Thread: "Prepping": What's the idea?

Originally Posted by ChrisL

The confusing part: I've seen preppers on youtube that seem very unhealthy; some are morbidly obese, etc. What's the point of creating a battalion sized stockpile of food, ammo, etc if your odds of dying prematurely due to heart attack, etc based on your health is off the charts? It seems short sighted to me.

Fat is just energy storage, so when resources are scarce a person with more fat would theoretically outlive one with less.

Or for more conventional explanation you could consider that a common perception about obese people is that they are weak-minded, lacking self-discipline and willpower, thus stocking resources for a SHTF scenario could be a reaction to that weakness and insecurity; i.e. they are fulfilling the need to to feel in charge and control of something even if it's just an imaginary scenario.

Or a third option would be to consider that people are very inconsistent and that's part of life. May be somebody doesn't care if he suffers a heart attack next week/month/year but at the same time is completely terrified at the possibility that grocery stores and restaurants are closed for a few days.

I think different people are likely different, so even if two people look the same and make the same choices, their motivations could be drastically different. My money is that the largest fraction is motivated by crowd-type mentality - especially these days with the internet as it currently is there isn't anything easier than to surround yourself with only reinforcement of your thoughts/beliefs.

The word itself, "prepping" has taken on a negative tone with the extreme examples on T.V. & the internet.
A person who leaves a set balance in their checking account, should some unexpected needs occur before the next paycheck, is prepping,,,,,,,a person who carries a set of jumper cables in his vehicle is prepping,,,,,,, a parent who takes advantage of the pre-school sales to stock up on school supplies for the coming school year is prepping,,,,,,,,,, a six hundred pound guy with a room full of Twinkies & eight assault rifles is prepping,,,, you get the point.

Living in a part of the world where natural & man-made disasters occur, I have experienced the problems that come with being unprepared,,, so I prep. The last PITA hurricane that hit us, left the area without electricity, gas, food for about 2 weeks,,, my prepping included a generator, food, water,,,etc. ,,,, that kept "3" apartments/condos running, basically a 2 week vacation with no where to go.

Keeping the body fit is vital,,,,,,, keeping fit & "prepping" is wise,,,,,,,

Youtube is amazing. I saw this cartoon approximately 60 years ago one time and I've never forgotten it. I had forgotten the political overtones, if I even understood them at the time, but it is apropos to this thread I think ;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZvPU2HpLGo

I have enough Hostess Ho-Hos to last me for two years. I've dug a tunnel that leads to my nearest Krispy Kreme, so I'm good to go.

Great cartoon. I think I could still sit down and watch a couple hours of those on Sat. morning.

And Hirlau do you have gps coordinates for that stock pile of Twinkies and are they NOS ?

All this talk about 'prepping' brought up a memory of one of the variations of prepping. I grew up behind the counter of a neighborhood grocery store in Chicago. We had, for a number of years, a man that you could call a 'food shopping prepper'. Obese would fit. Insatiable appetite closer. First thing ordered and bought was a half pound of lunch meat that he would nibble on while shopping. Last thing bought was another half pound to get him home, nibbling on the way. A good customer in terms of money spent.

I tend to think, other than emergency prep for natural disasters, the need to prepare for what ever they consider a threat to their exsistance is a psychological disorder and treatable. I can't speak to the Mormon storage of foodstuffs since they also run a huge charity for the poor and are following religious principles.