Prepping is a Waste of Time and Money: Prove Me Wrong

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rlongnt

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I just got back to OK yesterday from cutting and clearing tens of thousands of pounds of pine that fell on my dad's property, fence and house two blocks from the water in Panama City, FL. He's not really a prepper but did have a small Honda generator, Stihl chainsaw, H2O, tools, guns and usually has about a month's worth of food on hand. Although it was rough, I can tell you his situation compared to most of the folks around him was far more pleasant. I think plain old common sense overlaps into prepping. One wouldn't think putting a couple of pieces of plywood against the garage door and pulling your vehicles flush against it is anything you'll read in a prepper blog but I guarantee you that's why his garage door didn't collapse like all his neighbors or destroy what was inside with it. That little Honda generator barely sipped fuel but kept the fridge cool and helped maintain a little bit more normal life.

I'm not really a prepper but I took my daughter down there so she could help and also see first hand why we have a few things on hand like a Big Berkey water filter a well stocked pantry and never let the cars get below a half a tank of gas.
 

ratski

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One wouldn't think putting a couple of pieces of plywood against the garage door and pulling your vehicles flush against it is anything you'll read in a prepper blog but I guarantee you that's why his garage door didn't collapse like all his neighbors or destroy what was inside with it.

Outstanding idea!!! Never would have thought of that but I appreciate the post and the idea.

And here I was just going to post that this weekend is daylight savings time and in addition to checking the batteries in the smoke and CO detectors, it is a good time to rotate the gasoline from the cans to the cars and refill the can with fresh.

Dave
 

dennishoddy

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I just got back to OK yesterday from cutting and clearing tens of thousands of pounds of pine that fell on my dad's property, fence and house two blocks from the water in Panama City, FL. He's not really a prepper but did have a small Honda generator, Stihl chainsaw, H2O, tools, guns and usually has about a month's worth of food on hand. Although it was rough, I can tell you his situation compared to most of the folks around him was far more pleasant. I think plain old common sense overlaps into prepping. One wouldn't think putting a couple of pieces of plywood against the garage door and pulling your vehicles flush against it is anything you'll read in a prepper blog but I guarantee you that's why his garage door didn't collapse like all his neighbors or destroy what was inside with it. That little Honda generator barely sipped fuel but kept the fridge cool and helped maintain a little bit more normal life.

I'm not really a prepper but I took my daughter down there so she could help and also see first hand why we have a few things on hand like a Big Berkey water filter a well stocked pantry and never let the cars get below a half a tank of gas.
Amazing what you learn on OSA! Dad had his head working.
 

dennishoddy

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Indeed...

I went down there to help my Father and to teach my Daughter a good life lesson but it was me who came away changed forever.
It's pretty amazing how one can have a life changing moment when they have to confront total destruction and humans ability to overcome that to eventually recover and thrive. We are an amazing specie.
 

Pearl Cruz

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I was listening to a nut job whacko on the internet today. He made a pretty compelling argument for not prepping. He said the feds track all this stuff and know who all has large stashes. When shtf and they need more resources they’ll pull up their database on who has made lots of purchases of preps or people who post online talking about it to go commandeer supplies from.
 

kwaynem

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I was listening to a nut job whacko on the internet today. He made a pretty compelling argument for not prepping. He said the feds track all this stuff and know who all has large stashes. When shtf and they need more resources they’ll pull up their database on who has made lots of purchases of preps or people who post online talking about it to go commandeer supplies from.
Big brother is always watching
 

ratski

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I was listening to a nut job whacko on the internet today. He made a pretty compelling argument for not prepping. He said the feds track all this stuff and know who all has large stashes. When shtf and they need more resources they’ll pull up their database on who has made lots of purchases of preps or people who post online talking about it to go commandeer supplies from.

As someone said, Big Brother is always watching.

However, I doubt that Uncle Sugar will really bother with isolated outposts of preppers in a true SHTF event. In a TEOTWAWKI, I really, really doubt such a sweep would be feasible.

That being said, I remember during Y2K, all the news casts were interviewing people about how they were preparing for it, I just said I was taking down all the names and addresses of everyone who was stockpiling food!!

Besides, the feds have stockpile for the feds. Resource allocation would not be beneficial to try to tap small fry into "giving up" their preps.

Dave
 

p238shooter

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Ha interesting remembering about Y2K. Had some bigger customers send me forms to fill out of how I was going to handle the Y2k crisis. Responded to them, expected my headboard 6:20 alarm to go off as usual, thought my battery was good to start my truck, thought the key I had been using for 5 years would still work in the door at the office, and would be open for business. Ya all come over if you have no other place to go then your whizzo electronic door lock does not work or you need to get out because your high tech alarm system is malfunctioning.

I will have coffee, even if I have to take some of these thousands of papers out of the copy machine and hand feed them in to make a little fire in the parking lot to boil it. We will keep our priorities right.

I do live in the country, most likely different than the OP's story had to deal with here. 35 air miles from Tulsa and am an older guy. so I have a different attitude. I live "bugged out" in comparison to some here who live in towns. Told an 8 pointer to "get" from my front yard area before I let my dogs out last night.

I do not think of my self as a "prepper" but I have been a boy scout in my life. Winter now living in an all elect house, remembering several years ago without elect 7 days, no water 4 days, no cell phone 5 days with the ice storm 12 or so years ago got me fine tuned. Ham radio is good. Boat and mower gas cans full during the winter for the generator for aux heaters for example.

I have decided that if I have done my job to use more than 500 + rounds of .223, couple thousand + rounds of .45, guess I will give up by standing up with my index fingers in the air, and not go through laying 6 months in the bed expiring from cancer or something like that in the hospital or go through the aftemath of what might be left over at that point after the SHTF gets to my neighborhood.

Not really a prepper, but I do have a few extra rolls of toilet paper on hand just in case, ya know.
 

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