how old is too old to be a prepper?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by sunshine, Nov 23, 2010.


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  1. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    I came to the conclusion decades ago that it wasn't possible to prepare for every possible bad thing that could happen to a person. Because of that, it makes no sense to worry about those things. Preparing is really a state of mind. It begins by recognizing and understanding what the most logical and potential SHTF situations you will be likely to face. Those are the ones to prep for. If you feel confident in your mind that you are capable of riding through the most common major problems you are likely to face, the probability is high that should something more serious arise, you will get through it just fine with what you already have.

    Where most preppers make a mistake is trying to prepare for every type of situation they can think of. The reality is simply that for the most part, surviving all of the SHTF situations you read about have the same basic elements that need to be prepared for. For each person this will be a little different but if you cover the basics, you're well on your way to making prepping a natural way of life for you and yours.
     
  2. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++

    I totally agree. Have seen too many people who are so busy preparing for the end of the world that they don't have time to take care of today. Consequently they create more problems for themselves and really aren't prepared at all.

    I have seen guys who have hundreds of dollars worth of surplus military gear but no way to feed or house the hordes of people they have invited out to their place to live when the SHTF ... I don't care what the commando you bought all that gear from told you ... outfitting an army of fellas in gear does nothing to further your cause if you can't feed them.

    But then again things that require effort (like gardening, caring for livestock, putting by) are never as much fun as buying guns and ammo ...
     
  3. BAT1

    BAT1 Cowboys know no fear

    185 yrs old.
     
  4. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    I have to admit that I would much prefer hunting and fishing to chopping wood for the winter BUT, I don't like being cold either so I do both. Gardening and taking care of livestock are neutral issues for us. Having been brought up on a farm and having always had gardens and livestock around, dealing with them is just part of our natural makeup. We like dealing with these things simply because we find it easier to like doing it and being content than fussing about it and not being content. I figure it's just the way the good Lord made us.
     
  5. BadgeBunny

    BadgeBunny Monkey++

    We have what I call pseudo-survivalists around here. This is generally how it goes ... They own a pretty sizable piece of land they got from an inheritance. Move back out into the country, lease the land to someone else who works it. Buy a calf and a few chickens, start a garden they only half-ass take care of. Then they start recruiting "like-minded individuals" ... Generally speaking the most work towards being self-sufficient any of them do is getting together for the weekend to drink beer and sit around the fire pit talking about how to blockade off the county roads that lead to their particular piece of property.

    Soon you hear about the calf dying from scours because they didn't provide it shelter or proper diet ... the chickens are all coyote food and the garden is full of bugs. BUT they have MREs, rucksacks, guns and ammo out the whahoozaah ...

    God forbid you ask about anything substantial ... like long-term food, shelter or water ... YIKES ... trouble-making female ... That always happens when you let a girl in ... They start talking nonsense ... [aiw]

    I'm with you ... simple is better. Hard work hasn't killed me yet and truth be told, has kept me outta trouble more than once ... to each their own, I guess.
     
  6. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    That's scary but not surprising. I've seen the type and we have some in our neck of the woods also. Most of us old timers don't associate much with them any more than we have to. I personally see them as more of a danger than a help when things go sour. For the most part, they don't understand or really want to, nor will they probably ever understand what is really going on. And they wonder why so many of us are kind of loners.

    Never had a problem with someone asking me a question. Don't have any problem with those who simply are slow to understand some things. I do have a problem with just plain stupidity in those who are unwilling to listen to common sense.
     
  7. Wild Trapper

    Wild Trapper Pirate Biker

    I'm 64, my wife is ah, younger. Most of my family on mom's side lived to 90 +. Don't know where that would put me, but we do prep in the way our parents and grandparents did, by stocking up, growing a lot of our own and living simple, well simpler than most people in this day and age.

    Sunshine, your DH needs a dose of reality, if you ask me.
     
