|
|
Post by Peter on May 5, 2016 10:49:11 GMT 10
Apologies for the duplicate post, which I put on ausprepforum.proboards.com/thread/3329/far-away-home-when-hits but I consider this a worthwhile thread. What made you start preparing? Was it an event? A gradual change in circumstances? An attitude instilled throughout your childhood? One of the events that helped start me off in preparing was a storm here on 22/03/2010. I drove home late from work, and my suburb at the time looked like a demilitarised zone - trees down, power poles across roads, flooding, etc. I got into the house (after cutting & dragging a fallen tree off the driveway) to find Mrs Pete sitting with candles burning as the power was down. It took about 24 hours for power to come back on, but damage to our house meant we had about three power points working and no other electricity for three days until a sparky was available. Fortunately out TV antenna wasn't damaged so I could still use my laptop to watch NCIS that night  The following afternoon I stopped at some supermarkets and Bunnings stores to get some emergency lights/torches and batteries to find they'd all but sold out. That was the moment I realised that I should start preparing, and I've never looked back. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Western_Australian_storms I do realise that this storm pales in comparison to others that people here have been through (especially in cyclone-prone areas, flood plains, etc), but we're spoilt here with a lack of extreme events. |
|
Ammo9
VIP Member
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,814 
Likes: 2,667
|
Post by Ammo9 on May 5, 2016 12:35:29 GMT 10
The natural gas shortage when I was younger and multiple power and water outages even in suburbia throughout my childhood and teens.
Even as a teenager I recognised how fragile our system is.
As I got into my late teens I realised how volatile our whole world is, natural and manmade events have been a constant threat to mankind. It's not a matter of if, but when one will impact our immediate lives.
After the natural gas shortage my dad made sure to have LPG handy to heat water and cook on the barbie.
After a power outage I remember my mum made sure there was candles and spare batteries for torches.
After a water outage, nobody did anything so I bought a few slabs of 600ml and 1.5L bottles of water and a couple 10L boxes of water and stacked them in the garage. My mum actually thought it was a bit over the top, until we had another water outage and now she keeps the bottle water stacked up too.
From there, I stopped being reactive and started being proactive.
|
|
gasman
Senior Member
Posts: 466
Likes: 607
|
Post by gasman on May 5, 2016 14:21:47 GMT 10
Parents who left war torn Europe with nothing ,who knew what it was like to be homeless and hungry,
Who always stored food and water ,grew their own food ,and had a deep distrust of any government
Sounds like preppers back then doesn't it?
|
|
|
|
Post by Ausprep on May 5, 2016 19:56:12 GMT 10
I cant really pick a time or date where i didn't have a preparedness mindset. It wasn't until my late late 20's (now 35) i actually discovered the label "Prepper"
Like some, i also went through the Doomsday Prepper hype. Watching the shows religiously, more than once, and researching everything twice. It was also around this time i started to dislike the term or label "Prepper" It was starting to bug me. The more i researched and learnt, the more references i found to the show, the more i hated the word.
Ive been fortunate enough in my life, as a child and adult not to ever experience an event that i have needed to take action.
I met Jay on a US Doomsday preppers forum. Some good members, very little Aus input and about as much actual relevance as the Doomsday show itself. One in every 10-12 articles posted had something decent in it actually worth reading. Not really anything i found myself benefiting from.
It was again around this time i became more and more interested in actual prepping, it consumed my everyday.
This is when i noticed the lack of Australian input and true Australian preparedness content. Content that was relevant to us.
I was also scouring FB for Aussie pages and Au based members. With some luck.
Fast forward a year or so and i helped launch Ozprepper. The (what i would say was) the first dedicated Au prep forum. Unfortunately, a few personal differences cause a part in ways and a few weeks later Ausprep was born. I was on the phone with Jay the moment i hit the go button and he was the first true member.
So, to summarize my long winded blurb, i think Preparedness has always been instilled in me somewhere, just a lot more in that past 10 or so years.
|
|
|
|
Post by jo on May 5, 2016 20:18:36 GMT 10
As a kid grew up on a farm where mum had to make everything stretch as money was hard to find and dad either grew or raised most of what we ate.
