Are you a "prepper" ?

[Bensmom]

The discussion about food storage and #10 cans got me to thinkin'....

How many "preppers" are there on the WTM?

 

poll to follow...

[SailorMom]

I'm not a fanatic, but being that we live in hurricane country, we do have a hurricane kit and extra non-perishable food. We're not prepping for any sort of government apocalypse, though. We have plenty ammo, but that's because we have guns, and they kinda go together. We have bought more ammo lately do to concerns we have about possible future legislation.

[Tarreymere]

Dh is more concerned about a drastic rise in food prices and things if oil prices go up really high. So, we have boxes and bins of nonperishable items stored around the house, like rice and wheat and canned goods. We purchased an expensive water filter, the Berkey, that supposedly can filter water from lakes and streams to make it drinkable. I have a pressure canner that can distill water also. Oh, and we have a wood stove.

 

Personally I think that if there ever is a need for anything it will be the woodstove and the water filter, because I can see the electricity going out for days or weeks at a time (we live in PA and do get big snowstorms) which would knock out the heat and the water pump that pumps from the well. The food storage would come in handy then too since with a big snowstorm I can see not wanting to try to make it the three miles to a store......

[DawnM]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread:

 

"I'm a prepper, He's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?" :lol:

[starwarsmomma]

A true prepper would never discuss what they actually have. :D

 

Honestly for me though, I only prep as led by the Lord. So others looking at what I have (not that much), would see major holes in my "preps".

 

I will make an interesting note though, for 3 years I was led to buy food. Then it stopped, and a feeling of Peace/Time is up followed. A month ago, I was led to put together a EMT style bag for emergencies. And a week ago, I was led to purchase/update ALL our medications.

 

God seems to be filling in the holes just fine. :D

[jennsmile]

Yep. We live in the country. We have propane for cooking, heat with a woodstove, just got some solar panels to supplement our energy use. My library is well stocked with essential books and even if I didn't buy anymore ever if my kids read them all they will have a well rounded education (don't tell dh.) We filter rainwater for drinking and have a nice supply. Our safe is stocked and we have always had foodstorage.

 

For me it is in case of disability for dh. I want to be able to be prepared should his income drop considerably and I have to further my education while working part time.

 

We also want to be prepared should a tornado come through and knock out power and roads. We are far from town and have to be prepared should disaster strike.

 

It brings a piece of mind knowing that we could get through a rough patch of unemployment in this crazy world. We wouldn't starve to death and we would have some light and computer use now. ;)

[butterflymommy]

We've been poorly prepared for disasters in the past (9/11, Irene, 4 day power outage, water running brown for days) so this is the year I'd like to start prepping. I did prep for y2k... anyone here remember all the y2k sites and newsgroups?

[Ellie]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread:

 

"I'm a prepper, He's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?" :lol:

:thumbup:

[Kathryn]

My DH wishes we were. We have no storage space and no extra money for all these things he wants to store.

[Upward Journey]

Yep. We live in the country. We have propane for cooking, heat with a woodstove, just got some solar panels to supplement our energy use. My library is well stocked with essential books and even if I didn't buy anymore ever if my kids read them all they will have a well rounded education (don't tell dh.) We filter rainwater for drinking and have a nice supply. Our safe is stocked and we have always had foodstorage.

 

For me it is in case of disability for dh. I want to be able to be prepared should his income drop considerably and I have to further my education while working part time.

 

We also want to be prepared should a tornado come through and knock out power and roads. We are far from town and have to be prepared should disaster strike.

 

It brings a piece of mind knowing that we could get through a rough patch of unemployment in this crazy world. We wouldn't starve to death and we would have some light and computer use now. ;)

 

I voted well stocked pantry.

 

A year ago I would have voted that we had emergency food storage, but we went through a 6-month stint of being unemployed and used most of it up. That is what it was for afterall. :001_smile:

[jennsmile]

My DH wishes we were. We have no storage space and no extra money for all these things he wants to store.

