# Is "Prepping" for Doomsday Worth It? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 30, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344 "2014-04-30T09:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/81 "2014-05-03T22:42:52Z")
FYI, there is almost no such thing as a ‘Prepper’ in the UK. A few exist, but they’re very rare. I wonder if it’s because we don’t have much in the way of natural disasters, or if because we’re a small-ish island with a lot of people we’d be totally screwed by any big disaster so who cares. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/82 "2014-05-03T23:37:21Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > This is definitely not the same as fantasies about being a pop star, etc. Many of the crises mentioned have been raised by various organizations, ranging from the WHO to insurance firms to military organizations to the Pentagon. Natural disaster, sure. Actual TEOTWAWKI? Not on any practical level. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/83 "2014-05-04T00:32:53Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > FYI, there is almost no such thing as a ‘Prepper’ in the UK. A few exist, but they’re very rare. > > I wonder if it’s because we don’t have much in the way of natural disasters, or if because we’re a small-ish island with a lot of people we’d be totally screwed by any big disaster so who cares. Population density map of the UK 2011: [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/British\_Isles\_population\_density\_2011\_NUTS3.svg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/British_Isles_population_density_2011_NUTS3.svg) 2010 Census map of the United States: green dots are census blocks with ZERO permanent residents (Note that to an extent this reflects the large areas of the west that are poorly habitable desert, mountains, or semi-arid grassland. Major exceptions are forests in the north and swampland in the southeast.) [http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/there-is-no-one-living-on-47-percent-of-the-land-in-the-united-states/?tid=sm\_fb](http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/04/16/there-is-no-one-living-on-47-percent-of-the-land-in-the-united-states/?tid=sm_fb) In the USA at least, it’s possible to contemplate “retreating” to sparsely inhabited areas. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/84 "2014-05-04T00:57:13Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > My personal philosophy is that most people want to live as long as possible, ignoring the fact that their quality of life will steadily decrease. I’ve known a lot of close family members who died of old age, and usually their life ended 20-40 years before they finally kicked the bucket. My aunt, for example, has been in nursing home care and an invalid for the past 20+ years after her second stroke. Seriously, who wants to be 80 years old in a post-apocalyptic world? But no one truly _knows_ they are living in a post-apocalyptic world, right? Because hope is a powerful thing. The intellectual part of me might know that civilization as we’ve known it is over…so might as well pack up everything and die. But the hopeful part of me would likely continue to hold onto the fantasy that the Government is going to swoop down and rescue us. Maybe civilization is over _now_. But tomorrow is another day. Maybe it would be the Government who saves us, but the Benevolent Aliens. I think it would have to get pretty bad for me to lose all hope. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/85 "2014-05-04T01:04:11Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > This is definitely not the same as fantasies about being a pop star, etc. Many of the crises mentioned have been raised by various organizations, ranging from the WHO to insurance firms to military organizations to the Pentagon. Of course - I’m not saying this applies to all people who prepare for natural disasters. But at a certain point, it passes the “this is intelligent and necessary” line and goes into “let’s fantasize about being the last people left on Earth” territory. There are whole sites out there dedicated to _surviving the zombie apocalypse_. These people have to find this stuff fun on some level. And I’m not saying enjoying it as a hobby is a bad thing, until it starts infringing on everyday functionality. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/86 "2014-05-05T07:31:14Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Natural disaster, sure. Actual TEOTWAWKI? Not on any practical level. One should also take note that preparations presented in the show are combinations of short- and long-term relief. Also, given global warming, environmental disaster, and higher oil and food prices, I do not see why preparations for long-term problems is impractical. Some of these preparations include permaculture, learning basic skills, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/87 "2014-05-05T07:36:16Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > Of course - I’m not saying this applies to all people who prepare for natural disasters. But at a certain point, it passes the “this is intelligent and necessary” line and goes into “let’s fantasize about being the last people left on Earth” territory. There are whole sites out there dedicated to _surviving the zombie apocalypse_. These people have to find this stuff fun on some level. And I’m not saying enjoying it as a hobby is a bad thing, until it starts infringing on everyday functionality. Avoid references to a zombie apocalypse. Instead, consider the weakened global economy, high food and oil prices, tension between heavily armed military powers leading to lots of deaths and destruction, long-term and significant effects of environmental destruction and global warming, etc., all of which have been taking place for almost a decade. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/88 "2014-05-05T16:28:05Z")
