Michele encouraged me so I have decided to create this thread about ways to prepare for the apocalypse. Here are my basic plans. Let’s hear yours.
Have a rugged watch. Not a smart watch. Assume that the watch will have to operate on its own for years. Some people say that manual or automatic watches are the way to go for survival. I disagree because there could be no easy way to recalibrate them when you forget to wind them or the automatic power reserve dies. Quartz doesn’t need maintenance and if you get a solar one, it’ll last forever. It’s also far more rugged than any auto including Rolex. I think well of Casio watches for this purpose and their G-Shock line is designed for survival. Citizen also has some excellent watches for this purpose. Anything really rugged will do, though, although this is an area where you don’t want to buy non-name-brand. If you can afford it, get one with a perpetual calendar so you don’t need to worry about 30 day months and leap years.
Buy a backpack that can store all your survival gear. Not the leather one you use to look chic but a ballistic nylon or other super rugged material. Then, most important, stock it and practice hiking with it. The time to find out it’s too heavy isn’t when the apocalypse comes. Keep the backpack somewhere handy that you can grab it and bug out in a hurry. Name brands are a waste of money here but look carefully at Amazon reviews to find something decent. You can get great packs for under $50.
Lose weight if you need to. Practice hiking. In your 50s, you should be able to do a 5k hike with your pack on without taking a break. Less as you age, obviously. Either way, whatever your survival plans are (be they run for the hills like I plan to do or stay and fight), make sure you are as physically capable of actually doing them as possible.
Stock up on meds. Have a 6 to 12 month supply on hand. Make sure you have several antibiotics on hand. I had this done but I’ve used it all up (which is a good practice or they get stale) and so I need to restock. I’ll get on that next week. Keep as many as you can fit in your backpack.
Carry several survival knives in your backpack. At least one should be a multi-tool and at least one should be a weapon. This is another area it’s good to stick with brand names, although you don’t need to go for super expensive custom knives. Gerber and Buck make great knives under $100. Spyderco, SOG and Cold Steel are great from $100 to $400 and Chris Reeve is nice but unnecessary over $400. There are tons of other reputable names out there, too. Custom knives generally start at a few thousand but to me that’s just a total waste of money.
Fit a map book (paper, waterproof if possible) and a compass in your pack. They’re both cheap. Carefully read the Amazon reviews on both. I need to practice what I preach on this as I haven’t yet done it.
Figure out a way to communicate. Assume cell service will be down. I use ham radio and I’m thinking about buying a small satellite transceiver when I’m back in Canada, although satellite is dependent on someone else keeping a network running which might not happen. Whatever your method, practice using it.
If you wear glasses, better keep a couple of extra pairs in that backpack. I doubt optometrists will be working after the apocalypse. They’re super cheap online these days.
I already have an update to my gear list. This Casio G-Shock model G9300-1 (there are dozens of different G-Shocks) has everything I could dream of and more. It is a perpetual calendar, solar, is super tough, water resistant to 200m, is mud resistant (which is another level over water resistant) and has both a compass and a thermometer built in. All for $200. It’s not beautiful but that’s secondary.
I believe the world is going to continue just like it is with more frequent and intensifying chaos just as you see with crime and natural disasters because this is the state of the world when the world chooses darkness over Light. Now I sound preachy.
I do believe there could be an issue with electricity so I would add candles to the list.
Watch my list grow lol
A full tank of gas and full gas cans might be helpful, as well as the antibiotics Reg listed earlier. I have two bottles of antibiotics and a bottle of Loritab in the freezer.
If there were an apocalyptic event coming, I love that Reg has his trusty watch on so he can know the exact time of his death.
I’m not really “expecting” anything. I just like to be prepared if there’s anything. Right now the Amazon rain forest is on fire. Not that long ago, an oil spill threatened the entire gulf coast. Galveston was underwater a while after that. Canada and Colombia have been spared for the most part but it would be foolish to think nothing could happen to either.
It’s obviously battery powered but it’s solar recharged so just keeping it out of dark rooms for months at a time means it’ll last until the battery finally dies in about 10 to 20 years. For me a watch is indispensable in apocalypse situations. How much time is left before sundown? When you wake up in the middle of the night, is it time to start your day or have you only been sleeping for an hour? How many days until winter? Are the days getting shorter or longer? Your watch tells you all this.
