There’s a Simpson’s episode about preppers where they assume the big bad thing happens and fuck off to their bunkers, stuff happens, and they eventually come back to town. When they come back everyone is happy and doing fine and Marge says something like “things were okay after the first few hours. We all worked together and made it work. It was like all the mean, angry, and resentful parts of the town had just disappeared!”
See also Emergency Skin by NK Jemison.
preppers don’t want to be dependent on society because they don’t like society, but they’re not bright enough to realize they will always be dependent on society
Saw an episode of doomsday preppers years ago. These dudes had a whole property out in Oregon or Washington state designed to endure a potential onslaught of zombies.
They had to quickly evacute their property and leave all their fancy stuff, because of a very real forest fire that came to visit, for which they were entirely unprepared.
I’ve been finding the crazy building in arid environments odd, because even aside from forest fires, if your water supply dries up, you’re going to have to uproot and move to a state or location with a reliable water source. And you’ll be part of a big mass of climate migrants at that point.
I’m in the “be prepared” group where we usually have a couple weeks of food and water around. We also have two forms of heat for when the power goes out.
Will we survive WW3 on this? No, but it has been very helpful after big winter storms that took out the city power.
Having some supplies to use in the short term is good for everyone. Being ready to go out to help neighbors and get the community back on its feet is how we get through to the next good times.
I wouldn’t call that being a prepper. That’s just sensible preparation for something like a natural disaster. Preppers think they’ll survive whatever their conception of “the big one” is.
I’m neither American nor a native English speaker so take it with a grain of salt.
That’s where I’d put the line between a regular prepper and a doomsday prepper.
Not to forget the very elusive Sergent Prepper.
I guess in my mind, ‘prepper’ is just short for ‘doomsday prepper’ and it’s not the same thing as doing, like I said above, sensible preparation for natural disasters.
Anyone that has been through even a bad blizzard knows it’s important to have some basic supplies. Depending on where in the US you live, it would actually be considered unusual and irresponsible to not have some basic preparation for weather and related stuff. Not having a cold-weather car kit and home preparations for losing power in a blizzard in the upper Midwest, for instance, would be considered stupid.
No one thinks tornado shelters are that weird if you live in tornado alley. I’m sure hurricane prone areas probably have their own set of ready prep stuff that would seem weird in other parts of the country.
You’re not talking about doomsday preppers.
Yeah that’s what I’m saying. The stuff I mentioned is just reasonable preparation for, like… life. Sometimes stuff gets disrupted for unexpected reasons. Like toilet paper during a pandemic lol.
How about the Red Hot Chili Prepper?
Need to apply some Prepper-H after eating Chili Preppers, that’s for sure
Preppers think the pencil nose accountants will all die screaming in regret while all the high school jv cheerleaders come begging them for help, in full uniform, and everyone finally recognizes how they were right all along.
I have tons of food, a generator and other backup power and a gun, and if shit really hits the fan I know I’m not living 5 minutes longer than everyone less prepared, the resources actually make me a target.
But then again, I have Pge, so it’s not doomsday prepping, it’s just ‘Wednesday, or whenever they next screw up resulting in 100s of deaths, weeks without power, and massive rate hikes resulting in huge bonuses to their upper management’.
Honestly, if the great civilization-ending disaster they think they’re prepping for happens, I hope I die in the first wave. I don’t have any Mad Max fantasies.
Mad Max fantasies will never equate to Mad Max realities, anyways.
Definitely not. And anyone who thinks that it is the reality isn’t going to be Immortan Joe, they’re going to be one of the people at the bottom of the cliffs begging for water.
Or a human-shaped piece of sex furniture rented out to the water marauders in exchange for food and supplies. I’ll take not making it through the initial disaster, please and thank you!
You should always have enough supplies for a short term emergency. That’s not doomsday prepping, it’s just common sense.
I’m not a prepper IMO, but I have rooftop solar with battery backup, a few smaller portable batteries and UPSes on my critical stuff, and some oil filled radiators since my heat pump isn’t connected to the solar setup.
At any given time we generally have a month or more worth of food in the house in frozen and dry/canned goods. Also, several gallons of bottled water.
