Help me find some Preppers to interview…..
Help me find some preppers to interview…..
In Canticle for Liebowitz, the fall of society at large came about because of War. In Lucifer’s Hammer, a comet slammed into the Earth, causing catastrophe and death almost everywhere. In Earth Abides, a deadly virus wiped out most of the human race. (Ditto The Stand and numerous other works, like The Twelve.) In Atlas Shrugged it was just a complete breakdown of society brought on by many factors. In Silo by Hugh Howey (a must read) nano-viruses forced everyone to live in underground bunkers. And in One Second After it was an Electro Magnetic Pulse which fried just about everything, setting off a stone age battle for resources.
I’ve read all of them, probably at least three times each, and am fascinated by them. Last month my Editor at The American Legion magazine finally caved into my request to do a story on Preppers. Specifically, I’m looking to do a piece on Preppers who are veterans.
Here’s what I do want:
- Sane, and earnestly believe something could happen that would require self-sufficiency and living off the land.
- Preferably people who are well spoken and can articulate their predictions.
- Live in an under-populated area, preferably Maine, Idaho, Oregon, Washington State, California, or in the heartland somewhere. ie., I don’t want to interview a guy who thinks the world is going to end and he’s going to ride it out in downtown Atlanta.
- Someone with an actual plan for living through the turmoil, not just someone who fantasizes about hunting Zombies and hooking up with Emma Stone on some cross country road trip to Pacific Playland.
- Genuinely wants to help others understand the Prepper movement, and isn’t just completely anti-social.
What I do not want:
- Anti-Government/Sovereign Citizen types that are waiting for the great war of 2016 after Obama refuses to acknowledge the new elections.
- Anyone anticipating some sort of race war.
- Some sort of quasi-religious/Hippie cult drinking Kool Aid and wearing their special sneakers until the spaceship comes to pick them all up.
- James Franco, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan sitting around getting baked and eating Cheetos.
So, if any of you know someone I could talk to, that would be great. I’m really looking for at least 1 person who has a compound somewhere that is EMP proof.
I am headed to the Indy Prepper Con this weekend, and I am sure I’ll find some interesting people, but I thought maybe one of you would have a friend of a friend type thing.
One thing bears mentioning. My article will be factual and neutral. I have no intention of goofing on anyone, or making them look stupid. In fact, I will share my article with the interviewees before I send it to my editor, so they can ensure it’s not a hatchet job. For myself, I think that the Yellowstone Caldara is going to get us all anyway despite any preparations, so I am putting all my effort into saving Azeroth first, but I do honestly want to tell these peoples story, and try to humanize them as much as possible. I’m certain there are VERY smart people out there with very sincere worries about EMPs and the like. Those are the folks I want.
If you know anyone, you can have them email me at seaveyattorney@gmail.com. If the person requests anonymity, I am happy to grant that, they’ll just need to make up a name, and I can change little facts about location and such to protect them.
Category: Politics
Where the hell is Azeroth?
I believe TSO is referring to a fictional city in the World of Warcraft game
http://www.wowwiki.com/Azeroth_%28world%29
It is also the name of a city in many novels as well.
I googled it too.
20 miles West of Gula Mon in the Neerdo Archipelago.
At least three times each? On “Canticle for Leibowitz” you are short by at least one order of magnitude… probably one of the best sci-fi books ever written.
Indeed. There is also a sequel to it which was almost finished when the author, Walter Miller, died.
“Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman” is also a pretty damned good read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Leibowitz_and_the_Wild_Horse_Woman
Both should be required reading in HS English classes, and probably also in ethics/morals classes.
Bless you, sir.. did not know of that. Thought I had read all of Miller’s stories, now I have something to look forward to!
It’s light fiction but Heinlein’s “Farnham’s Freehold” is worth while. And interesting for whom he picks as post-nuclear ‘winners’ – African Muslims.
Could do a new thread… “Books We Would Love to Have Good Sequels”. Starship Troopers, Liebowitz, etc…
Two comments.
