[@CityPrepping] How to Survive the First 90 Days After the Collapse

Link: https://youtu.be/zJ5quUJJ_qI

Short Summary

In the event of a widespread system failure lasting up to 90 days, such as from an EMP or grid collapse, preparedness is crucial for survival. This video outlines a plan to navigate the first 90 days by focusing on stabilizing essentials (water, food, power, sanitation), establishing routines, building community, and prioritizing resilience over immediate recovery.

Key Quotes

Here are five quotes from the transcript that offer valuable insights:

1. "In the first 24 hours, you have to decide whether you can safely stay put for 90 days because after that, the roads, the crowds, and the rising risk usually make the choice for you."
2. "Panic spreads faster than information, and without a plan, most people lose their footing within days."
3. "The goal is not to predict every disaster. It's how to anticipate how systems fail and build enough redundancy to outlast the shock."
4. "The line between chaos and control, it's simple. Know what breaks first and have a plan that adapts instead of reacting day by day."
5. "Each clean gallon you secure buys you more confidence and more time."

Detailed Summary

Here's a detailed summary of the YouTube video transcript, presented in bullet points, highlighting the key topics, arguments, and information discussed:

I. Introduction & Premise:

• The video focuses on surviving the first 90 days after a major system failure/collapse (e.g., EMP, widespread disaster).
• It emphasizes that preparation before the event is crucial for survival.
• The video promises to explain how to navigate this period and transform chaos into a plan of control.
• Advertises the "Preppers Roadmap" course with a limited-time offer.

II. The Stages of Collapse:

• Collapse doesn't happen instantly; it unfolds gradually.
• First 24 Hours: Determine if you can stay put for 90 days. After that, travel becomes too dangerous.
• First 3 Days: Determine if you can make it through the week.
• First 3 Weeks: Determine if you can remain in your current location.
• First 3 Months: Determine if you can truly endure the situation.
• Modern systems fail like dominoes, starting with power outages, followed by water, food, and communication systems.
• Sanitation and security become strained, leading to panic and chaos.
• The safest place is usually at home, if you are prepared.
• Goal is not to predict the disaster but to build redundancy into systems.

III. Key Principles of Survival:

• Stabilize Essentials (First Hours): Focus on immediate needs.
• Stretch Supplies & Protect Resources (First Weeks): Conserve and secure what you have.
• Sustainment & Community (First Month): Accept the new reality and build connections.
• Proximity, Preps, Plans: Filter every decision through these three lenses.
  • What threats are closest?
  • What resources do you have right now?
  • What plan fits your reality at this moment?

IV. Phase 1: The First 72 Hours:

• Critical period for getting ahead of the collapse.
• Assume power is not coming back soon.
• Power:
  • Focus on essential use only.
  • Use flashlights/headlamps instead of candles.
  • Conserve batteries.
  • Keep refrigerator/freezer closed.
  • Practice light discipline to avoid drawing attention.
  • Expect electronic payments to fail; have small bills.
• Water:
  • Top priority. Start with stored water.
  • Minimum 1.5 gallons per person per day (drinking, cooking, minimal cleaning).
  • Fill containers while municipal water is still flowing, even if just to fill bathtubs (use liners!).
  • Treat all tap water as suspect; filter or boil.
  • Boiling kills biological threats, but not chemicals.
  • Include pets in water planning.
• Food:
  • Eat perishable foods first.
  • Cook perishables using outdoor stoves/grills.
  • Preserve foods if possible (pickling, dehydrating).
  • Shift to shelf-stable foods (canned goods, nut butters, grains, etc.).
  • Focus on simplicity, calories, and conservation.
• Communication:
  • Cell towers lose power quickly.
  • Text messages are more likely to go through than calls.
  • Keep a hand-crank or battery-powered weather radio.
  • Establish a daily family check-in time and frequency.
• Sanitation:
  • Set up alternative toilet (5-gallon bucket with bag, absorbent material, disinfectant).
  • Don't assume toilets are safe just because they flush; sewer backflow can occur.
  • Keep soap, sanitizer, and a handwashing setup readily available.
  • Seal and store waste bags away from living areas.
  • In rural areas, dig a trench. In urban areas, double-bag and store securely.
  • Keep human waste far from food and water.

V. Phase 2: Week 1 to Week 2:

• Real strain sets in.
• Maintaining stability and building a rhythm is key.
• Secure a 2-week buffer of safe water.
• Shift to low-fuel cooking.
• Keep steady communication with neighbors.
• Protect essential medications with a 30-day supply cushion.
• Water remains the anchor; maintain 1 gallon per person per day. Track usage and refill containers when safe.
• Food shifts to rationing canned goods and dry staples. Cook with intention and conserve fuel with batch cooking and passive cooking.
• Sanitation becomes a daily routine to prevent illness. Use bleach, gloves, wipes, liners, and develop consistent habits.
• Community shifts to a survival advantage. Talk with neighbors, share information, and barter fairly. Coordinate efforts for increased security and resource sharing.

VI. Phase 3: Weeks 3 to 6:

• Easy solutions are gone, fatigue sets in.
• Most people burn through pantries and make desperate choices.
• No longer reacting; living inside a new system. Discipline and routine matter more than gear.
• Stabilize calories, hydration, and health while lowering the daily draw on resources.
• Energy is the most valuable commodity. Strict daily power budget and prioritizing essentials.
• Water remains the foundation. Maintain at least a gallon per person per day. Ensure treatment methods make water from rainwater or natural sources safe.
• Food shifts to long-term staples like rice, beans, oats, pasta, canned vegetables, and freeze-dried meals. Aim for one hot meal per day and track daily calories to ensure basic needs are met.
• Health becomes a critical battleground. Maintain at least a 30-day supply of essential medications. Stay active with light tasks, stretching, or walking.
• Security stays a constant, quiet concern. Keep lights positioned high and out of reach near entrances. Reinforce doors and windows with hardware upgrades and stay visible, active, and alert.

VII. Phase 4: Weeks 7 to 12:

• Exhaustion becomes a real enemy.
• Supplies are thinner, tempers shorter, and routines harder to hold together.
• Households that hold steady built habits early and their systems run on discipline.
• Focus shifts from surviving the event to sustaining life inside it and automate everything possible.
• Set firm schedules for energy use, meals, water treatment, and cleaning to conserve mental energy.
• Energy is treated as a finite resource. Run essential devices on predictable schedules and use daylight hours for charging if possible.
• Maintain the water standard of one gallon per person per day.
• Food rotation becomes critical. Ration deliberately, conserve fuel and stretch stables without starving.
• Community becomes the strongest force multiplier. Rotate watch duties, split chores, and exchange skills.

VIII. Overall Message & Conclusion:

• Understand how the system chain works (power -> water -> food -> health -> sanitation -> security).
• When one layer fails, the rest begin to strain.
• Every choice made in the first 90 days either widens or narrows the margin of safety.
• Preparedness is not about perfection, it's about position and improving the odds.
• Secure backup power, store water, build a pantry, keep communication lines open, and strengthen networks.
• Encouragement to take action now.
• Recommends watching related videos on power and water storage.