 

Underbeds works great for storing food. As do closets. You don't buy it all at once. Even just getting a few extra cans of something when you go to the store helps. We did not start with everything at once and our water system was compliments of the the Bush money we got. Think baby steps. A little at a time.

[Bensmom]

I never considered prepping for an emergency. Then last summer a storm came through our area and we were without electricity and water for 3 days. It was over 100 degrees outside. I didn't have enough water for my dogs. (Another day and we humans would have been without water too.) The only store in town still open was cash only and of course I had no cash. The van was on empty and I couldn't pack up the family and get out of town. It was a terrible, helpless feeling. I was on the verge of calling a family member (who lives two hours away) to come pack up my family (including 4 cats, and 2 large dogs) when the power returned. It occured to me then, that it might be a good idea to have a supply of things necessary for survival on hand for future incidents!

[Shannon in TN]

A true prepper would never discuss what they actually have :D

 

:iagree:;)

 

We are what I would call light preppers. I have an overstock of food, a freezer full of meat - and a generator that we wired to run the whole house - and dh handles some "security" prepping. Our new house has a wood stove and we have plenty of wood for it, with plenty more to harvest (we live on a very wooded lot with a few downed trees that we're working on making into firewood). We have a serious gap in water storage, though. :glare:

 

When I lived in hurricane country, I learned the value of being prepared. And when we lived in a neighborhood that lost power multiple times a winter, we learned the value of a generator. In fact, everyone on our street had one.

[regentrude]

Sort-of well stocked pantry here.

We do have a water filter and are two minutes form a small stream, and there are major rivers in the area (it's Missouri, after all). So, not really concerned about water.

 

I believe in emergency preparedness for a tornado, power-outage, or other short-term disaster. I do not intend to prepare for an apocalyptic breakdown of civilization.

[jennsmile]

I never considered prepping for an emergency. Then last summer a storm came through our area and we were without electricity and water for 3 days. It was over 100 degrees outside. I didn't have enough water for my dogs. (Another day and we humans would have been without water too.) The only store in town still open was cash only and of course I had no cash. The van was on empty and I couldn't pack up the family and get out of town. It was a terrible, helpless feeling. I was on the verge of calling a family member (who lives two hours away) to come pack up my family (including 4 cats, and 2 large dogs) when the power returned. It occured to me then, that it might be a good idea to have a supply of things necessary for survival on hand for future incidents!

 

One of the saddest stories I heard after Katrina was a baby in a filthy diaper for a couple of days because they didn't have one. I just felt for the kid who probably had a rash. We cloth diaper but diapers are something I would hate to be without. That and baby formula. I breastfeed but if you don't make sure to stock some formula and clean water for emergencies.

 

As a kid we were in hurricane country and had no power for a week.

[Shannon in TN]

Oh, I forgot to mention - have any of you seen "Doomsday Preppers"? We've watched it a few times and while some of those folks seem quite loony, we've been able to get some good ideas for storage and such.

[Parrothead]

We are not preppers to any extent that I wish we would be. The house is a rental and we don't have adequate storage. We will be (hopefully, please Lord) some land in the near future and building. At that point I will slowly start our stocking up.

[KirstenH]

One of the saddest stories I heard after Katrina was a baby in a filthy diaper for a couple of days because they didn't have one. I just felt for the kid who probably had a rash.

 

Why on Earth wouldn't they just let the baby go naked?

[chepyl]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread:

 

"I'm a prepper, He's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?" :lol:

 

Me too :tongue_smilie:

[jennsmile]

Why on Earth wouldn't they just let the baby go naked?

I have no idea! I saw it on the news. I was shocked to say the least. My baby would go naked if needed.

[DianeW88]

I have food storage. I'm LDS. LOL I have to.

 

No, but seriously, we do have food storage. For many reasons, most of them economic. I'm not anticipating any doomsday type of event, but I have seen many of my friends grateful for their food storage during times of unemployment or illness.

