News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Steve Wilson believes in being prepared.
He looks at the recent economic turmoil - which came close to being a system meltdown - and sees the potential for bigger trouble than most people can handle.
If the system breaks down, the whole complex network of supply and demand goes with it, with potentially catastrophic consequences.
"It's all as complex - and as fragile - as a spider web," he said.
With that in mind, he's turned his store, Cache Mountain Traders, from a consignment shop into a "prepper" headquarters. Here he sells survival implements from crank-up flashlights and radios to water purifiers and freeze-dried food, along with a library of how-to books on survival.
And, since this is the site of the former Tea & Treasures, Barb Wilson still sells her gourmet loose-leaf teas.
Steve Wilson shies away from the term "survivalist" when talking about his wares.
"I prefer the term 'prepper,'" he said.
As in "prepared." Wilson thinks it just makes sense, living in a relatively remote area like Central Oregon, to stockpile food and other gear that can help get you through a crisis, natural or man-made.
"FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) recommends that everybody have a three-day supply (of emergency food and water)," Wilson notes. "Why not add a zero to that?"
For Wilson, there doesn't have to be any antisocial connotation to being a "prepper." In fact, he says, it's those who rally together with a strong sense of community who tend to do best in crises. It's not about stockpiling guns and ammo, either, though Wilson believes that being armed is a prepper's obligation. It's just not enough.
"You can have a bunch of ammo, but what are you going to feed the kids," he said.
Wilson, who once owned Mountain Man Trading Post in Sisters, sees his current endeavor as a modern extension of the self-reliant free trappers of the fur-trade era. He keeps a painting of a mountain man in the store.
"Those guys were the ultimate survivalists," he said. "They didn't have (our) supply chain."
Wilson said one need look no further than the aftermath of Katrina to see the impact of being ill-prepared for disaster. He recalled news footage of desperate people waving and holding up signs begging for rescue.
"Why would you want to be one of those people?" he said.
Cache Mountain Traders is located on Oak Street between Cascade and Main avenues.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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