I'm reluctant to consider these "preppers", and think that "homestead survivalists" is a more accurate description. And, personal peeve, am getting tired of being lumped in with the doomsday crowd.

From where I've been standing, prepping is a lifestyle choice of taking the normal precautions (smoke detectors, spare tires, etc.) and adds onto them to cover the less common, but more severe incidents. The end goal is being able to handle things on your own instead of getting caught flat footed and having to rely on an already overburden emergency management system.

I'm not particularly optimistic about our current way of life continuing much longer, but have no desire to be at ground zero when things finally have to shake out.