> [@ralfy](#): > > …Some of these preparations include permaculture, learning basic skills, etc. Right, but these are things that also make sense _outside_ of “prepping” and seem to be ignored by the preppers I’ve seen on TV I live way out in the sticks, with two rambunctious sons. Learning advanced first-aid is useful to my situation even without considering doomsday. Also, we enjoy and are comforted by eating food we grow ourselves, I just planted some cherry and plum trees this weekend, and they will eventually be useful as a food source, but that’s not my primary intent. The few episodes of the prepper shows I’ve seen have been things like “we have 12000 gallons of water on hand”. Well, that’s great, but wouldn’t it have been better to have a hand pump well, or figure out how to transport water from a local natural source? ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/89 "2014-05-05T19:20:02Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Right, but these are things that also make sense _outside_ of “prepping” and seem to be ignored by the preppers I’ve seen on TV > > I live way out in the sticks, with two rambunctious sons. Learning advanced first-aid is useful to my situation even without considering doomsday. > > Also, we enjoy and are comforted by eating food we grow ourselves, I just planted some cherry and plum trees this weekend, and they will eventually be useful as a food source, but that’s not my primary intent. > > The few episodes of the prepper shows I’ve seen have been things like “we have 12000 gallons of water on hand”. Well, that’s great, but wouldn’t it have been better to have a hand pump well, or figure out how to transport water from a local natural source? I think they made sense only for a few, as many focused on white collar skills and assumed that they could rely in the long term on food grown by others and made available through supermarkets, water utilities, etc. Given that, prepping will involve short- and long-term benefits, such as emergency food rations and planting your own food. Some preppers do not focus on the latter. Many people probably don’t consider either, but will eventually do so given high food and oil prices, long-term effects of environmental damage and global warming, economic non-recovery, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/90 "2014-05-05T20:54:40Z")
My main thought these last two posts was “man, I’d love to have a hand pump for my well” because if we lose power we also lose water. But we don’t own, we rent, and we’re dirt poor, so it’s not an option. That’s another thing - most of the prepping assumes you live in a single-family dwelling and you’re an owner. I guess us renters are doomed to be part of the Zombie Hordes looting and pillaging the homeowners? ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/91 "2014-05-06T01:11:03Z")
> [@DChord568](#): > > This. > > I’ve always wondered why anyone would WANT to live in a truly post-apocalyptic world. > > I would love to sit survivalists down and have them watch the early 80s TV movie [The Day After](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_After) — and then tell me if they still feel the same. > > I saw it when it aired (prior to that, actually, at a special media pre-screening)…have never seen it since…and the emotions it stirred are still with me over 30 years later. Talk with the survivors of Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki, and see if they would want to live. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/92 "2014-05-06T01:15:02Z")
I think that many months preparations are not unrealistic. Let you electricity go out for about a week or two in your town, as it did here when we had an ice storm. Also, let a water main burst. You’ll be amazed, amazed at how quickly the stores empty out of food, and cannot resupply because the computers are down. The long lines. Public disaster aid areas? BF joke. Correction: BF joke unless you are one of the first there. And, not suited for long term. The fuckers on the local news said ‘go to the public shelters’. I called a public shelter. I’m still not sure if they laughed or cursed at me. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/93 "2014-05-06T01:22:51Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > The few episodes of the prepper shows I’ve seen have been things like “we have 12000 gallons of water on hand”. Well, that’s great, but wouldn’t it have been better to have a hand pump well, or figure out how to transport water from a local natural source? I think that you are trying to make a bad situation out of a good one. I think. Can’t local wells be, mol, drained by too large a strain on them at a time? What good is a hand pump if the locals are all aware of an impending storm, riot, etc… and sucking hundreds of gallons an hour out of the local…whatever it is that holds well water? Also, the prepper \*had \*figured out how to transport water, and it needed no purification, as would water from a natural source. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/94 "2014-05-06T02:24:45Z")
