# Are Preppers Crazy?



## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

I guess they are 


> Do you believe that preppers are a few cards short of a full deck? Do you assume that anyone that is "preparing for doomsday" does not have their elevator going all the way to the top floor? Well, you might want to read this first before you make a final decision that all preppers are crazy. The information that you are about to read shook me up a bit when I first looked it over. To be honest, I had no idea how incredibly vulnerable our economic system is to a transportation disruption. I am continually getting emails and comments on my websites asking "how to prepare" for what is coming, so when I came across this information I knew that I had to share it with all of you. Hopefully what you are about to read will motivate you to prepare like never before, and hopefully you will share this information with others.
> 
> *source*


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

This is a great article and a must read entirely!!! I will send to all I know! But the best part is:

*Zombie Survival Plan​*​*Step 1:​**Gather Weapons*​*Step 2:​**Acquire Transportation*​*Step 3:​**Locate Friends and Family​**Step 4:​**Cure the infection one bullet at a time​*
Thanks for informative post!


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

People have no idea the impact of the supply chain. One of my MBA papers was on manufacturing supply chain, it was well received. I'm currently attempting to manage an intl project with parts moving all over the world. Sometimes I think I'm going dizzy with trying to keep this small batch of parts moving outside of normal material flow.


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## labouton (Jan 24, 2011)

This is from a person in Fresno , CA .
This is happening all over the US .
THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW.

We now live about 30 miles from Fresno . We are up in the Sierras and Fresno is the first big town we encounter when we leave the mountains. 

We shop there often. I received this from my ex-homicide partner who is still active in law enforcement circles in the Fresno area.

Excuse the language, but don't excuse the facts. Don't give up your guns, and buy necessary ammunition if you can find it. Be cautious and alert. 

Be ready if, God forbid, we need to protect our families and loved ones.

If you weren't at Rotary meeting on Friday, you missed the only decent speaker we've had in more than a year. LTC John Cotter is the 144th Fighter Wing's anti terrorism officer. John had a two-part presentation. First part was describing his job as the unit’s anti-terrorism officer. Pretty standard stuff.

The second part was information that will curl your hair. A Part-time air guardsman works as a checker at local Von's. Two women in full burkas buy every pre-paid cell phone in the store. Clerk/airman gets to thinking about it. 

Goes to Cotter and reports incident. Cotter asks store for surveillance video. It's scary enough that he contacts Fresno FBI.

FBI investigates and determines these women have been doing this all over the Valley. Cell phones shipped through Canada to Iraq/Afghanistan where they become triggers for roadside bombs.

The Shell station at Peach and Shaw.. Every time a local GI goes there in fatigues they are asked specific questions. What is your unit? When are you deploying? How many aircraft are you taking?

The F-16s out of Fresno fly CAP for west coast. As such they are the first line of defense so they have the US 's most sophisticated air-to-air missiles. Foreign governments would like to get their hands on those missiles or at least learn how to build them. Also how many we have, etc. Two spy groups are working on it, one based at Fashion Fair Mall (the F-16s take-off pattern) and one based at Sierra Vista Mall (the F-16s landing pattern).

Cotter said the ******** (but we don't profile) are always probing the base. Two dorks in a pickup show up at the front gate wanting to deliver a package marked Air National Guard, Fresno .. No postage, no UPS, no FedEx, no DHL, no nothing. Just a probe.

I asked Cotter why we haven't seen anything about this in The Bee, on KMJ, on local TV news. He said they're not interested. Since Friday I've learned of two other things. My brother-in-law, Frank, (management at Avaya) had a Muslim tech who took a leave-of-absence for 6 weeks in Afghanistan . After the 6 weeks were up he called from New York requesting an extension. Frank (who 
does profile) said, you're fired, and called the Fresno FBI who were very interested. Don't know the outcome. A Muslim who owns a liquor store in my former hometown of Kingsburg was constantly bugging customers to buy guns for him. Finally one of the guys I grew up with called the FBI.

We are a country at war and the enemy is among us. I don't care what Janet Napolitano says, it's a fight to the death and we should be as prepared as possible. Brother-in-law Frank has a theory and I think it may be closer to the truth than Homeland Security wants to admit. See note below in red There are a certain number (probably a large number) of Muslims among us who are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as they can, sort of a Fort Hood on steroids. I know I'm getting prepared to shoot back.

