The never-ending hysteria over a Doomsday cometh has sparked a growing movement of people called "preppers," who prepare for the end of the world as we know it -- and in some cases, make a profit.

Tim Ralston, a married father of two from Arizona, is one such "prepper."

"There's a lot of different things that could happen," Ralston said. "For me, I look at prepping as kind of like insurance. You have car insurance, health insurance, life insurance."
Call it Apocalypse insurance. Ralston turned his family's two-car garage into a staging area. Inside is a trailer, which he keeps packed and ready to go at all times, stockpiles of freeze-dried food, including cartons of canned chicken with a shelf life of 15 years, survival gear, such as a system for purifying polluted water, first aid kits and lots of weapons and ammunition. His son has his own AK-47.
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Ralston is just one of several people featured on National Geographic's upcoming series, "Doomsday Preppers," which premieres on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 9 p.m. ET
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Last year, "Nightline" profiled Robert Vicino, a real estate agent in the process of converting a Cold War bunker in the Mojave desert into a luxury modern shelter with several condo units for sale.
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It will be fortified against the unthinkable, he said, complete with a hospital and a movie theater. At $50,000 per person, and long before it's even done, the shelter is already almost sold out.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/doomsday-2012-preppers-prepare-worst-turn-profit/story?id=15523533#.TzDwJeT4WSo
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Dang!  I'd better get busy and start preparing for what-ever comes down the pike. :-\ :-[ :(

Like Y2K, it will never happen, but riots in the city when and if there is an economic collapse, that's a different scenario.
But people like this will be leaps and bounds ahead of the crowd.

Were nearly done preparing, but were doing it because libs have screwed up things so bad, that the potential for collapse is too risky to ignore.

Quote from: Solar on February 07, 2012, 06:28:38 AM
Like Y2K, it will never happen, but riots in the city when and if there is an economic collapse, that's a different scenario.
But people like this will be leaps and bounds ahead of the crowd.

Were nearly done preparing, but were doing it because libs have screwed up things so bad, that the potential for collapse is too risky to ignore.

It not Doomsday I am set for lol it is all about survival.  Be it economic collapse or some dam fool that think he need what I have.   I live between 4 volcano and in a earthquake zone. 

Now call me an old fool,  but I have been through 4 earthquakes and one volcano eruption within 65 miles of me.  I will go with the old Boy Scout saying.  "Be prepared."

Quote from: walkstall on February 07, 2012, 08:02:13 AM

It not Doomsday I am set for lol it is all about survival.  Be it economic collapse or some dam fool that think he need what I have.   I live between 4 volcano and in a earthquake zone. 

Now call me an old fool,  but I have been through 4 earthquakes and one volcano eruption within 65 miles of me.  I will go with the old Boy Scout saying.  "Be prepared."

Pretty much the same here, I'm not so much worried about quakes and volcanoes affecting me, its those effected by them that concerns me, seeing how most of them will head my direction if and when they occur.
Bay area flat landers will be heading to the mountains to escape the carnage left behind.
Then of course there is always the issue of shortages from a collapse of infrastructure.
Food, water and fuel will be hard to come by.

I do keep a reserve supply of food and medicine. You never know these days and someone else said it....I can see a scenario where someone might try to take what you have.  I also have plenty of amunition.  I bought it when there was talk of making it too expensive to buy.

I remember well the riots in the inner cities after the Martin Luther King assassination. Much of the inner city infrastructure was destroyed. Other cities went up in smoke when the population became dissatisfied for one reason or another. Perceptions of racial injustice and police brutality were quoted as the causes.

For no other reason then I know it could happen, I want to be prepared if it happens.

Read a fictional book recently by Tom Clancy Executive Orders which presented a case where Iran slipped 20 agents into the US with Biologic Weapons and how the government shut the country down. Long read but worth it in my opinion.

Quote from: Possumpoint on February 08, 2012, 04:43:49 AM
I remember well the riots in the inner cities after the Martin Luther King assassination. Much of the inner city infrastructure was destroyed. Other cities went up in smoke when the population became dissatisfied for one reason or another. Perceptions of racial injustice and police brutality were quoted as the causes.

For no other reason then I know it could happen, I want to be prepared if it happens.

Read a fictional book recently by Tom Clancy Executive Orders which presented a case where Iran slipped 20 agents into the US with Biologic Weapons and how the government shut the country down. Long read but worth it in my opinion.

PP you're right, even though its fiction, 20 guys could easily devastate our economy and infrastructure, we have thousands of open reservoirs, major bridges linking communities, an open food supply, attacking any number of these simultaneously could strike terror in many city people and bring things to a stop.

In Ca we have high tension power lines carrying power from Canada to the Mexican border, take out one tower and you could black out the entire Western US, possibly collapse the entire grid.

I don't want to give anyone ideas, but it would be so easy to bring the country to its knees.
When you think about it, why are we focusing on air travel and not locking down the border?

