Ryan
 

You also need to realize that all things mechanical will fail at some point. Learn primative weapons and use them. Bow/arrow, knife/sword, rock/sling, spear, trapping and fishing. Oh, and learn how to start a fire and build a shelter.

Do not fear the learning curve, embrace it. 500,000 years of killing is in your DNA.

After armageddon weapons will not stop working. What will happen over time(20 yrs) will be that small cottage industries will evolve to sell/build/fix tools. Weapons being a primary tool in a survival scenario.

If you read about the weapons dealers & traders in the middle East, you will quickly see how a survivalist community operates. With some very basic tools and manufacturing know-how you can build anything.

Learning to maintain your tools and building a spare parts inventory is only the beginning. You need AMMO. Again, this is where the cottage industry will augment individuals that can or won't help themselves.

To your 2nd question:

Revolvers can be a back-up or primary. The only difference is how fast you reload while standing on top of the parapet defending your homestead from the vast hordes of zombies and Democrats..

For the here and now, Revolvers fair better at abuse than semi-auto pistols. BUT why abuse a tool that can last for a life time,, with a small amount of care??

Some will be prepared,, Others won't...

My $00.0003

I know very few people who keep enough ammo on hand to actually wear out or break a weapon through use.

TR

http://www.theprepared.com/index.php...iew&id=90&Item

This is pretty interesting "abuse" done to a Glock 21. He ran 15K+ rounds w/out cleaning... He dropped it out of an airplane, shot it with a .22, buried it in all types of dirt/sand/etc, salt water soak, ..

Wow. I'm gonna go ahead and stop worrying about this particular issue; I clearly grossly underestimated the durability of firearms. :eek:

A guy did the same with a FAL.

Had over 15,000 rounds without cleaning before it gave him any problems.

TR

That a whole lot o' zombies!

You can clean what needs cleaning on a USP with a toothbrush, some oil, and the parts it breaks down into.

I've done it before using a hotel supplied toothbrush and CLP.

I'd be interested to read the "link" you're misplacing.

Speaking of survival guns. Interesting website, survival guns.

It looks a little far out, but the comments on guns seem to be worth reading.

I have given some thought lately, about learning gunsmithing for no particular reason than it interests me. It seems something worth having in the skills bank for possible future use. :cool:

Good gouge re: survival guns, AM. Thanks!

A bit of a necropost here, I realize. I was looking at these tanks earlier, then later did some research on earthquake preparedness, and had a lightbulb moment.

If you install any water tanks like these and live in a seismic zone, be sure you strap them very securely to a good, strong wall.

Each one of the large tanks weighs 2000 lbs, and they have a very small footprint relative to the weight distribution. They are going to want to fall over if the ground starts moving.

One good water storage solution I have used is 275 gallon food grade industrial totes.

They take up a bit of space, the footprint is roughly 48"x40", maybe 40" tall, but it is hard to find a way to pack water in more tightly. I put mine in my garage, you could put them outside, but the weather and sunlight will cause algae and other undesirables to grow in them more quickly. Remember that each one weighs more than 2,200 pounds when filled, so it is not for apartment storage. It has a metal tube cage around a poly bladder, so you can stack them up to three high, it has a port 6" or so on top and a 2" NPT ball valve on the bottom. You can sometimes find them in your area on Craigslist, soft drink and other food companies use them. I would make absolutely sure what was in them previously, and rinse them thoroughly regardless. If I was going to keep them filled, I would put in an appropriate amount of chlorine and then dump and refill them at least annually, sooner if it starts showing signs of bacteria growth.

Best thing is that they usually run less than $100 each.

HTH.

TR

If you have children in schools, you need to know the schools' plan for several situations, a few of which are listed here:

If a lockdown extends past the end of school, how the school will communicate that and other information to you.

How and when the school will release students in a lockdown that goes past normal school hours.

In the event of school evacuation, where the good weather evacuation location is;
where the inclement weather evacuation location is;
and where the remote evacuation locations are.


I (and the local School District) got caught flatfooted a couple of weeks ago when a hostage-taking bank robbery occurred at a bank essentially across the street from my kids school. The bad guys fled on foot, and the school was locked down until just a little after school normally lets out.

My wife was unable to make contact with the school to find out if the children were being released because every other parent was trying to call as well, and the school only has a few phone lines.

I was out of town, but involved by phone as the bank is close to my business, which also went on a lockdown. My wife was able to pick up our children 1/2 hour late as the school ended the lockdown. It could have been hours before the kids were released, however, depending on the circumstances.

As much contingency planning as I have done, I had never thought through these possibilities.

To aid the school in their after-action debriefing, I called the Superintendent, and found out the school's contingency plans for non-threatening lockdowns, threatening lockdowns, and evacuations.

My call made the Superintendent realize that the district had not given thought to advance briefings of parents regarding these issues and also had no plan for communications to parents during an incident. They are now looking at telling parents how lockdowns after hours and evacuations will be handled, as well as possibly adding info to the website and making cell phone broadcast texts during an incident.

The Superintendent thought that information should go on the school's websites and go in the school handbook for next year. I suggested that it might be wiser to provide that information to parents only, and not disseminate it widely so it is easier for bad guys to find it out. He then agreed with me.

Should a city-wide or larger power failure occur, there won't be any access to the internet or texts on the phone. Most parents currently would have no idea where their children would be if the school were evacuated to a remote location. I now know where my children will likely be should there be an evacuation during a commo failure.

Thank you
 

I would like to thank TR, and all of the other very wise contributors to this post for a very enlightening read. Almost 4 hours of reading along with note taking and I am finished to date. I look forward to more reading.

If washing clothing was discussed in the thread, my apologies. I see where the topic was brought up, but I can't find where it was discussed. I skimmed through the thread, searched on site, and did a google forum search for "wash clothes", "outhouse","laundry" "washboard" and other permutations.

If it was discussed, does anyone know the page?

If it wasn't discussed, how do folks here figure on handling laundry and other similar sanitation issues in a crisis lasting long enough for your clothes to stay standing when you take them off? Does anyone have a washboard, tub, and an adequate quantity of soap and experience using it?