reply to post by sirnex
I can't tell you why people do what they do; I can only tell you why I do what I do.
I started out years ago, living in earthquake country, to prepare for that possibility. What I had seen before was that earthquakes struck without
warning, and people suffered; much of that suffering -- the aftermath -- seemed to me to be centered around acquirable goods (water, food, first
aid, medicine, etc.) that were in short supply after the fact. I thought it a good idea to stock up on some basic goods, and to dedicate a portion
of my small apartment toward maintaining those goods.
Consider this: If you buy foods that you normally use in bulk and rotate those stocks, the WORST case is that you'll save money. Simple, right?
A no-brainer.
Later on, in the same location, I became part of a search & rescue team and I learned to consolidate the supplies that I would need into a backpack.
I've always had a higher-than-average water demand, so water was always a problem for me. Pretty soon, the trunk of my car became a mini-storage of
goods, and after that, I had a 1/4" steel box bolted to the inside of the trunk for the tools that I considered mandatory for performing SAR work.
Still later, my Bride and I moved to the Caribbean, and we expanded upon our previous prep work by preparing for tropical cyclones. In our current
situation, water is not a problem, but filtration might be. You know the most bulky think for us to stock up on? Toilet paper. Now, I can use
anything, but my darlin' likes a particular brand, so there are always at least a case, individually sealed in ziplocks. Now, ziplocks serve a dual
purpose in a SHTF situation, so that's okay. When our little island was devistated by a hurricane in 2008, we made it through the nearly four
months of no power fairly easily, and yes, we shared a lot of stuff with others.
See, the thing for us is, we don't have to anticipate a gamma ray burst, or a asteroid impact or nuclear war -- those are all things we can't do
anything about, and therefore unworthy (to us) of devoting energies toward. This is my truth: There is no place on the Earth that is without
natural disaster of some sort. Here is another of my truths: You can't share it if you don't have it.
We want to live. So far this year alone, we've saved several hundred dollars by buying foods that we use in bulk and rotating those stocks. If
TSHTF -- in whatever form -- we're always going to be better of having supplies to use, to barter with, to help others with. We have doctors and a
hospital. What if a disaster removes their ability to operate? People get sick, people get injured. That brings me to my opinion of the most
important 'goods' of all -- skills and training. I can suture a moderate wound, and I have the equipment to do so. I can make my own amalgam if
I should loose a filling and can't get to a dentist right away.
Hundreds of thousands? Not even remotely close, at least for me. We dedicate a fair amount of time to systems that work for us, that produce food
for us, and self-education that builds skills that could be a great benefit in hard times. We don't make a lot of money and we live very simply.
Other than perhaps tropical cyclones, most disasters strike with little warning. Do you want to have choices, or be forced to depend upon a
governmental agency for your survival? For me, it comes down to taking responsibility for myself.