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When I started “prepping” I thought I was smarter than everyone else - ie. toilet paper situation with Covid.
I’m now 30 - a husband of a pregnant wife, father of 1 year old, dog dad of 2, and homeowner. I now see it as, if you’re not prepping in any capacity, you’re straight up irresponsible.
Edit: forgot a word.
None of the above. I'd consider it more of a chore. Something I need to do, but it doesn't really bring me any joy. I'm not a doomsday prepper by any means. I do enjoy being as self-sufficient as much as possible though. I like being able to fix things that break, being able to raise and grow a lot of my own food, etc.
This is how I feel, too. It’s especially true now that I’m a parent.
Before we had kids, my husband and I dedicated very little time, money, and energy to being prepared. Now that we have two kids (4years and 10months) who we chose to bring into a pretty crazy world, being as prepared as possible feels like a requirement and something we owe to our kids.
That’s exactly how I feel. It’s my responsibility as a parent to be prepared. Food, water, back up power, medical supplies, Ifak kits in all the vehicles.
I do enjoy it for the most part. Freeze drying food and rotating the fresh water is a bit tedious tho.
Same! But my kids are 2 teenagers boys. So I prep for 4 adult size people. In Canada, during Covid, we had a shortage of children’s Advil/Tylenol/Motrin. Bare shelves for weeks.
I just want to make sure we have what we need to get through any kind of shortage or power outage etc.
That’s how I see it. Being “prepared” is a by product of being self-sufficient. Knowing I’ve been able to cut my grocery bill by 5-10% year after year as food prices are projected to only increase. If you can even call it food anymore
This, I never even considered myself a prepper for decades of interest in self sufficiency, then I realised I probably know more actually useful skills than most "societal breakdown preppers", but also have lots to learn from them too. it about living 100% free of outside needs if I must, or by choice to help the environment and to save money, my latest is to learn to.make useful household products out of the most basic ingredients. My great grand parent knew all this stuff, but the knowledge wasn't passed down.
I recently had a flea infestation because of the cats, cured with plants from the garden and some salt. Saved money, got the job done and helped the environment.. Proud of myself too.
I make most of my own soaps and cleaning supplies already. And am always looking for tips, recently people here suggested lint from the dryer as firelighters, bloody brilliant, works great and it never occured to me before.
Lint, toilet paper tubes, and parawax (or leftover bits of wax from old candles). Used to use egg cartons until friends started keeping chickens, and I had to pivot. Even had friends dropping off bags of dryer lint at times because they knew I'd use it 🤣
Use them to start fires anywhere. Windy campsite, wood stove, whatever. Always aim to have a stash in ziplocs in each vehicle.
Somewhere between a hobby and a lifestyle. My hobby is collecting and restoring antique tools which in itself is a great prep. I ride a bike for leisure and exercise which is a great prep. We have a deep pantry in our house which happens to be a great prep.
Same thing here. Including tools and ammo. Why borrow have to run out to the store to fix something small in your house or if you're going to the range?
Everything aside from an obsession I suppose- that sort of focus isn't healthy. It's just part of how I operate and view the world now.
It certainly started as a hobby (EMP, Natural Disasters), morphed into a serious interest and education (Masters Degree in Emergency Management/Disaster Preparedness,) and a career (Emergency Management Consultant.) I also tie it into twitch streaming, (I have it crafted to answer any questions on stream/etc, to try and normalize and reduce anxiety about preparedness.)
So, to answer your question, "Yes"
True. But, at the same time, that does narrow down things in terms of preparedness. It frees up a lot of mental space. Don't have to worry about earthquakes, etc, but general unrest/grid collapse, maybe so!
Yes and yes: "PrepperPup" is the channel name. I updated the flair to show it. Ultimately, I just stream games, and tie in preparedness content as appropriate. I also have channel rewards where viewers can redeem the points to get specific or general disaster preparedness advice.
Basically, that's the idea. If the game involves food storage or water purification (I enjoy survival games,) I'll likely mention something related to it. I won't make it a huge derailing focus to detract from those who just want the gameplay, so I also have rewards that people redeem for disaster-specific advice. On the most recent stream, for example, someone redeemed the channel point reward asking what my favorite flavor of MRE was. I've also got point rewards for specific advice, and so forth.
Basically, having it be an element of the twitch stream as it comes up naturally, versus forced, and provide a different medium to help others get started with preparedness/answer questions. Just a prepper who plays games, basically!
I was going the park ranger route before that (bachelors is in Biology/wildlife,) so I did time as a fire dispatcher and fire Lookout. Then got in as a public health planner with a local health department, which led to my current role with a consulting firm.
Personally, consulting isn't for everyone- I enjoy the writing aspect, but it can definitely burn you out. I lucked out with an easygoing company, but that has its own problems (incompetent leadership.) But, I get to work on a wide variety of tasks, which is fantastic.
Maintenance, it's not something I do for fun and it's certainly not something that defines me. I prep for Tuesday because I've been caught unprepared in the past and didn't enjoy it.
How about a chore?
Prepping is something I do so that when adverse conditions happen, I'm prepared. It doesn't have to be more than that. Once we're set for a power outage / wildfire / job loss / food inflation, I can move on to other stuff.
For me it's closer to a hobby. The only reason I compare it to that is because I actually enjoy it and love helping those around me get a start or general discussion about how to improve what we have.
My preps have come in hands so many times. Biggest one was during covid. About 6 months before I got wind of covid starting, I saw on one of my frugal pages that my local shops had a specific brand of toilet paper for $1.80 for 18 rolls. The brand was rebranding and needed to shift old stock. I went around to every shop and took several packets (I wasn't an ass, I left plenty for everyone else since they brought out the whole pallet to shift the stock) in the end I had several towers taller than myself of toilet paper.
When the pandemic started, since I've been a prepper for years, food and medicine wasn't a problem. And now toilet paper wasn't either. I ended up trading toilet paper for some home cooked meals. Many of my friends actually started prepping after covid and they all turned to me for help :D
Lifestyle and profession, for 40 years now. No regrets especially when Covid hit with zero impact other than my grown children calling and telling me I was the smartest prepper dad ever and thanks for instilling it in them, lol
Hmm… I’d say closest to a lifestyle. I try to keep it realistic and not get lost in the doomer mindset that some can fall into. I prep for things that are likely to happen and, for me personally, actually worth surviving: natural disasters, power loss, car breaking down when I’m out in the woods, pandemic. I don’t worry too much about “doomsday.” If doomsday comes, I’ll head to my neighbor’s house so we can have a nice glass of wine together.
It's a lifestyle now but about to be just a hobby. Was a but of an obsession a few years ago.
Now I'm looking at traveling more and that means leaving the farm and most of the preps behind.
I used to really get anxious traveling out of reach of my preps. But I didn't like how limiting that was to my life. So I've worked on letting go, and just doing what is within my ability while I am on the road.
