More than 25 years ago, Pete the Pickled Prepper was living in a New York City apartment building and working near Grand Central Station. He took a look at the world around him and decided that this was definitely not where he wanted to be when the SHTF. He fired up his modem, logged in to CompuServe, did some research, and read some forums until he landed on alt.misc.survivalism and he was sold. That day, a prepper was born.
Pete blames his parents for preparing the fertile soil on which the prepping seed germinated and later flourished. They raised in him in a home with a wood stove, a vegetable garden, and plenty of camping and hiking. They didn’t realize they were preppers, but their self-reliant approach to life created the firm foundation upon which he has built. Of course, the cold war, Three Mile Island, the gas crisis, raging inflation, the Iran hostage crisis and Chernobyl might have also primed the pump.
Pete’s Prepper Journey
Since deciding to become a survivalist, Pete’s prepper journey has taken him from the big city to a medium city to a smaller city to the country. He’s had a retreat, been a member of a prepping group, taken useful training classes, and worked in emergency management and with first responders. In short, he’s lived and breathed the prepping lifestyle, and he still does.
After living through disasters and emergencies like the run up to Y2K, the 9/11 attacks, the anthrax scare, Hurricane Katrina, the stock market crash of 2007/8, the Fukushima Tsunami, Hurricane Sandy, a number of wars, and a whole bunch of wild fires and other natural disasters, he’s seen and experienced how emergencies and disasters impact both the general populace and preppers.
Pete is a strong believer in what he calls the “layered approach to prepping.” The layered approach allows new preppers to start small and build their preps over a period of years but is also useful for experienced preppers. It also means you have a fall back plan, a plan B.
In addition to articles related to prepping, Pete keeps people up to date on his prepping journey with The Pickled Prepper’s Diary, a regular report that can be read here. We also encourage you to follow Pete on Twitter.
