Something to consider as it may skew the results,
Most of us "prepping" types are also the OPSEC type. Therefore, how accurate is any poll really going to be?

I have no doubt the younger generations are less likely to put the effort into preparedness because they haven't known hunger/strife. They have lived in the land of plenty all their lives so don't have the same drive. The last generation to suffer as a whole was during the depression which is 3 generations removed.

As for the effect on my planning, it has none. I plan for me and mine, anybody else wanting a piece of it will pay for it, one way or the other.

 

I talk to LDS guys around here and I doubt anybody has more than a months worth.
I think the closest Storehouse is in Snowflake AZ

 

May I ask - can anyone with cash buy from an LDS Storehouse or only if you belong to their church?

 

Did that survey ask how many had 'more than a year's worth'?

Did that survey ask how many had 'only 6 month's worth'?

Did that survey ask if they could only store 3 months of meds [and probably would last only a couple months more] did they still store a year's worth of food?

Did that survey ask how many produced [farm and/or garden] enough food to cover past their stored food amount [whatever that might be]?

 

That stake has in it a metro area of 40,000 people and 2 towns of around 3,000. The rest is rural with a couple town under a thousand people. Gardening i not easy due to a lot of clay in soils. The lack of farmer's markets gives an idea about gardens. People in towns rarely grow gardens.

The church used to recommend 72 hours worth. In the days around the great depression is when the year's supply talk came around. Few people regularly use that recommended dry food. Most people these days have never heard of powdered milk or know how to use old beans. General preparation just isn't a priority these days. There has never been talk of storing meds. For many years all that was needed is wheat, powdered milk, honey or sugar, salt, beans and white rice and oil, and water. Some members have this but their kids want "good" food not what the pioneers ate.

So if during a SHTF time, people are depending on finding a Mormon family for help, they will be disappointed.

 

I bet if you could accurately measure every person level of preparedness in this forum the amount of food would be surprisingly low. Even with excluding the people that join and leave a month later that never start prepping I would be surprised if more than 10% have a year or more of food stored or a way to feed themselves (farming/homestead).

Part of the problem is preppers can't agree what they should be prepping for. A good chunk of us are preparing for a short term disaster that might be 1-4 weeks. Which is fine buy still lowers the amount of food preppers have on average.

 

yep and the proportion of members here that have real preps and a survivalist mindset is actually quite low now.

The chances are that a new member, who has not yet decided whether they should prep, being talked out of doing so, is actually quite large.

Most threads here are not about survivalism. If you read those that are, there is plenty of Normalcy Bias here - in some cases as bad as that found in the wider community.

The best advice for a newby is to not try to pick which type of disaster might happen - as that is known as scenario prepping - and is accepted as a bad strategy. It is better to prep to create capabilities that are common to as many scenarios as possible (eg water, shelter, food, medical, defence/security, hygiene, clothing, communications, navigation, mobility, etc, etc)

When I joined here, there were plenty of people who would explain that to new members - lately you don't even see that discussed....

 

Doing hvac for a living I get to work in peoples homes all day and I can count on my 10 fingers how many homes I've worked in and found food storage. The one's I did find or see were probably more of a hoarders situation than a survival situation.
Even way out in the country you don't see people storing food, you really don't even see gardens at peoples homes anymore. Same thing with freezers.

 

I have a very close LDS friend that is in his early 40's. He told me about 5 years ago that the church relaxed the requirement for 12 months of provisions to 3 months. He does have 3 months, stored in his basement. He did it the easy and lazy way... he just purchased from a freeze-drying company, pails of ready-prep. He also has 100 gallons of water in 5 gallon pails.

This is one guy that is LDS, so I doubt he represents all LDS.

But certainly.... there probably isn't a Millennial on the planet with a 20lb sack of pinto beans in their pantry.


.......





You've made a very fair observation and I would bet you are 99% accurate, but if you worked in my home, you wouldn't think I had a single can in storage. Even an HVAC guy wouldn't notice my stash.


......

 

As for the general population, no not many.
As to those on this site, most do to some extent.
For example, our son has three freezers.

 

Our nation lacks the will to take on hard things.

Most folks, especially the political type, are far too interested in bread and circuses; personal wealth, status, possessions, and entertainment. It’s much the same here in rural WV. We have no CERT or organized community disaster response group. Our elected representatives point to the Sheriff and volunteer Fire departments as all we should need. I’ll spare you many illustrative anecdotes of the shortfalls in that approach.

