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In the video below, Prepper Princess takes TEOTWAWKI-types to task for over-prepping. And competitive prepping. “What you need to survive,” she opines, “is water, food and shelter.” A lesson many in Houston are learning right now. “To thrive,” she adds, “you need hope and love.” Apparently, PP isn’t getting a lot of the latter in the comments section, leading to this “preppers are just plain folks” video. Anyway, the question is . . .

Do you have enough water, food, shelter, hope, love, GUNS AND AMMO to survive a major disaster — be it economic, social or (somehow) Kardashian-related? Are you unprepared, under-prepared, adequately prepared or over-prepared?

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121 COMMENTS

  1. Let’s do the usual lists of prepping supplies. Then the more and more improvements to those prepping supply lists by the next smarter prepper. I can always add one more item. Kind of like, what’s the biggest number in the world. I can always add one to that number. Or add one more item to Taylor’s Instagram truck.

    • Iodine tablets. I never seems to see that on people’s list when it should be at the top. It works on questionable water. I’ve used it. Tastes nasty but keeps you alive.

        • Do some research on this. They recommend a certain dose for children but not for adults over 50. They explain why in the articles. I have some in my preps as I have grandchildren. Hope to never have to use them but can’t trust the NORKS

      • Chlorine bleach works better, tastes better and takes only a little to purify a gallon of water…8 drops per filtered gallon, mix well and wait at least 30 minutes

        • Ignore her. She is just dealing with her own issues. Many preppers run this course and get in over their head to the point they backfire.

          More than likely she got too deep in her prepping and now had an epiphany or a come to Jesus moment. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then don’t attempt to share your prepping wisdom. You see, this is what happens when we let anyone pose as an expert on Youtube.

    • I believe preparedness, like self defense, is more of a mindset than a list of thingys. Yes, a person can be prepared AND stockpiled, but it’s the mindset that matters. In a bad situation, always do the best with whatcha got. Don’t wait for 911 to send rescuers. Look at what’s available and use it.

      At our house we have some stockpiled food and supplies, and some stockpiled ammo. But not enough right now. We have been lean financially for over a year and a lot of our stockpiled food has come in handy. 🙂

  2. I have, admittedly, become lax in keeping up on what I’ve set up.

    For instance, I bought a generator about ten years ago after a major snow storm knocked out power for a week and haven’t needed it once. I have let the maintenance slide on it, and I really should make sure the thing will start should it be needed this winter. Which it probably won’t. Probably.

    • Our house is in a relatively low spot. When it rains, our sump pump MUST run or the basement will flood. For that purpose we bought a generator and had the house wired so we could connect to one spot outside and run the major systems in the house by flipping a big bar on our fuse box.

      We did that somewhere around 2005. Since then we have never once needed it. I start the generator monthly to make sure it runs. Last year the battery for the electric start failed (didn’t hold enough of a charge) so I had the thing serviced for the first time in about 10 years.

      A month ago our power went out during a storm. Turned into one of those “once every 500 years” storms. Rivers were at record levels not seen in recorded history. The main pump was out and the battery backup was running. That pump could not handle the volume of water flowing in.

      We had mere minutes to get the generator plugged into the house and going. We got the generator out to the exterior plug, turned the fuel line switch to ON, pulled out the choke, and turned the key. The think fired right up! Went down into the basement, flipped the bar on the electric panel and lights came on. The main sump pump kicked on and began pumping at a rate of 4000 gallons per hour. It took a half hour or so, but it did manage to empty the sump pit and then begin cycling on and off.

      Ten years, never used the thing. I have to say it was one of the best investments I ever made!

      • Learn from him – MAINTAIN that genset.

        Run it monthly, if a gasoline engine, change the fuel yearly, if possible, use non-ethanol fuel treated with something like ‘STA-BIL’ fuel stabilizer…

  3. Not a prepper, but I do have about 3 weeks worth of freeze-dried or canned food and a half dozen cases of water in the garage.

    But I also have enough weapons to arm a rifle squad, so don’t come looking for my food or water.

  4. TEOTWAWKI can’t be over prepped by definition. As the least likely of scenarios to plan for, sustainability must be first and foremost in any plans. If you survive by visiting the grocery store, then no amount of stored goods will do. Basically if you aren’t farming for sustainability and located in an area populated more by critters of the 4 legged kind than the 2 legged ones, you’re fucked.

    • Any person who claims to have a solid plan for a civilization ending event is ignoring the Demon Murphy. What I did was look at 100 year events and plan for those. Anything outside of that will be so inherently chaotic that additional planning outside of those 100 year guidelines is probably not going to help.

      • Not to mention the fact that most of the scenarios imply large population reduction. What makes these die hard preppers think they will survive in the first place? But I’m all for them stockpiling, at least the rest of us will know where to find supplies after they are Zombiefied.

  5. To an extent it comes down to time and budget. If you have enough stuff to live comfortably for a month and your location is secure (bug in / bug out), additional stockpiling starts entering the realm of paranoia. What is the realist probability of you needing to survive on stores for 24 months? What’s your security level that it will allow you to HOLD ON TO said supplies for 24 months? What’s the impact of building such a stash on your day to day life?

