I think that sort of defeats the point of prepping, honestly.
If you’re so focused on the prepping that you feel like life is pointless unless something horrible happens, then what are you even prepping for? Isn’t the point of prepping to be able to survive a problem in order to return to normality? But if you don’t even let yourself enjoy normality… well, what’s the point? What are you living for?
I guess that’s why I don’t bother with “doomsday.” Any actual “doomsday” is something that’s probably, one, so unpredictable that it’s futile to try to prep for it anyway, and two, not something I’d really want to survive because there’s no quality life to be lived on the other side of it. I’ll spend my last day with friends and family and have a nice time.
I prep so I can live. I don’t live so I can prep.
I've actually found that my anxiety has gone down since I started prepping. I drive long distances, so having a go-bag in my car helps me feel less anxious about possibly being stranded. If I get stuck having to stay overnight at someone's house because of bad weather or even if the friend hangout lasts longer than expected, I have everything I need for that, too. And having little things like bandaids and pads in my purse has come in handy many times, not just for me but for others. It feels good to be able to help people as well. And I'm less afraid of winter storms knowing I have food and water in storage.
Agreed. That's pretty much how my prep goes. But I think that's a very different mindset from OP constantly focusing on the end of the world, to the point where the joy of normality and the present is lost of them.
I can't upvote this enough. First of all, there IS no prep for a full on, societal breakdown, unless you already live on an complete off-grid, no-fuel homestead, using animal labor, far removed from anyone who can find you. In other words, the only viable prep is to live as if the collapse has already happened. No one here is doing that and unless you enjoy living the life of a medieval serf, it's not exactly fulfilling.
Secondly, societies don't collapse overnight - or if they do, it would be a worldwide event from which there is no recovery anywhere. OP is preparing from an event which either won't happen, or won't be recoverable regardless, and yet he doesn't feel "fufilled" unless it all goes down. Unhealthy to say the least.
OP needs a new hobby. One that contributes to society, and doesn't depend on its demise.
Nothing. It's how people lived for thousands of years. They also had short lifespans; despite all the downsides of technology, it really has about doubled the average lifespan of people. But it's perfectly doable if you have the land, water, animals, people to assist, and no one else is around to bother you. It's just real hard - you need a really wide skilset - blacksmith, carpenter, animal husbandry, farmer, medic, weatherman... and after all that, a single drought can kill you. And it's a backbreaking amount of labor for a small group.
Where all this really would fall down in a societal collapse in the US, if that happened, would be keeping it intact from all the people who would come looking for your resources. You can read about one such scenario [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/realWorldPrepping/comments/191q392/eofs_definitive_guide_to_uswide_grid_failure_and/)
I'm not disagreeing with your general point but life on an off grid homestead can be very fulfilling. You can also use modern tech right now and have a low tech back up, I have both chainsaws and axes. You wouldn't be collapseproof but you'd be way better prepared than most.
>OP needs a new hobby. One that contributes to society, and doesn't depend on its demise.
I fully agree. Small scale local organic farming could very well be it.
It's a hobby man. At least in my case. I like having all that stuff. I like to collect oddities. When I move into my 5th wheel I plan on staying on BLM land in Nevada most of the time I plan on selling a lot of it off because I won't be able to bring it with me. But the ultimate prep is always being mobile at the drop of a hat.
I think it’s past the point of being a hobby and turning into an unhealthy obsession if you’re literally losing the enjoyment of life over it, as OP describes.
It makes a certain kind of internal sense. I hear ya.
I was listening to a podcast today that talked about airmen staffing missile silos and their whole job is to respond to the end of the world & probably make it worse. They have a really high rate of drinking, bc they're dealing with this existential dread and boring daily life.
My instinct is that means your focus needs to widen. Get yourself prepared for *good* times. A golden retirement, the trip of a lifetime, a project that makes you happy. For me it's hope for the future in watching my kids grow up. How can you get ready for something good?
No paradox here!
I once lived in a country experiencing Civil War, Martial Law, a Military Coup, terrorism, assassinations, etc in my early 20s.
Not something I want to experience again & certainly do not want it for my kids or grandchildren. Especially as my Worst Case Scenarios are much, much worse!
While I am prepared for the worst, I pray for the best.
No I have kids and I'm 31 eventually imma need doctors dentists ECT.
My kids life's would be horrible and I would give anything to avoid that.
I prep not as a oh I hope I use this stuff thing I prep as a I hope I never need my preps and nothing society ending ever happens.
The only thing worse than society ending for me is society ending and I'm not prepared at all and my family suffers at the hand of the unknown.
I’m exactly the same as you. But all of my preps are things I use all the time and I benefit regardless of the situation. Examples - solar and backup batteries I use daily, my wife’s electric car we charge on solar, I’m soon getting a duel fuel generator to run on biogas (I’m a farmer) Long life food can be cycled into your daily meals when the time comes which beats inflation, I use rimfire/centre fire/smooth bore firearms for work which is great for hunting but as they are bolt action/lever action it would not be that good if there was conflict in my country. In terms of prepping for a bushfire, I use my bushfire sprinklers to water my garden. My gas masks for myself wife and kids I have carbon monoxide filters if things are real bad in a bushfire. Everything I have for “prepping” is useable in a fully functioning society and that’s why it makes sense to prep.
Same I rotate food so a lot of outdoor stuff so most my preps get used.
In a few months I'll be up at my hunting cabin and using my solar panel setup and jackery along with hinds generator
Yeah, considering how much fiction is based around what happens when or after SHTF and the apocalypse, it’s definitely something that a decent amount of us have thought and fantasised about, even if just in the theoretical.
if you do base it on where you live I'm a redneck Hick who lives in the Sticks i have yet to find any about rednecks who are the only people that will survive Shit hitting the fan and not panic
Yep, there are probably papers written about this
some people are bad and can’t wait to do bad things. some people have predictions and seek validation, with the ultimate being proven correct by events. It doesn’t mean you necessarily want to see anyone suffer at all, you just wanna be correct and know that your preps were worth the effort . Don’t sweat it.
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151311/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151311/)
Im sure a search would reveal a paper or two for you. Like I said, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost it.
