Preppers

Our Crazy World – A Serious Conversation!

crazy world

Do you feel like you’re living in a crazy world?  I first penned this letter on December 2011.  Back then, I was very concerned about our crazy world and the direction that I saw it going.  The signs have been there for a while.  For those paying attention, looking, researching and reading, you could easily find a myriad of problems that point to how fragile our world, country, state… is.  But now, the problems are glaring and in your face!  You really have to be Mary Poppins to think there isn’t “something” wrong! It seems like our world is going crazy!

From our economy to terrorism, to natural disasters, to deadly viruses, crime and more, you can easily find reasons to be concerned for yourself and your family!

There Are Major Problems in Our Crazy World!

The thing is, many of the problems that can arise because of these issues can be mitigated if you just put a little effort into being prepared.  Many of you won’t though because you are too distracted with “living the dream” and having fun or you just are irresponsible!  Responsibility is a problem in today’s world!  We all want the government or some other entity to come through for us!  And what if they don’t?  Are you willing to have your family staring you in the face, wanting to know what to do because they are in a desperate situation that could have been avoided or not as bad because you weren’t man enough to make some decisions and get off your butt?

People always ask, what if I prepare and nothing happens?  Well I say, that is good!  You don’t really want anything to happen!  Or, you don’t want terrorist to hack the electric grid and be without power for however long!  You don’t want the economy to tank and possibly lose your job!  Neither do you don’t want the drought or an earthquake in California to affect the food supply so much that you forgo buying fruit because it is too expensive!  You don’t want any of that stuff to happen!  But if it does….you want to be ready!

It’s Crazy, So What Should You Do?

Being prepared doesn’t mean you go buy a lot of camo, guns and go out into the woods.  Being prepared or living a prepared lifestyle just means you live responsibility by planning, thinking ahead and putting some things back for a rainy day!  There are so many aspects to it and each family is going to be different!  But failing to plan and prepare is setting your family up to fail!

You will tell that my letter below is a lot “softer” than what I’ve written above!  Back then, I didn’t want to freak people out.  I wanted them to think critically!  But now, I think people need a wake-up call!

After you read the letter below, I would be happy to answer any questions or point you to resources that can explain your question in better detail!

Peace,
Todd
July 2019

An Open Letter to Family & Friends

I’m writing this letter because I care about you.  Please take a few minutes to read it and think about what I’m saying.

Why the Letter?

Our lives are crazy and sometimes it seems like we live in a crazy world!  We take care of our family, work, eat, play chauffeur, pay the bills, etc.  When we have a little bit of free time, we like to just veg in front of the TV and watch some brain-numbing pictures flicker across the screen.  We can go at it like this for days, weeks and even months, not knowing what is going on in the world outside our local community and just get by with the talk around the water cooler.

And when we take life in these little chunks, separate blocks of our time and attention, it seems a little bit more manageable.  We move from one task, event, errand, or chore to the other.

The problem is when we look at our lives from a big-picture perspective.  What if our lives, all of a sudden changed?  What if the stress of the day came bearing down at you all at once?  How could this happen?  This can easily happen during an emergency.  I’m not talking about your son just stuffed his GI Joe down the toilet, or the dog is out of food emergency.  I’m talking about the BIG stuff.

The Big Emergency

The BIG emergency is the one that stops you in your tracks.  It can be personal, based in your local community or worldwide.  But it is the one that everything else stops and all resources and energy are put towards it.

The problem is that most people are not prepared for a BIG one.

Prepared?

Are you and your family most people?  Do you have an emergency fund for financial emergencies?  Or, do you have insurance for medical emergencies?  Do you have food and water if there is a food supply/transportation emergency?  What about having another means of cooking and preparing your food if utilities weren’t available?  Do you have first aid supplies and extra medicine on hand?  Can you rely on some basic skills that could help you: fire starting, water purification, gardening, first aid, etc.?

This is the whole reason for my letter.  I want to help you see the importance of being prepared and to start being more self-reliant.  It’s not too hard, but it does take time, planning and effort.  But then again, what would the time, planning and effort that you put in ahead of time be worth in the middle of an emergency?  You’ll be glad you did!

Getting Prepared Action Steps:

Make a plan – What are you preparing for?  What needs to be done?  Don’t look at the magnitude of the plan, that can be overwhelming. Take it in chunks.  In reality, you will never be “prepared.”  You can be “not prepared” or “overly prepared,” but never “perfectly prepared.”  Consider the basics: financial, medical, etc…but also keep in mind your region of the country; hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, fires, etc…

Set goals – When do you want _____ accomplished?

