Our first real SHTF situation/"practice run"; what have we learned?

I'm interested to see answers from true "preppers"--people who've been getting ready for exactly this kind of situation, or worse. This hasn't turned out to be the "event" it was billed as, though it still brought circumstances we've never seen before, and the closest to the true SHTF situation we all anticipate. So what have you, specifically, learned about YOUR preps, YOUR neighbors, YOUR preconceptions?

I personally have learned two things of note. First, I don't have the ammo stores that make me feel comfortable. If shit truly DOES hit the fan, and people become the menace I think they would, I want enough ammo to get my point across if my compound is visited.I'm going to be stocking up as the next few months come and go. Second, I have vastly UNDERestimated the length of time our food stores can feed us. With virtually no food (other than a few gallons of milk) brought into the house, we've eaten exactly as we always do yet barely put a dent in our day-to-day stock, and we didn't touch our reserves at all. We did put a hurting on our frozen and refrigerated foodstuffs, but not our SHTF store. I conservatively but (I thought) accurately estimated our no-hunt/no-fish food stores to be capable of feeding us for about two months. Now that we've experienced this, I can honestly say I'm probably short by nearly half a year! In retrospect, we could easily survive on what we have put away for six months without changing our eating; if we ration at all, it could go a year or more.

 

No concern with defensive, offensive supplies.

Food, might be a bit light as we were entering the lean season where last years harvest is gone and new season hasn't started. Also the kids aren't kids anymore and can consume as much food .. actually more than the wife and I. We didn't really dent the rice, beans, flour, pasta and soups probably have enough for another 6 weeks at current consumption. Fridge and freezer along with fresh produce have taken a hammering. Probably going to can way more this year than the past couple. Probably going to get a case of TP when it becomes available again still have enough for probably 6 weeks. Ditto on sanitizer. We've plenty enough soap for body, dishes and clothes.
doing fine on potatoes and squashes.
salt, sugar, spices, ketchup, mustard, salad dressings, oil and such.
chickens and ducks laid all winter and we are supplying two of our neighbors with eggs as well currently .. also TP for one neighbor that can't find any.
You can make butter by using heavy whipping cream. Stores had no butter but a boat load of whipping cream and they put it on sale bwhahahahaha.

Six weeks on top of the 3 we've already had. 9 weeks before food would get real monotonous for another month or so and then it gets bad.

So my six month plan from about 7 or 8 years ago .. is actually a 3 month plan. Once the kids move out it'll actually be closer to 9 months. I think we need to bump it up a bit.

just need to bolster the following:
More canning from the garden
More tp maybe up to a year worth
Hand Sanitizer (have bleach but that's rough on the hands as a sanitizing solution) couple gallons (plus add small empty plastic squeeze bottles)
Add more canned meat to stores. adding corned beef hash as it went fast, and canned chicken. case each on hand (have tuna, salmon and spam but variety might help).
Low sodium canned veggies. add variety like collards, French cut green beans, wax beans. ran out of canned/pickled beets.
Oh and a new chest freezer, it appears that current freezer isn't deep freezing any more.
Once that is remedied .. stock said freezer with frozen veg, and a quarter of a steer and all the berries I can harvest this summer and a crap ton of butter.

I'm sure there are other holes but we are not suffering.

 

You’re assuming this is over soon?

 

Can't really say we've experienced any shortages here...but due to the dropping fuel prices, I have been getting some drums set up to increase our reserves. I have a nasty feeling that prices are going to shoot up as soon as global production is curtailed to a certain point...case in point, a fracking business in the US has take over a 90% drop in stock prices over the past few years. That isn't something that is going to quickly ramp back up if the need exists.

 

From the response to date - we're screwed if something serious - like the NORKs popping off a flashcube on the left coast....

I am using this to gently 'teach' people that 3 days in, all the food (and the toilet paper) will be long gone.

If you don't have it now, you won't get it 'then'.

Also, surprising how easily the mass media has hoodwinked the general public and spooked the spinless pols.

Why do I say this? Because more than one talking head said, publicly, "We will make this Trumps Katrina".

And then people listen and actually believe the bilge they put out... (rolls eyes) Liars lie, politicians use fake statistics.

 

Its funny to me, I will never have enough ammo, just a given. I had a plan for last minute purchases and acted on it, got most of what I wanted but did not need it. Found that off sales places had plenty to buy if I stayed out of the grocery stores. We have a liquidation place locally that I could buy cases of canned soup, veggies, pie filling, soup, shampoo ETC, that others seemed to have missed, good intel for an actual event. The biggest thing I took away from this was the fear in the eyes of the sheep. They are an inch away from a stampede.

 

I suspect if you'd ask most of "us" there's never enough ammo in the stores. I've tried not to get carried away, knowing that if I have to empty my gun more than a few magazines' worth, I'm probably toast anyway. But I felt as if I didn't have enough for my sidearm and my scattergun; those honestly felt like the ones I'd need more than any other.

And yes--stampede might be the right expression for it, though I sensed more that they'd be willingly led to the slaughterhouse, which made me sad, but also nervous. What ever happened to the John Wayne mentality in this country?

I guess we've been "ME TOO"d and "Toxic Masculinity"d out of all that made us strong in the past. If something real happened--I mean, true apocalypse shit--I'm not sure much more than ten or twenty percent of America would survive, and the bad guys would be VERY BAD GUYS at that point.

Maybe I should get some more ammo.