 

We also live in earthquake country and so we are prepared for that type of a disaster with food storage and 72 hour kits. No aid or outside help will get to you in the first 72 hours after an emergency. We'd prefer not to starve and be able to maintain good hygiene while we're waiting. :D

[Lady Florida.]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the thread:

 

"I'm a prepper, He's a prepper, wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?" :lol:

 

 

Gee, thanks Dawn. Now I can't get this out of my head. :lol:

[butterflymommy]

I guess I would call myself a light prepper too (at least, in theory-- I've had trouble implementing my plans). We're in an urban setting so any true doomsday scenario will be just that for us-- doom. But we absolutely should have a good week or two of food/ water/ supplies on hand, and we don't.

 

As far as the baby diapers and katrina... weren't there babies who died of dehydration in the superdome? I remember seeing pictures of the wrapped up bodies of the elderly and at least one baby. Again that is where you're in an urban environment and it's a whole different ballgame because you're going to be part of a swarm unless you have the means and foreknowledge to get out of the city before things go to hell.

[lailasmum]

We tend to have large quantities of rice and pasta around but i wouldn't say we are super prepped. I guess living in the UK where we don't have major scarey weather very often or earthquakes I don't feel pressurised from that point of view. In our specific area it tends to be snow or flooding that causes us to not be able to go food shopping and only for a couple of days normally. We do get a lot of powercuts and mostly just tend to be prepared for that by having an alternative method of cooking. I know when I was a few months old my parents were cut off in their house because the power lines came down after several weeks of snow and freezing temperatures. They ended up having no water after a couple of weeks and had to melt snow so I guess it would be realistic to prepare for that kind of emergency as we only live a few miles from there.

 

 

My husband has an emergency kit in his car as he does long drives every week.

 

I would like to prep more but not sure where we would store everything.

Edited May 19, 2012 by lailasmum

[Evergreen State Sue]

My dh wants us to be more prepared. About a year and a half ago our water froze just before Thanksgiving. We bought several of those plastic waters with the spickit at the store. Our water thawed and we didn't have to use it. So my dh stored it in our closet and basement. About a year later I discovered the containers leaked. What a mess! I know water will be important in an emergency, but I don't know how to store it.

[Kathleen in LV]

For people interested in learning more about light or heavy prepping, a great, fun place to get started is www.thesurvivalmom.com. She was featured on an episode of Doomsday Preppers. She's not one of those "out there" types - she's much more practical. And her site has a lot of great articles on a wide variety of prepping topics.

[regentrude]

Several people mentioned storing food for cases of unemployment/disability/economic hardship. I am very puzzled by this. Would it not make more sense and afford much more flexibility to save the money in an emergency fund and purchase the food (and other needed items) when the emergency arises? That way, nothing takes up space, can spoil, etc and you get exactly what you need in that moment.

:confused:

[Wheres Toto]

Why on Earth wouldn't they just let the baby go naked?

:iagree: Seriously. I would do naked or use up some old t-shirts, sheets and blankets.

 

We have a well stocked pantry, mostly of canned goods from the grocery store. We buy a lot whenever things are on sale. We probably could go a month without starving or nutritional deficits. That's about the best we can do with our very limited storage space. I plan to do a lot of home canning from our veggie garden this year and one of the things we need to figure out is where to put it all.

 

We cook with propane and can light our stove with a match. We have a wood burning fireplace, lots of wood and live on a very wooded acre. One edge of our property is a river so we can get water if we need to but we are on a well that the pump doesn't work during a power outage. We keep a few gallons of water in the fridge since dh likes very cold water but that wouldn't get us too far. I guess our biggest thing would be to get a kit to convert the well to a hand pump.

 

We live in a dead-end neighborhood with only one way out and that way has been blocked by down trees and wires before. In a true emergency though, we could drive our Suburban across the golf course at the end of our street.

