# Preparing for death



## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

I know it's not a subject that anyone wants to talk about, but it needs to be discussed. 

Has anyone prepared for death? Laying the corpse by and handling a funeral? In my area there are a lot of preachers within close proximity to us, but not everyone has that luxury. 

What about preparing the body? No embalming fluid, no casket, just family and friends like our grandparents had.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

dixiemama said:


> I know it's not a subject that anyone wants to talk about, but it needs to be discussed.
> 
> Has anyone prepared for death? Laying the corpse by and handling a funeral? In my area there are a lot of preachers within close proximity to us, but not everyone has that luxury.
> 
> What about preparing the body? No embalming fluid, no casket, just family and friends like our grandparents had.


I have been meaning to have the 'last rites' chat with my parents and my DH keeps putting it off with his father. I think that I'd like to be cremated and have an Irish wake. I know that I'd do this for family after SHTF.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

in Louisiana, we have to be buried by a mortician. you must be kept on ice and then if not buried within 48 hours of death, then you must be embalmed. you have to have a casket that they provide and can not make our own.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

stayingthegame said:


> in Louisiana, we have to be buried by a mortician. you must be kept on ice and then if not buried within 48 hours of death, then you must be embalmed. you have to have a casket that they provide and can not make our own.


I thought ya'll had the year and a day law. Entombed for a year and a day then the body is removed from the casket and stuffed back into the crypt then resealed.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

that's how long before the next body can go in. they keep the casket. there is a vault at the back that holds the bones. only so many bodies can go in a crypt. our family has one that can take a total of six bodies, two at a time. in south Louisiana we bury above ground because the water table is so high that bodies will rise out of the ground during floods and heavy rains. in some areas the water is less than six feet down.


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## ras1219como (Jan 15, 2013)

Ok I have to admit this has peaked my curiosity about Louisiana burial laws....Google here I come!


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

stayingthegame said:


> that's how long before the next body can go in. they keep the casket. there is a vault at the back that holds the bones. only so many bodies can go in a crypt. our family has one that can take a total of six bodies, two at a time. in south Louisiana we bury above ground because the water table is so high that bodies will rise out of the ground during floods and heavy rains. in some areas the water is less than six feet down.


Then too, aren't there some crypts that are 'three month' crypts, like ones for the catholic church priests, etc where it's possible those that have passed happen faster and they need rotation more frequently. Those crypts are vented. 

I learned that on my last trip to Louisiana.

Anyway, can a body be put in a crypt if it's been embalmed? I didn't think so.

So now I'm confused....off to get that cup of coffee, gonna learn something today!! Always do right here on prepared society!


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

This is an older book on the subject, I used it for an English project on the funeral industry years ago. http://www.amazon.com/Caring-Your-Dead-Lisa-Carlson/dp/0942679016

Personally, I have made all of my final wishes known in writing (right down to the flower arrangement, Bible verses to read and what music to play).

I had gone in to the room to help the nursing aid get my Dad ready for the day when he was on home hospice. He died in my arms. I went ahead and washed and dressed him myself to get him ready for my sisters and the rest of the family to come see him before he was taken away for cremation. We kept him at the house for about 6 hours. We played music, everyone had time to go in and sit with him privately and as group. It was the most beautiful and meaningful goodbye.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

I've got shovels.

What else do ya need.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

anyone worried about burying people after the SHsTF, just have some holes dug a few ft deep. All rules and regs are off the table after all hell breaks loose.for the skidish people, just bury them face down or cover them with a rag.It dosen't really matter, dead is dead.
I've always told my wife to bake a cake and put my ashes in it and invite all the people that I don't care for over to have refreshments when I die. I know that if the SHsTF, that's not going to happen.


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## 101airborne (Jan 29, 2010)

dixie....not really sure what your asking? If you are refering to death now Wife and I have made cremation arrangements. But if you are refering to post SHTF/ TEOTWAWKI???? I have stocked several body bags to put them in, and will bury the best L/ we can. As for me well......... I don't know what'll happen there if no one else is around, I guess the critter's will have a couple of good meals then.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

if you bury a body put where it will not contaminate your water supply.


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## Oneshot (Oct 8, 2012)

Just depends on ...Before or after SHTF. Also depends on one's beliefs. This could prove to be an interesting thread!


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

dixiemama said:


> I know it's not a subject that anyone wants to talk about, but it needs to be discussed.
> 
> Has anyone prepared for death? Laying the corpse by and handling a funeral? In my area there are a lot of preachers within close proximity to us, but not everyone has that luxury.
> 
> What about preparing the body? No embalming fluid, no casket, just family and friends like our grandparents had.


