# So much for Nat Geos: "experts agree its not likely"



## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

I always love that line at the end of Doomsday Peppers, 1hour of looking at extreme (and often odd-ball) peppers and then a two second dismissal of their concerns. Of course part of the problem is the fact that they make folks choose one scenario. In the aggregate all the possible scenarios make at least one disaster large or small likely ever few years for acute issues and every few decades for larger ones.

But even just considering the particular disaster named sometimes I wonder who these experts are.

Supervolcanos--always possible according to vulcanologists and inevitable given enough time.

Political strife--a clear constant in human history.

Terrorism--inevitable according to DHS

EMP/CME--also inevitable according to DHS secretary Janet Neapolitano and congressional studies.

And then there is economic strife, which I believe is the most likely SHTF scenario...as does the IMF it seems.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...te-offs-as-Wests-debt-hits-200-year-high.html


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Hold the phone! You mean the experts at Nat Geo are not actually experts? Of course not. There's no doubt that when they pitched the show to Nat Geo the lawyers required them to put in a feel-good disclaimer at the end to keep the sheeple from freaking out. Basically for the same reason at the beginning of every shooting or science or stunt show they say "don't try this at home". Because a certain percentage of the people watching the show are as dumb as dirt.


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

... And that doesn't even include the people that aren't watching the show.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

The whole idea of prepping for only one scenario strikes me as foolish. It's just as likely that whatever scenario concerns you the most, the one that will actually occur will be something you never even thought of. However, most of the preps you'll need will be the same regardless of the scenario.


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

I always grit my teeth at this little "disclaimer"; nothing like making preppers look like idiots for preparing for something that will NEVER happen. 

However, I am happy to smirk now that some of the folks on the show are telling "Practical Preppers" (whoever _they_ are) to take their opinion & shove it.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

I've never thought that the Practical Preppers were very practical.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

Well turns out they gave Daniel Boone a score of 47 because he didn't have enough water laying around in wooden drums. They did give him 8 x factor points because he was so good with his flint lock however.


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

biobacon said:


> Well turns out they gave Daniel Boone a score of 47 because he didn't have enough water laying around in wooden drums. They did give him 8 x factor points because he was so good with his flint lock however.


Snort! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

goshengirl said:


> I've never thought that the Practical Preppers were very practical.


Southernprepper1 is a good guy, I think a lot of people take issue with the initial survival time figure, which simply takes into consideration (I think) how much food you have on hand and are currently growing, not future potential per se.

I also think that too many people want a gold star, practical preppers wants to challenge people, because if the SHTF the more prepare you are the more likely you will survive that initial survival time.


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## tleeh1 (Mar 13, 2013)

biobacon said:


> Well turns out they gave Daniel Boone a score of 47 because he didn't have enough water laying around in wooden drums. They did give him 8 x factor points because he was so good with his flint lock however.


And he wears a really KOOL hat! artydance:


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## AKPrepper (Mar 18, 2011)

"Practical Preppers" are two guys, Engineer775 and SouthernPrepper1. Both have YouTube channels...check 'em out. I subscribe to both and have learned alot from them. Although I understand that some time last year (2013) SouthernPrepper1 decided that the time committment was too much for him and he bowed out of doing the show, so apparently "Practical Preppers" is now just Engineer 775. I don't know of anybody that is an "expert" on prepping. I don't see how anyone could be since there are so many possibilities for true SHTF events, and they vary as much as there are people that prep. What I'm trying to say is that one person's SHTF event won't mean diddly to someone else. We're all different and things affect us all differently. How anyone could be an "expert" in all things I don't know. But, there are alot of people "out there" that have alot more experience than I and I've leaved something from all of them. Even if it's what not to do.


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## moondancer (Dec 21, 2013)

I am so glad I don't have a tv or computer. The news I get off this phone is bad enough .


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## Cabowabo (Nov 6, 2012)

Here is pratical preppers advise across the board the last season or two.
1) BUY A BUNKER
2) BUY FROZEN of Freeze dried food from THESE PEOPLE
3) BUT the Latest $3K NVG

What companies are the advertisers are the companies they will pitch. I still watch it to maybe pick up a new idea but when they started calling an AR-15 an Assualt Rifle or MAchine gun I really started to lose interest. OR a Child Sized Sniper rifle for a little .22 pistol I think that they had set up as a little rifle.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Ya know, I hate ta say it, but I ain't never watched a whole episode a that show. I've caught bits an pieces, it just don't do much fer me. Makes real people look like fools from what I've seen. I thin personally we got a heck of alot better group ta learn from right here then nat geo could ever hope ta find.

