[e.garter]

So today I decided to talk to my mom about the **** hitting the fan and as I was talking about how we should start growing our own produce, maybe storing up barter goods and such, I couldn't help but notice how she was looking at me.

By the time I finished, she just simply laughed and told me how I should stop reading into all of "these crazy books and wesbites because they'll get to your head."

I told her that being prepared, and it didn't matter for what extremity, was a smart thing to do. She talked about how we shouldn't worry about the environment going against us, telling me to relax and such.

I didn't understand how she could think that I was thinking into the extremes, like a psycho as she put it, but she just waved everything off.

And, yeah it did make me wonder about prepping, what I was actually prepping for, was I expecting anything to hit the fan? Of course, I did know that prepping didn't mean going extreme and nailing the windows, fencing off the entire land, and 'wrapping our heads in tinfoil', but it was something useful, and it didn't matter what it was, a tornado, an earthquake, flooding; it's a smart thing to do.

So I was just wondering; what is prepping to you? Why do you think we should prep? And importantly, do you think just the whole idea of preparing for a doubted event is efficient to do?

Just a random question, but I thought it'd be interesting to know from different points of view, thanks guys

 

[goose3]

Prepping is insurance.

I prep against potential bad times, from whatever direction or cause they may arrive.

Just like I have homeowners insurance, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance--I also have survival insurance. It's called my preps.

When you talk about there being a "doubted event," well, I can't imagine a prepper here who is prepping against the possibility of only one event occurring. From economic collapse to a tornado to a flood to grid down to EMP to hurricane to earthquake to ice or snow storm to nuclear plant meltdown to drought to job loss to wildfires to....well, there are a lot aren't there?

There is no "one" event. It's prepping, in any event.

 

[chuckbyf]

Typical ant and grasshopper attitude. Those that think it will all be ok and that nature can't change or bring mayhem will be unprepared. Period.

 

[lifesux]

what is prepping to you?
being able to satisfy as much of my needs as posssible in any given time at any given place.. or simply - be self sufficient, and more simply - DIVERSIFY DAMMIT !!! dont put all eggs in one basket!!!!!!!!

Why do you think we should prep?
"If you have to ask, you are fail already" or something like that I would answer, but to be polite - READ HISTORY DAMMIT !!! or simply - learn math, learn some common sense, seriously, why do you have MORE THAN JUST ONE PAIR OF SOCKS ?! answer that and you have answered that question of yours...

And importantly, do you think just the whole idea of preparing for a doubted event is efficient to do?
Do you think that stocks will go up or down?
Do you think it is good to take 1 quart or rather 3 quarts of water to the Sahara ?
No one can predict the future (only insiders perhaps), I take it as - the more scenarios I cover, the better sleep I have.
Seriously, I live like anybody else, EXCEPT I have ABSOLUTELY NO WORRIES, I REPEAT, NO WORRIES WHAT SO EVER about the tomorrow.
So who is the winner ?
The one who says "dont worry, someone will help us" with no water in the house or me, "I'm not worried as I have god 2 months of water in the house"
And important - in the begining i was like "oh I need this and that so I can survive that long and such" but now not.. I take it as "OK, so I have 2 months of food and water, i rotate it and I can live absolutely lazy life for two months - no need to shop, no need to move a thing, i have it all under my bed and so on...

Just learn from the Mother nature.. Even tho she gave me some allergies, I like her.. Nice, fair rules, no exceptions, money doesn't matter, name doesn't matter, just cold and plain rules of Mother nature.. You either suvive or die..
To the point - many animals did learn the rules and save food for winter and so on..

So do I...

 

[Grumpy]

I see you're in Kanookistan.

Have you ever been snowed in? Prep for that.
Ever lost power? Again, prep for that.
Car ever broke down in the middle of nowhere? Same.

It's not about zombies or WW3, it's about stuff that can happen any time, any day.

 

[spacepope]

Prepping is insurance.

I prep against potential bad times, from whatever direction or cause they may arrive.

Just like I have homeowners insurance, car insurance, health insurance, life insurance--I also have survival insurance. It's called my preps.

