I thought we would do something a little different on the blog today, it's been awhile since our last poll and I wanted to use the opportunity to gain a better understanding of readers.
Today's question is:
How Long Have you Been Prepping
It would also be great if you could use the comments below to elaborate on what motivated you to start prepping in the first place?
My situation was the economy, election of Obama, the FEMA response to New Orleans. Started with guns & ammo, which progressed to food storage. Still have much to do.
I never wanted to have to tell my kids I have nothing for them to eat or no way to keep them safe/protected, so the prepping went into high gear when the little ones started arriving. :)
Don't know what originally started me to save stuff. At that time probably in the mid 80's, did not even know there were preppers, just thought it would be good to have a backup plan for my family. I collected a supply of what was really backpacking items. Also a stock of hardware,tools & fishing equipment. Collected a few identical handguns & hunting rifles of the same caliber, 9mm handgun & 270 rifle. Stored a little food. Than a couple of years ago I discovered sites on the internet that gave me a name,"prepper or survivalist". Since than I have learned allot. I have collected a good reference library, learned some skills,have gotten serious stockpiling food. When our economy started coming apart I redoubled my food stocking. Oh yea, after the last election arms,ammo & medical supplies moved much higher on my list. There are still some things I haven't figured out, who do you discuss your preps with & don't get me started on the bugging out thing. I hope we are all wrong, truly for the first time in my life fear for the future.
BACK 1999 I WAS BUILDING A HOUSE FOR THE OWNER.HE WAS INTO PREPPING FOR THE Y2K SCARE.THIS OPENED MY EYES TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A COLLAPSE.I STARTED WITH FOOD STORAGE AND IMPROVING MY GUN COLLECTION AT THE TIME.SINCE THEN I HAVE TRIED TO IMPROVE MY KNOWLEDGE OF BEING A SURVIVALIST.THANKS TO MD WE ARE ALL BETTER OFF WITH HIS BLOG.BEING ABLE TO SHARE INFO HERE HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP TO ME PERSONALLY,SO THANKS AGAIN MD.FROM JAY IN NC
I have always been somewhat prepared for things like floods, power outages, tornadoes and other severe weather, etc. After 9-11 I expanded my preps a bit to handle the need to bug out of town after a terrorist attack.
But early last year I began to realize how badly the economy might turn out. I was exposed to the world of credit via Manheim Auto Finance Service (MAFS) which is similar to GMAC for example.
Since then I have had a slightly larger scope to my prepping. Before I was prepared for a couple of days or weeks. Now I am preparing for many months and even years. I am moving away from dependence on the system to self sufficiency and renewable energy.
Even if the end of the world doesn't happen it is becoming increasingly clear that traditional forms of saving for retirement would be insufficient as it is impossible to predict what sort of inflation your investments need to survive and the market could have another big crash at any time. Not to mention the unreliability of SS for we Gen Xers. The more self sufficient one is the less money one needs to save for retirement.
Ohh and seeing as how taxes are likely going to be a big part of our future having large stock piles of money to be taxed probably isn't the best course of action either. Other than sals tax now I don't see them taxing you on those solar panels etc in the future.
I put down 2-3 years, but it also depends on how you categorize prep, I have always bought in bulk, I learned that from my parents, growing up we would go to the grocery store once every couple of months, we would spend a whole day shopping at different stores, got good bargains that way. This was long before the warehouse clubs opened up, if we had only had those back then...
I was part of the invasion force in Iraq, watched that country fall apart. Then Katrina made me fully aware when I got back that those could just as easily be here in my area...when i got out of the army i really started putting stuff back
I was in Amarillo, TX when Y2K was buzzing. I remember being woofully unprepared. I bought the last box of hollow point 9mm bullets that Wal-Mart had the day before Christmas. That brought the total of bullets that I had for my pistol to 105. When I was in the Army, I carried over double the loadout, just because I was concerned about running dry in a firefight. Now, as the government is spending our way to prosperity, I think a little advance prepping for the future may come in handy when TSHTF.
