How long have you been prepping

[DrPrepper1]

This may have been posted somewhere before, but I don't see it. I am curious (after reading the other post about prepper's getting a bad name) how long have you been prepping? On what level? Was there anything started you in that direction, or did you just always do it?

I always felt the need to. I grew up as a nomad or a gypsy (dad worked construction and we moved a lot... A LOT). As an adult I always felt like prepping was a good idea, but I wasn't really sure how to do it. Everyone around me is an "everything will be fine" kind of person. I find the more I do, the more I want to do. Like there is always more work to be done.... I never really feel like, " Oh, I prepped, and now I am done."

Just curious about everyone's experiences.

 

[Silent Earth]

Bout 40 years ago, I found a copy of Guns And Ammo with an article by a chap called Mel Tappan, it was about Survival guns, I found it fascinating so i wrote to Mr Tappan asking him to explain the culture surrounding his writings. Six weeks later I got a nice reply from him explaining the formative survival doctrine of preparedness, skill training, planning, caching and self reliance. I was hooked.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Apparently I've been "prepping" my whole life. Of course back then it was just normal to be self reliant, self sufficient and independent. You had to be ready for anything that could come along. Nobody that I knew would ever think of begging the government for a hand out in tough times. And of course we'd never think of accepting any kind of "help" from the government even if it was offered either. Now days prepping has become a fad and is a big business. Somebody has a gadget for sale for just about any occasion. I believe in keeping it simple with the focus on; water, food, shelter and security. I also believe in having a plan for any type of emergency or diaster that could possibly happen in your area. In my area the most likely disasters are forest fire, earthquake, heavy snowfall, flooding and snow/rock/mud slides. Then there's the man made disasters; like a stock market crash or economic collapse that I feel a person should prepare for. The things that are of concern to me may not necessarily be of concern to other people. But I think there are 4 main focuses that everyone has in common, whether you live in an urban area or rural area, and that is; food, water, shelter and security. If you have those 4 things covered then you're already ahead of 95+ percent of the people.

 

[Dani]

Ours started out as a lifestyle change, a type of change I always wanted growing up and visiting my uncles farm, which i only got to go maybe half a dozen times since we lived at least 1500 miles apart. I remember doing chores with him to this day, driving the combine & bringing the wheat to the silos in his dump truck (first stick i ever drove), slopping his hogs, riding horses and going down in the root cellar seeing lines of canning jars filled with all kinds of good stuff. I knew that was the type of lifestyle I wanted one day. Both of us grew up in the city and neither one of us did these types of things growing up, just got a taste of it really. Hunny worked in rice fields in his teenage years and his best friend was in the FFA raising pigs. We got this place about 15 years ago and I started the garden the first year. Also when I started canning on a regular basis. I just thought it was nice to have extra on hand. As soon as the property next-door came up for sale, we bought and started adding the critters. Starting with chicks. Two youngest and I talked hunny into putting a run and coop in back yard, then donkeys came, goats, cows then the pigs. Its just progressed. I guess you could say I started, but hunny quickly jumped on board with me. He could see the benefits of being prepared compared to those who weren't during the hurricanes we have here. He worked as a police officer and saw first hand some of what the big cities went thru. He also sees how much money is saved when you are more self reliant .

 

[Silent Earth]

I've still got the complimentary copy of TAPPAN on SURVIVAL he sent me all those years ago, Americans are so generous. And Mr Tappan suggested I subscribe to a publication called the LIVE FREE NEWS LETTER, a rough drafted photocopied but very popular survival and self reliance guide published monthly in the US, that in turn via an avert or comment led to subscribing the the original AMERICAN SURVIVAL GUIDE. Twas long before the interwebnet thing so survivalists seeking survivalists used the small ads in he back of ASG to reach out to each other.

 

[Silent Earth]

By heck those were the days my boys, Mel Tappan, Ragnar Benson, Colonel Jeff Cooper ( inventor of the survivalist scout rifle concept) Bruce Beach, Duncan Long, Duncan Campbell , Bruce Clayton, C Bruce Sibley and the other pioneers, A toast to ye all.

 

[Maverick]

It's always been part of the family, I just expanded on it in the 80s. My dad was reassigned from the Navy to the Department of Civil Defense under the DoD in the 1950s through the early 70s, he retired when the CD was no longer under the DoD. Its always been part of me, when I was 5 my German great uncles kindly taken me under their wing and was instrumental in showing and teaching me old world traits that were required outdoors from fishing hunting butchering trapping foraging using a compass and gardening until I joined the Military. When I got out of the Military I've taken everything I have learned and applied to where I am today. I am still learning, I will apply the new with the old and that means swallowing the pride which I have done numerous times and perhaps the hardest was giving up my 1950s~60s gear (no, I didn't get rid of it, I just carefully packed it away) for lighter more efficient gear, old habits are really really hard to let go - it's a trust thing with me. My mind isn't closed but it takes convincing

I will always be in the learning process and if it works for me I will use it, because someone been prepping for many years doesn't make their word gold, you pick and choose from the experience and not so experience and see if what works for them will work for you, only you know what you and your family needs are, I can only express my personal experience, it may be right and it may be wrong but it works for me it may not work for you!

