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SHOW NOTE: “American Blackout” will be re-broadcast on Wednesday, November 13, at 9 p.m. ET. Check this site for additional showings.
image by Wolfram Burner
Finally watched “American Blackout“, NatGeo’s latest apocalyptic offering. It wasn’t that bad, and although I could quibble and pick it apart as some have, I’d like to offer these bullet points.
- There will always be more of “them” than of you. Whether we call them zombies, the Golden Hoard, feral humans, whatever — they outnumber those of us who are prepared, by a long shot. With that in mind, you’re left with 3 choices when faced with these people:
- Hide and hope they won’t find you. In “American Blackout” (AB), it seemed to be the first instinct of most to venture out into the streets to find out what was going on. In reality, the mob scenes are going to be far worse than was depicted, making hunkering down, a pretty smart choice.
- Run. The prepper father figures out quickly what has happened and its implications and immediately has the family leave town.
- Fight back. If there are more of them than of you, your only chance for survival is to band together with many like-minded folks, but the chances of locating each other and forming a cohesive, defensive plan in a short period of time is small. You’re better off either running or hiding at this point.
- I’ve been advising people via this blog and my podcast to have cash on hand. When the power goes out, banks shut and lock their doors and ATM machines no longer work. You’ll be unable to make purchases with a debit/credit card. You may need to have enough cash for sizable bribes, so in my opinion, there’s no such thing as having too much cash on hand, unless it’s all in $100s.
- In AB, the blackout was caused by cyber terrorism. Vehicles of all kinds were still operational but traffic was quickly gridlocked. Transportation is an area of preparedness that isn’t talked about all that much, other than discussions about pimped out Bug Out Vehicles on survival forums.
- Not knowing where loved ones are might be the most terrifying aspect of an event like this one. AB did an effective job of portraying this from the little girl wondering when her daddy will get home to the teenage boy who hasn’t seen his mom since the first night of the blackout.
- If you can’t defend it, you don’t own it. The prepper family had some great plans in place as well as plenty of supplies. However, when their fenced property was breached, there was nothing else in place for protection, other than a few guns. Their only option was to either fight numerous neighbors or head to their bunker. They should have thought to have a second, more defend-able fenced perimeter.
- The prepper family were not portrayed in a sympathetic light, but maybe that’s somewhat deserved. There are preppers and survivalists out there who are looking forward to the end of the world, thinking they will reign supreme from their fully loaded bunkers. The prepper dad was a jerk in spite of being well intentioned.
- Basic supplies are easily acquirable and affordable, and there’s no excuse for not having several light sources, food, and bottled water. However, AB is very realistic in showing the masses of people who did not have even a few basics on hand.
- Everyone has to carry his or her own weight. For some reason, the Prepper Dad only had his son doing night patrol duty. Wife and daughter could have stepped in and taken on this responsibility as well.
- AB portrayed the importance of having layers of supplies. When the dad of the pregnant wife goes off to find food, he’s only carrying a baseball bat. Now, many people have been bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat, but that was all this guy had! If you’re thinking personal and home defense, go with the bat by all means, but have a shotgun and a handgun at least, and know how to use them.
- You never know where you might find yourself in a true SHTF scenario, which makes everyday carry items even more important. Four college kids were stuck in an elevator but were able to combine resources and had their smartphones as flashlights, duct tape, and a well-equipped Swiss army knife.
- Ingenuity trumps state-of-the-art “survival” supplies. The college kids fashioned a harness made of duct tape, belts, and some rope. Smart thinking.
- An open flame should be watched at all times. It really doesn’t take all that much for emergency workers to become overwhelmed. If you store candles, have a plan for burning them safely and keep them away from kids and pets.
- Helplessness is a horrible feeling, and reason enough to be prepared.
- If nothing else, have a water BOB or two — one for each bathtub in the house. I’ve been comfortable with the amount of water we have stored, but after watching AB decided to make this additional, inexpensive purchase.
