"preppers" ... nutter survivalists or common sense??

[rhaig 0]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/survival/stories/american-preppers-survival-natural-disasters

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Are preppers just another group of paranoid doomsdayers? Not at all. Many of the scenarios they prepare for, like hurricanes, are quite real, unlike some of the outlandish scenarios (like a United Nations takeover, religious cleansing or government despotism) that drive more extreme members of the fringe. Jerry Young, a longtime prepper in Reno, Nevada, says he has list of 137 scenarios he's preparing for, though "only a handful of those" are things he's seriously worried about. "Mostly of my preparations are for natural disasters," he says. "But the basic preparations apply to all of them."

--
Rob

[champu 1]

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...has list of 137 scenarios he's preparing for...

Nutter.

Sitting down and making a list of 137 anything makes you at least a little crazy.

[rhaig 0]

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Sitting down and making a list of 137 anything makes you at least a little crazy.

heh! yeah, you got a point there...

I thought the trucker's point of view was interesting. But sitting down and making a list of 137 scenarios would make someone a little crazy no matter their mental state when they started.

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Rob

[Belgian_Draft 0]

Keeping a stash of canned goods, etc. in case of a natural disaster is good preparation.
Keeping a HUGE stash of food and enough weapons to outfit a small army = nutter...at least until the zombies attack. Then they look pretty darn smart.

HAMMER:
Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a
kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the
object we are trying to hit.

[Andy9o8 2]

Fear them.

http://xce.xanga.com/ffc0015b06530249626910/z170008930.jpg

[Skyrad 0]

Good drills to be prepared, but these people sound somewhat obsessive.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[diablopilot 2]

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Good drills to be prepared, but these people sound somewhat obsessive.

Remind me of that the next time there is a Katrina type event in your neighborhood.

To many people seriously believe in the stability of the systems they use daily. Ask your self how would I cope without water or electricity for 5 days. If you're answer involves relying on anyone but yourself, you should see that as a problem and address it.

Or don't. I'll be ok either way.

----------------------------------------------
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.

[popsjumper 2]

There's a lot that can be said for being prepared.

What I see is that it won't be long before the FBI (and their associated nutters) comes to shoot them up, burn them out and arrest the survivors.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[AggieDave 6]

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There's a lot that can be said for being prepared.

What I see is that it won't be long before the FBI (and their associated nutters) comes to shoot them up, burn them out and arrest the survivors.

You say that, but there are thousands upon thousands of people taking steps to prepare for some sort of disaster level. From the extremists living in compounds in Wyoming to people putting away some water and canned goods. A little reading on the subject walks the gauntlet from books written by "Boston T. Party" (I'm not kidding) to books written by house wives on how to utilize extra space in your home to store food stuffs for your family in case of a disaster. One of the more popular authors, James Wesley Rawles, has written volumes on the subject on the internet, as well as two highly popular books on the subject. He could be considered a bit off of center in terms of beliefs, but he's still largely popular!

Every scouting organization in the world teaches some sort of survivalist belief. From The Boy Scouts' "Be Prepared" to the Royal Ranger's "Ready, ready for anything, work, play, serve and obey..." (serve and obey being of Christian values). It is not an uncommon thread of belief in our society.

Preparedness has, however, grown to be largely believed to be apart of government function. That has been quite visible after every major disaster in the last 20 years. Unprepared citizens with outstretched hands. We have all seen how well the various governments have responded, from the municipalities to the federal level, nearly all of the major scenarios have shown serious lacking.

If you look at your neighbors on your street, I'm willing to bet at least one of them is prepared in some fashion. You won't know it. They won't tell you. They won't advertise it. They will be the ones who aren't going to starve or be huddled in their house hoping for a helping hand to live, if something happens.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Remind me of that the next time there is a Katrina type event in your neighborhood.

To many people seriously believe in the stability of the systems they use daily. Ask your self how would I cope without water or electricity for 5 days.

I will be ####ed if/when something nasty happens where I live. Fortunately I live on top of a hill so large scale flooding is not likely to get me. But we here in the modern world have become rather dependent on the system. The system that gives us water, electricity, and some sort of combustible commodity (natural gas for me) to keep our homes heated. Not to mention food being available to us at our local shopping malls. Cut anyone of these off for any length of time and then let's see who the "nutter" is. I have enough supplies in my home to help me survive about one or two months, but what happens if I lose access to these supplies? Also what happens once my supplies are consumed? Of course humanity has survived outside of the modern world in the past, but we here in the modern era have become far too soft, far too complacent and far too dependent on the system.

