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Is prepping needed?

8K views 61 replies 34 participants last post by  sbird 
#1 · (Edited)
Or at least that is how a good 80% of people feel. I was at work talking to some buds and someone stated exactly what the title says and it has prompted me to write this today. Of my experience in a State of Emergency and the effect it has on those who are not ready for something this simple. What is sad most choose not to be ready. I understand if you dont have the funds at the time. But a lot of people CHOOSE to not prepare. It is just weird to me because I was raised up to always be prepared with food, water, firearms, and ammo.

Ive been stocking up on ammo, reloading supplies, food, and other things for a while now. I guess I could be labeled a prepper and if that is a bad thing then my excuse is if I need one that is, Is that I live in Florida where hurricanes like to mess things up bad enough like last time to render my whole county and many neighboring counties void of electricity and clean water for over a month. A month and 3 weeks for me personally. No driving for at least the first month to a month and a week due to debris. No Mcdonalds, no Walmart, no KFC, no ice cream, no nothing. Nothing except for what you have. Which is fine with me. It was like a 2 month long camping trip......

To see the general public (80% or more of the people) of my small town change from normal to dangerous was amazing and terrifying. You don't realize how dependent people really are on the things that make life easier such as A/C, vehicles, fast food, lights, phones, etc. So dependent in fact that they think all is lost when they don't have these things. I admit living in Florida with no A/C sucks but I got use to it. These people had about a week or two of food totaling in their pantry and freezer which is not enough. What is enough you say? I don't know. When you think you have enough its not enough.

At the time I had 3 months of food for my home. Not including the pantry and freezer. A hurricane was on the way and the news said it would land north of us.........but it did an unexpected turn and the eye went right down main street Wauchula and Arcadia (our sister town). 150mph winds. Most people didn't have time to prepare or evacuate. The hurricane was a CAT4 which isn't as bad as a CAT5. But Hurricane Charlie was the most densely compressed hurricane in recorded history. Which means anything near that eye is in some real trouble. And we were.

The day of the hurricane after it was done destroying everything it could. I tried to get out of my front door. But it wouldn't open more than 2 inches due to the oak tree in the front yard falling down barely missing the house but preventing the door from opening. The back door had a forest of debris up against it and it also couldn't move. The side door that led to the carport that wasn't there anymore did open. Apon stepping outside you couldn't see across the street.....or see the road........I had a pizza hut sign or what was left of it in my yard. Pizza Hut WAS 2 miles away, it was destroyed it was a good pizza hut too.

The first week or two, people were working together and helping one another. Having cook outs with grills because everyone's freezer was out and all the food was going to spoil anyway so why not cook it now. Scrambled eggs on the grill was a normal thing in the morning. Grilled chicken and grilled pork was common at this time. Most people were uncomfortable at this time but coping well and sharing food and having a good time. by this time some of the roads were starting to clear up and you had trenches of debris on each side of the road preventing you from seeing the houses behind them. The roads that were clear were essentially walkways or 4 wheeler roads. But at this time most people walked around and saw what damage was done.

Then came the 3 week point. Most people at 3 weeks had already eaten all of the food in their pantry and freezer. The majority had electric stoves so no boiling. The propane tank for their grill was out due to a week or two straight of grilling. The majority started to get hungry at this point. But not desperate or dangerous. Yet.

At approximately the one month mark you had close knit groups that would avoid contact from everyone else which pretty much consisted of families and their close neighbors that had enough food for them. Most unprepared people at this point haven't had any real food for a week or more. Gang activity started rising as well as wandering crack heads and other desperate people begging for food. Break ins, Muggings, siphoning of your car gas, etc start happening. And simply put, other people that are not in your close knit group are considered dangerous. You don't know if they have a kid they would kill for to feed. Or if the person was unstable, or hadn't had food for 3 weeks. At this point you start feeling like its a requirement to sling your loaded m14 on your back (loaded as in on the ready, mag full, in the chamber, with safety engaged. Not a LOADED model M1A) while you clean debris, do yard work, cook, sit, play cards, do puzzles, etc. The thought of protecting your assets that grant you and your loved ones survival as well as you and your loved ones with a firearm become a reality.

The human inside you wants to help people that are desperate but then the survival in you thinks "Well if you give this person food then that person will become dependent on you like a stray dog. And will continue to expect food. Does this person have a family that will also need to be fed too? I don't have the food to give or else I and my family will end up like them." And its quite simple. Your survival and those you love are worlds more important than someone you don't know. And that is the bad thing because desperate people are thinking that same thing.

