Gunco Forums banner

Bunkers, Food, Armor: Disaster Prep Hits Mainstream

1K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  MUSIBIKE 
#1 ·
Bunkers, Food, Armor: Disaster Prep Hits Mainstream

Posted by truther on April 16, 2012

I’m not sure when the tipping point occurred, but at some point recently the “prepper” movement exploded and became mainstream.

Preppers are folks who detect the possibility of calamity and decide to increase their odds of surviving it by putting aside supplies. “Putting things by” — essential throughout most of humanity’s existence — was common in the United States up until advances in transportation logistics brought about the “just in time” shipping model. Suddenly, we could get almost any supplies delivered fresh and year-round to massive community stores. What our grandparents called “lean times” became a thing of the past for even the poorest Americans.



The expectation that we could always get whatever we wanted whenever we wanted it took a couple of hard jolts around the turn of the 21st century: predictions regarding the “Y2K bug” created a resurgent interest in self-sufficiency, which was further rekindled by the 9/11 terror attacks. A decade later, fears of nuclear terrorism, misunderstood popular views about the end of the Mayan calendar, and ginned-up fears of catastrophic climate change, economic collapse, and violent weather patterns have grown what was once a fringe culture.

I didn’t realize how mainstream it had become until Costco sent me an e-flyer: “Get Your Home And Garden Stocked For An Emergency And Save!” It promoted emergency preparedness, the top suggestions being a month of food storage supplies and emergency garden seeds.

Modern prepping has come a long way from the survivalists of the late 1990s. That wave focused on military supplies, weapons, and tactics, and was in many ways limited by their options. Earlier survivalists had even fewer options — they focused on hoarding and protecting supplies in remote cabins. Yet today’s preppers have a dizzying array of gourmet shelf-stable foods, “green” power options, and even custom-built housing to meet their particular survival needs. Additionally, enterprising companies now cater to nearly every desire the preppers can dream up.

National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers series featured an episode with prepper Peter Larson, and displayed the work of Paul Seyfried and Utah Shelter Systems. An underground bunker built by Utah Shelter Systems was the core of the Larson family’s preparation plans, and with good reason. The underground bunkers manufactured by the company and shipped almost anywhere are designed to withstand nuclear, biological, and chemical disasters, and being buried yards underground, they are secure from all but the most determined marauders.

So what kind of person drops a bare minimum of $47,590 on a complete shelter and tens of thousands more on land, installation, and provisioning? Mr. Seyfried fiercely guards the confidentiality of his client list, but will volunteer that it includes “international bankers, hedge fund managers, attorneys, doctors, oil company geologists, business men, and movie producers.”

Like any business, the bunker business has cycles and has seen business expand and contract as events bring awareness of their products. After 9/11, the company experienced an increase in sales in the Northeast, centered around New York. Texans have purchased the largest number of shelters, and they range across the Southeast and Southwest, typically as shelters against the common natural disasters that strike the southern part of the country. The most commonly purchased shelter is the $60,750-plus 10′x50′ shelter which offers the best cost per square foot, and customers typically order more bunks to add capacity. Most bunkers go to individual families, but there are some small bunker communities of well-heeled preppers coming together for mutual support.

The vast majority of preppers want to set aside shelf-stable foods. Many are looking for just several days or weeks worth of supplies to get them through “normal” seasonal disasters, such as hurricane season in the Southeast, the blizzards that hit in northern parts of the country, or the threat of tornadoes that extends across the Midwest and South. Brandon Garrett of The Ready Store sees customers across the country come to his company for 72-hour emergency kits, food storage items such as dehydrated or freeze-dried foods, and other emergency supplies.

Disasters aren’t the only thing preppers are spending their dollars on. Some look at the economy and prep for the very real possibility of unemployment. Garrett reports:

While some might be preparing against floods others might be preparing against drought or unemployment. I think the major psychographic that connects our customers is a sense of independence and self-sufficiency. They want to be prepared for anything that may be in the future — whether that is a natural disaster, a man-made disaster, or unemployment.

Many of The Ready Store’s customers follow a pattern that seems to apply to similar stores as well. Customers will often buy a decent initial food supply — such as a three-month supply — and augment that base of supplies as their time and budget allow.

Preppers are also cognizant of the fact that if an event does strike, being prepared is just part of the equation. As we witnessed in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, even the normally law-abiding will resort to out-of-character barbarism if they think it necessary to ensure their survival or the survival of their families.

The past response to the threat of violence has typically been to acquire firearms, preferably guns with more capacity and range than anyone you expect to be causing trouble. It hasn’t been until recently that the thought of stopping any inbound fire has become socially acceptable. A company called US PALM is in the process of changing that by creating and successfully marketing body armor designed for the civilian market.

The “Defender” series of soft body armor is the company’s civilian-focused entry-level armor, designed explicitly for the nightmare scenario of a homeowner hearing a door or window smashed open in the middle of the night. The Defender is designed to strap on in less than five seconds, and provide the homeowner with a level of protection against most common handgun (up through .44 Magnum) and shotgun ammunition one would expect in a home invasion scenario. Priced inexpensively (for body armor) at $199 for a single front panel and with the option of adding rear panel for just $99, Defender has also taken off among preppers, allowing them to armor themselves and their families with at least front panel protection for the cost of a set of rifle-stopping armor worn by our troops. It has sold particularly well in the Ohio River Valley, though Rob Anderson, US PALM’s director, won’t hazard a guess as to why Defender sells so well in that area.

The media still demeans the more extreme preppers making bizarre preparations for what most people consider unrealistic scenarios — such as polar shifts or the Mayan apocalypse — but with the current global economic situation, the carnage of recent natural disasters, and the fragility of power grids, other scenarios are no laughing matter. “Putting things by” like our grandparents did is now regarded by many as a wise investment against uncertain times, and like any market, there are smart businesses willing to cater to this growth market.

Bunkers, Food, Armor: Disaster Prep Hits Mainstream | Pakalert Press


Black Blade: There are several "survival" shows on television these days with people against the elements in the wilderness as well as some "self defense" shows on various cable channels. It's only natural that this popular programming morphs into firearms, self defense as well as "prepping" and "survivalism" television. The question is whether it's a fad or a whole sea change of interest. The economy is not doing well as many people have dropped out of the workforce, some taking early retirement and others prepping ahead as unemployment increases and the expectation that violent crime will subsequently increase - not to mention a rapidly growing police state with more restrictions on liberty and freedom as the US Constitution is eaten away and suspended.
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
I started preping in 2008.My parents diden't prep but my Grandparents did.I asked my Grandfather why he keep so much food in his basement back around 1960.I was seven. He gave me a history lesson about life in the 1930s.Even if you had money,food was sometimes hard to find.:wow:
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top