# The "Prepper" Lifestyle...



## MtnPapa (Oct 12, 2013)

It seems there is a mental barrier when people are considering the thought of "prepping".

Maybe they have never heard of it, or maybe all they've heard about is those weird "Doomsday Preppers" on the History channel. Perhaps they can't get past the idea that their comfortable American lifestyle might be interrupted with a disaster of some kind, and that they might have to be ready for that.

Is it really that weird? Even F.E.M.A. recommends everyone be prepared to take care of themselves for at least a few weeks in the case of an emergency with no government assistance available of any kind.
However, once we realize that we should be prepared to some degree, then we have crossed into the "prepare lifestyle". They used to call people like that "survivalists".

Whatever you want to call it, and however deep you are into preparedness and readiness, it is a necessary part of any responsible persons life. Our grandparents used to save things for a "rainy day", and the Great Depression isn't too far in the past, I have friends that are still alive and lived through it.

Don't think readiness is weird, it's not, it's wise - just don't let it become a weird obsession that consumes you like a mental illness. There are plenty of regular folks out there that are becoming aware of the need to be self reliant.

Your thoughts and input are invited.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I agree, your post makes a lot of sense. There is as many levels to preppering as there are preppers I guess. From the bunker complex builders who prep enough food water ect to survive years, to those who only prep to make it long enough to give one's self a fighting chance towards survival. Everyone has to decide for themselves what degree of prepping they want to undertake.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

MtnPapa said:


> It seems there is a mental barrier when people are considering the thought of "prepping".
> 
> Maybe they have never heard of it, or maybe all they've heard about is those weird "Doomsday Preppers" on the History channel. Perhaps they can't get past the idea that their comfortable American lifestyle might be interrupted with a disaster of some kind, and that they might have to be ready for that.
> 
> ...


My friend and fellow person, I will explain in short terms what you are dealing with.

Psychologists call this 'normalcy bias.' It's not normal, way off...that can't be right. Right?

Turns out the schools, media- all of that are creating what we who know a thing or two about their best weapon- their brain- have known for awhile now.  Normalcy bias is a trick of the human brain that bases itself in our strong pack-primate nature. What ever you know to be true you will accept. Whatever you don't know, unless you have trained your mind such as scientist or rational thinker and user of LOGIC, you will reject. That is an instinct for use in the pack. The worst thing about this trait and the media, conglomerates etc are not all to blame for this phenomenon. It's human nature. Just that SOME people have consulted other smart people and abuse this trait for their own ends IE politics and such. Snickers being the most satisfying candy bar of them all etc etc. It's normal, especially with whom you are involved with or live around. That normalcy bias, that comfortable complacence, was one of the plot themes to the blockbuster movie "The Matrix" and was responsible for most of it's mind-expanding shock value.

Hope I led you in the right direction, home-skillet. I got your back.

-Leon


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Pepper is just being prepared


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## WildernessGuy24:13 (Nov 20, 2013)

MikeyPrepper said:


> Pepper is just being prepared


I like mine stuffed. 

Having worked with, not for, the government sector for 30 years I can safely say I would not trust them to run a lemonade stand let alone major disaster relief program. When it comes down to it, you are always on your own at the most dire moments.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Lol....me too...no auto correct


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

Eh. It is what it is. 

Fortunately some of us see the writing on the wall. We put away enough just for our own. 

I don't see it any different than my grampas family growing up in New Mexico. Grow extra in spring and summer. Put away for winter. Were they preppers? Or did they know that times would get harsh in winter, so they needed to be prepared?

Or better yet. 

When things were good, get extra for when things got bad?

For them it was a way of life. Only recently has the term "prepper" been used. Negatively at that.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

I grew up with parents that went thru the Great Depression. I saw a lot of things that my father did that made me wonder about him. I feel he eventually turned into a hoarder. Some of the stuff he found and dragged home was utterly ridiculous. But my mother taught me about putting away for winter and then some. 

When I started "prepping" as opposed to living the way my folks taught me, my wife rolled her eyes many a time. When I sat down with her to talk about why I was prepping, she didn't want to talk about it. Eventually she opened up and said this type of talk scared her no end. She didn't want to think about anything like I was prepping for. I wonder how many other people are the same. The prospect of some terrible disaster scares them so badly, the go into denial. "It's not going to happen here, this is the United States, that kind of crap happens in third world countries, not here."


