[Wolvee]

A couple years ago my wife and I were blessed with a health baby girl. The only problem was due to the hospital not monitoring her properly, they overlooked an obvious diagnosis of Peripartum cardiomyopathy . (I suggest anyone having their first child look it up and know the signs.) They released her from the hospital even though she still had 80lbs of "water" swollen in her body and her heart couldn't handle it. This hospital which was one of the one of the nicest in the state just dropped the ball. The day after leaving the hospital, she had a heart attack and if it wasn't for my CPR and living a half mile from that same hospital, I'd be raising our daughter alone.

This seems like the worst but being prepared with CPR didn't make me think about being a prepper. 3 days later as she was recovering very well and pretty fast, they were pumping out the water very fast. During one of her daily blood transfusions the young Nurse broke and dropped the bag of blood and was completely frazzled. The bag didn't burst but she said it was going to take a few hours to get another bag of blood. I pulled out my wallet and took out my credit card wrapped in Duct tape and taped the bag up so the nurse could hang it.

My wife said, "that's my husband he always carries that stuff on him." The nurse was flabbergasted and I guess I was a bit of a celebrity on the floor till my wife left on Christmas eve.

From that point on, I realized that I needed to always be prepared for anything that I could be. If I can imagine it, I'll practice and try to prepare for it.

 

[punch]

After hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans most everyone started taking evacuation orders more seriously. When hurricane Rita hit Texas, most of my family headed to Austin and safety. I primitive camped for 3 weeks. Well not exactly primitive... Two generators, freezers full of food and a vegetable garden. The worst part was night time. I would shut down the genny's so I could hear and save fuel. It was dead quiet but sometimes I could hear doors getting kicked in and every once and a while a gunshot. Pitch black I would keep a bonfire at night just to let would be looters know i was home. Sometimes they would yell or shine their flashlights my way. I thought I covered all my bases with my dog, a couple of pistols and a mini-14. Fortunately all went well. I have learn much since then but theres always room for improvement. There is a wealth on information and experience here to draw on. I have learned much more in a very short time.

punch

 

[SOCOM42]

for me it started slowly in the blizzard of 1978, we were trapped in the house under 15 feet of snow for a week.
With little food and only a decorative pot belly stove for some heat. no power and melted snow for water.
Had a single burner camp stove and a gallon of fuel for it, that saved us along bag of rice, lintels, and some pan bread.
had one old oil lamp and some candles for light. not much light gets through snow that deep.
First thing that went after that was the electric stove, replaced with propane. A months worth of food went on the shelves.
Then the next event hit us along with everybody else, the first oil embargo. That really started the ball rolling. Never looked back.
Almost every year we loose power or have several days of road blockage from snow, even a flood that closes the roads for a week is common.
We go through these incidents without a hiccup.
The prepping never ends, always something else, this week a gallon of lamp oil, bic lighter 5 pack and 3 bottles of chloraseptiic throat spray.

 

[AquaHull]

During the blizzard of '78 I had power to my newly transferred apartment. My parents left and moved NorthWest. I taped songs off the radio for a couple days, reloaded some 12 gauge, there was food in the fridge and pantry from when Mom & Pop left, so I didn't go hungry. From then on, I've been trying to figure out how to store enough booze for a SHTF

Being a man of 20, I wasn't worried about a thing except women and booze, now I see the error in my ways.
"
I think I've been a closet prepper since then, as I was hanging out with some PTSS guys who made sure I always had a 3 day "To Go Bag"with clothes and tools.

Which reminds me to thank the OP and other Vets for their service to the country today, when the banks honor them.

They said even if I only had to use it when I got lucky and had to spend the night in a strange place at least I've have clean clothes for work in the morning.

 

[Not Crazy Yet]

When I realized I was a prepper, wasn't as heroic as yours, it was more of a realization when watching the news and seeing how every country in the world, including ours, is collapsing socially and economically. I see after storms people are without food, water or electricity for weeks. So to me it's just common sense to be prepared for any disaster at all times, this way you can keep yourself, your relatives and your loved ones safe.

 

[Lucky Jim]

I first realised the hard way that I was a NON-prepper some years ago when i was sitting at my computer one evening after dark when it suddenly switched itself off and the light in the room went off. (The gentle homely whirring of your PC's internal fan dying away has a terrible finality about it)
At first i thought a fuse had blown, but then i realised the street lamp outside had gone off too.
I looked out of the window and there was no light anywhere, not a glimmer of any kind.
Power cut! (It lasted about an hour)

"Oh well" i thought, "i might as well make myself a cup of tea"..
But the kettle stayed cold because i'd forgotten it was an electric kettle, duh..
So i trudged into the other room to watch TV. Bad move, no electricity. And I didn't have a battery radio.
The electric-operated central heating pump had stopped, so there i was, plunged back into the stone age and was cold, lonely and dying for a cup of tea!

