As most of you know, the new “Doomsday Preppers” show aired last night on the National Geographic channel – I thought it was interesting, but felt that those featured were needlessly making themselves a visible target for looters, thieves, raiders and jackboot ninja thugs.
What do you think 
Join thousands of preppers and get all my survival tips for FREE! Subscribe to The Survivalist Blog dot Net via RSS or via e-mail.
{ 456 comments }
Interesting, but it came across as white trash on parade. Sorry that’s my take.
Those idiots up north that don’t believe in having guns around…. they’re idiots.
They aren’t idiots, they’re SLAVES…
They are only “fodder” for the “ne’er-do-wells”.
I completely agree, Craig, at least with the gun comment. I don’t think the family in CO or the young lady in Houston were white trash, but the others certainly seemed to try their best to stamp that label on their forehead.
The hippie clown that said “I’ll poison them or cut their throat in their sleep!” is one of the most stupid preppers I have ever seen in my life. What makes that fool think that bad guys are going to a) not shoot him on sight b) leave him unbound if they do let him live past the first moments, or c) be stupid enough to just go to sleep or let him cook their food unmonitored so that he can just poison or cut them? If I were a bad guy, I certainly would have used the details in their segment to find out where they live.
The girl in Houston needed better traveling clothes. Bugging out isn’t a way to pick up men. The family in CO needs to make sure EVERYONE trains on weapons, not just one guy. The OK Corral in TX seemed to be doing quite well with their preparations, but the concept they’re prepping for is simply scientific ignorance like HAARP or Nibiru. The worst thing about the prepper movement is all the flat Earth morons that latch on to some fallacy or conspiracy and make the rest of us look like morons.
It will be a cold day in Hades before I go on TV and advertise where my BOL is or where I live, let alone the nature of the insurance I’ve purchased for my family in the form of preps.
I wouldn’t mind living next to the family in UT. Other than her weight and being fool enough to go on TV, they seemed to have it mostly together.
In most of these episodes I find these families to be sincere, true-blue Americans who are insecurity with the government and/or lack faith in the political structure that shapes all our lives.
Who are we to judge anyone. One thing that all of us can get of this is the amount of creativity have insecurities and/or aren’t completely confident in the government.
robert bulka do you really want to talk about lack of confidence in our government? In 2008 the American government began taking all the coins made before 1965 off the market because that is when they used silver to make them. In 2008 America began storage of seeds for all the plants in a facility that cost us, the tax payers, 9 million dollars. America is very much prepared for 12/21/12 in fact all the elite in America will be well prepared including being in Washington bunkers with their families. Do you know about this? most Americans don’t and they don’t want us to.
I really appreciate those preppers who went on TV. Their information was informative and helpful. I am trying to be a prepper myself and watch all the shows I can on the subject. I am trying to help myself and hope more people will share their knowledge. I would never think of doing something bad to a person just because they went on TV for the purpose of helping others. Please, don’t stop showing these programs because of the ignorant viewers.
Craig, no offense to you man but this is the second time in as many weeks that I’ve heard it opined on this list that someone
“came across as white trash”. As best I can tell that opinion comes from our southern accents. Someone here said similar words about southern folks on Doomsdady Preppers, now this.
Well here are a few words for the wise DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH WE TALK DIFFERNT THAN YOU DO!!!! It doesn’t mean we are trailer trash. Did he spread his families laundry in the street? Yes he did but then again I suspect when the man cut the video he didn’t think it would get much further than his daughter and her brat friends. Oh, by the way, the term White Trash is racist if you haven’t figured it out. In case you don’t understand that it begs a comparison between White Trash and ……………… (you fill in the blank). The implication is that white folks are inherently superior except for a few that are “white trash”.
Think about it man.
I agree. Several times on this blog I’ve read comments about OPSEC. Those folks last night threw that out the window. I like to think that my preps are my business. I don’t mention it to anyone, even some of my closests friends. If the subject is brought up, I will make few and vague comments. I will say that I suspected that NATGEO would make all those folks out to be right wing nut jobs. I thought it was a fair presentation.
I thought “party girl” was a nut job…..gimme a break….really???
The container “fort” and bug out bus’s were cool, but the bullet test should not have been done on the corner…I mean, wasn’t there a big window there on the side? No one is gonna aim for the corner.
The “forager” in L.A. was interesting………..
The “gourmet” preppers, very well on track I think, except where is everyone headed when the fans starts stinking?????
The folks, what did they call themselves???? “liberal thinkers”? No guns, poison the food if bad guys come????
The family with all the skill sets spread out….I love girls who can weld.
It was entertaining, surely, I laughed my ass off at party girl. Took notes of course. Made me think. And “Practical preppers” gave pretty good analysis of the groups.
Some folks might recall the “forager” as a regular contributor to
‘American survival guide’ magazine back in the day.
The first group with 22 people and 20+ years of food for each of them is not far from where I live. I guess I know my fallback position… (Just kidding). :)
-Bret
BBQ and Bullets Homestead
Red Rock, TX (Outside of Austin)
That was my thought too, the no gun guy illicted a thought of “Ah, thats where I direct the masses” – so pretty much that only useful ones I thought were the tx crew that practice bugging out. The party girl did showcase the problems of prepping in apatyments….
just sayin….
First rule of prepping: OPSEC, operational security. You don’t advertise to ANYONE what you have or what you’re doing. Period.
I missed it. Was it ‘better’ than the last one? I’ll have to check the guide and see when it plays again. The DW is interested in seeing it. It lead to many discussions after the 1st one.
JP,
It was significantly better, and not nearly the hack job I expected. One warning though, I suspect reading all of these comments may reveal some spoilers, LOL.
OP, I saw last years on my cables “on demand” have the DVR set to record it this weekend while at work. Recording NCIS was a bit more important lol.
I figure even with the nut jobs last season I took a few notes where applicable, maybe some this season.
Jarhead,
NCIS eh? I’m also a fan, but my satellite (no cable TV out here) receiver has 3 tuners so I can record two from the bird and one off the air so I don’t miss either of them – LOL.
I missed it too just looked it re airs on Sat. the 11 several air times.
you can get the segments via Hulu
- http://www.hulu.com/
just sayin…
I was fully expecting the participants of the show to be made objects of ridicule (particularly given the chosen title of the show) and was pleasantly surprised to see it presented in a mostly objective light. Even if people don’t believe in some of the more extreme views presented as a reason for their actions, being prepared to care for loved ones or yourselves after any disaster is always a good thing. Too many people just sit around waiting to rescued or served by authorities (witness Katrina aftermath).
My only recommendation to producers at this juncture would be to change the title…and maybe include a segment on resources mentioned during the show and where to procure them.
I thought it was a joke and the people used to portray preppers are way out there extremists with more motivation than common sense. I think this show’s real intent is to show preppers as extreme whack jobs and further an incorrect stigma to the majority of the population. The producers are only looking for the sensationalized extremists in our community and they don’t grasp the true essence of the prepping lifestyle.
They’re show has as much to do with prepping as Survivor has to do with wilderness survival.
I agree, Ted. At the end of each “critique”, the “Experts” dismissed the preppers reasons for prepping as “unlikely to happen”.
Sarge
Don’t ya just love experts. So far they haven’t gotten us out of anything.
I think that they can’t even tell you with certainty that inflation is not going to play havoc with us for ever.
Case in point:
Last time I was at Wally World they were unloading Charcoal Briquets. Double bags (didn’t check to see if weight was the same) and it had gone from last years price of $10.99 to $12.99.
Now let the experts tell me that something is “unlikely to happen”. It already is and it’s called gougeing the pocketbook.
It could very well mean that we will be able to purchase less and less with our dollar and that is as bad as an earthquake, winter storm, epidemic etc.
I remember this one movie (don’t remember the name, maybe a naked gun movie) where this fireworks factory is blowing up big time, people are screaming in the streets on fire etc. and this cop is very calmly saying, “move along, nothing to see here”…I also seem to remember this gov. talk during Katrina…
Ellen,
Inflation has been with us since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, and will continue to be with us until it is reigned in, although I don’t see anyone but Ron Paul discussing it seriously.
an expert is a has been ex and a spert is a drip under pressure.That is how you get the word expert
Hey maybe for the rest of us that is a good thing ! I’m just saying !
@ Sarge – I suspect they have to say that for Legal reasons as alot of people these days are not the sharpest tools in the shed and will go out and do something completely off the wall and crazy because the “boob tube told them to.” also according to the DHS these days its now a federal crime ( IE TERRORISM) if you stock more than 3 days worth of food and Ammo. their just covering their butts while in a way inspiring / encouraging others to get on the wagon and not let the GOVERNMENT protect them from themselves as everyone SHOULD do.
All of these tv shows that they have out now about certain groups of people do the same. It’s just like Extreme Couponers. I’ve used coupons for years and now because of that show I feel like everybody in the store is watching to see if I get my food for free. (Which I don’t, btw.) They always show the most extreme cases and make those of us that are more conservative look like a bunch of nutcases. Hoarders is another good example. People watch that and think they can diagnose somebody as a hoarder simply because they save their dryer lint! If that were the case, we would all be in the loony bin.
+2. I think the show will do more harm than good. By stigmatizing all preppers as lunatics wackos, fewer people will listen when their prepping friends and neighbors warn them of taking care of their families in the event of an emergency. Thus more people will be unprepared sheeple. I think they tried to show preppers as extremists.
My DH figured that was the purpose. He said the “experts” opinions were out of touch. We laughed aloud a few times at the, “most likely will not happen in the United States” comments! Like hell! It’s already happening with inflation, gov. big brother programs. The gov. is working on citizens spy drones!
But if you stop and think about it, preppers will make fun, take notes and check their supplies and such. Non-preppers watching this will probably think we’re all out-of-shape, naive, fringe anti-society people. I can hear Deliverance playing in the background!
But who knows, maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe NatGeo should make preppers look a little meaner then dumb. Anti-prepper show, kinda scary if sheeple actively choose NOT to prep after the show.
The young girl with the weird mouth and short shorts would be gang fodder.
I saw a show like that once. I have no idea what channel it was on, or even the name of it, but the people were living in a manufactured post-doomsday scenario. They had to find food, water, and fight off raiders. Wish I could remember so I could rent the whole season/movie.
The name of the series was “JERICO”.
greetings. but wasn’t that the purpose of the show? to show all people who are concerned with the present and envisioning what that will lead to as insane. nothing is happening. nothing to see here. everything is under control as always.
Greetings Rich. Maybe this a set up for a false flag op so the dark lord and his flying monkey handlers can introduce more Rules and restrictive leglislation. Clamp down harder on people because of the silly prepper movement?
Too right, mate. They’d better be practicing “home carry”, now, ’cause when SHTF, they’d be the first homes on the chopping block.
-Uzziel-
III
I am watching the 2nd one as I type this. I have to say I’m disappointed that the reviewers have said nothing about the weight/health issues of the people in this episode. All the food in the world isn’t going to help them if they aren’t in shape to deal with what may come their way. Also some have some really unrealistic ideas about defense… the ‘oh we have good neighbors and community’ way of thinking isn’t going to help them when people are starving and desperate.
On the other side, the ‘foodie’ who cooks the gourmet meals w her preps was interesting. Everyone agrees that a diet of beans and bread isn’t the most appetizing so I think that can be an inspiration to all of us to work now on using ‘prep food’ to create yummy and healthy meals.
DG
Did you guys pay attention to the woman who made gourmet food from food storage? She mentioned that she would get store-bought hard cheese and dip it into cheese wax, and it would store for 20+ years. Has anyone done this? Freeze dried cheese at EE is so expensive. I need to learn to either make my own cheese or to see if dipping it in cheese wax really works. (I did the EE food analyzer and learned that I don’t have enough calcium-containing foods on hand.)
Gayle, I had had the same question and found this,
Waxing cheese is a method to minimize mold growth on the surface of cheese. It cannot prevent growth or survival of many pathogenic bacteria. In fact it may promote anaerobic bacteria growth, like botulism.
Before the days of refrigeration, we made cheese that was dryer and fermented to a lower pH (higher acid). These types of cheeses were traditionally stored at room temperature with wax covers. The very low pH and fermentation byproducts could inhibit food borne illness bacteria. A perfect example is parmesan style cheese. Acid, dryness, and fermentation byproducts make this cheese capable of storage at room temperature.
Today, many cheeses are made strictly for storage under refrigeration. These cheeses may not have a low pH and other factors created in their manufacture to prevent pathogen growth, since the manufacturer knows they will be kept refrigerated. If someone waxes this cheese and leaves it in food storage, then there is absolutely no science indicating any level of safety.
Please inform consumers that there is no scientific evidence that waxing cheese is safe. In fact, there is evidence to the opposite – placing cheese meant for refrigeration at room temperature is a SIGNIFICANT risk and hazard for food borne illness.
Regards,
Brian A. Nummer, Ph.D.
Extension Food Safety Specialist
Director, Retail Food Safety Consortium
8700 Old Main Hill
Utah State University
Logan, UT 84322-8700
435-797-2116
brian.nummer@usu.edu
Blindshooter
I truly believe that any refrigerated product is capable of killing you if not properly handled.
From what I have gathered cheddar is the best to work with. Not the softer varieties, but the ones say like Tilliamook in the 2lb brick.
I also gather that you have to set them out for awhile (hours not days) so the air can form a crust of sorts on the cheese before you wax it.
Many people do this without any problem so it seems. And so far if they have eaten any of the stored cheese it has not been on the news.
After saying this I believe that it can be done safely but should it?
You can’t take chances.
So I would rather, even though expensive, invest in properly treated cheese’s such as the powdered (good for mac and cheese and au graten potato’s) and already waxed cheese’s.
If you purchase waxed cheese, as conmaze (nofla) said the longer you keep it the sharper it gets.
This is one thing that I am very short on is a supply of dairy products that can be stored for any length of time.
Blindshooter,
Thank you for posting this. I will not be waxing cheese bought at the grocery store.
Okay, interesting. I wanted to mail some cheese but was a bit skeptical how any real cheese I got out of the cases would survive. (I was told any cheese could be mailed as-is.) I never did find any “giftbox” cheese.
Blindshooter,
Thanks for posting this. It is so much better to be educated and safe then sick!
Gayle, yes, you can wax the cheese and when I was a kid my grandfather had cheese he had waxed that was 20 years old. It was extremely sharp and oh, so good! He would give me a slice of his cheese and a piece of apple for a snack. Yum! Not hard to do from what I’ve seen. I haven’t personally done it but my friend does it. Check out the foodie prepper’s website and she tells you how to do it and where to get the wax, etc. I LOVE her website – such a huge wealth of information. She is extremely intelligent and I have spent hours reading her stuff and listening to her radio program episodes. Here is the link: http://www.preparedenesspro.com. She is also on Facebook.
I talked to these folks a while back. They woundn’t commit to anything beyond a year shelf life on their waxed rounds but I got the feeling they were afraid they were talking to the USDA. Nice folks. I was amazed at the size of the rounds they can provide. http://www.henningscheese.com/index.html
As someone allergic to dairy, you don’t need dairy products to get the calcium you need in your diet. It is a myth the dairy industry has perpetuated. You can get all the calcium you need from vegetables. Only babies need milk and it should be human!
I agree Judy! Humans are the only species who feed there offspring milk from a different species. It does not seem natural.
I debated on if i should post on this subject, as I know its such a touchy one, but I would like to point out that since my great-grandfathers time, within the family skim milk was offered to the pigs, the chickens, dogs/cats on the farm.
I am aware that its a human offering this milk to them, but if you ever see a flock of chickens do the dance of joy over a pan of fresh skim milk, they do seem to enjoy it, the same with how excited a pig will get, and the barn cats with full feed dishes will still beg their hearts out for a bit of fresh warm whole milk to be put down.
I had to lock my calf up from the expecting momma sheep that he was his buddy because as she started to bag up, he was doing his best to nurse off of her, I caught him right away and moved him, but the point is, he would have been very happy to help himself to some sheep milk if allowed by her and me.
That’s been my experience, too. All of our livestock LOVE to get a treat of milk or dairy products.
Gayle,
I saw that and I was taking notes all through the shows. The hand saw made from a piece of chainsaw chain was another interesting feature.
Would be interesting for the gourmet cook to produce a recipe book on “spicing” up your food storage. I’m betting it would sell.
There are several recipe books on preparing gourmet foods without a heat source or refrigeration. my favorite is “The Storm Gourmet” by Daphne Nikolopoulos. She outlines what she calls “the ultimate storm pantry” as well as “the basics” storm pantry and appropriate recipes for both. I discovered her book while looking for ideas for a sailing venture that required shelf stable foods and have added many items to my storage pantry.
I didn’t see the show, but I used to have what the Sportsman’s Guide called a hand “chain saw” that was a length of chain saw, with two ropes, with a bag of sand on the end of one rope. Throw the weight over the branch, it pulls the chain up, cut the limb. Simple, eh?
Well, I got it back in ’02 when we bought the current place (Long Island, yeah I know…but the job’s here.) When a tropical storm threatened, I took down ~ 2/3 of the sail area of a 60′ tall pine tree with it, then it got stuck. It does work, but since the storm veered west I didn’t bother unsticking it. My arms were sore for days, but it does work. Next spring we paid a guy $300 to take the rest of the tree down (tree trimmers were busier and more expensive with the storm on the way…) He gave it back to me.
I loaned it to a neighbor, she passed, haven’t felt the need to ask her chidren for it back…
They do work, they work fairly well, but don’t throw them higher than you’re willing to climb to get them back.
Chris Nyerges shows this one that was home made from a length of chainsaw chain, with handles on both ends. You’ve probably seen the “wire” saws that kind of look like a piece of barbed wire with rings on each end for the handle. While they work OK, they are fragile, and break easily, where this homemade one from the chainsaw chain will I suspect hold up much better.
I do like the concept of the one you mentioned and may have to think of a way to do both thins. Perhaps a place to tie paracord on both ends to operate it from a distance. Hmmmm.
OP, I have a chain saw blade saw kit and it has two handles on it and rolls up in a small pouch. Forget the manufacturer as I bought it years ago. I’ve thought about making a few after the bad winds we had months ago knocking trees down.
a good aged grana style cheese such as parmesiano reggiano, or an aged gouda will last 5 years to 8 years IF it is a very dry cheese, kept in a cool and DRY place…it will get very hard and will have to be shredded with a hasp to get it grated…I have had aged cheeses this long under the RIGHT conditions…they change into a nutty, tasty cheese…but only Hard, aged cheeses will do…the old dutch cheese makers would wipe the harder cheese with vinegar, wrap in cheese cloth and dip the whole thing in wax to seal out the air and oxygen…the vinegar would combat mold…
as far as the series is concerned, OPSEC is paramount…its no ones business how I prep or why I prep or where I prep…it only matters to the ones I love, and care for…the less said, in reality the better! like all of these Reality shows…BS!
I was wondering the same thing Gayle. If this really works, I’ll go start buying cheese today. Where do we buy the wax??? I’m gonna have to go to google and research.
DG
Whole Foods or a place like Trader Joes sells all kinds of cheese at room temp. that you could wax. I also ordered canned cheese from the “internet grocer” . It shredds and melts like regular cheddar cheese and lasts indefinetly in the can. They also sell New Zealand canned real butter also. I bought that also. I will try the cheese waxing for myself though becuase I love parm-reggiano. I has enough salt in it so you don’t have to add any when your cooking.
Her name is Kellene. Her website is
http://preparednesspro.com/
She is very informative and knowledgeable. She preps and teaches it for a living. She did say the camera crew was different from the crew that did the editing and that’s where somethings got a little “tweaked”.
She has recipes and how to’s about the cheese, how to store eggs up to 9 months (no refrigeration) and some very decadent food storage recipes that will make you drool. Like crockpot molton lave chocolate cake that I want to bathe in!
And Gayle. She does COUPONS! Like as in a lot of them and deals. Also articles on Google, weather, which water filter is supposed to work best. She’s no dummy.
Check out her website, its good. M.D. your blog is the formate I like best though. The way you have an article then an open discussion. Please don’t ever change it! That’s why your site is, Home.
Her website does seem pretty good. But you have to take her with a grain of salt. She has some pretty negative “history”.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/adult-career-continuing-education/commercial-career-xe/commercial-career-xe-kellene-a99f8.htm
We got instant milk and freeze dried cheese from shelfreliancesanantonio.com. While freeze dried cheese is certainly not cheap a few #10 cans will go a LONG way. I also found some recipes to make my own Mozzarella and Cottage cheese with the instant milk. Of course you can drink the milk (their instant milk is great!) and make instant pudding and even yogurt. That should cover most of your calcium needs.
RE: Calcium – We don’t have enough either. I bought Tums, so that we can add some calcium that way. My mom took one Tums every evening. Does anyone know anything about how useful this is? Some of the things I do, I just do because that was how I grew up, but I don’t really know if it is okay.
