Death and disposal of a body....post TEOTWAWKI....

**Zeke** · 06-26-2012, 09:24 PM

I don't understand why u think it is cruel and lazy to burn bodies. Indians, Vikings, and other cultures use to burn their dead. The burring of a body is for the living the soul or spirit or breath of life goes back to GOD and the body is just a empty vessel. So if a loved one dies if the service is done with respect I c no problem.

As far just other people the faster u get rid of the body the safer u will b.

Zeke

**myakka** · 06-26-2012, 09:27 PM

I agree Zeke. If yall don't have them yet, the giant leaf garbage bags are a must! I worked for the M.E. for a while, and he actually used these inside the zipper bag for sealing everything in.
I bought a bunch, in a pinch I could use them for a body, and be able to move the body to where it will be disposed of. Burning or whatever.

**Morgan101** · 06-28-2012, 05:34 AM

Zeke; I'm sorry, but I can't seem to think outside the box on this one. I would like to think we have risen above and improved from the Indians and the Vikings. I just picture piles of bodies being burned because it is expedient with no respect for human life or soul. I am not opposed to cremation, and TEOTWAWKI it would be the safest and most sanitary way of disposal. You make good, valid points about a respectful service. There is just something in me that says it is callous and wrong. I guess I can't break the paradigm.

**Flip4ford** · 06-28-2012, 08:51 AM

Isn't the heart the hardest part of a body to burn (I thought I read that somwhere)- Burning would be ok with me.
However you dispose of the body (or bodies) making sure they stay burried would be a concern--No not Zombies- but having a dog drag granmas arm across the yard in front of the kids wouldn't be good for anyone to see.
Hogs will eat a body (dead or alive in some cases).

**drt4lfe** · 06-28-2012, 08:52 AM

When i'm gone....i'm gone....If you are in a group ? vote on it.......

**Disaster_Dan** · 12-09-2012, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Rubbertree

It doesn\'t take much wood to burn a body ......

I happened to ask some of the Hindu students on campus about this, they said it takes about 3 times as much weight of wood as the weight of the body. Photos of funeral pyres on the banks of the Ganges I have seen showed an array of typical stove wood standing on end closely packed and probably extending 6 to 12 inches beyond the body on all sides. An account of such funerals in a magazine article said that they use a hammer to crack the skull to prevent the head exploding from the heat.

I would expect that coal would work equally well if placed in a shallow dug pit with a blower feeding air into a perforated pipe at the bottom. If I were to experiment I think that I would try that configuration due to the heat from a forced draft being hot enough to melt metals. I would expect that it would consume bones as well. Then just fill in the pit after the cremation.

Is there any Army field manual on this. Surely it would be consideration if the Army was working with large numbers of dead bodies due to starvation plague and war.

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Ok, now that I have read the rest of the posts, I have a few more comments. I think that a little research will show that the idea of making sure to bury a body downhill from any water supply is well intentioned, but and correct in concept but wrong in application. Once water is in the ground it is often doubtful which way it flows. A non-porous layer of rock or hard pan has sometimes been known to cause water to flow in the direction that is uphill for the land surface but downhill for the underground layer.

Due to a comment in the first or an early post, a lot of attention has been given to the matter of the body of a loved one and some to the body of a sick or starved unfortunate. One other category that may be important is the body of an enemy that needs to simply completely disappear and or forever be unidentifiable (imagine whatever sort of scenario suits your outlook here). For example, it might be beneficial to not have to explain how someone you aided who happened to be fleeing from authorities happened to expire from his wounds while on your property, since your act of charity could be construed as aiding and abeting or giving aid and comfort. Feel free to add your own list of possible scenarios.

Cremation that reduces the bones to ash certainly has the advantages of minimal volume, unrecognizable pieces and destruction of DNA. However, the fire and barbecue sort of smell could be tell tales. That bear thing would also suffice but the attraction of dangerous predators is a problem and they will probably leave identifiable pieces. Burial would likely need to be with lye plus "6 feet under" and in an unmarked and concealed location.

As for the disease issue, such a body if found in the open might well be several days old and festering. During the Black Plague in medieval Europe, Infected corpses often turned up in the surrounding rural areas and the locals used long poles with hooks. A grave was dug at a respectable but convenient distance and the body hooked and dragged into the grave. From this it is alleged that we get the old saw, "I wouldn't touch that with a 10 foot pole!".

This seems like a rather gruesome topic until one remembers that it is a necessary one thanks to the persons and forces which bring about SHTF!

**mtnlioness** · 12-09-2012, 10:29 PM

Okay..I'm gross and disgusting but hate to waste things. A loved one who has passed would be difficult. Using a deep hole and placing lime on the body in large quantities would have to suffice. Any others that died from lead poisoning would be put through the wood chipper and fed directly into the nearby pond (condsiderably below our water supply) as fish food. Some extra wood behind the carcass to clean out the machine and we will be ready for the next batch.

**dalewick** · 12-09-2012, 10:54 PM

This has been recently discussed on the man made pandemic thread but I'll throw this in again. It may not be the most dignified thing to do but I've directed my family in a survival situation to do 1 of 2 things with my body. 1. Creamate me using auto tires and what wood they can spare. If a fire is not feasible for security or safety reasons they are to scaffold my body 10 -15 feet in the air well away from habitation and so that the birds of the air and the bugs can have at me. Here close to home the Ravens, crows and buzzards would have me gone within a couple days. Bad guys go into the nearest mine shaft as I don't have hogs to feed.

Dale

**mtnlioness** · 12-10-2012, 03:55 PM

Just got done reading the pandemic thread............wow........scary stuff. That was not one of the things that had crossed my mind when I answered this thread. Lead poisoning or natural cause of death is one thing but a pandemic? Haven't given that much thought. Time to put on the serious thinking cap and also order the book that was mentioned. A pandemic was about third down our list of prepping items so we have gloves and masks plus plenty of clorox and antibacterial soap. Need to definately learn more.

**(0^0)jafo** · 12-10-2012, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by mtnlioness

Okay..I'm gross and disgusting but hate to waste things. A loved one who has passed would be difficult. Using a deep hole and placing lime on the body in large quantities would have to suffice. Any others that died from lead poisoning would be put through the wood chipper and fed directly into the nearby pond (condsiderably below our water supply) as fish food. Some extra wood behind the carcass to clean out the machine and we will be ready for the next batch.

Mtn.L I do like the way your mind works.