  1. Get a 3 day supply of food.  Then move to a 3 week supply.
  2. Revisit insurance: house, vehicle, medical, life, etc…
  3. Think about home and personal security.
  4. Start an emergency fund – 3-6 months of expenses
  5. Start a garden
  6. Take a class: first-aid, sewing, gardening, firearm, wilderness survival
  7. Watch some videos on Youtube (search preparedness)
  8. Read blogs and articles on “preparedness” and “prepping
  9. Listen to Podcasts that deal with the topic of preparedness.

Get active – go meet your goals!

Warning

The world of preparedness/prepping can be an addictive one.  It can suck you in, mess with your emotions and get you seeing are already crazy world in an even crazier way!  It is always best to approach preparedness within community.  You should go it alone only if no one else is willing.  Eventually, they will realize that you were right, even if that is in the midst of a storm.

It’s A Crazy World and It’s Fragile!

It is not in the scope of this letter to discuss all the possible emergency scenarios that you should prepare for.  But outside of regional, natural disasters, it is important to me to briefly mention our global situation.  Things outside our local community have gone from bad to worse!  At first, we might not care about what is going on in some Asian or European country, but the fact is that we are ALL tied into each other now.  What happens over there, affects us over here.

There are many “End of the World as We Know It” type scenarios out there.  One such scenario is an economic collapse.  Someone recently replied to me and said, “Yes, times can get hard, but we have been through it before during the Great Depression.”  The fact is that it is way different this time.  Our country didn’t have the debt that we have now.  And, if for some reason the world loses faith in our government’s ability to pay its debts, we are up the creek.  It really isn’t too far-fetched to imagine this happening if you’ll look into it.  The concern has gone beyond the tin-foil hat people.  Just research it!

Do Something

Please take this letter seriously.  If you prepare and don’t need it, the worst is that you have some food (food costs are going up/buy now at cheaper prices) and other supplies.  But if you ever find you are in a position that you do need it, you and your loved ones will be glad you were prepared!

Peace,
Todd

Crazy World

A Prepper TV Show You Want to See

If there was one prepper tv show that I would recommend, it would be The Colony.  I can’t remember how I stumbled upon it.  But it was one of the first series I watched when I first started in preparedness.  And although I believe the survivors were stacked because of their skills, I believe the show offers a lot of great insight into surviving SHTF.

The Colony was a reality series that aired on the Discovery Channel. It follows a group of people who must survive in a post-apocalyptic environment.  The Colony first aired on July 21, 2009 and ran for 10 episodes.

Prepper TV Show

Post-Apocalyptic Los Angeles

The series takes place in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles.  This prepper tv show was billed as a  controlled experiment to see if 10 volunteers can rebuild society.  The scenarios surrounding the show was “designed by past historical disasters and models of what the future would look like in a pandemic disaster.”

The show kicks off with six volunteers who go through sleep, food and water deprivation to just get things started.  They are then allowed 15 minutes in an abandoned department store to find what they can carry, including food. After they gather their supplies, they make the long trek to their survival shelter called “The Sanctuary,” an 80,00 square foot warehouse that sits on a 3 ½ acre plot of land.

Check out a Street Map view of “The Sanctuary.”

The Sanctuary has no running water or electricity. It also boasts a ton of openings and weak points that need to be secured. In one segment, the survivors have to test the toilet and make sure that they will actually flush waste.  Not having that ability would mean a setup that no one would have wanted.

Prepper TV Show Talent

No prepper tv show is complete without it’s set of talent.  The Colony, Season 1, has some really great characters too!

  • Morgan – Aerospace Engineer
  • John C – Computer/Electrical Engineer with IBM
  • Allison – Emergency Room Nurse
  • Michael – Handyman
  • George – Doctor
  • John V – Machinist

These survivors start off the season, but are soon joined by 4 more survivors.

  • Joey – Contractor
  • Leilani – Martial Arts Instructor
  • Amy – Marine Biologist
  • Vladimir – Mechanical Engineer

The new survivors cause the other six to be a little suspicious.  But after some tense moments, they seem to all click together.  One of the pivotal points is a shared meal.

Dr. Miatta Snetter, a psychologist, psychotherapist and post-traumatic stress disorder specialist, who consults as an expert on the show, shares, “In many cultures, a shared meal is a key step in integrating newcomers.  A shared meal is important to building bridges.”  The survivors enjoy their meal after a prayer that is given by John V.

