What is your definition of SHtF?
Any event which results in a signiciant distruption of primary infrastructure or authority.
This could be as minor as a multi-day power outage - something we have experienced in New England multiple times over the past few years to the total government collapse and loss of infrastructure.
Being prepared for when the SHtF is providing sufficient skills, supplies and planning to ride through the initial event and the transitional phase so as to provide the best possible opertunity for success in the "new norm" that will arise following the transitional phase.
Preparations should progress from the most probably to the least probable.
Temperary Disruption in Primary Infra-structure: An example here would be this past October's ice storm when whole towns in Vermont lost power AND roads for a week. -- Are you prepare to operate without infrastructure services for 7-14 days?
Temperary Disruption of Primary Income: Examples include extended illness, injury, job loss / loss of work hours -- Are you prepared for 6 months without primary income? Do you have the skills necessary to provide supplimary income in an alternative field of work?
Temperary Disruption of Primary Shelter: Examples include burglary, fire, flooding, damage, infestation or other event that makes your primary shelter uninhabitable for a period. Are you prepare to leave your home/residence for 2-3 months?
Temperary Disruption of Authority: Examples being mob response, loss of primary authority due to its lack of preparedness for one or more of the above 3. "Looting" is almost always a response to this type of SHtF event. While this is typically only a day or two, significant events can create extended disruptions in authority or the replacement of "recognized" authority with mod / might rule. Are you prepared to handle at least a few days disruption of authority? 2-3 Months?
Those are some of the most likely SHtF events to be prepared for. As we have seen from Natural Disasters, NDs have the capability of causing all 4 at the same time. - Are you prepare to respond to all 4 at the same time for a limited 2-3 months period?
Once you have those 4 Addressed for reasonable periods, you can move to the much less likely but more serious SHtF events:
Economic / Political Collapse
Rebel Uprising / Rebellion
Mass Conventional Attack (bombings, expanded 9-11 events, etc)
Nuclear, Biological / Chemical attack
Any event which results in a signiciant distruption of primary infrastructure or authority.
This could be as minor as a multi-day power outage - something we have experienced in New England multiple times over the past few years to the total government collapse and loss of infrastructure.
Being prepared for when the SHtF is providing sufficient skills, supplies and planning to ride through the initial event and the transitional phase so as to provide the best possible opertunity for success in the "new norm" that will arise following the transitional phase.
Preparations should progress from the most probably to the least probable.
Temperary Disruption in Primary Infra-structure: An example here would be this past October's ice storm when whole towns in Vermont lost power AND roads for a week. -- Are you prepare to operate without infrastructure services for 7-14 days?
Temperary Disruption of Primary Income: Examples include extended illness, injury, job loss / loss of work hours -- Are you prepared for 6 months without primary income? Do you have the skills necessary to provide supplimary income in an alternative field of work?
Temperary Disruption of Primary Shelter: Examples include burglary, fire, flooding, damage, infestation or other event that makes your primary shelter uninhabitable for a period. Are you prepare to leave your home/residence for 2-3 months?
Temperary Disruption of Authority: Examples being mob response, loss of primary authority due to its lack of preparedness for one or more of the above 3. "Looting" is almost always a response to this type of SHtF event. While this is typically only a day or two, significant events can create extended disruptions in authority or the replacement of "recognized" authority with mod / might rule. Are you prepared to handle at least a few days disruption of authority? 2-3 Months?
Those are some of the most likely SHtF events to be prepared for. As we have seen from Natural Disasters, NDs have the capability of causing all 4 at the same time. - Are you prepare to respond to all 4 at the same time for a limited 2-3 months period?
Once you have those 4 Addressed for reasonable periods, you can move to the much less likely but more serious SHtF events:
Economic / Political Collapse
Rebel Uprising / Rebellion
Mass Conventional Attack (bombings, expanded 9-11 events, etc)
Nuclear, Biological / Chemical attack