Doomsday Preppers

I'VE BEEN watching Doomsday Preppers on disk, from NatGeo for the past few days. I don't have cable, DTV or any other media services so I always buy disk sets to see things I am interested in.

I'll start by saying that while I am not a "prepper" to the extent that these people are, I do believe in being prepared.  Some parts of Cambridge, OH just went without power for 10 days and national disasters do happen.  You need some food put back and a way to get water.  It can't hurt, and it isn't that expensive.  You can start stocking up on food every time you go shopping.  Just buy a few extra cans.  The 1 lb packs of dry beans are cheap;  get a few of those each time.  Ignore expiration dates. 

Do you need weapons? If you live in or near a big city, and you have food and water, in the event of a disaster you might need them.  NPR had a report on Katrina/NOLA where they stated that people who ran generators became targets for predators as anyone with a generator had food, and power.  That is your call.

ANYWAY because I watch these things (no television/cable here) on disk, I see them uninterrupted with no commercials.  I noticed some trends.  Random observations and personal opinions follow.

1) maybe 40% of the preppers use the term "Shit hits the fan",  over and over in each episode.  Probably because it gets repeated on all the disaster blogs they read.  This kind of reductive slogan sets off alarms for me implying that this is not original thought.  

2) the top disasters that they expect seem to be electro-magnetic pulses, economic chaos and related ills, and magnetic pole reversal.  a couple of people mentioned 2012.  Economic problems I can see as valid.  It has happened before in a nicer, less populous world, and could happen again.  EMP?  not likely. If a foreign power detonates a nuke in our upper atmosphere,  our problems are likely to be greater than a power grid failure and dead ignition systems on vehicles.  Magnetic pole shift, super volcanoes, or any of the crap that was showcased in the movie 2012 is not worth worrying about.  One woman started prepping because of a dream she had.

3) one guy shot his thumb off because of unsafe gun handling techniques  @@.  One woman is running shooting classes.  She has obviously had minimum training.  One couple bought their first handguns and after an hour at a range thought they were experts.  If you want firearms, get training.  Understand the safety rules, and understand that having a gun does not make you an un-assailable Rambo.

4)  around 20-30% are going to rely on the good will of the community for support in a disaster. Depends on the community I guess.

5) a really large % say they are planning on helping people who need it, with their preps.  This is interesting.  My opinion?  Some people are genuinely altruistic but with some, there is something unspoken.  The undercurrent is that, yeah I will share with you if you obey my rules.  You have to be a like minded person to be in my "club".  One guy, who was probably in his 50's  has a squad of 20-somethings he is training to be his personal retinue.  A couple of them are cute females.  I suspect a hidden agenda either in expectation of the future, or something going on right now.

Let's say you have enough food put by to feed 10 of your friends for 2 years.  What happens when the food runs out?  What are your expectations?  Some people hoard seeds expecting to raise food.  How many of these people think past the limits of their current prep?

6) some of them (in my mind) are putting way too much money into tech gadgets with an eye toward long term survival.  I think this might be a problem.  Mechanical and electrical systems fail all the time.  

7) this is a fantasy show.  A very small % of these people are typical wage earners, and most of those who are, are having to sacrifice large parts of their incomes to start and maintain their preps.  Many of the other people seem to have lots of money to invest in this with land purchases, under-ground bunkers, years and years of food supplies etc.

8)  some spouses (and children) are either not interested in their partner/parent's activities, are hostile to one degree or another, or are "victims" of the prepper spouse.  One guy pretty much came out and said that he would leave his wife and one kid behind if they refused to get in his survival hole.  

9)  many of these people were from Utah.  Mormons are usually preppers.

10)  many of these people feel the need to evangelize and "convert" their neighbors to the prepper lifestyle.  I think this is less out of concern than confirmation that they are right.

So what is my point?  I guess I am trying to show some of the idiosyncrasies of the various people who were the focus of the episodes.  

There is nothing wrong with prepping.  The CDC recommends you prep for 72 hour emergencies, and have a bug out bag.  I firmly believe that everyone should be ready for tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes, and associated civil unrest.  How you do this is up to you.  How extreme you are in your preps (bunkers, food and ammo supply, family emergency drills) is up to up to you.


Could we get smacked by an asteroid?  Sure.  Will we? Lowwww probability.

(speaking of asteroids, one of the best fiction books about the end of civilization as we know it, is Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven, and Jerry Pournelle.  the lesson I took from this book is that in a disaster, if it can go wrong, it will.  all the preps in the world will not help you if random chance goes against you.)


I would suggest you check your motives and really think about why you are doing this.  Are you spending all your disposable income on preps based on the information you get from disaster blogs and doomsday reports?  Is the sky really falling?  Why are you so convinced that doomsday is around the corner?  Are the sources you use peer-reviewed and accurate, or is it just blogs and/or the Bible?  

At the end of each episode, the narrator critiques the reasons given for the prep.  EMP, solar flares, pole shift, volcanoes, economic collapse, etc. are all very low probability events.

If you have the money, hell, prep like there IS no tomorrow.  Everyone needs a hobby.  If I had the money, I'd build that under ground bunker, just for something to do.  Shrugs.  as in all things,

YMMV