This Book Made Him Start Prepping 😳
A person explains how reading Wesley Walls' book 'Surviving the Coming Collapse' sparked their interest in prepping. The book is a fictional continuation of the 2008 financial crisis, and it prompted the speaker to develop elaborate escape plans from Los Angeles. Their plans have evolved over time as their family situation has grown more complex.
Summary
The speaker describes how a book by Wesley Walls called 'Surviving the Coming Collapse' introduced them to prepping. The book is rooted in the 2008 financial crisis, a real event where banks were freezing and the economy nearly destabilized, and it imagines a scenario where the government bailout never happened and things continued to deteriorate. This fictional 'what if' scenario resonated strongly with the speaker and motivated them to start thinking seriously about emergency preparedness.
The speaker then discusses their evolving escape plans for Los Angeles. Initially, they had a motorcycle and a detailed multi-modal escape route that involved going through the hills, down to the water, getting a boat from the marina, traveling up the coast, and retrieving a truck from a parking garage. This plan was designed to circumvent the well-known problem of Los Angeles freeways locking up during emergencies, making traditional car-based evacuation nearly impossible.
However, the speaker acknowledges that their circumstances have changed significantly. They now have a wife and three kids, which complicates any solo or agile escape strategy. Their current plan is described as still 'in development,' reflecting the challenge of adapting prepper strategies to a larger family unit. The speaker also has a dirt bike, but notes that it is no longer a practical solution given family size.
Key Insights
- The speaker credits Wesley Walls' book 'Surviving the Coming Collapse' as the direct trigger for their prepping journey, showing how fictional 'what if' disaster scenarios can have real behavioral impact on readers.
- The speaker points out that the 2008 financial crisis nearly caused societal breakdown — banks were freezing and things 'almost got sideways in Los Angeles' — framing real historical events as a legitimate basis for prepping concerns.
- The speaker devised a specific multi-modal escape route from LA involving hills, water, a marina boat, and a pre-positioned truck in a parking garage — reflecting a highly deliberate and layered approach to urban evacuation.
- The speaker identifies LA freeway gridlock as the core problem driving their unconventional escape planning, explaining why alternative routes through hills and water were necessary rather than standard road-based evacuation.
- The speaker acknowledges that having a wife and three kids has forced them to rethink their previously solo-oriented escape plans, with their current family preparedness strategy described as still 'in development.'
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] What got you into the prepping? >> I read this book by Wesley Walls called Surviving the Coming Collapse and it was based on the 2008 market crash and things almost got sideways in Los Angeles and all over the country. If you remember the banks and everything were freezing and it was like a whole thing, but then the government bailed them out. This book plays it out as if it just kept going. >> What was your plan to get out of LA? >> I got a motorcycle now. I got kids. I don't know what I would do. I got a little dirt bike, but now I got a wife and I got three kids. So,…
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