# Approaching Potential Preppers.



## vn6869 (May 5, 2010)

It seems more people are kinda sorta thinking about prepping. 
With the shows on the satellite and cable networks etc.

These same shows, you know what I'm talking about, seem to portray preppers like they did "Survivalists" years ago. (i.e. Rambo et al- just shy of well balanced shall I say.)

Yet, the more people that can be gotten to prep, the fewer sheeple, and less danger to other preppers. While on the other hand OPSEC dictates you keep your prepping low keyed.

My question, What is your approach to:
A - Identify potential preppers and open up a dialog with them - outside your immediate circle of preppers.
B - Convince your family you aren't wacko and they should look to make provisions for themselves.


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

I'm kind of in this situation right now. I have some neighbors, about my age, who are VERY much back to the land types. It's a married couple with about a 10 year old home schooled daughter. Just the other day I heard him use the word "prepper" in a sentence, so I'm trying to figure out how to "break the ice" as they say. I think I'll just ask them if they're familiar with this site and take it from there.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

You could, in passing, bring up a recent disaster and mention to them that you are considering purchasing a few supplies for whatever natural disasters happen in your area (especially if you've had one or a near miss within recent memory), and then see where it leads. Usually, even the most oblivious of sheeple will generally accept picking up a few candles, etc., as a normal response. Depending on their response, you can decide where to take the conversation.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

I would talk about it to people at military surplus stores, the gun store, wilderness outfitters, and T.E.A. Party rallies, and not much anywhere else, heard too much superiority complex derision most other places

bring up that 'new' show you 'just happened to catch' *Doomsday Preppers* & listen to the comments fly (some deservedly, but usually not with the contempt you'll probably hear).


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

Y'all are the only Prepper friends I got! 

Parents think I'm off my rocker, and so does my husband.

Oh well. 

I should attempt to reach out to other folks in my area...like Hozay told me, go to a gun range (which I SHOULD be doing in the first place) or a coupon club, but I really am just resisting starting over on the whole making friends thing. I did it enough as a kid being dragged across and out of the country. The benefits out weigh my laziness.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

I also think the "Doomsday Prepper" show has opened up a way to discuss prepping with people with whom you want to feel out, about the subject, without revealing that you are a prepper.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

I wouldn't mention it to anyone unless I was planning to add them to my group. For just general discussion and shooting ideas off each other I have this site and a few others. But nobody who knows where I live knows unless they are part of my shtf group.


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## Salekdarling (Aug 15, 2010)

mojo4 said:


> I wouldn't mention it to anyone unless I was planning to add them to my group. For just general discussion and shooting ideas off each other I have this site and a few others. But nobody who knows where I live knows unless they are part of my shtf group.


I agree. I say that knowing and trusting the people you plan on surviving with gives you a better chance of survival, and there is truly power in numbers. I would not like having newcomers into my group unless I did some hardcore research on them but if you didn't have that capabilities because of SHTF, better work out that decision with your group.

But it's such a thin line of what ifs. (I _really_ hate what ifs)(ie: Not allowing someone into your group; what if they were great hunters/trackers?) I guess that's all a matter of how good you are at interviewing someone after the fact.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I dont try anymore, when I started "Stocking UP" I had never heard the word "Prepper" and the people I approached were those that I trusted. Some of them were the ones that had come to me with questions about gardening, my garden produced more than anyone elses that I knew of and was many times the size of the average plot.

No one seemed concerned about "Tomorrow", they were too tied up with taking their boats to the lakes on the weekends, going on their weekend outtings to the "Hill Country" or just sitting around drinking beer with their friends(in general their is nothing wrong with this one). They were more concerned with taking their 2 week vacation than making sure they had food for tomorrow.

Nope, I dont worry about it any more. I KNOW their "Preppers" in the local area, have heard the rumors, but I will just sit back and let them find me.


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## AlabamaGal (Dec 27, 2011)

A - I use gardening and local food as the gateway conversation. Very few preppers (at least the ones I want to have anything to do with) are not at least trying to grow some of their own food or at a minimum secure a local food supply. The other gateway conversation is about natural disasters, of which we've had more than our fair share lately. Being prepared for them doesn't seem whacko anymore.

