Becoming a Prepper

[youbet]

Of course you are right, the prepper "reality" shows are hyped and scripted, but sometimes humorous nonetheless. And the number of extreme preppers no doubt is very low as you suggest.

But never the less, I do think that this economic and political collapse fervor does cloud our political and economic discourse, and make real solutions more difficult. I guess that is the primary difficulty I have with it.

It just seems like if a hand full of folks are preparing to survive an anticipated extreme event, that they are making little difference in the lives of their fellow citizens. I don't know why we worry about them. I'm more concerned about folks who insist on wasting potable water watering their lawns than I am about so-called "Preppers." Maybe that's because I see folks waste resources all the time while I've never met a "Prepper" other than some friends who keep a modest supply of canned goods and drinking water in their basement.

Edit: I will confess and say that Sal's Liquors had cases of Guinness Pub Draft (very unusual to find it offered in cases of 24 cans) on sale at a terrific price. I bought 3 cases. I guess I'm a Prepper. I have canned goods stored in the basement!

 

[youbet]

The people on doomsday preppers the show are a bit scary to watch. On a majority of them you can just about see the mental illness/PTSD crystallizing on them.

I agree with that. I've never been a big fan of the reality TV shows. I know there are a lot of cable TV channels meaning there is a lot of air time to fill and the need to fill it inexpensively. But watching folks make bootleg whiskey, mine gold, clear cut forests, hoard stuff, homestead in Alaska, fish for crabs, lose weight, sing a song, dance, prep for disaster or whatever kind of got old for me..........

Regarding the sharing comments, agree there too.

 

[Koolau]

I have noticed that very few folks are "preppers" until something happens. Then just about everyone is a prepper. During the last two tsunami scares here in the Islands, I knew something was "up" before I ever heard a siren or turned on the TV. There was a dull roar of engines idling out front as a 3/4 mile long two-lane line formed of folks attempting to stock up on gasoline and bottled water/bread/eggs/etc./etc.. I turned on the TV and learned what was happening. Fortunately, we keep items on hand "just because" and didn't need to join the crowd out front. Even though very little actually happened locally due to the tsunamis, it was a while before the local stores could restock with routine items.

Here in the Islands, we have less than a 7 day supply of food. We are the most isolated inhabited place on Earth. For those reasons alone, it makes sense to have a couple of weeks worth of food/water on hand. With minimal management, there is virtually no additional cost to such preparedness. NOT needing to depend on gummint (or the neighbors) for disaster relief is simply prudent, but YMMV.

I criticize no one for their views on "prepping" (either way). But I am amused when folks say they "would do" such and such or so and so ITSHTF. None of us really knows what we would do until it happens. None of us can think through all the possible scenarios and decide how we would react.

Very reluctantly, both parents told stories of surviving the great depression. True hunger is an incredible "emotion" to overcome. I don't think my parents ever did. Once again, YMMV.

 

[Khan]

20 and more years ago (when I had some assistants) I was into what I called "soft-core survivalism"; not concertina wire/kalashnikovs, but preparations for various scenarios and some off-grid possibilities. Did not complete much, but certain things did help when I was without electricity for six days in 2008.

I am again planning for life in Florida. He has a propane generator and stove, we have installed some solar and are looking at more (electricity and water heating), also water catchment; also looking at chickens and beehives and deer/pig hunting and container gardening, he already does much fishing and some gardening. Heck, if the lot next door comes up for sale we might have a goat.

 

[InParadise]

What scenario are you prepping for?
How probable is the scenario ?
How much does it cost to prepare?
Doomsday is unlikely and preparations expensive.
Hurricanes in Florida are common, preparations(an evacuation plan) are cheap

Some things I would not consider unlikely some time in my life would be an electronic magnetic pulse that fries all the circuitry we have become so dependent on, or a cyber attack that cripples our electric grid. Cyberterrorism is one thing our gov't is throwing quite a bit of money at. With an EMP solar would do nothing for me, but we could still haul water from the creek and boil it on the wood stove if push came to shove. How much does it cost to prepare? Nothing above and beyond the steps we are already taking to deal with the extended electrical outages that are not infrequent in our area from limbs falling on wires.

 

[Empresario]

So, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to be prepared unless you are truly, I mean really truly prepared. Take a look at what happened to the Knights Templar in France (only a few hundred years ago). They did not see it coming.

And, that is how I see most doomsday situations.

 

[splitwdw]

InParadise, Think that's a smart plan about moving to your vacation home. I think most people should have some preparedness but don't. I buy and rotate a few cartons of UHT shelf stable milk (I love milk), keep canned food and can opener in pantry, rice, cases of water, batteries, tanks of propane. Things like that but not for uprising but for natural disasters. Never knew there were TV shows about Preppers. Some of the things I've read make the hard core Preppers sound like "drink the kool-aide" followers. That said, I don't think I know any Preppers, so could be wrong.

