Average Prepper Age

I have served . I guess it was back during the Cuba missile scare when I helped Dad finish the shelter .
Then for many years my attention turned to the fairer sex ,when the wife and I had had our first kid it's been an uphill battle ever since to stay ahead of the game .
Now we still do it because of family and the fear of what could happen, not so much for us anymore as it would be for the grandkids.

 

I enlisted in the Army back in the early 80s. I was packed and ready to be shipped out to boot camp and thought I had a pretty solid plan, when all of a sudden my recruiter told me I couldn't have my MOS. So I told him he couldn't have me. Part of me is very happy that I didn't go but there is still a part of me that would have loved to have gotten the training and experience. But I am happy how my life has turned out and there is no way of knowing what things would have been like if I did go in.

 

Creeps up on ya, huh?

 

43. no military experience. parents in late 60's no preps. but i lived with my grandparents for a couple of years at the end of their lives. They remembered the great depression and were pack rats, so i think i may have picked up something from them.

 

I moved to Chicago to go to grad school. I live in the northern suburbs so it safe here from what I hear. I'm not too happy about the gun laws though. It's one heck of a walk back to Iowa though.

Thanks for the tips, Equilibrium. I'll have to check out the primitive skills group. That's the kind of organization I was talking about. I'd love to come and visit. I'll PM you.

I think there are so few younger preppers because we have grown up in a world where crazy is the norm. Also, one's perspective changes when they have someone to worry about beside themselves. I didn't start thinking about prepping until I got married a couple years ago. I wish I had started five years ago before the price of precious metals and black guns skyrocketed.

 

39 and I am an Army Vet. I've spent tons of time in the woods, hunting and fishing and have had some time on a small farm. Pretty new to the whole prepping gig but I'm trying to make up for lost time and get prepared as fast as I can. Always had something inside me telling me that I should be prepping but could never get the ex on board. She thought I was being paranoid. Well she's been gone for a few years now it's time for me to start getting my stuff together.

 

59 1/2 here...
Started seriously back in 1980.
I got a "taste" of doing without and hunting for dinner, back when I was 11.
That was in 1962.

 

Plainswalker> We must be very close. I found two firearms places for you. Slim pickins in IL and.... I know nothing about them.... I've never set foot in either place but here goes- Smoke n Gun and down south in Lyons IL, Illinois gunshop and gun dealer: guns, pistols and ammunition. Maybe you'll have better luck with firearms over the border into WI? The Primitive Skills Group is this one, Primitive Skills (Chicago, IL) - Meetup. I'm waiting and watching for them to offer a meetup on knives and sharpening. I think your best bet will be attending here for actually getting one on one time with folk who have skills of interest to people like you and me, IL McHenry County Glacial Park - Trailville. They have an annual event called the Trail of History, McHenry County Conservation District - Volunteer Opportunities. There's considerably more than cornhusk doll making offered. That just happens to be what they need volunteers for next year. I always enjoy the glass blowers and blacksmiths the most however the soap makers would be a close third. Once there, you'll have time to interact with those practicing skills of interest to you. I've made candles and brooms at the event and was taught how to saw logs properly using primitive tools. I also participated in a leg amputation.... the way it would have been done several hundred years ago. Quite interesting to say the least. There's a little something of interest for everyone and you'll leave with contacts. Bass Pro Shops has an annual event along similar lines. It's during the summer. I was taught how to make fishing flies there as well as how to cast properly. The instructor claimed I did an exceptional job on the fishing flies. Once one gets the hang of that, it's not nearly as difficult as it appears.... it just takes a lot of practice. The Bass Pro Shops event was where I was first taught how to make arrows. I did not do well initially however Zion IL hosts the annual Potawatomi Trails Pow-Wow every August and the committee members hooked me up with someone who taught me well. Many Nations are represented at this event. They'll connect us with mentors for anything from making our own arrows to grinding our own grains by hand... tanning too, Welcome to GoFLO.com - Lake County Illinois Portal. Help is out there.... all we have to do is ask. Please do contact me. Please know your wife and children are welcome at our home too. We're pretty kid friendly. Psst.... how are you liking the blizzard combined with lake effect snow>>> welcome to IL. We're buried.... literally. Nobody's going anywhere tomorrow... that's for sure.

 

http://www.survivalmonkey.com/forum/general-discussion/24398-demographics.html