    Once I got to 8 weeks, I stopped, looked at history, and realized that any emergency that causes a disruption of more than 50% of that duration is civilization ending and inherently impossible to plan for. At that point, you’re just stockpiling stuff to get looted from your corpse.

    • This mirrors my prepping exactly. Anything beyond a month becomes apocalyptic, and, to paraphrase Gman, what reason do any of us have to believe we’d survive that event anyway.

    • I’m with you on this one. My wife who is not a prepper once asked me if we have enough stuff stockpiled should something bad happen. I asked her how far down the rabbit hole does she want to go? Basically, this is the fundamental question all prepper types must ask themselves. What is the worst case scenario you are willing to/can afford to prep for? For me, 1 month of self-sufficiency is the number I came up with. That would take care of most natural disaster scenarios on the East Coast, would allow my family to ride out the most likely pandemic quarantine scenarios, and would probably exceed most civil unrest time frames. If an incident goes beyond a month, chances are that it is going to be of a very long term nature and frankly, I can’t possibly prep for a 1 year, 2 year or even longer scenario.

    • 90 days or so would be my goal, if you look at what happened during Katrina they were still hurting at that point although it was getting better. If I wanted to be insulated from political unrest it would be 2-3 years of food, and even that would be for something like a hedge against the Ukrainian famine of the 30s the Soviets induced.

    • “What’s your security level that it will allow you to HOLD ON TO said supplies for 24 months?”

      As the starvation Siege of Leningrad (1.5 million dead) showed, it can be quite dangerous in a starvation situation if you appear better-fed than those starving around you…

  6. I have gun, ammo, and body armor. I’ll figure the rest out as I go along. I’m sure there’s at least a few people that hoarded food and water and messed up somewhere else, facilitating either a mutually beneficial relationship or a hostile takeover.

    • Are you saying that you intend to steal when the time comes rather than purchase and store necessities now?

      • If we’re talking about TEOTWAWKI, then ‘steal’ becomes a rather vague and abstract notion in the broad scheme of things. If we’re talking about short term disaster survival, protecting a street or neighborhood from looters should be worth a little food and water for my trouble should I need it.

        • “If we’re talking about TEOTWAWKI, then ‘steal’ becomes a rather vague and abstract notion in the broad scheme of things.”

          Haha, love it.

      • The ones who will survive a real TEOTWAWKI event are the ones who already know that our fragile societal constructs mean nothing and the only law that counts is survival of the fittest. So yeah, I have no problem taking whatever I need from whomever is too weak to keep it. That is simply Natures’ way.

        • I understand and have sympathy for such a perspective, but I fear that I will always be burdened with a conscience that would make such activities miserable for me. I do realize that I already steal from and kill other living creatures but even that, I have never been comfortable with even though I participate fully in it.

        • Mike, lefties keep saying that, but it doesn’t mean what they think it means. Being a “social” creature is not the same as being a “societal” creature. Humans are inherently tribal.

        • “Humans are inherently tribal.”

          Ding, ding, ding! We are, at our very nature, just as savage as any other animal. And since we also kill for reasons other than immediate survival, probably more so. And yet we crave company; like company. And that makes us tribal. Anthropologists call our ancestors hunter-gatherers. Gathering is a nice way of saying stealing or taking.

        • Sounds incredibly Machiavellian. So might makes right? Pretty disgusting. Going against the moral law will reap its own reward. Either in this life or the next.

      • That’s why the rule of thumb for these sorts of situations is “trust no one that you wouldn’t trust helping you to get rid of a dead hooker in everyday life.”

      • We’re about to see something similar to one of the above stated possibilities in Houston. Government still exists, social cohesion still exists and we’re already seeing a steady rise in pilferage, looting, and armed robbery. We’re less than a week into the crisis and Houston is already fraying at the edges.

        • Nowhere near as much as in Katrina and New Orleans. I’m sure there are several factors to account for that. Higher gun ownership in TX could be one. Lower poverty level in Houston than NOLA could be another.

    • Yep. Vhyrus, you’re typical of alot of people I’ve talked to and read on the web, civilized” when it’s convenient, but with no core values beyond doing anything to survive. You wear your face of being law abiding like a mask, but underneath is a ravening wolf, if in the event of a collapse, you will unleash without a second thought, if it will help you to survive.

      No worries. With people like you, I’ll just get together with other members of my community, and hunt people like you down like the beasts that they are. Because, in the end, there really are more good people than there are bad.

      Y

        • Lol, dude really? We are communicating on the web, have flown to the moon, are even talking about colonizing Mars (finally) because more people have agreed to be civilized than savage tribesmen hunting each other in the jungle.

          And yes, dark ages happen because of the tribal type of attitude shown by Gman and you, but in the end, as our technological, societal and scientific advancement has shown, there are in the end, more people like me that sees beyond my “tribe” and will be the one to rebuild from the ashes the civilization that savages like you and Gman help to burn down.

        • I’m sure that the senators of the Roman Republic held the same idea. How did that work out? Like them, you forget one basic truism. Society only exists at the consent of the barbarians. They are the handful of buckshot trying desperately to stiffen up any given bucket of spit.