And then came the Month and one week mark. Just one week of people being desperate. Some people having little food for upwards of a month. You and your group of trustworthy people or in my case my neighbor had rotating midnight shift watch at this point to guard assets. If you were not family then don't even come by. Then the National Guard finally made it in. Then the National guard arrived. The day they arrived they had to quell a riot at our Walmart. Yes its a small town and yes our one single Walmart that everyone goes to but couldn't because it was closed due to electricity problems, damage, and flooding as well as every other store and business. The national guard quelled the riot with the presence of m4 rifles and the delivering of MRE's. After that the Guard set a curfew for night time and delivered water and MRE's up and down the streets every day after that. Me and my neighbor respectfully declined the help each time the hummer came by. I just waved at them from my porch with my m14 in my lap with my cardboard sign in my yard that was universal to everyone. It stated in sharpie "Don't even Bother." And my neighbor had one too but his had an arrow pointing to my house and stated "What he said." Those signs were made around week 3.

And the last week or two everyone was acting like they did on the first week. Because uncle sam came and saved the day and they got their comfort bubble back.

I use to think stocking up and being prepared was a good thing. But now its simply a requirement. Food, supplies, ammo, and firearms. After seeing how just a month without electricity and the ability to get clean water and food turns most people from a normal happy dependent on everyday comfort safety bubble items person. To, a break in to your house and steal or hurt/murder you because you have stuff and they don't and they need it no matter what. Firearms and ammo are just as important as food in a situation like that. Without a defense you lose your food without food you may lose a lot more. What I wonder is what would of happened if the national guard would of been a week or a month later? It would of been a lot worse. Some of that 80% or so of people would of died of dehydration at that point. People would be outright killing to survive at that point.

All I can say is you cant ever be too ready for something whether its a change in politics, change in weather, or change in other crap. Like the saying goes. "I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it." You can never be too prepared. Only not prepared enough.















Charlie hit us AUG. 9TH, 2004 as a Super compressed CAT4 Hurricane

Frances hit us SEP. 5TH, 2004 just a couple weeks later as a CAT3 Hurricane

Ivan sat in the gulf on SEP. 12-15TH, 2004 or so and pummeled us and flooded us then weakened and moved on. It was a CAT5 hurricane luckily it didn't make landfall.

Jeanne hit on SEP. 25TH 2004 as a CAT3

For us in Wauchula Florida the later hurricanes were wimps. After having the most compressed and destructive hurricane eye in history pass over your house and only last 3 minutes when a standard eye usually lasts 20-30 minutes.
 
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#2 ·
I never considered myself as a "prepper", although I was accumulating the essential items required to survive in the aftermath of a hurricane, long before I ever heard the word "prepper".

Born and raised on the Gulf coast of Texas, I've been through my share of hurricanes beginning with hurricane Carla (Cat 5) in 1961.

Just a youngster back then, but recall Dad having us fill any container we had with water along with the bathtub.

Always had a few "jerry cans" around for water since we used them on camping trips.

The water in the tub was to be used to flush the toilet when needed.

Plenty of fuel on hand for the camp stove and lantern.

Mom had laid in a supply of food, can goods, dried beans and rice.

No one in our house was in a panic to get the things done before the storm hit.

We had way less previous warning back then compared to today.

So even back then, why did my Dad have the insight to have on hand the supplies we needed?

I like to think it was because, when he was younger, he was a Boy Scout (and always a Boy Scout) and followed something as simple as the Scout Motto.

Only two words in that motto that will keep you and yours ready for anything, those two words, "BE PREPARED".

My two brothers and I also became Scouts, and all three obtained the rank of Eagle.

We all follow those two simple words, "BE PREPARED".

Killashrub, how did ya'll fair Hermine?

Older brother is in Tampa/St. Pete area.
 
#3 ·
It wasnt that bad for us being 30 minutes east of tampa and the eye was around an hour or 2 north of tampa when it hit as a CAT1. We got lots of wind but what hurt the most from that one was just flood flood flood. I went over to my Lieutenants house yesturday and his yard is just water. He uses his pontoon boat to get to his car.
 
