15 May, 2014 - Another book in the making ...

We took our time getting home this spring.   We stopped at eight National Parks or National Recreation areas on the way back home.  These were drive through only although we were also "taking inventory" of places we'd like to spend more time in the future (primarily for hiking/backpacking excursions). 

We're also gathering background information and photos for a book we're working on.  It will be about preppers/survivalists in the U. S..  We believe a lot of preppers have gotten a bad rap from the media and we'd like to offer an alternative look.  We're dividing the country (continental US) into four sections and will be visiting preppers in each segment and writing about them. 

As part of the book there'll also be sidebars about how people lived when there was no electricity or motorized transportation.  There will be numerous sidebars with snippets of information on things like how the Mormons scouted and laid out new communities in new territory;  how native populations and tribes lived (not just the foods that they ate - that one has been written to death about - but the family structure and other aspects of their way of life); how early American colonists hammered out communities in the wilderness and the skills they employed and the social structure of their lives; the diseases and other trials primitive people faced prior to our understanding of germs and the development of vaccines and antibiotics.

If you are a prepper or survivalist and would be interested in a visit from us or would like to meet someplace neutral near your home/retreat let us know.  Our promise is that you will be allowed to proof whatever we've written about you and your situation prior to publishing it.  You will be given veto power over it as well.  If you don't like it we don't print it.  You will also be given some editorial input over the section about you although if we can't come to an agreement on what to write we will just drop that section altogether.  What we want to insure is that no one is portrayed unfairly in the book.

If you'd like to be included, we've written up a questionnaire seeking the information we want to include.  You can respond to as much or as little as you want.  We'd prefer you give details in your response and would also prefer that you respond in advance so that we can avoid those "I wish I had said ..." regrets after the interview.  We do need some details however.  It's hard to write a chapter with one-line responses.

Note:  you do not have to reveal your identity or actual location (the book will give only four sections of the US) unless you choose to do so (it is not recommended).

I've included the questionnaire below:

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Questionnaire:

How long have you been a prepper?

What got you into prepping?

Note: I once heard a College Professor state that prepping (or hoarding as he called it) stems from security issues in an individual's past. Basically he stated that people who have never dealt with shortages or other family or security issues in their life would feel no need to stock up on goods or learn skills for self-sufficiency: that they would have more trust in society, government, or family to care for us. They would also trust in the "reliability" of the "system" to keep functioning regardless. Do you agree or disagree with his thoughts? Why or why not? Did you have any shortages of security issues in your life that might have led you to prepping?

What specific concerns in your area are you preparing for (examples: earthquakes, forest or wild fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, train/truck derailment/chemical spills etc., or ???)

Are there any events you prepare for in a greater degree than others? Why?

To what degree are you prepping: the short term, long term, or???? (Short term might be a three day emergency kit while long term would be for TEOTWAWKI.)

Is your focus in the area of storing supplies? Obtaining knowledge or skills? Becoming self-sufficient?

Do you have a mutual aid or support group?

On a scale of one to ten with "one" meaning "not prepared" and "ten" meaning "100 percent prepared" how would you rate yourself in the areas of:

Basic needs such as food, water, and shelter:

Need for security in the areas of personal/family safety, financial security, health:

Knowledge aside from reference books. (Is your well-being dependent upon your library?)

Homesteading or self-sufficiency skills/experience?

Barter-able skills you possess?

Survival skills you possess?

Do you have a prepping library? If so, give some examples of the types of subjects covered.

What are the most important books in your library (up to ten) and why are they important?

Do you have tools? If so, what kind? Are they electric or hand powered?

Do you have barter-able skills useful in an EOTWAWKI situation? List some?

Have you ever been in "survival" mode or needed to use your preps? Examples?

Have you relocated your home for prepping reasons?

Do you have a bug-out location? Why did you choose this location? How far away from your home is it? Have you made contingency plans to get to it using alternative transportation? Have you tested these plans?

Do you plan to relocate in the future for prepping purposes? If so, where? Why don't you live there now?

What are the advantages of your area in a SHTF or TEOTWAWKI? Disadvantages?

Where in the U. S. do you think would be the best place to be living during a SHTF event? Are there locations in a foreign country that would be better? Which one and why?

What are your goals regarding prepping in the areas of:

Skills

Location

Buildings or structures (fallout shelters, storm shelters, energy efficient homes, defensive, etc.)

Power generation

Lifestyle goals (If TSHTF are you expecting to be able to survive as they did in the1800's? In primitive, basically stone age, existence? Are your preps designed to keep you living a modern lifestyle? If so, for how long?)

How do you learn new skills?

What's your favorite place to gain information? (Internet, books, magazines, personal instruction, etc.?)

Any provisions for family, friends, neighbors, strangers? If so, what?

What is your favorite part of prepping?

Are you a part of a MAG (Mutual Aid Group) or something similar? Why or why not? Would you be interested in joining a group like that? Would you want to start one? If so, what types of people/skills would you want to recruit?

Have you met other preppers in the area? Why or why not? Do you want to?

Do you have a plan for increasing your prepping needs (food stores, knowledge, skills, etc.)

Are your food stores home produced or purchased from a supplier? What percentage of each?

What's your occupation or career in real life? Is it useful in the world of prepping/survival?

What's your greatest fear in a SHTF event? In a TEOTWAWKI situation?

What do you see as the greatest threat faced by Americans today?

If THSHTF today how would you do? What about TEOTWAWKI?

To respond, leave a comment that you'd like more information.  I'll send an email with contact information.

 

Thanks

 

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So, with that in mind:  here are some of the places we stopped along the way.  See if you can identify where they were taken (hint; they were either in Utah or Colorado).