Preparing for the PAW (Post Apocalyptic World)
Preparing for the PAW is neither cheap nor easy. As in all things, you can be frugal or you can be lavish. There is no one set of equipment and foodstuffs, but rather a set of basic principles to abide by in the preparation which can be addressed frugally or expensively. These principles can be laid out in segments as follows:
Bugging In/Bugging Out
Medical
Food
Weapons
Ammunition
Communications and
Misc Equipment
If the descriptions of the categories below begin to seem overwhelming, remember what I said in the first paragraph up top -- you can either do this frugally or expensively. You can set up a very very basic PAW kit which includes ALL of these categories for under $1,000; or you can go all out and drop $250,000 or more into it and still have many more things left that you can do to further prepare. The important part is recognizing the categories and addressing the various concerns in each one.
OVERVIEW OF CATEGORIES
Bugging In/Bugging Out
First and foremost, bugging in and bugging out. Depending on what kind of shyt hits what kind of fan, will determine whether you stay put, or whether you head for the hills. Sitting it out in "fortress home" is called bugging in, and heading for the hills is called bugging out. Bugging out uses supplies and equipment you have on hand at home, while the primary component of bugging out is called a "bug out bag" or BOB. Bugging out can be as simple as a regular military style ALICE pack with some food clothing and ammo, and a good set of hiking boots, or it can be as fancy as a Bug Out Vehicle (BOV) rigged out like Mad Max with supplemental fuel tanks and so on.
Medical
Medical preparedness is important. You will probably not have access to the hospital in the PAW, so a good first aid kit is imperative. Even better, a fully stocked combat corpman's kit along with some paramedic training is a very good idea.
Food
Food storage is also important. When the world goes to hell in a handbasket, you aren't likely to find goodies at your local Wal Mart. Food stores tend to fall into 3 categories -- MRE's, Canned and/or freeze dried long term food stores, and bulk commodity foodstuffs. MRE's can be had military surplus, and will store longer than 10 years if kept under 60 degrees. MRE's can be had less expensively as knock-offs and are nearly as good, but MRE's are damn expensive. One year's supply for one person can run into the $5000 range. Canned long term food stores can be had with shelf lifes from 5 years to 100 years, and tend to be less expensive, one year for one person running around $1000 to $2000. Commodity foodstuffs include rice, wheat flour, dried beans etc, and are the cheapest of the lot, one year for one person coming in at $200 to $500. Your best bet is a combination of the three. Some MRE's for the BOB/BOV and anytime you may be out of the house for an extended period of weeks or months; some canned meats and vegetables, and some commodities.
Weapons
Weapons will be very important. Do not underestimate the utility of the .22 rifle! you can get 1000 rounds of .22 LR for $20 and they don't make a whole lot of noise (which draws a lot of attention!) The .22 is perfect for hunting small game, and it is quite frankly stupid to shoot a rabbit or a squirrel with a high powered rifle. You should have a .22 and around 5000 rounds of .22 LR and if you are not squeamish about cleaning rabbits or snake, then you will never starve. A decent pistol 9mm or better to help you fight your way back to your main battle rifle, and then a rifle in 5.56, .308 or .30-06
Ammunition
Ammunition -- you should have an ammo store on hand to feed your weapons, and a bench for reloading. Brass, while it is good to have extra, is not as crucial as you can collect your own brass to reload. You must have powder, primers, and projectiles, however. Because .22 LR cannot really be reloaded, you will want a full supply on hand. Say 5000 to 10,000 rounds. Any marksmanship training you need to do in the PAW can be done with the .22, and rounds for that rifle are cheap cheap cheap. You'll want about 500 to 700 pistol rounds, plus dies for reloading, and 2,000 to 3,000 rounds for your main battle rifle, plus dies for reloading.
Communications and
Communications covers items like short wave radios, and maybe even amateur radio setups. If you plan on working together in groups in the PAW, then some handsets might be a good idea. Handsets may be a good idea just for family members. If the power goes out, don't forget that you may want the ability to recharge your handsets by solar energy, or dynamo energy. An exercise bicycle can be retrofit pretty easily to generate electricity by foot-power. The crucial aspect will be storage batteries and transformers/converters.
Misc Equipment
Miscellaneous equipment is really the catch all. A gas mask is a good idea, a tactical vest, lanterns, flashlights, maybe a generator, a kerosine heater, water purification equipment, a propane cook stove, and lots of other miscellany. This includes field kit, canteens, ammo pouches, butt packs, load bearing gear; combat kit like flack vests or bulletproof vests, trauma plates, and survival/camping gear.
Details in subsequent posts
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