Prepping, or wasting time/money?

[ChileRelleno 7,071]

If I lose my job, and can't find new employment... I do not have to worry about buying groceries to feed my family, for at least a year.

We already garden, we are prepared to expand that if needs dictate... And we have the materials & knowledge to can the excess bounty.

The kids have a couple sets of clothes and shoes, that they will grow into over a year or two... That is another expense I need not worry about.

 

We live in a area prone to hurricanes, a week or more without power has been reality... We've a generator and fuel.

The freezer stays frozen, a small A/C unit in the smallest room for relief from the heat, a light or two at night, radio/TV and what not.

 

If the house suffers severe damage, we can set up camp in the yard, we've the camping gear to do it comfortably.

 

The municipal water system goes down, we've a few weeks of bottled for drinking, then we switch to Berkey Black filters for longer term... We can haul water from the creek if needs be and make it potable.

 

The grocery stores don't get restocked, or the Gubermint checks stop coming.

The government dependent, welfare zombies and unprepared desperate masses decide to Redistribute the Wealth themselves.

To take what my neighbors and I have prepared... They will have to be willing to fight and die for it, they will not be overly willing to do this when there are easier pickings.

Note I said, neighbors and I? Know your neighbors, the most basic of organization based on Natural Disaster SHTF, will translate for any other SHTF.

Be prepared to share meals and shelter with those neighbors if at all possible, they will be grateful.

History has shown again, and again that safety is in numbers, large families, multi-family, neighbors/neighborhoods and such, working together to live in relative safety.

 

Do you have anything that will be of trade/barter value, do you have a skill that will be of value.

Examples: A case of Bic lighters, can you make beer/wine/spirits, individual use soap/shampoo, repair clothes/shoes/small engines?

Are you a EMT/nurse/doctor, can you bake, are you good at farming/garden, do you have a water well with a manual pump?

 

We're prepared for realistic SHTF scenarios.

It has taken years to get where we are, a bit here and a bit there.

 

I think the most likely major SHTF scenario, is catastrophic economic collapse, I believe we are being led down that path, either by idiots or intentionally.

It has happened to many countries, it can happen here.

The lessons of such are out there in book & video, take heed.

Edited October 2, 2012 by ChileRelleno

[gunfun 3,931]

Realistic planning is about realistic threat assesments, with honest evaluation of cost, risk and gain. I am probably in complete agreement with the OP.

 

Mostly, I think preppers are kidding themselves as a way to justify stuff they think is cool. In general there is no harm in having a bunch of gear if you think it is cool.

 

However if you are neglecting probable threats like a big dental bill somewhere down the road, don't have your car paid off, and you are spending $150 a week on ammo, you are just plain irresponsible. Save up for when you are old and sick, so you aren't a burden to your kids. Invest in something that makes money. Then you can start buying toys with some of the income.

 

As long as you have a responsible balanced budget for your money and your time, where you allocate the play time and money is your business.

 

Most of us can cover our emergency needs with a few hundreds of dollars worth of non perishable food, etc. Most of us can cover our realistic defense needs with any shotgun and a concealable pistol.

 

A good rule of thumb for being honest with your self, is the bigger and more elaborite your justification is, the more you know you are stretching things.

You don't have to come up with a big complicated reason to justify putting $200 a week into savings or retirement. You probably would have a 10 minute justification why that .50 BMG reloading kit is going to save you money in the long run...

 

So, if you aren't in debt, and you spend a healthy amount of time on other more important things and people, you have a regular savings/&investment budget, every time you put money into the savings fund, put a little bit into the play fund. Once it is in the play fund, spend it however the hell you like, and don't feel the least bit silly. Just do the homework first.

[gunfun 3,931]

Another aspect is that our perceptions get distorted by where we spend our time. If you spend all your time preparing for WWIII, you will get an exaggerated notion of how likely that is. You see the same thing with sensible martial arts guys who eventually get sucked into believing some absurd stuff about magical mind energy control. They have mostly sound judgment and plenty of skill, they just get out of balance when they spend too much attention in one spot, and become unable to see when something gets ridiculous.