B - I'm still figuring this one out. I'm working on the boiling frog technique. I don't have TV, so this weekend when the BF and I were somewhere with TV at the commercials for the prepper show and one about doomsday bunkers came on, he immediately picked up on the problem of saying you need all this stuff, then saying you need all these guns to protect it... but then *telling* everyone you have all this stuff. (Uh huh...) Hey, your place would be a gold mine after a disaster. (Uh huh.) *cough* *cough* The boy ain't dumb.


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

I normally talk to people at the garden center or about farming and growing food. It's a good icebreaker. If I bring up the term "prepper", a lot of people bring up of right wing militants. That's just not me at all. I like being ready as I can be for either a personal, local, national or world wide SHTF situation. 
Learning more about shooting and firearms. (made leaps and bounds the past few weeks) Will be able to talk to people at the range or the farms where I can hunt. 
When I do meet like minded folks, it's great. Sometimes it can be a turn off when they spout political crap though. I think a lot of people are put off by it too.


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## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

ContinualHarvest said:


> I normally talk to people at the garden center or about farming and growing food. It's a good icebreaker. .


I have talked to a neighbor about gradually stocking up. She knows I can and I have given her some things from my garden after I canned all I could hold out to do. I tell her about sales I have seen. She has been on a real tight budget and thought she couldn't put anything back. I asked her if she could afford one extra can of each thing she buys and she said yes, so I said now do it every time you buy groceries and it won't be long before you will have a nice bit of stored food for an 'emergcency'.

Last year I mentioned to my BF that I thought times were going to get worse and I had been putting some food by, he just looked at me and said 'You are putting *more*by? Yep, I need to talk to my wife." Since we both have gardens and put up food and have had long discussions about the economy and other things, I knew he got the idea.

Other than those two, I don't bother. Even my child thinks I'm slightly crazy.


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## ContinualHarvest (Feb 19, 2012)

LilRedHen said:


> I have talked to a neighbor about gradually stocking up. She knows I can and I have given her some things from my garden after I canned all I could hold out to do. I tell her about sales I have seen. She has been on a real tight budget and thought she couldn't put anything back. I asked her if she could afford one extra can of each thing she buys and she said yes, so I said now do it every time you buy groceries and it won't be long before you will have a nice bit of stored food for an 'emergcency'.
> 
> Last year I mentioned to my BF that I thought times were going to get worse and I had been putting some food by, he just looked at me and said 'You are putting *more*by? Yep, I need to talk to my wife." Since we both have gardens and put up food and have had long discussions about the economy and other things, I knew he got the idea.
> 
> Other than those two, I don't bother. Even my child thinks I'm slightly crazy.


What little space I have is getting filled up with gallons of water and extra foodstuffs.


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## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

The_Blob said:


> bring up that 'new' show you 'just happened to catch' *Doomsday Preppers*


Our family was just asked that very question! A couple moved into our area a few months ago, but he still works several hours away, comes home every other weekend. I think their move here may be to establish their BOL. She has her CCL, has chickens, lots of talk about getting goats, hunting, gardening, etc... Now, I've been longing for like-minded folks in our area, but.... I think she talks too much. They've only been here since maybe January, and our first thought was "They're Preppers!!!!!" She could (and probably would) compromise our family.  so close, and yet so far....


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## SouthernComfort (Mar 14, 2012)

I keep my mouth shut and go on about my business. After all we've been through, and still there are people that don't see the light...those would be scary people to know what I have. You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shyt. As for the doomsday shows on TV, it's sorta like the repo type towing shows to me. I would be embarrassed for anyone to think that's where my head is. Why would you feel the need to address a total stranger about your program???