I am hamstrung by an expectation that men who assume the mantle of leadership should actually lead. That is, make the hard decisions based on prudence and the welfare of those in his charge. Doing what’s right is rarely popular, starting with Noah, Abraham, and Moses. It hasn’t gotten any easier with larger populations and technology.

I don’t imply that we need a national or regional commander or a dictator. Rather principled men who make the case for change and investment to insure against catastrophe. Insure in the sense that a foreseeable and probable event is an inconvenience instead of a catastrophe. I simply ask for leadership from those who bear the title. Leaders eat last for a reason.

Perhaps that’s a bit much to ask in these days of declining empire. The politicos and oligarchs scramble to build there personal bundle of wealth before attending to the business of their constituents and shareholders. Good times make weak men. A simple fact of life.

The good news is that the cycle will eventually turn, IF we survive it. Hard times make hard men who do what’s required and rise to the mantle of leadership. Or so says my study of history. It happens on the local and regional level as well. The WV and Colorado coal miners wars come immediately to mind. Hard men doing what’s required where the oligarchs and politicos failed to take prudent measures. Those cases show that the process isn’t cheap or pretty, and that some things are worth fighting for.

Posters here have made a strong argument about the weakness of our current society and I can’t refute it. I wish that I could. I simply expect more from a few Americans who claim to be leaders. Failing duty has severe consequences for everyone. I’d rather avoid that if possible.

Educating folks about risks in simple, consistent terms is one part of that process.

 

Given where I live, most everyone I know preps.

But I don't think this is a good representation of the entire society.

 

My latest disaster is going to have me scaling back on LTS food and most of my water. It was just in the way and made me look weird in front of the contractors.

What preps did I need? Good insurance, cash on hand, etc. Buckets of lentils and rice? Not so much.

Cat carriers. I did not have a carrier for each cat.

 

You learned.

And you grew.

Now and forever you will be better prepared.

 

I see nothing wrong with scenario prepping. I live in hurricane country along the gulf coast, so I prep for hurricanes. It is a starting point,
According to the flow of this board, I should have a deuce and a half full of weapons, ammo, food, NBC suits etc to get me to a well defended compound at a secret location. Sorry I don't have the $$ to set aside for that much stuff and don't have the social network that some of you have. One day it may well come to pass that I will find out I should have done more, but for now.....

Just because I am not a Doomsday Prepper, does not mean I don't prep.

 

That is fine - and for people who choose to only prep for short term, mild emergencies there are many resources out there.

https://www.ready.gov/calendar

The FEMA website provides tips on basic preps for short term crises that are unlikely to scare people about potential, more severe crises. The premise of those tips is that the government will still be functioning and always in control of the situation and people (although it didn't really follow that playbook in Katrina - did it?).

As I understand it, the Survivalists Boards is still the largest such discussion forum on the web. If this is not the place to focus upon more advanced prepping for severe and long term crises, then no such place exists.

No such focus is currently applied. Anyone wanting to discuss advanced survivalism here has to shovel their way through tons of politics, religion and trivia to get to the odd pieces of survivalism content.

It was not always like that......

 

well for me as far as food I keep pretty close to a years worth for me[single] and some for family that might show up ,given time of year I might have enough to feed several people for a year[grow almost a acre of garden] or be able to produce that amount over a summer ,ground is prepped and seeds stored, this last fall I planted a five gallon bucket of plum pits [wild native]around my area and a few cleared areas close to home [within eye sight]

water is pretty much covered I have a flowing well that runs winter or summer

here heat is a big issue ,,,I have almost two years worth of fire wood

as far as protecting it that's a challenge for me,i have the means more or less covered but lack the manpower that's part of the reason I grow so much ,,,its a trade item to me to help get the manpower

I also have several bows and arrows stored for hunting along with enough cable/wire to make literally hundreds of snares for different types of animals along with hooks and line to fish

 

As a counterpoint, you can buy emergency food through Sams or Walmart, Walmart stocks somethings, academy, bass pro and similar stores all have FD food in stock, as does the local gun store.

Far more internet based retailers than old brink and mortar stores, and for our members in UT- did emergency essentials have 5-6 retail locations 20 years ago?

WM carries prepping food, only cause they make money doing it. Someone’s buying.

 

I struggle against normalcy bias because I have lived most of my life in a fairly insulated middle class world where the economy is doing okay , crime is likely less violent than other parts of the globe, there have been few natural disasters causing grief locally. And I prep by opportunity to put in place things to make our lifestyle secure . There are always going to be those whom are going to tuck a bit extra aside, whether they say anything or not , and those whom will drown in glass of water . I think there are those whom would rather fantasize about prepping for a raider ambush than address their addictions, middle age spread, health issues and financial instability .

