Don’t be Deterred by Prepper Snobbery

I don’t care what it is that you’re interested in, there’s always going to be somebody that is sure that they know how to do it better, that they are more knowledgeable, more evolved, and more precise.  In short, there are always snobs.  Of course the classic example is the wine snob, but these guys exist in every human endeavor, including prepping.

I was reading some stuff about food storage on a forum the other day.  One guy had asked how he could tell if five-gallon plastic buckets were food grade or not.  The rest of the thread was taken up by several individuals who were desperately trying to one-up each other on how to be absolutely certain that a given bucket was suitable for food storage.  My favorite was a guy who pointed out that even though the plastic bucket itself might be food grade, it is vitally important to know if the lubricant used on the bucket mold is also food grade and that this would involve contacting the manufacturer to find out what kind of lubricant they are using.  Really?  Numerous possible comments flashed through my mind.  “Aren’t you going to wash out the bucket?” or “ Aren’t you going to put the food inside of sealed plastic food storage bags before you put it in the bucket?” or “ Are you aware that there is a Federal standard for how many rodent hairs are in that hotdog that you are eating?”  But I’m not a member of that forum, so I just shook my head and went my merry way.

Another one I read not long ago was from some guy railing about how buying anything but original factory made metal gun magazines was just a waste of money.  Well, maybe so; but I’ve been using Tapco polymer magazines for years, and I’ve fired hundreds and hundreds of rounds through them.  I’ve never had a problem except with their SKS magazines and everybody has trouble with those because an SKS was never meant to have a magazine.  You can argue with me till you’re blue in the face but I’m still not going to pay the extra $8.00 just because it has Colt stamped on it.

I could give many more examples, but I’m going to stop my rant right here.  I’m just trying to tell you that you should seek answers to questions that you have about prepping, but that you should not take every answer at face value.  Our world is rife with, mall ninjas, prepper snobs, and experts that have never really done it.  Don’t let them deter you from proceeding with your preps.