        • (Re: Thomas) Ya, but we are that way because Fritz Haber (the father of chemical warfare) invented the artificial nitrates process that allowed for the 20th century agricultural boom that is currently feeding over 7 billion people. Without enough food to go around, we’d be killing eachother for the food that is available (read Guns, Germs, & Steel). Also an other scientist, Werner von Braun, a NAZI, realy realy realy wanted to go to the moon and was willing to use slave labor and build terror/vengeance weapons to do it. The mass communications networks that move all those products necessary to maintain society were built at the expense of Indians and Chinese lives in the 19th century, or built to facilitate the movement of war material durring WWI and WW2. Hell, even the Mongol trade routes to the east (think Marco Polo) cost 1/4 of the world’s population….. what I’m trying to get at, is peace and civility was/is built on death, conflict, and strife. Right now we’re trying to maintain that peace and civility so our children can live their lives and die without ever having to experience the harsh realities of our ancestors…. If TEOTWAWKI happens and we haven’t prepared mentally/physically or prepared our children, then we have failed and we will be consumed by stronger people or tribes. We’ll be lucky is 20% of us survive TEOTWAWKI. Civility is a byproduct of stability, contentment, and children who arent starving to death.

        • History teaches that civilization thrives when there are men of moral character who work together to build a culture of honor, duty and individualism. Rome did not fall over night, Rome fell due to a civilization (including the senators) who only looked out for themselves and lost the will to fight for the promise of the past republic. The barbarians were held off for 500 years, only becoming a problem when Rome stopped believing in itself. Killing innocents just because they are weak is what the immoral left does to babies in the womb. If you kill innocents just because civilization has frayed you are no better than any evil historical tyrant from Herod to Hitler.
          Welcome to a post-Christian west where people justify and rationalize murder just because they are “stronger.” Sick.

        • Re: Joe Q… Tell that to the Greeks, Gauls, and Carthaginians (Google: “carthaginian solution”). Cato saw rome the way you did i.e. idealized and he stabbed to death in his wagon running for his life. The roman republic was built on conquest and slavery by “civilised” men. Republican Rome had no police force and was managed by strong men with influence over a cabal of lesser strong men (re: tribe or family) and the rest fell in line. Hyper ambitious strong men who wanted for nothing and held the world in the palm of their hand (Pompei, Crassius, Ceasar, Sulla, Clodius, etc) are what destroyed the republic. They eventually ran in to people they couldnt conquer and the dead republic (now an empire) limped along for a few hundred years until viscious men over ran them…. at least the western part. The eastern part lasted until the Turks destroyed them.

        • California Richard, I am well aware of Roman history. The men you point to all come from the problems of a Democracy or of a late term Republic. (which we are facing) Corruption, lethargy, ignorance, or as Tocqueville put it you can buy off the people. The point is that when a culture and civilization stops believing in itself that is when it will fall. Look up Cincinnatus if you want to see what the ideal is versus the opposite. (you probably know him) Rome was obviously horrible in many (crucifixion!) ways but at its heart the men of honor created the culture and civilization that still shapes us until this day. Preppers in history? They are Masada. A footnote in history. I still am prepared for a 30 day or so disaster on many fronts but ultimately I like my electricity, cars and neighbors. I also believe that men have a thinking brain that can see outside the animalistic savages that point to the Gauls, Mongols or the Roman treatment of carthage in 149 B.C. A certain Jewish carpenter points to a different view of humanity. His view is one that I try (and often fail) to follow.

        • Cincinnatus was one of the strong men I was referring to earlier. He supressed the tribunes and belonged to a family (tribe) whose intrests would be protected when he stepped down. Every other strong man who came after Cincinnatus was looking for the same thing ( i.e. Sula). Oppression, exploitation, slavery, and conquest are what kept rome strong.
          TEOTWAWKI will see a culling of our population by up to 80%. Useful skills and force (to protect your stuff and tribe or to plunder Mongol style) are going to be the currency.
          FYI… those Mongolians who killed off 1/4 of the worlds population; two of the most succesful Mongolian conqurers (Möngke Khan and Toghrul) were christian. I’m sure their ideas of Christianity differed from ours though.

        • Well, pwrserge, there is a reason that our founding fathers stated that a well regulated(trained and equipped) militia was necessary for the defense of a free state and that a large standing army is a threat to a free people.

          Because when the general population are a band of “barbarians” that are dedicated to being citizen soldiers protecting their community, (within the law and our constitution) from enemies foreign and domestic, then our freedom is protected from any particular wanna be tyrant that’s wants to impose their will upon our society.

          But our founding fathers warned, after looking at the history of the rise and fall of the greek and the roman republics, that when the people saw that their common defense was no longer their responsibility and placed that honor in the hands of a “professional” military, then, in time, that military would feel their allegiance was to their pay masters and not the people. Then that military could be used as a force of oppression in the hands of a tyrant.

          So when some Americans that are “barbarians” ,like you, no longer see that their fellow country men are their “tribe”, worthy of being protected from human predators, but instead are looked at as the “other” and are fair game for depredation and then when the people no longer see as their responsibility that they are trained “barbarians” ready for the common defense, then we are ultimately finished as a country and as a nation and we will go the way of all once free republics and become just another empire, held together by governmental force and terror.