Garden Mom, I had surgery a few years back. One of the side effects made it harder for me to absorb calcium. As a result my surgeon recommended that I use enough Tums, to give me 1500mg of elemental calcium, the regular tums I took then it was 5 .He told me it was best absorbed at night with vitamin D and magnesium…so there is validity in using tums to boost your calcium intake.
Plant some collards in your garden and add them to your diet. They have a lot of calcium as do a lot of other veggies. Unless you live in an extremely cold area collards will grow like a bush. pluck off the bottom leaves and it will keep growing new ones from the top. I’ve seen collard stalks 2′ high and as big around as your wrist.
My point is, that after the shtf collards will grow for free and you won’t need to store your calcium in your preps.
Charlie (NC),
Thank you. One of the tasks I have set for myself this week is to figure out what green leafy veggies will grow here in Florida during the hot summer months.
Now I know.
Gayle,
Collards do very well in Florida ! We love them !
One more thing, In Florida we have two growing seasons. When I first moved here years ago, I just couldn’t get a hand on when to plant. Being from the north my planting season was way off. I found a book that I love called Florida Home Grown 2. The Edible Landscape by Tom MacCubbin . The best book I have found for regular people wanting to plant a garden and make use of all the space around your home in town or out. Get a copy and you won’t regret it. He gives planting zones for the whole state of Florida. Good Book especially for a prepper or someone just starting out. I still use my copy all year long.
Gayle, Summer collards (which would pretty much be year round collards for you unless you’re up on the panhandle) tend to be sappy and bitter. They are much better in the winter after frost. I would suggest you look for a variety that is known around here as
a Cabbage-Collard. It’s much milder flavored.
Ganny mae, you guys have the distinct advantage of being able to grow citrus trees. I had a great uncle that lived in Tampa for many years on about 5 acres on a creek. He had fresh fruit almost year round and plenty to give away.
sorry meant to type Granny mae. missed a key stroke
Charlie (NC),
I have never heard of summer collards. I will check that out. I am getting some really great ideas this week. I am going to plant some Swiss chard and also some summer collards. Now I just have to find some seeds.
I live in Fl. also and grow collards throughout the year, though I find in central Fl. they do best Sept. thru june, they tend to get buggy in our hottest weather. I rarely use pesticides other then rotenone or pyrethum do to allergies. We love em. Best book I’ve found for planting here is Stan DeFrietas Complete Guide to Florida Gardening, though its last print was in ’87. We grow alot of veggies here in our ‘cold’ season though we rarely freeze for more then a few days a year. Our collards have gotten easily 4′ high during one growing season. and alot of times they will reseed if left to bloom.
Hey guys, thanks for all the input. I pulled out the seed banks that I got for Christmas and lo and behold, I found seeds for Georgia Collards. I also found some seeds for Swiss chard (Lucullus). Have any of you planted these? I am wondering how well they will do in Florida.
RE: Cheese for storing
I shred hard cheese (sharp cheddar), then dehydrate it on paper towels (to absorb the fat). Later, I add it to my hamburger hotdish recipe by setting the cheese on paper towels then sprinkling with water and loosely wrapping it up. I check it after 3-4 minutes, then sprinkle it a little more until it is softened, then add it to my recipe. I allow the cheese to rehydrate while I make up the rest of the recipe. I haven’t tried it any other way – time to experiment with eggs I think.
Garden Mom,
I have ordered an Excalibur so this is something I will definitely try. Cheddar seems to be much more difficult to make than mozzarella.
greetings. wouldn’t it be nice to have people in the group pass along recipes that they found actually worked and when followed turned out food that one would actually want to eat rather then the ordinary disaster that most recipes in books turn out to be. say recipes without hard or impossible to obtain ingredients, using things that could be stock piled without the necessity of winning the lottery. i once lived with a woman who was a natural cook. she could take almost anything and make actual interesting, tasty and healthful meals out of it. and she did it without estoric special cooking tools or fancy accessories. just plain ingredients cooked right.
Rich,
Have you gotten your copy of the Wolf Pack Cookbook? That has recipes that folks here have tried and like, and that make use of shelf stable foods that most of us already store.
AMEN
Phrase of the day… jackboot ninja thugs :-)
I taped the show but haven’t watched it, but I am reminded by a COPS episode where they asked if they worried the thieves would learn the tactics by showing them on TV…the captain responded most people don’t see it or remember if they saw it …so I doubt most people will remember these shows a week from now.
Unless you are already their neighbors, it would take a bit of planning ahead to find exactly where they are.
I thought is was pretty good. Didn’t pick the most extreme out there and did the feed back from experts format they use on other shows. Boy, am I way behind!
I agree, it was really interesting. I am pretty new to prepping and this is the best site I have found. One thing I have learned from everyone here is OPSEC and I believe most of the people on the show have given that up. I like the ideas but the fact you have a camera crew in your house and are telling about your preps is a bad idea to me, even if you still have hidden preps and different caches along the way. And I agree with helping your community but when everyone around you knows what you do but all they do is the bare minimum to prep, then be expecting plenty of visits. I also believe you should be doing dry runs of your escape plans and have more than 1 route to get out of where ever you are. I used to plan for a zombie apocolypse and everyone looked at me weird, but when I said I was planning for something like an economic meltdown or something like that, the thought I was even more crazy. To say the least I have gone back to saying I’m waiting for zombies, it’s just easier.
Kind of funny how that works. I joined the Zombie Research Society on a whim. It introduced me to preparing and that led me to seeing bigger dangers than zombies. Zombie Apocalypse still makes a good cover story for some things though.
Ursus.Any way that led you into prepping is valid in my book.I wonder if the zombie folks discuss handloading and other survival topics.I recently saw this new shotgun called the chainsaw.It is a mossy 500 series with a pistolgrip and door breacher gizmo on it.It had a pic rail and a chainsaw looking handle to pump it.We were kidding around about it at the gunshop and I mentioned that it would be perfect for someone in a wheelchair.Maybe,I don`t know.
greetings. or planning how to combat the communists parachutes troops that are going to be delivered by black choppers all over the nation. but zombies sound like more fun.
I like the commy black chopper scenario also.
I have been stocking in one way or another for years. I have put up with many comments along the way and over the years I have learned a few things. 1. Don’t try to explain yourself because most people don’t understand , not even family members. 2′ Don’t try to get them to understand because they have a wall up that you just cannot penetrate. Made my last final attempt for family this past week and still got turned down, so I said OK you are on your own and don’t come to my house, I won’t be home ! 2. I won’t be bugging out to anyplace else. My health won’t let me so I’m spending my time preparing my country place for anything. If I were to bug out I would never take the main roads, ever. Back roads only and have several routes planned just in case ! And if you do plan on bugging out don’t waste time doing it ! If you sit around making up your mind as to when the right time is , it will be too late and very dangerous to be out on the road, especially if you have a long distance to go. I have taken note of many things by watching the ordeal with hurricane Katrina. I shouted at that television so many times, for those people to turn around and go somewhere else. Some people had vehicles and were waiting on their other family members to get off work and were going to meet up at the Dome to sit out the storm ! Idiots! I would never put my family in such a huge place aong so many strangers and possible perverts. Ever ! They knew the storm was coming and still they had to get in those last few hours of paycheck ! Not worth it! I personally told my boss one time that I was leaving because of a hurricane and he had half an houre to batten down the hatches with my help or he would be doing it alone because my families safety was the most important to me. I helped him and left and my family and I packed what we needed and headed out. Not on the highways either. We took the back roads for 200 miles and settled in to wait the storm. People (my sister and her family) didn’t listen and went on the highways and got booged down in the trafic and waited out the storm in a little car, not able to get off the highway. When I asked them why they all piled into the smallest car, (there were 7 of them), I was told it was the best on gas mileage !? There were several other cars at home that would have held them all much better and they were all full of gas. They said there were no gasstations open so they wouldn’t be able to get gas ! I said did you think about taking the gas out of the other cars and putting it into a couple gas cans to take with you and in that way use the car that would accomadate the family better ? Didn’t think about that ! They were crowded, stranded, hot, hungry, and at each others throat for two days ! She called me on her cell phone and wanted me to come and get her ! That was out of the question, there was no way I could have gotten to them ! So people think of these kinds of things when you decide to bug out. As for me we will stay right where we are. It is going to be tough no matter where you are at so just deal with it ! Another thing about all this talk about gourmet meals, you miight want to get use to eating food to live and not live to eat ! Once you start spicing up all that food and getting it to smell and taste so good the oder wil attract people, hungry people from miles around ! To prove a point, I live out in the country and when the woman a mile down the road fixes bacon and eggs for her family, I can smell it at my place ! When people get hungry they will be smelling your gourmet cooking for miles and pretty soon they will be begging at your door ! Better use your brains or you will be like my stupid sister sitting for 36 hours stranded in traffic durring a hurricane !
I know what you mean Matt in regards to immediate family and close friends thinking you are nuts. I regularly take friends out to shoot, build and set traps, make fire, find and purify water, advise on prepping food stuffs, etc. Some family have got more interested on getting started prepping when I specifically told them not to come to my home in the event of a disaster (as most of them aver they will do) as I will be gone with all my supplies (not entirely truthful) They seem to acknowledge that I have some experience in such matters and yet they always smile strangely and make jokes about prepping.
I really push the idea of prepping for personal economic emergencies, localized disasters both natural and man made, failure of services ie: water and power. etc. They seem to accept that as logical and possible as opposed to TEOTWAWKI scenarios. Hang in there brother. We are only CRAZY MADMEN until the plant closes or the hurricane, ice storm, tornado, flood, wildfire or earthquake strikes. ;)
the only difference between me and a “madman”… I’m not mad.
SurvivorDan,
You stated, “and yet they always smile strangely and make jokes about prepping”, which to me means you’re getting through to them. They most likely realize that in a SHF situation they are toast, and when their only plan (come visit you) gets poked full of holes; they get uneasy, although not enough to do anything about it. Change is hard, and like the smoker who knows the risks and is constantly trying to cough up a lung, changing those habits takes uncomfortable effort.
Matt from MO – You should tell them you’re prepping for the New Madrid earthquake, or tornado’s, or flooding – all valid Missouri problems. When I was in Florida, everything was “Hurricane Preps”. lol
That’s how I introduced my wife to prepping. It only takes a couple of days without electricity to get someone gung-ho on getting a generator and supplies.
Jumbo,
For some people that is true but there is a whole passeel of them thar idiots out there! They out number the people with brains! I discovered this at an early age when my mother-in-law went grocery shopping and they were having a contest, if you could answer the question you drew from a fish bowl, you could get so much off your bill up to your groceries free. Mom could have had her groceries free ! The question: what is the capitol of the United States? Her answer : New York City ! After we got outside she asked me what the right answer was; I told her Washington D.C. ! My first exposure to idiots ! Don’t get me wrong, I loved her dearly but that woman did not have it all together sometimes !
Bad operational security. Some of they people had nice setups though
Well darn….I wrote a whole comment here and submitted it, and now it doesn’t even show as pending approval. :( I’ll wait and see if it shows up somehow….
MtWomen I lose them that way all the time, Thanks I thought it was just me.
I agree, I guess the chance to be on TV got to them.I try my best to be gray because that’s less people I’ll have to shoot when they come over to TRY and take my stuff,
Rino,
I like how you think.
I enjoyed the show and learned a few new things .
I agree that the people on the show have given up too much privacy by being on the show. The guy that said he would invite the hoards and roving bands of thugs to his place and make them his friends cracked me up. I doubt he would even live long enough to in items them into his home.
i found it fairly interesting.there were numerous things the people were doing wrong that put their entire plan at risk…that being said i still got some good ideas.i was surprise natgeo didn’t outright make fun of the people so that was good.
I wasn’t able to watch it but that was my first thought when I saw the preview. Now that the world knows where they live they will have to maintain a constant guard against thieves. Some might have called them paranoid before the show, but now they really will be paranoid!
After the SHTF everyone for miles around will seek them out for shelter, food, etc. If they weren’t on government radar before they certainly are now. I support what they are doing, but I don’t think they should have gone public like that.
I think when I go on the survival show I will be the mr airsoft survivalist. The episode will be 100 percent op sec. Won`t say a thing true about me. That may keep me way under the radar.
I’m not as sneaky-sneaky low profile as I should be. But puh-leez!
Some folks in the preps-selling biz, survivalist blogging/lecturing, survival/self-defense trainers, etc. must by necessity stick their heads up a bit. But these ordinary people exposing themselves and their loved ones for a few minutes of fame and countless U-tube hits are insane. A prime example of this is our local AZ garden pool survivalists who have advertised to the world that they have five years of stored food, generators, solar power, roof top rain collectors, self-sustaining garden pool, and more (and only two adults to defend it all). Oy… I suppose they mean well. I wish then all the best of luck.
SurvivorDan,
If you’re talking about the two in the Phoenix area from last year’s show, keep in mind that one of the families is already high profile with the “Survival Mom” website. I understand that she also teaches occasional classes at the local Honeyville store.
the couple from orum,utah made themselves big targets when the g-men start confiscating supply hoardes.
I would have to agree with you. I would not put myself out there like that. I have only been prepping for about 2 years but have gardened and preserved my food for the past 14 years. My family is aware of what I do but they know not to say anything to anyone and I don’t make it a topic of conversation with them, I just do it. The less others know the better.
Linda,
I’m with you. I garden and can and dehydrate too, but most think it is just me being old fashioned and they have no clue as to the amount I have stored especially over the years. I plan to keep it that way. My family members that I have tried to talk into letting me show them how to can and dehydrate all live way down state and they are not close enough to me to make a difference if they tell their friends. I would never do a television show that shows as much as this one did. Where do you keep a semi, when you live in a sub-division anyway? These people don’t know what they have done or they wouldn’t have done it !
Well I watched both episodes and it makes me wonder if they don’t toss in the crazies to take away from the seriousness of people prepping. It really P’s me off that they put overweight strippers that want to shoot their cat for no apparent reason other than having a ” they can’t live without me ” complex. And crocidile Dumbdee that thinks he is gonna go walkabout in LA and survive bartering with the homeless people…yeah right. Now for the senior hippies with the free love and no guns..Sit around the campfire sing kumbaya and pray….they kill you quick. If i knew nothing about prepping I wouldn’t even start after watching these first two episodes.
It is a tragedy that that show could be a deterrent to folks who had considered prepping but are put off by some of the ridiculous stuff. Or that some might assume the attitude of the ‘preppers’ portrayed. “See Martha! We shall have peace and love during a Collapse. We will invite the hoards of zombies and teach them what love is all about! Kubaya!” Oh Lord……
‘hordes’ Damn homonyms or homophones as you like. lol
Dan, at least you didn’t spell it ‘whoreds’… (chuckle) ;)
Survivor Dan,
I don’t think the show would be a deterrent to people prepping. Anyone who is smart enough to realize the need to prep is unlikely to think a TV show will be an accurate representation of the prepper community.
On another note, my dh watched part of one show with me last night. I think the show got him worried that I might be a bit off my rocker. He said the best part of the show (for him) was when the debunked the various reasons people were prepping. I didn’t say anything. But most of the reasons advanced were pretty good: economic collapse, natural disaster such as an earthquake, hyperinflation, EMP, terrorist attack.
I also think he got worried when I said, “Hey that’s an AR-15″. He just looked a me like, how on earth did you know that. I resisted telling him that I wanted one. LOL.
Mine looked at me like, wow, when I declared the canning lids as Tattler’s. My DH was the one labeling all the guns. He saw another he wanted and commented as such. That’s when I looked at him like, Wow!
Vienna,
I noticed the Tattler lids as well.
Perhaps. I hope so Gayle.
I agree the people who already have a clue that they need to prep will not be mislead or discouraged by the kumbaya folks but an inexperienced person might try to emulate them to their detriment in the event of TEOTWAWKI.
I suppose that overall, the show could be a good start to advancing the exposure of non-preppers to the need to prep.
Only the episodes to come will tell.
S. Dan,
I fear the show can only get worse. After learning that they completely misrepresented Party Girl and learning what happened to the obese ham radio man, no one in his or her right mind would go on the show. (And this news is making its way around all the prepper blogs.) So the only folks who would agree to be on the show are either nut jobs or incredibly stupid.
In reality, I think anyone who watched the show and got to thinking would hit the web, and find communities like ours where they can learn what they need to learn.
Gayle,
That is exactly what I did. The show made me realize that I am not prepared for anything that would happen and I’m a firm believer, that even if not in my time, something major will happen. I am so glad I came across this blog and the comments to actually give me realistic information. As I was watching I thought these people were just a bit out there but it did make me realize that I needed to gather more information to make myself better prepared for something happening. With all things in this country the media has to exaggerated everything so they can get some ratings and grab the extremists who can make thier shows over the top.
Cassandra,
Welcome to the Wolf Pack. If you have questions, feel free to ask. Someone here will have an answer.
Thank you Gayle. I’m still going through all the information that I have gathered so far! After talking to my mate he has decided to prep as well so now we’re trying to figure out our best direction. I’m sure that we will have questions when we finish sifting through our information :)
Gayle,
My hubby never took my canning and such as prepping any way until he started listening to GlennBeck then he got the picture. He is very quiet about things but having been with this man for52 years I have come to know him pretty well. Now I see him prepping too. Small car parts, faraday cages, communications equipment, and so on. Now he is my helper and oh yess, a huge knowledge of fire arms and munitions that he is passing along to his son’s and so on ! Never say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks !
Carl,
Crocodile Dumbdee as you called him is Chris Nyerges who has been teaching self-reliance skills for nearly 40 years. I met him at a Preparedness Expo back in 1996 and he is the real deal. I suspect if things got really bad, he could head into the hills and survive comfortably.
I apologize for my Comment after seeing a interview with megan hurwitt I definitly know my comments were not of the people but the caracters they played on a “show”.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/02/08/how-nat-geo-misrepresented-the-foxhole-atheist-doomsday-prepper-megan-hurwitt/
Carl,
Thanks for the link. I hadn’t seen this, but unfortunately it really doesn’t surprise me. After the original that ran last year, I and others from this forum were contacted by email about this project. I didn’t even respond and I’ve never regretted it. It seems to me that nothing good can ever come from a project where a camera crew spends hours to days with you, and edits it into 20 minutes. I for one will still watch, since I picked up some good hints, but I will sprinkle a grain of salt on it before being too critical.
Carl,
I agree with you about freak-girl who was going to shoot her cats. Her cats have a better chance of surviving post collapse than she does. She is an idiot for thinking she can walk out of Houston through some rough neighborhoods by herself with a handgun. She said she worked out four hours a day every day. Well, if you work out four hours a day every day, you look better than she does.
I didnt watch it, dont have cable. Someone thinks they are going to walk out of Houston with only a handgun? That is my biggest issue, living on the south side – how to get out and around Houston if I am not already bugged out. Scary thinking…
TG
Maybe we should consider partnering up?
hmmm…I lived in Houston for 2 years…she wouldn’t make it past two blocks without someone shooting her happy cat killing ass…and the cats keep the rats away…what a Maroon!
Damn! huston must be a violent place gld i dont live there lol
The Houstonian was the weakest case of all. First, her get-a-way car was parked miles from her home. Unless it’s a friend or relative’s home, it is subject to being towed, stolen, vandalized, etc. Second, she was way out of shape for “exercising 4 hours/day” Third, she needs to drop that small urban apartment the next time the lease expires and move at least to the suburbs and get something bigger. Forth, ditch the ragtop pony and get something with heft. I may have to ram a few abandoned cars to get them out of my way. Fifth, ditch the expensive high living lifestyle. That’s money that can go to prepping. You can have a lot of fun for a lot less money. Sixth, get rid of the expensive bottled water. Instead practice and use purify/filter tap water. I did not see what was in her pack. Seventh, get a better escape route. I am sure I missed a lot, just off the top of my head from memory. On the positive side: She was good to practice her bug out route, and found out she could not carry that huge pack very well and had a bad route. She was good to get self defense training and shooting practice. At least she is more prepared than 85% of the rest of the population and is working on her plan. She is moving in the right direction and learning from her mistakes. There is hope for her. Perhaps I can modify my earlier post in that some of the audiance will see her: still having an active social lifestyle, in the city, in a small space, and can see you can do some prepping without major lifestyle adjustments, having to move to the sticks and live in some compound and eat weeds. I need to learn what plants are edible. The main thing I learned from the show is that I have a long way to go.
Everyone knows dandelions. In addition, one of the best edible plants is lambs quarter. This is in the spinach family, the undersides of the spade-shaped leaves are silver, and it grows in poor soil. Another is purslane. That is out in July-August and looks like a ratty jade tree with red stems. Low to the ground. I also like plantain. This is that weed in your yard with the ring of leaves on the ground and the seed spike. Plantain is good for bug bites (chew it, spit it out and put the pulp on the bite) and coughs (tea) and you can eat it, and you can boil the seeds too. Plantain was brought here by colonists because they held it in high regard. Hope that gets you started.
