Zero Alpha
No doubt many will have seen, or at least heard about, “Doomsday Preppers”. For those unenlightened among us, it’s a National Geographic TV show about those crazy Americans who are digging bunkers in their back yards, hoarding guns and toilet paper, and just generally getting ready to face the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, nuclear war, or UN takeover.
Crazy, huh? Only in America, right? Well, maybe not. Chances are, you may know a prepper. Chances are, you might even be one yourself (and if you’re a regular reader of The BFD, you’re probably of the right mindset, at least).
Ask yourself this…
- Do you have savings, just in case?
- Do you have extra food in the pantry, just in case?
- Do you have house/car/contents insurance, just in case?
If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, then you, my friend, are a prepper.
A prepper (or survivalist in the old tongue) is simply someone who has the foresight and wisdom to plan for and take steps against the possibility that future events may adversely affect them or their loved ones. Something as simple as taking out insurance against the possibility of a house fire, or having a few extra tins of food in case you get snowed in are examples of how there is a little prepper inside most of us.
Generally speaking, we aren’t tooling up and digging bunkers, prepping for the end of the world (aka TEOTWAWKI, to survivalists). Most people are far more likely to run into problems more pedestrian than a zombie horde. Events like bad weather, power outages, illness/injury or job loss are far more likely to impact our lives than an asteroid strike. But these things can cause major upheaval. When day-to-day life suddenly ends up in the crapper due to unforeseen circumstances, it’s nice to have that extra bit of food, or that rainy-day fund.
Let’s face it, prepping takes some of the stress out of life. It’s nice to know that should the power go out, we have alternative means to heat and light our home. That when snow has closed the roads, we have food in the pantry. That if we suddenly can’t work for a time, there’s money in the bank to cover the bills. Peace of mind is what prepping is all about.
Of course, there’s also the next level(s). That’s where I come in, and that’s what we can move into looking at in future installments, assuming there is interest amongst my fellow BFDers. There’s a whole world of fun and excitement that exists once you start down this rabbit hole journey, and I’m happy to take you along for the ride.
Then again, you never know when China might unleash a catastrophic death-plague on the world which will result in massive shutdowns of entire countries, followed by decades of economic devastation. Wait, what… that happened already? I didn’t even notice it, sitting in my bunker, with my tinfoil hat on (jk)
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