Prepper's Essential Guide To Surviving a Natural Disaster, Doomsday Event and Economic Meltdown

35 Pages·2013·0.53 MB·English

by  Butch S Hardcastle

Table Of Contents

Thanks!
Why you should read this book
How to Survive a Super Volcanic Eruption.
How to Survive Economic Meltdown
How to survive a flu pandemic
How to Survive a Hurricane, Tornado or Earthquake.
How to Survive other doomsday events
Survive Doomsday - A taster
Final Word of Thanks
About Butch
Thanks!

Thank you for downloading this book. It should take you no more than one hour
to read! Perfect for your lunch hour.

You should read this book as a companion to my first book Survive Doomsday –
How to become a prepper and survive after a doomsday event.

I’d really like you to give the book a review on Amazon; feedback is so very
important and helps us to make the future editions of this book so much better. If
you click this link it will take you straight back to the book page to let you do
that.
Why you should read this book

After the success of my first book Survive Doomsday – how to become a
prepper and survive after a doomsday event I wanted to write a companion
piece. I wanted to get people thinking about how they would go about surviving
after specific doomsday events.

The whole point of this book is to look at a number of different doomsday events
and study the actions you might take if each one were to occur. Obviously you
shouldn’t take my ideas as a step-by-step guide for yourself. I don’t know about
your particular situation or your location; neither do I know the severity of any
super volcanic eruption but I can form a hypothesis. Hopefully the content of
this book will get you thinking about each of these events and how they might
apply to you.

Obviously I cannot cover every conceivable doomsday event. But in this book I
hope to have covered a range of events from the quick burners down to the slow
burners. For example a nuclear attack would be classed as a quick burner; action
would need to be taken directly to ensure survival (I’m not actually considering
nuclear attack in great depth within this book; I consider the likelihood low in
comparison to many other potential events.) On the other end of the scale, an
economic collapse would be classed as a slow burner, you would see events
develop over a period of time and at some point you would need to make the
decision to act (I am going to consider economic collapse, because I believe this
is one of the more likely events to occur.)

Many of the ideas, such as those about camouflage and defense discussed in the
economic collapse chapter, are cross-transferable. All chapters are simply
written to promote thought about how you would act. I will repeat again for the
avoidance of doubt, they are not meant to be definitive.
You may like to create a “What to do now” folder for each possible event. If
such an event were to occur you simply pull the appropriate folder from the shelf
and then you have your own personal plan for your circumstances. Writing stuff
down will be very helpful, you should never under estimate the effect that stress
has on the mind’s ability to function. A step-by-step plan for those first few
critical hours and days might well be the difference between life and death. It
will ensure that you don’t miss a critical step in your plan. Please, please don’t
leave any element to chance or to the reliance of the fragility of the human mind.

In this book you won’t find details of which foods to store, how to get clean
water, which guns to collect and the like. I’m assuming that you understand the
concept of prepping.

I have continued my concept of a book that you can read in just an hour. I
personally love little books. I can get the information that I want, without any of
the waffle and then go out and apply what I have learnt.

How to Survive a Super Volcanic Eruption.

To be fair the title of this chapter should really be how to survive the aftermath
of a super-volcano eruption. If you are unfortunate enough to be on top of a
super volcano when one erupts then there is going to be no hope. (Probably best
to stay away from Yellowstone National Park if you are very concerned about
this.)

However, we shall assume that you have managed to avoid the eruption itself. A
super volcanic eruption is thousands of times more powerful than a normal
volcanic eruption. The major issue will be the amount of volcanic ash that is
deposited into the earth’s atmosphere. In truth, no one can tell completely what
the effects might be or how long they will last. But consider the disruption
caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland a few years ago
that halted air-travel for most of the northern hemisphere; a super volcano will
be thousands and thousands of times worse than this.

The ultimate problem is that the ash in the atmosphere will block out sunlight.
This means that crops will not grow; in fact no plants will survive (remember
school biology; plants need sunlight to grow their own food.) If no plants
survive, the food chain is destroyed and the population of the earth will starve to
death. The ash is also likely to trigger major climate change that may cause a
new ice age.