I also keep some stuff under the back bed of my car’s hatch, first aid kit and emergency blanket, and battery jumper kit as well as a battery powered tire inflator.
I live in a semi-rural area, and in an emergency, getting out and/or getting food and necessities may not be possible. And if there’s a wildfire I may need to evacuate fast, so important to have what’s needed. This sort of thing is like… If you have the means, why wouldn’t you?
What a lot of right wing preppers and a lot of ‘militia’ guys (the tacticool heavy infantry kind) seem to completely lack is the willingness to be inconvenienced at all.
They buy or craft whatever stuff seems cool to them (some of which sure can actually be quite useful), train some skills they find fun to do (usually shooting/hunting) but most seem to ignore anything they don’t like, find difficult or uninteresting to do (such as keeping reasonably fit). It also usually includes being willing to take orders or cooperate.
The lack of some skills/equipment/preparation could be overcome but not with the mentality that lead to it on the first place.
The being cooperative thing is the key.
Id be willing to bet my left testicle those that survive an apocalypse are those who work together to grow food, build shelter, etc. and not the goobers who lock themselves in a crate with some beans.
Classic scene at the end of the movie "Leave the World Behind.
Spoiler
The survivors finally find respite, a fully stocked, super-luxury survival shelter, left wide open, because the people that built it died in the initial collapse.
There’s no point having some survival shelter unless you’re already in it when you need to be.
The one doomsday prepper I knew had to weigh at least 400 pounds. I often wondered if he knew how to make insulin for when the apocalypse happens.
He was actually a nice enough guy, but not the brightest bulb in the box.
A lot of these militia guys also don’t learn the survival tasks they consider feminine. How many know any sort of gathering skills, cooking anything not meat based, laundry, mending clothes? Those are probably more day to day useful during the apocalypse than rifle shooting or how to wear camo paint.
Yeah, I think the idea there is if you point a gun at someone and tell them to cook and wash the clothes, it’s likely to get done. It’s that male power fantasy again. They desire civilizational collapse because then they think their love affair with guns will give them the authority and respect that can’t find in the real world.
Meanwhile, it’s just likely to make them a target. And since most of the people I’ve come across like this are typically overweight morons, they’re just more likely to be killed in the extremely unlikely scenario they’re preparing/hoping for. But they see themselves as the main character.
If you just went hunting, fishing, and living in the woods COVID wouldn’t be a problem for you though.
Tell that to all the gay frogs I heard coughing in the woods last night
starts penning unauthorized sequel to Where The Wild Things Are titled Where The Gay Frogs Cough
I expect a royalty check in the mail upon publication
Sure thing!
Do not ask for whom the gay frog coughs;
it coughs for thee
my dads a mild prepper and had his ‘told you so’ moment when he brought up 2 boxes of n95 masks. he donated a box to hospital and the other box got the family through the worst months
Cute, but it’s just a single hit on a lifetime of misses for most. He got lucky once and could easily use it to reaffirm a bunch of nonsense instead of crilically asking himself what all the other wasted shit is for.
But hey, I have hobbies too, and I’m glad he’s smart enough to listen to science. So he’s about a million miles ahead of most
Preppers: I’m ready for anything; economic collapse, zombies, apocalypse, sinkholes, foreign invasion, aliens…anything!
[covid-19 hits]
Preppers: fuck this i’m not wearing a mask! it’s all a hoax!
Also preppers: I need to go to the store and buy 27 cases of toilet paper!
The irony in the “prepping” movement these days is that it was never intended to be this thing about having an inexhaustible supply of resources just for you and your family (if you’re still on speaking terms with them) to live off of when the nukes fall.
It’s not about sitting in your attic and picking off starving people who are looking for a meal while you sit on a cache of food and ammunition.
It’s supposed to be about being a useful person in your community who can help each other weather the worst in life. You will get much further in a disaster if you have skills than if you have stuff. You might have an entire Home Depot to yourself, but it’s far too late to learn carpentry when the rain starts to fall.
It’s not about sitting in your attic and picking off starving people who are looking for a meal while you sit on a cache of food and ammunition.
