...And I feel fine.

[attack_laurel]

It's Armageddon Week on the History Channel.  With the awesomeness of a new decade (no pedantic arguments please, we all know how much everyone loves round numbers) and the looming approach of 2012, it's just been a free-for-all of survivalist crazy and fun times predicting what it would be like if we all died from Hamthrax or a Solar flare, or

Comments

[hugh_mannity]

A quick note on clothing. A sports bra will tend to compress one's superstructure. When combined with a nice loose opaque top (not so loose as to be liable to catch on things) it will go a long way to giving you a nicely androgynous profile. This will work even at quite close range, especially if you're wearing a hood or scarf that disguises your hair and lack of beard.

A women, even well into her 40s, can pass as a teenage boy quite well to the casual gaze.

In any disaster, the most essential piece of equipment is your brain. Keeping your wits about you, believing that you're capable of taking care of yourself, combined with a good all round knowledge of the basics (food prep & safety, basic first aid, local geography, et al.) will generally give you a head start on the majority who'll be running round like headless chickens.

[tattooofhername]

Sports bras are generally also more practical to wear day-to-day if you don't know what situation you're going to be in. I'm a nursery nurse, so in a day I do a lot of lifting and carrying and bending, and a sports bra is infinitely more comfortable and practical. [Also, the babies can grab and hold it through my shirt without pulling it all astray]

[virginiadear]

"With the awesomeness of a new decade (no pedantic arguments please, we all know how much everyone loves round numbers)"
Agh! You've outflanked me, lol! Why does everyone not find round numbers just as lovable at the *end* of the count? (And there was and is no Year Zero, so which decade got short-changed? <- meant to be rhetorical)

...under Central Park! Hadn't thought about that one... I used to have dreams about volcanoes cropping up in unlikely places, like the back yard. (They were teeny, baby volcanoes, though, very well-behaved and with natural gas jets like kind of like bunsen burners just in case anyone needed to use them for something practical.)

[attack_laurel]

And there was and is no Year Zero, so which decade got short-changed? <- meant to be rhetorical)

First one. :) We've been good ever since. And if it's good enough for the Y2K computers, it's good enough for me.

"Cooking with Volcanoes: Your Backyard Guide" does have a nice ring to it, though. Hee!

[virginiadear]

"...and Man created the computer-brain in his own image, that he might both control it, and worship himself without seeming short-sighted, small-minded and megalomaniacal."

I remain skeptical and cynical. %P

That backyard guide to volcano cooking, though... Great idea, and you could tie it in with all the apocalyptic preparedness needs for the survivalist-minded.
Ooh! A television series---!

[baronessv]

Please tell me you have read or are either planning on reading Y: the Last Man, the 'Apocalypse' of it being that all the men die (except, obviously, the protagonist). I'd love to get your take on it.

[attack_laurel]

Haven't read it. Personally, my favourite is The Screwfly Solution, by James Tiptree Jr.

[_medb_]

Having food stores and being fit enough to do a lot of walking certainly came in handy for those of us caught in the blackout a few years ago (I had a 2 hours plus walk home and a 7 flight climb to my apartment, all with an antibiotic-resistant strain of strep throat- I'm still amazed I made it home). I also found that a working radio is good too- I was the only one in my family who had one with batteries, and it was one of the only ways to get information for up to several days for some people.

A car kit is a no-brainer- I also have a fully stocked first aid kit that lives in the trunk as well (and thankfully, so far I haven't had to use it yet!)

[alphafemale1]

SM Stirling's "Dies the Fire" series is a fun read. Basically, "something" happens in the world, and no electricity, gunpowder, or higher-order steam functions work.

This of course means living historians have quite the "leg up" over some other groups...

But it also gets one in that "prep for this" mindset.

For instance, having a mountain bike easily accessible is not a bad idea, if one needs to travel distances.