Anybody here a "prepper"? (Bangor, Passadumkeag: sale, homes, utilities)

[namder1]

I've been watching the series on tv. Other than some extreme gun stuff it kind of reminds me of living in Maine and always having extras stashed away, just for a rainy day.....

[Trailmonkey]

Fine idea, especially if the weather, damaged bridges, or whatever else you can think of may happen. However, to advertise it on a national tv show? Doesn't seem that bright to me...

[daydreamin71]

It does strike me as being somewhat like living in a place like Maine. We've been planning for our eventual move (right now Maine is still the top contender, but we're looking at Rocky Mtn states too), and we're already making a list of things we need to stock up on or have handy, pretty much just in case of winter storms and such.

[mainebrokerman]

I was discussing a theme for a grocery store flyer the other day, and we joked about an "Armageddon" sale with a picture of the mayan calander, having a grocery case lot sale
"stock up now before the world comes to an end" or "before the dollar collapses"

the y 2 k fear was also real (the computers would shut down causing chaos)
and many folks stocked up on groceries


As a young man- I often thought I should build an underground bunker in the side of a hill way out in the sticks "just in case" id bunker up ammo and dried food

however, the older I got, Im thinking it wont matter- if people are desperate, or if ever a matter of food survival, most folks will be shooting each other

the poor amish folks(who would be some of the very few that could sustain a catastrophe) wont last a week-they'd get robbed at gun-point.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Contrary to popular belief, many Amish are well armed. Maybe you were thinking of Quakers. Don't make the mistake of confusing the two if considering thievery.

City-data has a good forum on preparedness:

https://www.city-data.com/forum/self-...-preparedness/

Many Mainers are well prepared for any eventuality. They just don't describe themselves as "preppers". Self sufficiency goes back many generations in Maine. I have a friend whose family has been in Maine since 1634.

[retiredtinbender]

I remember when prepping" was simply called "putting up" whatever. Now it takes on a whole new, paranoid-sensed, meaning. Shame, really. I suppose it could have gone spastic back in the 50/60's with the Cold War and "Duck and cover" and grew from there.

[daydreamin71]

If you all will humor my naive question: Specific to being prepared in Maine is there a rule of thumb number of days' worth of supplies to have on hand, based on your experience living there? I'm thinking specifically your garden variety bad weather and power outages not anything Mayan calendar or polar shift related!

[Northern Maine Land Man]

We had an ice storm back in 98 when some people were without power for up to 3 weeks. Those who were prepared were not inconvenienced in any way. The Maine Militia had a kitchen set up and there was a very large soup kettle on a stove. It started as beef stew with vegetables and potatoes. Over time it also contained venison and moose meat. Careful study showed corn, carrots, lima beans, lentils, barley, green beans wax beans, soldier beans, yellow eye beans, hamburger, sirloin tips, macaroni and about anything you would find in a stew. Measures were taken to prevent turnips in there, but some might have been snuck in. It was called "miracle soup" because people ate from that kettle for three weeks and it never went empty.

WVOM out of Bangor was on the air 24 hours a day with local programming and messages from people offering their homes to neighbors. There was no power to the WVOM transmitter. Militia members brought 100 pound propane tanks up Passadumkeag Mountain to the transmitter to keep the generator running. When the governor found out who was taking the propane up the mountain he had the National Guard fly large sling loads up the mountain with helicopters. That was a relief.

One lady called in to WVOM. She had just taken a loaf of bread out of the oven and was having a cup of tea while watching the birds at the bird feeder. She volunteered to be the very last one in Maine to be reconnected to power. She was prepared for just such a situation.

Yup. Miracle soup. Maine people taking care of Maine people. The militia is us, just as it was in 1775.

[beltrams]

Originally Posted by retiredtinbender

I remember when prepping" was simply called "putting up" whatever. Now it takes on a whole new, paranoid-sensed, meaning. Shame, really. I suppose it could have gone spastic back in the 50/60's with the Cold War and "Duck and cover" and grew from there.

I agree.

I recall that my grandparents, all born around 1900, had stuff put by. My father's parents, even though they lived near the city, had quite a supply down in a store room in the corner of the basement.

Neither of my parents' families, however, ever owned any firearms that I ever saw.

At some point, prepping got changed into a subversive activity to be made fun of, especially by some members of the media and by, if I may so, by people of a more liberal persuasion. We began to be spoon fed images and derogatory stories of politically ultra-conservative preppers, all armed to the teeth, holed up in some remote, Idaho cabin and all the while, it was suggested that these preparation activities were bad, only to be partaken by people who were waiting for the (good, liberal) government to fail.

Instead, voices told us to relax. The answer to preparation, we have been told, was in collective, government action.

Well yes, people helping other people is a key part of preparation, but so is personally preparing for whatever emergency disrupts the flow of food, utilities, travel, and whatnot for however many days and weeks that it might be disrupted. Even some in government circles, authorities have started pushing this idea of self-preparation. My mother's town in MA has repeatedly conducted mailings, reminding townsfolk of the emergency resources the town has available, but said flyers have also laid out in detail, ideas for citizens themselves to prepare, including the kinds and amounts of dry food to stockpile, how to stockpile water, how to filter and treat nearby surface water, what to keep in a easy to access safe place in case one needs to leave quickly (in prepper's language - a bug out bag), and so on.

I even recall seeing some fairly recent federal government FEMA material, that told people it was wise to put things by and prepare, to help out not just their family, but to relieve the burden on government so that it could focus more of its help on others not so well prepared.

That a show such as Preppers even exists (I haven't watched it myself), suggests that national attitudes perhaps are experiencing a welcome return to a little more sanity on the issue, even if people are still nervously joking about the guns and ammo side of the story.

As for myself, however, I have to say that I am not as "prepared" in terms of amounts of dry food on hand, first aid supplies, and so on, as I used to be. I should fix that, but have been lazy. Shame on me. I'll be shopping and collecting stuff up soon again.

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by daydreamin71

If you all will humor my naive question: Specific to being prepared in Maine is there a rule of thumb number of days' worth of supplies to have on hand, based on your experience living there? I'm thinking specifically your garden variety bad weather and power outages not anything Mayan calendar or polar shift related!

If you're out in the countryside, having four or five days worth of food and water and whatnot on hand is just normal. A lot of folks have small generators to keep the freezers and fridges and well pumps operating. I have one out in the garage and used it winter before last when we lost power here in town for four days. I had a regular route carting it around to the neighbors so they could run their freezers and furnaces for an hour or two each day.

During the big Ice Storm of 1998 some places were without power for up to two weeks, but they were able to get out to stores and stuff for supplies on a regular basis.

Back in 1981 I read a story on survivalists in Maine in the Maine Times, and one of the quotes was "This is Maine. Everyone I know is a survivalist." He didn't mean that we were all sitting on cases of tuna fish and cleaning our AK-47s, but that there's a common attitude in Maine of "gettin' by" and having supplies on hand for emergencies.