Posted on 05/06/2011 8:20:22 PM PDT by Kartographer
At Red Dawn: Hunting, Survival, Recreation, they specialize in homesteading, emergency preparedness and first-aid.
Owner Gaylon Cornsilk first dreamed up this concept about a year ago.
The doors have been open just six months and business has exploded.
Cornsilk says, "This was kinda born out of a passion to see people prepared for any kind of emergency, natural or man-made. We are growing exponentially everyday. Obviously there's an air of people starting to notice and want to prepare for what's going on around them."
Donna Harper manages the store's long-term storage food section.
Some of the pre-packaged emergency food rations last five to 25 years; the rations sell out so quickly they cannot keep enough on premises.
(Excerpt) Read more at kfor.com ...
Me, I’m more attracted to the nomadic lifestyle where you live off horse jerky, rape and pillage, and live in yurts. None of this “man in the cave” bullcrap for me.
Laugh all ya want, but I got to thinking about my grandkids not having ammo to kill a bunch of caribou when they came through. Those 6000 215's make me feel quite good now, ha.
Well, not unless I can get netflix in my cave.
It is somewhat baffling that most people in this country are willing to think that being prepared for disasters is kooky.
Some of this mindset comes from this almost religious faith that “the government” will always take care of us. It wouldn’t just let us starve or be without shelter, or fail to protect us from thieves and looters....and worse.
I hope the authorities will help in the event of disaster. But I’m not a loon for having a plan B. I damn sure don’t have this “faith” that the government is or will always be fair, generous and benevolent. That it will never turn on me. That would require an ignorance of history and a naivete that I am simply not capable of.
Not that many years ago I lived in Lakeland, FL. The eyes of 3 hurricanes passed over Lakeland in about 6 weeks! No power for one of those weeks. I remember what happened in Dade County after Andrew.
This is what our society has come to. Responsible preparedness is viewed with scorn by the elite, our betters. How presumptuous of us. We are ridiculed by by incompetent bureaucrats and politicians. Laughed at by media morons and Hollywood halfwits that couldn’t cook their own meals or change their baby’s diaper.
A person that plans on weathering disaster and protecting his family is a “survivalist”? Just how would we then define the head of a family that would starve in 5 days without the 24 hour grocery store down the street? Who has no means of protecting the lives of his family or the family’s property? A “suicidalist”?
Just who is the ignorant bumpkin here?
Thanks.
You can’t be prepared for every eventuality. And the bomb might fall on your house first.
But reasonable, common sense preparations could very well mean that you would survive the initial tumult of a disaster. Odds are much better for you if you get through 3-6 weeks, maybe 6 months.
I’ve got a SIL that is living week to week on the generosity of family because she thought it was stupid to save for the future when she might die tomorrow. Well, she didn’t die, but she is living in Hell now. And it’s going to get a lot worse when mommy dies and can’t send her money every month anymore.
mark for later
True, but I don’t think that saving your money and maintaining at least a minimum level of income is merely a survival strategy. It’s a good way to live well.
Excellent points!
I grew up very poor. Frequently we had almost no food, and the neighbor would take pity on the youngest of us and give us a meal here and there. I weighed 79 lbs. when I was nearly 13 years old.
I will always feel the need to have “extra”. I know what it is to go for three or four days without a morsel to put in your mouth, and no way to get food. There were many times when we ate nothing but vegetables grown in the back yard for six days a week, then we each got one piece of fried chicken on Sunday.
I know that not one of you out there would want your own child to go through this.
And if you could ever even imagine a situation where you were unable to get any food for days, and have it happen frequently and repeatedly, you could never insult those that fear this happening to themselves or their families.
It is no different than being financially responsible. It is no different than picking out a good safe neighborhood to raise your family in. Or making sure your car was in good safe condition.
I know that most on these preparedness threads know that to plan ahead for their loved ones is smart no matter the times, but for those that ridicule us -
No soup for you!!!
I don’t have any special perspective on this, but if the safety net is too generous, it arguably encourages people to not think about the future. I take it for granted that social security, medicare, and medicaid goodies won’t be there for me when I’m likely to want or need them. And you need to seriously consider a major career change and a permanent dock in your wages before you become a 99er.
That makes a bit more sense to me than the usual “MRE” and upcoming disaster rhetoric.
Agreed. I was using that as an illustration of the all or nothing sort of thinking that usually comes into these discussions.
A family can dramatically improve their odds without going to off the charts extremes.
