[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Stopped prepping.... (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 2/10/2009 5:00:54 AM EDT
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After living, breathing, dreaming, thinking prepping for the past 1/12/ years, I am taking a break. Sleep is hard to come by at night as I think about all the holes in my preps. The thread about "percentage turning bad" made me relaize that as much as I do for my family, it is still a fragile existance at best. I am missing a part of my life right now that I will regret later. I have made up my mind that I have done all I care to do at this time.
Once had a talk with a friend about why he did not prep....his reponse was that if the Nukes were coming, or whatever it was, he'd rather prop up a lawn chair and wait for it to consume him. Kind of a fatalist mindset, but at least he didn't dwell on all the what-ifs and possible scenarios. This stuff can eat you up pretty quick. Hope you all don't let it do that to you....me? I am taking a break. I'm going to enjoy this current life while it is around, and then come what may. You could say my 'Mindset" is not solid so that is why I am breaking. Killing someone to protect what lille preps I have? I am not preparred for that....still have a naive faith in my fellow man. Perhaps I do have 1 more prep to make.....making sure my lawnchair is ready.... |
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It's stressful, and stroking out is not a good way to achieve survivalist goals. If you're feeling it that bad I would take a break. I did for a few weeks around Christmas, just stopped thinking about survivalism and took it easy, sheeple style. Now I'm feeling better and back to it.
I think it's better for those that are stressed to integrate prepping into everyday activities without focusing too much on them. Just buying 5% more groceries or other necessities every time you hit the store puts you way ahead of the game. You don't have to imagine nuclear holocaust every time you throw a can of Spam in the cart, just make it policy to over-acquire certain products, skills and whatnot without letting the imagination run riot. I run through hypotheticals and root out blind spots, but sometimes I'll just go into cruise mode and bulk up the basics. You have to consider your health in a holistic manner, good times, bad times, physical, mental... |
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As the man of the house I have a responsibilty to protect and provide for my family.
I consider my life expendable in that process. Do I have times of stress in this preperation plan? Yes. but I have a faith that allows me to dump it when it gets too heavy. I just reset on "well when it happens I will have done all I could possibly do" and that's good enough I also realize I'm considerably better off than most if the whole thing goes down the tubes. So maybe focusing on what you have done and not what you cannot do will give you some peace. |
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Did you ever bother asking your friend what happens if the nuke does not consume him, but rather disables the countries consumer goods? Food can't be harvested for fear of radiation contamination; trucking and rail may be crippled; store shelves will be emptied in a matter of hours; ceneral chaos would soon follow,as masses of people would find themselves scared, with no food or job, and the only way to gain sustenance for their families (including your friend) was to beg, borrow or steal.
In my way of thinking, I can become one of the masses, or I can plan and prep while I have the means, and do so at as leisure a pace I feel comfortable with, and stay the hell on my property with at least a small amount of comfort for me and my family. Just saying. |
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Quoted:
After living, breathing, dreaming, thinking prepping for the past 1/12/ years, I am taking a break. Sleep is hard to come by at night as I think about all the holes in my preps. The thread about "percentage turning bad" made me relaize that as much as I do for my family, it is still a fragile existance at best. I am missing a part of my life right now that I will regret later. I have made up my mind that I have done all I care to do at this time. Once had a talk with a friend about why he did not prep....his reponse was that if the Nukes were coming, or whatever it was, he'd rather prop up a lawn chair and wait for it to consume him. Kind of a fatalist mindset, but at least he didn't dwell on all the what-ifs and possible scenarios. This stuff can eat you up pretty quick. Hope you all don't let it do that to you....me? I am taking a break. I'm going to enjoy this current life while it is around, and then come what may. You could say my 'Mindset" is not solid so that is why I am breaking. Killing someone to protect what lille preps I have? I am not preparred for that....still have a naive faith in my fellow man. Perhaps I do have 1 more prep to make.....making sure my lawnchair is ready.... Understandable to a degree, there is really no way for us to know what to prepare for, and chances are the preps will help nothing. I am not as prepared as most, but I have plans. And so do you, you plan on sticking around. Most people will hit the highways, that is no plan. |
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I agree with alot of the above. In all likelihood, "the event" will not take me out. It will interrupt the cushy lifestyle of the American sheeple. They will turn to those that have to fulfill their entitlement needs. That's where preps come in.
