Is prepping dead? or just prepping forums?

[elkhound]

I'm sure you'll earn a good one and make it interesting- hopefully youll manage have some fun in the meantime. Idk if that's somethin' to be sour about though, i agree theres no good solution- but i also dont think thats the point anyways. all the men from history that I admire (the ones who lived to that age anyways) ran into the same problem that you're facing. Their greatness always made that particular part of life harder... i figure the less interesting folks can fade out easier because theres just less contrast in ability- less vivid memory of what they were and would continue to be if their bodies didnt break down- its unavoidable, but I think its trial worthy of your appreciation if you can manage to think of it like that. Remember who's watching- the harder it gets the brighter you shine... as they say- gettin' old ain't for pussies

old man is 100% tougher than nails for sure..i love it when he says things and the mods are so far removed from his realty of life lived that they cant even fathom what he is saying...even i have to look at it twice at times.best ever was him washing dishes..they lost their minds i tell ya...!!...lol

 

[Caribou]

I come here to socialize, learn, and teach. Mostly I come here for inspiration. Prepping is not a destination to me but a journey. I don't ever expect to be ready when the worst happens but I strive to be better prepared with more food, more stuff, and more skills than last year.

Mental masturbation? Perhaps it is, I love that term. It keeps me thinking of ways to improve my situation. One of the things I did was to move into town. I'm now minutes away from a decent hospital and tons of specialists. I don't have to airfreight my groceries and I can buy at better prices. As mentioned earlier, "Getting old ain't for pussies." Moving is often a prep us old farts eventually need to avail ourselves. I have two steps into the house vs. 16 to the front door and another 12 up to the bedroom. I made my move before I had to, but not before I could see it down the road.

I retired after my open heart surgery. It is harder for me to adjust to than the new house because the house was my decision where retirement was forced upon me.

 

[SoJer]

old man is 100% tougher than nails for sure..

Aye, a ing Certified Warrior in my book.

Salud!

jd

 

[Aerindel]

Interesting how this post blew up. I guess a lot of people have thoughts in this direction.

Doesn't seem anyone has an answers, but that is okay.

Personally, I just think the practice of 'foruming' itself may be in massive decline.

The prepping 'community' is certainly broken. Covid and Trump ripped us apart. The 'brain drain' during covid was significant as we lost nearly all the doctors, scientists, any kind of professional who actually knew facts as well as anyone left leaning. Prepping discussions got kinda dull without any of the hippies with an AK or white collar types in the mix who could actually give you hard numbers on a question.

But other forums that I used to be on that where not related to survival or politics have died out for me as well. Car forums, steampunk, gun forums...

It's scary, but plausible that foruming was generational and that generation is just aging out of the practice.

But it does see like something has changed. I used to spend hours everyday writing on forums. Now its been months since I put any effort into it. Somehow it doesn't seem rewarding anymore. Which is sad. For a good period of my life, forums where where I did most of my adult learning.

What I was hoping was just that there was some new forum that was all the hotness and someone would tell me where it was.

 

[Alaskajohn]

Interesting how this post blew up. I guess a lot of people have thoughts in this direction.

Doesn't seem anyone has an answers, but that is okay.

Personally, I just think the practice of 'foruming' itself may be in massive decline.

The prepping 'community' is certainly broken. Covid and Trump ripped us apart. The 'brain drain' during covid was significant as we lost nearly all the doctors, scientists, any kind of professional who actually knew facts as well as anyone left leaning. Prepping discussions got kinda dull without any of the hippies with an AK or white collar types in the mix who could actually give you hard numbers on a question.

But other forums that I used to be on that where not related to survival or politics have died out for me as well. Car forums, steampunk, gun forums...

It's scary, but plausible that foruming was generational and that generation is just aging out of the practice.

But it does see like something has changed. I used to spend hours everyday writing on forums. Now its been months since I put any effort into it. Somehow it doesn't seem rewarding anymore. Which is sad. For a good period of my life, forums where where I did most of my adult learning.

What I was hoping was just that there was some new forum that was all the hotness and someone would tell me where it was.

I agree that the community is broken. Nature abhors a vacuum so I am waiting and watching to see if something new emerges and it might not be on Internet forums like this.

Another factor to consider, there are forces that want us to be broken and will likely be watching what emerges as well.

