The Official, One-and-Only, Zombies Have Hit the Fan EOTW Thread

[QuietShootr]

Thank you - Christ on a pony. It's a good thing I'm not a moderator.

[Clarkm]

progressive: government making progress in taking over all aspects of our lives.

[John W]

Almost a week ago the country was hit with a downgrade by the S&P. While we wait for Moody's and Fitch to follow suit, we get to watch as Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Iceland and who else) starts to encounter real difficulty. In another thread here some of you mentioned topping off the tanks and increasing the rate at which you are picking up supplies and gear.

What does everyone see as a timeline for the real adjustment to begin? Months, years, decades?

What do you think will be the next shoe to drop and how will we be affected?

[4x4twenty6]

John W:

The Gov't will not work for the people like it should until we get rid of the pocket lining and corruption of congressman and senators.

The people of this country dont educate themselves so they, being ignorant as they are, look up to people who are equally ignorant but buy into the BS being fed to them from people who give them money.
A perfect example is the preachers who back obama and then go back and spout their bs during church services to their uneducated constituents.

The debt deal these 12 individuals come up with will not really solve anything because they are not willing to make the cuts to social programs, free up money in the tax code, and spur business because of all the gov't red tape. Look at the oil drilling issue in the gulf and around our country. No reason that cant be ramped up.
Refer to the presidents relationship with george soros and PetroBras.

The cut in defense could spur attacks.

The uk riots are going to inspire the idiot ****ing youth of today. We are already seeing it in small forms in the flash mobs.

I dont see things getting any better and people wont acknowledge how bad things are until it comes crashing down. People are too preoccupied with the wrong shit and are not interested in educating themselves to fix the problem

Look at the voter turn out percentage for an example.

[Doc Maker]

Very little will happen here, other than some localized violence, until the police paychecks start bouncing. An all out economic collapse is not enough to cause the US to fail. For the State & local's to fall that far behind, we'd have to have a compounding factor. A natural disaster for example. I've been looking into the solar storms, referred to by 4x4.

Solar Cycle 24 (current) began 08 Jan, 2008 after an unprecedented period of spotless activity during cycle 23. This would make us expect a higher level of activity this cycle. The spots form the ejecta that causes the solar storms. I've found a couple of interesting things...

Based on the accounts of from the 1859 storm, the levels were high enough to create havoc throughout the unregulated, primitive power system of the day. The same storm today wouldn't have the same effect on our current system. They didn't have sophisticated transformers in Dodge City...

Today, I think a Faraday Cage is over doing it a bit, an industrial strength surge protector will do just fine for a Solar Storm. A solar storm isn't the same as a thermonuclear EMP. The storm causes a power surge through the lines, as opposed to a nuclear EM burst, which is highly concentrated (resulting in the fried circuit boards.) The storms flow over the earth's magnetosphere over a period of hours. You'll need a separate, protected power source to maintain operating electronics during the event. Storing your back up electronics unplugged, sans batteries, will be plenty of protection. Even in the 1859 storm, the Western Union operators just grabbed replacements off the shelf and restrung the wires.

[LRS143]

Still trying to find comms for post SHTF. I can't imagine the landline or celly's working and probably wouldn't use them anyway. I'd like a decent base and a few handhelds with real range. Camo the antenna from the bunker somehow so patrols or hides could communicate with the bunker or each other. And more importantly if the SH'sTF while my wife is 20 miles away at her office It'd be nice to be able to reach her.

[John W]

The Gov't will not work for the people like it should until we get rid of the pocket lining and corruption of congressman and senators.

Hopefully the voters that turn out will be fed up enough to do something about our "fed" problem. However, the last 20+ years have shown that its very hard to make large changes outside of a "oil and terry-ism" threat. Only time will tell.

The cut in defense could spur attacks.

Possible, but I think we are doing a good enough number on ourselves that no one (read China & Russia) will need to assist. The cuts in defense spending might be a good thing, pull the defense industry monkey off our backs a bit and bring the guys home to secure our country. We don't need to be world police, its time for others to step up and play ball.

The uk riots are going to inspire the idiot ****ing youth of today. We are already seeing it in small forms in the flash mobs.

Here we go. If massive cuts are made to the entitlement spending and we will see a TON of "angry, hungry, and unemployed" action. History does show that people typically bang up there own neighborhoods before they take it to Helicopter Ben or the Mid/upper class areas, so signs of this will be around long before poop hits the scooper.

I dont see things getting any better and people wont acknowledge how bad things are until it comes crashing down. People are too preoccupied with the wrong shit and are not interested in educating themselves to fix the problem

Look at the voter turn out percentage for an example.

We have been raised that failure is not an option (good) and more recently, that the government will take care of you (bad). Lots of people are putting there heads in the sand due to disinformation campaigns from mainstream media/market cheerleading, government sources, and the fellow sheep.