#4 ·
for me her name...

was Hazel, and she made most of Myrtle and surrounding beaches go away. This was long before anything (1957 ? I don't remember), Since then there have been many ladies and men (Hugo, Floyd, Bob, etc). It takes a complete fool to endure/see all of this and not do all he/she can to get "ready" for the next one...for there will be a "next" one.
Love of family. and life says you must "get ready" for a bad go...even when things are great and smooth and going along just fine...you must get ready. Only a severely handicapped person has the right to depend on another for the needs of life. Old age is the exception (or used to be !). Natures law of survival has been modified by the politicians to a point of abuse now and does not seem to a "real thing", but I assure you that if bad times come (and they will to some), Government will not be the answer to the problem. Self reliance is a requirement of life imposed by Momma Nature. Survival is necessity that is desired by all, but sadly, not so many are prepared to achieve.
Yesterday it was Hermine, tomorrow?
 
#5 · (Edited)
You have made some excellent observations, however.....

This is a very "timely" post. There have been floods in Louisiana and the hurricane season has begun....

Most people think of "local" disasters where the outside resources will be provided for them to recover. The folks in Livingston Parish, Louisiana are a very independent bunch. In the past few weeks, once the water subsided, they went to work as a community. Not one household sat back and waited for FEMA... Call that Point #1 - Be surrounded by a community that takes immediate action. The inner cities will sit and wait. use New Orleans / Katrina as an example. If you reside in the inner city, think about either moving to the suburbs or bugging out prior to the disaster.

Never dwell on "Week 1,2 and 3".... Point #2 - Your tribe should go to "Week 4" immediately. Why? Because Week 4 is going to come, and you know it.

Chilling words: Then the National Guard finally made it in......... So? What would you expect them to do after a month that you had not already done? You, your family and your tribe could have died several times over waiting on the National Guard.... Remember, Custer sent for reinforcements.... hold that thought.

Point #3 - Laws of Nature = Survival of the Fittest..... Should you should have survived and been holed up for 2-3 months, you would have gotten to meet the "fittest". Now, they could be outlaws, criminals or street people...... Doubtful it will be like some of the "Survivalist Novels" we have all read where everything turns out well....

When you prepare........ prepare for the very worst you can imagine... Both physically and mentally.

Again, a great OP...


Hobo
 
#16 · (Edited)
This is a very "timely" post. There have been floods in Louisiana and the hurricane season has begun....

Most people think of "local" disasters where the outside resources will be provided for them to recover. The folks in Livingston Parish, Louisiana are a very independent bunch. In the past few weeks, once the water subsided, they went to work as a community. Not one household sat back and waited for FEMA... Call that Point #1 - Be surrounded by a community that takes immediate action. The inner cities will sit and wait. use New Orleans / Katrina as an example. If you reside in the inner city, think about either moving to the suburbs or bugging out prior to the disaster.

Never dwell on "Week 1,2 and 3".... Point #2 - Your tribe should go to "Week 4" immediately. Why? Because Week 4 is going to come, and you know it.

Chilling words: Then the National Guard finally made it in......... So? What would you expect them to do after a month that you had not already done? You, your family and your tribe could have died several times over waiting on the National Guard.... Remember, Custer sent for reinforcements.... hold that thought.

Point #3 - Laws of Nature = Survival of the Fittest..... Should you should have survived and been holed up for 2-3 months, you would have gotten to meet the "fittest". Now, they could be outlaws, criminals or street people...... Doubtful it will be like some of the "Survivalist Novels" we have all read where everything turns out well....

When you prepare........ prepare for the very worst you can imagine... Both physically and mentally.

Again, a great OP...


Hobo
I have been trying to do point #1 for a while now. I am probably going to revert to being a hermit in the middle of no where.

I didn't really care if the national guard made it in and honestly didn't think about it till I saw them driving by. I was living day by day at that point.

One major lesson I learned is what you pointed out in point #2. I didn't really dwell on it I was just helping take care of me and my peeps. We just kind of reacted to other peoples actions in phases sort of speak. Next time it will be different.

A lot more has been learned in 12 years too which is good.

Thanks for the info HOBO you are always helpful.
 
#6 ·
Excellent post.

I was raised the old way, always to be prepared. I was up north when hurricane Sandy hit, no gasoline to be found from Monticello, NY all the way to the southern end of NJ.

The behavior of some folks on the 1-2 mile long gas station lines (for the few stations that had gasoline) was so bad that police officers had to be stationed there for control of traffic and the people on line. (I had enough gasoline in cans ready before I made the trip to get me there and back-it was a family emergency.)