Unfortunately for many it is.
I don’t really generally circulate with far right wing folk. However this is one place that overlaps with my interests. One of the most unlikely intersections between the far left and the far right is home solar power. When you start to stray way from purely commercial groups trying to sell you stuff, you get to the DIY solar community.
Here you’ll find multi-gun toting, hardcore Randian libertarians, that “want the damn government control out of their lives” right next too tree hugging, LGBTQ/feminist equality supporting, carbon-neutralling liberals. Both groups squint hard not to see who they’re talking to or asking for advice on Charge Controllers, panel interconnects, AC inverter config settings, or off-grid battery solutions. Every now and then one person from one side or the other won’t be able to help themselves and they’ll make reference to their particular extreme political views. Everyone just holds their breath hoping a fight doesn’t break out and most of the time its just ignored by both sides.
In here you’ll find those far right preppers and they are convinced that they’ll have to be 100% self supporting when the government falls “real soon now”.
Unfortunately for the gunmen in this example, their guns will wear and tear. A crucial part or two will fail and not be replaceable. Then their entire strategy of “kill everyone else” will fall apart. And that’s aside from the fact that human societies have always flourished because we have worked with rather than against each other.
Unfortunately for the gunmen in this example, their guns will wear and tear.
Their guns will be worthless long before they wear out. They are going to run out of ammo eventually. None of these folks are capable of manufacturing modern nitrocellulose gun powder or primer caps necessary to reload their fancy rifles and handguns. I don’t even see them taking a more pragmatic path of learning how to make old school black powder for muzzle loaders which they could conceivable made in their bunkers. Admittedly, I’m on the tree-hugger/equality side and don’t even own a gun. These are just my observations from outside their group.
Were these preppers more honest with themselves, there would be another area they would overlap with many on the far left: Cosplay.
And that’s aside from the fact that human societies have always flourished because we have worked with rather than against each other.
100% agree. Our survival as a species has always depended on us working together.
I have acquaintances that would definitely be considered classic preppers. One told me that he has 10k plus (each!) of rounds for multiple calibers of weapons, and a years worth of food for each of his family members in a “bunker” on his property. It’d take a LONG time to burn through that many rounds.
Ammo starts to degrade after about 10-20 years assuming your storing it well. Which is less likely to be true in the “end times”. 2 decades is a long time but depending on your age it’s not a life time, and firing damaged ammo can be dangerous.
Very true. I get the feeling that he cycles through a lot of rounds, but not a close enough friend to have shot on his land more than once.
Most people like this that I’ve ever met have several thousand rounds of ammunition. They’ll run out, but it will take a while.
True, but remember they don’t think that way, because it messes up their fantasy.
Have you heard the nonsense the owner of Reddit spouts constantly? About how he was so good at hoarding that he’ll have a private army and slaves and people will come crawling on their knees to serve him for a little food and he’ll be a king? These losers all think like that, and facts like tools break and bullets run out and you have to cast more and get the supplies to do so just ruins their dreams of being an unstoppable tyrant.
Also just praetorian shit happens. Having resources is insufficient, your guards have to like you or fear the consequences of banding together to kill you
Oh, they have a plan for that too. Making them all wear shock collars and holding their families hostage.
That’s what they say.
What they think is all the underaged girls will come running to willing beg to do anything for protection.
That’s the true prepper fantasy, it’s just a middle age crisis made manifest.
There are “Preppers” and there are people who actually prepare for when things go wrong. Preppers seem to me like someone who watched a few too many survivor man and YouTube clips and decided to make a personality out of it.
Right. “Prepper” vs. “being prepared.” The former is almost like a subculture.
The issue is that you can’t prepare for everything. Having extra food and water, sure. Maybe buying a generator so you can use electrical equipment, that’s generally useful. But, aside from that, your preparations for a flood will be very different from your preparations for a military invasion, which would be different from preparing for a pandemic.
