"Doomsday Preppers" on National Geographic Channel

[Jakeiscrazy]

Coming on tonight at 9.
They changed the expert to some much better experts IMO. SouthernPrepper1 and Engineer775 are both preppers and both pretty good. I really like engineer775, he is more about the practical stuff. Gardening, water wells, solar, generators and stuff. Here is a video of him talking about the show:

[OakRidgeStars]

I give the show three stars for entertainment value, but only two stars for providing any kind of useful information.

Honestly, I could have gleaned more survival information from watching back-to-back episodes of Pawn Stars.

[dorminWS]

Dangit! Meant to watch it. Forgot.

[skeeterss0]

I missed it too....I think my wife recorded it tho. I'll have to bug her to play it or get one of the kids to....I never have learned this remote we have...I don't watch much TV anymore.

[allingeneral]

I only saw about 10 minutes of one episode and I wasn't very impressed. One family was all about canning and having food, but they refused to own any firearms - citing the fact that they were surrounded by a "caring community of people who would come together in a crisis". The "experts" told them that they needed to implement defensive measures (i.e., buy some weapons!).

[Jakeiscrazy]

I only saw about 10 minutes of one episode and I wasn't very impressed. One family was all about canning and having food, but they refused to own any firearms - citing the fact that they were surrounded by a "caring community of people who would come together in a crisis". The "experts" told them that they needed to implement defensive measures (i.e., buy some weapons!).

Yeah I saw those folks, New Englanders. I hope they reconsider because having all the food in the world means nothing when they take everything you have. I think they're under the impression that they will just serve them a nice meal and they'll go away. And the way she phrased her answer made it sound like you can ONLY stockpile food, or ONLY stockpile guns and ammo. Balance is key in all things.

[mamabearCali]

One thought comes to mind.
Loose lips sink ships.

I mean that in more than one way. First off If the SHTF and you have put yourself out there like that your carefully laid resources are gone. The gov't, your neighbors, or roving gangs are going to take it. So by going on national tv they are now above the radar for everyone.

Second, many of their preps are more than obvious and will draw attention. That is not wise, IMHO. You need to blend in as much as you can in a SHTF. So if you are in the country you can get away with goats and a pond. In a suburb not so much. A pond and a greenhouse in your backyard is going to atract attention. A small garden and edible landscaping not so much.

The show might bring up some good ideas and good points, but so far what I have seen is less than encouraging. Great entertainment no doubt, but not helpful to the pepper community. It seems to be painting them with the crazy brush. If anything we need more people prepping not less. The fewer people starving to death, the better we all will be in dangerous situations.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[dorminWS]

I half-watched a couple of episodes last night while reading a book. First guy blew his thumb in two while "training". Looks good on all gun owners, right? Range discipline is more than learning the phrase "the weapon is hot" or something like that. Guess that guy learned it the hard way. Then there were the folks hoarding 20 years worth of home-canned chicken, the born-again christian teetotaler who was hoarding liquor along with food and guns, the guy in LA who know which weeds to eat, the NYC fireman who had BUKU knives because he wasn't allowed to own a gun, and the chick who was into tight shorts and tee shirts while hauling an enormous backpack around a big city. I agree with Mammabearcalli. If I were going to do that, I'd keep my mouth shut about it and RUN from the camera crew.

[Chasbo00]

I half-watched a couple of episodes last night while reading a book. First guy blew his thumb in two while "training". Looks good on all gun owners, right? Range discipline is more than learning the phrase "the weapon is hot" or something like that. Guess that guy learned it the hard way.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/1 ... 78698.html

"My thumb went in front of the barrel and it went off." Yep, the gun shot him. This show truly sucks.

[meadmkr]

My Mrs thinks a few of them are "hoarders" based on the multiple pantries (this from a hard-core quilter/fabric 'collector').

After watching a few of the episodes with me she's gotten onboard to having at least 10 days worth of preps. She doesn't razz me quite as much about getting certain things worked into the budget. Last year her parents and 2 of her siblings had their power out for 2 weeks+ after the storms in the northeast and her brother didn't get reliable power back for almost a month! So she agreed that our initial goal was to start with being prepared for up to 10 days with no power/water/heat..... Slowly but surely that will extend out to a month and ....

[ccooper]

After reading the entire thread I believe that all of these shows have their ups and downs. But it does seem like a good bit of these people are more horders than anything else not to mention that personally I dont know many of us who are all about telling the world "ohh yeah I have a years worth of something just in case". But then again I guess some people just need something to do with their time.

[TacticalMom]

One thought comes to mind.
Loose lips sink ships.

I mean that in more than one way. First off If the SHTF and you have put yourself out there like that your carefully laid resources are gone. The gov't, your neighbors, or roving gangs are going to take it. So by going on national tv they are now above the radar for everyone.

Second, many of their preps are more than obvious and will draw attention. That is not wise, IMHO. You need to blend in as much as you can in a SHTF. So if you are in the country you can get away with goats and a pond. In a suburb not so much. A pond and a greenhouse in your backyard is going to atract attention. A small garden and edible landscaping not so much.

The show might bring up some good ideas and good points, but so far what I have seen is less than encouraging. Great entertainment no doubt, but not helpful to the pepper community. It seems to be painting them with the crazy brush. If anything we need more people prepping not less. The fewer people starving to death, the better we all will be in dangerous situations.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

I agree... I am all about blending in. =) Also yeah more prepping good than less prepping.

[Reverenddel]

I think I've told this story before, but it bears repeating:

When I lived in the city, there were some folks behind me in a house who were starting to "prep", it was after the hurricanes, and they saw fit to get some stores in order, except one...firearms.

So as I was talking to the dad one day, I simply asked in passing, "Have you decided on a weapon for defense yet?" He said smugly, "oh no! We don't believe in guns."

I leaned in, and said, "You have tons of food, a good supply of meds, a couple high-end water filters, a really hot wife, and a cute teenage daughter, but no guns?"

He smiled "Yup!"

I leaned back in, and said "When the balloon goes up? I'll have a firearm... and your tons of food, a good supply of meds, a couple of high end water filters, your hot wife, and cute...teenage...daughter."

He just blinked, then leaned in, and said "Um... a Shotgun?"

I replied, "Yes, a SHOTGUN! A simple pump shotgun would do just fine."

Sometimes, it takes a crashing reality of finding out...People you trust are fine, but not every person should be trusted.