Hello. My name is njprepper and I fell priveleged to contribute to this blog. I hope to add value to this blog with the benefit of some of my experiences. I also hope to learn from other contributors on this forum and others about prepping and self-sufficiency. Together we may make the world a little better, if only if a single person gets an idea or motivation to get started with prepping.
I currently live in a moderately sized town in northern New Jersey. For most of my career I lived in South Texas, had some land in the Hill Country, gardened and tried to be as self sufficient as possible. Never heard of survivalism or prepping, although I DO own every issue of The Mother Earth News back to No.1. Then in rapid succession I had neck surgery that forced me to change careers, I moved to New Jersey, Y2K came and went as did 9/11. Now we have to hear about anthrax attacks, suitcase nukes, SARS, bird-flu and we may be in the worst economic downturn in the history of the United States. So I now am shifting into high gear, dusting off some of my old supplies and wish to pose this question to the group: What exactly are YOU prepping FOR? Is there any scenario that you specifically fear, and if so, how are you tailoring your preparations?
Are you preparing for when the SHTF? If you have a retreat or bug-out property, how do you have it supplied? Will you transfer your current supplies to the remote location? If so, how and when? Do you expect the roads to be open and accessible? Do you have a job that requires you to be in the city or do you live there full time?
Do you anticipate basic social amenities to continue (water, electric) albeit sporadically, and remaining comfortable due to your preparations while others may suffer? Or do you expect a SERIOUS breakdown in such services, where lack of service may be the norm (similar to a third world or war-torn country) where your neighbors may be in serious trouble? What about short term breakdowns such as hurricanes or serious weather issues?
Or, do you just not want to be dependent on just-in-time stocking and deliveries, so that you will always know you can make it on your own in comfort? Do you prepare for the contingency that you may suffer a work setback such as a layoff or plant shutdown?
I make judgements against no one for their beliefs or expectations. I follow several "survivalist" blogs, and while I find some of their ideas and writings extreme, especially regarding civil unrest and such, I respect their beliefs wholeheartedly and will defend their right to express them.
So, what are YOU prepping for and why?
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"Do ... or do not. There is no try." - Yoda, Star Wars VII
(sometimes these campy aphorisms actually make sense.)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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5 comments:
Welcome NJPrepper! Great post!
An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.
By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.
A Big Canadian Welcome to the network to you NJPrepper! and you raise some good points in your post!
for me - i am prepping for several things - collapse of the economy meaning the loss of my husband's job, a natural disaster, a man-made disaster or any of the extremes that could happen! but participating in this network and doing my best to raise awareness in Canada through the CPN has been a balm for my soul!
thanks for an awesome post - i will check back often!
A Kansas Howdy!
To be honest I am a homesteader, I prep for winter. We live harvest to harvest on what we grow. We have well water, and a lagoon, though we are on the grid and have propane. But we will be off of all that soon.
My husband has already been laid off, we thought we were prepped for that. Didn't do as well as we thought, but things did turn around for us.
Thanks for the comments. Myself, I fear an economic downturn possibility of severe proportions. Ignoring my own personal employment fate, I fear significant deterioration of basic services - gas, electric, water, sewer. Rolling brownouts, garbage strikes, potholes worsening day to day, petroleum fuels erratically available. I remember the price controls in the 1970's under Nixon - there was literally nothing to be bought as no manufacturers were producing. Especially hard to find were spare parts for cars, tires, and hardware in general. Junkyards were where you went "shopping" for car parts. Food was generally available as I recall but it wasn't my biggest priority so I could be mistaken.
So, for my sake - staying put and ensuring that I have power, water, gardening supplies, spares of everything and then the long term foodstuffs. Alternative heating and cooling, lighting, solar products of all types.
And of course always learning something new and practicing every chance I get.
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