Casual Preppers Podcast - Prepping, Survival, Entertainment.

If We Had to Start Prepping from Scratch in 2026 📄 Episode Description If we lost everything tomorrow—gear, plans, stockpiles—and had to start prepping from zero in 2026, what would we actually do first? After more than a decade of podcasting about preparedness, we break down what truly matters, what we’d skip entirely, and how we’d rebuild in the smartest, most economical order possible. This episode isn’t about doomsday fantasies—it’s about building a prepared life that works for the world we’re actually living in and heading into. 🧱 Episode Breakdown 🧠 Why Threat Assessment Comes Before Gear Why gear-first prepping wastes money and creates gaps Personal risks matter more than global apocalypse scenarios How Your Personal Apocalypse shapes smarter decisions 📋 Plans Before Purchases Why written plans prevent panic buying and redundancy Household plans for evacuation, shelter-in-place, comms, and reunification The importance of documentation, inventory lists, and backups 💰 The Most Economical Prep Order Why finances are one of the first real preps Emergency fund > ammo Reducing monthly fragility through debt, subscriptions, and dependencies Buying quality gear slowly instead of panic-buying junk 🏠 Securing the Home You Already Live In Why most emergencies are weather, utility, or safety related Low-cost home hardening that actually matters Fire safety, CO protection, lighting, locks, and redundancy Why water access beats most gear purchases Apartment, suburban, and rural considerations 🚗 Movement & Mobility Reality Vehicles as your most important preparedness asset Get-home planning vs bug-out fantasies Seasonal realities people ignore Why maintenance beats mods early on 📦 Simple, Modular Gear Why complexity increases failure points Modular systems for water, food, medical, and power Multi-use gear over niche survival items Building slowly and testing often 🧑‍⚕️ Health, Fitness, and Medical Reality Why health is one of the most ignored preps Injury, illness, and fatigue as real-world failure points First aid knowledge over first aid gear Fitness as preparedness without calling it “prepping” 📡 Using Tech—Without Trusting It Smart tech use vs tech dependency Where tech actually helps (alerts, mapping, power) Why analog backups still matter Planning for outages, updates, and failure 🧠 Skills, Hobbies, and a Normal Life Prepping that doesn’t feel like doomsday living Skills that overlap with hobbies and daily life Community as a force multiplier Avoiding burnout and paranoia 🌍 Prepping With One Eye on the Future AI, automation, and increasing system fragility Why adaptability is the most valuable prep Flexibility beating specialization in unstable systems 🔁 How We’d Pace the First Year What we’d focus on in the first 30, 90, and 365 days Avoiding overwhelm Building habits instead of hoards Why slow prepping actually sticks Podcast Sponsors BattlBox – Get solid, tested gear without the junk 👉 Survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers (15% off) Poncho Outdoors – High-quality flannels and western shirts built for real life 👉 ponchooutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS ($10 off) LMNT – Electrolytes for performance, endurance, and readiness 👉 DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers  🩺 Quick & Dirty Medical Tip Sanitary pads can function as effective wound dressings Studies show some brands are as bacteria-free as sterile dressings Useful for packed wounds, orthopedic padding, and bleeding control A low-cost, overlooked medical prep #StaySurvived

Mindless Banter: Joe Simonton & the Alien Pancakes Episode Description In 1961, a quiet Wisconsin farmer claimed a UFO landed in his yard and its occupants handed him… pancakes. In one of the strangest, most oddly wholesome UFO encounters ever recorded, Joe Simonton described cooking noises, a silent exchange of water, and silver-dollar “space flapjacks” that were later tested by the Air Force. Today we break down the story, the investigation, and the weird theories that have followed it for decades. Episode Breakdown 🛸 Who Was Joe Simonton? 54-year-old farmer and part-time plumber in Eagle River, Wisconsin Known locally as honest and quiet, with no history of hoaxes Became known as “The Pancake Man” after the story spread 🛸 The Encounter (April 18, 1961) Joe hears a loud “whooshing” sound outside Sees a 30-foot chrome-like saucer land in his yard Three short, dark-haired humanoids in tight black clothing Nonverbal communication requesting water One occupant cooking small pancakes on a flameless griddle Craft departs silently after giving Joe several of the pancakes 🥞 The Pancakes Small, grainy, silver-dollar-sized disks Joe ate one: “tasted like cardboard” Air Force/NICAP lab tests showed buckwheat, flour, sugar, grease No unusual elements or radiation detected Some reports say Joe attempted to recreate them using buckwheat flour 📘 Project Blue Book Investigation Air Force interviewed Joe and considered him sincere No signs of mental illness or hoaxing Official conclusion: misinterpretation or hallucination Case remains unusual due to physical evidence (the pancakes) 📰 Media Frenzy & Aftermath National headlines and widespread attention Tourists showed up at Joe’s farm UFO groups highlighted the case as a friendly encounter Joe later regretted the public attention 👽 Theories Literal alien visit “Space Italians” interpretation based on appearance Honest misinterpretation/hallucination Trickster/High Strangeness event Secret military prank (unlikely) “Cosmic IHOP” humorous theory from UFO circles Podcast Sponsors BattlBox The monthly subscription box packed with survival, outdoor, and everyday carry gear. Get 15% off your first box: 👉 https://survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers LMNT A science-backed electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don’t. Get a FREE sample pack with any purchase: 👉 https://DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers TacPack The only tactical subscription box with professional-grade gear inside. Use code CASUALPREPPERS for a FREE $70 part from Next Level Armament! 👉 https://www.tacpack.com/ #StaySurvived

