# How long?



## the7wolf (Dec 4, 2012)

Just curious as to how long preppers on here feel it would be before the general population would run out of food/meals at home before desperation kicks in. Wondering (especially after footage post-Sandy of people trawling dumpsters within 3 days) the likelihood of your neighbors trying to break their way into your home to steal your supplies. I can't say I'm exactly in love with the neighbors either side of me so beating/scaring them off (or worse) wouldn't hit my conscience too hard but roaming mobs searching my neighborhood seems a little less likely than the family of 5 next door.


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## Rainy13 (Aug 5, 2011)

In our neighborhood it would be at most 2 days..... my neighbors don't get, and one set is really good friends but to them having extra food is having one frozen pizza... I gave up trying to get them to do anything, it was like banging your head against a brick wall...


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

we dont get the storms that people in the rest of the country get. the biggest scare here in decades was when power went out for half a day back in 2009, so I think sheeple in SoCal are going to go batshit crazy in about 48 hours


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

Average home has less than a weeks worth of food of any kind in it. The Grocery stores have to be restocked every three days minimum. In a panic rush like before a major ice storm hits a grocery store has less than 3 to 4 hours worth of food. Ninety nine percent of the homes in America depend on the local market being well stocked with everything. The average home owner runs out of things before they even consider going to the store. Among preppers the numbers are similar. Most people who claim to be into preparedness never really leave the lifestyle they grew up in. 

By that I mean a woman or man who stocks the home will buy up products a good supply but never restock till they have run out of the item. Rather than buy two or three of something and rotate them they simply use them up and then do like everyone else and go to the local Walmart or Safeway. 

A good analogy would be to look at ammunition. Most people who own a gun buy one box of bullets and one extra magazine. When supply is cut off like now they panic and prices sky rocket. Supply cannot keep up with demand. Food will be the same way. The chain is very fragile and sellers depend on stock turning over quickly to make any money. If demand suddenly peaks then they have no way to answer it. 

Consider corn as an example, most major players in the market have fields dedicated to production of food corn. the harvest takes place in late summer up in the midwest. There are graders in the fields as the corn is brought in to the plants. the grader usually has three grade levels for the corn. Your best and sweetest goes to their premium label program. The Second level goes to the regular labels and the last or lowest grade goes to what is called the White label or generic brand like Sam's choice. They do not hold back product for a rainy day. 

The product moves out and goes to the food brokers who in turn sell to the regional warehouses of the various food chains. Some product goes to suppliers who sell direct to schools, cafes, etc. There is a finite amount of product in the chain and suddenly growing more is not an option. resupply is critical to keeping the country fed. 

If the power is down most food stores cannot even check out customers since they depend on bar code readers not only to check people out but to maintain their stock. Our local store lost power a couple of nights ago and it was out of action for seven hours after the power came back on because the registers would not come back on line. 

People would be starving to death within days if the power is out for a prolonged period. Oh, I forgot we can just run out to the Golden Arches for a big mac. NOT. GB


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Dakine said:


> we dont get the storms that people in the rest of the country get. the biggest scare here in decades was when power went out for half a day back in 2009, so I think sheeple in SoCal are going to go batshit crazy in about 48 hours


Yeah... if they can't go get their morning Starbucks you know S has HTF in So Cal.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

Well the big winter storm is supposed to hit my town today and yesterday evening I stopped by Walmart to pick up a prescription (it just so happened my normal refill day fell in line with the storm). The store was absolutely packed. People were scrambling to buy all sorts of stuff from food to ice melt. They generally say stores have 3 days of food on hand....but that's three days of normal shopping not three days of panicked unprepared shopping.


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## CapnJack (Jul 20, 2012)

Lots of the areas around here are rural, so I'm sure it will take some time. But, again, a lot of the folks around here are not exactly comfortable moneywise. So we kinda have both sides of the scale going here. There is a better sense of community around here, though, than I've noticed elsewhere, so I think (hope) there would be more people trying to help one another, instead of stealing from eachother.


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## IlliniWarrior (Nov 30, 2010)

the biggest "if" that will make a difference, during a SHTF event, will be communication .... any kind of radio/TV broadcasts will hold off the sheeple panic ..... it'll take the average sheeple two weeks, to realize no food trucks are coming to the rescue .... everyone will be sharing food, especially the perishables, if the electric is off ..... the "ready to eat" foods will go fast at the supermarkets ..... the fresh veggies, need to prepare like rice, beans ect and perishables will be last to go .... if you are ready to can/preserve food you'll have your choice of the frozen & refrigerated to extend your supplies .....