One of the unfair advantages that the survivors have are the tools and supplies that seem to be readily available in the “Sanctuary” warehouse.  At one point, they find 20 batteries, an inverter, wire and connectors to connect them all in parallel.  They also have the tools necessary to make this all happen.  One other thing they have plenty of is containers for water.  Although the containers are dirty, they have plenty of big buckets to hold water.

Learning from Prepper TV Shows

But the show offers more advantages that are helpful.  

First, you get to see the mental toll that surviving has on the group.  As the survivors struggle with their new reality, they are stressed and it shows.  One survivor, Michael, seems to be on edge as he has to cut cigarettes and coffee like he’s used to.  One scene towards the end of episode 1 shows Valdimir crushing up some coffee beans and making coffee for the group.  This is a welcome drink for someone like Michael.

Another reason this pepper tv show is valuable to see is the way the group handles some of the basics of survival.  At the start, the group realizes they need water.  A group of survivors goes to the LA river to get water while the rest is cleaning up and organizing.  Once the water is back to “The Sanctuary,” John C helps to make a water filter with sand and charcoal and at least ge the water to a point they can boil it to deal with the rest of the bacteria. The result is potable water for the group!

Further Reading: WATER – WAPI – What Is It and Why Do You Need One

Along with water, the group realizes they need security.  From the first evening, they setup a  watch rotation.  This proves helpful as “The Sanctuary” is approached by two marauders on motorcycles on the second night.  This causes Michael to sort of lose it and allows Leilani a chance to help him understand that they are in his head.  She says, “Now they have you riled up not thinking.  If you went outside and got hurt, what good would that have done for us…you have to think about that..”  Again Dr. Miatta Snetter shares,  “An attack from outside can reveal the cohesiveness of a group or it exposes the weak links…Anger can be difficult to control, it’s  a useful survival response, but can also be destructive.”

The episode ends with John C, naked and taking a shower in the rain.  He says, it’s “the first time I laughed since we got here.”  It goes to show how important the little things can be in a survival situation.

No More Show Spoilers for You!

There are other things that I can point out, but then I would be spoiling this great prepper tv show for you!  No, you need to watch it.  You should watch all the episodes.  Besides being a great show to watch, you can learn something if you watch with an open mind.

I hope you take a moment to watch The Colony.  It is a great prepper tv show in a time when there aren’t very many good ones to choose from.  You can watch the series on YouTube.

Peace,
Todd

The Colony Prepper TV Show

10 Key Pieces of Advice for Preppers

What advice should a new prepper have to help them get prepared? This is my list of the 10 things a new prepper should start right away. But, it isn’t just for new preppers. There are a lot of good reminders in this list for even seasoned preppers.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Items of Interest:

Remember, there is a HUGE selection of great preparedness content at Prepper Website!

Connect with Other Preppers

One thing that I’ve learned in my time running Prepper Website is that preppers want to connect with other preppers! I often get emails that go something like this.

Hi Todd,

I’ve been prepping for about a year and I would love to connect with other preppers in my area.  Do you know any that live in the (fill-in-the-city, state) area?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Lonely Prepper

I get more of these emails than you might realize!  But here is the honest truth, you’re not going to find other preppers to prep with!  And really, you shouldn’t want to!

Whoa!  What did you say, Todd?  

Yeah, you read that correct!

It is very rare for preppers to meet up.  If they do, it will be in a meetup group at a designated location.  Then, it takes a ton of time for people to trust each other before they can move to a real relationship where they are sharing information, plans and involving each other and their families in their preparedness.  It never gets to that last point!

Preppers are too suspicious of others.  Until the day they have to band together, most preppers will keep to themselves when they are in person.  Preppers feel they need to keep a high degree of anonymity.

But Should You Really Want To Connect with Other Preppers?

But not only do they not want to connect with other preppers, they shouldn’t!  Let me explain this.

People come together because of common ground.  They might be family, go to the same church, live on the same block or have deep ties in some form or other.  When a prepper meets another prepper and the only thing they have in common is prepping, it doesn’t work. 

Why?  Because prepping for a disaster is a small part of our lives.  We go to work, have families and do life. We have more in common with the parents of our son’s little league team than the person prepping across town.

I’ve heard of prepper groups who have come together for mutual support only to disband after a year with hurt feelings because prepping during good times isn’t enough to bring everyone on the same page.  Inevitably, there is a family member or someone involved who isn’t all gung-ho about the prepper lifestyle and after the first group exercise (camping trip), they were over it!

Now, this would change if there was a true SHTF situation.  An event that changed everyone’s life instantly would bring everyone to the same common goal of survival.  And surviving is a powerful motivator. But even at that, there are going to be some who have differences in how to approach “survival.”

How do Preppers Connect?

