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So, how did you become a prepper?

1069 Views 21 Replies 14 Participants Last post by  Trihonda
For me, it sort of happened by accident. I've always liked camping. I don't mean fire up the RV and head for the campground near a national park. I mean camping out in the woods and enjoying the solitude. Anyway, I was on Facebook one day and there was apost about some company giving away free backpacks to the first 500 people. They, also, said that they would be giving away 5 "special survival" packages. I clicked on it and filled out the info and just forgot about it. 6 weeks later, I came home from work and there was a good sized box on my front porch. I had completely forgotten about the backpack. When I opened the box, there was a good sized pack from LA Gear, but there was, also, half a dozen MOLLE pouches that attached to it, three shemaughs, a good machete, a large Bowie knif, and an assortment of other stuff. I took a pic and sent it to my brother in California.

He texted me and wanted to know if I was going to turn into "one of those prepper people". That Christmas, he sent me a copy of the SAS Survival Handbook. I read it and it got me thinking about what I would do if there was a SHTF event. So. I started collecting gear for anything that I could think of for some event that could happen around here. That was about ten years ago.

Now, he has started to call me and ask my opinions on gear that he's gathering together.
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My background:
I was raised (to a small degree) by an extreme libertarian constitutionalist, who was an expert in survival and nuclear radiological defense. My dad, no longer with us, was THE guy to have along during an apocalypse. A Jack of all trades, he was a genius and even invented a role playing game in the 80’s called “Survive”. Lol. He instilled in me that boy scout mantra of always be prepared. That said, I gave up that “survivalist” mindset many years ago, but never gave up the Boy Scout…

I’ve worked in many emergency preparedness fields throughout my career, from an emergency responder (fire/EMS/police, etc) to actual gub-mint “Emergency Management”. I’m well rounded in my abilities, but I have a healthy respect for the knowledge and skills I don’t yet possess.

While I’ve always had lots of “gear” (Boy Scout mindset), I experienced an awakening (like most people) with the events of 2020. These events really showcased the need for more formalized “preps”. I worked to shore up food, security, communication, and a network of close knit people for immediate support
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