If it’s a full out apocalypse and I have to hunt for food and so on, I’ll be dead in a week. It’s much more likely that it’ll be a minor apocalypse, though, and the area I’m in is devastated but the Earth is generally ok. In those situations I have a good chance I think. I’ll make no effort to stand my ground. I will run for the hills hoping to reach unaffected civilization.
I am thinking a lot about survival due to this curfew. It’s been interesting to revisit my first post after 8 months and one pandemic. I’m posting this mostly to sort out my own thoughts. I find writing things down gives me clarity. I’m still interested if any of you are doing anything to prep for the apocalypse.
My plans haven’t changed much. I’ve added a few drugs to my emergency stores. I would add face masks, both disposable and N-95. I didn’t mention one obvious point: have cash. I carry USD, CAD and COP, plus various credit cards. I would add at least one fixed blade knife and a sharpening stone. In general, though, my plans are holding up.
Current bugout bag list (in no order):
A watch. Solar with a perpetual calendar, preferably with the ability to receive radio or GPS signals to set the time. GPS watches are expensive. Radio signal watches are cheap but less reliable. I had this handled but the woman lost it in the gym so I will be survival-watch shopping when I get back to Canada. I’ll also buy her one so she can’t lose mine. lol.
A multitool. Maybe two. Maybe three. I have this one handled.
A fixed blade knife and a folding knife. I have this handled.
A super strong ballistic nylon backpack. This doesn’t go in the bugout bag, it is the bugout bag. I have this handled.
Meds. 6 to 12 months of whatever you take, plus antibiotics, plus antivirals, plus whatever else you think you might need in emergencies. We each have our own list for that. I have this handled.
Cash. Lots but not more than you can afford to lose. Plus plastic. Plus a good wallet that will last. I have this handled.
Map book (waterproof), compass. I haven’t even started this. I need to get on it. I might even add a small set of binoculars or a monocular to this if they’re small and light enough.
Backup cell phone. This is another area where getting something super rugged with an absurd battery may be sound, although such a phone wouldn’t be useful as a normal EDC backup. Here’s a ruggedized Blackview with a 13000 mah battery (about four times the usual battery size) and IP68 water protection. It’s going to weigh a ton but it’ll survive most emergencies. I have a backup cell phone but I don’t own a rugged one. I may or may not get one. Not sure yet. I like having two nice phones for non-emergencies and paying three cell bills seems like overkill.
Ham radio. I have several handheld radios but I don’t yet have the FT3DR pictured and plan to. Whatever you have, practice with SMSGTE and EMAIL-2 to send email and sms over radio.
Satellite comms. Garmin Inreach Mini perhaps. I haven’t done this, yet. I was planning to as soon as I got back to Canada and then coronavirus hit.
Two spare pairs of glasses. Maybe three. Here are some super rugged Oakleys made for survival. I have several spare pairs of glasses but nothing rugged. This is another area I can improve but I already have it handled better than most.
Clothes and underwear for a few days. Laundry soap travel pouches in case you have to wash them in the sink. I have this handled.
USB Power Banks. The more the better, but you’ll have to find the balance between lots of power and not too much weight. Waterproof if possible. I have this handled, although not mine aren’t waterproof.
Face masks. A few disposable and one N-95 per person in your household plus a spare. Obviously get the kind that can stack so you don’t take up too much room. I have the disposable side of this handled but not the N-95 side, and can’t address that until this pandemic is over.
EDITED TO ADD: A waterproof flashlight. USB powered so you can charge it with the power bank above. I have this handled.
This post is now my master list that I work off. I plan to update it again in a few months when I get back to Canada. If you don’t care about prepping, just ignore me like you usually do.
My n95 mask is very comfortable. It is 3d printed. I wish the hospital would let me wear it. I wear it when doing any work where aerosols are a problem. You’d never know it was 3d printed. I don’t wear it in public. I wear it in my car or garage if I’m cleaning them. I don’t think I have an apocalypse list.
