LOL and they even have a National Geographic special on them

[Cdnwolf]

http://doomsday-preppers.com/

[weswood]

I bet those poor souls in the NorthEast wish they had some food and potable water stashed. And I know there's a couple members of this board have over 1,000 rounds of ammo for thier weapons.

I guess the Boy Scouts are all f@#&ked up with that "Be Prepared" motto.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by weswood

I bet those poor souls in the NorthEast wish they had some food and potable water stashed. And I know there's a couple members of this board have over 1,000 rounds of ammo for thier weapons.

I guess the Boy Scouts are all f@#&ked up with that "Be Prepared" motto.

The "preppers" may strike some as odd....

I have 60 days food and water ready to go. I also have a gas grill with two tanks of propane, two kerosene heaters with 10+ gallons of kerosene ready.

For my rifle, I have 2000+ rounds, the shotgun has 400+.... and I just scored some good prices on slug rounds for the shotgun.

Does this make me a prepper?? Maybe...

I would like to increase this to 90 days as time and money allow. I have to insure that the food is being rotated properly. I try to buy with as long a lead time as possible. Not to mention the need to bring the food into the house with some security. I typically shop at night so that the "nosey neighbor" does not see exactly what IS in my house.

So write me up as a lunatic....My wife and I would survive the inland part of Sandy with some discomfort sure...but we would stay warm, fed and safe.

Living here in Fayetteville, NC, I do not have to worry too much about a direct hit from a hurricane. THe remnants woudl be just ugly enough, thank you very much.

My $0.02

Mike

[Panther Al]

I look at it like this:

There is being prepared, and then there is... well, what you see on those shows.

Having a stash of food, water, and so on is a good thing. Having a plan. Prepping for likely scenarios. All good, all important - something everyone should at least have put some thought into.

From what I saw on those shows is what I call the lunatic fringe of the whole concept. They take a good idea, and let their paranoid fantasies run wild - to some degree or another.

Take one I saw while flipping through the channels.

Guy, in a reasonably decent-ish ghillie suit, doing an OP looking to see if baddies are approaching.

OK, good idea.

Done nuts: On a commercially available radio, on an open freq using a call sign (Really bad in my opinion) of Crows Nest. OK, I'm the baddie. I hear this, and hrm.... why, I think he might be a tree. Oh wait: There is one: no cover to it, and a huge lump hanging off of the side. I wonder what that can be....

And, Lets cross this river, so everyone in bright boat, cover up in ghillie suits, and paddle *slowly* across it. Hrm, can't see what might go wrong with that...

Its that level of paranoid fantasy EOTW wet dreams that they show that makes me just want to pound my head onto my desk.

[weswood]

Originally Posted by Panther Al

Take one I saw while flipping through the channels.

Guy, in a reasonably decent-ish ghillie suit, doing an OP looking to see if baddies are approaching.

OK, good idea.

Done nuts: On a commercially available radio, on an open freq using a call sign (Really bad in my opinion) of Crows Nest. OK, I'm the baddie. I hear this, and hrm.... why, I think he might be a tree. Oh wait: There is one: no cover to it, and a huge lump hanging off of the side. I wonder what that can be....

And, Lets cross this river, so everyone in bright boat, cover up in ghillie suits, and paddle *slowly* across it. Hrm, can't see what might go wrong with that...

Its that level of paranoid fantasy EOTW wet dreams that they show that makes me just want to pound my head onto my desk.

Yeah, I noticed that myself. Not only the call sign "Crows Nest" but what if he had to leave his op in a hurry? Jump?

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I live in Florida. By definition I have to be a Doomsday Prepper.

I talked to the wife about this last week; we have two simple plans.

1 - Shelter at home for a cat 1-2. Food, water, generator, etc. We've started restocking our pantry just this week.

2 - Anything stronger that's going to hit us dead on, like a Katrina or Andrew...we've got 2-3 days notice. Rent a small uhaul truck, in go the valuables (basically everything except heavy furniture). Food, water and other sundries go in the truck, we convoy the hell out of this state to wherever that thing's cone isn't aimed.

I don't think that's crazy, I don't think that's paranoid. Anyone who does can feel free to have a gander at footage from Atlantic City, Long Island, lower Manhattan from a few weeks ago.

[HorseSoldier]

Agreed on their being a not so fine line between prudence and nuttiness. I think even prudent measures sometimes alarm people because talking to someone about being prepared for natural disaster forces people to think about being at risk and possibly dying. Most people in the developed world have the luxury of not thinking about that sort of thing if they don't want to.

