Barracuda,<br><br>By the current definition of "survivalist" you don't qualify. You are interested in being prepared for the normal short term emergencies that befall us on occasion, more so if you live in some areas. <br><br>I have seen no data to suggest that there has been any significant increase in frequency of natural disasters. What has changed is that modern communications and the intense competition for our eyes and ears by the media has brought whatever does occur more immediately and prominently and much more intensely to our attention. What may have barely rated a couple paragraphs in a newspaper a few decades ago will now garner live coverage from a bevy of news outlets as they try to out hype each other. Thus, our perceptions are skewed. This is exactly the same thing that has occurred with regard to school violence. The fact is that school violence and fatalities are way down from a decade ago, but because of media coverage, most people are convinced that there has been an explosion of such incidents. However, don't get me going on that subject...this isn't the appropriate forum. :-)<br><br>As much as many of us may not like the word being usurped, "survivalist" has been and it now has extreme negative conotations.<br><br><br><br>Doug Ritter<br>Editor<br>Equipped To Survive