 

[Aerindel]

I agree that the community is broken. Nature abhors a vacuum so I am waiting and watching to see if something new emerges and it might not be on Internet forums like this.

Another factor to consider, there are forces that want us to be broken and will likely be watching what emerges as well.

Yeah, I'm curious as well. There have been several distinct 'waves' of survivalist and it seems we are at the end of one, waiting for another to emerge.

Of course, there is always the chance it will just become real before then...

 

[Sourdough]

One big problem (not here) but on Survival Boards is the management (Moderators & Administrators) "STRONGLY" steer the discussions. They do it overtly and covertly. That forum serves the masters who support that forum, the advertisers. There is no "open" search for truth reference prepping.

Prepping is not about prepping. If it really was about prepping the discussions would runaround actual experience. But it can't because there is so little actual experience in the group. So, you have shallow (not insightful) discussions which are the regurgitations of what people have READ.

In the end you have people arguing about subjects that they themselves have "ZERO" personal experience with. They are arguing over what they read in a book, magazine, on fakebook, some long forgotten internet forum. What is funny (and sad) to watch is those who have personally lived it actually get shouted down by the much larger group with only book learning.

 

[Hardcalibres]

I assess that at least some of those, that previously put a lot of time into forum posting, are now posting less because:

1. They see a greater need for OPSEC - and that makes it difficult to justify the risk that goes along with posting a lot about what you are, have, do and are even thinking
2. They see the wider community attitude to prepping/survivalism deteriorate.....and they assess that making it clear you are part of all that, may well be a liability/risk
3. They see that forums are very vulnerable to manipulation - and that (especially when a pandemic, polarized politics and war comes along) the discussions are being manipulated - sometimes directly, but most times with the help of "useful idiots"
4. Like others have observed, the level of self delusion apparent in discussions becomes just plain astounding
5. The risks that seemed "potential" ten years ago, now seem like they are actual and indeed happening........so.... there is arguably no purpose in speculating....especially with folks afflicted by normalcy bias that (true to the character of their condition) just cant/wont see what is happening
6. Places like the SB have become mostly full of drivel, with a light smattering of threads trying to talk people out of preparedness

There was a thread on the SB recently titled "Can we talk water?"..........and instead of finally focusing upon the "elephant in the room"..........it failed to make it to two full pages and then died. There were only a handful of posts that suggested anyone had even the basic water preps complete.

Like Aerindel, I have become more of a ghost.......mostly because that seems like the right thing to do, based upon the situation and for someone with a survivalist mindset.

But I am also self-aware enough to know that, part of having a survivalist mindset is being able to "write off" those that we assess to be doomed as a crisis unfolds.......and a crisis is indeed unfolding. That would be likely to make many of us back away from community (real or virtual) at some stage of any crisis.


I like this forum for its civility, friendliness and (perhaps most of all) for it not claiming to be a survivalism forum.......that makes it unpretentious.

Whatever survivalism discussions occur here, have a more spontaneous nature rather than being forced.

Advertising here seems to be more random rather than targeted too.

 

[Sourdough]

There was a thread on the SB recently titled "Can we talk water?"..........and instead of finally focusing upon the "elephant in the room"..........it failed to make it to two full pages and then died. There were only a handful of posts that suggested anyone had even the basic water preps complete.

Threads like that "UPSET" at least 80% of members. There are several other subjects in the prepping/survival communities that super urinate people off.

Those are thread subjects that hold up a mirror and compel truth. It is hard to continue to tell yourself, "You are making great progress" when asked what your 100 % reliable back-up water source is. And what is your third level back-up water source.

 

[LadyLocust]

I notice this place is almost a ghost town. So I went and checked back on survivalist forums, (MIBH) and its a tiny vestige of what it once was.

So, is prepping dying lately? or prepping forums? or has everyone just moved somewhere else....and if so...where did everybody go?

Hey there A. I know what you mean. I am among those who over the past year in particular have begun to veer on the safe side. There is so much "how to" most can find what info they need with ease. It's gotten to the point that those Mad Max sorts are bored and have moved on. Those who are still prepping are keeping a lower profile and biding their time. Prepping from the mental and strategical standpoint.
Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s my take on it.

 

[LadyLocust]

Interesting how this post blew up. I guess a lot of people have thoughts in this direction.

Doesn't seem anyone has an answers, but that is okay.

Personally, I just think the practice of 'foruming' itself may be in massive decline.

