the beginning of the end.

[bigpaul]

this is part of a scenario I wrote nearly 3 years ago, I thought it might be interesting to see what the current members of the forum might do following such an event, how would you act?what would you do? would you bug out? or bug in? just exactly what would do?? The year was 2015, not that dates or months or even time mattered anymore. since the collapse of The European Union and the financial crash that followed, when millions of people were made redundant and unemployable, factories and shops were closed for the last time and their windows and doors were boarded up. next came the riots, muggings and arson as desperate city folk fought for any thing "not nailed down". Gas and Oil were no longer available as the supply of gas from Russia had simply been turned off and the oil from the OPEC oil producing countries had stopped, as Britain could not afford to pay the escalating prices. Electricity supplies spluttered and died as one by one the power stations ground to a halt. many people died then, if they hadn't already in the riots and the fires, in the worst winter Britain had endured in centuries, the old, the infirm and the very young expired in their millions, by the time Spring arrived the population of the country was but a tenth of what it had been................................ that's it, now how would you survive?what would YOU do, sensible answers only please.

[Midnitemo]

I'd have a bit of a breather after burying/burning 50 million people all winter ! if thats how it went down and i'd kept me and mine safe i guess subsistance agriculture is going to be the way...would venture out looking for a new home with land or a commune/co operative to join perhaps as labour is going to be much in demand without fuels/energy

[Lightspeed]

Maybe an off the cuff remark Midnite, but very interesting.

Many of us who are looking to bug-in are building systems in our homes for the long term.

If there is a huge die off, there will indeed be land aplenty, and property too. It could be that relocation to a more productive location would be best option. I hadn't really thought about that.

But surviving the die off would be the biggest challenge. trying to grow stuff in a clandestine way, so as not to attract attention will be no easy task. Nocturnal gardening might be the way to go?

[Scythe13]

Knock over a few neighbour's fences and start a community project for those left alive...only a partial joke. We have an awesome lot where we live, 2 prepper families in the same street, and another 3 or 4 families that are close knit with us. Not quite preppers, but we all get along really well. So we'd band together, having worked through winter to clear any bodies, we'd look at rebuilding our small area. Everyone working as a team.

[Steve]

(19 February 2014, 18:19)Lightspeed Wrote: If there is a huge die off, there will indeed be land aplenty, and property too.

I'm not so sure, the die off might be mainly city / suburban dwellers, who haven't got much useful land. Smallholders and farmers could still be on their own land, and they're armed.

[Mortblanc]

We have done this one to death!

A 90% die off in the UK from the present population density would still be 66 people per square mile.

That is more population psm than the area where I live right now, at the present moment, and there is not land-a-plenty.

And the UK has never in history, even through the plague years, suffered more than a 30% die off.

[Midnitemo]

Undoubtably the farmers/smallholders will be well placed for this future but the bigger farm's , will they cope without the use of plant/machinery and vehicles? or will they need labourers on a large scale , steve can you keep it going as is now without fuel? ... I personally don't see the die off as that radical , perhaps something like 50% ..... if my urban area is decimated then as scythe says just knock fences down and make your own market garden.

[Straight Shooter]

To start off....bug in is what I plan on doing and stay put for as long as I could, if we were lucky enough to make it through that the long term plan would be to bug out to a farm up high out the way as possible with a view to trade with others and form a group for security.....time scale would be critical ....where ever we end up ...we will have company sooner or later....I have no doubts at all on that , but so many things can go wrong but that's my plan right now.

[Lightspeed]

Steve,

Good point. By definition smallholders and farmers will have better capabilities and with be better placed to survive.

Personally I 'm not planning to go looking for pastures new, but it was an interesting concept that I'd not considered before.

[Steve]

(19 February 2014, 22:24)Midnitemo Wrote: steve can you keep it going as is now without fuel? ...

No, but it will be survivable.

On a related note, I was shocked to read that the amount of work done by just one barrel of oil would take a man working 40 hours a week 11 years to do. Using a tractor, especially a small one, really makes you understand how valuable a gallon of diesel is. Driving around on the road doesn't seem to hammer the message home as hard as pulling a plough does.