Realisation

[Pete Grey]

It takes quite some time and imagination to factor into your preps the effects of age.

I remember one day walking more than 20 miles in Scotland (the Lairig Ghru) with full camping gear, it was fairly hard day but quite manageable.

What i didn’t remember until looking through photos the other day was it was 40 years ago, yes 40 years.

Someone said to me once, every 10 years there is marked physical deterioration in us, to which i replied “bo**ocks”, but he was right.

If it ever comes to the need to bug out on foot with even a medium pack, say under 20 pounds, on a good day i might make 7 or 8 miles, my wife only half that carrying just 4 or 5 pounds. We are both in our 70s but are quite fit, with no serious medical issues.

So walking is out, unless it’s a life threatening situation. We will keep our bags packed and concentrate on just getting to the nearest point of safety we have reconnoitred (2 1/2 miles) and then consider all the options.

If we do need to get to our preferred BOL it will have to by vehicle, the camper van by choice otherwise we bug in.

[CharlesHarris]

As MB can also attest, it becomes painfully apparent as you near age 70.

[Straight Shooter]

As i keep on saying Pete ....old age is a sly sneaky bastard ! always creeping up to ambush you at every opportunity ...especially when your not looking , always throwing something down in front of you ....just to piss you off.....and side menu stuff ...now before i fart "am i feeling lucky ?) projects out of my brain .....putting socks on and grunting like a pig......the other day we had an appointment at the health centre , we were next to check in ...as we stood there the guy in front let rip with a multi volley of farts ....not unlike a AK47 as we both take a step back to avoid the incoming ....my prepper head started to evaluate the incident and off my mind went......could i invent a fart silencer...hum....then i started to hatch a prototype in my head.....i would need a tube from a toilet roll , some foam for a filter, a methane censor and micro switch ,a fan of a old computor motherboard , two triple A batteries and a can of air freshener with a flexi tube about 18" long...anyway i am well into the project ....the silencer is now down to D flat ....i know i can do better !.....smells of the Meadow...comes in a bit late.....i am refitting the censor to the front end to compensate ..instead of the exhaust end ...the only thing to solve now is how to disguise the bulge and not walking like John Wayne ......i know what you'r thinking ...what a incredible guy i am ....always prepping , always making things better around the homestead and best of all sharing it ALL with us....yeah i know !

[Mortblanc]

I am one of those unfortunates that began the deterioration early. I suffered my first herniated disk at age 38. I still remember the date, it was 8 November. I woke up that morning a whole healthy human and by dark I was an invalid curled up in the fetal position.

For the past 30 years pain and the limitations I face have been priority number 1 in prep planning. There is not going to be any pack carrying, for several reasons. There is not going to be any long distance walking. I will not take the risk of suffering a beating, it is not an option if I can not talk my way out of something. My limitations have made me the grizzled old man that will shoot you if you are a threat and walk away, slowly.

30 years of pain, 4 back surgeries countless useless PT sessions and nearly punching out one doctor who asked me if I had tried visualization and meditation as pain control, I live a life on a tightrope wondering what the next thing that starts the pain will be. A year ago it was trying to replace the brake lines on the Jeep, the year before a slip in the back garden that wiped me out for three months.

Now I sit here waiting for the approval of a spinal implant stimulator. I will have embraced the world of the cyborg.

But not as much as one of my friends; both rotator cups, one hip, both knees, two heart valves, a pacemaker, and an insulin pump. So I could be worse!

My BOL is where I live. It is situated so that I can maintain some foraging activity, access water, Keep warm, and maintain security even if I am further incapacitated. Everything is on one floor, no steps, 360% view all around from inside, garden spot near the house. I could take care of myself even in a wheel chair if necessary.

I did have to let my chickens go due to not being able to get up and down the steep hill to tend them during winter three years back. I was down to only one anyway. The coyotes and raccoons were just to much for them to survive in this area. I do miss having them, and the free range eggs.

But this is part of the survival scenerio. Everyone wants to plan and train like they are at the moment thy turn 30. In a real survival situation everyone is not 30, there will be individuals with broken arms and legs, collapsed lungs, head injuries, all trying to climb piles of rubble, dodge the bad guys, find food, and control the constant pain they suffer. AND THAT IS IN YOUR BOL!

Out in the real world it will really be rough!

The one thing that helps is embracing the limitations and acknowledging they are present. You are no longer 30, do not try to train like you are 30. Train and prepare as a 70 year old.

My first real wake up call was back in the Y2K era. I had always been a prepper and I thought I should upgrade and inventory my stocks. I realized that my 30 year shelf life foods were expired!

Then I had to do some math. Was I going to outlast another 30 year batch? Chances were I would not. I turned to more canned goods and rotate them out through the pantry. The long term foods I now keep are specific things that will make my diet more pleasant. Powdered eggs the good ones, and freeze dried meats to add a table spoon at a time to stews to cover the flavor of blackbirds and turtles.

