around here would not bond together and share resources at all~ they are very, very stingey with each other in the good times, so I can't imagine that changing when things get scarce!

We would last quite some time....alot leaner and in better shape! Our orchard would become quite a food source and, I imagine, people would be fighting for that resource, eventually.

 

[inchworm]

I'd be surprised if we made it much past two weeks

We have little access to water. Our well is like an 8" pipe. Can't get a bucket down there. We don't have a generator. We have a small pond we can use to help flush toilets. I'm bugging hubby for a rain barrel.

We don't like canned veggies or beans, so we don't have many. We have little pantry space. I store veggies and meat in the fridge/ freezer. We don't even know how to hunt.

The only thing we have is a woodstove and plenty of wood, and laying hens.

Inchy

 

[FarmerChick]

Inchy
that small pond would be your savior.
boil water...simple as that....boil the heck out of it and drink it. Would be very important.

ALSO....use "under the bed" as pantry space. Yup, I do.
I have some canned stuff under there in those plastic storage bins. Hey, tuna and pasta and the like.....if you are super hungry you can eat. That is all that matters.

AND you sure are learning tons of ways to be super frugal and survival basics on this forum. I have learned so much...that I have tips for the "what ifs" happen...things I never would have thought of.......

I could throw together an outside oven with just some rocks and cement bricks and such...Never fancy. That never matters in a crisis...just as long as you can cook something!

AND all those things in your home....WOW....I bet we would find a million uses for existing things in our home!!!!

 

[enjoy the ride]

In our area, the whole county was basically cut off for weeks in the 1960's due to flood. If you drive down the main highway, you will see signs about 20-30 feet above the road saying high water mark.
People were remarkably helpful to each other- of course I'm sure it was not universal but enough that no one was without what was needed to survive. Whole small towns were washed out to sea and their residents were housed and fed- livestock rescued as could be done. The airport which is very small was the only way in and out but the military and national guard did hay drops and picked up people too.

A big earthquake stands a chance of creating such a wide area of destruction that you best plan to be be on your own for awhile at best.

To really survive long, I would need a wood stove. But in an earthquake, that may not be usable either. In winter keeping warm would be a problem, in summer water.

I have been unable to get to town or have power for 2 weeks and it wasn't even close to a survival issue- just darned boring and irritating. Two months would take some coping every day- 6 months I would hopefully have a routine unless my house was utterly unlivable.

 

[Beekissed]

I always tell my kids: There are no boring times, only boring people!!!

I don't know, a mandatory (but temporary)break from technology and outside interruptions seems like a dream vacation to me! I have boxes and boxes of great books that need a good read...like old friends just waiting to get back in touch!

Once you get your water in the house, your wood in the house and your meals cooked, dishes washed, clothing washed, bodies washed and any other immediate chores, one can get quite a bit of reading done before nightfall!