Kellene Bishop is an intriguing case to most of the general public who has perceptions of doomsday preppers as being grizzled ex-vets with stockpiles of weapons. She is proof that anyone can be a prepper, even a peppy Utah housewife.

1. Financial collapse – effect on groceries

Taken with a grain of salt as this was the scenario provided by national geographic but I believe there is something to be said in the translation of a debt crisis to the grocery store. Sovereign debt and corporate debt are two totally different things, and you don’t have to worry about food not showing up into your city until grocers worldwide are going bankrupt.

No one goes hungry when the stock market crashes (other than those who own stock). During the financial collapse of 2008, Campbell’s was actually one of the only stocks to go up. The media can portray financial instability as very dire but it would take a lot to literally cut the supply of food.

2. Solar oven

I wish they went into this more. The concept of a solar oven is very attractive for the reason that it does not require any fuel and does not give away a position. The ability to remain hidden would be key to prevent possible raiders from discovering who to target next.

3. Gourmet prepping 

This was a really interesting concept. How many of you have food in your pantry that has been sitting there for months (if not years) with no intent of being used before the shtf? Kellene’s habit of cooking the same food she plans to eat in case of a disaster serves two great purposes.

First, it allows her to rotate out older stores. A shelf stable food that has been in storage may not have much time left if the SHTF. You wouldn’t want a 5 year supply of canned food, lasting 5 years that has been on your shelf for 4.

Second, it allows her to actually practice the way she is going to survive. Many of us think that we can survive on dried corn and beans but it could very well be a rude awakening that day the supervolcano/san andreas fault/meteor goes off. I have a feeling Kellene’s lifestyle won’t take a dip at all when the big one comes

7. Bugging in

If there’s one thing I’m not comfortable with it’s the concept of bugging in. Since this episode has aired, Kellene might as well have painted a big target on her back. But even if she wasn’t, the attention she was getting through teaching and hosting classes is enough to draw attention. I hope for her sake that the people she teaches are willing to band together to protect the food stores because otherwise people will come a knockin’.

4. “The only one with 100 lbs to lose”

I also disagree with Kellene’s statement but it kind of relates to the above point. Physical fitness is immediately necessary for mobility and self defense but in the long term is as important to survival as having enough food.

At the end of the day, survival is about staying alive. Being overweight or obese is the second leading cause of preventable death in the US, claiming an estimated 300,000 lives in the US annually. The chance for heart disease, diabetes and even cancer have been linked to carrying excess weight. Working to prevent one cause of death while ignoring another just doesn’t make sense to me.

5. Self defense

Mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, martial arts are a great way to develop the body and mind to be prepared for adverse situations. However, in a true disaster situation it’s really no hold barred and weapons will be involved in any altercation. Having false confidence in abilities can lead one to more danger than having accurate knowledge of defenselessness.

As a grappler of several years, I can say that the form being instructed and drilled in the video shown was poor and ‘going through the motions’ will not help in any sort of live scenario. With grappling in particular, live sparring is essential because things can get so complex. One-off training is the kind of stuff that leads to danger, consistency is the only way one will be able to make use of martial arts.