Crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists'

Source: AP

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer – Mon May 25, 1:37 pm ET
SAN DIEGO – Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet.

Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the expensive San Diego suburb of La Jolla.

Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as an increasing number of Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hardcore survivalists.

These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: they are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090525/ap_on_re_us/us_economic_survivalists

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I don't blame them at all. I have been collecting some emergency supplies little by little. I expect a lot of civil unrest once the unemployment rate crosses 50%.

Having a couple of secure caches is a way of life out here. A good earthquake and I could be on my own for a month.

How do you get your Internet service? I would love to live in the boonies instead of in town but I work online and need high-speed internet. Do you have satellite or DSL or dial-up?

FROM NASHVILLE. WE ARE NOT PREPARED FOR ANYTHING. I HAVE A SMALL GARDEN. I DO HAVE INTERNET. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT IT.

You won't find people who grow regular, even supplemental gardens and share regularly w/neighbors going into a panic.
They know where their food comes from, are ok with doing w/out and don't panic like a the chicken shit city people do.

It's really funny if you think about it (think Y2K and Bush/Cheney telling people to go buy duct tape and plastic sheeting, along with gas masks).

The number of people that don't know where their food comes from. My sister-in-law, not the brightest, gets wigged out when i fix something with the eggs from our chickens. She does not want to eat anything that does not come from our farm, because it is weird to her. Our eggs look different because the chickens are free range. the yolks are a darker yellow because they are eat a richer diet with more protein and greens.
There are many people the same way, if it does not come from the grocery store, then it is wierd and they won't eat it. Crazy!

I'd laugh more if she weren't raising two food-o-phobes. Her youngest would only eat white things for years 'cause everyone knows "white = clean" and, even worse, the other only wants the things he's been told he can't have. When the older child becomes an adult, I expect to see his first book hit the best seller list - "The Chocolate Diet"

without the caps lock :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Just a friendly suggestion.

at our home when we first moved in. still cant get any internet unless via satelitte.

are the way of life here, pretty confident that my little area of gods country wont turn totally nuts at least for a while.

California where a lot of sensible people - not just "survivalists" -take seriously the officials call for stocking up on disaster supplies for one reason: they've had a few. California is a great place to live except for the
occasional earthquake and wildfire and power failures...

We're in FL so we always have at minimum a one week's supply. Back when we lived in rural VA we typically had 2-4 weeks of supplies because we always grew/canned/froze our own (including generator w/gas). Most of the rural folks we knew had at minimum a month's supply and we could trade for stuff we didn't have if necessary. If anyone ever fell on hard times they would have either some to live on or some to share. When dh was laid off for six months we went for a long time w/out needing much except for milk because of our stock pile and neighbors giving us eggs, corn, etc. This is why I can't wait to move back to a rural area!

Suburbanites stocking up like hard-core survivalists.

Seems to me, when we went through this in the late 70s-mid 80s, the running joke was all the suburbanites stocking up on survival gear and joining militias. In the late fifties, it was suburbanites stocking up on emergency supplies for their backyard bomb shelters.

Does EVERY generation have to go just a little bit crazy?

we were the first generation removed from the country. Mom always had as much of a pantry as she could. I have done the same thing all my life. I look upon it as a savings account-because it really is money in the bank. When I was unemployed for almost a year-I literally lived off my pantry and a garden. That saved my life until I could find work.

Of course I live on the gulf coast and we have hurricanes so that is additional reason to have a cache. And I do. It is not crazy it is prudent.

I'm sure you're cheering on a 50% unemployment rate. Sorry, I can't be a cheerleader for death and destruction.

Yet you cheer on capitalism?

Methinks if you lived in the "third world" you'd have an easier time appreciating the irony of that statement...

I am very glad I live in America, but I have no illusions about how the destitute people who made my Nikes were convinced to do so.

but even I thought about buying a water purifying device
when I read this account about Argentina's economic meltdown.

We now have a LOT of canned goods stashed in the pantry.....



http://www.rapidtrends.com/surving-argentinas-economic-collapse-part-2-3/

From Part 5:

snip>
PART V

A LIST OF THINGS THAT “If you had it to do over again” YOU WOULD GET.