Also, the more extreme your preparations are, the more it matters when you pull the trigger and activate your emergency plans. If your preparation is simply having a cupboard with extra toilet paper and some extra canned food, it’s no big deal to pull that stuff out if the store runs out. But, if you have some kind of bunker in the mountains, it’s a bigger decision when to “bug out” of the city and go live in the mountains. You’re basically quitting your job, so if the emergency is something like the COVID pandemic, when do you decide things are so bad that you can take that extreme step?
I was trying to get myself prepared for realistic disaster scenarios. For us, that is earthquakes and cold snaps. And in my mind, realistic means how do I both ready myself and work with my community?
So I got a book on prepping. The titled seemed innocuous enough. Unfortunately, it was one of the crazy bug out into the woods and go eat squirrel stew sort of prepper books. Totally worthless for anything practical. The best thing I can say for it was that it was an e-book, so it didn’t cost much.
Peppers take a good idea, having extra supplies and tools for an emergency, and take it to 11.
I’m not a prepper, but I did read my local government’s disaster preparedness list and have everything on it that applies to my family. I keep 3 days or so of extra, shelf stable food in the house; bought a home water cooler and keep an extra jug of water that I rotate when we use the one in the machine so that we have a few days of clean water at all times, which is way more practical and safe than a camping water jug that will sit and stagnate in the basement; I have a battery “generator” that I keep topped up with a solar panel because we have a sewage ejector pump and a sump pump to stop the basement from flooding in bad weather; and I have good first aid kits for the house and cars.
The only thing not on my local government list are the emergency car kits, which is really just a basic vehicle toolkit, jumpstart kit, flares, sweater and space blanket, all in a cheap bag that lives on top of the spare tire.
I don’t live in the most disaster prone area, but we do get tornados and nasty thunderstorms that knock out power for a day or 3. We don’t exactly have the lights on when that happens, but we do have food, water, a non flooded basement, and even some heat in the winter, and both cars have something to keep you warm while you either fix the car or wait for the tow truck.
I kind of understand peppers, because planning all of this out after we lost power a few years ago for 4 days in fall was interesting, and there was just so much shit the internet was saying I needed: weeks or months of dried beans and rice, a generator for the whole house, enough guns and ammo to ward off a small army, etc. my local government list was hard to find compared to all of the forums and YouTube videos, but I’m glad I found it, it’s sensible and if spread out over months, very affordable. I highly, highly recommend you poke around your local government website for their natural disaster page, they’ll have resources of who to contact if you need help, and what you should have on hand. If it’s not on your city’s page, try your county or state government. One of them should have a page about disasters and how to prepare for them.
They weren’t ready for a SHTF scenario where survival means personal hygiene.
Same people who won’t get a vaccination are the same ones who take huge dumps and don’t wash their hands. Venn diagram is a circle.
I know a guy who owns a retired nuclear missile silo that he made into a doomsday bunker/business. The top several floors or so with the old control rooms and stuff has been converted into his bunker, but most of the main silo is flooded with water, so it’s a scuba diving attraction.
Anyway: when Covid came his bunker and years of food and fuel, so he and the wife went out there and used it for their lockdown. I’m happy for him that he got to use it.
They took out the old control rooms and completely remodeled the inside into a pretty comfy house. It’s just underground and has 3-ton blast doors.
that guys living my dream
Flooded with stagnant water? Do you want brain worms? This is how you get brain worms.
If there’s no sunlight energy providing for phytoplankton, there’s probably not much of a food chain in there to support parasites.
Else cave diving sites would be equally dangerous.
It’s basically aquifer water. When the silo was active they had to run pumps to keep it from flooding. It’s actually one of the ways silos could be identified by satellites. They’d have oversized drainage ponds in the middle of nowhere where they’d be pumping the water.
What’s funny is that antimaskers still blat on about how they won’t wear a face diaper for anything or anyone, two years after such requirements ended. These people just need negative attention like tantruming toddlers.
Me, buying some extra rice, pasta and salt, watching my neighbor buying large game butchering knife kit (we live in the suburbs)
Sounds like a smart guy. He gets meat AND all your dried goods!
I’m a person that most people would consider a prepper. What am I prepping for? Unemployment. Being able to survive with as few possible inputs as possible.
I’m a hard core skeptical nerd that doesn’t believe a single conspiracy theory. I’m like an anti doomsday prepper. Making life easier even if things don’t go bad.