That's how the Amish do it. Plain pine box.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

After SHTF I told my wife to just throw me in the dry wash out back. The buzzards and coyotes will make short work of me.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I hold morticians right up there with used car salesmen and debt collectors. Texas does not require embalming. I am going to make my own coffin.


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## oliverturtle (Jul 5, 2012)

My best prepper friend is a mortician. She is an amazing person. The things she does for the families is above and beyond. That being said when shtf I hope I go before her because I know she will do what needs to be done to me and do it right, with respect and dignity.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

hubby was going to make caskets to sell. we were going to call them coffin tables. :2thumb:


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

stayingthegame said:


> hubby was going to make caskets to sell. we were going to call them coffin tables. :2thumb:


There is a BIG demand for furniture that is coffin shaped. When I was in college my roommate had a coffin/casket truck as the base for our coffee table. I had for years wanted a Victorian child's coffin for display purposes. I use to own a collection of Victorian surgical tools and embalming supplies. I loved how creepy they looked. I scared the piss out of plenty of dates with my 'odd' sense of fashion. 

Now that I am a mom I think I'll leave those types of decor to the younger freaks. I still have my 'haunted mansion' style bedroom but it is child friendly.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

stayingthegame said:


> hubby was going to make caskets to sell. we were going to call them coffin tables. :2thumb:


Me, too. I am playin' with the idea of sellin' 'em knocked down on ebay. You could use 'em as a coffee table filled with prepper supplies.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

My instructions to my daughters is to have me put in the ground as close to the same day as possible when I expire. No funeral, no mess, no fuss, NO embalming or viewing my dead lifeless body - the plots paid for. Put me in the cheapest cardboard box and plant me without ceremony or hesitation. 

If they want any memorial service, they can put one together but I'd rather them have an "Irish Wake". Right after the loss of a family member is not the best time for next of kin to be pressured into making funeral arrangements,


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## emilnon (May 8, 2012)

Cremation. That's my plan and wish. Before or after SHTF, it's the same. Sort of a family tradition, mixed with the fact that I don't like the thought of decomposing and being eaten by "critters." 
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

This is strictly post SHTF. We have 2 cemeteries close to our home that are my husbands family and one large one close to our BOL that is my family.


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## PackerBacker (Dec 13, 2012)

A popular local _old_ fella just passed here.

He had an open bar at/for the funeral dinner. It was very fitting. 

I have nothing but respect for our local mortician. He doesn't charge a dime for anyone under 18 years of age.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

For me - it will be a fairly traditional viking funeral ... build a funeral pyre, crack open the kegs and when the beer stops flowing and the smoke stops billowing, the last cheer will be heard and then I will be forgotten ... 






:beercheer:


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## Friknnewguy (Jun 30, 2012)

stayingthegame said:


> hubby was going to make caskets to sell. we were going to call them coffin tables. :2thumb:


OMG !! That's the freakiest thing ever , cuz I had the exact same idea .


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## Friknnewguy (Jun 30, 2012)

I actually own a few burial plots that's I inherited , yay me ! I don't plan on using any of them for me . I want cremated and I don't care what they wanna do with the ashes . No funeral either , rent out the back room of the local bar and have a party . First rounds on me , after that your on your own .


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

In a post collapse world I would expect to bury a family member in a shallow grave within a couple hundred yards of our property if I can find a good spot. I live in town. There's rock just beneath the soil. I wouldn't care what someone does with my body but there's no way I'd just drag a family member's body away somewhere and leave it there.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

swjohnsey said:


> ... I am going to make my own coffin.


Before or after?


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Funeral pyre is best. If burying know which direction the groundwater flows and keep about 250 ft (I think) from water sources. Also remember that people were buried 6ft deep because that is below the earthworm level. I believe they started doing this when foot and mouth (?) disease became prevalent. Burying below earthworms prevented outbreaks as earthworms brought the disease back to the surface. Going off memory here some facts may be off but you get the gist.


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## webeable (Aug 29, 2012)

Pre shtf I plan on cremation, ashes spread to the wiinf, post shtf canoe filled with flamable liquid pushed out to sea.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

I intend cremation whether or not S has H the Fan. I have sheet plastic and lots of contractor bags to use if needed for bodies and I still have my issued Body bag. But I"d hate to give it up as my psuedo bivy and bed roll bag.


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## Transplant (Jan 10, 2013)

Hubby and I both agree cremation with an Irish wake. Don't want to waste the money on burials and don't want the boys to worry about such. Pre SHTF we will have it professionally dont post SHTF we will just build a big ol bon fire and sing Kum By Yah. No making smores be my luck hubby would stick to the marshmellow.

