Survival & Disaster a HOBBY!

[Diesel]

While we all have a desire to survive, protect our loved ones, and to be able to make it through natural and man made disasters.. I've come to the realization that this is also a hobby. We spend alot of time on it, alot of money, and enjoy the research and what goes into it right?

So it's actually a hobby as well, not to mention the collecting of gear is hobby oriented as well.

So while we all may be concerned about may thing in todays day and age, let's look at it as a past time and hobby as well, and take some enjoyment from it.

That being said it's one heck of an expensive hobby! I was recently thinking about how much I've spent preparing, have you ever totaled it up?

[prkchp76]

dang i thought it was fun already you mean people take this kind of stuff serious wow i thought camping fishing skinning animals and that stuff just come natural to everyone

[West Texas!]

While we all have a desire to survive, protect our loved ones, and to be able to make it through natural and man made disasters.. I've come to the realization that this is also a hobby. We spend alot of time on it, alot of money, and enjoy the research and what goes into it right?

So it's actually a hobby as well, not to mention the collecting of gear is hobby oriented as well.

So while we all may be concerned about may thing in todays day and age, let's look at it as a past time and hobby as well, and take some enjoyment from it.

That being said it's one heck of an expensive hobby! I was recently thinking about how much I've spent preparing, have you ever totaled it up?

Yes, and it isn't pretty.

[prkchp76]

i feel lke we are a a baseball card convention i will trade you three mres for that box of 30/06

[Big_Saw]

Some guys collect video games....some collect sports memorobilia....some blow cash on beer, billiards and broads.....I plan on still being around when they're in internment camps or refugee shelters....

...probably with some new video games, sports stuff and beer.....:D

[cwconnertx]

I don't know how much is strictly preparedness, versus other closely related hobbies of camping, hunting, and firearm collecting.

But if we throw it all together i'd guess over 50k.
And that doesn't include the home security improvements.

Question: If being prepared is a hobby, can blissful ignorance and waiting for the government to save you be a hobby too?

I'd like to hear someone say
"My hobby is planning to die in a disaster"

[lazer128]

Joining this forum has made me more "in tune" and has certainly taught me a few things.

I have been living this life style (preparing) for decades. I remember my parents collecting food for "a big storm" when I was young. Turned out it was the Cuban Missle Crisis my dad was preparing for. And then there are the tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. that you have to expect in the South.

I guess I have $250,000.00 or more in preparing. I bought 14 acres in the mountains and built a house 12 years ago and then spent thousands of dollars driving back to town to work. :o

I heat with wood so that means lots of chain saws, log splitters, and even a skid steer to haul it to the porch.

I installed a 550 gallon water tank behind the house to supplement our water supply should the community system fail - and it does.

I have a generator to power the entire house and hundreds of gallons of propane in a buried tank to power it when the power fails - and it does very frequently.

I don't think of SHTF as a "new" idea. I have always tried to be prepared. I just continue to refine some of the "systems" and build in redundancy.

The only thing I did different as Y2K approached was find a high mountain top near the house here to watch the lights go out in the towns in the distance. I was kind of disappointed when they didn't. I was ready......I am ready.....I will be ready. I hope?

[Visinedrops]

Put a dollar amount on something, and it still doesn't mean it's valuable. I've got a lock blade folding pocket knife I bought on clearance at Lowe's for $4, but wouldn't sell it for $20 because of the capability of it to help me survive.

Overall, I've probably only spent about $300-$500 on preparations alone, but have spent more money on every day items that are included in my survival preps. My .22 rifle is part of my BoB, but also a part of entertainment when I want to plink cans. My Glock .45 was a purchase I made for work, but it will become my sidearm in a SHTF situation.

All in all, I have no idea what I've spent on the things I've bought, but I know that everything I have is worth more than what I paid for it...at least to me.

[lazer128]

Put a dollar amount on something, and it still doesn't mean it's valuable. I've got a lock blade folding pocket knife I bought on clearance at Lowe's for $4, but wouldn't sell it for $20 because of the capability of it to help me survive.

Overall, I've probably only spent about $300-$500 on preparations alone, but have spent more money on every day items that are included in my survival preps. My .22 rifle is part of my BoB, but also a part of entertainment when I want to plink cans. My Glock .45 was a purchase I made for work, but it will become my sidearm in a SHTF situation.

All in all, I have no idea what I've spent on the things I've bought, but I know that everything I have is worth more than what I paid for it...at least to me.

Bravo! Well said.

[Rustyshakelford]

Bravo! Well said.

Its a matter of perspective. If you collect cars you spend thousands. If you have an aquarium, you spend thousands. Raise AKC dogs? Thousands. I collect firearms, and have spent thousands. But, it is not only a pleasureable hobby, but is also a survival tool. Extra food? You going to waste it? I am not. I just rotate it in and out. No wasted money there. I raise little tropical community fish. It also has a dual purpose of providing me with 75 gallons of fresh water. All of my survival stuff is dual purpose. And, yes, survivalism is my hobby.

[prkchp76]

i like to think of it as a hobby therefore you dont need it but if tshtf you got it ive got 25kin all this stuff and i hope i wasted every dam dime but if i didnt well i wont be as bad off now will i

[cwconnertx]

My points is most of these things are dual use.

My firearms will be enjoyed even if they are never used in a disaster type situation. So will my camping truck/bug out vehicle and other camping type supplies, they get used.

I carry a concealed handgun, but always keep on alert and that alone probably keeps the odds low I will ever use it.

As for food preps, I will eat the food so its not wasted. The alarm system on the house, hopefully never alerts me to an intruder but I like to have it.

My life insurance I also hope never to use, but its wise to be prepared. Same with the insurance on my cars and house.

And in a capitalist society every good you buy should be worth more to you than you paid for it or else a rational person wouldn't buy it. :)

Dollar amounts don't really mean much from one person to another, because what is included or not included changes and situations are so different. My house provides shelter and I plan to use it if SHTF, but I would not include its cost in my preparedness cost list. The main point is a lot of people spend a lot of money, just like other hobbies. I scuba dive and know i have at least 10-15k in scuba stuff and training. I know I have that much in firearms and nearly that much in camping gear if you count the camping truck.

Some of the most essential items are some of the cheapest. Food for example is a cost you would incur anyway, only the timing changes. Water storage doesn't have to cost a lot, and there are even great firearms for reasonably low prices (if you can find them and get ammo)

[methusaleh]

Yes, I understand where the label "hobby" would be appropriate.

However in my case, and I suspect for many here as well, I think the word "lifestyle" would fit perfectly. Everything I purchase, every choice I make in the setup of my home (interior and exterior), even the way I dress when I am in public, is always decided with survival (and/or evasion/resistance/escape) as the #1 concern in mind.

[Big_Saw]

Yes, I understand where the label "hobby" would be appropriate.

However in my case, and I suspect for many here as well, I think the word "lifestyle" would fit perfectly. Everything I purchase, every choice I make in the setup of my home (interior and exterior), even the way I dress when I am in public, is always decided with survival (and/or evasion/resistance/escape) as the #1 concern in mind.

Excellent point.

[Diesel]

you more than anyone on this site probably hears and sees enough to make the "lifestyle" approach to it mandatory, where as the rest of us less privy to intel, investigations, things in the pipeline etc may simply enjoy it, know what I mean?

Yes, I understand where the label "hobby" would be appropriate.

However in my case, and I suspect for many here as well, I think the word "lifestyle" would fit perfectly. Everything I purchase, every choice I make in the setup of my home (interior and exterior), even the way I dress when I am in public, is always decided with survival (and/or evasion/resistance/escape) as the #1 concern in mind.