What Kind Of Prepper Are You?

I dream of being that off grid, remote family prepper that can keep things going for ourselves, until the natural end of our days. But my reality for the time being is to try and be the best urban prepper I can be. I have repurposed 55gal plastic drums of windshield washer fluid to store water in. I have even learned how to treat my hot tub water to make it, and keep it drinkable. Laugh if you want, but there aren't many urban folks that have over 500 gal of water stores. I also have a fairly decent rotating food store. I don't bother with those expensive prepper food sites selling powdered stuff. I believe canned goods and freeze dried products will last the test of time. Twinkies have proven to still be edible after 30 years. A little stale, but edible. (I don't have any Twinkies yet.) I stock with things like Chunky soups, various basic canned goods. Bagged instant mashed potatoes, packs of Raman noodles, boxes of pasta, oatmeal, spam, potted meat. Things like that. We shop every week, and always pick up a bit for stores. When we shop for it, haha, we even talk in code, calling it party food.

Next I'm going to work on getting a sizable propane tank to convert over to natural gas, so I can store my own, since I do have gas heat. Maybe enough for a few months. And then I'm going to work on keeping a little bit of basic power in the house. Enough to run a fridge, furnace fan, and a light or two. Maybe a quiet gen set, with a mix of batteries. Maybe even a few solar panels.

So far our mindset is to operate without power, long term. But try to keep basic things running for short term. About a month. If we go a month without power, something has hit the fan somewhere.

 

Well, it's always just a plan until it needs to turn into action. The bad part about that is, you have to bet your life on a plan you don't exactly know will work.

 

Well it goes so far back, and it has been said so many times nobody really knows who initiated it. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. A more base version which can be attributed to Mike Tyson: "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." A good idea to have one (a plan), but you better be flexible, and capable of shifting directions.

CP: I too would like to move to a more rural environment, and go off grid as much as possible. Given my family situation it is not going to happen. More than likely not ever. My wife would have nothing to do with that type of move. He idea of roughing it is staying in a motel that doesn't have Room Service and Cable TV. In fairness her health would never allow her to be the outdoors type. My choice, and I am O.K. with it. For better or worse.

So we make the best of the situation we are in. I am an Urban or maybe more accurately, a Suburban Prepper. I am in a good location. Maybe a little closer to a major highway than I would like, but if people were evacuating the city I think they would miss us. We could do more to be self-sufficient if we chose. We could plant fruit trees, and a modest garden. There is abundant water, and wild life close to us. We have a reasonable piece of property.

I would like to install a wood burning stove, and a gas generator hard wired to the house. We all have a wish list. We have good stores, and ample room to store everything we need. Room or space is not an issue. We could take in several people if it came to that, and there are some family members I would expect to take in, and I have accounted for that.

We are getting a little long in the tooth, so our plan A is to bug in. It has worked for us so far.

 

I bugged out 30 years ago. I live in the woods on the outskirts of a small town population a little less than 500. It is on the river and there are cattle ranches all around me. I could actually live within the confines of this little town without leaving it with one or two exceptions. We don't have a dentist or a pharmacy. Other than that we have a real old-time country store and meat market that processes deer, hogs, and calves for the local people. This is not a convenience store. We have a Doctor's clinic and a general merchandise store.

If gas went through the roof this ability to stay near home would be important. Otherwise, it is a 25-mile round trip to go to a nearby small city. I picked this place specifically for the place and type of people that you have here. Gardens and all manner of small livestock are common here. EVERYBODY is armed and we shoot a lot. Most of us are family people that are here in part to get our kids out of the crud that is so common in the bigger places.

I believe that my best chance for a good life after things collapse will be in a small town. Isolation too easily can make you an easy target for the wandering thugs that will take a while to get killed off. Where I live they won't last very long at all. Having someone that can come and 2help can make all the difference in whether you will survive an attack or not. No matter how well set you are if you are isolated a siege will be hard to survive. If you have neighbors a siege doesn't work so well.

I plan on being active in my area and will help those that are worthy. I'm an organizer and won't be alone. Those that help will receive help and those that don't will be on their own. Where I live it is about as easy to feed 50 people as it is to feed five. Big animals are common and people here often cook for big groups. Most of the churches and fire stations have big commercial pits and cook regularly for fundraisers and to help when we have floods or widespread hurricane damage.

 

At this age, I'll try to be some sort of resource to others when it hits the fan.

 

I have had three retreats over the decades, lost all three due to females so not doing that again!
I am now a mobile able prepper with a huge motorhome and tons of storage space.
I have many possible destinations, circumstances will dictate which I go to.

