Paranoid Prepper: Viewing prepping as a hobby? Whatever works to get it done!

Prepping as a Hobby

Disasters are not everyday events.  We need to keep a bit of perspective if we want to live normal lives, while getting ready for whatever Murphy throws at us.  We need a method to keep improving our preps while avoiding “paranoia”.  Otherwise you’re running around sounding like Chicken Little, and disrupting your own life, not to mention others, by prioritizing prepping above normalcy.

My solution is to treat prepping as a hobby.  My wife paints for a hobby, I prep.  It works for us.  Fortunately, painting is a pretty inexpensive hobby.  My wife has even sold a couple paintings.  I’ve never made a dime off prepping.  Maybe someday.  😊

Perspective

How did I get to this point?  I’ve been through a bunch of disasters, e.g. 9/11, so how could I think of prepping as something so trivial as a “hobby”?  What drove me to this was listening to other preppers.   Many of them seemed like down to earth people, but too many sounded like Chicken Little.  If they sounded like they were mildly deranged to me, what would someone who thinks the world is just fine think of these folks?

There is also the problem of sustaining the activity of prepping.  You can put together a BOB and call your prepping done, but that won’t get you through the kinds of disasters that keep most preppers worried.  You need to be able to keep at it, and hopefully enjoy prepping or you’ll ultimately quit.

In my case, I am also hoping that prepping will be multi-generational, so thinking of prepping as a hobby makes the topic more appealing to the younger set.

Planning

The first thing I do when taking up a new hobby is research it a bit.  What is involved?  How much does it cost?  How long does it take to get good at it?  What are the benefits?  Do I actually think I’ll enjoy it, or just dabble awhile and drop it?  The more I know in advance, the better I can answer these questions.  As it turns out, with prepping you’ll be revisiting your plans repeatedly, making them better, or revising them due to changes in your circumstances.  When you aren’t acquiring cool stuff, or practicing some new skill, you can always spend some time planning.  If you like planning, or are a planner by nature, prepping is something you’ll enjoy.  Why not call it a hobby?

Finances

There is also the problem of the cost of being truly prepped.  Everyone has budget limits, and the cost of being properly prepared for an EMP was clearly beyond mine, albeit being prepped to the level I am would be better than not being prepped in the event of an EMP.  I would love to own a BOL in the woods, but the fact is I can only do so much before I can no longer afford such basics as my primary residence.

However, like most people, I can afford a few dollars a month spent on something I enjoy.  I can get pleasure out of something as simple as a new water filter, knowing I have a cool piece of gear and my family and I are safer for it.  What’s the trade off?  Maybe skip Friday night pizza?  I am probably healthier for that trade off.  😊

I’ve had hobbies in the past, and they all had some sort of cost.  There is a definite trade-off between paying for necessities and paying for fun.  Generally, you have no choice but to pay for the necessities first.  If you budget properly, you’ll still have something left over for your hobby.  Would you rather give up the Starbucks pumpkin lattes for SHTF, or to have some fun?  What if prepping as a hobby allows you to both prep and have fun?

How to Have Fun

Different people decide to have fun in different ways.  For instance, some people like to strap on a hundred pounds of scuba gear, jump into a body of water with poor visibility, and swim around running lines so they can find their way back to where they started.  Others think that is crazy.  😊  (Full disclosure:  I’ve done that.)  Prepping may not sound like fun.  It does start with contemplating some sort of disaster.  Perhaps the better way to look at it is not contemplating disasters, but being comfortable, while all those around you are figuring out how to cope.

I described in one of my early posts my family’s experience with Hurricane Sandy.  All of our neighbors were without power for 8 days or more.  Thanks to prepping, we had a mini-vacation.  😊 

Part of having fun is simply deciding you are going to be a happy person, and enjoy what you’re doing.  If you can take that attitude, then you’ll probably enjoy prepping.  Ideally, you should view prepping as a pleasurable activity, not as a chore to get over and done with.  It is much easier to keep at an activity you enjoy than one you see as a chore.

Think of the things you can do within your overall prepping hobby!  You can garden, something too few people enjoy these days.  You can work on a cool car, aka BOV!  You can collect firearms and go to the range or hunting.  You can get into HAM radio!  All of these are activities people participate in because they are fun.  You can enjoy all of them too.  Prepping isn’t a hobby.  It’s a bunch of hobbies!