The prepping 'community' is certainly broken. Covid and Trump ripped us apart. The 'brain drain' during covid was significant as we lost nearly all the doctors, scientists, any kind of professional who actually knew facts as well as anyone left leaning. Prepping discussions got kinda dull without any of the hippies with an AK or white collar types in the mix who could actually give you hard numbers on a question.

But other forums that I used to be on that where not related to survival or politics have died out for me as well. Car forums, steampunk, gun forums...

It's scary, but plausible that foruming was generational and that generation is just aging out of the practice.

But it does see like something has changed. I used to spend hours everyday writing on forums. Now its been months since I put any effort into it. Somehow it doesn't seem rewarding anymore. Which is sad. For a good period of my life, forums where where I did most of my adult learning.

What I was hoping was just that there was some new forum that was all the hotness and someone would tell me where it was.

We are all the hotness you get

 

[viking]

Real peppers are still prepping

We're still prepping, it's just kind of rough to be doing a lot of preparing in foul weather and lower hours we can work outside, our wood stove is a favorite thing to sit down on the raised pad and warm my old cold back on the stove. Being as we are getting older there is less things we are doing other than helping younger friends going through struggles. DW and I have been prepping since we got married in 1974, you'd think we had everything all taken care of but the truth is, as far as we are concerned, if you are a true prepper, you are never done prepping.

 

[Aerindel]

One big problem (not here) but on Survival Boards is the management (Moderators & Administrators) "STRONGLY" steer the discussions. They do it overtly and covertly. That forum serves the masters who support that forum, the advertisers. There is no "open" search for truth reference prepping.

Way back when SB boards had its purge I was trying to figure out what all of us who got banned had in common that got us banned, because most of us weren't friends or anything with each other, and often argued.

The best theory I ever came up with is that we where members who would straight up tell people "You are doing it wrong, you will die if you do that"

And what SB's corperate overlords wanted was more "You are doing a great job, keep coming here and looking at ads"

I've always been the first to say, you can prep to whatever level you think prudent...

But when people say "I'm prepping for complete societal collapse, how much firewood should I stack in my NewYork suburban backyard" I have trouble telling them anything they want to hear.

 

[elkhound]

1 inch pipe flow equals 210 gallons a minute....12,600 gallons an hour...302,400 gallons a day.

 

[Neb]

I notice this place is almost a ghost town. So I went and checked back on survivalist forums, (MIBH) and its a tiny vestige of what it once was.

So, is prepping dying lately? or prepping forums? or has everyone just moved somewhere else....and if so...where did everybody go?

Is it possible to talk an issue to death?

Beyond food water and shelter does prepping extend?

Thriving after is my goal. Maybe not for myself but for my progeny. I started clones of walnut trees today that may fruit in 7 years. Statistics say I have 6 left.

Prepping is not just for me.

Ben

 

[havasu]

Please remember, this forum is a group of people from Prepared Society, Ruger Forum, then a generic gun forum, and finally morphed into Homestead and Country Living.
We still have members here who were active members on those other forums, who chose to stick around. We have a gun section, politics, religious section, as well as super secret stuff. Much of this is either for our grandfathered group, or available only for our supporting members.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I don't know about open "preppers" anymore. I used to think I was one but realized that my Uncle was shining a flashlight under all the beds and decided that I didn't need to be in the spotlight. So I went back into the closet. I still like to talk about food storage, water storage, water purification, gardening, emergency power and all that mundane safe stuff...

But the Mad-Max we're all gonna die stuff is beyond my scope. My thinking is that if the SHTF event comes, we will know who was listening and who was not.

I believe that we all need to be preparing for the little bumps in the road that are normal life experiences and if we learn something when it happens to us, it's okay to share the lesson. But, there is no need to get all worked up into a panic like it's 2019 again.

Yes, quiet, low key, and close to the vest are the only safe play in today's world.

 

[Aerindel]

Is it possible to talk an issue to death?

Indeed. But the 'natural' evolution of any healthy group is that the more experienced people move onto more advanced topics, and new people continually join at the bottom so there is always a bunch of people talking about the basics and a few people talking about the most advanced topics so in theory nothing is every talked to 'death' its always new for somebody.

