How have your preps evolved?

[Johnnie_T]

Hello everyone,

When I was relatively new to prepping, I was very naive. I had grown up living an active outdoor life and assumed that by stockpiling guns, ammo, and MRE's I could pretty much make it through anything, anywhere. Oh how foolish it seems looking back.
Over time, my preps, and honestly the idea of what I might be prepping for, matured very much. I've started thinking about financial preps, lifestyle changes, and other things that mean a lot more than just having a pile of gear. As a result, my preps have improved my daily life quite a bit. Some have even become hobbies and family activities (i.e. shooting, gardening, etc.)
Has anyone else noticed a change like this? Have your preps matured and evolved with time?

[Halfapint]

Great post!

I agree I started out prepping in the same, get my gear head to the woods and SURVIVE! I en realized that gear I had was good, but I didn’t have a fishing kit, I didn’t know snares, I didn’t know how to ID good plants from bad. I then thought how dumb it was to think I could survive out there when hordes of people would probably be following me.

That’s when I matured, I started stockpiling cheap canned veggies and meats. I bought bulk rice and beans, learned how to cook them in a verity of ways. When I started earning more (thanks union job) and had more of a disposable income, I started buying some guns, then learning to reload.

I’m not at a point where I’m inheriting 5 acres, I’m clearing the land, I’m getting the garden back in order, I’m planning where the chickens are going. I’m buying the stuff for a back up battery to power the well pump, and looking at building a couple wind turbines and installing solar.

Over the years I went from young and dumb to older and more practical. I’ll never be the prepper who dumps every penny into beans, bullets, and bandaids. However having a few months worth of water, food, and a a bunch of Ammo I hope will only see paper targets. Along the way I found a useful trade, I’ve made friends and the GF is happy to help and support me (us) in this endeavor!

[taipan821]

I started prepping with this view of going alone in an 'almost' anarchic environment. Recent events including deployments to areas affected by cyclones have made me rethink this, My preps have shrunk in volume, focusing more on short term relief (three weeks) rather than doomsday scenarios. In addition, I'm starting to learn more skills, rather than relying on equipment alone.

[Stercutus]

Over 25 years things to tend to change a bit. I have more resources than I need for preps and have achieved what I think I need to achieve to take care of those that I need to take care of for as long as I think is reasonable. So I guess I am pretty much finished.

With that kind of security it is easy to plan for and do other things.

I have gotten rid of preps that eat, even when I eat whatever it is. We travel often these days and I don't like being tied down. A dog is still useful for keeping an eye on the place but chickens and goats are too much trouble. I can replace a meat goat for short term simply by throwing 25 pounds of meat in the freezer. After buying feed and I never saved money with eggs and there is a chicken place literally half mile from house where I can get baskets full of eggs cheap (or new chickens). So we just stock lots of food and water. Now that I do most of the cooking and shopping it is easier to manage too.

Everyone here is healthy. I piss and moan about getting old but most of the people that I deal with think I am 10-15 years younger which I get a kick out of. Everyone has healthy habits for the most part but I do carry some extra stores of carbohydrates on board. Who knows maybe it will useful in a survival situation? But last night I ran down a guy 20 years younger than me, with a much lower BMI and I rolled him up.

We are financially stable. I guess when the kids get out of college we will feel rich even though we won't be.

Security preps are well beyond whatever I thought I ever needed. I even own a shotgun and a box of shells (#2 shot the stuff is awesome)

Gear we have. I still buy gear if something peaks my interest but we have everything we need or think we might need.

I am fully trained. I went the military/ cop route and after nearly 30 years of the stuff there isn't a whole lot new under the sun. I don't even need to do it anymore but it is nice to have an ear to the ground and continue to serve the community. Most of the stuff I don't know, I probably don't want to know. The wife will finish up her NP next summer and that is far is she will go but I figure that puts us ahead of 99.9% of peers in the prep circle for medical training and she is already a damn good nurse. Our kids will be engineers soon and they are wicked smart and mature for their ages. Everyone here can shoot, hunt, fish, fix most things on a car or truck, dress wounds, read a map and navigate on land, grow a garden, build and seek shelter, start a fire, find and purify water.

I think I want to learn how to sail a sailboat. There is time. Got to get a boat first, maybe.