Cattails are the supermarket of the plant kingdom, almost all of it is useful and edible. The sap from the lower part is a good anesthetic as well, works like Numbsit for teething babies and toothaches, burns and bug bites. The root system is a potato, the lower stem is like cabbage in taste and cooked the same way. Even edible raw. The pods will make a flour extender or cereal, taste like cob corn, too. :) The stalks can be used as arrows or bow drills for fire starting. The leaves can be eaten, but bitter, and used to make matts or clothing… its usefullness is almost inexhaustible.
lol you are right david people that talk about taking off on foot/car or whatever dont stop to think how many hundreds of thousands of people or a lot more that will be doing the same thing on foot or by car!I dont know how many people live in her city but if she thinks that she will just take off running and make it thru all the rapists,murderers,yes they will be killing each other for what they think they can get /thieves and wierdo,s she dont stand a chance she is a goner for sure.
Gayle,
please read the interview I was mistaken about my comment.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/02/08/how-nat-geo-misrepresented-the-foxhole-atheist-doomsday-prepper-megan-hurwitt/
Carl,
I agree. After reading her comments, the show did her a disservice and made her out to be a real cat-killing freak.
I agree the whole cat thing was rotten. I have a 20lb Maine Coon cat that is a great mouser, sees things like wildlife and other cats in the yard before I do. He is rather protective of the property and the children. He rides in a car just fine. Together with the 90lb dog (that alerted me to the rabid fox last week)–they are a form of security. I prep for them too.
My family watched the shows with me and did not agree with the New Englanders. Ugh.
Not sure if you’ll print this but do a Google search for “Kellene Bishop” who is one of the preppers on that show. She currently runs the Preparedness Pro website.
Turns out there’s a lot of people who claim she and her husband scammed them out of lots of money during her previous “career” as a commercial mortgage/loan broker. She seems to re-invent herself every few years, her latest invention being the Preparedness Pro after they filed for bankruptcy a few years ago when the vast majority of her “students” wanted their money back. I seem to recall a figure of about $2 million total but please look it up for yourselves.
When I typed her name into Google the predictive search function automatically came up with “Kellene Bishop lawsuit” as the first suggestion. Not sure if you’ll see the same thing when you type it in.
I just looked at some of that stuff and all I can say is, WOW!!!
All her fancy preps have come from the pillaging of others. Well, as they say, Karma’s a bitch, and she just outed herself on national TV.
She may find it hard to survive while sittin’ in the pokey. lolololololol……..
Yeah, it seems strange to me that after all those past problems she didn’t even have the sense to use a different name. I guess she really doesn’t care who finds out and I’d bet she has excuses and explanations ready to go if anyone asks her about it.
I find it even stranger that NATGEO would even have her on unless they completely failed to do a background check on her. But then, I’ve actually seen some reputable blogs quote her or link to articles on her website for the past couple of years and nobody seems to have ever mentioned her past (and it’s not like she’s hiding it). The only reason I found out was I couldn’t remember the url for her site since I rarely visit it and I wanted to read an article she did on water filters. So I typed her name into Google and the first thing the predictive search function came up with was the lawsuit!
I really don’t get it. Once her past becomes widely known in the prepper community I can’t see it being good for her business.
Just look at our world in general for the answer as of why she is on TV. I believe a majority of “our” polititians that are in office or running for office, have scammed, lied, cheated, and bullied their way to the head of the line. It is not just here in the US, around the world it happens. I hope all the people whom she stole from start knocking on her door. If what we read about her is true, she will be hanging from a light pole within 24 hrs of SHTF. On a good note, the House passed a resolution to ban insider trading for Congress members by an overwhelming majority. Haven’t seen the show yet, but my DVR is ready to go now.
I knew there was something about her that was sticky. She just didn’t sit right with me. I would not hire her to teach me security or self defense.
How on earth could you all pick up on that just by watching her on TV? You guys must be “F”s and not “T”s on the Myers-Briggs test.
Gayle,
LOL. If I remember correctly….I was an “F”. Though I don’t remember why.
I trust my intuition. Body language. The way she presented herself. I would be polite to her if I was in the same space, but I would not allow her into mine.
Mama J.,
I trust my dog. My dog’s intuition is better than mine.
Gayle – INTJ.
I’ll let the Field Marshall parade around while I go back to my room and let him know what to think and how to carry himself in the future. The Field Marshall is all show, the Mastermind is the go.
Sincerely,
Mr. Oscar-Meyer-Briggs, Wiener-at-large (or large wiener)
Gendel,
LMAO.
To all………..
For what this woman has done to others, I think that the prepper community as a whole should turn their back to her.
Simply don’t visit her site, and ask others to do the same. If they ask why, tell them. Soon, word will get out and she will be completely discredited.
It may not be much, but keeping one piece of scum out of our community may be our own form of justice.
Mama J.,
I thought about you last night while watching the Walking Dead. When the two men walked in the bar at the end, I took one look and said, “Mama J. would not like these guys.” My dh just looked at me like I was crazy. Then the deputy shot them. Dead.
Gayle,
I love it!
Mama J didn’t like those guys one dang bit! The actors played their parts very well, didn’t they? Bad manners are never acceptable.
http://preparednesspro.com/confessions-of-a-doomsday-prepper/
It’s interesting that she’s less “Doomsday” and more “something.”
Call me whatever ugly term you wish for my prejudice, but I would not take self-defense courses from someone who has that much inertia to their advantage.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!
And what qualifies her to be a self defense and firearms instructor in the first place.
I’m sure these people would be mad to find out they paid for these classes, and their instructors have no formal training.
Dean – I checked out some brief videos of her so-called self defense training. I skipped the firearms stuff because that is irrelevant, and I’ll tell you why;
She is not in shape. If she were ever attacked at close range and had to wrestle with an attacker she would soon be too exhausted to do anything more than try two moves in the hope that one of them would disable the attacker long enough for her to run away.
I’ll be frank… she’s carrying around at least 60 lbs of extra cargo on her frame. There is no way this woman has the mobility or strength to do anything more than draw a pistol and shoot, or whip out one of those steel batons. And she ain’t running away carrying all that weight.
A video clip shows her demonstrating a move as she lays on the floor and shows the maneuver in slow motion for her audience. In reality, her techniques are nothing more than marketing BS. She couldn’t fight her way out of a wet paper bag, and if an attacker got her on the ground on her back she’d have a tough time trying to get up again in a real physical fight. The attacker would have to be completely drunk and ready to pass out to lose a fight with Kellene.
I really hope that any women who seriously consider hand-to-hand defense training will consult a true expert. Not a marketer who keeps re-inventing herself every few years from juice sales, to mortgage broker, to prepper pro. Heck, I can give you ladies some free advice that works with most attackers:
1 – Run like hell the other way.
2 – If #1 ain’t working, stop, play fearful, then knee him in the meat & 2 veg (as the Brits say).
Once #2 has its desired effect you can casually walk away as you draw your pistol and change him from rooster to a hen.
Just say’in…
I must admit that you are right when it comes to fat people fighting, but don’t underestimate us when our lives are in danger. Since I became mobility chair bound I have put on a lot of weight and also lost a lot of muscle tone, but I can still fight, just ask my slender tough 22 year old granddaughter ! She came into my house spouting a filthy mouth and fixing to take hold of me and when it was over she was on the floor with me on top of her ! Not a place she really wanted to be, and I was slapping the dog mess out of that youngun ! Later she apologised but she won’t ever do that again ! I have told many a young person that if they are fighting a fat person to just trip them cause once they are down it will take six men and a boy to get them up again but I have also told many a hefty person that if they are attacked , don’t loose your train of thought, just go with the momentum and when you go down make sure it is on top of your attacker ! There is no-one that would ever want me to fall on them ! If they survived it they would be lucky but I could sure bet they would come away with some broken ribs ! Not all of us are fat because we want to be and believe it or not there are a lot of medical reasons that can make you fat or gain a lot of weight , along with a lot of medicines, so it would be nice if people would cut us fatty’s a little slack, you have no idea of my challenges unless you have walked a mile in my shoes !
It’s not that overweight people can’t fight, it’s that different techniques work better depending on what you have.
I’m seriously obese too, but I don’t have the inertia to get out of a choke hold. Most attackers would have the strength to hold me up while I kick at them with both legs.
Dean & Kelekona,
Here are some of the comments I recall reading on the internet from various sites that had info about Kellene Bishop and the lawsuits. I’m going by memory but I’ll try to be as accurate as I can. Apparently the people who made these comments on various sites claimed to be former students. Again, please look into it yourself and don’t take my word for it. I can’t provide links because I read so many and I never thought I’d be writing about this in a comment section on MD’s blog.
1 – “She would make all sorts of promises to get everyone motivated and when she couldn’t produce she would send in her husband Scott to break the bad news because she didn’t have the guts to do it herself”.
2 – “Her husband Scott is a gun-toting psychopath”.
3 – I read where one woman who wanted her money back claims that Kellene told her she would use the money that people already paid her to fight any lawsuits against her.
Regardless what you think of Kellene Bishop, it’s obvious she has some serious explaining to do. Once the Google-bots come around to check this blog the little buggers will suddenly see all sorts of comments about Kellene Bishop and begin adding links to the search engine regarding this issue. Maybe she will happen to read them and start to freak out and realize she needs to set the record straight. If somebody has some spare time on their hands they could call National Geographic and ask if they knew about her past prior to having her as one of the preppers on the show. Sorry, don’t look at me to make that call. It was just a thought that came to me as I write this.
My personal opinion: Before I found out about this I thought she provided some good info on various topics on her website the few times I ever visited it over the past 2 years. Now I’m wondering if she’s paying employees to do the bulk of the research for her articles by using money that was taken from former students. What a twisted world we live in.
OK people, enough with the Kellene bashing. Judge not, lest you be judged.
I don’t know anything about her legal problems or why, but as a Mormon, she can’t be trying to con people. It isn’t in our teachings. She won’t get to heaven that way.
If you don’t like her, they don’t follow her guidance. But stop with the bashing.
MD,
Sometime late last fall, you said you were going to stop people from bashing others on this site. I will find some place else to spend my time if we all can’t keep that committment.
Here’s a quote from her sites About page: “She is a certified Utah Concealed Firearm Permit instructor and is the highest certified female NRA Instructor in the Western States.”
Can’t find anything to back her claim of being the “highest certified female NRA Instructor”, but she certainly isn’t certified as a firearm instructor in her home state of Utah: http://publicsafety.utah.gov/bci/documents/insinstate01232012.pdf
I’d say that’s a big “Strike one” against her credibility, Mormon or not.
AnonOne – Good find. Thanks for showing more light on the situation. I’m not Mormon but I’m curious about what their teachings say about liars and thieves and how they are dealt with.
Kate in Ga., I agree…no ever a good idea to bash. I don’t think the folks are doing that now though. It is always good to know whom one is dealing with.
LoneStarLarry,
“Bashing” is just another word that thieves use to disguise themselves and gain sympathy from people who read their pleas. They claim they are being “bashed” by people who dislike them. This is the biggest and most effective lie they tell.
Larry, you are bashing me because you don’t agree with me. I’m going to sell you a worthless car for $3,000 and when you find out I totally screwed you over you better not “bash” me no matter what you think of me. I just might sue you.
All LIARS, THIEVES, AND CRIMINALS will be be “bashed”, and the will be bashed HARD from this day on. I can’t wait til some scumbag tries to sue me. Come on Kellene, let’s rock.
Go to her site and read what she has posted about her appearance on the show. I think she makes a good case.
Kate in GA.
This has nothing to do with bashing. The information you read here is the same as driving up to a STOP sign and ignoring it. Drive through it at your peril.
If Kellene Bishop is a Mormon she is doing it for personal gain to access the Mormon community. Seriously, investigate her history like I have and if you still want to believe in Kellene because she’s “Mormon” then you’ll serious need to assess your own life.
You make a plea to MD to stop people bashing others and restricting free speech. Are you 10 years old? You act like a spoiled child. I’ll be the first one to fight for your right to speak… but quite frankly, you are an idiot. And that is MY RIGHT to free speech!
Kate,
Not all Mormons are good, upstanding citizens. There are bad Mormons, just like there are bad Catholics, bad Baptists, bad Muslims and so forth. The statements folks have made here call her reputation into question. I for one would be reluctant to trust someone with a shady past. If she is not a licensed fire arms instructor in the state of Utah, then she has made what appears to be false claims on her website. When two and two don’t add up to four, folks here are right to set of the red flag. When she claims to be a qualified instructor in personal defense and cannot even run a mile, well, something is wrong.
Ok…I’ll try again. Thanks MD for creating this thread. I am looking forward to what the Wolfpack has to say about the program.
For myself, I found some good ideas there, but do agree with you MD, that they are blowing OPSEC. That compound with the buses will be a sitting duck from the air, and there ARE BOPlanes & copters….something you don’t see mentioned much, but they exist.
My take on the program:
-the girl bugging out in short shorts and an undershirt…through the bad parts of Houston? And alone? Really? Bad idea. I know Houston’s hot and muggy, but really? Won’t work. But I give her kudos for making the trek….something I need to do for myself here where I am.
-The forager is onto something. I have learned the wild edibles in whatever area I’ve lived over the years, and it is a great skill to have. I’ve eaten some of the stuff he did, as I lived on the West coast for a long time, and he had it down. I should add: it’s a great skill to have if you live someplace that is as abundant in wild edibles as the West coast is….I’m finding N Texas to be a bit bare for that. But I am finding some things anyway. It’s good to know.
-I was glad they showed a ‘liberal’ set of preppers, but find it unfortunate that they are not into arming themselves. And that brings up a whole set of thoughts about stereotyping preppers…in any way at all. I think this will become less and less prevalent as “prepping” becomes more important to more people.
-I thought the first people (with the compound and the buses) were the most prepared, and I thought that the “gourmet” lady and her husband were pretty well prepared.
I liked the format NatGeo used, and I didn’t think the preppers were presented as idiots or extremists…that was left to the viewer to decide. I think the format allowed the preppers to be considered in a helpful way. And I liked that they had “experts” make comments, a few of which I agreed with. There’s always something to learn…like handwarmers can be used as O2 absorbers! Have any of you in the Wolfpack tried that? I looked it up online and found a discussion on The Survivalist Forum about it…here: http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=99140. One person says this: “Hand warmers won’t reduce the O2 down to the levels that a proper O2 absorber will. They’re designed to work in a higher O2 atmosphere. They even had to design special boot warmers because of having to operate at lower O2 levels enclosed in boots. There were tests done back in the 90s comparing their effectiveness to O2 absorbers and they came up short. I would never trust them for food storage.”
I look forward to next Tuesday’s program and who & what it will show.
The compound people HAD a good idea. They checked their compound for .22 resistance, blah, blah. Remember all the wind turbine stuff they had? All one would have to do to screw them would be to go upwind a bit with a book of matches, walk and drop lit ones for a ways, and then sit back and watch the firestorm cream them. I’m not sayin’ I’m perfect, but…
I was only able to watch bits and pieces, but I have to agree with the majority- you’re now a target for anything and anyone.
I have known since my 20s that a huge change was coming, and have read and experimented and learned to be able to survive. Now, ironically, I’m a dialysis patient. Without the grid, I die. When there’s no gas for generators, I die.
On a positive note- I was happy to see a fairly decent segment on amateur radio (I am one). It is something everyone should consider learning, if only for your own safety, and inormation.
Yes, and David Sarti completely gave his location away when he blurted out his call sign. I’m a ham too, and the first thing you know is that you are on an internet database that is public on http://www.arrl.org
Shame on him.
Craig, I am not a ham operator, but I’ve looked into it and I was floored that he gave his call sign too. I thought, boy, how STUPID are you!
Yep, I made note of the call also. You can also do a callsign lookup on http://qrz.com
Sarti was already out there in the open. He has a youtube channel dsarti1 and he’s done youtube videos that number in the dozens, I think hundreds. He comes off like an idiot but he’s pretty sharp and he’s trying to help folks. He’s got bad health problems and might not be around too long anyway. I’ve been watching his videos off and on for a year or more.
Kat…no grid, no generators…but at least you are here today…and that is all any of us have…cheers.
My wife was on Dialysis for 22 years prior to her death. You can switch from hemo to peritoneal dialysis. You get rid of the electric machine and can do exchanges throughout the day. It actually freed us to leave home. We took car trips and did exchanges in the car, hotel, etc. The cycler machine was nice, but not necessary. We took the cycler on the airport pre 911. As with any treatment option, there are pros and cons. The biggest for my wife was getting used to the extra weight in the mid section. Talk to your doctor about it.
Sorry- information! Typing one handed here in dialysis.
I have not seen it however I have seen some trailers for it in the past.I do not expect them to last long if at all when the baloon goes up since there op sec is now op non sec. I could imagin that some shady characters have those preppers staked out for when things start and where will they go? The hippies of course and the other idiots from the show. Just my opinion though.
The people on that show should take the money that they make from being on the show and buy a new place to live. Where they are now is no longer safe and if they haven’t figured that out, then they need to wake up. Without opspec all you are is a resupply depot. Always remember, desperate people do desperate things in desperate times.
NG did not pay anyone to be on the show but they did pay for food, drinks and for me they bought me some seeds.
You mean to tell me that they gave up opspec for sandwiches and soda? And NatGeo is making thousands of dollars exploiting their need for their 15 minute of fame? Well I wish them all luck and prey that some good will come from it. As for me, you can find me at
123 Shit Creek,
No Paddle. USA. 456789
Would that be North or South shitcreek?? I hear it is a long creek…
That would be South Shitcreek, of course.
Preston,
Why did you agree to have your preps filmed?
I agree with the lot.
One thing I noticed….many of the people, when told their is something they could do to improve their plan, took offense to the critique. Even if they didn’t agree, they should have kept their damn mouths shut. To think their plan is completely flawless is arrogant to the extreme.
One good thing though; It may have woken up my wife a little. She mentioned, just this morning, about putting up more water and getting another rain barrel.
So I thank the idiots for sacrificing their OPSEC for my wife’s betterment. Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!
The awakening of your wife is wonderful! Does she read any of this blog?? We are not extreme nuts and there are lots of other women that she could become friends with that may be able to help her along a bit. I have learned so many things here that can be used for prepping, but can be used for small discomforts such as a few hours without power, or having to deal with an ice storm or something. May be she can just start small.
I wish my DH would wake up. Just keep trying to hide the preps!
good luck
Hey Mama,
No, she doesn’t read the blog, and I don’t want to push it.
I don’t have to hide my preps, however, I did just buy $100 worth of ammo on the sly though.
Shame on me, I should have just told her I went to the strip club.:)
Dean,
Did you mean the “stripper clip” club, LOL.
Cool! I’d Hide that too!
you could get her some stuff that was “Girlie” like pretty BOB Bag with a small cosmetics setup to put in there. YOu can always look good when on the run! I like cool work related stuff (im in repair industry) that can double for prep stuff. Then I dont really have to hide it. Like the large first aid kit stuff I lug in the truck. I just tell DH that I never know when our son is gonna dive off of the playground equipment or wreck his bike. lol
The telling her you went to strip club might get you killed by your own gun!! lol
Take care
Repair mama,
Funny how you say that last line. When we started dating, 1994, she told me if I ever cheated on her or gave her a disease, she would do that very thing!!!
She meant it, I believed it, and I’m still alive. Ain’t love grand.
Isn’t that like reverse Quid Pro Quo????
I relate as Mrs. SurvivorDan is a total skeptic who barely puts up with my prepping. Got ten more cases of water today and she said, “What on earth do we need more water for?” I just answered, “Trust me, we need it.” She occasionally reads this blog. Hope to get her on it more but Facebooking the family occupies her free time. ;) Over the years I have gotten her to like shooting and camping and taught her basic woodcraft, there’s hope.
Dan. That is real hope and change,not the dark lords version.
Dean, I saw last years and going to see it this Saturday on the DVR. I recall the same last season, only one out of the 3-5 would be willing to listen to advice.
Some people just can’t take constructive criticism. One that sticks out last season was one man that had food, ammo, meds for a year but water for a few weeks to a month. He added another 3-6 months of water.
I was disappointed that there was so much emphasis placed “on end of the world” (might be a hard sell to non preppers) and not more on this is what our grandparents did logic.
What I did like was I have always like looking at others pantries – as someone on another blog site said – pantry porn. Wish we could have pictures of preppers pantries here so that I could indulge in pantry porn right here.
I use Youtube for that!! lol
I like to look at other pantries too!! Thought I was just sick though!!
It is good to look and the best stocked ones I have seen usually are the Mormon women. Their shelves and pantries are very cool!
Its does help me see other ideas and holes in what I have. (I have a lot of pantry holes lately)
Too funny! I love to look at the “pantry porn” too, it must be one of our “sicknesses”! Haven’t watched because we don’t get NatGeo on our cable but will look for it on youtube.
