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 Polonius wrote:
I think preparing for a few days without food, water, heat, and electricity is wise. As has been noted, a lot can disrupt the logistics of a modern urban area. A few gallons of water, some canned/dried food, and a plan can help.

As for the utter collapse of civilization? My plan, without irony, is to die quickly. I'm literally a bureacrat, with no real skills. I'm out of shape, obese, and I have allergies and flat feet. There's no way I make it outside of civilization.

If things turn bad, hobbies can be more important than jobs.
Shooting, fishing, gardening, fish keeping all hobbies.

one thing I really tend to notice with all you "prepper" types is the over abundance of "stuff" being bought, and the lack of real world skills...


Im not a prepper or doomer by any means, people just think I am because I went through scouts, can hunt/fish/survive in the wild, alone and with minimal gear, and always have a month or two of water/food/essentials at home...

stuff that everyone in my grand pappys generation always did.

to me thats just common sense... half a dozen times the water was super handy when a pipe froze, or work had to be done and there was no H20 in the taps.

that being said, never count on stores that are more then you can carry, there is always going to be someone or some group, or some natural disaster, that is able to push you out of your hidy hole.

training, and the ability to adapt/make do with what you can personally carry is going to be a better plan then storing endless amounts of stuff.

again, I am about 0.000000001% worried about anything, but realistically, I think most preppers put too much faith in their gear, and dont spend enough time actually out in the wild, or practicing the skills.

mostly they are actually quite bonkers... letting their paranoia envelpoe their entire, so far disaster free, lives, which is a disaster in of itself IMO.

I think we need more survival like the show "naked and afraid", where the people on it are actually relying on their brains to stay alive, and it paints a pretty accurate picture of how even the tiny sub 100ilbs girls will out perform the 6'8" ex spec ops marine in a survival role, because she actually knows how to survive without kit, while he only has army training (very kit dependant IMO)

really good show, highly reccomended for entertainment and educational value.

Honestly, many Americans are raised thinking they can spend their way out of problems.

I think we need more survival like the show "naked and afraid"

This sounds like the title to about ten million evil man chick flick movies, and one good one.

 gorgon wrote:
Honestly, many Americans are raised thinking they can spend their way out of problems.

That's my plan if I can steal my parents' gas lands.

I'm not what you call a fighter. I'm don't stock food with other than a several day supply after learning my lesson from a flood.

I do know how to hunt (not a good one though), fish, skin animals, great at growing food and I am very knowledgeable with wood working tools. I have skills in exchange for food, safety and a minimum of 9 hours of sleep on a nice bed.

I can mix rum and water in almost any container!

Well if we do have a collapse I will make a killing on tin foil hats.

Some stock up on charmin ultra soft toilet paper.

You will be a hero in the new era.

 Piston Honda wrote:
Some stock up on charmin ultra soft toilet paper.

You will be a hero in the new era.

Yup...

I know the swear filter will kick in... but, we call them "gak tickets".

 whembly wrote:

 Piston Honda wrote:
Some stock up on charmin ultra soft toilet paper.

You will be a hero in the new era.

Yup...

I know the swear filter will kick in... but, we call them "gak tickets".

People won't want toilet paper. Paper bills will suffice, the ones with heads on

added video about prepping

Nope, I want charmin ultra soft toilet paper.

I like the feeling as though I am wiping myself with soft clouds from heaven.

It's almost as if it were a drug when you compare it to that sand paper stuff.

Stick with baby wipes. That way you can clean your butt clappers and have a nice cool sensation while wiping

Don't forget the prunes!

 Frazzled wrote:
I can mix rum and water in almost any container!

My kind of apocalyptic skillset!

Better spread out the rum over time. Chances we might be relocating to TX around the Dallas area Frazz.....I do believe the moon shining business and the beginning of NASCAR version two will begin 8)

I highly doubt the our (USA & UK...actually say top tier countries) government will take ten years or more to recover from "Anarchy". I do believe ten years to reestablish all our logistical infrastructure across our countries. Granted I'm not going to set up my own personnel fiefdom unless its in our mutual defense and well being. I'm not rolling over for any gangbangers or extreme nut groups (IE Northern Washington Militia Freedom Army or 9th Street Cripes). Though if some form of government takes over and say they abolish the IRS in the future I might have a tendency to think about it. I believe on our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I bleed and sweated for our Stars and Stripes and rather have no other to fly the post. HOOAH

Relapse wrote:
People always have to eat, whether they work or not. For the people I know that have gone through job loss, this was better than money in the bank, although they did have savings also. The theme that kept coming back with them was that they were glad they had food storage or it would have been hard to have fed their families.