      • There is a BIG difference between a Katrina or Harvey and TEOTWAWKI. Once TEOTWAWKI happens there are no moral values which will benefit you or keep you alive. The only law is Natures’ law. Trusting those you don’t know puts your life in danger every time. Yeah, it sucks. But it is the truth. Those who don’t know this are already dead and they don’t know that either.

        • Umm, yeah. Gman, in the end I am a Christian, and I believe and have actually felt the truth that all human beings are my spiritual brothers and sisters. I could no more kill another human being simply for what they might have to keep me alive than I would kill my any of my blood family for the food in there hands.

          But like I said, there are ultnately more people that believe more like me than you. The proof is all around us, but your attitude is also what is predicted when people turn away from the laws of G-d and turn to mind of Man as their guidance.

          Every man hands will be turned against each other, with no one being able to trust even family members, as predicted.

          But in the end, this is why Christ came to show us the way, to love G-d with all your heart, mind, body and soul, and to love your neighbor and your enemy as your self. And in the end, people that defy G-d’s commands, (you know, love one another) will pay the ultimate price.

    • It’s an irony that the people best qualified to survive a catastrophic collapse of organized society are gang bangers. That’s almost the world they live in already.

        • Oh now KSV, you mean you hope people like me will be piled in ditches, because if I’m right, it will be people like you hanging by the neck till you are dead for committing rape, pillage and plunder against the peaceful and the law abiding. Because that doesn’t change just because greater society has temporarily collapsed due to people like yourself.

        • No, I don’t hope that at all. I wouldn’t be doing any of the things you describe. But lots of others would be. And I think your hope for mans better side is a tad optimistic.

        • I’m glad KSV that you won’t be one of those savages that see everyone not of their immediate tribe as fair game.

          But why am I being over optimistic in my trust in the better side of human nature? We are now sitting in a lighted and heated domiciles, and we know we can go most places without being armed up like a combat infantryman or driving an APC to the local market. Because we trust that most other people will be civilized and not attack us for our stuff.

          We built a society based on trust, love and the Christ’s teachings and while there are times and places we need to be careful in our daily travels, because we know human predators will always be with us, which is why many of us carry a firearm, but because of these foundations, we are still living in one of the most peaceful and prosperous times in history.

          Sure, there are times when we forget these truths; that G-ds laws, trust and being law abiding built our civilization, and dark ages are the result when we forget this, but in the end, dark ages are only temporary speed bumps in the continued growth of human nature and our spiritual advancement.

  7. Survival is about attitude and the will to live. You can have all the junk you think you need, but if you don’t have the character and the guts, forget it!

    • I agree. If you haven’t taken stock of your family, friends and neighbors and already decided who’s an asset and who needs to be shot right away, then you don’t have the right attitude and moral certitude to survive.

      • ^This and I guess I’ll be that guy that brings up The Walking Dead, but so many times in that show, and others like it, the group is always conflicted between leaving seriously or mortally wounded comrades or killing nefarious individuals immediately all because of some high morality and holding onto civilization. Sorry, but if you get gut shot, seriously burned or have already attempted to steal from or kill me, I’m not going to risk myself or others simply to not be labelled savage. You have become a liability at that point. It’s the same reason I’m not giving another dude, with a cold sore on his lip mouth to mouth resusitation.

        • It goes beyond that. If a cell phone is your whole life; you’re dead. If you are totally clueless about life in general; you’re dead. If you’re a gun hating liberal; you’re dead. If you are a screaming crying bitch; you’re dead. And the list goes on and on and on. By my estimation 75% of the people in this country should simply be shot under these circumstances because they will get you killed if you keep them around. But hey, that’s just me. Of the people I know and associate with I have a mental go-no go list; just in case. Because? You can’t fix stupid.

      • You mean Gman, you already know who the bad M-F’ers you’ll avoid or team up with to then attack and kill the ones less well armed or less ruthless than you that have the stuff that you want.

        Sigh. So it goes. We build a civilization based on people creating trust and a group lawfulness even with those not of our immediate blood relatives as the social contract, then the first breakdown of general society, people like you go right back to the law of the jungle and every man for himself or for his personal “tribe” and everyone else is “them” and is fair game for prey.

        You and yours are the reason dark ages happen.

        • At the risk of taking fire from both sides, I don’t exactly see it as an either/or situation. I haven’t seen from Gman that he is stating he will immediately resort to becoming a savage marauder. And I haven’t seen any comments from ThomasR that he is willing to suffer all risks or liabilities in the situation.

          I would like to think that my own behavior in an TEOTWAWKI would be somewhere along the lines of strike one you’re out type of outlook. For instance, someone whose cell phone was their life, I would not say to immediately execute or abandon them. They possibly could have some useful skills, especially now that that phone isn’t exactly there to distract them. However, were they to screw up in some way, valuable resources or others lives should not be risked to save them. People who did resort to preying on others as their sole means of survival would be equally worthless (in my eyes) because that program can prove fatally wasteful and unsustainable. People who did not pull their weight would be subject to the “He who does not work, neither shall he eat” maxim.

