Doomsday Preppers

[jus_young]

A new show on National Geographic starting now on those that think the end of the world is not far away. Just switching it on now so could be interesting :zombie-fighting:

[Bernie]

Looks like the usual junk, just bad enough to keep you glued to it, and yet leave you feeling like it was a complete waste of time and really; you'd have been better off carving a toothpick in the back garden.

I am learning to hate TV these days. I hope I'm wrong and it's actually good. (Who am I kidding? I know it's going to be a freak show.)

[NeedABrew]

Verdict? I was going to have a look but completely forgot it was on.

[luresalive]

That guy who was out foraging and demonstrating the hand drill he carried a pack like us, dressed like us, wore a hat like us, and knew medicinal plant use like us..are we really that different? Prepping will probably end up being the new bushcraft.

[jus_young]

:guns:

What can I say...?

Bernie, you are not far wrong. Gun proof shelters, years of food supplies, escape routes to alternative hideaways, enough guns and ammo to start a war, the list goes on. It was quite amusing in some respects and almost rather scaryingly true in others as some of the things that were discussed could well happen.

But then again, would you want to spend your life preparing for something that may well not happen or just spend your life enjoying what you do have until your time comes?

[AL...]

90% of those folks will be the first ones hit by roving bands.
Not how I would like to live . I love bushcrafting finding/hunting to feed my wife and kids and those round about me.
Its amasing when I take home a Roe buck everyone I know seem to come over for a wee visit lol so what would it be like if I was to have 3 years worth of food in the house? haha

Cheers
AL

[GalaxyRider]

The couple with the compound made of shipping containers had clearly watched too many re-runs of Mad Max. I wouldn't be surprised if they have trained their kids to use a razor sharp boomerang :rolleye:

[JEEP]

Some level of general preparedness is never a bad thing. But, actually preparing for a WROL situation by building "secret lairs" and stocking them with food and weapons is, imho, to the rather extreme side.

But, what is a prepper? Personally I keep enough canned/dry food to feed me and Maria for approx. 14 days, a few large boxes of candles, a few (ok, quite a few) stoves + fuel for them, in our aparment at all time. There is at least one powerfull flashlight and a few knives in every room. I learn and practice bushcraft skills and I have loads of camping/hiking gear. I always keep a couple of plankets, a propane stove w. a small pot, a folding shovel, multitool and a small axe/hammer/prybar thingie in our car. I always carry a multitool, a firestriker, a powerfull flashlight and a compass on my person. Does that make me a prepper - or just prepared?

Personally I do not se myself as a prepper, for one very important reason - I do not expect (or, as the case seems to be with some preppers, look forward to) a WROL situation. I just like to be prepared for power-outs, the car breaking down in the snow, food shortage due to strikes/lockouts in the transportation sector (has happended before), etc.

[Whistle]

I'm with you Jeep , careful but not fanatical ... Who could afford it really ?

Cheers Whistle

[fish]

same here jeep,we always keep 2 months food in,and quite often it has been needed from time to time.some time ago i buried 5 containers for bug out scenario and are dotted across the southwest and wales,mostly they contain equipment and small quantity of full and half sovereigns (had a well paid job at the time!),of course if i die and haven't needed them some lucky archeologist will be very happy to dig them up in the future,which if you watch time team or follow the archeology news you will see are often found from the earliest times through the roman withdrawal and on through other turbulent times in our nations past.personally ide rather prep and not need it than not and wish to god i had!

[jus_young]

Its not the first time this subject has come up on the forum, and no doubt it won't be the last, and its generally the view that being the shrafters we are that we do prep to some degree through the nature of our interests. I suppose the bit that got me was the extreme that these people went too. Cooking eight meals a day so that the stores of food continued to be increasingly stocked, shooting at your own home to make sure that its safe...

Folks have either got to be really convinced that there is something to worry about or theres something to worry about these folks!

[JonnyP]

Looks like the usual junk, just bad enough to keep you glued to it, and yet leave you feeling like it was a complete waste of time and really; you'd have been better off carving a toothpick in the back garden.

I am learning to hate TV these days. I hope I'm wrong and it's actually good. (Who am I kidding? I know it's going to be a freak show.)
Not had a telly for 5 years now, and I do not miss itl. If there is anything interesting you want to watch, it can been seen on the internet the next day.. Only thing I do miss is live sport. I would of liked to have seen more of the Olympics, and things like F1 etc, but I love listening to sport on the radio.