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## MsSage (Mar 3, 2012)

The way I start is to watch them work LOL. The officers who practice firm, fair, and consistent we start talking about looking 2 steps ahead. If an inmate does this and this what will be his next move and then what will he do.....Once I see they can see more than reactionary I bring up food prices. I have found a good teacher on chickens and she got me chicken crazy LOL I know 2 other officers I know who have kids who I keep suggesting they pick up a couple more things on sale. 
I know that I have found a good friend who, we will work together now and after the fact. I know its scary to open up but the benefits far out weight the risks if you take it slow.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

I learned my lesson a along time ago (maybe 30 years ago). I started talking to a friend of mine about what would he do if SHTF. He gave me a stare like I've never seen from him. From that point we never talked much. I could never fiquire out why he reacted that way. Several years later, I came to the concluesion that preppers are mentally wired differently then non-preppers. Maybe only critical thinkers become preppers! 

Now, I never talk to anybody about prepping, however, I do watch what people are buying at the store, what is selling out at the hardware store and what is soldout at Wally world. I make monthy trips to a Cabelas store to see whats going on. Every time I'm there, the firearms department is full and you have to take a number to get help.

I think people are scared. The question is how to pull all these like minded people together??


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

LilRedHen said:


> I have talked to a neighbor about gradually stocking up. She knows I can and I have given her some things from my garden after I canned all I could hold out to do. I tell her about sales I have seen. She has been on a real tight budget and thought she couldn't put anything back. I asked her if she could afford one extra can of each thing she buys and she said yes, so I said now do it every time you buy groceries and it won't be long before you will have a nice bit of stored food for an 'emergency'.
> 
> e idea_Last year I mentioned to my BF that I thought times were going to get worse and I had been putting some food by, he just looked at me and said 'You are putting *more*by? Yep, I need to talk to my wife." Since we both have gardens and put up food and have had long discussions about the economy and other things, I knew he got the idea._
> 
> Other than those two, I don't bother. Even my child thinks I'm slightly crazy.


Hum... I was thinking you meant "boyfriend" and then I see wife--so am I correct in thinking "best friend"?  I know, I know. none of my darned business but I get confused so easily! 

Most folks around here tease me about having a bomb shelter in the back yard but all know about my food allergies and how expensive additive free food is so think nothing about me buying extra when on sale and growing and canning my own foods and my big heirloom veggie seed collection.. and with all the chickens we have, they even understand the storing water in the basement for the power outages that we seem to get every other week.. Sure it usually only lasts a few hours but it always seems to happen at the worst time.. I am a sneaky prepper and by explaining simple things like.. remember the ice storm and the tornadoes that we have been getting. that kind of thing I hope I have kinda planted a seed of "hum... maybe we should have a few things, Just in case"


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## res2cue (Mar 14, 2012)

All good points. As for my group it so hard to find people of the same mind set because anyone who is at this stage feels the same as we do..... OPSEC! 
We are only a group of 7 and have tried to reach out to like minded folks. We would like to have a larger group and have made some contacts. our SOP for meeting potential additions to our group is to meet in a public place F2F (first names only) and ask some broad questions. Most importantly, "is your spouse/wife/significant other on board with your plans for a SHTF scenario?". We have found, more often than not, that the partner is not a willing participant. This can cause OpSec issues, if a partner is not committed (not taking the group mindset and security into consideration-easy to mention plans, security and storage status to others since it seems a big joke). We have decided to stop pursuing additional members. Looking to family and friends now. Have to keep that OpSec intact!


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

I see 2 problems with prepping socially.

A lot of people who are doing it are more than slightly off. It's a phobia that they're trying to deal with, kinda like hoarding. And of course TV and other sources show the craziest ones.

The other problem is that so much of it is political. A lot of preppers are right wing doomsday preppers who want to spout why they think there's gonna be a government caused disaster or by god. And the Greenies on the other side want to spew about the coming environmental meltdown is caused by big business and fast food. 

I am am unashamed political junkie. I volunteer in political campaigns. But my politics isn't why I decided to prep. I prep for the practical, last year my car broke down and I had to march miles home. Months later power was out for a couple days. We had an earthquake. A tornado touched down a couple miles from here. A tree down the street crushed someone's house.

