i think of a hoarder as someone who buys in excess in a time of general need..like during WW2 buying 50 pounds sugar and the hell with everyone else..packrats are harmless collectors of stuff and what we have here on this site i would assume to be stockpilers,which are close to but not real hoarders as there is no general need of a scarce item..like gas or sugar.--ok i sort of confused myself but you get my drift..

Yeah, because we wouldn't want the strong to survive as nature intended!! Grrr. People should be able to buy whatever they darn well please w/out people being jelous that they can't afford it and thinking they should "Spread the wealth" with the rest of the population because they are so very much less fortunate.

Life is hard and those who work harder / smarter are rewarded. They shouldn't be punished because they can buy things.

(This isn't meant in the way of taking food from a little kids mouth kind of thing either. I just get tired of people saying what you should and shouldn't buy because you may hurt someone elses feelings or they may go w/out food longer... teach them to work harder??? or am I being rough)

I have heard that differentiation before. Stockpiling occurs before a crisis and is good because the person is prepared beforehand and won't need to draw from available supplies; a hoarder buys and hoards critical items during the crisis taking from the available supplies. Packrats just keep everything regardless.

Hoarder, Stockpile or Packrat I have been called all of these and probably am some version of all three. I am a very busy person both in my personal and professional life; my work, community activities and hobbies all are equipment oriented so I have a lot of stuff. My trouble is that my gear is not well organized, this is a big frustration to my wife.

My wife and I have different opinions on how things should be stored. I like my gear organized in labeled Rubbermaid boxes on shelves, like a warehouse but this is a time consuming process. My wife just wants it out of sight, it does not matter where or in what state, just so that guests do not see the clutter.

Some of our biggest arguments have been over where my wife has stored (hidden) an item of mine.

Mike

I am glad I am not as bad as the people Red Flair's link shows.
I can still pile up impressive piles of junk if I am not careful though. Usually it is expensive junk but it is still junk if it is not being useful.

I think Hoarding is a natural human trait. It might be genetically programmed into us. Even other animals hoard stuff up to prepare for winter.
It is when it goes out of whack and we get too much junk that it becomes a problem.

Seriously though, there is a difference between hanging on to some junk/stuff or being a gear addict (my problem) ... and REAL hoarders who cannot let go of things to their and their family/friends' detriment.

Very recently we saw a television series called Hoarders - or similar. It was very VERY sad. People who hoarded pets, trash, old food, paper, ...

Some of these people were seriously considering suicide.

The real thing takes an expert - just like any other psychosis.

I think i`m considered a stock "piler" and "stuff" addict.
Stock pile the cheap things in usage, and the "stuff" I get when I research and find the best stuff for me....

I don't keep trash or random things (to most people).

I try to toss or find a use for stuff I don't need or don't foresee needing... I keep steel, wood, etc because of so many usages though

If you have stuff that can be useful and/or used by someone else, they you are a stockpiler. If you can easily part with your possessions you are generally ok. If you can go through a pile of stuff, divide it into keep and toss, you are doing good. But when the entire pile of stuff becomes "keep"... well...

If you keep stuff that has no possible value to anyone but you, and the reasons you are keeping these items seems odd to other people, and there is no way in God's green earth you are going to part with your stuff, then you are a hoarder.

The people on A&E are sad examples of typical cases.

I keep stuff that I can see someday using. However I also know that some things have outlived their usefullness and out they go.

Me, too. I get it from my father's side of the genepool. I fight it every day.
I tell everyone that I belong to Accumulators Anonymous: it's a twelve step program, too: it's only twelve steps to the dumpster.