Are you a prepper?

[kehcorpz]

A couple times I watched shows on tv where they follow different preppers around and they show
them all their stuff. I assume many people watch this and laugh about it thinking these people
are just crazy and wear tinfoil hats. but i wouldnt laugh about this especially not in these times.

i really wish i had some kind of underground bunker with food supply and lots of weapons. sooner
or later ****'s gonna hit the fan and then these people can sit back in their bunker, watch the news
and just laugh about it.

it's only a matter of time. either it will be terrorism on a huge scale, maybe dirty nuclear
bombs or maybe a zombie apocalypse or a virus outbreak. it's inevitable the only question is when will it
start. will it be real soon or will it take a few more years or decades?
a lot of people who believe the bible say that these are the final stages.

just think about the whole issue with the paper money. it's pretty obvious where this is going.
first it's the 500$ bill but this is just the beginning.
i have seen stuff on TV where they showed footage from scandinavia. there are towns where they're already testing
the rfid chips as payment options and the people there were embracing it!!!! they had the chips implanted under
their skin!!! they thought this is soooo practical and soooo
sophisticated. it's shocking how foolish these people are.

now i can buy my cappuchino at starbucks without having to take out my wallet awesome!
sooner or later they find a reason to remove all paper money. maybe it'll be so that they can fight terrorism more
effectively.
if somebody warned against the rfid chip and the mark of the beast 20 years ago he was considered a conspiracy
theorist and now look at what's going on. it's right here.

maybe they will go in steps. first the chip is outside of the body and the only payment option. then they will say
this isn't safe enough. people can steal it and then buy stuff with it. then they will say the chips need to be implanted.
this is also sooo helpful especially for sick people cause you can save all their medical data on the chips. yeah right....
i think I'd rather go for 2 chips. what if 1 chip has an error and cant be read anymore? better be on the safe side and
go for 2 or more chips. i bet they're also open to personal suggestions. maybe you can decide yourself where you want
the chip to be implanted.

anyway, how many people here have underground bunkers?
and what do you think about the current times? do you have a reaaaaally bad feeling?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

No.

I think most people refuse to recognize and train for actual danger, like being able to put out a fire, or even owning a fire extinguisher.

Some preppers build bunkers and stockpile weapons and don't know what its like to hunt, kill, and eat their food or how to go about it.

If TSHTF, I will take their stuff.

 

[drop bear]

Yeah. I am will bill on this. Start with a vegie garden or something.

 

[MAfreak]

man, the cold war paranoia is over, now we have the terrorism paranoia.
just keep in mind, that all of us will die anyway. life is much easier then.
spend your money regularly on experiences to enjoy life as much as possible and so that not too much is left in case of your sudden death, and don't store too much money in your house (it might be go up in flames) or on the bank (it might be go broke).
however don't let fear rule your life.

 

[Kenposcholar]

Not at all. A life of paranoia is worse than the possibility of a shorter life of relaxation.

 

[kehcorpz]

If TSHTF, I will take their stuff.

That's not nice!

If you have tons of food in your bunker why should you hunt?
Also if everything is radiated hunting is no option either.

What's funny though is one guy i think he's a professor for something.
He is totally into preppering. He was in one of those docus.
But he's totally overweight. How does all the prepping benefit him when he
gets a heart attack in his bunker?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

That's not nice!

Yeah.

If you have tons of food in your bunker why should you hunt?
Also if everything is radiated hunting is no option either.

What's funny though is one guy i think he's a professor for something.
He is totally into preppering. He was in one of those docus.
But he's totally overweight. How does all the prepping benefit him when he
gets a heart attack in his bunker?

How long does the need to keep eating canned food go on ? One month, six months, more?

If society collapses, you die when your food ends. Sooner if I take it from uou.

Do you have medical issues? If so, do you have a lifetime supply of your meds?

Eyeglasses? Dental care?

How are your medical skills when you get appendicitis down in that bunker?

By the way, where you gonna crap and pee?

Electricity? Solar, maybe. When it breaks, can you fix it?

Can you defend yourself against me? Remember, I'm armed. Oh, and I'm a US Marine, so I've had some training.

But let's get back to real risk analysis. Biggest risks? Natural disaster and common household injuries due to fire, tripping, electrical issues, etc.

How about prepare for those before figuring how much dehydrated H20 you need to stock up on.

Get a set of good flashlights and keep them stashed around the house. Fire extinguisher. A tested plan to escape from your house on fire. A weather radio. Take a free weather spotters course, learn how to do CPR.

Now if you want to take it further, learn to shoot, dress meat, and stitch wounds. But not until you can get out of your own house in an emergency, spot a tornado, and put out a kitchen grease fire. Far more likely, but not as cool with the bearded menchildren.

 

[drop bear]

man, the cold war paranoia is over, now we have the terrorism paranoia.
just keep in mind, that all of us will die anyway. life is much easier then.
spend your money regularly on experiences to enjoy life as much as possible and so that not too much is left in case of your sudden death, and don't store too much money in your house (it might be go up in flames) or on the bank (it might be go broke).
however don't let fear rule your life.

