Stone - Doomsday Preppers: A Practical Guide for the Beginner

Doomsday Preppers

A Practical Guide for the Beginner

By

James G. Stone

Copyright 2013. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of this publication may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form without prior written consent from the author/publisher.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What Is Doomsday?

One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Doomsday has become such a commonplace part of the English language that many people no longer understand the true significance of the word. When the word originated, it was far more than just a commonly passed phrase. It was a word that struck fear and reverence into the hearts of men. It was so well known that it was often used as a reminder that tomorrows are not guaranteed and certain things should be handled within the appropriate time frame. Doomsday, sometimes called Armageddon by those with a Christian background, was a word that signified the end of the world and life as we know it.

Many biblical scholars and clergy were vehement in their belief that God would come to exact vengeance on a world full of sinners. They based these beliefs on biblical passages such as Matthew 24: 21-22 (KJV) which reads, 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. According to many religious individuals, this scriptural passage and others like it demonstrate that God intends to wipe out life on the planet earth, as retribution for human disobedience.

In modern times, the supposed causes of the impending Doomsday have branched out. There are groups who believe armies of zombies will rise from their graves and attack humans. Others believe that the annihilation of mankind will be a direct result of the technology that has become such a staple portion of our daily lives. Still others believe that natural events, such as global warming induced storms, meteorites, earthquakes or volcanic activity will play a major part in triggering the end of the world. Even our pop culture includes telling clues that the widespread notion and fear of an impending global Doomsday event still exist with movies like I Am Legend, Omega Man and others telling the stories of solitary survivors who have made it through the apocalyptic events of earth's final days.

This concept of complete and total destruction of the earth and her inhabitants was so pervasive that a group of directors for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the Doomsday Clock in 1947, at the height of the Cold War between Russia and the United States. The position of the hands on this symbolic clock demonstrate the threat level around the globe for a Doomsday triggering event by moving the hands of the clock closer to midnight when threat levels are increased. While the system was originally designed as a way to quantify the actual threat of a world-scale nuclear war, it has also come to include other trigger events such as large-scale natural disasters and global temperature changes.

When talking of preparations for Doomsday, many families and individuals consider it more appropriate to plan for Doomsday events. These events might include local, regional or global disasters. This allows the planner to prepare for events that are likely to occur without going to extremes in planning for contingencies that seem unlikely. By planning for a global event, such as nuclear war, the individual can be better prepared to meet the challenges of localized events, such as tornadoes or earthquakes. Unfortunately, the high costs associated with preparing for unlikely events might deter many people from planning at all so the practice of planning for feasible events has become a more common method among the prepping community. While there are certainly individuals who will attempt to plan for every contingency, building shelters that can withstand nuclear attack and stockpiling food supplies, the fellow with a six month supply of canned goods and a first aid kit is still considered to be a Doomsday prepper, as well. This latter individual is actually becoming the more common individual in the prepping community and he is likely to be someone just like you.

Chapter 2: Why Should You Be Prepared For Doomsday?

Doomsday is more than just crackpot theory. Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS) member and world recognized expert in cosmological and mathematical science, Stephen Hawking, offered the following quote:

As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on Earth. As citizens of the world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we live with every day, and to the perils we foresee if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change.

Mark Strauss, notable editor of the BAS publication, was quoted as saying that, although the threat (of ecological disaster) is not as dire as that of nuclear weapons right now, in the long term we are looking at a serious threat.

He further explained that just 50 of todays current nuclear weapons could kill 200 million people.

(Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/16670686/#.UR7f3x2siSo )

It is not unbelievable that an actual Doomsday event could be just around the corner. Are you and your family prepared to survive such a disaster?

While many people have moved away from the early evangelical roots of the word, the state of the world still prompts large numbers of people to prepare for eventual disasters. Whether Doomsday comes in its biblical form as an act of God or if it brought about by man-made or natural disaster, the consequences for the unprepared could be devastating.

Whole communities could disappear overnight. Law and order could be dealt a crushing blow that would render law enforcement and emergency response agencies unable to protect and serve the citizens. If any form of law or government remained, it would likely be the strict stranglehold of martial law which has a proven tendency to turn ugly when such immense power and control is wielded by a small group of people. As we have seen in many areas of the world, once beautiful neighborhoods can be transformed into hostile war zones overnight as people fight back against the tyranny of martial law enforcers or when they are forced to protect their lives and belongings from murderers, thieves and other predators in the absence of law.

In all of the chaos of a disaster, families could easily become separated or trapped within a hostile area. As history has shown us, when emergency situations strike, it is a poor time to start planning strategy. For your family to actually survive and get through a Doomsday event together, you need to plan for all contingencies before they happen. Without proper planning of safe meeting places and escape routes, it could take months or years to reconnect with loved ones, assuming the reunion ever happened at all.

Local grocery stores usually stock enough food for a three day supply during regular consumer demand. Emergency products, such as candles, camp stove fuel and first aid supplies, may be kept in even smaller numbers by your local retailers. By doing this, they ensure that the product on the shelf is rotated and within its recommended use by dates. In an emergency situation, such as an impending natural disaster, the human response to suddenly start hoarding supplies becomes very prominent. When this happens, the store's three day supply of food can be exhausted within a few hours as panicked customers rush to buy supplies. In situations where lost power or damage to the area has resulted in the destruction of a portion of food stocks or emergency supplies, the remaining items move off the shelves all the more quickly. Without proper preparation prior to a Doomsday event, you and your family could be without food or other supplies for a very long period of time.