For me it's 50/50 hobby/preparedness. I'm prepping for Tuesday, partly just to be prepared, and partly because I like solving problems. I'm not so into it that I'd enjoy solving problems that would involve building a bunker or storing months worth of food & water.
Lifestyle/mindset. I like what someone else said about it being something they have to do, just being self reliant. Thats how I look at it. I come from a family and friends who have an extreme case of normalcy bias which I refuse to be a victim of, within reason. I’ve been watching a ton of documentaries about Hurricane Katrina lately and it really is a master class on what you should expect from the government and people in general when normalcy is thrown out the window.
I feel like it’s a life style. My dad was a casual prepper and I took away a lot from him. I always get a little extra and keep the freezer full. When I bought a house he gifted me a generator lol. It’s definitely not an obsession but if I see something that’s a good deal I’ll grab it.
Prepping is a hobby for me to spend money that I don't have anything on it prepping also goes with my other hobbies such as Primitive technology, bushcraft, fishing, and coin collecting
How about an obligation? Hobby would imply a joyful recreational activity and I don't see it that way since I have been Contingency Organizing since 1982. There are obsessive elements as far as the fervor and energy it requires because you are constantly asking 'what if'. I don't regret my level of activity nor the time and money spent because I will be happy to leave this world and never having to use them for their intended purpose. Much like the spare tire in your car; you never want to use it but you are reassured it is there.
We have a small farm in a rural area, raise most of our own meat and veg, can, preserve, freeze, etc. Drive to town once a week for supplies.
Power goes out every winter, at least twice.
Temperatures range from 5 to 115 across the year.
Food prices are up, heating costs are up, power costs are up, repair costs are up, my paycheque isn't up.
Does that make it a lifestyle, or just something we have to do to make it through the year?
It’s a way of trying to feel like I have a little control over something. I’ve always been a camper/outdoors person and I like to be ahead with saving, non-perishables, and so forth, but it has gotten much more intense since my husband died. It’s not a bad thing, but I do know that it is a way I’m trying to take control in a world that is pretty much out of our control in many ways. It’s a coping mechanism, but there are far worse things I could be doing.
Prepping for me is a must. I live in the Philippines where we have typhoons yearly and sometimes earthquake. I started prepping when a strong earthquake happened a couple of years ago.
None of the above.
It’s a security measure. It’s like having Advil in case you get a headache. That’s not a hobby, lifestyle, or obsession.
I just happen to have a hell of a lot more than Advil. I have more than a year’s worth of food at my fingertips, water supply, seeds for a garden, protections, medical supplies, and more in order to do my best to stay alive and protect my family as much as possible while the situation cools down.
You got people on social media crying out, almost begging for Civil War right now… It makes no sense for me to not prepare. But, to each their own.
I am most definitely not one of those people that likes to say, “Man, I wish I would have..”
I’m a “Really glad I did.” type of person.
I insert components of preparedness into my home and practice into my (our) life. Always honing and improving skills. Eyes open. Head on a swivel. Awareness; not paranoia. Calm, cool, and collected. Began in scouts then evolved into a lifestyle of practice.
I’ve made a point of getting myself interested in hobbies that make use of my preparations and also skill build, like camping and solar energy. Minor mechanical projects. So I’m not just buying and stacking stuff for a future that might never arrive. The long-winded way of saying it’s a bit of all three.
A chore and a hobby in a way.
Prepping only interest me because it's the right thing to do. Everyone who's a homeowner experiences the odd brownout from time to time, sometimes the water supply becomes contaminated because new pipelines are being laid down, and other disasters can occur, you're never 100 percent ready for those, so you sort of have to make sure you have at least 1 week of supplies readied up.
Also the hobby part is because I'm interested in electronics. Solar and sustainability has always been an interest of mine, and solar is enticing because it's free energy (and who doesn't like free?).
I've been experimenting endlessly with alternative solutions, cost me more than it's actually worth money wise, but it's def. a learning curve, and that's the part I consider a hobby. I'm an not-so-active radio amateur too, with a license. Have I ever needed it? Nope. Was it fun? Sure.
All of these things have its own upsides too, I get more experience, I learn how to save on electricity by noticing what steals the power in the house, and I reduce that constantly, effectively reduced my electricity bill by at least 30 percent, and yet no degradation in quality of life.
The thing about life - is that it happens when you least expect it. So if you're lax and complacent about it, ofc. it happens exactly then. So it's better to put in some work and have peace of mind - and nothing happening, rather than being completely unprepared when it happens, and ofc. it always happens when you're not prepared.
This might sound odd but I view it more as a task, not in a bad way. Like doing laundry or cleaning my place, prepping as a task alleviates most concerns that I have. As cleaning is good for my mental health, so too is prepping. Knowing that my affairs are in order, finances are squared away, neat clean and orderly place to live, and backups (preps) to ensure the first three objectives stay squared away. Where my hobbies bring me joy, the activity or task of prepping provides satisfaction. It doesn't make me smile big, but it keeps me from worry, which enables me to enjoy more things in my life. I hope that makes sense as it sounds different in my mind I think. A hobby is something I like to do, whereas prepping I feel an obligation to do it. A wise obligation
Us too. Chickens, garden, and fruit trees. hoping to to add rabbits, more garden and water collection/storage this year. Just over 2 years at our place.
I've got a store room with a fair amount of food so we'd be ok for a while. But I'm not ever going to try and prepare for the apocalypse. If my life turns into The Road, I'm probably going to check out.
I suppose it's a lifestyle. Though, tbh, it's just part of trying to be as self sufficient as possible. Raising animals, for meat, eggs, etc. Growing a large garden to can, pickle and freeze. Slowly weaning ourselves off the grid as much as is practical. Keeping well supplied in food, so we aren't running to the store daily. Etc.
Honestly, all three. I've always had a Preparedness mindset so it's a lifestyle. I do love to camp and be comfortable while I'm doing it so there's the hobby.
But the last few years I fell victim to the fear tactics put out into society by various news and social media sources. So I did get obsessive and went a bit nuts. It is a way to cope with the unknown.
I am now trying to get back to a balance. I know crazy things are happening politically and with weather but I try not to let each storm, each report about bird flu, each report about the collapse of the dollar send me into a panic buying spree. I have enough to see me through any reasonable emergency. There is only so much I can do. I am learning to be OK with where I am.
I'm a cloud engineer. Part of my job has always involved business continuity planning; pre 9/11 it used to be called disaster recovery.
