Feb232010
Have you gone off the prepper deep end?
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PDFHere’s yet another entry in my List of Lists contest and a humorous one, to boot. Thanks Ranger Squirrel for submitting this entry! He has much more to offer at his blog, Ranger Squirrel.
Has this squirrel gone off the prepping deep end? Image by donjd2.
I’ve been hanging out with my prepper friends, and I do count them as friends, in the Preppers chatroom a lot lately. I find them to be both great resources for info and just pleasant people in general. Quite a cast of characters, really.
Once in a while, someone even newer than me will ask, “How do you know when you’ve gone too far with your preps?” The answer they’re given is usually something akin to, “When your prepping starts interfering with your ability to live/enjoy the life you’re trying to protect, you probably need to think about your priorities.” That’s true, but it’s also not very funny. So, I decided to come up with a list of 10 tell-tale signs you’ve gone off the prepper deep-end.
You’ve gone off the prepper deep-end when…
- You start thinking about building a wind power system and seriously consider taking the effects of frequent overflights of unmarked black helicopters into your wind calculations.
- You put your Food Saver bags into a Food Saver bag and vacuum seal them between uses. Or…you know firsthand that fresh eggs will crack if you try to vacuum seal them. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.
- You seriously consider selling ANY body part for ANY prepping related purpose.
- Your wife/husband leaves you and you insist they take their bugout bag with them.
- You actually pronounce the words TEOTWAWKI and SHTF in your every day speech.
- You consider the neighbors to be a long-term food option.
- You love your grain mill more than you love your children.
- You have put any part of your sex life on a rotation schedule.
- Someone tells you they had a toilet backup once and your first thought is “Big deal. Lots of people have two toilets.”
- The process you go through when planning a party involves the words inventory or rehydrate.
Anyway, those are mine. What do you have to add?
© 2010, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
(22) Readers Comments
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Gen-IL Homesteader
Too cute!
rightwingmom
ROFL!!! Thanks for the brief escape…now back to my Food Saver!
InformedMom
#7 really cracked me up! LOL
Summer
Cracked you up? Funny!
Ravenwolf31
If you save dryer lint for fire tinder… (I DO!)
rightwingmom
Ditto!
I have cardboard egg cartons in the window seal of my laundry room.
Shove a small wad of lint into each section. Combined they make great starters.
TheSurvivalMom
I've been saving up dryer lint for months and months. I'm all set for a marathon fire starter session!
inaminute
The really fun part of dryer lint is trying to explain to a nonprep husband why you save it. His expression is priceless. Yes, wife has definitely gone off the deep end of something.
TheSurvivalMom
I have a MONSTER of a bag of lint!! LOL Right now it's in the laundry room hanging up by the dryer. It's occurred to me that it is basically tinder for that entire room should it encounter an open flame. Yikes.
LizLong
I had to explain to mine why we needed to keep the empty toilet paper rolls and fill them with lint.
tupelojo
Went hiking the other day and when the ranger told me they were carting away truckloads of spanish moss (great tinder) I seriously considering asking them to deliver it to my house. LMAO
LizLong
I've got enough of the Magnesium fire starters (to go with the egg cartons full of lint) that I can't remember how many anymore. Four? Six? I dunno. But since one lasts for a looooooooooooooooooong time, we're pretty set there.
Debbie_Cee
11. You are mortified if you ever run out of anything and go and buy at least 6 of whatever you ran out of. Then you check to make sure nothing else is low..
12. You value your pool as potential washing and toilet flushing water as much as you do for swimmming. Mmm. I lie. I value it more as possible washing and flushing water.
LizLong
If you actually need something and don't have it in your preps, you go buy a one year supply immediately.
You have more salt than the local Department of Transportation, and more honey than an entire bee farm.
LindaG
I'm laughing so hard, tears are coming out of my eyes!!! Gosh, I needed this article right about now. Thank you. And the comments are SO precious. ROFLLMHO
Jenny
Thanks for the laugh, I really needed it today. But, ahem, are you sure about #10, 'cuz that's totally normal, right? And #12, yeah, actually I would run it through the Berkey and drink it, but that's normal, right? RIGHT??? Yes, needed the laugh. Thanks.
MethanP
I learned to save drier lint in Scouting. I still do and its NOT funny!
Free
OMG, I do that too, I'm actually stuffing a huge draft-stopper animal with it; snake-o-tinder!!!
Doesn't look weird, but can totally come in handy at some point.
Free
You consider the neighbors to be a long-term food option…
No, but my flatmate may be! Annoying and a good estimated 300 pounds, should make for a good few days worth of lard X-D
tracy
sure wish i had read this list bfore that rambling on pm i just sent to you. feeling sooooo much beter after actually laughing long and hard over whats going on with … me yes this just about covered it, think ill go now and unbag the seal a meal bags and turn off the scanner. and watch some reruns of dallas that oughta balance it out nicely dont you think?
Rivet
“You actually pronounce the words TEOTWAWKI and SHTF in your every day speech.” <- LMAO!
PerpetualLearner
Loved the list and add ons.
note of caution if you have pets in your house thir hair/dander will be in your lint … being an allergy suffer it was important … now the question is which is more important fire or itching (for me). Just a thought for those who have allergies and have to contend with their particular severity.
One more note now that we have our collection of lint or other shrink wrapable (Food Saver) object do we shrink wrap them????