When you talk about there being a "doubted event," well, I can't imagine a prepper here who is prepping against the possibility of only one event occurring. From economic collapse to a tornado to a flood to grid down to EMP to hurricane to earthquake to nuclear plant meltdown to drought to job loss to wildfires to....well, there are a lot aren't there?

There is no "one" event. It's prepping, in any event.

Exactly. Ima get flamed for this but y'all need to drop the SHTF talk. Yeah its a fun fantasy but people are not going to receive it well. Just makes you sound crazy.

Fine and dandy to what if with like mindeds but its like that guy waving a bible shouting the end is near...

If you don't subscribe to his beliefs how do you perceive him?

 

[OhioMan]

So today I decided to talk to my mom about the **** hitting the fan and as I was talking about how we should start growing our own produce, maybe storing up barter goods and such, I couldn't help but notice how she was looking at me.

By the time I finished, she just simply laughed and told me how I should stop reading into all of "these crazy books and wesbites because they'll get to your head."

I told her that being prepared, and it didn't matter for what extremity, was a smart thing to do. She talked about how we shouldn't worry about the environment going against us, telling me to relax and such.

I didn't understand how she could think that I was thinking into the extremes, like a psycho as she put it, but she just waved everything off.

And, yeah it did make me wonder about prepping, what I was actually prepping for, was I expecting anything to hit the fan? Of course, I did know that prepping didn't mean going extreme and nailing the windows, fencing off the entire land, and 'wrapping our heads in tinfoil', but it was something useful, and it didn't matter what it was, a tornado, an earthquake, flooding; it's a smart thing to do.

So I was just wondering; what is prepping to you? Why do you think we should prep? And importantly, do you think just the whole idea of preparing for a doubted event is efficient to do?

Just a random question, but I thought it'd be interesting to know from different points of view, thanks guys

This might help next time: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=213390

 

[MattB4]

Are we psychos?

Well.. some may be. Others definitely aren't. I have it on good authority that at least one of us is.

It is rather hard to answer a "we" question. Much easier if you had asked, "Are you a psycho?" or "Am I a psycho?"
Though that might be a bit of a guess for the latter since I do not know you.

 

[spacepope]

Well.. some may be. Others definitely aren't. I have it on good authority that at least one of us is.

It is rather hard to answer a "we" question. Much easier if you had asked, "Are you a psycho?" or "Am I a psycho?"
Though that might be a bit of a guess for the latter since I do not know you.

Does referring to oneself as we make one crazy? I think that is the question here.

 

[e.garter]

I guess you're right, probably shouldn't have generalized it, but was just wondering how everyone percieves their own idea of prepping, seeing as it does in some people's ideology look crazy.

 

[Manaiathon]

Yes some of you are definitely psychos or at the very least disturbed. I personally have never had anyone use the words crazy or psycho when I discussed the topic with them. So you might want to look at the way you broached the subject or the language you used.

 

[Irish Militant]

In short...Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cgcs]

its crazier not to prep for any sort of bad times. at first when i tried talking to family about it, using shtf ,i did get looked at like ive lost my mind lol. so i just tried toning it down some. like with the recent power outaged i just said we should stock up on some easy to cook things,and have back up ways to keep warm/cool, water etc. so ive got a few family members getting started

 

[MattB4]

I guess you're right, probably shouldn't have generalized it, but was just wondering how everyone percieves their own idea of prepping, seeing as it does in some people's ideology look crazy.

I believe not practicing common sense preparation for reasonable disasters to be crazy. I do not look at it like insurance. Longer term disasters, while less likely, should also be considered and steps taken to ameliorate the effects.

Some people do not think ahead to consequences. They drive into flood waters without knowing the depth. They do not have enough gas to get them to the next gas station if the one they are going to is closed. They simply rely on blind fate and the goodness of strangers to help them when thing go wrong. I do not trust in fate or strangers (though both have saved me a time or two) if I can help it.

 

[Regular Guy]

No more crazy than a retirement account. No more insane than a savings account. No more wild ass than filling the gas tank of your car before you run out of gas.

