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Comment by jwithington | Hacker News Reader

I'm always impressed by 80k hours to surface answers to the most existential problems! They had another good one about spinning up the global food supply post-apocalypse.

Dartnell seems to be thinking longer term than immediate (first 2 weeks). Are there any guides for the first two weeks?

I wonder if the US military's SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) guides are the most comprehensive resources? While intended for stranded individuals, they assume you're dropped anywhere in the world with minimal gear.

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There are general guides to the first two weeks - FEMA has several publications about this [0]. You don't need to go full prepper or SERE for that period of time - just get a water filter and some freeze fried meals, or have a pantry with beans and rice on hand - they keep for ~1 human half-life, so you don't really have to worry about them going bad.

I wouldn't view SERE as a useful resource, if only because the assumptions SERE makes (hostile territory, woodland survival, etc) aren't really applicable to someone living in an urban or suburban environment, which is what I assume most users of this website are.

[0] PDF warning! https://www.fema.gov/pdf/library/f&web.pdf

Thanks!

Eh, preppers overdo it because it's fun for some people.

I have a case of water bottles in the trunk of my car, a bit of camping gear in the closet, and enough dry pantry goods on hand to last a good long while. None of this is to "prepare" for anything besides the water in case of some incident that strands me in my car. Not that much special is required to survive for a couple of weeks. Maybe if you want to practice go on a couple of day long camping trip in the woods, it'll probably be fun.

That's what I'm saying haha. I'm not looking to "prep" and the prepper manuals go overboard for what >99% of people are looking for. I'm looking for the practical things.

An emergency action guide of some sort...

FEMA has some good material on that. Here’s a basic one: https://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/basic_preparedness.pdf

Go to a Costco business center and buy a bag of rice, a bag of beans, and some bottled water. Buy some camping gear and cook dinner once in a while over a fire in your back yard or a camp ground. Keep a go bag packed that you could pick up and live out of for a week at a moments notice. Take interest in the things around you and learn how to do things yourself instead of paying other people to do them, even if you don’t do them yourself most of the time.

I'd supplement that with a few bags of charcoal stored in sealed Rubbermaid garbage tubs and some cigarette lighters -- you need a reliable source of fire and wood's a pain in the ass to depend on outdoors.

Also rice & beans gets old. Grab 50lbs of canned meat while you're at it.

I took a couple cans of Chinese fried rice (yes, it comes in a can!) on a camping trip once: it was everyone's favorite meal.

If you value freedom you are going to have to be able to move fast at a moment's notice. Preppers do nothing but hoard liability. The local gang is going to own your shit.

If you take a "social good higher good" outcome.. maybe your role in the cycle was to stockpile, not to survive? Dystopia for the individual might still be net beneficial for the species.

I'd hope not, but use value remains, even if you dont? Fictional gangs are asshats and waste it but actual Gangs have distorted rules and hierarchy and sometimes preserve things, not waste them: those Harley spares are hard to find. The quartermaster farms them out judiciously.

Waterfilters and salt are somewhat useful and easy to store as well.

You want this document,or perhaps the book it eventually spawned:

https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/index-old.shtml

> Are there any guides for the first two weeks?

There are thousands of prepper guides around, depending on how much work you want to do. I'd say a good start would be to think about the pandemic and think about what stuff became hard to get and make sure you have more of that available. Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months. Having actual cash is important too, as is having copies of ID and other documents.

Also, make friends with your neighbors. You're far more likely to be okay if you have a strong community around you than if you try to build a bunker and live alone from the world.

> Medications are a big one - try to have enough spare to last a couple of months.

I've always wondered about how to carry out this advice for medicines other than what's available OTC. If someone depends on prescription medication, is this possible? How do you ask?

I can think of three ways:

1) "Hi doc, I'm thinking about ways to better hedge tail risk as I get a little older. In the case of this particular med, obviously it'd be really bad to be without it for [2 weeks, whatever]. People were without meds for that long in [Katrina, other example disaster]. So, I'd like to have a supply on hand. Can you prescribe me [a month] extra?

2) Lie. "Hi doc, I'm going to [really far-flung place, Alaska] on a [long, 3-month] expedition. I need to have my meds. What should we do?

3) Skip the bullshit and, assuming they're not controlled substances, just order directly from an Indian / Canadian pharmacy online.

Request a dose increase and maintain taking your current dose.

Get a copy of the Chinese book - I think it's called the Barefoot Doctor.

For non-controlled substances, I've been able to ask for more from my doctor and just pay out of pocket.

For controlled substances, you could probably ask for a slight change in prescription (e.g. a single 20mg pill vs. 2x10mg) right after the first one was filled, or ask for a slight change in dosage.

Technically this is legally dubious, but it's also ridiculous that there is no buffer allowed to be built in.

After the first two weeks, there's the first year then the first five years and so on.

E.g. Living through the first winter will require a huge effort in stockpiling, which gets better the second year. Scavenging for the first 5 years turns to agriculture and animal husbandry and smelting.

Reality: You do what the local strongman tells you to do.

Yes. If you don't have mutual defense, bandits will clean you out and probably murder you unless you manage to hire the Seven Samurai.

It's been a while since I read The Knowledge but I think his point was:

a) Lots of books have covered this already (SAS Survival Handbook, etc)

b) the first 2 weeks is going to be largely luck whether you survive or not, so he's going to jump ahead to cover the lucky ones

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