Preppers: What should we be worried about?

[The Central Scrutinizer]

...and strangely enough, that nutjob over there is a prepper whereas I am merely prepared

Good point.

 

[Nihilianth]

[snip]
Any thoughts?

He's going to do all of that in the next four years, while Congress and the Supreme Court sits idly by? heh, I don't think so!

Lower probability: Plane crash in our FREAKING NEIGHBORHOOD!

I would think the same thing, until a plane actually did crash a few blocks from my mother's house. lol, to be fair though, it was a small plane. But it did take out several telephone poles, a couple of front porches, and two cars, before taking out the fence to the a large grassy field at the airport. Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed.

 

[marksman]

I get a fair amount of "prepper" types in my firearms classes. But there's one prep they all seem to miss, which I tell 'em: Get to know your neighbors.

Excellent advice.

 

[Ranb]

There are legitimate reasons for having a small food supply and a camping stove at home, but the whole prepper/survivalist movement are nuts.

In another tread I suggested a gardening book (John Seymour) to a dedicated survivalist. Just so he would have some food while survivaling. He did not appreciate it, and opted instead to use his guns for hunting.

Not sure what the preppers are like in Denmark, but in the USA, the ones I have talked to were not against gardening at all. Leaving home was strictly a last resort. In fact most of the farmers I have met were ideally prepared for surviving within a small community after a natural or man made disaster.

Ranb

 

[marksman]

I would think the same thing, until a plane actually did crash a few blocks from my mother's house. lol, to be fair though, it was a small plane. But it did take out several telephone poles, a couple of front porches, and two cars, before taking out the fence to the a large grassy field at the airport. Both the pilot and co-pilot were killed.

How do you prepare for that?!

 

[Nihilianth]

How do you prepare for that?!

I dunno. You don't, I guess. As the saying goes: "**** happens." You can't prepare for every single scenario that could possibly pop up.

 

[marksman]

Ironically, my kids just watched Blast from the Past (Brendan Fraser is a kid raised by paranoid parents who holed up in a super-deluxe bomb shelter when they thought nuclear war had happened in the 1960's). And my oldest looked at my wife and said "I bet you wish we could have a bunker like that!"

 

[Nessie]

Does any other country in the world have the fear like Americans do? Serious question.

 

[Xulld]

Does any other country in the world have the fear like Americans do? Serious question.

I think you would first have to determine if the motivation was really fear first. People often do things for a variety of different reasons.

I can and store goods for the same reason I do the dishes. So when I need it, it will be easy to get and use.

Now I prep 5 times what I need just in case, but again not fear based at all, unless doing the dishes is because your afraid of a dirty kitchen!

 

[Checkmite]

Not sure what the preppers are like in Denmark, but in the USA, the ones I have talked to were not against gardening at all. Leaving home was strictly a last resort.

The most senseless part of preppernoia, in my opinion. In the event of a large-scale disaster, the most prudent course of action is to evacuate.

Since I've moved to the Gulf region I've had to make plans for hurricane season; and Plan A says that if by day-3-without-power there's no word on when electricity will be restored, I'm bagging the valuables into my vehicle and leaving the area until civilization returns. What point is there to "sticking it out" in the growing squalor when hot showers and chicken sandwiches are less than an hour's drive up the road? And that's true no matter what the disaster - tornado, hurricane, nuclear meltdown - just drive to where the lights still work, it'll never be more than 80 miles away.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

The most senseless part of preppernoia, in my opinion. In the event of a large-scale disaster, the most prudent course of action is to evacuate.

Since I've moved to the Gulf region I've had to make plans for hurricane season; and Plan A says that if by day-3-without-power there's no word on when electricity will be restored, I'm bagging the valuables into my vehicle and leaving the area until civilization returns. What point is there to "sticking it out" in the growing squalor when hot showers and chicken sandwiches are less than an hour's drive up the road? And that's true no matter what the disaster - tornado, hurricane, nuclear meltdown - just drive to where the lights still work, it'll never be more than 80 miles away.

Bingo.

 

[Polaris]

Yeah, it comes in handy.

After the Loma Prieta Earthquake (1989), we were glad of our "preps," including 5,000 gallons of water in distributed tanks, generators, chainsaws and rescue equipment, and extensive comm gear. We had five youngsters at our place. Fortunately we were able to get them back to their families by the next morning, though we had to force the roads through a couple of downed trees.

Electricity was out for a month. So was most telephone service. For the next week we relayed telephone service from the few areas we could still talk to, to points elsewhere in the state, bridging via Ham radio.

After the Northridge Earthquake (1994), I didn't have those kind of resources (having moved into the area not long before), but within ten minutes I was fully loaded and ready to camp it out. Of course, daylight soon made it clear that it was an unusual local M_R 6.7, not a Landers- or Fort Tejon-style M_R 8, so there was no need. I did assist with seismic surveys but the impact was slight this time.



Sure is.

