***April's XDTalk.com Monthly Contest***

[ibwaldoswifee]

I know this will come as a surprise, and even taint a few opinions of me, but of that I could care less.

I am 32 years old and have lived a more fulfilling, exciting, dangerous, heart full, heartbreaking, loving, death defying, erroneous existence than anyone I know in my age bracket. (That’s not saying much, I know a couple thousand people, there are billions, LOL)

I’ve served in Bosnia, I’ve served in Korea, I’ve served in the US, and I’ve served the hardest mission of my life, protecting my children from ‘bad’ guys.

Given my past, and all that I’ve survived, I’d choose heaven over preparedness.

With my children in my arms, and my husband by my side I’d choose death over another day of fighting to survive this meager existence.

From what I’ve heard, Heaven is the way to go. I’d rather be side by side with my family in Heaven then spend one more day struggling to make things ‘better’in this so called life.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not ready to die, not looking for a way out; certainly love the life I am living.

However, nuclear disaster, rioting, constant war over food and water, dying every day holding my children and my gun hoping not to be raped, robbed, tortured, burned alive, or worse made to watch my children raped, tortured, starving… I’d rather go in peace, with my family, to a place where the futile and nonsensical no longer matter.

For those of you who don’t believe there is a Heaven, think about it this way, 6 feet underground with your family not being tortured, raped, starved, threatened, or worse…

To me, the only preparing I need to do is to be sure my children know when the **** hits the fan, I did my very best to love them, protect them, care for them, raise them to be strong, respectful, loving individuals. The rest is all ubiquitous nonsensical bullshit.

The only thing good that comes from preparing is you have more of a bartering chip. Otherwise there is always someone with more power, more money, more guns, and more influence. They find out how prepared you are and suddenly, you aren’t… Bad guys do bad things, and in war, all actions for survival are a go. The most horrid acts are no longer considered evil, they are considered --surviving.

[Mist]

Refreshing point of view and honesty even if I don't personally subscribe to it .... If that were truly the case then most of us are as prepared as we need to be !

[ibwaldoswifee]

Originally Posted by Mist

Refreshing point of view and honesty even if I don't personally subscribe to it .... If that were truly the case then most of us are as prepared as we need to be !

If only that were the case, right? I feel anyone who has seen war will tell you there is no real preparation. The mental fatigue is lifelong and the physical exhaustion is unimaginable. I can say I'm fully prepared to take a bullet for my children, but until the moment after I"ve taken one, I'll have no real clue what that means.

[Mudinyeri]

Originally Posted by ibwaldoswifee

I feel anyone who has seen war will tell you there is no real preparation. The mental fatigue is lifelong and the physical exhaustion is unimaginable.

I tend to agree. If you'll read my 300+ pages, you'll see a similar theme emerge. One can prepare. One can do virtually everything "right" but there are certain things for which one simply cannot prepare. Are you prepared to face down a needy family with starving children and tell them to go pound sand? Are you prepared for the potential backlash when they disclose your location to others ... or are you simply going to line them up against a building and execute them?

Even if you have all of the physical preps in the world, the psychological/emotional side of the catastophe will eat away at you. Even those that have "escaped" catasrophes, e.g. come back from war, may suffer (as ibwaldoswifee suggests) from debilitating mental and emotional trauma for the rest of their lives.

Am I suggesting, then, that one should not make physical preparations for potential disasters? Certainly not! Prepare to protect yourself and your family. At the same time, recognize that in the event of an apocalyptic catastrophe you may very well face life and death decisions that, no matter how tough you think you are, you simply are not prepared to make.

[ibwaldoswifee]

Originally Posted by mudinyeri

i tend to agree. If you'll read my 300+ pages, you'll see a similar theme emerge. One can prepare. One can do virtually everything "right" but there are certain things for which one simply cannot prepare. Are you prepared to face down a needy family with starving children and tell them to go pound sand? Are you prepared for the potential backlash when they disclose your location to others ... Or are you simply going to line them up against a building and execute them?

Even if you have all of the physical preps in the world, the psychological/emotional side of the catastophe will eat away at you. Even those that have "escaped" catasrophes, e.g. Come back from war, may suffer (as ibwaldoswifee suggests) from debilitating mental and emotional trauma for the rest of their lives.

Am i suggesting, then, that one should not make physical preparations for potential disasters? Certainly not! Prepare to protect yourself and your family. At the same time, recognize that in the event of an apocalyptic catastrophe you may very well face life and death decisions that, no matter how tough you think you are, you simply are not prepared to make.

truth.

[nmduke]

You all have made some very good points to consider. This is one of the reasons I chose to run this contest on this topic. There are so many factors to consider when prepping for whatever disaster comes our way. I just hope and pray everyday that something catastrophic never happens to us. But you never know what the future has in store for us. All I hope is that this great group of members can help us all prepare for what may lie ahead of us. Thank you all for your input so far.

I am sure that there are a few waiting to the last minute to submit your posts, that is unles they feel that they can compare to what has already been posted?

[pepsi]

The large problem I find with dedicated plans is - as mentioned - the unforeseen.
Underground bunker? Cover the airways, flood them, etc.
Fortified basement? Torch the house.
The problem I have with hunkering down is that you have to successfully defend it every time, whereas they only have to breach your defenses once.

ibwaldoswifee certainly has merit in her point of view.

We keep enough food and water on hand for two weeks. We also have various supplies ready to go such as tools, first aid, toiletries, communication devices, maps, cooking stove, items like that. A number of arms with more than enough ammo. ("Enough" meaning enough to get us by until civilization returns to normal OR enough to learn to cope with more primitive weapons).
We fill up our gas tank when we get near 1/2 tank, and we keep about 12 gallons of gas in cans that are constantly rotated.

Step 1: Load up and get the bleep out the city and as far into rural as possible.
Step 2: Set up a system of long term survival, whatever that entails.

I'm very confidant my wife and I have the skills necessary to survive. And if not - well, we just weren't meant to live on then. It is what it is and it's ultimately not up to us.


The good news is we'd quit smoking.