How much is too much?

[Pilgrim]

I went to a buddy's house last weekend. We knew each other when I was stationed in Ft. Bliss. He stayed here, I went back to the west coast. Now that I have come back we met up again and I found out he's been into the whole prepper thing BIG TIME for a number of years now.

He had a garage full of food, survival gear, weapons, etc. Enough to outfit a platoon in my opinion. It was incredible but the real kicker was his ammo supply.

He had no less than 10,000 rounds each of 5.56, .308, 7.62x39, 9mm, .45, .40, and 5.7 in ammo cans stacked like a wall in one corner of the garage. In addition he had somewhere in the order of 30,000 .22 lr, and around 5,000 12 gauge shotshells in various loads. He says he has more buried in caches all around the "area" (never told me what area). Unbelievable!

I'm interested in the whole prepping thing not because I want to wear a tinfoil hat but because I like the feeling of security it would afford me and my loved ones. I've seen first-hand what disasters can bring. However, there's absolutely no way I could ever amass the amount of stuff my buddy had. What is enough? This whole prepping thing is daunting to say the least...

 

[Rangerscott]

I just don't find up holding a house to be a long term deal unless it had an under ground bunker or a nice solid metal building. Houses aren't built for fire fights.

 

[Renegade]

Some of the things preppers do is pretty illogical.

 

[Pilgrim]

Some of the things preppers do is pretty illogical.

That's what I was thinking when he was showing me all that gear. I like the idea of having extra food and supplies but, good lord, my family would have to be living in a shack in order for me to afford that much prepper gear. It kinda soured me to the whole idea of prepping in a way...

 

[Bithabus]

Maybe he wants to be a warlord if SHTF

 

[TundraWookiee]

My question is how much does he actually practice or train? Thousands of rounds are great but they don't do a lot of good if you aren't mentally prepared for the situation. In a catastrophic event I think you would see more issues with people not being mentally prepared for the situation than you would see struggling for lack of basic necessities.

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[Renegade]

What kills me is preppers with 2 years food, 100,000 rounds ammo, but do not have a box of band-aids, antiseptic, spare glasses, or other basic necessities, etc.

 

[Pilgrim]

Maybe he wants to be a warlord if SHTF

Nah. He says he wants to bug out as soon as possible. He's buying a deuce-and-a-half from some surplus auction and he's going to load it up and head for the hills... some property he bought up around Marble Falls. That's a lot of stuff to pack and run with... I don't know. It all just seems a little too over-the-top. I wish I knew someone with a more sensible approach to prepping that I could actually glean ideas from...

 

[Leper]

That's what I was thinking when he was showing me all that gear. I like the idea of having extra food and supplies but, good lord, my family would have to be living in a shack in order for me to afford that much prepper gear. It kinda soured me to the whole idea of prepping in a way...

You should feel very special. He shared something with you because he trusts and respects you. That is a pretty rare thing for someone with that kind of supply. You would be surprised at how quickly your stores can grow by buying things weekly. A box of .22 a week adds up real fast. Shopping at Aldi when they have canned food sales can get you a truck bed full for a couple hundred dollars. I know a few people that buy soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc, once a year. Same with deodorant. It's not that expensive. Rice also fits into that category. Buying course ground pepper in the restaurant sized cans is so much cheaper that the little bottles. Same with most spices. The easiest way to start building your supply is simply to buy an extra of what you are already buying. One extra can, one extra bottle, one extra package of something you are using anyway.If you asked him, he would probably tell you that he is no where near, where he would like to be. Different levels for different people. Some like an extra week, some like an extra year, some want a decade. It all depends on what YOU want to prepare for and how long you think the disaster will last. Pick your own comfort level, just remember to store what you use and use what you store. Some people go a year without firing a box of shells through their firearm. Some think anything under a thousand rounds a month is not enough. Some people go to the grocery store three times a week...........

 

[Bithabus]

Nah. He says he wants to bug out as soon as possible. He's buying a deuce-and-a-half from some surplus auction and he's going to load it up and head for the hills... some property he bought up around Marble Falls. That's a lot of stuff to pack and run with... I don't know. It all just seems a little too over-the-top. I wish I knew someone with a more sensible approach to prepping that I could actually glean ideas from...

The "head for the hills" preppers are the stupidest. Unless you have a BOL you'll end up dead in the woods with all your ammo.

 

[Pilgrim]

My question is how much does he actually practice or train? Thousands of rounds are great but they don't do a lot of good if you aren't mentally prepared for the situation. In a catastrophic event I think you would see more issues with people not being mentally prepared for the situation than you would see struggling for lack of basic necessities.

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Yeah, that I don't know. He was a pretty gung-ho guy back in our service days but he's not looking too fit nowadays lol. I wager he's probably taken some classes but probably not ones where a lot of physical strain is involved.