 

[Tim Horton]

I think a lot of ...preppers... have worked steadily to the point where in todays world they are thinking ...this is starting to be what we have been prepping for... I'm also thinking there are a lot of ..part time, casual, this is a fun thing to follow and tinker with preppers that are now distracted by todays world events... Distracted enough to not participate, follow a forum..

Thoughts... ??

 

[Haertig]

Maybe it's just that all the preppers here already know how to prep to the level they are comfortable with, and don't have a whole lot more to discuss about it? The occasional thing, sure, but I doubt many here need a daily feed of information on how to prepare.

I also don't think there are a lot of new technologies or techniques to prepping that require continuous learning and discussion. Sure, things do change somewhat over time, but really, most of the things we are doing to prep date back for centuries and have already been discussed for that long. Learning how to live "off grid" may seem new to us, but the people who developed a lot of the techniques that are used for that never had a grid to get off of in the first place. Much of prepping is not learning a new way of doing things ... it's learning the old way of doing them. And there are tons of ways to get that information without joining an internet forum. That makes this forum and others like it slow growing entities. So discussion activity will naturally wax and wane over time.

But I think we have a ton of discussion that goes on here. Most of it may not be about prepping per se.

 

[havasu]

But for 99% of the members, a quick question which should be answered is:

If you lost your water source for one month, would you be OK, or hurting?

Anything other than OK, I hope the member considers taking action.

This is really not prepping, but simply survival.

This is one of the reasons I believe so much in this forum.

 

[Frodo]

Is it possible to talk an issue to death?

Beyond food water and shelter does prepping extend?
You See Below
Thriving after is my goal.

Prepping is not just for me. It IS ME!!

Ben

How far does prepping extend?
Scenario
Saturday morning the lawn mower refuses to start
What do yo do?
Try again, still nothing but a click
Do you
A- load it up and take to a repair shop?
B- open the hood and roll your sleeves up
C- go buy another

You decide to take a look for yourself
Upon inspection you find a broken weld on the motor mount
Do you

A-Load it up and drive to a repair shop
B- drag the welding hood out
C- go buy a new one

The obvious answer to ME, is B on both questions prepping is not JUST planting a row of beans
Prepping is having the skill, knowledge and yes Tools. To be independent of society

 

[Hardcalibres]

But for 99% of the members, a quick question which should be answered is:

If you lost your water source for one month, would you be OK, or hurting?

Anything other than OK, I hope the member considers taking action.

This is really not prepping, but simply survival.

This is one of the reasons I believe so much in this forum.

I agree.....and I would make that question about more than a month......more like three......or even all year round taking the seasons into account.

I don't often post this, but I have more than 10 million gallons of stored fresh water, on my land, that I legally own.

If I drained that system over summer (which I never ever go more than about 5% towards doing), normal winter rains take about 10 weeks to refill that completely.

In the area I picked to farm, there are plenty of farmers like me.......so my setup does not "standout".

Location, location, location.........

 

[elkhound]

In my area...water is not an issue..even during droughts theres water to be had pretty easily.

@Aerindel per your comment about new yorker asking about firewood in back yard...well...i view it differently...while they may not be what hardcore folks living in remote areas see as 'preppers' and flaw many see as living close to such large population..at least they are thinking of something even if its just short term stuff some may see as frivolous or waste of time etc. in that situation just revert back to standard low key answers...so answer to firewood...as much as you can.

what i am seeing in my location and said this last bit..people are producing goods. Every one from small quarter acre lots to large farmers are expanding and producing. New fencing good up for yearly beefs they grow out,pig pens,chicken coops,new hayfields and list goes on and on. Also i am seeing many folks of all ages who are 'suffering' a bit from cost of stuff and lack of funds for wide range of reasons.No matter reasons...one being older folks that were working at start of c-19 have elected to not go back to the jobs they had.Its left a hole in work force too..a hole in knowledge as well.So they have less funds.

Some subjects just dont pertain to others..take backpack,pack frame etc. thread sourdough done..not many use them..even a little bit...especially hardcore packs.Now i cant pack huge load but that doesnt matter..in last year i have gotten myself back to point i can packs out some weight.For me in a shtf deal packing game out is a must but in reality it has been and for now still is item i use.Also i can go back in mtn and fill up a pack with coal chunks.I may do a thread on an item to have and use in place of a pack,if i done it at sb it would not get reply's i am sure....it might not here..might cause head shaking too...lol..we shall see if i decided to do it.But again its geared towards rural folks mainly..i think about it.

