Let's talk prepping...

[Bo T]

Well take the extremes of the collectors on this site and not that different. How many folks sport 300+ blades while mumbling something about SHTF, or guns, ect - I think hobbies can transgress into obsessions relatively easy and they represent an attempt at escape from real world life. This is incredibly common in society and I wouldn't really go out of my way to point out the preppers as somehow different or more mental than anybody else. Take extreme golfers - yeah that idiot who gets up at 4:30 am, three business days a week to get his tee off time and has the $1000 clubs and crocodile skin bag to match them. Now take the more normal, yet every bit as extreme, consumerism of the every day North American. This extreme consumerism (folks pouring over the weekly advertisements to see what new deal on the latest electronic gidget, or new phone or new IPAD, folks who routinely buy everything on credit so they can have it now etc.) is considered norm only because it is highly encouraged by market forces and peer groups. Extreme preppers spend their time and money on flawed things with a flawed argument and pass these problematic behaviors to their kids. Extreme consumers, the more common psychological problem in society, spend their money on flawed things (in hopes it that new purchase will put their needs to rest) with a flawed argument and pas these problematic behaviors to their kids.

Judge not, lest thee be judged I say.

+1 I'd say part of the driving force behind storing food etc. and hoarding knives or stamps or cars or etc..... is similar. All that is required is a justification. It can aptly be referred to as a hobby. When that hobby interferes with other aspects of our life then it can be referred to as an obsession.

[collecter]

I agree with you. Enjoy life and be common sense prepare but don't overdo it.

My family (me, wife + 2 young kids) have evacuated 3 times in the last 2 years. 2 for wild fire and 1 for sunami.

Before starting my family being prepared was just how I was raised but with wife & kids it's not as easy.

First time we weren't rushed and mostly had things under control but we were faced with deciding what was most valuable that we should or could take with us. 2nd time was rushed as the seriff ordered us to leave asap but we were already prepared from #1 that it wasn't a big deal. 3rd time was only an evac warning but we still went to stay with friends and by then we figured out whats most important.

[darthstrevel]

Great thread. Some good realistic attitudes here. I think in the end it it is all about balancing the many facets of your life. I try to conduct a little operational risk management (ORM) in my life. (I learned to use this in the Navy.) I look at the severity of an event against the likelihood (probability) of it occurring. This allows me to use my best tool that I have - my brain - to decide how to make decisions about risk systematically. Then I either accept the risk, mitigate the risk or avoid the risk.

A few examples of ORM brain exercises -

A small minor weather disastor requiring a weeks worth of supplies on hand? Likely, but only moderately severe - I was with out power for 1 week during hurricane Ike in '08. A total collapse of western society & break down of law & order or nuclear war? Not likely at all, but extremely severe. ALmost impossible to prepare for this contingency. A serious car accident? - very likely - and possibly more severe. Should I stop driving to work every day to avoid the risk? Do I have insurance to protect my self against property damage. loss of life & limb and risk? Yes. I do preventative maintenence on my car so that I can spend less money on costly repairs. Do I save for my kids' college and my own retirement? Or do I forgo this to hoard years worth of supplies that I may not use? It is very likely that I will use my retirement savings, and very likely that my children will attend some sort of career training. Not very likely that I will be beginning to start up after a multi-generation dark-age. In fact, history has shown time and time again that savings & property are the best insulator against risk. A lot of risk is simply mitigated by just where most of us live - in the US or the 1st world who have building codes to prevent catastrophic damage & first responders trained to help those in a disaster.

In conclusion, it is all about racking and stacking risk & priorities. I have extra canned goods to last about a month (normal stuff that I rotate through and eat anyways) - in the event of a disaster or just needing to help out the neighbors - I often donate excess to food pantries to help those in real need of food security. I think this is a small measure that has only cost me minimally. (Just a couple bucks extra every few shopping trips or so at ALDI.) I think the folks that hoard to excess are just putting themselves at risk of other personal catastrophes - like poor heath from not staying in shape - at the expense of other daily life things they should prepare for. In short, I live with risk daily, and yet still go about our lives in an enjoyable way while taking just a few extra measures to protect the ones who depend on us.

[four_shore]

Great thread. Some good realistic attitudes here.

keep em comin' . . .

[Myal]

I believe there is a strong possibility , even probabllity of bad stuff happening in the future .

We put aside some foodstuff and gear in case . We also are ready more or less , to walk away from what we cannot take with us , and lose it all to flood or fire or invading whoever / govt confiscation whatever .

We are flexible , our basic premise is family is more important than possessions .

Just want to point out tho .. TEOTWAWKI may not always be something that affects everyone .. your own personal world can end with a stroke , cancer , car crash , random shooting , whatever .. it may not take a global event to put you into survival mode . It can be something that is small scale and intensly personal .

