Where are the Preppers?

[Gumby]

If they were really prepared, they would already have that stuff. Maybe they're just desperate for a new flannel shirt.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptTom I'm starting to like the idea they have down in the keys. Block the highway and make them show proof of residence at the border! It's really sad that it's come to this.

County north of here has a "locals only" ordinance. Any vehicle not registered in the county is towed. They're afraid of people coming up to the backcountry snowmobiling and needing assistance. They don't have the capacity.

[Markola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GravitySucks Is a Prepper anyone who keeps more stuff than me and an unprepared person anyone that keeps less?

Fine line between being a prepper and hoarder? Just a sec... why is there a black helicopter.....

[brewer12345]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Markola Fine line between being a prepper and hoarder? Just a sec... why is there a black helicopter.....

If you want my stuff you better have the level 3+ armor and hope I do not aim for the junk.

[Pellice]

This isn't the emergency they were looking for. In fact, I'll bet most committed preppers don't even think of this as a "true emergency," which has a specific visualized scenario for them. Gangs of looters and pillagers coming to their locations to steal their toilet paper, instead of little old ladies buying it all up during senior hour.

But here's a scenario that is resulting in the greatest personal behavioral consequences that I can remember in my lifetime, more than the gas shortages of the early 1980s (I'm meaning the granular, personal level), with most of the population confused and afraid and running out of money - and this is not that. There has been no looting and pillaging, in fact, crime has fallen, and instead of hordes of walking dead moving into the countryside, it's the rich in their carriages, it's (as per above) the gun-buyers going across state lines not to rob, but to spend money.

Actually, you could argue that this is a time that preppers should be breaking out the freeze-dried food, so that they could be spared the danger of contagion at the grocery, but I wonder if any of them are doing so.

Now maybe it will come to the single prepper scenario that they have prepared for, and they will literally have the last laugh, but judging from other countries' experiences, judging from previous times of hardship and uncertainty, even of plague (of which there are many, many historical accounts), they are on the spectrum of connection along with the rest of us, going out to buy supplies as needed, deep cleaning the house, walking the dog, etc. As someone who studied history, I'm trying to record my impressions of this unfolding tragedy and emergency.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pellice As someone who studied history, I'm trying to record my impressions of this unfolding tragedy and emergency.

I like this approach. I'm trying to look at the big picture, too.

My latest pondering has been around all the kids who are out of school, possibly for the rest of the school year.

I imagine this will have a pretty profound effect on them, in many ways. There will be a sense of shared experience, for one thing. Closer family bonds maybe.

We joked about the word "Coronials" being applied to the babies born 9 months from now. But I think it's more likely to become the name for the cadre of people whose school years were turned upside down by this.

There will be a well-defined "before time" when kids actually had to sit in a school building all day, and an "after time" when it became routine to do school work remotely.

[GravitySucks]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptTom Where are the preppers?... The local outdoors outlet has defied the Governor's orders to close as a non-essential business. Their parking lot is reportedly filled with out-of-state license plates, mostly from New York and Massachusetts. Not mentioned in the news, but easy to guess, is what they're after. This is the biggest g** and ammo dealer around. Now, it doesn't bother me that some folks want to arm themselves. They have that right. For all I know they could be the smart ones. Let's not make this political! What galls me is that they come HERE, defying their own state's and our state's orders, no doubt bringing the virus with them. What's even worse is the greed of the store, staying open to rake in the windfall, while all the other stores around them, and all the other big outdoors outlets in the state, are closed. They're putting their own neighbors at risk. All the beaches around here have had to be closed. Locals can't go for an isolated stroll, because these same people were driving up in mobs from their own states to congregate on the beaches here. I'm starting to like the idea they have down in the keys. Block the highway and make them show proof of residence at the border! It's really sad that it's come to this.

If you're going to stop people at the border maybe NY and Mass can put a tarif on Maine lobsters. Glad they kept the gun shops open. There is a contingent out there that would assume it's an action to start the weapons round up.
I took DM to Myrtle Beach before all this went to hell. Talked to the owner of the house to extend our stay thinking this is a great place to isolate. It's off season and pretty deserted. We are being force evacuated by the mayor, so back NY. Not thinking I'll be vacationing in this city soon.

[Gumby]

Here in CT, firearms shops can still operate by appointment. The catch is that if you don't already have a permit, you can't buy arms or ammunition. Even in the best of times, it takes a long time to get that permit (it took me almost 10 months from start to finish) and involves required classes, a detailed application with supporting docs required, background checks, an in-person interview and fingerprinting at your local police station, and a second trip to the state police headquarters. I suspect none of these things are occurring presently. So if you waited until now, it's tough luck for you.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GravitySucks If you're going to stop people at the border maybe NY and Mass can put a tarif on Maine lobsters. Glad they kept the gun shops open. There is a contingent out there that would assume it's an action to start the weapons round up. I took DM to Myrtle Beach before all this went to hell. Talked to the owner of the house to extend our stay thinking this is a great place to isolate. It's off season and pretty deserted. We are being force evacuated by the mayor, so back NY. Not thinking I'll be vacationing in this city soon.

Like I said, it's sad that it's come to this. I hate government over-reach. Give anyone even a small amount of power and it goes right to their head.

That said, I'm starting to see the logic in banning non-essential travel. I hate that they closed the beaches around here, but I have to admit that the number of out-of-state plates is WAY down, and the few I saw were from neighboring states, unlike before the closure.

Once again, a few entitled a-holes have ruined it, not only for the locals, but for all the responsible visitors who weren't causing problems.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptTom We joked about the word "Coronials" being applied to the babies born 9 months from now. But I think it's more likely to become the name for the cadre of people whose school years were turned upside down by this. There will be a well-defined "before time" when kids actually had to sit in a school building all day, and an "after time" when it became routine to do school work remotely.