I remember Ash Wednesday as it was the very first time I ever had to pack a bag "just in case", we packed up our dogs and cats when the fire was just over the hill, lucky the wind changed and everything was ok for us (except we had to round up the farm animals we had set free before dad got off the fire truck). Throughout my school days the first day of spring was fire drill day until the middle of autumn, we had school monitors that we would be allocated to, to help get the bushfire supplies to the town oval, we were very proud of the fact we could do it under 15 minutes.
In 1998 I drove from SA to FNQ and had to really ramp up my being a "good girl guide" as I landed in Port Douglas at the start of cyclone season and found out that it wasn't to different from being prepared for a bushfire.
The very first major cyclone (in the middle of a cyclone party) the resort that I was working at ran out of fuel for the generator and we blew up that generator and I had to deal with some very unhappy customers as we were in the middle of a heat wave, no power, no ice, not much food, no swimming pool filters, no fans and no lights for about a week (no happy customers).
Fast forward to now, have survived many cyclones/bushfires/power outages and most recently the Australia day floods with no power for 4 days because I understand that mother nature is unpredictable and I hate running out of vodka and toilet paper (in that order).
|
|
shinester
Senior Member
China's white trash
Posts: 3,119
Likes: 3,578
Email: shiny@ausprep.org
|
Post by shinester on May 5, 2016 20:37:13 GMT 10
Scouts. Prepared to hike, go for bush-walks, etc safely, and their motto is 'Be prepared'. We even talked about nuclear war survival on one camp.
From there as a younger teenager we talked about it a lot, played various games, threw bark at one another as training, fired elastic bands, made our own paint balls, etc playing various wargames. This carried on into my early 20s with various sports such as paintball. Never stored stuff. Had kept a bit extra food from here, especially after being hungry on two occasions which helped me always keep something in the cupboard, more to do with monetary fluctuations and wisdom of experience than other SHTF stuff. Obviously prepping is a wide area of thinking.
The first gulf war had me rather concerned - never stored stuff. By this time I kept a storage of money as I worked for myself and it's part of business to have ebs and flows.
Loss of gas supply wasn't an issue, we had electricity - still never stored stuff.
Watched Doomsday preppers - started storing and getting sorted fairly soon into it, realizing that whilst I had 'some' ideas the show pointed out a lot of areas I hadn't thought about or put aside. Whilst it has a slant of inaccuracy at least as I see it now, had it's err... over the top people, it also has a lot of good ideas and helped me early on get clearer where to go.
|
|
Frank
VIP Member
APF Life Member
Posts: 1,864
Likes: 2,739
Email: frank@ausprep.com
|
Post by Frank on May 5, 2016 21:18:11 GMT 10
Have always been into camping, hunting and fishing, also involved in Scouts when I at school but I have had a fairly gradual progression into prepping.
One of the first things was buying my first house and want to protect my home. We had a some pretty nasty storms, power outages and a bushfire scare not long after moving in so that probably started the ball rolling. Mrs Frank wanted a vege patch and I had never been into gardening etc but found I enjoyed growing my own food, the sense of being able to look after yourself was fulfilling. From there I started to look at various bits and pieces on the net, stumbled on prepping sites and Doomsday Preppers, even though the show is more comedy value then anything else there was some cool toys, clever set-ups etc on it. From there I have been learning as I go, taking in as much as I can and occaisionally throwing at my 2c worth aswell. Even Mrs Frank is starting to get on board and I am no longer looked at strangely for wanting to add more food to our stocks etc.