This situation is not very appealing. For the majority of the population this is
simply apocalyptic; most people will not survive. However, the prepper will of
course be one step ahead.

A super volcano eruption is what I would determine a “medium burner.” This
means that there isn’t the desperate rush to reach your location as would be case
with a nuclear strike, neither can you afford to wait as long as you might for a
worldwide flu pandemic. It will really depend on your proximity to the eruption
that will determine the speed you need to get to your location; the closer you are,
the quicker you need to get there. As soon as the sky becomes dark when the
clock says it shouldn’t be is the moment that fear will set in (the sky will be dark
because the ash is blocking out the sunlight.) When fear grows is when social
order begins to erode; you should make your move before this happens. You
should also be aware of the possibility of heavy falls of ash; think a thick
snowfall but with volcanic ash. Driving in these conditions is going to be tough,
maybe impossible. As soon as ash starts to fall make your move to your location,
don’t delay further.

A quick note on location. I discuss my understanding of the word location and
how to go about choosing one in Survive Doomsday – How to become a prepper
and survive after a doomsday event. In short, the location is where you plan to
be based to after the doomsday event. It is likely to be somewhere rural with
excellent access to fresh water. it is not likely to be your present home. It is
where you will have stored your food, water and other essentials designed to get
you through the end of the world as we know it.

When outside in the open air after an eruption you need to protect your
respiratory tract. Face masks are a pretty standard item to have in store for any
prepper, but it is necessary to not only have these available at your location but
also at your home and in your vehicle. Assuming that you are a few hundred
miles plus away from the eruption then a standard facemask available from
numerous retailers will do the job for you. However, any closer than that you
may what to consider a mask with a respirator. Volcanoes do throw off
dangerous gases as well, the respirator function will protect you from that. (If
you are that close, you may have to start your secondary play book; I’m not sure
that a location that close to a super volcanic eruption is going to be viable for
long term survival.)

Let us assume that you have arrived at your location and everything is as stocked
and prepared as it should be. You will need a number of long handled brooms to
hand. Volcanic ash in any quantity will be extremely heavy. A twice daily brush
down of roof tops is a sensible precaution; the last thing you need is your roof
coming down on top of you. You should also have shovels to hand; it may be the
case that you need to start digging yourself out if the ash falls for any lengthy
period. It would be wise to start this process sooner than you might think. The
last thing you need to do is have to create a big job for yourself, try to keeps
things manageable where you can. Whenever you go outside wear your
facemask.

In the event of a super volcanic eruption governments are likely to be still
functioning, television stations are likely to continue broadcasting (depending on
satellite disruption because of ash), radio stations will continue broadcasting and
certainly to begin with there will be no problems with electricity supply. You
should keep in tune with the latest events via the media to keep yourself abreast
of the situation in the outside world. However, as time goes on the problems will
start raising their heads, social order will breakdown (fear will take over) and
eventually (possibly months down the line) people will start starving to death.

This particular doomsday event is extremely challenging, you need to think
down the line. The end result is mass starvation of animals and the human race.
In many other doomsday scenarios that isn’t the case, animals are likely to have
the chance to thrive so years down the line there will be plenty of opportunities
to hunt. With this sort of eruption this isn’t going to be case. You need to hunt
now while animals live and save your tinned and dry food for the hard times that
are likely to come. An essential skill to learn prior to any doomsday event
occurring is how to smoke and preserve meat. Learn this skill and your chances
of survival increase greatly.

You may want to consider the farming of animals for a food supply with the
assumption that stocks will disappear as food becomes hard to find. I see little
problem in this plan. You will need an area prepared for this sort of task; think a
stable type building, you cannot farm outside in the ash. When people read the
world farming their thoughts immediately turn to cattle, pigs and sheep. This is
probably not the route to go down. A more sensible animal to try to farm would
be rabbits. Although prone to disease, a rabbit offers a significant number of
advantages over conventional livestock. Firstly, a hutch type run is not expensive
to purchase, or complex to construct or repair. Secondly, we have all heard the
term “breed like rabbits.” Unlike pigs, rabbits are very easy for the amateur to
have success in actually get the things to breed. Thirdly, rabbit food is easy to
purchase by the sack full and store. Finally, rabbits are easy to kill, butcher and
cook. Like everything, learn the skills required before an event occurs. In any
doomsday event, rabbits would always be my first thought when to came to
farming animals.

