Sooo, How did you get involved???

[Snow Walker]

Just curious as to what or who motivated you into the whole survival/prepping life style?

As a young kid my Father (Marine) taught me how to hunt and survive in the woods. As I grew older I couldn't get enough of it and went into the Army where I learned even more. After seeing how people lived with war and the devistation it spread in other countries it only reinforced how important aspects of survival and prepping can be. After leaving the service I picked up where I left off and always felt the need to be prepared and protective of my family. To this day I still walk areas I walked as a kid and continue to explore new areas and test myself.

I have to admit, if I had a crystal ball and knew I would never have to worry about disasters or any other world changing events in my life time or my Daughters I would still crave this stuff because I LOVE IT!!! There is nothing like facing the challenges Mother Nature can throw at you and staying in touch with skills so many have forgotten.

[Iron mike]

I grew up in a remote area in Michigan where we could get snowed in and on more than a few occasions we did we as kids tended a garden, hunted and fished a lot our pantry was always stocked up with canned (both home canned and store bought) dry food home dehydrated fruits and vegies i remember buying 50 lb bags of shugar when i was young and square 10 lb cans of coffie so i just grew up thinking everyone was like that i wasent untill i got out into the world and the navy i found out they werent and it did not make a lot of sense to me to not be prepaired i think it is weird not to be and sad. sorry to go on and on

[Echo2]

always been in to it to an extent....having kids and realizing that I was responsible for more than just me....kicked it in to overdrive.

kids changed my perspective on prepping...

[Snow Walker]

No need to apologize, by the way I can relate to that.

[Snow Walker]

always been in to it to an extent....having kids and realizing that I was responsible for more than just me....kicked it in to overdrive.

kids changed my perspective on prepping...

There's no doubt about that!

[PT945]

My brother he was a hunter and outdoors man.being 11 years older than me I did everything he did. And learned a lot of valuable skills from him.

[collector]

I've always been heavily into the outdoors started fishing at age 3, never had that much money so improvising has always been important also scavenging. I am a feroucious studier, the more you know about the world well.... if you truly understand it you'll become a prepper sort.

[TennOutdoors]

My grandfather, my Dad died when I was four, so My grandfather was the one who took me out fishing, camping, hiking, hunting etc. Taught me every survival skill he knew, got me reading Jack London. gave me my first 30 30, got me involved in the scouts, he had been a scout master since 47 and had retired by the time I was five.

best memorys of my childhood are drift camping and fishing as the sunsets, or suffer thru korean mystery meat in a can meals when I didnt catch anything. god I was happy when he lost those cases of C rats LOL.

I remember the first time He took me up into the Arkansas to canoe and camp down the white river.

anyway... thats who got me started in all this.

he is also the one who talked me out of becoming a river pirate after I read Huck Finn LOL.

[Snow Walker]

I find this stuff interesting, so much has been passed on from Parents, Big Brothers, Grand Parents and the need to make do with whatever we have because of tough times/lack of money.

To be honest, I don't think things have really changed in the aspect of having a survival or prepping mind set. Sure, times have changed in the wake of new threats and such, but the desire to survive and be prepared is something that has been around for ages.

In my opening to the thread I didn't even go into all those Sunday mornings listening to my Grandparents at the kitchen table. To hear them talk about surviving the depression, WWII and in the process raising a huge family. I found it so interesting and never got bored once listening to those stories.

Thanks for the interesting posts so far.

[maric]

I dont look at myself as a "prepper, or survivalist", really. Its a term we use, but its a way of life.
My grandparents all came from the south (thats what us Ohioans call Kentucky, and Tennessee). They lived in smaller houses, on the land, canned, hunt for food, gardened, stocked. etc.. I remember my Great grandma gardening in her long dresses and aprons when I was a little girl, good memories.
You always take a bit of your past, your childhood with you. Its like a seed. So, even though it wasnt around in my life, constant, I knew I wanted a simpler way of life. Thats probably why I was so miserably unhappy for years!
Then I met the Mr. Hes a few years younger than I, but I appreciated him being a "homebody".We focused more on cooking, and recipes, than eating out.. little ways changed us. We would watch youtube videos, or read magazines (backwoodman is awesome) and just talk about stuff! Honestly, the biggest thinker for me, was watching Zombie movies with him.. the scenarios we would come up with were fun, and I just started thinking about what I would need to do help protect and raise my family.. Oh, and Red Dawn as a little girl, always had me thinking.. lol..
I actually have personal goals now, that are realistic, and beneficial to my family! I dont know, I guess its just good to keep learning ( I have tons to learn) and sharing.. sorry to ramble. :)

[Skyowl's Wife]

SO is from a Massachusetts farm family, I'm from a Montana hunting-fishing family.

We (my family) camped, hiked, roughed it a lot as children. I introduced camping to SO and our family years ago, all love it.

I've read science fiction since I was about 7, starting with Doctor Doolittle and growing into Heinlein, Foster, Clarke, Niven, etc. There is an element of survivor in many of them. Triumph! by Wylie, Out of the Deeps by Wyndham, No Blade of Grass by Christopher all had a quiet-simmering-under-the-surface impact on me.

SO learned to plan and save items while "visiting interesting places and meeting interesting people...".