- As one character points out, the upside to a grid failure is that bill collectors won’t be calling anymore! Even in a worst case scenario, there’s always a silver lining.
- When the banks shut down and people are unable to purchase anything electronically, what will they use for currency instead? AB took place over just 10 days, and other than showing stores taking “cash only”, there wasn’t any mention of barter or the use of precious metals.
Could our power grid suffer a catastrophic failure? Absolutely. If not by cyber terrorists, then possibly by EMP attack or solar flare.
If you are a seasoned prepper or survivalist, you may have watched AB through jaded eyes, picking apart each character and scenario. But do you remember how affected you were by One Second After?
That’s how hundreds of thousands of Americans are feeling right now having watched this show and learning about power grid failure for the first time. I hope they are out there right now buying flashlights and canned food.
Check out this American Blackout interactive timeline.
While you're here, check out...
A Single Survival Mom’s Essential Tool Kit
Bases Covered for Baby Preparedness
Coping With Life-Threatening Allergies in a SHTF World
The Beginner’s Guide to Surviving Winter Weather
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I'm the original Survival Mom, and have been helping moms worry less and enjoy their homes and families more for 9 years.
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The one thing that sticks with me is the Manhattan couple with the can. Just one manual can opener…
Hopefully, people will begin to think. However, if Hurricane Katrina and Super Storm Sandy – things people didn’t have a choice about – didn’t wake people up, I don’t hold out hope for a TV show people had a choice in watching. But if it got even one person to start thinking, it it did some good.
I watched the show too. The one thing that stuck out to me was how long those phone/flashlights in the elevator lasted. Those kids would have been in darkness waaaay sooner. It was very realistic about the ATM’s not working, no debit/credit cards working, and not even having a can opener. Also, many people will stand there and say “why isn’t someone coming to help us?”
I thought the prepper guy should never have brought the boyfriend with them, and I agree that his letting his young son stand guard at night was a very stupid thing to do.. That would never happen in the real prepper world. He also seemed to be unprepared for neighbors coming very soon after an event. There must have been a better way of handling the situation, without it escalating so quickly.
I thought it was a very good starting point for people who haven’t a clue.
“Get a can opener for Pete’s sake!”
Through a mom’s eyes, I’m thinking:
1) I no longer need motivation to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
2) What a blessing to be able to nurse a baby rather than relying of water/formula if none is available.
3) My kids–especially as teenagers–need survival training and relationships with neighbors, just in case they have to be “on their own” during an unforseeable event or for an extended period.
4) I need to revisit those old episodes of “MacGyver” for some inspiration for ingenuity. That harness was genius.
5) It’s been a while since we practiced our fire evacuation plan. And we could use another fire extinguisher!
6) I’m keeping my ancient Nokia. The hand-crank charger won’t power up a SmartPhone.
7) There’s a reason you should ALWAYS answer the phone if it’s your mother (right, Jason from AB?).
“Get a can opener for Pete’s sake!” LOL! For sure! Some things that crossed my mind. First, my family definitely needs to stock up on more water, we are on a well, no power = no water. Also we need to carry/have more cash available, we are way too dependent on the ATM. We need “get home bags” in our vehicles.
Some things I thought they took lightly that would probably happen – more rioting sooner – afterall look at what happened at the Walmart stores when the EBT system went down. With the current government, martial law would have been declared much earlier than the show depicted. They want to grab control as soon as they can.
A few thoughts…
1) it’s sad to say, but I’m glad that not everybody got a happy ending. That’s reality. If just 1 woman takes action due to nightmares about the fate of “46th floor woman” then the producers did their job.
2) Prepper Dad jerk? Yes and no…he relied too much on INdependence at the expense of INTERdependence. No small family can survive alone.A network/extended family is necessary, especially if wife and teenager are disengaged. No, an untrained boyfriend should not have been brought in at that point, but once inside, the Dad-or Mom- could have better explained opsec to him and that “helping out” in a SHTF situation never ends and they just keep coming. Also that “neighbor” could easily have been a spy from another compound. Fascinating how Jason listened to his testosterone the instant he realized that he was now The Man. I’ve seen that happen.
