Too Much, Too Fast?

Stop, Slow Down, Or Keep On Truckin'?

I was talking to an acquaintance the other day.  This guy began prepping in earnest within the past two years.  Numerous guns, thousands of rounds of ammo (along with training and practice), Berkey filters, Mylar lined buckets of wheat and rice, cases of freeze dried #10 cans, communications gear, precious metals, water storage, hygiene items, fishing equipment, generator, stored fuel, all stored up and ready to go.  He is currently looking for a CONEX box to keep a car and electronic equipment stored in as mitigation for an EMP attack or solar storm.

If he would listen to my advice, I'd offer three things...

1. Move-or at least get a BOL a couple of hours outside of town.  This guy lives with his family in a very densely populated, mega subdivision.  It is the "right" address for the young up-and-comers in this area.  In a social breakdown, it will be near the top of the list for every thug, gang, and general ne'er-do-well for a 30 mile radius.  If/when a serious pandemic hits, there is no way that he and his family could be self sustaining in that location for more a week or two, and I know that a microscopic number of his neighbors are prepared, so separation from the diseased and infected will be nearly impossible.
2. Start eating the stored food.  He has cases of long-term storage food, and several weeks worth of "regular" canned and dried goods in the pantry.  The family eats and rotates the pantry foods, but to my knowledge they don't ever use any of the LTS foods.  I would encourage him to use it for a couple of reasons... first, to know how to cook with it and what foods they like and don't like; second, because they have three young children who I doubt will be easy to satisfy with the "new" and "unusual" LTS foods in a highly stressful SHTF situation.
3. Slow down.  He reminds me of where I was in 1998-1999 getting ready for Y2K.  Except he is a successful businessman with a family.  Financially, I'm not concerned if he wants to spend as much money as he does, because doing so is not driving him into debt or taking food out of his childrens' mouths.  But I am concerned about him losing focus or motivation.  If he keeps prepping full speed ahead, and "the big one" doesn't come, he's likely to turn his energy elsewhere and lose interest in prepping.  When that day comes, I hope I am standing by with a wad of cash, because I bet I can take a lot of it off of his hands for a whole lot less than what he bought it for.

Sometimes, you just need to slow down, go for a Sunday drive, and turn off the worry.


Tropical Storm Beryl

She's getting ready to make landfall near the Florida/Georgia border.  She'll then likely hug the coast up past the Outer Banks of North Carolina before heading out to see.  If you are in or near her path, please keep your NOAA Weather Alert radio turned on and heed the warnings


Zombie Apocalypse

Did you catch this story out of Miami?  Wow!