Undercover Prepper

Recently I was having a conversation with an old friend and political activist (I ran a conservative political and news aggregation website for 8 years) about the current election and all the deception and disinformation being spread by the mainstream media. No, I don’t think Donald Trump or anyone else can save the country. I do think he has good intentions, but personally I think we’ve gone so far in the wrong direction that it would take generations to repair the damage if ever. Yes, I believe Hillary Clinton is a power hungry narcissist with a list of scandals longer than a prepper’s list of items to stash!  I believe the election of Hillary Clinton would only serve to speed the already steep decline of our country. The fact that the citizens of this country would even consider electing someone as corrupt as Mrs. Clinton is exactly the reason I think, no, I know we are in deep trouble, but I digress. As my conservative friend and I conversed I began picking up signs that he had joined yet another group of people despised and smeared by the media; he was a prepper. Yes, this retired doctor, this highly educated and well respected member of the community had begun storing food and water and even taken to raising goats.

You are not alone

I’ve seen estimates of 3 to 4 million preppers in the US, but I would suspect there are actually many, many more. My friends and co-workers do not know I’m a prepper (you’ll notice our names are not listed anywhere on the site.) My friend’s friends do not know he’s a prepper, and I’m willing to bet many of your friends do not know you’re a prepper. Since the wife and I started this journey I have noticed more and more people seem to be getting on-board, but doing so quietly. I am currently a manager for one of those big box home improvement stores and maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be an increase in the demand for generators, flashlights, batteries, solar lights, etc. The young couple buying potting soil, bleach, a shovel, and 120 AA batteries certainly doesn’t have that many battery operated gadgets at the house. The young guy asking what gauge extension cord he should buy with his generator ‘just in case’ he needed to run an appliance with it, etc, etc, etc. So why keep your new obsession a secret? Two primary reasons I suspect; one would be the fear of people thinking you’re some tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theory nut, and secondly to protect what you have if the SHTF. Don’t advertise that you are saving large amounts of food and water; it only attracts the wrong kind of attention. As I mentioned earlier, I work with the public on a daily basis so I know a lot of people in the small town I work in, but in the even smaller town I live in I am practically unknown. We are pretty much hermits out here, it’s a very small town that doesn’t take much to outsiders and that’s just fine with us. Sure we’re friendly, we wave and smile at the few neighbors we have, but that’s as far as it goes.  What we do out here on our little 12 acres is no ones business.

Happy prepping!