That's just restating your initial point. But seriously, you have $100 in the bank. You can leave the $100 in the bank, or you can spend it on 150 cans of food. Down the track if you lose your job, you will either have $100 in the bank, which you can spend on 150 cans of food, or you will have 150 cans of food.

It sounds a lot like buying a computer in case your current one breaks... just leave the money in the bank, and buy a new computer when the current one breaks.

 sebster wrote:

Relapse wrote:
People always have to eat, whether they work or not. For the people I know that have gone through job loss, this was better than money in the bank, although they did have savings also. The theme that kept coming back with them was that they were glad they had food storage or it would have been hard to have fed their families.

That's just restating the initial claim. But seriously, you have $100 in the bank. You can leave the $100 in the bank, or you can spend it on 150 cans of food.

Down the track if you lose your job, you will either have $100 in the bank, which you can spend on 150 cans of food, or you will have 150 cans of food.

It sounds a lot like buying a computer in case your current one breaks... just leave the money in the bank, and buy a new computer when the current one breaks.

In said time of that economic collapse, what do you think will be more valuable?

Hard goods that will keep you alive? Or a bill of paper that's about as useful as a piece of toilet paper?

I consider preppers to be moderately-to-high-functioning paranoid schizophrenics.

 azazel the cat wrote:
I consider preppers to be moderately-to-high-functioning paranoid schizophrenics.

Of course you do.

So if the prices change when you can buy 150 cans of food in the past and you only buy 80 cans of food. So basically in times of financial hardship you have 150 cans of food to sustain an individual family for however long 150 cans can last. Unlike buying now (in future) where you can only get about 80 cans. More likely though we buying Ramen Noodles.

 sebster wrote:

Relapse wrote:
People always have to eat, whether they work or not. For the people I know that have gone through job loss, this was better than money in the bank, although they did have savings also. The theme that kept coming back with them was that they were glad they had food storage or it would have been hard to have fed their families.

That's just restating your initial point. But seriously, you have $100 in the bank. You can leave the $100 in the bank, or you can spend it on 150 cans of food. Down the track if you lose your job, you will either have $100 in the bank, which you can spend on 150 cans of food, or you will have 150 cans of food.

It sounds a lot like buying a computer in case your current one breaks... just leave the money in the bank, and buy a new computer when the current one breaks.

It sounds funky, but having seen it in actual practice, I can tell you it works. As I said, the people in question also had a savings, but having the food meant just that, they had food. Money can be garnished, fined, taken away by whatever legal means there are by creditors. Food gets left alone.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Jihadin wrote:
So if the prices change when you can buy 150 cans of food in the past and you only buy 80 cans of food. So basically in times of financial hardship you have 150 cans of food to sustain an individual family for however long 150 cans can last. Unlike buying now (in future) where you can only get about 80 cans. More likely though we buying Ramen Noodles.

One of the big things I have learned about storing food is to get the stuff you like to eat. That way you end up rotating your storage during your normal course of making meals, keeping it well within expiration limits. If the time comes for whatever reason that you do have to live solely from it, your morale has a better chance of remaining at a decent level because you have decent stuff to eat.

But being hungry is plenty of motivation to eat stuff. Being a college student I know. You will eat stuff you didn't like previously.

Unless the thing in question is so utterly repugnant you will be able to eat it.

Relapse wrote:
It sounds funky, but having seen it in actual practice, I can tell you it works. As I said, the people in question also had a savings, but having the food meant just that, they had food. Money can be garnished, fined, taken away by whatever legal means there are by creditors. Food gets left alone.

Ah, I get it now. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

Honestly, if someone wanted to improve their survival odds in a disaster, instead of spending $100 on canned goods, I'd probably suggest they instead seek out a cost effective First Aid course and maybe pick up a properly sourced survival manual. Expand ones hobby horizons; learn to fish, to hunt, to properly clean a wound or set a broken bone/dislocated joint, etc. Having a decade worth of food and water on hand, as has been pointed out, is only useful if you also possess the funds required to have a fall back position that isn't in the disaster area (be a real shame to spend giant piles of money over the years on a well stocked cabin only to have it be 5 feet under water, buried in mud or a smoking crater when the meteor drops, etc). Honing the skills necessary to be as self sufficient as possible and having a reasonable (days/weeks/months even) supply and a well thought out bug out bag could do more than all the tens of thousands of rounds of ammo sitting in someones bunker. A home, a cabin, a cache can be destroyed or looted. As long as one is still drawing breath, those enhanced skills may still save their life or that of another.

