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I Confess a Shiver
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When SHTF and WROL it's TEOTWAWKI!
__LINK TO SOURCE - SOURCE INCLUDES SUPER-AWESOME PICTURES__
Same funny jerkoff from Blogger. I can't get enough of it, myself.
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As long as the human race has grasped the concept of time it has been widely believed that it's just about to run out, typically sometime in the next 0-3 years. You will remember in your lifetime Y2k, Y2k again in 2001, Christ about to come back every few years or so then a re-translation saying it's actually going to be a few more years, etc. Now we are approaching 2012, and with global temperatures rising by tenths of degrees and currency values dropping whole percentage points it really seems as the apocalypse is indeed upon us. With the earthquake in Haiti this week, the message is becoming clearer and clearer: if you don't horde guns, ammo, and lots of tactical gear you will be destroyed. By what we don't know, but surely the only thing that could possibly save you will be your Yugo SKS, some paracord, and those pants Bear Grylls wears.
This is the "SHTF" mentality, and once again it's sweeping all sorts of walks of life, but few embrace it as much as the gun enthusiast community. Before we look into the behavior and reasoning behind this, let's establish a few groups within the community itself. The first and usually most vocal are people suffering from what I call RDC or Red Dawn Complex. These people are normally brushed aside in their normal lives, often ignored or thought odd, but when SHTF these people will rise up to save the people who once looked down on them. They will see that girl who always snickered at them in high school being attacked by looters and save her, but no she can't come with your posse; that is reserved for your 2 also awkward friends and those 2 quiet girls who dressed conservatively but clean up to be incredibly hot, and also are deadly when it's called for. If S does HTF, there will be much fighting amongst RDC sufferers, mostly because there are too many of them and two few quiet but hot 16-25 year old female killing machines.
The second is the loner, similar to the RDCers, but instead of becoming the hero he will funnel his societal anger into villainy. He will see many opportunities to save the ones who weren't as smart and prepared as him, but not take them, he will just laugh. The loner and the RDCer will both have similar gear, most with an SKS or AK, a few survival knives, a tactical vest and lots of ACU camo. Some with wealthier parents may have an AR or even an R700 with lots of optics and toys, as their plan is typically to barricade the top of a building and shoot their enemies from a long range. This is sometimes categorized as a different affliction, DotDD, or Dawn of the Dead Disorder. Regardless of specifics, all of these groups will see a spending breakdown like this: 70% guns, 20% gun accessories and ammo, 10% tactical gear.
The next group is quite different from the first, and is the Weird Survivalist Guy. Though they are also quite interested in guns as well, they are also interested in everything else possibly related to survival, and their SHTF stash will be quite varied from one found in the first two groups. These people truly believe the world is ending and are not just kidding themselves into it as a way to allow themself to use their whole paycheck on ammo. In fact some of these people are so consumed by the idea they actually work very hard to afford a lot of their "needs," which range from mere 10 year supplies of MREs all the way to fortified bomb shelters with oxygen recirculation and water filtration systems. These people are easiest to spot at gun shows where they will be there at opening time with large carts, buying 20,000 rounds of 7.62x39 and bullet-proof vests sized for their whole family. A notable sub-group to the Weird Survivalist Guy is the Wildman, who plans on going into the mountains with only what he can carry on his back and some kind of folding rifle and living there for years. Instead of concentrating on massive caches these people will be more interested on the new lightest knife or compass, will talk to you for 2 hours about living "off-grid" and ALWAYS have a large beard.
The one thing that is apparent is all of these people are either a bit delusional, or can't find any other escape from a mundane life and need a fantasy to hold on to. Though people are quick to point out Haiti and Katrina, not only are gun caches not going to help in these kind of situations, there are many other better solutions to avoid these problems. The most obvious is not living in an area that is likely to become a problem. If you truly believe something bad will happen, you are probably going to be better off living in Montana than living in Los Angeles and planning on fending for yourself. Even with no choice, what are 5000 rounds of Mk 262 going to accomplish? The biggest concern in a natural disaster is going to be clean water, which you can't shoot. The next is food, which you can hunt for, but probably isn't going to be feasible unless you already live in an area where you hunt regularly now. Shelter is the last, but it's probably a better idea to own a cheap tent and sleeping bag and use those rather than shooting someone and taking their house.
Let's suppose a SHTF scenario actually is going to arise, one that leaves most of the world in disrepair, but leaves most people alive (not an asteroid, solar flare, etc.). What could do this I don't know but this is what would have to happen to fulfill most apocalypse fans fantasy, as an earthquake or hurricane affecting only part of a first world country is going to get cleaned up reasonably quickly. The main thing that would account for societal collapse would be the sudden disappearance of communication. So who will fare well? The best off will be well organized groups such as churches. Not only do these people know each other well they also have diverse skills and are used to meeting and communicating in an organized fashion, as well as having the added morale boost of their belief an invisible hand is helping them. Hospital staffs, police and fire stations will also be in a good position as they also spend a lot of time together and have helpful skills. The worst off will be the people who we discussed earlier, who don't work well in groups. Now not only are they those weird guys, they are those weird guys that are now dressed up and armed, and will likely be forced to give up their guns before the church or other group agrees to save them from starvation.
You may be thinking now "but what can I do to help prepare for impending doom that doesn't involve learning basic social skills?" Let's look at some things that actually can help you. For skills, the most valuable by far is medical. A single cut without care could become infected and kill you, and is 100x more of a threat than crazed looters. Another good thing to know if you want to maintain your health and be strong enough is how to make food and knowing at least a little nutritional information. Mechanical inclination is good, if you can get an old diesel generator or a car to run you will have power and heat, which will solve a lot of your problems. One thing that's often overlooked as it's not as fun as buying guns is fitness. Not only is it essential to your health, you can't offer much help to anyone or yourself if you are out of shape, making things hard on yourself and making you undesirable to any group.
You still have to buy SOMETHING to put in your basement, so what might you need? Some way to make clean water, you can boil it but it takes a while and there are some lightweight filters that should do you alright. Medicine is big, antibiotics, painkillers, anything you might normally take for whatever condition you have, this is always overlooked and will be hard to come by if supply lines are cut off. There's nothing wrong with stockpiling ammo, but you are much more likely to use it as currency than fending off waves of zombies or Russian invaders.
The bottom line is it's incredibly unlikely something will happen in such a way where you are going to be alone against the world, and if you are your problems will be much greater than running out of ammo, as the will to go on, feeding yourself, etc. are going to be weighing a bit heavier on your mind. If you've watched so many zombie movies and history channel Nostradamus specials that you absolutely feel you have to prepare, start by getting yourself in good shape and reading as much as you can about anything you might need to know, rather than concentrating on saving your paychecks for an ACOG. And if anything is to happen, remember above all else not to come to my stronghold: the laser system will pick you up immediately and a quiet and awkward yet attractive 18 year old girl will pick you off with my .338 Lapua Mag.
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So... which one are you?
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