Preppers....Whadda ya know?

So I'm perusing the blogroll the other day, catching up on some posts by folks I enjoy, and stumble on one of Matt's posts. I can't seem to find it now, but I'm not looking that hard at the moment :p Anyway, he linked, I think, to an older post of his, where he mentioned prepping, and linked to a site called Alpha Disaster Contingencies. So I started poking around there.

Matt had mentioned that these guys were actual Preppers, and not fringe extremists, hoping for society to fail so that they could propel themselves to dominance in a Lord of the Flies kinda scene. Even with that endorsement, I went into it pretty skeptical, cause it seems there are always some wierdos that slip through.

I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised. These guys seem pretty tight. I'm not saying that there aren't a few things that seem a little 'out there' to me, but nothing to make you want to back up and try to slip out un-noticed.

It actually got me thinking about my own situation. I don't claim to be a prepper by any means, and our worst disasters here usually revolve around power outages during ice storms. We had an outage a few years back that lasted a week, and while we were inconvenienced, the only thing we really missed was being able to take regular showers. So I was feeling pretty good about how I might stack up.

Bubble....Burst...

These folks, from what little I've seen, really have it together. They got a good grip on everything, including who gets access to the majority of their methods and information. They apparently go through everything they do with a fine tooth comb, test it to make sure it works, then submit it to everyone else who does their own eval of it, before it gets boiled down to be considered a 'proven' method or technique, or item.

The only downside I see to it, and that's a downside for me, not for them, is that they're very selective about who they allow in to share in their wealth of knowledge. You have to be able to commit to active participation and contribution to even be considered for the probationary evaluation status.

At this point, between work, the kids, work, home repair issues, work, etc., I am unwilling, or just unable, to make the commitment required to get involved. Maybe later on down the road it will be something to look at. Heck, I've already got The Wife on board with stocking up canned goods, and even trying out pressure canning some things.

What I'd really love to do is sit down with one of these guys, and chew the fat for an hour two. There's gotta be a lot of great stories mixed up in all that prepping. Speaking of which, from what I read, there seem to be a number of them located right here in Upstate Carolina. If anyone knows one of them, and would be willing to make an introduction, e-mail me at GreycatSR5_AT_gmail_DOT_com. I'll buy the first round for a sit down at one of our local establishments, just for the chance to talk with one of these guys for a while.

OK, I'm off to see what else I may have missed perusing in the blogroll.

Take care all,


Casey