I spent bunches last year, and the year before that, etc. on disaster supplies - for me, it's called camping and outdoor gear. Indeed, when I left home for real last month, the stuff in my vehicle was indistinguishable from what I carry when going on a back pack trip. The additions were our cat, the family photos, and important papers (the TP in particular).
Ditto this.
I began camping, as an adult, in 1993 when I got my first dog. Dog-friendly vacation = camping, was my reasoning at the time. I began compiling a large shopping list of camping gear that I chipped away at periodically. In January 1994, the DC area was hit with extremely cold temperatures (about like this week, as I look back on it) and a series of ice storms and the entire northeast power grid was so overloaded that DC was doing "rolling blackouts." For a couple days, every hour my power was going out for 20 minutes or so and my place was all electric.
Suddenly my camping gear -- especially the sleeping bag, camp stove and candle lanterns, took on new meaning.
While I sat in the dark swaddled in fleece, I re-ordered my camping gear wish list to comport with a newfound appreciation for preparedness (though I had not yet adopted that term to describe my new interest).
I'd bet that where preparedness is concerned, ETS-ers are among the one percenters.
As for the rest of the country, the series of hurricanes that affected and threatened the Gulf and Atlantic coasts during September-October probably did have an unusual number of Americans buying supplies like flashlights, batteries, generators, etc. That may have been reflected in survey data. But two-thirds of Americans acting like preppers? No way.
I'm wondering now if there is any recent survey data for the level of earthquake preparedness along the U.S. Pacific coast. Anyone know?
.
Previous Topic
Index