Yes some of these people are a tad on the obsessive side. But at least they are not complacent.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[popsjumper 2]

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Of course humanity has survived outside of the modern world in the past,

...and could do so again...if you're smart enough to be prepared both physically and mentally.

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but we here in the modern era have become far too soft, far too complacent and far too dependent on the system.

...as evidenced, particularly in recent years.

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Yes some of these people are a tad on the obsessive side. But at least they are not complacent.

Hence my personal Rah Rah, cheers and slap on the back for those who choose to BE prepared for the worst.

Unfortunately that includes stockpiling things that scare LE and the complacent citizens such as weapons and ammo. Can't have that now, can we?

Oh wait...that makes me a loony who should be evaluated for mental illness doesn't it?

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[rhaig 0]

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Unfortunately that includes stockpiling things that scare LE and the complacent citizens such as weapons and ammo. Can't have that now, can we?

Oh wait...that makes me a loony who should be evaluated for mental illness doesn't it?

why does being prepared for a services outtage mean you have to stockpile weapons? If you believe that the community you live in will ransack your house for your preps, then you need to help them get prepared now while they can, or move to a different community.

Stocking food for your family doesn't make you a nutter.

Stocking ammo and guns to fend off the attacking hordes makes you paranoid, but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

--
Rob

[popsjumper 2]

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Unfortunately that includes stockpiling things that scare LE and the complacent citizens such as weapons and ammo. Can't have that now, can we?

Oh wait...that makes me a loony who should be evaluated for mental illness doesn't it?

why does being prepared for a services outtage mean you have to stockpile weapons? If you believe that the community you live in will ransack your house for your preps, then you need to help them get prepared now while they can, or move to a different community.

Stocking food for your family doesn't make you a nutter.

Stocking ammo and guns to fend off the attacking hordes makes you paranoid, but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

If you want to change the topic of the thread to only those who prepare for service outages, then fine.

If you want to limit your preparedness to service-outage situations and ignore other situations, then fine.

Not being a smart-ass but, It's going to be fun watching you trying to gather food when your service-outage stash runs out after any situation. Are you any good at trapping? Do you have a good idea of what vegetation is edible and what will kill you?

It's only paranoia to those who believe it can't happen to them. I guess, New Orleans was a "paranoid" city. I don't imagine that's much true any more.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[Skyrad 0]

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Good drills to be prepared, but these people sound somewhat obsessive.

Remind me of that the next time there is a Katrina type event in your neighborhood.

To many people seriously believe in the stability of the systems they use daily. Ask your self how would I cope without water or electricity for 5 days. If you're answer involves relying on anyone but yourself, you should see that as a problem and address it.

Or don't. I'll be ok either way.

I have a brain in my head and decided not to live in a hurricane belt

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[billvon 2,991]

>I have a brain in my head and decided not to live in a hurricane belt

I've learned that it's hard to find anywhere where there are no hazards. Hurricane belt, heavy snow area, earthquake zone, wildfire risks, flood plain, mudslide hazard, flash flood area - pretty much everywhere you go there are hazards.

Fortunately you can plan for almost all of them. The best planning is long range, when you're choosing your home's siting, building it, deciding on a roof etc.

[AggieDave 6]

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>I have a brain in my head and decided not to live in a hurricane belt

I've learned that it's hard to find anywhere where there are no hazards. Hurricane belt, heavy snow area, earthquake zone, wildfire risks, flood plain, mudslide hazard, flash flood area - pretty much everywhere you go there are hazards.

Unless you live in California, then you can have all of those happen to you at once. Luckily BillVon is a duck and is used to such nonsense.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Zep 0]

You answererd that so much better than I could, thank you.

Gone fishing

[Skyrad 0]

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>I have a brain in my head and decided not to live in a hurricane belt

I've learned that it's hard to find anywhere where there are no hazards. Hurricane belt, heavy snow area, earthquake zone, wildfire risks, flood plain, mudslide hazard, flash flood area - pretty much everywhere you go there are hazards.

Fortunately you can plan for almost all of them. The best planning is long range, when you're choosing your home's siting, building it, deciding on a roof etc.

Yep, that what I did, where I live is on top of a very big hill, there is no risk of flood, there is bugger all wildlife unless I get attacked by giant killer squirrels, we don't have earthquakes worth mentioning at all, no mudslides, no wildfire risks, and even with a massive dump of snow we have our roads cleared within two days at most. Also the vast majority of people around here don't own firearms so even in the unlikely event of civil unrest its unlikely that much will go far wrong.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[david3 0]

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>I have a brain in my head and decided not to live in a hurricane belt

I've learned that it's hard to find anywhere where there are no hazards. Hurricane belt, heavy snow area, earthquake zone, wildfire risks, flood plain, mudslide hazard, flash flood area - pretty much everywhere you go there are hazards.