 

[Walt34]

I'm most worried about head coverings. Haven't been able to figure out the pros and cons of tinfoil over aluminum foil. Are there better alternatives? Lead foil is nice and soft, so it's easily rolled into shape, but I'm leaning toward gold foil, to kill two birds with one stone. Making my hat with a wide brim, I could just tear off a piece of it to pay for some ammo, right?

That's about where I am with it. I do have a .38, a .357, a scoped .22 rifle, and a 12 gauge, but those are more relics of college-age plinking and a past occupation. None have been fired for at least 12 years.

 

[youbet]

So, I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense to be prepared unless you are truly, I mean really truly prepared. Take a look at what happened to the Knights Templar in France (only a few hundred years ago). They did not see it coming.

From WIKI:

many of the Order's members in France were arrested, tortured into giving false confessions, and then burned at the stake.

So you're saying the US Gov't may torture Preppers into giving false confessions and then burn them at the stake? Wow! Wouldn't that be something? I wonder which cable TV channel will get the rights to the realty show on that one?

 

[splitwdw]

Wow - I had never heard of a Prepper until I saw it here. Seems a little overboard. But I stockpiled 40 gallons of beer last fall and I am growing a garden this year so maybe I am a Prepper.

Ronstar, My husband would like your address. lol

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

This is a must-watch, if you are a "prepper"

Twilight Zone- The Shelter

If you have not see this, it's one of the best episodes.

 

[Walt34]

But I stockpiled 40 gallons of beer last fall....

Now that's a treasure to hoard!

 

[Hermit]

I think the interesting question for folks who do some moderate "prepping" is under what circumstances, when and with whom do you share?

Say you've got a couple weeks of water, food and fuel for your generator. Tornadoes and severe rain storms/flooding take out power and close roads which are likely to take days to reopen. Thousands have been killed or injured in other areas, so your neighborhood isn't the top priority for emergency responders.

Would you share anything and everything immediately with anyone that asks? Would you try to "lay low" and make sure your immediate loved ones would be OK before setting eveything out on the front lawn for all to share? If the neighbor you can't stand wants to plug his sump pump into your generator so his basement doesn't flood while the power is out, would you do that? How about if you were low on fuel?

We find out a lot about people in trying times!

Last big hurricane knocked out power in our neighborhood for almost 2 weeks. About two days in, everybody got out the BBQs and started grilling everything in the freezers. It was quite a block party!

 

[Ronstar]

Now that's a treasure to hoard!

Hoarding does have its priorities. I brew outside and that's almost impossible in this weather, so I "prepped" last fall by brewing 10 gallons every 3 weeks until I filled all of my kegs. The bad part is that I'm down to 20 gallons now. The good thing about this weather is that I can store my stockpiled kegs in the garage at around 32 degrees.

 

[Empresario]

No, not thinking about torture. I'm just saying the French rounded up all of the Knights early one morning before anyone saw it coming and it was all over, done. Seems that is how we give things up sometimes. It happens before we even realize it is happening. I'm not sure you can be prepared enough for all situations unless you willing to be really prepared.

 

[Shawn]

I love the prepper shows. One I remember was when the prepper shot off his thumb trying to teach his family how to defend their stuff.

...

But all this "prepper" nonsense leaves me a bit cold. If there are real problems, we will solve them, just like we have done in the past. You, your family, your neighbors, your city, state and county will work together. Problems bring people together, historically this defend you home idea IMO is just foolish.

I wonder what is more indicative of society - prepper's, or the people who watch prepper shows. I do not watch them myself, although I enjoy other shows outside the mainstream. However, while I love seeing fictitious villains suffering gruesome fates, I do not enjoy shows where real people are injured. I do not want to see someone shooting off his thumb. But to each his own.

I believe it is naive to think all problems will be solved. History is filled with collapsed political/economic systems, doomed countries, and lost civilizations. History demonstrates that people have not been able to work together to solve all problems. Of course, history is also filled with doomsday prophecies that never materialized. It is like the stock market. The odds are very good that it will be higher 10-20 years from now, although a black swan event is still possible. Perhaps people (such as myself) who own cash and bonds as part of a long-term investment strategy are "investment preppers." We prefer to be safe rather than sorry, even if it comes at a cost. Admittedly, cash and bonds may be victims of a catastrophic event too.

One of my favorite set of books is the "Little House on the Prairie" collection by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I read the books in graduate school and I am looking forward to reading them again after I retire. The books were set in the ~1870's, when the population of the United States was about 50 million. The books describe the life of Laura Ingalls and her family (and Almanzo Wilder and his family) as they lived "at the edge of civilization." In some years they lived in or near a small community, but in other years they were remote from society. It was a multi-day trip just to get key supplies at the nearest town. While there is some debate as to how much of the specific events are fact, the books describe what it was like to be almost entirely dependent on one's own skills to survive.