Pantry porn — I love it! I have spent countless hours googling pictures of pantries and pouring through websites while I’ve been working on mine. I would really like to see what everybody on here has going on in theirs as well.
Dang. I admit to pantry porn too. LOL.
LMAO
Me too, Maybe we should start a group.
Just saw upcoming on the Today show this a.m., an investigation on buying handguns without the paperwork and how they are going to stop it. Said you can buy anything pretty much weapon wise on the internet in 34 states without having to jump through the hoops. I actually didn’t know that.
DG
Maybe we need a 12 step program??
LMAO
LOL
Diver Gal,
Armslist.com , face to face deals. Just be careful of where you meet, as you never know. Take a Jarhead with you and you will be fine.
Pineslayer lol thanks! I don’t sell or buy from anyone I don’t know VERY well or a reputable gun shop. I’m funny that way I guess. I just got the update of the post an hour ago. Couldn’t see myself doing a transfer without it being at a gun shop unless someone close is passing it down to me.
You can legally ship firearms to a non-FFL in zero states. I always “read” about this but don’t know anyone in any state who’s done it. Of course you can make a person to person sale at a gun show, no FFL. But you can’t legally ship them.
It should also be mentioned that if caught you will likely be prosecuted. At best you will be on a watch list. at worst you lose your right to own guns.
Black Powder firearms, can be sent direct to you in most states, Cabelas has a list of states that is a problem. Even revolvers, and 10″ shotguns [Howdah pistol] can be brought right to your door by the big brown truck of joy.
Thats usually true of BP guns. However, here in NJ a BP deringer requires the same paperwork as a Glock.
Me too. Let’s form a support group…
The Supreme Court could not define porn, but said that they know it when they see it. What you see as pantry porn, I see as educational. I of course don’t look at the pictures, but only read the articles, LOL.
Pantrys are HAWT!
O my Lord, Pantry Porn…
I am sitting here laughing my ass off, and my dog is sniffing my ear to see what is wrong! She is whining now, as I laugh even louder at the comments..
Pantrys are HAWT..
I am a prepper weirdo I guess.. My dog thinks so anyways. Thanks for that, too funny
Your welcome! Anything I do to keep the laughter rolling. I promise to never let you down.
We all have to admit becoming aroused (emotional of course) hehe, when we look at a big beautifully stacked pantry. It is impossible to contain the hawtness.
I feel the same titilation when I stare fondly at my glorious woodshed filled top to bottom with 14 cords of aromatic , warmth giving. life saving firewood. My husband openly admits is has wood envy.
Don’t get me started on how it makes me feel to open the gunsafe. Cold hard steel begging for human touch. Ammunition waiting to explode. I have to force myself to step away.
Come on, ya’ll know it’s true. Beans, bullets, and bandaids, oh my.
Ah shucks. I am taking these glasses back. Sorry for the typos AGAIN. Bifocals suck. I was better off with my old glasses and cheaters. So sorry.
my cat wants to know where her supplies are she gets mean if she runs out of cat treats lol.
I got all hot and bothered by this talk of pantry porn so I just had to go into my pantry and make sure all my labels were facing the same direction.
Hello, My name is Just and I am a pantry porn addict. I have been clean now for one day………..
LOL
We can have the meetings at my house!!!!
I can serve coffee and popcorn or would you rather have beans and cornbread??
I’ll bring the peach cobbler.
I will bring the 8×10 glossy photos and the projector and slides (color, of course).
Hey, unless there’s wine and brie – I’m not coming.
Somehow I get the idea that my pantry looks MUCH different than those of most who post here…
KFields;
Mine is probably close to yours since my inlaws bring or ship me wine from their winery all the time. Marrying a French guy had some advantages.
Does that make us snob preppers?
DG
Diver Gal -
No, it simply means we have good taste.
Now there is an idea… is there a place that we could upload our pantry porn?
I wish I had a pantry… two 2×3 shelving units, 16 jars of turkey, and a lingerie dresser… I’d be surprised if people didn’t start screaming “3-day shopper” at me.
LoL, Kelekona I was thinking that too. Now I have to go surf the net for some good Pantry porn. I need a fix.
Maybe I’ll even book mark a couple “HaWt” sites to oogle later. I’ll be sure to note the ones with ‘garter bars’ so nothing topples from shelves.
Only coffee and donuts allowed at 12 step meetings….and bad coffee at that.
…just what I’ve been told, of course….
Oh, my mistake. I thought the meeting was to share and enjoy the porn, not give it up.
Repair mama would we have to wear masks for OPSEC? Lol
How many flashlights do you have?
Axelsteve,
Now that’s a different 12 step meeting I’ll have to go to!
Do we have to go there???
Pink Flashlights. Dang, now I miss Lint. He would want in.
Me too. Didn’t someone buy a pink flashlight for N. Cal. Ray to send to Lint?
I am not sure why NG only allowed each person to mention only one disaster to prep for. Hello? There are so many things to prep for, it is unbelievable. Some are mentioned just in this thread. Losing one’s job is a personal disaster. Having the utility company screw up the power lines, water main breaks, very local, but if it happens to you, its a “disaster”. unless you are prepared. I have not tried this yet, but you can ask people who don’t believe in prepping: “do you have any insurance? Why? Do you have a 401k or pension? Why? Do you lock your house and car? Why? Regarding OPSEC, Even before I started seriously prepping, I never threw out the box that the new computer or tv came in. I carefully foled it up and put in in my vehicle and took it elsewhere to recycle. I bet the burglars drive down the roads on trash day after Christmas to determine where they want to shop.
pantry porn? need more of it!
M.D.: Upon reflection, this may hurt the feelings of some folks. I did not mean to be rude. I have a gift for putting my foot in my mouth. Please delete my comments if you deem them inappropriate. Thanks. Cos
Gee cosmolined. I NEVER stick my foot in my mouth.
Hate when I react viscerally and vehemently and then hit SUBMIT.
Followed by …..Doh!!!
Your thoughtful comment says volumes about your good nature.
Thank You SurvivorDan…. I was somewhat disappointed in the show. I’m 59 and still fit in my U.S. Army shirts, (blouses), after 23 years of donuts and coffee. I answered the original question truthfully though…
Thank you M.D. You made me look less like someone who eats his foot too often. LAM….
Cosmo, I don’t stick my foot in my mouth. I stick my boot in my mouth. We speak our minds and share our knowledge. Someone may disagree or slightly be offended for what ever reason but be yourself. I observed your posts from maybe right before the high winds but appreciate your posts. Its also nice to know there is someone the LA area lol.
Keep prepping keep marching keep on being who you are!
Hey! I’m 52 and still wear the same size pants I wore in high school! Only now they ride much lower! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation to comment!)
I’ve mellowed, but in the past was quite often accused of opening my mouth only the change feet. We’ve all been there, and realizing it is the best cure.
At least you can put your foot in your mouth- I usually end up with someone else’s foot in my mouth! :’(
I saw parts of it, but have them DVRed for more in-depth viewing later.
A couple observations, the obvious OPSEC issues skipped over – it’s TV. OPSEC will be blown to some degree, especially if they want to have a show that people will actually watch.
1) The evaluations – I think the criteria is still highly subjective. The little bar meter is hokey, IMHO and the feedback does not seem consistent.
2) Risk/Probability analysis – few people actually prep for just one scenario. That is too easy. Live next to a nuke plant? Move. Done. While it’s interesting to see what was the biggest concern of the people shown, there needs to be a broad spectrum of preparedness – otherwise it’s just a contingency or back-up… the show seems to not really address this.
3) I haven’t seen much in the way of medical care or training. It may have been parts I missed, but that was the case in the first season as well.
4) People focus way too much on things – things can (and will be) taken away, lost, broken, etc. Mental flexibility, ability to think on one’s feet, and personal/spiritual resilience will be more important than having x number of MREs or something materially exhaustible.
5) People who will prey are probably not watching this show, future marauders will first go to the honey pots like big box stores and gangs will rush in to control distribution hubs and warehouses. Nobody has talked about long term physical security.
All in all I felt that the participants in the program were presented in a somewhat condescending light. Granted, all of the reasons given for their preparedness are valid under the right circumstances, but I think that by having them declare a specific reason for preparing would tend to make uninformed viewers see them as nutjobs preparing for unlikely scenarios. But then that’s why there will be a “Golden Horde”.
The shows seem to be sprinkled with well thought out preparations and a few with major shortcomings. I’m sure this is done intentionally to highlight the differences in preps and give the show some entertainment value.
The “Party Girl” and the guy in L.A. appeared to me to be the least realistic in their preparations. Obviously holing up in an urban apartment with limited supplies and then trying to walk out, alone on foot through major urban area is ludicrous at best and the guy in L.A. might fare well if he could make it to sparsely populated area that was somewhat secured but staying in L.A. and hoping to be left alone when he’s packing a bag around with him would only draw attention from those looking for easy prey.
As for the liberal “hippie” types maybe they’d be okay if the community they spoke of doesn’t have the same viewpoint on firearms. Otherwise they’re ripe for exploitation.
The big guy with the little dogs I felt sympathy for. He needs some other folks around to help out. He’s got too much to protect and doesn’t appear to be physically fit enough, though he appeared to have some basic knowledge. Better something than nothing I suppose.
Overall I’d say the show highlights some good skill and mindsets and points out some blatant (to me anyhow) shortcomings that may help newbies plan better. I have always had this particular mindset and spent all of my adult life gaining skill sets and living this lifestyle. I’m not preparing for any one scenario, it’s just the way I have always lived. I’ve always believed our society is built on thin threads and doesn’t reflect the values or morality that I believe is necessary for human beings to exist and thrive as we were meant to. I feel that our “modern” society and culture is detrimental and dehumanizing to us as a species. The fact that there even has to be a television program highlighting this lifestyle as some niche of society instead of mainstream just goes to show how far away from being self-sustaining we have become as a species.
I agree with all the folks expressing OPSEC concerns. Some of my closest friends are blissfully unaware of most of my preps ….. I’ll be damned if I’m going to go on T.V. and shout to the world: Attention World, TEOTWAWKI has occured, “COME LOOT ME !” or …… “I’M AN EXTREMIST, COME AND DETAIN ME INDEFINITELY ! ” …… just sayin’ ….
I’ve taken a couple of courses at the local city college taught by Christopher Nyerges; he stressed the value of acquiring skills needed to find food, identify wild edible plants; shelter, tools, purify water, fire starting skills. He has written a number of great books about wilderness and urban survival. Keeping a good knife, a magnesium stick; paracord – and a good attitude re survival; and so on. Situations, circumstances differ – locations, finances, space for storage – all etc affect how we prep. Right now, doing what I can to store food low profile; and getting out of debt, are what I’m working on. Christopher’s classes were fun and well attended.
Amateur Gardener,
Thanks for the recommendation on Christopher Nyerges. I am going to take a look at his books on amazon.com. He did strike me as the most sensible of the folks presented (except the part about trading with the homeless).
Another excellent book would be “Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West” by Gregory L. Tillford. It’s mostly applicable to the states west of the Rockies (w/ some exceptions) but it is loaded with real color pictures for identification, regions and environments mostly found in, and a wealth of other information not found elsewhere. Amazon has the best price I’ve yet found.
Well i think they should have keep a lot of there stuff to themselves. As for me i did pick up some information i can use. the show will be coming on each week on Tuesday’s at 9 pm
My thoughts were white trash/ poor people on dooms day preppers, I would like to see more middle class people prepping like my self.
DAN FROM LI NY,
Really… white trash / poor people. Reality check, just because someone is poor and white does make them trash. Just like being “middle class” does not make a person a snob…
NO it doesn’t, but they set themselves up for these type of statements.
Sorry, But I agree with Dan. Now because of this, everyone assumes that this is what all preppers are like.
I have to agree with Dan here too. There are plenty of people who are poor and white who are not white trash. But some of these folks, the fat guy with the ham radio, did come off like white trash. So did the girl from Houston. Was that a stripper pole she was dancing with? And the couple with the storage container housing at the beginning of the show–it’s so white trash to have a junkyard in ones front yard. Not all preppers are trashy. But these folks are trashy.
(I don’t think Dan was saying that everyone or even most folks who are poor and white are white trash–there’s a big difference between the two groups.)
Kinda goin’ with the crowd on this one, M.D. I prep hard but my house, shop and property are clean, well maintained and definitely middle class. I live out in the sticks, but I see no need to have junk laying around, old cars etc…I mow my lawn, and totally look normal, other than the 6 foot fence and 3 rottweilers roving my 5 acres, which isn’t that nutty, really. I started out dirt poor, but my truck was always clean, and my rental, and later my houses, were always clean.
I prep to maintain my current lifestyle, with a few changes of course when the SHTF. I don’t live lavishly, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to live in a conex box unless absolutely necessary! There’s actually a conex box storage yard a mile away from us, in the middle of nowhere, that may just turn into a fortress if it really gets bad!!! There’s probably 150 of ‘em, and a stacker lift. COOL.
Gayle,
Thank you. I totally agree with everything you just said.
I thought the container house would have been cool if they would organize and store their junk. I liked the tin siding. Kind of country ghetto couture.
Maybe having a “junkyard” in your front yard is a good diversion tactic. Just sayin’….
LOL. Maybe. But that could backfire on them, because junkyards will become goldmines. I have never understood how people can live in a cluttered place. To each his own.
At first I was bothered by all the “junk”, but then I thought the same thing – who would bother them – this is just a junk pile. Hiding in plain sight idea.
I’m wondering if anyone knows what constitutes ‘white trash.’ Trash is typically something without value.
The people in the show are folks who are in differing ways; taking responsibility for their continued survival, utilizing the resources at hand, living happily within their situations, and again taking pro-active efforts to ensure that they do not become part of the gov’t dependent begging horde should a catastrophe occur.
The above characterizes all us to greater and lesser degrees. Calling them white trash belies one’s prejudice for well manicured lawns, painted fences, and social conformity. These seem to be the characteristics preppers attribute to those with superficial desires and complete unconcern for any self responsibility.
Why the dig at the stripper pole? Do preppers not hold in esteem things that can simply serve multiple uses? There are quite a few flexibility and strength training classes that utilize the ‘stripper pole’, albeit aimed at women. She is able to work towards being physically fit as well as add some spice to her relationship with her boyfriend/fiance’/husband. Would a stripper pole or a nordic-flex take up more room in her apparently diminutive apartment? How can we criticize one person for being ‘a fat guy’ and then criticize the next person for using a stripper pole as a form of fitness training?
C’mon folks.
Well said Jay in LA
Jay
Only a male a would think the stripper pole was for exercise and actually believe it. It was presented to viewers as exactly that by her behavior and her off the wall comments relating to sex for trade, come on. As for the overweight gentleman I felt sorry that he had no help but he is doing what he can and thats okay.
My view on things being clean and for the most part “debris free” is more for security purposes. All that stuff in the yard and property are havens for looters to hide in and catch them off guard. I’m all for having property with a barn etc. but that doesn’t mean it has to look like a junkyard. Security comes first.
I have 2 female friends, who happen to be doctors, that attend a local pole dancing aerobics course. It has nothing to do with being male. It has to do with recognizing the potential utility in a simple object. Regardless of the purpose she uses the pole for, calling her white trash because of it was mean spirited.
Her off the cuff comment about the sex trade was pretty spot on. Look around the globe to countries with crumbling economies. What do many of the younger women turn to to provide for themselves? There’s a reason it’s called the oldest profession in the world.
I agree with you in keeping a relatively clutter free area around your house. I just took exception at someone calling them white trash because of it.
Cheers!
Gayle, I think you and some of the others fail to recognize the regional differenced in accent and behavior that make this country the great place it is. “the fat guy with the ham radio” is far from being white trash. He’s a former over the road trucker who is retired due to severe health problems and the guy is doing what he can to try to help other people.
As far as the way he talks, that’s pretty much the way everyone who is a native of rural areas in East Tennessee, Western NC, North West GA and N/W SC talk.
The thing that is interesting to me about reading the comments to this thread is what some of you folks are giving away about yourselves in your comments. (Gayle that is not aimed at you but in general terms.)
Charlie,
Fair enough criticism. He is morbidly obese and that may be due to his medical condition and not lack of care for himself. Party girl–she is another story. Anyone whose prepping includes falling back on prostitution leaves much to be desired.
I do wonder if we are using the term “white trash” with different connotations. When I think of white trash, I look at people who send their kids off to school unclean. People who have trash thrown about their property. People who have simply let themselves and their property go.
Gayle, no doubt he needs to loose some weight. I have no way to know if he can or can’t but I do know that he has severe health problems. For all I know they may be self induced by his weight. Regardless, the fellow spends all his free time doing videos to instruct others and he can do little (in the short term) about his condition. If you listened carefully on the show he mentioned being ill and hoping that he could get some sort of treatment (I think he said surgery).
As for his way of talking and mannerisms, that is pure, native born east TN. I think MD will back me up on that. There are highly intellegent and educated folks there that talk very much like he does.
Regardless of Dan’s intent with the ‘white trash’ remark, MD’s reaction speaks volumes about his character. That’s one of the reasons I like this site above all others. And the rest of the WolfPack of course.
Dan from LI NY, one more thing…
I can recognize non-white trash like yourself and, when the time comes, my finger will be itching to pull a trigger so you best keep your booger-filled nose, perfect white teeth with crud hidden in the crevices, disease-carrying arse, and clean-shaven body as far away from me as you can because you might not like your skin being turned into a pair of shoes and a hat for some po mutha’ f-a’ like me to use when I need to protect my feet and head. Or your scalp or head used to ward off potential idiots, like yourself, from stepping foot onto my land. By and by, moving targets are my specialty. Can you guess what I mean by that? No?…you po’ uneducated… Anyway, because you lack the necessary knowledge, I will tell you…I hunt without traps which means that I hunt things that freely move around. So, if you just happen to be in the way or are anywhere in the vicinity, you will only have yourself to blame. Oh, I do not want to forget to tell you…I know my way around cities and the countryside very well, I was trained in both, so please be careful not to let yourself relax too much no matter where you go because me or my friends, or people just like me, could be lurking around the next corner. Sorry, did I say something wrong? Oh…I did not know you were afraid of your own shadow. Calm down now, it will be alright. Why don’t you go and get a hair cut and a shave…you will feel so much better afterward. Hey, do you have gold fillings? Hmmm, I wonder how much money the buyers will be giving after tshtf.
DAN,
I consider myself middle to upper middle class and can’t afford a lot of the things I saw on the show. Middle class doesn’t mean a nice trimmed lawn in the burbs, but could mean that you live in an old farmhouse (I do) on some acreage (I do) where there is no fine trimmed lawn and white picket fence. Really poor folks generally can’t afford and probably don’t have a lot of preps, but these people did. Perhaps you should read the book and not judge it by its cover.
Thank you, Ohio Prepper. That is the truth. The comments here are really bothering me.
Commenting on the show does not mean we need to call the people white trash. You don’t want anyone judging you, do you?
White trash is a name that has been applied to me by others in my HOA neighborhood. Why? Because I live on the ‘poor’ end of the neighborhood. I only own a 5 bedroom house with 4 bathrooms and a two car garage. Many people on the other end of the neighborhood (1500 homes in total) have million dollar homes, we even have a professional baseball player on that end. Homes on that side have 3 and 4 car garages.
Using the term ‘white trash’ is designed to put people down because you think you are better than them. NO ONE on this earth is better then anyone else. All are equal in God’s eyes. He is the only one who is able to judge when the time comes.
All of those people on the show are prepping the best they know how, just like all of us. While I would never agree to go on one of those shows, doesn’t mean I have any right to call these people ‘white trash’.
Quit with the name calling, lest you be judged when it really matters.
BTW – Ohio Prepper, Did you get your peanut seeds yet? I was quite surprised at the cost – they were expensive! I ordered Spanish peanuts so I am going to attempt to make oil from them next fall.
Kate,
No I haven’t but would be interested in your source. Still getting things together to hopefully have bees this year (reworking a bunch of hive frames with new foundations) and getting things ready to start the garden. We haven’t started our own seedlings (like tomatoes) from seed in quite a few years, and are getting a back room/porch area cleared out and set up for this, since the cost of buying the plants has become crazy. Seems the “To Do” list always exceeds the time available list, LOL.
And oh yea, I still work for a living and that plus a little sleep pretty much takes care of the rest.
M.D.
It looks like many of your readers are bigots that think they are better or somehow above someone who is poor. White trash – how is that any better than using the N word?
Anyway, by what I saw on the show most of those presented are probably much better off than most of your readers that are calling them “white trash” I mean they have land, homes, guns, 15 year food storage, trucks, ATV’s ect.
Most of the people here have far less I’m sure – maybe they (your readers) are white trash and don’t even know it.
Many of your readers? Most of your readers? What? Have you ever learned to count? I saw more comments criticizing than agreeing with Dan.
I am not poor white trash but I am a pork eating infidel crusader.