Having said that. If zombies get you out hiking camping and learning skills then go for it.

 

[drop bear]

How long does the need to keep eating canned food go on ? One month, six months, more?

I was on canned food for two weeks during a cyclone.

Learn to hunt. Canned food gets real old real quick.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I don't understand all the hate for preppers. If it's at the point that it's taking over their life, then yeah there's an issue. If not, let them have fun. My official reason for taking MA is self-defense. However, I live in a safe neighborhood. I don't have the police on speed dial on my phone. I'm also not practicing any grappling arts currently, even though the place I most likely would need SD is at work, and I can't strike any of my clients. If I were to really evaluate it, I just enjoy any and all MA, and the self-defense is secondary to me.
I imagine a lot of the people on here could find better ways to remain safe, improve your character, stay in good shape, or deal with your anger (whatever your purpose may be; exception is probably the people who compete) if you really wanted to think it through, yet you still practice MA. Likewise, my guess is that enjoyment comes first for many of them, and safety from natural disasters/zombie apocalypse is a distant second.
It is also probably tough for them to admit that, since "I enjoy spending my money on things that may or may not help me if a zombie comes at me" sounds even crazier than "I enjoy spending money to get beaten up and beating those people up in return, then maybe head out together for pizza."

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I don't hate preppers. I laugh at them, mostly. Ridicule isn't hating.

Often just because their claimed raison d'etre is surviving the supposed immediate collapse of society, but many of them can't be arsed to keep a functioning smoke detector in the house. Of the two, which danger is more likely?

 

[MAfreak]

seems some of you take the possibility of zombies seriously.
also i'd prefer collecting fruits, because its not the animals fault, that humans are freaking dumb.

 

[Tames D]

I don't hate preppers. I laugh at them, mostly. Ridicule isn't hating.

Often just because their claimed raison d'etre is surviving the supposed immediate collapse of society, but many of them can't be arsed to keep a functioning smoke detector in the house. Of the two, which danger is more likely?

That is funny.Where do you get your material?

 

[Tez3]

I don't understand all the hate for preppers

It's because they look down on those who don't believe as they do. I don't believe in life at any price, I believe in quality of life.

 

[Flying Crane]

Bill, did you actually say, "dehydrated H2O"?

Now THAT is funny!

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Our ancestors were preppers in that they stored canned food, cut wood for winter, etc. They didn't have a lot of choice in this matter. If they did not take care of business they simply didn't make it. Now a days, the vast majority of people are completely unprepared for even a three day run on food from a mild disaster. Which can and does happen, think Tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc. Personally, I don't consider myself a prepper at all but a survivalist who is ready for natural disaster's, etc. I grew up hunting, fishing and have trained almost all my life in the Martial Sciences. Like Bill I have extensive training from work related to that which I have sought out.

Bill makes a lot of good points in preparing for situations that could actually happen like natural disaster's, getting lost while hiking, etc. Out here in the west it is just plain practical to have lots of water not only in your house but in your car when you go on a tip. Run out of gas out here and it may be fifty to a hundred miles before the next gas station. That is why we fill up at a half a tank. Or you could be out hiking and you better have an understanding of the geography of the land and how to get to some place safe if necessary.

Then there is the understaning of just having very common sense practical things like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detedctors, etc. If you do not have these now a days, what are you thinking?

Now, I totally get having a good laugh at 98% of the people shown on Doomsday Preppers, etc. My family always enjoyed those shows and yes, some of the people were wayyyyyy overboard and a little crazy! That is exactly of course what the producers were looking for.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Bill, did you actually say, "dehydrated H2O"?

Now THAT is funny!

I did. Glad you caught it!

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Our ancestors were preppers in that they stored canned food, cut wood for winter, etc. They didn't have a lot of choice in this matter. If they did not take care of business they simply didn't make it. Now a days, the vast majority of people are completely unprepared for even a three day run on food from a mild disaster. Which can and does happen, think Tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc. Personally, I don't consider myself a prepper at all but a survivalist who is ready for natural disaster's, etc. I grew up hunting, fishing and have trained almost all my life in the Martial Sciences. Like Bill I have extensive training from work related to that which I have sought out.

Bill makes a lot of good points in preparing for situations that could actually happen like natural disaster's, getting lost while hiking, etc. Out here in the west it is just plain practical to have lots of water not only in your house but in your car when you go on a tip. Run out of gas out here and it may be fifty to a hundred miles before the next gas station. That is why we fill up at a half a tank. Or you could be out hiking and you better have an understanding of the geography of the land and how to get to some place safe if necessary.

Then there is the understaning of just having very common sense practical things like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detedctors, etc. If you do not have these now a days, what are you thinking?

Now, I totally get having a good laugh at 98% of the people shown on Doomsday Preppers, etc. My family always enjoyed those shows and yes, some of the people were wayyyyyy overboard and a little crazy! That is exactly of course what the producers were looking for.

Thanks for the kind words. I think we are in full agreement on this topic.

The first question that has to be asked with regard to disaster preparation is "What kind of disaster are you preparing for?"

