25 Prepping Excuses the SHTF Won’t Care About

The Organic Prepper

If disaster was a human named SHTF, it would be that person who takes delight in dropping by unannounced and seeing you at your worst: still in your PJs, out of coffee, and taken utterly by surprise.

The kind of person who takes advantage of your unpreparedness to ask to borrow the keys to your new car while you’re still in shock at his arrival. The kind of person who acts surprised that you’re surprised and makes you feel like 12 kinds of an idiot for being surprised. The kind of person you must always plan for like an unpleasant in-law, whether you want them to come by or not.

SHTF doesn’t generally drop by at the most convenient of times, nor does SHTF care about your prepping excuses.  In fact, SHTF thrives and grows exponentially under more adverse circumstances.

25 Excuses That Won’t Matter When the SHTF

So, suck it up, put on your boots, and power through it – SHTF doesn’t care about your prepping excuses.

1. SHTF doesn’t care about inclement weather – snow, hail, tornadoes, pouring rain, and hurricanes all just add to the party atmosphere for SHTF.
2. SHTF doesn’t care that you sprained your ankle, broke your leg, or are otherwise less than ambulatory. If you have to bug out without a vehicle, you have to bug out, regardless of your injury status.
3. SHTF doesn’t care that you decided to start prepping after you take that trip to Disneyworld (because how can you do it before? That trip is expensive!!!!)
4. SHTF doesn’t care that you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean, regardless of what you paid for the luxury cruise.  (Check out recent ill-fated Carnival Cruise of the Triumph or the Viking Sky if you don’t believe me!)
5. SHTF doesn’t care that you had planned to get your vehicle repaired.  You have to evacuate regardless of the leak from the oil pan, the condition of the brakes, and the funny noise in the transmission.
6. SHTF doesn’t care that the entire family is ill with the stomach flu.  The entire family will just have to pause to throw up while bugging out.
7. SHTF doesn’t care that you need new hiking boots and that you just haven’t had time to get to the store and buy them. You’ll be walking through the apocalypse in the ratty ones with the sole half torn off.
8. SHTF doesn’t care that you planned to buy some emergency food with your next paycheck. You’ll be dining on a can of peaches and some stale crackers.
9. SHTF doesn’t care that you always use electronic banking. If the ATMs are down and you have no cash, you cannot buy anything.
10. SHTF doesn’t care that you had planned to get the propane tank refilled and now the propane trucks aren’t running because of the ice storm that has turned your neighborhood into a mini Arctic Circle.
11. SHTF doesn’t care that you used all your ammo at the range and Wal-Mart has been out for the past month.
12. SHTF doesn’t care that both the store and Starbucks are closed because of a power outage and you are totally out of coffee because you didn’t prep for that.
13. SHTF doesn’t care that you are wearing high heels when your car plummets to the bottom of a ravine – you still have to climb out.
14. SHTF doesn’t care that the pharmacies are closed because of a pandemic and that you have no OTC medications or home remedies – if you catch the virus, you will suffer through it without medicine to treat it. And so will your kids.
15. SHTF doesn’t care that your truck is almost out of gas and the local gas stations have closed because of the disaster.  If you have to bug out, you may end up walking instead of driving.
16. SHTF doesn’t care that you are depressed because you just broke up with your spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend. SHTF doesn’t care if you’re in a funk because you lost your job or your dog died. S happens when S happens.
17. SHTF doesn’t care that you have made a rock-solid plan to get in shape – as soon as the weather warms up.  You’ll be sucking wind as you hurry up that hill in the cold.
18. SHTF doesn’t care that you are visiting your in-laws, the most unprepared people on the planet, and you failed to put some emergency food, water, and supplies in the trunk of your car.
19. SHTF doesn’t care that your wood is not dry. It’ll bring you a blizzard if it wants to bring you a blizzard.
20. SHTF doesn’t care that you have 300 pounds of beans, wheat berries, and rice but failed to plan on a way to cook them.
21. SHTF doesn’t care that you don’t know how to cook over an open fire without inflicting 2nd-degree burns on yourself.
22. SHTF doesn’t care if you have only a week’s supply of toilet paper – if the crisis lasts longer than a week, things will be progressively less pleasant regardless of your intention to purchase more Charmin.
23. SHTF doesn’t care you planned to reinforce your door frame, install a metal security door, get a ballistic shield, and build a safe room – if thugs arrive to invade your home, your hollow core doors will serve as a minor inconvenience instead of a deterrent.
24. SHTF doesn’t care if you think guns are bad and scary. Rest assured, if you don’t have one, the people coming to take your supplies will.
25. SHTF doesn’t care if you think “doomsday preppers” are bat crap crazy, if you don’t believe the fecal matter is headed towards the oscillating device, or whether you think it’s all an alternative media conspiracy theory.

Whatever your excuse may be, you may rest assured, it could easily be on this list.   And SHTF won’t care about that either.

You already know what you should do.

You probably already know the things that you should be doing to prepare for a disaster.  How will you feel if you procrastinate doing them and your family suffers because of it? Most of the time, it’s an inconvenience, but in some cases, a lack of preparedness can mean the difference between life and death.

If you need help and motivation, check out this article, which was designed to boost your prepper mojo in a hurry.

The world is increasingly more dangerous. The signs couldn’t be blinking in brighter neon. It’s time to get prepared. No more excuses. Disaster won’t wait to strike until it’s convenient for you.

The Organic Prepper