 

I think this is all situational. I would have a lot more preparation if I lived in coastal Louisiana, Florida, or any state in between. Up here, mob rule and natural disaster is much less probable, and any disasters that occur will probably be sorted out much more quickly. My dad did get sucked into stockpiling stuff in the late 90s, but mostly because he was cheap. It was pretty nice when snow and flooding knocked out power for 16 days in the dead of winter, that we had a genset to run the well for toilets and sinks, heaters, and a bunch of mormon food to eat. However, I think the amount of stuff we had on hand was excessive and ultimately it was a burden, and costly.

[Sim_Player 1,939]

We've stockpiled a couple months worth of nonperishables and a few thousand rnds for the AKs. The food is stuff we always eat anyway and ammo will only go up in price over time.

 

 

 

[1mile50 102]

Realistic planning is about realistic threat assesments, with honest evaluation of cost, risk and gain. I am probably in complete agreement with the OP.

 

Mostly, I think preppers are kidding themselves as a way to justify stuff they think is cool. In general there is no harm in having a bunch of gear if you think it is cool.

 

However if you are neglecting probable threats like a big dental bill somewhere down the road, don't have your car paid off, and you are spending $150 a week on ammo, you are just plain irresponsible. Save up for when you are old and sick, so you aren't a burden to your kids. Invest in something that makes money. Then you can start buying toys with some of the income.

 

As long as you have a responsible balanced budget for your money and your time, where you allocate the play time and money is your business.

 

Most of us can cover our emergency needs with a few hundreds of dollars worth of non perishable food, etc. Most of us can cover our realistic defense needs with any shotgun and a concealable pistol.

 

A good rule of thumb for being honest with your self, is the bigger and more elaborite your justification is, the more you know you are stretching things.

You don't have to come up with a big complicated reason to justify putting $200 a week into savings or retirement. You probably would have a 10 minute justification why that .50 BMG reloading kit is going to save you money in the long run...

 

So, if you aren't in debt, and you spend a healthy amount of time on other more important things and people, you have a regular savings/&investment budget, every time you put money into the savings fund, put a little bit into the play fund. Once it is in the play fund, spend it however the hell you like, and don't feel the least bit silly. Just do the homework first.

 

Hyper Inflation can wipe out a savings, and quick. In '08, all those retirement accounts, including mine, came REAL close to turning to shit and going POOF! I once saw a picture of a woman in Germany just after WWI ended buying a loaf of bread. She was buying it with the wheelbarrow full of currency she pushed to the market to get that loaf of bread.

 

Having a .50 BMG Reloading setup does save me money. I can still load a plinking round that cost $.64, because of materials I have on hand. I can load a plinking round with current materials for about $1.55. My match rounds cost me $3.20. Price custom loaded match grade ammo. It starts at twice that much, and you have to ship them your rifle. I have shot competitively for 5 years now, and I have never not won something.

 

No doubt about it, not having and shooting .50 BMG would save me a whole lot of money. Same goes for firearms in general. But any activity that requires any gear will cost you these days. How many people do you know have an expensive boat that rarely gets used, if ever? I have never regretted my money and time spent shooting.

 

Edited October 2, 2012 by 1mile50

[liberty -r- death 1,445]

Every body prepares for something. Everyone plans ahead in their daily lives. Lets say you have a presentation at a business meeting. You make a power point show, prepare notes. make hand outs, and perhaps rehearse your delivery. You even bone up on the facts on all aspects of the presentation. Because, at the end there will questions you have to answer.

 

Fast forward tp resentation day. . .You give the presentation, no one really pays attention, no one really reads the hand outs, and in the end there are no questions. Did you waste your time being over prepaired? Maybe. But, what would the outcome have been if you had not gone through all of the trouble if had not been prepared?

