I don’t often watch TV, not even prepper shows. Just like any entertainment venue, the various channels tend to focus on the extreme, and I’m here to tell you – I am NOT digging a 3 foot deep and six foot long hole to hide in in case the Feds come looking for me!
After the granddaughters and kids left today, I was beat. I sorta/kinda laid down on the loveseat/ottoman – I’m not tall, but taller than a loveseat is long – and I dozed off while my husband was watching some History Channel thing about a prepper family.
Now, I get being prepared, but this? Well, the narrator said that once a month, Dad blows a whistle or something and all the kids duck and cover. Older kids, by the way, youngest was maybe 10 or 12, one about 14 and the other maybe 16. This is their earthquake drill, and they live in central Illinois so – at some point – a quake there is certainly possible, thank you New Madrid fault.
After a couple minutes, tops, Mom asks each one of the kids: Joe, are you okay? Or whatever their names were. Then Dad says: okay, we’ll wait 10 seconds for any aftershocks. Ten seconds? I’m no earthquake expert, and this is just a drill, but ten seconds? Hmmm.
They have their BOBs and their BOV. Dad tells us they have three days’ supplies in each bag, plus a med bag and a communications bag. Except they don’t have a communication bag. He has this elaborate set-up in the house, and the walkies are charging, but I’m wondering – re the BOBs in a special place by the door, if they have to get out that quickly, how the heck will they have time to pack up the rest?
I know these shows don’t go into every detail, but why, then, do they air them? If it’s for teaching, as one would think re the History Channel, then they SHOULD go into more detail – even contents of the BOBs, at least. If it’s entertainment, well, it’s pretty damn boring. Narrator put me to sleep – literally!
Oh, and Dad said that that earthquake is going to come in the “next forty years.” Got news for Dad, at his age, he’ll probably be SOL. Mom, too. The kids, well, they’ll probably have kids of their own and will likely remember a lot of this, but… Point is that it’s really only going to be beneficial if they prepare for ANYTHING, and something more specific and likely than an earthquake in the next four decades.
The thing about SHTF is that no one can agree what it is, exactly, or when, or how, or where. Some people thing along the lines of a rapture-type event, comets or asteroids or whatever. And the next couple shows were about those things, scary and fear mongering. More interesting narration, though! The thing is that you have to catch the tiny moment when the expert says: this has less than a 1% chance of happening in the next 100 years.
Huh.
Back to SHTF: if you think you can bug-out from an earthquake, good luck. If you think you can maintain your level of prep for 40 years, again, good luck. If you’re worried about a comet in the next 100 years, got news for you – you’ll probably be dead before that happens. And if you think the cause is going to be zombies, pal, get some help. They aren’t real. Move on.
But if you’re worried about the state of government, riots, crime, food shortages, skyrocketing prices – or creeping increases, which I think is more the norm – then do some homework. Learn. Prepare. Make a plan, and make lists. Won’t do you much good if you have 50 cans of sardines and nothing else. (As an aside, who the heck would eat those things??)
Think about where you’d go, if you have to leave, and how you’d get there – both from a vehicle standpoint and fuel. Think about cooking and sanitation and washing your clothes. Think about defense.
I’ve said before, I’m not a fanatic, I’m not crazy – well, in this area, at least – but if I’ve got my ducks in a row, as much as one can, then I can carry on with my life as it is today without worrying about the state of the country. Or the world. And if something happens, I’m ready for it.
Robin Writes 
So you mean the fifteen tins of soup and five tins of tuna in my cupboard AREN’T going to help? (I didn’t intentionally buy this much, I went shopping, saw it was no offer, got it, got home and realised I already had a cupboard full of soup and tuna…)
I love those programmes! They make me feel so sane. I’ll be okay as long it’s not zombies. Zombies, and I’ll curl up in a ball and tell them to eat me now. Lol.
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Of course they’ll help! But with four of you they won’t last long either, and you might want to think about water too. And yes, the shows do tend to make one feel very sane, lol!
