Monday, December 3, 2012

PREPPING : THINKING SMALL

So, other than food storage, what else you might need in the future?

Because time is running out, then I would like to suggest my readers not to think too lavishly when it come to prepping for doomsday. Don't try to hastily follow the footsteps of the American preppers you've seen in television with their underground nuclear bunkers and station wagon. Remember, the most likely doomsday we might encounter is another civil unrest. So just focus on trying to survive just that.
 camper trailer


another example of camper trailer

 BUGGING OUT VEHICLE
A friend of mine once told me that he was thinking about purchasing a lorry and converted it into some sort of station wagon. That does sounds impressive but I don't think it's necessary. Rather than spending too much money buying a new vehicle, it would be more economical to just use what you already have. If your car is too small to carry all the foods and luggage you wish to carry while bugging out, then you may hire a blacksmith to make camper trailer that you can attach to your car in case of emergency. Yes, it might not be legal to use this in Malaysian street but during doomsday I don't think being street legal matter anymore.

 this is my car.. I just bought myself roof rack for RM295 today :)

For me, I own two cars (a Toyota and a Kancil) and I plan to use the Toyota to carry the luggage while the kancil shall be driven by my wife to carry people.

If you don't have a budget to make yourself a small wagon, then at least purchase a very strong rope and a piece of thick plywood. In case doomsday scenario you can try to tie all your luggage around your car. The picture above is a hilarious yet do'able' even though you shouldn't carry more than a ton of heavy luggages like that. Yes, abusing your car might cause a dent here and there but I don't think having a beautiful car really matter during doomsday.

CHILDREN SWIMMING POOL (RM30)
It would be wise to purchase the cheapest children swimming pool you can afford. At the very beginning of doomsday you can use this to store water inside your house. Make sure to store as much water as you can while the tap is still running. If you have a bathtub that too would be one of the best place to store water. Remember, don't rely too much on the water tank outside your house because people might come and steal your water. Having a reserve inside you house would make better sense.


CANVAS OR LARGE PLASTIC SHEET
A large plastic sheet shall be useful when you need to create your own rain water catchment system.

WET TISSUES
It wouldn't be wise to use your water reserve to bath regularly. Wet tissues might and ethyl alcohol might come handy for hygiene purpose.

 Tent (RM60)

Rechargable Emergency Lamp/Fan/Radio (RM99.90)
TENT & CAMPING GADGETS
 For some reason I believe buying a cheap RM60 tent would be useful if you don't have a bunker to hide. When things really get shitty in the city with the mobs running amuck from house to house you might want persuade your family to bug out in the middle of the night to unpopulated forest until things calm again. Having a tent would also be extremely useful in case you need to take a refuge in government military or police compound. During civil unrest the military/police might be willing to take in civilian seeking refuge from street violence but might not be able to provide enough shelter and food supply.
CAMPING STOVE (RM50.00)
During civil unrest you won't be able to call the Petronas guy to deliver cooking gas to your house. If you're living in kampung that won't affect you so much because you can find a lot of woods. But if you're bugging in in a city, going out to get wood might be a life threatening situation. Stocking with a lot of butane gas might helps a bit.

LIGHTER
Make you have quite a few of this. You need fire to survive doomsday.


WEAPON
This is someone's idea of a modified version slingshot and darts made from iron nail (can also be used to shot regular arrows). I'm sure this is illegal.


7 comments:

  1. Everytime I see the blue cloudy sky in my town, the high mountain over there, the birds sing upon the trees, the river stream on backyard, it feels hardly to believe that some day in the near future perselisihan besar is coming.

    But I know I have to believe in the firasat the Lord gave me a few years ago. I dreamed that I walked among houses yang menjadi puing-puing akibat kerusuhan dan banyak orang sedang menderita kelaparan and I was bringing them food. It looked like, so there would go my rice stock then. If the dreams come true, I know I will congratulate myself for being a prepper.

    I have thought about prepping since years, and doing it just in last few months, because you, Mr. Afterdark. Because I believe there is no such thing yang namanya kebetulan, all had been set by the Lord, it's not kebetulan that I met your blog, but to remind me about the important things, so I can fulfill the role that I've meant to be.

    --Riri--

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    Replies
    1. Riri, you're a better person than I am because you intent of helping others during doomsday. I on the other hand a selfish person because I only wanted to help myself and my families.

      Like you, I have seen bad things in dreams too. One in particular was about my family barricading ourselves in the house while listening to youngsters fighting outside. In my dream we were hugging each other as we pray that youngsters from our neighborhood would be able to fend off the intruders.

      Try to be as quite as possible about you being a prepper. Remember the golden rule of prepping of not revealing your identity. Even if you want to help others by giving out food, figure a way not to let them know who you are and where you live.

      Delete
  2. As salam,

    Bro, sleeping bags are also great, as our country tend to be cold and humid at night. Be sure to have some repellent for venomous crawling things out in the open or in the jungle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's a great idea Karl, especially considering that camouflage sleeping bag only cost around RM70 in lelong.com.my.

      I haven't use sleeping bag before so I don't know what it felt like sleeping in it. Isn't it supposed for people who wish to sleep in the open under the star (without tent)? If I sleep in a tent, do I need sleeping bag anymore?

      I was thinking that maybe city preppers need to learn how to hide in plain view. That got me interested with the camouflage sleeping bag but the one for sale in Lelong has a color pattern meant for European forest rather than Malaysian jungle. Any ideas?

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    2. Sleeping bags mainly used for keeping body heat in check while sleeping in cold area. It can also be an extra layer of protection against poisonous bites. But one of the downside of it is that it'll take a few more seconds to get out from the sleeping bag in case of emergency.

      As we'll most probably sleep near water source, temperature will be an issue, so it'll be a bit cozy in a sleeping bag. The warmth will void the need of campfire which will expose our position.

      But then if we're deep in the jungle, we also need to consider dangerous wild animals and/or enemy military.

      For camo, I think plain green without the "celoreng" will be sufficient. Just add bushes and wallah! It should be ok.

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    3. Oh crap! I forgot to take into account wild animals in the jungle. You're right, during doomsday it would be stupid to start a campfire. That's means sleeping bag is a necessity to avoid cold and insects. But commercial sleeping bag is a bit pricey, can preppers DIY sleeping bag?

      We need to figure out how to deter wild animals from going near the camp at night. I hate to think that preppers might need to buy a night vision goggle to see the incoming wild animals in pitch dark because that'll be too expensive.

      Maybe digging a foxhole in the jungle and sleep underground would settle that problem?

      Any ideas? Anyone?

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  3. A cheap toto can be made into makeshift sleeping bag, but then if it's soaking, then it'll be filled with water. I think it's something that a gifted fashion designer can do. The only concern is the material used.

    "belerang" is usefull to deter snakes, but for other dangerous animals, eg: elephants, Malayan Tiger (our mascot but also very dangerous) etc, all I can think of is to secure the sleeping bag on tree branches high enough to avoid the predators.

    Food will also attract wild animals, so gotta make sure to figure out something about that.

    For foxholes, I think it depends on the soil and our weather pattern itself. If it's raining and our foxholes cave-in on us, we'll be buried alive. I'm still drafting something about this for my upcoming post (hopefully..)

    About taking refuge in our army's camp, there's also a consideration that it'll be unsafe if the conflict should get into international affair. If the disaster is still domestic, that idea should be great but by then I think our army will be on full alert and will treat all people as suspected militants. Might even be a "shoot on sight" order if things got out of hand.

    if the conflict should get international, like war or something, then that idea is best abandoned as army camps will be the main target of enemy military / militants.

    ReplyDelete