[Johnnie_T]

Thanks for the great responses!
When it comes to health, my next prep is gonna be the toughest. I gotta quit smoking. I've tried before and it's a super bitch.
I'm glad that other folks have adjusted their preps over time. It seems like a lot of folks start out with a short term plan that looks like a walking dead episode. It's great that the info and research is available to help our choices grow to include more than just beans and bullets.

[roOism]

When I first got into the prepper mindset, I was single & fantasized about the lone wolf mad max apocalypse lifestyle. I bought cool gear I didn't need, most of which I've since sold off or traded, and had a laughable food storage setup. Since then I've gotten married, had a kid with another on the way, and the whole bugout thing really isn't a viable option.

Current day, we're in a small apartment, and are mainly focused on burning debt down as fast as we can. We've got a few months worth of food storage and maybe a month's worth of water stored up, a basic setup of flashlights/FAK/emergency supplies, and add to it a tiny bit at a time as we can. Bugging in is definitely our first option, but if we do need to get out of dodge quickly the plan is to swing down and pick up my brother who lives an hour south of me, then head west to my parent's and hole up there.

Long term the plan is to purchase a small house with a few acres in a more rural location, then start working on building up a bigger food/water storage, and look into producing some food at home (goats/chickens/garden, etc...).

[JeeperCreeper]

Less mall ninja.

More practical (preps that are useful for prepping but also everyday uses i.e. dual function).

[JeeperCreeper]

Thanks for the great responses!
When it comes to health, my next prep is gonna be the toughest. I gotta quit smoking. I've tried before and it's a super bitch.
I'm glad that other folks have adjusted their preps over time. It seems like a lot of folks start out with a short term plan that looks like a walking dead episode. It's great that the info and research is available to help our choices grow to include more than just beans and bullets.

I smoked in the service and undergrad. Maybe 2 or 3 packs a week (heavily on weekends when beer was around).

The easiest way for me to quit was to buy a carton of your least favorite cigs. Let them go stale. So open them up and set them on a shelf. Try to cut back on your regular smoking. Then, when the crappy cigs are aged to grossness, switch to those.

You'll still get your nicotine, still get he sensation of smoking, but it won't taste as good. It will not be as satisfying. Keep cutting back. Eventually, you'll get down to 2 or 3 cigs a day. Morning. Post work. Post dinner. Those are the hardest. But don't give up. Have someone help. My GF kept on me about them and was positive when I was doing well. That helped.

[Ever]

How have my preps changed? An interesting self examination.

Earlier decades mine was car/short-hikes/grand canyon -3 days Appalachian Trail camping preps.

Later, a growing influence of 'A Year's Supply' food.

the 2000s became big weather lengths of self sufficiency while waiting for normal to be restored.

Then came Katrina. I didn't live it but watching the plight of those who did play out on the news all day every day for weeks shifted my personal What If's.

One Halloween some years back my friends and i were ending the celebrations by watching The History Channel's Halloween specials.

At the end of one... maybe on zombies?.... there was a short about The Zombie Hunters Organization. And that regarding their use of zombie, it was a metaphor for disaster preparedness.

This was so my cup of tea that I found this board in under five minutes.

Found both The Poor Man's Prepping thread & Mom's Journal Of The Zombie Years, both of which began my education in situational thinking preparedness!

(my id was zombiepreparation back then. offline several years lost email info and passwords... therefore new id, new email)

With our newest zombie.. coronavirus... on the near horizon for my part of the planet I'm back online and here.

Slowly refreshing my preps, leaning toward pandemic focus in an urban somewhat large multi unit single resident living.

If the building gets infected residents it will be a somewhat similar size & attitude to being quarantined to quarters on one of the cruise ships. With two small rooms instead of one, plus a tiny kitchen, and no vehicle.

[BullOnParade]

Nope. Not in the slightest. It's all about guns and bullets and maybe a trench coat with magnets sewn into the back to hold a katana ...

In my late teens, I started prepping in concept. I wasted a lot of time and money focusing on gear which I'll never have use for. Food store management fails wasted much effort. I always had an answer for everything, those answers were not always right.

At 30, married, with a child on the way ... I'm making a lot of changes. Long term, low maintenance food preps are my focus. Aiming for one year for two adults. My firearms are more consolidated, my wife and I having matching kit I'd like for us to take a course with.