Ifin they asked me ta be on that show I ain't sure I'd do it. Do I really wan't everbody in the country ta see who I be an what I got? Even here I be carefull not ta give way to much info.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

You REALLY have to want your 15 minutes of fame to submit to something like that, OR, they pay a lot for each episode.

I have never watched a full episode either, a few minutes here and there flipping channels is all. Seems to me they pick the sensationalists out, to make a good show and leave all the regular preppers out. I recall the one show with the guy that turned his home into a fortress with walls, bunkers and all that, what a waste of money! Say he survives a year, what about the 'bad guys' that were able to survive for that year also? Would they not be more of an organized group by then and had lots of practice taking what they wanted?

I have enough FD stores to see the puppy and I through a year, longer with a garden. With the new, and beautiful All American 930, I have another year of goods canned! Water? I have a few weeks on hand and a way to filter enough to last much longer than that. More, if it rains and I do not need to pre-filter nasty muddy crap. Do I have enough ammo to waste 1,000 rounds a day, nope. Do I have what I consider enough on hand, yup. Do I have a generator with 5,000 gallons of fuel to keep me living in style, nope. Do I have a way to keep warm and create illumination, yup. Seems from what I have heard that these 'preppers' have the false illusion that they will be able to maintain their current lifestyle by what they are doing.

Myself, and I'd like to think many of us here, KNOW that is not possible. I have lived without electricity, inside plumbing and central heat before. I can do it again. There was no 'Honey, run to the store and get XXX, I need it to make dinner'. It was, well, we don't have XXX, so we work around it. If you got home after dark you KNEW to have your RECHARGEABLE flashlight at the ready to go inside to light a lantern. If you went for a stick of firewood and saw that you only had two days worth inside, you filled the box. I'd like to think that all the folks in the Northeast went outside and smelled the air, looked at the clouds. Smells like snow. Storm is a commin'. Might be a BIG NorEaster, might not but best have taken stock and stacked wood on the porch none the less.

Bottom line? You cannot prepare for every doomsday scenario. Heck, you can't even prepare for half of them! What you can prepare for is to keep yourself and your family alive for an extended time. If someone drops a Hiroshima type bomb on us, well, yeah, I didn't prepare for that. Virus outbreak, perhaps, as long as we stay home and isolate ourselves. Financial breakdown or civil unrest? Yeah, that is what I am going for. There is NO preparing for every scenario!!! Wake up and realize that! Prepare for what you can. Don't sweat the thing you cannot prepare for.


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

Heard about on of the Doomsday Preppers having their BOL looted.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

I do not watch the show at all, do not have cable at this time.
I have seen 775 on you tube & a lot of his stuff is good, but no one telling him what to do there.
As for Fess Parker.........Oooooop.... I mean Daniel Boone.
I think Daniel Boone lived in TSHTF all the time with all the other pioneers, and all of us could learn from them.
Did you know all the older boys carried rifles to school to protect the younger children to & from school & not EVEN ONE shooting on the hold frontier at school has ever been recorded.
I think we could learn a lot from the frontier pioneer children to start with.
Rating a frontier men/frontier woman on anything, but 95%-110% is like me rating viking on sword play. See I never met a viking or held a viking sword, not sure I spelled it right, so how would I know what to rate!??!??!!


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

crabapple said:


> Did you know all the older boys carried rifles to school to protect the younger children to & from school & not EVEN ONE shooting on the hold frontier at school has ever been recorded.
> QUOTE]
> 
> And the old 'wild west' was not as wild as folks paint it to be. Even liquored up, folks thought twice about pulling a firearm because they KNEW everyone else in the place was packing.
> ...


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

I doubt that one scenario they prep for will happen. I think they probably all will happen! And my fave was Fatbastard who had a radiator for body armor. He was an "Apex" predator!! Maybe of mcnuggets and fries but I bet he gets winded waddling to the soda fountain. Occasionally there will be a good nugget of advise but its mostly morons acting up in the woods. The Alaska river boat guy and the guy with the armored yacht had it going on. The yacht guy had the best bunker ever. Nobody will ever surround him but he better not run outta gas!