          Ultimately we’re talking Walking Dead fan fiction here. Like others have commented on this site, a disaster of that magnitude is highly unlikely. The most likely scenario in my NOTW is disaster brought about by a hurricane. That is ultimately a temporary, though devastating, condition.

        • KVS, Lol, yeah, you could be right. Nothing like hard reality to show who you really are. Can I walk the walk, not just talk the talk?

          But at least I do have a clear and diamond bright code to die by. For that is what I will live by.

        • The “dark ages” were not what you think they were. The Greeks and Syrians never stopped being Romans. And our particular civilization, especially as concerns laws and society, owes much to our Germanic ancestors. Read the stories and myths of the barbarians, perhaps they did not have the level of culture that the Romans achieved, but they did not care about other members of their society any less.

          Western Rome did not fall because of the breakdown of society.

  8. Preppers are a funny bunch! They’ve often got every high tech gizmo that comes along but can’t even tie a knot. Get into a gaggle of them and ask “What’s the best water purifier?” and watch what happens. LOL.

  9. Just when you are feeling like you have the proper preps, food, ammo, guns, water, emergency cash, etc…the lab results some in from your doctor. That’s not something that you can prep for.

  10. I keep enough dry goods and water on hand specifically for emergencies, although it is really only a 1-2 week supply. I’m not on any prescriptions but I keep what I consider to be a good amount of medicine/first aid supplies in house and in truck. I’m not the type that always has a minimum of 1000 rounds of ammo for every caliber weapon I have, although I always have a plentiful supply of .223, 9mm and .22LR, however that is because those are the calibers that I shoot the most, and is more for rec purposes. That’d I’d have an adequate supply of them for a bad scenario is just an extra bonus. Living on the NC coast, it is also worth noting that I have a canoe, kayak and plenty of pals with Sea Pros. Hurricanes and resulting flooding are what’s on my mind, EOTWAWKI isn’t something that I think I can properly plan and stock for.

  11. The one thing one can NEVER have enough of is .22LR. This is the finest and most versatile round for all prepping scenarios. There’s no comparison to a SS 10/22TD with a nice BDC scope and 5,000 rounds in a carry bag. That’s a lot of 100+ yard reach out and touch. I’m not saying other guns and calibers are unnecessary, just I wouldn’t be caught dead without a solid .22. Stockpile wise, never less than 10K, ever.

  12. Back in the 1970s, Time or Newsweek had a “survivalist” on the cover. I read the article. Afterwards, I asked my Dad if we were “survivalists”. He said: “no, we grew up in the Depression”. While we have always had lots of food (most of it canned and jarred) it was the skills my parents emphasized: gardening, repairing anything and everything, foraging and hunting. All of those are skill, not gizmo, dependent.

    • Yep.
      Spring water/well water, garden, a few cows, the presence of and ability to harvest deer, turkey, and other small game for years; stocked ponds, firewood and woodturning stove(s), smokehouse, canning supplies, a tractor, UTV and ample fuel (biggest challenge), tools, and guns & ammo. All check.
      Working on the solar thing.
      Got horses, which could be a liability.
      Mule maybe?
      A country boy can survive.

      • Horses could be a liability, but they still have value. You could always trade them or eat them if you’ve found them to be more trouble than they’re worth.

        • In a true EOTWAWKI scenario the tractor and any other fossil fueled vehicle will be the liability. Not the horse or mule.

          As a child I rode the lead mule as my old man plowed with a team. He had a great respect for mules and no love for horses.

          We had chickens, cows, goats and an outhouse.

          Now I live in the burbs in sunny CA. Look how far I’ve fallen.

  13. Who gives a damn what that woman thinks? I sure don’t. I’ll make up my own mind and do what seems right and good to me. I may guess right, or wrong, but it’s my own business either way.

    End of story.

  14. “Do you have enough water, food, shelter, hope, love, GUNS AND AMMO to survive a major disaster”

    Yes all the way around. What I don’t have enough of are my prescription meds, a situation that I am working to correct. Without my scrips, I’m not sure that water, food, shelter, hope, love, guns and ammo will matter at all. I mean, there’s no point in having and defending a stash if I stroke out.

    • And it is really sad that our government regulations are so strict that we CAN’T stockpile prescriptions legally. My wife and I are retiring and sailing away. She takes two controlled meds that we can only get 30 days at a time and new laws require her to be drug tested before refill. HTF is that going to work in the middle of the ocean? Thank God most other countries we will visit don’t suffer from our rectal-cranial inversion.

      • I’m fortunate that none of my meds are controlled, so I can get 90 days worth at a time under my RX plan. But that’s hardly a stockpile, especially since that 90 day period starts when I get the refill, not when the disaster occurs. When the SHTF, I might already be 80+ days into my 90 day supply, so there’s very little margin for error.

        I’d be willing to pay full boat for a back-up three month supply, but arrangements are difficult to make.

        • “I’m fortunate that none of my meds are controlled, so I can get 90 days worth at a time under my RX plan.”

          -snip-

          “I’d be willing to pay full boat for a back-up three month supply, but arrangements are difficult to make.”

          Get creative.

          Your girlfriend caught you in bed with another woman and flushed your meds out of spite.