Prepping.. We prep.. We prep for just in case, we prep for breaking down in the car, and power cuts and stuff like that, but we really do think our way of life is very fragile, so we like to prepare and learn, just in case it all goes Pete Tong. We find it fun, though we have no disillusions how bad it would get if the poo did hit the fan in any way..

[Silverback]

seen it first hand, ok not big SHTF stuff but 4 days without access to 'basics' for some was harsh. Then there were those living in caravans up to 18 months after some of the incidents....

so I prep, and I'm not ashamed to do so

[Bernie]

I expect most of us are in your camp Jeep - we're prepared for the short term outages. I've got nothing against people who take that to the next level; or apparently far far further than just the next level. My bone is with the way these things and the people doing them is portrayed on TV. It seems programme makers always seek make it seem like a peek at the nut cases living amongst us; a chance for Joe average and his average wife and their 2.4 children to sit and be spoon fed partial truths that makes a TV programme that lets them feel righteous about being in the middle of society rather than on the edge.

I might be a little too tired. It has been a very long day. Did I say I'm starting to hate TV? I'd rather watch Mears on YouTube again than waste my time flicking through all the channels over and over in the hope of finding something thought provoking or educational.

[fish]

I might be a little too tired. It has been a very long day. Did I say I'm starting to hate TV? I'd rather watch Mears on YouTube again than waste my time flicking through all the channels over and over in the hope of finding something thought provoking or educational.

amen! been doing just that today,rays wild food.

[JEEP]

My experience with the prepper community comes mainly from watching various YouTube videos posted by (at least self-proclaimed) preppers. From these videos I get the following impression of the average prepper:

1. Most preppers focus more on stocking up on guns and ammunition than storing food/preparing means of growing/producing food on a long term basis. In a long term WROL situation a gun will not help you to get food, as locally available game animals will get hunted to more or less extinction quite fast (this is something you often see in Africa). I can understand the idea of wanting to be able to defend you family, yourself and your property from looters - but the money spent on a car. 15 and a semi automatic pistol for each family member, could be spend more wisely on agricultural tools, various seeds, means of pood preservarion, etc.

2. Some preppers are quite far out on the right wing of the political scale - to a degree where some of them more or less displays an actual fondness for the perspectives of a WROL situation. It seem that a lot of the harscore preppers would actually prefer a genuine WROL situation over the current situation in the US. This, for me at least, is rather unnerving and cannot understand how anyone could think that - especially people with small children.

3. Many preppers display a strong fondness for military/tactical gear. Though I can understand the functionality aspect of said gear, looking like a "trained professional" in a WROL situation has a lot more disadvanteges than advantages imho. Better to look like a normal Joe Average, than look like someone with recourses and knowledge to leech on or - which can be even worse - look like a "leader" to rally around. Looking "para-military" will also be a great disadvantage (and possible quite dangerous) once authorities arrive to install law and order again.

4. It seems that quite a few preppers rely on stocking up on fuel and food - rather than leaning and equipping for producing, growing and gathering food and other essentials. This may be fine for short term WROL situations, but for a long term situation, it is not enough. In my book a combination og stocking up and learning/equipping should be the ideal.

5. Most preppers seem to be working on basis of a "every man/family for him-/themselves" idea - you rarely see prepping videos focusing on community building. This is something I do not understand, as knowing that your neighbour is prepared and on the same page as you in case of a WROL situation is one of the biggest assets out there. The most important advantage of this is of course you being able to share and divide labour, share recourses and knowledge and watch each others backs - but almost equally important is this; you now know that you neighbour is an asset to you and your family, not at possible leecher or thread. If you have no idea what to expect from you community in a WROL situation, you are somwhat likely to succumb to paranoia in the first days of the event, something that may very well lead to unnecessary grief and possible bloodshed.

[JonnyP]

My experience with the prepper community comes mainly from watching various YouTube videos posted by (at least self-proclaimed) preppers. From these videos I get the following impression of the average prepper:

1. Most preppers focus more on stocking up on guns and ammunition than storing food/preparing means of growing/producing food on a long term basis. In a long term WROL situation a gun will not help you to get food, as locally available game animals will get hunted to more or less extinction quite fast (this is something you often see in Africa). I can understand the idea of wanting to be able to defend you family, yourself and your property from looters - but the money spent on a car. 15 and a semi automatic pistol for each family member, could be spend more wisely on agricultural tools, various seeds, means of pood preservarion, etc.

2. Some preppers are quite far out on the right wing of the political scale - to a degree where some of them more or less displays an actual fondness for the perspectives of a WROL situation. It seem that a lot of the harscore preppers would actually prefer a genuine WROL situation over the current situation in the US. This, for me at least, is rather unnerving and cannot understand how anyone could think that - especially people with small children.

3. Many preppers display a strong fondness for military/tactical gear. Though I can understand the functionality aspect of said gear, looking like a "trained professional" in a WROL situation has a lot more disadvanteges than advantages imho. Better to look like a normal Joe Average, than look like someone with recourses and knowledge to leech on or - which can be even worse - look like a "leader" to rally around. Looking "para-military" will also be a great disadvantage (and possible quite dangerous) once authorities arrive to install law and order again.

4. It seems that quite a few preppers rely on stocking up on fuel and food - rather than leaning and equipping for producing, growing and gathering food and other essentials. This may be fine for short term WROL situations, but for a long term situation, it is not enough. In my book a combination og stocking up and learning/equipping should be the ideal.

5. Most preppers seem to be working on basis of a "every man/family for him-/themselves" idea - you rarely see prepping videos focusing on community building. This is something I do not understand, as knowing that your neighbour is prepared and on the same page as you in case of a WROL situation is one of the biggest assets out there. The most important advantage of this is of course you being able to share and divide labour, share recourses and knowledge and watch each others backs - but almost equally important is this; you now know that you neighbour is an asset to you and your family, not at possible leecher or thread. If you have no idea what to expect from you community in a WROL situation, you are somwhat likely to succumb to paranoia in the first days of the event, something that may very well lead to unnecessary grief and possible bloodshed.
This is teotwawki preppers you are talking about Jeep.. If society did break down then a gun will be your best friend. Most people live in the towns and cities. Can you imagine what will happen to the people who invested in seeds and tools instead of guns..? The bad people of this world will suddenly become the bosses and rulers and they will take what they want with force, and shooting any opposition will not be a problem to them.
Food will soon run out in the town and cities, and that is when survivors will start to spread into the countryside to find farm animals. Nowhere will be safe, and anyone who thinks they can go and hide in the woods and be nice and safe, is wrong in their thoughts (imo).
I personally think our wildlife will be better off in these circumstances. With much less people around to go hunting, and without the cars on the road (which kills so much of the wildlife) I reckon the animals will do better and for those in the know, it will be good food to be had.
Everyone will need eyes in the back of their heads 24/7.

I may be totally wrong on this and would love to hear others thoughts because I find it a fascinating subject :0)

[GalaxyRider]

It's on again, and I have come to the decision they are completely and absolutely insane. For a start they are claiming that 2 storeys of shipping containers are earthquake proof because they can be stacked 8 high. Well the Yukoshima Nuclear plant was way tougher than that, and it's shagged now.

I also notice they have not packed 20 years of bog roll!:shocked:

As for Jeeps notion of having 'several knives in each room', why on earth would you do that? Do you live in a Bourne movie?:zombie-fighting:

On the upside I am now on a hunt across the South West for a box full of beans, knives and gold:wink:

[JEEP]

I collect knives, I have them hanging on my walls all over the apartment :)

[CanadianMike]

As for Jeeps notion of having 'several knives in each room', why on earth would you do that?

How many hundred knives does Jakob own? Dude, he lives in an apartment, one room full of knives means the rest of his kit has to be stored elsewhere!! Lol

BTW, haven't seen this show yet, if on youtube I'll give it a boo, but I wonder when our friend Mountainous will have a series of prepper videos.......

[AL...]

How many hundred knives does Jakob own? Dude, he lives in an apartment, one room full of knives means the rest of his kit has to be stored elsewhere!! Lol

BTW, haven't seen this show yet, if on youtube I'll give it a boo, but I wonder when our friend Mountainous will have a series of prepper videos.......
LORD SPARE US FROM THAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :zombie-fighting:
lol

Cheers
AL

[CanadianMike]

Fine, I shall look myself...... then post results!!!! MUHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!!!

[alvino78]

Verdict? I was going to have a look but completely forgot it was on.
catch up tv?

[Metal mug]

but I wonder when our friend Mountainous will have a series of prepper videos....... I was reading this thread and getting worried that he hadn't been mentioned. :D

[jus_young]

Well, I met a real life actual proper prepper today. Without going into any real detail and giving the game away, it was quite a place! Enough fuel to fill my house (no joke!), pollytunnels and animals for food, workshops, pretty much anything you would need except for the job that I went there for but that will soon be sorted.

Watched the second episode tonight and I am beginning to think I should stop watching it. Some of their scenarios are starting to sound a little too feasable.

