night_son
Diamond Member
Today prepping is sort of like the guy riding a moped. A stigma attached to it of a little bit crazy... odd... or a drunk.
Due to television shows representing preppers as a bunch of whacked out conspiracy theorist red necks... many people won't be prepared... because they don't want to be one of those nuts.
In reality... virtually everyone preps. You have band-aids in your medicine cabinet? Tylenols...anti-acid tablets... you are prepping. Albeit a very low level.
I was watching this video (on tv not here...so I can't link) that talked about this, and defined "levels" of prepping.
It went something like this...
LEVEL 1 - People who prepare for the common mishaps that happen on a regular basis. Like above, band-aids... some rubbing alcohol, maybe a couple packages of toilet paper somewhere.
LEVEL 2 - People who prepare for the less common. But, things that ultimately happens to everyone at some point in their lives. Instead of just band aides, they have heavy gauze, tape, scissors, ace bandages etc. You may have a generator. You have a cupboard with more canned foods, dried beans... some extra rice than you can possibly eat under normal circumstances. Maybe you have a simple survival kit in your vehicles, should you get stuck somewhere. You most likely have one or two guns in the house. With some ammo near by. If a battery runs out in your remote - you always have another. You are prepared for most "normal" circumstances that might happen to you or a member of your family.
LEVEL 3 - People who prepare for the unlikely, but possible. You don't just have guns. You have a collection of them. Ammo? You don't have 100... you have 1000's.
You don't have a cupboard or some stored canned foods/beans/rice.... you have enough to last for months. You don't have a survival knife... you have a dozen. You may have invested in solar panels should the grid go down. You have put real thought into the items you have collected. Done real research, hours of it... making sure you have the right amount of items, and the right items. You may believe a catastrophe is coming soon. You don't obsess about it. But you feel the need to prepare for it nevertheless.
LEVEL 4 - People who obsess about being prepared for anything they think could possibly happen... and are usually convinced it will. You likely don't have 1000's of rounds of ammo. You have 10,000s. And numerous knives, a collection of hand to hand combat weapons. You may have body armor. You don't have a few months of food storage. You have years. Depending on your finances, you spend nearly any available cash on some form of prepping, defensive capability. You have a bug out bag for every member of the family. You have multiple AHA! moments when you watch the news. Always looking out for when the shit hits the fan.
What level are you?
We have prepared multiple evacuation routes in many directions and leading to many "safe" havens. Along those routes we have identified empty homes, farms and industrial buildings fit for use as waystations or layover holdouts along the way. We keep ready bagsāframe backpacksāclose at hand at all times. They contain everything needed not just for several days of survival in the worst possible conditions, but also means to acquire more supplies and achieve long term survival on the road, if need be. We've also made modifications to our primary vehicle, which was already 4x4 with several settings for snow/mud, etc. Among them are a second fuel tank to extend range, a snorkel, and winch. We keep a waterproof ready bag in the Jeep. In it is a surgical capable first aid kit, rappelling and climbing gear and many other vital implements and vehicle spare parts.
We also have many firearms, and I have cross-trained my wife to use them all proficiently. If need be we can create our own smoke house on the hoof and cure meat and we can forge our own metals, given a few days and create leather for custom clothing. If it comes down to it we can go caveman primitive and then work our way back to semi-modern tech.
We're not believers in holding up in one place too long if the shit truly ever does hit the fan on a national or global level. What we'll do is choose a direction and destination, move and keep moving, and we will never stop to fight or make a standāuntil we've reached long term sanctuary. There we'll start out living wild, day to day survival our only goal, and then eventually carve out a comfortable life together.
Millions of preppers and everyone else will perish during SHTF because they will panic and lose their heads and make stupid mistakes. Survival is a frame of mind . . . that's it. Lose that centered, balanced focus and it is all overāunless someone comes along to save you; who want's to depend on that, gamble their loved ones lives on the temperament of strangers?