Blowing up a plane is so yesterday, if they really want to create panic, there are so many easier ways to do it and being prepared is the best way to weather it.
People may think were paranoid, but there is nothing nutty about being prepared for an emergency, most people have enough to sustain them for three days in their home, most catastrophes last well beyond three days.

I watched the two hours of the National Geographic presentation of the Preppers last night. I was left with the impression that the whole notion and presentation was holding the need for such in ridicule. After each segment the un-named experts would rate the preparations made and give their opinion on how likely the scenario each person was preparing for was to happen.

Did have my memory refreshed about the damage a massive solar flare made to the telegraph systems worldwide back in the 1800's. That there is the possibility of that happening in modern times with our dependence on everything electronic.

Quote from: Possumpoint on February 08, 2012, 07:38:03 AM
I watched the two hours of the National Geographic presentation of the Preppers last night. I was left with the impression that the whole notion and presentation was holding the need for such in ridicule. After each segment the un-named experts would rate the preparations made and give their opinion on how likely the scenario each person was preparing for was to happen.

Did have my memory refreshed about the damage a massive solar flare made to the telegraph systems worldwide back in the 1800's. That there is the possibility of that happening in modern times with our dependence on everything electronic.

I was just reading about that here.
http://yourlife.usatoday.com/health/story/2012-02-06/Doomsday-Preppers-highlights-extreme-survival-techniques/52993468/1

What I find interesting, is if you were to ask each of these co called experts if they wore a seat belt or had insurance, they would all say yes, yet they judge others on their idea of insurance?

I did a thread on the solar storm of the 19 century, one today would be devastating, yet its a given one is coming and we will probably be around to see it.
Whether its climate or the sun, everything cycles.

I haven't watched the program, but this 'prepper' really has it together.
:grin:

]http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/meet-the-preppers-pictures/#/david-sarti_46887_600x450.jpg]

Quote from: MAC Man on February 09, 2012, 07:58:17 AM
I haven't watched the program, but this 'prepper' really has it together.
:grin:

]http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/meet-the-preppers-pictures/#/david-sarti_46887_600x450.jpg]

They all have their reasons and to them valid ones, though I think some are silly, like a polar shift, but whatever the reason, it never hurts to have more than a few weeks of supplies on hand.

Me, I'm just prepping for higher everything costs, from food to fuel, it could all get real expensive, real quick.

Quote from: Solar on February 09, 2012, 08:38:28 AM
They all have their reasons and to them valid ones, though I think some are silly, like a polar shift, but whatever the reason, it never hurts to have more than a few weeks of supplies on hand.

Me, I'm just prepping for higher everything costs, from food to fuel, it could all get real expensive, real quick.

Oh, I agree with you. I'm just glad that I was able to plan ahead and be fortunate enough to not have to live anywhere near, or in, a 'metropolitan area'.

Quote from: MAC Man on February 09, 2012, 03:31:22 PM
Oh, I agree with you. I'm just glad that I was able to plan ahead and be fortunate enough to not have to live anywhere near, or in, a 'metropolitan area'.

I never planned on being a prepper, it just turned out that way.
I live so rural, that a trip to Sam's club is 50 miles through the mountains and the price of fuel made it a bit expensive to drive weekly.

So in order to save time and money, we started stocking up on months of canned goods and other stuff that keeps a long time.
Right now, we could easily go two months without leaving the property, though I'd miss my gallon of milk everyday, though I do have powered milk, it just isn't the same.
We are shooting for a years supply of rations, but mostly to offset inflation when it hits next year.
We have at least 9 months of fuel at the moment and two years of propane if we go easy on it.

Quote from: Solar on February 09, 2012, 03:53:02 PM
I never planned on being a prepper, it just turned out that way.
I live so rural, that a trip to Sam's club is 50 miles through the mountains and the price of fuel made it a bit expensive to drive weekly.

So in order to save time and money, we started stocking up on months of canned goods and other stuff that keeps a long time.
Right now, we could easily go two months without leaving the property, though I'd miss my gallon of milk everyday, though I do have powered milk, it just isn't the same.
We are shooting for a years supply of rations, but mostly to offset inflation when it hits next year.
We have at least 9 months of fuel at the moment and two years of propane if we go easy on it.

You're VERY fortunate to be in such a position as you are. I wish I could be as rural as you are.

We all have to make do with what we can.

Quote from: MAC Man on February 09, 2012, 06:50:42 PM
You're VERY fortunate to be in such a position as you are. I wish I could be as rural as you are.

We all have to make do with what we can.

You could call it luck, but, (and I'm not Religious in the slightest) I accredit all of it to god.
I only listened to what he had to say and did as suggested, the rest literally fell into place, it wasn't work at all, but a fun ride.
Seriously,I just asked what's next and like a miracle, everything fell into my lap.
God knows I hate two things, Libs and Religion... :grin: