Are you a Prepper?

[Rooflesstoofless]

I've seen several programs on TV which revolve around prepping and youtube seems to have a plethora of channels dedicated to the subject. This got me to wondering how common is it for people to prepare for a major disaster (environmental or man made)? Do you consider yourself a 'prepper'? If so, what are you prepping for (earthquake, peak oil, financial collapse, etc)?

Or do you consider prepping to be the result of some kind of paranoia?


These are extreme cases by most standards...but goes to show the extent to which people will prepare for a disaster.


EDIT:
Prepper/Survivalist definition according to Wikipedia (since some might not know what it is).

[Deleted]

Er..

Exams. Yeah.

[Deleted]

Since I have no idea what a prepper is. No.

[Gracin]

I have a small b.o.b. in my truck, and a larger survival bag at my apartment.

Edit: He explained what a prepper was in the OP.

[Deleted]

I'm not a "prepper" although I do make it a point to have enough of the basic necessities at home that I don't have to panic should there be some major disaster.

In short, if suddenly my hometown was cut off from the world for a week and you couldn't buy more toilet paper, food, tooth paste and other basic things I'd still be in the clear for a couple of weeks (perhaps not eating like royalty toward the end but I'd still be fine).

Being prepared to that degree is just common sense, those who stock up for decades to come are a bit stranger. Some of them seem to have a very tilted world-view (saw some video clips some guy had made, he was obsessed with preparing for the downfall of western society yet focused almost exclusively on hoarding rice and beans and guns and ammo, never mentioned any other supplies, very single-track mind).

[Deleted]

Since I have no idea what a prepper is. No.

Read the whole post then.

Nope. Not a "prepper" in the slightest. I'm a last minute kind of guy. Completely unprepared.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Er..

Exams. Yeah.

Way to contribute...thanks for the bump I guess.

Since I have no idea what a prepper is. No.

Sorry about that. Added the definition in as an edit. I'd never heard of it till a few years ago...bad assumption on my part to think others know.

[Deleted]

I'm probably the definition of a non-prepper. I don't care about anything.

[obdigore]

I have a backpack in my car with stuff for a weekend and a packed bag at my place with stuff I need for a week in case of an emergency, but I don't consider that 'prepping' like a lot of couple have at least a month of food/water and most have build shelters...

Note: Don't have that much water with me, but I carry water purification equipment in my car and have another set at my home.

[Deleted]

Way to contribute...thanks for the bump I guess.

You asked what I'm prepping for. I gave my answer, my exams.

[Deleted]

And to follow up on my post, I have considered being slightly more prepared for various situations.

The way I look at it I'd like to have some basic survival gear packed in a BOB/jump bag at home, just in case. Don't think I'll ever need it for any major emergency but could still be nice to keep around (even if just for the first aid kit in some more normal kind of emergency or to have a rain poncho available if I happen to not find my regular bad weather clothes).

In the past I had a "festival kit" which covered a lot of the basic BOB areas (not water and food though). It was in a regular plastic bag and I could easily throw it in a regular backpack when leaving for a festival, don't have that around anymore though.

I do think this is one of those things that easily turn into an obsession and if you're gonna start doing the survivalist/prepper thing you need to keep your head clear so you don't risk falling into the trap that some of those Youtube guys previously mentioned fall into (for example, focusing exclusively on guns, ammo and food). Not to mention that it probably makes very little sense to prepare for several years of survival off your gathered supplies. I can understand trying to make sure you could ride out an emergency lasting a couple of months at home (or to get out on the road and have enough supplies to survive a week or so in any weather) but once you're talking years you really need to start factoring in long-term survival on a level where food isn't just something you hoard, you're gonna need farming equipment, seeds, irrigation and such. Transportation would involve not just have a 4WD truck but also redundant underground storage of vast amounts of fuel as well as spare parts to the point where you've got multiple identical vehicles. In short, it would be insane for one person to attempt that.

[RandomAustralian]

To me, prepping for the end of the world (like some of those people in the video) would be fun, but I don't take that seriously. My friends and I had planned what to do in case of a zombie apocalypse (there can be no other type, it must be zombies). I've moved since then but we lived across the road from an army base, we were set :P

[George]

No, I'm not strange in that way.

[Deleted]

Well I do prepare for things that can happen in the future, as in I have quite a few cans with food for example... but I'm not preparing for the end of the world or some widespread disaster, rather I prepare for the chance that one day I might not be able to go out and I should have food.

By definition, we're all preppers, just not as extreme as those preparing for major devastations. Just like if you saw clouds on the sky and took an umbrella with you, you prepared for the case it will rain etc, you get the point.

[Mihalik]

This comes right off as morbid in my opinion and I seriously doubt it is in any way effective.

The accumulation of food stuff has to do with our western obsession with comfort. It is comfortable to know we have 6 tons of food stacked away "In case shit". What people need to make it trough any emergency scenario is water and finding other people as soon as possible. Individually none of us really have the skill set to deal with every scenario, but a larger group of people will have the Doctors, the Mechanics etc. specialists needed to deal with all scenarios. People who think its a bright idea to shut themselves away from others hugging cans of beans, are in for a trouble when they realise they dont know how to deal with an infected tooth or a infected water supply, how to fix the electric system for their generators, have no clue how to get the fuel needed to run their generators etc etc.

The reallity is in any of the scenarios described by the people above their preparation is largely useless.

Of course every household should have a basic health kit, a water filter, and a radio with ample supply of batteries, and some food stuff stacked away for a few days. But thats the most you can do anyways without outside help. If one observes human behaviour our most common sense instinct is to flee whatever danger we are facing. So major population displacement is much more probable then sitting and waiting it out. And for that you need the special national or international infranstructures assistance.

Actually I once read something a book I believe, where the story described a scenario in which after a major disaster total collapse was caused by "prepers" with the most guns disobeying public order, accumulating resources by force and refusing to submit to autorithies.

When I see these people I only see potential problems and gun totting crazies.

[Deleted]

What is the definition of a prepper?
Because I am preparing myself for disaster in a different way this woman prepares herself.
Our family recently bought a farm and a lot of land in Russia, far far far far from society. We are busy constructing a large scale passive solar greenhouse with an aquaphonics system based on a natural energyneutral system. We find this a necessity because we are convinced the world is going to go to shit and will be ruled by civilian wars. Perhaps not this generation or even next generation. I truely truely believe with the current direction in which the world is growing a catastrophic end brought on by humans is inevitable. I'd love to be proven wrong or have some amazing inventions turn the world up side down, but until that happens I'll be making sure we can survive on our own.


I mean that woman can prepare all she wants, all she need is a man holding her a gun at her and he can take everything away she prepared. Society is dangerous!

PS: Yes I'm ruled by anxieties and can be very paranoid, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

/paranoia off

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Lol I'm a procrastinator. Doomsday could come and I would still say "Meh, ill do it later"

[Deleted]

No.
I will prepare for MoP launch, though.

[Deleted]

I enjoy every day as much as I can, so I am always prepared to face death. Does that count?

[Deleted]

I think the term is "survivalist" not "prepper".