I too am losing sleep, time and money, but it is in my nature to survive. So I will do all my body, mind and wallet can withstand to survive. I was a half assed boy scout in the past. Something about the events of today woke something inside me. Reading "Light's Out" didn't help me either. 
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I live very happily BECAUSE I prep.:)
Still, I dont spend thousands on it. I have a few guns ( which I enjoy collecting) ammo, food, water, some gear that I find nescesary but that's it. If it's something that doens't allow you to enjoy live, by all means stop doing it. We're all going to die anyway. FerFAL |
First off, breathe  . I think part of your problem is you were thinking of things the wrong way. You're not "bracing for impact" or worrying about the 5,000,000 you haven't thought to prep for yet. You're adjusting your lifestyle to be less dependent upon others. The #1 potential SHTF? You're out of work for an extended period and have no health insurance. The more food you have, the less debt you carry and the healthier you keep yourself, the less you'll notice the impact. No Kifaru needed.
Life, by definition (and design) is always a fragile existence. Never mind "bad guys", plenty of people - preppers and otherwise - get gorked into the great beyond by the tiniest of aneurisms in the middle of their brains. Accept it, get over it, go buy some more canned goods. Seriously, there are gradations here. It doesn't have to be manic-depressive prepping. Having said that, though, I'll tell you this. You may never have an emergency (I hope none of us do). If you do, you may never run into a hard choice of turning someone away in order to keep your family cared for. But if, against huge odds, you are in that position, they may just decide they want to take it by force. This is human nature. You might want to carefully consider how cheaply you want to give up. |
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peace of mind comes with a pantry full of food
Sometimes days go by without me thinking of anything other than normal life things. Unless I spend a lot of time on the internet browsing doomer blogs and survival forums :) That might be a part of the problem. Let it go for a while and only focus on what you can handle within budget and time constraints. Unless you live in a "high target area" like say next door to the pentagon or something it is a very slim chance of a nuke hitting you. Your friend are going to look a little silly in his lawnchair if the nuke misses and his family is crying from pain from not eating for three days due to his "do nothing" attitude. His wife will be yelling at him to "do something". That something might be to go to your house. Don't dwell on things like that, just be aware of them. |
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As the man of the house I have a responsibilty to protect and provide for my family. I consider my life expendable in that process. Do I have times of stress in this preperation plan? Yes. but I have a faith that allows me to dump it when it gets too heavy. I just reset on "well when it happens I will have done all I could possibly do" and that's good enough I also realize I'm considerably better off than most if the whole thing goes down the tubes. So maybe focusing on what you have done and not what you cannot do will give you some peace. this is good advise ^ also about killing your fellow man to protect your stuff. lets say you don't fight to protect your stuff (the stuff your family is counting on to live) and it's taken from you. just imagin looking into the eyes of your wife and or children and saying sorry honey, my faith in my fellow man has killed us all, sorry. 
for me, I take my role seriously as a man and provider, protector, of my family. I have no metrosexual tendencies or faith in common man. I have trust in those that have proven worthy of my trust, love those that have given love to me, and have a plan to kill everyone else. sorry, you sound weak, that's not a problem now because you have the luxury to be so. pacification is a luxury of the protected. when the chips are down, you will be consumed without a second thought, and your family will suffer the consequences. |
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Aside from family protection.....I just use the mindset of homesteading. I do not look at it as survival or prep. Learn something new each day and/or hone on a known skill. It really does not take much. Look at a few magazines like motherearthnews, backwoodshome, and countryside to just name a few. These mags are about living.....whether you have acreage, an apartment, house in the burbs..etc.