I get a fair amount of "prepper" types in my firearms classes. But there's one prep they all seem to miss, which I tell 'em: Get to know your neighbors. Stop viewing them as potential zombies and become more involved in your community. Except in the rarest of scenarios, they're the ones who will save your ass -- but only if you find out about each other first.

I think the threat of "preppers" is overblown. There's been paranoiacs forever. Most people aren't, they're just following a trend.

Remember how militias and neo-Nazis were going to be a scourge of epic proportions any day now for years?

I make reasonable preparations for house fires, tornadoes and hurricanes (I do live in Dallas), and have courses of action for rarer occasions like home invasion.

But I don't have a doomsday plan. I like the idea of survivalism as a curiosity, and living off the land makes me all nostalgic. If the bombs start falling I'm going to haul ass to the liquor store for the top shelf scotch so I can die happy.

 

[marksman]

If the bombs start falling I'm going to haul ass to the liquor store for the top shelf scotch so I can die happy.

By then it will be too late. The scotch is going to be looted. Best to get some scotch now. You know, just in case.

 

[Checkmite]

Remember how militias and neo-Nazis were going to be a scourge of epic proportions any day now for years?

No; whenever I've heard of militias and neo-Nazis they've always been portrayed as small isolated clusters of weirdos.

 

[Polaris]

By then it will be too late. The scotch is going to be looted. Best to get some scotch now. You know, just in case.

If I have to pay for it what's the point?

 

[aggle-rithm]

But I don't have a doomsday plan. I like the idea of survivalism as a curiosity, and living off the land makes me all nostalgic. If the bombs start falling I'm going to haul ass to the liquor store for the top shelf scotch so I can die happy.

I remember during the Cold War that was a fairly common sentiment -- some people didn't really WANT to survive a nuclear war. The "survival" plan was to drive up to Ground Zero with a beach chair and a cooler full of beers and enjoy the show.

 

[Agatha]

I think you would first have to determine if the motivation was really fear first. People often do things for a variety of different reasons.

I can and store goods for the same reason I do the dishes. So when I need it, it will be easy to get and use.

Now I prep 5 times what I need just in case, but again not fear based at all, unless doing the dishes is because your afraid of a dirty kitchen!

Just in case of what, though?

I don't can and store foods because firstly I prefer fresh foods, and secondly I honestly cannot imagine a likely scenario where I won't be able to buy what I need as I need it. I shop for groceries once a week and have enough food in the house for about a fortnight at any one time, as long as we could manage without fresh fruit/veg by the second week.

I have spare batteries on hand, a torch and candles in case of a power cut, but the likelihood of a power cut here lasting more than 24 hours is minimal (not least because in the case of power cuts lasting longer than 24 hours, the utility companies have to pay compensation to their customers of £54 for the first 24 hours, and £27 for every 12 hours thereafter*).

Obviously we don't get earthquakes/tornadoes/forest fires here to any great extent, and if you are somewhere where natural disasters might mean you are without power for a couple of weeks then to have that much canned food might be sensible. But in most cases, I don't understand what the preppers are prepping for.

*npower, page 5

 

[Bob001]

....
It got me thinking about: Where do you cross the line from reasonable preparedness to outright paranoia? For instance, I thought about what sort of situations might require us to "bug out":
.....

Here's a story about a guy who pretty much bet the farm that civilization would end at 12:01 a.m. Jan. 1, 2000. He bet wrong, and one of the things he discovered in the hills he fled to is that his new neighbors weren't especially welcoming. They even stole his guns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...6cbde0-4639-11e2-9648-a2c323a991d6_story.html

There's no doubt that local catastrophes, like Katrina and Sandy, could be, well, catastrophic. But it's hard to imagine anything short of nuclear war or asteroid impact that could cause the doom the survivalists are expecting.

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Just in case of what, though?

I don't can and store foods because firstly I prefer fresh foods, and secondly I honestly cannot imagine a likely scenario where I won't be able to buy what I need as I need it. I shop for groceries once a week and have enough food in the house for about a fortnight at any one time, as long as we could manage without fresh fruit/veg by the second week.

I have spare batteries on hand, a torch and candles in case of a power cut, but the likelihood of a power cut here lasting more than 24 hours is minimal (not least because in the case of power cuts lasting longer than 24 hours, the utility companies have to pay compensation to their customers of £54 for the first 24 hours, and £27 for every 12 hours thereafter*).

Obviously we don't get earthquakes/tornadoes/forest fires here to any great extent, and if you are somewhere where natural disasters might mean you are without power for a couple of weeks then to have that much canned food might be sensible. But in most cases, I don't understand what the preppers are prepping for.

*npower, page 5

Yeah, I guess it depends where you are. I live in a condo in downtown St. Louis, MO and have an apartment in downtown Madison, WI, and in the 6 years I've had the condo, and the 2 years I've had the apartment, the power has never gone out. Not once.

 

[crescent]

Does any other country in the world have the fear like Americans do? Serious question.

I guess a couple of Brits got into it, once. Six men equipped to last seven years. I think they might have gone crazy if they really had to stay there that long.