|
|
|
|
Post by SA Hunter on May 5, 2016 23:56:03 GMT 10
I cant really pick a time or date where i didn't have a preparedness mindset. It wasn't until my late late 20's (now 35) i actually discovered the label "Prepper" Like some, i also went through the Doomsday Prepper hype. Watching the shows religiously, more than once, and researching everything twice. It was also around this time i started to dislike the term or label "Prepper" It was starting to bug me. The more i researched and learnt, the more references i found to the show, the more i hated the word. Ive been fortunate enough in my life, as a child and adult not to ever experience an event that i have needed to take action. I met Jay on a US Doomsday preppers forum. Some good members, very little Aus input and about as much actual relevance as the Doomsday show itself. One in every 10-12 articles posted had something decent in it actually worth reading. Not really anything i found myself benefiting from. It was again around this time i became more and more interested in actual prepping, it consumed my everyday. This is when i noticed the lack of Australian input and true Australian preparedness content. Content that was relevant to us. I was also scouring FB for Aussie pages and Au based members. With some luck. Fast forward a year or so and i helped launch Ozprepper. The (what i would say was) the first dedicated Au prep forum. Unfortunately, a few personal differences cause a part in ways and a few weeks later Ausprep was born. I was on the phone with Jay the moment i hit the go button and he was the first true member. So, to summarize my long winded blurb, i think Preparedness has always been instilled in me somewhere, just a lot more in that past 10 or so years. For me, the outdoors was a big part of our life as kids - similar to some here - parents from Eastern Europe after WW2. Never had a lot, but always had enough. Our freezer was always full of rabbit, roo & goat meat. Got the veggie gardening bug from my grandma. Never really thought about preparing till I saw the tv show "Doomsday Preppers". I thought most of the people on the show were idiots - who would show their face, and all they have on national tv??? But, it made me think about were I was in life if a disaster took place, and made me evaluate how prepared I was ( or wasn't). I discovered the US Doomsday Prepper Forum one day, and that's how I met Ausprep. There were a few other Aussies on the forum as well, and some from Asia (myrrph & overlord). The discussions led to Ozprep, then AusPrep. I was fortunate to be the first member here!!! I guess to sum it up, I had a good look around me, and took a real interest in what was going on in the world. I look at being prepared as an insurance policy - you may never need to make a 'claim', but if I have to, I know what I have accumulated will get me through for a little while. I am not obsessed with preparing, but I try to be well informed and observant of what goes on around me. Expect the best, Prepare for the worst! |
|
krull68
VIP Member
Posts: 535
Likes: 875
|
Post by krull68 on May 6, 2016 17:40:46 GMT 10
Farm life, once per month trip to town for stocks.
Prepping is natural for way out back farmers.
|
|
grumble
Senior Member
Posts: 457
Likes: 778
|
Post by grumble on May 24, 2016 20:45:24 GMT 10
for me it was growing up in remote areas and cyclone prone locations it was normal to have a few extra supplies on hand just in case so I never thought anything of it really
I never really looked at the human side of it all very much until my father opened up a shared with me the true horrors of his early life and what drove himself and my mother to risk it all to start a new life
in his own words
its not until you walked to school past the bodies of men women , children and babies that have been torn asunder by high explosive bombs and burnt to a char by phosphorous bombs or until there is so many people bleeding and dying in the streets that the gutters are flowing with blood just like red coloured water do you truly understand the inhumanity that humanity can do to itself
I think it was him telling me the truth of what its like to live through a real SHTF did I start to look at other aspects of being prepared and asking myself what would I really do
Here is something to think on
My father and one of his sisters would crawl around the bombed out city looking for dying soldiers to sit with not just to give them comfort but so they could take any food they had as well because the alternative was starve
How desperate would you have to be to risk being blown up or shot just for some food?
I hope I never have to find out
|
|
|
|
Post by thereth on May 24, 2016 20:55:06 GMT 10
For me it started about 6 years ago. I was recovering on the couch after a hard night and was channel surfing. Of all things I settled on a show called River Cottage from the UK, which in a nutshell is about a bloke from London moving to the stikcks and trying to become self sufficient.
After that peaked my interest I started delving into the world of Self Sufficiency, homesteading and it was only a short jump to prepping. Now i like to think of myself as a starter hometeader who preps as opposed to a prepper.
All in all I cant complain, 4 years after the concept first entered my mind I moved to a rural town, 2 years after that I bought this place and can now start my long term homesteading/prepping dream :-)
|
|