Today's government repeatedly tells us to be prepared, that help will not immediately come, I for one believe them. the Governor of Florida, just before Hermine hit, stated often and loudly, to have at least 3 days food, water and medicine at the minimum. He does not strike me as someone who does not get it!

One does not have to be a prepper to be prepared. Freeze dried food is relatively cheap and lasts a long time. Having stored bottled water or some method of filtering drinking water is a common sense thing.

Being able to protect your loved ones is a personal responsibility that should be taken seriously. The police or the military can not be every place where they are needed in the time of emergency.
 
#9 ·
________________
Not as many as you think. Part of prepping is taking into consideration the fact that a family / tribe could have to re-locate.

Remember, LEO's can not force you to leave your dwelling... However, once you do leave, they can keep you from returning to your dwelling.

Hobo
 
#17 ·
Those were just the pictures I found online from Charlie. I took pictures on the first couple days maybe I can upload them. Many 100 year old buildings made of stone and wood just crumpled to rubble on main street. a good 30% of the old buildings just fell down. A lot of houses just had no roof. I took a cool picture of a wood fence that came from somewhere and was stuck in the ground upside down, gate and all it was weird. I have a bunch of pictures I will see if I can dig them up and post em here sometime.
 
#11 ·
Great thread Killabrush! I, like you, see being a prepper as a fact of life. I worked for FEMA at one time. Spent 9 continuous months on site working on Katrina and other disasters and have seen plenty of bad situations. I live 25 miles SE of Seattle on a small plateau. We have one road in/out with steep hills. We have been cut off for 7-10 days without power during various ice storms.

Out here we are waiting for the next big earthquake. I keep telling my neighbors exactly what you have described. A really big quake could cut us off for months. Some listen others think the government will take care of them and they just can't grasp the government really doesn't care about 30 families out here when they have 100's of thousands of people in need in the metro area.

Everyone that reads this thread should be prepared. Have a 90 day food supply and water supply at a minimum. Extra propane and gas also. A couple of big tents and several large tarps. What if you had to sleeep outside right now. Would you be ready? Everyone can contact their county Emergency Response Agency and get a FEMA disaster Planning Guide.

The people that you save may be you and your family
 
#13 ·
Thank you for the first hand account. These are the stories that need published so yokels like me stock up for survival and self evac. My family is the most important thing to me. Feeding watering and protecting them... Kudos to you and yours for being prepared and thanks for the wake up call.

Russ
 
#14 ·
GREAT POST.
A timely reminder of what most people know, but simply do NOT want to face up to.

I am not ashamed to call myself a "prepper".
two things I learned in the the army;

1.] Murphy was an OPTIMIST!!
AND,
In almost any situation in life,
simple day to day,
TSHTF,
or even
TEOTWAWKI,
2.] 7 P rule will apply,

Proper Preparation and Planning Prevents P!ss Poor Performance.


Wayyyyyyy back in the day,
I was a contributing editor for SURVIVE magazine.
What we now call "Preppers", were back then referred to as "survivalists", but that term got a bad reputation from the "TOO MANY GUNS and not enough brains crowd", that seemed to dominate the "survivalist" movement.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard ...
"I don't need to make any other preparations than guns and ammo ... with those I can TAKE whatever I need from the ",
why then I would be so rich,
I could live in one of those gated "secret survival communes" we hear whispers about.

My prepping is not OVERT or OBSESSIVE ...
I try for a balance between living in the TODAY,
one day at a time,
and worrying/fantasising/obsessing on possible WORST CASE SCENARIO "tomorrows", that may never come true.

My personal prepping philosophy is that accumulating SKILLS is just as important as accumulating gear. All the gear in the world won't do you much good, if you have not practiced and learned how to use it properly.

Just like owning a guitar does not make you a rock star,
owning the latest / greatest / warrior elite recommended "tactical" gun,
does not make you a "gun fighter".

Prepping is about many things, but one thing often overlooked [ and pointed out repeatedly in the initial posting ] is that proper prepping is about NETWORKING.

If you can't get along with your neighbors, and rely on them in a SHTF situation, then all the gear in the world might not be enough to get you through.

Think about that next time you read about "the latest/greatest GUN"
designed to protect you ...
from your neighbors??