First of all, “Wild Horse Woman” isn’t exactly a sequel; it takes place in the middle of the earlier novel. It’s a Hell of a depressing read, but then, so was the original. (Pretty sure the author killed himself in the middle of writing it; someone else finished it.)
Second: “Canticle” was originally published as a short story, which was how I read it first. It was later expanded to a novel. One of my favorite book quotes ever came from this; it’s a post-apocalyptic abbot ranting about the the computer someone excavated and got (somewhat) working:
“That contraption — listen, Brother, they claim it thinks. I didn’t believe it at first. Thought, implying rational principle, implying
soul. Can the principle of a ‘thinking machine’ — man-made — be a rational soul? Bah! It seemed a thoroughly pagan notion at first.
But do you know what? […]
“Nothing could be that perverse without premeditation! It *must*
think! It knows good and evil, I tell you, and it chose the latter.
Stop that snickering, will you? It’s not funny. The notion isn’t even pagan. Man made the contraption, but he didn’t make its principle. They speak of the vegetative principle as a soul, don’t they? A vegetable
soul? And the animal soul? Then the rational human soul, and that’s all
they list in the way of incarnate vivifying principles, angels being
disembodied. But how do we know the list is comprehensive? Vegetative,
animal, rational — and then what else? *That’s* what else, right there. That thing. And it *fell*. Get it out of here…”
Leibowitz? I read that when it hit the paperback stands in 1974. That was the first time the epoxyclypse (Mad Max Thudnerdome) idea crossed my path.
The Cold War was still ongoing. It was strange.
My copy still has the $.35 price tag…my daughters have tried to talk me into getting a replacement copy multiple times… no way. It came out quite a bit earlier, by the way – I first read it in the ’60s.
TSO, have Jonn give you my e-mail address.
I nominate Zero Ponsdorf. Dude has a gas well. He probably has sharks with friggin “lasers” too.
But wouldn’t single out an EMP pulse as a threat. If I was a prepper I’d cover as many bases as possible. I’d have enough food and supplies to last a year or so. Probably even have some of them evil guns with enough spare parts to do a rebuild. Maybe even have plenty of that ammo stuff on hand, etc.
Maybe even feed deer and turkeys in my backyard so wouldn’t have to go far to put meat on the table. Shucks, I might even have pond stocked with fish for variety.
I’d have a stone root cellar with two foot thick walls… If I was a prepper.
I think I might have a dug water well – just in case.
Oh, and 75 acres or so of well forested land for fire wood to supplement the gas well.
Oh yeah, Ham radio gear disconnected from power and antennas grounded with an eight foot ground rod.
If I was a prepper… I dunno about the “sharks with lasers” though.
I have no help for you on the question…but I hope you didn’t skip Wolf and Iron by Gordon R. Dickson if you love the “survival” genre. (There the collapse was brought about by a collapse of the financial system…but he handwaves that part to get on with his story.)
If you want to see what survival of the country is like after the watermelons get their “green” agenda in place with the full force of the law, then you need to also read “Fallen Angels” by Niven, Pournelle, etc.
It’s a damned fine and frightening read that sounds oh so familiar to today’s events, even though written some 20 years ago. These guys saw exactly what was in the cards if the leftist watermelons gain real power. It’s available as a free online or download read from Baen Books.
http://library.beau.org/lib/ebooks/baen/01/Fallen%20Angels/Fallen_Angels.htm
Sorry, TSO, I can’t help you out with anyone I know who falls into that category.
I currently live about 120 miles south of the Yellowstone Caldera and I’m like like you, I pretty much figure it’s all over but the shouting when she says “OK, I’ve had enough, time to wipe the slate clean.”
Claw, I remember a morning watching Mt. Saint Helens blow up on a day the mountain lost around 1000 feet from the summit. It was surreal.
Yep, you were probably a lot closer to her than I was, I was stationed at Fort Carson when she blew.
