100 items to disappear first in a crisis

[Jay]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

In Mexico you still get dental floss even if there are shanty towns in Tijuana.

Quite right.

[strittmatter]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

Suprised CONDOMS were not on the list, many uses (Which you find out at survival school)

for jtabeb:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5qqf...layer_embedded

[jtabeb]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

I found this interesting to review. A few comments by a Sarajavo war survivor included this very interesting one....

3. After awhile, even gold can lose its luster. But there is no luxury in war
quite like toilet paper. Its surplus value is greater than gold's.

So there you go, if you don't have gold, TP is still fairly priced (not sure whether to give this a wink or not!)

http://thepowerhour.com/news/items_disappearfirst.htm

Suprised CONDOMS were not on the list, many uses (Which you find out at survival school)

[FRED]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

You may be thinking of the first episode of Connections with James Burke, from 1978. He details the 1965 power blackout in New York City, then walks through the questions if some crisis like that (or worse) happened. How would you get out of the city? Where would you go that would be safe and reliable? How would you do things without electricity? How would you grow food without a gas/diesel-powered tractor? You need an ox- or human-powered plow. Then he discusses the history of the development of the plow.

The rest of the series is not so doomy. He starts with some ancient problem, and the technological solution that was developed for that problem. Then that led to another development, often in a totally unrelated aspect of life. And that led to another, and so on, until at the end of the episode he arrives at some modern technology that we use every day.

Although the series is somewhat dated (especially his suits ), it is a fascinating account of how we invented our way through centuries to where we are today. I watched them a few months ago and highly recommend. There were two more series produced in the 1990's but I have not seen them.

[lakedaemonian]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

I'm inherently lazy.......

The way I see it..........when essential items, particularly long shelf life items, are on "super sale"(not just a minor discount) I will clear entire shelves.

If there are sale limits, the wife and I will systemically hit all the local stores of the chain on shopping day.

Buying cheap and buying big saves us a staggering sum of money.....we actively encourage our friends to do the same by comparing weekly grocery/essential bills smoothed/averaged for the week.

We could currently go 12 months+ without shopping(albeit at a cost of slowly degrading selection/options).

I don't think the zombies are coming or North Korea is going to detonate a nuke in my cul de sac, but I like saving money, and I like NOT having to go to the store when every other moron goes when the forecast calls for snow and a chance of apocalypse.

If the apocalypse does come..I'll be the guy wearing the Viking Helmet drinking from the skull cup sitting on a big pile of Turkey Spam

[Chomsky]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

You may be thinking of the first episode of Connections with James Burke, from 1978. He details the 1965 power blackout in New York City, then walks through the questions if some crisis like that (or worse) happened. How would you get out of the city? Where would you go that would be safe and reliable? How would you do things without electricity? How would you grow food without a gas/diesel-powered tractor? You need an ox- or human-powered plow. Then he discusses the history of the development of the plow.

The rest of the series is not so doomy. He starts with some ancient problem, and the technological solution that was developed for that problem. Then that led to another development, often in a totally unrelated aspect of life. And that led to another, and so on, until at the end of the episode he arrives at some modern technology that we use every day.

Although the series is somewhat dated (especially his suits ), it is a fascinating account of how we invented our way through centuries to where we are today. I watched them a few months ago and highly recommend. There were two more series produced in the 1990's but I have not seen them.

Any- and everything James Burke did is worth your time. "Connections" is fantastic, as is "The Day the Universe Changed". I saw him speak in 1989 when I was a teenager, and it was one of the most profound moments of my life.

[zoog]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

there was this PBS-style program that went overhow society would fall apart in just a few weeks if we lost power, etc. I forgot the name of it, but it was interesting. covered how everything is tied together.

You may be thinking of the first episode of Connections with James Burke, from 1978. He details the 1965 power blackout in New York City, then walks through the questions if some crisis like that (or worse) happened. How would you get out of the city? Where would you go that would be safe and reliable? How would you do things without electricity? How would you grow food without a gas/diesel-powered tractor? You need an ox- or human-powered plow. Then he discusses the history of the development of the plow.

The rest of the series is not so doomy. He starts with some ancient problem, and the technological solution that was developed for that problem. Then that led to another development, often in a totally unrelated aspect of life. And that led to another, and so on, until at the end of the episode he arrives at some modern technology that we use every day.

Although the series is somewhat dated (especially his suits ), it is a fascinating account of how we invented our way through centuries to where we are today. I watched them a few months ago and highly recommend. There were two more series produced in the 1990's but I have not seen them.

[Kadriana]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

You know, I wasn't so worried about all of this, just made an interesting list, then I read this http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...demic?page=0,0 this morning.

Sigh...mulling re-evaluation?

\

I think swine flu is starting to show us how truely unprepared for a pandemic we are. A lot of areas are running out of tamiflu, especially for children. Hospitals don't have enough masks. ER's are being overwhelmed with the amount of people coming in. If the mortality rate was higher then you would have the problem you saw in 1918 of doctors and nurses refusing to show up to work.