Just my personal opinions,
YPMMV
 
#19 ·
If you can't get along with your neighbors, and rely on them in a SHTF situation, then all the gear in the world might not be enough to get you through.

YPMMV
Getting along with them wasn't a problem. The problem was it was getting rough and just about everyone else started running out of food. Also some of those neighbors had addictions that were pretty bad such as meth and what not. Some were very unstable.

It pretty much it came down to, I had enough food for me for 3 months my neighbor had enough food for himself for X amounts of months I didn't want to know and he didn't want to know about mine. If you could take care of yourself such as have your own supply of food then fine but if not then we dont have enough to share.

By the end of next year I am going to move out of city limits. Always been my dream to have my own land and maybe a neighbor or two instead of 10.
 
#15 ·
Howdy Buckeroos,

We lived in Southern California all of our lives up to two months ago.

Not mentioning social upheaval, EMP or just poop hitting the fan, what about
earthquakes?

Where we lived we were surrounded by freeways, which would collapse in a devastating quake creating islands of people.
The underground utilities would go bye bye right off the bat and who knows when they would return.
Street gangs (there are over 100,000 gang members in Southern Calif.) would roam the streets taking what they want.

If you don't prepare, I was a "survivalist" in the late seventies, you and yours suffer.

Common sense says to do these things but common sense is not very common today.

My folks were young adults in the depression and I don't remember my Mom not having food socked away, even in hard times.

People (sheep) figure the government will take care of them.
Sheep are good for wool and mutton.
Who in their right mind wants to become a lamb chop, so to speak?

My wife has medical problems (not "issues") and went on Medicare last month.
If anything proves that the government can NOT take care of us - health coverage sure does.

Years ago I gave up trying to talk with people about taking their own welfare in their own hands.

In the past we were called survivalists, now we are called preppers - a nice touchy feeley name.

We work twelve to thirteen hours a day just to get by (no new guns in my future), why would I think someone is going to take care of us if the world goes South?

Keep yer powder dry, and your storage food in a cool dark place,

John
 
#22 ·
REALLY good thread going here and I couldn't allow this to slip by, possibly unnoticed;
........
If you don't prepare, I was a "survivalist" in the late seventies, you and yours suffer.

Common sense says to do these things but common sense is not very common today.

My folks were young adults in the depression and I don't remember my Mom not having food socked away, even in hard times.
.........

Keep yer powder dry, and your storage food in a cool dark place,

John
ox•y•mo•ron \'ak-si-"mor-'an, -"mor-\ noun pl ox•y•mo•ra \-"mor-e, -"mor-\ [LGk oxymoron, fr. neut. of oxymoros pointedly foolish, fr. Gk oxys sharp, keen + moros foolish] (1657)
: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness)

Just making sure that the whole point of my response in this thread isn't missed, that the word combination given in bold font has ALWAYS been as described and will ALWAYS be oxymoronic in nature.

"Good sense is entirely uncommon" is the proper presentation of good senibility!USN2
 
#18 ·
Most people say 90 days of food. After that experience I decided to try to have a year worth. Just in case. It is way over what you should need in a modern civilized world. But I figured if I need any more than 1 year worth then its really really really really bad and you should start trying to decide around the 6 month mark on how to acquire a sustainable food. Luckily for Florida there is a lot of that. Jungle Potatoes, Bidens Alba, etc. So there is always food and most people dont know how to prepare the jungle potatoes or bidens alba.
 
#20 ·
Killashrub, would you mind sharing a little more about how you approached drinking water and fuel, (warmth, cooking, water preparation), during those seven weeks?
I'm always comparing notes, and this old dog still figures there's chances to learn something he didn't previously know.
 
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#27 ·
Luckily for us it rained every other day and I had many tarps set up to catch rain. For water preparation I screened the water with a rag and boiled it and stored it in multiple canteens when needed. It was hot and humid every day so warmth wasn't needed and cooking wise we used propane sparingly at first but once it was gone it was gone. However there was plenty of wood around we used for fuel pretty much an unlimited amount thanks to the hurricane. Most food we had didn't require cooking but what did wasn't a problem. We had lots of firewood we had on a tarp out in the sun and when the rain would start rolling in we would throw a tarp over it and stake it down so we always had dry wood. We would just replenish the wood as needed keeping it in the sun to dry and covering it when the clouds started coming in.