Gee, hard to believe that’s been 35 years(next month) ago. Where does the time go?
The west gate of Yellowstone is only a hour and forty five minute drive from my place. So a word out to all the potential TAH vacationers. If any of you are planning on doing a tour of Yellowstone and need a free place to stay overnight or a couple of days, the stately Claw Manor is always open and I’ll leave the light on for ya..
I have enough room at my place (there is only the wife and I here) to easily sleep up to a half dozen or more and no one will have to sleep on an air bed or on a cot/sleeping bag on the floor. Over at my brother-in-law’s place (a mile away) he’s the same way. Big house, only two people. So accommodations are readily available.
I grew up in Cache Valley. The family used to take 2 weeks or so every summer and head up to Yellowstone, Jackson, etc.
One winter, my dad and I spent a week in February up there with a couple scientists from USU. They were studying Big Horn sheep throughout the park during winter. We went all over the place there with snowshoes, operating out of one of the Park Ranger cabins. Got tons of neat pics then.
About the only places safe when Yellowstone blows will be along the shorelines of the southern states, and places up to New England and Canada. The temps will drop, but there’s enough land along the shorelines to grow crops and build shelters.
But when it blows, yeah……. society will be back to the 19th century (at least) within about 72 hours.
19th century? Optimist!
More like the 10th century, Tim.
Yeah, that Caldera is a case of the Big Bang Theory writ large! I keep hoping it’s more like the Hawaiian volcanoes, than Mt. Saint Helen. If it goes up like that, you can pretty much forget about four states on the map, right off the bat.
Sent you a PM on Facebook with a potential candidate.
I’m a prepper, but I don’t consider myself a survivalist. The scenario I operate under is a massive earthquake strike (quite a realistic concern in the Rockies.) I have a Bugout Bag in the car, and a couple of places I can go if I can’t stay in town.
I suggest reading “Patriots” by James Wesley Rawles.
I might be able to help you out a little bit if central Alaska is remote enough for you. Shoot me an email and I’ll get back with you this afternoon.
I read that series. It seemed a bit preachy for my taste. The “Going Home” Series by A. American is similar, but better written and without endless chapters of how you can only survive with God on your side.
I think ‘smarmy’ is the word you’re looking for.
I started that book with high hopes and ended up hoping he gets his smug, paranoid, holier-than-thou ass overrun. Lunatic.
I’ve read that series twice.
I consider myself a prepper, but living in the barracks, there is only so much one can do. Now if you consider the fleet of Strykers and Bradleys we have in the motorpool about 200 meters from my barracks as an EMP proof compound (as I do), then I would be more than happy to answer any questions.
Also the “Going Home Series”, “Alas Babylon” and “Brave New World” are worth a read. Not necessarily in that order.
I’d just like to say, please keep the book titles coming. I have not read many of the books mentioned above… I guess when it comes to Sci-Fi, I have no street cred.
Lately I have been stopping in to Half Price Books and picking up books in the “Survival” section, mainly the Foxfire Books. I also pick up things in the other sections that I deem to be worthy of reading. I’m slowly building a book collection up at my farm, prepping for when the day comes that the TV don’t work permanently (not that I have a TV up at the farm, I don’t). I will definitely look for the titles mentioned above and have a spot for them on my shelf. Thank you.
For my part I will recommend “The Earth is Enough, stories of trout fishing and old men” by Harry Middleton.
I am not a prepper…but I am prepared. Food water, shelter, first aid supplies,ammo and other necessities laid in, just in case. Spent 5 years living near the San Andreas fault, Frau laid in enough supplies to keep a Company in the field for a month, give or take a kid or two!
I think I’d fall into that category as well. We lose power often enough and for long enough (up to two weeks) that’s it’s stupid NOT to be prepared.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind retiring to Cody. I’ve lived in several places in WY and ID, so I know that area. Plus, if the Caldera blows, I’ve got front row seats.
