Assuming shtf, an ar is not an option for me, I don't have one. Other than that, I would use whatever I had ammo for, its all good. You use the equipment you have & adjust tactics to suit the situation. Right now my shtf firearms are a k98 & a t33. Why? Cause the k98 will get the job done on just about any kritter(two legged or otherwise), has a bayonet & I have 1000 rnds of ammo. t33 same thing. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than a spear? Yes!
SHTF : Why AR's ?
- Thread starter Slowbalt
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Agreed. You have to sleep eventually, and I don't think zombies have the same limitation.
Venezuela. Social breakdown in '89 when the local government decided to abolish subsidies that had in been in place for decades and then suspended all constitutional guarantees (death toll exceeded 5000) and then 2 attempted coups in '92;
NavyShooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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Having lived through the aftermath of a hurricane (as I mentioned earlier in the thread) it did not drive the city to complete destruction, to the point of losing all community services.
A social breakdown to the point where ALL community services are lost would be something that would be more extreme than just a hurricane.
A Pandemic Flu, or worse comes to mind.
In the worst hurricane that's hit the East coast in 70 years-ish, (it was a high Cat 4) Hurricane Juan demolished trees, houses, put people out of power for days, and weeks for remote locations (took over 2 weeks to get some back onto the grid)
THIS WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH TO DRIVE THE CITY TO A SHTF SCENARIO.
The track of the hurricane went right over downtown Halifax.
The severity of a natural (or other) disaster that would have to happen to cause society as a whole to break down to the point where I NEED to carry a BFG with me at all times, is going to be pretty bad.
That said, I'd previously opted for my 20" upper AR, but based on concealability, I'd probably opt for my 10.5" shorty....enough oomph to get me out of harm's way if it comes to find me, and reasonably concealable under a heavy jacket.
In truth though, if things were "Normal" enough in a SHTF Scen for me to worry about leaving home to go to work, there'd probably be a Glock hanging around, simply for conealability and ease of maneuverability in a vehicle.
NS
A social breakdown to the point where ALL community services are lost would be something that would be more extreme than just a hurricane.
A Pandemic Flu, or worse comes to mind.
In the worst hurricane that's hit the East coast in 70 years-ish, (it was a high Cat 4) Hurricane Juan demolished trees, houses, put people out of power for days, and weeks for remote locations (took over 2 weeks to get some back onto the grid)
THIS WAS STILL NOT ENOUGH TO DRIVE THE CITY TO A SHTF SCENARIO.
The track of the hurricane went right over downtown Halifax.
The severity of a natural (or other) disaster that would have to happen to cause society as a whole to break down to the point where I NEED to carry a BFG with me at all times, is going to be pretty bad.
That said, I'd previously opted for my 20" upper AR, but based on concealability, I'd probably opt for my 10.5" shorty....enough oomph to get me out of harm's way if it comes to find me, and reasonably concealable under a heavy jacket.
In truth though, if things were "Normal" enough in a SHTF Scen for me to worry about leaving home to go to work, there'd probably be a Glock hanging around, simply for conealability and ease of maneuverability in a vehicle.
NS
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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to those suggesting handguns, Mac 11s, 870s -- would you really want to be armed with either of these if your enemy is armed with even a common hunting rifle or AR? he can take you out from hundreds of yards away at his leisure.
id want something which i can use to identify a threat and shoot it before it can shoot back.
handguns, SMGs, shotguns would be useless unless you are in a large city - which is the last place i ever want to be if the SHTF
id want something which i can use to identify a threat and shoot it before it can shoot back.
handguns, SMGs, shotguns would be useless unless you are in a large city - which is the last place i ever want to be if the SHTF
I think it depends where it is. Some cities may be more prone to cutting loose than others. Aren't all you east Coast people really nice to start with?
You get into some of these cities like Vancouver, Calgary, or the like, they may be more prone to letting fly with the mayhem. A place like Toronto probably wouldn't be used to extend blackouts as much as a maritime city. they might be more prone to flipping out. Then again maybe not.