          Easy-peasy… 🙂

  15. Can’t pay your bills because of all your stockpiling = too much.
    Can’t sleep in your bed because the house is packed full of astronaut ice cream = too much.
    Feel compelled to make corny as shit posts and videos about your new “passion” = too much.

  16. Here’s some irony. I lived most of my life in the woods and in recent years moved to a fairly major city. If there was a disaster large enough to render the rule of law moot, I would have a way easier time killing meat here than I would back when I lived in the woods. And that’s without resorting to cannibalism!

    A lot of preppers assume they’ll have to defend their private hordes of good from throngs of unprepared city dwellers fleeing the cities, but I’m not so sure. My city has a year round growing season with plenty of empty spaces for crops, two major rivers that have anadromous fish runs plus plenty of things like catfish, bass, carp, etc, is under a major waterfowl flyway, wild turkeys everywhere, and if you’re really desperate, pigeons and feral cats galore. That’s not to mention the fact that cities are places where resources are concentrated. You know what’s better than a basement full of canned goods? A Costco and home depot that no one cares about anymore (I’m assuming that in a real end of civilization situation, the people who own such establishments will either be dead or holed up in their own private compounds.

    Of course, the above only applies to a real sci-fi level depopulating event (assuming it’s not a nuclear war or asteroid impact). The scarier possibility is an Argentina circa 2000 or Venezuela now scenario where there’s still plenty of people but an economy in ruins and a massively corrupt government and law enforcement. Corrupted, weakened and broken systems are way scarier than having no systems at all.

    • Your final paragraph is the one that scares me far more than the other possibilities. It’s not only the more likely, but it’s also the one that a person is less able to prepare for. I’ve read a bit of what Ferfal wrote regarding the Argentinian collapse, and I’m not looking forward to the idea of far more vicious criminals combined with a barely-functioning state that will still come down on the average person like a tonnabrix.

      For that situation, lots of bottles of vodka and cig packets would come in handy- for when the local gendarmerie request “un petit cadeau” because they decided your headlamps are too dim, or your hedge is too high, or those bars in your windows are prohibited by fire codes. The mordida would be much bigger for something like you defending yourself against muggers- or they might just haul you in anyways to get their numbers up.

    • Don’t forget all the Fido’s and Mr Fluffy’s that will be running around loose after their owners are toast.

      Pomeranian stew – Mmmmmmmm.

    • “I would have a way easier time killing meat here than I would back when I lived in the woods. And that’s without resorting to cannibalism!”

      Dead looters are a very valuable resource.

      Processed into jerky, they make an excellent source of protein for DOG FOOD… 😉

  17. all depends on your specific situation. some people CAN’T bug out, they have to hunker down, disabilities and such or infants, etc.

    its hard to say where the line is drawn. lets say the New Madrid fault opens up, no telling how long we would be without what utilities so doesn’t seem like you could over prep for that situation. but what people tend to do is just like what we see when they say “snow/ice possible this weekend” everyone buys bread and milk, the two most perishable things you can buy. stupid. better advice would be to learn to do WITHOUT those things.

  18. If people are over prepped, that’s one fewer person or family that won’t go looting. If it’s not hurting anybody else, why be concerned?
    Not sure why she has an opinion about other people’s preps.
    You do you and I’ll do me.

  19. If prepping interferes with your being able to live a normal, healthy life, its too much prepping.

    I like the idea of prepping but, im not going to quit my day job and take out a second mortgage to build a bunker and too buy 10 cases of mosin nagants

  20. Depending on the scenario, people are probably signicantly underprepared in some areas, and overprepared in others. The other problem is that many of the most critical prepping items are perishable, making it expensive.

    As for guns, specifically, most people just need one personally comfortable weapon per member, and the equipment/accessories to carry it on person. Generally speaking, I’d rather carry a pound of food, water, meds, and wipes than a mag of extra ammo. To each their own, but better to have a spare friend you can trust…

  21. Right and wrong exists whether or not “laws” exist. For those of you planning on going Mad Max, eat the neighbors, etc, your shortsighted position will be your downfall. Of course, most of you are likely keyboard commandos so you won’t last long, but those who think they will really go out and just take from others will find there is always someone bigger, smarter, faster, luckier who will take you out.

    • In TEOTWAWKI there is no right or wrong. There is only natures’ laws. In the beginning, as the weak die and the strong survive, that is all that counts. Over time a new world will emerge and a new moral compass and definition of right or wrong will then be defined. This is the truth, the whole truth, and the only truth. And yes, there is always a bigger fish.

      Keyboard Commando – Out…

      • Moral truths are not subjective despite what the supreme court has ruled. (Casey decision) If two people disagree about something can they both be right? Essentially that is what the Casey decision stated, meaning my truth is my truth and your truth is your truth. That decision came from the supreme court of the U.S. and it would seem that is what Mr. Gman believes. You seem to argue that truth is relative and then go on to pronounce truths. While you proclaim that truth you are judging yourself with your own words. Your example states that it is true that the strong will kill and the weak will die out according to your “natures law.” You then go on to pronounce another Gman truth that a new definition of “right and wrong” will be created out of thin air or what I would call magic pixie dust. So what is it? Is truth nebulous or are their objective truths?
        Because honestly your screed just sounds like a Machiavellian shit show of might makes right. Pretty sad really.
        Take philosophy 101 at Hillsdale, it will do you good.