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## helicopter5472 (Feb 25, 2013)

mojo4 said:


> I doubt that one scenario they prep for will happen. I think they probably all will happen! And my fave was Fatbastard who had a radiator for body armor. He was an "Apex" predator!! Maybe of mcnuggets and fries but I bet he gets winded waddling to the soda fountain. Occasionally there will be a good nugget of advise but its mostly morons acting up in the woods. The Alaska river boat guy and the guy with the armored yacht had it going on. The yacht guy had the best bunker ever. Nobody will ever surround him but he better not run outta gas!


I think your radiator guy and his family were the ones who were prepping not for food so much but as to go after the neighbors for their food and supplies. He made it clear what his plans were. I think he also was the one who was going to perform a C-section on his wife in the shed. Chances are he would be thinning out his family line by two. His neighbors know the plans now and sent death threats to his facebook and probably to his home.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

I guess the way the folks on the show establish OPSEC is to move right after they appear on the show.


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

When the show 1st started it was an overall reason they "think" they are prep'n for, what they were prep'n and how they would enact an overall plan. They were given a score on ALL of those things. Practical preppers would sometimes even come in to test the plan or offer resistance. 

Now its who can spend the most money, make the biggest magnifying glass or be the most vulgar in why they prep. Of course they are going to find something wrong, its what they have to do. If they came out and stated, "YOUR PREPS ARE PERFECT", it would be much of a show would it? Because we all know, everyone can do something better. 

And just like ALL "Reality" TV it's infotainment and not reality.

As far as the experts, I've learned a lot from both these guys. So yes, I'd consider them experts. Anyone that takes THEIR time out to educate others with something they know well is considered an expert. 

I think lots of people on these prep'n site put theirselves on a prepping pedestal and think they are better than the every person who is getting into this and if it is because of a really dumb TV show, good for them.


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## sgtusmc98 (Sep 8, 2013)

I heard a guy on a podcast say he was on the show, don't remember his name but he said most of the people on the show now are professionals, have prepper podcasts/websites or something and they basically get told what to say or there response is multiple choice, very scripted according to the interview.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

helicopter5472 said:


> *I think your radiator guy and his family were the ones who were prepping not for food so much but as to go after the neighbors for their food and supplies. He made it clear what his plans were. *I think he also was the one who was going to perform a C-section on his wife in the shed. Chances are he would be thinning out his family line by two. *His neighbors know the plans now and sent death threats to his facebook and probably to his home.*


I'm still laughing at this one! What great OPSEC. I tried a search for 'radiator guy' and doomsday preppers but could not find the episode. I would waste 30 minutes of my life, and band width, just to hear how he presents that to national TV.


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Mase92 said:


> As far as the experts, I've learned a lot from both these guys. So yes, I'd consider them experts. Anyone that takes THEIR time out to educate others with something they know well is considered an expert.



You seem to have a different definition of expert than I do. 
I can learn a lot about the Japanese language from a 3rd grade Japanese kid, doesn't make them an expert on the language. If I never learned anything from these guys do they lose their "expert" status (I have not yet).

Your next statement is even further off from what I might consider an "expert".
:dunno:


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

cowboyhermit said:


> You seem to have a different definition of expert than I do.
> I can learn a lot about the Japanese language from a 3rd grade Japanese kid, doesn't make them an expert on the language. If I never learned anything from these guys do they lose their "expert" status (I have not yet).
> 
> Your next statement is even further off from what I might consider an "expert". :dunno:


Glad you :dunno: SOOOO here is what the dictionary says about an expert.

Lemme know how those lessons are going? If I were you I'd go with someone with more than a 3rd grad comprehension of a subject. Kinda like these fellows have. Just sayin...



> http://www.thefreedictionary.com/expert
> expert (ˈɛkspɜːt)
> n. 1. a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field
> adj. 2. skilful or knowledgeable


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## cowboyhermit (Nov 10, 2012)

Mase92 said:


> Glad you :dunno: SOOOO here is what the dictionary says about an expert.
> 
> Lemme know how those lessons are going? If I were you I'd go with someone with more than a 3rd grad comprehension of a subject. Kinda like these fellows have. Just sayin...


So your response to my civil post regarding your atypical definition of a term that is important to the conversation is a personal attack Nice.

