Would you......

[Devonian]

OK, so the worst has just happened and within 3 days the UK has gone from what it is today, to a situation where martial law has been declared, movements are restricted, people are dying (or being killed - depending on the situation) in their 1000's and there is mass panic on the streets, shops are closed and it looks like the situation will not change for many months at least.

So do you:

1. Go into lock down like a good prepper and plan to live of your supplies until normality is restored, but knowing that your supplies will not last indefinitely (or even long enough).

or

2. Take the chance (like many others) to raid the local stores to add to your supplies knowing that you only have 3 months of supplies to rely on.

[bigpaul]

my answer is number 1, if anybody thinks of doing 2 during martial law all "looters" would be shot on sight. you can either be a live prepper or a dead looter, the choice is yours.

[Sunna]

no2 for me ,I given this a lot of thought over the years [haven't we all]heading to your local aldi or shop all your meet is lots of hungry desperate people .
I know places local to me where I can get extra food , fuel ,where I would not expect to meet anybody who would give me shit.
very quickly things would get out of control our army /police would be out numbered and would have government stocks to protect.
I would only do this for a few days as at first people would have fuel and some would head to the sticks.
I would try my best to get a shotgun and shells but then bugg in and wait it out.

you only have to look around the world when war/crop failure/ drought / leaves thousands in un camps feed buy the west [what if the west fails who will feed us]

good thread

[Steve]

If I lived in a populated area I would be out there with the rest, staying far enough away from danger spots but being deliberately seen desperately picking up what's left. Neighbours need to remember me as the person who has nothing worth stealing. I'd also be on a crash diet and looking ill until I could escape.

Fortunately none of this applies to me, I've already "bugged out to the bug in".

[Midnitemo]

Its a fluid situation and it all depends on what the population are upto how many people are at the bug in how the powers that be are playing it....no good being out there acquiring kit/supplies if somebody has kicked your door in and is taking your's.

---

Don't want to get lifted or shot but don't want to miss out on some useful stuff and the streetlevel intel might be worthwhile.

[bigpaul]

even without martial law it would be a dangerous thing to do, no point in me getting seriously injured or even killed trying to acquire extra supplies, wont do my family much good if I am dead will it?? I mean that's why I prep-right? so I don't have to put myself in harms way.

[Devonian]

Well for me, for a long time I was thinking like BP, but now I am tending to think more like Sunna, though I am only talking about the immediate onset (the first couple of days), when most of the sheeple probably do not realise the longer term seriousness of the situation and TPTB are still in complete disarray and disorganisation.

Around this part of the world, there are too few police to be able to guard shops and stores and even in the London riots, they stood aside, so I think they would be otherwise occupied.

As for the military, again I would think that they would have other priorities, and are the staff and managers of your local Spar/Asda/Tesco etc really going to try and stop a mob?

So to me the biggest risk is from the actual mob, but most of the mob will consist of your neighbours and work mates and others from the local community, in those first days, they are not going to be as desperate as may be they will in a week or so's time, so I see it as being a free for all in those circumstances and an opportunity where you could probably easily double your food supplies (if you are quick to act). I would also think in these situations that robberies would be more against commercial premises, with people still nervous about entering domestic dwellings........big assumption yes!

And yes there is a risk in leaving your property to raid your local stores, you also need to be constantly aware of what is happening around you (situational awareness) and if necessary be prepared to either not enter and move on to another site or to get out leaving everything behind at a moments notice.

But not acting in this way, could leave you less prepared than your neighbours who have never prepped in their lives, but who did fill the car with everything they could from the local store at the first sign of trouble.

Of course the alternative 'safer' option is to do exactly that and blow all of your funds at the first sign of trouble before martial law is declared - if you are fortunate enough to see it coming.....

[Skean Dhude]

Myself, I'll be off down the shops to see what last minute supplies I can buy but won't be putting myself at any risk. Then back home to live off what I have, and I have enough to last beyond anyone who has not prepared. Then I come out to plant some stuff to make my stores last longer.

Even a few weeks supply of food will be more than the average person will have and knowing that it is all you have and you are not burning off calories by working you can make it last a bit longer than it would normally.

[bigpaul]

we keep our stores topped up on a weekly basis and do a "big" shop once a month for stuff like milk(UHT) I keep a big enough stock of that to last us 2 months then its onto the dried tinned milk. as for the sheeple the first few days of any event they will do exactly as they do on bank holidays and Christmas, they'll come out of the supermarket with trolleys heaving with fresh milk and bread, they wont even look at the tinned or dried stuff. as far as this area in particular is concerned I think DEV is right about the local police, they don't have enough officers they are always undermanned anyway and outside of the 2 Devon cities they are fairly unseen, the military might be another matter as there are bases all over the westcountry but I would assume most of them would be serving somewhere else and it will take time to recall them. anyway I think you have to assess the situation and act accordingly, but be careful, do not take any chances.(Dev stay out of East the Water)

[Hex]

Something that worries me about the prospect of going out raiding shops etc is the idea that if you actually find something worth taking you run the risk of being seen and followed by multiple people.