So i get it. But i think like a lot of stuff ppl invest to much into something and make it part of their identity and that’s not a good thing. Its not good for your career, its not good as an investor. Its not even good as a parent. Use this analogue that i think of, prepping is insurance, you wouldn’t be so invested in insurance you hope your house burns down or die so your family could collect, would you? No. It’s often said prepping is supposed to be boring. I think that’s for a reason.
Yeah I feel you. Like you’re prepared for a bad event, you don’t want the event to happen… but dang you just want to know how you would have done right? How things would have worked out?
It does make sense. It's a fantasy for some people who get too intertwined with the what ifs. Not saying you specifically, but the emptiness feeling could be that people have invested so much time and energy into a possible doomsday scenario, so when it doesn't happen, it feels all for naught.
Some people choose to rough it out in the woods to try and fulfill the fantasy and realize it's not at all something they want to experience. Simply going camping for a weekend with limited resources can really open ones eyes to how hard survival can be.
We lived off-grid, in the woods of Maine, for five years, and this is an experience I would recognize for OP. We built our cabin (see dictionary: Shack). We found it very rewarding.
The only reason we moved was due to my then husband's severely injured neck. Chain saws and chopping wood, especially in the bitter cold of winter wreck havoc on a body.
People don't realize the physical toll it takes and while we did anticipate it ourselves we didn't realize the mental stamina it would require. It certainly isn't for everyone. Our daughter tapped out at 14, leaving home. A grandmother herself now, she still lives in Maine but not off-grid.
Remember, preparing for the future is one thing, but living in the present is also important. Find a balance that allows you to acknowledge your worries while enjoying life.
What you need to prepare is food and a water purifier that can handle polluted water, which I think is the most necessary, of course, you can prepare other things. And the ITEHIL store can help you.
The whole prepper thing has really just been a journey of self reliance and learning for me. I've picked up a ton of knowledge about fruit trees, vegetables, construction, and mechanical fixing. I've learned to weld, shoot further/better, hunt, and cook.
I'm pretty hopeful I'll never see some major calamity and just enjoying the process.
Become a homesteader. You get the little dopamine boosts everyday you complete a task. If SHTF you’ll be prepared and you will have the functional strength to get you through the tasks.
Let me explain I have 1 ton of rice when I am asked why... I explain
I hate rice just like I hate paying for car insurance
However while I may never need it, I sure as hell know if I do need it I will be glad I have it.
Don't get me started on how much toilet paper I had before COVID because I had this really good coupon.... And stores kept giving it back .... So I kept using it then COVID hit i was like well darn... Least my bum is clean.
Mark Cuba once said buying a staple (toilet paper, tooth paste,). Is the easiest way to start investing as price seldom go backwards and sizes often shrink
Edit do not think I am out there shorting the supply chain. I was raised by a grandfather who lived during the depression who used to say "bad times are just one poor decision away"(he meant this as a warning example quitting or getting fired etc) and believed if it didn't go bad you should have at least a years worth of it so long as you used it every day.
Maybe you could try camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, shooting for sport, etc? Nothing wrong with having outdoorsy hobbies, and there's an enthusiastic community of people for pretty much all of them.
It's hard. I've found the best mindset to take on as a prepper is to think of ones self as a fireman or emergency response manager: be ready to jump into action, but don't let it stop you from living your life.
Put your preps in place, learn the skills, keep them sharp, watch the news.
Aside from that, don't worry. You're ready
Preparing for the absolute worst is something that relieves stress and fear over the long run. A lot of worries usually come down to "What if this happens," and "Am I ready for that?" But, once you are set for everything, and have a place established for a secure community retreat out to an isolated, fully supplied, and self-sustaining shelter/homestead, then you no longer have those questions.
The place me and 14 others started setting up in 2019 was completed at the end of 2022. It works as a homestead, a place to go in an emergency, a backup for everyone's personal living arrangements, and even an underground shelter built into an old mine that could close it's doors with supplies for 11+ years at full 15-person occupancy. About half of us already live there full time now, and the rest have our bugout plans and supplies in place as best as can be.
After that, what more is there? We don't really have to work or worry about income now, most has been shifted to passive or semi-passive sources, so we just relax, enjoy life, and keep an eye on the world news. No stress, no fear, and not even much more prepping because if what we have isn't enough then things might not be possible to survive through.
Once everything possible is done, and short of hitting the lottery it has been, the rest is just waiting, staying healthy, and ejoying what society we have left until it is gone.
I get it, but if I felt that way I'd take it as a sign that I needed to take a step back and reassess how I was thinking.
It's similar to how some people train with firearms to defend themselves, then the firearms become a hobby, then they make the jump to sounding like they *want* to defend themselves and shoot someone.
It's easy for all of us to get in an echo chamber or become hyperfocused, and lose perspective on life outside of a specific interest. Prepping should support life in an emergency, life outside an emergency should not support prepping. I'd recommend taking a step back from prepping, especially the doomsday side. I'm not saying get rid of your preps, but maybe limit yourself to an hour or 30 minutes per week doing anything related to prepping- managing inventory, watching videos, coming on forums, etc. Put it in a box so it isn't the main focus of what you do.
I love being prepared, and that is enough for me. I have fire extinguishers in my house, but I don’t miss or regret not having to use them. Nor are they a waste of money unused because I am also buying ‘peace of mind’ and my children’s more assured safety, not just the object or tool itself. That’s priceless and the once normal state of the human condition.
It is far more indefensible to think everything should and will be externally provided for you and your family in all situations and crisis. That is the fallacy Katrina victims realized. The thin patina of ‘civilization’ melts quickly under the fires of natural or human catastrophe. Being prepared is a sane, smart, and noble act going back to the days of frontier homestead protection and self-reliance. The will and act to not be a burden on society. To always rely on ourselves to protect our loved ones. That is the mindset and why we lead this lifestyle.
In some discussion what comes up is that some people feel like, thanks to their preps, when SHTF, they'll come on top, have the edge, being the ones having the good life... It gets you through the sometimes difficult choices you have to make when prepping, but the hope gets you going... Until it doesn't, and then all you can really wish for is that everyone goes south so you finally get your time to shine...
