It is always good to be in good shape.
It is always recomended to have some kind of emergency kit, supplies, foods and water in case of any kind of emergency.
I do both but...
Why do all these Preppers think that they're going to be in a very specific disaster type of scenario?
Who said that the planet will be in a “MADMAX” mode?
Who said that you're going to be home with all those stored supplies when “it” (choose your disaster) hits?
Who said, you're going to have to walk 12 miles a day, set up temporary shelter and use your prized Primus stove to cook all those MREs or Freeze-dried foods?
It is always assumed that our civilization will return to the forrests and mountains when, “it” hits but who said that that's the way things will play out?
It is great to be prepared but to what extent and what kind of investment are people willing to make and pay for?
Will canning and buying MREs save you? Maybe.
Will hoarding 50,000 rounds of armor-piercing bullets and buying machine guns save you or even be necessary?
Will building an underground NBC protected shelter be necessary and worth the money you pump into it?
Are we all going to be MadMax and Daniel Boon's?
All I am saying here is that you do not have to exaggerate spending each weekend running up and down mountains with full Army packs, sucking on hydro packs and eating beef jerky and pemmican.
Stay focused and reasonable folks. Yep, be prepared but to what extent and at what cost?
I assume I am going to take a lot of hits for what I have written here but keep things in proportion.
Reasonable and rational seems to be nearly impossible for some.
The you shouldn't misspell Boone, as in Daniel Boone.
I assume I am going to take a lot of hits for what I have written here but keep things in proportion.
My post was not intended to prepare anyone for MADMAX conditions. Granted, if you can do all of that, you're a step ahead in the desert wasteland. The point is that for basic defense of yourself and your family even during normal operating conditions, it is important to be as physically fit as you can be, mentally tough and proficient with whatever tools you need.
I throw in a 'DEFCON 1" or a "SHTF" here and there in my article. But none of those conditions need exist for someone to benefit from having exercised their body and their mind.
Who are "all these Preppers" you refer to?
Most of the Freepers who are regulars on prepping posts here seem to be oriented to preps that are universal in application and need. And there are a lot of articles and posts about preparing for unknown emergencies on a tight budget.
No matter what type of disaster befalls us, we all need food, water, shelter, sanitation, medical care, security, survival skills, physical fitness, etc. And those are the general topics I see discussed here for the most part.
By survival skills I mean the skills to hunt, fish, garden, obtain and purify water, use tools and weapons, repair or build a shelter, protect your family from predators, starvation, thirst, disease.
Most of the preppers posting here seem to be of moderate means so a lot of info is shared on how to do more with less. Where to find bargains, how to grow and can garden produce, make soap, build a cache, purify water with a penny's worth of bleach, etc.
Of course there is the occasional link to an article about old missile silos in Wyoming or someone discovering a cold war fallout shelter in their back yard but I don't recall many Freepers posting that they have just bought a missile silo or their own mountaintop redoubt in Idaho.
I would say most of the preppers posting here seem knowledgable and level headed and the information sharing is generally helpful and interesting. Not everyone is interested in or capable of makng their own soap from scratch or rucking 26 miles in a full pack but the posts are interesting and thought provoking and there is usually some part of the information that is good to know and file away for reference.
Your post is full of, Who said “X” will happen? We prepare for the unknown “X”- it's called “PREP INSURANCE”. I have a specific danger and that is hurricanes.I have “Insurance” for hurricanes in the way of preps to provide what I need after a hurricane takes out power and/or damages my house. And, I have regular insurance on my house and goods.
Because I have prep insurance, I will be okay no matter what “X” happens.
To AirborneVet: I am 80 and I can't ruck anywhere due to bad knees. The right one has already had surgery. I move around my garden and I have stairs to my second floor which I go up and down several times a day.
I got myself medically evaluated and had terrible blood numbers, my body was in self destruct mode seriously, so I changed my diet and took the medicines the doctor suggested for those problems, and in a year, my blood numbers were good to very good. I went from my body shutting down to everything in good shape. That was my mental ruck - to fix what was wrong and I did that. That major diet change was no red meat and little sugar and more veggies and fish and chicken. I saved my own life. Now, that is the equivalent of a physical ruck.
Because I can't travel distances like you say, I made my small townhouse a fortress so no one can get in but me. Since I am retired, I'll likely be home when “X” happens. I don't travel far from home at all since a street within feet from me has everything I need.
I can lock my front door and not leave for a year and live well including having fresh food from my small garden (think container growing). I have house security to prevent zombies from entering, and personal security with firearms I can handle and hit the target. Yes, I have magazines that hold 25 cartridges and a hand gun with hollow points and a laser so I definitely don't miss the target. Hussein can go pound dirt, he's not getting my magazines.
I wish I had the ability to walk as you say, but I fixed my surroundings as well as I could to make up for that.
I rather think you would consider my normal lifestyle 'unreasonable'. It's the way I choose to live.
Should anything bad happen, I expect I'll be way ahead of the couch potato urbanites who don't have any skills or preparation for hard living.
/johnny
Very balanced advice.
Boy Scouts were taught to be prepared. I know several eagle scouts who in adult life still carry many of the points of training from the Scouts.
In fact I worked for the finest businessman I ever knew for 14 years. When people who did not know him asked what kind of man he was, my response was: “He was an Eagle Scout as a young man and never recovered.” It was fact.
The most intelligent of men, knows not the future. We may think we “plan” our future, but that course is charted by another.