Ready or not,that is the question....do you really think sheeple,need an excuse to prepare themselve for the worse...certainely not.matter of a fact,who needs a fire extinguiser...i dont want my house ,to go down by fire.these are actual word,i hear from people,that don't really think way ahead.being prepare the worse,doesnt mean,we pray for disaster ,before going to bed every night.reliance and self-preservation was an fact,for most of our elders.now giving all our responsabilities to the governement,churches and institutions makes us,plain simple robots,who shouldn't have an opinion.I hope more people,are going to wake up,cause when wtshtf ,i won't be waiting for them,to take care of my family.

I am prepping for everything... Yes, everything.

For me it boils down to self reliance... Relying on other people for the essentials of your survival is setting yourself up for failure. Most of us know that - most of us believe that, or we wouldn't be preppers.

Some of us get lost in prepping for scenarios. Some are worried about an economic collapse, and skimp on medical supplies that might see them through a super-flu pandemic. Some are worried about a "zombie apocalypse" and skimp on food preps (because they assume there will be plenty of food lying around for them to help themselves to).

There are some scenarios I find more likely than others (economic collapse, EMP, and a super-flu or super-bug), and others I find ridiculously improbable (zombies, martial law/dictatorial rule, nuclear holocaust/winter) - but I prep for them all, since the majority of preps overlap all scenarios.

Focus on the essentials:
- Food
- Water
- Shelter (including clothing and fire/warmth/heat)
- Communications
- First Aid and medical concerns
- Security
- Sanitation
- Knowledge, and plans!!! (While not a physical prep, these are probably the most important!)

If you've taken care of these, you've prepped for the majority of SHTF scenarios. After that you should add on scenario specific preps as you see fit.

I am preparing for those things that HAVE happened before and WILL happen again. This does not include space aliens or zombies, I leave those topics for the children.

As others have said above, it is best if your prepping becomes a way of life rather than a hobby. If I have to pay someone to do something that I could have done myself, I am throwing away money that could be used for preps (money itself is a prep).

Hobby: "I have a BOB at home along with three types of E-tools."

Lifestyle: "I have quarters in my pocket in case my cell phone dies, bus tickets and/or emergency cash so if my car dies I can take the bus or taxi home, extra cash in case the ATMs are down, and a BOB in my car."

"In a recent post on the blog site, I seem to have drawn some discord.
My sentiments are that the world is going nuts and we need to be ready." -Denob

you and I disagree on one simple thing. you think the world is going nuts. I do not. The world has always been nuts, and a fairly cursory reading of history will plainly illustrate the fact. 😀

Where the world goes nuts, how it goes nuts, and when it goes nuts are the unknowns ( I submit that the why is evident if you read history). It is only sane and prudent to have insurance against nuttiness. It does not mean that the world is likely to go nuts in my neighbourhood, but while I do not expect a fire at my home or an auto accident with my car, I do own fire extinguishers and have car insurance.

I have been prepping a long time, and having preps makes me relaxed and confident. I guess my prepping is mostly a lifestyle thing. It does not mean I am guaranteed to survive anything and everything that comes down the pike, but neither do air bags and auto insurance guarantee surviving a crash.

Hi ya,

I'm with HammerHand on this one. EVERYTHING.

We have no idea what's in store for us... just because something hasn't happened before, doesn't mean it's an impossibility, it's just statistically improbable. There's a significant difference between improbable and impossible.

I'm no magic genie... I can't say what's going to happen, when or how it will play out. I don't think it's smart to lock yourself down in definitive plans. I think we need options. The more options the better. It's cool to have a play book... but to think that you could put every scenario in that book isn't realistic to me. So having as much covered as possible, being flexible and knowing the geo/political specifics of your location... I think you could adapt your plans to anything that happens, and the more possible scenarios you entertain, the more options you have.

Cheers!
Sarah

Greetings Folks,

This is my first Post here.

I've been a casual Prepper for years. What am I preparing for? or as one friend blunted asked when they learned of my emergency supply preparation "What are you afraid of?"

Simple: The worst.

The area I'm in is most likely to be hit by: Flooding and Tornado's, but I am always ready for extended power failures and as of late seriously stepped up my Emergency preparations for all possible scenarios.