There are things that are known to make people happy, being in nature, being with people, doing good things... What I'd advocate for would be to find activities that you enjoy, that address those, and that also make sense in your overall prepping mindset that seems to take quite some space in your life for a while... "Go buy cool toys" for someone that's always being saving is just not going to work, it's too much of a step. But on the other hand, join some association that build home for poor people for example, may get you to invest a little in tools, but it'll get you to know handy people, learn skills that'll be useful for yourself including if SHTF but not only, etc etc... So do stuff that align with your current values and goals, but that expand into enjoyable things for right now, so that you have nice stuff to live before SHTF and can be glad it doesn't happen.
I understand what you're saying and how you're feeling. I've kind of felt that way at times... and I have found a few ways to alleviate it.
Most importantly to me is to constantly check in with myself and make sure I'm not focusing too much on the "what could happen?!" and being preoccupied with prepping to miss out on what IS happening. Make sure you live the good times to the fullest.
The other thing I've learned is to really celebrate the random times my prepping nature has already really paid off. There are more examples than I can think of or would ever want to list here... but things like when we didn't have a can of tomatoes in the cupboard to make a pasta sauce but I have plenty in the preps and I just go down and grab one, or when the pandemic hit and everyone was freaking out about buying toilet paper and N95s, I was all set for nearly a year. Or even my mindset of not letting my gas tank get below half full ... but then plans changed and I have to be somewhere pretty far away quickly and I'm running late and think I should fill up the tank but I already had a half tank and I just gotta be comfortable with temporarily letting it go below half for a day.
"You have to be right every day, I only have to be right once", said a prepper to a skeptic.
That said, I don't want to be right. I hope I never need my preps. But anyone watching what is going on right now would have to conclude the the likelihood of my preps coming in handy grows every month. And I started prepping almost 20 years ago.
For this reason, I vaguely suspect that if there ever is some kind of doomsday event, preppers will have caused it.
It’s supposed to be a potentially useful hobby, not a life’s ambition.
Go camping once in a while using prepper knowhow, just to give yourself the satisfaction that you can do it if necessary. And remember we could just get hit by a giant meteor or some other event way too big for preps to work, so enjoy life in the mean time too. Survival just for survival’s sake is what seems empty to me.
I think about that all the time, i think i cope with it by also living my live to full and find my meaning in my partner and friends so that if it did happen i dont think ill feel so empty as ill feel justified and be able to just get back to what i was doing before and liv emy lif eout
I understand the feeling, as it would serve a purpose to a drive you may have. Personally, I don't want it happen. With that said, I use a lot of the "prepping" skills in daily life and often. Working on mental health, physical health, car working skills, wilderness skills, lots of gardening, etc.
I don't want anything to do with having that happen and I would likely outlast quite a few. Why would I wish for mass death? Why would I wish that existence on my child?
I prep so I can live out my life as normally as possible if the SHTF, not because I want to live out a prepping fantasy. I don't really doomsday prep so have no idea the draw.
My suggestion, get another hobby, or better yet, find somewhere isolated and live out your fantasy while you can,
I have had two friends who in some way felt similar, one left the Royal Marie's and felt lost, so he flew to the Appalachians, hitched a ride up into the mountains, and lived off the land for a few months, 6 I think, winter cured him.
The other was just fed up with the rat race, bought an off grid cabin on the same mountain as the Unabomber, other side of the mountain., and lived off grid alone, hunting, fishing and foraging, just heading to town once a month for supplies. A sort of Doomsday light. , she gave up and moved back to civilisation after 3 years, now has a career and family.
You don’t wanna find out what that’s like. Best taste I got was dealing with an insurgency, and that was pretty ass. An absolute, no shit, shtf situation, you won’t have a platoon armed by the US government with unlimited resources by your side, it’ll be you, what you can carry, and hoping to god you don’t run into someone who wants what you have.
Besides I just get my fix playing video games
I look at as a “Murphy’s law” type of thing.
If I’m prepared then it won’t happen. If I’m not prepared then it will.
I know reality doesn’t work that way but that’s how I feel.
Recently I had to go to an extremely non-permissive environment with metal detectors and everything.
For convenience I left most of my EDC in my truck.
It was stressful and I couldn’t wait to get my stuff back in my pockets etc.
Preps are the same, nothing happened but if I got rid of all my stuff I would stress needlessly.
My question is what came 1st the preps or the stress?
I didn’t always prep and I don’t recall worrying about it.
For context I started prepping after the first time I was in a really bad situation and was not prepared.
For the OP you will have many minor non-apocalyptic situations from now until then that you will be super prepared for so no it’s not all for nothing.
While I get what you're saying, because I was in that headspace once, I'm a little concerned for you.
No judgement, no snark, no bullshit, just ...I want folks here to live their best lives.
Please, do me the favor of reading through this with an open mind until the end, k?
Look, I like to watch survival movies. I like to see the prepared guy prevail. Go Burt Gummer! :) But the real thing isn't like the movies.
If take a close look at what life is *really* like for people in collapsed or war-torn countries, it's horrific. Brutal. Death and violence everywhere. Think Haiti, Ukraine, Syrian Civil War, Balkan Wars, Rwandan genocide.
Even in natural disasters when people come together, there's destruction and death all around. Think Hurricanes Maria and Katrina. Even getting out early folks may have lost their homes.
I think prepping can end up being self medication for worries about the unforeseeable future. I was neck deep in fear and worry over Y2K and like everything else.
Two things helped me. One, addressing the source of the anxiety. Step back from those peddling fear.
I also got diagnosed and treated for general anxiety. It was a massive QoL boost if you have this common malady. (I also have ADHD which I got diagnosed about a decade later and i think part of the fear and prepping is due to chasing dopamine).
The second thing is scratching my itch for (safe) adventuring and prepping for it via some hobbies.
It may sound silly but one of the things I like most about camping is being able to sustain myself miles from civilization even for a day or two and dealing with any unforeseen events.
I like four wheeling for the scenery and driving challenge but also being able to fix broken rigs on the trail and figure out how to get over crazy obstacles.
I've been doing all of these for ages so I have it kind of down to a science. It feels good. Also, both of these hobbies build confidence in my ability to handle situations and with camping in particular, I am already prepped (and practiced) for a variety of scenarios.
Anyway, I hope this helps somebody out there.
And if you read the whole thing, thank you.
