Do Preppers Belong on TV?

, The Preparedness Pro

preppersBelow are just a few of the actual comments that have cropped up on YouTube, my inbox,  and in forums all over the world when the topic of National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers comes up. “How dare they breach the code of prepper silence by going on television? How stupid can they be?”

“No REAL prepper would go on TV.”

“Thanks for telling me where to go when the &%$# hits the fan” (The most overused phrase in the world of prepping, IMO)

“The first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club.”

“And here I thought it was going to be hard to find people to rob when the craziness gets started.”

preppersNow that Doomsday Preppers has aired, the intensity of hatred and incredulous comments have become even more abundant. So, let’s ask the question: “Should any self-respecting prepper have agreed to appear on the Doomsday Preppers show?” (or any other similar platform, for that matter?)

I’ve written in the past about how discretion is a good idea when it comes to your preparedness supplies. In fact, I illustrate how many times the Jews in Germany were betrayed by fellow Jews in exchange for a meal to eat or some other short-lived favor from the German intelligence. So that being the case, did I just do something really foolish by agreeing to appear on National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers? Did I compromise my safety? Have I made myself a target now? Well, in short, the answer is absolutely NO and I’ll tell you why.

First of all, let’s understand that I made the decision to “go public” a long time before Doomsday Preppers came along. My blogs have definitely “put me out there.” Writing on matters of physical and firearm self-defense via my Women of Caliber blog and all things preparedness via Preparedness Pro blog certainly had the potential to paint me as a target for harassment and other un-pleasantries. In fact, because I’m SO conservative, and my personal and business Facebook pages certainly don’t give me any anonymity or privacy, there’s probably a file a mile long with the so-called Department of Homeland Security.  Using my real name and openly discussing these issues isn’t exactly camouflage, let alone being discreet. Thanks to the internet, all of my public and a lot of my private information is available for anyone to see—my concealed carry licensing, the internet articles I read, my home address—complete with a picture of my house (thank you Google—grrr), an embarrassing bankruptcy, nasty comments by a disgruntled employee (that my husband had to testify against in her criminal child abuse/neglect case), television and radio interviews, nearly every magazine article I’ve ever written, and even my face on the front cover of a magazine—it’s all there for inquiring minds to discover and to make a judgment as if they have the whole picture. But you know what? Even though those judgments are often wrong and even occasionally conveyed with seething hatred, I wouldn’t change a ding dong thing as far as putting myself out there is concerned because the hope I have for the results far outweigh anything that anyone else can throw at me. I have yet to see any scripture or hear any sermon that says to “prepare as soon as everything in your life is perfect. “Sacrifice as long as it’s not painful. “Work as long as it’s easy.” Have you?

Preppers are NOT Cowards!

preppersWould I like to have been 100 pounds thinner when I did Doomsday Preppers? Yup. But I’d also like to be 5 feet 6 inches with long eyelashes and no gray hairs, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon. So do I wait until everything is perfectly aligned before I do what my heart SCREAMS at me to do?  No honkin’ way! That’s not living. That’s hiding and waiting like a feckless, fragile, wimp—and I abhor cowards. And since self-hatred isn’t my thing—here we are.

The fact of the matter is, there are too many people out there who are trying to become more self-reliant in their life—which is one of the most honorable things I could expect from another human being. But these persons who are doing the right thing feel all alone in their efforts. Worse, there’s such a ridiculous code of silence among preppers that there isn’t a lot of quality information out there to really help them do it the right and wise way. It seems that the smarter that a prepper becomes, the more secretive and paranoid they get and thus are less likely to share what they’ve learned. Well, I have a BIG problem with that attitude. Putting up a big honkin’ wall is great to keep people out, but it also keeps good things IN. Too many in the prepper community are planning on becoming a hermit when things get really bad and they are preparing NOT to share. Well let me ask you something, where in the Gospel of Jesus Christ does it teach that we are to be charitable so long as times are easy and plentiful?  Did Joseph in Egypt save up seven years of grain just so that he and his household could survive and thrive? NO! He prepared for seven years so that for the next seven years he could administer both spiritually AND temporally to the entire House of Israel. I believe that that’s not just some story in the Bible; I believe it’s a guide as to how we should likewise prepare. Financial collapse, earthquake, EMP, terminal illness—none of these instances trump the need for charity. “Charity Never Faileth”.

