So we have been seeing alot of threads across ALOT of different forums about SHTF and preparation for a disaster or economic crash.
These threads cover everything from ammo supply, gear, food, water filtration, home defense, evactuation to fortifying your home to a “Bunker”.
Seems that most people are well prepared for some sort of disaster. They know what to do or expect.
So what about the MENTAL part of all of this. Are you preparing your mind? Any kind of disaster is not gonna be as simple as boarding up your windows or digging a hole for you and your family, and hiding out and playing cards while sipping on martini’s until the thing simply blows over.
Im sure we will see some pretty terrible things. Horrible things to either yourself or god forbid a family member. Its stuff thats hard to think about. Things that sometimes keep me up at night, but not to dwell on…to prepare myself for.
I have never served in the military, but I have seen some horrible things happen, to friends AND to complete strangers. I think I handle myself pretty well in really bad situations, I have the gift of thinking logically and not panicking.
Now I know that there are alot of LEO’s and Mil. guys here who have probably gone through some terrible things also, and not to mention you have TRAINING for those situations. But as for the NON LEO or military guys, we have to rely on instinct or go with the situation.
So what do you do to prepare yourself for certain situations like this?
I have never shot at a human being, nor killed one. Most people would not be prepared for a situation like that and may indeed hesitate. Defending the family, however, may not include the hesitation part. There would still be the aftermath though, and that may drive some to completely shut down which would render that person totally useless in a dire situation. Killing in a defense situation may seem easy and justified on the surface. Deep down, most people, would have some problems after though. Just my .02.
While being a gun owner and knowing the reason you have them for defense, people sometimes fail to really think about the aftermath or what happens or what it looks like when you pull that trigger.
Its not like the movies. You actually SEE it.
Actually doing it is alot different than talking about it or imagining it.
Also, not just a “Threat” or “Intruder” are going to be the only ones that get taken out of the fight, civillians and people defending their homes or property or families are going to be injured also
In addition to the above, many people will decide to check out due to the fact that Starbucks is gone, the Opra Winfrey show is off the air and google can’t be used anymore. They will be so desparate that those people will be willing to go against the strong will to live that humans have and decide to take the easy way out. The veil of our society is very thin and there are not very many out there willing to be transported back to the mid 1800’s kind of life.
For me it’s not worrying about shooting people in defense of my family, but the fear of a prolonged SHTF scenario where we have to potentially use force to protect things like food & shelter from others who aren’t necessarily hostile, but are starving, etc. because they didn’t prepare.
I don’t have the slightest qualm about protecting my family from harm, no matter what that means, but if you genuinely can’t spare food & water and need to use force to protect it from strangers who are just hungry, I would struggle with that.
I don’t agree that “most” people are prepared though? Hell, most people that I know aren’t prepared for a long weekend snowstorm!
The Walmart in my town gets stripped clean when they predict just a foot of snow! That’s because most people just are not prepared for the slightest shutdown in services, let alone a prolonged SHTF situation.
Hey thats a really good point. I didnt really put much thought into that aspect of it.
People are SO dependent on technology these days. And they have a really hard time functioning without it!
I broke my cell phone about a year ago. I didnt replace it right away, it sucked for the first few days but after that I contemplated on even getting a new one.
Everyone is so dependent on all this CRAP, its sad. I m guilty of the same thing.
Of course, we ALL are. The thing that matters is, can you survive without it? It’s natural to use and enjoy the technologies around us, nothing wrong with that. The real question is, if it were all gone tomorrow, do you have the means to be without it?
We had a 2 week power outage due to ice a few years back & I kept checking in on this elderly couple I was fond of, and he scolded me for thinking they were incapable of managing on their own.:sarcastic:
He reminded me that he didn’t grow up with electricity/television/indoor plumbing etc. and were perfectly capable of never having it again. That’s something few are prepared for, myself probably included even though I try to think otherwise.
I think you will see a lot more people have a natural survival instict. They may not have ever had to tap into it at any point in their lives but deep down it is there.
Those of us who have grown up hunting, fishing, camping and general outdoorsman will find it easier than others to survive with less.
The will to survive is in everyone and when faced with terrible situations or horrific incidents people will either understand that it is a part of life and move on without adverse affects; others may not so easily be able to move on and adapt.
I have seen people who were shot take their last breath while there family was around them losing their shit.
I have seen horrible car accidents where occupants struggle to take their last breath trapped inside of vehicle.
It is a little bit disturbing to watch that firsthand without being able to do anything for that person and to see their family grieving.
Life is full of shitty situations and the way i deal with it is that i understand that terrible things will happen. There is nothing we can do to prevent it. Each of us have an expiration date. We dont know when but we all have one.
Talking about those shitty situations helps too. I have had nightmares and lost sleep over a few incidents. Mainly the one that sticks was the car accident i mentioned above. Very sad to see that. I didnt grieve over it but it put things in perspective. Specifically how fragile life is. I have dreams every now and then about being shot. It scares the hell out of me to be honest. In all of the dreams so far i survive but being a cop and having dreams about being shot hits close to home.
My wife is an OB/GYN so she gets to experience life coming in to this world everyday. What she does is incredible to me and I tell her that all the time. Unfortunately she also has to see the heartbreak that goes along with that. I cant imagine having to do a procedure to remove a baby that couldnt make it or tell a mother that it is better to remove their unborn child before it dies inside of them because it could cause further complications. I know it bothers her and we talk about it but she understand that it is all a part of life.
Undoubtedly this will be the hard part for many of us.
Here in south Florida we have panhandlers begging for money on many street corners. Even though most of them look like alchy’s & druggies, I still feel bad saying “no”. I know the reality is that in many cases it’s their own fault and bad life choices but my heart feels for any human being that found life so hopeless that they end up in this state. When I see someone in a wheel chair without a leg or missing an arm, or it’s so obvious they’re mental, I don’t hesitate to help them with a $5 or $10.
