There are lots of basic questions from noobie preppers. There doesn't seem to be any way around them. I will have to cover it, though it will take a while and many posts.
Let's talk about something seldom discussed: what IS a prepper?
I suppose we have to mention the tv show "Doomsday Preppers". The people shown are preppers, but in the same way that the 'Real' Housewives series is anything like your family. Call it 'extreme prepping' if anything. I'm sure that those people are proud of what they've got done. Rightly so, in most cases. Their setups took years and a lot of money. But don't look at them and get depressed because you don't have anything like that.
A prepper is a person who looks at today's world and sees good reasons to be worried. A prepper expects some event to disrupt the normal world to the point where everyday society and law and order breaks down. A prepper will have an organized stock of food, water, and basic necessities to keep them and their families in good shape during the event. Even if that event lasts for years.
Such prepping takes a dedicated spirit, a plan, and time. That's what allows the average prepper to build up their stores.
Now on to those questions.
One that usually comes near the top of everyone's list is weapons. That's also the thing that causes the most public panic. "Oooo, watch out! They're stockpiling weapons and we'll all be killed by these gun nuts!". Nothing could be further from the truth. In almost every scenario preppers try to prepare for is the chance that there will be gangs trying to loot in their search for food or valuables. Any plan has to include some way to protect themselves and their families from armed looters. And, being preppers, they believe in having spares of everything they can. The new prepper will typically ask what gun to buy. They get an answer they don't expect: buy what you're comfortable with. If you're comfortable with just a pistol, then get that. If it's a pistol, two rifles, and a shotgun, then get them. Remember, if things go bad, you're going to end up using them as hunting weapons to put food on the table.
Then follow through! Don't sit them in the corner and consider that part of prepping over. Not at all! The very first thing to do is to learn to use them safely, take care of them, and then get good at shooting. Guns do no good if they're dirty. You're not going to do any good unless you can use your weapons and actually hit something. Among the parts of buying a pistol will be a mandatory training class. Please consider a class for your rifle and shotgun as well.
Right after that will come the question: well, what do you own? I'll admit that I own a pair of shotguns (12 and 20 gauge), a pair of .22 caliber rifles, and a .22 caliber pistol. Consider that more than half are inherited. I would still like to get a bigger rifle as a long range gun. .22's are good, but not for big game. Just as the shotguns are fine, but not at long range.
That's one layer of protection. A less drastic one is tasers and pepper spray. Frankly, I have no use for tasers. They don't affect everyone equally and sometimes not at all. It's easy to miss with them, they're single shot, and take a relatively long time to reload. All in all a bad idea.
Pepper spray, on the other hand, is fairly effective, cheap, and you get more than one target per can. A better choice all around. And they can be used on aggressive animals, too.
People will also ask about knives. That choice is too individual to discuss here. One choice is fairly clear (to me, anyway). It should have a carbon-steel blade. It will be easier to sharpen, hold an edge longer, and can be used with fire starter tools to produce sparks. Even if you make the right choice in guns, a knife is a tool as much as a weapon, be it skinning an animal or cutting up supper.
That's it for now, see ya later!
