“The last few years have taught me one thing:
“We’re all preppers now.
“That’s how one of my readers recently put it. He’s right. Everyone used to make fun of preppers. We considered them a fringe movement. We stereotyped them as loonies who hid canned soup under their beds and whispered about government takeovers. Now we’re turning to them for advice on how to get ready for floods, fires, and storms. Over the last few years, we’ve learned that the super rich are all prepping for the collapse of civilization. They even trade doomsday plans. It used to sound nuts to keep a bugout bag with you. When I heard that phrase the first time, I thought, “Who does this guy think he is, Jason Bourne?”
“Now I have one.
“I subscribe to r/preppers. I visit sites like The Provident Prepper. I think about simple things I could do to prepare. And you know what? It’s not crazy. As I mentioned last time, my town did get hit by a tornado. Prepping isn’t hard. In fact, the hardest part is probably overcoming the self-doubt and social stigma. Once you do that, it’s not that difficult to figure out what you need.
“Sure, some preppers go overboard. They prepare for remote threats like super volcanoes, and they don’t do it very well. Some of them are just looking for excuses to pile up guns and ammo. They panic buy.
“That’s not real prepping.
“Real preppers are some of the most practical people you’ll ever meet. Prepping isn’t about hoarding toilet paper and bottled water. That’s amateur. Real prepping means paying attention to the world around you. It means learning how to take care of yourself and your family during an emergency.
“Prepping is the opposite of panic.
“We should all be doing it…”
“Preppers also advise building a small community where you are. Honestly, I’m struggling with that in the wake of the pandemic. I know in the long run it’s going to play an important role. I’m working on it. You probably shouldn’t freak your neighbors out with all your doomsday predictions, but nobody’s going to call you crazy for wanting to plan for things like tornadoes or earthquakes. One plan tends to cover a range of scenarios. You don’t have to invite your neighbors over for dinner every weekend. You can just share contact info. Figure out what they’re good at. Tell them what you’re good at. We participate in a buy-nothing group. We support each other, and it requires barely any physical contact…”
“We spent a while researching water storage and found those to be the industry standard, and the most reliable.
“The CDC has guidelines for keeping stored water.
“It makes sense.”
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