I think post SHTF there will be many that will just cremate the bodies. It will probably be the best way to kill disease that is sure to follow.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Carla Emery's book, The Encyclopedia of Country Living, has a section on home burial if any of you are interested, it's usually available at chain book stores and maybe your local library.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

We live less than a 1/4 mile from a cemetery. I suppose after TSHTF that would be where anybody in our area would have to be burried, but it's a very small place and if it fills up, I guess we'd just move to outside the fence. Other than that, i.e. in the dead (no pun intended) of winter, cremation may have to be the option. The deseased won't have an opinion about it one way or the other so the ones left behind will have to look at it in a practical way and do what is necessary to maintain sanitation.
All cultures in the past and present have had some sort of death 'ritual' that they need for grieving process. It will obviously be FAR more simple than it is today, which probably isn't a bad thing. I would say if you don't have coffins stacked up in your garage, a clean sheet could be used to wrap the body. Most people have attended a funeral, so I would imagine performing a "ritual" of some sort with a Bible reading or songs could be done by pretty much anybody. 
In a plague situation there would probably have to be mass graves or mass pires. With hundreds/thousands of bodies to be disposed of you're looking at some HUGE sanitation issues, not to mention smell issues. It's not fun to think about but it has to be discussed.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

The NAZIs found out that burning bodies without modern equipment is not easy.


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## 8thDayStranger (Jan 30, 2013)

Pre-SHTF me and the misses are being cremated. Post- just roll me in a ditch. Critters gotta eat too you know. My body don't need nothin fancy cause my spirit's going home


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## Nobody (Feb 10, 2013)

The earlier post regarding burial in a crypt is more for the areas where they are below sea level (New Orleans and other coastal areas). Baton Rouge and further north can bury in the actual ground with no problems. There was an ordinance that required that you purchase your coffin from the funeral home which worked for years. A group of monks were building and selling simple pine boxes for the purpose and the funeral homes filed suit against them. This went to court and the court ruled in favor of the monks and now they can not make them fast enough lol.

http://http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-10-24/politics/35499472_1_casket-sales-appeals-court-monks

The funeral homes really "gig you" for the services at a time when someone or a family is really in grief.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

Damn! $1,500 for a simple wood box.


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## Nobody (Feb 10, 2013)

It is that much or more just to be turned to ashes .....


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## Gians (Nov 8, 2012)

Pre SHTF = cremation arrangements already done, card's in wallet. When we arranged for my parents burial, the funeral home was sympathetic but extremely expensive. The in-laws were all set up with cremation arrangements so we decided to save the family some serious money and go that route.

Post SHTF = Have family dig deep next to compost pile then dump all the compost and my worm buddies on top of me and cover :wave: in a few years I'll be pushing Daisies :flower: or more likely Tomatoes or Oranges.


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## Nobody (Feb 10, 2013)

Lazydaisy67....being that close to a cementary you had better watch for a zombie uprising lol. :eyebulge:


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I found this doin' some market research: http://www.kentcasket.com/ Solid pine coffin $448 shipped knocked down to your door.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

We prep to prepare to live.

There is a great place near your home where you can go to prepare to die.
It's called Church.

I recomend both !


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

BillM said:


> We prep to prepare to live.
> 
> There is a great place near your home where you can go to prepare to die.
> It's called Church.
> ...


The point of this thread is death is a constant. Everyone dies and there is no way to avoid it. Thinking about death may not be something most people want to do but at least knowing what you want or need to do when the time comes is better than just leaving a bloated and rotting corpse exposed.

What would you do should a loved one die pre and post SHTF?


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## Gravlore (Dec 10, 2011)

Gians said:


> Pre SHTF = cremation arrangements already done, card's in wallet. When we arranged for my parents burial, the funeral home was sympathetic but extremely expensive. The in-laws were all set up with cremation arrangements so we decided to save the family some serious money and go that route.
> 
> Post SHTF = Have family dig deep next to compost pile then dump all the compost and my worm buddies on top of me and cover :wave: in a few years I'll be pushing Daisies :flower: or more likely Tomatoes or Oranges.


Yup. Small incision and let it work. Bones are left over.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*What would I do*



Grimm said:


> The point of this thread is death is a constant. Everyone dies and there is no way to avoid it. Thinking about death may not be something most people want to do but at least knowing what you want or need to do when the time comes is better than just leaving a bloated and rotting corpse exposed.
> 
> What would you do should a loved one die pre and post SHTF?


Pre- collapse = Have a respectful funeral with a religious service.

Post-collapse= Have a respectful funeral with a religious service

It would be in the same cemetary and the same church, just without a funeral director and with a closed wooden coffin.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Well no matter when I die you better get me in the ground or fried up real quick. If I smell this way while I'm still alive and kicking I have no desire to see what I smell like after I pass on.


