Prepping for the Worst

From the Lancaster Online

Prepping for the Worst
By JON RUTTER, Staff Writer


"Candles and wood."

It's Deb Giffin's mantra.

The Manor Township woman doesn't want to give up her dishwasher or her fridge.

But, she said, disaster could strike. Civilization shouldn't count on always having those cushy things. So she's laying away supplies for a rainy day.

She's started to fill the pantry of her suburban home with canned pineapple juice, beans and high-energy snacks.

She has fastened a large kerosene lamp to the wall of her living room. She has hand tools galore, a fireplace and bundles of wood from a home-improvement store.

She has an emergency pack in case she needs to clear out.

"I have flashlights that are the crank style" and don't need batteries, said Giffin, 54.

She also has plenty of company.

Emergency preparedness is growing into an American subculture that some adherants claim is bigger than the tea party movement.

Giffin and others share gardening and survival tips on blogs like The Survival Mom. They belong to groups such as the American Preppers Network, launched 16 months ago by 32-year-old Idaho truck driver Tom Martin.

The thousands of daily hits on americanpreppersnetwork.com will cease, of course, if there's a monster storm or economic collapse. But one goal of prepping is to get society ready for such events.

The message isn't always welcome, as Giffin knows.

"My daughter busts on me about being a doomsday person," Giffin said. Giffin contends she's just being practical.

Either way, the prepper demographic contrasts starkly with the secretive, backwoods bunker survivalists of the 1970s and '80s.

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