“Doomsday Preppers”

I watched National Geographic channel's “Doomsday Preppers” for the first time yesterday. I’ll probably watch it again because they had a couple of ideas that I think I could adapt to my plan. For those of you who are interested in this kind of thing I would recommend a few viewings at least.

            For those of you who haven’t seen it, I will lay it out a little for you. The premise is: Experts go to the “Preppers” homes and assess their preparedness. Once they hear the whole plan, they grade on an overall ability to survive. The best score I saw was 63 out of hundred (I think) and suggested they could survive for 14 months. The others were well thought out plans that emphasized different aspects of survival but eventually scored lower. If you decide to watch it, make note of the 5 or 6 categories that they grade on. I found them to be pretty accurate and next time I watch it I will write them all down.

            What I found lacking in all of the scenarios was the lack of any real long term solutions. The other thing that struck me about each plan was the single minded plan of attack. They all focused on different strengths as being the best course of action, while leaving other points of vulnerability weak at best. This is why I am going to get the list next time so I can compare it to my multi-point plan. I don’t think it will serve us well to be arms experts if we can’t grow enough food to feed our family when the stockpile wears down.

            I believe that we will come to the point where the “jack-of-all-trades” guy is the one that is best suited for survival. All of that knowledge does not have to be rolled up into one person, but it does need to be accessible within the family or support group. Each of us has different strengths and just as plywood gets it strength from multiple layers of wood our family or network of friends will add strength and viability to our survival plans.

            I watched another “doomsday” program on NTGEO called Nostradamus 2012. It was about ancient prophecies that seem to be lining up predicting the “end of days” scenario. Lots of hindsight evidence of our ancestors ability to predict the future. Not really buying into that but there was an interesting part in the very beginning. I have been looking at a couple of scenarios that would lead us into the need to possess survival skills. They list several scenarios that are all too possible and some even likely.

            The single minded theme that I mentioned for “Doomsday Preppers” is something that I have been guilty of as well in my plan for survival. I have always thought that a total economic collapse caused by poor government practices was the most likely scenario that would bring us down. Mentioned in the show were several others that had not occurred to me or ones that I had discounted as being unlikely.

            The scary part for me was the realization that I might be wrong in the likelihood of needing the skills. I’m not sure that I have been converted to a “Doomsdayer” yet. However, I am certain that I need to rethink my assessment of the current global situation.

            I think I will add to my list of articles and expand the list of things that might cause our world to collapse around us. The one thing that I am certain of….whatever calamity befalls us locally, nationally or globally, there will be survivors of the initial “blast”. What I want to make sure of is that, if me and my family survive the first day or the first week, we will be able to survive for a lifetime.