 

[chris211]

I only have 1k 9mm...then we can tapper off all the other stuff, etc 22lr. I have 5k plus 22lr because it is cheap and it can hunt food enough. We live in a hurricane alley so we have enough food to last. Hell if we stpped buying food today, we could easily live 3 months off my wife's coupon addiction. Hell, I have enough toothpaste to late me 10 years.....


The coupon thing is just off the wall funny to me. My wife can now buy 300 dollars worth of stock and only spend a 100 bucks. I swear I have enough toliet paper to wipe my ass for 300 years.

 

[Pilgrim]

You should feel very special. He shared something with you because he trusts and respects you. That is a pretty rare thing for someone with that kind of supply. You would be surprised at how quickly your stores can grow by buying things weekly. A box of .22 a week adds up real fast. Shopping at Aldi when they have canned food sales can get you a truck bed full for a couple hundred dollars. I know a few people that buy soap, toothpaste, shampoo, etc, once a year. Same with deodorant. It's not that expensive. Rice also fits into that category. Buying course ground pepper in the restaurant sized cans is so much cheaper that the little bottles. Same with most spices. The easiest way to start building your supply is simply to buy an extra of what you are already buying. One extra can, one extra bottle, one extra package of something you are using anyway.If you asked him, he would probably tell you that he is no where near, where he would like to be. Different levels for different people. Some like an extra week, some like an extra year, some want a decade. It all depends on what YOU want to prepare for and how long you think the disaster will last. Pick your own comfort level, just remember to store what you use and use what you store. Some people go a year without firing a box of shells through their firearm. Some think anything under a thousand rounds a month is not enough. Some people go to the grocery store three times a week...........

Yeah we were pretty good friends back in the day. I think he's a pretty lonely guy... kinda reclusive and he probably saw an opportunity to talk shop with someone he liked from his past who was also interested in prepping (but not to the extent he has taken). His secret is safe with me, no doubt.

I'd like to look into prepping but after seeing his stockpile I just don't think I have the resources it takes to amass a fraction of what he says we would need.

 

[chris211]

It just makes me figure out what I can do with 300 years worth of TP

 

[Bithabus]

I'd like to look into prepping but after seeing his stockpile I just don't think I have the resources it takes to amass a fraction of what he says we would need.

Unless you train often you don't need that much ammo. Not even close.

 

[Renegade]

Nah. He says he wants to bug out as soon as possible. He's buying a deuce-and-a-half from some surplus auction and he's going to load it up and head for the hills... some property he bought up around Marble Falls. That's a lot of stuff to pack and run with... I don't know. It all just seems a little too over-the-top. I wish I knew someone with a more sensible approach to prepping that I could actually glean ideas from...

In first post your wrote:

He had a garage full of food, survival gear, weapons, etc.

How is he going to fit all that plus his family in deuce? Does he have spare parts for the deuce when it breaks down 10 miles from his house?

 

[Renegade]

I wish I knew someone with a more sensible approach to prepping that I could actually glean ideas from...

Just look at your own life/AO and decide what you need.

Example - #1 problem I have faced over the decades here in NTX is power outages. So I have plenty of generators and gasoline to run them.

 

[mitchntx]

He had no less than 10,000 rounds each of 5.56, .308, 7.62x39, 9mm, .45, .40, and 5.7 in ammo cans stacked like a wall in one corner of the garage. In addition he had somewhere in the order of 30,000 .22 lr, and around 5,000 12 gauge shotshells in various loads.

So I'm thinking that's a lot?

I'm not necessarily a prepper, although I do have assets available on short notice.

I consider myself a cheap-skate. To save $5, I'll spend $100 if its something I will use.

But that's true in most anything consumable. whether it be ammo or soda crackers ... if I can save a few bucks by buying in bulk, then I'll do it. UPS is delivering almost 200lbs of ammo PSA had on sale over the weekend.

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Yeah we were pretty good friends back in the day. I think he's a pretty lonely guy... kinda reclusive and he probably saw an opportunity to talk shop with someone he liked from his past who was also interested in prepping (but not to the extent he has taken). His secret is safe with me, no doubt.

I'd like to look into prepping but after seeing his stockpile I just don't think I have the resources it takes to amass a fraction of what he says we would need.

Except you just told all us about it, lol.......

 

[Pilgrim]

Except you just told all us about it, lol.......

LOL but you don't know his name or where he lives...

On a serious note, I just wanted to get an idea what a more practical approach to prepping is. I'm pretty sure his isn't. On the off-chance that what he has amassed is common or <gasp> the minimum required then I just don't think hard-core prepping is for me. I just wish there are more resources that define moderate prepping practices.

Maybe I should move to Utah and get into a Mormon community. I heard they all got it squared away