  8. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    We are also in our 60's and both my wife's and my parents had long lives (late 80's & early 90's). I'm not sure if that is any kind of guarantee or anything but it's nice to think on. We both were taught and lived prepping and living simple from childhood so it's no surprised that we have lived our entire life that way. For us, this whole prepping concept is just a normal way of life. I can see how it can be a major adjustment for those not raised that way or who haven't lived that way most of their lives.

    For many, the old adage of "It's harder to unlearn something than it is to learn something new" probably is very active. So far, I haven't seen anyone who truly accepts a real preparedness life style regret doing so once they get the hang of it. In fact, most of those I've talked to wish they had done it much earlier.
     
  9. bravo61actual

    bravo61actual Monkey+

    i am 32 and have always been a prepper same with my 26yo wife. well prep till death. atleast the kids will be well stocked
     
  10. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Humbly suggest the obvious, teach them to prep for themselves. Living off what you leave for them might not make it. [dunno]
     
  11. bravo61actual

    bravo61actual Monkey+

    in the process
     
  12. Pixie_moon83

    Pixie_moon83 Monkey+

    Never too old

    Its my belief that you are never to old to prepare for any event. Preparation is a part of daily life. Whether preparing the turkey to cook, or preparing a BOB for a possible apocalypse situation. The future is uncertain and it is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I am a hoarder and packrat by nature and proud of it. As the statement above is one that I live by. If something happens, then I am prepared. If not, then I can die a happy person, knowing that, had I needed it, it was there. I am only 26 and believe fully in preparing for whatever events the future may hold. No, my friends, you are never too young or old to prep.
     
  13. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    [winkthumb]
     
  14. bravo61actual

    bravo61actual Monkey+

    NICE
     
  15. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    Pixie, don't ever feel bad about being a Packrat. I've been a dyed in the wool Packrat for over 60 years. I even have a 55 gal drum of bent nails and another one of misc screws to prove it. The nail thing is kind of a left over from my childhood days on the farm. When you are a kid and it's raining and you can't get out into the fields, you had a choice of either sharpening saws or straightening bent nails.
     
  16. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    My parents grew up during the depression that their parents endured. My grandparents and parents never threw anything out. I believe it came from living through the depression era. My dad's workshop is filled with old cigar boxes with every rail, screw, washer, etc one could ever want. I used to refer to it as our personal hardware store. Dad even had an old ammo can filled with springs from WWII army cots. Until he died, my granddad would find old bicycles, rebuild them then either sell or give them away. He ever bought parts, just used what he had or could find.

    Growing up in such an environment taught me to live frugally and I think that my generation, in general, understands that "new" isn't always better, just newer, more expensive, and of a lesser quality - except computers.
     
  17. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    RightHand, it sounds like my workshop right now. You're right about newer not being better. Doesn't seem like there is much pride taken in much of what is produced today.
     
  18. Wild Trapper

    Wild Trapper Pirate Biker

    Took the word right out of my fingers. EXCEPT, in my workshop it's coffee cans. There are people here younger than some of my coffee cans.
     
  19. azprospector

    azprospector Happy Desert Rat

    I have some wooden crates and crocks that were my grandparents. Maybe I should start calling the workshop the Antique shop. There is certainly a lot of history out there. I guess that is alright, after all I'm getting close to the age that I could be classified as historic.
     
  20. RightHand

    RightHand Been There, Done That RIP 4/15/21 Moderator Moderator Emeritus Founding Member

    Yes indeed, there are many coffee cans and old paint cans.

    I even have an old cast iron shoe mold that was my granddad's. And a couple stills.

    My granddad bought all that is now mine during the depression. He was a carpenter and first built a fieldstone cottage (now my garage) that he and my grandmother with my mom and her brother lived in while he was clearing land. He set up a sawmill, dragged the cut trees down from the forest, and milled all of his own materials to build their farm. When my folks married in 1938, he parceled off some land and did the same to build them a house as a wedding gift. That is where I now live. Every board in this house came from our own property, rock maple. The house is old, drafty, sagging (somewhat like me) but I am so connected to it and the land I don't see any of that. I only see "home" and I am it's stewart.
     
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