I think when most people think of a prepper, they think of someone preparing for everything to collapse. Badly. So I wouldn’t consider you a prepper.
I have chickens, ducks and geese, raised beds, just built a solar battery charger, can my own food, dehydrate food, cook everything from scratch, etc etc. I go through all the same steps. My friends refer to me as a prepper despite me saying I’m a homesteader. They keep saying they are going to show up at my place if everything collapses. I started shutting this down by saying they need to be pre-approved, pay a $150 non-refundable deposit and $50 a month so that I can make sure I have food and other essentials for when they show up. Because it’s really annoying to hear someone say “I’m totally not doing anything about my fears so I’m going to impose on you when the time comes.”
I’m just trying to reduce the amount it takes for me to survive. It happens that if you are ready to be unemployed for a few months that a lot of the same prepa come in handy for a collapse of the economy. The same things needed to hunt squirrels are helpful against zombies.
I’ve done the same thing. Was already living off grid when I was surprise unemployed last year. Made it about 3 months with no outside input, but eventually got sick from previous medical issues, so had to file for unemployment so I could have enough money to see a doctor.
A year later I’m now back in regular society with a regular job, trying to save up and start over.
I’ve learned that I can be prepared physically to go months on my own. But mentally is a different game altogether. Most of the prepper types would likely struggle without a support group. Being by yourself for long periods of time is FAR harder than most people think (myself included). The first few weeks are pretty easy, but it gets significantly harder every day.
One of the more popular arguments from preppers during covid was that these hyper-independent minded people were suddenly demanding the ability to go out to stores and meet up with people in large groups.
After years of “I don’t need nobody” they went hard core “people need interaction!”. It was a beautiful thing that not one of them will admit.
That sounds like farming to me.
There is fine line between farming with guns and prepping.
I’d say that ‘fine line’ is ‘doomsday bunker + Immortan Joe fantasy post “the big one.”’ vs. just having a farm and guns.
So not all that fine a line.
I agree that the motivation portion is entirely different. But the actions are the same.
I don’t know that the actions are the same though. That’s sort of the point of the thing I posted. People like you are actually doing shit. What most people think of as ‘preppers’ are people who have a closet full of MREs, two giant jugs of water, and a massive guns and ammunition collection, people who tell you about how the world will end if Trump isn’t elected and they’re ready for it.
I think if those people were like you, even if they had stupid motivations, there wouldn’t be so much derision. But they don’t actually put the work in. They essentially think if they buy enough ammo and Jim Bakker rapture survival food buckets, they’re ready for every eventuality.
Well, according to Gray Man theory, this is actually good that you don’t recognize. But no…that man you’re talking to is very clearly a prepper.
The best way I can tell you is prepping… is a rainbow. A varied spectrum of people, with many different beliefs & motivations. Actually, I guess we can compare it to the current Democrat Party! The crazy ones get all the attention, they make the news and everybody points at them and says, wow, that’s crazy. That’s too far. I can’t get behind that. It’s the same with preppers. You have preppers that prepare for “zombies”. Or, as you said, when everything collapses badly. There are many more preppers that are just sensibly preparing for very real scenarios. Stockpile a little today for a better tomorrow. A simpler, stronger life.
The real preppers, the best preppers, don’t just hoard; they incorporate their preps into daily living. It is a lifestyle. You have tools for working the land, tools to move stuff around, you build out the life you think you’ll want & need. Not just stored in a bunker, but to use next week. The zombie shit is really dumb, most of the products are cheap & low quality gimmicks. Probably because they know you’re a sucker, anyway. As Canadian Prepper says… eventually…all preppers become farmers.
I prep, in part, for short to longer term no-power scenarios. Those assholes up in Chicago threatened to cut off power to downstate…2-3 years ago?..and I never forgot that. I said, okay. Guess this is something I need to think about now. ¯\(°_o)/¯ Prepping is much like a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). System fucks up, no power? Well I’m going to be okay for a while, anyway. This isn’t the exact article I read, but here’s a source, anyway. People don’t understand how dangerously fragile, old our power grid is. It is susceptible to attack by foreign entities, or simply overload during peak usage.