It is about living. |
| Sounds to me like you are moving between two extremes. You should seek to find balance between paranoia and being a sheep. Being obsessed with doom and prepping all the time is not healthy but neither is being caught unprepared in a time of crisis. Find a balance. |
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As the man of the house I have a responsibilty to protect and provide for my family. I consider my life expendable in that process. Do I have times of stress in this preperation plan? Yes. but I have a faith that allows me to dump it when it gets too heavy. I just reset on "well when it happens I will have done all I could possibly do" and that's good enough I also realize I'm considerably better off than most if the whole thing goes down the tubes. So maybe focusing on what you have done and not what you cannot do will give you some peace. this is good advise ^ also about killing your fellow man to protect your stuff. lets say you don't fight to protect your stuff (the stuff your family is counting on to live) and it's taken from you. just imagin looking into the eyes of your wife and or children and saying sorry honey, my faith in my fellow man has killed us all, sorry.
for me, I take my role seriously as a man and provider, protector, of my family. I have no metrosexual tendencies or faith in common man. I have trust in those that have proven worthy of my trust, love those that have given love to me, and have a plan to kill everyone else. sorry, you sound weak, that's not a problem now because you have the luxury to be so. pacification is a luxury of the protected. when the chips are down, you will be consumed without a second thought, and your family will suffer the consequences. ^^^^Saved me the key strokes  ^^^^ You are obsessed and consumed w/ the negatives, look at your positives, the things you can control. Do you stay at home 24/7? What about the drunk driver that runs a red light and could kill you or the 80,000# truck that blows a steer tire that takes you out? It's all relative to life, take a step back and breathe, it is what it is and shit happens. Good luck!
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Prepping shouldn't be that stressful.
I think about it a little more, right now, given the current economic outlook. I sleep like a baby knowing I am doing what is reasonable, though i am still not fully prepared for the Alien Invasion of the 6 foot lizard men. (I figure AP rounds are a good start for their thick hides, though.  )
Look at it this way: Do you like to be prepared for a power outage caused by storms? Do you like having some extra food on hand in case of a big snowstorm? Do you like keeping your gas tank in your vehicle above half full? Do you own a generator? Do enjoy the shooting sports? Do you hunt? Do you like knives? Do you enjoy "gadgets" like the latest flashlights, GPS, nightvision? Do you like camping and/or hiking and the gear to make it feasible? Do you garden or have plans to garden? Do you own an RV or even a tent? Do you believe that the gov't is ill prepared to take care of you during a large scale disaster? Are you self reliant? If you have answered Yes to a few of these questions, then by virtue of your interests and hobbies you are a prepper, or at least somewhat prepared to live without the power utilities and .gov to take care of you. It's as much a mindset as putting up food,water and fuel. It's the sense of urgency that can cause the stress. But it doesn't have to. It's the people who have no supplies, no skills, will depend on the .gov and the lights to always be on, there are the folks who should be stressed out. But ignorance is bliss. Have a beer. relax. 
From what I have read, everyone in this forum are within the top 5% of people prepared for hard times. Speaking of beer, I want to get brewing supplies. I made some homemade beer a long time ago from a kit, a pilsner, it was pretty good. I'm thinking if you can brew your own beer during SHTF you will be THE MAN!!
Heck, now I'm thirsty. |
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Sounds to me like you are moving between two extremes. You should seek to find balance between paranoia and being a sheep. Being obsessed with doom and prepping all the time is not healthy but neither is being caught unprepared in a time of crisis. Find a balance. +1. |
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In my small circle of friends, there is no excuse for being unprepared to take care of your family. There is a fine balance and a big difference between being prepared, like a boy scout and being totally consumed and stressed out about nebulous "what if's" or what might happen.