preppersTen Principles of Preparedness--a Preppers Guide

Yes, we are surrounded with corrupt government/public officials who would love nothing more than for us to all submit to their whims. And yes, hard times will indeed heighten the desperation of people, bringing them to do unspeakable things to their fellowman. Yes, not every man around us is deserving of trust.  I’m not ignorant of that and in fact it’s why I believe that ALL of the other 9 Principles of Ten Principles of Preparedness revolve around the First Principle—that of Spiritual Preparedness. Where is it written or commanded that any of these realities of life absolve me of my duty to serve others? And if I am to serve others today then shouldn’t I prepare to serve others in the future as well?

preppersNow, having said all that, let’s be clear that as preppers or otherwise we are useless to others if we don’t have our own house in order. We can’t “administer spiritually or temporally” to others if we are weak in those areas. Likewise, spiritual administration has very little impact on people if they are starving or freezing. I suspect we can all see that point from the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. So yes, I firmly believe that each one of us has the obligation to first get our own state of self-reliance in place. There were at least a few folks listening to Christ’s sermon that had the sense to pack a lunch that day and as a result we have the miracle of the loaves and fishes. In my opinion that just goes to show that “faith without works is dead.” As Preppers or otherwise, we have a much better chance of helping those whom God will direct to us if we can at least do our part now, without any of the excuses that “the world” would have us heed. You can still be prudent in what information you do or don’t share, but please don’t allow the fear of the world to be the reason for you not sharing or preparing to share. Fear only comes from the devil himself and has no place in peaceful, panic-free preparedness.

preppersIn closing, I think that instead of mocking and poking fun at these preppers who are featured on television, we should instead thank them for at least trying to share rather than withhold what they’ve learned that might help someone else. Sure, there are thought processes conveyed on Doomsday Preppers that you may not be able to relate to. That’s O.K. The key word is “conveyed”. Remember, this is TV. There’s a LOT of clarifying information that these preppers DID share that only ended up on the cutting room floor. Instead, look and see what good you can get from these folks, put it into practice, pass it on, and never be ashamed or scared to share that knowledge with others.

If political commercials that you don't agree with, pharmaceutical drugs that harm you, porn channels, and other useless wastes of time can be shown on TV, don't you think it makes sense that the good message of self-reliance, preparedness, and personal responsibility be able to counter some of all that garbage? So yes, I say preppers do belong on TV and let's hope and pray that they become the norm rather than the odd ball because our world could use a heck of a lot more of that attitude.

Here’s to your Peaceful Preparedness

With Love,

Kellene,

The Preparedness Pro

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Comments

Thank you for doing what you do and for sharing so much with the rest of us.

Bodacious article - well said! .......Can I adopt you?

Here here Kellene. What many people fail to realize is that every demographic of people have their leaders and followers. I am one of those preppers who choose to lead instead of hiding waiting for the sky to fall. Burke is attributed for saying the following " for evil to prevail, all a good man has to do is nothing." The boastful comments made by some like ...“Thanks for telling me where to go when the &%$# hits the fan” (The most overused phrase in the world of prepping, IMO)“And here I thought it was going to be hard to find people to rob when the craziness gets started.”

This is ignorance. These people are not going to do what they are alluding to. This is "Mall Ninja" talk because anyone with half a brain would realize that preppers are prepared. Not only do we store up, we train..and train a lot. Many of us also come from prior military and police with the experience that comes with that.

See the bad guys are wolves and wolves are predatory hunters, they prey on the weak, not the strong. They tend to go after the sheep, not the sheepdogs.

Something we do here in Texas is when we shoot a predator, like a coyote, we skin it and hang the skin on the fence for the rest of the coyotes to see. The rest see that "dead yote hangin'" and think " we do not want to go there.. they kill our kind."

Now if a bad guy wants to give it a try, it would be rather darn foolish of them to do so. There are plenty of sheep to choose from, so why mess with the sheep dog. All that will happen is their hide will be hanging from a fence warning the others what will happen if they cross that line.

Μολὼν λαβέ

RayPZS4C

@RaymondGano I love sanity! Thanks for the smile, Ray!