[Johnnie_T]

Wow! Somebody brought this back from the dead! And I came back from the dead (or three years on night shift) to see it. I've missed you guys!

To be honest, I think that given the covid-19/ coronavirus and the resulting hysteria, we've likely all had to re-evaluate and fill some gaps. It's surprising to see how the media, and particularly social media impact people's state of mind and behaviors.

[drop bear]

It is a pretty apt ttime though as I think the rules have changed.

I didn't think things like sanitizer or face masks would suddenly become the things to get.

The government is doing the things people have been wetting themselves over and I haven't heard much of people walking off in to the wilderness with a backpack. Suddenly it is more like quietly managing these new conditions rather than resisting them.

Which is what it is I suppose. I don't mind I think it is probably mostly the right way to go.

And it also looks like those guys who prepared by buying a big tv an Netflix might have even been on the money.

[drop bear]

Wow! Somebody brought this back from the dead! And I came back from the dead (or three years on night shift) to see it. I've missed you guys!

To be honest, I think that given the covid-19/ coronavirus and the resulting hysteria, we've likely all had to re-evaluate and fill some gaps. It's surprising to see how the media, and particularly social media impact people's state of mind and behaviors.

The hoarders vs preppers debate has been pretty public recently.

[taipan821]

when I started prepping my plan was one person, three weeks and that would be bare bones, using a hiking stove to boil water or heat ready to eat meals.

My current prep plan is 2 people, 2 weeks and I want to be comfortable, with a secondary use for entertainment. So my prep budget is going towards a coleman fuel stove, small gas fridge and a portable power system as well as overhauling my storage system to be more modular.

[woodsghost]

My prepping has got more streamlined. I'm less random and more focused and organized.

Having a wife and now 2 kids and a job with livable pay has simply changed my "get a house someday" to "get a house soon!" I'm thinking about and talking to my wife about making a bigger change and going from our apartment to a tiny house and ploughing the savings into a house/land fund.

I think I've moved towards spending less and having less gear. I'm trying to build out more skills. I'm a bit overwhelmed with how much I have and I've been downsizing.

My prep scenarios haven't changed a bit. Zombies and "Red Dawn" style invasions. So far that has left me perfectly prepared for the virus. I've got way more urban in my planning, and that boils down to "shelter in place, use minimal utilities and entertainment, build relationships." (but ALWAYS be ready to bug out. Fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, stuff happens which is hard to shelter through)

I've moved towards becoming more attractive to groups as well as having personal skills for survival. I first learned guns. Then I learned medical, to some level. Then I realized the rarest skill seems to be comms, so I started learning comms.

My guns have gone from "collect cool stuff" to "everything has to serve a purpose." I'm working to consolidate calibers and all my guns have to be "working guns." No safe queens. Also, I'm getting a little more politically correct, but I still have another option. I always want to have a politically incorrect option in life. Also, I'm reducing the number of guns I have and increasing the ammo supply and building my fundimentals. Those can get rusty.

I need to go camping more. It is tough with kids under a year old, but not impossible, and friends have helped us with that. Mostly, they have been models.

I have got more rounded. What tends to happen is "I need to work on food!" and we hyper focus on one thing. So you have a year of food but 3 days of meds? After 3 days you are someone else's cache point. So I've tried to be less of a gun collector and become more well rounded in all the different needs and adding skills.

Physical fitness has become more of a thing.

I have also become less of an optimizer/perfectionist and become more of a "good enough, problem solved/staying solved" guy. I don't need the perfect knife, just one which works.

[quazi]

Since I got on ZS the summer after I graduated from high school in some ways that both encouraged me to work on my preparedness and also kept me from going down the path of having three years of Mountain House buried on public lands out in the mountains that I would retreat to with an INCH bag (something that I might have thought was a good idea if I had spent most of time on some of the other survivalist websites).

I do sometimes worry though about all the cringy things I have probably written on here over the years since I started posting when I was eighteen.

I'm having a hard time coming up with a description of how my preps have evolved that isn't a life story, as I have been doing it for my whole adult life. Short version is that fairly early on I came to the conclusion that basic preparedness for normal disasters was most important, and that the longer term stuff could be a fun hobby that might be useful but at least wouldn't be bad if pursued smartly. My preps have changed over time mostly based on money at first and then physical health. Now I've started to get the physical health thing under control but the money part is shaping up to be a problem again.

