per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

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Precision
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per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Precision »

to start with lets talk dwell time for being a shut in to avoid the contagion.
6 weeks? 9 weeks? 12 weeks?

water needed for that time period

food needed for that time period
how to have a varied supply that keeps you "eating the rainbow" for balanced nutrients

waste disposal for that time period
If I don't have drinking water provided by the state, I certainly don't have functional sewage.

Feel free to add to the list of needs.
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Aesop
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Aesop »

FWIW: look at how things are progressing in W. Africa.
This thing started last March. By next March (when, I have no doubt, it will still be a thing) it will have largely wiped Liberia's populace off the map.
Thus a year is not out of the realm for how long this thing could go on, if not longer.
A problem in Africa is that it keeps coming back in waves and reinfecting people in areas that thought they were clear.
I would figure on 6 months for a bare-bones minimum, if you want to hope we'll do a quarantine better, and not take 6 months to believe it's real.
So 6-18 months, with a year being the sweet spot.
But the incubation period is only 21 days!
Yeah, which resets every time some lunkhead jumps the gun, goes out and gets infected. Think of the population of Stupid People near you, and realize that in a pandemic, they're the ones driving the bus.

The easiest way to do food for that, while bulky, is canned foods, which keep 2 yrs. and up, and while not nearly as tasty, can even be eaten cold from the can, if the alternative is starvation.

We've talked about water.
If an above-ground pool in the garage or back yard isn't a option, start thinking about the ability to capture and filter rainwater/snowmelt.
If you're in a desert, with no storage or well capability, GTFO, or you're going to die.

Sanitation is going to be a large cesspit if possible (you'll need sand and quicklime), or an unbelievable amount of hefty bags and kitty liter.
If I lived in an apt. with an outside balcony, I'd stock up on sawdust, and get a composting barrel or two. Most human waste is water, and if you compost it outside on the balcony, you eliminate the bulk of that, and turn the humanure left over into something much easier and safer to dispose of.
Don't forget to stock up on TP.

And bleach, gloves, hand sanitizer, etc.
Not for venturing out, but to sanitize your space, purify your water supply, was your hands, etc.

Assume you won't be washing dishes: get disposable paper plates and tableware.
I'd also stock up on underwear and socks for the same reason. The only laundry days would be when it rains.

Whatever you do, and however long such a thing would last, it's going to be...challenging.
Anything you can do to not be in a large population center, and on even a small piece of rural land that you own and can control, would be a good thing.

Realize that if they belatedly get smart about quarantine, for someone in AK like NPR, this could end up being an inconvenience and a non-event.
Someone in rural USA maybe just stays home and watches it on TV.
But if you're urban or suburban near a major air hub, like NYFC, Atlanta, or Houston, you may be sitting in the American version of Monrovia, and have a front row seat.

But hey, the CDC said the chance of it getting here at all is "slight". Right up until last week, when they told every hospital in the country its arrival here is now "inevitable".
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blackeagle603
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by blackeagle603 »

Yeah, you being in Florida I'd think rain water filtration is key to your water supply. Here in SoCal it's more a shear volume of storage problem.
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BDK
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by BDK »

Frankly, I don't think it's doable on a lone survivor status.

Nor do I think it will spread as badly here as it has been in Africa, but there's no telling how stupid DC could be.

I just really don't see how food will continue to get delivered - sorta.

More likely if things get really bad, is that the major cities become intractable - the problem is no politician is going to wall off NYC/Houston/LA and leave them to it

NYC might have enough local government to try to arrange shipments coming it - maritime might be fairly safe, though getting them through the city would be hard.
Aesop
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Aesop »

Au contraire.
Walling off a major city like NYFC won't be up to Hizzoner, or even Governor Five Families.
It will be up to the 20 contiguous mayors and counties, who'll all cut NYFC off without a second thought, and stand off all comers at gunpoint.
Ebola hits Manhattan, and that order's going out in about a NY Minute.
Once the pile of bodies testing that resolve get to be a couple of feet high, you won't be able to get anything in over the speed bump it makes. 8-)

The bigger problem will be seeing to it that some number of infected people don't crowd onto every airliner and private plane trying to queue up and depart in haste.
That's generally the point at which F-15s with warshots and simple but brutal no-fly ROEs settle things down rather rapidly.

The issue here isn't how much it will spread, it will be how long before those with the authority to declare a quarantine wait until they do it.
Given the lack of adult supervision manifest in DC for the last 5 yeas, I figure everyplace is pretty much screwed until governor and mayors independently decide "F**K D.C., the quarantine order goes out now!"

Current sensibilities argue that will happen in about 5 minutes after an outbreak is declared anyplace, which is why the main role of the CDC here is going to be to lie and deny for as long as possible, to give HopeyDopey maximum time to dither before he finally suits up.
Which could kill you (and a few million of your friends and neighbors) come the day.