The definitions you quoted here bear no resemblance to the definition in your previous post, so if you are proving my point then why the attitude :scratch


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## Mase92 (Feb 4, 2013)

cowboyhermit said:


> So your response to my civil post regarding your atypical definition of a term that is important to the conversation is a personal attack Nice.
> 
> The definitions you quoted here bear no resemblance to the definition in your previous post, so if you are proving my point then why the attitude :scratch


You call that civil? Snarky at best, but I digress. There is nothing in either of my posts that contradicts my view or the typical definition expert. Taking time to educate on something they know very well and do for a living fit said definition and my stance.

Don't see what you are getting at questioning either post of mine?


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## GaryS (Nov 15, 2011)

When I was in the Air Force, we always said the definition of expert was a stranger with a briefcase.


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## musketjim (Dec 7, 2011)

I love the show and watch episodes at our friends house. We don't get the channel so they tape it and we make Sundays church and Doomsday day. Doomsday Castle and American Blackout also. We laugh at the funny stuff and pick out little pieces here and there that are ok. It's a tv show so we treat it as such. Our prepping is just that, prepping for a little bit of everything. EMP's, zombies, massive meteors are a bit out of my league, but winter storms, blizzards, downed powerlines, flood etc. we deal with those as they happen.. Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Jedediah Smith etc. are my heroes. :congrat:

"The whole world sucks, America sucks a lot less and Alaska don't suck at all."


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Padre said:


> I always love that line at the end of Doomsday Peppers, 1hour of looking at extreme (and often odd-ball) peppers and then a two second dismissal of their concerns. Of course part of the problem is the fact that they make folks choose one scenario. In the aggregate all the possible scenarios make at least one disaster large or small likely ever few years for acute issues and every few decades for larger ones.
> 
> But even just considering the particular disaster named sometimes I wonder who these experts are.
> 
> ...


I always thought it was interesting that the "experts" downgraded the likelihood of these events yet National Geographic has done entire programs on each one just to educate the public on how possible it was that these things could happen and have happened in the past.

The main thing to remember about reality television is that it's not.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

Disasters by definition are rare. If they were routine everyone would already have dealt with them and they wouldn't warrant a TV show. Having the "experts" say any disaster scenario is unlikely is one of those "Well, duh!" moments.

As crazy as some of the folks presented appear, I'd be fine with most of them being next door. I'd rather have a prepper whose preps were lopsided toward one type of disaster than someone who isn't prepped for anything.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

Well I have held a Viking sword and a shield and have trained with a lot of other swords. On the other hand I have never faced anyone really trying to kill me, so I too am far from an expert. But like the Practical Preepers I am more then likely a cut above the average joe. But on the other other hand I could just as likely loose to some one who knows nothing about sword play because they broke some rule of defense they didn't even know about and got lucky. Note to self, don't ever get in a real sword fight. LOL


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## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Geek999 said:


> Disasters by definition are rare. If they were routine everyone would already have dealt with them and they wouldn't warrant a TV show. Having the "experts" say any disaster scenario is unlikely is one of those "Well, duh!" moments.
> 
> As crazy as some of the folks presented appear, I'd be fine with most of them being next door. I'd rather have a prepper whose preps were lopsided toward one type of disaster than someone who isn't prepped for anything.


We personally know one person who was in the first series and he told some things about how the show was produced. If I remember correctly there was a pretty good thread on PS with input form several people who were on the show. All of them agreed that what was shown bore little resemblance to them, their preps or their personal lifestyle. The producers wanted a single focus from each person/family/group and they got it even when it meant leaving out parts of what they said and fabricating what the producers wanted to say by editing out or combining partial sentences on the cutting room floor.

Believe me, by the time the editors finish, the shows bear very little resemblance to reality.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Tyler Smith: Apex Predator (of the AYCE Buffet!)


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

Former "stars" of the program have reported everything from being coerced into saying certain things, acting a certain way, to make up a single reason why they prep and even manufacture drama just for the show. The PS member who was on the show was very kind hearted and welcoming, she said several times that she would feed or shelter anyone who asked for her help. So they producers pushed her and pushed her to adjust her personality. When that didn't work they got one of her helpers, who was supposedly also very generous and easy going, to make some comments about defending the homestead that were completely out of character but lined up perfectly with what the viewer would expect. Like everything in Hollywood and Washington DC they take a kernel of the truth twist it, turn it and exploit it to suit their needs.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

I watch the show for the same reason I watch Nascar, while its true I do what they do, they sure do it a lot faster and have more things blow up and catch fire then I do on my way home from work.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Likelyhood of*

Regarding the likelihood of a disaster happening:

In 1978 we had about three weeks in the winter when there were several ice and snow storms one following the next followed by extreme bouts of cold weather when the temperature stayed below 20 degrees F .

