Posted on 01/24/2014 3:51:59 PM PST by Kartographer
Lots of regular people in todays society see us prepper and survivalists as weirdos in camouflage suits, conspiracy nuts and similar. Most of them are right, lots of „survivalists“ also help in building that image of survivalists. It is hard for some people to just shut up and prep, what they should do to keep low profile. But some people make survival so much part of who they are they want to show off. Their choice.
Point is that there are lot of definitions of survivalists there, and each one of them is like „written in stone“. I think survival is more about how you are as person and not what you expect. Once disaster strikes, you will see tough guys helpless and regular guys become strong forces. True nature shows up
(Excerpt) Read more at shtfschool.com ...
Preppers’ PING!!
I think it is a good idea to be prepared for whatever may likely happen. I don’t think it should be the whole reason for living now tho.
Just too many possibilities to know for sure what is in the future. Still, food, water and shelter are something to keep in mind, just in case.
Half the ladies at my hair salon have husbands who are stocking water and food. They’re hearing stories from relatives and friends in law enforcement and the military that something’s gonna happen eventually so we must prepare for it.
“Real survivalist is man (or woman) who know what to do in certain moment.”
So true and it helps to wargame in advance on different scenarios so you are not having to make split second decisions of the top of your head.
No one around me knows I have anything. That is the best plan for me and everyone’s plans will be different.
I get active experience when a hurricane takes out power as it is my preps that get me through that easily.
I go through mental exercises thinking up worst type scenarios and what my first action and others would be. If those happen, I have thought about it and know what to do.
What will you do right now, your first action, if power went out and plunged you into darkness? My first action is set - I keep a battery powered lantern type flashlight on the floor next to my chair. I reach down and pick that up and punch the button and the darkness is gone. Now, I can do anything I need to do or want to do.
There will be instances that will happen that I never thought of, but the practice of planning will help quickly guide me to an answer for that. I have been a problem solver all my life and that's what I do best.
Keep a clear head.
When you explain something to them they say " Oh that's easy, I knew that".....They don't know anything really until you tell them how.....ha
Country people have always practiced preparedness. We’ve learned so much from neighbors, friends and FRiends.
I have been thi9nking about this for a while now and I keep asking my self what is "prepping"?
I have come to the conclusion that it is a number of different aspects.
The first one that everyone thinks about is Materially. Do you have enough food, water, weapons, ammunition, etc.... Non preppers would stop there.
How about Physically? Are you in good physical shape, do you exercise on a regular basis, even if it is just walking. Do you still smoke, drink to excess, or use recreational drugs? Have you taken some basic self defense classes as a minimum?
How about Mentally? Do you spend time learning new techniques, a foreign language, acquiring first aid skills, or are you vegetating in front of the idiot box(s)?
Emotionally/ spiritually I would put both of these together. Do you have a generally positive outlook or are you always in the doldrums? Do you look forward to going to work or do you dread getting out of bed in the morning?
Years ago I began to study martial arts, more as a recreational get in shape type of thing. My second instructor was/is an amazing teacher practitioner. Everyone failed their first test for third brown belt. Everyone, it didn't matter how well prepared you were or how much skill you had, everyone failed. He didn't do this to be mean or cruel,. or just for kicks. He needed to know how you handled failure. Would you give up and walk or come back with a renewed sense of purpose? he realized that sometimes in life you would have to face an adverse situation that you could not control and you just might not come out victorious the first time.
Also he had made the decision that he would not award a Black belt to anyone that had not made the decision that they could use their skills in a deadly force encounter.
He needed to know that you had sat down and thought about this aspect of your training.
All that being said three books that altered my perspective and contributed to my decisions were Massad Ayoob's "In the gravest extreme", Colonel Jeff Cooper's "Principles of Self defense", and Ben Sherwood's "The Survivors club"
As I said I apologize if this is a bit long winded, but the topic really hit home with me tonight.
Preppies are snobs, and they think they’re so darned cool! They waste so much money on appearances!
Oh...preppers. Never mind.
More sincerely, for those of you who haven’t already done so, learn to do something technical—repairs, making a useful product—anything, from knitting to castings.
Speaking of the country, I just paid for a 50% hike in the price of propane—in the west, where it’s been warmer than usual! Ouch! Study alternative heating systems for a few years, folks, and install something.
I know I’ve told this story before, but I think it illustrates the different mindsets pretty well.
Earlier this month, when the real temperature reached a high of -18 and the windchill was in the -50s, I was driving home in the dark and saw a work crew had dug a hole in the road big enough to lose a car in. There were at least a dozen workmen freezing their tails off working by spotlight in that hole. When I got home, I asked my dad (who works in the city/county building) what was going on. He said there were water mains breaking all over the place because of the cold. I asked if we had water set aside in case our water main broke.
His answer: “No, why would we do that?”
After my hands thawed enough, mom and I got about 5 gallons set aside. We didn’t end up needing it, but it was reassuring to have.
Not too long ago, dad discovered my stash of dry pasta that I’d been building up. He sent most of it to the food pantry. He tried to send all of it, but I convinced him to let me keep the boxes that had been opened. He was in such a “throw it out” frenzy that I found stuff mixed in that wasn’t even food, he’d just been grabbing every box in the pantry and throwing it in the bag without looking. This is the same guy who thinks canned foods spoil within a month. He throws out the good dishes but saves paper towels so they can be reused.
Tonight might get interesting. My nephew is staying over, and our furnace isn’t working. I can think of several steps to take if the repair guy can’t fix it tonight. Will dad even bother? Or will he tell me “it’s not that cold, why would we want a fire in the woodstove?”
I’ve been recommending Ayoob’s “In the gravest extreme” for a couple decades. I keep an extra copy around to loan out. I wish he would update it, but all the mindset and probably even legal info is still great.
I haven’t read Cooper’s book, but I’ve read all his commentaries over the years, so I’m sure I have more than the flavor of it. I should still probably get it and read it.
My wife does most of the shopping - she has laid in a solid store of emergency rations/water and even some bug-out packs.
We have lots of fallen wood around here.
Wood is a great material for heat. Not much of it around my area, though. We’ll be installing wood backup (probably just a box stove), but there are over 300 sun days per year. And it’s high elevation (more intense sunlight at over 9,000 feet).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.