[OhioMan]

I read alot of threads asking "when will TSHTF" or asking how much time we have left etc. I personally believe at the VERY least we will experience a major down turn in the quality of our lives in the next few years.

If anyone takes an honest look at our national debt and the conditions of the States and a couple dozen other factors, it's not a guess at what will happen....it's simple gravity.

But, if we never experience a full blown SHTF, will you regret your preparations?



(My answer) I won't, I absolutely throughly enjoy preparing and every aspect of it.

 

[ToughFemale]

I wont regret prepping. I get enjoyment out of the planning and prepping right now. And I get the a bit of security feeling right now. Plus I get the benefit of not having to go to the store every time I run out of an item right now. So get a lot of benefit currently from my prepping. So if S never HTF I still benefit from my preps.

 

[ackbob]

Do you regret having toilet paper in the house when sitting down for a brief respite....?

or paper towels when you make a mess....?

or food when you are hungry.......?

why would you regret prepping.....?

 

[michiganmom]

For me, prepping is just something that I will do for the rest of my life. It is awfully handy to have extra on hand in case company drops by. It is handy to have everything stocked up so that if a snow storm is coming I don't have to run to the store in a panic. It is handy to have supplies so that if our income is cut we don't go without.

Nope. I don't regret it yet, and I doubt I will. It has saved my family discomfort many times already.

 

[Meat Guy]

A friend of mine made major preparations for Y2K. He lost his job Nov. '99. His family lived on their preps for 6 mo. while he started a new business. It has done very well.
If you don't need your preps, someone close to you will.

 

[Tactical_N_Practical]

A lot of people ask this question. I don't do this out of fear and paranoia. I do have legitimate cause for concern as we all do. However, I enjoy it. It's become a productive hobby that has motivated me to put down the X box controller, get active and learn A LOT. It keeps both my mind and body active and I have yet to see a negative outcome from it.

 

[PSYOP Soldier]

No sir, the peace of mind that I have from KNOWING, not hoping/wishing, that we can manage thru a crisis, or assist another, is very comforting...

In addition, I've some nice kit now for non SHTF use, like camping/hiking/fishing, etc...

The overall shift in the mindset of myself and wife is dramatic too...

We now a local grandbaby to love, and should something happen that causes her parents a SHTF crisis, we can be there for them, becasue WE are squared away...

 

[MattB4]

I read alot of threads asking "when will TSHTF" or asking how much time we have left etc. I personally believe at the VERY least we will experience a major down turn in the quality of our lives in the next few years.

If anyone takes an honest look at our national debt and the conditions of the States and a couple dozen other factors, it's not a guess at what will happen....it's simple gravity.

But, if we never experience a full blown SHTF, will you regret your preparations?



(My answer) I won't, I absolutely throughly enjoy preparing and every aspect of it.

Like any skill that you practice to become proficient at, prepping requires thought and effort. It also requires money that could be used elsewhere. Some people liken prepping to Insurance. It is true that you buy insurance to cover you for a loss that you could not afford to have if the small odds of accident happens. Once you get insurance you do not spend anymore time thinking of it. It simply is a bet between the Insurance company and yourself. It is one of the reasons I hate life insurance for children. How macabre that you are betting that your children will die and that you will make money from it.

I have always looked at the subject of prepping as becoming self-sufficient. If I know how to take care of myself I consider that a worth while goal in life. Plus there is fun in learning all the skills. When the NCD (Next Cyclical Downturn) happens I hope those skills will make for a continuing comfortable lifestyle.

I also think that the US is on a unsustainable path at the moment. We have been putting off the hard choices for way too long and simply making the moment of reckoning to be worse. Like many other Countries before us the US has spent more than we make. Our leaders have kept finding methods to avoid it like the housing bubble was one. The more recent Federal massive spending is another. But at some point you can build the house of cards only so high.

Personally I do not really believe in a apocalyptic event is very likely. I do believe bad things happen all the time. I also believe that economic collapse is one of those bad things. If it happens I will not regret having done the things to survive it. If it does not happen I still will not regret knowing how to do practical things. Meanwhile it is fun to imagine the total calamities. Perhaps with my tremendous skills of survival the people well select me as Divine Emperor, and I will have a harem of beautiful women to enjoy between the battles wherein I crush my Enemies and enslave millions to my rule and wealth.