Although I'm not a survivalist, I've always been fascinated by survivalism. Specifically, I'm interested in self-sufficiency. I would like to have the necessary skills to survive for a long period of time. It's not a matter of "prepping" as such (at least at the moment, I'm not in the doomsday camp). Instead, it's the feeling of independence and freedom knowing that I could survive if required.

 

[CaliforniaMan]

This is a must-watch, if you are a "prepper"

Twilight Zone- The Shelter

If you have not see this, it's one of the best episodes.

As I remember it, this episode actually really did have a profound influence on peoples perceptions, and I think had a large part in the decline of personal bomb shelters. It was kind of a "roots" moment, when a TV program had a real impact on cultural ideas. I don't think people had really thought about these issues before that show. The Twilight Zone was one of the most widely watched TV programs of the time. It did have a real impact (no pun intended).

 

[brewer12345]

Although I'm not a survivalist, I've always been fascinated by survivalism. Specifically, I'm interested in self-sufficiency. I would like to have the necessary skills to survive for a long period of time. It's not a matter of "prepping" as such (at least at the moment, I'm not in the doomsday camp). Instead, it's the feeling of independence and freedom knowing that I could survive if required.

I would not describe myself as a survivalist, prepper or fascinated by same. That said, a modicum of self sufficiency has always been an interest of mine in part because you can learn so much exploring silly little things we all take for granted. I camp, hike, hunt, fish and gather wild food because I like doing those things. I've also gotten to learn and enjoy new stuff doing self sufficiency type hobbies. I've brewed beer, mead and cider for many years. I learned to can stuff 15 years ago and continue to do so. Recently my brother showed me how to pickle vegetables using just veggies, salt and water so that they undergo a lactic fermentation (easy way to preserve stuff). I am learning how to make different types of cheese. Will try pasta making soon. Will gather acorns and learn how to leach tannins out of them for flour. I make my own bread. I am going to try beekeeping and figure out how to be a better gardener this year. I am planning to start loading my own ammunition and might eventually go as far as to buy a muzzleloader and see if I can make black powder without blowing myself up. With a lot less effort I could buy all this stuff at the store (well, mostly - neither Safeway nor Whole [-]Paycheck[/-] Foods sell acorn flour or squirrel meat), but where is the fun in that?

 

[BigE]

Have not seen the TV show but like a lot of people, I have some friends that engage in that kind of thinking. Before I experienced hurricane Katrina, I kind of thought the excess gun and ammunition crowed were sort of looney. That changed during and after Katrina. I would not underestimate the untoward human behaviors that come out during even a brief period when the rule of law is perceived to be on hiatus. What happens to the weak and unarmed "haves" when the "have-nots" have free reign on behavior? I don't own a gun (my wife won't let me with little ones still in the house, which is reasonable) and I think the likelihood of this kind of social chaos is low, but Katrina taught me that there is a relatively thin veneer of social stability that I don't want to take for granted.

 

[aja8888]

I have a gas generator and a Walther P99. I'm set for hurricanes and the Katrina crowd.

 

[Chuckanut]

I'm not a prepper either, but a few minor incidents have proved to me that in the event of a major natural disaster it could easily be a week before any type of aid or help reaches us. Having a week's worth of food, water, and heat is not a bad idea. And some basic medical supplies wouldn't hurt either.

 

[InParadise]

Heh. A prepper would have a years supply of food. I was fascinated to find that Costco actually will sell that to you on line....a big pile of freeze dried food that will feed you for a year. That says something about how prevalent the prepper trend is.

 

[W2R]

I'm not a prepper either, but a few minor incidents have proved to me that in the event of a major natural disaster it could easily be a week before any type of aid or help reaches us. Having a week's worth of food, water, and heat is not a bad idea. And some basic medical supplies wouldn't hurt either.

Right, and I agree that you're not being a prepper by doing these things, any more than I am being a prepper by doing the same, and by filling the gas tank and getting cash whenever a hurricane enters the Gulf. These are just normal, prudent, responsible preparations (here, part of life on the Gulf Coast).

 

[brewer12345]

Heh. A prepper would have a years supply of food. I was fascinated to find that Costco actually will sell that to you on line....a big pile of freeze dried food that will feed you for a year. That says something about how prevalent the prepper trend is.

Hell, the Costco nearest me has a stack of stock tanks on the floor at all times. Freeze dried food is nothing.

 

[growing_older]

I was wondering if Costco counts? In case of a Zombie Apocalypse, I will be able to survive for months on whatever I bought there last. Pickles? Pasta? It may not be well balanced, but I always seem to have plenty on hand.