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## Fuzzee (Nov 20, 2012)

It's only a mental barrier to people who are weak minded and susceptible to the bullshit image the media and political dirtbags project it to being. Anyone who uses their brain and can think independently between what's really what knows better. It is just being prepared for a raining day. It's smart, it's old as time throughout civilization with people who know better and it saves people's lives. Anyone who sees it otherwise I could give a crap about other than the thought on how many rounds it will take to put them down when they come trying to take my stuff when the shtf.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

This thread hits a hot spot for me. Not too long ago i was living in an apartment building when there was a very brief blackout due to a transformer problem. I had two neighbors who had just moved in who were in a panic and I lent them candles and suggested they just chill since I could see it was not more than a few buildings out. They sat and chatted for the hour or so of darkness and I didn't even know I was being labeled as a weirdo when I told them what the city hall itself had just recommened, which is that everyone should have two weeks of survival supplies on hand all the time, since they had just done some kind of national survey showing that even minor region-wide breakdowns like power outages can take between a week and two weeks for full recovery. Before I knew it, those two neighbors started a gossip campaign against everything I did, and I couldn't even go out in my garden! They drove everyone who was not part of their "community" out of the building. "Prepper-baiting" (to coin a term) was one of their weapons.


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## indie (Sep 7, 2013)

^^Sounds like you have idiots for neighbors.  Bet I can guess where they'll be headed next time there is trouble though.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

"Normalcy bias" is what makes mammals pause when confronted with a situation they haven't faced before. It can also cause you to freeze when you should be running or otherwise reacting. It will affect all of us to greater or lesser degrees. It is important to mentally practice how to respond to unfamiliar situations and work out as many different responses as you can to minimize the effects of "normalcy bias". Talking events out with a group will also help because you may find responses that you hadn't considered before. 

Somebody ought to invent a board game along those lines! Maybe I will.....


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## Titan6 (May 19, 2013)

I think its a lack of responsibility or training, allot of people that are peppers have had some kinda of event that has taught them the responsibility of having a plan if something happens, to were some people just rely on everyone else to help them, then you have those who just live in the world which I call zombies just here in life walking aimlessly through it without any plan. If anything does happen it will be left up to us who have prepared to protect our way of life and property..Just my humble opinion


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## Doomsday (Jun 25, 2013)

I grew up with parents and grandparents that lived through the Great Depression. They all had their stories of survival and still practiced precaution. The 1970 + generation have been sheltered by time and prosperity from these experiences. The see it as a fairy tale and they think it can never happen again. I think Katrina and the last financial crisis woke a few folks up.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

It is already up to us to protect ourselves and property. That is the responsibility of owning property and being alive. There is no one who can protect you as well as you can protect yourself.

Being aware of your surroundings is something that every person should learn to do. You don't have to be paranoid to recognize the path that others are taking as they approach or sitting in a restaurant so you can see the door or locking your car door when you drive. Looking at everyone within your defensible space to recognize the level of threat they might pose and taking action to minimize that threat is just good sense.

Yes it takes time to make it an automatic process but it is worth the time. It could save your life or the lives of others around you.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

I have moved since then, so they will have only their own kind to whine to in an emergency. I live in a saner place now, where the liberals are so overwhelmed by the basic problems of a collapsing economic pyramid that they leave most of us alone and we are happier this way.

As for having a plan or experience, I grew up back when a blizzard meant the wires would be down and so winter-prep was normal and was a vacation from school, an excuse to play games and eat cookies. We thought electirci heat was irresponsible back then everyone had an oil (kerosene) heater or a gas stove or a woodstove even if there was electric heat so a blackout was not a big deal. Right now I live in the south and so heat is not a big deal and my present guests from the North just noticed I do not own a heater, since we live in a cabin than is easily heated every time I bake a pie. Right now we are in a cold-snap and they are still snug and warm with the kiddies playing with blocks off-the-grid while I am taking a break to get online at the public library. So When it is cold I bake a lot and freeze the goodies for when it is too hot to cook. And the cabin is made of sand-packed cinderblocks which are the best insulation you can get and it is easy to stay warm under the puffy quilts all night. 

Really, I am amazed at how artificial the world has become for what I now think of as the "plastic people" and how desperate they become with the slightest upset of their weird system..


