Are you a 'Doomsday Prepper?'

Photo courtesy of NatGeo!

There's a new series on NatGeo TV called 'Doomsday Preppers,' which show people who are preparing for the worst.  We may think the worst would be if a spouse couldn't work or lost their job, a fire or flood, tornado, that sort of thing.  These people think in BIG scale...like polar shifts, devastating nuclear attacks, national Marshal Law, and many other types of scenarios.  I've think I've seen every episode so far (it just started a couple of weeks ago, and they show repeats often).  Some of these folks, I think their ideas of what they're prepping for, are a bit kooky...I'm not saying that THEY are kooky, just some of the ideas I've heard.  Even if one of their ideas never comes to fruition (we pray it doesn't), they'll still be prepared for almost any other disaster, natural or man made.  They're called 'Preppers.'  What's a prepper? Well, just like I mentioned, they're prepping for a global issues, and when I say 'prepping,' I mean, so much more than my stockpile of food from doing my coupons.  Some of these folks have moved to an 'inward' state just to get away from the coasts in case the coastline fell in during one of these events.

Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality.

Some are having their kids (toddlers on up) prep with them, and teaching them how to sleep overnight ALONE in the woods, learning to survive! (sorry, I draw the line of having my 12 yr old get dropped off in the woods at midday so they can build a structure, hunt for food, and sleep under a pile of dried leaves in 'no mans land' over night ALONE, and come back the next day to see if they 'survived.'!) But, anyhoo...I digress.  My point is, I've actually learned a few things by watching this show!

This guy turned his in-ground pool into a below ground green house in the shallow end, and a pond in the deeper end, where they literally fish for their dinner! They grow tilapia...they have chickens that they keep OVER the pond, and the chicken's poo drops into the pond to feed the alga and fish! so, basically, when they eat their tilapia, they're eating chicken poo! hmm

One lady believes that the world will see a huge pandemic, and she's prepping for it.  Believe it or not, the specialists on the show agree with her...it WILL happen, to what extreme (globally, locally, or nationally), they can't calculate.  She passes out these buckets to her neighbors and community filled with medical supplies to prepare them for when it happens (that can NOT be cheap)!  This got me thinking.  Where I may not believe we're going down a road like the movie 'Pandemic' (which was good, btw, lol), it can happen, you never know.

Another farms, and she saves her seeds for when they believe a cataclysmic event may disrupt the food cycle, delivery, growing, and such.  That way, she can share her seeds with her community and neighbors, family and friends, to help grow their own food and begin the cycle again.  Now...this one makes a bit of sense, and would be super easy for us gardeners to do...just harvest your garden plant's seeds and save them.  Most of us already do that (I know that I do), just step it up!


I actually watched this particular episode with interest...they have SO MUCH FOOD STORED (for quite a few people)! But they are SO well planned, right down to 'bugging out' and taking all of their food (which means animals, as well), with them, with no one (or animal) left behind!  You just gotta see how prepared these folks are, and they're very well structured, disciplined to it, and organized!

Are you a prepper of large or even small proportion?  You may be and not even know it.  Ok, so you may not believe the polar ends will shift locations, but you probably do agree that you like to be prepared for a few 'just in case' situations...your vehicle, for instance.  Most of us have a set of jumper cables in it somewhere...why? just in case!  Jumper cables aren't considered a maintenance item for a vehicle, they're for starting your vehicle in case your battery is dead.  I've ensured that each of our vehicles have the following (including the hub's company car): a rubbermaid tub with jumper cables and other car-type emergency things, a blanket, and a medical kit (most people have these in there cars to some degree or another).  Why not do a 'just in case' for your home, too?  we do...what do we do? we have smoke alarms for early warnings, and we have fire extinguishers 'just in case' there's a fire.  Everyone knows that I'm a couponer, I do have a stockpile (nothing HUGE by any means, just enough to last us a couple of months, and we use from it, replenish, etc.).  I've decided to make a bucket of medical supplies, as well, thanks to the 'pandemic' episode, and keep it in my basement.  I already keep a radio and batteries, water, and easy to grab/eat food down there (next to the stockpile shelves), in case of tornado, or whatever reason we may need to go/stay in the basement.

What would you do?  are you convinced 'something is coming?' or do you believe that the government will be there to help (uh...Hurricane Katrina ring any bells?)?  or do you believe it is, what it is, and why prepare for something that no man can ever predict to actually occur?

Disclaimer:  All photos and links contained within this post are that from NatGeo.  I claim no ownership or originality for them in any way.  Source credit belongs to NatGeo in its entirety.