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

Pre-collapse - give away all my stuff and let the goobermint worry about it.

Post-collapse - Give away all my stuff and let the goobermint worry about it.

Either way I don't care. The body is not you, it is just a vessel for your soul. They could leave my body in a ditch somewhere for all I care. Funerals are for the living not the dead. It is the start of the healing process for grieving.

I told my kids that there is NOTHING that MAKES them responsible for my remains so they can do what ever they want.

Wanna see a worm with an upset stomach or a gagging coyote.... Just let them take a bite... LOL

Like I said, they can leave me to the critters, it does not matter to me. I will not feel a thing.


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## swjohnsey (Jan 21, 2013)

I believe in recycling. Make it easier on those left behind by leaving instructions. Don't enrich the leaches of the funeral trade.


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## Rain23 (Jul 18, 2011)

swjohnsey said:


> I believe in recycling. Make it easier on those left behind by leaving instructions. Don't enrich the leaches of the funeral trade.


My mother, who passed last year and whose mortal remains are now fertilizing an apple orchard, would have applauded you. One of the things I remember fondly is how she pitched a fit when told the price of a casket. "For Heaven's sake, I could buy a car for that. Just cremate me and toss me in the trunk." The funeral home was actually very nice about cremation and the simplest urn, but when my brother went to pick up her ashes they had an urn but no box. Law says the urn has to be in a secure container, doesn't say what. Mom ended up a BOB until we did her memorial service, which she would have approved both for cost and entertainment value, when my brother grabbed the wrong backpack and took her to work with him one evening.

Few bits of advice from a retired nurse for those who haven't cared for a dying person and had to prepare the body.

When the person seems close to passing, while you are cleaning or turning them, slip a 10-ml plastic sheet underneath them the full length of the bed, both to contain body fluids naturally released at death, and because sliding plastic makes moving the body much easier. This is definitely something to prep. You will also want gloves if at all possible when washing the person after they pass.

Having someone around who has seen a person die is very helpful. There are some changes in color, breathing, etc right before death that are very distressing if you don't know the person is already beyond feeling them. If you've seen it once, or even know about it, you handle it better.

Do have some kind of service, wake or just a few words spoken, though you may not feel up to it. Later on it will be tremendously comforting to know you "did the right thing," especially if there are friends or family members who couldn't be there.

Before you ever face the situation, look up some resources (try hospice websites) that describe how a dying person looks and what changes a dead body undergoes. Our society isolates and removes people who are dying. You could be the most precious resource around if you can face the last normal event of someone's earthly life with compassion rather than fear.


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## cengasser (Mar 12, 2012)

My Dad passed in 84, he wanted no embalming fluid in his body. Back then they said by law they're required to add certain chemicals to the body. 
Without the embalming fluid and certain other chems decomp starts right away.
They respected his wishes as best as the law would permit, but then you can't have an open casket...
Hubs wants cremation and so does or son. I figure I'm dead at that point so who cares. 
So hubs & I god willing go first, our son is to mix our ashes together and go out on a boat and dump them. I hate to think of washing up on the beach and some fat a--
Sits on me! YIKES!
Another idea was cremate us and mix us up with cement, I think SC & FL then turns you into a coral reef. I like that idea too.
After the SHTF, well I guess a shovel, a hole and some cloth to wrap the body in will have to do.


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## HomegrownGal (Feb 11, 2013)

Rain23 said:


> My mother, who passed last year and whose mortal remains are now fertilizing an apple orchard, would have applauded you. One of the things I remember fondly is how she pitched a fit when told the price of a casket. "For Heaven's sake, I could buy a car for that. Just cremate me and toss me in the trunk." The funeral home was actually very nice about cremation and the simplest urn, but when my brother went to pick up her ashes they had an urn but no box. Law says the urn has to be in a secure container, doesn't say what. Mom ended up a BOB until we did her memorial service, which she would have approved both for cost and entertainment value, when my brother grabbed the wrong backpack and took her to work with him one evening.
> 
> Few bits of advice from a retired nurse for those who haven't cared for a dying person and had to prepare the body.
> 
> ...


http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/february-6-2004/jewish-burial-practices/1794/

Thepatriotnurse.com at the end of her Medical Prep 101 9-hour class showed the above-referenced video. No matter what your faith, loved ones who die post shtf deserve to be treated with dignity. There are also lots of sanitation issues. Those left behind can handle it much better if there is some sort of closure and plan in place. Definitely something to prep for.


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## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

I plan to live forever.. that way I can be a pain in the a** to those who tried to screw me. :2thumb::teehee:


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