Microblog Memes

So… Yeah, doomsday preppers definitely showed their true colors.

But I think we also saw that there’s a lot of merit to being a reasonable prepper.

I’m lucky to have a reasonable prepper in my friend group. Because of their insistence, I had masks, a full tank of gas, and a comfortably-stocked pantry way ahead of time so I wasn’t yet another person adding stress to a lean/just-in-time/low-margin distribution system that can’t handle even minor hiccups.

Much like the goal of lockdowns was not to completely stop the spread but just slow it so our healthcare system could handle it, the goal of prepping should be to avoid causing shortages when our productive capacity is lowered.

Me, buying some extra rice, pasta and salt, watching my neighbor buying large game butchering knife kit (we live in the suburbs)

The only thing the paranoid preppers did was raise the price of ammunition.

Going back to COVID. one had to wear a MOPP IV suit and decontaminate everything you touch 24/7, including the interior of your car and the ultimate petri dish, your mobile phone. For the folks who grew a beard and wore a mask, FU, you compromised the mask.

My prepping involves knowing how to make beer/whiskey from the dirt up. I figure anything else I can trade from there. Including your women.

I don't consider myself a prepper, but I do prepare for unlikely scenarios with highly negative outcomes. In terms of expected value vs. investment, I think having a "go" or "get home" bag is cheap and useful. I have two weeks of food and water supplies to shelter in place. I have face masks and hazmat suits (they came vacuum sealed so they just sit in the bottom of the shelter in place Tupperware bin). A solar generator and battery. A few medkits and some basic medicines including prescription antibiotics. And then my camping/hiking stuff: so more mres, water purification, water filter, fire kit etc.

All in all, it didn't cost much, it doesn't take up much room, and it's good to have. I'm not necessarily worried about a revolution so much as, in order if likelihood: a bad storm, electrical grid issues, or mild civil unrest. All of which I've been through before, so I guess they're not exactly black swan events.

I know a guy who owns a retired nuclear missile silo that he made into a doomsday bunker/business. The top several floors or so with the old control rooms and stuff has been converted into his bunker, but most of the main silo is flooded with water, so it's a scuba diving attraction.

Anyway: when Covid came his bunker and years of food and fuel, so he and the wife went out there and used it for their lockdown. I'm happy for him that he got to use it.

They took out the old control rooms and completely remodeled the inside into a pretty comfy house. It's just underground and has 3-ton blast doors.

this is so fucking spot on, whew

my dads a mild prepper and had his 'told you so' moment when he brought up 2 boxes of n95 masks. he donated a box to hospital and the other box got the family through the worst months

They weren't ready for a SHTF scenario where survival means personal hygiene.

Same people who won't get a vaccination are the same ones who take huge dumps and don't wash their hands. Venn diagram is a circle.

I'm proud that in that time of crisis I was strong and served my country and fellow citizens, simply by staying home and not bothering anyone.

Or ever bother learning something to benefit society now and in the case of a rebuild. Great, you have food, shelter and guns. Do you know how to dress wounds? Do you know how to build a generator? Fuck electricity actually- do you know how to build a steam engine? Wait before we can get here, do you know how to make steel? Cast iron? There should be plenty of it after an apocalypse. Wind copper?

What about welding? Not the kind you need modern tools for, you won't have those. Do you know basic chemistry to get what you need to restart society? No? Well good luck.

Turns out survival in an apocalypse isn't all that difficult if you payed attention to anything in school. It pisses me off people get bent out of shape about "useful practice skills like doing taxes aren't being taught."

I can remember a ton of important ass survival shit from school. Crop rotation! Agricultural practices from thousands of years ago! Steam power, basic electricity, Simple chemistry. Oh, and Math! How many Preppers can't do basic fucking math that would save them?

I was always under the impression we'd go nomadic if things got bad, traveling to where it is habitatable year round and food is more available. I'm keeping myself mentally and physically healthy enough to walk long distances while not being picky about what I eat or where I sleep. I find the whole concept of hunkering down indefinitely is itself untenable.