Here are some thoughts: It pays to be prepared. You might laugh at people who prep but what if they are right and you are wrong? Would it hurt for you to have some basic skills and supplies? Skills to include knowing how to sharpen a knife, how to fire a gun, how to forage for food, how to identify which local plants are edible, how to preserve and can food, how to live without electricity. This is by far an incomplete list. There are a lot of good books and resources online to help. Never be afraid to learn. Another useful skill is map reading to include land navigation. Some good things to have: a high-quality knife or 2, canning supplies, battery and solar powered radios, “survival” food, gardening supplies, a rifle and a hand gun, bow and arrows, fishing supplies, water filters, a good quality backpack, good quality walking/hiking shoes. Again, not a comprehensive list, just some things to get your brain engaged. It would also be useful to have some ham radio gear and a license so that you would know how to operate this gear. You could even go as far as to learn basic radio repair. I am sure you could come up with some method of producing electricity to supply modest needs such as solar panels, wind turbines and or water turbines. An additional skill that could be valuable is producing alcohol. Learn to make beer and wine as these would make great trading commodities.
Prepping
Adventures in Snowblowing
Anyone who lives/has lived in a northern climate knows the joys of having to clean up after a snow storm. Today I after I woke up, I had to do that. First we had to make a trip down to my mum-in-laws place ( a senior community) and clean out her car. The folks who run the place contract for someone to plow the main part of the lots and the sidewalks but they end up burying the residents’ cars, for the most part. Most of the residents don’t have the physical ability to clean their cars off and un bury them. We and other relatives of the residents go down there and clean up.
Once that was done we came back home. I had to purchase some shear pins the other day as 2 of them had snapped in my blower. I went to replace them and found a large rock wedged under the auger on one side. I was able to hammer the rock out of there and then I had to drive the broken pins out of the shaft. Once this was done, I got the blower started and did the clean up in my driveway and the walk up to the house. Gotta love winter!!
Prepping?
More and more, people are stocking up on food and emergency supplies. There is a huge market for emergency rations and other items. I wonder a few things. Are people keeping track of expiration dates? Are they buying rations that are already out of date? When their 2 weeks or 2 months of food does run out when the shtf, what are they going to do? Do they know how to forage? Do they know how to grow their own food? Can they skin and butcher the animal they just shot? Do they know how to operate that radio they have tucked away for the great breakdown? Can they protect their family and food supply from gangs of people who will be wandering around looking for victims?
These are legitimate questions and the time to think about them is now.
Nature, Radio, and Me 