Jan192010
INSTANT SURVIVAL TIP: A Prepper Friend is Priceless
“Are you a prepper?” A good friend of mine asked this question today of a casual acquaintance, someone she had just met. This woman had mentioned raising her own chickens, and nowadays, the only logical follow-up question to that statement is, “Are you a prepper?” Not that every chicken owner in the country is into preparedness and self-reliance, but many of them are. A dead giveaway is when they also live in the city or suburbs!
It’s vital that we have others to talk with about our concerns for the future and our plans for preparedness. Let’s face it. On the surface, so much seems normal and unchanged. Today at the mall, I was surrounded by shoppers who seemed to not have a care in the world as they toted around multiple shopping bags. (To be fair, I had a couple of shopping bags of my own.) It’s easy to begin thinking that we’re the crazy ones.
In the coming days, begin looking for opportunities to find preppers in your own circle of friends and acquaintances. A simple question such as, “Have you ever thought of maybe setting aside some extra food, just in case?”, might open the door to a great conversation and discovering that a prepper soul-mate was just a phone call away all this time! Yesterday, by asking that question, I discovered that a church friend of mine has been squirreling away bottled water, ramen noodles and fruit juice! We now have one more thing to chat about!
It’s been said that the first step to a wonderful friendship are the words, “Me too!” You and me, we all need friends to lean on, learn from, and walk this journey together. Find a prepper friend this week and tell us about it!
© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
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PrepperMom
Finding APN changed my life because I finally didnt feel alone. I had been so alone in the prepping. It really DOES makes a HUGE difference to not be alone anymore
TheSurvivalMom
Sometimes I look around at the crowds around me at the mall or when we go to Disneyland, and I think, "Am I the only one uneasy about the future?" My friends who are on the same page as me validate my concerns, and I theirs'. Plus, we have fun giving each other advice and joking about our stashes of oatmeal and toilet paper. :O)
TheSurvivalMom
Sometimes I look around at the crowds around me at the mall or when we go to Disneyland, and I think, "Am I the only one uneasy about the future?" My friends who are on the same page as me validate my concerns, and I theirs'. Plus, we have fun giving each other advice and joking about our stashes of oatmeal and toilet paper. :O)
zmalfoy
I've found that conversations about the current situation in Haiti can be very good ways to broach the topic, in a casual, almost "off-hand" way. . . I've had so many conversations recently, that wind around to: Yeah, they're third world and all, but would we fare much better? If the city was annihilated, the ports blocked, the government missing, the gangs (MS-13, among others) running around. . . what would we do? Would we be sitting on the roadside, dazed and useless, or would we be finding ways to save our families, ourselves. . .
I'm seeing friends notice how long it takes for aid to get assembled, even when things are running full steam– and then I casually note "Yep, when seconds count, assistance is days away. Gotta learn to do for yourself, ya know?" This is usually greeted with nods and agreeable grunts (living outside of DC, caveman grunting is taken for normal ~_^), and then people might even chime in with "Yeah, I noticed you'ev really been working on planning that garden of yours. How did you decide what to plant?"
LizLong
VA or MD? I'm in Prince William and there are actually a bunch of county-run programs that are good for preppers. Master Gardeners – gardening and veggie gardening. Master Food Volunteers – canning. Soil & Conservation – water barrels and more. (Living outside DC, including Potassium Iodide is a good idea – I think it has to be pretty much the #1 nuclear target on the planet.)
zophiel
MD– Montgomery County. I've been using a lot of the MD master Gardeners resources. I'll see if I can find some local Master food volunteers, etc. . . And yes, me and roommie have Potassium Iodide in our BoBs, for that very reason.
TheSurvivalMom
That really is a great idea. The poor citizens of Haiti didn't have a chance. It seems that even the handful of those with money weren't much better off than those living in shanties. Very sad.
Cybrludite
I suspect those in shanties faired better than the better off. Tar paper & corrugated tin weighs a lot less than masonry & cinder blocks…
TheSurvivalMom
That's a good point.
LizLong
I've actually heard that's exactly the way it went.
Andrea
I met my prepper friend through Craigslist, of all places LOL. 2 years ago, just after the '08 beef recalls, she posted on Craigslist "Help me feed my family" in an effort to find local, humanely raised meat sources and I answered her post. I'd never have guessed that we'd turn into dear, dear friends. We started exchanging information for locally raised food…chicken, eggs, buffalo, beef…which lead to discussions about gardening, then canning, then storing food for winter and then prepping. Again, it's that logical progression you mentioned a few posts ago. She only recently began prepping, but it's a topic that we touch on each time we talk.
You just never know where you'll meet someone who will change your life, do you?
TheSurvivalMom
That's a great story, Andrea! There are a lot of us out there. We just need to start finding each other!
TheSurvivalMom
There's a similar organization here in the Phoenix area that offers classes on raising chickens, growing all kinds of things and offers a lengthy master gardening course over a dozen weekends or so. Once you start asking around, it's surprising how many prepper soulmates you can find!
