For me it is all of the usual........... natural disaster, economic implosion and the resulting mess, war. Any of them can hit and cause a real melt down in services and availability of day to day items, not to mention the prospect of many with nothing who are trying to survive.

All you have to do is watch a localized event like Katrina or Sandy to see that government is not going to be there to take care of you in most instances and you are on your own. So it all boils down to whether you want live a decent life style during an 'event' or be one of the people who find themselves in a nightmare that never seems to end. It does not take a global event to cause a lot of trauma for a large number of people. Something that happens on the other side of the planet can have a significant impact on your day to day life. If war broke out in the ME it may not affect you in the same way as those who live there......... but a huge increase in the price of oil would heavily impact every aspect of most peoples lives.

Better safe than sorry. If nothing else, being comfortable through the prolonged impact of a major storm is reason enough to have your ducks in a row.

Plenty of things might happen but the odds are low. For me the most likely natural disaster is a grid down from an ice storm.
What we're almost certain to face is not so much a financial meltdown but spiraling inflation that severely erodes our buying power. What has been termed a slow emergency.

I have been "PREPPING"for years for anything and everything and it is now paying of.We go to the store once a week(after church) and buy something if it is really on special with big discount.My hydro bills are $5 to 10 a month,we eat only healthy home made foods and delicatessens.With the economy, middle east,climate changes,too many mental fruitcakes as our leaders anything can happen and I hope I am ready for it.Of course there is always room for improvement and new ideas and this site is very helpful for exchange of ideas.
henry

Power outages.

i´m prepping for natural disaster and social breakdown ! but only for a time about 6 month.

Being relatively new, I'm starting with what is most likely. In the past in my local area, we've mostly had windstorms and some hurricane remnants, and the occasional blizzard or ice storm that knocks out power. The most we've ever lost for is a few days. There is the occasional tornado (And I think we're due for one, since its usually one or two every few decades) or mild earthquake, but we have felt some of the larger ones from Quebec or the States.

More than actual prepping I am interested in the idea of homesteading and self-sufficiency, which lend themselves well to prepping. I'd love someday to move up north further from large cities and have a homestead where I can grow, hunt, fish, and trap. Not too far from a small town, but I don't like big cities. Plus, I'll need room for this guy:
5 years old now, and he's STILL growing. Nearly 17 hands!

I prep for peace of mind, no matter what may come - and because it is definitely cheaper to buy/put up foodstuffs, etc. today than it will be tomorrow. It could be that the worst that will ever happen to me is that I run out of money - but, with my preps, I hope that I will be able to survive quite nicely for a long time even in that event. Should something worse happen - such as a natural disaster - I hope to be able to run with a bag full of enough not to be a burden on others, or help others to survive if they are left without resources.

I like to see this question arise, even if it is posed to a site like this. It seems that most of us here prep to be prepared. Prepared for whatever may or could or will happen.
Personally I took the red pill in December 2010 after watching 'How to Boil a Frog'. A bit of research from there and I was finally awake. At times I wished I hadn't. I have read thousands upon thousands of articles from hundreds of authors at tens of web sites. I have watched movies and listened to interviews and even read a few books all of which has allowed me to see the world we live in as it really is.
The explosion of progress and change and betterment of everyone's lives that started after WW2 has continued almost unabated to the near present times. The 'Green Revolution' started feeding vast numbers of people, communications, international trade, finance and financing for all, began and the world shrank as opportunities expanded. People could go to school and learn stuff that didn't really add value to the world, people could live in bigger houses, drive nicer cars, travel almost when and wherever they wanted and live a life that would always be better then the one they started in. What a wonderful time to be born and grow. BUT... underpinning all of this wonderful worldwide growth and raising of standards and expectations was the unlimited availability of cheap, almost free energy that just bubbled out of the ground, could be sealed in a barrel, shipped around the world and be put to use in almost every single aspect/product that we have come to know, love and utterly depend upon for our new way of life. We could drive cars with rubber tires on asphalted roads, fly crops grown and harvested with tractors all over the world, heat and light our homes regardless of the size and truly experience what wealth is/was. This elixir that took millions of years to create allowed our species to create and take advantage of unparalelled surplus of energy/wealth that had never in the history of humankind could ever have been imagined. And we did, didn't we!!?? And we called it oil!
Now, the massive seemingly unending, unbreakable foundation that we have used to create this utopia (for most of us), is starting to falter. The age and weathering is showing. The cracks are widening and there doesn't exist any glue that can hold off the inevitable. The worldwide maximum level of production of cheap, easily accesible and economically affordable crude oil has appeared in the rearview mirror. The stuff that allowed us to build this palace we live in is dwindling. There still lots of it around but what is left is not the same that we need, can afford or have built our empire with. Oil is our lifeblood. It's in everything we have, eat or use. We can't (as of now) live without it. Nothing can replace it in cost, accessibility, ease of use, transportablility... NOTHING! Not gas, not algae, not corn, not wind, not solar, nothing.
So while we are regaled with fantasies of tar sands, shale oil, kerogen, biofuels, abiotic claptrap, miles deep underwater goop, what we need is no longer available in the amounts and for the price we can afford. What we built and live our lives on is affordable crude oil with more made available each year at a low cost. Those days ended in and around 2005 - 2006. We are now trying to eke out some sort of resemblance to this great goo by diverting food to fuel, tearing up Alberta, digging through ice in the Artic or miles underwater, growing algae, poisioning water tables to remove kerogen... and whatever else can turn a profit for a few while hiding the reality of what is coming from the masses.
Simply put, peak oil is upon us and for those that have taken the time to learn what it means and filter out the distractions and noise from those that stand to profit from continuing the facade that is crumbling, are preparing for a whole new way of life that is coming. The end of the world AS WE KNOW IT has started in earnest and the transition to a new way of living, thinking and interacting with the world is what we have to prepare for. It will be messy and it won't be over quickly but hopefully we can live and prosper because we took the time to listen and learn and prepare.
So we know live in a world that WILL change but those we elected and counted on to help lead us have left a lot of us in the dark and unprepared. The global financial/economic collapse is underway, the global ponzi scheme of fiat currency and fractional reserve banking is soon to become unsustainable, money printing for the rich and draconians laws for the rest of us are continuing, the lies hiding the horrible reality of Fukishima(remember that place?), the militarisation of police, the creation of mutant strains of bird flu, the upsurge in antibiotic resistant bacterias spreading, climate change(regardless of the cause), food shortages, dwindling water tables, topsoil depletion, middle east tensions rising...... okay I'm tired now.

