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.
I've seen this forum before and wondered, so thought I'd ask. What are you guys thinking is going to happen? Economic collapse? 12/21/2012? Terrorist attacks/war? No food supply?
Long answer - I prep for the inevitability of Murphy's Law, Stuff Happens, etc.
In 1979, I was homeless and living in the back of a Dodge pickup with a 2-year-old son. I made up my mind right then that I would never - ever - do without again, no matter what happened. I had learned as a child to grow my own garden, cook and can and butcher fresh kill, so I started expanding on that knowledge. I read the Foxfire books and learned from them; I worked on farms with tractors and harvesters as well as horses, goats, cattle, chickens, etc, I learned medical skills as an EMT/ER Tech, I taught myself herbal medicine/decoction from books, I hunted and fished and crabbed and butchered and ate my kills, I learned how to cook and bake in an open fire or a woodstove, I learned how to build coldframes and greenhouses by hands-on experience, I raised my own fruit and chickens and produce on a 1/3 acre - then I sold everything and moved to a farm where I could expand even more. I even taught myself ceramics and can make my own pottery. I learned to sew at an early age and make clothes and quilts from practically anything.
I have survived an abusive (now ex-)husband, hunger, homelessness, extreme poverty, drought, flood, fire, freezing ice storms, no electricity, no running water, hurricanes and sandstorms as well as lupus and its accompanying diseases, as well as my husband's crippling injuries, resultant job loss and personal agonies. I have survived political and social upheaval, and sued the State twice to make them obey their own laws; I survived Washington DC and the politicians there, as well as owning two businesses. I will survive anything that humans or Ma Nature can throw at me now.
Why - because to quote Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind, "I will never be hungry again. No, nor any of my kin. If I have to beg, steal or kill - I will never be hungry again!" I know what can happen, not what will happen - and I am determined to live my life to survive anything and everything that I can... joyfully, productively, and with a firm determination to keep learning, keep doing, and keep myself and my loved ones safe, fed, and secure... without dependence on any group, government, or organization.
That's why I do it. Why other people do it, what they believe will or won't happen, is completely subjective. The why and what doesn't matter - we are interested in the how! And you are welcome to join that discussion - no matter what you believe or disbelieve.
I've seen this forum before and wondered, so thought I'd ask. What are you guys thinking is going to happen? Economic collapse? 12/21/2012? Terrorist attacks/war? No food supply?
In my case, it's not so much that I'm preparing for any particular event as it is that I'm seeking a sufficient lifestyle as detached from general modern society as possible--regardless of whether any of the events you point out happen or not. And in my estimation, as a by-product, this lifestyle outside of the industrial/consumption/JIT based system will yield a greater chance of survivability should any of your referred events occur than would a dependency-based lifestyle within that system.
I just have about 1 month's worth of food and water on hand in case of an emergency like an earthquake or sunami or what not. It's probably over kill too. I do like to garden and grown my own produce so I like the organic gardening tips here on CDF and I like to have the tools and stuff I might need on hand since I live in a rural area outside of the city. That's about it.
9/11. The city was shut down for 3 days
At least one serious hurricane
the big Northeastern Blackout of 2003
an earthquake
a tornado in Brooklyn that caused serious damage to the houses it hit
a tornado just outside the college I was attending at the moment
a tornado 2 blocks from my house
job loss and serious financial stress
illness
when my power recently went out for 5 days I went to a hotel, problem solved. Anything bigger, e.g., nuclear disaster, attacks from another planet, super viruses, etc., just kill me, not worth the effort to survive.
In my case, it's not so much that I'm preparing for any particular event as it is that I'm seeking a sufficient lifestyle as detached from general modern society as possible--regardless of whether any of the events you point out happen or not. And in my estimation, as a by-product, this lifestyle outside of the industrial/consumption/JIT based system will yield a greater chance of survivability should any of your referred events occur than would a dependency-based lifestyle within that system.
...and I also agree strongly with this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by SCGranny
I know what can happen, not what will happen - and I am determined to live my life to survive anything and everything that I can... joyfully, productively, and with a firm determination to keep learning, keep doing, and keep myself and my loved ones safe, fed, and secure... without dependence on any group, government, or organization.
...in the end, for me it boils down to financial upheaval. Since 2008, we have been in a process of financial deleveraging, after a 30-year period of excessive leveraging (e.g. massively going into debt). While the bankers would love for the debt-ride to continue (they profited handsomely from it), the middle-class simply no longer has the means of debt repayment, and are adverse to taking on more debt. The gov't, however, does not know when to stop: if a little debt is good, a lot must be better. Our national, state, municipal, and personal debt cannot mathematically be paid down. Look at the cities and towns that are filing bankruptcy. Soon the states will jump in...California, Illinois...which next? Maybe all, for all I know. I can tell you that we are not in a "recovery". More people will end up with nothing, and will need a handout from the gov't, which is broke itself. Broke, insolvent, bankrupt... yes, it sounds surreal, bordering on hilarious for some. Trust me, there will be no hilarity in any of this business. The writing is on the wall. Nothing is required but to go read it. Study history, as it is about to repeat.
Zombie Apocalypse. It'll be here before you know it.
Seriously I just like to know that I can take care of my family in the event of an emergency. Where I live the power went down for several days a few weeks ago. Over 2 million people in Northern Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland without power.
I'm from Colorado, and have been snowed in a few times. Being able to outlast situations like this are important.
In my case, my family has always lived a self sufficent lifestyle, so while we don't prep for any specific event, we are prepared for just about anything that might happen.
I also do not trust the financial abilities of our spend as hard as they can goverment, and until fiscal responsibility is restored and some brakes put on irresponsible government spending, economic hardship is a valid concern. That means I do have some metals in my portfolio
I live in a state with violent weather, and we can get earthquakes, but our biggest danger each year is wildfires. Any one of which can cut the power or roads so you can't get to town for more supplies.
By raising our own meat and garden, by hunting, fishing and gathering wild edibles, by having the means to produce our own power and fuel, and the equipment to work our ground by either tractor or horse/oxen, we can pretty much weather whatever comes our way.
My wife is a nurse and I was trained as a first responder on a fire department so medical (except for major stuff) is taken care of.
I am not worried about a specific catastrophy, but I want to make sure I can take care of my family in the event of a disaster, whatever form it takes.
Not everybody who prefers to grow/raise/produce their own food and have a plan for emergency is an Appocolypse "Mad Max" type.
Some just want better food for their familes than what they can get at the store.
Some just want to be prepared for events when the power goes out or the roads wash away in floods or whatever.
Last edited by MTSilvertip; 07-16-2012 at 10:24 AM..
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.