Two items of interest: Sheriff Margaret Mims wants to grant concealed carry permits to all who are qualified. Columnist Jim Boren, among the most bleeding of the bleeding heart liberals, says it's time for Fresno residents to arm themselves. LOAD up, you can bet this is happening in places other than Fresno .. David Rayburn

I was asked to send this to everyone in my address book. Some of those I'm sending it to WILL NOT forward it! To those I say, Get your head out of the sand and look around with an open mind or before you know it we will no longer be living in the land of the free and the brave!" We are under attack from a hidden enemy that is everywhere. They are a cancer that WILL attack us and KILL as many as they can to further the Islamic doctrine of Shiria law. They 
behead, cut off limbs, stone people to death and worse. Beware, there IS a holy war coming. The signs are everywhere if you care to look and listen.

What do we expect from Homeland Security not wanting to admit anything since they are being run by devout Muslims in charge of Homeland Security Posts. 

Well, boys and girls, today the fox is guarding the hen house. The 
wolves will be herding the sheep!

Obama appointed two devout Muslims to homeland security posts.

Obama and Janet Napolitano appointed Arif Alikhan, a devout Muslim, as Assistant Secretary for Policy Development. DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano swore-in Kareem Shora, a devout Muslim, who was born in Damascus, Syria, as ADC National Executive Director as a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). 

NOTE: Has anyone ever heard a new government official being 
identified as a 'devout Catholic," a "devout Jew" or a "devout 
Protestant"...? Just wondering. 

Devout Muslims being appointed to critical Homeland Security 
positions? Doesn't this make you feel safer already?? That should make our home land much safer, huh!?

Wasn't it "devout Muslim men" who flew planes into U.S. buildings 9 1/2 years ago? Wasn't it a "devout Muslim man" who killed 13 at Fort Hood ?

Please forward this important information to any who give a rat’s behind about the future of our Country.


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## RevWC (Mar 28, 2011)

Around 2006 I went surfing with my son at the beach in front of Patricks Air Force Base in Florida. We pulled up and a Muslim man with his Burka wife were filming the air base. As soon as they saw us they turned the camera toward the beach. While surfing we watched him turn the camera several times toward the runway. Probably should have called 911 but the waves were epic! Obviously self gratification won over patriotism. Perhaps this is an example of what I was at the time.  no more.. I haven't thought of this in a long time until I read your text labouton..


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## ms_a2gwus (Feb 27, 2012)

Thank you for this link, partdeux. I've been trying to explain to a few friends who are in positions to be proactive for our community, of the very real disaster if the trucking industry should be disrupted. I've been ridiculed by some people for my views of being prepared. We are not an agricultural community, except for a few people who let them cattle and horses wander around on open range, and there are very few private businesses here. I live on my Tribal reservation. Most jobs are either the Tribal Government, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or the Indian Health Service and they all follow, for the most part, the JIT resupply. This study by the ATA might be the best proof I need to present a stronger wake up call.


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## Toffee (Mar 13, 2012)

I work for a local supermarket chain and I can honestly say that I think they keep a little more on hand than some of the bigger stores, maybe because we have the trucking lines interrupted every other winter or so with the big storms that we sometimes get. But working in the bakery, you definitely realize just how little of a disturbance it would take to cause severe problems. We get 3 deliveries a week sometimes.


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## snipers_girl101 (Feb 13, 2012)

My cousin and her fiance drive a truck. I truly had no idea how involved in everything we have trucks are before she met him. One of those things I took for granted. I live in a small town, with a small grocery store and a couple of dollar stores. If deliveries stop, the shelves would be empty in a day, tops. Most of our staples come from the tribal food commodity program, as we live within the bounds of the Cherokee nation, that we pick up once a month. But, the warehouse that services our rural area is restocked only twice a month. Once it's gone, it's gone.


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## lefty (Sep 29, 2011)

people thought Noah was crazy.

I worked as a buyer in retail and grocery for a number of years and our supply chain is very long and very thin, because no one wants to carry inventory. this means that any glich and add to that an increase in demand that would happen in the case of an emergency and the shelves would be bare and quick


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## Booger (Feb 13, 2012)

My mother thinks i am. She won't when she's hungry though.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Yea, I maybe crazy but you have to remember that crazy is relative. I would much rather be a well fed crazy than a starving one.


Like everyone says, "I hope and pray that I am wrong" but If I/we am/are not, who is crazy then?


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

Davarm said:


> Yea, I maybe crazy but you have to remember that crazy is relative. I would much rather be a well fed crazy than a starving one.
> 
> Like everyone says, "I hope and pray that I am wrong" but If I/we am/are not, who is crazy then?


that can be called paranoid wish fulfillment.

And of course some preppers are just ridiculous. On doomsday preppers this guy is collecting and freezing Insects as food because he's scared cattle might be contaminated by dirty bombs. Sorry but in your freezer beef is as safe as your cricket collection. If he was raising them in colonies I could see the logic.