What an interesting thought, and you may very well be right. Since this is such totally uncharted territory, it will clearly be some time before new patterns of living are recognized as such.

[copyright1997reloaded]

There is also a lot of "joking" about preppers here...which is interesting because we are nowhere near the end of this.

What happens when slews of truck drivers get sick?
What happens when slews of farmers get sick?

I sure hope things don't get worse in terms of the necessities of life - food production and transport, medicine production and transport, etc. But I wouldn't go patting ourselves on the back just yet about how smart we are and how fun it is to laugh at those who prepare for situations like this.

[Boho]

Preppers who depend on freeze dried food will get sick within a month or two. It's been tested. In 90 days they won't even be able to pull their trigger. That's when I'll go in and steal their gold.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyright1997reloaded There is also a lot of "joking" about preppers here...which is interesting because we are nowhere near the end of this. What happens when slews of truck drivers get sick? What happens when slews of farmers get sick?

Well, folks are getting sick, and most are getting better. Some are only feeling under the weather for a few days. Some are pretty miserable for a couple of weeks or more.

My guess is the trucking and ag industries can continue to operate even if a bunch of people are out sick for a few days to a week or two.

I'd also speculate that there are some industries, some supply chains, some processes which will fail, that I haven't even thought of yet. Hopefully nothing critical.

[copyright1997reloaded]

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Originally Posted by Boho Preppers who depend on freeze dried food will get sick within a month or two.

Source?

Also, who says Preppers will just eat freeze dried foods? There will be plenty of other meat sources around.

[Boho]

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyright1997reloaded Source? Also, who says Preppers will just eat freeze dried foods? There will be plenty of other meat sources around.

One person was allegedly successful but I didn't look into it (at least not recently). I just looked up the thread I remember from years ago:

Emergency Food Experiment

I think the guy's tie breaker experiment that he documents in that thread ended badly. I think people were trying to get him to end it even sooner. I'm stuck on a laptop that I hate so I don't want to dig through that thread right now but I read it a few years ago.

I even did some research on the food NASA uses. I think some current brands have permission to supply NASA but I don't think I found any food that's currently (a few years ago) available to the public that NASA uses.

[copyright1997reloaded]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boho One person was allegedly successful but I didn't look into it (at least not recently). I just looked up the thread I remember from years ago: Emergency Food Experiment I think the guy's tie breaker experiment that he documents in that thread ended badly. I think people were trying to get him to end it even sooner. I'm stuck on a laptop that I hate so I don't want to dig through that thread right now but I read it a few years ago. I even did some research on the food NASA uses. I think some current brands have permission to supply NASA but I don't think I found any food that's currently (a few years ago) available to the public that NASA uses.

Thanks, will give it a read. Without reading it, I think it is difficult to get foods that are relatively low in salt. A better 'plan' might be to have some of these but mixed in with normal foods that one might have/have access to (eggs, chicken, beef, nuts/berries, fruit, grains) along with vitamins.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyright1997reloaded Source? Also, who says Preppers will just eat freeze dried foods? There will be plenty of other meat sources around.

Could phone Edward Jones and tell them you have a couple of Million to invest somewhere. Door to Door delivery of fresh meat.

[Markola]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset Could phone Edward Jones and tell them you have a couple of Million to invest somewhere. Door to Door delivery of fresh meat.

With their fees, it will be well-marbled.

[Pellice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by copyright1997reloaded There is also a lot of "joking" about preppers here...which is interesting because we are nowhere near the end of this. What happens when slews of truck drivers get sick? What happens when slews of farmers get sick? I sure hope things don't get worse in terms of the necessities of life - food production and transport, medicine production and transport, etc. But I wouldn't go patting ourselves on the back just yet about how smart we are and how fun it is to laugh at those who prepare for situations like this.

I'm not laughing at preppers - I'm someone who still has a big Rubbermaid container in my basement labelled "Y2K." But I think it is a chance to coolly evaluate the overall enterprise of "prepping" in light of our lived experiences - Y2K, Peak Oil (I took that seriously), the 2008 financial crash, and now a plague. What preparations have proved most useful? What lessons learned?

The phrase "those who prepare for situations like this" for me illustrates the sticking point: this isn't the situation for which they prepared. (Not unless they really do have 200 rolls of toilet paper stored :-) )

I guess one lesson I am taking away from this is *mindset.* The importance of not being wedded to a particular scenario and being *adaptable* to a very different one. The physical preparations one makes may (I'm still observing here, not certain) well take a back seat to overall flexibility of mind and emotion.

And I'm going to venture a little plug for the humanities here: the ability to put a situation into words, to pull out from those words the basic assumptions underlying them, to question those assumptions, to pose some alternate questions, and to evaluate responses to those questions - that is a very useful set of skills taught by the humanities, seemingly so removed from this current situation.

As for me, I finally will have time to go through that Y2K crate, and throw away those emergency bug-out clothes that I rather suspect no longer fit after 20 years.

[brewer12345]

Most preppers that have given things some thought don't prepare for any specific disaster scenario. I certainly do not. Food, first aid items, guns and ammo, and knowledge/skills tend to be pretty broadly applicable to a variety of bad things happening. Not being in debt up to your eyeballs and having ample liquidity help too. In my case, a lot of the things I like doing will come in plenty handy now: beekeeping, gardening, cooking, baking bread.

It is a relief to not be suddenly be in dire straits financially in a high stress time. It was also a relief to tell my 13YO who had obviously heard other students at school expressing fear that yes, we really do have more than enough food for two weeks, and yes, that includes 3 meals a day. The cost of the stuff that makes that possible is trivial.