Prepping has been a life long thing for me. My folks came from poor families so prepping was second nature to them. My growing up in the cold war era also made prepping a natural thing to do... all of the "what to do if" scenarios were drilled into our heads. Further, some horrific weather events proved the value of prepping to me. On top of all of the above, this isn't the first economic crisis I have lived through... prepping for financial survival is just as important as prepping for the mother of all blizzards.
For people that want to give their kids an early start on prepping, I highly recommend the Boy Scouts / Girl Scouts.
First attack on the World Trade Center in 93 got me thinking about prepping,didn't kick it into high gear until Y2K. Spent alot of money on Y2K, got lax and didn't really prep until 2004 when I retired to Florida. Hurricane prep is all year round for us, new Pres. scares the hell out me.
Max in FL.
I always carried & shot guns, always had a casual garden, always had camping gear.
We have had some wake up calls: LA riots, 9/11, Katrina, financial meltdown, G20 riots, etc. Add in a few instances of power outage and some bad winter storms and I have increased my preps from basically nothing to dedicated bug-in / bug-out gear, get home bags in each car, redundant weapon platforms, ammo and reloading gear. Food storage is at 30 days. I need to work on some better water purification systems and heirloom seeds.
My Father started me on the path to prepping over 25 years ago. He believed then as I do now that one day we may have the need to leave all that we are used to behind and live as they did in the days of old. His reasons?? Same as today.... just different players in the same political game. To prepare is just a prudent thing to do. No one knows what tomorrow may bring...but the man who is ready will be the one who has a greater chance of survival. Survival... that is what it is ALL about. Just my 2 cents worth. Keep up the good work MD.
Stone3101
My answer depends on what you consider "prepping". I always had it in my blood. Not only was I a boy scout, I was the one in the troop with the pack twice as heavy as everyone else's because I had something for every conceivable contingency.
I grew up in a church that stressed the importance of maintaining food storage and being prepared for a "rainy day". My parents did a decent job of stocking up on food (1000 pounds of wheat and various canned goods in the basement), although their preparations didn't go much beyond this. Neither of my parents has ever touched a gun as far as I know.
In college I didn't think much about preparedness, being too busy with school and other things, not to mention being broke and not having room to store anything in my apartment. After college I started to focus on getting out of debt and being financially secure.
A year later I got married and me and my wife started getting serious about food storage (my wife even had a "preparedness" themed bridal shower). For the first year we mostly talked about it and made plans. After about a year of planning with nothing to show for it, we went out and bought a bunch of wheat, beans, sugar and other dry food items, as well as enough water to keep us alive for a couple of weeks. We bought a wheat grinder and packed 72 hour kits. A year after that we moved back to my home town, had a baby and bought our first house (all within 4 months). Since then we have really ramped up the effort.
My daughter is now a year old. Since she was born we bought our first rifle and shotgun, with plans to buy more (handgun laws in NY are very restrictive, but I intend to get one as time and finances allow). We have also stored a lot more food and water. Most important, we have gained many preparedness skills.
Our prepping has been accelerating for years, and it continues to accelerate as we feel the urgency to prepare for coming events.
I started prepping more seriously when the gas prices went wild in 2008. Food prices skyrocketed almost overnight and I did not think it would take much to have a break in our food supply chain, let alone utilities and other things. Since reading these blogs we have expanded our preparedness to many other areas of our life.
- dogear6
Lets see.......I live in South FL so does getting ready for hurricane season count, if so that would be about 25 years. In earnest probably about 3 years since I started prepping with storing food, water, ammo, water filter, etc. Maybe seeing Katrina cripple New Orleans after it hit us and we were without power for 3 weeks and I saw how easy it was for things to fall apart. Then followed by Wilma a month or so later. Seeing people wait in line for food, water, fuel and ice to live. I work in law enforcement and saw how people turned into animals. Not a pretty sight and I saw how "predators" came out looking for sheeple. I will never be caught like that nor will I stand for my family to be victimized. This coupled with the economy. I have always been a shooter and firearms collector so the "gun" has never been an issue. The storing, rotating the food and Bug Out Bags have been packed for about 4 years. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. I have several friends with similar views and it helps!