Here in Alaska we don't have hurricanes, but risks of earthquakes and volcanic activity, plus more mundane risks of power outages or being stuck by severe weather is a realistic concern. I am definitely not ready for the end of the world/zombie defense/subarctic remake of the Road Warrior, but do keep a couple weeks food on hand for people and pets as well as the related stuff you'd want to have if the power went out. Also keep kits in the cars with with sleeping bags, blankets, freeze-safe food and such in the event of being stranded somewhere by weather.

[mikeo80]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

http://doomsday-preppers.com/

For grins and giggles, I went to the site just to see what was happening on the other side of the loony bin.

As I scrolled through, I saw the title "Doomsday Bunkers". So I said to myself, "Self, what the heck, see what is there...."

AS soon as I clicked on that link, my anti-virus lit up like a Christmas tree....

So I thought y'all might take this warning as you see fit....

Not only are the loonies out there...they have booby traps for those of us just wandering through....

My $0.02

Mike

[Legbreaker]

The simplest, easiest, and most effective preparation? Emigrate to a more stable country before the collapse.
What, you think that everywhere is falling apart? Take a good look at Australia - it's not pretty, but we're doing a HELL of a LOT better than most places around the globe.

[The Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Legbreaker

The simplest, easiest, and most effective preparation? Emigrate to a more stable country before the collapse.
What, you think that everywhere is falling apart? Take a good look at Australia - it's not pretty, but we're doing a HELL of a LOT better than most places around the globe.

If it weren't for the fact that I would be forced to leave my firearms collection behind, I think I'd like to be an Australian tommorrow...

[Legbreaker]

Where there's a will....

[headquarters]

I guess different people read differnt things into this.

Some feel that even mentioning that food and ammo etc is held in quantity in case something bad should happen is a certain sign of coockyness and probably an unsavoury ethical and political stance.

Some people feel that those who neglect to do so are irresponsible etc.

Most goverments actually acknowldge the need for private citizens to have some supplies at hand for "a limited discontinuance of services" and actually inform the public of this on various websites. Keeping food and stuff on hand isnt such a bad idea according to this.

The economy in the West is a precarious thing in these times. There is the specialization and the just in time concepts that mean the system isnt as robust as it could be. Weather, wars, economic trouble - it can all affect the system. Its not geared to be bomb proof - its geared for profit. Then again profit means growth meaning a largere capacity etcetc.

I wouldnt say people who actively prepare for the worst have it wrong -nor would I criticize people who are happy go lucky with one can of beans and some Champagne in their pantry for being irresponsible. I would rather examine WHY they choose this or that.

The end of the world is possible - and at a point some 5 billion years into the future its inevitable due to our Sun etc etc . But it is not plausible that society would slide into anarchy in a brief period of time in my humble opinion. Neither pandemics,supervolcanos,civil wars, economic collapse, climatic anomalies or sudden outbursts of anarchy that cripple society long term have any great likelyhood of striking most any country in the western world. It could happen locally or for a short time period I guess.

As someone said - some "preppers" might feel that the end of the world means a welcome escape from the drudgery of everyday life. In my opinion these people have got it oh so wrong. ( No one will admit to such folly - but any and all who read this and know that they fantasize about this - you know who you are!! )

On the other hand - having NOTHING to live on if there should happen to be a problem of sorts - just because you have decided that there is no need - ever - is getting it wrong too in my humble opinion.

I will not get into zobies and aliens and related phenomena. Everybody who know just a little about this know that this problem will occur almost exclusively in the US and possible a little bit in ethe UK. ( Yes - look at the current material on the subject. It is all set in these countries).

In conclusion - having 10 tons of wheat could mean that you are into wheat. But having it so that you will be the most powerful man in the town after the collapse of society is problematic. As for hoarding guns and ammo - I guess they wil be useful when you have to kill all those hungry men, women and children who will be coming for your wheat.

All in my huimble opinion.

[Neal5x5]

I grew up in northern Utah in the 1980s, and yes, Mormons believe in preparedness but some of these people were hardcore doomsday preppers. One friend's family didn't have the usual mound of food storage, but they did have an impressive collection of firearms. I asked him about that and he said that when the "fit hit the shan" they'd just use the firearms to "trade up".

