Doomsday Preppers on NatGeo part deux

There is a good article over on AmericanPreppersNetwork by Phil Burns that articulates (better?) than what I was talking about a few days ago here on my site. We are both talking in the same vein when it comes to the show in general. How NatGeo has made some, if not all the preppers as extreme. Mr Burns also references a NY Times article in his blog that states “What they want is a license to open fire”.

I can honestly say not much offends me as I am a grown adult with a pretty thick skin after many years of military service and having spent allot of time tossing a fair amount of “insults” back and forth with my fellow crew members and team members over the years. Having said that, I do feel the need to comment about that statement “What they want is a license to open fire”.

When I here something come from the so called “main stream media” or anyone for that matter such as those made in statements just falls back to my category that I use for close minded people, ignorant. The attitude taken, I am smarter than you, I make more money than you, and if it where not for my extraordinary articulate speech and free thinking abilities you (you being just an average Joe)  just would not be able to make your own decisions without my input into your life. Talk about condescending and elitist. Really?

I dunno maybe it does bother me to some extent that there are people out in the world hiding behind the title of journalist that feel the only part of the constitution that pertains to them is the 1st amendment, all the other amendments are subject to personal interpretation or to be ignored in entirety. People that make statements such as “What they want is a license to open fire” are of the type that feels the constitution is out dated and needs to be scrapped or rewritten (don’t believe me? goggle it) and those that “cling” to the original document are in effect ignorant themselves.

Prepping can be compared to any other activity humans do. Let me give an example: being a mechanic and owing your own repair shop (ok, maybe not the best example) you have almost every tool and gadget to work on and repair vehicles, does that make you a tool extremist? By the general definition it does www.m-w.com, any hoarder, or hobbyist could be considered an extremist. I had a high school shop teacher that lives and breathed model railroads. Extremist? When I lived in Texas my neighbor mowed his lawn twice a week! best lawn on the block by far! Was he extreme? Was my grandmother an extremist when she had a garden and canned most of her vegetables, raising chickens, ducks and geese during the depression to help her family survive? I never considered her extreme in her views on preparing food for next week or next year.

Just because a person owns a firearm are they are looking for a license to open fire? In the broad stroke of a brush we can label anyone or thing as an extremist. We should beware of using those labels before we go down that road, George Orwell stories comes to mind if we do.

I think the majority can all agree that true extremist should be left to what Merriam Webster has defined, Nazi’s, Stalinism, Communism, or internally Michael McVey, Black Panthers, etc. as viewed through an American prism.

New toy, Condor plate carrier

I am just going to show a few pics now and will be a more in depth review later on once I get the entire kit assembled.

What is it? This is a Condor plate carrier $90 from LA Police Gear

Front                                                                                                                             Back

Field towel

Here is a field towel that I use well, in the field! It is more like a cross between a chamois and a microfiber material. Folds up nicely into a 4×6 little mesh pouch that can double as  something to put your shave kit in, when not using it for the towel itself. Nice thing about these types of towels is that they dry very quickly, and takes up a very small space in your bag. Total this towel is 36×40″ ? I think it was $19 at the PX and came in two colors, sage green and coyote brown. If I wanted I could cut this in half and still have two large towels to dry off with. The product came in four sizes, small, medium, and large and extra large. When I bought mine they only had the large and XL available.

Something to think about for your bug out bag.

Doomsday Preppers on NatGeo

I have been watching the series Doomsday Preppers with some interest the last few weeks and have given some thought about it all. For the most part I think NatGeo initially portrayed most of the participants as kind of some flakes, border line extreme. But as the episodes have progressed they (being NatGeo) have kind of toned down a bit on their portrayals as they maybe realized that not all are living or dwelling on the fringe . I say “kind of” because inevitably at least one section of the show every week highlights one person or group that are kind of on the fringe.  I think some of these fringe participants are just naive in their thought process about prepping.

Take the seed guy for instance. Kind of strange fellow, and the whole scene about him getting jumped on a rural road because he thought the some guys where trying get his seeds. I think there is a back story there that has been left unsaid. Who knows? And on the same episode the really big guy running around his farm at night with a shotgun and all his kit on. He later was found unstable and the “government” confiscated his firearms. I have done a cursory watch of a couple of his YouTube videos, but not delved into them deeply to see if the information provided is accurate.

For the most part I have gleaned a few ideas from the show, like needing a HAM radio, stocking more water, and just preparing more overall. At the end of each mini segment they give the “experts advice” from a company called PRACTICAL PREPPERS: Top Products, Retreat Consultation I have not really read into the website but they are a consultant for a Prepper. Kind of a good idea if you feel you need another set of eyes to look at what you have. Maybe not a good idea if you are worried about OPSEC. Again, having not read into the website I don’t know what the confidentiality clauses are if there are any.

Like anything I read, watch on the TV, see on YouTube I keep a jaundice eye towards the information presented until I can follow up with more information and thought.