3)barter was briefly attempted by High-rise guy, but the proffered watch was naturally dismissed. The ultimate fate of that couple was, sadly, inevitable.which brings us to…
4) Did you notice how the people’s ultimate results were,by and large, tied far more to mindset than to
physical preps? High-rise Couple and New-baby Family were equally unprepped, but NbF :A acted slightly more often than REacted, B typically remained calmer and most importantly, C adapted to changing conditions a little better. Don’t knock MacGyver…those college kids may have been inspired thus. Or by Spike’s “Surviving Disaster”…mmm…Cade Courtly…Mother May I?…I’m sorry what was I saying..
5) I trust you’ve all watched History Chanel’s ” After Armageddon”. It follows a fictional Los Angeles family through the aftermath of a globe-altering pandemic, spliced with commentary by experts in all sorts of applicable fields. It’s very instructive, very scary and has a sad-then-happy twist ending. It’s on sporadically and it’s scheduled again tomorrow.
And also, if you’re ever in a disaster shelter…please put your 8 yr old on an actual leash…that’s from a Bosnian war survivor I know.
Just watched on Youtube this weekend. While I did like the idea of “false supplies” from the prepper family, it made me even more concerned about my neighbors who are not stocking up very much, if at all. Plus, I have some older neighbors who use medications. I think I will have another talk with them on being prepared for a “bad winter”.
I, too, thought the prepper dad was…interesting. He was very prepared supply-wise, but didn’t seemed to have planned very much. For as gung-ho as he was, he made many of what my son called “noob mistakes” (short for newbie) that even I knew-heck, my 11 year old dd wanted to know where their walkie talkies were for night duty! It brought home to my kids that even with every supply there is, if you don’t use your brain you still are at risk. And the nurse who couldn’t communicate with her teenage son even made my kids appreciate all my plans and back up plans. Almost a miracle! 🙂
Good review.
My main criticism is that the transformers blew in the beginning of the show. And at the end, they were not a problem. Not to forget all the house fires. Or the likely cities on fire.
Main message sent. Hunker down and all will be alright. A Nat Geo huge pile of steaming fecal matter!!!
I give it a C-. It might open some peoples’ eyes. But it sends a false message
As to the Ex military Prepper. I dun think so! He was clever in some ways. And totally stupid in others. Which I think is unlikely.
I agree about the prepper character. He had obviously given a lot of thought to so many things, but in the end, he did something really stupid and hadn’t considered what actions he would/should take if his compound was invaded.
LB:
If you are on a well, you are more fortunate than most. Just this weekend we installed a hand pump for our water well! It took all day to do because we couldn’t afford the thousand-dollar, installed units advertised on the internet. HOWEVER, we ordered the main pump mechanism from http://www.ezwaterwellhandpumps.com/ ($129) and bought the installation parts at Lowe’s for about $75. With only minor modifications, we now have a backup water pump for about $250. That wind you hear is my big sigh of relief blowing in from tornado country. 🙂
great post. I do not feel like i need to watch this now. Maybe I will but I always find the prepper shows to not really ‘get it’. I am not nearly as prepared as I should be, but am working on it. Prepping is a continual WIP in my opinion. We are fortunate to have another well on our property, we just need to get it outfitted for a hand pump type deal. 🙂 The cash is what I am worried about so I stock extras for bartering, and they should have covered that, if they didn’t. Thanks for the article and great comments. 🙂
The thing that annoyed me the most was the college kids were trying to open the door on the roof and never stopped to realize the hinge was on their side and they could’ve tried removing the pins to open the door. It’s all in the details.
The show scared the you-know-what out of my college-aged daughter. We were surprised the prepper dad gave the boyfriend a tour of all of their supplies, etc on the initial arrival. The lesson I took from his missteps was the importance of community and working together with likeminded folks.