[fairfarmhand]

does it count that I have the capability of providing food for my family? We have half a cow in the freezer, gardens, fruit trees chickens and a milk cow.

 

I chose that I have a well-stocked pantry.

[Truscifi]

I voted well stocked pantry, though we do prep for hurricane season. We have emergency supplies of water and non perishables, but only enough for about 2 weeks. The longest we have ever been without power is 10 days, so we figure we should be okay with that. We also keep extra batteries, cash, and a water proof "document bag". We do have some ammo stock piled, but not a huge amount. I just find it easier to buy it in bulk so I don't have to go very often.

[jennsmile]

Several people mentioned storing food for cases of unemployment/disability/economic hardship. I am very puzzled by this. Would it not make more sense and afford much more flexibility to save the money in an emergency fund and purchase the food (and other needed items) when the emergency arises? That way, nothing takes up space, can spoil, etc and you get exactly what you need in that moment.

:confused:

I thankfully have the means to purchase things now. I am able to get them on sale or at discount prices and then I stock up. I was able to purchase wheat back when it was $6 a 25 # bag it is now $12a 25# bag. I buy ahead and stretch my food budget by doing so. When somebody is out of work our money we have in reserve can go to other things or supplement the dry storage we have with fresh fruit, veggies and milk.

[Upward Journey]

Several people mentioned storing food for cases of unemployment/disability/economic hardship. I am very puzzled by this. Would it not make more sense and afford much more flexibility to save the money in an emergency fund and purchase the food (and other needed items) when the emergency arises? That way, nothing takes up space, can spoil, etc and you get exactly what you need in that moment.

:confused:

 

By the time dh was unemployed we'd already been living on a reduced income for over a year. It was much easier to buy a little bit more than we needed over an extended period, than to buy anything at all when you we had nothing coming in. Our savings was going to mortgage, insurance, gas, electric.....

 

Of course I'm not talking perishables here, I'm talking 25lb. rice, beans, popcorn, wheat berries, extra honey....

[Mynyel]

There is no "Other"! :P

 

I would love to be a prepper, however finances and space don't allow for it. I have some bulked up but not enough to get through a major crisis.

 

*sigh* I wish.

[Lily_Grace]

I do food/water storage, as well as having our 'escape envelope': passports, visas, cash, emergency numbers, and my savings account debit card.

 

We don't live anywhere long enough to have a rotating large storage of food and water. In an emergency I would count on my envelope more -an evacuation is more likely for us.

[HRAAB]

I've always done food storage. Not necessarily because I'm preparing for some catastrophe, but it was the way I was raised. We were the lone Catholic family in a neighborhood of LDS families. :001_smile: Not that I have it down to the science some of those ladies did, but I do okay. I learned from the pros!

[OrganicAnn]

The only thing we stock for emergencies is water, which we have used when they were doing work on the water lines in our area and once after bad weather ( I think it was flooding) caused a disruption of our water. We have a well stocked pantry, just because it is economical and makes everyday life easier. We do have lots of resources and a small generator. I prep for natural disasters rather than anything else.

[LostSurprise]

We're similar to OrganicAnn.

 

We have emergency water supplies for each member of the family, including the dog and cats. I think we're up to 3 days. Its easy to use in the garden and refill every 6 months. The harder part is finding/saving the containers for it. We also have an emergency kit.

 

We keep a full pantry so we're not driven by changing food prices, but it works for emergency situations too. We get food when its in-season and cheap.

[Kathryn]

Underbeds works great for storing food. As do closets. You don't buy it all at once. Even just getting a few extra cans of something when you go to the store helps. We did not start with everything at once and our water system was compliments of the the Bush money we got. Think baby steps. A little at a time.

 

All full. We literally have nowhere else to store anything without looking like hoarders. This house was NOT planned with storage in mind.

[missmoe]

I have food storage and a bit of water. Recently I feel led to start using our food storage, so that is what I am working on!

[Henriettakittycat]

We have food and water stored. My son was an Eagle Scout (Be Prepared) and took emergency prep. very seriously.