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## partdeux (Aug 3, 2011)

As said earlier, prepping for what?

If you're prepping for a specific event, then you're either Nastradamous or hearing voices. But general prepping is a great thing. We are better prepared to defend ourselves, eat much better food, and can sustain ourselves for a period of time. I do wonder about those that have built complete underground bunkers with a decade of stored food. There comes a point of, do I really want to survive in a Mad Max world?


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

partdeux said:


> There comes a point of, do I really want to survive in a Mad Max world?


Hey Mad Max looked fun. Beats the hell out of living in a buried school bus for decades with no plans for the end of that. Rat in a can? Give me aliens, zombies, or mutant uprising over that. Heck I'd take'm over a real fortified underground government bunker living on some mundane schedule forever...


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## OdieB (Mar 18, 2012)

*Mad Max World?*



partdeux said:


> As said earlier, prepping for what?
> 
> If you're prepping for a specific event, then you're either Nastradamous or hearing voices. But general prepping is a great thing. We are better prepared to defend ourselves, eat much better food, and can sustain ourselves for a period of time. I do wonder about those that have built complete underground bunkers with a decade of stored food. There comes a point of, do I really want to survive in a Mad Max world?


If all the men looked like young Mel Gibson....... I'd LOVE it!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

bahramthered said:


> that can be called paranoid wish fulfillment.


Yea....Some would call it that, but my greater wish is that I am wrong.



bahramthered said:


> And of course some preppers are just ridiculous. On doomsday preppers this guy is collecting and freezing Insects as food because he's scared cattle might be contaminated by dirty bombs. Sorry but in your freezer beef is as safe as your cricket collection. If he was raising them in colonies I could see the logic.


I started to watch that episode and when I saw him with his bug fetish, decided that I wasn't that interested. Even by my standards he is kinda wierd.

Your freezer beef would be just as safe but after the balloon went up, the fresh crickets would be just as "dirty" as the fresh beef.

But....if I had to poison myself with radiation, I'd do it by eating the beef and not the bugs.


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

Davarm said:


> Yea....Some would call it that, but my greater wish is that I am wrong.


Right there with you. Started this figuring I'd prep 3 days according to general wisdom.

Now I have seem to have embraced prepping and hunting.

Right now I think in 15 years would love to open my "prep" cupboard and debate if I should replace the stored goods. Just like an insurance policy. If I need it, I have it. Kick myself for spending so much on it then.

But I'd be totally happy opening that closet a year from if I'm hungry. If I have a critter or two and some items from my garden even better.

Course third option is I stare at empty shelves and wish I'd done something.

So a few months into this journey I have some canned food in a closest. I got a small potted garden going. And I'm Looking for a shotgun and possibly other weapons. But my day to day isn't interrupted by much more than weeding today and if I should spend my weekly food savings on more preserved food.


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

labouton said:


> This is from a person in Fresno , CA .
> This is happening all over the US .
> THIS IS SOMETHING EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW.
> 
> We now live about 30 miles from Fresno . We are up in the Sierras and Fresno is the first big town we encounter when we leave the mountains. Etc, etc.


Debunked, and this is from 2 years ago.

As to the OP:
In short, yes.
Crazy may be a little harsh, but it all depends on perspective. I agree with Bobbbbbb, it seems to me some of the DP's on the show are a little wacky. Although I would not want to live in a bunker for years after a nuclear war, assuming thats even possible, I cant really fault the guy for doing what he does. I admire most of these people for what they do, but when you take it to such an extreme (I hate to pick on that one guy in UT) and you let it control your life, that just nuts, no matter what your hobby (?) is. that guy said he had been prepping for 30 years, gave up his life, his hobbies, everything, for something that never happened. I dont want that to be me.
I havent seen all of em, but the ones that seem to have normal lives are the ones that are the most grounded. The suburban mom (in AZ, Kathy, was it, aint she on here?), the families in SC, those are imho being perfectly reasonable and admirable. The family outside PHX that turned their backyard pool into a veritable garden of eden, that was awesome, regardless of the motive behind it.
Prepping in general, crazy? No. It only makes sense. You have all kinds of insurance for extremely unlikely events. I have tried to start putting it this way to people who just think I am nuts when I discuss it at all. You have fire insurance, even though its extremely unlikely. (Sorry to anyone who has had a fire!) Of all of the people I have known, all of the neighborhoods I have lived in, I can think of like 5 house fires in my lifetime. What could it hurt to put some useful stuff aside each month?
Please dont skewer me for my obviously false logical arguments and statistical errors, it makes the point, and its something people can relate to. Everyone gets snookered by these fallacies, so why not use it to a useful end?
I have thought that even the thought of prepping shows for me my pessimistic skeptical nature.
Anyone that shows any degree of self sustenance should be admired. Starting a garden is easy. Learning useful skills that have been mostly lost in urban and suburban life are very fulfilling. How can you go wrong? I'm no fan of salad _(You dont win friends with salad...)_, but eating one that I created myself was great. Maybe one day I'll get some of my own meat.
In 'My Ishmael' (great book) he makes the point that our basic knowledge and skills have been lost. Most people would not be able to survive on their own, when thousands of years ago everyone knew them, because you had to.

