There is a nice thread about what started you prepping , so I thought to steal the idea and tweak it a bit and start this one: What keeps you prepping ???

For some, FEAR is the main factor , and they have been driven to prepping only because of some profecies which proved to be , well, nothing. For some of those , prepping was started by sensationalism , and killed by disappointment.

However, for many , including me, prepping is a way of life. Let's say it is the "smart way" of living. So if y2k and 2012 profecies did not materialize, that is good news. If economy does not collapase , that will be even greater news. On the other hand, life is full of unexpected emergencies of all shapes and forms, and for those I am - continuously - prepping.

Basically, there have been a fair number of times it has paid off:

1) "Anyone have a knife?" has been a query that has started more than one for me...

2) A few years ago,guiding a group on San Miguel Island, someone asked for a Tylenol (or maybe it was Aleve). Sure - right here in FAK. Fifty years earlier, guiding trips through the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, standard equipment was an ammonia ampoule in our shirt pocket, handy for the invariable fainting victim (sometimes the patient was the foxy young lady in the group, but that was rare).

3) Living in Globe,AZ,and the town was paralyzed by about three inches of snow - plenty of food in the pantry and backup camping stoves if they had been needed.

4) More ominously - an occasion on a dark desert highway (cool wind in my hair) in Texas, not California,when I was oh, so glad I had my S&W Highway Patrolman handy. Didn't have to fire it,fortunately.

The list goes on and on. Several times I have been living three hours or more from the nearest supermarket and being prepped with the basics has just been an absolute no-brainer.

I'm tempted to wonder how a meager 3 inch dusting of snow could paralyze anything. But then I remember there are probably more snowplows in Sioux Falls, SD than in the whole state of Arizona!

Actually, Flagstaff, AZ, and the surrounding country has lots of snowplows to deal with the wintry conditions that prevail at 7,000 feet. Globe is much lower, around 3,500, and snow was really unusual. The great thing about the intermountain west is that climate varies with altitude, not latitude.

For the same reasons I keep paying insurance premiums and building savings.
Stuff happens.

Preparedness is insurance.

And it is convenience when the little things like having a knife or flashlight handy become useful in everyday life.


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The C.P.R. mask is the exception (I never performed C.P.R. on anyone but a mannequin); my choice on what I carry in my car, purse and pockets is from my experiences. I adjust my gear every time a new situation shows up.

In world history, every major empire has collapsed and the United States is not immune. I foresee an economic collapse for the United States though I can’t predict when that will happen. I hope what I see is nothing more than a two-month disruption in the supply chain because that is all I am able to prepare for, at this time.

Jeanette Isabelle

Because you never know what's going to happen.

And having been on a few humanitarian missions, and seeing how long they took to get going - I would rather prepare and be ready than stand in a line with my hand out.

Because I can't stand being helpless and having to have others do stuff for me. Like the "does anyone have a knife" question. I always have a knife.

It's how I was raised. I might have slacked off or even stopped if my roommate and many of our friends weren't also preppers- I won't say it's competitive, but it would be embarrassing to die of something where I should have known to be ready for.

Because I love my family more than any rescue personal, Red Cross worker, or government official would.
-Blast

A buddy of mine went to school in Carefree (and actually studied with Cody Lundin at one point). He told me 1/2" of snow was enough to get classes cancelled for the day.

Removed by me.

Sorry Chaos,my bad,I thought I was being generic,I will remove it.

Hey,anything I post you feel inappropriate to this board feel free to remove as you see fit,you dont need to explain to me,I can take it without getting bent out of shape