 

One of the funniest things we found after he died was canned food stuffed in the chair and loveseat. He had a notebook under the chair cushion that listed what was in each one and the expiration date. In the garage we found several jugs and soda bottles of water, all with a date on them of when he filled them.

[Mimm]

I've got nothing. When the zombie apocalypse hits, we'll last two days. :p

[ocelotmom]

Several people mentioned storing food for cases of unemployment/disability/economic hardship. I am very puzzled by this. Would it not make more sense and afford much more flexibility to save the money in an emergency fund and purchase the food (and other needed items) when the emergency arises? That way, nothing takes up space, can spoil, etc and you get exactly what you need in that moment.

:confused:

 

1. Stocking up in a smart manner (taking advantage of sales and seasonal prices, for example) is much cheaper than buying as-needed.

 

2. Personal hardship is the most likely use of emergency food stores, followed by a short-term emergency (72 hours or so). And, since we haven't had any widespread disasters lately, that's what people are using their food stores for NOW. That doesn't mean that those are the only possibilities. Most people who identify as preppers are also preparing for the possibility of something more widespread and long-lasting, whether it be natural or man-made disaster, rapid inflation, armageddon, or whatever - situations where money, especially in a bank account, isn't likely to be helpful.

 

3. Intelligent preppers have a rotating stock for most things and don't let things spoil, and they buy things they use during regular times. They don't buy a bunch of stuff and let it sit there for years - they use it, oldest first, and replace it as it gets used. If you have a stock of what you commonly use on hand... you have exactly what you need in the moment, without having to run out to the store and buy it at whatever the current price is.

 

Also, as my husband insists I mention, no one (well, no one here!) is suggesting going broke in order to prep. Having savings is a different aspect of prepping.

Edited May 20, 2012 by ocelotmom

[LibraryLover]

I've got nothing. When the zombie apocalypse hits, we'll last two days. :p

 

:D We have chickens and a well. We would have a couple of days on you. Our weapons are not what they should be, however. We have lots of chicken wire, so maybe we can use that. ;)

[suzyqak]

One of the saddest stories I heard after Katrina was a baby in a filthy diaper for a couple of days because they didn't have one. I just felt for the kid who probably had a rash. We cloth diaper but diapers are something I would hate to be without. That and baby formula. I breastfeed but if you don't make sure to stock some formula and clean water for emergencies.

 

As a kid we were in hurricane country and had no power for a week.

 

 

Some people are unaware that you can start to nurse a baby/child & in a very short time you will start lactating. this would have helped so many of those young babies/toddlers.

[suzyqak]

Exactly! the sunshine would have done his "bum" a world of good!

[FaithManor]

We have food, water, and personal care items plus some gasoline for the generator. This is not because we believe the apocolypse is coming, but because if a major tornado hits here, we could be without power for a long time and are nine miles from a grocery store which would also be without power. We are on a well so would have 5-6 days worth of power to run the pump on the well, but I like to have some extra in case. Same for an ice storm. Michigan has had communities without power for 7 days due to ice and fallen trees. Not fun.

 

Faith

[justLisa]

I tend to load up on pantry stuff. But I don't have specific survival things. DH probably wishes we did. I don't know. I just look at that kind of stuff and think it's so much money and we probably won't ever use it!

[Mommyof4ks]

Nope, I do not even have enough water for a power outage, which I discovered when the water was out here for a day and we had to go to the store. I do have a few cans of beans, but otherwise we will be raiding the store like everyone else lol.

 

ETA: I do have plenty of personal care stuff, batteries , flashlights, candles, and other items I have gotten cheap or free with coupons. :)

[Tammi K]

I'm not a fanatic, but being that we live in hurricane country, we do have a hurricane kit and extra non-perishable food. We're not prepping for any sort of government apocalypse, though.

 

:iagree: But we're in an earthquake, loss of power because of blizzards/ice part of the country.