Preppers do their best to be ready for the worst

[Sun195]

In the Seattle Times:

<broken link removed>

Read More

 

[knuckle Head]

In the Seattle Times:

<broken link removed>

Excellent,Thanks for post SUN

Finally a news line that does make us look like nuts, well in my eye, the liberal left I am sure are dialing 911 to report this nut job to the local police.

But, according to Senator Coburn R-OK, those of us who see a financial collapse coming to the U.S. are not so crazy after all <broken link removed>

 

[unionguy]

Great article.

thanks for posting.

 

[FortunateSon]

Agreed - a very good article that doesn't paint us as crazies. A very good analogy as well, equating prepping to buying homeowners insurance. In my mind, also no different than having Health Insurance.

This is no "compelling hobby", at least not for me, and Professor Mitchell is wrong when he states that preppers haven't thought about what comes after surviving the initial few days or weeks after SHTF. Who among us hasn't contemplated what the "new normal" is going to be like and how will we fit in/participate in a society whose definition is yet to be determined?

 

[knuckle Head]

This is no "compelling hobby", at least not for me, and Professor Mitchell is wrong when he states that preppers haven't thought about what comes after surviving the initial few days or weeks after SHTF. Who among us hasn't contemplated what the "new normal" is going to be like and how will we fit in/participate in a society whose definition is yet to be determined?

This is the part that I find most people are not willing to talk about and fear the most, I guess it is why it is somewhat of an obsession of mine to make the transition as easy as possible on my household. in talking with a the few local preppers i know I find they do not want to go there, which is like talking to a non-prepper sometimes, their minds kind of shut off. Best to learn what we can about what our ancestors did and survived, put away some books on gardening, do it yourself wind power, seeds and such things as well as try to think about what if.

 

[branchbuster]

You can prep for the unknown, without having to know what will happen. Being ready is the first step. My feeling is that what ever happens you need to be flexible and be ready to change. Besides until it happens, no one knows what the "new normal" will be. Learn and stock what you can, be ready.

 

[nwwoodsman]

a very good article that doesn't paint us as crazies?

I never claimed to not be crazy

 

[sammi]

I never claimed to not be crazy

so are you?

 

[Sun195]

You can prep for the unknown, without having to know what will happen. Being ready is the first step. My feeling is that what ever happens you need to be flexible and be ready to change. Besides until it happens, no one knows what the "new normal" will be. Learn and stock what you can, be ready.

I agree with this sentiment and it generally guides my own preps. I don't have a strong feeling about what'll come next, but things happen and you're better off being prepared for a range of possibilities. History is littered by those who weren't prepared. But, being prepared is no guarantee, and I'm ok with that too - at least I tried.

 

[stratbastard]

I guess I feel that the titles FATHER and PREPPER go hand in hand... taking my provider /protector role and always trying to forecast/predict what may be required to fulfill that role in future scenarios... isnt that what we Dads do even in normal times? For me it comes down to this; whatever brand of SH!T hits any number of possible fans, when my kids ask me "what are we going to do?" answering "I don't know" just isnt gonna cut it. Never has.

I agree with this sentiment and it generally guides my own preps. I don't have a strong feeling about what'll come next, but things happen and you're better off being prepared for a range of possibilities. History is littered by those who weren't prepared. But, being prepared is no guarantee, and I'm ok with that too - at least I tried.

 

[Sun195]

Prepping is the poor man's hedge fund.

 

[kenno]

As I have stated else where I am the product of Prepping. My Grandfather lived through many SHTF situations.
Keep in mind, he had 11 children!
There were the pre-1930 recessions, The Measseles Epidemic, the Spanish Flu Pandemic, The Polio Epidemic, The Wall Street Crash, WW1 (he learned lessons there about Progressives) Gold Confiscation (FDR), WW2 (went out and bought all the ammo he could), Food and material rationing (he kept a Model A Truck with new tires in the garage, where no one could see it and Rat him Out for a reward). The post WW2 bust/boom. Several other economic cycles. My Grand dad lost his gold but he kept his guns and food supply (for 13 ppl). He had a small farm, he never threw anything away, when he died he still had all his children's shoes carefully stored away, along with salvaged water pipe, carpenter tools, farming, trapping, hunting, game processing tools, everything he needed to support 13 PPL .

 

[knuckle Head]

As I have stated else where I am the product of Prepping. My Grandfather lived through many SHTF situations.
Keep in mind, he had 11 children!
There were the pre-1930 recessions, The Measseles Epidemic, the Spanish Flu Pandemic, The Polio Epidemic, The Wall Street Crash, WW1 (he learned lessons there about Progressives) Gold Confiscation (FDR), WW2 (went out and bought all the ammo he could), Food and material rationing (he kept a Model A Truck with new tires in the garage, where no one could see it and Rat him Out for a reward). The post WW2 bust/boom. Several other economic cycles. My Grand dad lost his gold but he kept his guns and food supply (for 13 ppl). He had a small farm, he never threw anything away, when he died he still had all his children's shoes carefully stored away, along with salvaged water pipe, carpenter tools, farming, trapping, hunting, game processing tools, everything he needed to support 13 PPL .

