What led you to prepping?

[mitunnelrat]

I'm just curious what led many of you to start prepping?

I can tell you that as a kid I was educated by older generations to stay watch and do what I can to combat our decline as a society. I had a hard time believing some of it then, but I am unfortunately not dumbfounded over the gripes in this matter across the nation.

Waco, Ruby Ridge, and (indirectly) the OKC bombing affirmed some of what I was taught at a younger age.

I'd bet money many others with a military background can attest s/he doesn't think quite like the average individual after some time in service. At least not those who gravitate to sites such as this. I've seen enough evidence to know its not just a misfiring synapse in my own mind.

More recently I've learned from 9/11, the Northeastern blackout of 2003, and Hurricane Katrina.

Most of those never impacted me directly, but its been said that while a smart man learns from his own experience, a wise man learns from the experience of others. Admittedly, there's often a disconnect between wisdom, intelligence, and stupidity in my life, but I've taken these things to heart. I view it as my responsibility and role within my family, and especially my household, to provide for and protect them. That means I have to account for the bad times as well as the good, and recognizing that my disposable income can't correct everything. I need to be proactive.

Anyway, that's at least a piece of my story. What's your's?

[bacpacker]

Growing up my families, mom's, dad's, and step dad's all farmed. All the grandparents and a few aunts and uncles lived thru the depression and made it thru the other side. None of them had any money and made most everything they had. They also repaired anything thing that broke, grew a large portion of their food and stored it to get them thru the next season. I learned a lot from many of them.
Growing up I helped out on several folks farms, families and neighbors. I also spent a few years in the Boy scouts which was a lot of fun, but also a great place to learn outdoor skills. This lead me into backpacking which I've enjoied for the past 35+ years and hope to continue till I just can't any longer. This is also a great hobby to teach and practice outdoor skills.
As I got older, probably early 30's I really began to see and understand that many things were wrong with our country and felt the need to prepare myself and family for situations that could arise. One of the early ones that stick out was the Iran hostage crisis. What a CLUSTER F__K that was. One of the soldiers that was KIA on that mission was from a small community just a few miles from where I lived. After the history I had from childhood with my dad, that really hit me hard. Then in the 80's we had several hurricanes, Hugo comes to mind that destroied cities and messed up lives for a long time afterward. Later ruby ridge, waco, OKC, 9/11, katrina, IMO only omeone with wool over their eyes can't see what's going on and to some degree where it's leading to eventually.
My .02

[ak474u]

A combination of things really.

1. Boy Scouts - Always liked the survival kit/possibles bag for the primitive camping trips. Various outdoor adventures built skills and introduced me to the outdoors to the point that I realized that a situation could occur in the woods that I would need to survive.

2. Grandmother - She was widowed at 42, and always lived furgally, but had a stockpile of food, had grown up on a farm in OK, and lived thru the first great depression, she used #10 cans of silver dimes and quarters for door stops, she always told me that if the economy went bad she could trade the silver for cat food for her cat. Never really got it back then, but she was a prepper.

3. Parents - my parents always bought PM's, and saved money, and didn't go into debt for things, they were pretty frugal, we had peaches, pears, and lots and lots of fresh veggies in our garden. MY parents bought an extra lot when they bought their home back in 1964 so "we could till up the whole thing and feed ourselves if there was another depression" My dad taught me to shoot when I was 3 yrs old, he never hunted really and felt bad about it the few times he did actually kill something while hunting, not really because he killed it but an appreciation for the beauty of wildlife and the fact that he could go out and buy meat instead of killing it. I don't love hunting, but I know how.

4. 9/11 - It woke me up more than I already had, up till then I had a small survival kit in a USGI buttpack, and lots and lots of guns. Since then, I have more guns, and lots more food and better quality gear + insight ont he application of the gear.

Lots of things influence my decisions now, and being a dad has REALLY changed the pace of prepping for us, the good thing is the old lady is on board.

[The Stig]

Had bags packed, alice gear rigs, etc as long as I can remember. For a long time they were just for playing war but as I got into high school, and read stuff like Red Storm rising I realized that if the Ruskies did roll down the street in Cincinnati I better have something ready to go. Laughable I know, but that's just how my mind is wired.

As I've gotten older it's all grown from there. "What if?"

[Fatty]

World war z and the zombie survival guide. Not out of fear of zombies. But following the ideal of trying to be prepared for the unforeseen. It's made myself and my family far better off. Even if you were to Just go off of what FEMA recommends.

[LUNCHBOX]

Raised in the south and people there just always canned after having a big garden. We always hunted and fished all the time. Big meals and families meant having plenty of food around. I also have a military background and you do think a little different. Then theres that I don't want me or mine to go hungry part.

[Kodiak]

The frequency of power outages over the last several years is really what got me into prepping. Though the longest stretch without power for us has only been a day or so, folks in our area have lost power for up to a month.