This year I learned of get home bags. Now I'm making one. One then wouldn't have saved my life but I would have been a lot more comfortable and not suffered a sunburn. 

I heard the three day suggestion for food and thought that's just a good idea. The idea of a bug out bag struck me as a decent idea too. And logic says that if I have to bug I might as well take the house preps too.

So I'm not prepping for the end of the world. Just a rough patch or two. Ducks fly with ducks, geese fly with geese. Hard core preppers in my experience don't wanna prep with lightweights like me.


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## res2cue (Mar 14, 2012)

Good points. We were thinking more of broadening the group skill sets, rather than ensuring like-minded politics. We live in a hurricane prone region and lost power for a week this year. Our "preps" certainly came in handy. It also allowed us to see how the neighbors reacted (all happy to request the use of our generator, but 6 months since the event and not one neighbor has bought their own). We shared power when we were able, but have since bought ourselves a deep freezer, which can run off the gennie. We are an average family, full-time jobs, kid in high school, but have grown to understand the state of the world we live in and want to be as prepared as we can be (better to be prepared and nothing happen, than not). We are part of a group that will bug out together if it ever came to that and have a large property that would not be defensible with our small group. I think we have all determined that searching out individuals or couples that we do not know and allowing them knowledge of our plans, is probably not the best course of action. We will keep prepping along


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

Sorry but my post was meant to show the opposite. I'm not calling for everyone to have the same politics to prep. I'm calling for tolerance. I thought I was highlighting how unfortunately it's on the two extremes of the political spectrum.

I just got slammed on this forum for daring to hint Obama might not lose.
http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/martial-law-coming-soon-10019/index4.html

I've heard various statistics show that anything +75% of people will not prep even a three day supply of food. What's the percent calling four days enough? I'm not even a long term prepper, I'm planning 14 days plus a few if having the food in my GHB and BoB bags.

I think your talking 3-4% of the population prepping longer term and a huge chunk of that coming from farmers prepping in what might be sustainable ways. Talk about hard, and of course everyone you don't get is a potential hanger on or looter.

The only thing that comes to mind is the idea you do skill classes and let both sides come and crush any kind of off topic debate. Plant does X if it needs Y. Politics, religion, weirdness stopped. Collect the most useful. If it goes bad I doubt such people trying to survive will have any meaningful debate on the off topics. If there are useful. If it works I doubt few will complain if the guy next to them is thanking mother gia, jesus, or miracle grow.

And if you work wisely the cross skills might work well. A naturalist with a chemist. A minimalist with a technologist.


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

BTW: I just want to add something to my previous point. My recent encounter with SouthernComfort is pretty typical of the preppers who I don't agree with. It seems politics trumps prepping.


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## mnycsbob (Dec 22, 2008)

welcome to the society


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## AlabamaGal (Dec 27, 2011)

I agree with you, bahramthered, hence why I avoid the political crap online. The preppers I know locally just work together on issues where we agree and we don't talk politics or religion... mostly because we have a lot of different views and it isn't worth the argument.

But I think you are erroneously assuming all committed preppers are necessarily nuts with guns or folks living in fear of the gubmint. Being able to feed and take care of myself for a year+ without outside help or money is the natural extension of starting with 3 days of supplies. As difficult as natural disasters can be, long term unemployment is also a personal disaster and FEMA ain't showing up to "help."

So we're out there, but there's not a whole lot to talk about when you are prepping for 14 days other than what to store and how to store it. If you decide to extend your insurance policy, you'll find exchanging ideas on food and power supplies more useful.


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## SouthernComfort (Mar 14, 2012)

Bahramthered, sorry to have insulted you but it sure seems to be that you're defending yourself a lot and not just in this forum. I joined this forum as a professional prepper of several years. If you look at my posts, you'll find everything I've said is around prepping and the issues both good and bad associated with same. It was you that started the political issues, not me. I am here to share knowledge and ideas with everyone regarding prepardness and hope to meet a few peeps in my 2 areas whereby we may benefit each other. Let's leave political issues with other sites. Peace!


