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.