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

GrinnanBarrett said:


> Ninety nine percent of the homes in America depend on the local market being well stocked with everything. The average home owner runs out of things before they even consider going to the store. Among preppers the numbers are similar. Most people who claim to be into preparedness never really leave the lifestyle they grew up in.


Woohoo!!!!!! I'm finally in the one percent.

I'm curious what you base such statement on? I agree with the average American home but it's a stretch to call someone a prepper if they still shop that way.



IlliniWarrior said:


> the biggest "if" that will make a difference, during a SHTF event, will be communication .... any kind of radio/TV broadcasts will hold off the sheeple panic ..... it'll take the average sheeple two weeks, to realize no food trucks are coming to the rescue .... everyone will be sharing food, especially the perishables, if the electric is off ..... the "ready to eat" foods will go fast at the supermarkets ..... the fresh veggies, need to prepare like rice, beans ect and perishables will be last to go .... if you are ready to can/preserve food you'll have your choice of the frozen & refrigerated to extend your supplies .....


Two weeks? Sheeple are pretty dumb but I'll bet even the dumbest among them will figure it out in less than 2 weeks.

I'd guess the revolt to start in aboot a week.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I give it two or three days also. Maybe it is just the times I go to the market or the store I shop at but I rarely see full shopping carts anymore. Sure there are some but most people have a few items or one of the baskets with a meal or two in them. Some folks at work will not even eat the same thing two days in a row or leftovers, it has to be fresh! More than once I have watched someone pour out a bottle of water because they opened it yesterday and today it is ‘stale’.

To be honest I do not fill a shopping cart either. I buy some fresh vegetables and fruits and cans of what is on sale. If the sale is 3 for $5 I will buy three today, stop tomorrow and buy 3 more for as long as the sale is on. The store I go to is right on the commute so not out of the way at all. If there is no good sale I make one trip on Fridays to stock up. I make a big pot of something and that is what is for lunch and dinner for the week.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

We have both sides of the coin here; people who try to always have a weeks worth of groceries and those who buy dinner fresh every night. It cld be anywhere from a few days to a week, but no more than 7 days. The only people I worry about, are our closest neighbors: 89 and feeble, 70 and sickly. We have separate preps for them for 2 weeks (neither will last long in SHTF due to loss of needed oxygen and meds). We personally have a few months worth, and we are helping a friend of my husbands from down the road get started (he has a family of 5).


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## Transplant (Jan 10, 2013)

Well it will depend on if it hits around the 1st or the 15th of the month. From the first to the 10th is when everyone gets their government benefits and food stamps are doled out from the first to the 10th depending on the last digit of your SS# So if it hits around the 15th we will have about 2 weeks before the government dependent masses go wild. Now if it hits around the 1st and they don't the government support then I would say about 24 hours.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

Some will be "out" of food in a day, some will be out of food in a week and but those that run out the first day will think they are really roughing it and trading buying inflated food by the bowl wherever they can find it. There will be some death and destruction starting for the most part two to three days after but there will be at least some kind of somthing around for probably nearly a week. And then shortly there after the real ape shit crazy mad max like murder and mayhem will begin as folks realize it's all gone and there is no help coming and they have no idea what they are going to do to survive. I figure that will last for about a month and in that time the largest part of the die off will occur. After that it gets dangerous then you have the smartest and potentially most dangerous ones who right or wrong have gotten a clue and will then pursue whatever plan they have devised to feed themselves and provide for their other creature comforts. NOt all of those will be bad and not all will be good and I look for the good to group together and same for the bad. will be medieval with villagers (the good) and the raiders, pillagers and highwaymen (the bad) until enough of the good say enough is enough and start actively hunting the bad and if what we want to beleive in our hearts occures and good always wins out over evil we will for the most part purge the evil and begin reconstruction and rebuilding in earnest.

*BUT* Big *BUT* my crystal ball has been a little wonky lately and even failed to predict the most recent storm so I must say I dont know for sure


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Its very sad but my stupid downstairs neighbors would be out of food after the husband takes a huge hit off his bong and cleans the pantry of any food. They have 2 pre teen boys and NO real food in the house. The fridge as expired milk in it and the pantry houses crap in a bag dog and cat food. Nothing for the kids to eat. They hit the fast food places for 3 meals a day.


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## ONEOLDCHIEF (Jan 5, 2012)

48 million will be screaming for Gov't handouts within 72 hours... 250 milllion in one week, and the rest will be wishing they had bought more ammo...


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