No,man, not Cody. That place has went full retard California Touristy. Population is now up over 10,000 and even has a 24 hour Wal-Mart Superstore.
Not to mention the shoot-outs that happen right downtown in front of the Irma Hotel over who has the right-of-way when cows meet SUV’s.(Smile)
If you want a final retirement home, think about putting down roots in Meeteetsee, Clark, Wapiti,or even (gasp) Ralston.
I know, BTDT, lived in Powell for eight years, but left there nine years ago. Still have a couple of good friends back there that update me on the goings on in Powell/Cody. Sometimes the news is not good.
How is Lander Wy these days? Know anything about that area? I passed through there years ago and have always had in the back of the brain for a retirement destination…
I have a library with books like ‘Stocking Up’ by Carole Hupping, originally published by Rodale Press and Fireside Press, plus several books on botanicals, e.g., ‘The Healing Foods’ by Hausmann & Hurley, ‘Herbs’ by Lesley Bremness (Eyewitness Handbooks), and ‘Green Kitchen Handbook’ by Annie Berthold-Bond. She was allergic to all common household cleansers. I used to subscribe to Mother Earth News, but gave away my copies to some friends of mine who were going to do homesteading. All those old copies are now available on CD or DVD, and the advice is still good. The magazine has returned to publication. A Farraday flashlight (no battery, uses the dynamo principle) sits in my car. Companies like L.L. Bean sell hand cranked/solar powered chargers for phones, computers and flashlights, and offer emergency radios. I have a basic survival emergency kit in the back end of my car. Got it at Dick’s Sporting Goods, of all places. It stays in my car. There are plenty of companies that sell 10-year packed seed packs, but you have to order them ahead of time. Lehman’s in Ohio sells all kinds of off-the-grid household items, including wood-burning cookstoves and books on everything from preserving food to butchering your own livestock. Woodstock Soapstone stoves builds and markets wood-burning or gas-burning soapstone-clad stoves for heating. You can also boil water on them. For basic survivial skills, Tom Brown in New Jersey has several books on tracking and surviving, and offers a survival course that includes identifying, finding and living on wild foods. And if you really can’t give up electric lights, you can build a wind generator out of a 55-gallon oil drum cut in two, mounted on a bearings on a pole as a windspinner. I don’t know how it’s wired up, but it can be done. I have a book on that, too. There are books available on homesteading with animals like chickens, hogs, cattle and sheep. If you want to use a critter to pull a plow or run haying equipment or a thresher, mules are really more stable than horses, but draft horses… Read more »
Two books to add to your library.
— “Where There is No Doctor,” by David Werner.
— The US Army Special Forces Medical Handbook.
Thanks! I will add those.
Might be a good idea to add a basic vet medicine book on livestock, too. Bird flu is hitting chicken, turkey and other flocks.
Here are some links to supplement what I said above.
Mother Earth News Archives, now on ePub and DVD
http://www.motherearthnews.com/archives.aspx
Tom Brown’s tracker school
https://www.trackerschool.com/default.aspx
Woodstock Soapstone Stoves
http://www.woodstove.com/
Lehman’s in Kidron, OH
https://www.lehmans.com/
I realize it is not really “off the grid” per se, but if you have a Kindle (and obviously a way to charge it en infinitum), Amazon has hundreds of books like this for free as they are out of print or out of copyright. Many were written in the 1800s by the artisans that lived that way.
For anyone who has an e-book reader – there is a freeware called Calibre which changes the formats of e-books – it is intuitive and very easy to use. With it you can change ebook formats – so you can take Nook (epub etc.) books to Kindle (azw etc.)formats or vice versa. Otherwise if you load the wrong format into your reader you lock it up. With this you can convert any e-book to work in your reader. Takes literally about 30 seconds per book.
Medieval medicine (10th century) is getting a new look-see from modern medicine.