 

I think there are those whom would rather fantasize about prepping for a raider ambush than address their addictions, middle age spread, health issues and financial instability .

If you can't be healthy and successful when times are at their best, you probably won't be so when they are at their worst.

There have been times where I have used preparedness as a distraction from everyday life and tasks at hand and am trying to be more honest with myself and use more of that energy for the now as well as the "if".

 

If you're going to scenario prep, just assume the worst.

EMP strike, Economic collapse with hurricanes, tornados, blizzards and the DNC taking over
Then Florida man parks a trailer next door.

Plan accordingly

 

Yep.

Supposedly John Jay (1813) wrote "To hope for the best and prepare for the worst, is a trite but a good maxim." This tip is an English proverb from prior to the 18th Century. The phrase means you should have a good plan that has contingency plans for the bad things that might happen.......

https://planningskills.com/tips/40.php

But those who avoid scenario prepping eventually gain solace from knowing that they have all the basic requirements for survival covered (for all types of events for which they can be covered).

I found that once I had that, I stopped stressing out over world, national or local events. I watch the news now with a good degree of detachment.

The more I prep, the more relaxed I become about what could happen.....and for someone not afflicted with Normalcy Bias, that is an achievement.

 

It as about providing time.
The woman and I are good for about 3 years.
Aside from mutant ninja zombie attacks which are unlikely around here

 

It's going to be interesting to see what kind of surprise we get--

too many preppers, just right, or too few.

 

The chances are that a new member, who has not yet decided whether they should prep, being talked out of doing so, is actually quite large.

Most threads here are not about survivalism. If you read those that are, there is plenty of Normalcy Bias here - in some cases as bad as that found in the wider community.

Indeed.

I eventually realized that there where really only two worthwhile kinds of threads for me.

Newbies who I could help.

And serious discussions with fellow preppers who function on or above my level.

Sadly, 80% of newbie posts are just a single question with no further interaction, (honestly I think half the people who ask questions here are just would be authors looking for story ideas) and every newbie post quickly gets flooded with lots of bad advice and argument, often argument against the very idea of prepping.

Serious nuts and bolts style prepping threads are few and far between these days, although even just a couple of years ago it was different...and again, end up with two or three people trying to have a real conversation while a dozen people who's post history is 95% political and religious jump in and essentially argue against even bothering to prep, either claiming that it is futile, or its never going to happen.

No such focus is currently applied. Anyone wanting to discuss advanced survivalism here has to shovel their way through tons of politics, religion and trivia to get to the odd pieces of survivalism content.

It was not always like that......

Absolutely.

As for the OPs question:

In other words will most well-intentioned preppers of any religion or no religion be a help to the well-prepared or a hindrance? Should we take this into consideration when we prep?

There is a part of me that seriously wonders if trying to 'preach' prepping is a serious mistake and will only lead to more people who 'think' like preppers but who are not actually prepared and who are just well educated raiders to be.

Depending on how it goes down these people could be useful allies, if you have enough extra to feed them, but I think most will really be enemies, and more dangerous enemies than the 'zombies' at that.

 

I'll admit I don't prep for some world WROL or any TEOTWAWKI. There has always been someone in control of resources, whether it's a legitimate government or some warlord, etc.

I prep for short term interruptions of good and services. Approx. 3-4 months. When I was younger say 40 yrs ago I was more interested in the prepper life, but didn't have the money or freedom (Military) to do that much. Now I have more time and resources but, guess I've heard all the Doom and Gloom for so long It doesn't concern me as much as it use to.

 

I would never answer any 'survey' about what I have stored, truthfully. I'd expect the survey results to be misused.

I'll always be the guy who'd say "yep gots beer an' T-bones for three days then I expect resupply for my taxes".

The truth does not, in my experience, set us free in such a context.

 

With current breaking events in IRAN tonight, if I could (which I can't) I would be filling all fuel containers, and advancing food storage......Tonight. But I can't go to town till late spring....near end of April.

I wonder how many are topping off tonight, and filling any empty space in the larder. Hell, if I lived where many on these forums live and they talk about their bug'out land....I wonder what they need to see and hear to trigger that drive.....Congress approving war with Iran......??? How packed will the roads be when that is made public....???

In a few hours from now North Korea could be pounding South Korea, Israel could be rubble. Russia could be in control of Alaska military bases, and America and Canada could be enjoying a long dark EMP holiday. So exactly when and what will trigger your super serious action......or do you need to check with the neighbors, and distant family before hauling ass out of dodge...??? Surely no one wants to look foolish.