If it's within someone's means to do so, and they want to, I wouldn't stand in their way. But I'm of a like mind to those who say that having that extra $100 may prove far more versatile and useful to the average person (even if it's just $100 knocked off their outstanding debt, and the tiny stress relief that could represent) over a meager worst case scenario stockpile they might never need or use.

It's impossible to be prepared for literally every contingency, but simple things like being in decent shape, learning constantly and having some reasonable (based on lifestyle and resources available) precautions set up seem vastly more worthwhile than committing to a lifestyle based on expecting the end times to erupt tomorrow. That seems like an awfully stressful way to live.

 Grey Templar wrote:
But being hungry is plenty of motivation to eat stuff. Being a college student I know. You will eat stuff you didn't like previously.

Unless the thing in question is so utterly repugnant you will be able to eat it.

Being hungry is definitely good motivation to eat, but why compound a bad situation by having things to eat that you normally despise or wouldn't otherwise choose to have? As I said, there is a lot to be said for maintaining some degree of moral by having what you like to eat as your food storage.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 sebster wrote:

Relapse wrote:
It sounds funky, but having seen it in actual practice, I can tell you it works. As I said, the people in question also had a savings, but having the food meant just that, they had food. Money can be garnished, fined, taken away by whatever legal means there are by creditors. Food gets left alone.

Ah, I get it now. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

I guess I could have laid things out a bit more clearly from the start.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@Forar,

There can be a huge misconception about people that develope their storage in that it is thought it just sits there not used until disaster hits. The food storage is constantly in use, being turned over as a regular part of meals. Most people I know that have storage have a good supply of medical supplies and the knowledge to use them as well as being avid outdoors sportsmen.
Quality of life sacrificed? None at all and they don't walk around worrying about an Apocalypse, but have a measure of security knowing they have preparations on hand if something happened. If where they live becomes uninhabitable for whatever reason, they can just bug out to another area where likeminded friends will put them up.

Relapse wrote:
I guess I could have laid things out a bit more clearly from the start.

Nah, it was me not getting it. Anyhow, cheers for your patience.

My plan for survival is very simple. Don't bother.

If the collapse/disaster is severe enough the living will envy the dead.... or something.

 azazel the cat wrote:
I consider preppers to be moderately-to-high-functioning paranoid schizophrenics.

Possibly. Like I said earlier, usually there seems to be that veneer of prudence and rationality. Then you hear about what they're prepping for, and IDEAS are revealed. It often seems as though there's something in particular they're prepping for, or at least some particular fear that's driving them, and it isn't always something that most people would get bothered about.

Still, ultimately it's about people trying to get a sense of control over the uncontrollable. Is it really any different than someone who spends beaucoup bucks on psychics, etc.? Religion can also fill this role, although I also think it's more than that. If these things make people them feel better/safer/happier, who are we to judge? It probably helps society that people have outlets like these. Not everyone rolls well with the uncertainties of life.

 gorgon wrote:

 azazel the cat wrote:
I consider preppers to be moderately-to-high-functioning paranoid schizophrenics.

Possibly. Like I said earlier, usually there seems to be that veneer of prudence and rationality. Then you hear about what they're prepping for, and IDEAS are revealed. It often seems as though there's something in particular they're prepping for, or at least some particular fear that's driving them, and it isn't always something that most people would get bothered about.

Still, ultimately it's about people trying to get a sense of control over the uncontrollable. Is it really any different than someone who spends beaucoup bucks on psychics, etc.? Religion can also fill this role, although I also think it's more than that. If these things make people them feel better/safer/happier, who are we to judge? It probably helps society that people have outlets like these. Not everyone rolls well with the uncertainties of life.

Nearly all mental illnesses are simply "normal" aspects of the mind that are out of balance. It's a matter of context and judgment when behaviors or symptoms cross a line from "normal" to "abnormal." So yeah, nobody would consider a family that has bottled water, canned goods, a camp stove, and a few other essentials stashed in their cellar crazy. OTOH, we all consider a family that quits its jobs and moves to a compound in the woods to be pretty nuts.

I think, as you said, for some it's coping mechanism, that by having control over the unknown they feel better. I mean, it's clearly a signficant number of folks that seem to be actively preparing for the collapse of civilisation, even though it's been about 1500 years since we've had a full blown collapse.

 azazel the cat wrote:
I consider preppers to be moderately-to-high-functioning paranoid schizophrenics.

1. Please review your mental accusations. Please cite where schizophrenic activity has been exhibited.
2. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you...