The Real Deal: Survival Checklist Based on the Argentina Meltdown

P-14

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UPDATED: Survival Checklist Based on the Argentina Meltdown and Bosnian War

Argentina had an economic meltdown in 2001 that still affects that country today. (Link on history)

A survivalist, known as ferfal, has been reporting on TSHTF conditions there in his blog. (Background link)

Recently, andrew.tt posted a link to a 4-part article by ferfal: good SHTF read >>. From this 28-page article, I managed to distill a 10-page checklist that hits all of the survival things we think about and a lot of the things we don't.

FWIW, I hope it is useful to the NES community.

ETA: Found an article entitled, "One Year In Hell" about urban survival in the Bosnian war and worked it into another checklist.

View attachment Survival Checklist - Argentina.pdf
View attachment Survival Checklist Based On Bosnian War.pdf
 
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Fantastic. Guess I'll start stockpiling DVD's and video games along with ammo, water and food!

It sure is nice to have an actual series of events behind these recommendations, not just theory.
 
Argentina had an economic meltdown in 2001 that still affects that country today. http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/8040.pdf

A survivalist, known as ferfal, has been reporting on TSHTF conditions there in his blog: http://ferfal.blogspot.com/

Recently, andrew.tt posted a link to a 4-part article by ferfal: http://northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=799218#post799218. From this 28-page article, I managed to distill a 10-page checklist that hits all of the survival things we think about and a lot of the things we don't.

FWIW, I hope it is useful to the NES community.

I've read the checklist,
This was also my experience living in Iraq. (also a post SHTF country)
 
I hadn't seen this before (somehow!! obviously not paying attention! [smile] )

I will say that I bought Ferfal's book and it is excellent reading, full of advice such as this. I recommend it highly.
 
Just finished reading Patriots, by James Wesley Rawles, and they use pre-1965 US coins in this fiction book for money. These coins are 90% silver: dimes, quarters, and Kennedy or Franklin half-dollars.

I've gone through my old coins and am starting to watch for these older coins to stockpile a little silver coin if I need it.
 
Nicely done- a great lesson for those folks who are all geared up for a weekend of unrest. Things aren't going to bounce back for a very long time.
 
Nice read! The checlist is a valuable tool and I've actually printed it out as reference. Stockpiled on a computer hard drive with no power renders it useless.
 
Just finished reading Patriots, by James Wesley Rawles, and they use pre-1965 US coins in this fiction book for money. These coins are 90% silver: dimes, quarters, and Kennedy or Franklin half-dollars.

I've gone through my old coins and am starting to watch for these older coins to stockpile a little silver coin if I need it.

General circulation is fairly thinned out. [sad2] Best bet for gathering 90% coins - aside from finding an "old" jar of coins when sorting through the belongings of a recently departed relative - is on eBay. But DON'T get sucked in to thrill of the chase. Know the price of silver, set the price you're willing to pay and only buy at that price, and don't forget to factor in shipping. A little more than the current value (5-10%) is an acceptable premium if you need to get an initial stockpile, when SHTF the price will probably go up enough that your investment price will seem very smart.

Remember, you're not collecting your investing. If some goof is driving up the price, let it go. [thinking] There'll be another item up for bid before the week ends. [wink]
 
There are videos on Youtube about how to make a small steam engine out of any 2 stroke motor (like a weed whacker) and they willl turn an automotive alternator ....to generate 12v dc electricity and charge batteries.

A 12v battery has only a fraction of the power you are used to get from the grid.... but remember: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."

And there are over a million over the road truckers who are living fairly comfortable while living off the power grid.... as well as who knows how many homeless people who are living in cars.

Ultimately it comes down to security, water and food. It may be wiser in the long run to put most of your efforts into these first.
 
There are videos on Youtube about how to make a small steam engine out of any 2 stroke motor (like a weed whacker) and they willl turn an automotive alternator ....to generate 12v dc electricity and charge batteries.

A 12v battery has only a fraction of the power you are used to get from the grid.... but remember: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king."

And there are over a million over the road truckers who are living fairly comfortable while living off the power grid.... as well as who knows how many homeless people who are living in cars.

Ultimately it comes down to security, water and food. It may be wiser in the long run to put most of your efforts into these first.

tblount: This thread is about a real economic meltdown that happened in Argentina in 2001. Argentina had high debt owned by the international monetary fund and decided to devaluate their money (sound familiar, like QE2 and QE3 here?). They were going to default on their debt, so the international money fund "helped them out." On one day you had $10,000 in the bank and after devaluation, you had $1,000. Couple that with food prices increasing 300% and Argentina .gov benefit cuts to the masses, and there was rioting all over.

Please take the time to read the actual account of this debacle. This was not like the Haiti or Japan earthquakes. Life is continuing there but not at the same levels as before. ferfal wrote about the whole ordeal and it is not the end game - it is interesting that the grid was up, but not all the time and the water supply was not always safe to drink. You could live in your house, but life as they knew it changed for the worse and is still that way today.

The difference with this thread is that it is an ACTUAL survival experience from an economic catastrophe. And, it is strikingly similar to what is happening today in Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and the good old USA. All I did was craft ferfal's words into a checklist to help us all plan for the real deal.

Regards,

Bob
 
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Just checked off another one on Page 7. Laser eye surgery. Done. I can see!

Don't ever pay full price. Watch for coupons on Groupon or Livingsocial, etc. Mine was over 50% off and it was first class. The doc has done over 10,000 of them.
 
I just spent the entire morning reading over this checklist. I've passed it on to a couple of friends too.

Thanks, P-14, for putting this together! [smile]
 
I'll use my first post to express my gratitude for this info. It's a harsh reality check. I'm totally underprepared. And even if I do get prepared, I'm only stacking odds in my favor, not guaranteeing survival. It's a bitter pill. But better to be prepared and die trying or go out with a whimper.

Thanks again P-14
 
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