The new survivalists: Oregon 'preppers' stockpile guns and food in fear of calamity

Welder and gunsmith Jim Rector, at his La Grande shop with a World War I-era shotgun, says he's prepared if Western civilization collapses, as modern survivalists fear. He has weapons and food stashed, plus a remote hideaway staked out.

Veterinarian Richard Kimball of Burns has noticed a disturbing trend among some of his friends.

A Rockaway Beach couple has stockpiled food and assembled survival backpacks for their three adult children in Portland and Eugene. "If chaos arises, they can put the backpacks on so they can get home," said Kimball, 72. "There is a pistol in each of the backpacks."

Another longtime friend, a Harney County cattle rancher, recently bought an AK-47 assault rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. "Does that tell you anything?" Kimball asked. "He's scared."

La Grande welder and gunsmith Jim Rector, meanwhile, said he has supplies and a jetboat at the ready to carry him and his wife to a secluded hideout along the Snake River.

They're all signs that the survivalist movement, slumbering since the Y2K scare and, before that, Jimmy Carter's bumpy presidency, has been shaken awake.

more: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/the_new_survivalists_oregon_pr.html

They're not Y2K survivalists. They're "Freemen" type whackos that have been in rural America forever. Why they get any ink is beyond me. We're letting the loons out of the attic is all.

They believe that things are precarious and things could reach the tipping point without much warning, including the US financial system. The lack of civil political discourse adds to their unease. Most are not prepping for the end of the world as much as for a rough patch or two. They tend to be older and in rural locations.

Here in Socal we should do it for earthquakes, but few do. Since I live out in the twigs, some preparation for the interruption of services is part of every day life. That said, I don't have anything freeze dried and cached in a hideaway.

This also highlights the difference between city and county folk. Country folk know how to take care of themselves without a whole lot of help. City folk (and that includes suburbs and exburbs) do not do nearly as well in emergencies.

That's normal. I'm not talking about that. I try to stock up as best I can because you never know what shitstorm is going to hit next.

I'm specifically talking about "survivalists" and those that describe themselves as such. They don't tend to be regular farm folk who can subsist with little outside assistance. They tend to be whacko. You might not have them in SoCal. We have them in OR, WA, NoCal, ID, MT, etc etc etc. They're bonkers and they hate ALL government.

don't know how to take care of ourselves - it's the different lifestyle. We don't live by the riverbank, picking our own potatoes. When you live millions to a city, it's crucial that water, power, roads, food be provided communally.

since there may well be disruption to water, power, roads, sanitation, and food.

I've been through a couple of natural disasters and live in SoCal where the big quake is coming. Way too many people around here have not done the minimum recommended by FEMA. For a large city, that could be a very serious problem, since the residents clearly are not prepared to take care of themselves.

With deep underground bomb shelters in Connecticut and hazmat suits with the Lacoste alligator. Tea and freezedried biscuits, anyone?

my take exactly :rofl:

n/t.

of loneliness than outside invasion. If Western Civ collapses, the rest of the world will forget that Burns even exists. They'll be praying for someone to come and find them.

California has millions of people who would rapidly find the cities unsustainable. They would flock to the country side.


If Western civilization collapses we will forget the cities existed.

that gasoline and electric service existed. It's a long walk from L.A. to burns and they probably won't make it past the survivalists in northern California.

I know a guy who rode his bicycle from California to Michigan. Burns is not that far.

n/t.

and think it portends the screaming inner city (and dark-skinned)hordes coming to their town to rape the wimmin.

Some folks have read too much post-apocalyptic fiction and taken it WAY too seriously.

The article mentions it happening during Carter, and I know for a fact it was happening during Clinton. They'd be doing it if General Wes Clark was president.

n/t.

(btw, if anyone is wondering why Oregon, of all states, is a gathering point for such people, it is because of the jet streams. Survivalists believe that the jet streams, in the event of nuclear war, carry fallout around and away from Oregon.)

Remember the backyard bomb shelters? The Cuban Missile Crisis? I'm no historian nor am I any kind of authority on this. I'm just speaking 'off the cuff'. If you want to know more, you'll have to do your own research.

Everyone point and laugh at the morons.

they banded together in communes, taught themselves self-sufficiency, and extolled the virtues of sharing and living in harmony. They honestly valued love and peace, and thought of themselves as modelling a more enlightened way of being human.

The right, on the other hand, is run by fear and hatred. They aren't looking for enlightenment, they model the most brute and base instincts of the reptilian brain.

I wonder where they're gonna put it all.

They don't need to put it anywhere, they already have it left over from: Y2K, Clinton, War on Terror, etc.

be their own worst enemies and feed off each other.

I live in rural Alabama and I agree with ProgressiveProfessor. Though most of the right wing types loathe Obama, that is not why they are buying ammunition by the pallet full. They hate the "banksters" just as much as the most dyed in the wool communist. They are convinced that the Wall Street types have utterly f*cked us and that the Dollar is on its last legs. In the event of a collapse the cities will quickly become uninhabitable. Hordes of hungry roaming city-types are what really scares them.

The world financial system is in the toilet and remains shaky. Our military including the National Guard are over in the sandbox and not where they could help. There are little reserves of food in large cities due to economics. Individual preparation is ignored by the vast majority of people. That maybe hyperbole to some, but here in SoCal, the big one is coming...its just a matter of time.

If there is a significant problem, large cities can not feed themselves for more than a few days. After that there will be some very hungry people. Its addressable if its localized like Katrina, but if its regional they could be proven right. New FEMA lead has pointed out that preparing for and recovering from disasters needs to be done from the ground up, not just by the Feds.

http://incaseofemergencyblog.com/2009/08/24/government-reevaluating-post-911-preparedness-recommendations-for-public-make-a-plan-being-made-more-important-get-a-kit-getting-less-emphasis-get-trained-getting-new-attention/ talks about it. Not recommending the site, just the first one Google came up with that had FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate's comments.

What a bunch of crybabies. Go hide under your bed.

The last time the press talked about Preppers was Y2K, but they did not go away, they just dropped of the media radar. Companies that supply that kind of food and equipment continued to prosper. Preppers started making the media again in the last couple of years under Bush when the economy started to go south. Many do not know it, but Mormons (LDS) are encouraged to keep a years supply of food on hand.

Overall I view them as harmless. They basically intend to hide until things calm down or survive as long as they can if it does not. They aren't the nutters with guns at townhall meetings.

Perhaps because I have been in a couple of disasters in my life and now live in SoCal that I think that anything that spurs people to take reasonable steps to prepare is a good thing. How many DUers have the FEMA suggested minimums? Its neither hard nor expensive...

:scared:

People always think they are fine, then suddenly they are not.

Paranoid? Maybe so, but if the shit hits the fan how many here are stocked up on things?

And I am not talking just the government issues - major disaster- yellowstone, asteroid impact, major new virus/et al outbreak.....Hell there are many things that COULD go wrong.

Being prepared is not something I am gonna laugh at someone over.

are well past that. Following the basic FEMA recommendations is just prudent. Here in SoCal it should be mandatory, but sadly few even know what they are.

He is afraid of a Black President.
Pathetic piece of shit.