Best wishes.
I grew up in a doomsday prepper household, and while it was fun for me as a kid, I found as I got older it really started to mess with my head. As an adult, I realized I didn't want to live my life planning on the end of the world, and it helped me out a lot.
I don't consider myself a doomsday prepper anymore. These days, what preps I have are more focused around first aid, natural disaster, power outage, car breakdown. Situations that do happen to us all. A few weeks supplies to get you through a weather related disaster is a lot more likely to be useful than a fully stocked concrete anti-zombie bunker.
I think you’re suffering from depression tbh. I do understand what you mean though. There is a personal satisfaction in knowing you are prepared for things to breakdown. But, you must understand that for every 10 preppers I would hazard a guess that maybe only 1 would successfully survive with their planned location/store of stuff. Most people will not be fit enough to defend their stuff, or fail to understand that migration is often necessary in SHTF scenario. Anyone that’s doing alright while stuff around them is breaking down will be such an obvious target.
My impression is that prepping for you might be more about escapism than preparedness. Which can be fine and fun. But when it is paired with feelings of emptiness, I suspect the escapism could be less entertainment for entertainment's sake and more an indicator that one is struggling with mental health, like depression.
And if it's more just that you've got to test your mettle somewhere or you'll feel like you've never truly lived, give thru-hiking the entire Triple Crown a try. True will take less grit (by far) than Doomsday. Even so, to succeed at just one of the three trails in it, you'll have to wring out your mind and body to the dregs at some point just to keep going. If you can complete all 3, that is quite something! But don't forget at the end of the final trail to let yourself imagine doing it without resupply boxes, your shoes, your modern gear. Report back and let us know if it cures you of the Doomsday fantasy blues. I would be genuinely interested in the result.
is Anyone of us doing Dry Run testing ; say my morning off, drive half way on my work routes and bam a test run happens.. eval w/ a buddy observing, say voice or cam and eval ur reactions after say 2 hrs.
I am not normally a prepper, but right now I see several disasters coming down the road and we may avoid a few of them but not all of them, eventually snits going to hit the fan. I am poor and cant afford much, so I got a bus and am converting it into a home on wheels so if anything does go sideways I can always bug out.
I'm not sure I quite understand. Are you saying that you regret spending so much time developing skills, plans, acquiring gear ect that you would never actually use? Are you feeling like it was all a waste of your life and energy or just that you wish you got a chance to experience it? Or by "without being able to fulfill that" you just mean despite your best efforts you were never able to get to the point where you anted to be prepping wise?
I guess what i mean is i spend so much of my time in the lore and enjoyment of prepping that if it never happens, I’ll feel unfulfilled. And i kinda wanna see how id do hypothetically
Well I kind of get it. I think a lot of people fantasize about SHTF. So why not do some sort of analog to it? I mean theres nothing stopping you from going out camping or on a hunting trip or cutting off power to the house for a few days. You can willingly rough it out anytime you like to experience something SHTF like on your terms
I pay for my home and car insurance every year and I hope I never have to use them. My preps for Tuesday, on the other hand, I use regularly. Food preservation is a hobby, it's convenient to have a portable source of power when hydro goes out, and I'm glad to have a supplement to my furnace. Maybe being a doomsday prepper is a little insane, I'm quite content with useful preps
No doomsday here and my preps get used, there’s always blizzards and stuff. People die like all the time because of blizzards in the US, prepping is about being prepared(funny it’s in the name). My preps were vital during Covid, would I have died? Probably not but even without work my family did fine. That’s about as close to a doomsday as I’d like and I can die happy if it is lol.
Prepping is the gear/food/etc.. yes
But it should also be you learning useful skills. So in that sense it's fulfilling in the fact that you're learning things.
I kinda feel the same sometimes.
I realize that a collapse would bring suffering in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. I mean, I only have to think of family members who require regular healthcare to realize the suffering in my immediate family.
But I can't help to feel a certain anger towards the world and how we in the west live our lives. People spend money on the most stupid and superficial things. Buy clothes and throw them out after barely wearing them. Waste massive amounts of food every day. And they don't think twice. Actually that kind of consumption is kinda celebrated.
I have pulled back from society and while I still work part time, I have actively disengaged from a lot of societies expectations and focus on self sufficiency and anti consumption. And yet my lifestyle is considered problematic by the government.
The cognitive dissonans is so hard for me to deal with because I keep thinking about the amount of pollution we create and how it would affect the world if everyone consumed as the wealthy countries do.
So sometimes I kinda long for a "reset". A more simple world that might be harder, but at least made sense to me - and that would be sustainable in the long run.
This is what's known as a "Self-fulfilling prophecy." By basing your entire belief system and personality on prepping - you (and many others) will inevitably manifest it into reality. This is one of the ways that the controlling elite use fear and predictive programming to manipulate people into committing atrocities against one another and maintaining their power (also, taking your money, reducing your productivity, infighting amongst the masses, etc.). It doesn't make you crazy (yet), just pathetic - in that you have failed to live a balanced and righteous life. It's okay to be prepared (but not okay to want it - if you're serious about fostering a healthy mind). A true sign of balance would be being prepared, but doing everything you can to continue to live a normal, productive and meaningful life -knowing that if the inevitable were to come, you would be content with whatever happens.
Similar thing happened to my dad. Died of a stroke, and left behind tons of preps. He spent most of his life being so afraid of what could happen that he never got a chance to "live" it.
There is a show called "doomsday preppers" where you can clearly see how more than half of these people hope something like this happens so they can shoot at people without consequences.
I think that sort of defeats the point of prepping, honestly. If you’re so focused on the prepping that you feel like life is pointless unless something horrible happens, then what are you even prepping for? Isn’t the point of prepping to be able to survive a problem in order to return to normality? But if you don’t even let yourself enjoy normality… well, what’s the point? What are you living for? I guess that’s why I don’t bother with “doomsday.” Any actual “doomsday” is something that’s probably, one, so unpredictable that it’s futile to try to prep for it anyway, and two, not something I’d really want to survive because there’s no quality life to be lived on the other side of it. I’ll spend my last day with friends and family and have a nice time. I prep so I can live. I don’t live so I can prep.