My husband has worked in the power industry for more than 20 years. His response to the power magically being restored was “no way”. It would take many days, possibly months to repair the damaged transformers and substations, test, and then implement rolling resets. I am afraid it may have given people a false sense regarding the duration and impact of a national blackout. How long would it take grocery stores to get deliveries after their suppliers have been shut down for almost two weeks. Our just in time supply lines would take weeks to get to a near normal state. Keep talking to family, friends, and neighbors. The show provides a good starting point.
Mary, a friend who has worked with the FBI and is currently with Home land Securi ty told me that power companies know the danger of EMP but have chosen to gamble and not do anything to protect their facilities because of the cost involved. Congress has shown no interest in dealing with this, either.
Prepper dad made a lot of mistakes. Taking the boyfriend along, then showing him everything. And finally why the heck did he leave the bunker once he had them all locked down. Supposedly they had enough food in there to survive for a couple of years. One man against a group – just dumb!
I agree that there is no way the power would come back on-line in only 10 days. One only has to take a look at how long it took after Sandy blew through to see that it isn’t going to be a quick fix.
i’ve watched both of the movies now and while i enjoyed american black out, i much prefer the pandemic one.
to my way of thinking the pandemic one was more realistic in situational happenings. right from the start it was a good lesson in the mistake of waiting to long to get out and jeopardizing everything. but it showed trying to buy, barter and steal water and food. it showed that helping can be good and dangerous. that being trusting can maybe get you killed. it showed scavenging and searching dead bodies for things that you need or use. and at the end it showed how it may well be like without all the goodies like antibiotics available.
american blackout left to many gaps. we all know that there would have been major rioting and looting. no one would have stood there arguing with that shop owner over water. that crowd in there would have over powered him and “taken” the water.
prepper dad made so many mistakes! he had the right idea of having a safe location and supplies but that was about it. for myself i had no problem with the fact that he took the boyfriend with them. but putting him in the same bedroom with the daughter? hell no! and instead of letting letting the idea of being the “ruler” of his little kingdom he could have used the boyfriend for extra hands to work and guard. the boyfriend should have been a whole lot better briefed. prepper dad should have make sure that all the family members had weapons available and that they knew how to use them. i’m guessing that he never gave a thought of “what if” i go down and who will protect my family. my daughter is not a gun fan by any means but she has been taught how to load and shoot. and has been trained in gun safety.
and the bunker? oh hell no!! not me! one way in, one way out? even animals know better than that, they always have more than one way out!!!
Survival mom, I am with you, not very realistic. Yes, it touched on some basics, but didn’t really grab hold of the real problem. I was really disappointed that they didn’t show individuals that needed medicine and couldn’t get it; nor did it show the people who would go to hospital and be turned away. I think it is an issue, even for preppers, when they need medication and their physicians and/or insurance companies will not o.k. extra supply in case of emergency. Hence, many will be without meds that they need to sustain their very life. Also, their are those who are on oxygen etc. They live with the mistaken assumption that the government will take care of them. Did Katrina and Sandy teach us nothing???? We must plan to take care of our own needs at least for a while. The government has no way to sustain us all.
Hello I watched AB some parts hit home about making sure you have cash on hand and water especially for people who live in the city..the guy in high rise complaining about sueing people because there was no backup generator when he cut his hand they had no water to clean it with but come on they didn’t have any perixode or anything else to clean it with.and as for can openers we have always had manual ones in our drawers right along with the electric one I could probably find 3 of them in my kitchen drawers they don’t take up a lot of room. parts if it were ok but me and my dad picked apart the whole movie..but maybe it will make some people think and if it helps one more family then great.
Everybody gives “Prepper Dad” kudos for having a compound.
But “people” don’t have compounds. They live in cities and towns, and don’t have acreage, per se.
Here’s a question: If Prepper Dad was so smart, why didn’t he have his fuel in caches? How hard is it to bury a closed gas can? How hard is it to bury a 5-gallon bucket with food, water, ammo, a spare pistol, a 1st Aid kit, and a couple of Space Blankets?
