Fireman Spends Thousands Of Dollars Preparing For The End Of The World

Doomsday prepping is usually seen as the preserve of paranoid off-grid types living in fortified bunkers, but one New York City firefighter is convinced even city-dwellers should be preparing for an emergency. ‘Urban prepper’ and married father-of-five Jason Charles has stocked his small fifth-floor apartment in Harlem, New York, with enough supplies for him and his family to survive alone for around nine to 10 months.Show more

He has 10 knives stored securely in his apartment, including a BK9 combat knife, and another 50 or so at his lock-up in the Bronx. His ’End of the World’ closet is packed with medicine, water, tools, and even homemade detergent, and he keeps a ‘bug out bag’ on hand at all times in case he needs to leave the property at short notice.

“I’m prepping for everything, it’s not one thing: financial crisis, hurricane, tornadoes. If a couple of nuclear bombs go off in this country, who are you going to rely on? The government is not going to be able to ship you anything. People think that the country can save you no matter what happens.” - he says.
The former EMT, who was at Ground Zero when one of the towers fell during 9/11, is the organiser of the New York City Prepper Network – a group of NYC residents including doctors and construction workers.

Initially, Jason began stockpiling MREs - 'Meals Ready to Eat’ - spending around $1,000 in his first month on the pre-packaged meals and other supplies.The 40-year-old also keeps a separate storage lock-up in The Bronx, where he stores additional supplies. The prepper estimates he’s spent around $10,000 to $15,000 on supplies and equipment since starting on his prepping journey.