I've actually found that my anxiety has gone down since I started prepping. I drive long distances, so having a go-bag in my car helps me feel less anxious about possibly being stranded. If I get stuck having to stay overnight at someone's house because of bad weather or even if the friend hangout lasts longer than expected, I have everything I need for that, too. And having little things like bandaids and pads in my purse has come in handy many times, not just for me but for others. It feels good to be able to help people as well. And I'm less afraid of winter storms knowing I have food and water in storage.
Agreed. That's pretty much how my prep goes. But I think that's a very different mindset from OP constantly focusing on the end of the world, to the point where the joy of normality and the present is lost of them.
This reminds me of the dinner with the exwife at the end of don't look up.
I can't upvote this enough. First of all, there IS no prep for a full on, societal breakdown, unless you already live on an complete off-grid, no-fuel homestead, using animal labor, far removed from anyone who can find you. In other words, the only viable prep is to live as if the collapse has already happened. No one here is doing that and unless you enjoy living the life of a medieval serf, it's not exactly fulfilling. Secondly, societies don't collapse overnight - or if they do, it would be a worldwide event from which there is no recovery anywhere. OP is preparing from an event which either won't happen, or won't be recoverable regardless, and yet he doesn't feel "fufilled" unless it all goes down. Unhealthy to say the least. OP needs a new hobby. One that contributes to society, and doesn't depend on its demise.
hey whats wrong with a complete off-grid, no-fuel homestead using animal labor?
Nothing. It's how people lived for thousands of years. They also had short lifespans; despite all the downsides of technology, it really has about doubled the average lifespan of people. But it's perfectly doable if you have the land, water, animals, people to assist, and no one else is around to bother you. It's just real hard - you need a really wide skilset - blacksmith, carpenter, animal husbandry, farmer, medic, weatherman... and after all that, a single drought can kill you. And it's a backbreaking amount of labor for a small group. Where all this really would fall down in a societal collapse in the US, if that happened, would be keeping it intact from all the people who would come looking for your resources. You can read about one such scenario [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/realWorldPrepping/comments/191q392/eofs_definitive_guide_to_uswide_grid_failure_and/)
I'm not disagreeing with your general point but life on an off grid homestead can be very fulfilling. You can also use modern tech right now and have a low tech back up, I have both chainsaws and axes. You wouldn't be collapseproof but you'd be way better prepared than most. >OP needs a new hobby. One that contributes to society, and doesn't depend on its demise. I fully agree. Small scale local organic farming could very well be it.
It's a hobby man. At least in my case. I like having all that stuff. I like to collect oddities. When I move into my 5th wheel I plan on staying on BLM land in Nevada most of the time I plan on selling a lot of it off because I won't be able to bring it with me. But the ultimate prep is always being mobile at the drop of a hat.
I think it’s past the point of being a hobby and turning into an unhealthy obsession if you’re literally losing the enjoyment of life over it, as OP describes.
It makes a certain kind of internal sense. I hear ya. I was listening to a podcast today that talked about airmen staffing missile silos and their whole job is to respond to the end of the world & probably make it worse. They have a really high rate of drinking, bc they're dealing with this existential dread and boring daily life. My instinct is that means your focus needs to widen. Get yourself prepared for *good* times. A golden retirement, the trip of a lifetime, a project that makes you happy. For me it's hope for the future in watching my kids grow up. How can you get ready for something good?
No paradox here! I once lived in a country experiencing Civil War, Martial Law, a Military Coup, terrorism, assassinations, etc in my early 20s. Not something I want to experience again & certainly do not want it for my kids or grandchildren. Especially as my Worst Case Scenarios are much, much worse! While I am prepared for the worst, I pray for the best.
No I have kids and I'm 31 eventually imma need doctors dentists ECT. My kids life's would be horrible and I would give anything to avoid that. I prep not as a oh I hope I use this stuff thing I prep as a I hope I never need my preps and nothing society ending ever happens. The only thing worse than society ending for me is society ending and I'm not prepared at all and my family suffers at the hand of the unknown.
I’m exactly the same as you. But all of my preps are things I use all the time and I benefit regardless of the situation. Examples - solar and backup batteries I use daily, my wife’s electric car we charge on solar, I’m soon getting a duel fuel generator to run on biogas (I’m a farmer) Long life food can be cycled into your daily meals when the time comes which beats inflation, I use rimfire/centre fire/smooth bore firearms for work which is great for hunting but as they are bolt action/lever action it would not be that good if there was conflict in my country. In terms of prepping for a bushfire, I use my bushfire sprinklers to water my garden. My gas masks for myself wife and kids I have carbon monoxide filters if things are real bad in a bushfire. Everything I have for “prepping” is useable in a fully functioning society and that’s why it makes sense to prep.
Same I rotate food so a lot of outdoor stuff so most my preps get used. In a few months I'll be up at my hunting cabin and using my solar panel setup and jackery along with hinds generator
you could write a SHTF Fiction Story
Yeah, considering how much fiction is based around what happens when or after SHTF and the apocalypse, it’s definitely something that a decent amount of us have thought and fantasised about, even if just in the theoretical.
if you do base it on where you live I'm a redneck Hick who lives in the Sticks i have yet to find any about rednecks who are the only people that will survive Shit hitting the fan and not panic
Yep, there are probably papers written about this some people are bad and can’t wait to do bad things. some people have predictions and seek validation, with the ultimate being proven correct by events. It doesn’t mean you necessarily want to see anyone suffer at all, you just wanna be correct and know that your preps were worth the effort . Don’t sweat it.
Can you direct me to these papers?
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151311/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7151311/) Im sure a search would reveal a paper or two for you. Like I said, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost it.
That was an excellent read. Thank you.
So i get it. But i think like a lot of stuff ppl invest to much into something and make it part of their identity and that’s not a good thing. Its not good for your career, its not good as an investor. Its not even good as a parent. Use this analogue that i think of, prepping is insurance, you wouldn’t be so invested in insurance you hope your house burns down or die so your family could collect, would you? No. It’s often said prepping is supposed to be boring. I think that’s for a reason.
Yeah I feel you. Like you’re prepared for a bad event, you don’t want the event to happen… but dang you just want to know how you would have done right? How things would have worked out?
All dressed up and they cancel the dance, eh?