[tiogatires]

Very interesting insight...

[sodak]

I'm not going to cover all the ground everyone else has, I think they've done a good job - common sense and self reliance go a long way when combined with a strong sense of community. Being from a small midwestern town, those things were pretty much a given when I was growing up.

There's one thing that's not being discussed that I'll touch on. Be prepared to die. Get your will in order, get your estate in order, make sure your loved ones know where to find all this stuff, that's very important. Just as important, prepare yourself for death. That can obviously mean different things for all of us, depending upon our beliefs, but facing a bad situation knowing that you've done all you can and are ready to meet your maker can be a very calming experience. Don't ask me how I know...

[Shotgun]

We put aside some foodstuff and gear in case . We also are ready more or less , to walk away from what we cannot take with us , and lose it all to flood or fire or invading whoever / govt confiscation whatever .

We are flexible , our basic premise is family is more important than possessions .

Plus one here. I don't own anything I can't walk away from, even knives. I have sentimental attachment to people, not objects.

[David_Parker03]

Personally, after attending a Mass Disaster class at school, I really really wish the use of CERT teams across the nation would do wonders in the event of any natural disaster. If you're not familiar with CERT, I highly recommend you google it, and maybe even join one if you're convinced.

We don't really have them here in Dallas, unlike California, but the process is basically this: Tornado roles through. CERT is activated. Each neighborhood assigns a few individuals (who know the people and the territory) to respond to any licensed first responders on scene. Basically its this:

Fire-Fighter: "Hey, doing a quick search of the area, anything we need to know about?"
CERT1: "Yeah, theres a huge tree thats collapsed a power line on a house down at 1234 Disaster St, and the residents have kids inside. We can't find them, but have a few people down there keeping an eye out."
Another CERT2 member: "Hey Bob. Anything I can help with?"
CERT1: "Yeah, do me a favor, go see Mrs. McCreedy down at 4321 Disaster St. and see how she's faring up. She's an elderly woman in a wheelchair and may need some assistance"

While prepping for food and water is great, the ability to communicate seems to be the most frequent hindrance to any response entity. By taking formal courses and training, we not only reinforce ourselves to prepare, but also to help the official first responders do their job efficiently. This not only allows us to provide table-top exercises, but also reinforces community awareness and growth, something I feel America is starting to lack more and more as we hide ourselves away in our caves while pouring over computer monitors and status updates.

It also prevents rogue elements like Codger(sp?) who was alone with a shotgun going from area to area to check for safety. While thats great on his part, those elements can lead to death, such as in Katrina when police fired in panic at individuals carrying weapons. While I applaud your effort sir, we need tactics in place to clearly, and safely identify individuals who feel the need to carry a dangerous weapon in order to carry out their given task.

It allows us also that when a police officer roles up on scene and says "Hey, I grabbed this kid breaking into a house, says it was his Aunt" to do so at a directed leader in the community, who can say "Never seen him" to "You know what, ask that guy over there, he knew Mrs. McCreedy better than I did" or "I don't know, but give me a second and I'll find out."

I certainly don't have the answers, and anyone like MedicEvans, or any other first responders or police officers should chime in as to how they would handle citizens walking around in post-disaster scenario with crowbars and guns and saws. Because they could be looters, or they could be concerned individuals trying to provide a helping hand. But its those precious seconds of dispute and confusion that add up and bog down the system.

[Skimo]

'I'd rather have my Sebenza'

TV shows are for ratings, not content.

There's nothing wrong with being prepared to hunker down, especially in a city.

'I'd be ready to kill a guy and his well fed family.... j/k

I think this shows your attitude quite well.

I'd rather use one of my fixed blades over a Sebenza.

I find it interesting that Mr. Parker refers to shotguns as "dangerous weapons", I understand that in a tight knit community someone may mistake their well known neighbor for a looter, same for those individuals carrying crowbars and saws.

That reeks of fear, not trust, and that's what I see as the polarizing force here.

[David_Parker03]

@Skimo:

I don't see arguing the semantics of whether or not a shotgun is dangerous or a weapon is any real contest for debate. Its certainly not a Teddybear.

I'm not referring to tight-knit communities mistaking their neighbor, I'm referring to most neighborhoods, which seem to lack the knowledge of their neighbors. And watching a man carry a shotgun wouldn't help my suspicions unless he was clearly identified as some sort of first-responding individual. As stated earlier:

but also reinforces community awareness and growth, something I feel America is starting to lack more and more as we hide ourselves away in our caves while pouring over computer monitors and status updates.