Edited;
Their are a lot I left out but in a nutshell that's how it got started.

 

[toexist]

To be honest for me being prepared is just fun and I enjoy having peace of mind. I go through stages were I immerse myself into things only to thrift into something else entirely different. Plus I've always been a bit of a gadget geek. I own all kinds of stuff I'll more than likely never put to good use but it's fun knowing it's there.

I'm probably more of a poser compared to most of you but rest assure...im still more prepared than 99.99% of everyone else.

#PeaceOfMind

 

[Brent S]

I grew up in central Florida. Every time we had a storm heading in I saw everyone panicking and emptying the grocery and hardware stores. It just seemed wise to keep the supplies on hand that you would need. My parents shopped daily and never had much in the house, but even at an early age I saw things differently. Then, in the aftermath of the storms, with no electricity, I learned through experience how to manage with the daily basics. It amazes me that so many can’t heat a meal without modern conveniences. I like knowing I can help take care of those around me no matter what the world has to offer.

 

[Mountain trapper]

View attachment 8135

To be honest for me being prepared is just fun and I enjoy having peace of mind. I go through stages were I immerse myself into things only to thrift into something else entirely different. Plus I've always been a bit of a gadget geek. I own all kinds of stuff I'll more than likely never put to good use but it's fun knowing it's there.

I'm probably more of a poser compared to most of you but rest assure...im still more prepared than 99.99% of everyone else.

#PeaceOfMind

"Prepper poser". Good one.

 

[toexist]

"Prepper poser". Good one.

Lol, I'm not a hardcore like you or Maverick. You guys are in the major leagues.

 

[Maverick]

Lol, I'm not a hardcore like you or Maverick. You guys are in the major leagues.

Not hardcore, matter of what’s normal, more common sense than anything. A way of life.

The hardcore folks are the ones arming to the teeth and playing war games wanting things to go south

 

[toexist]

Not hardcore, matter of what’s normal, more common sense than anything. A way of life.

The hardcore folks are the ones arming to the teeth and playing war games wanting things to go south

I didn't mean it in a negative manner. I was paying you guys a compliment actually. There are levels to everything and you guys are cream of crop as far as preppers are concerned. You have all bases covered. Nothing wrong with that in my book.

 

[toexist]

Not hardcore, matter of what’s normal, more common sense than anything. A way of life.

The hardcore folks are the ones arming to the teeth and playing war games wanting things to go south

Those are extremist/militant types...in a different dimension altogether.

 

[Maverick]

Never took it that way

 

[Brent S]

Those are extremist/militant types...in a different dimension altogether.

Agreed, I don’t call that prepping.

 

[toexist]

Never took it that way

I guess hardcore can have negative connotations to some so I will rephrase. It's like with motorcycling. Some ride with sunglasses. Some wear a helmet. Some wear a helmet plus gloves. Some go all out and wear full race gear i.e. full race suit.

Years ago I got into a real bad motorcycle accident that would have cost me my life had I not been wearing a helmet. I would have also lost most of the skin off my hands had I not worn protective gloves.

I did however bang up my knees a bit and got some bad road rash. I used to smirk at riders who road in full race gear. After that day...i looked at them through different eyes.

 

[Dani]

Amazing how things in life can change so quickly sometimes. Really makes a person appreciate what they have and who they have to share it with. Also makes one wiser when something does happen and you figure out how to protect yourself or do whatever better. Life lessons are a good thing when a person actually learns from them. . . Prepping is the same way. You have to actually live the life to figure out what works for you and then figure out how to improve it to make it easier or better. Example would be my garden. When first starting it was relatively small and could be hand watered. When hunny ran the water lines to the different pastures, he went ahead and put in the sprinkler system for the garden & I got to expand. It really does need another 4 put in to cover the entire area, but right now I am happy cause I only have to water about a 1/6 compared to the whole thing. Hunny has talked about putting more in for me, but I'm still waiting. Another example was making cheese. Hunny made me a wooden mold to hold my cheese and I would stack bricks and cinder blocks to do the pressing. It worked but sometimes gravity would take hold and my blocks fell. Found an old fruit press at a swap meet which actually works out pretty darn good. Sometimes you have to experiment and its better when you have other options available verses if you couldn't just go get what you may need. Get your ducks in a row so to speak. Put your preps to the test. Its the only way you will find out if it works for you.