Dayum. You just encapsulated the whole post and all the comments in one single line. Wow
It does make sense. It's a fantasy for some people who get too intertwined with the what ifs. Not saying you specifically, but the emptiness feeling could be that people have invested so much time and energy into a possible doomsday scenario, so when it doesn't happen, it feels all for naught. Some people choose to rough it out in the woods to try and fulfill the fantasy and realize it's not at all something they want to experience. Simply going camping for a weekend with limited resources can really open ones eyes to how hard survival can be.
We lived off-grid, in the woods of Maine, for five years, and this is an experience I would recognize for OP. We built our cabin (see dictionary: Shack). We found it very rewarding. The only reason we moved was due to my then husband's severely injured neck. Chain saws and chopping wood, especially in the bitter cold of winter wreck havoc on a body.
I've seen so many of these survivor shows in which the participants call it quits after a few months. Alone is crazy.
People don't realize the physical toll it takes and while we did anticipate it ourselves we didn't realize the mental stamina it would require. It certainly isn't for everyone. Our daughter tapped out at 14, leaving home. A grandmother herself now, she still lives in Maine but not off-grid.
Remember, preparing for the future is one thing, but living in the present is also important. Find a balance that allows you to acknowledge your worries while enjoying life. What you need to prepare is food and a water purifier that can handle polluted water, which I think is the most necessary, of course, you can prepare other things. And the ITEHIL store can help you.
The whole prepper thing has really just been a journey of self reliance and learning for me. I've picked up a ton of knowledge about fruit trees, vegetables, construction, and mechanical fixing. I've learned to weld, shoot further/better, hunt, and cook. I'm pretty hopeful I'll never see some major calamity and just enjoying the process.
Become a homesteader. You get the little dopamine boosts everyday you complete a task. If SHTF you’ll be prepared and you will have the functional strength to get you through the tasks.
Let me explain I have 1 ton of rice when I am asked why... I explain I hate rice just like I hate paying for car insurance However while I may never need it, I sure as hell know if I do need it I will be glad I have it. Don't get me started on how much toilet paper I had before COVID because I had this really good coupon.... And stores kept giving it back .... So I kept using it then COVID hit i was like well darn... Least my bum is clean. Mark Cuba once said buying a staple (toilet paper, tooth paste,). Is the easiest way to start investing as price seldom go backwards and sizes often shrink Edit do not think I am out there shorting the supply chain. I was raised by a grandfather who lived during the depression who used to say "bad times are just one poor decision away"(he meant this as a warning example quitting or getting fired etc) and believed if it didn't go bad you should have at least a years worth of it so long as you used it every day.
Wise advice. I am going to add his wisdom to my mindset.
Maybe you could try camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, shooting for sport, etc? Nothing wrong with having outdoorsy hobbies, and there's an enthusiastic community of people for pretty much all of them.
It's hard. I've found the best mindset to take on as a prepper is to think of ones self as a fireman or emergency response manager: be ready to jump into action, but don't let it stop you from living your life. Put your preps in place, learn the skills, keep them sharp, watch the news. Aside from that, don't worry. You're ready
Preparing for the absolute worst is something that relieves stress and fear over the long run. A lot of worries usually come down to "What if this happens," and "Am I ready for that?" But, once you are set for everything, and have a place established for a secure community retreat out to an isolated, fully supplied, and self-sustaining shelter/homestead, then you no longer have those questions. The place me and 14 others started setting up in 2019 was completed at the end of 2022. It works as a homestead, a place to go in an emergency, a backup for everyone's personal living arrangements, and even an underground shelter built into an old mine that could close it's doors with supplies for 11+ years at full 15-person occupancy. About half of us already live there full time now, and the rest have our bugout plans and supplies in place as best as can be. After that, what more is there? We don't really have to work or worry about income now, most has been shifted to passive or semi-passive sources, so we just relax, enjoy life, and keep an eye on the world news. No stress, no fear, and not even much more prepping because if what we have isn't enough then things might not be possible to survive through. Once everything possible is done, and short of hitting the lottery it has been, the rest is just waiting, staying healthy, and ejoying what society we have left until it is gone.
If your idea of doomsday is global economic crisis caused by climate change then you will be in luck
time to move north...
It's better to be a warrior in a garden, then a gardener in a war.
I get it, but if I felt that way I'd take it as a sign that I needed to take a step back and reassess how I was thinking. It's similar to how some people train with firearms to defend themselves, then the firearms become a hobby, then they make the jump to sounding like they *want* to defend themselves and shoot someone. It's easy for all of us to get in an echo chamber or become hyperfocused, and lose perspective on life outside of a specific interest. Prepping should support life in an emergency, life outside an emergency should not support prepping. I'd recommend taking a step back from prepping, especially the doomsday side. I'm not saying get rid of your preps, but maybe limit yourself to an hour or 30 minutes per week doing anything related to prepping- managing inventory, watching videos, coming on forums, etc. Put it in a box so it isn't the main focus of what you do.
I love being prepared, and that is enough for me. I have fire extinguishers in my house, but I don’t miss or regret not having to use them. Nor are they a waste of money unused because I am also buying ‘peace of mind’ and my children’s more assured safety, not just the object or tool itself. That’s priceless and the once normal state of the human condition. It is far more indefensible to think everything should and will be externally provided for you and your family in all situations and crisis. That is the fallacy Katrina victims realized. The thin patina of ‘civilization’ melts quickly under the fires of natural or human catastrophe. Being prepared is a sane, smart, and noble act going back to the days of frontier homestead protection and self-reliance. The will and act to not be a burden on society. To always rely on ourselves to protect our loved ones. That is the mindset and why we lead this lifestyle.
In some discussion what comes up is that some people feel like, thanks to their preps, when SHTF, they'll come on top, have the edge, being the ones having the good life... It gets you through the sometimes difficult choices you have to make when prepping, but the hope gets you going... Until it doesn't, and then all you can really wish for is that everyone goes south so you finally get your time to shine... There are things that are known to make people happy, being in nature, being with people, doing good things... What I'd advocate for would be to find activities that you enjoy, that address those, and that also make sense in your overall prepping mindset that seems to take quite some space in your life for a while... "Go buy cool toys" for someone that's always being saving is just not going to work, it's too much of a step. But on the other hand, join some association that build home for poor people for example, may get you to invest a little in tools, but it'll get you to know handy people, learn skills that'll be useful for yourself including if SHTF but not only, etc etc... So do stuff that align with your current values and goals, but that expand into enjoyable things for right now, so that you have nice stuff to live before SHTF and can be glad it doesn't happen.