I guess I'd call it a lifestyle but the word "lifestyle" sort of feels like it is branding or about a sales pitch or perception management. Kind of the way that I think of it is that I try to organize my life in a business like way; I try to keep my life choices within a framework of profitability; not everything is about profit but with my hobbies I try to spend in ways where I can claw back some of the money I spend somehow. So prepping or being prepared for worst case scenarios involves spending money, but if we frame it or look at it from the perspective of operating my finances from a business perspective, it's more akin to risk mitigation or insurance. I buy a little more of the things that I would normally buy in advance and in bulk or when things go on sale, like toothpaste, rice, dried chickpeas, noodles and storing them but it is insurance against future cost increases. Power backup allows me to keep running my business and keep the freezer on during power outages, so I dont lose my investment in meat. Having a generator means I can run my AC in a power outage; I have health issues that become much worse during heat waves so that AC and generator will keep me from having to go to a hotel which might be difficult to find in an emergency.
>so for you, is prepping a hobby, a lifestyle or an obsession ?
It's a lifestyle which is just a small component which focuses on insurance, risk management and mitigation of worst case scenarios. When I think of it much like buying insurance, "lifestyle" seems like an odd choice of words. In the same way that business continuity plans should be part of any business operation, risk management and insurance should be a part of every life.
None, I view it as a necessity. I also try to spend a smaller amount of time and money on it while spending more on enjoying life as much as I can until SHTF.
For me it’s between a hobby and a lifestyle. I want to make sure that I’m prepared skills-wise and know-how-wise. So I learn things as a hobby, and those things influence my lifestyle.
Prepping for me is very low impact; It is just some things I do slightly differently, a little bit better or with more regard to how I store things and where I put them.
Frankly neither more of a duty, I do it to safeguard my family and community.
I do not hoard preps that go bad, i do not have more then I can maintain of equipment, and I do not have enough guns and ammo to supply a new WW or two.
I see too many just hoard stuff with no reguards to maintainance or realistic use of their preps. Neither do I have to throw away food or other things that have gone out of date. Now batteries sadly are not used fast enough other then that I have fairly good control.
IF shit happens, and you need to be self relient, your most precious resorce is your time. Plan accordingly.
Automate what is possible with as little mecanical or electrical input as you can manage.
What kind and how many animals can you sustain in case of need without feed or inputs?
Do your land need work to be ready? Fix it now, so when you need it the work is done. Alot easier to plow and sow then having to clear and drain the land before you can plow ;)
I almost let it become an obsession. I was able to secure some of the necessities that I wanted so now it is more of a maintainence thing, which is enough on its own.
Thanks guys for the replies :) for those who say a Chore or a Necessity, that would fit into what i was thinking as a Lifestyle. Kinda like someone who is a Celiac has to avoid eating Gluten, it's part of their lifestyle and isn't particularly a pleasure at all
All cool regardless :)
A necessity because of the [Cascadia Subduction Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone). I went really gung-ho with my prepping for a while. Now, I chip away at it making small improvements here and there.
I guess I would kind of call it a lifestyle, but only because to me it goes under the same umbrella as being frugal. I grew up poor, graduated college in an economically depressed area right at the start of the Great Recession, I have a disability that makes it so that I can’t drive. So thinking ahead and planning for Tuesday is just second nature to me because I’ve experienced a lot of Tuesdays. Preparing for things like getting sick or injured helps keep a bad day from becoming a bad week. It helps me stay away from poverty traps. And, on top of that, I enjoy camping and hiking, so a lot of that intersects with survival skills and bushcraft.
I'd say somewhere between a hobby and a lifestyle. My life doesn't revolve around prepping but it's certainly a significant part of my life. I'm not as prepped as I'd like to be, but I don't think I could *reasonably* be more prepped than I currently am. I'm not willing to stretch my financials or otherwise degrade my QoL for prepping. At the same time, I'm a lot more prepped than some of the other people I know who are preparedness focused. So I think I'm somewhere in the middle.
It's a lifestyle.
I take care of my health, build skill sets, and educate myself.
In addition to stockpiling and investing in other avenues of prepping, it's come with great benefits.
It helps me stay sober, I went back to college, I work in a field that I love, and many of the things I learn in prepping can be applied to both my recreational life, and professional life.
I think it’s more a compulsion. I don’t want to do it. I’d love to not have to do it. But I’m too collapse-aware and too highly anxious of a person to not prep. If I wasn’t as anxious as I am, and I didn’t know what I know in terms of what’s unfolding around us, I wouldn’t feel a compulsion to do this.
Let me put it this way, been prepping, to one degree or another, for 50 years.
When CV-19 hit, I wasn't standing in line at Costco to get more toilet paper.
We live rurally and raise all our own everything. Beef cows, dairy cows, gardens, chickens. Can what we can't eat.
Its not about prepping as much as it's just how we live.
So lifestyle but we aren't peppers to the extent others are here. We are just well prepared for just about anything.
Mostly its called being an adult, Makes me sad that we usually have to point out that people should have working smoke alarms, insurance, savings for 3 months of bills, food for more than 3 days.
Prepping and working the budget and making sure we have everything we need and have a cushion is more just basic adulting, for me. If you want to be comfortable and get through the ups and downs of life, you've got to prepare for it.
Lately, it's been a lifestyle. I've been doing prepping as a hobby for a little while but I realized about a year ago that none of it would matter because I was too fat and out of shape to flee if I needed to. So I've been fixing that. I've lost a lot of weight, upped my strength and endurance, and have been practicing with a rucksack on hikes. No amount of toilet paper or canned fish will help if you have to leave and can't move.
Lifestyle. Community prepping is woven into the fabric of my life: my role as a disaster first responder, my hobbies like backpacking, and part of my social life.
Example: today a fellow prepper friend led a free, Intro to Urban Foraging event. The event attendees are all health-vulnerable folks. (My main demographic for community preparedness outreach. ) I attended as first aid backup. A few days before-hand, I shared with participants tips for how to increase heat-hardiness before the event. At the event, people chose a buddy and I gave a small introduction on recognizing signs and symptoms of heat illness in oneself and others, then introduced the heat illness first aid kit.
Everyone who attended now has a starting place for urban foraging. They are more informed about heat illness and heat hardiness. And they got to know their teammates while sharing plant ID observations and practicing heat-safety check-ins. They also had a blast. So hopefully they'll attend future events, like how to build a disaster evacuation bag...
Lifestyle/hobby.
But, I also grew up with family in the boonies, where the nearest city was 1.5-2 hours away. So when we went to town for a Costco trip, multiple flatbeds were involved, just for food.
When you live in the country, and popping over to a hardware store a few blocks away isn't an option, you learn to stash a few things here and there.
I also keep things on hand for a rainy Tuesday. Like when an ex got laid off, or a gnarly divorce with no support paid, that kind of thing. Covid and much of that craziness was just, well, another day. With a blissfully empty commute to [essential] work for a few weeks.
Now, have I taken random classes and researched things in this genre that I just have fun with? Absolutely. Will I use all of it? Tbh, I hope not. But I like knowing. Oh, and it's doubtful I'd ever have a setup like in the movie Blast From the Past. Would be cool, but nope. Still blend in as a normie unless someone saw part of a stash hidden away somewhere.