It's a serious question. There are all kinds of disasters, and although many of them are highly unlikely, that doesn't mean that they can't happen, and it doesn't mean that it's wrong to prepare for them. On the other hand, preparing for a highly unlikely event may prevent you from being prepared for the more likely event. For example, the Maginot Line.

Maginot Line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In my line of work (Information Technology), we are often called upon to evaluate risk and do disaster preparedness. Although the means and methods are different, the basic logic is the same.

1) Analyze what kind of threats you face.
2) Rank them in terms of likelihood.
3) Decide what the response will be.
4) Make a plan.
5) Buy, build, or otherwise establish the selected solution.
6) Test the plan.
7) Continually refine all six steps above.​

So applied to my home and family, I rank a house fire or a tornado above civil unrest or terrorist attack in terms of how likely they are to happen. Am I certain to be correct? No. But we have to do what we can. We're playing the odds with the most facts we can gather and dispassionate and logical examination of those facts.

What is the response? For example. I can decide to stock pile the drugs I need as a diabetic, but for how long? A couple days is no problem. A couple months is do-able. It might be difficult to stockpile my medication for several years, and a lifetime's worth is probably out of the question - and that's not including the possibility that my condition will deteriorate (diabetes is a progressive disease) and require access to medical attention and medication that I can't anticipate now.

It is perfectly acceptable, by the way, to decide not to respond to a given threat. For example, if the Super Caldera at Yellowstone blows up, a sizable chunk of the USA will simply cease to exist or become uninhabitable. I have thought about that and decided that even though I live in an area that will be affected but not instantly annihilated, I am simply not going to plan for that event. It would require a level of planning and preparation that I'm not able to do right now, nor do I want to.

However, getting back to basics, if you want to prep for survival, here's some things to think about.

Have a Will. Keep valuable documents in a safe-deposit box or some similar off-site secure location. Copies of valid credit cards, prescriptions for eyeglasses, medications, doctors' contact information, etc.

Quit smoking and engaging in other self-destructive behavior. It hurts your health now, and you may not be able to indulge in it later anyway.

Smoke detector, Carbon monoxide detector, fire extinguishers. Get your learn on regarding how to prevent and put out various kinds of household fires.

Establish a plan to leave your house safely in an emergency. TEST THAT PLAN. That includes a rally point - where you make sure everyone is out safely. It includes responsibilities like deciding who grabs this kid and who grabs that kid, what to try to take, what to abandon. Grandad's treasured moss-covered three handled family credenza, for example, can be consigned to oblivion. The kid, maybe not so much.

Take a few classes in things like storm spotting. They're free. The county sets them up in nearly every county I have ever lived in, and that's a bunch. They are usually poorly-attended, and often only by retired folks, shut ins, and guys with overalls and radio antennas sticking out of the pockets who live in their parent's basements bother to attend. With malice towards none, may I ask WHY YOU SO STUPID?

If you want to keep some bottled water on hand, some canned goods, I get it. Even a gas mask, presuming you have some idea how to actually don and clear one (most don't, they have some interesting ideas about how they work). Here's a tip, that bro-beard won't make a good seal, so sorry, captain lumbersexual, you're gonna die in an anthrax attack, and you're going to make a silly looking corpse, since you'll be wearing a gas mask.

I don't have enough room to write a book here, but last tip - avoid anything labeled 'tactical' and intended for use by survivalists. Unless you were in the military. Most people don't really understand what the term means, and those that do aren't fooled by that kind of junk.

 

[Tez3]

Our ancestors were preppers in that they stored canned food, cut wood for winter, etc

Oi! less of the ancestors bit, I know I'm old but I'm not that old! Up here in North Yorkshire, up in't dales and moors we still have to do all that for the winter. Though we never ever run out of water sadly. We also love our Agas, nought better. AGA | New to AGA?
It's not 'prepping' it's life.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Oi! less of the ancestors bit, I know I'm old but I'm not that old! Up here in North Yorkshire, up in't dales and moors we still have to do all that for the winter. Though we never ever run out of water sadly. We also love our Agas, nought better. AGA | New to AGA?
It's not 'prepping' it's life.

My grandparents canned vegetables and were raising families during the Depression and WWII and they knew how to get make, grow, or get along without things. If the power was out for a week, they were fine. They might have faced a strain if things had gone to hell for a month or more, but who knows.

My parents were more dependent upon society functioning as it should, and a power outage or other natural disaster might have become a real problem is somewhat less time.

My generation is pretty dependent on technology, modern medicine, cars, paved roads, and so on. Probably not set up to deal with lack of fresh clean water, natural gas, gasoline, electricity, and so on.

I have no idea what the current generation is up to, but based on the things I have seen, I don't know. It seems people are getting confused between the appearance of a thing and the thing itself. Owning an ax and wearing flannel doesn't mean you can cut down a tree - but in the common parlance, it's the same thing.

On the other hand, most of my cousins are still living in rural central Illinois where I was raised. They are the classic 'country boys' and girls. They can and will survive, no matter what happens. I am pretty sure they can still shoe horses, deliver calves, fish, trap, skin animals, and I know they eat what they shoot. They'll be OK, no matter what generation they're from.