If you are losing sleep, you need to talk to somebody about it. A counselor, a religious leader, somebody who can help you out with the stress levels. |
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Go out to the range with a little bit of ammo and use your weapons to release some stress, at the range. I do this to actually think I'm normal, and actually have fun with my "hobby". Sure it can get consuming, maybe go take your preps and go out to the woods or wherever you go to camp and use them. This helps with a little solitude and clears the head, long weekend coming up. Fishing too if you are so inclined. This lets you see that hey, maybe there is something to why you do this after all. Tons of folks get into unwanted survival situations just from doing things like hiking and camping, you my friend are probably 80 times more likely to live through it. Heck Man vs Wild and Survivor Man wouldn't exist if those scenarios were not common.
There are days when I think ok, this is a bit too much now, I have a bit of food and some water, that should do (not long term like some of the others) and just live like sheep and enjoy my family while I can in these "normal" times. THEN there are days when I'm like man I sure do hope something happens so I can tell myself I'm not crazy! (and give the wife the old "I told you so!" bit) That's when I do a full retreat and forget that I even "prep". The other side to that coin is when the tax man commeth and taketh what I worked all year for, and I have to pay up, and I'm down to my last $10 bux til I get paid. Prep rice and SPAM/ corned beef and soups sure do come in mighty handy and the wife says, "phew" glad you had these around... |
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Prepping shouldn't be all-consuming. If it was I would have burned out a long time ago. For my family it's more of a lifestyle than anything else.
Instead of buying 1 box of spaghetti we buy four, and put 3 of them in the pantry. Same thing for canned goods, water, sugar, and everything else. We don't have a big stockpile of MREs or Mountain House foods. We tend to stock up on foods that we eat every day, and rotate them. There is a lot of good advice in this thread. Slow down, take a breath, and take small steps toward what you can control. |
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As the man of the house I have a responsibilty to protect and provide for my family. I consider my life expendable in that process. Do I have times of stress in this preperation plan? Yes. but I have a faith that allows me to dump it when it gets too heavy. I just reset on "well when it happens I will have done all I could possibly do" and that's good enough I also realize I'm considerably better off than most if the whole thing goes down the tubes. So maybe focusing on what you have done and not what you cannot do will give you some peace. Well said!!!!! Do the best you can with what you got!!! |
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Most people covered what was needed to be said. From getting help, to having some where/how to dump, to looking at all of this from another point of view. Some very good information. Thanks guys/gals.
I just know that I sleep better and feel more secure by my prepping. Not getting on a "faith" note here but because of my personal realationship with Jesus I know that I must do all that I can do and what I can not do He will fill in the "holes". I have peace. Prepping is a life style not just limted to this lifetime. Think about it. 
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Sounds to me like you are moving between two extremes. You should seek to find balance between paranoia and being a sheep. Being obsessed with doom and prepping all the time is not healthy but neither is being caught unprepared in a time of crisis. Find a balance. Pretty much what I was going to say. I planned to point out that there are many more choices than just the two extremes to choose from. Not everybody who is into preparing obsesses all the time over it. If I did that, I'd have probably died a long time ago from the stress of all that worrying. I've been thinking about the subject and working on preparing for about 35 years now, and I think I still managed to enjoy my life during those decades.
Many people have the mistaken notion that preparing for disaster means you HAVE to become paranoid and let it run your life. I've never seen such a rule, at least not in any book I agree with.
When you buy car insurance, do you start losing sleep at night worrying about all the things that can happen to you on the road? The same goes for health and life insurance. It seems kind of senseless to do that, since buying the insurance should be helping you to sleep better at night knowing you've done something to prepare in case something bad does happen.
