Posted on 04/27/2011 6:08:52 PM PDT by blam
Americans Are Preparing At Unprecedented Levels
Author: Mac Slavo
April 27th, 2011
Do you have enough larder to feed your family and some friends if grocery stores ran out of food? How about several assault rifles and a few thousand rounds of ammo? Solar panels, a water filter, medical kits, bug-out bags, fire starters, tents, sleeping bags, some junk silver and reserve gasoline?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
It’s becoming apparent to many Americans that depending on our local, state and federal governments in the event of an emergency, catastrophic societal collapse or widespread disaster will not be sufficient to meet the needs of your family. Residents in Colorado (and likely the other 49 states) are stockpiling in droves and preparing to live off the grid if it comes to that:
Four families in Yoder are building a sand bunker and stockpiling ammunition and weapons.
A Black Forest resident has erected a geodesic dome on her 5-acre spread to grow vegetables, keeps horses for emergency transportation, in case she can’t get gasoline for her car, and plans to acquire chickens and goats as food sources.
A husband and wife who have a cabin on 100 acres of secluded land in Park County have weaned their property from the electric grid, acquired a three-year food supply and taken other measures to become self-sufficient.
While there’s little threat of the earthquake and tsumani that rocked Japan last month in landlocked Colorado, other epic crises on the home front are possible: A flood or fire. A terrorist attack. A nuclear weapons launch. World War III. Or an apocalyptic-type scenario.
An increasing number of people say they are getting ready.
“More people are getting into the survivalist mode. I’ve been in business 30 years, and I’ve never sold so many assault rifles as now. The last year was the best we’ve ever had,” said Mel Bernstein, a Class III weapons dealer and owner of Dragon Man’s shooting range east of Colorado Springs.
Israeli gas masks, helmets and sand bags also have been selling well, he said. “People are putting stuff away in case something big happens,” he said. “I think it’s superstition, but it’s been good for business.”
Interest in the survivalist movement has been heightened, many say, by global turmoil.
The ongoing strife in the Middle East, the lingering possibility that the Obama administration will enact stricter gun laws and the sustained economic downturn, coupled with political unrest in Libya and Japan’s nuclear catastrophe, have made people uneasy.
In addition, doomsday prophesies by Nostradamus and the Mayans pinpointing 2012 are distressing for some. There’s also a group of Christians who say they’ve determined that the end of the world will begin on May 21.
“People are afraid, and they want to be able to protect their families,” Bernstein said.
Y2K — the dawning of the third millennium — brought forth a fury of survivalist instincts, as many believed the nation’s network of electric connections and computer systems would crash.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, raised concern among even the complacent.
But this time in history feels more urgent, say those who identify themselves as “preppers” — people preparing to have all they need to sustain a catastrophe.
“There’s a distinct possibility that some other country could wipe out our electronics and computers, and the U.S. infrastructure is not ready — it would take six months to rebuild a transformer,” said Bob, a retired engineer who said he designed airplanes, power plants and aqueducts for the government.
He asked that his last name not be used because he shares a philosophy common among preppers: the desire for anonymity. Not everyone understands why they’re doing what they’re doing, Bob said, and there’s the possibility of others looting their stockpiles. “Preppers will give someone a pound of rice and a bowl of soup, but we’ll defend ourselves against people who are going to take everything we have,” he said. “We’re doing this to make sure that we can live the way we’ve been living and we’re not going to be out there scrounging or stealing food from others.”
There are any number of scenarios, both natural and man-made, that could lead to what preppers refer to as TEOTWAWKI (The End of the World as We Know It), be it an electro magnetic pulse attack, a US dollar hyperinflation, economic collapse, an earthquake along the New Madrid Fault Line, Yellow Stone’s super volcano, or the purported Mayan end of days.
While some may be more likely to occur than others, and some are improbable outliers, the fact that the possibilities exist, and that there are a whole host of reasons why life as we have come to know it could be halted from one day to the next, makes preparedness that much more reasonable.
We’ve seen how governments respond to disasters. Recent history in the modern age suggests that there is simply no way to meet the needs of millions of people if a far-from-equilibrium situation were to arise.
Americans spend thousands of dollars per year on insurance for our homes, our cars, our health, our lives, and even our mortgages.
Is it really so crazy to insure ourselves from unforeseen black swans by stockpiling some food, water, supplies and a means to protect them?