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

kevincali said:


> Eh. It is what it is.
> 
> Fortunately some of us see the writing on the wall. We put away enough just for our own.
> 
> ...


That's pretty much the way I look at it as well and sums it up well for me too. I just have a few guns and boxes of ammo to go with it too, cause no ones is gonna take better care of big number 1 better than I am.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Prepping is a part of life


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

I have been self-employed through three recessions now. Mrs Inor's job is to keep our house and get us by as cheaply as possible. My job is to make sure she has the cash on hand to do her job. Sometimes, we have not been able to draw a paycheck for a few months. That is just how it is. A lot of what brought us to prepping in the first place has nothing to do with a complete meltdown of society or a natural disaster in our area. Rather it was just that we might have to get by for an extended time with no income. By starting down that path, we discovered the fun part of this lifestyle.


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## bigdogbuc (Mar 23, 2012)

I'd rather be "weird" than hungry. Or a victim. We're not highly thought of and I believe that our existence forces people to confront things they would be happier living in denial with. Like never losing internet, electricity, all the food you can buy...


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

I think you make a good point there bigdogbuc. I think a large number of people are in denial and think that it wont happen here or to them, at least they sure hope it wont anyways. Maybe it wont, but that's the chance you take against the odds that the ice wont break while your trying to walk on water. The fact that some us prepare, is a reality check to those living in denial and they know that and fear that. After all Misery loves to have a lot of company so they don't have to suffer alone.


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## MikeyPrepper (Nov 29, 2012)

Good point big dog


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## SpaceMax (Nov 26, 2013)

When it comes down to it, even God only helps them that help themselves.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

That is not entirely true. God helps those who believe he will and have the faith to support that. It is always easier for God to help if you participate.


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## microprepper (Nov 21, 2013)

PaulS said:


> That is not entirely true. God helps those who believe he will and have the faith to support that. It is always easier for God to help if you participate.


So true. People don't realize how much energy is wasted on pessimism and complaining. You can't even survive very long in isolation from competitors if you depress yourself with lack of hope or faith.

You can have the time and energy to tend to the details of preparation if you are confident that God will handle the bigger picture.

I recently watched a tv program about St Benedict, who "invented" the monastic way of life. At first he thought they should pray all day but then found that this led to madness and so he designed the rule of so many hours of work alternated with so many hours of prayer... song and prayer.

Anyone who wants to understand survival should study the development of hermits and monasteries and they will see that these people "bugged out" from collapsing societies and succeeded in surviving very well. Including Buddhist and other monastics as well as Benedictines and Christian mystics.


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## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

I was talking to a guy the other day about current world state , and he said... "oh so you are one of those preppers." I simply said nope, I just paid attention to my parents and grandparents.

Grandparents knew how to can goods, had a little cellar with jelly, jam and all that stuff.
Great Grandmother told me stories through the great depression people would give fruit as a christmas gift, socks and underwear.
Parents always tell me to save, and have a safety net.

Three generations of my family, all have lived longer than I have, owned their own houses and I believe did well for themselves.
Why in the hell would I ever ignore what I learned from them, unless I am just an idiot.

I have said it before in other threads, I am fortunate that I had my upbringing, it makes me a little sappy when I think about it.
I am kinda an anomaly even for my age group of 20 somethings to really have a good head on my shoulders.

I wouldn't say I am a prepper, I might say I am a bit old fashioned, and smart enough to know I can't learn 780 years (90x4 + 80x4 + 50x2 ='s ) worth of life lessons in the past 29.


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## Prepp(g)er (Feb 18, 2014)

some time ago me and my gf had some friends over (a couple) for dinner and movie night. i needed sth for the food i was preparing and some drinks. so i headed down to the basement to get it and was offered help in carrying the stuff upstairs. when in the basement, i was asked what all that stuff was i had stored there. you know from your usual camping gear to weeks' worth of food and water, candles, matches etc. i explained i want to have sth on hand all the time for when i need it. i stated the example of being sick, or having a broken leg. guess what followed...back up in my living room, THE TALK started. how i was either crazy or afraid of ...you-name-it...and paranoid.
i never mentioned being a prepper, but sure enough i was asked if i'm one of those "crazy preppers on tv". if i had a bunker to prepare for nuclear war or the zombie apocalypse...
i was being laughed at. the said i could always go to the store around the corner and buy what i wanted for the day. and with a broken foot i could always call the pizza guy for a delivery.