Nomad came up with this one. It’s a good idea because it may help some of you from making the same mistakes I did. There are things you don’t think about until you need them, and then it’s too late.

OK, If I had to do all this from scratch? Say, for example, if I had a 2 year warning, fairy godmother appears one night , all dressed in blue waving a magic wand, saying “ Your country will go down the sewer in 2 years, consider yourself warned dear”

There are several things I would have done differently, and things I would have bought:

Food: I’ll get to the food issue soon enough, but you can never have too much canned, or other long shelf life food. This was probably one of my greatest mistakes, I overlooked the food problem.

I was talking to my wife today while driving, asked her the same question Nomad asked me “what would you do if you could go back in time, before the 2001 crisis”. My wife, though smart, isn’t much into preparedness, but she answered “I’d buy food” in a heartbeat.

“Don’t you remember that you could only buy one small bottle of oil at a time, same with sugar, flour and milk. Don’t you remember all those empty shelves at the supermarket.?”

<unsnip

It really brings to life what it's like for him living during/after an economic crash.

But I really like these parts near the end:

A person is not a survivalist simply because he lives in the woods, wears camo all day long, and always has a rifle hanging from his shoulder and looking for trespassers to shoot. That is not what I want in life, and that is not what I consider a flexible, adaptable person. In my humble opinion, the survivalist can feel as comfortable in the woods as in a cocktail party surrounded by sheep. He can play both games, he can adapt. He’s a person that can smile back at those that think differently and keep his convictions to himself if needed. A person that cannot tolerate the presence of others that are not like him has a limited adaptation capability and therefore is limited when it comes to survival. Maybe he’s great at wildlife survival, but not at the real-world, society surviving. He’s good at the kind of survival required to survive a plane cash in the Amazons, which is great, but he can’t deal with society and other people.

You have to get over the idea of the retreat being the ultimate, final survival answer to a crisis. That’s incorrect. The final, terminal solution is to leave the country or region. And that requires some social skills and savings. Keep that in mind before you spend every single penny you have on the ultimate retreat.

...snip...

Survivalists are often considered as dark fatalists, doomsday worshipers. This is not so, the real survivalist should not be like this.

Negative people will have a hard time dealing with a crisis. It takes a positive, good natured person to make it through.

Know that there are dangers, and situations you can not predict and prepare as best as you can for them. But never forget to live life at it’s fullest.

You and I, we don’t know how long we have on this Earth, so make the best out of it, each passing minute.

A survivalist should not be a pessimist, he should always be positive, happy and enjoying life more than anyone else because he understands that each minute of peace we have is precious and unique, and he never takes it for granted.

The way I see it, the survivalist is a vital, fit, ever curious, good humored person. He’s fit because he takes care of his body, and his body takes care of him, he’s curious, because he thinks that it’s important to learn new things all the time, and he enjoys learning, he has a good humor because he’s sure of himself, and treats others the way he wants to be treated.

That’s how we should behave. Being a survivalist is 90% mental attitude. And even if SHTF does not occur in our life, that attitude makes our life more rich and fulfilling.

There are things in life we can control and others we can’t, the survivalist way of thinking makes sure we control those we can and accept those we can’t.

So, if you have that mentality, either by having a fully independent homestead or simply a few funds, some supplies, a couple of weapons and bug out bags, set that chin a little higher, walk a little bit straighter, no mater if you are a doctor or accountant, trucker or plumber, be proud my friend, because you are a dyeing breed.

You are, without a doubt, a better person.

I live in Southern California, and have kept myself stocked with survival gear for many years.

It is always smart to be prepared no matter what the emergency is.

I have a few guns & some ammo in case of major civil unrest. I think I can make it through almost anything, although if Yellowstone erupts, we're all screwed.

As a long-time acolyte of Max Brooks and the "Zombie Survival Guide." I'm ready for the inevitable zombie Apocalypse. I figure the supplies and training will cross over.

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving A Zombie Attack:

1. Organize before they rise!

2. They feel no fear, why should you?

3. Use your head: cut off theirs.

4. Blades don't need reloading.

5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.

6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.

7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.

8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!

9. No place is safe, only safer.

10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

:-)

I think it was a supermarket/Costco type of place, preferably 1 that sells firearms too. Sealing all entrances was the hardest part, but all the food, soap, toilet paper, etc would be right there. Do I remember it wrong?