[Silverback]

Watched the second episode tonight and I am beginning to think I should stop watching it. Some of their scenarios are starting to sound a little too feasable.

More than feasible.....floods 2007 some people living in caravans 18 months later, snow 2010, people cut off for 3 to 7 days, floods this year, power cut in North East this April 60,000 homes without power for 72 hours.....rather than zombies, nuclear bombs and end of world stuff theres the simple 72 hours following a major incident just so you can have the basics.

In reality supermarkets run out of stuff within 24/48 hours if there are no deliveries getting through. If no carers can get to patients, people cant get to hospital things soon get a little difficult, difficult by our pampered western standards anyway

[fish]

anyone who thinks they can go and hide in the woods and be nice and safe, is wrong in their thoughts (imo).

I may be totally wrong on this and would love to hear others thoughts because I find it a fascinating subject :0)

it worked for the Beilski brothers in WW2, The four Bielski brothers, Tuva, Alexander (also known as "Zus"), Asael and Aron Bielski managed to flee to the nearby Naliboki Forest after their parents and other family members were killed .

[NeedABrew]

it worked for the Beilski brothers in WW2, The four Bielski brothers, Tuva, Alexander (also known as "Zus"), Asael and Aron Bielski managed to flee to the nearby Naliboki Forest after their parents and other family members were killed .

Was going to bed but can't resist! ;-)

I suppose it depends on numbers really. I'm sure a small group could manage if they were mentally prepared for survival. The problem comes when larger numbers try it I would have thought.

How many acres would be needed to support a single human for a year?

[fish]

wild woodland i bet a few acres,farmed i would need 1/2 acre.

[JonnyP]

it worked for the Beilski brothers in WW2, The four Bielski brothers, Tuva, Alexander (also known as "Zus"), Asael and Aron Bielski managed to flee to the nearby Naliboki Forest after their parents and other family members were killed .

We do not have any huge forests left though.. I suppose that with a dwindling population you will have more of a chance of hiding somewhere, but I do not think I for one would ever feel safe. In time the forests would grow back and there will be loads of hiding places, but there will always be a risk of attack me thinks..

John Seymour (author of The Complete Book Of Self Sufficiency) reckons 1 acre of land in needed as a minimum, but that might be for more than one person, I can't remember. Crops need to be rotated and sometimes land needs to rest so you need enough. It all depends on wether you will be farming or just surviving though.

[Silverback]

We do not have any huge forests left though..

Decent sized ones in Wales, Cumbria and the North East

[FishyFolk]

In October 1944 the German occupation force in Norway withdrew from the northern front facing Murmansk, giving up all of Finnmark and the northern part Troms county. As they withdrew they burned every house, building and outhouse, and forcibly "evacuated" the civillian population. Not a chicken house or a shed was left standing.

25000 people, 1/3 of the population chose to not comply with the evacuation order, risking execution if caught they hid in caves, and improvised shelters, and several hundred hid in a tunnel in an iron mine, until rescued by Soviet forces as they advanced. Other where found and rescued by Norwegian police troops that had been in training in "neutral" Sweden. But many had to hide until the German surrender to the resistance forces on the 8th of May 1945. They survived horrendous conditions. But of the 25000 people, only some 300 lost their lives.

So it is possible for large anmmount of people to survive harsch conditions and hide....but then Finnmark is a fairly easy area to lose yourself in...

Finnmark burns
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/81/Kirkenes_burning.jpg/300px-Kirkenes_burning.jpg

The tunnel people are liberated by Soviet forces

http://img.nrk.no/img/420096.jpeg

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=no&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fno.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTvangseva kueringen_og_nedbrenningen_av_Finnmark_og_Nord-Troms

[AL...]

It is amasing what folks can do for themselves when pushed to it.

Cheers
AL

[GalaxyRider]

wild woodland i bet a few acres,farmed i would need 1/2 acre.

I think you would need way more than that. The Preppers in the show are also preparing themselves for 'invasion' as it were. Or at least escaping the Un-Prepped hordes. So, to avoid detection, live, survive and be successful you would need miles and miles miles of forest. You would be found within an hour in half an acre, half a day tops in an acre. To ensure safety you would need Kielder Forest minimum.

Then you have to take into account, which only one had done in the first episode (I am watching the second tonight), bringing along friends, family and other hangers on. You certainly could not flourish and be secret in an acre with a couple of kids!

[Kernowek Scouser]

Whilst dosing in front of the TV in the early hours of this morning, I was roused into a state of semi coherence by a trailer for a one off British episode of Doomsday Preppers.

