By John Seewer, AP
Curt La Haise has put up with plenty of razzing from friends over the years who have called him paranoid for stockpiling an eight-month supply of food in his basement and having enough fuel to power his generator for almost an entire winter.
They’re not laughing anymore amid panic buying that has cleared store shelves across the U.S. and growing fears that the new coronavirus will force many Americans to self-quarantine for weeks in their homes.
“Now my friends are like, ‘What should I do, what should I get?’” said La Haise, who operates a firearms and safety training business near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. “Prepping doesn’t look so bad now.”
For those in the often-mocked “prepper” community, this is quickly becoming their “I told you so” moment. But many are resisting saying that, even if it’s in the back of their minds. What they hope is that they’ll finally be taken seriously and that more people will follow their lead.
“We’re not laughing. We’re not saying, ‘I told you so,’ when people are out there fighting over toilet paper and hand sanitizers,” said Paul Buescher, of Northfield Center Township, Ohio.
Buescher is one of 32 members of a group in northeastern Ohio that shares a farm packed with enough canned and dehydrated food and water to last for years. He said he is now getting calls all day long asking for advice.
Survival supply stores can’t keep up with the demand for food kits and medical supplies.
“Every single business that has to do with emergency preparedness is overloaded,” said John Ramey, founder of a Colorado-based prepper website called The Prepared.
Most preppers say they are about self-reliance and common sense and are quick to distance themselves from the “doomsday preppers” who are depicted on television shows awaiting the day most of the world’s population is wiped off the map.
“The vast majority of this is ‘beans and Band-Aids,’ not ‘bullets and bunkers,’” Ramey said.
Jim Cobb, a disaster readiness consultant and editor-in-chief of Prepper Survival Guide magazine, said he has seen a few fellow preppers gloating on social media about people who are crowding stores in search of disinfectants.
“I hate the thought of alienating any of them because they think were a bunch of elitist goofballs.” he said. “We’re trying to take advantage of the opportunity that for once they’re not laughing and pointing fingers at us.”
While most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms, there’s a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems.
Experts say it’s most important to practice safe hygiene: Wash hands frequently, cover sneezes and coughs, and stay home if fever or other symptoms arise.
As for the preppers, they have their own recommendations for anyone who is unsure of what to do next:
— Be ready to stay at home for at least two weeks. Have plenty of food and water. Don’t forget about your pets and medicines. That includes over-the-counter products for fevers and coughs.
— Yes, toilet paper is important, but so are hand sanitizers, disinfectants, sanitation wipes, eye protection and gloves.
— Get your finances in order. Make sure you can pay your bills and have cash on hand.
— Maybe most important, relax and don’t panic. And pay attention to the news and what’s happening around you.
Yeah. I’ve had a couple people ask me for extra food or ammo or guns already. I told them they should’ve taken care of that a long time ago.
Same.
Same here as well. Just had my brother-in-law bring up the subject of me possibly sharing some of my ammo stash. Gave him the quintessential raised eyebrow and laugh that says “you’re my sister’s dumb brother who always laughs at me for prepping, but today tells me he’s short on ammo and toilet paper, so you can pound sand.”
The best lessons are learned when it hurts. If he has to start wiping with newspaper, he’ll more likely remember to have enough TP on hand for future emergencies.
Don’t try to flush paper towels, paper napkins, “flushable” wipes (they actually aren’t), or newspaper down the toilet. If you do your local plumber is going to love you. You will be up for a very expensive plumbing bill.
Save those items for a pit toilet.
“you’re my sister’s dumb brother”
So your sister married her brother. That makes your brother in law your brother-brother in law. Your family has bigger problems than the Corona virus. 😄
If I were you, I’d probably kick a couple boxes of ammo over to the annoying brother in law if (1) he really needs them, (2) I had enough, and (3) I cared about my sister.
I do have a large enough stash that I could spare a few boxes, and I care about my sister (and niece, nephew).
Fortunately, my sister’s husband is a gun guy and is surely well prepared. My parents however aren’t. Yesterday, I offered my dad a gun. I have a couple I could spare.
Oiy.
I meant “my wife’s dumb brother…”
Thanks for catching that. I think. Now I have to purge that thought from my head.
