When does prepping turn into hoarding?
How many times have you heard the phrase: “Preppers are hoarders.”
For those of us who are trying to prepare and keep a stockpile at home, that phrase can sting a little.
It’s true that hoarding and prepping can take on a very fine line. Both groups keep large amounts of stuff. But does that really mean prepping/stockpiling is just another form of hoarding?
Most Americans are not as prepared as they should be. At the other extreme, we have people who have been wise enough to prepare for any eventuality and keep adding to their already plentiful stockpiles.
The question becomes: How do I know when I’ve reached that line?
The answer to that question will be different for everyone, depending on many factors including where you live, which disasters are most likely to strike in your area, how many people live in your home, etc.
But what is the same for everyone is setting goals and sticking to them. Decide how much food, water and supplies you want to store, grow that stockpile and then focus on “quality” over “quantity”. As far as quality over quantity is concerned, this is where you need to be discerning. Do your research to figure out how you can get survival products that will last.
As an example, you might see a deal for three survival knives that are cheaper than one knife you’ve had your eyes on. But if the three “cheap” knives will end up breaking or becoming useless before the more expensive knife does, you’ve wasted
money rather than saved it.
Prepping for Beginners
If you’re starting out in the prepping arena, it can be overwhelming at first (and maybe feel even a little silly). Start of by setting a simple goal of stockpiling 72 hours’ worth of non-perishable food per family member. Next month, try to increase that stockpile to one week’s worth. Then one month, three months, six months, etc.
Do the same with water, but don’t overdo it here. While it’s good to have clean drinking water stored, at some point both a stationary and portable water purifier will do you more good than large amounts of water that will be difficult to store and impossible to transport.
Another ongoing activity for preppers is rotating stockpiles. Keep an eye on expiration dates, then use the supplies that are about to expire or give them to a shelter.
Continue to practice your survival skills so you don’t become rusty. Periodically practice bugging out, starting a fire, cooking food outdoors and building shelters. Update your emergency plan, inspect your stockpiles, keep your guns clean and stay up to date with preparedness information.
Remember: YOU decide how much is enough, but create a goal and do a stockpiling audit. This will help you stay focused and on track with what is important to you (which will be different for everyone).
What are your thoughts? How do you keep your stockpiling in check? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
But I don’t “hoard” with just myself in mind. I think of all the unprepared neighbors and family that I could help. When you don’t know how long you’ll need to pull from stores before things get back to normal, IF they ever do, many people around me would be at a loss to feed their family. My plan includes helping others. So my opinion is that unless you’re obsessed with “hoarding” at the cost/time of keeping your normal life going, how can it be too much? I live in a small community of wonderful people, the same area where I grew up. We’ve always been able to ask for help with things like moving Mom’s big antique piano and needing more muscle – call a few neighbors and voila, the piano is moved; need help because a tree fell on your house, neighbors just show up if they know what happened. We had 2 tornadoes come through about 10-12 years ago. Everyone who had no damage were out working just as hard as those who had damage. Everyone was sharing food and having people stay with them while they got their homes fixed, or some completely rebuilt. With neighbors like that, how can I not think of these families as potential feet under my table should the need arise, and be glad to have them. When people ban together, the government or any other entity making itself an enemy, has a much harder time controlling us. It’s why they want to control the internet. Just like this site, people can ban together from all over the country and even the world to share helpful information. I would hate to be in a dire situation and run out of something and think, “If I’d just put back 1 more batch of “whatever” I could share it.” My supplies aren’t taking over the house, but I don’t plan to stop putting back. Just watching the expiration dates and rotating things so things don’t go bad and adding to the supply whenever I can. If you think of all those around you who may be in need, how could you turn them away? I know not everyone has a community where open sharing would be feasible or even safe. But where you can help, I think we should. I’m all for family first, but then say no to people you’ve loved having as neighbors all your life? I couldn’t do it. And they would have something to contribute – if nothing else, muscle to cut firewood or hunt, etc. Ban together whenever possible!
David Smock Ooo, doom and gloom, but so accurate you might be a prophet. Michelle-Nor Calif, I am a newbie still. I do have the advantage of living military (all branches) since time immemorial. With that, having a smaller family helps, in addition to counting out those who already are prepped and ready for the worst. When I began to get my toes wet, I discovered another family member who was also doing the smart thing and I began learning MMA (mixed martial arts) from them. They only have a brown belt but I figure at 57 I could be totally unprepared. Now I have a the start of a BOB for myself and my husband, our 5 granddaughters are well taken care of by their parents and spouses so no worries. But I always take joy in giving at least one xmas gift that is for their prepping journey. I have stocked up on some items but pay attention to my best by dates etc and reading everything I can get my hands on as well as subscribing to a select few websites like this one.
Happy Prepping everyone! Hope to follow your comments in the future. You all seem to have it together and have wisdom I could learn from!
we have been prepping for years but we rotate all of our stock and replenish as needed. we only stock the things we enjoy eating along with h2o including filters, and cooking, heating means. no sense saving or prepping things that have no survival purpose, books and the afore mentioned products along with outdoor survival training will be of the greatest value as i see it.
When the usgvt created the readydotgov site, that should of been the last clue that any and all needed to fix their “insurance policy” because when shtf does happen, you can bet that prudential, allstate, state farm etc etc won’t be there for anyone but themselves. And knowing American human nature like I do, 80% of the insurance industry employees are not ready either!
“Anything is possible (think Sept11,2001, Ferguson/Boston), WHAT’S THE POSSIBILITY…”(again, 9/11, etc etc)
Reality can really bite hard sometimes and outs becoming more frequent…
Be well, stay sharp and never stop preparing for solutions to UNFORSEEN problems!
I use to live in the country, as a kid, I know about surviving off the land, and prepping from my grandpa, Now i am retired and ex-military. I went homeless cause i lost my job and was forced to the city to get help from the VA Homeless outreach.
Im not physicaly fit enough to pack long distances, heck im doing good to walk city miles like 5. Unless the disaster is a earthquake that takes out the highrise 8 floors, I will hunker down during a riot or financial crisis, so im prepping to stay home. If we lose water and electric, i have water and a camp stove for a week, without leaving my appartment, then i have a filter divise, and the river is not far away, i can carry a couple of one gallon jugs of contaminated water back, and purify it, to survive beyound the week, by 4 days have gone by most people will be either sick from lack of water to get out and about or there already dead in the city, so a week, of hiding theres a safe bet even the police will be without gas, and 911 will not work, if the power and water are cut off, it wont take but 4 days for all gastanks to be empty, and most people will be sick or dehydrated enough to not be outside scavaging,
This is great. I have been both. SO, when I realized I had a problem saving EVERYTHING…I found a compromise …lol Prepping. SO now I save only the things that are necessary to survival. I justify my bulk by, 8 family members, possibly neighbors food, water, heat, cool ,shelter, safety, How to books, recipes,entertainment, family history and identification etc. Not one more decoration, or toys not needed.
Sounds like you have this down to a science, Michelle. Nice job!