Hoarding!!!

[max velocity]

Hi, so a little controversial in the title but I wanted to kick off a discussion about hoarding. Now, before I get taken down, what I mean is the whole idea that as preppers we are preparing and storing for hard times ahead. But I have seen it written in so many places about being seen, post SHTF, as hoarders.
This also links in to a discussion on possible martial law and seizing of food, and maybe even weapons, for redistribution.
We all know that the best approach is to keep your preps secret, but if it got out that you had food stored, simply because others were starving and you were not, what do you think will be the result?
I actually wish I had more food stored. We are doing out best but financially you can't just get there all at once and we have not been actively prepping for long enough to really be ready.
Now, in a total collapse die-off situation it may be pretty simple: you keep your food and anyone trying to take it from you is a recipient, at high velocity, of the bullets you stored as well as your beans and band-ads. Where it gets interesting is in a slow slide situation where there is still government and authority and they may not be too sympathetic under martial law. You don't want to have to fight off an active duty army unit when you deny them search entry and they come piling in through the door...and even if you were succesful, they will be back with reinforcements, possibly even an air strike!
I am very interested in thoughts on this.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Hi, so a little controversial in the title but I wanted to kick off a discussion about hoarding. Now, before I get taken down, what I mean is the whole idea that as preppers we are preparing and storing for hard times ahead. But I have seen it written in so many places about being seen, post SHTF, as hoarders. We are just controlled hoarders LOL
This also links in to a discussion on possible martial law and seizing of food, and maybe even weapons, for redistribution. Wont be alive so it doesnt matter
We all know that the best approach is to keep your preps secret, but if it got out that you had food stored, simply because others were starving and you were not, what do you think will be the result? You will have to learn to act, dress and look and stay away from as many folks as possible
I actually wish I had more food stored. We are doing out best but financially you can't just get there all at once and we have not been actively prepping for long enough to really be ready. Dunno anyone who isnt in the same boat round here even those who have ben at it forever still want more or better
Now, in a total collapse die-off situation it may be pretty simple: you keep your food and anyone trying to take it from you is a recipient, at high velocity, of the bullets you stored as well as your beans and band-ads. Where it gets interesting is in a slow slide situation where there is still government and authority and they may not be too sympathetic under martial law. You don't want to have to fight off an active duty army unit when you deny them search entry and they come piling in through the door...and even if you were succesful, they will be back with reinforcements, possibly even an air strike!
I am very interested in thoughts on this.

Thats a pretty far radical extreme senario of which there will be no winner if you try and keep the same ideals and principles and live by them. Doubtful that many here will live to see it that far so the storage of food and items isnt an issue. There is no martial law force that is willing nor capable of this nor even close, been hearing talk like this since the 80s and aint seen it yet. I wont be alive for this, perhaps not the best answer for a "survivalist" but this is my Country and I didnt quit it I just retired from the service but went to work elsewhere where my skills are of use and still have an active role in goings on and this isnt tolerated anymore than thugs who wish to change it for their benefit. Hoarder, maybe, been called worse this week.

[BioG8r]

I'm guessing my calling Matt "Ninja da Pooh" is starting to wear on him. LOL.

Hoarder - IMO would be someone who is keeping more than they need, or have use for.
I have alot of stuff and consider myself a Pack Rat of the First Order.
The Items I have are of immediate and long term value and could be called to use in a matter of minutes to hours.
I don't keep Junk for the sake of possessing it. I do have two racks of "Scrap" steel. None is junk.
As far as food, I do have fairly extensive stores now, but the same mind set applies - I don't have more than we will need and We have put a great deal of thought into what we store.
It is stored in an orderly manner with rotation and usability in mind. A portion of what we have is still on the vine.
My FIL did call us hoarders when my DW let slip we had over a hundred dozen canning jars.
100 qts. of beans 80 pts and 20 qts of tomatoes and tomato based items. 45 1/2 pts of jams. there is nearly a fourth of them used already.
The only folks who would call our Pantry HOARDING would be those who are - Unprepared for any sort of "Dry Spell", Someone who is, out of meaness or jealousy mouthing about what we have.
We avoid the latter by keeping the door closed!
As Matt said " I won't be alive for this", and to take it a bit further, I will not be bugging out unless it CANNOT be avoided. If it comes to that I can't take all I have... If they come to "redistribute" what I own, I will not need it anymore before all is said and done! My Country, My Land, My Stores, My Hardwork, My Call who sits at the table. I WILL NOT just rollover and let someone else benefit unless I CHOOSE to share.
I am NOT Billy B A, but I am trained enough to put up more of a fight than common Joe Workaday or Streetcorner Thug will want. I would do my best to leave very little useful if I felt the battle was completely lost.
I am under no illusion that I am Bulletproof or a Super Warrior, thats for the younger crowd. 1 round could end it all and everything I have worked for, will be left to my DW who feels the same and would probably be more of an obsticle than I.
I maintain a garden and plan on doing so as long as my body holds out (or the sniper doesn't see me).
I'm not the first farm on the road. If Martial law and ANY kind of confiscation occurs there will be many hard fought battles before they ever get to my house, There will be enough warning for me to casually "handle" my own situation.