Then again, you’re the only one who caught that oopsie, so does that mean nobody else is reading my material, lol?
Every round or calorie you give away is one less that your family has. Call me heartless but my squad comes first.
I’d be more concerned whoever I gave ammo to would use it to get *all* my supplies.
‘Love to help, all I have is one magazine load. Sorry…”
Calling it a clip instead of a magazine would make it more convincing.
Yep, this: every prepper that seems sensible has this bit of advice:
NEVER trade ammo for ANYTHING, not even .22lr. If they don’t have bullets, they are going to have a harder time robbing you if you do have bullets.
However, mini bottles of liquor are going to be like liquid gold if it gets real bad 😉
Everybody stay frosty. I heard the mail, interstates, and state to state travel is all going to be shut down this week. Getting kind of creepy if you ask me.
now that is ‘stretching’ it….not going to happen unless deaths go WAY WAY WAY over 100k or the death rate hits well over 5%
“Heard”
They can’t ask if they don’t know you got it.
I’m not in it to “educate” people I’m in it so that me and mine can survive.
Exactly…. I never mention to anyone what I have stored.
“Rad, you’re a prepper, what should I be doing?”
“You’re a tad late to the party.”
Massachusetts just shut down schools, restaurants, bars, and public gatherings over 25 people till April 17th. It’s gonna suck to be a lot of people, very quickly, I’m afraid.
Illinois shut down same things.
And CA. Today Newsom shut down bars and wineries.
If alcohol kills the COVID-19, let’s be really smart and shut down places where alcohol levels abound.
[/sarc]
Hard alcohol is a standard item in hurricane preparation supplies.
1 bottle per day, (per person, for alkies)… 😉
Update as of 10:30pm Pacific Time.
L.A. Mayor Garcetti has now ordered – as of midnight tonight – the indefinite closure of all gyms, health clubs, bars, movie theaters, restaurants, and any gathering above 50 persons.
Oy vey.
I just wish SOMEONE could do something about the inequalities of the gun laws. Why do we in MA not have the same gun rights as those in Texas, etc.? I understand states make their own laws, but if here in MA, we had laws saying people could only vote in some elections, but not others, the Feds would step in.
My son is thinking of moving us to NH. Some people say that NH now is just like MA in the south, and we couldn’t move further up because of my son’s work. I noticed NH still has better gun laws than we do. Even if I never buy a gun because of the costs involved, I consider that a useful guide to what a state is like.
Anybody from NH here? What say you about NH concerning gun laws and the types of people living in southern NH?
It has been pretty sweet to stroll the isles of the local stores as a spectator to the circus rather than a desperate lunatic. Today was still a mix of folks trying to do regular weekly shopping and psychotic grabbing frantically at canned anything. As that mix begins to weigh more heavily toward lunatics Ill likely stop the spectating for fear of conflict.
So far the empty shelves are frozen veggies, canned everything, baking flour, milk, butter, eggs, cleaning supplies, potatoes, onions and the shops have halted sales of prepared foods. I wandered around for a bit, bought a can of soda and left.
The odd thing I’ve noticed in the stores is what hasn’t been picked over (yet). Lunchmeat is almost all gone, but the fresh meat aisle is almost fully stocked at several local places.
Likewise, there were maybe four jars of jarred spaghetti sauce left at Wally World this morning, but more canned tomato sauce and paste than you could shake a stick at.
Yep. Many people literally do not know how to cook “from scratch”. Bread isle is empty, but bagged flour & sugar are plentiful.
Took advantage of the meat isles. Had some good sales. Got jerky curing in 5 gallon buckets and the smoker is full.
Different here. My wife works retail and people are buying fresh meat like it’s going out of style.
Must be a regional thing. Here in the Fort Worth area, pretty much the whole meat case was empty.
Central market has a lot of stuff on the shelves ok Saturday, Tom thumb seemed to be doing ok, albeit a little light on the beef section. Ammo tho is flying of the shelves
“doomsday preppers” who are depicted on television shows awaiting the day most of the world’s population is wiped off the map.“
Well… Not to be that guy but… that day may be fast approaching…
It isn’t.
Then again, “…May be approaching…” means that it may not be.
Yup… People point and laugh, but I’m sitting on two months worth of supplies easy. (4-6 with intelligent rationing.) I’m just sitting back and laughing at this point.
