OnTheFence
New Member
I watched loads of episodes of Doomsday Preppers (which is how I found this forum) and time and time again I've heard people referring to protection against "gangs" and "groups of marauders". In almost every real life breakdown of government (Somalia, Libya, Russian Civil War 1917-1922, Yugoslavia, Aghanistan, etc., etc.) the power vacuum where random gangs operate in a completely lawless environment is very short (months or less). The region rapidly is divided into zones controlled by different warlords operating fairly tyrannical ineffective banana governments.
These warlords will probably control armies ranging in the 1000's rather than roaming gangs of manageable numbers such as 30-100. While I can see some really dedicated Preppers being able to deter gangs of 30 or so. I really can't imagine hardly anyone putting up a successful defence against any sizable warlord that emerges.
On the plus side the kind of person that takes so much from people that they leave them with nothing to lose usually doesn't become a warlord in the first place, they usually get shot by someone they've really annoyed before reaching that size, so I imagine when the local warlord's cronies come knocking on the doors of preppers, the taxes they demand will be sizable but not overwhelming.
The local warlords usually aren't that great at keeping order so they'll probably be smaller criminal gangs there too that the warlord won't be able to do a very good job of policing. I guess having a well planned defence strategy could help defend against the criminal gangs, but I think your going to have to pay your protection money to the local warlord if your doomsday strategy involves staying in your house.
I think a better strategy might be:
1) Live off the land
If you don't have much but survival skill then you won't have much the warlords can take from you
2) Go out to see:
The guy I have the most respect for in Doomsday Preppers is the guy who has a yacht he can go out to sea for years on end, he had on board desalination plants and all. I think this is a good plan for anarchy as the first thing that goes when government breakdown is the navy I don't think the warlords will have a significant navy. I also think the dangers of piracy are over-exaggerated there's not going to be enough rich picking out there at see to justify going to the trouble of piracy.
3) Build an underground bunker, fill it with supplies hide and hope no one finds you.
In principle a forth option might be to start your own nation of preppers big enough to deter the warlords, but I don't think that's a very good idea. The warlords will probably be high ranking generals from the existing power structure that already have trained troupes that are loyal to them and access to a wide array of military hardware that its currently illegal for civilians to procure. I just don't see a grass-roots movement of amateur preppers ever being able to stand up against that level of force.
These warlords will probably control armies ranging in the 1000's rather than roaming gangs of manageable numbers such as 30-100. While I can see some really dedicated Preppers being able to deter gangs of 30 or so. I really can't imagine hardly anyone putting up a successful defence against any sizable warlord that emerges.
On the plus side the kind of person that takes so much from people that they leave them with nothing to lose usually doesn't become a warlord in the first place, they usually get shot by someone they've really annoyed before reaching that size, so I imagine when the local warlord's cronies come knocking on the doors of preppers, the taxes they demand will be sizable but not overwhelming.
The local warlords usually aren't that great at keeping order so they'll probably be smaller criminal gangs there too that the warlord won't be able to do a very good job of policing. I guess having a well planned defence strategy could help defend against the criminal gangs, but I think your going to have to pay your protection money to the local warlord if your doomsday strategy involves staying in your house.
I think a better strategy might be:
1) Live off the land
If you don't have much but survival skill then you won't have much the warlords can take from you
2) Go out to see:
The guy I have the most respect for in Doomsday Preppers is the guy who has a yacht he can go out to sea for years on end, he had on board desalination plants and all. I think this is a good plan for anarchy as the first thing that goes when government breakdown is the navy I don't think the warlords will have a significant navy. I also think the dangers of piracy are over-exaggerated there's not going to be enough rich picking out there at see to justify going to the trouble of piracy.
3) Build an underground bunker, fill it with supplies hide and hope no one finds you.
In principle a forth option might be to start your own nation of preppers big enough to deter the warlords, but I don't think that's a very good idea. The warlords will probably be high ranking generals from the existing power structure that already have trained troupes that are loyal to them and access to a wide array of military hardware that its currently illegal for civilians to procure. I just don't see a grass-roots movement of amateur preppers ever being able to stand up against that level of force.