Not really meaning to sound Obstinate, Gruff or even Stern, but I believe in the rights of all, NO ONE has the RIGHT to steal from me, just as I have no RIGHT to take from another, I believe in hard work and the benefits that come from it - entitlement does not sit well with me.
All are entitled to reap what they sow, thats about all.

[wwdnet]

Hoarding - One Man's Trash...

Have some of everything; more of some things, less of others. Give me a pole barn and a few more acres and it would be different but not necessarily better.

• I try to be realistic about how much food/water we really need to get through until I can grow/collect some more. We have floor-to-ceiling double pantries that are ridiculously full, and separate food storage that is stacked about as high as it's going to get. We have 3 good wells.
• We are in a good position, and well-staged, for home defense, and I am comfortable with most of it. This is not a just-walk-in-and-take-it kind of place!
• Tools and spare parts - no problem there
• It's time to rotate too many medical supplies, but not this month. It's on my list of what to do next month. I did go through all the first responder training at work to make sure I keep the skills sharp. At my age I should probably invest in a portable AED;)

I grew up in a post-Depression era family where nothing went to waste and everything was considered useful (which it sometimes was not!). I try to be a bit more discriminating when discerning trash from treasure. I take some ribbing for having a spare everything in the attic and enough food for an army, but I can give as good as I get when it comes to what's in the garage and 2 outbuildings!

[max velocity]

wwdnet: sounds like you have it going on, well stocked and defended; got any space for another family?! ;-)

[blankstare]

hoarding.....that just a title the lazy people call somebody that has decided to take care of themselves....a guilt trip

in a real shtf situation....i don't believe that there is gonna be active anything coming to your house, they will most likely hole up until the great dying is over....then collect the surviviors to start over

[miked2345]

Maybe I just have a different idea about hoarding.... If I grab ALL the water bottles from the corner store AFTER the storm rolls thru and shuts down the roads - well, yeah, that's probably hoarding..

On the other hand, if I'm slowly, steadily stocking up, in times of plenty, when everyone has the same opportunity to stock up, how am I a hoarder just because I'm spending my extra money on beans, while they choose to blow their money at the casino?? (and I actually have friends and family who choose the casino option...)

[monkeybird]

HUMAN HOARDING

Civil unrest or natural disaster may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials which they believe, rightly or wrongly, will soon be in short supply. Survivalists, also known as preppers, often stockpile large supplies of these items in anticipation of a large scale disaster event.

COMPULSIVE HOARDING
Apartment of a person with compulsive hoarding
Some hoarding in humans may be a form of mental illness, specifically obsessive

[recon_prepper]

A survivalist or prepper is someone who stores up before a storm.
A hoarder is someone who after the hurricane hits runs to walmart and buys up all of something to store or try to sell at a much inflated price.
That said the govt might not see it that way.
This is why you never store all your eggs in one basket.
Hiding things in multiple locations is always best. This way if someone comes in looks in your pantry and doesnt see much they think ok not much here move on. That doesnt show them they 55 gallon drums you have hidden around the property or the root cellar you dug last year into the side of a hill under a shed, or etcetc. You get the idea.

[Pearl]

When Obama and crew tighten the thumb screws just a little tighter on the family farm that food will stop flowing into the cities and filling the shelves of
those city dwellers who shop daily and eat out at least 3 times a week. Well !, then you will see the true hoarders come out of the woodwork, but the media
will still want to blame the Preppers and the Farmers in part because all those jars, lined up so neatly on the cellar shelves, just look so showy and pretty
face it most ordinary people have NO clue what a year or even two years of food looks like.

