[Annie]

Here we are with a brand new format on Prepper Forums. For some reason it makes me want to look back at where I've been. And if you please I'd like to hear your motivation too, regardless of how long or short a while you've been at this.

Here's my story.

I think I've always kept a fairly good pantry supply. In addition I had typical camping equipment that can help in the event of an emergency. Things like a Coleman stove, flashlights and lanterns, extra blankets...

Then Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012. Two weeks into the prolonged power outages there were very few supplies coming into town.That's when I had this moment that I remember clear as day. I was in the kitchen boiling water and thinking, 'What if this doesn't end soon?' I could easily envision my happy little community becoming something of a nightmare. It was at that point I knew I had to commit to getting ready for hard times.

I can't even believe it's been almost ten years since Sandy hit, but here we are in 2021. My preps have been continuing slow and steady. Probably very boring in a way. I stash a little back here and there each time I shop. We've made bigger purchases for things like a generator as our monetary resources have allowed.

Prior to being part of this community I had almost zero experience with firearms. Hubs and I have been able to begin taking care of self defense, mostly because of the motivation I've received here from others at the forum.

I think the important thing for any new preppers is to just keep doing a little week by week. Most of the time its not very glamorous, and there's so much to learn. Just taking it a little at a time. What's the saying? How to you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

 

[Robie]

Honestly?
I started in earnest 2 months after Obama started occupying the White House.

 

[Cricket]

For me, it was Hurricane Katrina. I thought I was well prepared but found I didn't have backup plans for my backup plans.

 

[NotTooProudToHide]

100% honest. It was watching The Walking Dead and starting thinking "what if."

 

[bigwheel]

Here we are with a brand new format on Prepper Forums. For some reason it makes me want to look back at where I've been. And if you please I'd like to hear your motivation too, regardless of how long or short a while you've been at this.

Here's my story.

I think I've always kept a fairly good pantry supply. In addition I had typical camping equipment that can help in the event of an emergency. Things like a Coleman stove, flashlights and lanterns, extra blankets...

Then Superstorm Sandy hit in 2012. Two weeks into the prolonged power outages there were very few supplies coming into town.That's when I had this moment that I remember clear as day. I was in the kitchen boiling water and thinking, 'What if this doesn't end soon?' I could easily envision my happy little community becoming something of a nightmare. It was at that point I knew I had to commit to getting ready for hard times.

I can't even believe it's been almost ten years since Sandy hit, but here we are in 2021. My preps have been continuing slow and steady. Probably very boring in a way. I stash a little back here and there each time I shop. We've made bigger purchases for things like a generator as our monetary resources have allowed.

Prior to being part of this community I had almost zero experience with firearms. Hubs and I have been able to begin taking care of self defense, mostly because of the motivation I've received here from others at the forum.

I think the important thing for any new preppers is to just keep doing a little week by week. Most of the time its not very glamorous, and there's so much to learn. Just taking it a little at a time. What's the saying? How to you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

 

[Back Pack Hack]

The 1992 Rodney King riots is what got me started.

 

[bigwheel]

Well this new format is a gonad twister for us old guys so far..but I started sorta trying to prep in Boyscouts before the girly men perverts moved in as Scoutmasters. We had crusty old WWII and Korean Vets to lead us. The motto was be Prepared and we tried in childish way such as having plenty of ammo and such things. Got really motivated when a goofy guy named Jimmy Carter showed up. Made me me and my pals highly nervous..then Brother Reagan showed up as a guiding light. About that same general time frame..mid 70s? A nice Mormon wrote a book called "How to Survive the Coming Hard Times." My litle group of pals took it serious..got a cheap dehydrator and started dehydrating everything in sight. Even went out to the wrecker service and bought a tank of nitrogen to purge the o2 in the bags which we could never figure out how to do it right. We just puffed up the storage bags and zipped em right quick. Took up a lot of room in storage. Sorta like trying to store small ballons. Anyway..I wouldnt make a wart on a preppers coolar currently but I have plenty of ammo. lol.

 

[paraquack]

Watching what was happening in New Orleans after Katrina.

