When did you get started? Poll

[Lowdown3]

What year did you get started seriously with your preps or "wake up" to the possibility of bad things happening?

1980's? 1990-1995? 1995-2000 2000-2004 2005-2009 This year.

Feel free to post to the thread, it's a poll but you can post to the thread part also.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

I "woke up" 1999 (the Y2K) thing. Early on I acquired knowlege and basic stuff. Started with buying extra food when I was grocery shopping. Took me a few years to get to the long term storage with rice, beans mylar and O2 absorbers. I have been acquiring gear for a few years, little at a time. Early on I figured I was ahead of 50% of the population, now I'm higher than that. Not where I need to be yet, but get closer all the time. I don't know that anyone could be "ready" for a multi generational TEOTWAWKI scenario, but we can be better prepared than most. Prep a little at a time and don't get burnt out.

[crossbow]

Late 70s when the family farms started shutting down. about 1980 we could look back and see how many businesses went out because the farms supported them, 4 feed stores,5 machinery dealers, 4 trucking companies, countless farm hands were unemployed and had no other skills. tenant houses were being torn down or rented. we always raised a garden, a beef and canned, but not like we do now,we always stocked for a yr, now that is gone beyond almost rediculous. I hope they can get a 20yd dumpster here in 20 yrs and toss everything, but it don't look like that will happen.

[becky3086]

I guess I really haven't gotten that "wake up" yet, not the way some on this forum have. I have next to nothing stored but I am always working on being more self sufficient.

[hardin]

actually started prepping in 74 when i moved out on my own, as a kid we always had a garden and canned everything we could, plus a chest freezer for meat and fish, just figured it made sense and tired to keep it going when i was out on my own, i guess growing up and listening to the stories from my folks and grandparents about the depression and food shortages during the wars made want to plan ahead and be prepared myself

[Kat]

1998 was it for me. That's when I met my husband who had already been into this since the mid '80s. It made a lot of sense to me. Seemed smart to have things put back in case of... It's grown since then, to gardening on a larger scale, more animals, canning, homeschooling, etc... And will continue to grow as we get the umph to try new things around here. Adding homesteading into it gave us more of a sense of independence as well.

[Jerry D Young]

1967, when I read "Alas Babylon" and "How to Survive the H-Bomb, and Why" by Pat Frank in Junior High School.

[Boyd]

1999. Since I was already into technology at the time Y2K did scare me. Not so much commercial and end user programs, but the old outdated government systems. I learned a new way to eat, live and think when that happened. The X wife (wife at the time) thought I was a little wacky but liked the excess supplies as a just in case :)

[protus]

what year did red dawn come out LOL ;P

[trkarl]

2004 for me after a hurricane. First time ever being 3 days without power. A y2k friend of ours was the hero of his neighborhood since he had generators and kept every ones food cold and pumped water etc. He started teaching me about inverters and generators and food storage. Playing with his inverters was a blast back then and him being able to run his well and central ac off batteries was the craziest thing I had ever saw. That got me started.

[eeyore]

For me it was after high school in the 80's had a Pastor that got me a little interested in it. Then got a hold of Tappans books and was ruined.

Now we are struggled to find a (permanent) place, but being able to raise chickens now and hopefully adding fish and a few bunnies next year (if we have that long).

[96thTallarn]

In the late 80's I bought my first shotgun. That was my start. I continued to buy ammunition and weapons. I thought at the time that was all I would need. In the late 90's with the Y2K scare I started buying other items, the wife (now ex) even thought it was a good idea. In more recent times I realised that a person can't survive off canned beans and bullets. So now I'm trying to get myself set with longterm storage.

[thereisnospoon]

Truely, it was the Y2K non event that started my journey. As the debate over Y2K started I was in the dark about preparedness and really a lot of things. At first I didn't think much about it, but the wife worked in the finance side of healthcare and her company was alarmed at what all it could possibly effect.

Then I got spooked and started investigating and found, what was then, the world of the survivalist. I spent New Years Eve 1999 in my front room, watching the TV waiting for the horror to unfold, with my FAL in my lap and water and MREs stacked in the basement; ready to defend myself and my belongings fro the coming hoard fo MZBs.

Later I figured out truely how and why to prep and gained a really solid peace of mind knowing my family and I can survive and even thrive if something happens locally, regionally or even on a national scale.

[becky3086]

2004 for me after a hurricane. First time ever being 3 days without power. A y2k friend of ours was the hero of his neighborhood since he had generators and kept every ones food cold and pumped water etc. He started teaching me about inverters and generators and food storage. Playing with his inverters was a blast back then and him being able to run his well and central ac off batteries was the craziest thing I had ever saw. That got me started.

I sure would have loved to have seen how that person did everything. I need to learn more about how to do these things.
Alas Babylon is on of my favorite books as well, along with The Stand by Stephen King. I'm sure there are several others over there on the shelf with them that I just can't think of now. Red Dawn was a good show and what was the other one? The Day After?

[Klingon]

Another bump

In 1987 I started hearing about tax resisters and why they were resisting. Been reading and acquiring since.