I grew up canning and preserving food in every way imaginable and did it so we could eat: today, tomorrow, all the way until next harvest and a bit longer
just incase Mother Nature played dirty. I will freely admit that, That much food looks ASTOUNDING and we were feeding 4 not 7 or 9 like some of my cousins.
Back then Preserving food for a year or more, that you grew (or bought) was so common place, no one, except those relocated out of the cities after the II WW,
thought anything of it.

Now the cities are filled to overflowing with people who have not the faintest idea the time, sweat, labor and planning it takes to eat.

It will make us look like the BAD GUYS because it will make such good photo ops.
Camera shows the Nasty Preppers trying to hold out against UN troops or SWAT,
and then moves over the fallen bodies into the house,
down the stairs into what will be touted as Ali Babbas Cave filled with all that food. "Truly" they will voice over "These were evil people with no thought 'for the greater good'"
Even though the true Hoarders will be right out on the streets hawking their goods at 10x-1,000x times the original price when the "NEWS" crew cruises past on
its way back to the studio.

Recon prepper, you definition was right on. Unfortunately it will become just another label bandied about without any thought to realities.

[Grumpus Monkus]

However, had someone told me 8 or 9 years ago what the U.S. has become today, I would have laughed at them.

Same here. Now nothing surprises me, especially when it comes to what our elected officials will do.

I realize this started as a hoarding thread, but you mentioned SWAT and Army confiscating our supplies which leads me to ponder the following:
As far as being raided by SWAT or an Army unit....Will the gov't even be able to fund these entities after a financial collapse?

Will our military be tied up fighting battles or skirmishes if our enemies see a financial collapse as time for them pursue strategic interests?

Will police / SWAT be tied up with societal unrest and not have the resources to come for our supplies?

I recently read that there are approx 800,000 cops in the U.S.(www.bls.gov) and an estimated 2-3 million preppers (sorry no link to support number just a google question). This doesn't even touch the number of gangs / gang members, criminals, etc... If we aren't causing trouble and staying low maybe a large number of us will be left alone, then again, maybe I am being naive.

[JUSTIFIED]

I'm guessing my calling Matt "Ninja da Pooh" is starting to wear on him. LOL.

Hoarder - IMO would be someone who is keeping more than they need, or have use for.
I have alot of stuff and consider myself a Pack Rat of the First Order.
The Items I have are of immediate and long term value and could be called to use in a matter of minutes to hours.
I don't keep Junk for the sake of possessing it. I do have two racks of "Scrap" steel. None is junk.
As far as food, I do have fairly extensive stores now, but the same mind set applies - I don't have more than we will need and We have put a great deal of thought into what we store.
It is stored in an orderly manner with rotation and usability in mind. A portion of what we have is still on the vine.
My FIL did call us hoarders when my DW let slip we had over a hundred dozen canning jars.
100 qts. of beans 80 pts and 20 qts of tomatoes and tomato based items. 45 1/2 pts of jams. there is nearly a fourth of them used already.
The only folks who would call our Pantry HOARDING would be those who are - Unprepared for any sort of "Dry Spell", Someone who is, out of meaness or jealousy mouthing about what we have.
We avoid the latter by keeping the door closed!
As Matt said " I won't be alive for this", and to take it a bit further, I will not be bugging out unless it CANNOT be avoided. If it comes to that I can't take all I have... If they come to "redistribute" what I own, I will not need it anymore before all is said and done! My Country, My Land, My Stores, My Hardwork, My Call who sits at the table. I WILL NOT just rollover and let someone else benefit unless I CHOOSE to share.
I am NOT Billy B A, but I am trained enough to put up more of a fight than common Joe Workaday or Streetcorner Thug will want. I would do my best to leave very little useful if I felt the battle was completely lost.
I am under no illusion that I am Bulletproof or a Super Warrior, thats for the younger crowd. 1 round could end it all and everything I have worked for, will be left to my DW who feels the same and would probably be more of an obsticle than I.
I maintain a garden and plan on doing so as long as my body holds out (or the sniper doesn't see me).
I'm not the first farm on the road. If Martial law and ANY kind of confiscation occurs there will be many hard fought battles before they ever get to my house, There will be enough warning for me to casually "handle" my own situation.

Not really meaning to sound Obstinate, Gruff or even Stern, but I believe in the rights of all, NO ONE has the RIGHT to steal from me, just as I have no RIGHT to take from another, I believe in hard work and the benefits that come from it - entitlement does not sit well with me.
All are entitled to reap what they sow, thats about all.

Ditto kiddo