I ambled into the back garden to look around and see if i could spot a light somewhere, anywhere, but without success.
Luckily I had a torch/flashlight so all I could do was slump in my armchair under a pile of blankets and try to read the paper til the lights came back on.
Since then I've made sure I've got plenty of spare torch batteries, a battery radio and ample food in the kitchen that won't need cooking (pies, bread, fruit etc).
As I said, the power cut only lasted an hour but was traumatic enough; it would have been horrendous if it'd lasted days or (gulp) weeks..

 

[nadja]

Punch, why don't you buy a couple of Trojan T-105 6v batteries, a small inverter and battery charger, then at night you could listen to your radio and have a few lights ! No noise, and you could charge them during the day while your runnning the generator

 

[nadja]

Lucky Jim. You should at least have a coleman type propane camping type stove with some extra fuel canisters. Then you could always heat water for your tea. Also you could cook on it. I was wondering, do the English cook food ? LOL Nadja

 

[Lucky Jim]

Lucky Jim. You should at least have a coleman type propane camping type stove with some extra fuel canisters. Then you could always heat water for your tea. Also you could cook on it. I was wondering, do the English cook food ? LOL Nadja

Nah, too much trouble, just give us a can of cold Doggymeat mixed with nuts and bolts and we're laughing..
Shakesp's Henry V, Act III, Scene VII-

Rambures: "That island of England breeds very valiant
creatures; their mastiffs are of unmatchable courage."
Constable of France: "Just, just; and the men do sympathize with the
mastiffs in robustious and rough coming on, leaving
their wits with their wives: and then give them
great meals of beef and iron and steel, they will
eat like wolves and fight like devils."

English bull mastiff

 

[punch]

Punch, why don't you buy a couple of Trojan T-105 6v batteries, a small inverter and battery charger, then at night you could listen to your radio and have a few lights ! No noise, and you could charge them duri
ng the day while your runnning the generator

Thanks nadja! Since Katrina I've had to learn the hard way. Since then I went through Hurricanes Rita and more recently hurricane Ivan. I've since added 5 large solar panels and 2 medium. I don't have T-105's yet,(I'm actually desulfating 2 AGM batteries to bring them back from the brink)I'm always looking to improve/increase my PV systems and I will be adding a wind genny soon. The generators are convienient and sometimes noisy. So back then I sacrificed power for piece and quiet and a bonfire. The major downside I learned about then was not getting a genny but finding fuel to keep them ready to run. Its nice having a solar option available before dragging out my genny's. Thanks again nadja I'll be sure to read you on all subjects RE!

punch

 

[nadja]

Punch , those 12v batteries don't have much of a wallup. You can buy batteries almost the same as the Trojan's at wallyworld for a lot less. Just use the golf cart T-105 which is the size more then anything else when asking about them. Seems like I heard that they were about $75.00 ea there while my trojen's are about $125 .00 ea. The wind gennie is great, but is NOT dependable. After all, there can be days even months when wind is not available so , most wasted money. Use the money instead to buy batteries and even more solar panels. Go to the link I provided below and see what it takes to do a wind generator tower, and then determine if you really want to do one.

buildingatower

 

[303Lithgow]

I think I've always been a prepper but didn't realize it till a few years ago.

 

[Survival Foods LLC]

Since we live in NJ... as a family man, I understands the desire to provide and protect one’s family. We were born survival.

 

[Counterintelligence]

I have not personally been through a natural disaster. The fact that I want to be prepared is more from the disaster we are facing in our country. Although, hearing about all the displaced family's back east I think it is better to be prepared for anything than to wish you had been.

 

[303Lithgow]

Survival needs are a good investment dollar wise also.

 

[joec]

I started after Hurricane Andrew though we got through it the food choices where limited. I then started investing in long term storage foods, cooking methods not requiring electricity or gas as well as emergency medical supplies more than the standard first aid kits. Firearms I've always had though not a lot those I have serve specific purposes from self defense to hunting needs including small game to large game. I also load my own ammo for everything I shoot and have built up at least a couple years of ammo components.

 

[punch]

Punch , those 12v batteries don't have much of a wallup. You can buy batteries almost the same as the Trojan's at wallyworld for a lot less. Just use the golf cart T-105 which is the size more then anything else when asking about them. Seems like I heard that they were about $75.00 ea there while my trojen's are about $125 .00 ea. The wind gennie is great, but is NOT dependable. After all, there can be days even months when wind is not available so , most wasted money. Use the money instead to buy batteries and even more solar panels. Go to the link I provided below and see what it takes to do a wind generator tower, and then determine if you really want to do one.

Well sir you had me googling Wallyworld. If you got a part number or link on these batteries for $75.00 please post it. I see what you mean on the tower issue. Thanks again!

punch

 

[fedorthedog]

In October of 1989 I was working in Oakland when the quake hit. Was very busy for several weeks. Once I got home and settled out I realized that I had a tent trailer in the yard that I had emptied when we got home from vacation. I would have provided shelter to my family if things had been worse. After that it stayed stocked with food water and blankets and well as fuel and I went forward from there.

 

[shotlady]

when i thought calling me an ammo hoarder was too harsh lol

 

[preppermama]

Becoming a mom is what turned me on to the prepper movement. I prep because I don't want my kids/husband to go without in the event of a job loss or if infrastructure breaks down.