Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Most preppers are not preparing for or hoping for armageddon / TEOTWAWKI, they are preparing for more likely events. In most cases they involve losses due to economic factors or mama nature wreaking havoc. For me, these include:
- Job Loss, which has happened to me twice in the last five years. Prep: Save six months of expenses, started home biz to provide additional income in case I lose my day job.
- Power outage, I had no commercial service for four days last July after the derecho, and two days last winter after an ice storm. Prep: Bought a generator well in advance, and had plenty of fuel on hand for it.
- Limits on travel: we've been locked in by snow/ice for up to a week. Prep: Keep several weeks worth of food/water in the pantry.
- Lawsuit: These days anyone can and will sue over anything. Prep: Carry liability insurance.
- Divorce: Half of marriages end. Prep: Be very picky about choosing a spouse.
- Home invasion/robbery: Sad, but in my area between the poor economy and the druggies, there are people out there looking for a quick and easy score. I have a CHL.
- Severe injury/medical problem, or death of the family breadwinner. Prep: carry health, short and long-term disability, and life insurance.
Preppers are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. A complete breakdown of all economies and law and order. Not even a working political system. So are they being paranoid or is what they are preparing for a possibility? Perhaps the best answere is that nobody knows.
how about looking at it this way instead of calling someone paranoid.
scenario: you live in suburbs of NYC with only enough food, water and supplies to last you a couple of days. your next door neighbor has enough to last himself and his family for a year.
sudden snow and ice storm hits the eastern seaboard, what the weather people said was 1-2 inches of snow and ice turned out to be a snow storm that lasts 4 days and dumps 3-4 feet of snow and another 3 inches of ice onto your town, all power in a 6000 sq. mile area including yours is out.
you run out of food before the storm ends. are you going to go next door to your neighbors who has plenty and beg from him, or are you, your spouse and 2 kids just going to starve until the government gets there?
the neighbors home is all lit up because they have a generator going and they are nice and warm.
btw, the feds said it would be 2-3 weeks before they get to your part of the neighborhood.
dont you wish you would have stocked up for more than just a couple of days?
what will you do even if you beg from the next door neighbor if they tell you to get lost?
most preppers I know of do not prep for the end of TEOTWAWKI, we just prep for bad times and natural disasters.
Personally speaking (and this is why I don't personally understand the mindset of preppers) is that if there were ever a complete breakdown of the economy, society, law and order, etc., I'd much rather "go down with the ship" and die in the ensuing chaos than live forever alone in a bunker. But I do tend to think that a lot of these doomsday scenarios are overblown in the first place.
heck with a doomsday scenario, how about 5 feet of snow with no services available at all for 2-3 weeks? most people only have enough in their home for 4-7 days.
As with anything, it's generally the WORST of the lot that garners attention. Why on any street where a crime happens is it the weird neighbour with the bad teeth and even worse vocabulary and grammar the media speak to? Because they are the ones who don't stay on their porches, who actually come over and wander around the scene getting in the way of others. Why does it seem aliens only abduct those with mental problems or poor hygiene combined with meagre education?
I'm part of a prepper group, and what we do is get together to discuss anything from solar power to bee keeping, from self defense (security and/or firearms) to first aid; from financial management to gardening.
The CORE belief in our group isn't that we think the end of the world is coming; but we DO tend to worry about some of the things going on in our society and figure better safe than sorry.
Out of about 25 folks in the group (and more every day joining) I'd say we've encountered TWO who kept insisting on discussions of things regarding societal breakdown, government troubles, etc.; and when they insisted on attempting to force these topics, we very quietly asked them to leave.
My own goal has to do with preparation at varying levels, beginning with the question of what I would do in this economy if my spouse and I lost our jobs tomorrow? This is NOT an unrealistic question. Keeping it even more real, her job is more stable than mine, so likely only one of us would lose a job unexpectedly.
Clipping coupons is "prepper".
Growing a garden so you spend less at the grocery is "prepper".
Getting insulation put into your home, and installing some solar panels to cut the electric bill is "prepper".
Shows like those shown on Geographic show the most sensational aspects of "prepper" society because that's what SELLS. People will always stop to watch a freak show -- always. It's the rubberneck effect we see daily on our freeways when there's even a minor accident.
The term Prepper runs quite a gamut; but put in that perspective, so does science since it encompasses everything from wanting a better stain-remover all the way to someone who wants to poison everyone on a subway as effectively as possible. Which one is a "scientist"? I know my answer, and it's NOT the psycho; but technically?
