Q&A - Mindless Banter 157

This week we’re answering some of the weirdest, funniest, and surprisingly useful questions sent in by the Casual Preppers community. We get into everything from alien invasions, apocalypse custody arrangements, hospital go-bags, EDC overload, and how much ammo is enough when velociraptors can open doors. We also tackle the important stuff, like whether diarrhea is survivable, which fictional gun we’d want in the apocalypse, what animal would make the best survival companion, and what exactly you should do if you encounter Lady Bigfoot during mating season. Mixed in with the nonsense are some genuinely solid preparedness takeaways about keeping your everyday carry practical, planning for blended-family emergencies, having a grab-and-go hospital bag ready, knowing tsunami evacuation routes, and avoiding the doom-prepping rabbit hole. Because prepping should enhance your life, not become your life. As usual, things eventually go completely off the rails. SPONSORS BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox: Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase: DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers MAD Gear Check out MAD Gear and the ReadyPlan app: MADGear.shop TacPack Use code CASUALPREPPERS for the current Casual Preppers offer: TacPack.com Stay Survived.

Surviving a Water Crisis You probably use way more water every day than you realize. In this episode, we break down what happens when the tap suddenly runs dry, or worse, when the water is still flowing but you’ve been told not to drink it. We cover how much water you actually need, what to do in the first 30 minutes of an outage, hidden water sources around your house, ways to stretch every gallon, emergency water collection, filtration and disinfection, sanitation problems, and the weird little tools that can make a water crisis a whole lot easier to manage. We also get into: How much water a family should realistically store Why your water heater can become a massive emergency reserve Bathtub bladders, rain catchment, pools, snow, dew, and other backup sources The difference between biological and chemical contamination Filters vs. purifiers vs. boiling Why clear water can still absolutely wreck you Conserving water for cooking, hygiene, and cleaning The poop problem when toilets stop working Useful gear like siphons, transfer pumps, sillcock keys, and collapsible containers What to do when municipal water finally comes back Our must-have water crisis kit The big takeaway: storing water is only the beginning. You need a plan for collecting it, moving it, treating it, rationing it, and keeping the good stuff from getting contaminated. Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox at Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers Poncho Outdoors Get $10 off your first order and free shipping at PonchoOutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS Stay Survived.

Our Top 20 80’s Movies This week we’re stepping away from the apocalypse for a very important topic: the greatest movies of the 1980s. Coby and Cam each bring their personal Top 20, which means plenty of nostalgia, questionable rankings, ties, childhood favorites, and movies we’ve probably watched way too many times. We’re talking Back to the Future, Predator, The Lost Boys, Indiana Jones, The Burbs, Top Gun, RoboCop, The Goonies, Ghostbusters, Gremlins and a whole pile of other 80s greatness. Plus, honorable mentions, forgotten classics, Corey Feldman appreciation, dystopian Arnold movies, Spielberg, John Hughes, Christmas movies, and the inevitable argument over what deserves the #1 spot. Basically, if you grew up in the 80s or just love the movies from that era, this one’s for you. Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox: Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase: DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers TacPack Use code CASUALPREPPERS for the current listener offer: TacPack.com ReadyPlan by MAD Gear Build your emergency plan with the ReadyPlan app: ReadyPlanApp.com Use code CASUALPREPPERS. Stay Survived.

72 Hours at the End of the Road What happens when a completely normal neighborhood gets cut off from the outside world for 72 hours? In this episode, we drop into a fictional cul-de-sac after a violent storm washes out the only road, knocks out power, disrupts water service, and leaves twenty households to figure things out on their own. As the hours pass, the problems start stacking up: medication shortages, generator fuel, questionable water, stranded family members, neighborhood security, hidden supplies, rumors, theft scares, and one very unfortunate missing gas can. We work through the scenario hour by hour and ask what we would actually do, what gear really matters, how much we would share with neighbors, and how quickly a group of normal people could either become a functioning community or completely turn on each other. Sponsors: BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox: https://survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase: https://drinklmnt.com/CasualPreppers Poncho Outdoors Get $10 off your first order plus free shipping: https://ponchooutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS Stay Survived.

Mindless Banter 155: The Hopkinsville Goblins In 1955, a Kentucky family claimed their farmhouse was surrounded for hours by small glowing creatures with huge eyes, clawed hands and a strange ability to shrug off gunfire. We break down the Hopkinsville Goblins encounter, the police response, the owl theory, the carnival connection, the weirder explanations and how the story became UFO legend. Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first box. LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase. ReadyPlan by MAD Gear Use code CASUALPREPPERS. TacPack Use code CASUALPREPPERS for the current listener offer. Stay Survived.

The Last Grocery Trip Before SHTF Something is happening, the shelves are still stocked, and you’ve got one more shot to make a grocery run before things get weird. In this episode, we break down how to handle that last trip without becoming the guy panic-buying 11 cases of water and a pallet of toilet paper. We cover what to prioritize, how to shop based on the actual emergency, overlooked second-wave shortages, foods that require more water and fuel than you might think, checkout and payment problems, cold storage, and knowing when it’s time to stop shopping and get home. More importantly, we talk about how to build enough everyday preparedness that someday this entire trip becomes optional. BattlBox: Get 15% off your first BattlBox at Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT: Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase at DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers Poncho Outdoors: Get $10 off your first order plus free shipping at PonchoOutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS MERCH: CasualPreppers.com Stay Survived.