Pretty much. I combed through the stores for whatever might be left so I wouldn’t have to conserve too much, but nope, picked clean. The only place I might visit is the smoke house or the spirit barn. They are kind of out the way, neglected places… I doubt they have much business. I wouldn’t mind having some ever clear to use in place of rubbing alcohol for non-essential stuff.
I’m living on delivery while it’s available. Helps stretch my supplies. Once they close down the delivery services, that’s when I start reaching into my larder.
Same here, to a degree. Eating some of my food at home, but eating out at some of the more affordable places as well (here in SoCal, Del Taco is a great place to get tasty food that fills you up for cheap, and it’s ALWAYS been better than Taco Bell).
Dont the value del taco tacos have soy in them ( the cheapest ones that are on sale every Tuesday)
Back in my day what are now called “preppers” would not have stood out in a crowd. When did it become the norm to have nothing on hand? People literally don’t have enough food to last a week?
Regardless, this thing won’t get nearly as bad as some “preppers” hope it will.
Yeah, my grandma, who lived through the holodomor had months worth of food stashed around her apartment. Not a few weeks, literally, we’re talking enough grains and canned vegetables to keep a family fed for the better part of a year with zero problems.
I think modern Americans as spoiled as fuck. Optimism bias is a serious problem.
Know what you mean. I’ve been laying away a lot of food. Stuff that won’t go bad. I reminded my wife today, that we’ll be OK, you don’t need to run to the store. We’ve got plenty in the basement. She said to me, I can’t eat that stuff. I don’t like it. I told her, well you’ll eat it if you get hungry enough. She started to protest. My response…. “OK, that’ll just leave more for me”.
First World Problems are real.
Same here
I’ve added a few things to my prepping inventory, but honestly, they were pretty much all things I was planning on buying anyway. My biggest purchase was a couple of Jerry Cans for extra water storage. I have at least two weeks’ worth of water (and a couple of filtration systems to make more, if need be), stocked, but I’ve been wanting expand capacity for easy access to plenty more.
Dont forget your water heaters a great source of water you might need to strain it. When we had our old house (well water) the heat elements went bad and were covered with mineral deposits the bottom of it was filled with so much deposit it was like bone shards.
You need food but you shouldn’t need water unless you only drink bottled water as a matter of course. I don’t think this is the kind of virus that affects the power grid so you should be ok in that department. And for water emergencies a lifestraw backed up by bleach is much handier and cheaper than stacks of water bottles.
Yeah the power grid will likely stay up for awhile even if this is the next 1918 killer flu. The only way I could see the grid going down in this scenario (outside of a deliberate cyber attack that we’re already vulnerable to) is if this pandemic does somehow get even worse then it is, (say it mutates) then the power company workers flee and let the grid go down. Pretty far off at this point though.
transmission and distribution workers that manipulate the grid largely work solo and outdoors. so most should not succumb, especially since the taverns are closed.
“taverns closed” True that!
Cyber Security is a continuing concern for the North American Grid and for our National Security. The following weeks we’ll have more folks teleworking and ordering stuff from Amazon. All we can do is stay informed and follow the 7 P’s.
This is a historic event. Hopefully it will teach people a few things.
“While most people who have tested positive for the virus experience only mild or moderate symptoms, there’s a greater danger and longer recovery period for older adults and people with existing health problems…”
NB that while most people’s illness resolve on its own, around 10-20% cases require significant medical intervention. Around 50% of the patients in ICUs are under 50 years old. Don’t think that this is just hitting the old. And when the ICUs are full we’re going to learn what the true mortality is when there are no ventilators.
The first rule of being a prepper is don’t talk about being a prepper.
Yeah. Definitely don’t show the news camera your stuff and your name. * Palm meet Face *
Reminder, folks: wash your hands or use sanitizer before face-palming!
We’re sorta prepping. No bugout plan. I’m not spry anymore. My wife has blood pressure problems. Gotta Mexican market across the street. Friends & relatives who’ll help us. Pantry pretty full. If martial law is declared and .gov wants my guns & ammo I’ll die in a heap of brass. And someone won’t get home…
wow. that’s big.
much respect.
