LOL and they even have a National Geographic special on them

[Cdnwolf]

http://doomsday-preppers.com/

[weswood]

I bet those poor souls in the NorthEast wish they had some food and potable water stashed. And I know there's a couple members of this board have over 1,000 rounds of ammo for thier weapons.

I guess the Boy Scouts are all f@#&ked up with that "Be Prepared" motto.

[mikeo80]

I bet those poor souls in the NorthEast wish they had some food and potable water stashed. And I know there's a couple members of this board have over 1,000 rounds of ammo for thier weapons.

I guess the Boy Scouts are all f@#&ked up with that "Be Prepared" motto.

The "preppers" may strike some as odd....

I have 60 days food and water ready to go. I also have a gas grill with two tanks of propane, two kerosene heaters with 10+ gallons of kerosene ready.

For my rifle, I have 2000+ rounds, the shotgun has 400+.... and I just scored some good prices on slug rounds for the shotgun.

Does this make me a prepper Maybe...

I would like to increase this to 90 days as time and money allow. I have to insure that the food is being rotated properly. I try to buy with as long a lead time as possible. Not to mention the need to bring the food into the house with some security. I typically shop at night so that the "nosey neighbor" does not see exactly what IS in my house.

So write me up as a lunatic....My wife and I would survive the inland part of Sandy with some discomfort sure...but we would stay warm, fed and safe.

Living here in Fayetteville, NC, I do not have to worry too much about a direct hit from a hurricane. THe remnants woudl be just ugly enough, thank you very much.

My $0.02

Mike

[Panther Al]

I look at it like this:

There is being prepared, and then there is... well, what you see on those shows.

Having a stash of food, water, and so on is a good thing. Having a plan. Prepping for likely scenarios. All good, all important - something everyone should at least have put some thought into.

From what I saw on those shows is what I call the lunatic fringe of the whole concept. They take a good idea, and let their paranoid fantasies run wild - to some degree or another.

Take one I saw while flipping through the channels.

Guy, in a reasonably decent-ish ghillie suit, doing an OP looking to see if baddies are approaching.

OK, good idea.

Done nuts: On a commercially available radio, on an open freq using a call sign (Really bad in my opinion) of Crows Nest. OK, I'm the baddie. I hear this, and hrm.... why, I think he might be a tree. Oh wait: There is one: no cover to it, and a huge lump hanging off of the side. I wonder what that can be....

And, Lets cross this river, so everyone in bright boat, cover up in ghillie suits, and paddle *slowly* across it. Hrm, can't see what might go wrong with that...

Its that level of paranoid fantasy EOTW wet dreams that they show that makes me just want to pound my head onto my desk.

[weswood]

Take one I saw while flipping through the channels.

Guy, in a reasonably decent-ish ghillie suit, doing an OP looking to see if baddies are approaching.

OK, good idea.

Done nuts: On a commercially available radio, on an open freq using a call sign (Really bad in my opinion) of Crows Nest. OK, I'm the baddie. I hear this, and hrm.... why, I think he might be a tree. Oh wait: There is one: no cover to it, and a huge lump hanging off of the side. I wonder what that can be....

And, Lets cross this river, so everyone in bright boat, cover up in ghillie suits, and paddle *slowly* across it. Hrm, can't see what might go wrong with that...

Its that level of paranoid fantasy EOTW wet dreams that they show that makes me just want to pound my head onto my desk.

Yeah, I noticed that myself. Not only the call sign "Crows Nest" but what if he had to leave his op in a hurry Jump

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I live in Florida. By definition I have to be a Doomsday Prepper.

I talked to the wife about this last week; we have two simple plans.

1 - Shelter at home for a cat 1-2. Food, water, generator, etc. We've started restocking our pantry just this week.

2 - Anything stronger that's going to hit us dead on, like a Katrina or Andrew...we've got 2-3 days notice. Rent a small uhaul truck, in go the valuables (basically everything except heavy furniture). Food, water and other sundries go in the truck, we convoy the hell out of this state to wherever that thing's cone isn't aimed.

I don't think that's crazy, I don't think that's paranoid. Anyone who does can feel free to have a gander at footage from Atlantic City, Long Island, lower Manhattan from a few weeks ago.

[HorseSoldier]

Agreed on their being a not so fine line between prudence and nuttiness. I think even prudent measures sometimes alarm people because talking to someone about being prepared for natural disaster forces people to think about being at risk and possibly dying. Most people in the developed world have the luxury of not thinking about that sort of thing if they don't want to.

Here in Alaska we don't have hurricanes, but risks of earthquakes and volcanic activity, plus more mundane risks of power outages or being stuck by severe weather is a realistic concern. I am definitely not ready for the end of the world/zombie defense/subarctic remake of the Road Warrior, but do keep a couple weeks food on hand for people and pets as well as the related stuff you'd want to have if the power went out. Also keep kits in the cars with with sleeping bags, blankets, freeze-safe food and such in the event of being stranded somewhere by weather.

[Snake Eyes]

Dude, yeah - there's common sense, then there's being prepared, then there's preppers, then waaay out here on the fringe ---> there's the wingnuts on that NatGeo show.

[Graebarde]

Those folks on the NG show are dumb if nothing else for allowing theirselves to even be ON the program. Wonder how much they got paid Was it worth it

As for being prepared, well when I was growing up we always had at least three months food on hand. In the fall of course we had almost 18 months some years, depending on the yields that year. Was that paranoid It was called makeing it to the next harvest, a way of life. I had at one time over a years food on hand, and was glad for it when I had to eat out of it for over six months when things went south.

