Category: SHTF

SMOD*

SHTF

Apparently, the End Times are almost certainly due at the bus stop soon:

Soaring food, energy, and shelter inflation have led to what could be a new era of civil unrest worldwide. Pockets of unrest have been observed in Sri Lanka, Peru, Kenya, Ecuador, Iran, and Europe. New research forecasts a broader wave of discontent is just ahead.

“Only a significant reduction in global food and energy prices can arrest the negative global trend in civil unrest risk. Recession fears are mounting, and inflation is expected to be worse in 2023 than in 2022.”

Wow… I wonder if some giant, powerful nation could address both those issues simultaneously?

Naaahhhh they’re too busy rummaging in Melania Trump’s undies drawer.

And then there’s this little kettle coming to the boil:

Now, winter in Europe is rapidly approaching when homes particularly in northern Europe will need gas the most to keep their homes warm and one hopes the weather itself will be a mercifully temperate. As recession looms, the only thing overheating right now are prices. Unemployment will surely follow.

My fervent hope is that the popular response to this is to see politicians and bureaucrats dangling from lamp posts but sadly, that’s not gonna happen.  More likely is that they’ll flee to safe havens, clutching suitcases full of our (looted) cash.

I’d take that outcome, now that I think of it.

But if you think all that’s bad, try this.

Aux barricades, mes amis!!!

*Sweet Meteor Of Doom, e.g. this one.

Sssshhhh Don’t Tell ‘Em

Disaster, Guy Stuff, SHTF

“When civilization falls apart, the rifle I want is an AK-47.”  We all know that famous quote, but an even better one is:  “When civilization falls, you’d better know how to survive in Nature”, as Richard Moss describes the fate of the “social elites” who don’t:

They would soon realize that their clever turns of phrase, condescending smirks, allegiance to “diversity,” abortion, and rejection of God would mean nothing before the fury of nature and nature’s God. Their fatal conceits would vanish in terrified moments as nature delivered its cruel blows. Their high-minded rhetoric, progressive orthodoxy, navel-gazing, and self-absorption would dissolve before the acid rain of Gaia’s indifferent wrath.

All good stuff.  Of course, I don’t have much of that knowledge either — or at least, it’s been largely forgotten — but I have friends who do, and I would arrive at their doorstep with tons of food, guns and ammo —  to help guard them and their loved ones against the inevitable hordes of goblins who would try to prey on them.

The East/West Coast types?  Best leave them in their ignorance.

Expensive Bag

SHTF

Followed this link from Insty for a survival first-aid kit, but on scrutinizing the contents thereof, my conclusion is that I’d be paying $70 just for a bag — because I already have all the other stuff, and more so withal.

That said:  none of it is in one place, but scattered around the house;  so Job #1 is to round it all up and put it into a bag, and I’m sure I have a spare one of those lying around somewhere, too.

Logistics

Logistics, SHTF

I was going to talk at some length about the “supply-chain crisis” with respect to the grocery business, but Sundance did it for me.

And for what it’s worth, his diagnosis and analysis are absolutely 100% correct.  As long as there are no hiccups in any aspect of the supply chain, “just-in-time” supply is the Finance Department’s wet dream.  But note the term, “any aspect“.

A driver shortage, a spare parts shortage, a labor shortage, a packaging shortage or a fuel shortage, and the whole Jenga structure falls over.  If all of those happen at about the same time, the Jenga structure disappears completely and would take months if not years to be restored.

As we are going to see very soon.  Stock up now, folks, while you still can.  And for once, I’m not talking about ammo.

Snow Laughing Matter

SHTF

My Readers being a sensible lot, I probably shouldn’t need to post a warning about a seasonal SHTF situation like this one:

I’m going to ignore the funny bits — e.g. the hapless Kamela Harris tweeting that “America is on the move again” — to focus on the important stuff.

When I lived in Chicago and was faced with a drive of any distance away from home, I made sure that I had the following:

  • full tank of gas, and a 5-gallon can in reserve
  • two blankets — a regular woolen type and one of those Mylar things
  • water (kept inside the car, not in the trunk where it could freeze)
  • emergency food (a large jar of peanut butter, crackers, chocolate and a package of jerky, as well as some hard candy for a quick sugar boost)
  • shovel (one of those military entrenching tools, see below)
  • 10-lb bag of cat litter
  • as well as the usual emergency things one should keep in the car anyway, e.g. flashlight, blaze orange vest, insulated work gloves, road flares and so on.

Nineteen hours, as above, is a long time to be stranded in freezing weather without any kind of sustenance, and it’s just pure luck that the above episode didn’t claim any lives.

Feel free to add anything you think I’ve missed.

 
(German mil-surp — I actually have two of them.  I prefer them to the U.S. all-steel version, because the wooden handle works better in cold weather.)