Leaving aside the unfortunate omission of a dictionary in your survival kit, when society breaks down do you think the ability to watch a movie should really be at the top of your list of things to do?
Oh, and the guy who sold you the solar panel seems not to have mentioned that you won't be able to watch Die Hard after dark.
The 'spair' tire was a smart move though. I also specced one of those as part of the factory Armageddon option pack. Spare tire, tinfoil hat & banjo. $99 all in. Money well spent.
First: Yes, hooked on Fonix () Didn't work for me. Nor do I really care about my spelling.
Secondly:
Yes, I've been in a war zone, Ice Storms, Hurricanes etc... and 'normalicy' like being able to take a hot shower, run a fan, watch a movie, and run lights make your live MUCH more enjoyable/bearable.
BTDT
I CAN live in a hole in the sand, living off MRE's and having less than one shower per month. I've done it.
Don't WANT TO.
Oh, and after dark the 12 volt batteries kick in... and then the sun comes back up and recharges the batteries. That's how it works.
Spare tire... obviously you miss the point. (Unsurprisingly) To some extent everyone accepts a level of preparation is practical.
And who said Armageddon? Post Hurricane I like being able to come in from cleaning the yard... and sit in a room cooled by a window unit run off a Generator, drinking cold iced drinks and eating food which doesn't come from a can.
Leaving aside the unfortunate omission of a dictionary in your survival kit, when society breaks down do you think the ability to watch a movie should really be at the top of your list of things to do?
Oh, and the guy who sold you the solar panel seems not to have mentioned that you won't be able to watch Die Hard after dark.
The 'spair' tire was a smart move though. I also specced one of those as part of the factory Armageddon option pack. Spare tire, tinfoil hat & banjo. $99 all in. Money well spent.
how does that government survival kit work over in england anyways? looters and all you can do is call the cops and hope they show up? need food or water after a big storm and you have to wait for parliment to shell out some goodwill to the people?
no thanks, I knew there was reasons we kicked the english out of the USA not once, but twice and you just proved them to me.
how does that government survival kit work over in england anyways? looters and all you can do is call the cops and hope they show up? need food or water after a big storm and you have to wait for parliment to shell out some goodwill to the people?
no thanks, I knew there was reasons we kicked the english out of the USA not once, but twice and you just proved them to me.
You're funny. Stupid and illiterate, but funny. Could you even point to Britain on a map? (without your carer's help)
You're funny. Stupid and illiterate, but funny. Could you even point to Britain on a map? (without your carer's help)
I can,I can (hand raised). More to the prior point, and a question I've always wondered about as someone who's a "semi-prepped" person. If everything's so great why was a member of the parliament over here telling us we're doomed if we follow the euro model as it will bankrupt us just as it has the U.K.? Seriously, no insult or dig intended. Free health care? Isn't working. Free education? Isn't working. Cradle to grave entitlements? Isn't working. Not that it's not a grand idea but it seems paying for it is another matter all together and then when the public is informed that the money has run out and the "free for all" has to end and people need to prepare to take on some responsibility what happened?
Point is "prepping" is part of life, some take it farther than others depending on their outlook on the future.
I can,I can (hand raised). More to the prior point, and a question I've always wondered about as someone who's a "semi-prepped" person. If everything's so great why was a member of the parliament over here telling us we're doomed if we follow the euro model as it will bankrupt us just as it has the U.K.? Seriously, no insult or dig intended. Free health care? Isn't working. Free education? Isn't working. Cradle to grave entitlements? Isn't working. Not that it's not a grand idea but it seems paying for it is another matter all together and then when the public is informed that the money has run out and the "free for all" has to end and people need to prepare to take on some responsibility what happened?
Point is "prepping" is part of life, some take it farther than others depending on their outlook on the future.
Oh purleeeze. Have you noticed how much debt the US is in? Trillions of dollars and rising. The whole world economy is in the gutter right now. And need I remind you, it was America that caused it by selling its poisoned debt around the globe.
Thanks for that. I'm not sure we'll be following any American advice anytime soon.
Depends on the level of preparation and what they "prepare" to do at the slightest disaster or bad turn of events. Having backup dried food and water, as well as medical kits, on hand seems reasonable to me. Even some self defense measures are within reason. Beyond that I would take some self-defense and survival classes. A lot of preppers have military backgrounds, so they have that part covered. Getting overly obsessive about it or making it a fanatical subculture seems going a little overboard. Besides, advertising oneself as a prepper (especially on a national TV show) would not be in one's best interest in case of a real collapse of civilization. Who will be the first house they raid?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) Didn't work for me. Nor do I really care about my spelling. 
