There’s a lot of fear mongering in this industry. Like a lot.
And even if you typically err on the side of caution, look into the details of these scares, and regularly end up falling for the hype – if you’re completely honest with yourself, you’ll likely agree with me when I say that a lot of times, the crazes around hot topics in our industry are unwarranted (I’m looking at you, Ebola).
Yes, it’s exciting to think about SHTF situations. It’s really fascinating to research big emergency scenarios that have a low probability (but still a chance!) of happening in our lifetime, and it’d pretty much be the coolest thing ever if you were one of the first to find out about a conspiracy theory, jump on board, and then find out it actually was true!
I understand why people love to fall into the fear. But I’m here to tell you that it could actually be harming your preparedness.
Why? Isn’t this all part of the prepping industry anyway? Aren’t thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of preppers out there also deeply concerned about these frightening, national and international level SHTF and emergency situations, and thus taking the time to prep for them? How on earth could prepping out of fear be bad when everybody’s doing it?
Here’s why you shouldn’t prep out of fear;
There’s a huge benefit to prepping and honing your survivalist skills with a calm and rational mind. There’s an enormous boon to prepping without fear.
Chances are you’ve already guessed what I’m going to say. Whether or not we put it in the same words, chances are you already know:
Fear is distracting as hell. And it’ll make you prioritize completely wrong.
And prioritizing preps is quite honestly the best way to have any success at prepping. Why? Cause you can’t prep for everything. You just can’t. No one has infinite time or infinite resources. So you need to prioritize. And if you’re prioritizing the wrong things, you’re pretty much setting yourself up for failure as a prepper, sorry to say.
Fear is taking your attention away from preps for small emergency situations that quite honestly could happen any day now and likely will happen in your lifetime and pulling your energy, effort, thoughts, and finances into things that quite frankly stand very little chance of taking place. Especially in the short term.
Stop. Prepping. For the unlikely. Until you’ve prepped for the likely.
You want to take economic collapse seriously. Sounds good to me. But have you taken seriously the fact that power outages, health problems, job loss, natural disasters in your area, and all those other really plain, boring ol’ SHTF situations on a personal level are far more likely to “get you”?
Be 100% honest with yourself. If you’ve not padded your bank account so that in case you loose your job tomorrow, your family will still be fine for at least 6 months, and if you’ve not stockpiled enough food and water to last you 6 months to a year (at minimum) without a paycheque, why are you surfing the net trying to figure out which gas masks to buy?
Here’s why you should be prepping instead;
Security. Safety. Peace of mind.
I shouldn’t have to tell you this. You should already know.
There are so many different reasons to be a prepper – even if TEOTWAWKI situations never happen; even if national or international SHTF crises never ever rear their ugly heads. There are so many reasons to prep – reasons why preppers aren’t crazy, but logical. So many reasons why being prepared itself makes perfect sense.
We as preppers minimize risk and plan for our futures. Preppers make sure that we have the most security possible for both ourselves and our family members. There is absolutely nothing crazy about that. It’s one of the most rational things a person could ever do.
You shouldn’t be prepping out of fear. You should be prepping out of rationality. And yes, these two are polar opposites and will change the way you prep – the skills you learn and how you prioritize the items on your prepper to-do list.
They have to.
Because a prepper who is not afraid of the next hype in the prepper industry would never take a second look at the economic collapse concerns, the possibility of a disease like Ebola taking out a large percentage of the world’s population, the potential for biological warfare or nuclear fallout to wipe out most of the planet – not until they had finished prepping for the situations that were more likely to take place first.
Please. Take the time to switch your approach to prepping if you find that you’re prepping out of fear. Start prepping out of rationality instead. Start with prepping for the emergency situations most likely to take place first, and then (and only then!) move on to prepping for less and less likely threats.
Don’t hoard a stash of gold and invest in gas masks until you’ve got your basic preps laid out. Wait until you’ve got your plain ol’ food stockpile, your water stockpile, your household supplies, your survival gear, a nice skill set, and all that other boring prepper stuff dealt with first.
Don’t fall into the trap of letting yourself believe fear is helpful. It’s not. Don’t let it cloud your judgement.
Staples before gadgets is always the way. Although it’s tough to define some items that might make the list. Start now…it feels good when you reach the point you’ll survive at least the first 3 months.
Good, solid advice, Ryan!
i get ready because its the way i think. i grew up poor, so i think of the future.
