PrepperBro's Picks

This posting is something I hope to do regularly here on the blog. As you start to see the need to prep in your life you will come to a point where you think "gosh this is going to cost me a fortune!" not to worry. We all hit that wall and as a prepper I'd like to share with you some places you can get great deals on good things to stock up on.

I plan to add several different companies to my list to check through but today I'll just be showing you five awesome preps from The Sportsman's Guide. (And for you trolls and morons, I am not affiliated with this company and not responsible for price changes or shortages.)

1. 8 Pack of LED lights. $17.97

Like ammo you can never have to many small flash lights. Even in everyday life it's just nice to have some extras to keep in the car, bathroom cabinet, or other strategic places throughout the house.

2. 12 Wool Blend Blankets. $55.97

They look like a cross between moving and refugee blankets. But hey if you live in the North having 12 extra blankets could be a life saver. Again stash one in the car, box the others up and save them for when those relatives you don't like show up.

3. Spy GearTM Night Vision. $49.97

Ok, ok, so it's technically a toy. However if you are on a poor mans budget and want to beef up your defensive strategy with night vision this might be a diamond in the rough. It only goes out to 50 feet but that's still 50 feet farther than the guy without. And when you can finally afford a nice set give this to the kids and they'll love it.

4. Kaito (R) Voyager Weather Radio. $44.97

This is dual solar/crank operated radio. Receiving both FM/AM, NOAH, and a few other frequencies. It's got a few extra lights and bells and whistles on it. Definitely another addition to the car.

5. Portable Camp Stove. $69.97

This is the best find of the whole catalog. It's small, breaks down easily and has a nice dual flip out rack to accommodate different size pan/pots. It has a small smoke stack that, with a little creativity and a trip to the local hardware store, could easily be adjusted by adding two 90 degree elbows for inside use by running the smokestack out a window.

Number 5 is without a doubt my favorite find of all. It is more than another knife or case of Campbell's soup. It brings lasting value and a multitude of functions with it. This is going on my personal need to get list.

Red pill or Blue pill?

If you have ever seen the movie the Matrix you understand the title and even more understand that this is a question with in a question. If you haven't seen it you can watch the short clip here. The underlying question is, do you want the truth? And if you choose the truth are you willing to accept that things you have taken for granted all your life may not be as they seem?

I was faced with this question not long ago and began my decent "down the rabbit hole" well over a year ago. The question started out as many, small and fragmented. They mostly started out "what if...". What if America takes on more debt? What if the inflation rate is as low as reported? What are the unseen forces in this world that seem to be driving us toward some financial meltdown? Could there be a meltdown, and if so how bad would it be?

My brother and I often talked about the economy and how things seemed so gloomy. We often pondered the questions I raised of economic instability. Then one day he said showed me a video he found. It seemed to make sense what these people were saying but I didn't want to accept anything at face value. I spent the next two months reading and researching everything I could find on the problem of inflation. My conclusion is that it is not only a very real possibility it is already here and beginning to snowball. This will leave us in a depression far worse than 1929 because most of the people in the era had the skills needed to fall on to survive.

It was as if i had taken the "red pill" and had awoken to a world I had never seen before at least not in this condition. As began to study I found many authors of various articles saying we should use this time to prepare and buffer ourselves against tough times ahead. Now this wasn't "run for the hills and live in a cave" type survivalism but rather new emerging trend I found called "prepping".

The truth is prepping is not new. In fact the principles of it are very old. Keep extra on hand for emergencies is something I grew up with in the blizzard prone Northeast but keeping a years worth of food, and stocking toilet paper seemed a little excessive, at first. As I continued to research I saw that even the simple things are going up in price. (last week peanut butter went up in price 40%, expect to see more of this). I started to also study Argentina which in the late 90s went from a thriving first world nation to pitiful near third world country in less than 20 years. In part to hyperinflation and government corruption, sound familiar? Could it happen to us? Could the US the greatest country the world has know to date be slipping down the same slope?

The more I studied the more the more question I created than answered and the more upset I became until I became obsessed with looking for answers. Obviously I alone can not undo years of bad fiscal and monetary policy but can I do to save me? I felt like I was standing on the deck of the Titanic and the iceberg was there in site and no one even cared. This is the Titanic, dang it! It can't sink! This is the United States of America, dang it! It can't fail! Oh the pride that goes before the fall.

This, this is my story of looking, and in many ways, building my own life boat. I hope sharing my findings with might help you if you are also considering which pill to take.