The question maybe should be why aren't you prepping!!!
Just my thoughts.

First rule of prepping... don't talk about your preps.
Second rule of prepping ... don't talk about your preps.

I prep for whatever may come, but for me most roads lead to power outage so that's my greatest foe. Other than that, I keep emergency kits, have an e.d.c. and believe deeply in the power of skills and knowledge. What do I prep for? I guess I prep for the unexpected, for anything that can wreck my day, so I try to counter it as best as I can.

Based on where I am currently living and my daily commute to work I am prepping for a couple of scenarios:
1. Being stranded in my car for up to 24 hrs or more on the side of the highway during winter storms;
2. Power outage for excess of 72 hrs;
3. Tornados and associated problems after they strike, although unlikely in my opinion, one did strike and did $50 million dollars damage to the town long before I lived here; and
4. Fire, unlikely a fire could get to my property, but air quality could be a factor and this could prevent me from commuting to or from work and with my luck it would only happen when I was a work so I would be unable to get home.

I guess i would be a "General Prepper". What ever happens i want to be ready, but in my area, the most likely scenario would be an Extended power outage which would be catastrophic in the norther climate when i live. 31 Years ago we experienced a power outage during a Blizzard, it took 3 Days to get some area back on power. Luckily there were no deaths, but the damage to people's houses was significant. You would be amazed how much damage -40C and high winds can cause. I was lucky, we have friends and family who were prepared, we spent the 3 days cuddled infront of a warm wood stove. I was pretty young and thought it was wonderful, a Sleep over and a fireplace, but not that I'm older and have a family of my own i realize how serious it Might have been.

Well, I find it to be wisest to prepare to meet certain objectives and let the specific cause be a surprise.

I am a general prepper for the most part, planning my preps based on what could be called "zones". For example, Home/Building, Neighbourhood, Sector, Town, Region, Province and Nation. There are Bug In Place and Bug Out options for each.

Each level of prep is designed to meet the needs of the affected zone, not a specific disaster type. Even though my storage is designed to protect sensitive kit from EMP, fire & water, but beyond that, all of our preps are (or should be) aligned for our needs, I think.

-S.

I am getting ready (prepping ) for natural disaster/s Living on the west coast we are sitting on a faultline. I also think any large natural disaster will set off other events. I do hope I am rong but it is only a matter of time befor something lets go. We are lucky were I live that I am minets to 3200' above sea level and at the 2700 mark I can look at are house also in this area there is no shortage of food and water so are preps are minimal we do plan on a 90 day food supply but for the most part are biggest consern is meds and those seem a little difficalt to stock up on. I will say if things are going the way they seem to be I would think the disaster could be man made.

I am prepping just to make sure my family will have enough food and water for an extended time. (3-4 months is my goal). I believe an EMP(the crazy world we live in) or a CME (Mother Nature at her worst) could happen, and I know, 3-4 months of prepps wont be enough realisticly, but it;s a start