 

[LetsGo]

I have dabbled in it for a few years, nothing organized, mostly by accident. But something moved me and the wife about December - can't really put my finger on it - political, mask mandates, lockdowns, empty shelves, land and RE prices, business forced out of business, ammo shortages, unemployment (not me), just a host of things; something smells.

 

[Camel923]

My Parents. They were products of the Great Depression. Grew food to can and freeze, live below your means, have extra household items like soap, laundry detergent, freezer for meat bought on sale. Old items that were still good and kept for someone in need or if some you had needed replaced. Our well water was not potable. I remember as a child having a five gallon jerry can that we would fill up at what ever relative’s we visited for drinking and cooking water. I have expanded on those ideas as an adult.

 

[Chipper]

It's been our way of life as long as I can remember. Long before it was cool and called prepping.

 

[2020 Convert]

I was always prepared for a couple weeks worth of food in Western NY snow and Ice.

In 2020 shortages increased it to a couple months. Then I started to formulate a real plan.

Level 1 emergency- Power out for a period of time. Already had a 7500 gen hookup for 6 circuit. Increased my gen size and can hook up it to my propane line

Level 2-Level 1 + the road blocked ( I live 3 miles up a 1 lane rd) food supply up to 3 months.

Level 3 (had both happen in 2020) Fire Evac and Fire Evac with no power. Lost 2 fridges worth of food on the 2nd. IBC tanks now placed to give water to horses for 2 weeks.

Level 4- SHTF. Have defense plan.

Level 5- Earth quake and buildings down. Bug out kit at entrance of car port for accessibility, could still have gen power.

Need to do-convert horse trailer into bug out /earthquake shelter. Easier solution (2nd transfer switch to run deep well pump)for water, maybe another shed up on some bedrock that has the best view.

Its never ending once you start.

 

[NMPRN]

In February of last year I thought I was a pretty well prepared . By the end the March I realized I wasn't nearly as prepared as I needed to be. I never realized how incompetent and dysfunctional our government is or how fragile our economy and supply chains really are.

...one of my favorite memes from last summer:

 

[Bigfoot63]

survived an ice storm in the late 70's. we lived in myrtle beach, s.c. my father was in Vietnam and we got so much ice and snow that the entire city and out lying communities were shut down completely. we had to learn along with the neighbors to rely on each other and survive with out electricity or running water. we made it... two and a half weeks. rough and hard to explain to young kids, but I was determined to make sure our family had what they needed so at the age of 12 with the help of boy scouts and popular mechanics magazines, I began very primatively to prep.

 

[Megamom134]

I started when I suspected the election would be stolen and reading about the new green deal, minimum wage increase and trickle down economics, watching food prices soar along with the price of everything. So I am late to getting prepared but doing as much as can a little at a time within my income. Hadn't shot for a long time so got a new gun, took some classes, got my cc and have been reading everything I can about long term food storage, food foraging, medical herbs, baking from scratch with limited ingredients. And here I am, still learning.

 

[danaben]

I think I mentioned in another thread that we survived the Blizzard of 1978 in Boston. Rt. 128, the road that encircles Boston, was a parking lot for days. We lived in an apartment, but had a kitchen with a pantry so that we had up to a couple of weeks of food if needed. Luckily water was not a problem (water as a problem occurred to me later). Our apartment days are long over, and I slowly expanded our emergency supplies as we moved to larger houses. Our family has started pushing for us to downsize (wouldn't you like to be someplace where all the maintenance is taken care of?). I'm not interested and will only live in an apartment when I literally can't function otherwise.

 

[Annie]

Thanks guys, I'm really enjoying your motivations and stories.

 

[Maine-Marine]

Reasons

Peak Oil
Coming Anti-Christ (No not Biden)
Socialist take over
Family Tradition My grandparents also had extra for snow storms and times we could not take the 1.5 hour round trip to shopping
Snow Storms
Because Slippy and Denton said to
Help other people

 

[acidMia]

I guess my reason is I've come to learn to never depend on someone else to take care of you. I started prepping in order to keep myself out of situations where I had to choose between a roof over my head, food on the table, or keeping the heat on. All of these things I can do for myself now without anyone's help. Now I just work on extending the time in which I can reliably keep that up

 

[Tanya49!]

Hurricanes in Florida 2004/5!