What got me into prepping? Here is a clue…
Before I made a commitment to become better-prepared, I was already familiar with many of its concepts and practices. As an avid hiker, camper, and mountain biker, being prepared while out in the wilderness was second-nature to me already. I grew-up in Minnesota too, so I knew how to survive in cold weather and changing conditions. My dad, uncles, and grandpa taught me firecraft during many family outings as well. So I had a good starting point, but had no coherent ideas about prepping until just a few years ago.
There were three events that provided the impetus for becoming a prepper. While they were scattered over almost a decade, the cumulative effect was to wake me up from my relative complacency and start taking greater ownership of my life.
- The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks – This event demonstrated how devastating a terrorist attack could be on a largely unprepared civilian population. In an instant, thousands of people working in offices in DC and NYC went from their daily routine to a fight for survival. 9/11 exposed a lot of holes in the disaster plans of both first responders and civilians, including my own.
- Hurricane Katrina – Take a powerful hurricane, combine it with corrupt/inept local government and you have a recipe for a catastrophe. Even though there were warnings for years about a hurricane striking New Orleans, both governments and citizens did not do an adequate job in getting ready. The result was needless suffering and loss because of poor planning. This also demonstrated the folly of putting one’s trust in incompetent governments and their leaders.
- A local power outage – What really motivated me was a power outage during the summer of 2011. Over a third of Mesa was without power, including the company I worked for and my house. It took me over 40 minutes just to get out of the parking lot where I worked as me and 4,500 of my coworkers were trying to leave at the same time. After I got home, there was no power for the air conditioning but even worse, none for the fans that circulated the air. The temperature gradually rose and the air remained stagnant so it seemed warmer than it was. I realized then that I wasn’t ready for a prolonged power outage during the summer.
After these events, I decided to learn more about preparation by researching the subject on my own. I also reached-out to a long-time friend who had recently gotten into prepping as well. Kevin Creighton was a great help in getting started and provided assistance in finding additional resources that enabled me to improve my understanding. Over time, both the breadth and depth of my knowledge deepened, leading to actions which improved my level of preparation.
I have often said that preparation is an ongoing process that is never really done. Over time, our plans and prepping activities evolve along with the items we have in our possession. The same holds true for the knowledge and skills we obtain that improve our preparedness. It is an ongoing journey, which started for me when the power went out. Interesting how illuminating darkness can be sometimes.