I don’t think anyone meant to be ugly but I must agree that rich or poor there is no reason why things can’t be tidy. I feel it is just being lazy not to keep your yard or home clean. That is why the “impression ” of ” white trash” is given. And yes , these people have and are still buying more prepps so they have money coming in from some source so there is no reason why they can’t clean up a bit.
I’m behind M.D. all the way. Attitudes will change when equality takes place after tshtf…so saith the wise true survivalist’s crystal ball. One man’s trash is the the po’s treasure…that majority rules! Ahh, being anything but elite will never make any person of the common wealth any more than they are today. Cheers to the middle and upper, still continuing to be and remaining to be very common, classes.
Dan, you call them white trash but I see people that have what most middle class don’t have and that. To be able to by conex boxes at $1,500 to $3,000 each. Some of the equipment they have I know I couldn’t afford. Many of the firearms are ARs, M4s, M1A and various shot guns and some nice bolt actions. Those are not cheap.
The food alone invested is more than what the average American could afford.
I believe some are out there or eccentric but I commend them for doing what the believe in.
If people look beyond what we may disagree with or our opinions of the preppers on the show we could learn a new way to do something and that’s what’s important.
I found it interesting at times, especially the first couple with buses and the shipping containers. But some appeared, at least to me, as if they had been discovered on a previous Jerry Springer episode.
Someone previously commented about the physical ability of some of these people to handle the rigors a post-SHTF or grid down scenario and I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately it seems as if they only spoke about it with the one man in the first episode who was really obese and I think that was only because of his physical disabilities.
I haven’t seen both episodes yet but it seems to me that many, many people fail to comprehend just how physically demanding a grid-down scenario will be. I am in fairly decent shape as I work out hard several days each week. But digging out an old flower bed with a pick axe and shovel and then working several bags of topsoil and manure back in so I could actually grow food there left me sore for days. It took working there 3-4 days each week for at least two hours per day to dig everything out and I realized that “survival fitness” is really a whole different level. (Actually going to submit an article here on survival fitness)
One person or group that I have seen so far that got on my nerves is party girl. IMHO, she was either sensationalized or truly doesn’t have a clue (maybe even a little of both). As with other people or group portrayed, I do believe that they over-stated the amount of time spent prepping each week. I don’t believe that she spends 4 hours a day/6 days a week working out.
So far I don’t like these two episodes as much as I did the pilot and I have a feeling I won’t be watching too many more.
i only saw the episode with the “foodie” im recording the other one when it come on again on saturday. it’s was interesting but while i don’t have near the amount of stuff stocked that they do i would NEVER broadcast everything i have. now all their neighbors know to head to them when the time comes. stupid stupid stupid.
Kellene is Mormon, so are most of her immediate neighbors. They all have 1 year worth of food too.
I have heard that only about 20 percent of Mormons have food storage.
Well, world wide? sure. Mormons in poor countries don’t have food storage. Mormons here in the USA? I would say it is more like 20% don’t have any food storage. And those people have the Bishop’s storehouse to help them.
Whether or not they participate, theMormon faith preaches preparedness. I believe they are also supposed to have a gun.
I’m not sure about that.
Dang. I like the Mormons better than I like my own Catholics–they get guns and we don’t even get condoms!
First off I’m Po’ White Trailer #$*! (not gonna say that dirty word). If you have neighbors OPSEC goes out the window pretty quick when the SHTF. As most of you probably know my state took a heck of a lick in April ’11 with the twisters. Luckily my family and I was ready for the most part and our home didn’t take a direct hit from the twisters. We do not have years worth of food and water cause like I said we are poor (not ’nuff money) and white (can’t count on the Guvment), but we did have our act together enough to ride out a natural disaster that totally shut down our infastructure for the better part of 7 – 10 days. We have never discussed anything with anyone around us about any kind of preps but after 3 -4 days when our neighbors stuff in the fridge went bad and they had burnt up all their fuel riding around looking for stuff they had got real curious as to why the poor folks in the neighborhood was carrying on life as normal. Thankfully they were more inclined to ask than to try and take so there were no major issues but we are now saving what little we have and we are moving where the neighbors are not in sight. Hope my little personal experience is of some use.
BustedinBama,
I will say this again, just because you are white, poor and live in a trailer, does not make you white trash. I have so many students who have grown up poor, who are white and so cannot qualify for so many of the scholarships, and they come to college as if they are “less than” because they are poor and/or grew up living in a trailer.
Most of these kids realize what an opportunity they have, and come to class ready to learn. Some of my more affluent students stroll in in flip flops reeking like beer. The worth of a person is not judged by their income but by their character.
***The worth of a person is not judged by their income but by their character.*** That’s the way it SHOULD be Gayle….but not always a reality. I’m glad most of the people here share your view. ;)
MD….does living in a travel trailer make us *white trash*? lol if so…then I guess I’m white trash….but I have cash in my pocket and very few bills come to my mailbox…and I pretty much care nil about other peoples’ opinion of me. I’m honest, I’m clean…and the Lord is watching over me, so it’s all good!
I don’t have cable or satellite so I didn’t watch it either. Don’t think I missed much.
Gayle,
I can totally relate to your comment. I spent my college years with my head hung down while Mr. flip-flop beer pong champ had a good ol’ time, but you know what he flunked out and I ended up with a B.S. . Unfortunately I had a horrible accident that has left me unable to work at this time but it’s all good and I’ll tell you why. Yes we do live in a trailer, yes we are considered poor by the social status quo, but the trailer and property are paid for as are all our vehicles. My wife and I have now switched roles she (also college educated) now brings home the bacon and I cook it for her and our child (staying home with the kiddie is the greatest). We have zero debt and no expenses other than the very basic cost of living which leaves us with a positive cash flow every month it’s not much but it is in the black. I have always lived below my means and that has really paid off when it became neccessary to do so. We may be poor white and living in a double wide but we aren’t toothless and we sure ain’t Stupid (LOL).
I dont have the nat geo channel, so I did not get to watch. Sigh
But from the comments here, I guess I did not miss much.
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/shows/doomsday-preppers/
Hey thanks!! I will try to watch when DH is working.
Take care!
Repair Mama, It’s really worth watching. It’s entertaining and you’ll learn some of what to do and some of what not to do. LOL.
I keep wondering how that fellow from California is going to get buy eatings weeds along the drainage canals after the shtf and everyone is using that canal for a bathroom.
I don’t know about the rest of you but I think there are some learning lessons in this program. First, don’t let your compound be video taped and placed on national TV. Second I really want to have a herd of trained goats to “trailer up” on command. Third, beware of the “hippie guy” he’s probably ex-special forces and doesn’t need a gun to defend himself. Finally, ship container houses are kind of tackey, but it’s kind of cool to paint a target on your house and have at it. Just one guys opinion.
Sorry, but the hippie guy can’t do hand-to-hand with 10 gang bangers, or me with my .308 at 600 yards. I’m ex Special ops, and I carry a minimum of a pistol, a knife, pepper spray and combat light, along with body armor when weather allows. I’m also not stupid enough to think I’m superman, and can still get my butt kicked or worse with all my toys, even though some would call me paranoid. If a guy drops a cinder block on my head from a second floor window, or somebody shoots me in the back from a dark alley at 50 yards, I lose. I basically try to not be those places. The hippie people are what we refer to as “victims”.
A very wise person once said “If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan well enough”. Remember that the bad guys can plan, too, and some of them are plying and practicing their nasty trades as we speak.
i have a saying i picked up from one of my drill instructors that i hold very neer and dear, if you are out gunned in a fight its your own fault.
i was not special forces i was a grunt plain and simple. i remember during our great invasion of somallia and the seals coming onto the beach when the lights poped on to show the world we were coming. all i could think was how very scary that situation would have been. i would have turned out the lights i may give up my position by shooting but atleast they cant see me. in an instant the (argueably) best spec ops troops were nothing more than fish in a barrel who could be taken out by any ten year old with an ak.
arms and armor mean nothing if you are not in control of the situation, the openant whole purpose is to take that control from you and make sure they are in control. bullets win the fight every time all you can do is minimise your vulnerabilities and make do with what you have.
by the way legion i am trying to agree with you if my point is somehow clouded.
keep on prepping
keep preaying we are teh crazy people
god knows i do not want to be the geniuse.
Agreed Patriot Farmer. As for the container houses I can show you how to build some that look pretty good and are much stronger than any stick built house. Unfortunately finances have not allowed me to build one yet but I’ve been studying the concept and building them on paper for a couple of years now.
I have to agree with just about everyone here, I would never let the world know about my preps. natgeo has a contest to win ultimate survival gear! right no way was i putting my personal info in for the black suits. on another note.. how about that egg thing? fresh laid eggs has a coating to protect them. does oil really help keep them on the shelf that long? I havent tried to look it up yet. figured since I broke down and quit just lurking I might as well ask all of you. some of those people had lots, I have a little of a lot. you know a wide range but not enough of any of it(is there ever enough?)
and the victim yuppie we dont need guns….that would be nice, but here in the real world? how can you prep and not consider security?
stay safe
Cooolwoods,
That was mineral oil that she put on the eggs. She said to rub mineral oil on the eggs and they can be stored for up to 9 months in a cool dark place. They don’t need to be refrigerated.
Can anyone confirm this? I trust the Wolf Pack. I don’t trust a woman who is being sued for ripping people off.
Cooolwoods, either mother earth news or backwood homes did a piece on preserving eggs. (really think it was mom’s mag). Eggs kept best without any “treatment”. Just keep them cool. Even in hotclimes, like mexico, folks dont refrigerate them. Only time i put mine in fridge is really hot weather. I dont run acwhen im at work. My 2/100 % of abuck.
arkieready, You’re right. I believe I’m thinking of the same article, but can’t remember which of those 2 websites carried it. If I remember correctly, the article did say to keep them in a cool place, like a basement, but it also mentioned that you should periodically turn the egg cartons over to help keep them ‘fresh’.
Also, many recipes call for using eggs at room temperature.
I don’t know specifically about oiling the eggs to keep them, but in the past eggs were kept for months stored in crocks in layers and covered with sodium silicate (aka water glass) to keep out the O2. This one is definitley worht trying on a few dozen eggs as an experiment.
I try to keep 9-12 dozen eggs at all times. My eggs have lasted up to 5 months in the fridge before they start getting a little funky. I scramble up the funky eggs for my dogs and they do fine.
On the eggs stored with mineral oil. They have to be flipped daily. I didn’t catch the specifics, but if you don’t ‘turn’ them they go bad, or if one has a hairline fracture. I’ve never stored eggs this way because it seems like a heck of a hassle.
Personally, I’ll just continue to buy #10 canned powdered whole eggs and forgo deviled eggs come shtf. (DH won’t let me have chickens, has a hate for them that I don’t quite understand! lol)
You can always boil the eggs, shell them and pickle them.
Encourager,
Do you know how long they’ll last pickled. I tried this years ago, and within 6-9 months, the eggs were so rubbery, that they were nearly inedible.
Yes it works on eggs bought from the store. There is a product called Ke-Peg (waterglass) that is available at Lehmans. Don’t know anything about it because I have my own chickens, but you might want to check it out http://www.lehmans.com/store/Tools_Farm___Farming___Poultry_Equipment___Water_Glass__liquid_sodium_silicate____10406
And I forgot to mention that you only have to flip the eggs once a week, not every day….And don’t worry if you fear they will go bad, you will definitely know it as soon as you crack it open.
thanks for all the replies and info! I think flipping the eggs would be too time consuming so the #10″s have it. hope I can keep my chickens in a turd ran through the fan situation though, very tasty compaired to the store bought pale yellow’s and the 10′s
stay safe
I think its a bad idea for the preppers that are on the show but its a great way to maybe learn something new. And it is helping motivate My wife and I to do more.
I have a grandson who was watching the show. He asked me today if I had seen it and I told him I did not get the Natgeo channel but would stream it from their website later and watch it over the weekend. He then asked me if I had anything I could let him have to start his preps. I told him first to go get a job and then secondly get a place to live instead of living in with the girlfriends mother. Harold
+1 Harold!
Way to go Harold!! GREAT answer! You may have to explain to him that self-sufficiency means you do it yourSELF, not ask Grandpa for another hand-up.
i wish they would put some one on who was preparing for a hurricane, snow storm, power outage, wild fire in which the House is lost, or a job loss. the every day local emergencies which can do just as much damage as the “big one” to a small area or just you/family. that might help with the whole prepper wing nut image. also not to attack any one personally but fitness should be part of every ones preps. what is the use of having all those supplies when a heart attack kills you when you try and walk more than a 1 mile. also the woman who plans on killing her cats is a #$#hole to put it kindly. when you have pets you take on a responsibility to provide for them and should prepare accordingly. how hard is it to store some extra cat food? or let the animal free to fend for its self? PREPPER DOESN’T MEAN PET KILLER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Houston chick had another article come out that you need to see before you pass your final judgement on her.
Given Natgeo’s liberal journalistic slant, I tend to believe her claims.
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/02/08/how-nat-geo-misrepresented-the-foxhole-atheist-doomsday-prepper-megan-hurwitt/
Wow that’s a disgusting article. The producer offering her $1000 to kill her cat on camera? SICK! Nat Geo is on my sh*t list for that little stunt. I thought she was crazy too because I have 2 cats and wouldn’t shoot them if the world ended. They’d probably survive better than me, given natural instincts and such.
I still think she was talking a lot of game that she couldn’t back up, like not being able to do a 6 mile hump and yet works out so much… or walking out of a city for miles? That’s just crazy. It’ll be 10x more dangerous if the world ended or there an oil issue. She’d definitely get attacked. When she was walking and saying how dangerous it was in Houston she showed a knife. Why not carry a gun instead? Didn’t she have guns? I thought she did and yet she carries a knife at close access instead of a gun. Unless she just didn’t want to show the gun for some reason?
I hope the military teaches her some things. I’m not sure which branch she joined, but I was in the Marines and we did a lot of survival training and field exercises, not to mention deployments (obviously). If it was Marines she’d learn how to run those 12 miles haha.
But I’m glad to hear she’s not a crazy cat killer. Even if you aren’t a cat person, that kind of mentality to just shoot your pet because the world ended or whatever you’re preparing for is pretty twisted.
I think I have posted this before, so my apologies first if I am repeating myself! For a long time, I had a “feeling” that something was definitely wrong in this country and something was going to happen. Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do about this gut feeling. I saw the first Doomsday Preppers that was on last year. Because of that show, it gave me a direction to go in, which started with me doing a search on Google for the word preppers. Eventually, after clicking on a few links, it led me to here. I have learned more here from the wolf pack than I have from the last dozen books I have read on the subject and even more important, I have confidence that the information I get here is accurate. Doomsday Preppers may be sensationalized for television entertainment and some portrayed at nut jobs, but if one family watching connects with just one of them and starts prepping, and even better … finds their way here, then I am all for the show.
That’s good to hear Carol. Kinda debunks my theory of the show turning people off to prepping. Good. The more people prep, the better for everyone!
i agree i just wish they would put a couple of minutes of the show to a few basic steps to get started. even where to start looking and a couple of websites would help. then have the people who are prepping for the everyday scenarios that we all face, blizzard, wild fire loss of job one of those would help take out the crazy person syndrome i think.
as far as learning more from this site than most books. i have to agree its like most of the books out thier read one book and copied it for the most part the information gets repetative here you can get real life experiance from people who are live the life and most questions are answered quickly even if you dont have the answer you look at it and go i did not think about that, great another thing to add to the list, lol.
the more preppers in the world means fewer coming to my door looking for a hand.
There are days when I wish I still had TV, and to make things worse, my internet is on a land line, so no music or videos. I did enjoy reading all your comments, and today I got a copy of “One Second After” and will start reading it this evening. That should start a nice fire and get me going on more preps. As for Pantry Porn, when I open my pantry door in my kitchen and my friends see inside it they are overwhelmed. What they don’t know is that my preps are in the crawl space under the house and in both bedroom closets.
mountain lady,
I started reading that book about 3PM yesterday, and am on page 324. Haven’t gotten to it yet, but hope to finish it today. Really hard to put down!
We are using a tip from OhioPrepper and hiding our preps in plain sight. Some are under beds and most are in the basement. A camera crew or a furnace man or electrician could work in the basement and never spot our 200 lbs wheat, 100 lbs beans or equipment like a wheat grinder, the 180 gals treated water, dehydrated bananas, mushrooms, strawberries, potatoes and zucchini, pickles or jelly.
We tell the neighbors that the DW does not like my frozen green beans, and we are too old to can, so we are trying a dehydrator. The 8 ft high, 8 X 4 pole bean rack is hard to hide in the yard, and everybody knows we grow pole beans every year. So, the dehydrator is in an obvious spot in the kitchen as a diversion to our prepping activities.
Hunker-Down: I finished the book last night. I could not put it down, either. It had a real sobering message. Then again, it reminded me of Jericho. I have the series on DVD, and I think I will watch it again, maybe this weekend, if I can get all my work done.
I don’t have regular tv or cable, only netflix, but I did catch clips from the website. Unfortunately, most reality tv shows only look at the “extreme” in any category… apparently that’s what the American viewing public wants to see (hence the reason I no longer have TV). I think that some of the folks have good ideas, some of them are a little nutty, and that overall, it may increase some interest in prepping, but not to a huge extent. Those who become enlightened and properly motivated will learn what needs to be done, as have we all.
Speaking as someone who considers herself a liberal and a pacifist, I think it’s insane to be unarmed in this day and age… especially if you’re going to advertise all the goodies you have! No, I won’t deliberately go out and harm someone, nor will I pick a fight, but if you’re coming to hurt me and mine or take what’s mine, I’m sure as heck going to defend myself.
I have been making preps quietly around our farm. My wife has unknowingly gone along with the plans. The show forced a conversation and a reality to some of the things I have been doing! It was cool that she said after the show maybe we should look at making some plans! I have started showing her the plans and steps we had already taken! She was really excited! So good or bad on the way the show is done, it has helped convence my wife to take steps…and she has started to note the things I have done already to make our family more prepared!
That is wonderful!! good luck
For the lady that was worried about the New Madrid Fault. Honey, don’t put your beautiful canned fruits on shelves that far apart and with no bars across the front and back if you want to have anything but a pile of broken glass and peaches on the floor! Here is what you REALLY do!
1. Shelves must be bolted to the wall! It it is is cupboards with doors on them, then make sure you have cupboard doors that have locks on them. Any easy opening cupboard is useless.
2. Put your canned jars of whatever back in the canning jar boxes with the cardboard separators still in place!
3. Put the box on a shelf and secure your jars inside the shelf by nailing/bolting/screwing a bar across the shelf halfway up the jar!
Then maybe when things start shaking the doors to your cupboards or your open shelving won’t be alive with jumping, hopping glass jars heading for the floor! Take this from someone who has gone through a couple of really good shakers, the Loma Prieta and the one in Simi Valley!
I live near the new madrid fault. Thanks for the advice. I never thought about securing dishes. I have secured book cases to walls. I am wondering if the ‘child proof’ latches for cabinets would be strong enough to hold back dishes? Anyone have any opinions on this? Oh, I don’t have enough projects, I need more. lol. If I put everything in the basement, it’s buried by an earthquake. If I put it in the attic, its taken by a tornado.
David I am not sure on the childproof latches. I have never used them. I went with a clip latch that takes a thumb and a finger to pinch together to open. I put them on all the doors to anything of value and thought seriously about how I secured the dishes etc. All of my kitchen cabinets have a lip at the edge of the shelves that help hold stuff in. Open shelving at my house all have bars halfway up to help catch things that might jostle loose and fall off. So if the wall goes, yes you will loose stuff, but if you prepare right, you won’t loose it all. With valuable items and such I also use museum wax or earthquake wax to secure them to the shelves. My home in Simi got picked up and set back down at about 30 degrees from its original foundation and one wall in the bedroom fell in. ’twas a mess! Refrigerator and stove walked out of their spots and kind of met in the middle of the kitchen and fell over on each other. Books did NOT stay on the shelves despite the fact that the shelving unit was anchored. Neither did the Television. Every breakable lamp I had broke.
Other tips would include this one…Don’t put your bed under a window. If the glass breaks you could get seriously hurt. If you have a pool think about which way the water is going to slosh……it could come through a glass patio door and such. We had many in my neighborhood that had houses moved off foundations and pool water flushed completely through the homes. Added to the misery.
After Simi, I had a trash can outside with a small tent, sleeping bags, food, water, the gas line wrench, bleach, cash and such in it. Loma Prieta was a big shaker for me, but had little loss, a pottery turtle that was on a shelf I hadn’t stuck down with museum wax was my only casualty.
Worrisome….great suggestions. I was on the Central Coast of Cal for the Loma Prieta. I lived out in the country, but was in the closest town (40 miles away)(on the coast!) when it hit….trying on a red dress! My biggest lesson from that: NEVER have less than 1/2 a tank of gas….a FULL tank is even better. I had less than 1/4 tank and couldn’t get back home, ’cause none of the gas stations could pump gas! I slept in my car in a Safeway parking lot overnight….with other strandees, and in the morning I could get gas and head home.
