I think this is an important topic and deserving of an insightful post about why you should be a prepper.
I used to love watching a show called Doomsday Preppers, which aired on the National Geographic channel from 2011-2014.
I used to get a real chuckle out of the eccentric people who were “preparing for a coming ice age when Kim Jong Un shoots a missile at such and such star which in turn freezes over the Arizona desert.” There are 100 reasons to be prepared. I don’t particularly think that’s one of them, but if that’s what gets these good folks ready for probable hard times, then that’s great! j
I highly encourage anyone reading this to look for old episodes of that show to both educate yourself on preparedness and also to laugh at the reasons why some of the people are getting everything in motion. Some of the people will let you down on the humor side, but about half of the people featured on the show were pretty funny. The United States has the most powerful military in the world. The chances of Chinese troops invading through Alaska (of all places) is beyond slim to none. Never happening, as far as I’m concerned. When something else does in fact happen though, I always envision them saying “I sure am glad we prepped for that Chinese invasion!”
That being said, it doesn’t matter why you are taking measures to prepare yourself for hard times. Maybe the reason you’re prepping won’t end up being the reason you do need your stored food, water and ways of defending yourself. It’s one of the few instances I can think of where you can be totally wrong and be a huge winner at the same time. Maybe we don’t have the economic collapse that you envision, but the power goes out for 3 weeks, which in turn causes pandemonium. It is such a blessing that you have what you need to survive!
My interest in prepping came before I even knew what that term meant. Back in 2003 when I was 23 years old, there was a 3 day blackout that covered the Northeast stretching over to Michigan and also included parts of Canada. I was living in the Detroit suburbs at the time, and needless to say I was not ready for what I was about to endure.
I was driving down Maple Rd in Troy, Michigan and I noticed all of the traffic lights went out. Ironically I was just on my way to the drive thru ATM machine at my bank because I only had like $6 in cash on me. The ATM didn’t work. I went home to my apartment expecting the power to come back on in an hour or two. I went outside to smoke a cigarette and I heard from a neighbor that a huge portion of the country was without power and that it was most likely a “terrorist attack”. I got in my car and went to the gas station. The pumps run on electricity and I couldn’t pump any gas. I had between a quarter and a half of a tank. Back then you could buy a pack of Marlboros for like $5, so I went inside the gas station to try and buy another pack. “Sorry buddy no electricity we can’t do any sales.” A couple hours later all of the gas stations were closed down.
The only thing I had was the car radio. This occurred in mid August when it was brutally hot. I couldn’t use the air conditioning as I sat in my car listening because it would use up too much gas. I sat in the sweltering heat wanting to smoke but resisting the urge as I only had a half a pack, listening to AM radio hoping things would turn around.
Later that night, as I laid in bed in a hot and muggy apartment with no electricity unable to sleep, I thought of how much worse it would have been if I were in a very densely populated area like New York City. I thought to myself that low lives and thugs were almost certainly preying on defenseless people that couldn’t call the police.
I also wondered what this would be like if it was freezing cold instead of 92 degrees with 90% humidity. If this happened in January and it was 17 degrees, people would certainly die! Thoughts like this had me tossing and turning all night as I was cursing at how hot it was and feeling hopeless and frustrated.
Luckily I had some food to tide me over. When I say I had some food, what I mean is I had a box of graham crackers and a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread. I had very little in the refrigerator and maybe that was a good thing as it all would have gone bad. The tap water was running despite there being no power. All things considered, things could have been much worse in this regard.
I had some powerful realizations during this time. I realized that I was privileged and pampered and totally unqualified for the situation I was in. On day 2 and day 3 we still were not getting any answers. Then out of the blue, I heard on the local news radio station in my car that Flint, Michigan regained power. I knew I had just enough gas to make it there and I hoped that word hadn’t spread. I got on I-75 and traffic was light, but I saw quite a few empty vehicles parked on the shoulder with each mile I passed. Where these people walked to when they ran out of gas piqued my curiosity. Hopefully they were close to home!
50 miles later I was in Flint, Michigan. I got some gas in my car and bought a pack of cigarettes. After getting something to eat I sought out a hotel room. Surprisingly, there was a lot of vacancy at the hotels, as most people probably didn’t hear the news or if they did, didn’t have the gas needed to make the drive or a way to pump more gas. I felt an incredible sense of relief as I laid in bed feeling the cool air conditioning and watching television. I laid there like a vegetable for hours enjoying the comforts of electricity that I had always previously taken for granted. I couldn’t sleep though. I knew I had to make changes in my life.
The blackout of 2003 had a profound impact on me. It only lasted for 3 days, but it felt like it lasted a lot longer than that. A lot longer. It made me realize that most people probably wouldn’t survive 3 weeks. Really bad things would transpire if such a thing ever happened. This is why I am a prepper. I fear an extended period of time without electricity, as I know from experience what just 3 days is like. If Kim Jong Un fires a missile at Sirius and freezes over the continent I will still be golden and ready to survive. That’s the point to remember! You can be totally wrong and still come out a huge winner.