I will be mostly self sufficient and have many skills so will burden none.
Will have in most probability a son and two grandies with me and can adapt to most types of location.
With a 500L main fuel tank I can relocate to most anywhere I need to with several tons of supplies

I have food enough for several years, tools to repair and dig etc, guns and heaps of ammo.
The motorhome has some long range security systems for early warning

I rate us as a good to excellent chance of surviving the first few years, beyond that I can not tell.

 

Oldguy: Yours is the life style I would change to if my family situation were different. Sounds like you have an ideal rig/set up.

Just curious. When you are mobile like that how do you handle things that require a home address? Bank accounts? Credit Cards? Insurance? Not that any of those would be around if SHTF. Do you keep a P.O. Box in a town?

 

Still got a fixed address as I am a carer for my mother but I can hit the road anytime.
Mobile home has just got a full recon donk in it, a Cummings 8.3 turbo diesel and it needs a few more repairs before it is reliable.
Will be hitting the road full time in a few years anyway, will use sons address up to the Apocalypse

 

Perfect!!

 

Was going through ammo stores and food stores. Found some gaps. I'm shy -- have shot-up too much -- specific ammo cal. and needed bullet type. Must buy more -- totally didn't realize how much I'd gone through. Shameful.

Now to the most embarrassing oversight: I don't have enough whiskey! Forgive me O' souls of Uisge Beatha! I have sinned! I am unworthy of your prayers! I promise to do better. The eternal ETOH torch must be kept lit! Oh holy Blue Flame light my path to the liquor store!

 

Y'know, putting back high proof whiskey is a needed item. This has been discussed extensively on this site. I hate to be seen buying whiskey in plastic jugs; I just never do that and good liquor doesn't come that way. HOWEVER, one might want plastic over glass when considering that glass breaks and alcohol is flammable.

Grain 190 proof is disappearing here in the States. All one can buy is 140 and 151 in most liquor stores. However, that is circa 70% alcohol and that percentage is the best for killing bacteria -- the H2O component helps with the gradual break down of cell walls; 90% coagulates proteins and will harden the cell wall of a pathogen. As for the cleaning of electronic devices (carbon film potentiometers, for example), 90% alcohol is the best -- use 91% isopropyl.

I guess, if one wants to water-down/mix high proof (151-ish) to sell or drink, then go with your preferred type in glass bottles (rum, vodka, ..., there's a Scotch out there that is out-there proof-wise). For grain or isopropyl, plastic really doesn't matter.

Safety note: Don't catch on fire.

 

At this point in time I still treat prepping as a side hobby that could one day save my life. I'm slowly becoming more and more addicted to my preps though, just wish I had more money to spend as of right now most of my preparations are DIY projects on a budget.

Finally growing my first garden and even have a decent amount of food put away. Getting better and better prepared every day.

 

When you have a family and obligations not everyone CAN just drop it all and go off into the wild blue yonder. I bugged out years ago but it wasn't done strictly for that reason. When the oil industry went bust every place that I had ever worked for went out of business. Unemployment was over 30% and in some locals, it was over 40%. There were people living in their cars with children in roadside parks. There were NO jobs for any of the several crafts that I am well trained in. Fortunately, I was a really BIG boy and that allowed me options that not everyone could take advantage of. Among other things I made good money, a dollar per thousand pounds, loading trucks and often had 3/4 million pound weeks. I put my wife through college doing that and bouncing in bars with a friend and occasionally being paid muscle for "debt" collections. When my wife graduated we left and lost our home and most everything we had to start over someplace else. We knew that if we had to start over we wanted OUT of the big city sort of life and pulled the trigger and bugged out. I lost my home and let my family and every friend that I had ever had behind.

If things hadn't happened the way they did I doubt that I would have ever left. We had a good life in a place that I loved with a home we liked. I did load trucks and made a lot of money doing it. I even eventually was hired by that company. I was sort of old for it though and it was wearing and tearing up my body. There wasn't anything left of the town that I had grown up in. When the oil industry folded up there just wasn't any work for the skilled crafts left there.

I'm telling this because I UNDERSTAND that unless it is forced on you it is nearly impossible to convince your family and yourself that it is a great thing to dump it all and go live in the boondocks. There are no really good paying jobs in small towns. I was lucky and learned new skills really fast and ended up with my own business. We were far from rich but we had beer tastes and don't like champagne anyway. If you are ever forced though try to improve your place in the world if you can...

 

When you move out into the sticks as part of a bug out plan the first thing that you learn is that you need to be multi skilled. You end up being your own plumber, mechanic, builder etc.
I've found that I've ended up doing several jobs to pay my way, being multi skilled and multi tasking also helps keep things fresh and interesting.
It also teaches you the value of things, even to the point of straitening out used nails for re use. Not entirely because of financial cost but also the cost in time and inconvenience going into town for new ones...bought from a small store with limited stock at premium prices.
If I want bulk goods or better prices I need to be willing to travel further to larger towns or my nearest city so I avoid wasting things and have learned to recondition, make do and mend what I already have.
My next big expenditure is to upgrade from my Alaskan chainsaw mill up to a proper petrol driven bandsaw mill that can be converted to run off LPG not a flash car or foreign holiday.