For the first half of it we had drinking water in 12oz bottles. This is why now I don't prepare for 90 days. I prep for a year or more if possible. Because while I had around a gallon a day you find out how much more than a gallon you use when you do yard work every day, cook, etc. My supply of water stored went way faster than I hoped. My saying is the same for collecting firewood, "Gather what you need. Then do it again. And again. and maybe again."
 
#21 ·
I consider my swimming pool a backup-backup emergency water source. With the proper filtration equipment(GUILTY: I don't own it yet, partially due to ignorance of the type required), could be potable. With a pump, could be used for firefighting. This would only be viable as long as flooding was not an issue. Hurricane Sandy came through here, and my community only suffered downed trees and wires. I myself had no damage except for one tree taking down wires in my yard(when it fell, it did not even break the span of fence it fell over!). The only problem was, EVERY house in my neighborhood had one tree taking down wires(and some transformers, too). After seeing the damage, I was impressed that the electric was back on in 15 days. Communities on the south shore were not so fortunate, my friend's daughter and son-in-law had 4 feet of flood water standing in the first floor of their house. Their small above ground pool basically vanished. Their neighbor had a huge boat in their yard, which floated in, and had to be cut up to be removed, as there was not enough room between the houses to drag/tow it out.
 
#23 ·
I worked at a few natural disasters. Flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes what ever. And rebuilt hundreds homes, cleared trees and debris. It's always interesting to see how it effected certain people. That's not to say any natural disaster is a good thing but you can always tell who was prepared and who wasn't. The people who weren't were the ones hugging you because you saved them or they complained because you didn't get there fast enough to save there stuff.

The ones that made it through ok always had a backup plan to there backup plan. Multiple ways to heat there home. Storage of supplies/food and tools to be self sufficient.

The one that always stays with me was my time I spent in Alaska. Before the flood came one guy was smart enough to throw a fishing net over his wood pile. Well after the flood he was the only guy in the village who had wood and winter was only a month away. When I talked to him about it he had a very sad look on his face, he said that he knew that there would be a lot of people knocking on his door for wood that winter. In Galena Alaska it gets to -60 during the winter and it's possible that some people wouldn't make it through the winter.
 
#24 ·
I met my ex-wife on an internet dating site. It was TRULY a blind date, as she had no pictures up, and FUGLY ol' Fart that I am, I put up a picture of my beautiful male 110 lb German Shepherd dog. A simple filter ... if she don' like big, slobbery, hairy GSDs, then she probably won't like me.

My next-ex emailed me saying,
"My dad used to raise and train GSDs for the Calgary police. Any one who shares his life with a GSD, can't be all bad."

So we met in a park, me and my GSD waiting patiently, and along comes an ABSOLUTELY STUNNING woman. The reason she did not have a picture on the dating site was because she was too beautiful, and didn't want to have to wade through all the bottom feeders lurking at the shallow end of the gene pool [ aka Plenty of Fish FREE Internet Dating ].

Beauty, and BRAINS ...
she taught Computer Science at the same local college I got my Computer diploma from.

PLUS,
she was incredibly active and fit and outdoorsy ...
she had lived in a VW van at Whistler for a Winter,
and had her name in the Alpine Club record books for a Himalayan climb she did.
She had been a cheerleader for a Canadian football team, jumped and jiggled at a Grey Cup game half time show,
and even though she was my age, she could still fit into her teenage cheer leader out fit.
etc, etc, etc.
SO, I was HOOKED!!!

We were living together for a few months at her rural home, when I happened to be in her basement, looking for some tools and opened up "THE DOOR". Inside the temperature controlled cool room were two years of stable stored food, and of course, about 100 or so bottles of WINE!
After all, without wine there is "mere surviving", and with wine, there is LIVING IN STYLE!

She had never mentioned to me that she was a "prepper" before we got together, but once I found out I was even more hooked.
So we started co-ordinating our prepping.

I did the guns and defense, and mechanical repairs and BUILDING and MAINTAINING stuff, and she did the growing, harvesting, and canning. A pretty good mix of SKILLS.

We lived on a rural dead end road, that backed on to a massive wilderness area. Deer, bear, and the occasional Cougar wandered through or property, along with a resident family of racoons, and once, a FFNNN monstrous Golden eagle. A little slice of heaven.