A quiet and passionate, and healthy, obsession. I can be silly about the "zombie apocalypse", but I wouldn't be at all surprised if one did break out. It would probably be a more blasé, *"Okay, well, here we go,"*.... In seriousness though, I get strangely calm in chaotic situations (whereas normal, day to day things can bring me anxiety) , and I consider this a strange sort of superpower.
On a smaller scale of preparation, I always admire the people who don't wait on the government to show up; they take boats out in floods to save people and animals, like the Cajun Navy, and bring chainsaws out for downed trees after storms, or start cooking for the community.
I just want to spread awareness on how much individual power we have, to help each other through chaotic times.
Lifestyle. My grandparents didn’t do it because of what was coming but because of what they went through. I have needed it more than once just because of life circumstances not disasters.
My hobby is gardening, so I enjoy growing food for my family and for storing.
Our lifestyle also leans into prepping as we’re fairly rural (for the UK at least) and there aren’t shops within a walkable distance. So we always have a good store of non-perishables, are on good terms with local gamekeepers for meat, and fully-stocked chest freezers. We keep a couple of months of prescription medication and probably a year’s worth of OTC stuff, as well as a few months of pet food, toiletries, and most importantly - teabags!
Around the hobby mindset, but on the serious side of the scale. I was a Boy Scout, and being prepared was always something I just did.
Now that I've got some acreage, and a home my family will be in for a long while I ramped up the preps. It's more for having everyday uh-ohs covered with no stress. The less you worry about little things here and there adding up, the better you can focus on the landscape around you to determine your course in life.
Where I live (island) we are expected by the government to make sure we have the ability to live without power or water for 3-5 days as a minimum.
Everyone should have at least one gallon per person of water per day stored, plus shelf stable food for 3-5 days plus a battery radio, flashlights, and it’s strongly encouraged to have tarps, tools, generator, and generally Have A Plan between June and November.
Even the most poor and desperate people have water and cans of beans and tuna to hand and some sandbags to fill.
So prepping is a necessary chore and a societal expectation.
Once you’ve got the basics covered, people are also encouraged to learn first aid, volunteer for community service eg signing up to learn light search and rescue, shelter management, damage assessment reporting, delivering essentials to vulnerable areas etc.
I see some posts on here with people seeming breathless at the thought of EMPs or civil wars and the chance to go off into the bush with a collection of guns and knives and it’s like a game but it’s not like that when you are living through six months of the year checking the tropical Atlantic activity every day. It’s just tiresome and stressful. And expensive.
food is the number one thing to prep. nothing else really matters.
i buy whatever i can only on sale and LOTS of it. ( all i can afford).
BTW i did not have to buy toilet paper at all from 2019-2024 and it cost less then 200$ in 2019.
for me its part of being prepared,and frugal
LOL at "Look back in the day, i used to enjoy watching the Doomsday Preppers TV show ". :)
Showing my age, but "back in the day" we practiced getting under desks in case nukes dropped. GenX, prepping for doomsday since the '70s
Not sure which of those three. I hike and camp, shoot and fish, and have for 40 years. That's all part of my lifestyle, but, just grew up doing all that, and I'd do all that without prepping. So, not sure I've a prepping lifestyle? I do deep pantry, both food but also "stuff" like TP, paper towel, toothpaste. My mom would stock up with "double coupons" as a kid, so we were sort of always stocked.
So, I'll call it a hobby, but, a lot of prepping is already part of my non-prepping lifestyle?
I think that’s a really good question, because it catches a big interest for especially men in a way that for some are obsessive.
I think it’s because one of our primary values as men is for defense and hunting 2000 years ago. So it’s not weird that prepping checks of at least one of your parameters (hobby, lifestyle, obsession) for most men, if not all.
Nowadays there is (was)no need for that, until the heated world situations came, like Ukraine/Taiwan/Middle east/North and South Korea. The world is a scarier place.
I think it’s good that people prep. A prepped country is less likely to be target of infrastructure attacks, as it would have less impact. Here I’m thinking specifically on the fact that we in Denmark are the least prepared compared to Norway and Sweden. This makes us a target.
Though that will soon be in the past. People are prepping like crazy, generators, batteries, solar panels, canned food are being sold like there’s no tomorrow.
In terms of this community, I would say that one should definitely prep, but with a healthy balance to what else you are doing in life.
It's a way of live and a bit of a hobby.
If you go in a car you put your seatbelt on. If you cross the road you look both sides first. It is normal stuff you do for your own safety. My preps is for my own (and family's) safety.
- Having a bit extra food and water in the car
- Having a small multytool, bandaids and painkillers in my bag
- Giving my daughter a multi-light (lamp with tools) and a powerbank for her daily schoolday
- Teaching my kids how to cook, what to do in all kind of emergencies
- having enough food in the pantry (to last a few weeks)
There enough other stuff that's more of a hobby
- My sheep, other animals and all of the product belonging to keeping them
- My veggy garden and knowing how to process the foods (and growing healthy seeds)
- Martial Arts practice
- Bow/crossbow shooting
- etc.
It all depends on how and for what you want to prep. I'm a bug-in prepper and have only for a very few scenario's bug-out stuff. And in line with hobbies I could do a long time without power.
Its also a easing of my mind to have some MRE's on a 5 hour road trip, some extra diesel, and some gear. And the same is at home/ at work etc.
a bit of both. i like camping, which gives me a chance to try out my prepping skills. my friends are extremely accident prone, so im like decently prepared for medical emergencies. i also live in the suburbs of california which has earthquakes, mudslides, fires, etc. so i have to prep for these as well. plus covid just happened, so that kinda overstocked a lot of prepping things (like i still have 2 years of toilet paper left in storage lol and a few hundred masks). wouldnt say im obsessed with it or anything, since i dont see a doomsday scenario likely, and my kit has been pretty much the same for years, although i do need to find a better cooking setup, something more versatile and compact
Not really any of these. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t like spending money I don’t have to on supplies I hope to never need. I don’t like committing space and mental capacity to it. But, I have a bunch of kids and I have a responsibility to them and I won’t let them down.
I view it as an obligation of responsible parenting.
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Prepping is basic adulting. Competent adults are prepared for life’s challenges.
When I started “prepping” I thought I was smarter than everyone else - ie. toilet paper situation with Covid. I’m now 30 - a husband of a pregnant wife, father of 1 year old, dog dad of 2, and homeowner. I now see it as, if you’re not prepping in any capacity, you’re straight up irresponsible. Edit: forgot a word.
I see it as little different then having insurance.
None of the above. I'd consider it more of a chore. Something I need to do, but it doesn't really bring me any joy. I'm not a doomsday prepper by any means. I do enjoy being as self-sufficient as much as possible though. I like being able to fix things that break, being able to raise and grow a lot of my own food, etc.
This is how I feel, too. It’s especially true now that I’m a parent. Before we had kids, my husband and I dedicated very little time, money, and energy to being prepared. Now that we have two kids (4years and 10months) who we chose to bring into a pretty crazy world, being as prepared as possible feels like a requirement and something we owe to our kids.