You will probably have prepared a supply of seeds, plants, bulbs and the like to
begin growing your own food once your own supply runs out. Of course, you
shouldn’t wait for your food to run out before you start your own arable farming
operation. You should look to start this as soon as possible; it will take between
three to six months to be harvesting your first crops. Another word of advice
here, gardening is a skill, like all skills you should seek to develop it now. This
isn’t really like the rabbits, learning how to breed them is a sharp intensive burst
of knowledge. Gardening is a complex skill that takes time to learn. Start
growing your own fruit and vegetables at home. It is far better to make mistakes
now when you can obtain other food rather than when it matters. It would also
be prudent to have a large reference book about growing vegetables available in
your shelter for when the time comes; knowledge is power (and survival.)

Of course, in the scenario that we are considering here there is likely to be
limited sunlight. Therefore in order to grow food you are going to need an
artificial light source and almost certainly artificial heating in order to grow
crops. This is why you need to be a skilled gardener before a doomsday event;
you need to understand which crops are likely to grow best in the artificial world
that you are creating. Lights and heaters are readily available from any online
gardening store, it is best to research and purchase for your individual needs.
Without these items then you will not be able to grow food. It really is that
simple – don’t skimp on these items, more than required is better than not
enough. Ensure that you have adequate spare blubs as well. It may be useful to
know where there is a local stockiest of these items, after a time you may find
that you have to visit there to “acquire” more of them. (I’d buy these items, little
by little as opposed in one job lot. It splits up the cost and saves a visit from the
police who think you have started a cannabis factory!)

In order to get anything to grow you will need an area of soil that has been
uncontaminated by volcanic ash. In other words, an area that is undercover. The
simplest solution might be to get a greenhouse type building. However, you have
to ensure that firstly the structure is going to be big enough to grow everything
that you need to survive. You will then also have to make sure that you keep the
roof free of volcanic ash to ensure that it doesn’t collapse. This is why a plastic
sheeting type greenhouse is not really going to be suitable; it won’t be able to
bear the weight that a rigid structure might. Just for clarity, this all needs to be
prepared before the eruption takes place. (Obviously you can’t just prepare for
an eruption, but a greenhouse is a wonderful item to have to help survive any
doomsday event.)

Don’t forget the mushrooms. In low light conditions the mushroom thrives, so it
should be high on your list of things to grow. Especially when you consider that
it is packed with protein. Keep the crop inside your shelter, ideally in a loft or a
cellar as it doesn’t like to be too hot. There are various simple kits that you can
purchase that will help you start with growing mushrooms. However, a word of
advice, it is likely that in the low light conditions outside mushroom growth will
be rapid. Do not eat any mushrooms that you haven’t grown yourself.
Mushrooms can and do kill; it is pointless getting yourself in the position that
you have done only for you to stupidly kill yourself with a rouge piece of fungi.

The most immediate and worrying challenge in the event of a super volcanic
eruption is the contamination of water. You can’t survive for long without water
so you need to know how you are going to handle this situation. Ash falling into
a water supply, be it a lake or river will cause a rise in acidity and will have
disastrous consequences if drank. Filtering it will have no effect. We all know
that the availability of water is essential to long term survival. Therefore you
need to choose a location with an underground water source. This either needs to
be a spring or a well that taps into the water table. Springs sources need to be
covered where they appear so that the ash doesn’t contaminate the water straight
away. The same can be said for wells, in fact it is more critical for wells as the
water isn’t following. If a well becomes contaminated it becomes useless; don’t
be slack in covering, have a double covering in case something goes wrong. You
may think that a having a well is pretty hardcore. I’m sure it is, it’s certainly not
cheap to get one constructed (I know), but in this particular situation I see little
sensible alternative.

You will also need to ensure that you are protected against the effects of zero or
limited sunlight. This will mean that you will need to spend a certain proportion
of each day under special UV light sources. These are available for sale as lamps