Ebola Virus

cthia wrote:

Nice post Northstar. Very nice. Thank you.

I am Native American. My family and tribe teaches all of the things you mention. And then some. It is part of right of passage to learn these basic things. At an open pauau (pow wow) many of these things are taught. Making a fire with only the tools of nature is a critically overlooked skill. Preserving food with only nature. Clothing. Hunting skills. Bow and arrow is like a gun to us. One should also have the skill to hunt, in snow, in wilderness, etc. And to trap, alive. Knowing nature's natural foods. Roots. Berries. Worms. Snake. Many many insects. The agave worm (found in Tequila bottles) are very nutritious and delicious. Many different ants of course. And several types of worms. There are many things that people take for granted. We all have wells. Guns are fine, but ammo runs out. One should know how to make and use a bow and arrow, a slingshot ... both types. Medicinal herbs. Fishing with just rope, vine, etc. And many would be shocked at what can be used as bait. Can you make a knife with just the tools of nature? Can you filter water with the tools of nature. Can you locate possible shallow water sources from the presence of certain flora? At open "pow wows" it is shocking how many cannot use a compass, or navigate by the night sky.

There is much to learn. Native pow wows are an excellent course.

Hi cthia. And thanks. It is spooky to me how few folks are capable of handling even a few weeks ice storm power outage let alone anything more serious widespread and long lasting. eh. I'm only up for 4-6 months, generally anymore. Too old to deal with more serious anymore and know it. eh. Longer term my goose is cooked. And I know it. Ce la vie.

My family does its own rites of passage, one of the many things sets us apart from the larger society. eh. I like them. For girls the big one is the year you take over cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a crowd, 23 people in my case, The older women step back and you are chief cook, doing most of it, directing what when to get everything out there in proper order and all of it gracious and delicious. I was 14. The sense of accomplishment was... wonderful. The males had their own thing out in the woods on Candlemas, Feb 1 in our thinking, though technically the cross quarter is counted mid point between the solstice and the equinox, thus 'cross quarter'. Snow on the ground, Washington state forest all around. My gr gr uncle told me about his. Was quite something.

I would say folks should not let the ideal be the enemy of the better than nuthin'. Nor should they either get all paranoid...or all complacent 'will never happen'. No one wants crap to happen, but sometimes it does. And it does not send out warnings. eh.

Gods know First Nations folk learned about godawful pandemics the hard way. Terrible. So terrible.

Well, so three more books for anyone's pandemic reading list.

Deadly Outbreaks, by Alexandra M. Levitt

The Viral Storm, by Nathan Wolfe

Pandemics, by Peter C. Doherty

The MSM has pretty much stopped talking about Ebola, though it is still raging in West Africa.

Daryl wrote:My solar system is similar but 2.4 kw and I haven't paid a power bill for 7 years now. An on grid system can be converted to off grid either by a different inverter and batteries or as I mentioned earlier with the right inverter and a wind generator (provides clean power automatically), you just stockpile ice during the day and accept that some windless nights you use oil lamps. They insist on having safety interlocks that shut it down when there is no mains power to safeguard power system linesmen from power coming backwards up the line, (can be circumvented).

Regarding the guns I agree with Northstar that they should only be a part of the preparation and we shouldn't make them the centre point. I already live much as she so eloquently explained so am naturally prepared.


As an aside though I recall testing bullet proof vests for our military (helicopter pilots protection) with some interesting results. The one we selected had an optional ceramic insert. At 100 mtrs without the ceramic it would stop a 5.56 from an M16 but not the Steyr AUG (Steyr had tighter rifling to stabilise the bullet more). With the insert it stopped both, and just stopped both 308 and 7.63x39 (AK) rounds although the ceramic was broken with the bigger rounds. I had brought along my 30-06 with AP projectiles and hot hand loads, which went straight through all including the Kevlar at the back of the plasticine dummy. Not fair they said, so I said prohibit terrorists from having the same gear.

For the solar folks - and everyone else - look up 'Carrington Event' and Faraday Cages. A nasty solar CME/ EMP is one of the more likely devastating nasties. We dodged one in 2012. If alignments had been a little different, zap.