If someone becomes self sufficient in an urban area the authorities will simply show up and take their equipment for emergency purposes. If you’re good at camping, fishing, and hunting then you can hike out to where the deer and the antelope play and set up stakes. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/95 "2014-05-06T03:26:51Z")
Since I am in a wheelchair and dependent on a dozen pills a day, I hope society _never_ collapses. I’d last about 5 minutes. By the way, how come the survival lists never include toilet paper? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/96 "2014-05-06T04:17:45Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I think that you are trying to make a bad situation out of a good one. I think. Can’t local wells be, mol, drained by too large a strain on them at a time? What good is a hand pump if the locals are all aware of an impending storm, riot, etc… and sucking hundreds of gallons an hour out of the local…whatever it is that holds well water? It’s called an aquifer and since it’s where pretty much every household gets water every day around here no, I don’t think a bunch of us with hand pumps are going to drain it when electrically powered water pumps don’t. > [@](#): > > Also, the prepper \*had \*figured out how to transport water, and it needed no purification, as would water from a natural source. My well water is a natural source and doesn’t _require_ purification, although I do run it through a filter since it is so chock-full of minerals as to be a bit crunchy. > [@BMalion](#): > > By the way, how come the survival lists never include toilet paper? Mine does. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/97 "2014-05-06T13:47:02Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > By the way, how come the survival lists never include toilet paper? For short/mid term disasters, sure. For anything longer you’re going to eventually run out and have to make do without anyway. Toilet paper doesn’t weigh much but it’s very bulky to store. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/98 "2014-05-06T18:20:28Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Planning for a week or two of local disaster might be a good idea. Planning for the end of civilization is cuckoo for coca-puffs. Nevertheless, my plan for the zombie apocalypse is to get a Mad Max Road Warrior style metal mask and some leather and cause mayhem with a band of idiots. I’ve always thought of myself as the King of the Idiots. Yeah, my “plan” is to modify my car and become the Great Humongous, or die a quick, bloody death trying. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/99 "2014-05-06T18:50:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > We’re talking bunkers. Long term. > > No, it’s not worth it, because **there is a very, very high likelihood you will fail miserably**. Failure is relative. I prefer to consider them “pre-buried”. That’s a success for the rest of us! ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344/100 "2014-05-07T10:29:21Z")
This is a really interesting thread. I’ve never watched any of the mentioned shows nor visited the “prepper/survivalist” websites, but the wife and I have thought and planned for some probable scenarios. I guess our preparations (damn, there’s that word again) would be considered pushing the envelope by most of you. The things we fear aren’t the Great Obama Muslim/Commie takeover :rolleyes:, nor Extinction Level events (ie Yellowstone), but likely natural disasters coupled with an increasingly brittle infrastructure and power grid. This would be compounded by inability to reach bank accounts, money, etc. We view it as a two-part problem: Immediate survival of the storm/flood/etc., and longer term plans for an extended aftermath due to local damage and overburdened responders. In addition to household water and supplies roughly matching Bricker’s, we have the following: 1. 2 generators (1 large and noisy, 1 small and quiet to keep a fridge working) 2. A small stocked RV stored well away from the house. 3. A small cabin also well away from the house. 4. A fairly large store of water (50 gallons), kept fresh and on a trailer. 5. A fairly large store of gasoline (70 gallons) also on a trailer and rotated, also some distance from the house. Because storms are our greatest danger here, the majority of the items listed are separated from one another by at least 100 miles (most in rented storage buildings). They’re in a rough triangle (some are actually in different states). My worst-case scenario is a natural disaster leaving us with limited power/water for an extended period. My plan (such as it is) would be to either move to one of the unaffected areas (RV or cabin), or team up with my neighbors to bring the items here and share them. The RV and cabin are mainly for entertainment purposes, but the decisions about location were partly driven by disaster preparedness. I have no illusions about “Lone-Wolf” scenarios, nor the macho survival male festooned with guns, but I do have a decent store of pistols, long guns, and ammo, and I hunt/fish enough to know how to transform a critter into a meal pretty easily. As for veggies/etc. we have a pretty good sized store of canned goods, distributed amongst the list above. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-prepping-for-doomsday-worth-it/687344.md?page=6)