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## oldvet (Jun 29, 2010)

bahramthered,

I can't quite figure out if you are serious about prepping, interested only in prepping for a few days, wanting actual inputs from us, or just spamming us by calling us nuts and crazies. 
IMO if you are really interested in obtaining any info or help, then slamming and stereotyping preppers isn't a real good way to start out. 

I believe you need to possibly clear the air about what your intentions are and what you really want or why you are on here.


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## bahramthered (Mar 10, 2012)

SouthernComfort said:


> Bahramthered, sorry to have insulted you but it sure seems to be that you're defending yourself a lot and not just in this forum. I joined this forum as a professional prepper of several years. If you look at my posts, you'll find everything I've said is around prepping and the issues both good and bad associated with same. It was you that started the political issues, not me. I am here to share knowledge and ideas with everyone regarding prepardness and hope to meet a few peeps in my 2 areas whereby we may benefit each other. Let's leave political issues with other sites. Peace!


... I make a reply that maybe politics and prepping should be separate, post a reply on a political thread to suggest maybe it's not the disaster that the OP fears and somehow I started the political? One reply, 2 if you count this one and I spend a lot of time defending myself???

I'm just gonna leave the politics alone on this thing and hope I can get some decent info.


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## SouthernComfort (Mar 14, 2012)

US? I simply made a comment about your political opinions on a prep site. Get over it, and don't try to call me out! I owe you nothing but my opinion and you WILL get it.


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## uncledon (Mar 1, 2013)

You could try directing them to FEMA's website. Even the government recommends at least 3 months storage of food. There are hundreds if not thousands of people that survived Hatrina and Sandy that wish they had been preppers.


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## uncledon (Mar 1, 2013)

Sorry Katrina is what I was trying to type.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

uncledon said:


> You could try directing them to FEMA's website. Even the government recommends at least 3 months storage of food. There are hundreds if not thousands of people that survived Hatrina and Sandy that wish they had been preppers.


You've just reopened an old thread, but since it is done I'd like to ask for a reference to where the government says to keep 3 months, as opposed to 3 days, of food storage. I'm sure I would use that link for something.

While I can't speak to Katrina, I happen to live in the area that was hit by Sandy. The area is home to millions of people. I am sure a few have considered prepping more, whether they use the term "prepper" or not, but based on my conversations with people around me, very little is being done. For instance, I've had lots of discussions with people about installing generators. I already had one prior to Sandy and it really made life more comfortable. However, I don't know a single person who has installed a generator post-Sandy. I know it is happening, but the numbers are so low that it doesn't move the needle.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> I know it is happening, but the numbers are so low that it doesn't move the needle.


Normalcy Bias is preventing them from thinking it could ever happen to them again in their lifetime.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias



> The normalcy bias, or normality bias, refers to a mental state people enter when facing a disaster. It causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects.


...and make them fail to ever prepare for another disaster.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

I agree, but we have a doozy of a hurricane come through about once every 10 years and in the past couple years we've had Hurricane Irene, a freakish ice storm that took out power, and then Sandy. At some point you have to conclude that knocking out the power for multiple days is normal. You don't need to be a prepper to figure out that some sort of generator is a good idea.

Last weekend a guy was pitching solar power to me. The system would tie into the grid and go down when the grid goes down. The idea was it would save me some utility cost. I explained that I wanted something that would work when the utility wasn't. He said such systems were available but nobody ever asked for that kind of system.

We clearly need something worse than Sandy to motivate people.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Farmers markets, hardware stores, camping section at Walmart, just about any 'gear' store (Gander Mountain, Bass Pro, etc.). I've even found some like minded moms at the 88¢ bins at Walmart. When you're grabbing 5 boxes of each medicine, then you both grab laundry soap makings, 2+2= 3 1/2 that you're both on the same page.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> You've just reopened an old thread, but since it is done I'd like to ask for a reference to where the government says to keep 3 months, as opposed to 3 days, of food storage. I'm sure I would use that link for something.