I fell in love with you on the show and am so happy that you are willing to share. Let the world think what it may, you are never going to please everybody any way. And you are correct, it is SO hard to find info that helps me prepare.

Your one tip on eggs is invaluable. Now, when my hens go into egg over production, I know how to store them, X XXOOOO 's to you

Hero, hero, hero, hero!!! lol....I thank God that your spot DID air for many reasons Mrs. Bishop, and thank you so much for your honesty, information, and courage.

Kellene thanks for being there for me. I have gained so much from your site. If you were so "secret" I wouldn't be where I am in prep time. People will always criticize and they have their first amendment right, but you did what you thought was a help to others. Don't let it beat you down. You went through enough just trying to be you! Again, thank you and maybe one day I'll get the honor to meet you face to face. Linda

Fabulous response Kellene! And and honor to be a fellow prepper to one who faithfully honors God in the process!

Tonight was the first time I've watched Preppers on TV. Excellent show! We learned a lot and look forward to learning more as it gets closer to our situation which is suburban with no opportunities to garden or raise animals and with a shortage of space. Thanks for sharing what you know. You are appreciated!

Dear Lonni - If you live in suburbia, you have SOME yard, don't you? Even though you probably have zoning laws you have to abide by, you can hide a lot outside in plain sight. You probably have flower beds next to the house; get rid of the flowers and replace with herbs and/or a few vegetables. I grow mint and pot herbs among my hosta plants along my front porch. I have no flies coming into the house via the front door (pleasant side effect). I grow more herbs and veges along 3 sides of my garage (the north side is in shadow). My grandmother lived right in town in a small Indiana town and raised meat rabbits in stacked cages against her house. If you decided to raise your own meat, this is something to consider and hide them behind latticwork screen (from the view of neighbors). Don't give up; just use your ingenuity.)

A M E N!! I feel that putting it on TV made us all more credible. It finally took us out of the closet and I hope, will stir people into action. I totally agree on every point you made above and would like to add that I feel now, that I look less of a NUT because of it; that we are not alone in our beliefs. This is truly quality TV viewing and compares to Survivorman. Look how popular those shows have been.

I can't imagine how you are getting any hate mail. We all are benefiting from this forum - you share with us and we can, in turn, share what we know and are doing.

Dont' stop doing what you are doing, Kellene. Hang in there. I have been saying all along that what we are doing is comparable to Joseph and Noah preparing their household for salvation after being forewarned by God. Well, God has forwarned us what is coming too, in end days prophecies, so there is no excuse to sit on one's duff and not prepare as much as possible. After the first night, I discussed the show with my fellow prepper at the local restaurant and he was so excited that someone finally validated what he was doing. You are so correct when you say that many of us feel alone in our efforts and viewed as nut cases, but no more becuase of these shows. Thank you for sharing.

Kellene you are so awesome in telling it like it is. You and Scott are our Preppy heroes.

I had heard some less than all happy thought about the show. But you are correct unless you are willing to risk you can't help anyone.

I just heard they arrested one of these guys today and claimed him mentally incompetent took his guns

@KellyBrownell Yes--though it had nothing to do with the show. The whole mess started long before he did the show. He's just one more of the many Americans who law enforcement and the medical field try to bully and control. His YouTube channel is Dsarti and you can see the whole story on there. Personally, I donated to his legal defense fund eagerly and would wholeheartedly encourage others to do the same.

I can see, and agree with your points on the issue. As for Dsarti, part of his problem is publicly stating that his property is riddled with booby-traps and poisoned caches. EV made a suitable response to his Youtube submission.

I can't get the Nat'l Geo. channel. Is there any way to see the show on the computer? P;lease pass my e-mail address to the fellow Texan, RayPZS4C. Would like to talk to him. There are several of us in this area who are preparing for the worse and praying that it's never needed.

@Patton Hello Patton - you can contact me at [email protected].

