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MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 01:54 PM Mar 2020

Preppers are "bugging out" and "hunkering down"

Their time, they think, has arrived. At least some of them. This is what they've been "prepping" for all along, and many are gleefully fleeing civilization and heading for their safe places. Here's more info:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-americas-extreme-survivalists-are-preparing-for-a-worst-case-coronavirus-epidemic-beans-bullets-and-band-aids-2020-03-02

America’s ‘survivalists’ feel vindication as they lock down for coronavirus epidemic — with ‘beans, bullets and Band-Aids’

James Wesley Rawles is hunkered down at an undisclosed location west of the Rockies.

“I’m not at liberty to say what state I live in,” he told MarketWatch via internet phone. “I live in the inland Northwest... more than two hours from any decent shopping. We could lock our gate and say goodbye to the world for two or three years and get along just fine.”

He’s on his ranch with a large family. “I’m not at liberty to discuss it,” says Rawles, a former U.S. Army Intelligence officer. “Let’s just say it is a very large family.”

This is a key moment for “preppers” or “survivalists” like Rawles. While the coronavirus has spooked markets into massive sell-offs and sent shoppers to stores like Costco COST, -2.72% to stock up on supplies, survivalists, who have often been ridiculed as extremists and conspiracy theorists, have been prepping for something like this for years. Even decades.


More at the link...
32 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Preppers are "bugging out" and "hunkering down" (Original Post) MineralMan Mar 2020 OP
Scary that this guy says he was Army "Intelligence", I would like to see that verified by someone. redstatebluegirl Mar 2020 #1
I heard that term was an oxymoron, at least back in the day... Ford_Prefect Mar 2020 #3
He was probably a janitor in the building or worked in the printing room. meadowlander Mar 2020 #18
Any time someone volunteers "I was in the Army. I can't talk about it." Aristus Mar 2020 #29
We're all preppers now. gibraltar72 Mar 2020 #2
Take off...no one will miss you if you don't come back. Ferrets are Cool Mar 2020 #4
The preppers have been praying for a crisis Buckeyeblue Mar 2020 #5
sounds like they are close to the Idaho border... samnsara Mar 2020 #6
My father bought land out in a rural area back in the early 70s. cwydro Mar 2020 #9
So this is one of the people who took ooky Mar 2020 #7
Probably not, actually. He already had his stash of toilet paper. MineralMan Mar 2020 #10
Yes, but ooky Mar 2020 #12
If they don't have a composting toilet Yeehah Mar 2020 #17
Quick, lock the gate and we will tell you when it is safe to come out. GemDigger Mar 2020 #8
'bout 25 to 30 years? (nt) stopdiggin Mar 2020 #11
That sounds about right. GemDigger Mar 2020 #20
+1 2naSalit Mar 2020 #13
People I wasn't hanging out with any way for 100 Alex? Brainfodder Mar 2020 #14
I wish they would stay there forever, BComplex Mar 2020 #15
The first rule of prepping is you don't talk about prepping! Marrah_Goodman Mar 2020 #16
We survived 1918-1920, we will survive this pandemic as well. roamer65 Mar 2020 #19
I can't even begin to imagine if the death rate on this was life 1917 Marrah_Goodman Mar 2020 #23
Out of 1.5B people, 50-80M died from it. roamer65 Mar 2020 #25
Scary, isn't it? Marrah_Goodman Mar 2020 #27
Yes. I think we are getting a small taste of their fear right now. roamer65 Mar 2020 #31
Probably referring to Central Idaho. nilesobek Mar 2020 #21
A house that I almost bought had a prepper bunker on the property Victor_c3 Mar 2020 #22
Is he also a doctor? mokawanis Mar 2020 #24
"Preppers" are idiots and psychopaths....... getagrip_already Mar 2020 #26
Yes, pretty much. MineralMan Mar 2020 #28
They 100% are obamanut2012 Mar 2020 #30
Everyone has their own view as to what is reasonable Marrah_Goodman Mar 2020 #32

meadowlander

(4,358 posts)
18. He was probably a janitor in the building or worked in the printing room.
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 04:10 PM
Mar 2020

That's how these things usually go.