The electricity was off in the majority of homes in my county for three to five weeks.

The water froze up after about a week and a half and we had no water.

Most people lost water supply to their homes due to frozen water pipes.

However, most people still heated with wood or coal and about 40 % didn't have indoor plumbing or if they did, they hadn't had it long.

The court house in the county seat still had an outdoor privy.

I hauled water to my home and we kept the food and milk in an unused room with the windows open.

We had a wood stove and coal oil lamps. I had a Coleman stove and we cooked on it.

I wonder what people would do today in my same county?

What would Nat Geo say was the likelihood of having a month of extreme winter weather?

They had a week of bad weather following an ice storm in the county just north of my county last year and seven people died.

The SHTF is not that remote a possibility in the short term because even a minimal interruption of electrical service would mean people would have no heat, no fuel, no sewer service and no money.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

biobacon said:


> But like the Practical Preepers I am more then likely a cut above the average joe...


I just want to be clear Practical Preppers do the evaluation of the prepps, I do not think they are the experts who poo poo the disaster scenarios.



Geek999 said:


> Disasters by definition are rare. If they were routine everyone would already have dealt with them and they wouldn't warrant a TV show. Having the "experts" say any disaster scenario is unlikely is one of those "Well, duh!" moments.


Granted, however my point is I think they oversell the rareness of these events and overlook that statistically given the time since the last occurance of many of these events we are due for at least one disaster of magnitude. Perhaps any one is rare in the extreme, but the likelihood of one of a host of potential disasters is while still rare much less so. In most places a significant acute localized disaster happens once every five years or so, a regional disaster once every 10, a national disaster (other than man made) once every 50-100. However, as we haven't had a national disaster since the (flukish) two for one Spanish Flu and Great Depression of the 19 teens, 20s, and 30s, we are due for one.



mosquitomountainman said:


> We personally know one person who was in the first series and he told some things about how the show was produced. If I remember correctly there was a pretty good thread on PS with input form several people who were on the show. All of them agreed that what was shown bore little resemblance to them, their preps or their personal lifestyle. The producers wanted a single focus from each person/family/group and they got it even when it meant leaving out parts of what they said and fabricating what the producers wanted to say by editing out or combining partial sentences on the cutting room floor.
> 
> Believe me, by the time the editors finish, the shows bear very little resemblance to reality.


In a former lives I had some interactions with the media (CNN, BBC, ABC) I did one pre-recorded interview and I will never do that again, they cut and paste what you say, so that you say what they want, and you must be REALLY clever to give this type of interview without being able to be taken out of context. I thought I was pretty careful, but they managed to take one comment, that was completely tangential to the stated point of the interview and reinterpret my interview and interviews with my colleagues in light of that... If you give an interview do it live or insist to have complete control over edits. Otherwise you are at their whim.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

I agree completely. Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean ignore it. I think the chances of a hurricane hitting my location tomorrow are close to 0. On the other hand we got hit by Hurricane Sandy. Hurricanes here are unusual, but that is about the most common type of disaster we prep for.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> I agree completely. Just because something is unlikely doesn't mean ignore it. I think the chances of a hurricane hitting my location tomorrow are close to 0. On the other hand we got hit by Hurricane Sandy. Hurricanes here are unusual, but that is about the most common type of disaster we prep for.


Me too. We are hit by a bad hurricane once every 10 (we are 14 years overdue) and a bad snowstorm every 10-15 (had ours last year). However the CERTAINTY of these types of events, as well as human made SHTF like the chem spill in WV, makes prepping the most logical thing in the world.


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

Sentry18 said:


> Former "stars" of the program have reported everything from being coerced into saying certain things, acting a certain way, to make up a single reason why they prep and even manufacture drama just for the show. The PS member who was on the show was very kind hearted and welcoming, she said several times that she would feed or shelter anyone who asked for her help. So they producers pushed her and pushed her to adjust her personality. When that didn't work they got one of her helpers, who was supposedly also very generous and easy going, to make some comments about defending the homestead that were completely out of character but lined up perfectly with what the viewer would expect. Like everything in Hollywood and Washington DC they take a kernel of the truth twist it, turn it and exploit it to suit their needs.