All our neighbors were not only friendly, but the ex wife had lived there for 25 years, and knew EVERYONE, their kids names, their pets names, and shared home made jam with them. The neighborhood pitched in as a TEAM whenever some incident occurred that required it. We had a fire only a few 100 feet from our house, and the whole neighborhood turned out to fight it until the local volunteer fire department showed up, about 30 minutes later. And in the Winter, long before the municipal road crews got around to clearing the HEAVY snow off the roads, the neighbor with the bob cats would be out clearing the steeper hills.

That was just about the IDEAL prepping situation. Every one knew I was ex-military, and that I had guns [ lots of guns ] and they were mostly Ok with that. We used to joke about my property overlooking the main access road, with range markers all the way out to the turn off. And how my roof gave coverage for the whole route.

Contrast that with living in a city ...
where you might never really meet and get to know your next door neighbor, and if you did, you might have nothing in common.

YEP!!
Prepping, like many things in life,
starts with ..
location, Location, LOCATION!!

I choose to live on a Pacific North West Gulf Island, aka Vancouver Island, BC, aka "Fantasy Island".
And this choice has been good for me so far.

BUT,
sooner or later,
that Juan de Fuca fault line will let go, and the whole wet coast might get a bit wetter.

Just one possible survival scenario, amongst hundreds, that I have thought about, and some times made contingency plans for.

Lately, the scenario that concerns me the most - because it just might be the most likely - is that the North Koreans might eventually get missiles that will travel far enough to get over the West Coast of North America. Two or three simple high altitude nuclear bursts above the stratosphere of the coastal region, and the EMP would knock out the power grid, and most of the electronics [ aka "civilization" as we know it ] along the entire West coast.

Possibly 60 % of the non-prepper population could starve in a few months.
And that is the BEST CASE scenario.
Just read "One Second After" for a more thorough peek at what could lurk in our near future if EMP is a reality.

As the Chinese say,
and it is a curse not a blessing,
"May you be born in interesting times!".

And the times they do be "interesting".
[;-[)
LAZ 1
 
#25 ·
Natural disasters and societal collapse are just a couple of good reasons to prep, but it can also be advantageous for more mundane emergencies such as a job loss. Lose a job and be unable to find another, or one that pays less which seems to be rather commonplace in today's world, then having a years of food and other supplies onboard might be of some worth.

There's more to prepping than the zombie apocalypse, which it seems, is at the end of all extended natural disasters and political/economic upheavals.
 
#26 ·
My wife and I were discussing the preps that people in our area were making for Hurricane Hermine. I felt like she paid me the highest possible complement when she told me we didn't need to go to Walmart or Lowes to prepare for any disaster because, "prepared is just the way we live every day." I'll never be able to live up to that, but you can bet I'll sure try.
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the additional feedback.
IMHO, getting into a mindset of preparing for an emergency is the easy part. Committing to a long term serious interruption in the infrastructure most of us take for granted is something else.
I happen to feel that most people I've known who are at least willing to discuss their plans could be OK for a number of days, usually with more stored food than their water, and fuel have any chance of lasting after that.
 
#29 ·
For me coping with not having an A/C was the hardest thing to do. Very sleepless nights for the first week or two. But then out of nowhere I got use to it. I had a brand new garbage can from home depot in storage that I set outside under the eave of the roof where a lot of water drains off my roof when it rains. And it filled up in no time. I used that to bathe in and just jump in whenever I felt like. Every time it would get close to raining I would pour it out to refresh it. That was my a/c I think.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Yea water is the hard part. It takes up more space than food imo and me trying to have a 1 year supply that's 365 gallons of water.............that's a lot.

I am thinking of picking up a few of these to start. I am thinking two will be a good start as having around 100 days of water. Empty out bleach the barrel then refill every 5 years.

https://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Essentials-Water-Barrel-Gallon/dp/B006KAAUSQ
 
#32 ·
Where I'm at, cold is the killer. Folks need to be but aren't prepared to keep their dwelling from freezing up solid. Good water is abundant, a Pur filter makes sense. I'm in a small suburban area with wilderness at the doorstep. Every situation presents its own challenges. Unmolested, my family and I are able to weather a lot. Still, with distant supply chains to grocery market supplies, everyday items taken for granted would quickly become unavailable. I keep stock of stuff I need/want and items I think are trade worthy. A couple neighbors are like minded, we discuss desperate times and agree, security and protecting our resources is the vulnerable spot. I suspect my circumstances aren't much different than most.
 
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