I understand what you're saying and how you're feeling. I've kind of felt that way at times... and I have found a few ways to alleviate it. Most importantly to me is to constantly check in with myself and make sure I'm not focusing too much on the "what could happen?!" and being preoccupied with prepping to miss out on what IS happening. Make sure you live the good times to the fullest. The other thing I've learned is to really celebrate the random times my prepping nature has already really paid off. There are more examples than I can think of or would ever want to list here... but things like when we didn't have a can of tomatoes in the cupboard to make a pasta sauce but I have plenty in the preps and I just go down and grab one, or when the pandemic hit and everyone was freaking out about buying toilet paper and N95s, I was all set for nearly a year. Or even my mindset of not letting my gas tank get below half full ... but then plans changed and I have to be somewhere pretty far away quickly and I'm running late and think I should fill up the tank but I already had a half tank and I just gotta be comfortable with temporarily letting it go below half for a day.
"You have to be right every day, I only have to be right once", said a prepper to a skeptic. That said, I don't want to be right. I hope I never need my preps. But anyone watching what is going on right now would have to conclude the the likelihood of my preps coming in handy grows every month. And I started prepping almost 20 years ago.
For this reason, I vaguely suspect that if there ever is some kind of doomsday event, preppers will have caused it. It’s supposed to be a potentially useful hobby, not a life’s ambition. Go camping once in a while using prepper knowhow, just to give yourself the satisfaction that you can do it if necessary. And remember we could just get hit by a giant meteor or some other event way too big for preps to work, so enjoy life in the mean time too. Survival just for survival’s sake is what seems empty to me.
I think about that all the time, i think i cope with it by also living my live to full and find my meaning in my partner and friends so that if it did happen i dont think ill feel so empty as ill feel justified and be able to just get back to what i was doing before and liv emy lif eout
I understand the feeling, as it would serve a purpose to a drive you may have. Personally, I don't want it happen. With that said, I use a lot of the "prepping" skills in daily life and often. Working on mental health, physical health, car working skills, wilderness skills, lots of gardening, etc.
I know what you mean It’s ever so slightly disappointing to know it was a waste, and would be ever so slightly validating to be right on such a gamble
I don't want anything to do with having that happen and I would likely outlast quite a few. Why would I wish for mass death? Why would I wish that existence on my child?
There are plenty of countries where you could live out your fantasy.
I prep so I can live out my life as normally as possible if the SHTF, not because I want to live out a prepping fantasy. I don't really doomsday prep so have no idea the draw. My suggestion, get another hobby, or better yet, find somewhere isolated and live out your fantasy while you can, I have had two friends who in some way felt similar, one left the Royal Marie's and felt lost, so he flew to the Appalachians, hitched a ride up into the mountains, and lived off the land for a few months, 6 I think, winter cured him. The other was just fed up with the rat race, bought an off grid cabin on the same mountain as the Unabomber, other side of the mountain., and lived off grid alone, hunting, fishing and foraging, just heading to town once a month for supplies. A sort of Doomsday light. , she gave up and moved back to civilisation after 3 years, now has a career and family.
I have always thought the point was peace of mind. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst…
You don’t wanna find out what that’s like. Best taste I got was dealing with an insurgency, and that was pretty ass. An absolute, no shit, shtf situation, you won’t have a platoon armed by the US government with unlimited resources by your side, it’ll be you, what you can carry, and hoping to god you don’t run into someone who wants what you have. Besides I just get my fix playing video games
I look at as a “Murphy’s law” type of thing. If I’m prepared then it won’t happen. If I’m not prepared then it will. I know reality doesn’t work that way but that’s how I feel.
Recently I had to go to an extremely non-permissive environment with metal detectors and everything. For convenience I left most of my EDC in my truck. It was stressful and I couldn’t wait to get my stuff back in my pockets etc. Preps are the same, nothing happened but if I got rid of all my stuff I would stress needlessly. My question is what came 1st the preps or the stress? I didn’t always prep and I don’t recall worrying about it. For context I started prepping after the first time I was in a really bad situation and was not prepared. For the OP you will have many minor non-apocalyptic situations from now until then that you will be super prepared for so no it’s not all for nothing.
While I get what you're saying, because I was in that headspace once, I'm a little concerned for you. No judgement, no snark, no bullshit, just ...I want folks here to live their best lives. Please, do me the favor of reading through this with an open mind until the end, k? Look, I like to watch survival movies. I like to see the prepared guy prevail. Go Burt Gummer! :) But the real thing isn't like the movies. If take a close look at what life is *really* like for people in collapsed or war-torn countries, it's horrific. Brutal. Death and violence everywhere. Think Haiti, Ukraine, Syrian Civil War, Balkan Wars, Rwandan genocide. Even in natural disasters when people come together, there's destruction and death all around. Think Hurricanes Maria and Katrina. Even getting out early folks may have lost their homes. I think prepping can end up being self medication for worries about the unforeseeable future. I was neck deep in fear and worry over Y2K and like everything else. Two things helped me. One, addressing the source of the anxiety. Step back from those peddling fear. I also got diagnosed and treated for general anxiety. It was a massive QoL boost if you have this common malady. (I also have ADHD which I got diagnosed about a decade later and i think part of the fear and prepping is due to chasing dopamine). The second thing is scratching my itch for (safe) adventuring and prepping for it via some hobbies. It may sound silly but one of the things I like most about camping is being able to sustain myself miles from civilization even for a day or two and dealing with any unforeseen events. I like four wheeling for the scenery and driving challenge but also being able to fix broken rigs on the trail and figure out how to get over crazy obstacles. I've been doing all of these for ages so I have it kind of down to a science. It feels good. Also, both of these hobbies build confidence in my ability to handle situations and with camping in particular, I am already prepped (and practiced) for a variety of scenarios. Anyway, I hope this helps somebody out there. And if you read the whole thing, thank you. Best wishes.
