The Dark Side of Prepping

You’ve prepared for the worst, you have food, water, weapons, bug out bags, and you’ve got the knowledge and fortitude to pull your family through the worst of times.  It all comes with a feeling of comfort, like buying a life insurance policy, that you have done everything possible to give your family a future.  There is just one nagging question that hides in the back of many preppers minds, a question that we really don’t want to bring to light, but we must.

That question is, Who knows about your food and water storage, and can you really trust them?

It may be easy to say, “Yes, I trust them”, but you may need to think about it a little longer.  Take a deeper look at what it really means.

First, think about how many people have been to your home (or prepping location), and have actually seen your storage supplies.  How many is it?  5? 10? 20?  More?  Whatever the number is, make note of it.

Now, think about how many people you have told (or eluded to) about your prepping lifestyle.  They may not have seen your supplies in person, but they know that you are a prepper and that you probably have food and water stored away.  Or maybe you haven’t told them directly, but have had conversations that found you on the side of defending the prepper lifestyle (which may mean to most non-preppers that you are one of “those doomsday preppers”, which in turn means that you probably have food and water stored somewhere).  How many people fall into this category?  How many people at least suspect that you may have a pantry full of food?  Think about it, and make note of that number also.

Add those numbers up.  Is it more than you thought?  (It usually is.)

And now, the really unnerving part, the part that you have no control over….when you look at how many people know about, or at least suspect that you have supplies, you have to ask yourself, “How many people have THEY TOLD that I don’t know about?”

It all seems very paranoid, but we need to remember that people will stop at nothing to provide for their families, especially in a disaster situation.  A man who is watching his wife and children starve to death will remember every single place he has ever heard of that may have food and think, “Hey, Joe Smith is one of those Prepper People, he probably has plenty of food”, and come a knocking on your door.  He may be nice at first, pleading for help, but remember that he may also be willing to lie, cheat and kill to get at your supplies.

What would you do?  Would you give away food that your own family may need in a not-so-distant future?  And if you do give away food, are you prepared for others to arrive at your doorstep looking for a handout?  Word travels fast when a person’s life (and the lives of his/her children) is on the line.

What if you turn him away, but he doesn’t take NO for an answer?  Are you willing to pull the trigger on someone that is not a “bad” person, but is only trying to do the same thing that you are doing, keeping your family alive?  If you are his last hope of feeding his family, it may very well come to that.

What if it’s someone you know?  A friend or neighbor, or even an uncle or cousin?  Will you invite them in, or will you turn them away?  If you have a year’s worth of food stored for you and  your family, each additional person that you decide to feed makes a drastic cut in that year’s time period.  Are you willing to risk your family’s lives for a friend?  Or will you be Hardcore Harry and tell them all, “You didn’t bother to prepare, it’s not my fault you’re stupid and and now you’re going to die!”

It’s a difficult thing to think about.  Most people want to be nice and help their fellow man, but where will you draw the line between being nice and keeping your family alive?

It is, most definitely, the darker side of prepping.

By SHTF Survival Prepper