Its never possible to prepare for everything, but doing your best to have extra food and water supplies, along with other back ups such as light and heat then your going to be far better off then the majority of the sheeple out there. Preppers realize this and will have the edge if and when things go bad 🙂

The "what are you afraid of" bit reminded me of a joke.

A Texas State Trooper pulled over a car.
Upon approaching the car, the Trooper heard the driver say, "Officer, I have a concealed carry permit, and I am currently carrying."
The Trooper walked up to the driver's window and asked, "What firearm are you carrying?"
The driver said, "I have a Glock 17 and two magazines in an inside-the-waistband holster."
The Trooper asked, "Any other firearms on your person?"
The driver responded, "I have a Kahr PM9 in an ankle holster, and a belt buckle .22 derringer."
"Any other firearms in the vehicle?"
The driver answered, "A folding stock Remington 870 Express under my seat, a Smith and Wesson 686 .357 Magnum under the passenger seat, a Colt 1911 in the glove box, an AK47, a Ruger 10/22, and spare ammunition for all my guns in the trunk."
The State Trooper asked, "Mister, what in the hell are you afraid of?
The driver answered - with a smile - "Nothing."

I'm not prepping because I'm afraid. I'm prepping because I don't want to be afraid. I am a realist. Bad things happen. There are plenty of "Black Swan" events in the past which show that just because a thing isn't thought of doesn't mean it can't happen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory#Identifying_a_black_swan_event

I hate to trot out all the old cliche arguments - but prepping is the same as having home/car/employment insurance, fire extinguishers, and a spare tire.

Ask these friends if they heard of Hurricane Katrina, and if they know how long it took the US government to get food and water to the survivors. Remind them that people had to resort to looting to eat, and that if they don't want to starve or have to fight over that last box of Pop Tarts they should store a bit of food... And it's economically smart - buying in bulk when things go on sale can save you a ton of money.

And if they won't come around, let them know that if a disaster happens they absolutely 100% cannot come to your house looking for a handout. I've been pretty plain about that with everybody - in the event of a disaster moochers, no matter how long I've known them, will be turned away empty handed - forcefully if necessary.

I'm preparing in case I survive a 9.0 megathrust earthquake. I'm preparing in order to teach my children how to prepare, how to teach their children, like my mother taught me, since the 1964 earthquake opened her eyes. Like California, or Japan, we on the BC west coast don't know when, or if, it'll happen during our life time, but we prepare, one generation at a time.

In a nutshell - http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/episode-648-reaching-the-unreachable
There's a commercial free version, but I don't know how to link to it. Sorry!

prepping is the same as having home/car/employment insurance, fire extinguishers, and a spare tire.

I'd say that sums it all up nicely 🙂

I'm new at this so what exactly I'm prepping for is a bit fuzzy. But I'm prepping.

I'm an analytical soul, so while I started out by buying a couple flats of bottled water so I have enough in the apartment, my current project is figuring out this exact question. What AM I prepping for? How likely is it that the emergency will happen?

So, the low end of prep (and in my mind, the most likely) is for some reason or another, I need to leave my apartment. Fire, plumbing breakdown, bed bugs, the reason is a minor part of the plan. The rest is, what do I need if I need to leave home in a hurry, but the rest of the local infrastructure remains intact?

On the far end of prep, I decided to use the zombie apocalypse as my compass. City full of actively hostile (and hungry) individuals, zero infrastructure, zero resupply. Do I actually think this will happen? Of course not. But it's a fun mental exercize, and on the physical side, if I'm prepared for THAT, I can't come up with any smaller emergencies I wouldn't be prepared for even if I didn't consider them specifically.

So the short answer? What am I'm prepared for now is inconveniences. What I'm going to be prepared for is zombies.

I'm so relieved to hear how you feel about the zombies. 😀

*grins* is that relief I'm planning for them, or relief I don't actually think they're coming?

The top end emergency doesn't really matter. I could just as easily say massive earthquake (although I take some comfort in the fact if we have a major earthquake in Manitoba, the rest of the world is likely having bigger problems) or, and this is far more likely, flooding. In fact, that spawns an idea for a topic I'm going to spin off into a new thread...

As posted earlier. I see it as cheap insurance with a peace of mind that comes with having the knowledge and skills needed to get by when a tough situation arises. Getting the right tool for the job helps if a person knows where it is.