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In prepping for tomorrow, don't forget to live for today. Sounds trite, but true. efxguy (has lawnchair and food and water) Pretty much says it all. I try to prepare for what I can but I also am realistic in that there are certain things one can never truly be prepared for. You never know what the world is going to bring your way and I try not to worry about the things I cannot control. All I can do is do my part and leave the rest to God. |
| I guess when you're born into it, prepping and the "survival lifestyle" isn't a chore, but a way of life. Being preparred for when, not if, the S hits the fan will hopefully enable me to provide for my family during and after the event/events. My family won't starve, freeze, go thirsty, die of common infection, be unable to pay the bills if I unexpectedly die, or simply need a jumpstart and have no cables or powerpack. Have all the faith in humanity that you want, then rent Hotel Rawanda. Matter of fact, me and the wife watched that movie again over the weekend, and afterwards, I told her that there's no way that we'd be cowering in some hotel waiting for someone to come to our rescue. She looked at me and said, "I know." Want to know why? It's because I'd kill any and every person who threatened my families lives without hesitation, and if skinnies are coming after me and mine, we'll all be shooting back. That and we're fully stocked here, and would have heeded the first warning before it got ugly. |
| Boy, I can't imagine prepping consuming that much of my life. I mean I take it seriously and do what I can, but you have to live life too. I went to telluride in January, San Francisco then Tahoe last week, Vail in two weeks, France in a month, etc etc etc. Enjoy it, you can't always be ready to the point you're losing sleep. If you want to enjoy life at all you can't always be at home ready to hit the fall out shelter. |
| Unfortunately OP you are in the wrong place to admit you dont feel like continuing so hard down the survivalist path. Its sort of like going into a bar and announcing youve given up drinking. Most of these posters wouldnt know how to shut it off if they had to and they would rather attack you than admit that there is more than one point of view on this. Truth be told if the S really does HTF, half of them will wet themselves and the other half will thrive. Take a break or quit. Thats your choice. It doesnt make you a bad husband a bad father or a wuss. It makes you human. Something that several people on here have forgotten. |
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I just cover the hardest case scenario basics...
I have unlimited Water (literally) and Potentially unlimited Food (as long as I do my part)... I can rest my head anywhere.... food/sleep/air (I got plenty of air... and if there isn't air to breathe.... we're all fucked anyway) As long as you got that you're covered... (among a million other things )
seriously... don't kill yourself with over prep.... invest more time into your family and into reading about the survival... the knowledge is better then any amount of gear... I am comfortable knowing in a worst case scenario... I can survive with just my two hands... throw a good quality survival knife (Gerber LMF II) in there and I'm living large.... anything beyond that (and I got ALOT of gear) is all a luxury to me... |
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Now that's a strange post. ^^^^ 2nd one above
I didn't see anybody attacking the OP. What I and quite a few other people did was point out that balance was a good thing in life, and taking ANYTHING to the extreme where it consumes your life is not generally considered a good thing. If you consider that an attack, what would you consider YOUR statements? "Most of these posters wouldnt know how to shut it off if they had to and they would rather attack you than admit that there is more than one point of view on this." You should be specific when posting something like this. Don't be shy. Name names. Stand up for your statements, and explain how you know this. Have you met MOST of these posters? If you haven't, how did you become such an expert on their attitudes in your short time here? 
"Truth be told if the S really does HTF, half of them will wet themselves and the other half will thrive." Again, how do you know this? "Take a break or quit. Thats your choice. It doesnt make you a bad husband a bad father or a wuss. It makes you human. Something that several people on here have forgotten." Which people? Time to put up or.... you know the rest.
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I have unlimited Water (literally)
I see you are from Florida –– do you live near some of the more popular springs? If this is what you are referring to, remember that in times of heavy rain, the rivers will flood and the springs will reverse into syphons. If that isn't what you meant, carry on... 
(new around here, been lurking for awhile)
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"Once had a talk with a friend about why he did not prep....his reponse was that if the Nukes were coming, or whatever it was, he'd rather prop up a lawn chair and wait for it to consume him. Kind of a fatalist mindset, but at least he didn't dwell on all the what-ifs and possible scenarios. This stuff can eat you up pretty quick. Hope you all don't let it do that to you....me? I am taking a break. I'm going to enjoy this current life while it is around, and then come what may. You could say my 'Mindset" is not solid so that is why I am breaking. Killing someone to protect what lille preps I have? I am not preparred for that....still have a naive faith in my fellow man.
