Whoa! Okay, I have since watched a number of episodes of this show. I have to say I am completely intrigued by the way these people live their lives! The more I watch this show, the more I question if they're insane or if those who don't 'prep' are insane! lol
The guy pictured above, dug a secret bunker by hand in his garage. He never opened the garage door to dispose of the dirt - it was carried out of the house by hand.
This show got me thinking about the differences between Australia and America again. So on one hand the American preppers fall into a couple of categories:- Some live on farms and have barns and even bunkers underground as well as basements. Those who live in the suburbs have basements, some even have underground hideaways in the country. They have dug out bunkers or used shipping containers (pictured above) as fortresses! Many of them have massive amounts of ammo and guns etc.
One thing most of them said in relation to food storage was that they kept their food in the basement to avoid humidity....... Which leads me to the Australian side of this prepping idea. The majority of Australians don't live on farms and those who live in the suburbs don't have basements. Don't ask me why, but Australian houses do not have basements.... I should Google this and find out why lol
So for example if I was a prepper, I would be in serious trouble regarding where I would store my food, as I live in an area where humidity can reach 100%! I live in a regular suburban house, on a small block of land with no basement. Sure we have spare bedrooms and I could load those up, however those rooms get the afternoon sun and turn into saunas by the end of the day..... So there goes all of my food and I would have wasted a lot of money stockpiling.
The other difference is weaponry, a lot of the Americans had vast amounts of guns, ammo and other homemade devices to protect their supplies. They spend a lot of time mastering the art of arming themselves, firing practice etc. The gun regulations in Australia are very, very strict. There are so many laws surrounding the ownership and use of a gun/s in this country, it would be virtually impossible to own as many weapons as our American counterparts. So again, if I were a prepper, how would I protect my supplies? With a baseball bat?
So why do they prep? Some believe that the American economy is on the brink of collapse leaving the USD worthless and plunging society into a depression, some are in wait of a worldwide health pandemic and some believe that war will come. One woman has also had the same vivid reoccurring dream for over 20 years that something catastrophic will happen in her lifetime. Some do it purely based on the fact that the cost of living is getting so high, and if they buy extras with their regular grocery trips they can have a constant stockpile of supplies while they can afford it. Others believe that it will be a natural disaster such as a solar flare which will fry and wipe out the power grid - which will also prevent vehicles such as trucks delivering much needed supplies.
Just out of interest, I Googled solar flares to discover that the last solar flare (The Carrington Event or Carrington Super Flare) was the 3rd September 1859 and the next predicted one is for somewhere between 2012 and 2022. The last flare occurred when the Telegraph system was in its infancy and it did completely wipe it out, so imagine the damage a solar flare could do in this high wired society that we now live in. No phones, no tv, no radio, no lights, no working vehicles.... Anything containing wires is now dead.
The show stated that 45% of Americans are preppers in some form or another and 51% believed that something 'big' was going to happen. The show also stated that the CDC has advised people to have at least 3 days worth of food supplies in their homes at all times and never let the fuel in your car drop below halfway.
So I leave this question with you:- Are preppers insane? Or are those who don't prep insane? If you're an American reading this post, have you seen the show Doomsday Preppers and what's your take on it? Until then, I'm off to make a cup of tea and hope nothing happens in the meantime so I can finish it :) Catch you next time!
I always think that they are insane until I read something like the stuff about the Solar Flare, then I start wondering how or where I could stockpile water.... Irish houses don't have basements either, nor would we be able to have that many weapons. I've never seen this show, I'll look for it online!
ReplyDeleteWe just had two days of massive storms! It actually snowed for the first time in 20 - something years and broke some record.... It's Spring here and the snow that fell was more than what actually fell in Winter. Public transport came to a halt and roads were closed. In other parts of the country, people were completely flooded!
DeleteSo when stuff like this happens, I kind of think..... Maybe we just need a few days worth of stuff lol
Reading stuff like this makes me feel very unprepared!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a basement either, and are really not ready for any disaster, unfortunately. I think we're more insane than the preppers. Or just stupid and lazy.
As for the people prepping and their sanity, I think it would depend on what they're worried about. If it's something like Obama is going to turn all Americans into mindless clones or there's going to be a zombie apocalypse, that's a bit nuts. (but you never know....)
There are things that could happen though. For example, huge storms. My in-laws were without water and power for a couple of weeks. And it could always be even worse. So it's good to be prepared for that.
Then there's pandemics. That's not too far-fetched. It would be good to have supplies at home, so you don't have to venture out mingle with all the germs at the store.
As for the guns: That's a bit too right-winged for me, personally. But some Americans are really into all that.
Although, like I said, we're not prepared...one thing we have on our side is we shop at Costco. Some with a lot of stuff like soap, toilet paper, water bottles, kleenex, etc) we often have more than we currently need. So maybe we'd survive a week or two into the disaster.
We are DEFINITELY not prepared for zombies; so if that happens...we'll just join the moaning crowd.
P.S-You scared me a bit with the solar flare thing.
I Totally get it! I've just cut and pasted what I wrote to Miss Green Eyes :-
Delete"We just had two days of massive storms! It actually snowed for the first time in 20 - something years and broke some record.... It's Spring here and the snow that fell was more than what actually fell in Winter. Public transport came to a halt and roads were closed. In other parts of the country, people were completely flooded!
So when stuff like this happens, I kind of think..... Maybe we just need a few days worth of stuff lol"
The whole ebola thing is quite concerning..... I just read on the news this morning that they don't believe the protective suits the medical staff are wearing are of high enough quality?!?!? What the?!?!?
We don't have a Costco near us. My sister goes all the time and loves it! The closest one from where I live is about 1.5-2 hrs drive. Despite the distance, I just want to go at least once! lol
I think the zombies are already here lol All you have to do is venture out into any public place and you see them wandering around lol