We had had a tremor some months before. At that time I was in a hot tub…up on a ten-foot-above-ground deck… and noticed something strange about the trees up the mountain that was our view. I thought a big wind was coming as they were all swaying! When it started happening just up the road, I got out of the tub ’cause I could tell it was no wind. That was just in time too, as the whole place rock & rolled. The deck held, but almost all of the water in the tub was splashed out. I was watching that from out on the driveway where I had run.
During Loma Prieta, I had friends at the stadium watching the play offs. They spent the night trying to find their way out of SF. They ended up south of SF in a Safeway parking lot as you did. They had the gas, there was just no way they were going north over a bridge that night. Running out of the house is a good idea Mt. Woman as long as you sure you won’t be in the way of falling telphone or power poles. In my case, we were safe in our front yards both times. My preps lean heavily to what I consider the mundane…flood, fire, earthquake first. Financial disasters a distant fourth, all others get my attention after those. and………I no longer live on the San Andreas and its tributaries……..
MT Woman,
OMGoodness! I if I was to die in an earthquake, I would want to be in a red dress or in a hot tub. Or both! LOL. I am glad you made it out OK. :}
LOL Mama! Me too! But I’m glad I didn’t have to….it’s good to be alive! One of my favorite inspirational pieces is the Desiderata, and out of that, this: “With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.” :)
good advise for those of us who live in areas that dont get earthquakes, a few years ago we had one that was like a 4.3 or something a glass of water had ripples from what i was told, personally i didnt feel it. we have no idea what a big quake feels like or what it can do. personally its scares the hell out of me the ground moving and such just sounds really wrong to me.
again thx another thing to add to my do list
Personally, Robert, since I live in California and for most of that in close proximity to the San Andreas and its tribs most of my life, I don’t even get tense at a 4.3. However when you can either hear the first big “boom” and know ya got seconds, or you can here it coming down the fault line like Simi Valley…….’tis time to move and to do so quickly! Then you need to guess right on whether you are running outside, diving down alongside your furniture or heading for the most fortified part of your house. Candidly, it may well be that your instinct to run takes over completely and you just find yourself somewhere when the rockin and rollin stops! In Simi Valley, my now ex husband found himself in the front yard, holding our baby, stark naked!
Worrisome, I live in Earthquake country as well. I was at a bus bench on my way to school during the Whittier Narrows earthquake, in bed during the Northridge earthquake and have gone through countless small tremors mostly unnoticed or the “its not a 6.0, I’m staying right here” mentality.
Its funny in a way the PTSD people get after a quake. I ran out in my shorts with my bug out bag over my shoulder during the Northridge earthquake. My bob had a spare change of close for me to throw on lol.
Hey Jarhead, I’m going to your state soon and would like to bring something with me to feel prepped. What thing that goes boom is permitted by a visitor? I know this is off topic, sorry. I have searched around and don’t trust anything that I read or my interpretation, so I thought that I would ask a resident. Many thanks.
Pineslayer, california does not recognize concealed carry permits from other states and a loaded magazine even separated from the pistol is considered a loaded firearm. The pistol and magazine can be together unloaded and the ammunition in a separate container.
Yeah the law/rules suck.
Kathy Harrison: “The Hippie, New Madrid Fault Lady” wrote a book in 2008 that has received many good reviews from the New York Times and Newsday. She has also appeared on the Today Show, Oprah and NPR. Some of you may already own her book and not know it. “Just In Case: How To Be Self-Sufficient When The Unexpected Happens”
I think survival of the fittest was a few fries short a happy meal. I wonder what her boyfriend was like ,shooting cats aside.At least there b.o.v. was in a undisclosed location. Another phrase for my moms minivan?
Oh and shtf won`t be in Mexico when it happens here?
Axelsteve,
She was a wackjob. Clearly there for WTH factor. Mexico is already in a SHTF situation.
Mama J,
I think she got her bell run in army basic training and is replaying groundhog day again.
RUNG. duh.
ill give her props for going to the military but i believe she may not like the ride. the military isnt much into individualism, and although they do do comunity service help when it gets real bad their first job isnt humanitarian aid, its to make others need humanitarian aid. wonder how she will feel about that.
Previews looked like it would be a joke, so I was surprised to find I could ignore what I expected and looked for the human on a mission against the current (vacuous) norm. Took some mental notes. My biggest criticism is that lack of medical knowledge of any degree shown except the tiniest mention about making your own antibiotics, interesting. And did you notice all those pretty glass jars, filled with yummy contents sitting on open shelves?! Earthquake anyone? My brother works the stock market and is in the science field, freaked out a couple years back and kick started us into getting serious about having what we need on hand. I’ve always tried being ahead, but now we plan and budget bigger when bills get caught up. Everyone got wheat for Christmas and other such items that were similar like a sundial compass. Preparing is slow going. So much to do and learn let alone put into practice. The show kind of made me feel behind the eight ball.
All in all I thought the portrayals were rather honest, and not nearly the “preppers are nuts” hack job I kind of suspected they might be. Some of these folks gave up OPSEC, but in some cases, like living in a compound built of cargo containers, were probably already not very inconspicuous. All in all a pretty good mix of people and preparations, although party girl will IMHO not last long, but perhaps longer than most sheep. I think the assessments were pretty much right on the money and it was no surprise to see everyone except the self proclaimed liberals put the advice to good use.
Hopefully the guy with the health problems has a good MAG to help support him, because it looks to me like he’s pretty squared away other than the health issues. Party girl is looking to head into Mexico at a time when border violence is increasing, not a good idea. And what can I say about the self proclaimed liberals, other than typical childish attitude and moral dishonesty. When the “Armed marauders” (their words) come by, they’ll simply offer them a good meal, assuming that armed marauders won’t kill or enslave them all and take and eat what they want (childish), and assuming they survive that event will poison them or slit their throats in their sleep if things don’t work out (childish, dishonest, and immoral). I don’t like “Icky” guns, but I’ll poison you or kill you in your sleep; yep, sounds like many of the libs I’ve known.
The bullet test was done with a .22 RF which may make them feel better, but anyone I know around here who has any sort of serious firearms hobby has at least an AK platform in 5.56mm/,223 and many have .308 or larger. I suspect the test would fair differently with those cartridges. Their location however, was interesting with the claim of a clear field of view (and fire) of 800 yards from the ground and 2 miles from the roof. A couple of .308’s and a couple of Barretts in .50 and there will be few folks able to sneak up on them.
All in all, worth watching again next week.
Hi my name is Yogi and I live in Az, and I am preparing for the Stobor. Beware the Stobor! Unless you are reader of Heinlien you won’t know just why that is as true today as when Tunnel in the Sky was written. A shallow mind would assume I fear rodents going on a locust like rampage and causing TEOTWAWKI. No 30 second sound bite will plumb the depths of just how sage that simple advise is, Beware the Stobor. TV by it’s current nature is shallow and aimed at the least common denominator, not even at the average intellect. The hokey stating of why the subjects are prepping sounds to me like a formula the show came up with. I find a simple Boy Scout, Be Prepared to cover why I live this way. That and the Stobor.
Darn you, I thought I had a copy of that, now I have to hit the library. (Yes, I raided my parents’ bookcase more for book hoarding than an acute desire to read all of them…. got to save part of the collection for when the libraries turn into the place where illiterates get their toilet paper.)
Beware Indeed!! LOL
wth? tunnel in the sky? I dont remember that one…tanstaafl I do remember. stobor? wow, gotta dig open a box or 2 I thought I read all the heinlien. I’m excited.if I just dont remember it it’ll be a good read again. might reread some anyway, I need some simple diversion to loose some stress. I remember someone saying season something of stargate as part of their preps. I guess in reality I wish I had more time to read for diversion, 4 a couple of years all I read is survival. heck I uprooted and moved to get away from ft detrick. you know…where all the zombies will come from. *que the scary music*
stay safe
I just finished reading, Grid Down, by David C. Waldren, on my Kindle program it was $2.99 [IIRC]. The kindle for PC I downloaded for free from Amazon [ Use MD's link so he gets his credit} They have a lot of the old Sci/Fi books at kindle some in anthologies for like 99 cents. Tunnel will run you $8 or $9 there. Plato's 'lesser hippias' was free, as are a lot of what I consider classics [free, nada, zip, zilch, my favorite price. Anyway I got the free PC program and all kindle books are on my backup laptop as well, [you're allowed like 7 copys in different type readers] in a faraday cage with the solar charger. Interesting but when I searched yje kindle site for tunnel the return included an army manuel for a 6 cylinder diesel, one day I’ll have to take time to see what all army Tech manuels are there for cheap.
“windage and elevation, Mrs Langdon, windage and elevation” The Duke.
Used paperback is cheaper than Kindle edition. As part of a hard-bound trilogy seems like the best deal, it’s called Infinite Possibilities.
I watched both and had mixed emotions. I was happy, amazed, dumbfounded, incredulous, sometimes mad. Then, glad it was over.
OPSEC is different for everyone, depending on where you live, and if you have relationships with the people living around you. If you are in an urban setting, yes, stay invisible. Rural, and able to come together for protection?
I understand the need for OPSEC, but at the same time, I feel the need to reach out to others around me to educate them. The more people around you that are prepped, the less people that will need what you have. Right? No? We live right smack dab in the middle of Morman country. They are mostly armed and have food. My friends know I prep because I preach it to them. They don’t know what food I store, I am not a pantry flasher. (Hehe pantry porn) They know we have guns and we use them. We made a point to have met every person that lives within an two-three mile radius from us. We have it mapped and know who is elderly, who has resources, barter, skills. Even the yahoo weirdo squatting in the camper next to us. He will go by by. No…I’m not going to shoot him, I am moving him or using him. He may have skills.
We are rural on farms so it is not alot to speak of but DH believes that we would be able to come together. We believe we have to put yourselves out there, alittle.
We plan to hunker down, but we will not allow security to get so bad in the community that everyone is murdered around us and we are next.
If you aren’t at the table, you just might be on the menu.
The families with the container house. They will be OK. Anyone local that knows who they are will try to become one of them. Not try to take them down.
The chick in Houston. Nutjob. She needs to stay on her meds and lay off the sauce. She may survive as a prostitute.
The Liberals in the NE. Shot in the face the first week. It doesn’t matter if your communtiy is full of “good people”. They might survive a pandemic until they starve to death. They didn’t have any real preps happening.
The LA man. He will be fine if the polluted food doesn’t kill him.
He probably knows how to work with the homeless. They are already on survival mode.
The family with the grown kids. Fine except they didn’t have enough food and it didn’t look like they had a garden or livestock. (Part of their opsec?) I may be wrong.
The guy with the little dogs. He was funny. But, I worry about his health. My thoughts were that he will continue to ruin his own life unless he gets surgery. Lapband? Was that a plea for charity to pay for it?
The Gourmet Prepper. She will be fine until a big gang in Salt Lake takes her out. About 2 weeks? However, she is a sales person. A snake charmer. She may be forming a small community to improve her chances of protection. I mean, she is dedicated. No way she and the husband can defend that house by themselves. I get the morse code. But learning a different language? I hope she knows Spanish.
Of course, all this is just my opinion. You can only get so much from an edited program.
I am disappointed. I expected more from Nat Geo.
Kellene is a Mormon. She went on a mission to the Phillipines when she was 19. She can’t speak to the locals about God if she doesn’t know the language. Most all Mormons know a second language from serving missions around the world.
Even Mitt Romney went on a mission when he was 19.
Just so you all know, I have never met Kellene. Don’t know her at all. However, I do read her blog on occassion and I read a while back she said she served a mission in the Phillipines. If you wern’t Mormon, you wouldn’t know what that means.
“If you weren’t Mormon, you wouldn’t know what that means.” Mormons aren’t the only Christians who go on mission trips. Tim Tebow spent years in the Philippines as a child (his parents were missionaries there), he has been back on mission trips as an adult, he has built orphanages there and is helping to build a hospital over there.
Haven’t read through all the comments, but I agree with most of them. The lib in NE (whom I’ve met, btw) is off her rocker. They’ll be the first course during the zombie apocalypse. If anyone is interested, the gourmet prepper has her own website so google her (Kelleene Bishop I think) for info. Why would ANY of them give their right names and locations? This season, though, I will admit, many of them sounded like they didn’t give ALL their info to the NG people. Duh. As for the guy with the shipping container fortress … can we say Google Earth??
I don’t get the channel, but have seen the adds. My first thought was similar to yours. They are outing themselves and announcing to the “gmmt” men, here be guns and right wing wacko’s. And now all the neighbors know
Wow, so much for keeping things private huh? That’s what is wrong with people today, it’s all about look at me and see what I have done or have that you don’t. Just a plain stupid move on their part.
I enjoyed the shows and if you take a little something from each of the preppers you’ll be that much ahead. My concern was with the first couple living in the shipping containers. Every where in his pantry were glass bottles and jars. There was nothing to hold them in. A minor earth quake could shake all the glass containers down and food with broken glass in it isn’t very good. I found their methane generator to be interesting, but he could have left out the part about their own poo being mixed in. Now I have to wonder if everyone goes out and squats over the methane generator so does someone have to lug the buckets of night dirt from the house to the pit?
Kaleen has a lot of good stuff on her blog. She does a lot of reviews on the value and quality of storage food and she seems to know what she is talking about.
Before this program came on, earlier in the week, there was a doomsay prepper show on one of the news channels. They showed a lot of preppers and then talked about how each of them had their own web site to “help” other preppers find the things they would need and could easily order from them, making everyone look like they are in it for the money. The other show also showed the guys buying up missile silos and converting the launch tube into various levels of condos. I don’t think you even get to see yours so there’s no guarantee that they are really doing anything with your money except spending it.
All in all they were pretty good shows, but just like American Pickers and Pawn Stars, you have to see the little gems among all the lumps of coal. I’ll watch again next week.
Not sure if it is common knowledge but Kalenne posted that the show asked her to do live tweets and take messages during the show. I haven’t heard anything on how many practical questions she received and answered but would be interesting to know.
Be safe out there. All the nuts aren’t on the trees.
I was a little divided over the show. In one way, I thought it was great to learn what others do and I did learn some new things. I also thought it was neat to see some of the people I follow on youtube and blogs on there.
However, I could not get past the feeling they were leaving themselves exposed. I talk about prepping on my blog too, but I don’t tell the whole story. I feel my family’s security depends on that. I also felt that they have now become the targets of desperate people as well as the powers that may be.
The first thing I thought was OPSEC, After the show I went online and I’m pretty sure I found the shipping container couple within a half an hour using satellite images from google, yahoo and the county zoning website. I’m far away and have no bad intentions but others might. I really liked the family with all the skills, especially the welder daughter (wink, wink) I thought the New England family was delusional. I’m not even going to comment on party girl. It was entertaining but what I really didn’t like was how at the end of each profile the voice over basically said the experts agree that will never happen. It felt like they were calling all survivalists idiots
Another I want to see myself on TV show,,the Gov will know right where to go….Dumbest show on TV.
Gotta agree with you on the original question M. D. Those folks are leaving themselves wide open. Now, having said that, what was the pricetag for being a part of the show? Is it worth it? Who knows but them. I somehow doubt that the payday will cover the risks taken.
As others have been saying here OPSEC.
I think that a beeline will be made to these plp on the show… the thought being.. ‘gee , isn’t it nice that all this stuff was accumulated for us’. To me part of prepping is to be as invisible as possible. Some interesting ideas , so I got a little bit from the show.
I wrote the following on their blog:
After watching the premier of this new program I have one major disappointment:
Why give details as to where these people live? Name the state, but “near” this or that town is going a bit too far. Every prepper I know is rather ‘private’ they don’t broadcast to the nation where they live or exactly what they have in terms of preparedness supplies. This is especially true for people like Kathy and Bruce (which I will discuss later).
The rest of the show actually was quite interesting and was a kind of validation to me and my preparedness ‘method’. Also I have been a follower of Practical Preppers for awhile now and they are very informed.
One thing that did raise more questions for me was the lack of elaboration on what I call the “Reality Check”. Oh they were pointed out in the preparedness ratings; however some kind of suggestion to accomplish the lacking ‘need’ would have been nice too; especially for Kathy, Bruce and David.
To Megan and her comment about money, I would have told her to perform a little exercise: Whenever you are out and about and are ready to pay to do something or are about to make an unplanned purchase; ask yourself “Will I die or will my health fail, in the next year if I don’t purchase or pay to do this now? If the answer is no – every other time – don’t do or purchase that thing. When you get home put the monies you would have spent on that item or activity in a jar and at the end of two weeks or a month, count it. I am willing to bet you will find some cash for what you were rated a lacking.
To Kathy and Bruce I admire your sticking to your convictions when it comes to firearms. I consider people with your belief to be the ‘conscious of humanity’. I will just as actively defend the right to not own a firearm as I will the right to own one! However you sorely need the Reality Check. You and your community’s location is now known nationally. This leaves you open to ‘attack’ by others from the surrounding communities that are armed and desperate.
We humans are very far from a Utopia world of no crime or violence. We can’t even stop ourselves from ‘dictating’ (rules, regulations and laws) our views and ways of life on others around us that are not bothering or threatening us, in any way. Also, if you are for reducing crime, you must address the criminal and not just his tools. Criminals will always find a tool to commit their crimes.
When a major crisis occurs, people who were once passive will become killers to get what they need to survive. This won’t be one or three people; this will be a pack of people coming after what you have.
To your friend who would ‘sweat talk’ and invite the raiders to a feast – can he sweat talk a suicide bomber or insane person? If he can the psychiatric world desperately needs him. Besides, 10 well armed attackers can cause havoc, kill, wound and maim many in a small unarmed community before you even have a chance to fully comprehend the situation and I seriously doubt any mature male would just stand by while his wife or child was raped or murdered.
My offer to Kathy and Bruce is to at least be sure you and your likeminded community have Defense Plans and non-lethal defense mechanisms (alarms, booby traps, restraints, containment) in place and practice regularly. You also have the option of attending a firearm school where you need not own a firearm to at least learn how to safely handle, maintain and use one. You may not be a perfect shot, but if you should end up with some confiscated firearms from a raiding pack, you now have the ability to fight back.
To David I would say to strengthen your associations with your workers and friends. Offer to be a secondary retreat for them should the SHTF. This way you can compensate for your physical limitations by banding with others. Practice ‘activation’ of your group so you are all ready.
To every home canner out there: If you live where there shakes, rattles and rolls, you had better secure your home canned goods. A simple wooden dowel or bungie cord system is a cheap, quick and easy way to do this. Cut up old cardboard boxes into strips to place between jars and the like to reduce “clashing” breakage.
I have long been a fan of Christopher Nyerges and even attended one of his wilderness survival classes back in the day. So I know he did not reveal all of his knowledge or preparations for this program, including his defense and alternate route procedures.
Chris, you said it: “The Lakers won” which resulted in a pack of ‘celebrators’ that were destructive. I say to everyone: Now picture the ‘celebrators’ running in a pack to get what they lack to survive!
To everyone on the show or watching, I wish to remind you that a crisis, disaster, emergency or black swan event can happen at any time, in any place; they come in all shapes, sizes and durations. They will not wait until you are all at home and ready.
Since we live our lives out and about, this means that mobility will be an issue, if for no other reason than to get back to our home or retreat. Failure to plan for the mobility issue is hazardous to your health and may cause injury or death.
Hence, it is better to plan and practice for the worst case scenario; like say you are not home when the crisis hits, your usual modes of transportation and routes are not available – you are on foot with what you have with you – at that time. This way if things are not that bad, your back-up can very quickly be shifted to, without even having to think about it, yet alone plan it out. If you are part of a household or group, this would mean that your key personnel do not make it back to the retreat; so cross training is a must.
This last reminder is one that was kind of touched upon in the program. It is what I call “Life’s Pollution”. No matter where we live, especially for urbanites, in a SHTF world sights, sounds and smell will appear to travel farther, as well as be more defined and easier to identify. With this in mind using your fireplace, wood stove (that isn’t a re-burner system), a solar or wind powered well pump, chopping wood, cooking on your grill or even a candle in a window – will be noticed for a much greater distance. Hence alerting others around you that you have something they do not and need.
“A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them;
the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”
Proverbs 22:3
TNT
A 50 Something, urban homesteading, Prepper; I share Preparedness, Homesteading, Self-reliance knowledge & doc’s at: http://NMUrbanHomesteader.blogspot.com/ & http://www.scribd.com/TNTCrazyLady
Less-than lethal weapons for Kathy, Bruce and clan is a good suggestion. Pepper spray, tasers, riot clubs, staffs, less-than-lethal dedicated shotguns, etc. It will do them little good if they are not willing and able to use them and sometimes pre-emptively.
I have been to disaster areas in my work and the frightened crazed hordes are not to be ‘sweat talked’. They will not become warm and fuzzy self-actualized beings because they are guests at a feast.