Fortunately you can plan for almost all of them. The best planning is long range, when you're choosing your home's siting, building it, deciding on a roof etc.

Yep, that what I did, where I live is on top of a very big hill, there is no risk of flood, there is bugger all wildlife unless I get attacked by giant killer squirrels, we don't have earthquakes worth mentioning at all, no mudslides, no wildfire risks, and even with a massive dump of snow we have our roads cleared within two days at most. Also the vast majority of people around here don't own firearms so even in the unlikely event of civil unrest its unlikely that much will go far wrong.

You never know.

[rhaig 0]

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Unfortunately that includes stockpiling things that scare LE and the complacent citizens such as weapons and ammo. Can't have that now, can we?

Oh wait...that makes me a loony who should be evaluated for mental illness doesn't it?

why does being prepared for a services outtage mean you have to stockpile weapons? If you believe that the community you live in will ransack your house for your preps, then you need to help them get prepared now while they can, or move to a different community.

Stocking food for your family doesn't make you a nutter.

Stocking ammo and guns to fend off the attacking hordes makes you paranoid, but just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

If you want to change the topic of the thread to only those who prepare for service outages, then fine.

If you want to limit your preparedness to service-outage situations and ignore other situations, then fine.

Not being a smart-ass but, It's going to be fun watching you trying to gather food when your service-outage stash runs out after any situation. Are you any good at trapping? Do you have a good idea of what vegetation is edible and what will kill you?

It's only paranoia to those who believe it can't happen to them. I guess, New Orleans was a "paranoid" city. I don't imagine that's much true any more.

becoming self sufficient (learning to hunt & trap, learning gathering edibles, learning to grow your own) doesn't necessarily require a huge stock of ammo and guns that would "scare LE". you seemed to imply that a serious prepper would have enough stock of things to scare LE. I don't believe that to be true.

preparing for outages of services (including water, groceries, power, natural gas) is "basic preparedness". (and covers outages caused by localized natural disasters)

If you want to go beyond that and prepare for an EMP, or breakdown of society, or invasion by a foreign army, or then you start with basic preparedness and tack on the other shit later.

--
Rob

[Skyrad 0]

OH SHIT! Right thats it, I'm off to buy some tinned tuna, beans and a fuck off giant BB gun!

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[rehmwa 2]

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...has list of 137 scenarios he's preparing for...

Nutter.

Sitting down and making a list of 137 anything makes you at least a little crazy.

am I nutters for sitting down and making a prep list for 38 things? (22 blocks, 16 randoms)

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[rehmwa 2]

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Yep, that what I did, where I live is on top of a very big hill, there is no risk of flood, there is bugger all wildlife unless I get attacked by giant killer squirrels, we don't have earthquakes worth mentioning at all, no mudslides, no wildfire risks, and even with a massive dump of snow we have our roads cleared within two days at most. Also the vast majority of people around here don't own firearms so even in the unlikely event of civil unrest its unlikely that much will go far wrong.

sounds like you've prepped extremely well

of course, the glaring hole in your plan being a lack of preparation for giant killer squirrels

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[jdthomas 0]

I don't think by any means I am a nutter, but we are preparing for a loss of service to our home. This has happend to the area we are moving to soon. Power loss for more then 1 week 2 yrs ago and a power loss of 5 days last yr. We plan to have a back up genarator and since we will use well water for our source this is crucial for the powering of the pump.
we also have land, lost of land that will support our food needs with canning process for winter consumption and wildlife for meat consumption. the firearms that we have are to keep whats ours at bay from those that are desprate and without the means of survival. so firearms serve dual purpose of hunting game and defending the home.
we don't have a written plan for stuff, that seems a bit crazy but who am I to say whats crazy.. the guy who wrote out all thos plans could say skydiving is crazy.

www.greenboxphotography.com

[RonD1120 62]

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http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/survival/stories/american-preppers-survival-natural-disasters

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Are preppers just another group of paranoid doomsdayers? Not at all. Many of the scenarios they prepare for, like hurricanes, are quite real, unlike some of the outlandish scenarios (like a United Nations takeover, religious cleansing or government despotism) that drive more extreme members of the fringe. Jerry Young, a longtime prepper in Reno, Nevada, says he has list of 137 scenarios he's preparing for, though "only a handful of those" are things he's seriously worried about. "Mostly of my preparations are for natural disasters," he says. "But the basic preparations apply to all of them."

Good idea, for a hobby if nothing else.

"Invest in beans and bullets, in equal amounts." ~ VVA Member on VVA TalkList

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.