It is surprising how serene I feel knowing that I was ready for this. I already had three quarts of 91% isopropyl alcohol and enough dish soap, hand soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss for many months.
The only thing I bought last minute to top-off my food was 20 pounds of rice and beans, two containers of chicken stock paste, a dozen small jars of salsa, and a large container of vegetable oil. It is amazing how many people worry about calories and protein and totally fail to account for fat (vegetable oil). Not only is fat a necessary nutrient, it will go a long way to making rice and beans actually taste good (along with proper spices and all those jars of salsa!).
Of course I am sitting quite pretty with respect to firearms and ammunition — pretty enough that I do not feel any twinge whatsoever to purchase anything in that regard.
Having said all that, I did burn through almost 200 rounds of 20 gauge shot shells shooting clay pigeons a week or so ago. I might swing by WallyWorld and replenish that inventory.
I’m of multiple minds on this. I don’t understand people’s inability to prepare for basic things and the subsequent panic. I know people do it but I don’t under stand the [lack of] thought process behind it.
But this whole thing is, in my immediate area, pretty much over. Went to the grocery store today just to see what was going on and it was like the day before a largish snowstorm (which it actually is). Most stuff other than eggs and asswipe were back in stock and as I drove out delivery trucks were pulling in. No one in the store was panicking at all. Mostly people were shopping like they were getting ready for the coming week.
The inventory management systems designed to minimize spoilage can’t handle a short term rush like this but they can actually recover pretty quickly. It’s not like there’s an actual shortage of any of this stuff except at the POS.
Realistically the only problem I see at this point is morons running off on the interwebz with bullshit claims like the guy this morning claiming that COVID-19 has a 44% fatality rate in Italy.
Strych9,
Ditto, here in Allentown, PA. No signs of panic. Only people stocking up.
Ditto also on the fear-mongering. Even some of my most favorite-est news sites are promoting panic. Not sure how tha helps anyone.
I’ve been to the store several times in the past week, buying a little more than usual since I’ll be working from home the next three weeks. In every trip: no one was panicking. No one was overbuying. The store wasn’t even crowded. It was business as usual, except for NY’s asinine plastic bag ban, which is just one more reason for me to get the heck out of this state.
Anyway, I’m astounded by some of the stories I’m hearing. It’s like people think that roving bands of spike-haired bandits armed with pool cues and rebar-tire-spike armor are already going house to house on a post-apocalyptic hunt for liquor, ammo, slaves, and maps to the fables cities of Noo Ork and Wash-in-tongue.
Kinda makes you want a Fat Man Launcher, eh?
I mean, personally I just want one because I want one. Have for years.
Yes. 100%
“It’s like people think that roving bands of spike-haired bandits armed with pool cues and rebar-tire-spike armor are already going house to house on a post-apocalyptic hunt for liquor, ammo, slaves, and maps to the fables cities of Noo Ork and Wash-in-tongue.“
Wait!? That’s NOT happening!? 😔
Describes most Walmart shoppers in my area.
“I don’t under stand the [lack of] thought process behind it.”
Simple, the mistaken belief (or delusion, take your pick) that “It couldn’t ever *possibly* happen here!”…
ac, dc ba bop ba. mimiminissota.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdrAHn_LGo
When I was 6 years old, visiting with my mother’s family in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, there was a daily ritual that has stayed with me since that time. By standards today, my grandparents were poor. Their wooden frame house stood on stilts and you could see between the wooden floor slats to the soil, below. We had netting around all the beds to protect us from insects. No air conditioning; no screens on the windows. The hundreds of tiny little lizards that shared the house with us were also our protectors from insects.
Every afternoon, around 4:30, some small children, around my age would come to the front door with bowls. My grandmother would fill each of their bowls with whatever she had made for dinner. I remember asking her (she spoke very little English and I spoke very little Spanish) why those children were coming to her with their bowls. She replied: ” Their parents do not have enough money to buy food for them. God has given us food, so we share it.”
THAT is my problem. I am well prepared. I know the risks of helping strangers. Mayaguez was a small town; my grandmother knew each and every one of those children and she loved them. I know I can turn strangers away; I can do what is necessary, but, grandma Laura’s generosity and compassion will always challenge me.