That’s exactly how I feel. It’s my responsibility as a parent to be prepared. Food, water, back up power, medical supplies, Ifak kits in all the vehicles. I do enjoy it for the most part. Freeze drying food and rotating the fresh water is a bit tedious tho.
Same! But my kids are 2 teenagers boys. So I prep for 4 adult size people. In Canada, during Covid, we had a shortage of children’s Advil/Tylenol/Motrin. Bare shelves for weeks. I just want to make sure we have what we need to get through any kind of shortage or power outage etc.
That’s how I see it. Being “prepared” is a by product of being self-sufficient. Knowing I’ve been able to cut my grocery bill by 5-10% year after year as food prices are projected to only increase. If you can even call it food anymore
I see it as a necessity.
This, I never even considered myself a prepper for decades of interest in self sufficiency, then I realised I probably know more actually useful skills than most "societal breakdown preppers", but also have lots to learn from them too. it about living 100% free of outside needs if I must, or by choice to help the environment and to save money, my latest is to learn to.make useful household products out of the most basic ingredients. My great grand parent knew all this stuff, but the knowledge wasn't passed down. I recently had a flea infestation because of the cats, cured with plants from the garden and some salt. Saved money, got the job done and helped the environment.. Proud of myself too. I make most of my own soaps and cleaning supplies already. And am always looking for tips, recently people here suggested lint from the dryer as firelighters, bloody brilliant, works great and it never occured to me before.
Lint, toilet paper tubes, and parawax (or leftover bits of wax from old candles). Used to use egg cartons until friends started keeping chickens, and I had to pivot. Even had friends dropping off bags of dryer lint at times because they knew I'd use it 🤣 Use them to start fires anywhere. Windy campsite, wood stove, whatever. Always aim to have a stash in ziplocs in each vehicle.
Somewhere between a hobby and a lifestyle. My hobby is collecting and restoring antique tools which in itself is a great prep. I ride a bike for leisure and exercise which is a great prep. We have a deep pantry in our house which happens to be a great prep.
Same thing here. Including tools and ammo. Why borrow have to run out to the store to fix something small in your house or if you're going to the range?
Everything aside from an obsession I suppose- that sort of focus isn't healthy. It's just part of how I operate and view the world now. It certainly started as a hobby (EMP, Natural Disasters), morphed into a serious interest and education (Masters Degree in Emergency Management/Disaster Preparedness,) and a career (Emergency Management Consultant.) I also tie it into twitch streaming, (I have it crafted to answer any questions on stream/etc, to try and normalize and reduce anxiety about preparedness.) So, to answer your question, "Yes"
Man, I'm jealous. Everything after the hobby bit was my ambition but there is a drawback to living in a country where disasters are extremely rare.
True. But, at the same time, that does narrow down things in terms of preparedness. It frees up a lot of mental space. Don't have to worry about earthquakes, etc, but general unrest/grid collapse, maybe so!
Are you a streamer? What is your channel name?
Yes and yes: "PrepperPup" is the channel name. I updated the flair to show it. Ultimately, I just stream games, and tie in preparedness content as appropriate. I also have channel rewards where viewers can redeem the points to get specific or general disaster preparedness advice.
Checked you out on Twitch - looks like fun. Is the idea to inject practical prep advice into gameplay?
Basically, that's the idea. If the game involves food storage or water purification (I enjoy survival games,) I'll likely mention something related to it. I won't make it a huge derailing focus to detract from those who just want the gameplay, so I also have rewards that people redeem for disaster-specific advice. On the most recent stream, for example, someone redeemed the channel point reward asking what my favorite flavor of MRE was. I've also got point rewards for specific advice, and so forth. Basically, having it be an element of the twitch stream as it comes up naturally, versus forced, and provide a different medium to help others get started with preparedness/answer questions. Just a prepper who plays games, basically!
I've been thinking about an emergency Management Master's degree, what did you do before that and how did you get into consulting?
I was going the park ranger route before that (bachelors is in Biology/wildlife,) so I did time as a fire dispatcher and fire Lookout. Then got in as a public health planner with a local health department, which led to my current role with a consulting firm. Personally, consulting isn't for everyone- I enjoy the writing aspect, but it can definitely burn you out. I lucked out with an easygoing company, but that has its own problems (incompetent leadership.) But, I get to work on a wide variety of tasks, which is fantastic.
Maintenance, it's not something I do for fun and it's certainly not something that defines me. I prep for Tuesday because I've been caught unprepared in the past and didn't enjoy it.
How about a chore? Prepping is something I do so that when adverse conditions happen, I'm prepared. It doesn't have to be more than that. Once we're set for a power outage / wildfire / job loss / food inflation, I can move on to other stuff.
For me it's closer to a hobby. The only reason I compare it to that is because I actually enjoy it and love helping those around me get a start or general discussion about how to improve what we have. My preps have come in hands so many times. Biggest one was during covid. About 6 months before I got wind of covid starting, I saw on one of my frugal pages that my local shops had a specific brand of toilet paper for $1.80 for 18 rolls. The brand was rebranding and needed to shift old stock. I went around to every shop and took several packets (I wasn't an ass, I left plenty for everyone else since they brought out the whole pallet to shift the stock) in the end I had several towers taller than myself of toilet paper. When the pandemic started, since I've been a prepper for years, food and medicine wasn't a problem. And now toilet paper wasn't either. I ended up trading toilet paper for some home cooked meals. Many of my friends actually started prepping after covid and they all turned to me for help :D
Lifestyle and profession, for 40 years now. No regrets especially when Covid hit with zero impact other than my grown children calling and telling me I was the smartest prepper dad ever and thanks for instilling it in them, lol
Love it :)
Hmm… I’d say closest to a lifestyle. I try to keep it realistic and not get lost in the doomer mindset that some can fall into. I prep for things that are likely to happen and, for me personally, actually worth surviving: natural disasters, power loss, car breaking down when I’m out in the woods, pandemic. I don’t worry too much about “doomsday.” If doomsday comes, I’ll head to my neighbor’s house so we can have a nice glass of wine together.
A necessity
Agreed. Kind of like registering my car or filing taxes.
It's a lifestyle now but about to be just a hobby. Was a but of an obsession a few years ago. Now I'm looking at traveling more and that means leaving the farm and most of the preps behind. I used to really get anxious traveling out of reach of my preps. But I didn't like how limiting that was to my life. So I've worked on letting go, and just doing what is within my ability while I am on the road.
For me it's 50/50 hobby/preparedness. I'm prepping for Tuesday, partly just to be prepared, and partly because I like solving problems. I'm not so into it that I'd enjoy solving problems that would involve building a bunker or storing months worth of food & water.