The US government is spending billions of dollars to prepare for unlikely events like war, catastrophic collapse of society, and even asteroids – maybe you should consider a little end-of-the-world insurance as well.
I use Sta-Bil and change out the gasoline every two years.
I'm in hurricane alley.
Lead can prevent the uptake of liberalism
Statist bootlickers that they are, it does tend to shut them up.
/johnny
check out ‘thereadystore.com’.
I’ve spent several thousand dollars there. They’ve been pretty overwhelmed with orders recently, and lots of stuff is on back order. I’ve also ordered from some other sites. I got in early (been doing it for three years) so I’m pretty well stocked. Also have a wheat grinder/flour mill, water purification system, non-hybrid garden seeds, medical supplies, toiletries, paper goods, bleach and laundry stuff, etc. We live in the mountains, so there is a lot of wild game and turkeys around, plus a natural spring and salt field nearby. We also have our own deep water well, generators, and stored gas to run it. Oh, and plenty of guns and ammo to protect it all.
If and when TSHTF, we’re good for a couple of years and longer.
I pray that we never have to use it. But it’s there if we must.
Used Sta-Bil at double recommended rate on 50 gallons of fuel. Ran fine in my car 2 years later. Stabilized that gas back in 2008 when the banks were dropping like flies. Used it in 2010.
That’s the kind of article that can reach the mainstream soccer mom.
gee after reading that list I feel so under prepared. lol. what is a bug out bag any way?
We bought a GOOD dehydrator this year, and are on our third case of canning jars so far. . . and it’s not even MAY yet..
Try to stabilize it with sta-bil.. That’s what I have been using.
This has been the topic of discussion for some time now on FR.
And looking at the way things are going with the one in office, we’re long overdue for prepping.
I have started a backyard farm. 3 Dexter heifers, a steer,yes I know I need a bull. 10 chickens and a garden. My best preventative though is I live in Texas.
That is the best laugh I've had all day.
Is Stabil available in local stores like Walmart or auto parts stores?
I like to see that others are thinking self sufficiency, it raises your survival chances that much higher. I feel that “psychic feeling” as well; that we are on a great precipice and there is a great unease in the world and in the US. We are coming apart.
If you can, and have the willpower and the “hook”, get as many folks as you can to start believing the the goverment will NOT be there for them during an emergency, especially a nationwide one, which I truly believe is coming. Don’t expect food, power, clean water, any services, fire, police, medical, those services will be allocated to ensure the survival of government, not the citizens.
It will get ugly. People that you called friend and neighbor, you may be forced to send them away because they did not prepare themselves and now expect you to do it.
You have to be careful buying them at yard sales. I've priced them at yard sales and consistently found that people charge almost as much for them as new ones cost with a coupon and sale.
And with the new ones, you get lids and bands to boot.
The best bet is to price canning jars and see how much per jar they cost, minus the lid and band cost and then compare to what the yard saler is charging.
I'd rather spend the little bit extra on brand new jars than get older ones for almost the same price.
I found out today that my book won’t be for sale until March, 2012. :o( The publisher has a good strategy for this, but still, I was hoping it would get out there a lot sooner.
Yup. Me too.
The best time of the year to fill your containers with gasoline is in the dead of winter...the refineries add more butane during the winter months for easier starting in the cold.
Yup. Me too.
The best time of the year to fill your containers with gasoline is in the dead of winter...the refineries add more butane during the winter months for easier starting in the cold.
Yes, I get mine at Wal-Mart.
So do we. It works just fine. Better if you start with premium or regular unleaded without alcohol. Date the gas containers, use it up before it degrades and replace in small amounts as you go.
We also keep 4 20# propane containers. I use them in my business, so I usually have 2 full and I refill the others as they run out. You an get an adapter for these for about $8 and then use them to run a propane heater such as a Coleman Black Cat. My concern is no electricity in the middle of winter and an unheated cellar when it is 30 below outside. You can also run the Coleman heaters on the little bottles of propane that sell 4 for $10. Each one lasts 4-7 hours. My goal is to increase the number of propane containers of both sizes and double the number of heaters, for redundancy.
The little LED camping lanterns that run on AA batteries are safe, give off good strong light, have a red mode and a red flashing mode. Rotate the batteries, like you do gasoline. We keep adding rechargeable batteries for as long as we have a generator/gas. Batteries last 2 years and can be stored in the freezer to extend that.
We also have a store of 120-hr glass enclosed hurricane candles.
ottbmare, aren’t you a horse person? That is good alternative transport.
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