Had he done this in several places on his compound, he could’ve waited until night-time (he knew where the bad-guys were b/c he saw them on his CCTV) and picked them off one by one. He knew his compound; he probably could’ve moved around it in the dark, even without Night Vision.
Saw this on YouTube last night. And even having what I thought of as a “prepper mindset,” and a fair amount of my own preps going on, I woke up with a panic attack this morning. Its one thing to plan things hypothetically. Its another to see them “actually” happening, even if its a fictional movie. Got to kick it into higher gear…
I felt the same way, April.
I watched. I enjoyed. I watch all those kinds of shows. Yes, you can pick them apart. We all do it. I think the point is to make you think, ‘what would I do? Am I as prepped as I like to think I am?’ The prepper dad thought he had it all going on. I think there are a lot of people out there like him. Gung ho military survival mind-set, which didn’t serve him well in the end. He is a perfect example of why you should get to know your neighbors.
Walking Dead….OMG best show on t.v. But we sit and pick it apart in our group. The second the show is over we are texting about what we would have done differently if put into that situation.( ahhh the fun times on a Sunday night!)
I know I’m not as ready as some, and I’m more ready than others.
and….we have a new member in our circle! another person to have your back and in turn you have theirs.
Our view of prepping in farm country is quite different than the suburban and urban shown in AB, and the Colorado compound was, well, not secure from inside or out. We did find some things interesting and are trying to encourage our town and city friends to be a bit more prepared, probably not to our standards, but still you gotta try! Was interesting as a conversation starter for sure, instructive not so much.
I couldent help but notice like a cheesy horror flick the moment someone heard something go bump they walk into a dark room with no light and no means to defend themselves but even so I couldent help but wince when that young woman was dragged out of her apartment by that gang…I only hope she managed to find a way to finish herself before they had their fun with her. The prepper dad to be honest was an idiot going out alone and trying to talk to a large group taking your stores leaving cover to do so is stupidity bordering on a death wish, Far easier to not be talking they are inside your perimeter and looting so it,s shoot to kill time from cover and at distance and not stop till the threat is no longer a threat. After listening to people act like sheeple and not make any preps for themselves in my neighbourhood I have a plan in place for myself and have absolutly no intention of sharing anything in my pack, After all a lack of preperations on their pat does not make it a crisis on my part
I actually think the prepper dad was a realistic portrayal of preppers, most of whom prepare for a particular event that they foresee, and only certain supplies that they think they’ll need, without an overall plan of how to implement a bug-out. And I have to admit to that myself. Despite years of thinking about it and stocking lots of stuff and even building a fully off-grid house, I have not fully run through a scenario and am quite sure I’m missing supplies and skills and psychological preparation for the real deal. Unless you do drills on a regular basis envisioning dozens of potential scenarios and carry them through like Daniel Day-Lewis preparing for a movie role, you’re probably about as prepared as prepper dad in AB, even if you think you have everything covered. Murphy’s Law alone ensures that you won’t be prepared for something.
I liked it, overall. The NYC couple seemed sadly realistic. No can opener? Yep. I believe it. Stupid enough to not bother putting peroxide or anything on the wound? Sure.
The teen seemed believable enough, but it’s hard to believe his mom wasn’t home at some point to sleep and check on him. If nothing else, staff would’ve wanted clean clothing. Were they really virtual hostages in the hospital?
I agree with many of the comments. Nat Geo is the Doomsday Prepper channel, so given their mindset, I thought they treated Prepper Dad better than expected. (Did I see a white baby grand piano in their compound home??)
Much of AB was Hollywood. However, If it wakes people up to the vulnerabilities in the grid, and gets them thinking about being prepared, then it’s done a good thing.