[Spacehog 2,218]

Good to be prepared, fine... but wouldn't you judge someone that prepared for a Mars invasion by buying as much tin foil as they could afford and spreading it all over their property? What's different from their arguement and yours...? It's the likelyhood of that happening. There's a 99.999% chance people your age are going to be able to retire at some point in their lives.. a 0.0001% chance of a long-term SHTF situation happening.. a 0.00000000001% chance of aliens from mars taking over. Do we prepare for all of these equally, or do we put our financial situation first because it's much more likely to happen? It's too easy to say "being prepared is never a bad thing" because it depends on what you're preparing for, and how likely it is to happen.

Before someone jumps all over me, those are not totally accurrate odds of the above things happening.

 

I can eat the food I store and shoot the guns and ammo I purchase because I enjoy it. That is what is different. Additionally..to the posts that feel 10,000 rounds of ammo is ridiculous, do you see the prices going down? Will ammo "spoil" in my lifetime? I buy lots becuase I shoot alot, and I have a great time doing it. If SHTF then I am also prepared. It's a win-win

[ChileRelleno 7,071]

Never too much ammo... My last Inventory tally.

 

5.56x45 & .223rem

1800rds Fed XM 193 55gr FMJ + 16 30rd Mags (480rds)

900 PMC XTAC 62gr LAP + 4 30rd Mags (120rds)

780 PMC 55gr FMJ

1000 USA 55gr FMJ

Need to Double both FMJ/LAP

Need 68gr SP for hunting

 

7.62x39

3000 Yugo 123gr FMJ + 8 30rd Mags (240rds)

120 Uly 123gr FMJ

580 Sapsan 124gr HP

Need to Double/Triple Yugo

Need good SP for hunting

 

 

.308win & 7,62x51NATO

680 Uly 150gr FMJ

40 USA 155gr AMAX

20 Rem Core-Lokt 150gr SP

16 Win Power-Point 150gr SP

14 Fed Gold Medal Match 168gr HPBT

Need to quadruple 150gr FMJ

 

 

.22lr

3850 Fed bulk 36gr HPCP

400 CCI Mini-Mag 36gr HPCP

100 CCI Mini-Mag 40gr RNCP

120 CCI Shotshell

Need to double Fed bulk

 

12g

355 Rio & Win Super X 00 2.75"

45 Win Super X 00 3."

265 Centurion & Win Super X 1oz Slug 2.75"

24 Fiocchi #4 buck 24pellet 2.75"

200 Fed bulk #7.5 2.75"

Need various fowl & small game shotshells

Need sabot slugs

 

.9mm Luger

47 Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P HP

20 Hornady Critical Defense 115gr BT

300 Rem UMC 115gr JHP

700 Rem, Fed & USA 115gr FMJ

Need SpeerGD to 250-300

Need FMJ to 3000

 

.38spc

100 Fed Hydra-Shok 129gr+P HP

100 Monarch 158gr JHP

50 Win 115gr MJ

Need +P HP to 250-300

Need FMJ to 3000

 

.357mag

26 110gr SJHP

Need 250-300 Premium HP

Need FMJ to 500-1000

 

.380auto

150 Speer Gold Dot 90gr HP

34 Unspecified reloads 88gr HP

200 PMC 90gr FMJ

Need SpeerGD to 250-300

Need FMJ to 3000

 

 

 

[gunfun 3,931]

Realistic planning is about realistic threat assesments, with honest evaluation of cost, risk and gain. I am probably in complete agreement with the OP.

 

Mostly, I think preppers are kidding themselves as a way to justify stuff they think is cool. In general there is no harm in having a bunch of gear if you think it is cool.

 

However if you are neglecting probable threats like a big dental bill somewhere down the road, don't have your car paid off, and you are spending $150 a week on ammo, you are just plain irresponsible. Save up for when you are old and sick, so you aren't a burden to your kids. Invest in something that makes money. Then you can start buying toys with some of the income.