Sometime over the last couple of years I had seen a FEMA reference to a 30 day supply, but I can no longer locate it. Everything I see now is only 3 days, which is laughable since the last two disasters where I participated in the emergency response we were told to expect 5 to 7 days before we could expect any real help.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

3 days is a nice target if you are currently prepped for 0 days, which is where most people are. However, going to the Superdome on day 4 seems unappealing. I think the fact that government agencies would still recommend a 3 day approach just shows how unprepared they are to deal with anything.

I would like to see any government sites recommending something more serious, like 30 days.


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## uncledon (Mar 1, 2013)

Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand corrected. Geek999 is correct! FEMA recommends 3 days supply of food and water. I would have sworn that I have read that they recommend 3 months supply of food. 

I would also like to add that for the past 6 months I have been helping disaster victims recover from Hurricane Sandy and out of the 300-400 families that I have helped, only about a dozen of them are installing or replacing generators. I also know from talking directly to these people, they suffered greatly by not being prepared, but with some of the houses knocked completely off their foundations, I don't know how you could prepare for that, unless you can afford a bug out location.

But just like Katrina, there those that would have survived this disaster event much better if they had stored food and water. I guess you can lead a mule to water, but you can't make him drink.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

There was tremendous damage, including houses knocked off foundations, at the Jersey shore. A generator isn't going to do much good if your house has been flooded or destroyed. However, the power outages extended all the way inland to Pennsylvania. You'd think people throughout that area, who were without power for anywhere from a few days to three weeks, would be interested in prepping, but it sure isn't obvious that they got the memo.

As for FEMA's 3 day advice, you couldn't even go to the store for the first 3 days because of all the downed trees across the roads in my neighborhood. You couldn't get gasoline due to lack of power at the gas stations for a week.

3 days is an improvement if you are at 0, but it is dated advice.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

uncledon said:


> Ladies and Gentlemen, I stand corrected. FEMA recommends 3 days supply of food and water. I would have sworn that I have read that they recommend 3 months supply of food.


I am pretty sure it was in an older version of the document "Are You Ready?"

The newer versions all say three days as well  (page 36 of 204)


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

I will never understand 2 things: (1) how people wait until they only have 3 days worth or none at all (2) how they think the government is going to be able to do something in 3 days. It takes a week to get a call back on a anything let alone an actual plan in place in an emergency.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

LincTex said:


> I am pretty sure it was in an older version of the document "Are You Ready?"
> 
> The newer versions .....


http://www.ready.gov/are-you-ready-guide

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf


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## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

I, too, wouldn't talk to anyone about it who I wasn't willing to feed, if TSHTF. 

Having said that, I've taken it one step further. Call me paranoid, but... oh, well.

I've gotten a bit of a reputation locally for gardening and canning. Several people have asked me about our huge garden, and how I use it all -- most people here just have gardens for "fresh" through the summer months, and buy from the grocery throughout the rest of the year. I've mentioned I'm a canner, and before I got smarter (it's all relative  ) had put out a call for canning jars. 

People figured out from the number of canning jars I was accepting that it wasn't all for jam.

So, this year, I had a spectacular failure of a garden. My garden area has always been to the side of my house, about an acre of various veggies. This year, that plot died in a REALLY big way. I "simply did not have time for it". I found other things to do in the community which kept me busy and visible -- work, volunteering, etc. -- and neglected my "garden" shamefully. Overrun with weeds, unwatered... you get the picture. I've made comment in a couple of places that "it's a shame I had nothing to can this year, but, you know, I don't have time for it, anyhow."

My new garden, at the back of our property and well out of sight of the road or any of the properties around us, however, has flourished ;-)

It's taken a LOT of hard work, and long hours doing double duty, but I am now a "failed" gardener, and next year, I won't HAVE a garden (at least, in the visible spot out front), and any rumours that I was raising so much food out here... well, I've already heard comments from people which make me believe my little deception has been successful.