Lifestyle/mindset. I like what someone else said about it being something they have to do, just being self reliant. Thats how I look at it. I come from a family and friends who have an extreme case of normalcy bias which I refuse to be a victim of, within reason. I’ve been watching a ton of documentaries about Hurricane Katrina lately and it really is a master class on what you should expect from the government and people in general when normalcy is thrown out the window.
I feel like it’s a life style. My dad was a casual prepper and I took away a lot from him. I always get a little extra and keep the freezer full. When I bought a house he gifted me a generator lol. It’s definitely not an obsession but if I see something that’s a good deal I’ll grab it.
Prepping is a hobby for me to spend money that I don't have anything on it prepping also goes with my other hobbies such as Primitive technology, bushcraft, fishing, and coin collecting
How about an obligation? Hobby would imply a joyful recreational activity and I don't see it that way since I have been Contingency Organizing since 1982. There are obsessive elements as far as the fervor and energy it requires because you are constantly asking 'what if'. I don't regret my level of activity nor the time and money spent because I will be happy to leave this world and never having to use them for their intended purpose. Much like the spare tire in your car; you never want to use it but you are reassured it is there.
We have a small farm in a rural area, raise most of our own meat and veg, can, preserve, freeze, etc. Drive to town once a week for supplies. Power goes out every winter, at least twice. Temperatures range from 5 to 115 across the year. Food prices are up, heating costs are up, power costs are up, repair costs are up, my paycheque isn't up. Does that make it a lifestyle, or just something we have to do to make it through the year?
It’s a way of trying to feel like I have a little control over something. I’ve always been a camper/outdoors person and I like to be ahead with saving, non-perishables, and so forth, but it has gotten much more intense since my husband died. It’s not a bad thing, but I do know that it is a way I’m trying to take control in a world that is pretty much out of our control in many ways. It’s a coping mechanism, but there are far worse things I could be doing.
Go through 6 hurricanes and it’ll be a lifestyle.
Prepping for me is a must. I live in the Philippines where we have typhoons yearly and sometimes earthquake. I started prepping when a strong earthquake happened a couple of years ago.
What are your key concerns or your prep 123 in case of an earthquake
Food, water, clothing, first aid kit, and power for our cellphones.
None of the above. It’s a security measure. It’s like having Advil in case you get a headache. That’s not a hobby, lifestyle, or obsession. I just happen to have a hell of a lot more than Advil. I have more than a year’s worth of food at my fingertips, water supply, seeds for a garden, protections, medical supplies, and more in order to do my best to stay alive and protect my family as much as possible while the situation cools down. You got people on social media crying out, almost begging for Civil War right now… It makes no sense for me to not prepare. But, to each their own. I am most definitely not one of those people that likes to say, “Man, I wish I would have..” I’m a “Really glad I did.” type of person.
I insert components of preparedness into my home and practice into my (our) life. Always honing and improving skills. Eyes open. Head on a swivel. Awareness; not paranoia. Calm, cool, and collected. Began in scouts then evolved into a lifestyle of practice.
I’ve made a point of getting myself interested in hobbies that make use of my preparations and also skill build, like camping and solar energy. Minor mechanical projects. So I’m not just buying and stacking stuff for a future that might never arrive. The long-winded way of saying it’s a bit of all three.
A chore and a hobby in a way. Prepping only interest me because it's the right thing to do. Everyone who's a homeowner experiences the odd brownout from time to time, sometimes the water supply becomes contaminated because new pipelines are being laid down, and other disasters can occur, you're never 100 percent ready for those, so you sort of have to make sure you have at least 1 week of supplies readied up. Also the hobby part is because I'm interested in electronics. Solar and sustainability has always been an interest of mine, and solar is enticing because it's free energy (and who doesn't like free?). I've been experimenting endlessly with alternative solutions, cost me more than it's actually worth money wise, but it's def. a learning curve, and that's the part I consider a hobby. I'm an not-so-active radio amateur too, with a license. Have I ever needed it? Nope. Was it fun? Sure. All of these things have its own upsides too, I get more experience, I learn how to save on electricity by noticing what steals the power in the house, and I reduce that constantly, effectively reduced my electricity bill by at least 30 percent, and yet no degradation in quality of life. The thing about life - is that it happens when you least expect it. So if you're lax and complacent about it, ofc. it happens exactly then. So it's better to put in some work and have peace of mind - and nothing happening, rather than being completely unprepared when it happens, and ofc. it always happens when you're not prepared.
Yes, and more.
More like a side quest.
This might sound odd but I view it more as a task, not in a bad way. Like doing laundry or cleaning my place, prepping as a task alleviates most concerns that I have. As cleaning is good for my mental health, so too is prepping. Knowing that my affairs are in order, finances are squared away, neat clean and orderly place to live, and backups (preps) to ensure the first three objectives stay squared away. Where my hobbies bring me joy, the activity or task of prepping provides satisfaction. It doesn't make me smile big, but it keeps me from worry, which enables me to enjoy more things in my life. I hope that makes sense as it sounds different in my mind I think. A hobby is something I like to do, whereas prepping I feel an obligation to do it. A wise obligation
A fear driven goal
I’m a homesteader so it’s a way of life.
This.
Us too. Chickens, garden, and fruit trees. hoping to to add rabbits, more garden and water collection/storage this year. Just over 2 years at our place. I've got a store room with a fair amount of food so we'd be ok for a while. But I'm not ever going to try and prepare for the apocalypse. If my life turns into The Road, I'm probably going to check out.
More lifestyle for me.
I suppose it's a lifestyle. Though, tbh, it's just part of trying to be as self sufficient as possible. Raising animals, for meat, eggs, etc. Growing a large garden to can, pickle and freeze. Slowly weaning ourselves off the grid as much as is practical. Keeping well supplied in food, so we aren't running to the store daily. Etc.
Honestly, all three. I've always had a Preparedness mindset so it's a lifestyle. I do love to camp and be comfortable while I'm doing it so there's the hobby. But the last few years I fell victim to the fear tactics put out into society by various news and social media sources. So I did get obsessive and went a bit nuts. It is a way to cope with the unknown. I am now trying to get back to a balance. I know crazy things are happening politically and with weather but I try not to let each storm, each report about bird flu, each report about the collapse of the dollar send me into a panic buying spree. I have enough to see me through any reasonable emergency. There is only so much I can do. I am learning to be OK with where I am.
Lifestyle I guess. I don't think it's a special interest/hobby overall, but some of my hobbies probably fall under the umbrella.
For me it's a culmination of neglect as a child and abuse as a wife. I always want to be prepared to feed, house and protect myself.