"Survival" in a perfect circumstances is not survival, it is just another experience.

You are not really in a survival situation until things have gone, as you Brits put it, pear shaped.

Most of old farts start the effort pear shaped.

[Straight Shooter]

The one sil once said to me ....Why are you still prepping ? you are getting on a bit..you should be enjoying yourself and not worrying about stuff....i do not worry at all ....i just react to what go's on around me i reply.....nice boy but as thick as a bag of mallets, so is prepping a young mans pursuit ? as i look back , i'v never been anything else.....i have followed the road in some shape or form .....most of my life but stepped up a few gears over the past ten years without doubt.

As Mort points out quite plainly (and anyone else of similar age) old age does not come by itself , its the mileage that gets to you .... we must all embrace it and apply ourselves to it , and except the irreversible process which we can do nothing about anyway ......i am lucky ...i do not have any pain issues ....well not physical ....just wallet ones .....as for humping to the BOL .....unless i can drive there i will be staying put.....as Pete points out Realisation like old age is a sly bastard.

[Pete Grey]

Thanks guys i’m glad to know us oldies are all of the same opinions on “the sly sneaky bastard”.

Thankfully with age comes wisdom. We’ve all been through the uncertainty of the cold war and the cuban crisis, when we first started to keep a little extra food, water sterilising tablets, candles etc, after all our parents went through WW2 and had told us what we would need to stock up on.

Then after the breakup of the soviet bloc and the fall of the Berlin wall we became a little complacent, and let things slide.

In the UK we are lucky with our weather, no hurricanes, tsunamis bringing devastation, 2 or 3 bad storms each winter, some severe flooding but not normally much loss of life thank goodness, so we have never had to prepare for bad weather on a large scale.

Now with terrorism, civil war in the middle east, military buildup in Russia and China the old threats are back.

So over last 10 or 12 years we’ve been increasing our preps, it’s helped us be thrifty during the financial crisis, we bought things that last instead of just “fashionable”.

We’ve been more security conscious as crime has risen, and the police has been cut.

And as the world has become more dangerous we’ve built up our food, water, medication, and security and we grow more of our food.

And we make plans, bug in, bug out, GHB, BOB, BOV and BOL.

The more we plan the better we will be when the inevitable happens, it will be the oldies with the knowledge that hold the best cards when TSHTF.

So being older is not always bad, anyway they say 70 is the new 50.

[Mortblanc]

I can remember 50!

70 is not the new 50!

My life expectancy is 78 so I might have 10 years left, when I was 50 I had 28 years left.

If I was 70 and had 28 years left then 70 would be the new 50.

[MaryN]

I think realisation only dawns when you have been through a few years of disorder, chaos, calamity, whatever, and it comes to you that being prepared is basically smart. I don't think the younger generation of these times will ever be smart. They have grown up used to terrorism alerts, world problems, global financial insecurity and so on, and they have simply failed to understand the implications. If it is the norm then why bother to make provision for it getting worse? Half of them can't cook, or do any of the little things that mean you can cope. And I'm viewing this from a female point of view. I was brought up to cook, sew, knit and do all the little housewifely things, which would probably bore the youngsters today to death. But then I can't see the point of wasting a load of money buying smart coffee in little pissy bistros and the latest "in" fashion. However, dump me in a situation where things get tough and I'll deal with it - because I can.

[bigpaul]

I think prepping is an older persons activity, when we are younger we are too busy with career's and family and paying the bills to worry about anything else, when you get older you realise that not everything is peachy and anything could and probably will happen.
I just wonder how many of the younger generation could or would survive, I mean excluding those that say "nothing bad will happen" or don't want to survive if it does(like Ben Fogle once remarked), on top of that many have health problems and also we have an obesity crisis in this country.

[Pete Grey]

I really started to prep when the kids were very young although i did not know it at the time. You look what’s going on in the world, see the risks and start to act to minimise them. You take notice of any needs to protect your family.

Then you start to keep more food in stock, some candles for the power cuts we had then, a good first aid kit especially with two energetic kids and make your home as secure and safe as possible, and i still did not know i was prepping, it just made sense.

When the kids were old enough they went into the scouts and guides respectively, learning to love the outdoors and become self sufficient. Then they started to notice what was going on around them.

I never decided to be prepper but i guess i drifted into it as it seemed to make sense to make these plans and take these actions.

I am sure there are many families like ours but sadly they are a minority.

As i said 70 is the new 50, i am 74, when i was in my 50s i was rock climbing, canoeing and sailing, in my 60s i was hill walking, for my age i consider myself to be quite fit, though if i lost a few pounds it would help my blood pressure. I now know i must have been prepping over 40 years without realising it, with all this practice i think i’m improving.

It may seem like prepping is an older persons activity but it’s probably that we talk about it more.