 

[Smudge]

But, if we never experience a full blown SHTF, will you regret your preparations?

Nope :

I don't prep for the end of the world, admittedly it was such a scenario that first got me on board (Y2K) but its the fact I've used my preps on more than one occassion that keep me at it.

Besides learnings fun :thumb:

 

[Purdy Bear]

Iv already had to use my preps on a couple of situations:

a) Put up in bed for a flu like virus for a month, so lived off the preps as we couldnt get out to get more or even get a deliver done.

b) Two days without electricity when some idiots tried to steal copper from the substation and fried themselves and blew the place up. It completely blacked out about four towns and the small villages in between.

c) The deep snows at the beginning of the year, our shopping was delayed as no one could drive on the roads etc.

I see it as a long term investment just like a good education, or a solid house.

 

[goose3]

I buy insurance, and I've never regretted buying that. In fact, I'm always pleased if I don't need to benefit from insurance.

Prepping is insurance. I hope I never need it.

 

[TexasTooner]

It is one of the reasons I hate life insurance for children. How macabre that you are betting that your children will die and that you will make money from it.

I wasn't betting that my son would die at age 12. I didn't make money on his death. The insurance money paid for all of the cost with cremating him (that was the inexpensive route). Your not profiting by thier death, you are protecting the rest of your family from hardship if a tragic accident should occur. The cost to bury/cremate someone are out of this world (price it sometime). It can be just as bad as a major medical stituation (and you carry insurance for that don't you).

 

[newprepr]

A friend of mine made major preparations for Y2K. He lost his job Nov. '99. His family lived on their preps for 6 mo. while he started a new business. It has done very well.
If you don't need your preps, someone close to you will.

That sure sounds like a shtf situation to me. There may not have been zombies but they were prepared!

 

[MattB4]

I am sorry for your loss, TexasTooner.

Costs of death is hard when families are grieving. Accidental death insurance is not a bad thing to have.

 

[Admiral Nelson]

But, if we never experience a full blown SHTF, will you regret your preparations?

I will thank myself for having become a more frugal shopper, the only thing lost will have been the time reading apocalyptic novels, but had I not read those I would have probably read something similar. I can always sell those extra claymore mines at a yard sale. :

 

[Elmo]

I learned to swim as a child-took paid lessons. So far I have never had to "swim for my life", but I know how.

Learning to swim was time well spent-as is time (and money) spent prepping. Prepping should be a small part of everyones life experience.

No regrets if never used!

 

[Head4TheHills]

My preps are really more about increasing self-sufficiency now and in the future, no matter what happens, rather than any specific real or imagined SHTF or TEOTWAWKI scenario. So, since that isn't really my focus, I will not regret any of my preparations.

 

[dtcepl]

I prep duing the peace time!

I enjoyed prepping and its part of my life (although my family does not, they do not object to it). Apart from the usual survival gear and stuff, I also does financial prepping and prep for unemployment (meaning I am setting up a small trading business while being full-time employed - thats my 3 years plan to secure my career cum owning a small business concurrently)

I will never regret prepping, nevered over-prep, but only under prep!

 

[baumch]

I don't regret it for a minute.

My hubby had surgery and was out of work for 6 months, we didn't needs to shop for food, except fresh fruits, vegies, milk and bread out of choice.

1 year later he was out again for 8 months for another surgery, again we lived out of our preps. That is what got us through.

No regrets.

 

[goose3]

It is one of the reasons I hate life insurance for children. How macabre that you are betting that your children will die and that you will make money from it.

There are some very good reasons to buy life insurance for children, and none involve betting the children will die.

Funerals cost a lot. Life insurance can and will offset that.

Children are almost always insurable unless they have an identified illness or other condition. If you wait until, say, you discover they have diabetes or some other condition, they may not be insurable at all at that point.

If you buy a policy that lets you add to the amount later on (what's known as an option), the child later on can increase the amount of the policy. And if you set it up right, they can do that without a medical exam (at least, that's what mine allowed me to do).

One of the biggest issues in insurance is insurability. A lot of people right now are buying insurance policies for their children while they're insurable. Many have waited, the child became uninsurable, and that was that.


My kids are reasonably well-insured, and while we'll benefit financially if they do pass away, that was never--not ever--the reason for insuring them. We have decent-sized policies on both, and will transfer the ownership to them at the right time, so they can continue the coverage.

It it not betting on their death. It never was.