I think its a simple case of we as a country have our heads up our asses and our situation won't be acknowledged until it bites us in the ass. Then and only then will we wake up and realize because its in front of our faces. Sad.

Very little will happen here, other than some localized violence, until the police paychecks start bouncing. An all out economic collapse is not enough to cause the US to fail.

The government has shown its determination to keep printing money. The local gov's might start having issues, but at that point, we could here talk of federalizing the police force in the name of restructuring local gov debt. This would enable them to print as much money as it takes to keep the hired help on the books and keep the show going.

For the State & local's to fall that far behind, we'd have to have a compounding factor. A natural disaster for example. I've been looking into the solar storms, referred to by 4x4.

Solar Cycle 24 (current) began 08 Jan, 2008 after an unprecedented period of spotless activity during cycle 23. This would make us expect a higher level of activity this cycle.

This is an interesting point of view and I would agree that a compound problem would be a place we experience difficulty that may include a surplus of fans and lots of poop. I will look into solar storms. Thanks!

Storing your back up electronics unplugged, sans batteries, will be plenty of protection. Even in the 1859 storm, the Western Union operators just grabbed replacements off the shelf and restrung the wires.

While our electronics are more advanced, they are not all protected from abnormal occurrences. Nowadays, we work in a just in time system, so those off the shelf replacements are weeks or months down the road. Could be trouble here as well.

Still trying to find comms for post SHTF. I can't imagine the landline or celly's working and probably wouldn't use them anyway. I'd like a decent base and a few handhelds with real range. Camo the antenna from the bunker somehow so patrols or hides could communicate with the bunker or each other. And more importantly if the SH'sTF while my wife is 20 miles away at her office It'd be nice to be able to reach her.

Ham radios are the way to go. You and your wife can earn your amatuer radio licenses with little more than 2 days worth of studying and a positive attitude. There is no morse code req. anymore and there are tons of free guides out there to help you study the material in a need-to-know fashion.

I highly recommend this book Technician Class 2010-2014 by Gordon West. Its built around the test and designed for you to succeed. I passed on my first try.

Once you have your ham liscense its time to get started. A nice dual band hand held radio is a good start for you and your wife. You can carry them on backpack trips, road trips or general use in your cars, and on your chest rigs if you have them. A base station at your home will provide more power and range but should be considered after you have your handheld set up and ready. If and when the repeaters lose power you can always operate in simplex mode.

It may seem daunting but its really not. Try calling up or emailing your local amateur radio club and asking if they provide test services. Chances are they do and it will give you a great opportunity to ask questions about gear, etc.

Yaseu, Icom and Kenwood all make great equipment. Find more info on specific units at eHam.net.

Let me know if you have any further questions about comms and I'll try to help.

[Doc Maker]

Good call on the FCC license, I've had mine since '89. Be cautious with the radios. Signals can be tracked and big antennas are hard to hide. I would use hardline for intra-bunker coms. No chance of intercept. Dig your lines 8" down and cover. Get some old crank phones and place them at your overwatch, water supply, extraction route and emergency supply cache. Save your radios for tactical excursions away from your base (food, water, supplies, etc.) Batteries will be scarce and power will be intermittent.

Just found this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...77B3OX20110812

[4x4twenty6]

So, after hurricane gustav i had a bunch of stuff for me to survive for a few weeks while on duty cuz i didnt want to rest solely on my dept.

Extra clothes and gear i have already stored in rubbermaid bins.

I still need: Food, Water and purification, more first aid, more gas cans, always need more ammo! i have a few ammo cans w/ a fair ammount of 9mm rds and 12 ga rds. I need more .223 and .270 for my rifles. Need more survival gear. I have a handheld gps but that may or may not be useful.

As for comms i am going to hold on to my police radio (motorola 5000). If it is truly bad im ripping out whatever i can out that patrol car also. haha

Any thing i am missing or if i am off base somewhere please lemme know. I take criticism well and wont be offended by any comments. I just wanna be ready.

[a1fabweld]

So, after hurricane gustav i had a bunch of stuff for me to survive for a few weeks while on duty cuz i didnt want to rest solely on my dept.

Extra clothes and gear i have already stored in rubbermaid bins.

I still need: Food, Water and purification, more first aid, more gas cans, always need more ammo! i have a few ammo cans w/ a fair ammount of 9mm rds and 12 ga rds. I need more .223 and .270 for my rifles. Need more survival gear. I have a handheld gps but that may or may not be useful.

As for comms i am going to hold on to my police radio (motorola 5000). If it is truly bad im ripping out whatever i can out that patrol car also. haha

Any thing i am missing or if i am off base somewhere please lemme know. I take criticism well and wont be offended by any comments. I just wanna be ready.

Lots of things you are going to need multiples of for each person in your family/group like GOOD flashlights, rechargeable batteries, solar charger for them, cooking gear like stove & fuel for it, sanitary & hygiene supplies etc. Just think about what you would pack for a week long camping trip with no RV & no store to stock up on during that week.