You are being kind TNT. While I admire their basic notions of being self-actualized non-violent human beings, I am appalled at their naivete. Maybe that works when things are great on the Upper East Side of Manhattan or in the Pacific Palisades (during daylight) but when the SHTF, such a philosophy is just ignorant and will get them and any children and others in their group killed.
Do you go to the wilds and commune with very dangerous beasts because; “We are all God’s creatures?” Pet the wild hyenas and lions? Hug a wild tiger? A wild carnivore’s very nature makes that an insane activity.
{I seem to remember that a few years ago a famous bear hugger and wildlife film maker got himself and his date killed and eaten by brown bears.}
It is the same concept. In the midst of a civilized and policed society such Utopian ideas can be practiced without getting yourselves killed. But in the raging jungle that exists in a Collapsed society it is sheer folly.
I am not being intentionally cruel to them, but that kind of behavior and plan should be labeled for what it is so that no one else EVER thinks of emulating their model of preparedness.
It is utterly foolish.
Dangerously naive.
That kind of attitude will only get people killed post Collapse.
The people who were on the show had a choice — be on the show and talk about their level of preparedness or not be on the show and keep that information to themselves. They made the choice and will work their way through the consequences. Who knows? Maybe some of them thought they were being helpful.
Shows like this, if I can avoid being judgmental about the people and their choices, help me weight and balance my own preparedness goals and accomplishments.
To be honest, I tend not to watch this kind of reality-based TV because I’ve found sources that are much, much more helpful and practical. Time and energy are limited, and I’d rather use them in more productive ways. I’m building the basics now, and learning where to expand our plans when we can afford it.
I hate jackboot ninja thugs!
If you want an eye-opening read about what really happens in a total collapse, read this (some of you have probably already seen it).
http://americanlibertyriders.ning.com/group/preparedness/forum/topics/shtf-school-22-page-report
Everyone be sure to tune in every week and learn HOW NOT TO DO IT
Missed most of the shows, was Bedazzling my .22 so it’s coordinated with my Daisy Dukes. Came away with a few interesting ideas to investigate but other than that, I think NatGeo scraped the whacko bowl a little too much. I don’t think that a “true” prepper would be willing to appear on tv unless it was in an undisclosed location, face pixelated, voice disguised, and interview/cameraman blindfolded.
My honey and I were discussing the problems with this series. Will it make more people prep? Yes, but not in the right way for the right reasons. It will more than likely produce more wingnuts that will stock up on snake cakes, chips, candybars, energy bars and diet soda and stockpile ammo and guns they have no idea how to handle. And no, because the presentation and even title of the show have been made for entertainment not education.
SNACK cakes! lol
Whew, My real name? Thanks for clarifying…I was scratching my head as to what snake cakes were!! LOL
Well, when TSHTF we might just find out what snake cakes are! lol
Would you like my recipe for Rattlesnake cakes? You just substitue rattler for the salmon in salmon cakes, and add a habanero.
I found it interesting that “party girl” claimed she didn’t have enough room in her apartment to adequately “prep” but it appeared that she had enough room for a “stipper pole”…I did enjoy all of the segments and learned something from each one. I did feel that the conex couple in texas were the most prepared and realistic, however, why oh why did they give up their location, names, faces, etc to a national and international viewership, and the government???
one thing is for sure when the shows season ends the feds will know where to go to start grabbing peoples guns and stuff and they will lay it all out in front of the media and make us all out to be a bunch of gun nuts of course they are just doing it to protect everyone from them lol PEOPLE dont tell everyone what you have yes talk about what you believe in but remember the feds read blogs too and your web addresses can be traced unless you trust your government that much.Be safe and goodluck.
Jack Spirko has talked about this NatGeo special on his show several times. He was approached by the producer to be on the show awhile at the preparedness expo in Denver. He did not like how the producer was laying out the sow and portraying not only the people who agreed to be on the show, but for preppers as a whole. He also did not agree with the producer when he was forcing each person or group featured to pick only one scenario that they were preparing for. Jack should be posting a video about this soon.
I have learned a few things from the shows but what has really helped was the original pilot. My wife was on the fence about prepping until she watched the pilot, then she had a lot of questions. She is now more on board.
Now that I have watched most of the first two episodes, it seems as if there were two sensible preppers and two questionable ones in each one. Just MHO.
I only saw the first hour but I have to say, they picked people that would come across as strange (looking) and somewhat anti social. I know a lot of preppers and you’d never know it by looking at them. The folks I saw on the show, with the exception of the girl in the city) could be picked out as a prepper a mile away. I was disappointed in it. Wish they would have had people who came across as normal, but prepared.
I doubt they looked very hard for “normal” types. If you read National Geographic you know the are coolaid drinking global warming wind farm types. PS: After driving cross country in 2000, the wind farms were the worst eyesores imaginable.
I am in the Northeast and I can tell you those people that dont believe in guns probably live in Massachusetts! The have been brainwashed to the point that self defense is “bullying” in their eyes! They are part of this “liberal utopia” that will be their downfall! Too bad really! They have a nice little place there, too bad they wont be able to defend it!
My place, on the other hand, is well stocked with food, water, gas, generator, cordwood and enough ammo and guns for a small war!
Many of you here talk about defending your keep and supplies with arms. However, you must realize there are heavy gun control laws throughout many States, which in turn limit gun purchases. I live in NY and would love to go out and buy an AR15 or handgun. Its not happening. People in certain States are at a tremendous disadvantage for weapons due to laws. I can’t even go to Utah, buy one there and ship it home to NY. I get caught, I’m sitting behind bars for 20 years.
True. However pump shotguns are available in all 50 states if you have a clean record. And the Mini 14 is even legal in New Jersey. Just obey all local laws. You can even take the stock off and put a pistol grip on a shotgun.
Well you can buy a post ban ar15 10 round mag and buy pre ban 30 round mags or buy pre ban ar15 and be ok in NY, LI…Get a permit for hand gun , suffolk or nassau if your back ground is clean on both. JUST SAYING!
Certain local laws affecting your 2nd Amendment rights are despicable. I know as my daughter lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan. She was almost arrested for having a Guardian pepper spray device which I had given her. The contacting LEO let her go and simply kept it. NYC requires a permit, class and a specific, locally purchasde, pathetically inferior pepper spray.
As you state that you are not inclined to get a firearm and risk arrest… you do have alternative weapons available. Some of them will require more time and effort to acquire proficiency with but you have little choice. I suggest you look into acquiring several marine distress flare pistols, a powerful pellet gun, a youth (smaller and easier to maneuver with and conceal) compound bow, a fighting cane and a course of instruction, several knives both fixed and folders and again get some instruction, a machete, a solid ‘hiking’ staff, flashlights with strike bezels, etc. You can have martial arts weapons in your home even in NYC as long as you belong to a martial arts school. You don’t even need to go that frequently, after you have taken some martial arts weapons instruction. Don’t carry them about with you, of course. But you can use them in defense of your home. Probably get sued by your intruder/assailamartial artsnt but better than being dead or seriously injured.
I regularly board commercial aircraft with a cane, impact flashlight and two self-defense specific steel ‘pens’. There are weapons available to you as long as you go and acquire the skill and willingness to use them. I believe that if you consult some of MD’s archived articles on self-defense and click on some of the suggested products you will be able to improve your situation. The gov’t works to dis-empower you by taking away your basic right to self-defense but you do not have to remain disarmed. Good luck.
“Probably get sued by your intruder/assailant but better than being dead or seriously injured.”
Hate weird typos!
Seriously GeoFagus….adapt and overcome. You can do it. Don’t just accept that THEY want to force you to be helpless. Get started now.
Great pep talk SD….thanks. Boy…that’s just wrong…NY being such a crowded and dangerous place and having such intense restrictions on weapons. Kudos to you for finding a way….and sharing.
You’d know better than me SurvivorDan, but isn’t seizure of property without arrest or returning it on release illegal? Seems to me that LEO stole your daughters property under the color of law.
Geo… I feel so bad for you and those like you in your state- or any state or area that disallows honest/decent people from owning anything they want, be it guns or cars or foods.
Since you come here, you do have to know how the fed is trying to manipulate your total lifestyle, from where you live to what you eat/can’t eat. And, obviously, you don’t want to stand for having your freedom stripped. So what you have to do- or should do, IMO- is somehow come up with an OPS plan to get those tools you need without anyone knowing, especially the fed.
Yes, I am sugesting you break a ‘(haha) law’- but don’t tell even your dog you’re doing it, let alone someone looking like a human. There come moments in our lives when we have to make decisions based upon our needs rather than the dictates of people who don’t even know us and want to control us. And this, I think, is one of those times. After all: where do the gang-bangers, hoods, punks, get their ideas and weapons? Certainly they’re not registering them with NICS background checks. Nor do they advertise having them. (But they do and will use them on defenseless you and yours.)
Yes, this is a decision you have to make based upon your view of the situation and your needs, and decide if the risks of ownership are worth it to you. It’s kind of like, “am I going to race this motorcycle down this mountain without a helmet?” (I know: bad analogy. Sorry.)
So, in your situation, in view of the current world situation, and especially since it’s in the United States, I think I’d be like the punk, use OPSEC and disguises, and try to find a street weapon. Pay cash, find some place in the woods to learn to use it, and be content and safer.
(Egads, I feel the eyes of dotfed on the back of my neck and Sarah Brady breathing down my sweater…)
Of course, what you’d be doing by following this advice, is exactly what the Brady Bunch and politicians are decrying: you’re purchasing a weapon Face to Face from a private party with no background check. There are going to be risks. What if the punk you’re buying from is an informant, or worse, undercover cop? What if he uses it on you just to get your money? So, again, you’ve got lots of risk to weigh. Only you can decide for you.
As for me, I’m getting mighty damned tired of the fed telling me what I can do, what I can eat, what I can plant, what I can drive, who I can associate with, who my enemies are (when it’s them but they don’t tell me that), and taking my hard-earned money from me to line their pockets, and more.
As people, created equal, with Divine and human rights, especially as Americans, must begin to take back our stolen Freedom.
And that is my two cents of bad advice from the internet. Do as you feel compelled.
Endeth the sermon.
Shy III
JSW,
Amen Brother and preach on.
Recorded it and saw it for the first time last night. Opsec issues aside I thought the containor fort was cool as well as the dude from LA. They were the only two things I thought were okay about it though. As a nonrecovering flashlight addict I do not suffer from PP (Pantry Porn) but I do look at pictures of MD’s storage shed maybe a bit to much.
I would love to see a few inside shots of that shed.
I did not catch the show but I did get an e-mail from a blog called Preparedness Pro run by a woman named Kellene Bishop. The e-mail notice stated that she would be on the show. I do recall she gave directions on waxing cheese on her blog. Anyway, I googled this woman some time ago and found that multiple complaints had been lodged against her for unethical practices to include client financial loss through companies she ran under various names. The latest company I have seen her promote is Five Star Preparedness which is run by a guy with the same last name so assume it is her husband. I listened to one of her info-mercials once and it sounded like an Amway presentation. If these are the types of folks that are being used to portray true preparedness then it is concerning. There are a lot of scamers out there and while I don’t know this woman’s reputation personally, the complaints lodged against her speak volumes. We must use caution when dealing with companies specializing in preparedness.
I don’t get the channel that this show is on, but I have heard a lot of chatter about it. I heard I can watch some of the episodes on youtube. I might do that. My biggest question was, “why are these people who are obviously die hard preppers giving away not only their locations, names and all of what they have prepped?”
I understand that getting this information out in the open is vital so that others can prep too, but there is a difference between giving information on how others can do the same and opening up your world as a prepper for all to know and see. I have a hard time believing that these people are real true preppers when the first rule of thumb is to keep quiet about what we do, unless we are certain we are talking to like minded people…and even then we keep it vague. Not really sure about how I feel about this show…
I agree with Craig. National Geographic is a left leaning organization. They couldn’t resist using crazy looking people with the dumbest reasons for prepping, except the economical break down. I noticed too that at the end of that segment that “most economist” don’t believe an economic breakdown is comming. Get real natgeo. This is probably the biggest threat we face as a nation. Well maybe a dictatorship is he is
reelected.
The Preppers…Kathy and Bruce:
While I admire their basic notions of being self-actualized non-violent human beings, I am appalled at their naivete. Maybe that works when things are great on the Upper East Side of Manhattan or in the Pacific Palisades (during daylight) but when the SHTF, such a philosophy is just ignorant and will get them and any children and others in their group killed.
Do you go to the wilds and commune with very dangerous beasts because; “We are all God’s creatures?” Pet the wild hyenas and lions? Hug a wild tiger? A wild carnivore’s very nature makes that an insane activity.
{I seem to remember that a few years ago a famous bear hugger and wildlife film maker got himself and his date killed and eaten by brown bears.}
It is the same concept. In the midst of a civilized and policed society such Utopian ideas can be practiced without getting yourselves killed. But in the raging jungle that exists in a Collapsed society it is sheer folly.
I am not being intentionally cruel to them, but that kind of behavior and plan should be loudly condemned for what it is so that no one else EVER thinks of emulating their model of preparedness.
It is utterly foolish.
Dangerously naive.
That kind of attitude will only get people killed post Collapse.
I know what you mean i went to townsend tenn awhile back there is a park there were you can pull over and watch the wildlife people were chasing the deer and other wildlife and openly cursing because they wouldnt stand still and pose so they could take their picture!Yes i actually watched this happen but to get back to surviving everyone should remember law enforcement will have other things to worry about if and when society fails besides looking for contraband because there wont be any police.
I think I LOVE the term ‘jackboot ninja thugs’ LOL! thanx for the laugh :) but yeah, I agree w/ you….
Not to change the topic, but did you guys see the Clint Eastwood commercial that aired during the Super Bowl? He is way old and still hot. LOL
https://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=clint+eastwood+superbowl+commercial&oq=Clint+East&aq=2z&aqi=g1g-z2g2g-z1g4&aql=&gs_sm=1&gs_upl=3449l5484l0l7740l10l9l0l3l3l0l143l618l2.4l6l0#q=clint+eastwood+superbowl+commercial&hl=en&prmd=imvnsuo&source=univ&tbm=nws&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=i300T-DTO6X-sQLLusG2Ag&ved=0CFAQqAI&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=5dc5d4834816d08b&biw=994&bih=561
Hey, all, I wanted to make a point about the Clint Eastwood video (beyond the fact that he still looks hot). LOL
Why can’t we have a presidential candidate that is as moving and on point as Clint Eastwood?
Gayle –
I remember back when he was mayor of Carmel, a lot of folks hoped he would become the next CA governor. I admit being one of those hoping…
you mean an actor for president.
I think we had a good one before.
I would like a president who has common sense but what i would like more is a government that had common sense . We can have a great president and a crap filled congress and nothing but nothing gets done. Yet it still costs us GaZillions for them to accomplish crap.
I do agree I love Clint Eastwood, thats some tv I can watch. The good the bad and the ugly. Everyone knows the whistle tune to that show.
Gayle,
He is smokin hot for sure! For some reason we are inpsired by his coolness. I saw an inpirational poster online that had his photo with the words…”Clint F’n Eastwood. Even Chuck Norris won’t walk across his lawn.”
Love it.
Doomsday Preppers?Had some good points, like storing eggs and cheese, but showed lots that needed to be done, like glass jars sitting on shelves, and their fear was an earthquake? Tossed fruit salad with glass!! Overall it was “ok,” barely, but I think the network intended to make Preppers out to be paranoid fools and idiots, and in a couple of instances they succeeded! I will still watch the next episodes, not that I’ll learn a lot. The girl in Houston?Talk about trolling, she was, and she would be an unbelievable target. The lone wolf in LA?He will be fertilizer or buzzard food. The others just might do ok…..
I think that NatGeo is trying to push a agenda by “creative” video editing and questioning to get the “mark” as to look as foolish as possible. I’d like to see who the advising “experts” that rate their preps are. Then there the people that say for example “the Financial crisis is very unlikely in the next twenty five years.” In essence their saying how stupid or crazy they are and “don’t be like them”.
By the same time the people featured have some holes in their plans and not even the experts point it out. Like the girl from Texas, who planned to run to Mexico, if things go to Hell!!! Out of one fire into another!!! I guess she doesn’t watch much of the news.
I could go on and on, I just wish that NatGeo didn’t slant it like they do, and make it open and fair.
I’m new to the prepping concept as a whole. I know of it as something else from my days in the Army.
This show floored me. Not because it was good, but rather how out there some of the these people are and the angle NatGeo presented them. It felt like I was watching a Jerry Springer episode on prepping. Learned a couple of things, but spent the majority of the time during the show going this is wrong, that is wrong…
First off – OPSEC, OPSEC, OPSEC… I do not know why any prepper would paste a giant bulls eye on their back for 15 minutes of fame. Hey everyone, I’m over here!?
Security through obscurity… If you can avoid drawing attention to yourself or your property, do so. If you can’t hide, then make yourself into a hard target. These people might have well been shooting a flare gun over their heads every 10 feet.
While I do not view myself an authority in this area, I saw numerous and horrendous flaws in each setup.
1. The lone wolf scenario. I see the odds of surviving as a lone wolf in an urban wasteland are rather slim. No support net since you can’t depend on anyone else for survival. You get injured to the point of requiring help, it is game over. The sleeping with one eye open would get real old quick. LA is not a place I’d want to do this in since roving gangs would be prevalent. Having 10 knives in the bottom of your bag isn’t going to help you against a bullet. I’d have traded some of those knives in for Leatherman like tools and a handgun w/ several magazines at the minimum. CA gun laws are strange so you’d have to keep it on the down low about the firearm.
2. Texas CONEX compound. The idea has some appeal and merit, but defensively I see it as suspect. CONEX with windows stacked in a cube is an oddity and bound to draw attention. Camouflaging your containers would go a long way in avoiding attention. Standing on your roof to see out is a really bad idea. If you can see them, they can see you. Silhouetting yourself with the sky as a background is a really, really bad idea. If I was going to raid that compound, I’d come in under the cover of darkness. Shooting the corner of your CONEX house with a .22 LR is not a realistic test. I’d be shooting at your windows and walls with a much larger caliber. They were afraid of an earthquake, but none of their shelving that I saw had bungee like netting. On that same note wouldn’t you want to avoid glass containers then or at least have them placed in shock absorbing materials located on the floor? The bug out idea was interesting, but not with school bus yellow in the mix. That needed to be painted in a color to aid in terrain blending. The window in the back of the bus needs to be removed for the benefit of the rear security. One so he can shoot out the back. Two if a bullet comes in at the gunner we don’t want flying glass fragments from the window added to the mix.
3. Colorado family. I think it was in Colorado. Training up in skills is great, but I saw no cross training presented. The old man seemed rigid in this detail. This is your job and that’s it. The welding and completely tricked out shop was interesting. Some of their setup didn’t seem practical since a bunch of it appeared to be dependent on electricity. Archery takes a lot of practice. Their defense expert didn’t seem all that serious about it. Buy a real, compound bow instead of fooling around with PVC pipe. That PVC piping has more value in agriculture or plumbing in my mind. The firefighter should have been an EMT or paramedic. Medical skills would be a premium.
4. The liberal, non-firearm owning preppers… Soft targets. They are prey. Being solely dependent on someone else for your defense is insane. Stop drinking the bong water. Buy a firearm and learn how to use it.
5. Party girl in Texas. Seriously? I actually did a face palm with an OMG.
Cain,
“It felt like I was watching a Jerry Springer episode on prepping.” Me too. It was like passing by a car wreck. You can’t help but look.
This may have been over looked or simply not addressed at all, was the standardization of equipment for prepping groups. For the most part, what was presented on the show was a hodge podge of weapons.
For prepping groups, I think it would be critical to have at least one standard weapon (one model from one manufacturer) that everyone in the group is familiar with and uses. That way if one weapon breaks down and cannot be repaired, it becomes parts for the rest. The logistics for ammunition carried by members would be simplified on the whole.
Sounds like it was an “interesting” show.
Saw this over on Rawles’ site and thought it might provide some additional info on one of the participants for those who saw the broadcast.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/02/08/how-nat-geo-misrepresented-the-foxhole-atheist-doomsday-prepper-megan-hurwitt/
K. Fields,
Thanks for posting this link. It’s good to hear that Party Girl isn’t as stupid or cruel as Nat Geo made her look.
I enjoyed the show. I’m not much on tv, but I do look for any tidbit of info I can gather.
The best part of the show for me was the guy in LA I think it was. He reminded me that I need to learn alot more about wild edible plants and wild plants to use as medicines.
That kinda knowledge is very powerful imo. So I will be looking a lot more into wild plants and their uses.
Like a wild plant for a headache or a wild plant that can be used in a poison arrow or spear tip.
What wild plants can be used for is fantastic stuff.
While I don’t think I would want to be roaming around LA now or if SHTF :-)
If anyone has some great books that can start me on my way of learning about wild plants and there uses , that would be great.