Brad in South FL
I just bought a new Gucci hand bag, on sale, for- get this- only $250! Now I'm prepared for when the sale ends. My friends will be sooooooo jealous! Now if I could just find a rich suburban doctor! One thing at a time, I suppose. Sigh...
My parents were always prepared with my father being an eagle scout and fighting in WWII. I was in scouts & became a leader when my eagle scout son started scouts. I started to prepare when Jimmy Carter tried to wreck the nation and really kicked it up when Bill & Hillary tried their best to become king&queen. Now I'm about as ready as I can be with hopes I'll never have to prove how ready I really am. Thanks M.D. and everyone for your help.
The Boy Scout Moto, could be where I started [1966] but then before that I was a cub scout which is just preparing to be a boy scout.
My motto has always been "Question Authority". I have never been one to believe all of the rubbish that the government has been dishing out; but, this past few months, things have really gotten spooky. I have been working on prepping (food, water, guns, ammo, heating and lighting) sources for about 6 months now. I had never even heard of prepping or survivalism , before. My eyes have certainly been opened and I have learned so much from reading blogs on the internet. I do so much appreciate every thing that everyone has shared-- from the stories to the advice. There is no one near where I live that I feel confident in asking questions or discussing preps with because I am a middle aged (ok- 55 year old) female living alone and don't know who I could trust if or when things really do hit the fan. My thanks to everyone who posts such helpful information.
Hi, I was ready for Y2K and lost interest after that then the world seemed to be an unsafe place after 9-11 so I started slowly to add storage food and guns. 2 years ago I awakened after reading Bison blog. I am into it big time now and someday I hope my wife awakens and helps me out. If she don't she can live on the kinds of foods I have stocked. If she does WE add things she likes to the stock.
I've prepped thrice: in 1973 during the Carter years, after a 500-point Dow drop in the mid-1980's, and in late 2007 in response to bird flu concerns. I kicked that last prepping instance into high gear after encountering a lot of warnings on the http://www.dailypaul.com/.
I scour this site and a half-dozen others looking for sources and for holes in my prepping that I should attend to.
I started prepping when I lost my job and really began seeing just how bad the situation around the world really was. I have always been suspicious of government, although I love my country. I believe that we are in a lot worse shape than government wants us to believe. I pray that I am wrong. I believe my community will prosper while others fail. Folks can't prepare for everthing but if you work with a few of your neighbors you can certainly cover a lot more ground than you will on your own. Just remember there is safety in numbers folks...but choose wisely because stealth and privacy is gonna be key as well. There is a fine line between being prepared and being an obvious target for the ones who aren't prepared.
I have always kept a stocked pantry and tried to have a bit of everything else that might be needed for just in case, however, I was a 'severe' Y2k Prepper. After that scare, I donated most everything to our church food bank and thrift store. I then became unprepared until right before our new president came into office. He scared the heck out of me with his ideology. I put down 6-9 months on your quiz, but realize now it has been longer. Oh and by the way, my kids still think I am crazy or a bit off because I go gungho when I do prep. lol They ask me often if I was deprived as a child to store so much food and things. Nope, not even, I tell them, just an old fashioned farm girl. Regardless, I know that when the SHTF they will be the first ones entering in my door. Thank you for your blog. I visit it everyday as a rss feed. It has helped me keep up my spirit when I feel like givng up. It is easy to get discouraged . I am a senior woman who lives alone. geri
The Clinton era assault on guns and the ensuing scarcity of primers woke me up. We started slowly increasing food and critical supplies at that point. The Liberals just scare the hell out of me when they are in power. The current administration has caused us to expand our storage further, especially with things like ammo components. I've also invested in a few items we expect them to try to ban, which I won't list in detail.