One of the best things about NG's Preppers was not only do you get important information but you see that information being put to use. Most people have heard of Preppers but in a negative light. (Some guy in camo and face paint living in a yurt in the mountains with hidden chache's and underground armories sneaking around all day waiting for the Black Ops to show up.) We live in a small community quite rurally and I personally share prepping ideas with my neighbors in hopes that they too will prep. I care about my neighbors and I know that at least one is a young family with both health issues and employment issues. It would certainly be helpful to them to be prepared for the next round of unemployment because of poor health. Other neighbors are older and dependand upon Social Security which is always being threatened by our countries leaders. We live rurally so they should be putting in gardens and preparing the harvest for later use. One neighbor put in a very nice orchard which is only an acre but has been able to sell the nuts and fruits to a commercial packer and she can use that money for prepping. It is just so important to learn how it can be done so you can do it yourself and see that the people doing it are your neighbors and friends...not some nutball sneaking around the forest waiting for the Russians.

YOU GO GIRL.. i've been wanting to do some PREPPING myself but I wasn't sure how to get started!! thanks for sharing your info.....

@MamaRama There are TONS of articles on this blog. Focus on the 10 Principles of Preparedness first and then everything else fills it all in. Welcome to Preparedness Pro! :-)

My Dh, MIL and I all tuned in to watch the show and out of them all, we related to you the most. We've been dipping our toes into the world of prepping (we've been couponing for a year) for a couple of months now and I've been feeling that isolation bit try to creep up on us and I'm not enjoying that part. Having a parent who comes from the former USSR, I know the stories all too well how people can turn on you but I'd still like to hope for the best and the example you & your husband set on that show was inspiring. My MIL has now gotten behind our efforts 100% since she said, "Okay now that Lady is normal, rational and puts a very clear message through. I could see myself being like her and I have a better understanding of why your trying to do all this."

To the people who are critical of you saying your now a target blah blah blah, I'd like to say this: The show is a double edged sword, it is painting some as crazy but its also giving a positive light too. Now if this show has inspired us to go further on our own quest for self reliance I'm sure its doing the same for others so that would make for less people to come after the resources that all those preppers are stashing away since now more people/families are striving towards self-reliance

.

So thank you Kellene and keep up all the great blogs and videos!

ps. I'd love to see a review on various freeze dried products, so many choices makes it hard to know a quality product. I have bookmarked 5 Star since your youtube gave them such great reviews and I'm looking forward to placing my first order of freeze dried cream cheese! :D

@Preparedness Pro - Kellene Bishop That is a fantastic opportunity for the both of you! I appreciate how upfront you are about your connection to Five Star Prep but part of what convinced me to put them on my "to order from" list was 50% from you and 50% from what others said in the youtube comments who've used that service and raved about them :)

I talked with my MIL, she is hesitant to write about the things she lived through because she is seeing it increasing around her now and it scares her. She has agreed to let me tell the story of her Mother, I'll work on the translation so I can give you the full impact of what it was to be in a Communist country and find God.

Kellene, thank you for speaking out and for being on the show. I wouldn't have found your blog and the valuable info you have without it. And you did show that preppers can care about delicious stored food, looking feminine and beautiful, and be just regular folks. Go for it!

@UrbanSurvivalBabe LOL. I LOVE how you said "looking feminine" because that is SO important to me! Thanks for noticing that I'm a prepper who's "all girl" hee hee

Kellene, can you tell me PLEASE, PLEASE, what kind of corn you used to roast and store and maybe also what temp. my pantry needs to be in order to store waxed cheese.... thanks

@MamaRama One thing you should know about me is that I am the LAZIEST prepper you will ever meet. I only did a garden for my very first time last year and I killed the corn! :-) (I shall indeed try again this year, though.) So I haven't grown and roasted my own corn. Instead I've purchased lots of cans of freeze-dried corn. I like Honeyville, Shelf-Reliance/Thrive, and some Augason Farms freeze-dried veggies. Honeyville is probably you're best bet though because the other 2 companies get some of their stuff from Honeyville.

55-60 degrees or cooler for your waxed cheese.

Funny..one night my husband was doing his side gig, apart from being a firefighter, he's a prepper. He was talking to one of the guys that was also doing security that night..about prepping. The guy came right out and said, "I wouldn't prep, I would just steal from others who have". My husband really wanted to curse him out but chose not too. The ignorance of some people. We live in NYC, and its pretty hard to store things, with the small apartments and all, so we keep a storage place to keep things we can't at our apartment. You will see that on the show. I hope they haven't edited it to make us look like quacks! Good article Kellene!!!