 

[Canon29]

old man is 100% tougher than nails for sure..i love it when he says things and the mods are so far removed from his realty of life lived that they cant even fathom what he is saying...even i have to look at it twice at times.best ever was him washing dishes..they lost their minds i tell ya...!!...lol

HA that was good one- back when he went by 6.8 on sb if memory serves.

 

[sonya123]

But for 99% of the members, a quick question which should be answered is:

If you lost your water source for one month, would you be OK, or hurting?

Anything other than OK, I hope the member considers taking action.

This is really not prepping, but simply survival.

This is one of the reasons I believe so much in this forum.

this is really not such an easy question because it would all depend on what else is going on
We have spring water, shared with the community we live in. It comes off the mountain. If the spring dries up ( has not in probably 100 years) we will all be screwed, but it will totally depend on what else would be going on
If the spring dries up tomorrow, we will first use our stored water for the animals, and go buy some more drinking water for us, and start collecting rain water, and go down to the river to get more water for the animals if we have to.
If major SHTF happens AND the spring dries up, we still have the water from the river , will just have to filter and boil it.
If a long term major SHTF happens , city people ALL city people on city water will be screwed unless they live in a area with at least a river or lake. People in Phoenix will be screwed period.
See what I am getting at? It's not that easy. YEs you can store 50 gallons, but what will you do after you run out?

 

[sonya123]

theres is a huge portion of people who bought land and now have herds of livestock and much more...just one example is @sonya123 who moved to very rural area and has a pretty large herd from what i can tell.this is just one example..its a modern version..of historically the various peoples around the globe who for 100's and 1000's of years lived semi nomadic lives lending herds and seasonal crops both domestic crops and wild ones...mainly looking in east as Americas had no domestic livestock till introduction of them...one example is Spanish introduced sheep,goats and horses to Navajo and they instantly seen the value of them for meat,fiber for blankets and clothes to not freeze at night in area with low rainfall and not heavily timbered for fires and so much more.

since you mentioned it I will comment
when we moved here, we had no plans of running a business or having 100 animals. We were going to just try to be self sufficient. It turned into running a farm business with sales at the auctions, farmers market and private sales.

IF some major SHTF happens ( not covid like but something REAL) , we are going to have to sell or eat most of the animals and only keep enough we can feed with the land we have ( a few goats sheep and chickens)
But I have no illusions, I know exactly what our weak spot is, we do not have a small army to defend what we have AND we are getting older and won't be able to do all this physical labor for probably too much longer.

So I stopped worrying about it and just living my life. There is really nothing we can do about either right now.

 

[Frodo]

hold,, Sonja. Answer That hit home

 

[Frodo]

Law dawg is watching one of ya’ll
I just got a Wally woRolf sales pop up email
Prep. …for a new lawn!!!
That is a tracking algorithm

 

[Old Whatshisname]

Different people decouple from different fora for different reasons; some of them have already been mentioned, but there're two reasons I can think of that simply haven't been discussed -- not yet, anyway.

• Liberals use the rear entrance, please. Lefties make up, near as I can estimate, about twenty percent of people interested in prepping, but the percentage of them on prepping websites is much lower. Not surprising, read the signatures of many people here; if you get someone who votes for progressive causes and progressive politicians, they're going to feel, well, uncomfortable.
  
  This is okay if you're okay in a forum where everyone has similar views and don't want to see competing (read 'uncomfortable') ideas knocked about, but it can get pretty bland in a political echo-chamber. Of course, both sides do this; I have been asked to leave several fora because I was considered "not progressive enough". Nothing sinful about that; if you want everyone to have the same views that you do, it's your forum. It does give one a somewhat distorted view of what is actually going on in the country and the world, though, and some people will want to go elsewhere simply to get a broader view of whatever's going down, pre-SHTF.
  
  
  
• The family doesn't buy in to your beliefs about prepping. Let's face it; although there are many hard-core preppers of the female persuasion in this and other fora, most are men who lack the everyday common-sense of some of their family members when it comes to leaving your neighborhood, job, and friends to prepare for something that hasn't happened yet and maybe never will.
  
  If you have a family that you'd really like to stay with you if TSHTF, you must get them all on the same page and take an active part in your (and their) plans. Many of the male preppers I've talked with have blown me off with "When the time comes, she and the kids are coming -- whether they want to or not!"