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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Surviving After Apocalypse

Original Article

surviving-after-apocalypse
Guest post: by ‘Be informed’
Doomsday, Judgement Day, The Apocalypse by any name, probably means the same, the end of human civilization as we know it. You as a survivalist, a dedicated prepper, or just someone that made it through the devastation phase are now faced with the stark reality of the aftermath. Whether it is a global war, eruption of a super volcano, worldwide anarchy, highly fatal pandemic, whatever, there are some essential basics someone must know and follow through to continue to stay alive and be all right for the future.

First and foremost a person must determine where they will be safe. Do you stay where you are, and if so for how long? Can you get to where you need to if you choose another location? Is it too dangerous to safely travel, would you even make it there? Do you risk staying too long where you are at, like from the up coming freezing winter? Is it better to continually move around to try to avoid detection by those that would be violent towards you? All of these and many other unique circumstances have to be taken into careful account.

One of the most important issues with human survival is food and water. Where you decide to “start over” with your life has to provide a reliable clean source of water and food almost, or all of the days of the year. Fresh, safe, all year water sources for irrigation of crops needs to be considered. This probably means finding or staying in an area that is primarily hard-freeze-free most of the year unless you are quite good at PRIMITIVE long term food storage and or be willing to depend on hunting, fishing, or gathering skills.
Whatever you call “shelter” is a definite concern. Your primary pre-apocalyptic home is very unlikely to never be the same. If you stay in your home, go to a second home type retreat, find a new refuge, the shelter must be able to keep the harsh elements of the weather out. The shelter must be out of contamination zones; radiation, disease, chemicals, etc. Even short-term havens (temporary makeshifts) have to be constructed safely so they won’t collapse on you. This is something to give much thought to after a mega disaster that has weakened many structures everywhere. The shelter needs to be safe from future natural disasters; fires, floods, avalanches, wind, so on. You also may have to construct or repair a shelter, and having building materials where you are going to live is important to consider.

Fuel is an item many people forget about as modern life has provided us with all our heating and cooking needs. After the disintegration of the modern world, you are going to need some form of energy. This could be solar, wind, or other renewable energy sources. If you are lucky it could be abandoned natural gas supplies to run generators and heating units. Most people though are going to have to burn wood, charcoal, coal, or other safe combustible to stay warm and cook. There are many areas that lack even wood to make a fire and this must be taken into account.

Lawlessness and predation is going to run amok after the end times and self defense will be paramount. Deserted sporting goods stores are good places to pick up firearms and ammunition, but even better would be unoccupied national guard and army base armories. Amongst chaos, you want to have the best weapons, and this is going to come from the armed forces of your country. Don’t hesitate to grab whatever you can carry, push, or pull. Even so called “heavy” weapons can provide a true defense for you, your family, your group. Someone else will take it and possibly use them against you one day. Aside from the 2 legged threats, there are going to be enormous packs of very hungry animals that want to literally eat anything, including you. Rabies will run rampant. You will need firearms for protection.

Movement and viable transportation to safety, including an almost nomadic approach might be a necessity. Even after an EMP event, there are still a few older vehicles that will still operate. Bicycles and boats should also be considered as a means of getting somewhere. Many animals, including the horse, cows, oxes, can pull your supplies packed in trailers. Don’t forget good weather proof pairs of shoes for everyone for when travel by foot becomes necessary.

The absolute most essential point to remember after an apocalypse or even after a near or total breakdown of society, is that whatever is left and not claimed by someone, is yours for the taking to use for survival. Survival motto is “use what is available to survive”. We are taught and conditioned to not take what is not ours. After a mega catastrophe however most owners of property, supplies, merchandize will no longer be around. In all fairness these become survival items for those still alive who are first to claim them. If you don’t take what is left, someone else will, or it will go unused, something that you, someone in your group may need to live.

Your shopping list of high priority items from abandoned places should be food, seeds, clothing, means of self defense, toilet paper, bleach and other disinfectants, every hand tool, containers, blankets, canvas tents, everything with a camping focus to it. One essential stop should be wherever medicine is stored, especially antibiotics, in pharmacies, hospitals, physician’s and dental offices. Medical supplies are going to be needed and used someday, making scavenging for these a top task. No one should ever feel bad about moving into someone’s home who will never return. In other words, you don’t have to steal or take from someone else who is a survivor because there will be plenty of supplies to go around for the taking from those who did not, which is one real positive note to all of this.

People don’t like to even think about a worldwide cataclysm, but with any survival minded person that plans and prepares for disaster they need to also take a worst case scenario into their plans, even if it never happens. It really does not have to be hopeless for those that do survive a nightmare as many aspects of technology will still exist and may function well to make life more bearable. It could be the end times for 99% of humankind, but for those 1% that do make it, they can continue to live a long life afterwards if they are fully willing to take advantage of all the still workable survival supplies that are left and waiting to be used to its fullest.

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