Economic crisis

Economic crisis spurs spike in 'suburban survivalists'

By Gillian Flaccus

SAN DIEGO — Six months ago, Jim Wiseman didn't even have a spare nutrition bar in his kitchen cabinet.

Now, the 54-year-old businessman and father of five has a backup generator, a water filter, a grain mill and a 4-foot-tall pile of emergency food tucked in his home in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla.

Wiseman isn't alone. Emergency supply retailers and military surplus stores nationwide have seen business boom in the past few months as more Americans spooked by the economy rush to stock up on gear that was once the domain of hard-core survivalists.

These people snapping up everything from water purification tablets to thermal blankets shatter the survivalist stereotype: They are mostly urban professionals with mortgages, SUVs, solid jobs and a twinge of embarrassment about their newfound hobby.

From teachers to real estate agents, these budding emergency gurus say the dismal economy has made them prepare for financial collapse as if it were an oncoming Category 5 hurricane. They worry about rampant inflation, runs on banks, bare grocery shelves and power failures that could make taps run dry.

For Wiseman, a fire protection contractor, that's meant spending about $20,000 since September on survival gear.

The surge in interest in emergency stockpiling has been a bonanza for camping supply companies and military surplus vendors, some of whom report sales spikes of up to 50 percent. These companies usually cater to people preparing for earthquakes or hurricanes, but informal customer surveys now indicate the bump is from first-time shoppers who cite financial, not natural, disaster.

Top sellers include 55-gallon containers, freeze-dried foods, water filters, purification tablets, glow sticks, lamp oil, thermal blankets, dust masks and first-aid kits.

Online interest in survivalism has increased too. The niche Web site SurvivalBlog.com has seen its page views triple in the past 14 months to nearly 137,000 unique visitors a week. Jim Rawles, a self-described survivalist who runs the site, calls the newcomers "11th-hour believers." He charges $100 an hour for phone consulting on emergency preparedness and says that business also has tripled.

Joe Branin, owner of the online emergency supply store Living Fresh, said he's seen a 700 percent increase in orders for water purification tablets in the past month and a similar increase in orders for sterile water pouches.

He is shipping meals ready to eat and food bars by the case nationwide.

"You're hearing from the people you will always hear from, who will build their own bunkers and stuff," he said. "But then you're hearing from people who usually wouldn't think about this, but now it's in their heads: 'What if something comes to the worst?' "

One Austin shop that specializes in the kinds of goods people stockpile says there has not been an increase in the survivalist business in this area.

"It's no different than it's ever been with me," said Ed Hall, who owns Quonset Hut, a military surplus store north of the University of Texas.

"I do see people come in and ask for gun parts — there's a spike in that, for sure," said Hall, who sells magazines but not ammunition.

"As far as straight-up survivalists, I don't think it's changed any. People are always talking about wanting to have an emergency stand-by pack in case of storms, like the hurricanes down south, or essentials on hand if electricity goes out for days. But I don't see too many people worried about the country collapsing. There was more concern around Y2K."

Art Markman, a cognitive psychologist, said he's not surprised by the reaction of some to the nation's financial woes, even though it may seem irrational. In an increasingly global and automated society, most people are dependent on strangers and systems they don't understand — and the human brain isn't programmed to work that way.

"We have no real causal understanding of the way our world works at all," said Markman, a professor at the University of Texas. "When times are good, you trust that things are working, but when times are bad, you realize you don't have a clue what you would do if the supermarket didn't have goods on the shelves and that if the banks disappear, you have no idea where your money is."