*(L.A., same same. The county is surrounded by generally brighter (and redder) counties, who'll shut L.A. County down in about as long as it takes to barricade freeways and exits. There are less than a dozen freeways involved, which will go fast, then the surface streets, which will take longer. But if you shut down Pacific Coast Highway, US 101, I-5/405, and I-10, the entire L.A. megalopolis is functionally isolated. And the west, north, and south helpfully travel through impassible mountains with little to no side road access, and the east is hundreds of miles of desert. And when the smaller communities bordering L.A. Cirty, and those bordering L.A. County are given the choice, the curtain will come down, and ain't nobody getting anywhere, unless you have a longe-range boat or light plane nearby, and go before the FAA issues no-fly orders, and the USCG gets into the act. Max, you've got an hour, maybe three, and then where you are is where you'll be. For those who think they'll sail away, take a wild guess how long the quarantine will be anywhere you land, unless your documented voyage took longer than 21 days. At that point, you're better off just sailing up and down the coast, or anchoring in the lee of the Channel Islands, and learning to enjoy a seafood diet. All of the benefits, none of the pitfalls of the open sea, and a helluva lot less piracy and government gunboats to deal with. Hopefully.)

All things being equal, I'd be wishful instead of having a couple of ISO conex boxes buried on a semi-rural piece of land, with a well (or at least a cistern) and a couple/few solar panels.
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Netpackrat
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Netpackrat »

Aesop wrote:Realize that if they belatedly get smart about quarantine, for someone in AK like NPR, this could end up being an inconvenience and a non-event.
Maybe. I have someplace remote to possibly go, but there is only one road in, and it would be pretty easy for the locals to close it off even if the authorities don't. And I don't really expect being a landowner there to make much difference. And there is the matter of deciding when to pull stakes and go. Probably the next best option is to double up at my brother's place outside of the city, assuming no infection at either household and a relatively safe opportunity to transit.
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Jericho941
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Jericho941 »

Well. All I can really do is hope that if it gets here, it waits until 2015.

Impending 3,000-mile moves are so inconvenient for disaster preparedness. :P
Aesop
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Aesop »

Netpackrat wrote:
Aesop wrote:Realize that if they belatedly get smart about quarantine, for someone in AK like NPR, this could end up being an inconvenience and a non-event.
Maybe. I have someplace remote to possibly go, but there is only one road in, and it would be pretty easy for the locals to close it off even if the authorities don't. And I don't really expect being a landowner there to make much difference. And there is the matter of deciding when to pull stakes and go. Probably the next best option is to double up at my brother's place outside of the city, assuming no infection at either household and a relatively safe opportunity to transit.
My point with respect to you was that merely being in AK may prove to be sufficient quarantine, esp. depending on the season.
The requisite common sense of the authorities necessary for safety would be minimal: turn the planes around, and close the ports to entry.
It's much easier to keep Ebola out of the 49th state than it is to keep it out of NYFC, and a few thousand miles of separation may prove a positive boon.
Your preps may consist entirely of staying right at home, and watching the meltdown on TV.
The only important thing at that point is having the necessary reserves to winter over, times the very small numbers in a very big state.
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Netpackrat
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by Netpackrat »

Aesop wrote:My point with respect to you was that merely being in AK may prove to be sufficient quarantine, esp. depending on the season.
The requisite common sense of the authorities necessary for safety would be minimal: turn the planes around, and close the ports to entry.
It's much easier to keep Ebola out of the 49th state than it is to keep it out of NYFC, and a few thousand miles of separation may prove a positive boon.
Your preps may consist entirely of staying right at home, and watching the meltdown on TV.
The only important thing at that point is having the necessary reserves to winter over, times the very small numbers in a very big state.
Oh yeah, absolutely. But still a big maybe as to whether anybody in charge figures it out soon enough AND has the balls to go through with it. I'm really wishing, for not the first time, that they hadn't shut down the refinery up in North Pole. But I expect they could put it back in operation if they really wanted to. And as I have observed in previous threads on preparedness, as somebody who doesn't like seafood, I'm pretty sure I am going to hate most of what's on the menu besides what food I keep on hand.
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evan price
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Re: per ebola - lets talk prep minimums

Post by evan price »

Sanitation is going to be a big one. Potable water supplies can be fouled quickly once the dead bodies pile up. Winter is only so long but you need water and a place to take a dump 24-7-365.

I moved away from the city years ago, and intend to stay away from the city. I never liked subdivisions where the yards were maybe 6' apart, I like having acres.
I'm at the point in my move that I'm still getting the shop set up and getting tools and equipment moved from the old house. Casa Price had a well on site. Casa Price II has county supplied water. I need to get a reserve water supply figured asap, I'm at this time figuring on small potable water barrels in the crawl space on pallets- you can get 30-gallon food grade barrels from the local soda plant for cheap.
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