We added generators and fuel storage after a big ice storm took out power for almost 2 weeks in 99.
one of my earliest memories is of bugging out from the jersey shore, ahead of hurricane Donna. my parents told me stories about the ice storm of '58, when my "big"brother and i were still in diapers. i've been inclined toward self sufficiency/prepping as long as i can remember.
I started prepping in the 90's. The area I lived at the time was subject to power outages. I stepped up my preparations for Y2K. The supplies I had built up came in handy when snow storms prevented us from leaving our house for several days. In 1999 I bought 18 acres of rural farmland surrounded by forest and in 2000 I built a house on the property and started a garden and raising livestock. I have been a proud and fateful prepper ever since.
Getting started on Preperations has always been a part of my life, I think.... Mother was raised during the depression years, where frugality was a way of life for most everyone.. and now, many years later in 1998, dad had died, and that was the time when I first learned sprouting... it was so simple to do, and all I needed was a high topped, plastic container, the kind that holds roasted chickens at the grocery store... So in 1998 I learned that I could grow sprouts faster than I could eat them, and with a 5 pound bag of seeds, and a gallon of water, I could survive for several years... learning that I would not starve, was a great learning moment for me...
Y2K was always in the back of my mind, and so that same year, 1998, I built a cardboard solar cooker... which delivered up to 300 degrees in a good sun... and I could cook anything in it... My cooked beans were better than mother's stove cooked beans.
In 1999, I bought 4 Golf Cart batteries, a battery charger, and a Statpower Pro 250 inverter and found that this arrangment could power my TV, VCR, Computer, and CFL lights all the time... I tested the fully charged batteries to see how much power I had in reserve and found that if Y2K knocked the power went out, my the stored energy in my batteries could last 5 days at 10 hours a day... or 50 hours before the battery array needed to be recharged again.
So, when Y2K came, I was prepared for the first 50 hours of the new year.... as we all know, nothing happened... so after Y2K, the world was still here... What a disappointment.
On, January 7th of 2000 I bought 4, 90 watt Solec PV panels and when I received them on the 14th, I tested them... they worked so good, that on the same day, I ordered 8 more panels. In the meantime, I hooked up those 4 PV panels and disconnected the battery charger... I didn't realize it then, but I was on my way to becoming grid free... It became an emotional rush for me, slowly replacing the grid with solar power.
That's how it all started, and since that time, I have set up a rainwater catchment and filter system, and learned a little bit about growing food... and so, that is how I started down the parh of Solar and Independent Living...
Gig
Guess I have been of the mindset for over 50 years. Grew up in the middle of the Mojave desert with only a generator for power and had to go to the train station 30 miles away to get barrels of water. Always had a ready bag and emergency contingencies. 30 years later moved to FL and was ready for the worst of hurricanes (lived in a trailer), and have saved, prepared and waited sense
Y2K made me go out & buy a can of spam upon which I "Y2K" with magic marker & set it on the fireplace mantle. It got many laughs. After 9/11 I decided a bugout bag and a high power rifle were in order. After Katrina I realized that I needed to build a stockpile of food & supplies for a family of four to last at least 6 months. The last 4 years of the Bush Administration made me realize that this might be the last 2nd Amendment freedom I might see for a while, so I stocked up on ammo, powder, primers & bought an SKS for every member of my family, including the 5 year-old (he won't be 5 forever).
I started stocking up on food, fire starters, water, clothing and other gear for the past 4-1/2 years because of the New World Order and that when the subdermal microchip identification comes out and it is no longer an optional thing I will not have a place to live because I won't take it and there won't be any way to pay my taxes when that time comes being that my money will be credits and not green backs that I can hand to anyone. Also, the fact that we have been in higher jeopardy of not having food and other things because our country is going down the drain, I felt it best to get ready to take care of myself because there won't be anything or anyone to rely on. I am making sure to hide everything without metal on it because it is safer that way. Now, thinking of all of the layoffs and people that were already homeless and had become unemployed prior to the current layoffs and the possibility of our country becoming commune-iz-tic...
