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"Doomsday Preppers" is back with a new season. I must say so far I'm liking this season better than last year's. There are three preppers per episode (unlike sometimes last year when two stories were stretched WAY out). They have added the practical preppers score back (which I really like). And these are ordinary citizens (for the most part). Last year we had some preppers with what seemed like million dollar budgets. Who can afford that?
Season 4 Episode 1 "To Fail Is To Die"
Jimmy lives seven miles from the nearest town in Montana. He previously worked for the Department of Defense. In Montana you have to be prepared for extremely cold conditions. It has hit -70F previously. Jimmy's home is built to withstand extreme climates. He collects 2500 cubit feet of wood minimum per winter. He also keeps a backup supply of water.
Jimmy believes that, during a disaster, precious metals will be the new form of currency. He pans a local stream for gold. During WWII cold coins were included in pilots survival kits so they could barter with it. Jim can also bug out to a network of caves.
He has at least one years supply of food storied in watertight bins under his home. He also hunts for elk and deer. He's training his two cats to hunt for food as well. He's also smoking meat as a backup food supply. Jerky is commonly included in military field rations since it requires no additional preparations.
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Cindy and Randy are taxidermists. They have lots of weapons. Their home was built to withstand attack. They also belong to a network of preppers. They moved out of Atlanta to a more rural area in Georgia. They have enough venison on hand to last six months.
Their home is designed as a block house (with heavy steel and trap doors). The bathroom has a 400 lb door. It's also equipped with an escape hatch. Cindy drills her on hiding in the event of an emergency. Adam will grab supplies and hide in a secret alcove in his room.
Cindy and Randy also created IEDs disguised as animals (which is a cool idea). A marauder is looking for a squirrel dinner and BOOM!
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Rod has a military style communications center in his house in West Virginia. He can monitor weather/news/etc worldwide. He has two prepper vehicles and enough food to last for six months. He also has multiple sources of fresh water.
His house is at 1200 feet above sea level high on a hill to avoid flooding. He has over 20 different radios and communication equipment and 2 20 foot antennas. He has CB, HF, VHF, UHF, high frequency, digital, etc.
Rod has arranged a call tree structure to relay info through his family and friends. He has a gas well form 1900 that gets gas from a gas pocket. This can be used to power his communication equipment in the event of a power outage. He gives his father a CB radio since that takes the least amount of training to use. Mental Note: I need to get a CB radio.
Season 4 Episode 2 "Be The Prep"
Patrick, Patricia and their son moved to rural Virginia. Patrick starts every day by covertly arming himself to varying levels-- strong side blade, weak side blade, pepper spray, quality flashlight, etc.
Patrick leads defense training with a network of preppers. He introduces "stress inoculation" during training so the participants will become accustomed to stress before they get into such a situation.
He creates "The Box" as a means of perimeter defense. It is set to induce fireworks, lights, sound, etc to deter people from coming onto the site.
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Nick can use his rabbits for food, fuel and fertilizer. One rabbit will yield 64 babies per female per year. He uses cervical dislocation to pop the head from the spine so the rabbit suffers as little as possible.
Rabbit feces is one of the few manures that can safely be added directly to plants. Nick also uses a rabbit manure powered flame thrower. It combines 1. rabbit manure gun power; 2. methane (also made from rabbit manure).
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Keith is a retired Navy vet. He has numerous solar panels, a portable power system, and a water catchment system. He moved to a remote area in Missouri 17 miles away from the nearest town. He and his wife Amanda have been married for a year. Keith uses his truck to power batteries inside his house to generate electricity.
Studies show that people living alone have lessened abilities to survive during a disaster (so being with a small group of people is essential).
Sanitary must be a primary concern in survival situations. There were 620,000 deaths in the civil war (and 414,000 of those were caused by unsanitary conditions). Water borne dysentery was the primary culprit.
Keith's choice of weapons is a compound bow with the arrows dipped in cat feces. Good idea! I never thought of that one (and I have a cat so perfect).
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Favorite Quotes:
- "If you mess with my water, you're in deep, deep trouble"- Jimmy.
- "The best option is to get this person to go away"- Patrick. I agree 100%. Much better to prevent conflict but if they continue, blast them.
- "You cant produce any more food, any faster, any more efficiently than with rabbits"- Nick.
- "Learn to problem solve, practice skills, learn new skills, practice often"- Keith on advise to preppers.
Practical Preppers scores: 5 categories with 20 possible points in each category-- food, water, shelter, security, x factor.
- Jimmy- 81 (out of 100). 16 months initial survival time.
- Cindy- 73 (out of 100). 13 months initial survival time.
- Rod- 83 (out of 100). 18 months initial survival time.
- Patrick- 71 (out of 100). 12 months initial survival time.
- Nick- 55 (out of 100). 6 months initial survival time. That seems kinda low to me.
- Keith- 72 (out of 100). 13 months initial survival time.
Next episodes up are: Shepherds & Wolves, Back To The Dark Ages, You Said It Was Non-Lethal, There Will Be Chaos.
The World According To GMonster
TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Adventure; Light On Reality
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