Once I get that response from folks I stop talking to them about prepping. I let the next disaster or life event be their teacher. Or maybe the next bout of unemployment would teach them a thing.

I'm not a doom and gloom guy. I don't think America will collapse but I do believe bad things can and do happen. Everything from long term unemployment to a 3 day storm that knocks out power for a month. I also believe in self reliance.

Some folks just don't and will never accept these facts. Some folks have emotional responses and accept your logic but will never admit it and will never be responsible. Lots of folks fear responsiblity. Look around you, they're everywhere.

Or just lead by example. At some point they may notice.

 

[Richh56]

I have had the same deer in the head light look from my Mother as the original poster said. My mom thinks I should put my tin foil hat back on and go lay down

My grandfather is a prepper as is my uncle. My mom grow up with shelters and what she refers to a fear of the furture. She has said if something was to happen she would not want to live a world like that anyway.

With that type of additude I have no choice but to say my mind "I sure am going to miss you if something happens" Its what I have to do. If you are not willing to help your self then I cant help you.

Then there is these people. My girl friend, sherri was showing her friend patty her bug out back pack and explaining how we prep. Patty replied.."cool, when shtf I am coming to ur place" I budded in and said "then you will die between the front door and your car. I dont do all this for others to come take my suplies from me. If you want advice and dirrection to start your own stock pile though I am here for you"

When she found out Sherri's back pack was stuffed with 400.00 of equiptment she said "Thats a desinger purse"

With that I retired to my den... going to kind of miss patty too

 

[MikeK]

I've been into survival and preparedness for years. But if you came at me talking about the SHTF and all that, I would have given you a funny look and dismissed you too.

Concentrate more on prepping and less on "end of the world" scenarios. Nobody has managed to predict one yet in the nonstop spouting of "the sky is falling" predictions that have vomited forth from the survivalist community over the decades.

You might have gotten a better reception if you had focused more on things she can relate to such as natural disasters, power outages, recent food crop failures and other things that are more tangible since she has heard of them. Sort of like getting your foot in the door.

 

[Roslyn]

"Prepping" is Life. You live today and prepare for tomorrow. I was raised in this belief by a very frugal and wise Grandmother.

Even if you always drive on smooth roads you still have quality tires and working shocks right? Of course, because if you hit that pothole with crappy tires and no shocks, then you are going to wreck.

There are lots of people who can't think about "bad times", maybe because they have already been there and don't want to go back, and maybe they just can't handle it. In the future give the conversation a "Hey, those people in West Virginia didn't have power for two weeks in 100+ degree heat, what on Earth would WE do if that happened to us?"

That's real world, and it can happen to anyone, anywhere. It's better to prepare at least for the "little stuff" before introducing a collapse scenario etc.

 

[Zeta109]

Think about it this way:
Natural disasters; haiti, japan, new zealand, bangladesh, new orleans
Social/political fighting/wars; egypt, syria, georgia (the country) China, oh and lets not forget 9/11/01 and 12/7/41.

To say it couldn't happen to us or that it couldn't happen soon is the utmost arrogance, and prepping, for whatever reason, isn't a bad thing, even guys that take the zombie thing and run with it, they'll still be better prepared than someone who laughs them off and does nothing, then when the big earthquake strikes and they have no food, they'll be thanking zombie boy very much for his extra supplies.

It doesn't matter what your prepping for or why, because the basic materials and the mindset behind it overlap.

We're not psychos, we're just ready for anything, and thats never a bad thing.

 

[Fight4Freedom]

MikeK got it right. It's the "Presentation". Here in South Florida, the number one easy way to ease into a prepping discussion is to talk about hurricanes.

Everyone preps for what they feel is important. Some women buy jewelry and wigs to prep themselves to look better in their view. Some people save money to "prep" for retirement. Some people buy quality tires to "prep" for driving safely....an so on.

It also depends on the degree. If you have several years worth of food storage and 20,000+ rounds of ammo then it gets into a grey area imo. It's the difference between prepping for possibilities vs prepping as though you are certain something undefined and uncertain yet imminent and catastrophic is destined to occur.

When you go far and above "reasonable" you may have a problem.

The problem is defining "reasonable". Especially today.