 

As long as you have a responsible balanced budget for your money and your time, where you allocate the play time and money is your business.

 

Most of us can cover our emergency needs with a few hundreds of dollars worth of non perishable food, etc. Most of us can cover our realistic defense needs with any shotgun and a concealable pistol.

 

A good rule of thumb for being honest with your self, is the bigger and more elaborite your justification is, the more you know you are stretching things.

You don't have to come up with a big complicated reason to justify putting $200 a week into savings or retirement. You probably would have a 10 minute justification why that .50 BMG reloading kit is going to save you money in the long run...

 

So, if you aren't in debt, and you spend a healthy amount of time on other more important things and people, you have a regular savings/&investment budget, every time you put money into the savings fund, put a little bit into the play fund. Once it is in the play fund, spend it however the hell you like, and don't feel the least bit silly. Just do the homework first.

 

Hyper Inflation can wipe out a savings, and quick. In '08, all those retirement accounts, including mine, came REAL close to turning to shit and going POOF! I once saw a picture of a woman in Germany just after WWI ended buying a loaf of bread. She was buying it with the wheelbarrow full of currency she pushed to the market to get that loaf of bread.

 

Having a .50 BMG Reloading setup does save me money. I can still load a plinking round that cost $.64, because of materials I have on hand. I can load a plinking round with current materials for about $1.55. My match rounds cost me $3.20. Price custom loaded match grade ammo. It starts at twice that much, and you have to ship them your rifle. I have shot competitively for 5 years now, and I have never not won something.

 

No doubt about it, not having and shooting .50 BMG would save me a whole lot of money. Same goes for firearms in general. But any activity that requires any gear will cost you these days. How many people do you know have an expensive boat that rarely gets used, if ever? I have never regretted my money and time spent shooting.

 

 

No doubt it makes sense for you. I am more talking about the guy who makes $15/hr and has to pawn something every month when rent is due, and puts something like that on the credit card.

 

 

If I ran a .50 BMG I would plan on reloading gear before I bought one too. I used the example because I saw a craigslist ad for a guy who impulse bought a $4500 progressive setup for it on time. It just seemed like the height of irresponsibility. IIRC the picture showed a run down little camp trailer as the guy's house. No sense of priorities.

 

I don't have income to speak of at the moment. If I were irresponsible I would buy a pallet of 5.45 while it is cheap. I could say that I know the cost will go way up later. That would be true, but I would more than pay the difference in interest. Ultimately having more than needed for HD is a want and not a need. I could obsess about the UN invading idaho and passing through WA en route, and use that as an excuse to stockpile ammo I can't afford right now.

 

Now if I had solid financial situation, it would be a very smart and rational move to buy as many spam cans as I can... That will pay for itself time and time again, but only if I paid cash.

[jimmy21 18]

Good to be prepared, fine... but wouldn't you judge someone that prepared for a Mars invasion by buying as much tin foil as they could afford and spreading it all over their property? What's different from their arguement and yours...? It's the likelyhood of that happening. There's a 99.999% chance people your age are going to be able to retire at some point in their lives.. a 0.0001% chance of a long-term SHTF situation happening.. a 0.00000000001% chance of aliens from mars taking over. Do we prepare for all of these equally, or do we put our financial situation first because it's much more likely to happen? It's too easy to say "being prepared is never a bad thing" because it depends on what you're preparing for, and how likely it is to happen.

Before someone jumps all over me, those are not totally accurrate odds of the above things happening.

i disagree with your odds. While you say your odds of .00001% "aren't totally accurate" i don't think you put it at over 1%. I on the other put it at at least 50% that we will see an extended shtf scenario. Im not talking about natural disasters, or nuclear meltdowns, or ww3. Im talking about the dollar crashing and hyper inflation. I don't see the dollar making a recovery. Once the euro goes, the dollar will more than likely follow. I don't prep for it like some people do, but i have a few thousand dollars in silver, a safe full of guns, way more ammo than i need, and a tote in my garage of food. I look at guns and ammo as trading material. If the dollar became worthless tomorrow, how would YOU barter for food. I will use some bullets or silver coins to trade with. If i 100% knew SHTF was coming, i wouldn't be putting money away in an ira or paying extra mortgage payments or looking at investments, but since i believe its a posibillity i put stock in to it where i can.