If he actually was, why would be agree to "West of the Rockies" but "Inland Pacific Northwest" and "two hours from civilisation" being in the report? That's an identifiable and not enormous area of western Oregon.

Aristus

(66,096 posts)
29. Any time someone volunteers "I was in the Army. I can't talk about it."
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 11:12 AM
Mar 2020

I know they're full of shit. Trying to puff themselves up.

I can't tell you how happy I am that these fuckbrains are cutting themselves off from the above-average half of the human race.

Buckeyeblue

(5,491 posts)
5. The preppers have been praying for a crisis
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 02:25 PM
Mar 2020

They are gleeful about this. I personally would not want to run off and hide. In many ways it's the cowardly approach. I prefer to keep engaged. Be available to help. Be a witness to history. Running off to live in isolation with my extended family in what really amounts to some little tyrannical sect sounds, to me, like a fate worse than death.

samnsara

(17,570 posts)
6. sounds like they are close to the Idaho border...
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 02:26 PM
Mar 2020

...y'know I am pretty much always hunkering down just because of the nature of where I live. I am 12 miles from town on 5 acres of forest with a trout pond, a trout filled creek, deer and turkey everywhere. When I first moved up here our creek froze to the bottom of our POS log bridge. We had the foresight to park the cars on the road.. that night the creek broke loose, took our bridge and stranded us. Oh, and the road between town and us washed out too. Once the road got half way fixed hubby and I went back to work but for 4 MONTHS we had to park our cars on the road and hike over our neighbors foot bridge, thru the woods and back pack everything in AND out. From Feb until the Game Dept gave us permission to start a new bridge in June. We hiked in and out every day, carrying cat litter in and garbage out.

So im not a prepper but I have taken inventory of the resources on my land many, many times because we are prone to floods, heavy snows and forest fires. I have a generator and 3 freezers full of food and a Traeger grill...and case of wine.

 

cwydro

(51,308 posts)
9. My father bought land out in a rural area back in the early 70s.
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 02:41 PM
Mar 2020

He was convinced there’d be a “cataclysm” one day. Mom always laughed at him.

He built a bunker out there, filled it with supplies. Of course, they’re all gone...expired or used. I still have some of his dried apples he made himself. And I have enough containers of sugar to last me until I die lol. I’m not a big sugar user so I use it for hummingbird food. He had tons of sugar for some reason.

Meantime, I have that land, with apples, peaches, pears, and lovely feathered ladies who give me eggs. I grow veggies, and enjoy the wild blackberries. Wild turkey roam the land, deer and other animals. Not a hunter, but we have a rifle.

He was ahead of his time, miss ya dad. He even had toilet paper stored. But we still have an outhouse out there lol. TP never big on my list. We have a hose, not a bidet.

We have a generator too. I hear ya fellow country dweller. Stay safe.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
10. Probably not, actually. He already had his stash of toilet paper.
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 02:43 PM
Mar 2020

The toilet paper hoarders were just panicky people who hadn't made any preparations.

BTW, my wife just ordered some toilet paper online. It has been shipped.

I wasn't worried, really. We have enough for about three weeks on hand, pretty much all the time, since I buy 24-roll packs to save money.

But, she wanted some, so I suggested she look for "bamboo toilet paper" on Google. It's more expensive because it's "environmentally sound," and you can't get it at the grocery store. She found a place online that had plenty of it, so she ordered 4 six-packs, which shipped the next day. A little more expensive than the Scott 1000 sheet rolls we buy, but never mind.

She also ordered two 16-oz bottles of hand sanitizer from another online business. They were at the usual price, with no increase. Those shipped, too. Nobody would think to shop at that business. Hand sanitizer is not a big seller there.

I'm not going to identify the places or give links, but you can find all of that stuff on Google if you scroll down a couple of pages in the results from your search. The sources are smaller businesses who don't get as much traffic as the big places. But, the stuff is all available, if you look a little further.

You just have to look in places you didn't think about.