@AngeliqueCharles

I hear that kind of thing too, but mostly people are just being wise guys when they say that. I remember once a guy on a prep group posted that he would just come and take someone's stuff and the person he was speaking to told him to come ahead. Those people are blow hards. One time a man in a group said he would just go and rob anyone over 50 because they were not valuable contributors to a future society...I hope he remembers that when he is 50. Some people just have to say something. I figure if a person can find me, find a way thru the fencing, get past the dogs (and the geese), hold my neighbors at bay then disarm my husband and I then he is welcome to my stuff if he can tote it out.

@Rattailusa @AngeliqueCharles I am kind of fond of David Sarti's philosophy--put cyanide in some of the food and let 'em know it's there and only YOU know which are good and which aren't. *wicked laugh* If self-defense were just about protecting things, I wouldn't give it one iota of energy. It's about protecting life, mental stability, and as I said on the show, perhaps the virtue of mothers and daughters--in all seriousness.

Thank You! As someone learning to become more prepared and self reliant I am thrilled with this new show that will help with great ideas on what works and what does not. I am in the middle of experimenting with mineral oiled eggs and was thrilled to see how cheese could be stored long term. So thanks for sharing and I am excited to have found you website

Kellene, after the show "Extreme Couponers" aired, couponing became fashionable. The show also edited so much that it made these folks look crazy. To me, couponing is a way to build a stockpile and be preparred to care for my family (and help others) should times get tough, whatever life throws at us. Before your show, I had never heard of you but am very glad I saw the show and then looked you up online. I've always believed in being prepared, isn't it what the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts teach? The editing will make some look like crackpots but I know they are not. Hopefully people that are not preppers will here about the show, get curious and tune in. Then they will learn a few things and prepping will soon be fashionable too. Learning about prepping can only help if things do fall apart, either on a personal level or a national or world level. I call having a stockpile "Food Insurance" and teach the concept as part of the free couponing classes I put on. It is only a part of prepping but it is a very important part and one of the more expensive parts too. We can only hope that everyone that tunes in that is not already a prepper has a little light bulb turn on and they start. Like others said, it is how our ancestors got through tough times, why should we live any differently just because we have indoor plumbing and electricity that could go out at any time for a multitude of reasons.

Keep up the great work!

@savingandsurviving if you give me your link or other info, I'd be happy to refer folks to your free couponing course. It's one of my critical strategies. I may have a lot of stuff worth 6 figures in retail, but you can bet I never paid more than 50% off of retail, and usually 70% is my average--even on freeze-dried items and preparedness tools and such. (though the two Humless units did ruin my average savings percentage. :-) )

And I will say AMEN to that. We call ourselves many things but Christian is being Christ like and He would want us to live up to our name....Keep your preparations in your prayers and follow the WORD as to how to share or not...hugs buni

Great perspective Kellene! I loved watching you on Doomsday Preppers, I LOVE your PreparednessPro Blog, and I TOTALLY agree with your opinion about sharing now and in the future. You go girl! I too have tried to share my knowledge and ideas in hopes of saving a life someday, especially the life of a child. I can't bear the thought of watching others suffer. I would rather die trying to save a life than live watching others die. Charity IS the true love of Christ and you are filled with it. Thank you for being such a wonderful, charitable person. You give the rest of us HOPE. May God bless you now and always.

I would just like to say that I am so glad that I saw you on the show. My family and I have started to prepare about a year ago and some the things we saw helped us even more. I looked for a website on you as soon as the show was over. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!

I would like to say thank you. Me and my wife are just now able to start prepping, and we can use all the help we can get. I've spent a good deal of time doing research and now starting to put some of that in action is a great feeling. Your information is a boon to anyone who is wanting to begin feeling safer about there situation by storing food, ammo ect.

@KRobertson Thank you SO much! Seeing messages like this makes it ALL worthwhile!

Its true, we like so many people have struggled for so long and do believe TEOTWAWKI is not that far off. I wonder are you planning on doing home canning blog. I've looked and have not seen any that deal with times for cooking.

Please keep up the awesome work and know your work is soooooo appreciated.

Kevin

@KRobertson There's a step-by-step meat canning article as well as one on the Tattler lids as well as one about "refrigeration strategies" in which I address the benefits of canning. You may also find that you like the article about using the FoodSaver for canning dry articles simply. You can find them easily by utilizing the search bar. I love, love, love home canning.