I think the answer to the above situation is to have some extra supplies for a few close neighbors or friends but the line has to be drawn and we need to respond with a firm “we have nothing…move along!” Lose any emotion. You can show no sign of softness or the flood gates will open. Put the mental wall up and know it’s the only choice you have.
There was this homeless guy I used to see all over the place.
At the time in ‘03-06’ I was a Roofer, I made good money and I lived by myself. I dont just hand money out to the homeless.
So every friday after getting paid, I would stop at Publix and get some food. Bananas, bread, crackers, Gatorade and some other things. Then I would hand deliver this food to this homeless guy.
He never said thank you, or anything else for that matter.
This went on ALMOST every firday for about 2 years. Then one day about 8 months later, I was in a bad situation and I was hurtin for money due to all the rain we had been getting,
I got more food like usual, when I dropped it off, his bench was LITTERED with coffe cups and water bottles and food wrappers that other people had been giving him. I handed it to him and he stopped counting all his bills he had in hand when I gave it to him.
He literally had more money than I had in my pocket at the time. He was taking advantage.
The experience of getting shot in 2009 went a long way towards getting me thinking realistically about SHTF. We’re already planning on there being no potable water, no food supply, having to defend ourselves, etc. so we can go ahead and throw medical services into the mix.
How do you fix something like this with no nurses, surgeons, and follow-up care?
I was flown to the hospital, had the best orthopedic trauma surgeon TGH had on call, spent three days in the orthopedic trauma ward there, then basically had a doctor appointment every two weeks for the first six weeks afterwards and every month for the next year there-after. It also required a second surgery to remove three of the screws they put in.
This is how they fixed it:
Made me realize that basically, if you get shot after SHTF, you are well and truly fucked. I’m not talking about giving up the fight you’re in, I’m just saying the amount of damage potential there is, I really don’t see any way to solve something like the above without advanced medical care and sterile environments. Hence why my first purchase after I graduate the academy is going to be a plate carrier and rifle plates; it will ride in the trunk of my patrol car for active shooter calls or any hot call where somebody has a long gun and I’ve got time to put it on. I don’t feel like repeating the experience. One of the detectives that is an instructor at my school got shot three times with a .22LR handgun at point blank range and wasn’t wearing a vest (this was several years ago), he still has two of the bullets in his back near his spine and lost several feet of intestines. He had to use a colostomy bag for nearly two years and was in the hospital for NINE MONTHS over that.
Training, body armor, medical supplies and some kind of plan are on the top of my list after I get four to six months of food set aside. Kind of hard when you’re working part-time making $8 an hour and going to school most of your time, but I’ll make it happen somehow.
Damn dude that fucking sucks. Glad you made it out ok.
I carried an extra plate carrier in the trunk of my unit also.
I always wore my vest on patrol at all times. Fighting and rolling around on the ground isnt so bad with a vest on.
I was on swat with my last dept but all officers had take home units and at one point i had my swat gear which consisted of dragon skin body armor, i had a mil issue plate carrier with sappy plates and i had my regular level IIIa vest that i wore. My crown vic dragged ass compared to everyone else but i didnt have any trouble fish tailing. haha
Before i was on swat the extra plate carrier was for active shooter type stuff.
Good luck and be safe.
I’m totally with you. Just to clarify, the only time I ever give one of them money is if they are visibly missing a limb or I have seen them repeatedly and they’re is no mistaking that they are mentally handicapped. For instance, I see one guy in Hollywood FL who never begs money and walks around aimlessly talking to himself and is a mess. I’ll go to him & give him money without hesitation and tell him to go get something to eat. Otherwise they don’t get a dime from me.
I’m from Nebraska and you rarely see panhandlers/beggars in small communities here, but on rare occasion you might. A couple years ago I was in York, Ne. along I-80 and I stopped at a Burger King right off the interstate for lunch. As I was leaving there was a guy by the stoplight with piece of cardboard that had “Hungry homeless veteran-anything helps” written on it.
So, I turn around & go through the drive thru and ordered him 2 whoppers/fries/drink and a gift card with $20 on it so he could eat down the road or even there again.
I stop next to him at the light & hand him the food and he looks in the bag and says “I don’t really care for whoppers, can’t you just give me some cash?” I said something along the lines of “are you fucking kidding me?” and he hands me the bag, turns around and starts begging from another car!
It’s a shame too, because I rarely do anything for people like that now.
First, I hope the arm is doing much better and wish you continued progress!
Preparing mentally is such an individual thing. We all do it differently but you can never prepare fully for a gruesome inury. For me it was knowing I was as well trained as I could be & that I was with teammates that we’re equally competent. Mentally I knew I was much better trained than my adversaries. I’m a pretty spiritual guy, so you can imagine prayer was involved in my mental preparedness. Making peace and being at peace. You do your best to the best of your ability, fall back on your training and let the chips fall where they may. What will be will be. What else can you do?
In a shtf situation having plates, plans, IFAK, Antibiotics is the best we can do.
SHTF means that basically its you and your family against the world until civil order is restored and supplies are readily available.
I don’t feel any responsibility to feed or supply others that live in a fantasy word that every day will be better then the last.
I stock rubber buckshot and slug, a few bean bag loads and once I find them some C/S to discourage unarmed beggar’s who become hostile.
I don’t mean to come off heartless but unless I have a defense pact with a certain family which I know have equal stores and skills I don’t feel any responsibility to be the local food bank, shelter or field hospital.
What I will do as long as the area is secure is render first aid to those that need it using what supplies they have on hand but I will not disclose or use any inventory I have stored.