 

[user 7704]

My family has gardened and canned for generations, but I guess y2k made me more aware of disasters etc.

 

[Brent S]

My family has gardened and canned for generations, but I guess y2k made me more aware of disasters etc.

Funny, I really didn’t do anything much for y2k. It just didn’t seem to realistic to me. Now, the national debt scares the heck out of me! To me, I feel it could have a worse effect than a war. If the economy tanks and hyper inflation kicks in then your fighting an enemy you can’t shoot at to stop.

 

[Silent Earth]

I grew up in central Florida. Every time we had a storm heading in I saw everyone panicking and emptying the grocery and hardware stores. It just seemed wise to keep the supplies on hand that you would need. My parents shopped daily and never had much in the house, but even at an early age I saw things differently. Then, in the aftermath of the storms, with no electricity, I learned through experience how to manage with the daily basics. It amazes me that so many can’t heat a meal without modern conveniences. I like knowing I can help take care of those around me no matter what the world has to offer.

I think H Andrew and Blackwater Security knocked a lot of Floridians off the should I should'nt I prep fence.

 

[jontte]

I'm just a rookie in this game called prepping,but living where I live,fishing,camping collecting what the forrest offers in fall has always
been the thing to do.
really can't put a finger on the time line and say;that's the day I started,it just did and now,if the need comes I can take care
of me and my loved ones.

 

[user 7704]

I saw a post from a new member who was looking for "men" to teach her about prepping. Where does that leave us poor women preppers? Actually, women have done most of the canning in this prepping game we play. I know men can too, but you have to admit , women do the most. I actually do everything from prepping the soil, planting, weeding and harvesting without zero help from a man. Maybe she's looking for a new type of prepping help. Lol

 

[Dani]

I saw a post from a new member who was looking for "men" to teach her about prepping. Where does that leave us poor women preppers? Actually, women have done most of the canning in this prepping game we play. I know men can too, but you have to admit , women do the most. I actually do everything from prepping the soil, planting, weeding and harvesting without zero help from a man. Maybe she's looking for a new type of prepping help. Lol

I'm the same way. . . . only help my hunny gives me is eating it I'm sure he could figure it out though. He's been in the kitchen underfoot enough times. And I'll say this. . . what I really hate is when he stands on the other side of the garden fence to tell me my technique with the shovel or hoe is incorrect. Try telling a man (no offence guys) what works for him doesn't necessarily work for me. . . we tend to have different aches and pains and I do things the way I do them to not hurt myself any more than I normally do, but still get the job accomplished. We tend to just have different priorities.

 

[Gazrok]

This may have been posted somewhere before, but I don't see it. I am curious (after reading the other post about prepper's getting a bad name) how long have you been prepping?

I've been seriously prepping for about 5 years or so now. Though, I'm only about to the point of nearly 3 of my 5 year plan...it's just taking longer due to time and finances.

On what level?

Basically, I'd like to eventually be pretty self sufficient, at least to some degree. Even after all the plans, I'll still likely be connected to the grid, and go grocery shopping...but the point is, if it all goes to crap...I wouldn't HAVE to depend on it to live.

We got a good field test of a lot of this when Hurricane Irma rolled over us. Out of power for nearly 5 days, and most businesses closed (as they too were out). It was an interesting test of things. And certainly pointed out holes in my preps I had never really seen before.

Was there anything started you in that direction, or did you just always do it?

Well, I had always been the one to organize the hurricane preps (we live in FL, so EVERYONE is at least a prepper to some degree during storm season). But, when my wife and I inherited the ranch, it suddenly became an idea. Here was this opportunity....a great setting for it. It started mostly out of a Go Bag to keep in my truck (as it's a 50 mile hike to and from work each day).

As a kid, I learned a lot of handyman stuff, basic mechanics, electrical, and so on. And I used to help my grandmothers do canning and such. So, the idea of reaching back and relearning those skills was intriguing. Some of it is just being cheap too! I would much rather be able to pick apples than buy $5 bags all the time, or pick my own carrots, etc.

 

[Gazrok]

One of the outgrowths of this....additional streams of income.

Before, we just worked and used our salaries as sole income. Now, we have some other means, with the small ranch. It's just opened up some other possibilities.

We have a full stable, so the boarders board fees basically pay our mortgage each month. So our checks can go for other bills and such.

We have a business space in the house, about 800 square feet, that we plan to have up and running as a scrapbooking crop studio/paint and sip studio (hopefully by end of Jan). This will be some extra money on some weekends (and just be kind of fun).