Perhaps I do have 1 more prep to make.....making sure my lawnchair is ready...." I went back and read the OP again, and thought some of this was worth commenting on. Your "friend" is just making excuses for why he isn't going to do any preparations anyway. Of course, if something like that did happen and he got out his lawn chair, he might find himself sitting in a lawn chair watching the stuff hit the fan miles away from him. Then he'll be in the same situation as everybody else who didn't prepare, and he'll find himself clawing for survival with all of them. Yes, it's so much easier to just say "Screw it!" and forget about all the bad things that can happen, but history shows that people who do that often end up behind the 8 ball if something does happen. Would you also refuse to kill someone who is attacking you? If you have enough faith in your "fellow man" to ignore all of human history, then you might as well save your time and trouble and forget about preparing. Too bad burying your head in the sand could mean your family has to deal with any bad times without you around, but if you feel that bad about preparing, maybe they'd be better off without you there. 
BTW, just how far does your "naive faith in your fellow man" go? Do you leave your doors unlocked? Do you leave your car unlocked when you go somewhere? |
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Does your "friend" have a family or anyone who depends on him? I find a lot of older single people are selfish by nature, that is why they are alone. You may call BS on that but I have been keeping track for a while. My family, mostly my young children need me to be a hunter, gatherer, and all around ass kicker if the SHTF. Do it for the ones you love who aren't capable to do it for themselves as of yet. Hang in there and remember you are way ahead of the game my friend. |
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After living, breathing, dreaming, thinking prepping for the past 1/12/ years, I am taking a break. Sleep is hard to come by at night as I think about all the holes in my preps. The thread about "percentage turning bad" made me relaize that as much as I do for my family, it is still a fragile existance at best. I am missing a part of my life right now that I will regret later. I have made up my mind that I have done all I care to do at this time. Once had a talk with a friend about why he did not prep....his reponse was that if the Nukes were coming, or whatever it was, he'd rather prop up a lawn chair and wait for it to consume him. Kind of a fatalist mindset, but at least he didn't dwell on all the what-ifs and possible scenarios. This stuff can eat you up pretty quick. Hope you all don't let it do that to you....me? I am taking a break. I'm going to enjoy this current life while it is around, and then come what may. You could say my 'Mindset" is not solid so that is why I am breaking. Killing someone to protect what lille preps I have? I am not preparred for that....still have a naive faith in my fellow man. Perhaps I do have 1 more prep to make.....making sure my lawnchair is ready.... Heh, heh, heh. We both know what's going to happen here. First off, you probably deserve a break. 2008 just flat sucked. For the current minute, we have a lull in negative activity, now is not a bad time, especially if you are stressed out from overprepping earlier. Sure, there's job being lost by the day, and big banks with all ten toes over the edge, but there comes a point of diminishing returns in preparing. Right now TODAY, the market is not in free fall and Obama's "give me the worldor else" talk aside, we seem to be in a holding pattern, waiting for another shoe to drop. Drop it will. Whether it's another economic peak crisis tomorrow, or an ice storm in March, the S will HTF again and again in the future. Enjoy your break. Enjoy your lawn chair. Soak it up as much as you can, because soemhow, some way, current events WILL penetrate your conciousness and the base personality that's kept you alive for X years now isn't going to change. That new bad news, and the holes in your preps are going to combine to tunnel into the deepest recesses of your brain, and one time, one is all it takes, you'll be on your way to batch up a new blender of margeuritas and notice one tiny thread loose on one or another of your preps and then guess what? You're right back in it again. Preparation for me isn't a linear ramp with golden paradise at the top. It's a staircase that goes up forever. Sure, once you have six months worth of dry food, and all the OTC medicines and clothspins and duct tape you'd need to stay in and not leave your house for six months is a lofty, worthwhile goal.You can, and probably should sit back for a breather at milestones like that. All work and no play is, to me, antithetical to preparation. You prep now so you aren't flapping when things go wrong, and so you can relax and enjoy life without feeling like you still "owe" the future. But then, with six months "in the can", you start expanding your horizons. The lawn tractor bites the bullet after ten years of faithful service, and the new ones you look at just happen to allow for tiller attachments. You're not really planning to dig a two acre garden, but then again, you just never know, the CAPABILITY to dig one if you NEED one has it's attractions. Congratulations. You've crested the plateau and you're climbing stairs again. It will happen to you, too. Lawnchair feels great when you've busted your ass on 20 hour days for nine months, but after a few days, the unaccustomed pressure on your ass produces bedsores and before you know it, there you are busting ass again. Some observations that may help. 1. Leopards don't change their spots. You don't either. 