Not that I wish for the show to go off the air, but I hope any PS members (or anyone out there happening to be reading this thread) will take this into consideration if they are possibly even contemplating going on this show.

As others have pointed out, media folks are experts in what they do...most of the restr of us aren't. Be careful.


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## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

BillM said:


> Regarding the likelihood of a disaster happening:
> 
> In 1978 we had about three weeks in the winter when there were several ice and snow storms one following the next followed by extreme bouts of cold weather when the temperature stayed below 20 degrees F .
> 
> ...


The Blizzard of '78.

Yup. I was on duty with (what was then) Civil Defense in Salem NH. Mass had officially close the roads and where asking anyone with a snow machine (snow-mobile) to assemble near Route 128 around Boston to assist in rescuing the stranded motorists.

It literally took days to get some people out.

I was making pharmaceutical runs for shut-ins who were running out of medications.

We had a snow-cat on hand for any (further) emergencies where a car or truck was implausible. (a snow-cat, for those who've never seen one, is a motorized vehicle with tracks that look like a picket fence, with an enclosed cab on top).

...we lost a lot of lives during that storm. Most of whom could have made it if they just kept warm clothes in the car....

*Real Experts Agree....* disasters are inevitable.... and while loss of life is also inevitable, the majority of it could be greatly mitigated with nothing more than a little forethought, and a basic reality check.


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## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

PrepN4Good said:


> Not that I wish for the show to go off the air, but I hope any PS members (or anyone out there happening to be reading this thread) will take this into consideration if they are possibly even contemplating going on this show.
> 
> As others have pointed out, media folks are experts in what they do...most of the restr of us aren't. Be careful.


What??????
You mean Hollyweird *LIES?*

I'm shocked!

They'd *never* misrepresent anybody!


I watch the show because some of those folks actually have some decent ideas! In fact, in all honesty, I'd have to say a LOT of them!

...of course, one must understand the jaundiced editing and subliminal mal-intent of the producers....

Not that I have any kind of opsec being on this forum, but I don't really have the need to be "famous"..... I guess I just don't know what would convince someone to go on such a show....


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## Cabowabo (Nov 6, 2012)

Their is a difference on a fundamental level between going on a forum and going on DDP. Here your username is whatever you make it up to be. Your location could be anywhere in the world. Also you own what you say, their is no one cutting what you said and splicing it into something else. 

I honestly think that DDP used to be a lot better in the first season at least on that season they were teaching stuff that was useful. Especially that Pilot Episode that you can no longer find btw. 

The problem with DDP is that you lose some ability of what is shown on TV. For instance I was bored at work one day and as a mental exercise just to see if I could I tried to find one of the DDP people on satellite imaging. I have two-3 possibilities. If I combine that with the shot of his fence I could narrow down where he is to almost exact certainty. The 1st Season had a lot of great information, the 2nd season was the season of the rick, and the 3rd was a gaggle. But going on DDP didn't help their survivability, but on the plus got other people interested in "prepping/homesteading" who would of never thought of it before. Personally I'd rather get my information from forums like this over DDP, because then I can back track and check sources and that persons history and see if that is solid advice before I were to try anything...


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## Foreverautumn (Oct 25, 2010)

"Reality" TV is one of the reasons I swore off most TV 15 years ago. I watch a couple of episodes of DDP on YouTube every once in a blue moon; I do find I get a couple of decent ideas sometimes. About half of those people they have on that show, though, I would NOT WANT with me come SHTF.

And don't even get me started on Tyler Smith and company! I've seen that episode with him in it. He doesn't impress me, and he gives other preppers a REALLY bad name! But ya know what? There's probably A LOT of Tyler Smith types all over this country!  THAT'S what scares the living CRAP outta me!


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## moondancer (Dec 21, 2013)

Foreverautumn said:


> "Reality" TV is one of the reasons I swore off most TV 15 years ago. I watch a couple of episodes of DDP on YouTube every once in a blue moon; I do find I get a couple of decent ideas sometimes. About half of those people they have on that show, though, I would NOT WANT with me come SHTF.
> 
> And don't even get me started on Tyler Smith and company! I've seen that episode with him in it. He doesn't impress me, and he gives other preppers a REALLY bad name! But ya know what? There's probably A LOT of Tyler Smith types all over this country!  THAT'S what scares the living CRAP outta me!


