I do enjoy chatting with fellow survivalists. There are two or three that I communicate with back and forth in email and it’s always very satisfying and enjoyable. What makes it such a pleasure, other than us being, basically, on the same page is that it also helps to make me feel like I’m not unique and ‘strange’ or ‘out there’… there are people who think that my concerns and actions are perfectly reasonable. I like that feeling of…I dunno…validation?

It isn’t always that way, though. See, everyone has a different flavor of apocalypse. And everyone, when it comes to their particular flavor, is a remarkably fussy eater. For example, the Peak Oil guys are quick to attribute everything to Peak Oil (which, much like how Global Cooling morphed into Global Warming and is now simply the much more vague Climate Change, has undergone some brand retooling)… water wars? Its because Peak Oil makes transporting water too expensive. Food prices up? It’s because Peak Oil makes farming more expensive. Neighbors dog got into the chickens? Peak oil.

I shouldn’t give the Peak Oil guys too much grief….my own particular flavor of apocalypse is probably scoffed at by other parts of the survivalist demographic. But…my point is that it’s always nice when you have ‘out of the ordinary’ interests/beliefs/concerns to get to interact with other ‘like minded individuals’ so you don’t feel so isolated or alienated.

I was thinking about that today as I was restocking the rice containers in the kitchen. As of late I’ve been going through a lot of rice, mostly to use it up and also out of a renewed sense of thrift since there’s a new alternator sitting at the curb with an old car attached to it. Anyway, I was scooping out the last of a five-gallon bucket of rice and I was thinking what it must feel like to have that moment where you see the bottom of the barrel (literally) and think ‘thats it…we’re outta food’.

Of course, in my case that just means opening up another five-gallon pail. But how many people keep multiple five-gallon buckets of food on-hand? For years? Not many, I’d wager. But when I encounter other people who do that sort of thing, I feel much more comfortable with myself. Go figure.

I’m relatively active on a bunch of discussion forums. Some as Commander Zero, some as other anonymous names, but I really enjoy reading other people’s experiences and ideas about preparedness. It really helps to lessen the feeling that I’m the only one who thinks this way and, therefore, somehow I’m abnormal or not quite right.

So…let’s ask an interesting question: not counting spouses or relatives, how many survivalists do you frequently interact with in real life.. not over the internet, not on discussion boards, but in genuine “Hey, you wanna go to the range/gun show/Mormon cannery/backapacking store?” fashion?

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