[jpatter666]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

there was this PBS-style program that went overhow society would fall apart in just a few weeks if we lost power, etc. I forgot the name of it, but it was interesting. covered how everything is tied together.

You know, I wasn't so worried about all of this, just made an interesting list, then I read this http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...demic?page=0,0 this morning.

Sigh...mulling re-evaluation?

[Forrest]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

Well, I thought it was interesting to post just to see the list. There were some things I'd never thought of! I'm *not* gathering all this stuff although I found reviewing the list fascinating.

I *was* interested by the gold/TP comment. Reminded me that in the end, the price of any thing is what it will bring. Gold, IMO *assumes* some system of commerce/monetary exchange. In a complete collapse/barter economy it might be nearly valueless.

Best to have both...how many rafters in your garage could house the light stuff, boxed? Or trading supplies of the most ordinary comfort items?

In case people are thinking this is extreme, or nuts, just think of six weeks without soap or shampoo. I can only manage two weeks without, and that's with plenty of water. I don't fear a complete collapse, but a disruption in local commerce, and stores out of stock.

When China's marked tanked briefly, raising currency fears, I spent about 3K on many of the items in this list...TP was high on my list!!! I also bought stuff I don't use (Like Tequila) for barter in a difficulty, and for giving to the local church when this economy stabilizes in a few years (Lots of Coffee!)

The price of everything I bought that day is up 25% to 35%. Not a bad profit for one month.

[doom&gloom]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

I remember going through the East Coast Blackout of 2003. You couldn't get gas anywhere, cook anything and all the food in the fridge quickly went bad since it was the middle of summer. I had to eat granola bars and potato chips for 4 days straight. With our aging infrastructure, loosing power for a week or two is in the realm of possibilities. My sister lost her power last year during a winter storm and realized she only had an electric can opener. Most of the items on the list are practical for things besides a nuke attack.

there was this PBS-style program that went overhow society would fall apart in just a few weeks if we lost power, etc. I forgot the name of it, but it was interesting. covered how everything is tied together.

[Andreuccio]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

Yea, there are a lot of little reasons to make sure you're stocked up on things. I have a friend who had to overnight children's ibuprofen to her brother because the stores were sold out from so many kids having swine flu in the area. Imagine your child having a 103 temp and you don't have any medicine in the house.

My wife frequently chafes at the amount of meds I like to keep on hand, (she frequently chafes at a lot of other things I do, too, but that's another story ;)). This morning, though, she told me we had completely burned through the supply of kids ibuprofen. Time for a run to Costco. I like to beat the rush on the panic buying.

There's a lot of great things on this list. Storing a bit extra of most of these things doesn't cost that much. But in an emergency having them on hand would be great, and as other posters have noted, an emergency doesn't have to mean Mad Max.

I think we've gone through 4 bottles of Ibuprofin in about two weeks. (We probably have 4-6 more in the garage my wife forgot about.) The kids haven't been that sick for that long, and yet we're halfway through what most people would consider a doomer level supply. The emergency rooms are packed with kids who have the flu right now, so I imagine sales of kids' Ibuprofin have been brisk. As Kadriana said, I'd hate to face a situation where my kid had a 103 temp and not have any meds on hand.

[goadam1]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

I remember going through the East Coast Blackout of 2003. You couldn't get gas anywhere, cook anything and all the food in the fridge quickly went bad since it was the middle of summer. I had to eat granola bars and potato chips for 4 days straight. With our aging infrastructure, loosing power for a week or two is in the realm of possibilities. My sister lost her power last year during a winter storm and realized she only had an electric can opener. Most of the items on the list are practical for things besides a nuke attack.

The government tells you to have a kit and supplies on hand as part of your civic duty.



Not the same as bartering grandma's china for tampons.

[goadam1]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

If the discussion is America turning into a banana republic with a vast and increasing underclass, then we should have that discussion.

The thread was on the order of the 69th thing to vanish is dental floss. Are we talking about the breakdown of civilization or a growing bottom. In Mexico you still get dental floss even if there are shanty towns in Tijuana.

This is the reality for quite a few people actually. Just because it's not like that in part of the world doesnt mean it doesnt happen.

[ricket]

Re: 100 items to disappear first in a crisis

In those first years the roads were peopled with refugees shrouded up in their clothing. Wearing masks and goggles, sitting in their rags by the side of the road like ruined aviators. Their barrows heaped with shoddy. Towing wagons or carts. Their eyes bright in their skulls. Creedless shells of men tottering down the causeways like migrants in a feverland. The frailty of everything revealed at last. Old and troubling issues resolved into nothingness and night. The last instance of a thing takes the class with it. Turns out the light and is gone. Look around you. Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all.
The Road

This is the reality for quite a few people actually. Just because it's not like that in part of the world doesnt mean it doesnt happen.