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Rich thinks I’m a secret prepper – I have all of my old camping gear stashed in the attic, and keeping talking about stocking up on food and stuff.
Oh, and I always have a minimum of 6 x 2l bottles of water in the cupboard / fridge. But that’s mainly because they keep doing works on the water pipes around here…
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There ya go – see how it works? Even a water issue, a regular one, can last longer than you expect!
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Aaarrgh! Lost my comment. Again, I must be the resident idiot. The two definitions I know for BOB are 1) Bring Your Own Beer and 2) Battery Operated Boyfriend – both of which have merit at times. BOV? I’m clueless. Please enlighten me, Robin.
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LOL! BOB = bug-out bag. BOV = bug-out vehicle.
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Silly me!
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I’m all for being prepared, not necessarily for “zombies”, but there are many other unforeseeable events that can leave an non-prepped person caught off guard and leaving them vulnerable. A tornado, for instance, even if your home was not in the direct path, most likely utilities will be down for several weeks; stores may have been destroyed, roads may be blocked…and what you DO have (because you have prepped) you will need to protect & defend, for there will be looters, and those who get desperate and go into survival mode, they are more than likely going to try and go after YOUR stuff. I have always been a ‘prepared for a major storm’ type but it really wasn’t until a couple years ago when my son-in-law (a law enforcement officer) asked me: “When the SHTF and you have that gallon of water and I have my gun…who is going thirsty?”….I know, I know….ME. And so, I began my defense prepping as well – got a FOID card, learned how to care for and fire a weapon and now own one (or maybe a few) 😉
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There’s a lot of people who think “preppers” are crazy..ok, perhaps some of them are 😉 in reality, EVERYONE should be at least somewhat prepared. Think about how when the news reports a coming blzzard – everyone runs out to the stores, hoarding food, water, milk, shovels, generators… When we heard of a blizzard coming, I stopped at (not RAN) to the store to grab a gallon of milk and loaf of bread; and even if supplies were gone, we would have been OK because I keep at least 1 box of powdered milk in my stash – just in case. I keep and rinse out milk jugs (to fill with water from our tap) and nearly always refill my gas tank as soon as it is at HALF empty rather than wait until the “E” light goes off. I don’t have a closet full of ammo, but I do have at least 50 rounds and keep my clip loaded, in a locked box. I keep my fresh & frozen foods to a reasonable minimum (what we’ll eat within 2 weeks) and concentrate more on the non-perishables; canned & boxed goods which have a longer shelf life and canned meats and veggies that could also be shared with our dogs, if it came to an emergency. Having an extra propane tank for your gas grill (yes, you can cook outside in the winter). I have drawer fulls of candles that my family makes fun of, until we lose power and Mom comes to the rescue with my hundreds of tealights & votives! I save bacon drippings, as they can also be used for ‘light’. Being a true prepper simple means you have thought out & prepared for simple emergencies (3 days loss of power in a storm, for instance) and having the capacity to prepare on a larger scale should you feel that the SHTF is coming. When we are under a weather watch, I get my goods out and ready; I have my children make sure they are wearing their shoes or have them nearby. When the sirens go off, we know exactly where to go and don’t have to worry about finding the flashlight or weather radio or whistle because I have already “prepped” for the event.
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I LOVE sardines. I eat them and share with the dog, then send her to give Marg kisses… LOL … yeah those TV shows, all manufactured drama if you ask me. There’s just nothing about it except to laugh at them. Half of those people couldn’t survive if the bomb shelter was already stocked, they were locked inside and had enough to live through the next 40 years.
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Too much prepping is driven by the worlds self proclaimed “experts”. These are the same experts that have a little button on their doom and gloom articles marked “Click here for the online store”. Funny that.
Most real preppers are quite grounded individuals who aren’t a lot different from our elders. They also kept a few extra cans and bits and pieces just in case. No difference really. Besides have you considered that the biggest preppers in the world are members of the LDS (Morman) church?
And Laura. Don’t keep the clip full the whole time, it weakens the magazine spring. Incidentally that’s not prepper knowledge but from someone who hunts a lot i.e. me.
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