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I have to admit that I've enjoyed watching Doomsday Preppers because I enjoy seeing people look a bit insane on television but after an episode the other day that featured fellow Texans I will no longer be watching.

I've seen some dumb stuff on TV relating to firearms but this certainly takes the cake and I'm including the other doofus who blew his thumb off in front of his kids with a .22 on Doomsday Preppers.

Two Texan men have been prepping for several years together and likely due to the show they were staging a get together to show off their preparedness and to practice for Doomsday which in their case is a dirty bomb. Skipping to the idiocy - One man owns a 700 acre ranch and the other man was driving himself and his kids to this ranch. Well the ranch owner wanted to see how committed his friend was to the cause and staged a roadblock on the road leading into the ranch. The ranch owner positioned himself and his kids around his vehicle with their firearms pointed in the direction of the incoming family. All firearms appeared to be loaded (magazines in, bolt forward) and the attached lasers were on. The incoming family stopped outside the gate and were ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint by the other prepper and his kids. They were forced to get on the ground and were glassed for weapons before they were identified and allowed to get up.

Recap: Ranch owner prepper and his kids were pointing what appeared to be loaded firearms at another unarmed family whom they were expecting purely as a "test".

I was irritated because I was taught not to point my guns at anything unless I intended to destroy it, doomsday scenario or not. I was also irritated because the other prepper didn't seem to care that a test resulted in firearms being pointed at his kids who were well under 18. Lastly I didn't care for the ranch owner to be teaching his kids that its ok to aim firearms at people unless they meant to kill them. It was all a bit out of line for my taste but it gets worse.

They decided to make IEDs to of course maim or kill people. These "IEDs" were gasoline and tannerite mixed with ball bearings and nails etc. They had to be detonated by firearms and so you had these idiots up in a treestand taking shots at these bombs. The man who drove to the ranch was equipped with a Sig Sauer 550 rifle (or similar) that had a muzzle brake attached to it. They didn't appear to be wearing hearing protection so when the 550 went off right next to the ranch owners face it caused him to think his eardrum ruptured and he proceeded to blame the other guy for firing his gun in the treestand even though he had just done the exact same thing.

The show explained that because of the muzzle brake it made the report much louder and that may be true but it didn't help that the ranch owners hearing protection was simply his hand from what I saw. His eardrum was not ruptured btw.

This entire episode was a huge firearms safety nightmare and I'm still horrified that their kids are being severely misled about what is right and wrong regarding a firearm.

Thoughts?

You missed the part about them sitting inside and when they hear some creepers they grabbed their guns and went outside to mow these people down, who were the local cops helping with the scenario.. So you got kids pointing guns at cops who think its cool that they are pointing guns at them..lol

Ericstac wrote:You missed the part about them sitting inside and when they hear some creepers they grabbed their guns and went outside to mow these people down, who were the local cops helping with the scenario.. So you got kids pointing guns at cops who think its cool that they are pointing guns at them..lol

So glad I zoned out and missed that part!

I still enjoy the episode from a year or so ago where the family that lived outside of San Antonio was testing the durability of their "house". This house was just numerous conex containers stacked together and to test it out the owner goes outside some distance away and shoots it with a .22 on one of the reinforced corners used to lift the container. Obviously the thick steel at the corner stops the round and he proclaims the house bullet proof; nevermind the single paned window thats 5 feet further down the container from where he just shot. Really makes you wonder about people.

SigM4 wrote:I still enjoy the episode from a year or so ago where the family that lived outside of San Antonio was testing the durability of their "house". This house was just numerous conex containers stacked together and to test it out the owner goes outside some distance away and shoots it with a .22 on one of the reinforced corners used to lift the container. Obviously the thick steel at the corner stops the round and he proclaims the house bullet proof; nevermind the single paned window thats 5 feet further down the container from where he just shot. Really makes you wonder about people.

I saw that one and had exactly the same thought...............and he was supposedly "ex-special forces." The show deliberately distorts things about the participants though. The episode with the girl who lives in Houston who talked about what she might have to do with her pet cats if things got really bad.....she said on another website that the show's producer actually tried to pay her $1,000 to shoot her cat on camera. Also, they gave a bogus reason for her desire to prep. In reality, she's prepping for "whatever might come," but in the show they said that she was prepping for something specific like collapse of the nation's oil supply, or something like that.

I occasionally watch the show, and once in a while you actually learn something that could be useful, but now that I know that the producers sometimes go out of their way to make the subjects look really goofy, I have much less desire to watch it.

