I am sure everyone has heard of the devastation hurricane Helene has caused. One such place is Asheville, NC, which I have been to several time before. I saw the videos in horror of the eateries and businesses that I fondly remember visiting when I was there. The level of damage is just insane.
I was affected by the hurricane as well, though nowhere near anything like that. I think I lost power for like about 90 minutes, and that's it.
While I don't consider myself a prepper, I do like some of the philosophies and ideas they come up with. I just dial it down to a much smaller scale, based on whatever realistic problems that I believe I may face. For example, the longest power outage I have suffered living where I am is 3 days. As such, I tend to have a week's worth of stockpile on hand at any given time. If I expect trouble in advance, like with hurricane Helene, I may double that.
Preppers have a saying regarding stockpiles, "Food, Water, Power, Fuel, and Ammo". Food, isn't too difficult, as it mostly consists of bulk buys of canned goods for me.
Water, however, is trickier. They are relatively heavy and bulky, and are also a higher priority than food. However, I find that typically a gallon worth of drinking water a day is enough for me to get by. So, for just little old me, it's still not an insurmountable task.
Power isn't difficult either, once I got myself a quality power bank that can easily charge my cellphone for up to a week and more.
Ammo is controversial as it depends on each individual's personal philosophy on such things, as well as whether it is even legal to own firearms to begin with, based on where you live. Suffice to say though, I stockpiled more than enough for my needs many years ago. In other words, the cost is $0 as I don't plan on buying any more anytime soon.
I personally don't worry about alternate currencies like gold coins or gold bars because, realistically, whatever businesses remain functioning will still accept cash and even credit cards if their reader is still working. If all else fails, literally the rest of the supplies can be used as barter. In fact, they're actually more useful in barter than gold, since you can't eat, drink, shoot, or charge your phone with gold.
If I am being completely honest, I was slightly disappointed that my area wasn't hit harder by the hurricane, especially after all the extra preparation I made for it. Of course, I still much prefer this than what happened to Asheville.
Also, I have to balance all this with being financially responsible. It is extremely easy to go overboard, and I know people online who do just that. I myself try to keep my costs at a minimum.
Finally, my view on um prepping is to remain flexible and open to suggestions. It is likely to evolve some more as time goes by, especially if I find more affordable options out there. For example, I know there are bulk dried foods and MREs that I have yet to try. Experimenting with them does open myself up to additional upfront costs, so I haven't gotten around to any of that just yet.
October 4th, 2024 at 11:08 pm 1728083309
I don’t think you need MRE or dried food - there is plenty of shelf stable food. The trick is to have a system to use/rolace it every 6 months or so.
October 4th, 2024 at 11:21 pm 1728084080
October 4th, 2024 at 11:50 pm 1728085841
October 5th, 2024 at 12:02 am 1728086575
October 5th, 2024 at 02:56 pm 1728140183
It's good to hear that you are safe and were only minorly impacted.
October 6th, 2024 at 07:18 pm 1728242283
Glad you are safe; my heart goes out to those who have sustained loss.