Are “Doomsday Preppers” Just Paranoid Nuts?
So The National Geographic Channel is about to premiere Doomsday Preppers to the world.
Long a rather quiet subculture it will be fascinating to see what kind of attention this exposure will bring.
I should note here that I have been a survivalist (the OLD name) for quite some time. If some television producer asked ME to participate in a national TV show about the subject I’d be more interested in how he got my name? I sure as hell wouldn’t volunteer just to be on TV.
Candidly, I’m skeptical (and paranoid?). As Jonn noted in part vets are suspect in some circles… but I’ll posit that that suspicion is based on many of the same elements that CAN be used to paint preppers. Know what to do when The Shit Hits the Fan? Don’t need to rely on The Government?
Like any group preppers will include some nuts. I’ve met a few, but by and large they are simply the sort of person who plans ahead and practice ‘just in case’.
Category: Geezer Alert!, Guns
I have a fire extinguisher and a pretty good first aid/blowout kit in my car and a duplicate one in my wife’s. When I lived up north, I kept my gas tank above 1/2 and a few field stripped MREs in arm’s reach in my car and an E-tool in the trunk. I’ve been stuck in the snow on back roads in sub-zero temps and always wanted to be prepared for that contingency. I don’t think that makes me a nut or a survivalist. I’m just not one who likes to rely on others who I may, or likely will not, be able to reach in a contingency.
Hell I’d be right there with them if I had the extra money. A little bit of paranoia is healthy and there’s nothing wrong with being prepared for a major emergancy.
Actually, they’ve run an episode previously. It wasn’t too bad, and they assessed each prepper’s preps and identified practical holes in their plans (needs more water storage, needs better security, etc). I was surprised that they didn’t completely paint them as crazy cultists (which what the advertising for the show tried to do, along with the title).
Too bad that what used to be simple common sense (staying prepared to take care of yourself during your life) is now frowned upon. Probably a good thing that most of us just don’t care what they think about us as long as they stay out of the yard.
I don’t consider myself a Prepper by any stretch, but I do pride myself on being able to go a couple months with what’s stocked in the house if society collapsed; along with the means to defend it.
Country Singer #3: I missed it… Thing is, by volunteering to be on national TV I figure them to be targets?
Zero, that’s my thought, too. One guy was very guarded about his cache locations but let them show how he did them (owned a large amount of land). They also didn’t give specifics on locations, just generalized areas, i.e. “in the Rocky Mountains” or “in West Texas”.
@6: Yep, they now have Janet Incompetano’s peeps putting the evil eye on them. Dammit!! Another black helicopter just flew over my house. Coincidence? I think not!!!!!
Try spraying vinegar at them, OT.
End of the world, zombie apocalypse, Cincinnatti Bengals in the Superbowl – it’s good to be prepped!
If it’s that simple to be a Doomsday Survivalist, then most of the state of Utah is already there. And as for the “cult” label, does the NatGeo really want to go there with one of the larger & fastest growing major religions in the US?
Survivalist, living off the grid, prepper: it’s all about living without anything provided by government. If Obama were ever to actually meet a prepper, he’d shit himself six ways to Sunday. Imagine: someone who doesn’t want a damned thing from someone in DC.
I still say a land grant should be part of the military’s retirement package. They can keep the rest. The money doesn’t keep up with inflation and the medical doesn’t heal you, just maintains one’s decline.
One of the larger reasons why I laugh my ass off at these idiots spending every spare dime on gold. Memo to Paulbots and other assorted financial ritards…you can’t eat gold. Someone comes to me looking to buy food, fuel, or ammo when TSHTF will be pushing his ride on an empty stomach and hoping he’s out of range in time. But they’ll have gold.
NHSparky #13: I agree about gold but I do have some interest in non-numismatic silver coins. Dunno if that is a proper term, BTW, I mean the value of the silver content and NOT the face value or collectors value?
You’d be correct. Coin dealers sell what they call “junk bags” where the value of the coins isn’t much if any more than the intrinsic value of the silver they contain. Don’t get me wrong, precious metals have some value after a societial colapse, but trade would be mostly local and bartering in nature until communication and trade outside the immediate area can be restored.
I disagree – gold will have value. Gold-as-valuable is hardwired in humans.
Books will have value as well.
DaveO #16: Books absolutely!!! One of the sites I belong to has a TON of how-to type books on-line for downloading. Some military FMs are good as well.
On precious metals there are simply too many potential variables following a SHTF situation. I suspect that for a time silver will be more negotiable than gold for several reasons, but that’s just me?
Food, water, shelter and the means to protect same. Then all else.
We appeared in the show to help spread the word of prepardness not for 15 minutes of fame. Knowledge is were you can be most prepared. Stuff can be taken away the knowledge you have you will have forever.
meetup.com/homesteadingftgu website to see list of classes we have.
Gloria Haswell Range
That show is now being aired here and it is quite embarassing to see how afraid you americans are. Being a nation that has not suffered major wars in centuries on tehir own soil. Maybe your society is based on fear. Living is easy in Europe although it has been warzone many times in ww1 & ww2.
Keep on living in your panic rooms.
Respectfully, I just don’t understand why so many people are obsessed with prepping. If something catastrophic were to actually happen, I’m not sure I would want to survive the aftermath. True survival is pure agony and a post-apocalyptic world would be ruthless and unrelenting. Hording water, food and weapons would not change this. Furthermore, I don’t see the point in spending the productive years of my life worrying about what could happen. I would rather enjoy my life and if something horrible happens, then so be it. I can’t predict the future and there is no sense in pretending like I can. Like most things, preparation is good in moderation. I prepare for a meeting at work, or an impending snow storm, but there is no sense in preparing for incidents of low probability. It’s not logical and I see it as an extremely negative and depressing way to exist. Although our world is flawed, some people exaggerate the moral decline of society and choose to view America as a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. We are fortunate enough to be witnesses to an age of information that has changed the way we perceive the world. There have always been murderers, rapist, genocide and terrorism. The only difference is that we are now more informed. The advent of new information mediums combined with politically motivated 24hr news networks, has resulted in paranoid and skewed perspective of reality. The bottom line is If I lived every aspect of my life with the pessimism of a prepper , I would never try anything new and would avoid anything that involved any level of risk. I would wear a chain mail diving suit when swimming in ocean so I could be prepared for a shark attack, and I would construct a rubber room in my home so I would be protected from lighting strikes. It seems like an awful lot of preppers are playing out some sort or childhood fantasy. Just like with religious zealots, preppers seem to get off on the idea that they possess some sort of secret knowledge that the… Read more »