[four_shore]

when i mentioned having the sebenza it's simply because it's my daily edc.

if a disaster happens and i'm not at home chances are that's what i'll have on me.

it's obvious that there's better knife options for survival situations and outdoor use but i was simply sharing my opinion about how a higher end durable knife would be more useful in a shtf scenario. that topic was only being discussed because someone made the statement that they wouldnt kid themselves into believing that a higher end knife would serve them better in a shtf situation.

i would beg to differ. quality is quality.

as far as my comment about shooting the guy and his family, it was clearly a joke (which is what j/k means).

[Minibear464]

I'm a prepper, but not insane. Just a small gallon zip lock of essentials. A weeks worth of food, and I figure water can be found. There's purification tablets, and fire making things in the zip lock. I don't believe the world will end, and if it does, then your 2 year supply of food is pretty much destroyed in the floods and fires and whatever else the end means. I'm just worried about an earthquake, and those couple of days in waiting for help.

[sir_mike]

Yeah, I dont get the idea of the Prepper show, which people have like 5 years worth of food and a ton of water but to each there own, I guess!

I agree with having some items for surviving several days, whether it is a storm in the winter, lightning, power outage, etc. but not sure about the world coming to an end!

Just my 2 cents and not trying to start a big tiff here!!

[four_shore]

indeed there's a big difference between being prepared (for natural disasters etc) and being a doomsday prepper haha.

certain preparations (depending on where you live especially) are quite wise.

[BoxANT]

The people shown on TV shows are (for the most part) outliers, that is, they do not represent the majority of preppers.

As to the question of "how far should I take it", it really is up to the individual. Some people will spend a good deal of time/money while others wont. Who is correct? Who is paranoid? I say, as long as they are not hurting anyone, then what does it matter?

I will say this, whenever I have a casual conversation about "being ready" for a Katrina like scenario (which is not often, but happens), it is very interesting to listen to the responses. Very few people have thought about it, prepared for it (even having food/water on hand), have any place to go to, ect. Even more rare are people who know how to survive in wilderness. In addition, I hear "I don't need a gun, if things got bad I'd just go to a gun store and take one." When I ask them, don't you think everyone else will be thinking the same thing, including the gun owners... who will be armed, it's telling.

[sir_mike]

indeed there's a big difference between being prepared (for natural disasters etc) and being a doomsday prepper haha.

certain preparations (depending on where you live especially) are quite wise.

I think the difference is real big. I think that someone that is prepared is for less drastic disasters, where as the doomsday prepper has years worth of food, water, ammo and perhaps even a bunker buried somewhere. I think being prepared is for something that might create havoc in a sense for a week maybe two and not months and months.

Just what I think is the difference.

[Codger_64]

@Skimo:

I don't see arguing the semantics of whether or not a shotgun is dangerous or a weapon is any real contest for debate. Its certainly not a Teddybear.

I'm not referring to tight-knit communities mistaking their neighbor, I'm referring to most neighborhoods, which seem to lack the knowledge of their neighbors. And watching a man carry a shotgun wouldn't help my suspicions unless he was clearly identified as some sort of first-responding individual. As stated earlier:

There were no responders in our neighborhood, first or second. We were on our own. The Chief of Police knew me (he was originally from my home town in another state), and my neighbors knew me. I carried a shotgun but I did not brandish it. It was carried on sling, stowed but ready for use. My neighbors were pleased to see me out there and did not feel threatened by my presence. There was no looting in my neighborhood. Other neighborhoods did have incidents. I agree that there are many places, mostly larger cities, where people panic at the sight of any gun. That place, and where I live now, are not like that though. What works in one place might not work in another. As always, use some discretion and common sense. Oh, and Katrina? The cops were shooting unarmed people who couldn't defend themselves against their attackers.

[four_shore]

any new prepper updates?

[CWL]

I'll share.

I'm not a survivalist or a prepper, but I've been learning how to survive disasters since I was in my early teens or before. This is mostly outdoors skills combined with orienteering, nautical and first aid, scouting stuff. Been interested in it ever since. I have travelled & worked in 3rd world countries and have worked in recovery relief in war-torn nations. I've learned a lot from seeing misery, starvation and poverty first hand.

Here in the USA, I live in California, near several major earthquake faults, been through a couple of the big ones, also saw the L.A. Riots.

As a result, I'm lucky enough to live in a secluded house built on bedrock (no earthquake liquefaction) and keep between 3-6 months worth of foods and enough water for 30+ days for the family. I also own firearms, necessary ammunition (and knives of course!) I think we can live for quite a while if there ever was a natural disaster until overwhelmed government relief efforts reached our home.

Does this make me a "prepper"? I doubt it. But I am more prepared than most people.