Those who I'm willing to feed know better, but I worry less about having people show up on my doorstep now.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> You've just reopened an old thread, but since it is done I'd like to ask for a reference to where the government says to keep 3 months, as opposed to 3 days, of food storage. I'm sure I would use that link for something.
> 
> While I can't speak to Katrina, I happen to live in the area that was hit by Sandy. The area is home to millions of people. I am sure a few have considered prepping more, whether they use the term "prepper" or not, but based on my conversations with people around me, very little is being done. For instance, I've had lots of discussions with people about installing generators. I already had one prior to Sandy and it really made life more comfortable. However, I don't know a single person who has installed a generator post-Sandy. I know it is happening, but the numbers are so low that it doesn't move the needle.


Generators aren't very practical. I've seen fuel estimates of 1/3 to a 1/2 gallon per hour. That's 8 to 12 gallons of fuel per day. That's a lot of fuel to store for a two week period. If you use kerosene heaters that's about a gallon per day for heat. More than that if it's really cold out or if you have a kerosene cooking stove. If you want a two week supply of kerosene you'd have more than enough with 30 gallons. And what if there was a massive storm and power was out for a month?


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

BillS said:


> Generators aren't very practical. I've seen fuel estimates of 1/3 to a 1/2 gallon per hour. That's 8 to 12 gallons of fuel per day. That's a lot of fuel to store for a two week period. If you use kerosene heaters that's about a gallon per day for heat. More than that if it's really cold out or if you have a kerosene cooking stove. If you want a two week supply of kerosene you'd have more than enough with 30 gallons. And what if there was a massive storm and power was out for a month?


The longest that we have been without power was just over two weeks. We ran the generator for one hour in the morning, and again in the evening. That way our freezer stayed below freezing, and the refrigerator kept everything cold enough as we only opened it just before each generator run (it was a bit of a pain unwrapping and re-wrapping the blankets used for extra insulation). We would also recharge batteries, catch up on TV news etc., during those two hours. Had it been in the summer, we might have added an additional half hour in the evenings to cool the bedroom with a window unit. At that rate the fuel would last considerably longer. Now we have a propane generator, and will be connecting it to the 500 gallon back-up tank. It uses a bit more fuel per hour for the same wattage, but the fuel supply is much larger and we don't have to worry about it getting stale.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

We were without for 2 weeks winter 2009. I cooked for 10 by oil lamp and candles. Thank God we have gas heat and stove!


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

BillS said:


> Generators aren't very practical. I've seen fuel estimates of 1/3 to a 1/2 gallon per hour. That's 8 to 12 gallons of fuel per day. That's a lot of fuel to store for a two week period. If you use kerosene heaters that's about a gallon per day for heat. More than that if it's really cold out or if you have a kerosene cooking stove. If you want a two week supply of kerosene you'd have more than enough with 30 gallons. And what if there was a massive storm and power was out for a month?


In my case the generator is natural gas, so I don't need to store anything. The same option is open to all of my neighbors. If you are in an area without natural gas, propane is probably your best alternative.

During Sandy how long the power was out depended on where you happened to be. While my location was out for 8 days, other areas were out for a month or more. If you only have fuel for two weeks and you are out for a month, you're in better shape than the guy that doesn't have a generator at all.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Geek999 said:


> In my case the generator is natural gas, so I don't need to store anything. The same option is open to all of my neighbors. If you are in an area without natural gas, propane is probably your best alternative.


We were on natural gas... but because we were "low usage customers", Atmos raised our base rate so we pay a minimum of about $23 a month even if we use nothing at all! That's $276 a year just to have service!

I got a 250 gallon tank for $100 and switched the gas stove and generator over to propane. We won't use $276 worth of propane each year.

My older Onan that runs on "gas" is only for when I am away because it is easy and convenient for my wife. She knows to only run it for an hour or so a couple times a day, just as K0xxx wrote. When I am home we can use the diesel generator if more power needed, it uses about a quart of diesel per hour.

We have enough solar power and battery amp-hours to handle all of the lights, most kitchen appliances (no large microwave use, only limited small microwave use) and the LED TV/DVD/stereo uses very little if only used for short periods.


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