Although there's nothing wrong with that if it's what you prefer.
I'm no expert, but I'm willing to share what I know and hope you'll do the same.
In a grid-down situation, it's probably not within your power to repair the grid.
In a societal breakdown, it's probably not up to you to calm the mobs.
In a natural disaster, you can't control the weather, divert a tsunami, or stop an earthquake.
It would be pointless and frustrating to spend your time and effort trying to do those things. Instead, what you can do is make yourself less vulnerable to the whims of fate.
You can't stop the rain, but you can wear things that keep you dry. So this is where to focus.
Prepping is a recognition of this reality. You're making yourself less vulnerable to whatever the world throws at you. You can't foresee every possibility, but you can see enough of them-- especially preparing for the commonalities they'll generally share-- to protect your family and sometimes even your community.
Prepping is the responsible thing to do; criticizing preppers is a childish move. Prepping is not a sign of paranoia, but of maturity and wisdom. It's a form of insurance. As such, it's not cheap. It takes time and money and commitment. But it is within your power.
You've got this! Start today if you haven't already started.
One of the more fun things (to me) that qualifies as prepping is stocking up on ammo.
While prices are better now than they have been in a while, I was still having to travel an hour and a half to find prices that made sense. Locally, ammunition was 2 or 3 times the price that I could pay in the bigger city 90 miles away.
Fortunately, that situation has recently changed, but I found a great way to deal with it before the change, and I'm sticking with it, too.
It's a business called Ammo Squared. You sign up and subscribe for a set dollar amount and they set up an ammunition account for you. Then you can have it shipped to you.
If you use my link-- https://ammo2.me/dullhawk --and spend at least $20 in the first month, both you and I get $25 in free ammo. That's a pretty good deal. Then, after you've set up your account, you can share your own link with your friends and both of you can get free ammo the same way. It's kind of awesome.
If you wait until you have an account value of over ...
Every little bit adds up.
Due to medical situations, I've found myself without money to spend on larger projects such as firewood-- which might be a problem-- but there's always something you can do to prep.
A recent project for me was getting all my oil lamps ready to go. That's not the only alternative lighting I have, but it's my favorite.
I checked and changed the wicks (where needed), cleaned off any dust that had accumulated, and topped off the kerosene. You may prefer liquid paraffin since it stinks less, but I have gallons of kerosene on hand. I only broke one chimney, and I had a spare. (Note to self, keep an eye out for more chimneys at thrift stores and yard sales.)
I also decided to try to address a minor problem with the lamps. If you have oil lamps that you don't use all the time you'll know that the oil evaporates. This time I did something I hope will slow that process.
I covered the wick slot (don't know the technical name, but look at the photo) with aluminum foil I had...