Forget Amazon when it's hard to find someone. Search for what you want on Google and then scroll down in search results. You can find anything, anytime, by doing that.

ooky

(8,889 posts)
12. Yes, but
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 03:05 PM
Mar 2020

I bet he still went and bought more. But I do agree with you, and thx for advice.

My regular buying habits have carried me through the stockouts. I include a 12 pack of TP often during regular trips to the grocery store, and usually have a couple more stored out in the garage. I had close to 3 packs in storage already when it suddenly disappeared from the shelves. I pretty much figured that production would catch up again long before using up what I have.

Brainfodder

(6,423 posts)
14. People I wasn't hanging out with any way for 100 Alex?
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 03:43 PM
Mar 2020

...so how can I miss them...

Rural PA is also loaded with guns, good luck if stuck there.
Pretty sure all the male kin back there are ready to go.
Big time hunters, probably a lot of venison steaks and sausage and such per person in freezers.
I am 2500+ miles away, out of luck.

Already subbing nuts for main protein, I'll manage.








roamer65

(36,739 posts)
19. We survived 1918-1920, we will survive this pandemic as well.
Sat Mar 28, 2020, 04:29 PM
Mar 2020

The Great Flu Pandemic of 1918 was FAR worse than this one and we made it through. We will persevere, grieve and never ever forget the loved ones we lose.

Marrah_Goodman

(1,586 posts)
23. I can't even begin to imagine if the death rate on this was life 1917
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 10:07 AM
Mar 2020

You are absolutely right. We will get through this. And maybe, just maybe, after all is said and done, people will change how they think about community, fairness, healthcare, etc.

roamer65

(36,739 posts)
25. Out of 1.5B people, 50-80M died from it.
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 10:36 AM
Mar 2020

33 pct of people caught it.

In today’s terms that would be 300-480M people.

roamer65

(36,739 posts)
31. Yes. I think we are getting a small taste of their fear right now.
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 01:25 PM
Mar 2020

They had no vaccines nor antibiotics.

nilesobek

(1,423 posts)
21. Probably referring to Central Idaho.
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 09:58 AM
Mar 2020

Just another ego trip.

So they bought land and tons of supplies and that, somehow, makes them "survivalists?" Sounds to me like running away from the world.

I know homeless hillbillies around these parts who literally run circles around these guys. The Preppers put up gates on National Forest land improperly and the homeless hillbillies break the locks and go where they want.

Truth is, there is nowhere left to run and hide. As a nation, we have to face our problems head on.

Victor_c3

(3,557 posts)
22. A house that I almost bought had a prepper bunker on the property
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 10:03 AM
Mar 2020

It’s was built during the Cuban missile crisis and intended to be able to survive a nuclear blast. The house was just outside of West Point, about 40 miles north of the city (NYC).

mokawanis

(4,434 posts)
24. Is he also a doctor?
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 10:08 AM
Mar 2020

What will he do if family members get sick enough that they require medical attention? Also, if things get so bad that they have to "say goodbye to the world for two or three years" I wonder what kind of world they'll be returning to?

getagrip_already

(14,250 posts)
26. "Preppers" are idiots and psychopaths.......
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 11:06 AM
Mar 2020

No, not people who keep reasonable supplies in the event of some disruption or disaster.

I'm talking about the full bore mental defectives who expect Armageddon. These mental midgets have spent their life savings arming themselves for a war that will never happen. They are likely holding people there against their will as slaves and breeding chambers, but that is just a guess.

We are better off with them off the reservation. They are really not capable of contributing to it.

They are more a risk to us than we are to them.

MineralMan

(146,192 posts)
28. Yes, pretty much.
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 11:10 AM
Mar 2020

I was just posting that information because I find it interesting. I think it's wonderful that they are removing themselves from society for the duration. I think they should stay there as long as their supplies hold out. That way, they won't be shooting people they think are coming for their stuff somewhere else.

Dangerous people they are, in general.

Marrah_Goodman

(1,586 posts)
32. Everyone has their own view as to what is reasonable
Sun Mar 29, 2020, 01:37 PM
Mar 2020

Preppers come from a huge variety of views from far left to far right and everything in between. The nutty loud right wing types are the ones that people hear about the most.

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