Thanx for this medium again MD.
well guy’s after surfing the internet I really want to apoligize about the comments I made about the caracters on “Doomsday prepper’s”. That’s exactly what they were caracters. Please follow the link on this particular interview with Megan Hurwitt.
http://freethoughtblogs.com/rockbeyondbelief/2012/02/08/how-nat-geo-misrepresented-the-foxhole-atheist-doomsday-prepper-megan-hurwitt/
Don’t have cable but #2 son recorded it. Have to get with him to watch it. But the comments say all that I need to know about the show. Saw last season on youtube. My name is Papabear, and I indulge in pantry porn.
MD…. I ask myself……
1. Who among us would foster a relationship with those in this program?
2. Which of the families in the program do you most identify with?
3. Which of them would you stay clear of?
4. Does this kind of program put you off on prepping or your preceptions of ‘Why’ your doing it?….. are you ‘rethinking’ your motivation?
5. Do you have the urge to clean your yard or organize your pantry?
6. Are you now ….. reluctant….. to discuss the prepping culture with none preppers who have seen this program?
7. Would you sign up the family for the next seasons episodes….. knowing what you now know?
8. Who in the samhill are these “experts” and are they….. in fact….. as prepared as the people they critiqe? ( did I spell that right?)
This Nat. Geo thang only makes me screw down my own OPSEC and PieHole a lil more.
very interesting show for the most part those not into survival thought is was too funny all those people running around scared. but I came away with 15 new ideas to add to my stock and boosted my survival potential at least 5%…
Kathy Harrison (the New England liberal) is also licensed to carry. Not so naive after all. Just doesn’t want to think about having to use it–except if absolutely necessary.
I’m really glad to hear that!
The obese ham radio operator was declared mentally incompetent and his guns were confiscated by the state of Tennessee. Here is his video.
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=215263
cant watch the video but saw this apperantly he said something to do with suicide, he claims just kidding, with his physical problams they took him seriuosly. question if you are prepping to survive the end of the world why would i commit suicide?
although doctors have no sense of humor. a few years ago had a really bad case of stomack flu, wife takes me to the e.r. doc comes in and asks whats going on, i opened mouth and inserted foot and said i think my wife is poisining me. lets just say never ever tell that to a doctor, they escorted her out and she got to talk to a cop for a couple hours. me i got stabbed a million times with needles as they did every test in the book. the worst part was i had to go home with her sick as all get out. needless to say i spent a couple weeks in the dog house. she admits now she knows i was joking and on some level the docs had to too. you just never know what they will grab hold of.
Given the fallout and background information we are seeing from this show, I wouldn’t admit or discuss anything with the people from NatGeo or their parent company.
Apparently, being prepared for a disaster regardless of the reason will get you in trouble.
I’ve never seen any video by Dsarti until now. I do not see anything in that linked video that would indicate suicidal tendencies. What I saw was a visibly upset, God fearing Christian suffering from health problems stemming from his weight. Not at any point do I see anything in his body language or verbal tone that points to violent tendencies either.
It sounds like he was Bakered by the doctor. I’m researching the state laws and it is the doctor that screwed him by filing a certification against Dsarti.
I’d be more than happy to donate some cash his way for legal and medical help. Maybe, I will get lucky and win the powerball. :p
Gayle, you didn’t post the update video. The fight goes on:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vaYEn3vI2E&annotation_id=annotation_284195&feature=iv
We all need to take a lesson from what is happening to this man.
It’s just a preview of comming attractions.
I am hoping he had some of his better guns cached away. But from his apparent lack of regard for OPSEC by showing up on Doomsday Preppers to begin with, I doubt it.
That’s horrible! I feel for the guy. Government sucks! I really don’t trust doctors, lawyers or the government! Geesh, can’t even joke with them or they freak out!
robert in mid michigan, your post had me laughing though. Man I bet your wife was quite displeased with you!!!! But that just illustrates again what “institutions” are capable of especially if you don’t have the same ideals/mindset/values/or sense of humor as those in authority over you.
Wow. I hope an attorney does take his case and gets his guns back.
I feel sorry for the man too but you cant go on cable tv with all the survival stuff and guns he had and talk about suicide what in the world was he thinking at the time maybe subconsiously asking for help???
I agree with most of what has been said here, With the exception of a few good Ideas, I find it UNTHINKABLE to let total stranger’s know your location, Strategy, Supplies, And then ley some so called expert’s tell all of us your weak spots.
Those Goofball Lib’s in New England must be INSANE, Its good info for all of you guy’s in that region to know that with a few rubberband’s and tounge depressor’s you could over run these moron’s in about 8 second’s.
As for me I have I have some saltine’s I took from a resturant, 3 Slim jim’s and 2 squirt gun’s, THATS IT.
REEEEAAAALLLLYYYY that is all I have.
Oh yeah and I live in a Fort made with 18,000 lincoln log’s with a bed sheet for a roof.
WHY IN THE HELL WOULD YOU TELL EVERYBODY WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHERE YOU LIVE.
And who you are! Unless those were made up names, all you have to do is Google to find out lots of stuff about them.
Lisa Bedford, on doomsday preppers, just discussed “OPSEC” as she simultaneously gave away their names, location, and all their stuff on natgeo…..WTHECK!!!??? Did she think it didn’t count because she was on TV?
I think that the “Doris Day of Doom” or whatever she called herself is a Loonie tune.If she thinks that some desperate people are going to come there and sit around a campfire singing” Kum By Ya” I need to get there quick because I have a Bridge ( as in Brooklyn) to sell her .Real Cheap
Midwest Prepper, I think the looney toon you are referring to is Kathy Harrison, who wrote the book “Just in Case” – good book btw.
She’s been out there for years – and yes, I saw her little part on someone’s blog (her blog is the just in case book blog) – and while I do think it necessary to have weapons – even if only for self defense from predators of the animal kind, she has the right idea that a community – all working together to protect the “pack” (i.e. WP, Lights Out, etc.) is one of the best defenses. She lives in a VERY small town where everyone knows everyone…wish I did. I wouldnt try and get there…too much snow!
All of us here have tried to get family, friends, and some neighbors on board – some successes, some not. Im fortunate in that I have several very good neighbors who have my back at all times. I know that if I needed to abandon this place for safety I would be welcomed unconditionally to safety. I would do the same for them, except my place is so small I couldn’t fit all of them in the house! Tent city it would become and in my climate, not the best.
Check out her blog, she is a wealth of ideas, thoughtful and provoking – makes one really think, just like the WP’s. OPSEC is vital, but she has been “growing community” for years before most of us realized the critical need or at least decided to get off our asses (me!) and really do something about it! lol Wish I could accomplish 1/10th of what she and her family and so many of you WP’rs do.
She links to MD…:) Check out her book. Most libraries carry it. For me, I still practice OPSEC which is why I comment very seldom, and why I no longer post the “preps” I have purchased.
Someone commented below about the IP addresses, so each time we list the guns, knives, food stores, etc we have purchased, big bro is taking note. Each time we purchase online with a cc, debit card or check in person, the rewards cards, our preps are tracked. OPSEC? sheeet but we all do what we can..
Watched a video on it – scared the hell out of me – google is a big part of the tracking mechanism for BB – no way out of it now…
WP, keep on prepping, practice OPSEC and like RR says, stack em high! God bless -
A couple of weeks ago on GBTV.com Beck’s guests included Gen. Jerry Boykin and a couple of security experts. They made the statement that the government is basically recording all phone conversations at this point. They said it cost the government something like 29 cents to store all of the converstations from an individual phone for a year and that by 2015 the price will be down to 2 cents a year. The security expert said he totally avoids any social networking sites and will not let his children have facebook, myspace or Tweet accounts.
He said he won’t have a smart phone. He said he wouldn’t use anything beyond a cheap flip phone with NO SIMM card. He went on to say that an Apple I-Phone can NOT be turned off. You can’t take the battery out of it and even though you turn the switch off it is still on, still broadcasting your GPS coordinates and that the government or your phone carrier or others could hear your conversations in the room with your TURNED OFF I-Phone. He said that the technology is available and in use that would allow someone to read a credit card with a chip in it ( I forget what you call them. The kind that will work with speed pass, etc.) from half a mile away through a plate glass window if you so much as handed the card from one person to another and happened to aim the chip, unobstructed toward the window.
Beck said that Don Imus warned him about the glass in his office windows, telling him that if it wasn’t a special kind of glass
that his conversations could be heard with parbolic microphones from blocks away. The experts agreed that Imus had told him right.
The Brave New World isn’t comming, it’s here. Google is using our online habits in an attempt to build aritficial intellegence by creating huge data bases of human behavior for the computers to digest and learn from.
Where to start? This should be simple and very apparent, but ask yourself this- what happens first in almost any emergency? The power goes out! Do you have emergency lighting? Candles? Flashlights? Oil lamps? Next= do you know what caused the emergency? No? Get the type of radio that will give you the info you need- like how it happened, how long it will last… which brings me to your next question, along with more in succession: if you have an idea how long the emergency might last, do you have enough food and water and heat to last, preferably LONG past the emergency’s end. When it’s over, will the roads be passable, will stores be open and stocked, can you get gas for your vehicle???? Follow a possible disaster scenario through each possible step, asking yourself each time: are we prepared for this? THAT’S where you start- just keep going- you’ll be fine.
Kat, great list to hand out! I like it!
Did anyone watch Doomsday Preppers tonight? I missed the first 20 minutes because I wasn’t paying attention to the time. But from what I saw, it looked like they had some real people on.
I thought the black guy, the fire fighter from NY, had his head screwed on right. It looked like they were short on water supply and their food stores were limited to MREs.
I felt really inspired by the garden people. If I caught what they said correctly, they grow enough food for four people on 1/10th of an acre right next to an 11-lane freeway in LA. They had limited space, so they grew plants vertically. I am so tempted to rip out some of my roses and expand my garden upward–I am just attached to the roses because I grew them from cuttings.
The final guy, the Southern Baptists from South Carolina, or maybe it was North Carolina–I am tired, sorry guys. This guy had all kinds of weapons and a shed with a hidden room for food storage. The room was so well hidden. Too bad he showed everyone how to get to it on national TV.
Of the folks I saw tonight, the garden folks were just so interesting. I can’t believe how much food they produce on such a small plot of land.
Gayle,
I was at a friend’s home earlier and saw part of it. I agree, the folks shown didn’t seem to be the “nut jobs” that I had expected after reading the comments of earlier episodes here. Even the guy who shot himself handled it all pretty well!
I did hate seeing the bottles of vodka being tossed into the outdoor burn ring though; such a waste… but I loved that guy’s home and storage.
Yes…I watched it. Gleaned a couple of good ideas.
-Liked the “box of glass shards” to throw out the door.
-Also liked the biodiesel segment, and the mention that home made biodiesel can run a generator.
-I also thought the alcohol bottle “bomb” was interesting to see actually tested.
On the fire-fighter segment, I noticed that he had to lift his mask to talk on the radio (while heading to the “elsewhere” stash). My mask has a speaker.
I also wonder about exhaust from the 11 (!) lane freeway getting on the garden of that guy.
I thought there was good information about a “food collapse”. But the “experts” response to it that “Farmers are implementing things to counter-act the insect mutations” (paraphrased) is TRULY short-sighted. The “mono” food-culture that we are in, and the control that Monsanto has over our crops bodes very badly for us all.
The “experts” responses to every segment scenario of: “it’s not likely to happen” put me off. Really sounded like Gov spin to me.
I also shuddered at the thought of being in that tiny apartment in NYC in a SHTF scenario. Geez. That water wouldn’t last long in his scenario….with 2 adults and 2 babies? And to be trapped in there long-term? Yikes. I’d be finding a way to live elsewhere, for sure.
Mt. Woman,
I agree with you, especially about the “expert”. The “expert” dismissed the super volcano. No one preps for one sort of natural disaster. On the monocropping, did you noticed that the “expert” talked about a total collapse of that food type over several states? It is very unlikely that all crops will be infested. But if only 30 percent are infested, that’s enough to drive prices up beyond what folks can pay. The “experts” response to the Baptists’ concern about hyperinflation was to cite the fed–the fed projects inflation to increase only two percent per year. (Of course that estimate does not include the increased price of fuel or food–because such numbers, the fed maintains are too volatile for inclusion. They want a stable inflation rate so they don’t include things like fuel and food that go up and down.
Does anyone remember the name of the garden folks? I would like to do some research on how they garden.
Gayle, the garden folks page is:
wwwurbanhomestead.org
Jarhead,
Thanks. I need to check this out.
The thing I find comical about the Doomsday Prepper experts is their suggestion that there are different preps for
different disasters. As far as I can figure out all of my preps are universal and one disaster fits all.
Charile NC, I was reading some interviews of those that were on the show and the common factor was they had the prepper pick one specific event.
One for instance was the guy with 10 to 12 kids is a retired LE chief, he has plans for fire, earthquake, hyper inflation etc. Everyone of his kids know how to do maintenance on vehicles, the family knows each others tasks but they do have primary tasks. Its sad how they edited the show.
I just finished watching it Gayle and I now have garden envy. that was very impressive. Guarding it is another story, but as a day to day system they have me beat. I really liked the storage container compound, that’s a real man cave.
Pineslayer,
I have pantry envy and garden envy. LOL
Gayle, watching it now. Don’t want to do a spoiler alert but one of the guys was an idiot and broke a major rule of shooting and suffered from it big time.
Let’s say it reflects and validates some of the tips the reasons OP and I have made.
Gayle,
The only one you missed was a 30 ‘ish aged man that preps in Arizona with his family. He actually has a bit of an accident while filming the show. he creates /invents prep tools for a living but I did not see his food storage now that I think about it.
I loved the garden family as I garden in 3 raised beds and throughout my backyard. I have 3 fruit trees, blueberry bushes,raspberries and strawberries also. They canned their stuff and fed themselves with what they grow. To be able to replenish what you use is important.
The only that I got from the NY guy besides being glad I don’t live there is the thing he put in his tub for water. That was neat.
The NC man certainly seemed quiet prepared. Loved the hidden room but I just can’t get past these people giving up their locations much less being put on a government list of who to seize stuff from if needed. Nothing is worth giving up my security and safety.
This show didn’t seem to be as “out there” as the first two so I will still watch it but I do agree NatGeo always seem to disqualify the preppers reasons.
Linda,
I plan on buying a water bob before hurricane season. Here’s the amazon link.
http://www.amazon.com/waterBOB-Emergency-Drinking-Water-Storage/dp/B001AXLUX2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329339243&sr=8-1
Gayle, i didn’t see the show since I havent’ had tv for more than 10 yrs…but I believe you are talking about the Dervaes family. they have a blog, and link. Not only do they grow enough for 4 on that 1/10th, they also grow enough to sell to the local farmers market and to the local restaurants.
Their link is http://urbanhomestead.org I think the blog is called Path to Freedom. there was some controversy and lawsuit when the family tried to copyright the the term “urban homestead” I believe it was.
If you want to see another person who lives smack dab in the city and grows as much check out Patti Moreno, The Garden Girl. http://www.gardengirltv.com – both of these families have small plots yet have goats, chickens, abundant organic food, etc.
A third one that really inspires me as well – Dr George Cook in Liverpool – http://www.allaboutliverpool.com is his site – there are links on the right to all his youtube videos showing his garden. He doesn’t seem to have done any more since 2009 – but what he has done is fantastic!
My name is grannyj and I love pantry/garden porn :)
Granny J.,
You are right. It was the Dervaes family. I find these folks so inspiring. Thank you for posting the links. I will check them out.
Pros – Good ideas for anyone that has not begun to prepare!
Cons – These folks on American Preppers are not too bright giving their names, showing faces, and an account of what supplies they have on hand for emergencies! I know where to find vegeteables, MRE’s and guns/ammosince watching the shows! They are now prime targets for the thugs out there!
Opinion – You will not see my family or I on TV showing our assets, discussing our POA’s or SOP’s, or informing the ignorant masses where they can find food/water, shelter, other supplies, and guns/ammo in times of crisis!
After watching just a couple of episodes, it’s obvious to me that the premise of “Doomsday Preppers” is to mock people who are gun owners, are religious, or just anti-government people — and the well-intentioned people on the show are eager too naive or are too eager to run to the bank with their check from National Geographic.
Think for a moment that the No. 1 rule of prepping — OPSEC — has been broken by these folks on a scale that none of us can comprehend. That alone should make you wonder about them.
Secondly, it certainly seems many segments are scripted — coming directly from the imagination of the show’s producers. Do you really think the couple believed they were testing the strength of their metal shipping containers by shooting .22 rifles at the corners? Do you really think the NYC firefighter had the phone number of the Israeli self-defense instructor to show him how to fight with knives? Do you really think the chubby girl in Houston works out five days a week?
After the episode last night (Tuesday), I called a friend from church and laughed that the man with 60 guns huddled to pray with his wife and another man — his pastor — about his guns. Are you kidding me?
About your TV and the people who produce its shows — they care only about getting a good camera angle and the best quote. For them it’s all about getting the best product they can — however they can. They’re one rung above your local TV news reporter. In short, their greed and selfishness is the reason we are preppers — they remind us about the darkness of human nature. After all, look at what they’re doing to some decent people who only want to warn their friends.
I think NatGeo is trying to make preppers look like fools. NG comes across as objective, then shoots down the reasons these people are prepping — ‘the likelihood of (economic collapse, solar flare, major earthquake, Iran vs Israel, N Korea vs the world, etc., etc., etc.) is very small’. Maybe NG doesn’t read the news.
NG offered the Houston ‘party girl’ $1000 to shoot her cat on camera. And David Sarti, the prepper from TN, was diagnosed ‘mentally defective’ by his doctor following the airing of the second NG installment. His guns were confiscated.
Why people don’t tell NatGeo to drop dead when they show up asking them to be on TV is beyond me.
Bottom line: I watched the shows expecting objectivity. My mistake. NatGeo has an agenda, to paint preppers as nutty, at least, and potential terrorists, at worst.
gDane,
“Why people don’t tell NatGeo to drop dead”
I did just that when they asked me…
gDane,
It looks like the media is pushing prepping into a main stream phenom for the sheeple to laugh at
.
I agree, NG is looking for kooks. The Wolf Pack doesn’t fit that description.
I recommend we boycott the show advertisers.
I’m usually up for a boycott, who is on the list?
My question, how in the hell is NatGeo finding these plp in the first place? Other then blogs of course.. and then why are these plp responding to NatGeo. I’m fairly new to prepping but blowing Opsec is not smart imo and never will be. Sure , I’ve seen some great ideas on the show but mostly common sense ideas that anyone going into this should know. NatGeo is making fun of us and its only real interest is ratings.
Linda,
Your IP address is used to communicate with the online network. Google, the guberment and every network advertiser who wants your profile has access to it. Even if you use a dynamic IP address, they still know who and where you are.
Changing your name on this blog will fool me, but not the IP address trackers.
I finally got to see the episode. The guys living in the containers we interesting, but could use some yard maintenance. Mine is not perfect, but it is unlikely to interest the public health people.
The guy from LA has some interesting ideas about living off the land in a after-disaster metro area, but I agreed with the assessment in that he aught to get a weapon (just doesn’t strike me as the kind who would). I think he overestimates the “humanity of man” in a disaster situation.
The girl from Houston, really needed to stop partying. She said he preps were all she could afford, we’ll stop the party and sell the Mustang. If I understood things right, she desided Mexico wasn’t the best choice (yeh, buy a map!) and joined the military.
I was like, “Are you serious?” Well, Kellene Bishop, as much time as she spent on prepping for the unknown, she could be spending her time working out. A chance of her dying from an obesity related disease is higher than the doomsday coming to an actuality. That will come sooner than the doomsday. A fat and insecure lady came across some what psychotic to me. I bet you people can shoot her long range, as big as she is, she can be an easy target…
Why are all doomsday preppers on natgeo fat and on disability? Yet they have time to set up all this radio equipment and get prepared for doomsday, but hell…they can’t work. That’s why our system is so fuc*ked up.
The Doomsday Preppers that were featured should be prepping for the far more likely scenario of a heart attack and poor health due to morbid obesity.
Interesting show but you have to understand that the folks who make these “reality” series’ are drooling for drama. They don’t give a flip about the subject, they are more interested in “entertaining” viewers and putting on a show.
I also find it interesting that the “experts” always tend to say that the catastrophe the prepper is prepping for is “highly unlikely”. Maybe so, maybe not. But I think it serves to shed a negative light on the activity.
There will be no survivors of the Holy Apocalypse. Jesus is coming back to cleanse this world of evil do-ers, so all this “prepping” is just evidence that humans are fearful of the wrath of god.
All you who desire immortality need to get real with Jesus and see how collecting gold coins, guns, and baked beans is a huge joke to God.
I was disappointed that the “foodie” girl cooked her meal on a regular stove, duh, that is not realistic!
Comments on this entry are closed.
{ 1 trackback }