Although I agree to some extent with not pointing guns at each other, I would point out that military training usually includes pointing guns at each other, partly to break down training that makes people not want to point guns at each other. Is it possible that these preppers are doing the same so that they and their kids won't hesitate when that day comes?

SigM4 wrote:I still enjoy the episode from a year or so ago where the family that lived outside of San Antonio was testing the durability of their "house". This house was just numerous conex containers stacked together and to test it out the owner goes outside some distance away and shoots it with a .22 on one of the reinforced corners used to lift the container. Obviously the thick steel at the corner stops the round and he proclaims the house bullet proof; nevermind the single paned window thats 5 feet further down the container from where he just shot. Really makes you wonder about people.

I met these people at a gun show. They are actually very intelligent and run a very profitable business. The producers of the show wanted him to shoot up the containers with their ARs. You can imagine his response. What you saw on the show was a compromise to filling his "home" with holes.
I'd be willing to bet the episode that the OP is referring to went much the same way. Probably the "firearms" pointed at people were nothing more than props. I can tell you that I have never met a cop who would think it was cute that little kids were pointing real rifles at them - the cops had to know they were just props. I also have never met a rancher that was able to run and hold onto a 700 acre ranch that was "stupid" - especially in today's economy.
This is the film industry. Everything you see on these shows is scripted by the producers. The only thing that surprises me is that people would actually believe that what they see on these shows is "real" and a true depiction of these people.

I have to say just like everything else on tv I think these shows are sensationalized and the people portrayed to look as insane as possible. Just goes to warn you to never ever give the media access to your life.

I hate this show. It makes us gun owners look stupid and insane. Whether that's intentional or not from the producers who really knows.

watched one episode, couldn't understand why someone would show their bunker, the outside of the home and using their names on TV IF the family wanted it to remain a secret.

Dreamliner wrote:I hate this show. It makes us gun owners look stupid and insane. Whether that's intentional or not from the producers who really knows.

There. I believe you just named the entire purpose of these shows. To make "good" people look stupid and moronic. I would never willing participate and won't watch more than a couple of minutes. I saw the gate incident mentioned by the OP and thought no wonder some people are afraid of us!!!! Turned off the TV and went back to reloading.

Everything on TV is a lie. The whole point of a show like this is to create controversy and paint the participants as nuts. Any other course would require a serious and rational evaluation of the problems facing the country and that is never going to happen, if for no other reason, because it wouldn't be "entertaining."

The Annoyed Man wrote: ...
The show deliberately distorts things about the participants though.

Based on a single bit of hearsay from a participant in one of these shows, much of the content is staged prittle-prattle, falderal and outright balderdash.
(There I said it.)

The Annoyed Man wrote: The episode with the girl who lives in Houston who talked about what she might have to do with her pet cats if things got really bad.....she said on another website that the show's producer actually tried to pay her $1,000 to shoot her cat on camera.

I am so thankful that Ma and Pop raised me the right way and gave me pet chickens. I have reasons to distrust chickens, especially guinea hens who revelled in pecking me on my little stubby legs. On the other hand, chickens are yummy.

I saw this episode as well. I thought to myself, If you own a 700 acre ranch in the middle of nowhere, chances are little few people are going to know your position. But if you have a two story house and 5 story windmills like these folks, someone is bound to find you. All those weapons and special tactics won’t work when time of crisis comes. It was plain to see when local officials came and surrounded their complex to take over and they did. These folks do make gun owners look crazy and lost. They live in an upscale neighborhood in Houston and the drive to the rally point was 2 hours. Driving on major highways and on back country roads with a suv pulling a trailer full of ammo and food. The day the S.H.T.F there won’t be time for that.
A plan would be: Baby, grab that box, get in da truck, take this put it under the seat, mouth closed, eyes peeled, and be ready for anything. Stay calm. We're going for a little ride out into the woods. Put the radio on.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I occasionally watch the show, and once in a while you actually learn something that could be useful, but now that I know that the producers sometimes go out of their way to make the subjects look really goofy, I have much less desire to watch it.

Most of these "reality" shows are like this.

For example,the Extreme Couponing show is completely fake. The producers secure agreements with the grocery stores to accept multiple coupons for products where the coupons are marked "One per customer" - that's how they can get away with buying 94 of the same item, then use 94 coupons. Granted, not all coupons have that restriction, but in many cases the stores have allowed this just for the show.

In one show, a store which doesn't even accept coupons was shown accepting a pile of them.

While "reality" shows don't generally have a script, the producers of the shows give the participants general direction as to what they want to see on the show, and then allow the participants to act out their wishes how they see fit. These shows have little to nothing to do with reality.