I've only seen a little of the show and I fully agree he is scary and puts shame upon the prepper community


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

Cabowabo said:


> Their is a difference on a fundamental level between going on a forum and going on DDP. Here your username is whatever you make it up to be. Your location could be anywhere in the world. Also you own what you say, their is no one cutting what you said and splicing it into something else.


It really does suprise me though that these folks, some of whom are OBVIOUSLY invested into prepping, would allow their faces and the faces of their children to be shown. I was shocked in season one that they didn't do any witness protection blurring. That and showing street shots of their homes...talk about an invitation for an open house.

Can we say painting a target on the back of your head and going down range while the range is hot?

I mean southern prepper, who granted seems to live in a community filled with like minded folks who would likely provide for the common defense, gives out enough info via his youtube page and the DDP episode he did for me to google within 20 miles of his location. How hard would it be to back track him? I think they should add a preparedness catagory called Opsec. Of course everyone on the show would necessarily get a -20pt penalty, 10 for going on the show, and 10 for not insisting that clear indications of who you are and where you are not be aired.


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## ROBIE (Jul 10, 2012)

We don't have TV, so the only way I can watch DDP is youtube or sometimes hulu. 

One good thing about the show, as some others have pointed out, is it can be a good learning tool. Maybe it could help get others involved? Its working on my wife! 

We (or rather, I) was watching DDP on youtube the other day and my wife cought some of it. She's asking a lot of good questions and is finding some of it making good sense. 

We watched the one with tyler smith, and laughed!:rofl:
We agreed that yes, there might be some people out there that thinks like he does, but this guy was a fat joke! Makes me look very thin by comparison. 

Some good ideas where the storage containers. The kind that goes overseas. Too bad we have no room for something like that where we live. School busses was an eye opener too. Too bad California passed new emission laws making them impractical at this time. 

As for the Practical Preppers, if you stack up what most of us have agenst what they have prepped, we would fall way short, so it only seems fitting they would give others a low score when compared to what they have prepped. 

Is the show "rigged"? you bet your beans bullets and band aides!!

If you like watching youtube, then look up the "Dirt Time" channel and see what Christopher Nygiers had to say about his part of the show. 

Like most everything else out there, "eat the meat, spit out the bones". 


Robie


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## Outpost (Nov 26, 2012)

Wow....
First off, I just re-read my "Blizzard of '78" post.... I must have been tired or something.... Please forgive the grammatical and typographical errors.... Good Lord.....!

Anyway...

"Vent", may be too strong a word for what follows, but it is, nevertheless, a form of 'release'.... so please bear with me...

I see a lot of commenting about this "Tyler" schmuck.... I must say that I haven't seen that particular episode yet (I'll have to see if I can you-tube it or something....) but I can understand where someone like that can evoke some embarrassment. Why else do you think Discovery would air such a person, with such a philosophy? (if he's not actually a shill)

Many a viable and benevolent movement and organization have been derailed by just a few high-visibility provocateurs. They don't just give the movement, group or agency a bad name, they can actually have the effect of making the sincere and benevolent self-conscious, and therefore silent, or even worse, withdrawn.

We each know what kind of people we are. No human is perfect, and I assure you, I am a profoundly appropriate example of imperfection, but I know what kind of man I see in the mirror every morning. While I'm not totally satisfied with what I see when I look into his eyes, I know I'm not ashamed of him either. I suspect that pretty much all here are the same.

There will always be those who misrepresent, or engage in outright lie, but stay the course and know what you are, and more importantly, what you are *not*.

My dad used to say, "A man has to decide whether he's motivated by what's right, or by what he can get away with. He has to make that decision, live up to it, and learn to live with the consequences." "And..." he would say, "I promise that *whichever* decision he makes, there will be frequent, and profoundly uncomfortable consequences." "I suppose" he would add, "it depends on what kind of people he wants around him when it comes to crunch-time."

Folks...
It's an honor to be here.

God Bless.

-


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

At the risk of digressing, I remember the Blizzard of '78. The cars coming out of the Lincoln Tunnel started getting stuck in the snow at Giants Stadium, about 3 miles from the tunnel. They finally managed to completely block the road. It backed up traffic all the way back through the tunnel into Manhattan. Imagine you are in your car in a snow storm and the road just gets totally blocked. People started to abandon their cars and try to walk to where ever they were going, in a blizzard. It took several days to get the road opened up again. I got to witness this as I was driving in the opposite direction from the mess.

To this day, I consider that one of my most basic scenarios.


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