A lady I know clued me in to this...

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/

I'll check it out, but it looks a variation on the Taboo series.

Unfortunately, National Geographic has been going downhill for a long time. A few weeks ago Alaska Dispatch ran an interesting article called "What happened to National Geographic?" written by by a former Nat Geo writer and editor.

Personally, I watch very little TV. I almost never watch any kind of "reality TV", and in particular I never watch shows about Alaska, because in my opinion they are far too often painfully contrived.

Thanks for highlighting the article. My cable provider doesn't carry the NG channel, but I have looked at some of the titles in the program guides and thought they were very un-NG style. It is really a shame.

Thanks for the link. I think it looks pretty interesting. Remains to be seen what an entire episode could look like. Unfortunately, Nat Geo is not on my cable service.

The videos they have up are an interesting look into the preps and plans of a "subculture" (per the Reuters article earlier this week) that does exist in substantial number. And I'm sure there are more than a few on ETS - actively posting or lurking.

The chick whose boyfriend is prepared to shoot their cats will be a bit unnerving to a non-prepper who stumbles upon the channel. As will be the "tail-gunner" in the bug-out school bus. A couple of these other videos I think I've seen before:

(they eat tilapia every single day - ick - but I'd want to be their friend post-doomsday)
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/vide...g-suburbia.html

Southern Cal earthquake prepper/forager:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/vide...ek-chris-1.html


No more of a time waster than American Pickers or Pawn Stars (both of which I enjoy on occasion).

National Geographic magazine remains terrific and a great subscription value.

I only get to watch Nat Geo sporadically when I'm visiting a relative. Although I still read the magazine from time to time and think highly of it, the TV network is surprising in its shows. More like a higher quality version of programs you might see on SpikeTV or even the Military Channel. Definitely not the kind of content I would think of when I think "National Geographic".

I'll check out some of the video clips later.

I find that woman unnerving. No, I'm not troubled by the thought of long-term preparation, but by the fear that drives her efforts, and by the somewhat self-deluding, almost fun-like attitude she has. It almost seems to be some sort of fantasy game.

Having a tail gunner doesn't bother me. But that does make me wonder what they're going to do when someone with a .50BMG shoots out their engine block like in the movies. (On a more serious note, it's not clear where the tail gunner is located in the caravan. One would think at the end of the convoy, but the video clip seems to suggest the tail gunner is in the first vehicle. This doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but perhaps those with military experience can speak to this with more authority.)

While I'm at it (and procrastinating from real work), let me go on a bit. I like the man in LA who forages in an urban environment. A knowledge of botany is a good thing, and when combined with an appetite and a desire for hiking, results in something delicious. (The "landscape" he hikes in is less than appetizing.) Herbal medicine isn't a bad thing, either, but... "knife fights"? Really? Weapons is about oneupmanship, and the knife is pretty low on the totem pole. I really hope this was just a bad example.

As for the Arizona man fearing coronal mass ejection in 2012, we are having one right now:

http://www.mobilemag.com/2012/01/24/mass...arth-right-now/

Should we tell him?

On another note:



I don't know a whole lot about National Geographic, but it stands to reason that, like much of journalism, it is dropping its standard to cater to the lowest common denominator. I am confused by the almost "nationalist" sentiments that pop up twice in the article. The author seems to suggest that National Geographic during the Cold War refused to cover areas held by our enemies (and that's taken as a good thing), and now it is an international publication and has to address an international audience (and that's regarded as a bad thing). I don't see that this change necessarily implies a decline. Moreover, from the little I've seen (such as this program we're talking about), National Geographic's decline is more American than anything else. Some of the programs it puts out are in line with the unique, terrible American invention of the reality show.

This was quite interesting, but left me a little uncomfortable too. It appears that to be fully prepped for a year or more, you have to make a huge investment in money, and buy a place, or convert your home into a warehouse.

Some of the questions I have include

If a small group has a lot of food in an extended emergency:

!. How could they be sure that the marauders are anarchists and not the local government passing some 'ordinance' that requires them to share their food and enforce it?

2. What if the squatters on the farm were women with little children. Would you shoot them?

3. I think that having deliveries made at night is fruitless, as the neighbors will know what is going on. The house would be completely defenseless if attacked, even though the kids are trained with pistols.

My overall belief is that anyone can and should prep for short-term problems such as extended power outtages, weather, floods... The type of prep we see here in this video is for only a few with massive resources to draw on. IMO, the farm has the best chance of success, but a high chance of invasion. I do not think the suburban homes would be safe. The fallout shelter would also be attacked easily and the supplies stolen by blocking the trap door, and then all of the air vents.

I agree, and this is one of the major reasons that the show does a disservice to its audience, which will think that emergency preparation is (1) for the "subculture," and (2) way too expensive. In fact, you pretty much have to quit your job and career, and possibly move, to pursue some of the prep depicted in the video.

If that video was the first thing I came across when I started looking for ideas prepping, it would have turned me off and made me feel kind of hopeless. But fortunately I found this website, and Doug Ritter does us all a service with his good sense. Alas, wisdom and knowledge are just not sensational enough.

What is common to all these scenarios is a very deep pessimism about the social fabric - we will be faced with a problem (CME, earthquake, inflation) and society will totally collapse into anarchy and chaos. We, the preppers, will be the only survivors.

What does happen? We have had major earthquakes in Chile, Japan, and Haiti recently with serious challenges. Haiti, already a disaster area is still struggling, even with significant outside help, so definitely life in a marginalized society is never good. Chile seems to be recovering and Japan certainly has problems but is working on them as well. I haven't heard about anything like a societal collapse, roaming armed bands, etc. (Indeed, how many thousands of yen have been found and turned in to authorities? Good luck on that happening in the USA!

Point is, when we have our magnitude 8 in southern California, life will be both tough and interesting. We will need help. I think it is realistic that we will get it. The USA is a well developed society and has shown a reasonably capable ability to respond to disasters.

Any prudent person should realize that the help won't come right away, and one needs to be self-sustaining for a good bit more than the traditional 72 hours. I don't personally think that bugging out will be very useful in the event of a quake, at least where I live. Fortunately, i will be living on the dandelions, oranges, and avocados in my yard or nearby (and a reasonable stockpile of other food). Hopefully I won't have to slaughter our cats...

i guess I am skeptical about intense preparation for an off the charts, over the top, extreme disaster, that actually is rather unlikely, at least in the magnitude envisioned.

Of course, they just might be right. Who says you have to go to Las Vegas to gamble? It is true that it wasn't raining when Noah too up shipbuilding........