 

Food! Gotta add some canned meats. We have been 30 days now without a store trip and while I still have plenty, I'm out of my Friday steaks. What I do have is getting monotonous. I keep MRE's for when I need to travel to a remote site, and popped one of those to share with the wife over the weekend just for some change. I also have been though a quart of Texas Pete in 30 days, and I only have 2 gallons stock.
I guess I shouldn't complain because ammo, tp, hardware, fuel, and med supplies are all at comfortable levels, but I really need to work on food variety, more pasta, canned meats, and more spices. The great news is I'm down a few pounds without any burger joints!

 

Here's a weird one you may not know...

You like Texas Pete's, and you said you want to stock up on some spices. Get a lot of cayenne pepper...it's obviously great as a spice, especially if you like hot/spicy food, but it's also an amazing styptic; it will stop bleeding and cause clotting very well and quickly. It doesn't burn on a wound (you'd think it would, but it doesn't). Anything that will do double-duty, especially this kind of double duty, is a great addition to any stores or even a bug-out bag.

Other spices to help break the monotony, but which have purposes other than just to flavor food--turmeric (the primary ingredient in most curries), cinnamon, garlic. Lots more, but these are some of the better ones. But cayenne pepper--a definite must-have.

From one day to the next I don't know what to think, but if I had to be nailed down I suppose it feels like the quarantine is nearing an end, and the virus itself may be peaking. One way or another, I believe we have sufficiently flattened the curve to keep the (overall) healthcare system from being overloaded. This means we should be close to a return to something resembling "normal".

As for what comes next, that too is a bit up in the air yet. There's no way to say for sure what the mid- and long-range effect on the economy will be, but strangely enough there doesn't seem to be a great deal of worry about the short term. If the economy falters significantly, and the virus continues to make life difficult, we could see some sort of anarchy within the next six months. A week or two ago I would have thought all of this would be a pretty good bet.

For some reason, and I can't put my finger on exactly why other than just an instinctive feeling, I think most of the risk of that is past, or at least working it's way away.

I could certainly be wrong though.

 

Finding some holes, plugging them. Improving my preps.
OPSEC means I can't give details. Doing the best I can.

 

I'm not too worried about OPSEC. I've got holes. I'll tell ya about the holes I found and how I intend to fill them.
Novices at this game need details.
Also everyone here knows that arriving at someones compound with out a pre-arranged invite during bad times is like stepping off into a black hole. Even during the best of times, there may be some light bloodletting performed on the visitor.

 

Good neighbors! We trade make things for each other, Swap or trade then share.
My wife the essential is mad the nonessentials are buying up all the Lysol products and hoarding it.

 

It's business as usual around here. Went to the store yesterday to get things for her. Not crowded, people actually being polite, and things are starting to reappear on the shelves. Food good, sundrys good, ammo good with the exception of 30 30 for my new toy. We should be over the hump by now and things should start to return to normal soon.

 

This event has actually taught much bout it's threat both physically and mentally . Preparedness gets real when you run out of things you might have thought you were good on.
Most of us know how to improvise, not that TP is an issue or me, but installing and using the bidet is a game-changer a good one.
Another issue is public courtesy, I have a friend that up to this point had been rather careless coughing and sneezing in public, and it is like learning manners all over again at age 55, His girlfriend is prompting him. Embarrassing but necessary.
The pandemic is bringing home the values of the disciplines some of our parents tried to teach us.
Another good thing is the mountain of remedies that are looked at more realistically and becoming more aware of our chemistry and hopefully less dependent on modern medicine.
We have been preaching it for years smoking is bad, now it's come home to roost putting many lives in the balance, will people take it seriously NOW?

 

The only items I would like to stock more of are comfort foods, like Lifesavers, chocolate bars, and Little Debbie snack cakes. Luckily, I don't have any prescriptions that I literally can't live without, just a few that make life better (allergy and pain meds). I can live with a runny nose and I can function without tylenol 3 painkillers as I don't have to take them every day.
Lord help those who can't live without Insulin, high blood pressure, or heart meds every day if things go south. My grandmother's doctor won't prescribe her more than a 60 day supply and I'm hearing from others who doctor also won't prescribe more than a 30 day supply.

 

As this continues I have decided that I need to add a rooster to my prep list. It has been a real pain to find laying hen chicks in the stores. there is a run on chicks and feed, they sell out in 15 minutes once they arrive. So people are looking for this to last.

 

I was surprised by what left the store shelves first. Paper products of all kinds. Water. Sugar. Baking supplies. Eggs and Butter. Fresh Meat of all kinds. Ramen Noodles. Beans and rice in 1-5 pound bags.

Plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit every day. Plenty of milk, chips, bread, coffee.

There is no such thing as too many mask and sanitizers of all types.

And I have to admit I was surprised at the lack of concern for the America people by Democrats. They would literally let a million die to win back control. They can all rot in hell as far as I am concerned.

 

Mostly the same daily routine as usual here. We prep for power out, roof off, no running water, move the cars to high ground and travel only at low tide situations. This is a cake walk. Neighbors have all been through multiple hurricane seasons. We've all learned to wave or salute from a distance instead of hiking over to shake hands and chat on the porch. Community has masked up,
become very patient and courteous while shopping and maintain generous social distance.

I did build pallets to hold bulk feed, and started writing a date on empty toilet paper rolls to track usage rate.

Freezing milk and cream has been a new thing, but it seems to work.

Life is good.