Page 1 of 1
Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 3:29 pm
by Count
http://www.newsweek.com/id/228428
In the end, what it all boils down to, at least for the preppers, is self-reliance—a concept as old as the human race itself. As survival blogger Joe Solomon pointed out in a recent column, during the Victory Gardens of WWII, Americans managed to grow 40 percent of all the vegetables they needed to survive. "My mother's parents had a 10-acre garden, and my grandfather worked at the dairy farm next door," says Hill, the former jet mechanic. "They worked by raising their own food, they had their own chickens, they canned vegetables, and my grandfather fed a family of 12 like that." But in the modern world, he says, many of those skills are easily forgotten. Today, our food comes from dozens of different sources. Most of us aren't quite sure how electricity gets from the wires to our stoves. We use debit cards to buy a can of tuna and we wouldn't have the slightest idea how to filter contaminated water. We are residents of the new millennium; we simply haven't needed to prepare.
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:11 pm
by 92f-fan
and less than ( my guess ) 2% of the population owns ( ior rents ) enough land to even attempt it
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 5:33 pm
by KD5NRH
92f-fan wrote:and less than ( my guess ) 2% of the population owns ( ior rents ) enough land to even attempt it
Used properly, a typical residential yard will keep veggies on the table throughout the growing seasons. Producing enough to can and stay supplied through the winter can probably be done with a bit more creativity.
If you want to involve the front yard too, there are lots of food crops that can pass for ornamentals. The right species of potatoes, for example, can make a nice border.
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 6:59 pm
by The Annoyed Man
92f-fan wrote:and less than ( my guess ) 2% of the population owns ( ior rents ) enough land to even attempt it
THIS HOME in my home town back in Pasadena, California, produces 6,000 lbs of food per year on 1/5 of an acre. They even sell their surplus to local restaurants. They're a little weird, in my book, but it
can be done, even by suburbanites, if you're dedicated enough to the idea.
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 8:00 am
by Lodge2004
Over the last 15+ years, I've "re-learned" how to do many of the things my parents and g-parents did every day to prepare. Although I live in a typical suburban home, we've got lots of pickled jalapenos and apple butter in the pantry from this summer. Over the last year, I've added - dwarf lemon, lime, pear, fig, orange, pomegranite, blueberry, blackberry to my back yard. Will have a small garden as well and my patio has lots of hanging baskets for herbs.
It doesn't take much to supplement your diet with fresh food from own yard, even if it is small.
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:40 am
by marksiwel
I'm always in the fence when it comes to Preppers, some of them are preparing to Fight the Government and the loco kind of guys who make US look bad
Then there are the ones who do it because its a hobby, or just because learning to do things the "Old Fashioned" aka HARD way is rewarding to them.
I honestly cannot drop the time or money needed to Prep for the End of the World as we know it. I live in an Apt and am up to my eyeballs in my wifes Law school debt. i got a BUG OUT BAG and that was more than I wanted to spend,and got some strange looks from the Wife
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:00 pm
by The Annoyed Man
Anybody who has lived in Earthquake or Hurricane country should be at the minimum prepared to survive without outside help for up to a week. What that looks like for each of us varies according to number of family, individual health requirements (like prescription medications), clean water supply, shelter needs, etc.
You don't have to live in a big house to take this stuff under consideration. Once resource is
http://urbansurvivalforum.com/, and
http://urbansurvivalpodcast.com/ — both of which I built for the customer. One of the site owners told me he keeps enough of those 2.5 gallon jugs under his bed to meet his family's drinking water needs for 30 days.
But there are varying degrees of preparedness, staring with a bugout bag, and going up from there.
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:06 pm
by 92f-fan
I have an average size suburban FAR north of Dallas lot and a below average size house and I dont think it would work for me
Lot = 0.132 acres 5,750 sq. feet
Especially when you consider fenced area, concrete, easements etc
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 3:46 pm
by pbwalker
I'm somewhat of a closet prepper newbie. I tend not to share this as it automatically gives off an image of paranoia, militant, etc. I'd just like to be prepared for when when things go wrong, not necessarily TEOTWAWKI.
I read quite a bit of
http://www.survivalistboards.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (though there are some real hardcore, 'guvment gonna getcha' types, there is a wealth of information)
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 4:13 pm
by marksiwel
I worry about long term storage of water. Doesnt the plastic start to break down?
I would also want a large supply of those water tablets on hand and lots of kool aid (those tablets taste like dirt)
Re: Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too?
Posted: Thu Dec 31, 2009 9:03 pm
by KD5NRH
The Annoyed Man wrote:Anybody who has lived in Earthquake or Hurricane country should be at the minimum prepared to survive without outside help for up to a week.
Tornadoes and flash floods can shut things down for a while too. The better prepared you are, the more comfortable you can be after the storm.
marksiwel wrote:I worry about long term storage of water. Doesnt the plastic start to break down?
Generally, you should try to replenish your stored water not less than once a year. If you use bottled water, just rotating stock and keeping a few extra cases on hand will do it pretty well. For larger containers, drain, check the container, and refill every 6-12mo.
I would also want a large supply of those water tablets on hand and lots of kool aid (those tablets taste like dirt)
I keep them on hand for the car kits, (2 canteens per car, and enough tablets to refill each canteen four times) but there's a lot to be said for filtration and boiling when you're stationary.