Something to consider: A truly realistic SHTF scenario...

[Beemerguy53]

There have been some threads on here lately about what guns to have in a so-called 'SHTF scenario'...

Roscoe Bartlett was a Congressman from Western Maryland for 20 years. He was a scientist and inventor, a little quirky and very, very smart. During his Congressional career, he constantly warned about how vulnerable our electrical infrastructure is, and what will happen when (not if) it fails...

Here's a fascinating article on what he's doing now, and where and how he's living. His comments are very interesting...

Roscoe Bartlett: The Congressman Who Went Off the Grid - POLITICO Magazine

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Interesting read! If you can get a chance talk to some Amish (That don't cater to the tourist industry). They may be off grid, but much of their lifestyles come from "Modern Life". Where do you think the wood stove or canning jars come from? In the article's last picture, You see a wood cook stove, that is also the heat source. My 6 year old Amish hardware catalog lists stoves like that from $4000 to $6000 plus accessories. It appears his Photo Electric system would run $30,000+ and I doubt it is EMP proof! Still, all-n-all his point(s) are worth considering. This much I know, I heat my whole house with one wood heat stove, without electric to power 3 fans to circulate the warm air, we are down to one room real quick! Most years I use 8 to 10 cords of wood, with out gasoline chainsaws and pick-up trucks wood would be unattainable in large enough quantities! Ivan

 

[Beemerguy53]

Reading the article, the thing that most struck me was that he's on a mountain, in the middle of nowhere, with no phone to call for help, miles and miles from anything that looks like civilization...and he's unarmed.

I daresay that for most of us on this Forum, it would be unthinkable to live in that situation without some sort of firearm.

 

[perrazi]

here's a scenario in progress, the current snow and super cold that's starting. everyone have enough food at home and a way to stay warm if you loose electricity over the next few days?

 

[Beemerguy53]

here's a scenario in progress, the current snow and super cold that's starting. everyone have enough food at home and a way to stay warm if you loose electricity over the next few days?

Well, here in Maryland, at the first hint of snow in the forecast, everybody runs to the grocery store to stock up on bread, milk, and toilet paper!

Seriously, you make a good point. I depend upon a heat pump (ugh!) for warmth, but I also have a fireplace and several days' worth of wood. In a pinch, it would suffice.

 

[Hack]

Another reason to move to Texas: They have their own power grid.

 

[walter o]

But Texas it is all WIND powered

 

[Gunslinger808]

But Texas it is all WIND powered

<Insert Oklahoma joke here>

 

[Ranger514]

Living in the country, we stock up when storms are in the forecast: cold front and snow moving into our area tonight. In case power goes out for more than a few hours, I've extra split wood stacked on the front porch, extra water stored, and candles and batteries stocked. We'll have a banked fire, two labs, and three cats that will help keep us warm. It will be cozy

 

[feralmerril]

I am living in a minor emergency at the moment. Two days ago the blower motor bearings on our heater froze up. Parts will be another 3 or 4 days. I been shutting the water off at the street every night. We have gas fireplace that we never used before. Keeps that one room okay but not the back of the house. We have it running continuously. Wonder if the bill will be more or less?

 

[Nico Testosteros]

A power outage is now a SHTF scenario? It's only the last century we've been dependent on mass power. Our ancestors survived for hundreds of thousands of years without electricity, gas, Internet, TV, etc,

 

[jimmyj]

Yes, but our ancestors had KFC and McDonalds, plus drive in movies.

A power outage is now a SHTF scenario? It's only the last century we've been dependent on mass power. Our ancestors survived for hundreds of thousands of years without electricity, gas, Internet, TV, etc,

 

[therevjay]

I am living in a minor emergency at the moment. Two days ago the blower motor bearings on our heater froze up. Parts will be another 3 or 4 days. I been shutting the water off at the street every night. We have gas fireplace that we never used before. Keeps that one room okay but not the back of the house. We have it running continuously. Wonder if the bill will be more or less?

Mine sucks a lot of gas. But sure beats no heat, and it's still a lot cheaper then a electric space heater. Unless it's real cold (well below zero) just leaving a small stream of water running at the faucet furthest away from the inlet should prevent freeze up.

 

[EugeneNine]

I am living in a minor emergency at the moment. Two days ago the blower motor bearings on our heater froze up. Parts will be another 3 or 4 days. I been shutting the water off at the street every night. We have gas fireplace that we never used before. Keeps that one room okay but not the back of the house. We have it running continuously. Wonder if the bill will be more or less?

mine did that in the middle of the night one winter. Got it out and used a tiny brush to get some oil in the bearings to get it running again.

 

[williamlayton]

NO! The vast majority of power is generated with Gas---in Texis.
Blessings

 

[Hack]

NO! The vast majority of power is generated with Gas---in Texis.
Blessings

Thanks! I have another burrito...

 

[The Big D]

Bartlett was utterly useless as a MoH allegedly "representing" my district. He's off the grid in more ways than the situation referenced.

 

[leswad]

A power outage is now a SHTF scenario? It's only the last century we've been dependent on mass power. Our ancestors survived for hundreds of thousands of years without electricity, gas, Internet, TV, etc,

Approximately 70,000 years for modern man. At the turn of the 18th century the human population was around 1 billion. I believe it is now 7+ billion. Coal, oil and technology has propelled the human race... Without it, society collapses.

 

[Ranger514]

In another post, I told about spending winter weekends in a hunting cabin in the Black Hills that was built around 1917 when I was a kid in the mid-late 1960s. No electricity. No running water. It had nothing but a wood fireplace for heat, along with a woodburning cook stove. Originally, the occupants used kerosene lamps for light, but the place had been retrofitted with propane burning light globes that hung from the ceiling sometime after WWII. We had to use an outhouse and drew water from the creek in buckets for drinking, cooking, and washing. It was fun, but I wouldn't expect my wife would think so if we had to revert back to that system. Could we survive with that retro technology? Sure, but my wife would likely have a nervous breakdown without the internet.

 

[nawilson]

Approximately 70,000 years for modern man. At the turn of the 18th century the human population was around 1 billion. I believe it is now 7+ billion. Coal, oil and technology has propelled the human race... Without it, society collapses.

And it collapses quickly. If a power outage hit a large enough area, then there is no way enough aid could arrive before things got really ugly.

Figure that 100 years ago, people made due without electricity. They did have certain technologies and know-how that most just don't have today. Who draws water from a hand pump these days? Who salts ham? We don't need many things thanks to electricity, so we don't have them.

Turn out the lights, and we don't go back 100 years. We go back more like 1000 years.