[Seneca]

The reason I ask is because I was trying to think of when I started down the path of being prepared and I couldn't put an exact date to it. I believe it was shortly after Y2K, you all remember that adventure. I was an owl. Though I didn't see Y2K as the end of it all, it got me thinking about the what if's. I make 12 to 13 years that I've actually been into prepping.

I don't consider myself a hardcore prepper, yet I do have my preps in a row and have focused mostly on surviving natural disaster. Since I see that as being the number one threat. I could be wrong, yet at the end of the day when all is said and done no matter what happens one still has to survive the natural elements.

 

[wallyLOZ]

Guess I've been a prepper at some level my whole life. With parents that grew up in the depression, sticking a little something back every week was instilled in me. When I got out on my own I started. A little extra money in the savings account. An old jar with a little extra cash stuck away in the back of the closet. Some extra food. Nothing major, just about three weeks worth of supplies.

What really got me started was Katrina. I thought that if that happened on a much higher scale, what then? Started stocking all the necessary supplies and haven't looked back. Up to a three months supply and working towards a year. Still considering a plan for sustainability.

 

[pheniox17]

always been a "semi/part time" prepper

got worse after the 05 (I think...) Brisbane floods, some parts of south east Queensland was without power for 2 weeks, and some areas were cut off for a month, good wakeup call that was

 

[shotlady]

really for about 10 yrs, in real estate you stock up when you have the checks... used up my stores when they weren't coming in. I no longer worry for small things like how to get by, I am able to prep quite a bit, yet keep the volume modest. I really kicked into high gear when I became a gun nut two yrs ago, getting ammo and additional pieces, a little bit of food, some provisions here and there. being that im a bug out person I can only store so much at my friends. focused prepping 1 yr. maybe 2 but definitely 1 yr

 

[rice paddy daddy]

living in Florida all my life I have always kept hurricane supplies. It was a simple matter to increase the amount, which began during the run-up to Y2K.

 

[Inor]

Mrs Inor and I have always been "extreme do-it-yourselfers". At first it was because we wanted nicer things than we could afford to buy. Later, once we could afford to buy what we wanted, we found we just got much more satisfaction from making things ourselves. On the prepping side, Mrs Inor was really nervous about Y2K, so she laid in some supplies of water and a couple weeks of food. Remarkably, I did not make fun of her for it, but I never got too shook up about Y2K. Actually, I was making too much money from it and was secretly hoping that everything would go to hell in a handbasket because it would have at least doubled my billable rates and billable hours over night.

The events that woke me up were being in Miami when hurricane Wilma hit. Then about six months later I was in Montreal staying on the 22nd floor of a hotel that caught on fire. I figured God was trying to tell me something. So that time I listened.

 

[HuntingHawk]

Not sure when survivalists became preppers .

 

[pheniox17]

Not sure when survivalists became preppers .

when discovery and Nat geo came up with a trendy label

 

[nurseholly]

when discovery and Nat geo came up with a trendy label

Beats being called a hoarder...

 

[Inor]

when discovery and Nat geo came up with a trendy label

The first time I recall hearing the term was reading Rawles book "Patriots". Maybe it was around before that?

 

[pheniox17]

The first time I recall hearing the term was reading Rawles book "Patriots". Maybe it was around before that?

quite possibly, was kinda hoping they were creative enough...

 

[Meangreen]

I think the proper term is excessive compulsive paranoia.

 

[LunaticFringeInc]

Guess I've been a prepper at some level my whole life. With parents that grew up in the depression, sticking a little something back every week was instilled in me. When I got out on my own I started. A little extra money in the savings account. An old jar with a little extra cash stuck away in the back of the closet. Some extra food. Nothing major, just about three weeks worth of supplies.

While my parents didn't get to see that a lot of my family older than them did and talked about it quiet a bit and as a kid I listened! There were many times in my life when really young that things were a bit sparse on the dinner table due to other life necessities. When times were fat we definitely socked away the little bit of spare cash or canned a little extra if we had a bumper crop. It was just something we did automatically and continued to do even when things improved financially.

I didn't really get into the "survivalist" thing until the end of the 70's and got pretty serious about it until 1983. Joined the military and was always on the move but did a little prepping as the situation allowed. Retired in 2004 from the military and now that I have been able to set down some roots for a change I have hit it fast and furious. I have looked more from the angle of being sustainable as opposed to just rat holing away supplies since retiring from the military. Being in the military and having been in a number of 3rd world country's, some war torn some just dirt poor with corrupt governments, has had a profound effect in the way I look at things and prioritize. I have seen what martial law looks like, I have seen what civil war looks like and I have been in places where its pretty much little or no law enforcement and its more or less a free for all. Its made things like the LA Riots and Katrina look like bus fare!!! It aint pretty to say the least and I hope I never have to live in times like that here!

 

[MikeyPrepper]

Only one year

 

[jimb1972]

I am going to guess about ten years, from the time I bought a child sized gas mask and potassium iodide for a child that was not yet born.

 

[hayden]

I guess we were pretty poor when I was growing up. I can remember my mother calling out from the bathroom for me to get quarter out of her purse and walk to the corner store to buy a single roll of toilet paper. I vowed I would never be in that situation when I went out on my own. So I guess since I became an adult. I have always stockpiled extra TP and canned goods. I did buy some extra food and water for Y2K and set the date on my computer to a couple years earlier. I think about 5 years ago was when I started really prepping when Obama was elected. I had never been a gun owner but just the thought of someone trying to take that right away from me was enough to prompt me into action. Now I have food, water, guns and ammo and recently added a small chest freezer to my solar panel stuff. I tested it off grid and yes I can make ice if the grid goes down. All this "stuff" gives me piece of mind even if shtf never comes to be. I pave roads for a living in SW Ohio so only working 23 weeks this year (typical year) I have learned to discipline my spending. Debt free except for my tiny mortgage is a good thing also.

 

[PaulS]

Let's see; I was putting on classes in 1973 and had been working on being a successful "survivalist" for five years prior to that...

So I have been actively doing this for 45 years, more or less.

 

[dannydefense]

Since about 9am this morning. Give or take a few minutes.

 

[MI.oldguy]

Since I was a boy scout, had a leader that was ex WW II and Korean vet,he said always be as prepared for the worst the best you can.really hit home in '89 the SF bay area earthquake.no harm done us by that one but, we always carried bob's in our vehicles before with 1st aid, h20,some snacks, a firearm and ammo,spare socks,tennis shoes,jacket etc.as we knew to get home where we lived at the time from where we worked involved a 12 mile hike if the 1 interstate and 3 under/over passes, scared citizens that would have to walk also and two twisty roads into the town we lived in then were impassible.after that,moving to western Washington state and having a spectacular view of Mt Rainier thru our front windows and seeing it spew steam sometimes and realizing we would be buried in a big Fing mud flow if she went,.than moving to upper Michigan (da' UP.) and dealing with the winter storms,some idiot yoopers that dont know how to drive in snow,and liberal sheeple that are beginning to even want to move here.

 

[slewfoot]

Living on the left coast of Florida in hurricane country you could say we have been prepping in some form or another for a long while. But when that thing got elected for the second time we began devoting money and a lot of time. We feel we can survive for a year if we are able to defend the home.