Continuum of Preparedness

[Anne D.]

I'm not prepared at all for any sort of apocalyptic disaster and somehow have no interest in getting ready. I do think about the economy collapsing and having to deal with being dirt poor. I think it's worthwhile to steel oneself for that possibility, but I have no plans for how to deal with something bigger than that.

Mine will be the corpse that folks like you (Gawen and Squid) step over while shaking your heads and saying, "We tried to warn people like her." 

[Squid]

So at what odds do you guys rate the chance that you'll ever have to put your plans into action?
What are the most likely perceived threats?
Is it a fun thing to do, worth the expense even if the shit doesn't hit the fan in our time?

Well, I'm most concerned with loss of utilities, access to things like fuel, groceries and the like.  We had a hurricane come through here a few years ago and had no power for 4 days.  A lot of the grocery stores were out of potable water and the city water was risky and we were told to boil it.  That was just a Category 1. Katrina was on a B-line for the Texas coast but a large air mass had it turn north and it hit New Orleans instead.  Last summer we had wild fires all over the entire state due to extreme heat and a drought.  I even watched one being put out on my way to work one morning, a pretty large chunk of a field was charred black.  Tornados are a real threat along with thunderstorms that can and have produced hurricane force winds.  Aaaaand now we're experience more seismic activity in this area - some people attribute it to the frac drilling.  Flooding is a very real threat here as well.  Every few years we have a pretty bad one and the last catastrophic one was in 1998 when half of my hometown was under water.  I was on the other side of the planet at the time deployed to the Gulf.

For me also a lot of the skills involved are something I am interested in learning - gardening, survival and outdoors skills, alternative energy and the like.  Some other things usually involved with prepping like firearms and combatives I've been interested in for a long while - firearms every since I was in the military (although I was only issued a weapon while I was temporarily assigned to the Master At Arms - Remington 870 Marine Mag to be exact and a Beretta M9) and I've studied martial arts since I was in high school and have more recently gotten into reality based combatives.  I've also been big on camping for a long time so I've always been interested in wilderness skills.

Don't get me wrong, as cool as a zombie apocalypse would be, it's not the top of the list of my emergency concerns.

What he said...all of it^

C'mon up to D/FW, Squid. We'll help ya get sorted out...*winkin' with a grin*

I'm working on it actually.  Have to get a job in the area before I can make the move though which isn't easy.

[Gawen]

Mine will be the corpse that folks like you (Gawen and Squid) step over while shaking your heads and saying, "We tried to warn people like her." 

I wish that weren't so....