[timy 1,185]

I bought a huge can of spam but when I opened it up it was full of bullets. What's up with that?

[VR762Shooter 838]

Good to be prepared, fine... but wouldn't you judge someone that prepared for a Mars invasion by buying as much tin foil as they could afford and spreading it all over their property? What's different from their arguement and yours...? It's the likelyhood of that happening. There's a 99.999% chance people your age are going to be able to retire at some point in their lives.. a 0.0001% chance of a long-term SHTF situation happening.. a 0.00000000001% chance of aliens from mars taking over. Do we prepare for all of these equally, or do we put our financial situation first because it's much more likely to happen? It's too easy to say "being prepared is never a bad thing" because it depends on what you're preparing for, and how likely it is to happen.

Before someone jumps all over me, those are not totally accurrate odds of the above things happening.

i disagree with your odds. While you say your odds of .00001% "aren't totally accurate" i don't think you put it at over 1%. I on the other put it at at least 50% that we will see an extended shtf scenario. Im not talking about natural disasters, or nuclear meltdowns, or ww3. Im talking about the dollar crashing and hyper inflation. I don't see the dollar making a recovery. Once the euro goes, the dollar will more than likely follow. I don't prep for it like some people do, but i have a few thousand dollars in silver, a safe full of guns, way more ammo than i need, and a tote in my garage of food. I look at guns and ammo as trading material. If the dollar became worthless tomorrow, how would YOU barter for food. I will use some bullets or silver coins to trade with. If i 100% knew SHTF was coming, i wouldn't be putting money away in an ira or paying extra mortgage payments or looking at investments, but since i believe its a posibillity i put stock in to it where i can.

As has happened before (http://en.wikipedia....E2.80.931923.29) There is a story in a book called "The Penniless Billionaires" (http://www.amazon.co...o/dp/0812909232) about a woman in the Weimar inflation who was hospitalized with TB in the early post-war period. A few years later when she got out of the hospital, she had all kinds of mail from her bank. Starting out as, "we see inflation coming, we would like to assist you in redistributing your wealth into other less inflation risked assets" and ending in "your account is too small to keep in our bank, here is your 1 million Deutschmarks as its the smallest denomination we deal in now". People think it doesn't happen but it has, and will again.

Edited October 2, 2012 by VR6Shooter

[lbsrdi 1,078]

I stockpile condoms...

If you have ever had sex with a zombie you would too.

[Salt1219 176]

I'm prepping for a layoff or loss of job, and on a lesser note retirement

 

My guns and other toys are prepped for awesome

[ben4345 123]

I'm prepping for a layoff or loss of job, and on a lesser note retirement

 

My guns and other toys are prepped for awesome

 

no ur awww some er!

[Odd Man Out 1,283]

One type of SHTF situation that has not been mentioned yet has recently happened to me and the wife -- she got in a auto accident and suffered injuries to foot ankle and lung... 2 surgeries, 5 days hospital, two ambulance rides equals around $96,000 (so far) in debt. If you have not prepped with good (or any) health insurance and come up against this adversary, well let me just say that 10K of ammo ain't gonna do you squat...

[gunfun 3,931]

^^ Nailed it. Perhaps the 20K bullets can be used in a bank robbery spree.

 

I've got a lot of friends and family who do skilled trades. Any one of them could have an injury any day that will put them completely out of work and cancel all the savings in one shot. That doesn't even count the stuff like cancer or heart trouble.

[Sim_Player 1,939]

Long-term financial planning at this point in time seems like a bad idea, IMHO, and I've placed mine on hold.