[The Rifleman]

Originally Posted by Neal5x5

I grew up in northern Utah in the 1980s, and yes, Mormons believe in preparedness but some of these people were hardcore doomsday preppers. One friend's family didn't have the usual mound of food storage, but they did have an impressive collection of firearms. I asked him about that and he said that when the "fit hit the shan" they'd just use the firearms to "trade up".

Lets look at that idea in terms of a military operation. "trading up" would be classified as a raid, or an assualt if the raid were on a fortified structure or a place with a fence and strongpoints. Military units are judged on Firepower, Mobility, Communications, and Leadership.

Firepower - Every family out there has got some sort of rifle. Many have AR15s and more have hunting rifles with scopes (lets not forget that the greatest US sniper was using a winchester M70 hunting rifle and greatest infantry was using a .30-06 bolt action lee enfield or springfield. Assuming that this collection of firearms includes and equally impressive number of magazines and ammuniton as well as people to use them, they may have an edge in firepower. The problem is that if they go raiding, they won't know what the other side has until they engage them.

Mobility - Just having a large amount of guns and ammo does you know good if you can't employ them. I'm not just talking about hitting what your aiming at. Moving means that you need to know how to supress a target, what good fields of fire are. You have to know how to isolate one side of a building so you can move to it, how to breach windows and doors when the are unexpectly locked, barracaded so on. Also, the attacker to defender ratio should be 3 to 1. Also, the attacker tends to take casualties, so if you have 9 guys, lose 2 in one fight, it means the next house you aren't going to be able to lay the same base of fire or have the same punch in your assualt element. Trying to take one house with one squared away former infantryman could result in a disaster. If he kills one in the group and wounds two or three you're all done. Lets not forget that if it gets this bad, there are no hospitals and "medevac" waiting to swoop in to get you to a doctor. Wounds are probably going to be fatal. In this sort of setting, the defender, behind cover, has a big advantage over the attacker. Also, there is no replacement system, so once the group loses memembers it likely isn't going to get fresh recruits.

Communication - Has this group practiced? Do they have their battle drills down? Do they know hand/arm signals, the ability to lift/shift fire on signal? Do they have radios and have them practiced employing them? Communication in battle is the first thing to go, and if you are on a complex mission like a raid, losing communication leads to time wasted and time wasted under fire leads to casualties.

Leadership - There are many fine leaders in these forums. Many of us are military veterans. I can see from the unit crests, information in the posts and comments that there are crusty NCOs that I would glady have in my company. Do the leaders in this group have the guts to face the losses and to motivate the survivors to continue? In 2005, my cavalry regiment took 18 killed and about triple that wounded. It wasn't recieved well, to say the least. Imagine how that would impact if it were family memebers being lost. Leaders have to be capable of organizing logistics, planning operations, making fast and timely decisions. In a pressure situtation with low food, little sleep, its a nightmare like ranger school or being at NTC. I know first hand that times like this are when even good leaders are near their limits.

I'm not saying in any way that you're a bad guy Neal. Please don't take my post the wrong way. If things were bad enough, I may find myself needing to patrol to protect my fields, my home, my family whatever. Just on a military priciple raiding for food is a dangerous proposition. Anyone else have thoughts on the strategy of small groups raiding fortified positions or homes?

[Raellus]

Although the apocalypse might seem like a lot of fun- no boring nine-to-five, no cash economy, camping out, getting to shoot stuff (it's a live-action version of Fallout!)- it would get really old really fast (no movies, no internet, no restaurants, constantly trying to avoid the crazies, etc.). I'm not sure that preppers realize this.

But it some ways, prepping is a rejection of modern society. Any time there is a major social change, like the industrial revolution for example, you will see utopian movements spring up. In U.S. history, the market revolution of the early 1800s led to a wave of groups (Mormons, Shakers, socialist communes) who "coped" with the social and economic changes of their day and age by attempting to completely withdraw from the rest of society. A lot of modern preppers seem to be people who can't handle the changes in modern society and the economy. Listening to preppers, this becomes pretty clear- they don't trust the power grid, they don't trust the government, they don't trust their new neighbors. In extreme cases, it's a behavioral manifestation of paranoia.

[Snake Eyes]

I wish I knew more of my neighbors, like in the old school block party and PTA kind of way. Most of us are just in & out on our way somewhere else. I got involved in my city's CERT mostly just to meet people. Because my safety is less dependent on my own preparation than it is on that of my neighbors. It doesn't matter if I can last three days or ten without power, gas, water, police & EMS if my neighbors are just going to riot and burn the place down on day two.