why do you prep?

[hag]

After being here for a while and getting to know everyone's personalities a little bit I thought I would ask a question. Why do you prep? I know some of y'all live on the coasts where hurricanes are always a threat and some are up north where there is a blizzard always looming. Is there anything other than a natural disaster that you think might make you have to break out your stores for actual long term survival?

[Inor]

Why do I prep?

Because it is fun and I get to live a far better life than I would otherwise be able to afford. That is it in a nutshell. Frankly, we do not prep for disaster; we prep because it makes us self-reliant. Buying whole wheat is a lot cheaper than buying flour, especially when you are buying it direct from the farmer. Homemade cheese tastes better than anything you can buy. With homemade sausage, you can adjust the flavor to exactly what you want. Through our prepping habit I got to learn about rocket stoves, how to make soap, how to reload bullets, how to bake on a BBQ grill. My wife learned about canning, making jelly, how and where to buy fish-mox. (Have you ever had a tooth go bad on a weekend?) A couple thousand mg of Amoxicillin per day will calm that right down often to the point that you do not need a dentist on Monday.

We live in Minnesota. You may have heard we get some snow. Not having to worry about stocking up when a blizzard is coming is a great thing. Waking up to fresh hot monkey bread when everybody else it trying to get their driveway shoveled so they can get out enough to maybe get food for supper, hell yeah!

I travel for business quite a bit. Knowing that my wife is very competent with our pistols and long guns is a great relief.

Frankly, I cannot find a reason why anybody would not want to be a prepper. I mean really, just being able to walk into the pantry or a spare bedroom and grab a new case of TP when you run out in bathroom? If you discover a new BBQ rib recipe on the intertubes that you want to try, having every spice imaginable (in bulk for less than half the price of buying small containers); what part of any of this is bad?

Maybe a better question is "why wouldn't you prep?"

[Sparkyprep]

#1 reason I prep is hurricanes.
A lose second is a different kind of "perfect storm".


Our government's fiscal policy is basically a Ponzi scheme. I would guess that 80% of Americans have more debt than money, and a large portion of those Americans have more debt than all the money they will EVER make. For the first time in history, more people take handouts from the government (who itself is broke), than don't. Financial institutions cheat, lie, and steal due to overwhelming greed, and our government supports them, too.

We have seen time and time again that that most people are savages, who riot, loot, murder, rape, and burn down their own cities when they don't get their way. Our government supports them as well. We have national borders that are simply open, and under constant attack. Our enemies mock us openly, and our allies don't trust us anymore. People have lost all civility, common sense, and work ethic.

Anyone who says that our country is going to hell in a hand basket is lying, or is confused. We are already there. But, if anyone tries to bring that crap to a particular ten acres in South Florida, they will catch an ass-beating that will make the national news.

[hawgrider]

Prepping is a new word and really is nothing but a lost art. Most of our grandparents learned how to be self sufficient during the great depression. They continued those skills through out their lives. Then they passed those skills to the next generation if that generation was paying attention.

My purpose for being self sufficient is to eat drink and be merry.

[A Watchman]

Being prepared (I don't call it prepping) as others have said, is a hobby and fun. it is also the right thing to do.

[Prepared One]

It's insurance, peace of mind, and fun. I like knowing I will not have to do without or be caught flat footed. I have natural disasters covered. When a hurricane enters the gulf I won't be the one at wally world fighting over a lousy can of corn. Besides, are you all that comfortable with what's going on in the world? I am not.

[slewfoot]

Simple, we do not want to get caught with our pants down when it happens.
And the last sentence of what Hawg said.:bigthumbup:

[Coastie dad]

Because shit happens. To me. Often.
And I just love giving the finger back to fate.

[Sasquatch]

I don't prep, I just have a bad habit of going to the store when I'm hungry and buying LOTS of food.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Baglady]

Semi-Sustainable living has been a way of life for the first 16 yrs of my life, (thanks Mom), and now the past 16 yrs of my life, (thanks Hubby).
The 23 yrs in between I pretty much had all my other learning experiences.
Still learning tho. Thanks to guys /gals like you all.