A recipe from a 10th century medical guide, to cure sties on the eyelids, has been found to kill 90% of MRSA bacteria. It consists of equal parts leek and garlic mashed up, mixed with bile from a cow’s stomach and left in a brass vessel for several days.
Herbal remedies have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine.
I’m willing to collect anything for my library that will support survival, if needed.
You might want to track this guy down, he should have an interesting perspective on the issue:
http://a3.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fill,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,g_face,h_300,q_80,w_300/MTE5NDg0MDU0ODYyMzk4OTkx.jpg
I keep my 58 foot sailboat stocked and ready to go. I can make 65 gallons of fresh water a day, store 400 gallons of fresh water, 400 gallons of diesel, I can stay at sea almost indefinitely.
If the shit hits the fan you can find me about 3 miles from Chesty Pullers grave getting underway.
Thanks, Dave. My envy meter just went into the red zone. There was a time when I would have traded my first born for a Morgan Out Island 41.
You are welcome to come along anytime. Probably will be doing a Beaufort, NC – Bermuda then Bermuda – Charleston, SC trip in late May.
Dave, we need to go sailing (or fishing) next time TSO comes down to our neck of the woods.
TSO needs to get some sea legs. You know those Army types need to be treated gentle like.
Semper Fi.
I’m a prepper, but I don’t have an EMP proof bunker because, to be honest, I don’t consider a wide-scale EMP to be a major threat. Economic collapse is the most likely scenario in my opinion, and I’m equipped to handle that eventuality. I live in a rural area, have enough food to live off of for over a year, my own well, spare water stockpiled, medical supplies, and I not only have the means to generate my own electricity, but also have the means to survive without it if necessary.
Sane preppers are the majority, but sadly, all we have on TV to represent us is the vocal minority because they make for better television.
“Sane preppers are the majority, but sadly, all we have on TV to represent us is the vocal minority because they make for better television.”
Quoted for correctness-osity!
I’m pretty sure they find the most bat shit crazy preppers and ignore the majority of us sane ones.
TSO, I just sent an invite to someone I know who might be an interesting candidate.
They have their own con? Man everyone has their own con these days
So, when is Poser Con? I wanna go and take pictures!
They conflated with con-man-con.
Here’s another company. Enertia Building Systems designs and constructs houses that use passive solar heat and geothermal energy to keep a home warm in winter and cool in summer. They work in all climates.
http://www.enertia.com/
I’d live in a yurt if I had to, as long as there is a bathroom. 🙂
These winters are starting earlier and cold weather lasting longer than it used, and the extremes such as Cat 4+ hurricanes or typhoons, F-4+ tornadoes and blizzards are happening more often. These dynamic oscillations in weather are an indicator that something is changing. None of us need to be caught unawares.
Aw, come on. What you want is a SURVIVAL BUNKER! Here ya go:
http://www.atlassurvivalshelters.com/
You’re welcome! 😀
Naw, I’d build a hobbit house first. Then I could sit under the front eaves and have a pint and a book in peace.
Here are photos of hobbit houses.
http://webecoist.momtastic.com/2010/10/18/hobbit-houses-15-grassy-hill-shaped-dwellings/
Thank you for posting that. I was trying to remember the site name a while back and was drawing a blank.
TSO,
If you don’t already have access, have Jonn send you my email.
I’m not a “prepper” in the extreme sense, but I have made preparations for a society collapse (economic in my opinion, due to Big Gooberment policies), and continue to prepare as much as I can, while maintaining a household in the ‘burbs.
Up where I live, ice storms and winter power outages are the norm. It pays to be ready to evacuate if you can’t shelter in place.
I keep two backpacks ready. One for me and the other for my daughter. They contain enough clothing and personal hygiene items, etc, to last us for 72 hours. In addition, I have 2 cases of MRE’s, and some lightweight camp gear, 2 winter-weight sleeping bags and a small tent. Everything can fit nicely, with room to spare, into the car trunk.
