35 excuses that will doom the non prepper

1. Oh come on, it is never going to happen, my area is safe, I am safe.
Yes, it's never going to happen, and if it does I am safe by being prepared.


2. I am convinced that everything is recoverable and my area will get back to normal quickly.
I am convinced that I will recover and that I can live a new normal quickly, because I have enough to transition me to that new normal.

3. No matter how horrible it is, help will eventually come, I just have to wait it out.
No matter how horrible, I will probably be able to help myself and not have to wait. 

4. Even if something happens, there are plenty of food and supplies for everyone in my city.
Even if something happens, I will have enough food and supplies, self sufficiency and knowledge available for myself and live rural enough to have the space to help others in our area do the same. 

5. My state government, my community, my neighbors will not abandon me and let me starve.
I will help my community and neighbors where I can to grow their own food so they don't starve.

6. I have a 3 day supply of food, the government and others tell me that this is plenty.
I have over a years supply of food, I still wish I had more for potential family/friends/neighbors.

7. I have lots of credit cards, I will purchase anything I need in my city or nearby cities.
I have lots of food credit and have enough with me to take care of my 'needs' though I may want to trade for things I want.

8. My water faucets will have water, even if it is temporarily shut off, they will not let us go thirsty.
There is a river and a lake less than 500m away, have containers and a trolley to move water and I still have 350liters stored just in case.  Planning to have more.  Have plenty of ways to purify and the ingenuity/social/teaching skills to teach my neighbors if anything were to happen how to find their own.

9. There is no room to store supplies that will never be used anyway.
50kgs of rice [$50], 40kgs of wheat [$30] and 80gs of various beans [$160] provides you with almost a years supply of your necessary Kilojules [8700/day].   That would fit under most beds.  If it's stored properly [such as a sealed drum] it can last 30 years, very cheap insurance to know you'll never go hungry for most of your life.  Obviously it's not a balanced diet and you would need to add in at least 4 litres of oil [fats and oils are essential to health] and a multivitamin and mineral daily supplement and ideally you go much further, but the facts are it can take up little space and for $240 to be food-safe is a good deal, even if you divide that amongst the family.   [3 is months minimum, ie. the next crop!]

10. I can’t rotate supplies, everything will get old and have to be thrown away.
I agree, which is why I'm moving towards ONLY long term preparations for food.  As mentioned above your main supplies can last 30 years and you can rotate the stuff you can't keep for longer, which is oil and vitamins.  I'd add to the above list dehydrated veggies, about 45kgs of various frozen veggies [stick in oven for 8 hrs on lowest setting with door open] brings you to about the daily recommended amount and once dehydrated and kept in a sealed container will last 10+ years.  So, only oil and vitamins and dried fruit [25kg] need be rotated.  You can of course use crops you grow to supplement.

11. I don’t have extra money to store up anything for disasters.
$240 - for one person for a year is the starting point for food.  Water just needs containers. 

12. It is too much work to bother with.
I hardly do a thing now with my preps, now they're stowed away.  You can take it further if you want, but having enough food and water puts you in charge of your life.

13. I have absolutely no idea what to store or how much.
I listed above a VERY basic starting point for enough food for a year for one, and you could call that enough for a family of 4 for about 3 months.  You'll want to store water also if you can, around 1000 liters would be ideal as it's just enough for our lives for a year also.  Food safe 1000liter IBC containers are available second hand for $50-100, most people's hot water service has storage of 300 liters, just make sure you don't have instant hot water as I do or else you'll have none there!

14. I don’t need any protection after a disaster, the police, national guard, military will protect us.
Getting a gun license for a shotgun is relatively easy in this country, remember even without a disaster when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.  

15. The power grid will come back on, until then I have LED flashlights that last forever.
I have 5 wind up LED torches, that will last a while.  Battery torches, one on my keyring, my phone has an app, candles, etc if need be also, they're all very cheap, good for black-outs or natural disasters, plenty of options, get many they're handy to have!

16. Again and again I hear these fear mongers exaggerate the threat level, another false alarm.
With a small investment even the really tiny risk of a disaster is taken care of.  It's like having a spare tyre, I haven't changed one in 15 years, but it's there if I need it.

17. I have a good car and family in other areas, if anything happens I will just go stay with them.
I do and I am in a good area and they may to have to come to me or me to them or me stay put. 

18. I work all week long and I am going to spend my extra money on fun rather than fear.
Skip 1 or 2 weeks of extra money and you have enough for a year, just in case.

19. Survival supplies taste bad, I can’t live on this for long at all.
You'll get bored of rice, beans and wheat really quickly this is true.  Less bored than those not eating though. 

20. If a true catastrophe occurs we are going to die anyway, besides that I don’t want to live through it anyway.
I like living, have worked too hard to get to a point of feeling good in this life to stop now

21. Survival and prepping for the worst is negative, as long as I stay positive, only the positive will happen.
Stay positive the weeds won't grow.  Doesn't work too well.  I stay positive that nothing will happen, if it did, I am better prepared.

22. Preppers/Survivalists are radical, paranoid, conspiracy driven out of touch with reality, I don’t want anything to do with them.
The reality is a disaster will probably never happen to me in my lifetime.  I'm happy about that.  Oh and I have a food-water-security-shelter spare tyre for my life, just in case something pops on the road.

23. I don’t know why everyone is so worried, times are better and safer now than ever in human history.
Yep, they are.  I'm not worried, wasn't worried and I'm safer that I have my basic life needs stowed away

24. There is so much to prepping, I’ll take my chances that nothing will happen.
There's so much to life

25. All my investments go right into what makes me money and gives me security for the future.
I've put insurance on the investment I've made in my life.

26. Why bother storing up that much food and supplies, mobs will just come in and take it.
If every family invested $240, there would be no mobs. 

27. I have a refrigerator and a cupboard full of food, 2 cases of water, a 12 pack of toilet paper, I am all set.
For a week, maybe. 

28. If something happens I will just run to the grocery store and stock up before it closes.
This will be the first place people run you down for food.

29. If we become sick after a disaster we have good medical treatment centers that will care for us.
I will consult the doctor within our group.

30. Nothing is as bad as it ever seems, stop overblowing everything as doomsday.
The people who get through it know it's not as bad as it seems, the ones who don't are dead. 

31. If disaster strikes everybody will band together and save the day.
If it comes down to basic survival where your family eats and lives or their family eats and lives, what would you do?  Our instincts are very strong and we will protect ourselves and only after we have taken care of our basic needs will we be more willing to co-operate for the group. 

32. People have become way too civilized to wage a world war and take what you have and act like savages.
There's no wars going on right now?

33. There are food banks and emergency preparedness places nearby to me, they will take care of us.
I have a food bank at my house, I will take care of me. 

34. FEMA , the Red Cross, and other government agencies are huge and have the whole country backing them.
Supermarket chains are far larger and will run out of food in days or even hours. 

35. I can always wait until tomorrow to start prepping, there is always time.
Yes, do it tomorrow, go get some rice [supermarket] some beans [Asian/Indian bulk suppliers are good] and some wheat [agricultural feed suppliers] as well as a good sized metal food safe, air-tight drum from ebay [$20].  Throw them all in there, throw in some fine steel wool [not stainless] and burn some candles sitting near the top until they go out [carbon dioxide] and seal it, silicone it and put it somewhere cool.  Grab an IBC 1000liter container, fill it with water.   Apply for your gun safety course to get you on the road towards a firearm, such as a shotgun.  Whilst you can go much further, this would put you well ahead of almost anybody you know in having your own personal spare tyre for your life.