When did you get started? Poll

[MustangGal]

I got started this spring. I had to read One Second After for my Comp II class. It is not the type of book I would have EVER chosen to read, but it has definitely changed how I live.

[Pop_45]

My first encounter with self sufficiency was in the early 80's. I ordered a book called "Back to Basics". It got me thinking about what I would do if things were different. I still have that book, it's a good reference.

But I didn't get really serious about 'prepping' till about 2006. A tele-evangelist named John Hagie was hawking a video by the name of "Obsession " It's about Jihad and Radical Islam.

[sardog]

That's awesome Sardog. Care to mention who it was?

John R. Harrel
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...912495,00.html

My only problem was he tended to be quite racist.

[buttebob]

I became aware in the mid to late '50's. With "Sixth Column", "Not This August" and "Alas Babylon". Herter's catalog's at that time carried a list of things needed to stock pile. It was great fun as a teenager to think about.

[Patriot Prepper]

I started over 30 years ago. I also held Y2K seminars. It has been a long time of false alarms. But at least I am prepared. I actually enjoy prepping, but do hope we don't see our Nation torn apart.

[Kathy D]

Katrina is what did it for me. The after math of that hurricane was something I never want to live through
again.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Katrina is what did it for me. The after math of that hurricane was something I never want to live through
again.

Kathy I would be interested in a post on the details of that if you dont mind sharing

[baldsith]

In 2007 for me...my wife got real sick...lost her job...we lost our house and sold everything that wasn't nailed down to get buy...opening the pantry and seeing the last cans of food did it for me...with God's grace we have rebounded and are well stocked now

[Gun_Nut]

I was heavily influenced by my grandparents. My grandpa used to buy things by the case- when they were on sale. When (as a kid) I asked him why he did this, he said "cause prices ain't getting any cheaper, and you never know when you might need the extra." I have tried to use his strategies all my adult life. 9-11 was a reality check for me. There was tangible proof of how vulnerable we really are. Since then, I have ramped things up. I feel time is short as we are circling the drain faster and faster.

GN

[Benn Gleck]

I started in the early 80's after reading Life After Doomsday by Bruce Clayton. Soon after that I bought Mel Tappan's book Survival Guns and he suggested buying an HK91, so I did..... good advice, wish I'd have bought several at that price.

[jimmertoons]

I was brought up with the can-it-and -store-it mentality. My folks nds on experience.still live by that motto. I have always tried to buy in bulk, and on sale, but 9-11 really hit me hard. I was on a Boy Scout campout with my son's troop the weekend after 9-11, and remember sitting up those nights and not hearing the planes overhead. It was then I realized it was time to get it together.
The last 4-1/2 years have been rocky, and have really cut into the preps, so we have been concentrating more on knowledge and consolidation. One of the down sides to being involved with the construction industry. The up side is the hands on experience.

[Grinnan Barrett]

I was raised by survivalist family so I have to go back a long way. I remember putting together preps, making soap with my grandmother in big black iron kettles (I still have them) with lye, animal fat, ashes etc. I remember articles my dad had in the 1950s. I still have most of them. I should post some of the stuff from those days my dad had. I remember the cross draw holster my grandfather had with his Smith and Wesson Russian Model 44. I still have my Grandfathers Shortwave radio we ran on batteries if there was no power in the lines. I remember the goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs and other animals we had (an ate). We lived together as a group. It was hard for my wife to understand years ago when I told her to go get her mother and bring her to live with us.

Survival is not about yourself, it is about family. Family and friends are what make preparedness worth while. Today we have four generations living within ten minutes of each other. Right now we are talking about building another place where we can have half a dozen houses next to each other. I would not trade this lifestyle for any other. the 1950s is when I got into this. And I thank GOD for the great family I had and have. GB