Is it paranoid to buy insurance Preperations are insurance. Of course like paper insurance, preperations are NO guarantee you'll survive. And as those people living on the beachs (we have our share of those fools here on the Gulf Coast too) that think the government should bail their ass out from a storm.. ever read the insurance policy where there's the 'Act of God and War' clause. Duh And flood insurance is ONLY available from the Feds, which a LOT of home owners don't realize, especially in areas that are 'not flood zones'.

Another thing about preperations is if you don't know how to use them what good are they So they store 500 pounds of wheat, but nobody has the knowledge on what to do with it (has a sister-in-law like that back in the 80's) Or don't have the mill to make flour with it (same sister in law, and another friend that had 'over looked' it. How are you going to make bread if you don't have the necessary oven Practical knowledge gained by experience and practice.

Most people that scoff at people who prepare for the worst are the first ones to come calling when SHTF crying the preper is 'hording' and they should have a share. Preparing is NOT hording!!! Hording is going out AFTER the crisis starts and buying up the items. And IF I buy if before hand, why should I give it to you that did not have the forethought to prepare Now that is NOT to say I would not share with a stranger, but it would be selective charity at best. Attitude counts a LOT there, and a willingness of the receiver to help if needed.

Nuff siad.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

More and more people are sitting back and patiently waiting for "the Government" to come and fix the problem(s) after a disaster - or taking from people who were prepared. Look at Katrina. Look at Sandy. The cries go up "Where is <ORGANIZATION>! We need <THINGS>!"

As Graebarde said, it isn't paranoid to have insurance, and that's just what "preparing" is. You're buying your own insurance.

I shudder to think what would happen, here, in my state in the event of an Andrew-level hurricane strike on Central Florida. That is, I shudder to think what would happen to me and mine if word got out that we were prepared, and the grasshoppers who were without suddenly realized we were eating well and bathing in hot water regularly. Brr.

Sorry, that's borderline political so I'll leave off now.

[Raellus]

I think there's a preparedness continuum. It's smart to be prepared for plausible scenarios. It's never a bad idea to have some extra quantities of the basic survival necessities just in case. There's lots of bad things (depending somewhat on where you live) that could very likely happen someday- storms, earthquakes, wildfires, power outages, etc.

On the other hand, there are folks out there- the "doomsday preppers", if you will- who actually seem to be hoping for something disastrous to happen. These folks scare me a bit. They're prepping for things that will most likely never happen-zombies, U.N. takeover of the U.S., Mexican invasion, etc. They've lost touch with reality and that, IMHO, is very dangerous.

In some ways, they are like the various waves of millenial cultists who pop up before every new age. In a lot of cases, when the end doesn't come as planned, they take measures to make it happen.

[Tegyrius]

The growth of the whole zombie prepping phenomenon makes me giggle because I remember when it started up as a metaphor for specific other hazards. Now we have a whole generation of folks who are taking it (way too) literally.

Also, if I did have massively extensive preps at home, there's no way I'd advertise them to all my relatives and neighbors by displaying them on national television. Just sayin'.

- C.

[dragoon500ly]

Not to mention how well armed you are and all of those lovely photos of your little hideout.

"Loose Lips Sink Ships!"

[Neal5x5]

A lot of the preppers are over the edge, like the guy who figured out a way to drink his own purified urine. Yes, it can be done but....Oh dear lord....

Just last night I was looking at purchasing a year's supply of basic grains in long-lasting containers. The biggest obstacle was not so much the price, but as Graebarde pointed out, I don't know what to do with the damn stuff. Guess I'd better look into a hand-cranked grinder and a cookbook first.

[The Rifleman]

I had the oppertunity to talk to survivors of SHTF. I did some time in Croatia and Macedonia training with their armies and they told me about how one day they had a normal life and the next there is a war, looting, death squads. In Kuwait, I met some dam fine resturant owners that told me about the raping, looting and killing when the Iraqis arrived. In Iraq, people told me about civil war, their society and economy collapsing under sanctions and militias. Afghanistan just never seemed to have any real social order above the community or maybe city government.

Where I'm going with this is that I met people who lived this crap and it scared the hell out of me! Reading over what others here have, I'd say that I'm quite well stocked for both short term, long term and indefinately situations. I am glad to see that others are thinking about this. More people thinking this way means fewer people sucking off the system or turning to looting.

Some great points were made about food and investing money. I hate to waste both. Some good tips that I can give you to save money and build your supply base:

Going to the store and buying a couple extra cans of food is good. Going to Mountain House or Alpine Air and buying #10 cans is better. I actually have priced them out and found that if I buy enough at a time, I get free shipping. Augustion farms also will toss you in some free soups or a 20lb bag of rice. Also, I only buy items that I actually eat. I'm slowly rotating through items with a shelf life of 20 years.

Also, I got into canning. I mostly can things out of the garden, but I also found that the farmer's market sells things a lot cheaper than the store at the end of the season. By putting it into my old mason jars, I'm saving $$$ and instead of a can of beans from Price Chopper that is good til 2014, I have my mason jar thats good til 2017 and 1/2 the cost.

Rice is dirt cheap and it fills the belly. It also is provides carbs needed for hard work such as fighting, farming, running or whatever. As long as it stays dry, it will last for years. I currently have 200 lbs on hand. Unlike most of my other ventures, I know I can never rotate that stock fast enough. I don't have the shelf life of my #10 cans. So I keep it dated and when it hits year 4 I will be bringing it to my local foodshelf and writing it off as a tax deduction.

Overall, I would say that I can feed myself and 9 other family members for 6 months. They are aware of my practices and they each have their own stocks as well, so we probably would be closer to 9 months or a years worth of food for a short term emergency. This doesn't include plans and supplies for water, light, defense, medical emergency, food growing and so on.