He truly became aware of the fragility of our system when considering Y2K. He came to me and suggested we might want to put a bit of extra food in the pantry. And, oh by the way, he'd like to buy a couple more weapons.

I suspect he was astonished when I unhesitatingly jumped on his wagon.

We've been stocking up, reading, learning ever since. We were somewhat casual about it, kind of a hobby until November 2008. Probably had 6 mos supplies in the pantry at that time. We had also bought 60 acres on the backside of nowhere.

When BO was elected, we knew that our country was headed down. Didn't know how long it would take, but there'd be hard times ahead and we kicked it into high gear. Prepping went from hobby to way of life.

The first thing we did was re-arrange the firearms, selling a couple, buying a couple. Whole goal was to narrow down the range of calibers we needed to stock.

Then started buying bulk food, repackaging, maintaining inventories. There is a constant murmur of "what if" in almost everything we do.

Then I cashed in my 401K, won't let the fedgov and gimme people have it. Got out of debt, laid in some silver. Figured out how to handle the daily drugs I need to stay alive.

And here we are.

[Omegaman]

My grandfather taught me everything I know. He was a sea captain and Maine guide. As a young boy he worked in the logging camps up around Moosehead lake in maine he became eagle scout and then he then became a Maine guide and later in life he got his captains tag for cargo ships including sail, steam and diesel. His father was a sea captain his whole life whaling, fishing and cargo. My grandfather drilled in to me that it is better to have it and never need it then to need it and not have it. He also reminded me that there is only one person you can count on and that is yourself.

[Snow Walker]

My grandfather taught me everything I know. He was a sea captain and Maine guide. As a young boy he worked in the logging camps up around Moosehead lake in maine he became eagle scout and then he then became a Maine guide and later in life he got his captains tag for cargo ships including sail, steam and diesel. His father was a sea captain his whole life whaling, fishing and cargo. My grandfather drilled in to me that it is better to have it and never need it then to need it and not have it. He also reminded me that there is only one person you can count on and that is yourself.

He sounds like he was a VERY wise man with alot of common sense!

[Snow Walker]

SO is from a Massachusetts farm family, I'm from a Montana hunting-fishing family.

We (my family) camped, hiked, roughed it a lot as children. I introduced camping to SO and our family years ago, all love it.

You two sound like you were meant to be and that's awesome! Not many people find that.
I've read science fiction since I was about 7, starting with Doctor Doolittle and growing into Heinlein, Foster, Clarke, Niven, etc. There is an element of survivor in many of them. Triumph! by Wylie, Out of the Deeps by Wyndham, No Blade of Grass by Christopher all had a quiet-simmering-under-the-surface impact on me.

SO learned to plan and save items while "visiting interesting places and meeting interesting people...".

He truly became aware of the fragility of our system when considering Y2K. He came to me and suggested we might want to put a bit of extra food in the pantry. And, oh by the way, he'd like to buy a couple more weapons.

I suspect he was astonished when I unhesitatingly jumped on his wagon.

We've been stocking up, reading, learning ever since. We were somewhat casual about it, kind of a hobby until November 2008. Probably had 6 mos supplies in the pantry at that time. We had also bought 60 acres on the backside of nowhere.

When BO was elected, we knew that our country was headed down. Didn't know how long it would take, but there'd be hard times ahead and we kicked it into high gear. Prepping went from hobby to way of life.

The first thing we did was re-arrange the firearms, selling a couple, buying a couple. Whole goal was to narrow down the range of calibers we needed to stock.

Then started buying bulk food, repackaging, maintaining inventories. There is a constant murmur of "what if" in almost everything we do.

Then I cashed in my 401K, won't let the fedgov and gimme people have it. Got out of debt, laid in some silver. Figured out how to handle the daily drugs I need to stay alive.

And here we are.

You two sound like you were meant to be, that's very special now days!

[Snow Walker]

I dont look at myself as a "prepper, or survivalist", really. Its a term we use, but its a way of life.
My grandparents all came from the south (thats what us Ohioans call Kentucky, and Tennessee). They lived in smaller houses, on the land, canned, hunt for food, gardened, stocked. etc.. I remember my Great grandma gardening in her long dresses and aprons when I was a little girl, good memories.
You always take a bit of your past, your childhood with you. Its like a seed. So, even though it wasnt around in my life, constant, I knew I wanted a simpler way of life. Thats probably why I was so miserably unhappy for years!
Then I met the Mr. Hes a few years younger than I, but I appreciated him being a "homebody".We focused more on cooking, and recipes, than eating out.. little ways changed us. We would watch youtube videos, or read magazines (backwoodman is awesome) and just talk about stuff! Honestly, the biggest thinker for me, was watching Zombie movies with him.. the scenarios we would come up with were fun, and I just started thinking about what I would need to do help protect and raise my family.. Oh, and Red Dawn as a little girl, always had me thinking.. lol..
I actually have personal goals now, that are realistic, and beneficial to my family! I dont know, I guess its just good to keep learning ( I have tons to learn) and sharing.. sorry to ramble. :)

You make a great point...a way of life is the way it should be, if it's not you will run into problems. Living it is easier then playing catch up!