They are considered adequate for a low-level outbreak or for a temporary refuge. They are not recommended for anything above a Class 2 outbreak or long-term living.

The supermarkets would work until food/water/weapons run out; is it like Left 4 Dead & you MUST change locations entirely? It would somewhat depend on the un-life span of the zombies, partly.

Are they runners? Are the smart/dumb? Are they decaying at a normal fate or slowly?

A Class 1 outbreak is between 1-50 zombies within a limited area (about 25 mile radius) and lasting between 24 hours and 14 days.

Supermarket occupation depends on the number of the undead, amount of supplies and power and hostile humans (looters, crazies)

The highest it got during the great depression (30% at the most liberal estimates) almost toppled the government.

With the way we have outsoucred hundreds of thousands of jobs and sent manufacturing overseas which employed millions, it really is possible. Add to that an ever increasing number of people entering the workforce AND an ever increasing number of older folks having to stay in the job market & you have a recipe for hyperunemployment. There are just simply not enough jobs for all participants in the workforce. In this current economy, almost everyone is tightening their belts because they are worried if they'll still have a job tomorrow. Retailers and restaurants are going out of business due to this which just increases unemployment. The closing of a lot of the Big 3 plants will cause major job loss too, not only to those workers, but to any worker who has a position that supports auto manufacturing, such as seat suppliers and such. We are in a death spiral right now when it comes to unemployment. Other countries at some point in history have seen 50% unemployment or more, so it's naive to tell yourself that it can't happen here because this is America and it has never happened here in the past.

it might be a good time to get into the survivalist outfitting biz.

:kick:

i tend to think the latter is more of a motivation for most of the suburbanites i know.

so lack of a prep stash would be in the Severe Stupid range around here. When we lived in Florida, we once went a week without drinking water and several days without power, and had we not had preps on hand, we'd have been screwn.

The government suggests that EVERY household be able to be self-sufficient for at least two weeks, IIRC. It appears that some people who used to subscribe to the just-in-time model of food/water/supply inventory are now being a little more proactive, which is a good thing IMO.

One time I was without heat because our steam boiler ran out of water and shut down (safety issue). My husband was gone; I was new to the house and didn't know what the problem was. It was a cold stretch and down in the 0 degree or less range.

I kept the fireplace stoked but it was a lot of working, running up the mountain to get wood, dragging it down, keeping the fire going, etc.

In a matter of only three days I began noticing clothing that once fit was sagging on me. I had the strength and energy to do all the physical work but if I hadn't been doing resistance training, I'm not sure my muscles would have survived that episode.

On another note, I teach a class in group communication. As one of the projects this last semester, students had to work in a group to come up with a survival plan if the electrical grid shut down for six months or more.

After their planning session, we went from group to group to hear what their plan was. I knew it wasn't going to be good when the first group said their plan was to go to Costco.

For those of you who haven't heard, there is very credible scientific evidence that earth could be struck with the effects of a solar storm that could wipe out the power system in some parts of the world.

When I told the class this and showed them the reports from the various gov't or scientific groups that track this sort of thing, one student asked how much notice we would get on the storm.

Dumbfounded, I asked if he meant the utility company would notify them. He responded that he thought maybe the solar storm would be announced in notice that came with the utility bill.


Cher

I am looking for that 1970 4-wheel drive pick-up that is still in good condition, and starting to stockpile food! Seriously, it is a good book and worth a summer read. I am a slow reader and finished it in a couple of days.

I have dry and canned stores that can feed two people for two months, maybe three if it's stretched out a bit. Have the ability and supplies to purify water, keep twenty extra gallons of gas tucked away and rotated, have seed stores and gardens already set up and going anyway because it's a hobby. I live out about 12 miles from the closest small town, if things go bad all the action will be in the cities at first as they are burned and looted but that will spread out into the country as well. I have rifles, shotguns, and handguns with a nice stockpile of ammunition and parts, I'll say a prayer for the unprepared.

AP A 54-year-old fire protection contractor in California is stocking up on survival gear like food and water for his family. He's part of a growing number of Americans spooked by the spiraling economy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQhTUEONv0M