BUT: not two weeks later i got a call. sure it was them. they sat in their dark and cold apartment because there was no electricity or heating in their building due to a short...they asked if i could come and maybe bring some candles and matches, maybe a pocket stove or sth so they could make themselves a cup of hot tea.

well i laughed and asked why they couldn't just go out and buy what they needed.silence on the other end of the line. it was the weekend and all the stores were closed. sure enough, the couldn't have a cup of hot tea delivered. :lol:

so i went and brought them a sample of what i had. light, a pocket stove, some instant tea and food. well after a meal and some hot fluids in their bellies they apologised for being rude the other day and asked about my preps. what i had, how much it cost etc.

now that they saw how easily screwed you can be, they are starting to thinking about being prepared themselves. what i would call a "prepper- light"

what i'm saying: it doesn't take much for someone to rethink what they've been doing and they will come around


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## Casie (Feb 26, 2014)

You guys are silly! If family or friends see your stash and ask about it, just say "Sam's Club bulk discounts". Complain about fuel costs. Segue into how you are thinking about getting a hybrid. Guaranteed change of subject in 3...2...1.

And if you decide to share emergency candles with neighbors and they ask why you have them say, "I almost threw these out last week! They were in a box of odds and ends my uncle gave me when he sold his townhouse."

I know you guys are good people and you really want to be honest and helpful, but seriously... just lie. Run deep. Run silent.


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## spokes (Feb 22, 2014)

There may be a lot of truth in what you are saying Casie. It is appalling how many people think they can simply take from those who have prepped and really think that preppers are not going to put up a kicking, screaming, bullet flying fit should they decide to try to take whatever it is that we have stored away. We ran across that mind set on another forum where the opinion was voiced that if we have steers in our pasture, it was acceptable for non prepped city folks to wander in and shoot one for meat. Now keep in mind that usually means that they will think only of immediate survival and not the long term picture by eating a meal or two off of Bossy and leaving the rest of the meat, hide, etc to rot in the field thereby taking away the owners supply of milk and future meat that one cow might supply in the form of calves.. 

They don't have a clue.

I also agree that there are degrees of prepping. When we asked friends if they were prepping and how long they could survive if the local store went bare shelved (actually happened during a recent blizzard. Supply trucks could not get in to restock perishables like milk and meat) the lady of the house replied, "oh we can last 6 months at least" yet she makes frequent trips the store during the week to buy fresh veggies and fruits. Makes me go 'hmmmm' and worry about them. We also have friends that tell us that if the s**t hits the fan, they are simply going to pack up the kiddies and head out to our place. We tell them that if they can provide their own food, protection and water, they are welcomed. Most just grimace and say "I need to start stocking up on food". So in other words, don't expect to show up at the gate and find it unlocked. I doubt if they would ever acclimate to our lifestyle anyway.

Finally, people have different definitions of SHTF. I tend to look at it this way; it could be anything from hurting my shoulder and not being able to split fire wood, prices going up on coffee, 3$ a cannister and me kicking myself for not buying a half dozen when it was on sale for 5.99 to an end of the world as we know it scenario. I'm sure there are some townies who think TEOTWAWKI for them means cable going out and the grocery store being out of regular Pepsi. 

Casie those are the ones that I worry about simply because they will more than likely have the mentality that it is ok for them to come and try to take what we have prepped.

All I can say is Molon labe.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

kevincali said:


> Fortunately some of us see the writing on the wall. We put away enough just for our own.


I think that this "handwriting" is something you phase into your life. For example, as a younger man I carried a jackknife. But as I got older I found out that this a simple folder wouldn't do even 10% of your needs if you got lost in the deep dark forest.

...Of course, if you need a pocket for a superior knife, then it stands you need _superior jeans_...

In the early 1970s I saw the college campus I attended come fully apart with riots and fires everywhere. Fortunately, another older biker I roomed with (yeah, two whole bikers in a class of 40,000 students) taught me how to smell trouble and find exits. For example, in those days there was a back trail to the lower rent college dorms. *No lights*. Somehow he led the way and I never tripped or fell. I still marvel at how someone can keep it together during a riot!

As for "putting away enough," whenever the riots started we always bought a huge box of cheap potato chips. After all, we might be locked up for days...!


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