If we need to hike out, we only need about 15 minutes to swap out some items in the knapsacks, lash on the sleeping bags and a couple tarps and paracord for shelter, and we’re good to go.
The key, to my mind, is the KISS principle. Think through what you will need to survive, and NOT what looks kewl, and adds comfort, etc. Water, food, shelter, medical needs. That order. Items with multiple uses, reusable items, etc.
But I believe that the real key is being able to survive for at least the first 72 hours. If you can do that, you can usually get to somewhere or a better situation.
ALICE pack + M1 Garand + Poncho with liner + water purification tabs + lighter ÷ teotwawki = no problem
This question has been burning in my mind all day.
Just what is wrong with getting baked and eating Cheetohs?
If not for that caveat, I coulda been a contender.
EX……..You had my heart at Cheetos. About every six weeks when I’m really hungry, I go to Subway and order a twelve inch sub, Cheetos, and a drink. Take a paper with me, and enjoy! I’m also partial to pork rines!
Also when I’m there, I’m going secret squirrel! Looking for the ex-subway smmach maker who now lives in Arizona. No luck so far.
There are two youtube people you may want to touch base with one in “Maine Prepper” and the other is “Patriot Nurse” MP is retired Army and PN is a nurse that gives seminars ,
TSO- this is all making sense now. Your attraction to ‘tiny house’design, the jeep, now this. You’re not a ‘prepper’ but more like me- don’t want to be left hangin’.
I live on the beach. Feet from water. ‘prepping’ here has two meanings- because we’re only a storm away from a really bad situation out here, and this area hasn’t had one in decades, so we’re overdue. While we wouldn’t end up with a Katrina-esque damage, it would be bad enough. And its one of the most densely-populated counties in the US.
Being ‘prepared’ is mandatory here. Water, electric/power, and shelter. Defense is next- because toooooo many out here would be far from prepared, and the rest are all related to Florida Man. Its hard to believe they are only now considering a bill in the legislature to allow you to carry, locally, in an emergency. I wasn’t waiting to ask permission for that one.
One thing you need to consider- that prepper out in the Yukon is a different kind of cat than one that does it in an urban environment. Urban is far more difficult- where do you grow something? Where do you store it? How do you keep from looking ‘obvious’? Yeah, we have resources, but we also have a FAR larger population trying to take it, and you.
You might want to consider at least one urban-prepper type…
Does stocking Class VI count?
Can’t believe no one else posted something like this yet. With apologies to the Dr. Pepper corporation:
I’m a Prepper,
He’s a Prepper,
She’s a Prepper,
We’re a Prepper,
Wouldn’t you like to be a Prepper too?
I’m a Prepper,
He’s a Prepper,
She’s a Prepper,
We’re a Prepper,
Wouldn’t you like to be a Prepper too?
(smile)
Eeeewww! You jus’ hadda do dat, dintcha?
Now I have that song stuck in my head.
In the words of Yosemite Sam :p
https://youtu.be/AADiEuvhCu0
Here’s an urban prepper’s blog spot.
http://urbanprepperchick.blogspot.com/2015/03/recharge-your-activated-charcoal.html
I am a real urban prepper, with plenty of resources, a career in the biz and a world class bug out location in the city and upstate.
But TSO don’t want know crazy urban preppers!
I have a solid prepper plan. I’m moving in with Jonn
Prepper? I lived in Florida for 20 years. Hurricanes happen…..
Stored stuff can be handy, but it is your skill set and mind set that makes it possible to get through a crisis. Your tool set is useless without the stuff between your ears.
Have a a “willing and able” mind set. Learn useful stuff. Keep some quality basic tools handy. Think about what problems might happen, and what you might do. Make useful acquaintances, and lose the losers. Have a plan and a backup plan. Keep some basic supplies for the inevitable rainy days. Take care of yourself, those close to you, and be a decent neighbor. Enjoy the good. Endure the bad. You can always make things a little bit better. Never quit.
Yeah. I am a Prepper.