2. Everybody dies, nobody wins. Its a law. Best you can hope for is a draw, and between now and then, maximal comfort is a plus. 3. Preparation is a lifestyle, not a discreet objective. They playing field changes day to day, and being prepared for new tomorrows changes right along with the dynamic playing field. 4. The grasshopper died in the middle of a harsh winter, but the ant never enjoyed life either. Balance is the key to all things. 5. Rest is a weapon. "Surge mode" is a handy tool, that may make all the difference one day, but you can't "surge" 24/7/365/72.8. By definition, "surge" is a temporary increase in activity, and if you are working at 100% of capacity now, you have no reserve left for tomorrow's potentially very necessary surge. 6. SHTF is a busy time. You stockpile food for a day when food is scarce, why not stockpile rest and pleasure for a day when both are in short supply? Go waller in the lawnchair for a while. You earned it. Waller HARD. Things just might get REAL busy soon. Besides, the longer you sit there, the easier it is for me to scoop up the last of the ammo and canned food left on earth. Wanna nother beer?
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I'm pretty determined to ensure my genetic code is still floating around many yeas from now. + Freakin 1 on that bucko Too much of a good thing is not good...but over the years I've learned at least that there's time to prep and there's time to play... Ya just gotta now which is which. Taking a break is not a bad thing, I'd venture a guess most of us have at some time. |
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In all things you must learn to pace yourself.
It sounds like you were trying to sprint the entire time you were prepping. If you have no set point to arrive at, sprinting will wear you down and hurt you. If I was just realizing I had no extra food, less than a quarter tank of diesel, and living paycheck to paycheck I would sprint to wind up with a full tank of fuel and some spare food and a tiny bit of savings. After that I would look more towards a slow jog, I'm a bit big to be running marathons and what not, and just work on things bit by bit. I don't worry about having a full change jar vs. spending that change on ramen noodles. Depending on what tomorrow brings one might be needed more than the other, but I refuse to drive myself nuts that way. These days everything I do is mostly for prepping or me learning something. Now and then I do something that serves no purpose for prepping or personal education but oh well. I consider relaxation important as well. I basically have learned to accept the simple fact that all my preps might do me no good. Or I won't have prepped enough. But I sleep at night because I know I tried to do something and that means a lot to me. |
| sounds like the op needs to maybe just spend more time with the family for awhile...sounds like you may have went balls to the wall and got in to deep...like any hobby i am on and off depending on the time of year but i always have food and water in reserve....i dont fear a nuc attack that kinda stuff will consume you and i like my family to much to be consumed by any one of my hobbies... |
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I completely agree with your friend, but realistically, if the SHTF whether it be war, terrorists or the economy going to shit he would most likely just starve to death or get some infection that would cripple him in pain and he would die when his body just can't fight it off anymore. Oh and what about nuclear fallout? if he's not close enough to the point of detonation yet no far away enough to be safe the radiation poisoning will get him. Could take anywhere from hours to several weeks. Sounds like fucking blast right?
If god forbid something horrible does happen, it will be the damage done to our infrastructure that will create a hell on earth. People in the blast zone will be considered lucky. |
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sounds like the op needs to maybe just spend more time with the family for awhile...sounds like you may have went balls to the wall and got in to deep...like any hobby i am on and off depending on the time of year but i always have food and water in reserve....i dont fear a nuc attack that kinda stuff will consume you and i like my family to much to be consumed by any one of my hobbies... Spending quality time with the family is also a very poignant (and effective) reminder of why we all started prepping in the first place. It's not about us, after all. It's about assuming control of our own fate-and not relying on others to do it for us. Most importantly, it's about taking care of the people we love who depend on us. |
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Prepping is like training in a lot of ways: You can never do enough. 
