What area(s) do most preppers lack in?

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by breakingcontact, Apr 4, 2013.


  1. hedger

    hedger Monkey+

    I agree! This is the single biggest deficiency that I have--no Allies. I do not discuss prepping or related issues with anyone that I know. I am slightly paranoid about this because it is true that nobody can know it all. Post-SHTF, over time, my deficiencies would become glaringly obvious.
     
  2. brandonnash

    brandonnash Monkey

    I think most preppers lack knowledge in outdoorsman skills. Basics are what people need to have. How to build a proper fire, how to find and/or grow your own food, water procurement, shelter. Everything else is a bonus.
     
    Beano and Airtime like this.
  3. HappyPuppy

    HappyPuppy Monkey

    The biggest thing I see missing are spices and food preservation products. Many people don't know how to preserve food at all without a refrigeration system. Spices can be used as barter items and help with taste and preservation. ( Vinegar, garlic, cloves, salt etc.)
     
    KAS likes this.
  4. Airtime

    Airtime Monkey+++

    Not so much from experience but observation, especially at other websites, that many preppers lack realistic expectations.

    Examples:
    - The notion of hunting to feed one's family for months, especially if one lives east of the Mississippi. There isn't enough wildlife to support 10s of thousands of novice hunters for months.
    - Romantic visions that life will be like Little House on the Praire or Jeremiah Johnson.
    - Beliefs that technology will somehow just cease to exist for decades
    - Beliefs that going to the range a few times a year will instill a high probability of surviving a fire fight.
    - and the list goes on

    Maybe my expectations are unrealistic too.
    AT
     
    Yard Dart and ColtCarbine like this.
  5. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    How does that song go--" A country boy can survive". Lots of truth to it's lyrics. Have most bases covered well but need to work on solar. A bud and I are talking about building a trailer with enough panels to supply our needs. Not only would it house the panels but a standby genset and ample room for storage also. It will be "foldable" for travel to a BOL.
     
  6. Beano

    Beano Monkey

    I definitely agree, with a caveat. I watched a YouTube video the other day from MainePrepper. He's an ex-mil guy who, while knowledgeable, comes off as a little self-important and condescending to others who do not match his military experiences. In this video, he states that, in the worst SHTF situation involving fighting, most preppers will die. He backs this assertion by stating that we simply don't have the requisite combat experience to fight an insurgency in our country.

    Well, that is true of most people period; even with the conflict occurring for the last dozen years. I've been in the Army for almost fifteen years, and I don't expect to survive a partisan conflict with federal forces who would be better equipped and trained than I. My combat experience came while sitting in a gunner's seat in a tank turret behind almost a meter of armor composed of a classified material, using weapons far and away better and more powerful than who we were fighting. Not to mention the next deployment, riding around in trucks basically just waiting to get blown up, which doesn't count as combat, IMO.

    Acquiring the skills necessary to be successful in a partisan conflict in the US, against federal goon squads with armored vehicles, machine guns, all the ammo in the world, and possibly mercenaries and foreign troops, would require more resources than 99 percent of us have. Hell, I don't even have enough ammo to plink tin cans and paper targets on a Saturday afternoon without breaking into my stash. It would be pretty bloody until a modern day Baron von Steuben-type could come along and glue us together. A week or two at Gunsite (after saving for a year or two) and then a week at Operation East Wind might be the best we could hope to do.

    Your point about hunting is one which I especially agree with. I really wonder, in a situation equal to a Great Depression, what would happen with wildlife numbers.
     
  7. Tracy

    Tracy Insatiably Curious Moderator Founding Member

    Ah.. novice hunters. So many feel that they can kill an animal for food. Sure they can. Anyone can kill. But can they dress, cut, wrap, and store successfully? New hunters, especially left on their own without benefit of veteran instruction, can be wasteful.
     
  8. HappyPuppy

    HappyPuppy Monkey

    MainePrepper is a soldier. I respect his dedication, giving of his knowledge and service. I just personally am not planning for a war type situation. I have enough "hardware" to keep bad guys away.

    I am looking at higher probability situations. For where I am at these include fires, earthquakes , road sides, flash floods and civil unrest. I suspecting to see days without power, water and food shortages.
     
    KAS, Airtime, BTPost and 2 others like this.
  9. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I bought one a couple of years ago Its one of the most useful things I have.
     
    BTPost and kellory like this.
  10. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I think most preppers dont have a realistic view of human nature. Our genetic code is that of a herd animal. In the absence of order tribes will form. This is why I feel that having an extended group of like minded people is necessary. It will be easy to drive off the hoard of looters, A month later the tribes of organized people wont be so easy.
     