@Preparedness Pro - Kellene Bishop I would think with home canning there is no need to worry about what is in the product, because I am the one prepping it.

I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. As a person who likes to have as much information as she can before she attempts to do something I just love your site. As you said in your article it is very hard for anyone new to prepping to find information that is accurate. I have been trying to prep for a little while now and it is very hard to trust the information you find on the internet but by reading your articles I can tell that you have researched and tried everything that you suggest. I really do appreciate the time that you have spent to educate the rest of us. I also loved seeing you on NatGeo. So thank you again for everything you do to help us that are new to prepping.

@newprepper Just my two cents, search out the Ten Principles of Preparedness on here. That's a great foundation for all of your prepping efforts. Thanks for taking time to share your kind words! And WELCOME to Preparedness Pro!

Hi Kellene, I enjoyed your segment of the show very much, and felt like I learned the most about food storage and having a charitable heart. Aren't you afraid though that there will be a line a mile long at your doorstep, and that it will quickly deplete your supplies? How will you control distribution, shelter and hygene in SHTF conditions? I've started prepping myself, but am fighting the urge to become a hermit as you say. Thank you for your response. ~Paul

@igottobeme "afraid" really isn't in my vocabulary. ;-) Even the act of using one's preparedness supplies requires preparedness. There's a lot of planning that goes into it. We'll help where we can for those who are willing to work for that help. All work will be done to enhance the level of self-reliance.

@igottobeme "afraid" isn't exactly in my vocabulary. :-) Even using ones preparedness supplies requires preplanning. This isn't a "help yourself" kind of set up we're creating here. This is all hands on deck to produce and work for what they might receive in a crisis scenario. From a strictly personal standpoint, it's not about how much stuff I have, it's about answering to God and preparing as He's warned. If I get crushed by my 3,000 pounds of wheat in an earthquake, oh well. At least I went to the other side knowing I did my best. Keep fighting. :-)

The experts only go off of what they've been provided in the questionnaire. We didn't reveal all of our cards on the questionnaire. They were right to be concerned about our water supply based on that.

Come and get me. I'm ready; and if I go out, I do it because I've done what I'm supposed to do and that's good enough for me. In spite of all the reasons to prep, ultimately I do it because it's the right thing to do. I could be killed by the 3,000 pounds of wheat crushing me in an earthquake too, but it's not up to me ultimately. I do my best and the Lord makes up the rest.

I like the show but I hope it has not made the family in the north east a target for people that have not prepared by letting them know the thaey have no guns.

I love this! It makes sense...and I LOVE what makes sense...!

Kellene,

My dad got my husband and I into prepping a little over a year ago. We are a large family (6 kids) and we have a hard time prepping during some months. We are currently trying to buy land "out in the country" for safety. I have become a consultant for Shelf Reliance so that I can get discounts on the food as well as inform my friends and neighbors about the security of having the extra food. I have just bought seeds to start my first garden, and I have learned how to do my own canning. I've done the reasearch on which animals I want on our "land" so that we can be self reliant, but when I saw you on Preppers, you brought me a bunch of new information that I had been looking for. The eggs and the cheese information was AWESOME! I have been getting eggs from our local egg farm and now I know how to maintain them for long term use. I would have really missed my dairy if I couldn't have it. (Like You!)

The people that are reacting negatively to the "Doomsday Preppers" show are the ones that will be desperate when the time comes. I make sure that I watch that show every week now. I don't always take information from it, but when I do I'm dangerous ! ;) Thank you for all you do!

You crack me up! :-) Thanks for the smiles.

I have noticed several preppers that I know personaly who are drawing some of the same conclusions you have eluded to in your apperance on the Preppers show - the ultimate in prepping isn't digging a hole in the ground to hide in but prepping a community which greatly increases the odds of survival both physically and mentally. The community is one of choice, those you teach, befriend, and draw in as "members". It is not a secret society with special handshakes and privledges only those in the know can access. Your approach reminds us that though we fear the unknown and to be prepared for it, the primary motivator in prepping is to act on the knowledge that catastrohpic change occurs on this planet, every civilization from the dawn of man has failed, it really is as simple as that. Adjusting our lifestyle to recognize the realities of our situation is based on pulling your head out of the warm sand people stick their heads in today and start looking around. The preppers that hide in their holes and grow increasingly paranoid have already lost the battle as they bunker down amongst the abundance we have now and shun contact with some of the very people that make a community. While their small family unit may survive physically their mental state will suffer as the paranoia rots away the foundations of community and humanity. Without community they may survive but at the cost of their sanity and then what is the point of surviving. The frist thing in the bible God says is not good, is that is is not good for man to be alone.