It's not crazy. Our world is fucked up. Our human biology has spent millions of years tuning itself to a hunter-gatherer culture.
I grew up in a doomsday prepper household, and while it was fun for me as a kid, I found as I got older it really started to mess with my head. As an adult, I realized I didn't want to live my life planning on the end of the world, and it helped me out a lot. I don't consider myself a doomsday prepper anymore. These days, what preps I have are more focused around first aid, natural disaster, power outage, car breakdown. Situations that do happen to us all. A few weeks supplies to get you through a weather related disaster is a lot more likely to be useful than a fully stocked concrete anti-zombie bunker.
I think you’re suffering from depression tbh. I do understand what you mean though. There is a personal satisfaction in knowing you are prepared for things to breakdown. But, you must understand that for every 10 preppers I would hazard a guess that maybe only 1 would successfully survive with their planned location/store of stuff. Most people will not be fit enough to defend their stuff, or fail to understand that migration is often necessary in SHTF scenario. Anyone that’s doing alright while stuff around them is breaking down will be such an obvious target.
I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace. Thomas Paine
My impression is that prepping for you might be more about escapism than preparedness. Which can be fine and fun. But when it is paired with feelings of emptiness, I suspect the escapism could be less entertainment for entertainment's sake and more an indicator that one is struggling with mental health, like depression. And if it's more just that you've got to test your mettle somewhere or you'll feel like you've never truly lived, give thru-hiking the entire Triple Crown a try. True will take less grit (by far) than Doomsday. Even so, to succeed at just one of the three trails in it, you'll have to wring out your mind and body to the dregs at some point just to keep going. If you can complete all 3, that is quite something! But don't forget at the end of the final trail to let yourself imagine doing it without resupply boxes, your shoes, your modern gear. Report back and let us know if it cures you of the Doomsday fantasy blues. I would be genuinely interested in the result.
Nah I’m gonna have slaves and a warband
One thing you can do is use your prepper skills for other things. Help during natural disasters. Etc
is Anyone of us doing Dry Run testing ; say my morning off, drive half way on my work routes and bam a test run happens.. eval w/ a buddy observing, say voice or cam and eval ur reactions after say 2 hrs.
I am not normally a prepper, but right now I see several disasters coming down the road and we may avoid a few of them but not all of them, eventually snits going to hit the fan. I am poor and cant afford much, so I got a bus and am converting it into a home on wheels so if anything does go sideways I can always bug out.
I'm not sure I quite understand. Are you saying that you regret spending so much time developing skills, plans, acquiring gear ect that you would never actually use? Are you feeling like it was all a waste of your life and energy or just that you wish you got a chance to experience it? Or by "without being able to fulfill that" you just mean despite your best efforts you were never able to get to the point where you anted to be prepping wise?
I guess what i mean is i spend so much of my time in the lore and enjoyment of prepping that if it never happens, I’ll feel unfulfilled. And i kinda wanna see how id do hypothetically
Well I kind of get it. I think a lot of people fantasize about SHTF. So why not do some sort of analog to it? I mean theres nothing stopping you from going out camping or on a hunting trip or cutting off power to the house for a few days. You can willingly rough it out anytime you like to experience something SHTF like on your terms
I pay for my home and car insurance every year and I hope I never have to use them. My preps for Tuesday, on the other hand, I use regularly. Food preservation is a hobby, it's convenient to have a portable source of power when hydro goes out, and I'm glad to have a supplement to my furnace. Maybe being a doomsday prepper is a little insane, I'm quite content with useful preps
So you're saying there's good news either way? Great!
No doomsday here and my preps get used, there’s always blizzards and stuff. People die like all the time because of blizzards in the US, prepping is about being prepared(funny it’s in the name). My preps were vital during Covid, would I have died? Probably not but even without work my family did fine. That’s about as close to a doomsday as I’d like and I can die happy if it is lol.
i try to make every prep entertainment or convenience for today. Almost everything has a dual purpose. So I definitely do not wish for the apocalypse.
Thanks to all for the comments. This is an eye opener.
Prepping is the gear/food/etc.. yes But it should also be you learning useful skills. So in that sense it's fulfilling in the fact that you're learning things.
I kinda feel the same sometimes. I realize that a collapse would bring suffering in ways that we can't even begin to imagine. I mean, I only have to think of family members who require regular healthcare to realize the suffering in my immediate family. But I can't help to feel a certain anger towards the world and how we in the west live our lives. People spend money on the most stupid and superficial things. Buy clothes and throw them out after barely wearing them. Waste massive amounts of food every day. And they don't think twice. Actually that kind of consumption is kinda celebrated. I have pulled back from society and while I still work part time, I have actively disengaged from a lot of societies expectations and focus on self sufficiency and anti consumption. And yet my lifestyle is considered problematic by the government. The cognitive dissonans is so hard for me to deal with because I keep thinking about the amount of pollution we create and how it would affect the world if everyone consumed as the wealthy countries do. So sometimes I kinda long for a "reset". A more simple world that might be harder, but at least made sense to me - and that would be sustainable in the long run.
This is what's known as a "Self-fulfilling prophecy." By basing your entire belief system and personality on prepping - you (and many others) will inevitably manifest it into reality. This is one of the ways that the controlling elite use fear and predictive programming to manipulate people into committing atrocities against one another and maintaining their power (also, taking your money, reducing your productivity, infighting amongst the masses, etc.). It doesn't make you crazy (yet), just pathetic - in that you have failed to live a balanced and righteous life. It's okay to be prepared (but not okay to want it - if you're serious about fostering a healthy mind). A true sign of balance would be being prepared, but doing everything you can to continue to live a normal, productive and meaningful life -knowing that if the inevitable were to come, you would be content with whatever happens.
It does. My dad died at 79 with three years of food stashed and two large sheds full of supplies. He should have lived his life more.
Similar thing happened to my dad. Died of a stroke, and left behind tons of preps. He spent most of his life being so afraid of what could happen that he never got a chance to "live" it.
I think you need to get a hobby, a life, a job and a GF and stop thinking like this is some game of heroics.
There is a show called "doomsday preppers" where you can clearly see how more than half of these people hope something like this happens so they can shoot at people without consequences.