    Yard Dart, STANGF150, BTPost and 2 others like this.
  11. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    Divided we fall, united we stand!! Working to defend your way of life on your own will be a monumental task that not many will rise to under full duress and assault. As @STANGF150 said, you need allies of like minded individuals to support each other thru skills, training and resources.
     
  12. Big Kahuna

    Big Kahuna Monkey++

    I believe the biggest lack by far is people skills. In a survival situation you will be faced with all kinds of dysfunctional people: walking wounded, post-traumatic stress disorder, desperate refugees, starving orphans, con artists, pillagers, warlords, sadistic government officials, and control freaks who would like to move in and take over your operation. You will have to be able to face all these with a lot more subtlety than just shooting them all.
     
  13. RamboMoe

    RamboMoe Monkey

    Water (baffles me how people skimp on this) and medical supplies.
     
    tulianr likes this.
  14. techsar

    techsar Monkey+++

    Many have begun the jouney to preparedness, but all too many don't follow through with their plans and aspirations. Plans are of no use if not implemented, and IMHO is where most fall short.
     
    KAS and tulianr like this.
  15. mrkermit

    mrkermit Monkey+

    I'd say primitive farm skills; if the particular SHTF is for the long haul and you've got a family, all preparations are really stopgaps for a new reality. Everyone thinks they'd just live off of deer and squirrels when they'd be gone in the first two to three months, not to mention that every single tree would be chopped down to provide warmth if you're in a colder zone. Animal husbandry would fall in this, too, but that is much harder to deal with if you're currently suburbanite or a city dweller (can't practice it.)

    I'd also agree on people skills. Things go south and all those preps now became viable currency.
     
    KAS likes this.
  16. Illini Warrior

    Illini Warrior Illini Warrior

    I agree with some of the previous postings ..... in regard to the lack of mindset needed to handle the grief and hardship .... the US homeland has been virtually isolated from the horrors of war since the 1860's .... the average citizen has never experienced the wholesale slaughter and destruction they can expect .... no boot camp around to prepare for it .... I expect that many preppers will be checking out much less the totally unprepared sheeple .....
     
  17. Gafarmboy

    Gafarmboy Monkey+++

    I will throw my 2 cents in on this discussion. Whilst I agree with 99% of the above post, the number UNO thing that I have seen lacking in preparers/survivalist is perseverance. Many jump on the survival train and ride for a while, but they jump off when it gets boring, expensive, time consuming or becomes an all-encompassing life style. There are many here on this site that have been doing this for bu-coo years (BT, Tenn Andy and others come to mind). I was a hit and miss type myself while married to an unsupportive ex-wife. Current issue is 100 % with me. Makes the life style a lot easier to live. Coming up on 10 years plus on walking the walk.
    Again just my two cents, for what it is worth
    Gafarmboy
    If you can not protect what you own, you won't own it long.
     
    BTPost likes this.
  18. -06

    -06 Monkey+++

    Settlers lived a tough life w/o any of the comforts of today's society. They whittled out farms, fought off "insurgents", bore their children, fed, and housed them. We are here today because of their tenacity, courage, and boldness. We can and will do the same when the time comes. Lots will not survive--many did not then either--but most will. Harsh lessons are learned quickly and last a lifetime or you die--simple as that. Having the basics-food/water/housing/first aid/protection, and a Bible if you are so inclined will get one through a multitude of valleys. Leave one of those off and you will not make it. Learn to live w/o electricity and all the comforts it holds. Learn to live off the land/garden/crops. Learn that to live you may have to kill. Be able to take care of wounds/etc.. Hopefully we can have like minded neighbors that we can rely upon and they on us.
     
    Mountainman, Silversnake, KAS and 2 others like this.
  19. Mindgrinder

    Mindgrinder Karma Pirate Ninja|RIP 12-25-2017

    Ability to ride a horse.
    Ability to train a dog to hunt.
    Real-feel for how much gardening it takes to feed a family.
    Last but certainly not least....ability to let go of the "normalcy bias" post SHTF.
    MOST people are going to SULK and be NEGATIVE for a GENERATION saying things like "back in the old days...we had an internet..."
     
  20. Yard Dart

    Yard Dart Vigilant Monkey Moderator

    What, there is going to be no internet...ohh the blasphemy!! :eek:
     
    DMGoddess likes this.
survivalmonkey SSL seal        survivalmonkey.com warrant canary
17282WuJHksJ9798f34razfKbPATqTq9E7