So how do preppers connect and fill that need to bond with others like them?

Well, most connect through social media.  There are many survival and prepper Facebook pages and groups.  Facebook has made it very easy to connect. They have an APP. They have Messenger.  You get that dopamine hit when you receive a notification that someone “liked” or commented on one of your posts.

But the reality of the big social media channels out there is that YOU are the product!  They are building a profile on you! All your likes, post comments and pages you follow say something about you.  Yes, they are doing it to market it to you. But with a little tweaking, in the wrong hands, what else does your profile say about you?  A ton of data doesn’t lie! It builds patterns of behavior. Do you trust the big social media giants to do the right thing with your data?  Do you trust the government to do the right thing with your data?

Recently I wrote in an article entitled, Preppers and Social Media – Maybe It’s Time to Get Anti-Social…

“But then, I started thinking that Facebook was really conforming the way that I was thinking. Facebook was conforming me to what they want and what they think is acceptable They are dictating what THEY think should be made public for others to see!

This is a form of brainwashing to a point! Due to their bans and what they deem appropriate, they cause you to operate in a way that you might not normally operate. It’s training you! You post what they say is right.”

So what is a lonely prepper to do?  

Read: The Need to be More Self-Reliant

Preppers Need to Connect the Right Way

It IS valuable to connect with other preppers who are like-minded and feel a sense of belonging.  There are many preppers out there who have a lot of knowledge that they would love to share with others.  And just because someone lives on the other side of the country, it doesn’t mean that we can’t learn from each other and strike up an online (email) friendship that is mutually beneficial to all.

Seeing the need for Preppers to connect and trying to move away from social media, I recently created the Prepper Website forums.  They are a private forum. The only way you can get access to the forum is if you purchase my ebook, “The Preparedness Community’s Guide to a Microbiz and Increasing Your Finances” for $7.

I thought it was a great idea!  I love forums. And I saw some buzz when it first launched.  But the truth is, forums are not as easy to navigate as Facebook.  People are just so used to scrolling down and liking stuff that using a forum wasn’t preferable.

The forum is still up.  I still visit it.  But it isn’t as active as I would like it to be.

A Big Way to Connect!

So what other options are there?

I started looking for another way that preppers could connect.  It had to include a way that we could connect on any device (including our phones) and that wasn’t a heavy lift to learn.

I spent a lot of time researching and reflecting on how I could help other preppers connect.  I found my answer with email.

Email?

Yes!  Email!

Think about it!  No one controls email like social media channels control their platform.  They can’t keep you from getting the email that is sent to you by utilizing some crazy algorithm.  You can easily get it on your phone. No one is making a profile on you.  

So how does this email group work?

The Prepper Website Exclusive Email Group is an email-based communication with other preppers.  This service is not hosted by any of the social media companies. It is completely hosted and controlled by Prepper Website.  Users can simply utilize their email or connect.

This is going old school.  But sometimes going old school is the best school if you know what I mean.  

So this is basically the way it works.  You send an email to a specific email address.  That email gets pushed out to all of the other people on the list.  They then can respond if they choose to do so.

Will you get a lot of emails?  Yes and No.

You could get every email that is sent if you choose. Or, you can get a digest version every day and read through the emails that were sent out and reply to the ones you want to engage in.

The Prepper Website Exclusive Email Group

The Prepper Website Exclusive Email Group costs $20 a year. That breaks down to less than .06 a day. But the dividends of being connected with other preppers is invaluable. Other benefits of the group include online meet-ups (currently every other week), member only videos and periodic webinars.

If you are ready to connect with other people through the Prepper Website Exclusive Email Group, you can do so by visiting Prepper Website.NET or clicking here.

Peace
Todd

How to Connect with Other Preppers

Bugout Bag Mistakes to Avoid

The bugout bag is one of the most widely discussed topics in preparedness.  For many preppers, it is the first thing that is purchased and put together.  But there are some pitfalls to putting your bugout bag together if you are not careful.  Here are some very important mistakes to avoid when you are putting together your BOB.

 

Mentioned in this Episode: 

Items of Interest:

Remember, there is a HUGE selection of great preparedness content at Prepper Website!

Smart Money Moves During COVID19 and the Economic Crisis

As we all continue to move forward into uncharted water, many preppers see the economic damage that COVID19 is leaving behind.  Regardless of how you feel about the pandemic, the economy is going to affect everyone.  Smart preppers see the warning signs and should be preparing ahead .

 

Mentioned in this Episode: 

Items of Interest:

Remember, there is a HUGE selection of great preparedness content at Prepper Website!

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