I have not be able to find any reference to it in the TV guide, but if memory serves the trailer stated it is on this Wednesday at 8pm.

Hopefully, this trailer was real and not an imagined phantom episode resulting from the mix of very potent scrumpy and a particularly dodgy kebab.

If I find any more details or an actually link, I will post it here.

[Silverback]

Hopefully, this trailer was real and not an imagined phantom episode resulting from the mix of very potent scrumpy and a particularly dodgy kebab.



yes it was real Colin I saw it too

[alvino78]

got to say i have quite enjoyed this show and there are some sensible points to it ( althought i dont think an arsenal is that necessary lol) last weeks best bits was what i thought the end of the series but if there is an english one this week i shall look forward to our take on necessary items!!!!!!

[Kernowek Scouser]

I'm glad I wasn't imagining it.

As my Google Fu is weak today, any ideas when it is on?

[paul standley]

same here jeep,we always keep 2 months food in,and quite often it has been needed from time to time.some time ago i buried 5 containers for bug out scenario and are dotted across the southwest and wales,mostly they contain equipment and small quantity of full and half sovereigns (had a well paid job at the time!),of course if i die and haven't needed them some lucky archeologist will be very happy to dig them up in the future,which if you watch time team or follow the archeology news you will see are often found from the earliest times through the roman withdrawal and on through other turbulent times in our nations past.personally ide rather prep and not need it than not and wish to god i had!

Hey Fish, do you want me to check if your sovereigns in Wales are still there, just pm me the locations :-)

[NS40]

It's on Nat Geo at 9pm tonight folks.

[delboy]

I wouldn`t have minded watching th UK one but only got freeview unfortunately here`s a link to the NG website with a few details on the episode though. http://natgeotv.com/uk/preppers-uk-surviving-armageddon

[paul standley]

There are a couple of opportunities to see it repeated...

EPISODE GUIDE Series 1


Preppers UK: Surviving Armageddon
Join the diverse group of Britons preparing for the end of the world, from a survival expert in Surrey to an author hiding out in Slovakia.


Next Showing:
Wednesday 28 November at 10:00PM - National Geographic Channel



Repeats:
Thursday 29 November at 4:30AM - National Geographic Channel





Thursday 29 November at 11:00PM - National Geographic Channel

[GwersyllaCnau]

I agree with Jeep. I watched one of the preppers featured in the program on youtube about his trip up Pen y fan, he seemed to over exaggerate everything, for example he was showing satellite images of his route up, fair enough, but he kept emphasising that it's easy to get lost, go to near the edge and fall off. I may be being over critical because I know Pen y fan so well, but the route he took, if you get lost even in the dark you've got to be a complete muppet, and as for falling off the edge, well.... :rolleye:

[steve1975]

Watched the UK one today. Agreed with some of the peppers points but generally think they seem a paranoid bunch.

[fish]

is there anyway to watch the uk one on some watch again platform?

[paul standley]

is there anyway to watch the uk one on some watch again platform?


Hi Fish (et al)

The UK episode is available on you tube here (approx 45 minutes)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHMAFkh4rWk

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHMAFkh4rWk

Paul

[fish]

cheers mate.

[RobD]

Thanks for the link Paul. Quite an interesting watch - even if I did leave with a feeling they were a bit of a paranoid bunch.

Not sure if I would stock up everything in my standard suburban semi - roving bands of desperate people banging down my door for my stuff does seem a real likelihood if things did go bad.

What I need is some sort of underground shelter... :p

[Peaks]

Heard a UK prepper being interviewed on Radio 4 today - didn't sound at all wacky..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p9f59 - scroll down to piece about Michael Sanderson. You can hear the programme here too. Wasn't really aware of the time when I was listening, think the piece about the prepper was 9.45 ish

Not sure if the Nat Geog link mentioned on the BBC site repeats any of the stuff quoted previously in this thread.

[Ashley Cawley]

Was there a second episode of this UK series airing? Struggled to find out.

[steve1975]

Sure it was a one off special episode. Only had info about one on the discovery website.

[surplus 6]

just googled it, looks like there's only the one. it is repeated today 26 December at 9:00PM and again at 2pm +8pm saturday. all on nat geo channel.

[surplus 6]

I can see your points, some did seem a little paranoid, and maybe not a good idea to have that much food in the house/garage. specially as their locals may have seen them on telly and now know where to go "shopping" after the number 2 hits the fan.

[fish]

i wonder how many are down their bunkers with no idea the world is still here.