If not America vaporizing Iran's top military officer, and the assumed reaction. When do we haul ass out of dodge.....????

 

With current breaking events in IRAN tonight, if I could (which I can't) I would be filling all fuel containers, and advancing food storage......Tonight. But I can't go to town till late spring....near end of April.

I wonder how many are topping off tonight, and filling any empty space in the larder. Hell, if I lived where many on these forums live and they talk about their bug'out land....I wonder what they need to see and hear to trigger that drive.....Congress approving war with Iran......??? How packed will the roads be when that is made public....???

Interesting. I'm not particularly alarmed. Seems like business as usual for the middle east.

 

Real prepping requires work - resources - thinking - things becoming rare in our society. Those who have found themselves suddenly unemployed, injured, or otherwise without funds coming in, if they are wise, learn from it and start prepping. Many find no support from their peers for doing it, so they quit. That is why forums like this one are so important - to encourage folks. No money? Prep skills (foraging, fishing, trapping, cooking over open fires, etc) instead of spending that which you dont have. Not all prepping is physical, much of it is mental. And continuing to prep regardless of what others do or think is an important part. There are more preppers out there than you know, many feel silly talking about it (especially after "doomsday preppers" examples) but they are out there nonetheless. They just don;t talk about it.

 

Living in a rural area I have 6 families within a half mile of me who most on SB would think of as serious preppers but 5 of those are Mormons. I am what you would call a serious prepper/survivalist. I eat what I store and I store what I eat. It takes time because there is SO much to put away. and you have to keep replenishing your supply. And you make mistakes buying in that some stuff goes bad faster than you think.

 

Being a prepper means being ready for trouble, and that is not measured by stored food alone. Most preppers HAVE stored food, but stored food is only part of prepping

Life is turbulent and busy. I prep as is convenient and I spend the REST of my attention on whatever has happened that day or whatever NEEDS to happen that day: this is because I try to live a well rounded life. I do some family stuff, some repair stuff, daily exercise by working in the garden a bit, the shopping during which time I buy a bit for the pantry, I fix the dinner and I often REMOVE a bit from the pantry, more family stuff, the car needs taking into the shop, etc.

Prepping MUST stay a relatively small part of my life, as I have other things that I must do.

Do I have a years worth of food? Nope. Not a chance. Do I have a few months worth? Very probably, but I have not counted because life is so very busy. I CAN say that the freezer is full, the pantry is half full, the seeds for next year have been bought, and if I can find the time I would like to buy and plant a couple of more dwarf fruit trees. Last summer I harvested a lot of pears and peaches and everybody loved the dried fruit that I made. So last Fall I planted 2 more trees, and if I can I will plant a couple more trees next year.

I also have skills, and tools, and family ties, and that is part of prepping also.

LAstly I favor the "Grey man" approach. I would NOT answer a survey that spoke of what I have. I cannot hide the garden but my community does NOT know what is in my home: I would like it to stay that way. When I want to talk about prepping I take it to a forum.

 

It is pretty inexpensive to buy a year supply of grains and put it into plastic 4-gallon buckets. Look in bakeries for these. A good grinder can be had for under $200 and get one with a hand attachment. Buy some evaporated cane sugar, some salt and powdered milk, not instant, and you will easily have a year supply for a family without a lot of work and money. That's what I did when I started out.

 

I agree.
I'm more worried about the 'system' than I am about what's happening in the Middle East.

 

Generally, its primarily fot church members but they do have dates that they sell to the rest of us at the same prices, in cash only. If its bulk, I only pay cash so there is no record online. Thats a FEvMA trick many folks dont know about. They have algorythems running for that 24/7/365. Walmarts, Sams and Costco are bad for that. Its super easy to verify with the righth algorythems searching. FEMA is under Homeland Security.

 

Depends on where you are, I guess.

Our local Storehouse is open 2 or 3 days per week depending on which one you go to, and anyone can buy. It's not cash only here; I've used both debit and credit every time I've gone in.

We get up there every 2-3 months, I'd guess.

I've been to both the Glendale and Mesa storehouses in AZ, but none others.

Here's a listing with hours: https://providentliving.churchofjes...rg/self-reliance/food-storage/home-storage-center-locations?lang=eng#Western US

 

Yep! I'm asking for pre-SHTF

After it does if/when it does, I will be looking - depending on my location - at buying only guzzoline, or a bicycle. With silver coins. Everything else I expect to need* will be either with me, or at the BOL cache.

* And I am 100% sure I will have got some multiples of things wrong in either doing / having too much, too little or not at all.

(But then, that was my experience with dating girls in my youth, so why should SHTF-times be any different )