Am I preparing for 10 years of chaos? Nope, I'm not going to think that far ahead. But $1000 will buy a surprisingly large quantity of canned goods that will not spoil for 5-10 years. Throw in a couple of good firearms and several thousand rounds of ammo (again not a great expense, and certainly not perishable). Another $500 for basic, non perishable necessities like TP, toothbrushes, personal hygiene needs. Buy ahead on important prescription medications and first aid materials. Keep $1000 of cash on hand. All of a sudden for maybe $4K you have now put your family into the top 5% in terms of survivability for the critical 3 months. We all know how quickly most middle class families squander $4000. It's a simple $4k insurance policy. Spend the money and forget it.
I think my post #32 is pretty much in agreement with you on that.
I just want reasonable preparedness that won’t break my budget and become an obsession that permeates my life.
I think it is actually worse than that.
There seems to be another liberal exercise underway in redefining actions and activities - much as liberals have been successful in redefining people as Homophobes, Birthers, etc.
Not so long ago our society considered independence, self reliance, saving money and planning ahead to be admirable character traits. They have now been replaced by reliance on government, spending beyond your means and living day to day.
Now, recently I have started to hear people who are prudent, plan ahead and stock up to prepare for possible emergencies referred to as hoarders.
Imagine what that thought process will lead to when/if a disaster hits an area, the shelves go bare and some people start thinking they don't have food because the "hoarders" have it all.
Don’t assume that just because people live in a city or suburbs that they are chasing some sort of game. Nor is everyone ‘enslaved’ who doesn’t happen to be living in some outpost or another.
Can you can that statement into something more palatable and yet still be a canned statement that hasn’t lost the freshness though it be canned from a can do man of the can clan?
Yep. Those of us that prepare have. And that's why there are boxes of ammunition next to the canned goods. They can call me a "hoarder", but they surely won't call me an unarmed hoarder. Significant difference.
A real depression will be much different now because the societal norms and mores, those that deterred widespread lawlessness in the 30s, no longer exist. There won't be any noble hobos running around this time.
“”Keep $1000 of cash on hand.””
OMG! I remember after Katerina some rich TV anchor kind of guy sneered that EVERYONE should be able to stash at LEAST $5000. bucks away - no prob - in case of a natural disaster. WTF?? Depending on where you live, what time of year, ect-all the money in the world won’t help your a$s out.
You and I know that the AVERAGE ordinary American family would have a hard time setting aside even $1000. for unexpected times. If they can’t they need to prepare gradually. To buy an extra $20.00 in canned goods every couple of weeks-rotate stock-it can be done.
One word people ** COUPONS **. My husband got the lesson ( :) ) and now he delights in the $20. to $80. per week he can save buying the products and brands we already us. People behind us in line are very supportive and surprised at what we save.
Husband was a handloader from wayyyy back..It was a hobby for him, but now it’s something more -it’s a necessary skill.
He learned to hunt (as opposed to target shooting) a couple years ago, and I learned to cook over a open fire. We both feel a deep sense of satisfaction out of earning these skills.
Not a darn thing wrong with stocking some MRE’s to have in case you can’t have anything else. I live in the northeast, and baby, there are times.................one good ice storm and it can get desperate fast.
Really?
That seems like a good deal.
I’ll see if Costco has something like that.
If they do I’ll buy 5.
I agree wholeheartedly with you. Being a prepper is a responsible way to live. People act like it’s the looniest thing in the world. I personally find putting 100% faith in our modern lifestyle as being nuts.
Just because one is prepared for many things doesn’t mean you have to forsake modern society. In addition to being prepared for disasters I also live a modern lifestyle. But unlike those who scoff at prepping, when things go bad, not only can I still eat and stay warm and dry but many of today’s modern amenities stay available to me.
Probably the biggest reasons people don’t like it is because it requires a lot of hard work and knowledge of many different things. For me living in the mountains means being prepared. So many people move into the high country and think they’ll live the same way they did in the city. Doesn’t work like that.
So many things that were once just part of our normal physique are now laughed at. There are so many examples but I’ll give just one very important one: water. I’ve got a good friend who lives in Phoenix. He’s a smart man. I asked him once where his water comes from. He gave the answer that most people do; his faucet. I asked what happens if no water comes from that faucet. His answer, “the city would fix it.” And if the city can’t fix it? Well he said, “I’d go to the store and buy it.” You see where this is headed.
Prepping is simply a mindset and a good one. Remember the Boy Scouts Motto?
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