My husband became a prepper after being deployed with the Army to NOLA after Katrina. He didn’t really say anything then. I admit it didn’t “come to me” until a few years later. Now we are both on board with preparing for “anything and everything”, even bought our first gun which until I saw the light (make that read One Second After, the first book in the genre that I read) I was vehemently against. Since we still live a rather nomadic life (we move every 12-24 months) we’ve decided “less in-place stuff, more GOOD supplies & knowledge”. I was even able to convince my mom to put together a few things in a sheltered spot in her basement during tornado season!
Good review on what NATGEO’s AB should be used as, a method of thinking and wargaming in our heads where our preps need work or reconsideration. That is the only thing the show was good at as unfortunately they left to much of a “it’ll be over soon” and things will be back to normal afterwards for it to “wake people up” who are in their little bubbles with rose colored glasses on.
Survival Mom,
Congress as a whole hasn’t tried to do anything even though their own studies and reports postulate a EMP or Grid Down scenario that lasts more than a few days could be highly disastrous to the survival of the nation and it’s citizens, with casualties of 90% or more. However there are those who have repeatedly attempted to harden and protect the grid through legislation that is surprisingly claiming it can be done VERY cheaply costing less than the typical annual fraud, waste, and abuse losses but the federal government. Rep. Trent Franks has repeatedly tried to champion this legislation as he see’s the threat and knows how bad it could be, the problem is not enough citizens are supporting the legislation and yelling at their representatives about it.
Another good video to watch is the “For the Record-EMP” from the Blaze TV, tells you a lot about the threat, what could be done to protect from it, and who has done anything for and against the solution.
I watched this movie (“American Blackout”)with the idea of gaining some insights of how to “be smart” and do the right things. What I saw was that the main characters were making it a point to do all of the worst WRONG things! The characters, without exception, began doing the most outrageously foolish things, things that most marginally intelligent people would never do. (SPOILER ALERT!) For example:
– At the outage, the majority of people began screaming and running randomly about (I’ve been in a few blackouts, and never encountered this).
– Other than in some high-rise buildings, water pressure does not stop immediately, but occurs over a few hours, as nearby water towers slowly drain down to empty; filling a bathtub or several other potable-water containers right away would fend off thirst for a few days.
– The nurse left her teenage v-logger son home alone, knowing how serious the situation was (if necessary to leave the house, I would take him with me, keeping him nearby and safe)
– The teen v-logger and the yuppie girl felt that they had to “go outside to check things out” (“laying low” quietly barricaded at home is usually the best policy). In the yuppie’s case, it proved to be her undoing.
– The yuppie guy instigated a riot at a store by barging the queue and demanding goods, and in the ensuing pandemonium stole a can of food, later requiring him to murder a fellow citizen to keep his ill-gotten food.
– Characters began separating from their family groups to “go and get help”, leaving helpless dependents to fend for themselves (see third bullet above).
– Characters began to experience extreme thirst and hunger within 48 hours, despite having full or partially full pantries (canned food in my ordinary pantry would last for 3-5 days, without pushing it).
– Minor wounds were becoming infected to the point of fatal sepsis in one to three days (I’ve camped for a 3-day weekend in primitive conditions without benefit of a first aid kit, and no cuts, gouges or scratches incapacitated me).
– In the “elevator scenario”, the occupants waited over a day before attempting escape (really?). After reaching the rooftop, they began running about randomly, clawing at doors, and screaming off the rooftop (see the third bullet above) (no fire escapes or fire stairs, required for all public buildings?)
– The “doomsday prepper” made several serious errors, such as taking on a stranger (his daughter’s boyfriend) who not only did not share his survivor philosophy, but actively worked to disrupt the established plan and endanger the family; setting a young child on watch to be captured by marauders; leaving valuable and vulnerable resources (gasoline) in plain sight; and exiting the “bunker” to confront a hostile armed group alone… all setting the stage for the imminent murder of the father and family, “saved by the bell” (the restoration of power).
Additionally, the acting was amateurish and badly overdone. It would have more instructive and encouraging a presentation if one was allowed to see at least one sub-story of characters who acted appropriately for the situation, and who did not stumble headlong into total catastrophe.