 

the thread "what kind of prepper are you " I would say I am a serious and realistic prepper . I had a house I built and completely paid for sitting on a large wooded acreage that I locked the door and walked away from to start over in another state that was more survivor oriented . That property I abandoned is still siting there years later rotting down and grown up in brush . I came to the conclusion before I moved material possessions were not worth me staying . I quite my job , abandoned my relatives , household furnishings , gathered up my wife and kids and moved . My now grown kids and I all agree that was one of the best things I ever did . At my survival home we have prospered . We now have three homes we built on our survival acreage with more to come .

 

I'm a self-sufficient survivalist. I have generally been more focused on knowledge than things when it comes to survival. As the many years have passed I have become more accumulative but still, feel that a more minimal approach has a lot of merit if you are young enough... Which no longer describes me. Things can be taken, lost or wear out but knowledge is there forever.

 

Me too. For all the same reasons, plus a few medical issues that are better served in an urban environment.

 

Sounds like a great place

 

One who is better prepared than I used to be but nowhere near where I want to be. Always learning. On on years in a body that’s experienced too much trauma. Hoping to hang on long enough to be a blessing where I can when things go sideways. Ex military, but expect short lifespan when SHTF. Doing the best I can with the cards I am holding.

 

What kind of prepper am I? A poor one, but I'm trying. I know, I've heard it, it is already too late if I am not prepared at this point. I disagree. Nobody knows how circumstances will play out in anyone's situation.

 

I'm a different type of prepper ... and believe, by definition, it is the required type.

A prepper must be versatile and mentally prepared to relocate to different areas eg from the tropics to the cold climes, from the coastlines to the interiors, and so forth. Glance at the historical experiences of WWII displacements. All this is less about wilderness outfitting and more so about mental prep.

Radar; No need to have major concerns about buying stuff. Over the years I've seen the best-prepared not being able to access their equipment, their food supplies, etc because a hurricane repositioned a tree across the house section serving as the supply room. They had to vacate by pods. The pickup truck was also lost.

The scenarios continue. Rodents and snakes can make equipment rooms inaccessible.

A MAJOR scenario: The hurricane - or the riot - caused a personal injury. The person could not safely drive a GMC Yukon vehicle. Depending on weather and other variables, I cannot open a multitool blade. Must work around this problem. Monseur Bowie explained it best.

It's mostly about acquiring knowledge and practice. It's less about inventories.

 

@Pragmatist , "poor," yes, but mainly meant "poorly prepared." There are many who have way less than what I have as far as preparations. It floors me that I know so many people that have nothing stored. NOTHING. A pantry with items they run out of and shop to get more of and they make probably 6 or 7 or more times the amount of income I have. I still go to the store more than I would care to and am trying to train those around me to live more frugally.
How did Monsieur Bowie explain it?

 

Good morning Radar,


So many Americans have nothing stored because the government was subsidizing their neglect. We have programs to distribute MREs, blankets, etc in conveniently-located parking lots. This philosophy is winding down under Team Trump.

A small fixed blade knife is easy to withdraw from a sheath....but not a Bowie knife on my evac belt.

 

Radar: You have taken the most important step; the first one! You have started!! Who told you it is to late? That is total BS. Truth be known you probably have 90% of what you need anyway. Who hasn't packed a bag to go on vacation? We just keep ours packed all the time.

I tend to think of prepping as a life style. You are getting additional knowledge to help you. Prioritize the "things" you need and buy them as the budget permits. All the while you are learning and moving in the right direction. I think that's a pretty good start.

 

How low do any of you let your gas gauge go before you get gas?
Trying to pay more attention to that, but was shocked at the pump the other day. $2.45 a gallon!

 

When I get down to 1/4 of a tank I am looking to get gas, sometimes a little sooner. My commute now is much shorter, and I don't drive 1/3 as much as I used to. Gas stations are all close with several choices, so never a problem.

 

I was shocked one other time in the past several months when I went to get gas at my usual place and all pumps were closed, as well as 2 other places I checked. A good idea to not run it low or be more conservative in running around.

 

I was actually starting to be more observant and conscientious about it, so the gas gauge was sitting around 1/4 tank and fortunately I did find some petrol.

 

Our conversions are a little bit different. Your five liter per gallon conversion is an Imperial gallon. In the U.S. the conversion would be 3.8 liters per U.S. gallon. I'm busy splitting hairs here, but I'm back now.

 

Never lower than 1/2. At 3/4 I will stop and top off if I see a good price.

 

I fill my truck up every morning