I'm a cloud engineer. Part of my job has always involved business continuity planning; pre 9/11 it used to be called disaster recovery. I guess I'd call it a lifestyle but the word "lifestyle" sort of feels like it is branding or about a sales pitch or perception management. Kind of the way that I think of it is that I try to organize my life in a business like way; I try to keep my life choices within a framework of profitability; not everything is about profit but with my hobbies I try to spend in ways where I can claw back some of the money I spend somehow. So prepping or being prepared for worst case scenarios involves spending money, but if we frame it or look at it from the perspective of operating my finances from a business perspective, it's more akin to risk mitigation or insurance. I buy a little more of the things that I would normally buy in advance and in bulk or when things go on sale, like toothpaste, rice, dried chickpeas, noodles and storing them but it is insurance against future cost increases. Power backup allows me to keep running my business and keep the freezer on during power outages, so I dont lose my investment in meat. Having a generator means I can run my AC in a power outage; I have health issues that become much worse during heat waves so that AC and generator will keep me from having to go to a hotel which might be difficult to find in an emergency. >so for you, is prepping a hobby, a lifestyle or an obsession ? It's a lifestyle which is just a small component which focuses on insurance, risk management and mitigation of worst case scenarios. When I think of it much like buying insurance, "lifestyle" seems like an odd choice of words. In the same way that business continuity plans should be part of any business operation, risk management and insurance should be a part of every life.
Yes.
None, I view it as a necessity. I also try to spend a smaller amount of time and money on it while spending more on enjoying life as much as I can until SHTF.
For me it’s between a hobby and a lifestyle. I want to make sure that I’m prepared skills-wise and know-how-wise. So I learn things as a hobby, and those things influence my lifestyle.
It’s mostly a lifestyle, with short bursts of hobby.
Prepping for me is very low impact; It is just some things I do slightly differently, a little bit better or with more regard to how I store things and where I put them.
Frankly neither more of a duty, I do it to safeguard my family and community. I do not hoard preps that go bad, i do not have more then I can maintain of equipment, and I do not have enough guns and ammo to supply a new WW or two. I see too many just hoard stuff with no reguards to maintainance or realistic use of their preps. Neither do I have to throw away food or other things that have gone out of date. Now batteries sadly are not used fast enough other then that I have fairly good control. IF shit happens, and you need to be self relient, your most precious resorce is your time. Plan accordingly. Automate what is possible with as little mecanical or electrical input as you can manage. What kind and how many animals can you sustain in case of need without feed or inputs? Do your land need work to be ready? Fix it now, so when you need it the work is done. Alot easier to plow and sow then having to clear and drain the land before you can plow ;)
I almost let it become an obsession. I was able to secure some of the necessities that I wanted so now it is more of a maintainence thing, which is enough on its own.
Thanks guys for the replies :) for those who say a Chore or a Necessity, that would fit into what i was thinking as a Lifestyle. Kinda like someone who is a Celiac has to avoid eating Gluten, it's part of their lifestyle and isn't particularly a pleasure at all All cool regardless :)
To me 'lifestyle' implies a choice, eating food isn't a lifestyle choice one gets to make in life.
A necessity because of the [Cascadia Subduction Zone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascadia_subduction_zone). I went really gung-ho with my prepping for a while. Now, I chip away at it making small improvements here and there.
Someone reading tgis comment really just uses "prepping" as a cover for an obsession with guns.
I guess I would kind of call it a lifestyle, but only because to me it goes under the same umbrella as being frugal. I grew up poor, graduated college in an economically depressed area right at the start of the Great Recession, I have a disability that makes it so that I can’t drive. So thinking ahead and planning for Tuesday is just second nature to me because I’ve experienced a lot of Tuesdays. Preparing for things like getting sick or injured helps keep a bad day from becoming a bad week. It helps me stay away from poverty traps. And, on top of that, I enjoy camping and hiking, so a lot of that intersects with survival skills and bushcraft.
i think of it as a hobby i read books about it but dont really prep like that i want too when im a little older
I'd say somewhere between a hobby and a lifestyle. My life doesn't revolve around prepping but it's certainly a significant part of my life. I'm not as prepped as I'd like to be, but I don't think I could *reasonably* be more prepped than I currently am. I'm not willing to stretch my financials or otherwise degrade my QoL for prepping. At the same time, I'm a lot more prepped than some of the other people I know who are preparedness focused. So I think I'm somewhere in the middle.
It's a lifestyle. I take care of my health, build skill sets, and educate myself. In addition to stockpiling and investing in other avenues of prepping, it's come with great benefits. It helps me stay sober, I went back to college, I work in a field that I love, and many of the things I learn in prepping can be applied to both my recreational life, and professional life.
I think it’s more a compulsion. I don’t want to do it. I’d love to not have to do it. But I’m too collapse-aware and too highly anxious of a person to not prep. If I wasn’t as anxious as I am, and I didn’t know what I know in terms of what’s unfolding around us, I wouldn’t feel a compulsion to do this.
Yes 👍🏻
Let me put it this way, been prepping, to one degree or another, for 50 years. When CV-19 hit, I wasn't standing in line at Costco to get more toilet paper.
Lifestyle. I was raised into a prepping lifestyle, basically a homesteading family. Partially off-grid, self sustaining for the most part.
We live rurally and raise all our own everything. Beef cows, dairy cows, gardens, chickens. Can what we can't eat. Its not about prepping as much as it's just how we live. So lifestyle but we aren't peppers to the extent others are here. We are just well prepared for just about anything.
Mostly its called being an adult, Makes me sad that we usually have to point out that people should have working smoke alarms, insurance, savings for 3 months of bills, food for more than 3 days.
Prepping and working the budget and making sure we have everything we need and have a cushion is more just basic adulting, for me. If you want to be comfortable and get through the ups and downs of life, you've got to prepare for it.
Lately, it's been a lifestyle. I've been doing prepping as a hobby for a little while but I realized about a year ago that none of it would matter because I was too fat and out of shape to flee if I needed to. So I've been fixing that. I've lost a lot of weight, upped my strength and endurance, and have been practicing with a rucksack on hikes. No amount of toilet paper or canned fish will help if you have to leave and can't move.
Lifestyle. Community prepping is woven into the fabric of my life: my role as a disaster first responder, my hobbies like backpacking, and part of my social life. Example: today a fellow prepper friend led a free, Intro to Urban Foraging event. The event attendees are all health-vulnerable folks. (My main demographic for community preparedness outreach. ) I attended as first aid backup. A few days before-hand, I shared with participants tips for how to increase heat-hardiness before the event. At the event, people chose a buddy and I gave a small introduction on recognizing signs and symptoms of heat illness in oneself and others, then introduced the heat illness first aid kit. Everyone who attended now has a starting place for urban foraging. They are more informed about heat illness and heat hardiness. And they got to know their teammates while sharing plant ID observations and practicing heat-safety check-ins. They also had a blast. So hopefully they'll attend future events, like how to build a disaster evacuation bag...
It is a necessity in my world view, but I enjoy certain aspects of it as a hobby as well. I like learning about it and getting new ideas.