The Prepper Audit: Are You Actually Ready? 📄 Episode Description It’s easy to call yourself a prepper — it’s harder to prove it. In this episode, Coby and Cam break down the “Prepper Audit”: a brutally honest self-check to find out if you’re actually ready or just feeling ready. We cover the six core areas every prepper should review, the most common weak spots, and simple fixes to get your readiness back on track before an emergency hits. 🧱 Episode Breakdown 🧪 What a Prepper Audit Actually Is Why most people think they’re more prepared than they are. How to check your real readiness instead of your imagined readiness. Why prepping is never “set it and forget it.” 📦 The Six Pillars You Need to Audit Plans — meeting points, comms, routes, contingencies. Gear — functionality, organization, rotation, seasonality. Skills — fire, water, first aid, comms, navigation, drills. Health & Fitness — physical ability, medical needs, mental resilience. Finances — savings, cash, debt, documents, insurance. Mindset — calm under pressure, adaptability, realistic planning. 🛠️ How to Actually Do the Audit Score yourself 1–5 in each category. Document weak spots with notes and photos. Set small improvement goals instead of massive overhauls. Make it a yearly habit. 🚨 Common Weak Spots (Prepare to Feel Attacked) Expired food, dead batteries, untested generators. Plans nobody else in the family knows. Overloaded bug-out bags. Medical gaps and neglected mental readiness. 🔧 Simple Fixes That Make a Huge Difference Work one category per month. Rotate your storage — use what you store. Train for free using community resources. Stay humble and make preparedness a habit, not a hobby. 🎙️ Podcast Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first box of solid outdoor, survival, and EDC gear. 👉 https://Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT Electrolytes Get a FREE LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase using our exclusive CPP link. 👉 https://DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers ReadyPlan by M.A.D. Gear The digital emergency planning app that helps you build, organize, and share your preparedness plans. Use code CASUALPREPPERS for a discount. 👉 Available in all app stores — search ReadyPlan by MAD Gear #StaySurvived

Mindless Banter 138 - Q&A It’s another wild Casual Preppers Q&A where we tackle everything from surviving a zombie apocalypse using only what's in our studio… to the fate of This Podcast Is a Secret, the best SHTF event to live through, basic preps people always overlook, and whether you should take the bike path or the highway during an EMP. We hit gear that surprised us, gear that turned out useless, real-life strange things we’ve seen in the Uintah Basin, and why emergency plans beat almost anything in your prep. It’s chaos, it’s practical, and it’s exactly what makes these Q&As fun. Sponsors: BattlBox – 15% off your first box: Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT – Free sample pack with any purchase: DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers TacPack – FREE $70 part with code CASUALPREPPERS    

The Suburban Prepper Suburban preppers live in the in-between: not off-grid, not downtown, but right where most emergencies actually hit. In this episode, we break down the real advantages of suburbia—access to supplies, easier home security, and a built-in neighborhood network—along with the challenges of HOAs, low privacy, and relying on fragile city infrastructure. It’s all about prepping quietly, smartly, and using the “middle ground” to your advantage. Sponsors: BattlBox – 15% off your first box: Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT – Free sample pack with any purchase: DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers ReadyPlan by MAD Gear – Organize your emergency plans: (Search “ReadyPlan by MAD Gear” in your app store)