Calling preppers selfish, idk where in the ever-loving fuck these guys get off…if I don’t require assistance in an emergency, that’s more assistance that can be sent to other people in need. I’m actively preparing, spending my own time, money, and efforts to help myself and others. In Israel, everyone is required to have a safe room & 2 weeks of food, water in it. They have inspections! And don’t even get me started on Switzerland.
Like I said, the person I am talking to is not what people think of when they think of ‘prepper.’ Maybe it’s not fair that the word means something different than it should to most people, but that’s just how language works. ‘Woke’ no longer means being aware of inherent racial injustices. ‘Liberal’ no longer has anything to do with classical liberalism.
Your grandparents, and great-grandparents, were probably preppers. The ability to not be forced to prepare for hard(er) times is the real luxury.
Did you read any of what I just wrote?
Your tone 🙄🙄🙄
Yes. I read it all. I particularly read this section here:
I don’t know that the actions are the same though. That’s sort of the point of the thing I posted. People like you are actually doing shit. What most people think of as ‘preppers’ are people who have a closet full of MREs, two giant jugs of water, and a massive guns and ammunition collection, people who tell you about how the world will end if Trump isn’t elected and they’re ready for it.
I think if those people were like you, even if they had stupid motivations, there wouldn’t be so much derision. But they don’t actually put the work in. They essentially think if they buy enough ammo and Jim Bakker rapture survival food buckets, they’re ready for every eventuality.
Perhaps you are correct that the popular definition has changed, much like the Greeks (hilariously) changed the definition of egregious through their use of sarcasm. But your understanding is just plain wrong, you are incorrect. Your downvotes mean nothing, I’ve seen what makes you cheer.
I see no need to rebrand to conform to ignorance & lack of understanding. If you would like to learn more about prepping, here are some channels you can look into. I’d also recommend looking at the Facebook group, The Phantom Planters. It’s prepping, kinda, but in a farming/growing way, whatever you want to call it. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to plant some fruit trees around Indiana. 🙂
…and yes, the timing is embarrassing on my end because Canadian Prepper just announced last night that he is building a bunker. But he presents lots of good information otherwise. You’ll probably like City Prepping more.
None of that is in the comment you replied to.
This is the comment you replied to:
Like I said, the person I am talking to is not what people think of when they think of ‘prepper.’ Maybe it’s not fair that the word means something different than it should to most people, but that’s just how language works. ‘Woke’ no longer means being aware of inherent racial injustices. ‘Liberal’ no longer has anything to do with classical liberalism.
You’re kind of proving my point. You’re trying really hard to defend a word that no longer means to people what you want it to mean. The language has moved on.
Or ever bother learning something to benefit society now and in the case of a rebuild. Great, you have food, shelter and guns. Do you know how to dress wounds? Do you know how to build a generator? Fuck electricity actually- do you know how to build a steam engine? Wait before we can get here, do you know how to make steel? Cast iron? There should be plenty of it after an apocalypse. Wind copper?
What about welding? Not the kind you need modern tools for, you won’t have those. Do you know basic chemistry to get what you need to restart society? No? Well good luck.
Turns out survival in an apocalypse isn’t all that difficult if you payed attention to anything in school. It pisses me off people get bent out of shape about “useful practice skills like doing taxes aren’t being taught.”
I can remember a ton of important ass survival shit from school. Crop rotation! Agricultural practices from thousands of years ago! Steam power, basic electricity, Simple chemistry. Oh, and Math! How many Preppers can’t do basic fucking math that would save them?
There was a really good 1970s post-apocalyptic show in the UK called Survivors that dealt with those issues. One episode involved the fact that the only person who knew how to take care of their livestock committed rape and what to do about it. Others involved the just basic drudgery of returning to a medieval life. Really good show (apart from the last episode, which subverts the whole fucking show).
Having never heard of this show until now, I’m gonna assume the subversion lies in “it was all a dream” territory?
No, nothing like that. More of a “we’re going to take all the lessons learned through the course of the show and throw them out and act like it’s all going to be okay.”