If I had the money and expertise to play with such things I'd be investigating using a sterling engine for power generation feeding the engine off thermal differentials between ground and air or some such. eh.

Before someone calls me anti-guns, I am not. They'd be darn necessary and ditto ammo. Just there is more to surviving such stuff than that. A lot more.

A "Survivalist" who stocks up on guns and ammo but nothing else is exactly the type of threat that compels everyone else to stock up on guns and ammo.

Northstar wrote:

Daryl wrote:My solar system is similar but 2.4 kw and I haven't paid a power bill for 7 years now. An on grid system can be converted to off grid either by a different inverter and batteries or as I mentioned earlier with the right inverter and a wind generator (provides clean power automatically), you just stockpile ice during the day and accept that some windless nights you use oil lamps. They insist on having safety interlocks that shut it down when there is no mains power to safeguard power system linesmen from power coming backwards up the line, (can be circumvented).

Regarding the guns I agree with Northstar that they should only be a part of the preparation and we shouldn't make them the centre point. I already live much as she so eloquently explained so am naturally prepared.


As an aside though I recall testing bullet proof vests for our military (helicopter pilots protection) with some interesting results. The one we selected had an optional ceramic insert. At 100 mtrs without the ceramic it would stop a 5.56 from an M16 but not the Steyr AUG (Steyr had tighter rifling to stabilise the bullet more). With the insert it stopped both, and just stopped both 308 and 7.63x39 (AK) rounds although the ceramic was broken with the bigger rounds. I had brought along my 30-06 with AP projectiles and hot hand loads, which went straight through all including the Kevlar at the back of the plasticine dummy. Not fair they said, so I said prohibit terrorists from having the same gear.

For the solar folks - and everyone else - look up 'Carrington Event' and Faraday Cages. A nasty solar CME/ EMP is one of the more likely devastating nasties. We dodged one in 2012. If alignments had been a little different, zap.

If I had the money and expertise to play with such things I'd be investigating using a sterling engine for power generation feeding the engine off thermal differentials between ground and air or some such. eh.

Before someone calls me anti-guns, I am not. They'd be darn necessary and ditto ammo. Just there is more to surviving such stuff than that. A lot more.

namelessfly wrote:A "Survivalist" who stocks up on guns and ammo but nothing else is exactly the type of threat that compels everyone else to stock up on guns and ammo.

Northstar wrote:
For the solar folks - and everyone else - look up 'Carrington Event' and Faraday Cages. A nasty solar CME/ EMP is one of the more likely devastating nasties. We dodged one in 2012. If alignments had been a little different, zap.

If I had the money and expertise to play with such things I'd be investigating using a sterling engine for power generation feeding the engine off thermal differentials between ground and air or some such. eh.

Before someone calls me anti-guns, I am not. They'd be darn necessary and ditto ammo. Just there is more to surviving such stuff than that. A lot more.

Hi nameless,

Well, one of the reasons. But that one is sure a big one. Alas, there are other sorts of nasty folks out there who jump at any excuse to commit looting and mayhem. No, that is not a racist remark. That sort come in all races and ethnic groups and both sexes. And there would quickly be too many desperate folks who would do unfortunate things.

Then there are the ones who would decide that everyone should share equally so you should give them everything they did not bother to stock for themselves. And on through a depressing litany of human fecklessness.

Cities would be nightmares very fast, regardless of the triggering event or situation. The old saw about 'nine meals from anarchy' is probably way too optimistic, especially in cities. Anywhere. If I lived in a city, which I do not for this very reason among others, I would always have my car gassed up and stuff in the trunk to bug out without even going home, if necessary. And stuff at home ready in a closet to pack out and go ASAP, within an hour. Beyond that hour stuff would begin heading south very fast. Delay would too likely be death.

Doing this would seem silly... right up to the moment it was needed, a moment I sure hope never comes for anyone.

I know you know this, of course.