I cannot see myself turning a hungry child away. I have grand kids. If we don’t care for each other what’s the point of this life? Defend yourself against aggression, sure. But to turn away a hungry child?
I have killed. But i hope i never get so callous as to be able to shut out a child’s suffering.
JWM,
Hand over heart, you understand. Thank you.
I was just having this conversation with relatives a couple of hours ago. They were happy that they have 75 rolls of TP stashed for themselves. I smiled and said my backup stash all by itself is twice that, in addition to what’s in our bathroom cabinet (a months’ worth). When they gave me the look of astonishment, I said “if we all know TP is a basic need, then if things get really bad and one of my elderly neighbors gets in a pickle, I have the ability to temporarily help until TP is available at stores again.”
Sometimes stockpiling is not hoarding. Sometimes it’s being prepared to help your neighbors when the time of need comes. When the emergency passes, (1) they will have learned their lesson and will become better prepared for the future and (2) you will have formed a bond and exhibited the very compassion Jesus told us to have.
Haz,
God bless you for you generosity of spirit!
Exact same here. I can’t imagine not giving food to a hungry child.
And I’m already a pretty callous bastard.
Are preppers what we called survivalists in the ’70s and ’80s? When was the change in semantics? Survivalists were ridiculed too. Way ahead of this curve. I’ll repeat myself, if you’re panic buying you waited too late.
The whole naming thing is silly IMHO.
Intelligent people in many parts of the country already “prep” because their location depends on it. Their area is prone to tropical storms or blizzards or whatever so they’re always ready or getting ready for the next “hit”.
Personally I’ve essentially never lived anywhere that wasn’t actively and overtly trying to kill me one way or another so having things on hand is just… normal. But apparently a lot of people have no more than a few days of anything on hand.
With those living paycheck to paycheck I can understand that but with most people… they’re just lazy.
Most (not all) people living paycheck to paycheck need to develop a careful budget and manage their money better.
Learning to live on less than you make is an important life skill.
I live in Florida and would people here would know better. Every year the gas is gone, the aisles are stripped and everyone suddenly wants a generator. This happens almost every year. Everyone can’t seem to remember last year. I’m never surprised by stupid
I feel like i’m preaching to the choir here, but start keeping those gas tanks full, dont wait till the gas gauge hits E to fill up. Make sure you have a lockable gas door/cap.
In a lot of places, they’re called Mormons. Their scripture requires them to keep a stock of supplies on hand.
They suggest they have a storage, They do not tell or require . Suggest
Thank you. I stand corrected.
I married a mormon. She keeps us well stocked.
i married a jew turk. she keeps me well drained.
Some of them keep supplies of wives too.
If they can afford them, why not?
I know my limits, one at a time is all I’m good for, and often more than I can handle… 😉
My wife talked about me getting another wife after we were married. I told her no. At my age 1 at a time is all I can deal with.
*snicker*… 😉
“once a king, always a king.
but once a knights enough.”
damn apostrophie, it’s the crux of the biscuit.
I grew up with Preppers in the 1970s. Back then they were called survivalists. And that term was used in a derogatory fashion to smear them. Those folks we’re prepared for any natural disaster. And because of their awareness they saw the direction that California was going. And many were prepared and did leave California.
i’m not a prepper, but i’m prepared to ride this out for a month or two…which is probably more than a lot of people
my biggest concern right now is the old ball and chain not having the stones to turn people away if this drags out.
NJ2AZ,
Compassion vs.practicality is a big challenge. Are you sure you are listening to each other? Really listening?
If I get hungry I can pop out to a Denny’s, or a BBQ place, or maybe a nice Italian restaurant. I’ve got my Cabela’s MasterCard and six months pay in my checking. So I’m good to go.
Just not seeing what there is to worry about. I get that folks are panicking, but people that panic are idiots. As long as I keep clear of idiots, I don’t much give a damn what they do.
By the way, when I was in a Sam’s Club yesterday and saw all the empty shelves, I mentioned it to an employee. Who laughed and said all those empty spaces that people were taking photos up would be restocked fully in a couple of hours. The frozen food was already just arriving at the loading dock from the big distribution center, and the paper products and laundry soaps were right behind.
Panicked dingbats are manufacturing their own crisis to be afraid of so that they will have something to panic about.