[slewfoot]

On the serious side, I want to be able to bug in and be here to protect what is mine after the initial incident. Living here in hurricane country we get up to a week sometimes of the track a hurricane is on and if it is coming our way I do not want to be the ones who did not prep or waited to the last minute and now are standing in a line that snakes across the parking lot at Lowes or Home depot. we do not let the cars gas get below a half tank. I have seen the lines at the stations at least 3 -4 blocks long. Don't want to be sitting there when I could be home putting up the shutters and generally getting last minute things done.
We are now entering our hurricane season and we already have a storm brewing up off the Yucatan peninsula. They are predicting 4-5 inches of rain Monday or Tuesday here, tells me the lawn is going to get well watered.
Have a great weekend everyone.

[Gambit]

my signature says why I started prepping.

It happened before, it can happen again.
It happened there, it can happen here.
It happened to that person, it can happen to you.
No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.

[Baglady]

On the serious side, I want to be able to bug in and be here to protect what is mine after the initial incident. Living here in hurricane country we get up to a week sometimes of the track a hurricane is on and if it is coming our way I do not want to be the ones who did not prep or waited to the last minute and now are standing in a line that snakes across the parking lot at Lowes or Home depot. we do not let the cars gas get below a half tank. I have seen the lines at the stations at least 3 -4 blocks long. Don't want to be sitting there when I could be home putting up the shutters and generally getting last minute things done.
We are now entering our hurricane season and we already have a storm brewing up off the Yucatan peninsula. They are predicting 4-5 inches of rain Monday or Tuesday here, tells me the lawn is going to get well watered.
Have a great weekend everyone.

At least we know you and the Mrs will be safe.

[Baglady]

my signature says why I started prepping.

It happened before, it can happen again.
It happened there, it can happen here.
It happened to that person, it can happen to you.
No one is immune to the trials and tribulations of life.

Very good point.

[slewfoot]

Well looks like central and northern Florida is going to get hit with the first tropical storm of the year unless it turns into a hurricane. Going above us but we are expecting a lot of rain from the outer bands.

[hag]

You boy's stay safe down there. My brother and cousin and their families are leaving for gulf shores Alabama today. Told them to have fun in the traffic jams when everyone is trying to evacuate lol.

[Inor]

Hang tough Slew and Sparky. Give us a shout out to let us know you are okay.

I think this one going to miss JAX, but if it does not you be safe too RPD.

[Baglady]

Ditto that^.
Let us know your all safe.

[slewfoot]

We got wind at 11 mph and 0.38 inches of rain. according to my weather station mounted on the roof.So we were missed totally which is a good thing.

[Sparkyprep]

Got some strong wind and sideways rain for about 30 min., then it was over. It really went too far North to affect us much.

[Coppertop]

I Prep/Prepare for a few reasons. #1 is natural disaster crap- We get some pretty good storms here in the winter and a few years ago, we were isolated due to fires about 20 miles away- The fires had the highway shut down and the power out for 8 days. I kept the freezers and AC going and didn't have to go to the grocery store at all during that time because I was ready. I'm in a better spot now than then also.

#2 is because I have had to change career fields and take a 60% pay cut. That hurts. I was able to eat well and survive until I could get my finances back in order (cut Child Support, get supplemental jobs, etc) without getting behind in my payments. It becomes a financial security to me. Plus as others have said, I eat whatever I can make and it's lots healthier than some of the crap you buy.

#3 I am worried about the government screwing around and causing an economic shutdown. I still want to eat and enjoy my life after that.

#4 I enjoy cooking, hunting, woodworking, ranching, EMT work, gardening, working with my hands, etc. Preparing just fits very nicely into the things I enjoy doing. I am also learning new things all the time. My wife and I are learning to can, I am getting better at vehicle maintenance and home repair, she has turned into one hell of a hunter, etc.

These are the 4 big reasons I prepare.

Thanks
Coppertop