Feel you on this one. I do feel like those who have struggled in their past take prepping more seriously often, namely because they don’t want to be there again.
Prepping has become more about acquisition than action.
Firearms are a good example; you can spend a fortune on a gun and ammunition but if you aren’t proficient or even been to a hunters safety training, your investment could easily be turned 180 degrees on you.
Food storage is an even more common trap. What are you going to do with 600 pounds of wheat if you have never even tried to bake bread? There are literally tons of long term storage items that can easily be incorporated into meals everyday. It’s often cheaper to use products like dehydrated potatoes or freeze-dried stew blend than to buy ingredients at the grocery store. So you can cut your food bill now and know how to use the stuff later.
Perhaps even more important ,,, when people are in a panic to buy their peace, they often spend beyond reasonable debt. Can you pay your credit card bill with toilet paper?
It’s very true. That being said, I feel like the trap happens cause stockpiling *is* very valuable, if you do it the right way. It’s when things go to far that logic gets skewed I find.
This. This. This: “they often spend beyond reasonable debt. Can you pay your credit card bill with toilet paper?”
Yes exactly. So many times over. This is such a great point that is not stressed enough.
Excellent point, Pam. Gun “accidents” are psychologically damaging to those dealing with the aftermath. Not to mention the danger to the gun owner if he/she is unwilling to immediately pull that darn trigger. Only takes one-and-a-half seconds for a bad guy to cross that 21-foot space the cops prepare for in their training to shoot a perp before the perp is upon them. I suspect that MOST gun owners who do not train regularly (and I’m including “old” former-military persons in that group) will have their weapon of choice used against them in a crisis. Familiarity (second nature) with your weapon of choice, AND muscle memory (only gained through repeated actions) are critical to survival.
Way too many people think they’ll simply “scare” away those perps who are coming for their supplies. Holding a gun (loaded or not) will NOT do the trick when people are desperate.
Every gun owner must deal with this question: “Am I willing to take a life?” If not, sell those guns to your local gun store and invest in “hidden” storage capabilities instead.
One more thing to consider: MOST people immediately “freeze” when confronted with a major disaster that they haven’t experienced before…the reason being, their brain is trying to process it at the same time it is happening. Their first thought is, “this can’t be happening.” A split second later, they may be thinking, “Why is this happening?” And the next thought is “What am I going to do?” This is when “fight or flight” kicks in. Meanwhile…how much time has elapsed??? Of course, all the above varies with the individual, but MANY will wind up dead because 1) they didn’t react soon enough, 2) were distracted (a favored tactic when two or more perps work together), or 3) never asked themselves “What will I do when confronted by…?”
We all would like to think we’re prepared to make a split-second decision, but unfortunately, we’re not wired that way. I know. Years ago, I was in a combat zone. Those “questions” do arise. First time I was shot at, I remember thinking to myself, “Why are they shooting at me? I didn’t do anything to them!” I’d venture to guess, at LEAST a second and a half elapsed during that time that I was trying to ‘make sense’ of my situation.
Life can be rather unforgiving. And, remember, none of us is superman or iron man.
One of the few presentations based on logic. Thank you
Thanks for the huge compliment, Linda!
RE: “(I’m looking at you, Ebola).”
That’s so true. So many threads on the internet express thoughts from people in near panic about perceived threats like that. Add Swine Flu and Zika to the list of pandemics which don’t pan out like ‘authority’ would have you believe and a picture of manipulation emerges.
Have you read Jon Rapopport’s blog, NoMoreFakeNews and his series of articles about Zika or Swine Flu and the corrupt official line and how ‘authority’ practically whips people into a frenzy of fear?
“They collaborate to float prime-cut, A-number-one cover stories of extraordinary dimensions. They invent medical reality out of thin air.”
Imho, it helps you to avoid being fearful when you cut through the B.S. and get to the facts of the matter.
So glad you agree, Helot. And no I haven’t, but sounds like something I’d definitely agree with. It definitely helps to cut through the B.S> and get to the facts! :)
This is so true. What can you do with your gasmask on but with nothing to eat?
Take your environment in consideration first. If you live in the woods you prepare for a forestfire, you live below sealevel you prepare for a flood. There is no use for preparing for a winterstorm when you live in the Bahamas.
Exactly, spot on!
Quite possibly one of the best posts I’ve read in the prepping industry! Thank you!! You really helped me remove some clouds from my site. Excellent rationale…
Thank you so much, Matt :). Glad I could help!