Just looked at a NASA site. If the 2012 CME had happen ONE WEEK earlier, we would have been zapped by a CME possibly larger, worse than the 1859 Carrington Event. That is every EMP nightmare would have happened. One week. Gives one the chills. google it, folks.

edited by moi for more stuff

Northstar,

You REALLY, REALLY need to read LUCIFER's HAMMER.
The description of social disintegration in response to global disaster is compelling. Some of the preperations described are right on.

namelessfly wrote:Northstar,

You REALLY, REALLY need to read LUCIFER's HAMMER.
The description of social disintegration in response to global disaster is compelling. Some of the preperations described are right on.

Dear nameless, I have read it. More than once. It is a terrific book. The best doomsday book I've ever read. Well thought out and far more believable than most of that sort of tale. Most of them are too often just excuses for the author to run around with his guns and stuff. <snort>

While being able to "bug out" at a moments notice and be self sufficient in energy and food would be ideal, for most of us a less comprehensive approach is needed, for reasons of time, effort and the amount of resources that can be gathered.

A much simpler start would be to get a rain barrel and dig a victory garden in the backyard. It is quite possible to grow a decent victory garden in the balcony for urban readers living in an apartment. A system called aquaponics, which combines raising fish and feeding the wastewater to garden plants in a hydroponic garden provides protein and vegetables, but requires a bit more planning and work.

Hand cranked emergency flashlights, radios etc. should provide basic light and news for people without a larger solar array or battery power bank. Getting hand tools and learning to use them is probably the next step in time/effort for most people.

A library of how too books (not the Kindle edition!) and a sturdy, enclosed bookshelf is also a critical requirement. Don't forget first aid books, and if you plan to hunt or live off the land, something like the SAS survival guide is also helpful.

You can take most of these steps without much effort, and without calling undue or negative attention to yourself (if anyone questions you about the garden, tell them you have become a "locovour" and watch them smile in approval without realizing what you are really doing).

Thucydides wrote:While being able to "bug out" at a moments notice and be self sufficient in energy and food would be ideal, for most of us a less comprehensive approach is needed, for reasons of time, effort and the amount of resources that can be gathered.

A much simpler start would be to get a rain barrel and dig a victory garden in the backyard. It is quite possible to grow a decent victory garden in the balcony for urban readers living in an apartment. A system called aquaponics, which combines raising fish and feeding the wastewater to garden plants in a hydroponic garden provides protein and vegetables, but requires a bit more planning and work.

Hand cranked emergency flashlights, radios etc. should provide basic light and news for people without a larger solar array or battery power bank. Getting hand tools and learning to use them is probably the next step in time/effort for most people.

A library of how too books (not the Kindle edition!) and a sturdy, enclosed bookshelf is also a critical requirement. Don't forget first aid books, and if you plan to hunt or live off the land, something like the SAS survival guide is also helpful.

You can take most of these steps without much effort, and without calling undue or negative attention to yourself (if anyone questions you about the garden, tell them you have become a "locovour" and watch them smile in approval without realizing what you are really doing).

All absolutely true though how you'd keep others from swiping stuff off your balcony or city yard I don't know, alas.

I do not have solar here. We'd just go non electric, which we have to do every so often here anyway. Thunderstorms etc. Was out for a couple days this summer. eh. You are completely correct about the rest, and the balcony garden is great all the time. Home grown tomatoes, especially, are wonderful.

I must sound like Debbie Downer. I'm not, actually. I just like having a bit of practical insurance on hand, which has been quite useful over the decades for quite mundane reasons.

And on a lighter note:

Q: How many South Dakotans does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None. They are still using kerosene lanterns.


Q: What does a South Dakotan do when his wheels run out of gas?

A: Pull off the side of the road and let the horse graze for a while.

KNick wrote:And on a lighter note:

Q: How many South Dakotans does it take to change a light bulb?

A: None. They are still using kerosene lanterns.


Q: What does a South Dakotan do when his wheels run out of gas?

A: Pull off the side of the road and let the horse graze for a while.

No EMP type worries for them

Carry on, cowboys

chuckling,

Northstar