        • Gman is having fun.(I hope. Otherwise as soon as the lights go out I’m shooting that mofo.) But he makes a point that I’ve tried to make in the past.

          There are no natural rights. In a true meltdown people are going to kill for the last jar of peanut butter or the choicest virgin.

          As much as many here hate to admit or maybe are just too damn dumb to realize it we need a functioning .gov, military and police to have “rights”. Society enforces these rights and once society is gone the only rights you have are those you’re strong and ruthless enough to seize.

          Murder is only murder if there is a functioning system to enforce man’s laws.

          Morality and human rights are made up constructs like time.

          Does that mean I’m going to go rogue when the lights go out? No. At least I hope not. But remember this. My grandkids or yours. Guess which ones I’m feeding and protecting even if it’s at the expense of yours. If I have to make that choice……..

        • Well if Gman is having fun he is an ass. If he is serious, then he is an idiot and has no clue of history, philosophy or anything else, just like the libtards he thinks he will hunt. Just another douche and self admitted keyboard commando.

          I have had the pleasure in being in the wilds of west and central Africa in the middle of chaos for 6 years. The decent people, with no prompting, banned together and fought back. They knew what was right and what was wrong. They had no “laws”, there was no functioning government. History is full of these examples, not the fantasies of some of the mouthbreathers spouting off.

        • Michael, if they banded together they indeed had laws and .gov.

          Maybe not what we westerners think of as such but somebody had to organize their resources and give orders to the bulk of them.

        • I agree with you JWM that there is no natural rights. That is a human construct. “Rights” are about as good as it gets for man if man is making the rules. However there is natural laws, something a bit higher in reasoning and yet completely simple. Meaning that people know inherently what is right and wrong. Human reason teaches us that pain hurts others just as it hurts yourself. From that natural reasoning you can understand the basics of good and evil. These realities are called natural laws. Every person experiences these things except for the mad, the schizophrenic or the beast. Murder is murder with a period. You may like to talk about human constructs and such but every man knows in their heart when they have committed a misdeed. Some people listen to their consciences and others do not. Gman in the end of world times would be shot on sight by more than a couple. His kind would soon find out that there is grizzly bears and tigers in the woods next to the wolves, rattlesnakes, and great whites. Just because you have the most secure nest on the cliff face does not mean the crow will not find it. The best hope for man is someone who understands us completely and yet is outside of time and space. Working to help others like what we have seen in Houston is not only its own reward but also an example of how people naturally help others in times of need and helplessness. They understand that they just as easily could have been the weak, the elderly or the woman with child. When members of human society start killing the weakest is when those with a moral spine need to be rods of steel. A simple explanation of why Roe vs Wade has never been nor will it ever be accepted by those of us who see this simple principle.

        • Joseph, the lights are still on in most of America. People can afford to go to their neighbors aid in a localized event such as Harvy.

          I hope we don’t have to see who’s right, you or Gman, in my lifetime. But I’m afraid he’s closer to the truth than you.

          You can’t eat the bible. You can eat the man holding the bible.

          Let’s hope the lights stay on.

        • Michael says: “Well if Gman is having fun he is an ass. If he is serious, then he is an idiot and has no clue of history”

          Gman is not having fun. Gman is not an ass, just an asshole. Gman is serious and not an idiot.

          First, I’m not suggesting I’ll go on a murderous rampage and kill everyone, nor do I believe that is a recommended course of action. What I am saying is that under this scenario, what we delude ourselves into thinking about good and evil, right and wrong, society and anarchy are completely irrelevant; at least until the new food to population parity is reached. In the early days of TEOTWAWKI, Maslow’s hierarchy will reign supreme. That is Natures’ Law. All semblances of civility will fall away. People you know who are starving or under siege will become animals and do as animals do. Eventually groups will form and good people will form good societal constructs again, but that takes time.

  22. Being a child of parents who lived through the Great Depression, I’ve been taught to make hay while the sun shines. I don’t consider myself a prepper, if only because I don’t believe in an impending apocalyptic event: zombies, emps, aliens, etc. Much more likely in my case are temporary disruptions: earthquake, job loss, disruptions in shipping, etc. Just seems prudent to stash away a little extra when you can…been doing so now for 40 years, a little at a time. I figure our family is probably good for about one year with what we have locked away, so long as we’re careful – especially with water. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

    And, because I’m posting here, you can rest assured that I have some guns with ammo for each stacked high and deep. Because being prepared does one no good if you can’t defend your supplies from someone wanting to take them.

  23. Natural disasters come and go, and they are mostly local and sometimes regional. Katrina was earthshaking not merely because of the magnitude of the storm — it was a regional storm that made landfall as a Cat 3 — but because of the incompetence of the Corps of Engineers and state and local governments in Louisiana that would not maintain the levees and did not conduct effective evacuations and rescues.

    At least two-thirds of the deaths in the New Orleans area were due to levee and floodwall failure, the responsibility for which rests entirely and exclusively on the G. Many of the people who died in the aftermath could have been evacuated but weren’t, which is another failure of governments. And then there was the Danziger Bridge incident, which was the murderous act of a government gone mad.