What an interesting show! We are trying to be more prepared for the unexpected, though with our budget it happens a little at a time. Our latest purchase was a volcano stove and a #10 can of non-hybrid garden seeds. I think gaining skills, especially learning how to cook electricity/gas free, gardening, and fire starting are important. While our basement is lined with food storage shelves, it's not dedicated to it. We had some friends spend the night in out basement. They are used to living in Europe and they were really surprised to see how much food we have. (Which is very little compared to those in the show...) I tried to explain about personal responsibility and just being prepared even for little disasters like a couple days of no water or electricity can make a big difference in comfort and safety. After Hurricane Irene hit last year and they were without electricity for a bit my friend realized that being a little prepared like me was actually a pretty good idea! Which made me really happy!

I think the best thing this show can do for people, even those who think preppers are crazy, is to get them thinking about even the little things that can go wrong (lost job, power outages, natural disasters, etc.) and help them see that preparation isn't for "crazy" people but for smart and educated people with a sense of personal responsibility.

I too thank you for all the good information. I have been a pseudo-prepper for a few years now and had no idea that I wasn't alone. Several years ago (we're self employed) we went a few months without a paycheck. I was completely unprepared. Lesson learned, as Scarlett said, "as God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again". So began my journey into preparedness. Now, even though the economy is poor, we've been eating well AND feeding other who need help. It's a great feeling! I'm looking forward to learning tons from you.

I am a prepper too. I love researching the subject, there is so much to learn. I don't want to be critical but why are you using such a small font? Some of us are old and can't see very well.
Thanks for your work!

Ralph: If you hit the Control key at the same time as the + key, it makes the fonts bigger. Cntrl + makes bigger, Cntrl - makes smaller.

Kellene!!! I first saw you on Doomsday preppers and I have to say you are my favorite feature of the show. Its funny that you mention the nastiness that has resulted because my roommate and I joke that now the world knows who's houses to hit in a crisis. :P But I've got to say I'm very impressed with the extent that you've gone to to prepare your family and even educate others on self defense and emergency preparedness. I will definitely be visiting your blog often now to learn from you. And you are a fellow Utahn and that makes me so proud! Keep doing what you're doing!!! Lots of love, Jamie (Kearns, UT)

*hugs* to you, Jamie. Glad you've found us here. Since you're "local" you may want to try and attend a couple of the classes I'm teaching this month in SLC at the Honeyville Farms place. They are paying me so it's free for all to attend. I give the details in the post labeled "catching up with preparedness pro."

Thank you for your segment on Doomsday Preppers. Because of it, I have started to take prepping seriously. I would love to have some of the recipes you featured on the show. Is there a link?
Because of your willingness to share your story, you may be directly or indirectly responsible for my families ability to survive.
Sincerely, Debra Kidd

Now stop. You're seriously going to make me cry! :-)

Thank you for sharing your Doomsday Preppers philosophy. I feel much the same as you do and that is why my husband and I were involved in the program. Like you said it is TV and there are going to be things said and read between the lines of the message that we were trying to convey. But bottom line, no matter what else people will get out of the show, we have shared our concern about the need for preparedness for whatever the future holds for us and the people around us.

Many of us are old enough to remember the times of WWII when we were small and "had to do canning for the winter" as kids but were too young to know that you couldn't buy food without ration stamps and money. That was scarce too! We even carried buckets of blueberries 3 miles 2@ to put those up too! That was the reason we left the city for the country to grow and can for 10 weeks. Just something you learned and still do.