The Paul Bennewitz Affair Paul Bennewitz was a successful businessman, pilot and electronics expert who lived near Kirtland Air Force Base and became convinced he was intercepting communications from extraterrestrials. What started with strange lights and bizarre radio signals quickly exploded into claims involving alien abductions, implants, underground bases, cattle mutilations, government-alien treaties, Dulce Base and even an underground war between humans and aliens. But the craziest part of the story may be what happened behind the scenes. Air Force intelligence figures, including Richard Doty, allegedly encouraged Bennewitz’s beliefs and fed UFO disinformation into his investigation, possibly to keep him away from real classified military activity. Eventually, Bennewitz’s obsession consumed his life and contributed to a severe mental breakdown. In this episode, we dig into Project Beta, Bennewitz’s bizarre decoded alien messages, Myrna Hansen, cattle mutilations, alien implants, Dulce Base, the alleged government treaty, Phil Schneider’s underground battle, MJ-12, William Moore and one of the strangest alleged government disinformation operations in UFO history. Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox: https://survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers LMNT Get a FREE LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase: https://DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers ReadyPlan by MAD Gear Build your family emergency plan with ReadyPlan. https://readyplanapp.com Use code CASUALPREPPERS TacPack Use code CASUALPREPPERS for the current Casual Preppers offer. Casual Preppers Listen, follow and subscribe to The Casual Preppers Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Casual Preppers merch and more at: https://casualpreppers.com Stay Survived. :::

The Contingency Planner Most families have emergency supplies, but their actual plan is usually scattered across phones, random notes, old conversations, and the brain of one person who supposedly knows where everything is. In this episode, we break down how to build a family emergency plan that still works when the phones are dead, the roads are blocked, everyone is separated, and the household’s main prepper is not around to run the show. Using the MAD Gear Contingency Planner and ReadyPlan app as our guide, we cover realistic threats, conditions for action, PACE planning, communication backups, meeting locations, evacuation routes, fuel, family roles, medical information, pets, gear locations, security, and how to create different loadout plans based on how much time you have to leave. Because owning the gear is only half the job. Your family also needs to know when to act, where to go, what to grab, and what happens when Plan A falls apart. MAD Gear ReadyPlan App https://readyplanapp.com Use code CASUALPREPPERS BattlBox https://survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers Get 15% off your first BattlBox. LMNT https://drinklmnt.com/casualpreppers Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase. Poncho Outdoors https://ponchooutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS Enter your email for $10 off your first order and free shipping. Casual Preppers Merch https://casualpreppers.com

Biological War: A Scenario with Annie Jacobsen Today we’re joined by bestselling author and investigative journalist Annie Jacobsen to discuss her brand-new book, Biological War: A Scenario. Annie is the author of Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon’s Brain, Surprise, Kill, Vanish, and one of our favorites, Nuclear War: A Scenario. In this episode, we talk with Annie about why she moved from nuclear war to biological war, how a biological attack could unfold, and why the pathogen itself may only be part of the disaster. We get into public distrust after Covid, how misinformation and panic could make a biological event far worse, and how quickly a crisis like this could overwhelm institutions, hospitals, government response, and normal civilian life. We also discuss how biological war could spiral into military escalation or even nuclear conflict, what continuity-of-government plans and martial law might look like, and how regular people can think about preparedness without living in fear. This is a heavy one, but it’s an important conversation about one of the most unsettling threats facing the modern world. In This Episode Why Annie wrote Biological War after Nuclear War: A Scenario The basic scenario behind the new book Why public trust may be one of the biggest survival factors How Covid changed the way people respond to public health warnings Biological weapons, engineered pathogens, and institutional failure How misinformation, rumors, and panic could accelerate collapse Why a biological event could lead to military escalation How a pathogen crisis could potentially trigger nuclear decisions Continuity of government, martial law, and emergency powers What regular people should do with terrifying information like this How to take biological threats seriously without becoming consumed by fear Sponsors BattlBox Get solid outdoor, survival, EDC, and adventure gear delivered monthly. Casual Preppers listeners get 15% off at: Survive.BattlBox.com/CasualPreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any purchase through our exclusive link: DrinkLMNT.com/CasualPreppers Poncho Outdoors Get $10 off your first order and free shipping on outdoor performance shirts at: ponchooutdoors.com/CASUALPREPPERS Pick up Annie’s new book Biological War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen is available now wherever books are sold.

CPP Classics: 2020 Halloween Special – Legendary Creatures Due to a family emergency, we’re reaching into the vault for one of our favorite Halloween episodes. In this 2020 Halloween Special, Coby and Cam explore the strange world of legendary creatures, terrifying folklore, and the monsters people have claimed to encounter throughout history. We look at where these stories came from, what might be hiding behind the legends, and how prepared you would actually be if one of these creatures showed up outside your tent. It’s creepy stories, questionable survival plans, legendary monsters, and classic Casual Preppers nonsense pulled directly from the dirty little archives. Stay safe. Stay spooky. Stay survived. Sponsors BattlBox Get 15% off your first BattlBox at: https://survive.battlbox.com/casualpreppers LMNT Get a free LMNT sample pack with any purchase at: https://drinklmnt.com/casualpreppers MAD Gear ReadyPlan Download the ReadyPlan emergency-planning app and use code CASUALPREPPERS. Follow The Casual Preppers Website: https://www.casualpreppers.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CasualPreppers Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualpreppers Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Casualprepperspodcast PREPPING • SURVIVAL • ENTERTAINMENT