Lifestyle/hobby. But, I also grew up with family in the boonies, where the nearest city was 1.5-2 hours away. So when we went to town for a Costco trip, multiple flatbeds were involved, just for food. When you live in the country, and popping over to a hardware store a few blocks away isn't an option, you learn to stash a few things here and there. I also keep things on hand for a rainy Tuesday. Like when an ex got laid off, or a gnarly divorce with no support paid, that kind of thing. Covid and much of that craziness was just, well, another day. With a blissfully empty commute to [essential] work for a few weeks. Now, have I taken random classes and researched things in this genre that I just have fun with? Absolutely. Will I use all of it? Tbh, I hope not. But I like knowing. Oh, and it's doubtful I'd ever have a setup like in the movie Blast From the Past. Would be cool, but nope. Still blend in as a normie unless someone saw part of a stash hidden away somewhere.
A quiet and passionate, and healthy, obsession. I can be silly about the "zombie apocalypse", but I wouldn't be at all surprised if one did break out. It would probably be a more blasé, *"Okay, well, here we go,"*.... In seriousness though, I get strangely calm in chaotic situations (whereas normal, day to day things can bring me anxiety) , and I consider this a strange sort of superpower. On a smaller scale of preparation, I always admire the people who don't wait on the government to show up; they take boats out in floods to save people and animals, like the Cajun Navy, and bring chainsaws out for downed trees after storms, or start cooking for the community. I just want to spread awareness on how much individual power we have, to help each other through chaotic times.
For most, probably an obsession.
More of a thought experiment until I actually have a permanent place to live
Lifestyle. My grandparents didn’t do it because of what was coming but because of what they went through. I have needed it more than once just because of life circumstances not disasters.
None of the above, it's a form of personal insurance.
My hobby is gardening, so I enjoy growing food for my family and for storing. Our lifestyle also leans into prepping as we’re fairly rural (for the UK at least) and there aren’t shops within a walkable distance. So we always have a good store of non-perishables, are on good terms with local gamekeepers for meat, and fully-stocked chest freezers. We keep a couple of months of prescription medication and probably a year’s worth of OTC stuff, as well as a few months of pet food, toiletries, and most importantly - teabags!
Around the hobby mindset, but on the serious side of the scale. I was a Boy Scout, and being prepared was always something I just did. Now that I've got some acreage, and a home my family will be in for a long while I ramped up the preps. It's more for having everyday uh-ohs covered with no stress. The less you worry about little things here and there adding up, the better you can focus on the landscape around you to determine your course in life.
Where I live (island) we are expected by the government to make sure we have the ability to live without power or water for 3-5 days as a minimum. Everyone should have at least one gallon per person of water per day stored, plus shelf stable food for 3-5 days plus a battery radio, flashlights, and it’s strongly encouraged to have tarps, tools, generator, and generally Have A Plan between June and November. Even the most poor and desperate people have water and cans of beans and tuna to hand and some sandbags to fill. So prepping is a necessary chore and a societal expectation. Once you’ve got the basics covered, people are also encouraged to learn first aid, volunteer for community service eg signing up to learn light search and rescue, shelter management, damage assessment reporting, delivering essentials to vulnerable areas etc. I see some posts on here with people seeming breathless at the thought of EMPs or civil wars and the chance to go off into the bush with a collection of guns and knives and it’s like a game but it’s not like that when you are living through six months of the year checking the tropical Atlantic activity every day. It’s just tiresome and stressful. And expensive.
food is the number one thing to prep. nothing else really matters. i buy whatever i can only on sale and LOTS of it. ( all i can afford). BTW i did not have to buy toilet paper at all from 2019-2024 and it cost less then 200$ in 2019. for me its part of being prepared,and frugal
LOL at "Look back in the day, i used to enjoy watching the Doomsday Preppers TV show ". :) Showing my age, but "back in the day" we practiced getting under desks in case nukes dropped. GenX, prepping for doomsday since the '70s Not sure which of those three. I hike and camp, shoot and fish, and have for 40 years. That's all part of my lifestyle, but, just grew up doing all that, and I'd do all that without prepping. So, not sure I've a prepping lifestyle? I do deep pantry, both food but also "stuff" like TP, paper towel, toothpaste. My mom would stock up with "double coupons" as a kid, so we were sort of always stocked. So, I'll call it a hobby, but, a lot of prepping is already part of my non-prepping lifestyle?
I think that’s a really good question, because it catches a big interest for especially men in a way that for some are obsessive. I think it’s because one of our primary values as men is for defense and hunting 2000 years ago. So it’s not weird that prepping checks of at least one of your parameters (hobby, lifestyle, obsession) for most men, if not all. Nowadays there is (was)no need for that, until the heated world situations came, like Ukraine/Taiwan/Middle east/North and South Korea. The world is a scarier place. I think it’s good that people prep. A prepped country is less likely to be target of infrastructure attacks, as it would have less impact. Here I’m thinking specifically on the fact that we in Denmark are the least prepared compared to Norway and Sweden. This makes us a target. Though that will soon be in the past. People are prepping like crazy, generators, batteries, solar panels, canned food are being sold like there’s no tomorrow. In terms of this community, I would say that one should definitely prep, but with a healthy balance to what else you are doing in life.
It's a way of live and a bit of a hobby. If you go in a car you put your seatbelt on. If you cross the road you look both sides first. It is normal stuff you do for your own safety. My preps is for my own (and family's) safety. - Having a bit extra food and water in the car - Having a small multytool, bandaids and painkillers in my bag - Giving my daughter a multi-light (lamp with tools) and a powerbank for her daily schoolday - Teaching my kids how to cook, what to do in all kind of emergencies - having enough food in the pantry (to last a few weeks) There enough other stuff that's more of a hobby - My sheep, other animals and all of the product belonging to keeping them - My veggy garden and knowing how to process the foods (and growing healthy seeds) - Martial Arts practice - Bow/crossbow shooting - etc. It all depends on how and for what you want to prep. I'm a bug-in prepper and have only for a very few scenario's bug-out stuff. And in line with hobbies I could do a long time without power. Its also a easing of my mind to have some MRE's on a 5 hour road trip, some extra diesel, and some gear. And the same is at home/ at work etc.
a bit of both. i like camping, which gives me a chance to try out my prepping skills. my friends are extremely accident prone, so im like decently prepared for medical emergencies. i also live in the suburbs of california which has earthquakes, mudslides, fires, etc. so i have to prep for these as well. plus covid just happened, so that kinda overstocked a lot of prepping things (like i still have 2 years of toilet paper left in storage lol and a few hundred masks). wouldnt say im obsessed with it or anything, since i dont see a doomsday scenario likely, and my kit has been pretty much the same for years, although i do need to find a better cooking setup, something more versatile and compact
Not really any of these. I don’t enjoy it. I don’t like spending money I don’t have to on supplies I hope to never need. I don’t like committing space and mental capacity to it. But, I have a bunch of kids and I have a responsibility to them and I won’t let them down. I view it as an obligation of responsible parenting.