Enuf,
“Panicked dingbats are manufacturing their own crisis to be afraid of so that they will have something to panic about.”
Deep insight in your words. This ‘crisis’ gives people an explanation for the fear and confusion they have been experiencing long before hearing of Corona virus.
The crisis is still a crisis even if it’s manufactured by panicking dingbats. If your plan depends on eating in nice restaurants, it’s … lacking to say the least. Here in Illinois all restaurants are already closed by decree.
It’s good to keep cool and not panic. It’s not so good to live in denial of reality.
Get the facts right – only the dine in portion of restaurants are closed per Gov. decree. Carry out, drive through and delivery are still viable options.
My plan is pretty much to wait for people to kill each others, then I’ll pick what I need. The dead won’t need it anymore. Until then, I am slowly getting used to wiping my butt with my hand. More often than not the smell stays, even with a good soap and hand wash, but you get used to it. My neighbors had the great idea to get drunk and grill ridiculous amounts of meat yesterday, I managed to get more than I needed for the weekend (the meat, I don’t drink alcohol).
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
There is an alternative to paper or using your hand. And I do not mean the ancient Romans who shared a hooked stick at the public potty.
Far older than toilet paper is the bidet, which sprays water on your undercarriage.
Many people already have a hand held shower massager spray wand, which does the same job even better.
Such things have been talked about on the news. An increased sales rate of bidets and handheld shower wands being sold from home improvement stores.
So, there’s those options.
“Many people already have a hand held shower massager spray wand, which does the same job even better.”
That’s why I have said a few times over the last few days that I have showers in my house, and am immune to a TP shortage… 🙂
Let’s not blue light your shower stall. m’kay. 🙂
All this, and I still don’t have as much as I think I need.
So many people laughing and making jokes, then I see the ones at least wearing gloves or a mask and I think “well, they are smarter than they look”. I don’t, personally, but my state just got its first confirmed case. Soon enough I’ll be showing up to work in a respirator and hazmat suit. No joke. Not even a little bit ashamed to admit it either.
And watching people flock in masses to the local stores, as traffic also increases on the roads, is just laughable. Probably the worst thing you can do.
This virus seems to be just a flu on steroids, more people are recovering than dying from it. Also, you have a decent amount of folks who got sick days or weeks before the paranoia and recovered on their own. These people are not included in any data, as we don’t know for sure if they had the virus or something else.
Don’t wait to get fuel either, I think that might be the next episode of craziness, people lining up at the pump the way we see it here in FL when an hurricane gets close.
Good times or bad I make a habit of keeping my vehicles near to full on a day to day basis.
We have a fairly remote (end of a private road) large wall tent with solar power, nice wood stove, and 610 gallons of water (topped off be rain caching), and about 4 months worth of dried and canned food, at 8,200ft on the edge of a national forest. Unfortunately my brother in law decided to ship his 84 year only mother back to us two months early this Thursday. We have to stay in our rental in a nearby small town now so as to be able to take care of her. She almost always catches something on planes and has about every underlying risk factor there is so I am a bit pissed now. I kid you not, he is putting her on that plane because his husband doesn’t like her and she cramps his party lifestyle. Arghh!
The cognitive dissonance in some people is astounding. I still see dozens of people on my social media feed who keep “arguing” that the seasonal flu is still worse… all evidence to the contrary.
” I still see dozens of people on my social media feed who keep “arguing” that the seasonal flu is still worse…”
In typical total flu deaths annually, they are correct.
Give this bug a full year’s time with not enough ventilators for the seriously ill, and…
Reports are 368 dead in Italy over the last 24 hours :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/16/coronavirus-latest-news/
Reminder: Even for European “Socialism is Kewl!” medical systems, Italy sucks… especially now that it’s been prestrained by a few million “refugees” and one of the most elderly populations in Europe.
I think one of the ‘we don’t mention that in public’ fallouts from Corona-chan is going to be the difference in death rates between America and most of the rest of the world, especially among the non-high-risk patients. I’ll bet a ten that ours will be lower.