Good prepping to all!
And you are nuts, accept it! Embrace it!


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## Kellog (Mar 3, 2012)

*Abnormalcy Bias??*

I've read about "normalcy bias" which I understand to mean folks are likely to keep thinking what is "normal" life now will go on forever, and an inability to see that something might disrupt the "normal". If I don't have that correct, please redefine it better&#8230;I'm not sure.

But it got me to wondering, especially after watching Doomsday Preppers, can you develop an "abnormalcy bias"? By that I mean thinking that something bad is going to happen any day now&#8230;and seeing that as your normal and making it impossible to engage in everyday "normal" life?

I'm firmly in the sensible prepping is like insurance camp&#8230;it can't hurt and will only help provided you keep perspective and don't let it takeover your life. The ones who obviously see it as a hobby - albeit an all-consuming one - they don't bother me. They seem kinda cheery about doomsday.

The folks who weird me out are the ones who ominously declare "We don't have much time&#8230;.you must complete your preps NOW!" All solemn faces and scaring the crap out of the kids... like that one couple with the little girl and the mom who had the reoccurring bad dream that haunted her. That little girl looked way too solemn. I try to remember it's Manipulated Reality TV so you can't believe everything you see&#8230;but I kept thinking&#8230;hmmm&#8230;you might want to see a counselor there, Mom.

*looks behind self* Is my normalcy bias showing?


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

Kellog said:


> I've read about "normalcy bias" which I understand to mean folks are likely to keep thinking what is "normal" life now will go on forever, and an inability to see that something might disrupt the "normal". If I don't have that correct, please redefine it better&#8230;I'm not sure.
> 
> But it got me to wondering, especially after watching Doomsday Preppers, can you develop an "abnormalcy bias"? By that I mean thinking that something bad is going to happen any day now&#8230;and seeing that as your normal and making it impossible to engage in everyday "normal" life?
> 
> ...


Throw in a generous dash of extreme politics and that's most the preppers I've encountered. Or crazy insane theories.

I sometimes wonder why do you want to live when all you do is prep to survive instead of actually living?

Personaly I plan to live. I'm gonna prep for bad spots and set up for a survival situation. But unless I get lost hiking I don't ever expect to use these skills. Least I hope not.


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## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

I don't think anyone prepping for a bad day is crazy, but I think some of the stories I read on the net today are.


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## fburgprepper (Mar 31, 2012)

Preppies are definitely not crazy. The crazy people are the ones that choose to ignore what is going on in the world. I look at prepping as an insurance policy. Additionally I like the idea that I am ready to help my family as well as my friends, at a minimum if the SHTF I will not be a burden to someone else.


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## Halyna (Apr 10, 2012)

Preppers aren't crazy . They are smart. Look at what's happening these days! 
I think the crazies are those who blindly just go through life these days oblivious to the news, having no regarded for themselves or their families.
Not prepping is just foolish!


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

This topic is dear to me--dh and I were discussing this after I counted my preps/food/stuff...those that CAN be calculated.
What if there is a seed blight??
Not just corn...but all seeds; flowers, vegetables, farm crops that feed livestock...ever thought of that??
Well, there are many reasons to prep---but this is the BIGGIE for me.

I read on one site a man sold his cow and got $1.95 per lb. and the last price he received per lb. was $.85!!!

PREP--PREP--PREP!!!


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## popwiz15 (Feb 21, 2012)

Immolatus said:


> Good prepping to all!
> And you are nuts, accept it! Embrace it!


Lol!!! Best.Post.EVER!!!!!!!!!!


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Sometimes I FEEL like I'm crazy. I go over my lists in my head all day every day. There never seems to be enough on my shelves and ALWAYS more to get, NEVER enough money to get it. I do feel panic sometimes, but I just take a deep breath, give it to God and keep going. 

What I think is really crazy are the people who are more concerned with who is on Dancing with the Stars than what's on the news.


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