By the way, don't forget to throw some formal firearms training classes in your prep plan... Good point, part of prepping is stocking supplies, but there are other important factors including skills and knowledge. Also, keep a positive mental outlook. They say that is a key factor to overall survival. Something like firearms training is also FUN! I think as we experience years like 2008, and now 2009, we'll have to keep telling ourselves to keep that positive outlook. In general, I notice the people at work are a little more down in the dumps, not their jovial selves. You can only listen to the bad news for so long before it's time to turn it off for a day or two. |
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The shit hits the fan every day somewhere and 99% of prepping I do is for that. If you need your food because of an earthquake or a job loss what's the difference? If I use my goggles and air mask for a wild fire or a bird flu outbreak who cares? If I use my UPS or generator due to temporary or week long (Kentucky) power outage I'm still better off.
The end of the world as we know it - I'm not really ready for that - and it really doesn't bother me a bit. We haven't had an EOTWAWKI in 40,000 years of mankind's existence and I think we'll avoid one for the next 30 years that I expect to live. 
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I see prepping as a labor of love. My preps will allow me to enjoy the company and love of my family much longer than the sheep if the time comes to use them.
I am dating a great woman right now that I will probably marry soon. I am going to have children and enjoy life. If the shit hits the fan, I will take care of them and deal with it as it comes. My preps make me sleep much better knowing they will be okay while I figure out how to provide when my current means is no longer available. |
| It is like everything else. You can't let it consume you. You need to keep a posative attutude and keep pluggin at it. My wife get's freaked out at the start of every Hurricane season and she is starting to see the light to keep a monitored, measured response to being prepared. Keep adding as you are able and do the best you can without overextending yourself. Slow and steady wins the race.....unless the race is over in the next 10 minutes. You sound like you've got a good start. Keep at it, adding as you can, adjusting your strategy, but just giving up to the "It's ineveitable" mindset is not an option. What happens if you camp out next to the military base with your battery operated blender and margaritas and they don't get hit with a MIRV? |
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All things in moderation - St. Augustine
There is a happy medium of prepping for reasonably survivable events (Katrina) vs prepping for Apocalypse. I think we owe it to our families to be ready for something like Katrina. To plan for a complete breakdown of civilization is going to take a lot of time, money and effort. I think the odds are long for this and we might all do better making sure we have insurance, a 6 month emergency fund and healthy relationships with our families. |
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I'm pretty new to prepping in the accumulation of food and water sense of it. I probably have a month to six weeks worth of food stored up and very little water. I'm slowly building up my food stores and will start on water soon but I'm not going balls out and I don't stress about it. I started buying ammo when the prices started climbing about a year and a half ago. Not planning for the zombpocalypse just dollar cost averaging my ammo so I could afford to shoot - which is a prep but it's also an activity I enjoy. I've always enjoyed gardening and now that the kids are old enough to "help" I've gotten more serious about it. Last summer when no one could buy tomatoes followed by jalapenos because of salmonella suspicions I was making fresh hot sauce every day and putting tomatoes and jalapenos on my ham sammiches. My garden gets a little bigger every year - which is a prep but it's also an activity I enjoy. My son is five now and this past season he started coming dove hunting with me (without a gun). We discussed gun safety and he's really learning the rules. He shot a .22 for the first time in November, one week after his 5th birthday - a prep but it's also an activity I enjoy. I started taking the kids fishing recently and if I can get some gear together we plan on starting to go camping again (It's been many years for me but we used to go a lot when I was a kid) - a prep but also activities that I enjoy. I am fortunate that the man gives me a pistol and lots of ammo for training but I try to get out and shoot my personal stuff from time to time and come up with training courses to run through - a prep but an activity I enjoy. Basically I do what I enjoy and happen to enjoy stuff that could be considered a prep.
That's all I have to say about that. |