If we were comparing apples to apples vs the flu. Confirmed cases by testing of both illnesses the death rate for flu this year in the us is 10 percent vs 2 percent for this illness. The .1 percentage death rate for the flu that is being bandied about is based on an estimated extrapolation of how many people had the flu with no testing. I’m basing this on hard and fast cdc numbers. Anyone can look it up. Why the media and the government are not explaining this is anyone’s guess. Based on the hard numbers, this appears less deadly than the seasonal flu. Much could change. This is still early. The numbers do not lie. Panic is unwarranted
84% of the US population lives in Urban settings – cities and their suburbs. That’s who will feel this the most. Country folks will survive. If you are city rat, stay there. You won’t be welcome out in the sticks.
Unfortunately most country folk make their living, in one form or another, by supplying the needs of the city folk. If the city collapses the country folk may live but it will be in poverty.
Where does the fuel and tires for your vehicles come from? The clothes you wear? The shoes?
Not saying it would be business as usual, but some of what you mention could be acquired from city rats – dead or alive.
i have endless opportunities for refuge in the hinterlands. not at your place gene, noted.
also, suck a dick.
Gateway Pundit is carrying a story about Nashville business owners defying orders to close their doors, claiming those orders are unconstitution.
Agreeing with them. Government can offer guidance; there is no provision in the constitution that allows government to shut down legitimate free-enterprise.
Um… quarantine has been a part of British Common Law since the age of sail. It doesn’t need to be in the Constitution, it falls under the catch alls of common law.
First rule of prepping “Don’t talk about prepping “
Boom
As responsible gun owners, it’s important to always keep in mind that having the right to do something or have something does not automatically make it a wise decision.
I see no problem at all with being prepared. This is a sign of being responsible. It’s the ‘extreme couponing’ that I have always questioned.
I always thought coupon people were a little nuts too. However, one of my wife’s friends is one of those people who actually works out of her storage building twice a week for people to pick up their orders. You order it off her social media page and pick it up on Mons and Thurs. She always has a LOT of stuff we use. She even lets us special order stuff and then she trades coupons within her network of people to get what you want. And it’s CHEAP. The catfood we use is over 12 bucks a bag and for the last couple of months we’ve been paying 4.
She’s who we topped up with another months worth of TP last week.
All in all, it’s pretty cool.
Sure, Ill share my stuff! Cough cough sneeze sneeze wheeze.
Here you g…
Where did you go?
Funny you said that. I was TDY in Jan and Feb, had a post flu-cough, my doctor said that it could last up to 8 weeks, which it did. Anyways, I got concenred looks from travelers at the airport when I coughed. BTW, I’m American-Asian.
This is a prepper’s dream…a real nationa-wide crisis!
Troll. Prepared for anything, pray nothing does. Same reason most here carry. I’m prepared to defend myself and family, but I never want to have to do it.
My household and a few neighbors are more ready than most folks. But I kinda don’t want to dip into my preps if I don’t have too. I’ll definitely hit the range, go through a few hundred rounds after the rains stop.
I teach college courses and I used to talk to my students about disaster preparedness (it made sense in the context of the class). Before Hurricane Sandy there was a lot of eye rolling. After Hurricane Sandy there was more note-taking and private questions about how to prep.
Went through Sandy in 2012. That was a different experience and the emergency was severe, but localized.
This particular pandemic is causing more widespread lunacy among the unprepared, and top of that, it’s being worsened by economic supply disruptions and knee-jerk political regulations going beyond common sense prevention.
You’ll notice the major restrictions are being instituted in the high density urban areas managed by the cosmopolitan Libtards who have a habit of strangling private enterprise in the name of “public safety” even in the best of times. I’ve prepared accordingly with a bemused look om y face while watching the fallout.
If this problem goes beyond more than a month or two it will set a bad precedent for more government interventions in the future.
Feeling pretty solid through all of this…. For now anyway.
Many non-preppers out there like to label us as paranoid, inner panic and anxiety-driven insecure people.What non-preppers do not understand when an emergency hits? We feel anything BUT! And THAT’S why we do it!
It’s nuts with people now going crazy from wiping their asses with junk mail envelopes and mismatched socks. Reality has been driven home….
We learned from living in south Florida…. ALWAYS be ahead of the resource curve. Because when a situation manifests that has people essentially competing for resources, the end result is best viewed on youtube and vimeo versus standing there in the middle of it.
Be well peeps!
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