April 8, 2014--Preppers

Spending most of the year in Florida and Maine, it is not surprising to run into Preppers. People who believe that in one way or another, for one reason or another, the world will soon come to the end.

I mean END.

Some, following what they claim to be the vision of Isaiah see this to be part of the process that will lead to the Second Coming of Christ and then, after another millennium, the Apocalypse and Last Judgement. Others say the END will be the result of some cataclysmic environmental disaster or economic collapse--2008 times ten.

Even staid NASA last month financed a study that concluded the industrial world, because of financial inequality and environmental problems, within just decades will suffer "a precipitous collapse."

Up in Maine, for example, we hear from some about how climate change will make the Pine State about the only place that a super-heated environment will make habitable.

"So," Survivalist friends say, "Make sure you know your beans."

"What? Beans?" I asked the first time I heard this.

"Your beans. How to grow 'em and how to prepare 'em. They're the best form of protein, you know." And they added, "Be sure you have a gun and lots of ammo. A whole slew of your New York friends will be seeking you out and banging on your door once they know you got a cellar full of beans."

All Preppers say that no matter what happens, or why, one will need to be READY.

What they mean by READY varies and comes with different price tags. Inevitably not far behind there are those seeking ways to make a buck from people's concerns and fears. And thus there are even trade shows that appeal to the Prepper market. The New York Times the other day reported on one--the National Prepper & Survivalist Expo. It was held in Tulsa, a place that knows from natural disasters in a state that knows about religious fanaticism and mass terrorism.

Ray McCreary, the organizer said, "We tried to gear our event to the ordinary person who wants to be ready for any situation." Another words, you and I and not just the crazies. Prepping going mainstream.

One of the attendees at the expo, Alvin Jasckson, said, "People think that Preppers  . . . are guys in beards who live in bunkers and bury ammunition in their yards. But I went through Katrina, and I'm not crazy."

But in case you do want a bunker to hide or live in, at the expo they had some on display, along with filtered drinking straws that allow you to sort of safely drink wanter from muddy puddles and solar-powered generators ($4,299) and even "mass casualty bags" ($250). Fifteen bucks gets you vacuum packs of alligator jerky.

You can grow beans in all weather in the $50,000 self-heating greenhouse and for those seeking a prefab safe room, Staying Home Corporation offers a variety of tornado- and bulletproof Hide-Away shelters.

According to the Hide-Away specs--

Hide-Away shelters/safe rooms provide two levels of protection from armed intruders. The standard units (folding and stationary) are made of 1/4” thick steel to provide NIJ Level IIIA protection against hand guns and shotguns, which make up 90% of violent crimes, according to a Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report. If you want protection from high caliber and armor piercing rounds, you can order the Ballistic Option, which uses military grade steel that is used in combat vehicles to provide NIJ Level III protection up to 7.62 NATO rounds (.308 caliber).

That should get the job done.