Now I have a son-in-law that makes fun of me because I have always kept a freezer full of meat and canned goods on the shelves for emergency for at least 1 year use. I'm sure if there was a really bad thing he would be over with the gun to take the food! Now when the preppers show was on I only had more centralized the tools since they were in the other half of the basement but I didn't have a can opener down there. Now I have the port-a-pot and chemicals along with the space blankets and we already have a whole house generator and well water besides the access to the hot-water tank and well tank for water. There all in an area that has 1 window (with a board and nails ready to cover it). Sot it is the safest place to be for any kind of storm being in the basement ground level on 1 end into the mountain on the other end. Other than emergency kit that is there I can't think of much more to add. I have beef jerky and turkey strips as well.

Love reading and the Preppers shows were great. I have 20 dozen eggs down there in 3 gallon tubs are 3 gallons in each and I can start to rotate anytime.. Haven't actually used any of them yet. I turn them every week. Will that make them last longer?

My farmer friend says that they only need to be turned every 30 days. But I'm sure babying them won't hurt a thing!

Welcome to Preparedness Pro...I can tell already that you're going to be a hoot to read comments from. :-)

Thanks for the info. I wanted that to read 3 dozen eggs in each tub.

My only problem with fresh stuff is how to save real veggies longer. I watched every show on that series, but didn't bury veggies in the sand (yet)! Would you thing it better to dehydrate them?. I have used the tool for under $2.00 that saws off the corn cernals and then dried them but nothing else.

Veggies in the sand is an ideal way to keep them cool indeed. You can also put them in a Mason jar and suck the oxygen out and THEN bury them in wet sand in a root cellar.

I have all the food I own in the freezers in "food-saver" bags as well as seeds from my crops are in those too!. I dehydrate strips of meat and put those into the bags (the dryer is doing chicken strips now). Being cool for that ready to eat has it's advantage. Even with the full freezer there it is nice to have fruits dried too as well as in the canning jars. But I did not buy the canisters that you can suck out the air.

You don't need canisters, you only need the mason jar attachments.

I wrote in 2012 I had put the 19 doz eggs in their plastic cartons by covering with Mineral Oil like I was told with turning them over every week until I posted here then opened the boxes and look at them all and again recoated them and returned them to the same boxes. Since I look at them as I turn them each month I am very surprised that they being extra large sized eggs and hardly move in their box have not been keeping well at all. I have had about 10 go rotten and open with weeping in the cartons down in the basement where it is cooler is where they are with the other food storage. As well as they (NONE) can be used to make "sunny side up eggs" because the yoke always breaks. So far I can only use scrambled and I have hard boiled some but my real concern is that they are so much more watery than the eggs I still buy at Costco. What do you think is wrong that this is my results. (I had recoated them because they looked dryer than the day I did them first).

There are SO many factors that play into this. How old were the eggs when you purchased them. What temperature was the room--that REALLY makes a big difference. The room we use is at 60-65 all the time--sometimes a little bit cooler. Also, I've been noticing that the mineral oil manufacturers have been changing things up so I've changed over to using waterglass aka sodium silicate instead of the mineral oil. Plus it's not a petroleum product unlike the mineral oil. Also, since it's become more of a Russian roulette scenario with the eggs, I purchase my eggs consistently from the same source, so that I KNOW how old they really are. This has made a big difference in the texture of my eggs. I've been doing this for some time and haven't even had a half dozen eggs go rotten. You also have to be careful not to coat any eggs with even a hairline crack in them.

They were very fresh with a far off date when we bought them right after I saw the show about the lady on tv showing her friends how to do it. They came from Costco and nothing stays at that place long I did them as soon as I got home. For me I'm sure my husband wouldn't be happy to buy that many again, but what IS great about using them up is I found a 12 egg Pound Cake we like but it is only using less by weight of my RXL but that is a good faster way to finish off these! Next time I will try just large size and see if I get the same results. Thanks for the fast answer.

You have NO idea how old they were before they got to Costco. I loathe the produce at Costco and the eggs aren't any better. I think it would be a shame to give up on it. But suit yourself, of course. By the way "that lady on tv" is ME.

Forgot to answer your question, The Room in the basement is in 55 temp on the thermometer on the wall I just went down to look. Since our basement is dug into the mountain and we live where the snows are..and it is even cold in the summer time. I'll look into finding the other coatings around here.

One of my favorite defenses when simpletons, (Gods word, not mine) smirk at me for being a prepper, are the words of God.
Proverbs 21:20
In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.
Proverbs 27:12
A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

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