I have been a prepper all my adult life.
It started with watching Terry Nation's never bettered BBC TV series 'Survivors' in late 1970's.
I grabbed a copy of Richard Mabey's Food For Free book and I was up and running.
In various ways, and to various levels, I have kept on prepping ever since.
Over the last decade or so, as I have got older and the earth has got rougher, my prepping has been accelerating at an ever faster pace.
Moving to our homestead at the turn of the century was a hyper-catalyst on our prepping journey.
The independence, the isolation and the insulation that our homestead provides is a critical key on our path to self-reliance.
There is the convergence and the divergence at the heart of it all.
On the one hand we strive for self-reliance and self-sufficiency in these 'normal times' just so we can STICK IT TO THE MAN as some would say.
But underlying and underpinning our quest to off-grid our lives in full @wwf ungrip style is the desire to be ready and to be resilient for when the 'normal times' become the 'bad times'.
What are the 'Bad Times'?
I use the term 'Bad Times' as a family-friendly euphemism for SHTF - When the Sh*t Hits the Fan.
Bad Times can come in many guises and in many levels of severity.
Like all good preppers I endeavour to prep for all eventualities, but like all realistic preppers I know I can't.
That does not mean rolling over and turning the other.
It means doing the best with what you've got.
Pennsif's Personal SHTF Scale (PPSS)
I am sure someone, some body or some worthy institution has codified this better than me but I have my own personal 'scale of threat' that I prep for.
I'll aim for the big #5, but if in reality I can nail down #3, or even #4 at a push, I know I'll have prepped my prepping best.
| Threat Level | Threat Area | Examples |
| 0 | Family | house fire, death of immediate family member, loss of main source of income, major illness |
| 1 | Local | major flood, explosion at a chemical factory |
| 2 | Regional | widespread flooding, terrorist dirty bomb, severe earthquake |
| 3 | National | extreme weather destruction across the country, multiple terrorist attacks in several cities, government collapse, cyber attack on the electricity grid |
| 4 | Continental | outbreak of war with Russia in Europe, major pandemic, terrorist detonation of a nuclear bomb |
| 5 | Global | major meteor strike, worldwide pandemic, outbreak of nuclear war between USA and Russia / China |
Everyone, everywhere should, one hopes, be minded to take care of Level 0 possibilities.
Ideally responsible families might make some provision for Level 1 threats.
Beyond that you are beginning to earn your prepper stripes.
I'm all in and shooting for #5.
Prepping for the really big one is a mental challenge of the first order.
It's all risk and reward, opportunity costs, getting your priorities right, hoping, praying and thinking it through.
The common voice I am sure will retort "that ain't going to ever happen...".
But it might.
A level 5 event is not impossible.
It may not be that likely, but if you sit back and think a while it is not too difficult to string together the news headlines that would take us there...
That is why I prep.
While you are here check out these to see what else I do :
The Alternative Lifestyle Show - Friday 6 July 2018 [recording]
A Dollar A Day charitable giving project : June 2018 - summary of donations received and given out
Pennsif's Progress #622 - Security in Numbers - can we build a community on our homestead
My Life in 8 Songs - Thursday 5 July - with @asonintrigue, @isaria, @wolfnworbeikood & @fatherearth
SteemRadio - schedule of all the steem radio shows - week beginning 2 July 2018
Pennsif's Sustainability Curation Digest for MSP - week ending 1 July 2018
[ photo by Jordy Meow on Unsplash ]
I think I'm prepared for a Level 2 event. You seem like you are doing better than that.
I keep on trying ... but pretty sure it will never be enough.
Host of The Alternative Lifestyle Show on MSP Waves Radio.
Editor of the Weekly Schedule of Steem Radio Shows.
Founder of the A Dollar A Day charitable giving project.
The higher up the scale one goes, the more we will need our tribes. It is our relationships with others that will help us get through anything of the levels you mentioned. The knowledge, wisdom and experience of the members of that tribe will all contribute to the survival of that tribe. During an emergency is NOT the time to be working on those relationships. With that said, emergencies tend to result in masks coming off and that is when we see the true colors of the individuals within our tribe. It is a tough scenario to negotiate through. Even for myself, I am not ready for many of the levels you speak. I also choose to have faith in spirit and be guided during any such scenarios. We have worked hard to quiet ourselves so that we can listen. If that does not work, then I will have a good death. I'm also prepared for that too! I don't want to stop living out of fear. I still want to experience life and balance that with death.
Well written @wwf! Such a balanced comment
I have learned through the years that you can prepare for everything but there will always be a shortfall. I am saying that not to disagree but to reinforce that sometimes there are things in prepping that are beyond our control. Every level you mentioned is doable but it is a hard thing to have all bases covered of it is not in your sight picture.
I have been thinking along these lines for a long time as well. What I experienced from the rainbow gathering is when you are prepared you have the ability to help many others. It comes to a point of picking making the choices of those that you bring into your tribe in a real scenario. I think if you help others in your community to become more resilient it will make everything much easier. It's start's with yourself though and becoming as resilient as possible.
I'm probably at a Level 4 - My preps are not quite at Apocalyptic Level (Can you really prepare for that without losing quality of everyday life?). My preps are robust and i am securely at around the 90 day self sufficiency mark... Beyond that my skills will have to come into effect.
For me though, as long as my residence survives the initial event, then it comes down to time, endurance and the desperation of others.
CONGRATULATIONS!!
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Your entire adult life!? Wow. It's amazing how some people just seem called to it. I remember having these apocalyptic feelings as a child. But then I've always had a vivid imagination so perhaps it was that! This is sound advice. Necessary for people to get their heads around any eventuality....and then start preparing