Seeing what happened in LA with Katrina. Watching programs like Survivorman - reading Wilderness Way magazine after taking one of Christopher Nyerges' classes. Listening to stories of how my grandparents survived during the Great Depression. This blog site is a great motivator too. Thanks MD!
About two years ago my father directed me to a survival blog and I decided to start looking into it as an alternative. I work as an Engineer in Texas. I had always been concerned with the direction the nation might take and decided to do something abut it. I got together with two of my closest friends and we decided to purchase 1500 acres of land in East Texas.
We found the perfect property and put a trailer on it. We plan on breaking ground in 2010 and begin the construction of an actual homestead.
Before the earthquake in CA we started and were thank full. Then after the riots we included our first items for protection and then said the hell-with-it and left CA. Then seeing just how bad things were gettiing and the direction the country was going we added CCW and more items for protection and include long term storage. We have come the realize that even if the world hadn't taken the turn it has we should have been doing this all along. Last year we started learning about farming/gardening and will have our first plants shortly. When we purchase a new home it will be on land (a homestead) we can use to feed our family and help our friends. We are also starting to learn the old crafts and herbs. We feel we will need all of this and more shortly. In short. we have left the 'city' and will never go back....
What got me to thinking 'What If' was the Mexican Peso devaluation in the very early '80's. I live hard up against the border in S. Texas, and the devalution was devastating to our economy, far more destructive to the rank and file Mexican citizen. Imagine if your currency was reduced in value to about 10% of its value in about a month (i.e. $1 suddenly buys 10 cents) - now pay the rent, food and other bills still making your salary. Kinda difficult, right?
I figured if it could happen there, could happen here. And so it began.
About 11 months ago, I just happened to read, "One Second After". Followed that with "The Road". Haven't burned out yet with my new hobby.
I started seriously prepping about two years ago. The main thing that started me off was when I read James Kunstler's book The Long Emergency. Since then I cannot tell you how many books I have read and how many websites I read. It has become a hobby. I have started a garden and have begun storing food and water. My husband thinks I'm crazy and my kids do too but oh well. For Christmas I have asked for a bicycle, garden in a can, books on prepping and food storage. I have made my husband get off his duff and help me fence and plant a garden.
Sept 11th got me started. Probably like a lot of people. I was blind until then. It was hard to ignore the wake up call from that day, but ironically many others haven't woken up yet. I store food, paid off debt, started a garden, beefed up my self defense and organized myself with a plan much deeper than ever before. Also started a blog and podcast on survivalism and preparing and also, the motivational aspects of living a better life and thriving today, so I can survive tomorrow.
Y2k
I am a Marine vet. RVN, 1970-1972, including other countries. I was a sniper. I worked for the CIA in many operations. Eventhough I believed in our cause, I learned that you can not trust the our government or any other government in ANY situation. I started preparring the day I got home.
As many here I have always tried to maintain self sufficiency and to think ahead. I was taught by my Dad the "Six Ps". Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.
I bought a place well off the track and have since moved my divorced daughter and her two little girls in with me. She nearly fainted when she discovered all of my stash (well not all of it, some is well hidden)and asked what I was doing. I have since tried to explain to her, but she is one of those that hates to listen to bad news or to things that don't have a happy ending.
I hope for a happy ending, but plan for the worse.
Papa Ray
A career in, what was at the time, Civil Defense. Most of your readers weren't even born yet.
In March of 2006, I received a message from a Divine Source that told me that I needed to start making preparations. I get messages - some very detailed - on a regular basis, and have learned not to question them. I thought that meant something was going to happen that year, but now I see that I was being given time to prepare for things coming in the future.
30 plus years and counting. My closest friends used to call me paranoid, now they call me prophet.
Pray for Obama, Psalms 109:8