However, to not plan for the worst shows a lack of willingness to survive.
however, some of us have no choice- i moved here 41 years ago and and the city has sprawled around me- back then the main street was a 2 lane gravel- but the ultimate shtf rifle was TAKEN AWAY from us back in the 90's - the barrett 82 light 50- along with the best of everything else
Live closer to the outskirts of town, buy a 4x4 and make you own roads. I can get out of my city using nothing but residential side streets and cutting through the odd open lot or park. See, I'm way ahead of you. Then again I'm not exactly in a huge center.
You'd never catch me dead living right smack in the middle of a large urban center.
You'd never catch me dead living right smack in the middle of a large urban center.
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I can see benefits to living in the city. If you just bunker down until the dust settles you'd have more access to sparse goods like generators, gasoline, batteries, drugs, food, ammo, etc. in the long run. Plus, I would think it'd be much easier to sneak up on people at night in the country side (bad news). If there's at least occasional hydro power, the city should be much brighter at night.
Annnd that goes directly against my ice storm experience (granted not in a "major" city, but a small town of about 5000 people). We were forewarned about the freezing rain by about 24hrs, saw the power go out left and right on the news until it was our turn, by then dad was smart enough to tell us to fill every container we could find (including all the sinks and both bathtubs, with water), the water went out when the power did (no electricity to run the pumps), gas pumps were equally out of order, for the same reason. By the end of day 2, D cell batteries were selling for 4$ a unit, anybody with a generator had it stolen once the sun went down, birthday candles (the kind you get for about a dozen for a loonie) were going for 1$ apiece, and anything edible was long gone from both stores in town. Fallen power lines and trees blocked all roads in and out of town. Cell phone service was dead, land line phone was intermittent, you get the idea. By day 4 a buddy of mine managed to get thru on the phone and let me know in no uncertain terms to get my ass over there (2 hours drive) one way or another rather than to freeze to death in my own home, water was still intermittent, we were out of fondue fuel and propane for the BBQ, we were burning the last candles we managed to scrounge and generally were in pretty bad shape. I managed to get out of town thanks to the fact that I had a Jeep Cherokee with a full gas tank and wasn't afraid to run over things and make it to my friend's place. The next day I led a convoy of several SUV's full of propane tanks, heaters, and other odds and ends which probably ended up saving a couple of lives. I will never forget that experience, or the lessons I learned from it. BTW: It was published later that Montreal as a whole came within hours of losing running water because they were about to run out of fuel for the water purification plant's generators.
To this I will add, when I left I left alone, my parents stayed behind (not the easiest decision in the world to make leaving your family behind and all). And a few more things that occured to me for those who aren't country folks and may not be well versed int he art of improvisation. Some vegetable oil, a tin can and a paper towel can be improvised in an pretty effective candle, but is dangerous for setting fire, if you have to resort to it, don't fall asleep with one of those things lit (a gallon will last you a LONG time). A tin can, a roll of TP, and a bottle or rubbing alcohol can be improvised into a pretty effective stove if need be, but keep it outside since the fumes may be toxic (carbon monoxyde). Once the temperature goes down condensation will set in inside a house, you'll be cold, wet, and miserable in a hurry. Keep a couple hundred of those small flat candles that come in aluminium "cups" (available pretty much everywhere) handy, they're useless to heat an entire house, but in a small room about a dozen or so of those in a tray will generate enough heat to keep things above freezing (we got things to go up to about 12C in the bedrooms, not "warm" but we didn't freeze to death) and will help control humidity somewhat, they burn for about 4 hours, not enough for a good night's sleep but enough for a nap, also useful to heat food up. If your "SHTF" food supply consists of a couple cases of canned goods, be prepared to eat them cold, trust me it doesn't taste nearly as yummy, it'll keep you from starving to death though. My mother kept some pretty detailed notes thru the entire ordeal, those pointers are purely from memory from 10 years ago, I'll have to ask her to get them out one day.
I'm going to move this out of black rifles since it has taken a turn
but I'm constantly amazed by people who dont have a few days (min) supplies of bottled water and food - as well as
Wood Burning stove/Fireplace
Propane for stove/BBQ
but I'm constantly amazed by people who dont have a few days (min) supplies of bottled water and food - as well as
Wood Burning stove/Fireplace
Propane for stove/BBQ
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