how old is too old to be a prepper?

I came to the conclusion decades ago that it wasn't possible to prepare for every possible bad thing that could happen to a person. Because of that, it makes no sense to worry about those things. Preparing is really a state of mind. It begins by recognizing and understanding what the most logical and potential SHTF situations you will be likely to face. Those are the ones to prep for. If you feel confident in your mind that you are capable of riding through the most common major problems you are likely to face, the probability is high that should something more serious arise, you will get through it just fine with what you already have.

Where most preppers make a mistake is trying to prepare for every type of situation they can think of. The reality is simply that for the most part, surviving all of the SHTF situations you read about have the same basic elements that need to be prepared for. For each person this will be a little different but if you cover the basics, you're well on your way to making prepping a natural way of life for you and yours.

 

I totally agree. Have seen too many people who are so busy preparing for the end of the world that they don't have time to take care of today. Consequently they create more problems for themselves and really aren't prepared at all.

I have seen guys who have hundreds of dollars worth of surplus military gear but no way to feed or house the hordes of people they have invited out to their place to live when the SHTF ... I don't care what the commando you bought all that gear from told you ... outfitting an army of fellas in gear does nothing to further your cause if you can't feed them.

But then again things that require effort (like gardening, caring for livestock, putting by) are never as much fun as buying guns and ammo ...

 

185 yrs old.

 

I have to admit that I would much prefer hunting and fishing to chopping wood for the winter BUT, I don't like being cold either so I do both. Gardening and taking care of livestock are neutral issues for us. Having been brought up on a farm and having always had gardens and livestock around, dealing with them is just part of our natural makeup. We like dealing with these things simply because we find it easier to like doing it and being content than fussing about it and not being content. I figure it's just the way the good Lord made us.

 

We have what I call pseudo-survivalists around here. This is generally how it goes ... They own a pretty sizable piece of land they got from an inheritance. Move back out into the country, lease the land to someone else who works it. Buy a calf and a few chickens, start a garden they only half-ass take care of. Then they start recruiting "like-minded individuals" ... Generally speaking the most work towards being self-sufficient any of them do is getting together for the weekend to drink beer and sit around the fire pit talking about how to blockade off the county roads that lead to their particular piece of property.

Soon you hear about the calf dying from scours because they didn't provide it shelter or proper diet ... the chickens are all coyote food and the garden is full of bugs. BUT they have MREs, rucksacks, guns and ammo out the whahoozaah ...

God forbid you ask about anything substantial ... like long-term food, shelter or water ... YIKES ... trouble-making female ... That always happens when you let a girl in ... They start talking nonsense ...

I'm with you ... simple is better. Hard work hasn't killed me yet and truth be told, has kept me outta trouble more than once ... to each their own, I guess.

 

That's scary but not surprising. I've seen the type and we have some in our neck of the woods also. Most of us old timers don't associate much with them any more than we have to. I personally see them as more of a danger than a help when things go sour. For the most part, they don't understand or really want to, nor will they probably ever understand what is really going on. And they wonder why so many of us are kind of loners.

Never had a problem with someone asking me a question. Don't have any problem with those who simply are slow to understand some things. I do have a problem with just plain stupidity in those who are unwilling to listen to common sense.

 

I'm 64, my wife is ah, younger. Most of my family on mom's side lived to 90 +. Don't know where that would put me, but we do prep in the way our parents and grandparents did, by stocking up, growing a lot of our own and living simple, well simpler than most people in this day and age.

Sunshine, your DH needs a dose of reality, if you ask me.

 

We are also in our 60's and both my wife's and my parents had long lives (late 80's & early 90's). I'm not sure if that is any kind of guarantee or anything but it's nice to think on. We both were taught and lived prepping and living simple from childhood so it's no surprised that we have lived our entire life that way. For us, this whole prepping concept is just a normal way of life. I can see how it can be a major adjustment for those not raised that way or who haven't lived that way most of their lives.

For many, the old adage of "It's harder to unlearn something than it is to learn something new" probably is very active. So far, I haven't seen anyone who truly accepts a real preparedness life style regret doing so once they get the hang of it. In fact, most of those I've talked to wish they had done it much earlier.

 

i am 32 and have always been a prepper same with my 26yo wife. well prep till death. atleast the kids will be well stocked

 

in the process

 

Never too old

Its my belief that you are never to old to prepare for any event. Preparation is a part of daily life. Whether preparing the turkey to cook, or preparing a BOB for a possible apocalypse situation. The future is uncertain and it is better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. I am a hoarder and packrat by nature and proud of it. As the statement above is one that I live by. If something happens, then I am prepared. If not, then I can die a happy person, knowing that, had I needed it, it was there. I am only 26 and believe fully in preparing for whatever events the future may hold. No, my friends, you are never too young or old to prep.

 

NICE

 

Pixie, don't ever feel bad about being a Packrat. I've been a dyed in the wool Packrat for over 60 years. I even have a 55 gal drum of bent nails and another one of misc screws to prove it. The nail thing is kind of a left over from my childhood days on the farm. When you are a kid and it's raining and you can't get out into the fields, you had a choice of either sharpening saws or straightening bent nails.

 

RightHand, it sounds like my workshop right now. You're right about newer not being better. Doesn't seem like there is much pride taken in much of what is produced today.

 

Took the word right out of my fingers. EXCEPT, in my workshop it's coffee cans. There are people here younger than some of my coffee cans.

 

I have some wooden crates and crocks that were my grandparents. Maybe I should start calling the workshop the Antique shop. There is certainly a lot of history out there. I guess that is alright, after all I'm getting close to the age that I could be classified as historic.