[Johnnie_T]

Quazi, I wouldn't worry about anything you've posted. Putting cringy, nonsensical shit on the web is a rite of passage for all of us

I agree that the rules regarding prepping have changed in some ways, and I think many of us are feeling pressure to adapt quickly.

Imagine having a job loss during the holidays, going through most of your preps, and not getting a new job until mid-February when things had already started going tits-up. Look for a separate thread on that later tonight, it was a wild experience.

[quazi]

Quazi, I wouldn't worry about anything you've posted. Putting cringy, nonsensical shit on the web is a rite of passage for all of us

Yeah, I figure it's true for most people under forty.

[Johnnie_T]

I originally started this thread wondering how people's preps had evolved as they matured or their mindset changed, but the current world situation has me thinking of a different question.

Has the COVID-19 outbreak and the world's response changed the way you prep, or what you're prepping for, or the length of an event you're expecting?

I've been thinking about this a lot. Not in a "prepper" sense, but more of a "holy shit I've got to keep my family safe while everyone else panics" sense.

[woodsghost]

For me: no.

But in 12 months I might have a different answer?

[taipan821]

Has the COVID-19 outbreak and the world's response changed the way you prep, or what you're prepping for, or the length of an event you're expecting?

Sort of...It has opened my eyes as to just how desperate people will get. so I need to improve my preps in preparation for cyclone season.

[tony d tiger]

Less emphasis on MRE & survival rations; more emphasis on Costco packs of Charmin.
Less emphasis on ammunition; more emphasis on dog food.
Less emphasis on pressure bandages & tourniquets; more emphasis on a 90 day supply of Rx meds.

Other than that, all the other stuff is still in place. Travel trailer provides an alternative shelter, stabilized gas for the generators if power goes out, cash reserve in case plastic is unusable (although it seems this went the other way with COVID), and a ready supply of canned and shelf-stable foods that we'll eat (versus the old Army standby).

Dogs will eat anything when they get hungry enough, but we like to keep the furries happy and healthy - diet changes should be planned and gradual. We've stayed ahead of the curve, but starting to cut into reserves on the "wet" because of a shortage of canned food.

Our military pharmacy sustained a big hit with COVID that severely limited services to the community - 8 hour lines were the norm and if you weren't there by 0700 they were turning people away. So increased cost for off-base Rx fills and the ass pain of changing the prescription to a different location or 0330 morning and brush your teeth in the car (some Rx cannot go in the mail).

[M813]

Less emphasis on MRE & survival rations; more emphasis on growing/catching food and partnering with small, local farms and shortening the "food chain."
Less emphasis on ammunition; more emphasis on avoiding conflict by having a good bugout plan.
More emphasis on gathering basic medical supplies. More emphasis on improving our health to better withstand a loss of prescription RX.
More emphasis on an ability to store water than we had previously.
Elimination of pet animals.

By "elimination" I don't mean that we're euthanizing them. I mean that as they pass away naturally, we don't replace them. We're down to one ancient cat and one gecko. We're trying to pawn the gecko off on my wife's niece.

I opted for solar panels and a Powerwall for energy independence. Ripping the battery out of my house is a lot more difficult than stealing a generator. The Powerwall doesn't require fuel, only sunshine. (Yes, I recognize the limitations of this system.)

I'm still examining exactly how to fortify my house in case I can't leave. This is a toughie.

[MPMalloy]

Less emphasis on MRE & survival rations; more emphasis on growing/catching food and partnering with small, local farms and shortening the "food chain."
Less emphasis on ammunition; more emphasis on avoiding conflict by having a good bugout plan.
More emphasis on gathering basic medical supplies. More emphasis on improving our health to better withstand a loss of prescription RX.
More emphasis on an ability to store water than we had previously.
Elimination of pet animals.

By "elimination" I don't mean that we're euthanizing them. I mean that as they pass away naturally, we don't replace them. We're down to one ancient cat and one gecko. We're trying to pawn the gecko off on my wife's niece.

I opted for solar panels and a Powerwall for energy independence. Ripping the battery out of my house is a lot more difficult than stealing a generator. The Powerwall doesn't require fuel, only sunshine. (Yes, I recognize the limitations of this system.)

I'm still examining exactly how to fortify my house in case I can't leave. This is a toughie.

What kind of Gecko? Pics?