 

If the current monetary system survives, i'll reconsider. The US Fed is propping it up, artificially, at the moment, by printing money.

 

Food, fuel, and ammo seem like good solid investments at the moment. I guess we will see what happens in the next few years.

 

If someone can afford to bank an extra $200 a week ($800 a month) then they are more fortunate than most, including myself.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Sim_Player

[U.S. Pratorean 1,234]

I hope you guys realize that with O-kenyan care this will be 100 x's worse. You will be in a bad way if you get sick or injured.

[Matthew Hopkins 1,065]

 

 

Long-term financial planning at this point in time seems like a bad idea, IMHO, and I've placed mine on hold..............................If someone can afford to bank an extra $200 a week ($800 a month) then they are more fortunate than most, including myself.

 

 

no not fortunate, it's called living within your means and not frivolously spending money. ask yourself this question what can you cut out that you don't need? I can tell you for you married with children types is buying fast food ie. McDonalds. if you honestly look at the money you spend on those so called "happy meals", you can find out very quickly those things cost way more then buying grocery.

 

you can justify to your hearts content about how bad the economy is for the reason you can't sock away some money, but in my day we called that a "cop out".

 

I bet if look really hard, at your so called "discretionary spending" and eliminate or cut it down, you will be able to sock away money.

 

but here is the thing about that, you have to be totally honest, and not "justify" that you need that. 99 percent of the people can't do that, and that's when you get the sniveling about how they "can't make ends meet" and it's the economy's fault.

 

fuck, when I was growing up, we lived within our means, and that is how I live now, and I am able to sock away money for emergencies and stuff that pops up unexpectedly, ie car repair etc.. now, huh, no one thinks beyond today, it's the "we need that 4,000 sq ft. house" syndrome and whatever comes will come.

Edited October 2, 2012 by Matthew Hopkins

[mostholycerebus 415]

Long-term financial planning at this point in time seems like a bad idea, IMHO, and I've placed mine on hold.

 

Wow, I could not disagee more. All the people I know are going nuts with investments. The market is all over the place lately, and that means opportunity. This isnt the time to cash everything out, but theres alot of money out there to be made if you have half a brain and keep your eye on the markets.

 

If someone can afford to bank an extra $200 a week ($800 a month) then they are more fortunate than most, including myself.

 

Or $50 a week, or $25 a week, anything helps when the furnace goes out in December.

 

I find what works for me is not buying into the 80's-90's driven excess hype. My 1400 square feet is PLENTY for the 4 of us, almost too much. Families of 4 have been making due with a sedan for decades, so I look at my small 31mpg CUV as an amazing luxury. Cars nowadays are just broken in at 100k too, no need to be swapping all the time.

 

The 2500 square foot McMansions with two 2-year old Lincoln Navigators in the drive is hat got idiots into this mess to begin with.

[BuffetDestroyer 969]

A number in your bank account/investment portfolio can be turned to zero in multiple different scenarios.

 

However, material goods will always have some value - but much of that value can still be eliminated (think housing crisis).

 

Knowledge and practical skills are the only things that cannot be taken away from you.

[Syndicate 812]

FDIC only has enough in it to cover 1/10 of 1% if it all truly goes to shit...

[DogMan 2,343]

Well first of all it goes without saying that everybody has to prioritize. You don't spend money on anything beyond a two week supply of basic necessities unless you have all the bills paid and can afford to pay for the unexpected expenses. That being said.....I've seen people spend thousands of dollars on cars, boats, and other play toys that they really can't afford without even batting an eye. And most of these impulsive types you know damn well wouldn't even know where to find a flashlight if the power went out for an hour. America's houses, yards, and garages are overflowing with expensive "stuff" that people don't need, so I have no problem with somebody who instead wants to spend there extra cash on SHTF supplies.