My dad was in 1929 in the mountains of southeastern US, there were 12 brothers and sisters, they had a huge garden, apple trees on the mountain, a couple of coal veins they dug into to heat the house, all trees on the mountains for fire wood, cooking and heating, water came from a spring on the side of the mountains in dry years the well down on the valley up stream of the out house.

No gold, but plenty, bullets, beans, potatoes, harvest nuts from the trees, you name it, if they could not get gas they made fuel

 

[kenno]

My dad was in 1929 in the mountains of southeastern US, there were 12 brothers and sisters, they had a huge garden, apple trees on the mountain, a couple of coal veins they dug into to heat the house, all trees on the mountains for fire wood, cooking and heating, water came from a spring on the side of the mountains in dry years the well down on the valley up stream of the out house.

No gold, but plenty, bullets, beans, potatoes, harvest nuts from the trees, you name it, if they could not get gas they made fuel

OH to have a Coal vein and a warm summer climate!

 

[Hook686]

Most of these stories about what families did in the past had one thing in common. There was a strong central authority that kept people in line ... to various degrees. I think Prof. Mitchell might have been referring to a central government, be it a collection of tribes, or fiefdoms, or a federation, one very large central authority. The story of man from my view is that big strong tribes take from and destroy small tribes ... until there is but one big tribe in the greater geographical region. How many troops can you field ? How many attackers can you defend against ?

I have read that in thirty years there will not be enough resources on the planet to support the population. Then what ? Are people going to roll over and die ? Might they band together under a strong leader and set forth to find and take resources from smaller tribes ? I doubt that all the clever planning, storing and prepping will win the field of battle. How are you preparing to form a bigger tribe, and how will it be governed ? I suspect the same gripes about current government might be carried over no matter how it is organized. Only in such a scenario I doubt that it will be as readily tolerated as under the current government.

Good luck in your prepping.

 

[stratbastard]

Clever planning, storing, and prepping, in your described scenario, is the single-most important factor to "win the field of battle". Forming a bigger, even gigantic tribe would be pointless without sufficient supplies to support such a campaign, whether imperialistic or simply defensive in nature. In their heyday, the Romans demonstrated this succinctly; at the height of their power, their supply lines ( and capital reserves to provide for them) were unparralelled in the world. Ditto their startegies and training. This of course remains true on any scale and in any time; forming a huge gang of unfed, untrained, unprepared thugs with no plan or purpose other than to loot... such cannot be governed as it is by definition the simplist form of anarchy and will quickly implode into savaging/cannabilizing itself.
Even a monstous army of preppers - i.e prepared, trained, and acting as one with purpose - can only last as long as the supplies last... either their own or until they run out of victims from which to loot. It's what's refferred to in business as a "non-sustainal business plan" LOL. A world full of such groups will eventually find them all acheiving the same dismal end. Only PRODUCTION, not looting or cannibalism, can sustain a society with certainty. A group which recognizes this holds the best chances of long-term survival; trained to defend, supples to see them through it, and producing as best they can... increasing their supplies (wealth) which increases their ability to hold/defend.


and

Most of these stories about what families did in the past had one thing in common. There was a strong central authority that kept people in line ... to various degrees. I think Prof. Mitchell might have been referring to a central government, be it a collection of tribes, or fiefdoms, or a federation, one very large central authority. The story of man from my view is that big strong tribes take from and destroy small tribes ... until there is but one big tribe in the greater geographical region. How many troops can you field ? How many attackers can you defend against ?

I have read that in thirty years there will not be enough resources on the planet to support the population. Then what ? Are people going to roll over and die ? Might they band together under a strong leader and set forth to find and take resources from smaller tribes ? I doubt that all the clever planning, storing and prepping will win the field of battle. How are you preparing to form a bigger tribe, and how will it be governed ? I suspect the same gripes about current government might be carried over no matter how it is organized. Only in such a scenario I doubt that it will be as readily tolerated as under the current government.

Good luck in your prepping.

 

[Burt Gummer]

On the crazy part - it isn't crazy as it is more a lack of normalcy bias. That said - I would be lying if I didn't feel a little nutty the first time I stored some water. Since infancy, there has almost been this thing we can a 'tap' where you pull the handle and this drinkable water comes flowing out. For free, almost. Of course, we all know that such services could go away overnight and that water is so critical.

Just do it when the neighbors aren't watching lol.

 

[EZLivin]

That is an advantage of being on a well. Those of us on wells are familiar with the concept of "no water" (when the power goes out anyway), so having some in reserve is a no-brainer. Between the spa and the 55gal barrels we have 550 gallons ready for an emergency.

 

[Burt Gummer]

Lucky - would love to have a manual-pumped well.

 

[knuckle Head]

Lucky - would love to have a manual-pumped well.

Yeah either that or a natural spring flowing out of the side of a mountain.

But I would settle for a fairly clean stream on the property I could build a filtration system for. But come winter, that could even be a problem