    If there ever is a true TEOTWAWKI event — not just a regional disaster but a national or global one — it will most likely be due to governmental action or inaction, not merely nature. It’s been shown over and over that during severe natural disasters, people can and will band together to survive with no government for weeks or more. Eventually, things get organized and sorted out. By us.

    Your greatest prep will be making friends that you can count on.

  24. I think it’s fun for preppers to imagine a Walking Dead or The Road type scenario, where 90% of the population dies, government no longer exists, and there is no rule of law, and imagine how they’d come out on the other side. While fun to imagine, that type of event is nearly unlikely. That said, a barely operable and corrupt gov’t., widespread pandemic, flood, earthquake, are likely all temporary situations. Flooding, earthquakes, etc., only affect a certain locality, so there’s likely not a total government permanent shutdown likely to happen.

    That said, I like to prepare for the more likely scenarios that could hit where I live: Pandemic, major earthquake, forest fires, etc.

    My goal is more than month, less than two, of food and supplies. I’m pretty much there with food, except I am a bit short of 1 month of drinking water supplies, of which I only have about 45 gallons of drinking water. For my family that would probably last a couple of weeks, maybe 2.5 weeks. Given the chance and knowing something may be coming (i.e., pandemic) I would fill up empty jugs, tubs, etc., to use for wash water, extending the life of my drinking water. I’m slowly adding to that drinking water total, a couple of gallons per month on average now.

    And yes, I have plenty of guns and ammo, not 20k rounds; I own a more reasonable number but still plenty. I also have other survival supplies and tools, knives, compass, binoculars, first aid supplies, local maps, etc. Also remember to keep extras for hygiene – bar soap, toothpaste, OTC meds, etc.

  25. Ask those in greater Houston if one can “overprep”. Am I prepped enough? Nope. But I and my loved ones have JESUS. The ultimate prep…

  26. i follow the advice of my father who lived through the depression. The 3 most important things you need are food,guns/ammo and knowledge. Storing water is pretty much a waste of space as there will be plenty of it in the environment. If there isn’t you won’t be able to store enough for truly long term survival. Have plenty a ways to filter and purify it. Bleach is a good alternative. I’ve tested bleach as old as 5 years with good results. Make plans to group together with other like minded people with different skills. No one will last long alone. Be prepared to fight for what you have and be willing to kill if necessary. Remember the hardest part of killing anything is mental. Can I really do it? At the end of the day no matter what you have it will most likely not be enough. You will need to acquire more of everything. Be prepared mentally to do whatever it takes. Saying and doing can be a whole different animal.

    • ” I’ve tested bleach as old as 5 years with good results.”

      Not much longer that that, it will break down.

      I have personal experience with that, years back I cleaned out someone’s garage, there were yellow jugs of swimming pool chlorine in it. The homeowner said they were about 8 years old.

      I dumped them out in the street to evaporate, where I discovered the chlorine either evaporated away or had broken down, as there was *zero* odor of chlorine when I dumped them out.

      A pail of dry chlorine tablets for a pool has a near indefinite shelf life, and can be reconstituted by just dropping a tablet into water to dissolve…

    • In that case you only need one gun and enough ammo for you and your family. No sense in suffering or allowing your loved ones to struggle and suffer.

  27. There would be very little hunting for food past a few days . Very very few hunt today , and the deer woods in many parts are crowded, in NYS we got 1 million deer and about half a million hunters , in a few days in a controll season with laws 1/4 of the deer population is gone .

    Now imagine no rules, spotlights , shooting near houses , tresspass where ever you want anything goes , oh and now the millions of gun owners who were not hunters are all now out trying to kill the deer too .

  28. I am in good shape for anything that could happen where I live.

    I am fortunate to have a well which I should (in theory) be able to access even if there is no electricity.* If I am unable to get water from my well, then there is a spring-fed pond about 200 yards from my home. That pond is NEVER empty. Carrying 5-gallon buckets home every day would kind of suck … but is my plan C and I hope I never get to plan C.

    * Remove well casing outer cover, remove inner cover/works, and use string to lower largest diameter PVC pipe that will move past inner pipe/wiring to get water.

  29. BEFORE a major incident, your preparation might be seen as excessive.
    AFTER a major incident, your preparation might be seen as inadequate.

  30. I used to belong to a culture where each family would keep a two year supply of food in their basements. Even though I’m now officially a non-believer, I still have ties to people from that culture, especially my Mom and her family. When they talk about their two year supply of food, I just tell them that I have a two year supply of bullets, so I’m good.

    • So casually talking about murder is OK?

      IdahoBoy, you’re a Mormon / Ex Mormon and it is frankly frightening that you openly contemplate murder for food.

      I own and stockpile guns and ammo for the protection of my family and as a hobby. To casually imply that you are going to use your “two year supply of bullets” to acquire your food and supplies is premeditated murder.

      Don’t be lazy, sell off half your ammo and stock up some food and have a plan for water.

      In the current aftermath of the latest situation there are many stories about people sharing their year supply with friends and neighbors. Not at gun point, but openly and willingly.

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