[Odd Man Out 1,283]

Not to get all Zen but;

 

IMHO the best knowledge to have is of Self. Do you know yourself? Your limitations, needs, requirements, baseline character and not your wants and fantasies. Without true knowledge of self, one is moving through life in a self induced haze. The person who has taken the time to cut away the BS will have the advantage in all situations.

 

Thus endeth the lesson Grasshopper.

[mgconnor13 206]

We started to stocking up food at our house and it came in handy when my wife wasn't working and our income was cut almost in half. Now that she's working again we will stock up on food again in case something else happens.

[pony_express1973 183]

Society is typically within 72 hours away from dissolving into primitive survival that is driven by instincts of kill or be killed.

 

Most people in the U.S. have never come close to being hungry and unable to obtain food or water for a period over 24 hours.

 

If that changes for a prolonged period beyond 48 hours, especially in a populace place, then we will see civilized people killing each other for basic components of survival like food, water, clothing, medicine and heat (dipshits that have already devolved in our culture will initially be looting electronics, designer fashions and other worthless crap initially).

 

It could be a power or grid outage or other energy crisis, a terrorist attack, a government takeover of the U.S. (monetarily, economically, militarily, etc.), a disease, a natural disaster, or a foreign invasion that starts it.

 

 

History has shown the great empires eventually implode with corruption and greed after the people become lazy and complacent. I hope that the U.S. has not come to that, but will not be surprised to see our eagle fall in my lifetime just as the Roman eagle fell when it became too corrupt to sustain itself.

 

 

 

 

When "The 47%" have nothing they are going to take what they need. I for one think nothing is wrong with prepping but it can be taken to the extreme like when some guy has 4 or 5 years worth of food. If things stay bad that long then I'm not sure a lot of people will make it anyway I think spreading it out over food,guns ,ammo and other important things will go much farther, I plan on stocking up on some food now it is the last thing I need but I will only be looking at about 2 months worth for the family We live inm the country and can hunt and fish for a lot of our food.

[getitat 609]

Hello

 

I prep because I fear "TEOGAWKI" or, The End of Our Government As We Knew It.

 

That's some scary shit.

 

guido in Houston

"God Loves Liberty"

[mgconnor13 206]

When I was deployed running out of food and water would have killed us a lot quicker then the enemy ever could have which is why we spent so much time fighting to keep supply convoys on the road. If you have accesses to drinking water and food to last you at least a week ( and I don't mean an easy week I mean you busting your butt 12+ hrs a day), you have a decent cushion to buy yourself time to find more supplies. Fuel is important too, being able to keep yourself warm and cook/ boil water is key. Having a propane grill with several tanks is an easy fix for cooking.

 

Do a few simple things, get dead bolts for your doors/ re-enforce your house, have plenty of non perishable food and water on hand, some cash, non electric tools, radio, and a weapon with sufficient ammo and you have a decent head start to handle a lot of situations.

 

I keep a "get home" bag in my car that has food/water wet weather gear, some dry clothes, blanket, flash light, lighter, spare batteries, duct tape and some other things that I would need if I had to make the 30 mile walk from work to home should by vehicle go down.

[YARP 300]

I wouldn't call myself a prepper necessarily but like others have already mentioned, I plan for hard times economically........I.E. job loss, wifes job loss, the value of the dollar dropping down....etc. It seems to me that many a good man has gone "bad" when he can longer provide the simple things like food, water and shelter for his family. I prefer to stay a good man and not go all "lord of the flies" on folks when things are not going well for me.

As far as the stocking of ammo and/or firearms, thats a no brainer for me. Most who don't or call it poppy cock don't remember the Clinton firearms ban in the 90s. If you don't remember it then look back to when this forum was started and see what the subject matter was. I can tell you this it wasn't about the newest platform of the week/day because the firearms industry was still very VERY small by todays standards. I forsee another ban in the future if the current administration is elected (you know......since it's working so well in Chicago ).

 

I think the important thing to remember is to not let it rule your life. My grandparents would have probably been considered preppers, but then again who wouldn't be after living through the great depression?