LizLong
The "Atlas & Gazetter" series (available on amazon.com) is "detailed topographic maps" (just don't expect anything like military grade detail). In a true SHTF situation, these could be VERY helpful in finding a good route. In day-to-day life, they're a good resource to find places for interesting day trips and teaching the family about topographical maps. You can also find them on cd, but I prefer the paper in this case. The Master Food Volunteers is a brand-spanking new program here. I think they're literally just about to start the first round of classes. The Izaak Walton League looks like a good group to get involved with for prepping. Living to the west of DC, it's easier to access areas that are still farmland (or horse country) and have the classes to go with it than in a lot of suburban / exurban areas. I think.
anna
you are my prepper friend. you are there day and night to ask questions to with just one click. Well maybe a few clicks.And i dont ask questions i just read your blog. Everyone who comments is also my friend. so thank you girls. Not many people i know or try to talk to care about stocking up, to a small degree maybe but not keeping up on it. and not definitly to the level i am trying to get my family to.I am not alone, just not surrounded physicaly with people of like mindedness.
TheSurvivalMom
Thank you, Anna. That touches my heart. Your comments and questions are always welcome here, as are you!
Katie
I agree with Anna, I can always come here for ideas.support to find..whats next. We do not say much to friends anymore about prepping..they think we are nuts. But its ironic how many calls or visitors we have when the power goes out or something breaks.they jokingly call us the pioneer people! We are the farthest thing from it! But,its really shown us how few "skills or basic life/survival skills most have
TheSurvivalMom
You're not pioneers, you're just thinking ahead. Or maybe it's, JUST THINKING!!! LOL
Diana
The situation in Haiti points out how quickly things can go bad — and they can go bad anywhere. I've mentioned this to a few people and a couple of them seem the have had a light bulb go on. Others, sadly, don't seem to understand that this could happen here, given the right set of circumstances. I keep hoping I'll run across another prepper in my immediate area (Nortwestern NJ) but so far, no luck. Even my husband doesn't seem to get it!
So until then, I keep reading this site, SurvivalBlog, and The Automatic Earth (this is a financial/economic web blog that has so far been right on as far as the economic outlook — and folks, the outlook according to this site is not good!). And, I'll stock up on seeds for the garden.
LizLong
I just saw part of a tv show about a horrific ice storm in the last few years in a major city in Canada (can't recall details at the moment). A prepper would've been sitting pretty there. Electricity, heat, food, transportation, medical care, it was ALL down for I don't know how long. So many things can cause it, so easily, today. You know to get heirloom or non-hybrid seeds, I'm sure. I've been replacing all my curtains with thermal curtains – lower heating bills, more privacy, darker inside rooms, and did I mention they help lower heating bills? Even Target is selling them now, but I bought most of mine on eBay.
Bob Mayne
My prepper friend and I met in 2003. He's the co founder of my show. 9-11 woke me up, but I didn't really have a prepper friend until '03. If you think about it, anyone who fastens their seatbelt is a prepper. You put your seatbelt on "just in case" right? My heart goes out to the people in Haiti, I'm having a tough time wrapping my brain around what they are going through and quite frankly, it's thrown me into somewhat of a funk lately. Just when I think I've got it tough, Haiti happens, Ft. Hood happens and life happens. I hate to think that things can go bad here as quickly as they did in Haiti, but it makes you wonder doesn't it? Recently someone from my church asked my why I stock ammo, food, tools and cash. I asked them why not? They couldn't come up with a solid answer. Now I find that I'm thinking I never have enough. Am I weird?
Ravenwolf31
I found out that my best friend is also my prepper friend as well my boyfriend all in one! We normally talk about almost everything and one day I was on the phone with him and reading about bug out bags when I was just starting to learn about survivalism. I had my suspicions that he was a prepper because he knew about collecting herbs in the wild, making food from scratch and storing it. I asked him if he knew about BOBs… his reply: "I have two." Since then he has been teaching me about wild plants, and dehydrating food. It works out really well…. I SO love my man!
TheSurvivalMom
Are you serious??? How long have you two known each other? This is hysterical! I'm surprised that he hasn't tried to nudge you in the direction of prepping before now. I think you two were made for each other!
)
Ravenwolf31
A really long time, and a long story, not one that I really want to share in the open forum though.
L P
Prepper friends!?? Talk about rare commodities! I've been e-mailing quite a few people that have "found" me on a meet-up site. Most are happy to talk now and then, and some have problems that I'll help with by sharing some advice here and there. But true prepper friends are hard to locate. For my wife and I, the closest are one of our daughters and her hubby. A couple other kids are coming on board, and we hope they all get the bug as hard as we have. Funny, my wife goes at it harder than I do at times, and I have to stop and admire that.
I have a few people that I talk to quite a bit, but they are not near enough to be partners. Some are several states away!! But we do share ideas and encouragement, and that gives us a good feeling. It's genuinely nice to help people out, even if it is nothing more than congratulating them on a good start to their garden.
Lynn D
I stumbled onto this site checking out Walton Feed after a recommendation from Rawles. I echo some many sentiments that I read above. The first & foremost -family & loved ones that believe "you gone off the deepend!"
I finally got the courage up to hand JW Rawles' Book "How to survive the end of the world as we know it " to my next door neighbor. He's 28,has a wife & 2 small children.He's a police officer. I asked him to read it & we need to talk.
His comment (with a grin) "I've got the firepower!" to which I replied…"but we need a plan". He nodded. By the way- I'm single & 61 years old. What we're doing here is vital folks! But we need a plan & the ability to defend what we've prepped!