Welcome back again to another episode of Doomsday Preppers Diary with our two writers Cornelia and Pat. Each week we watch Doomsday Preppers and provide a little commentary on the episode and how each prepper is portrayed for fun. Last week’s episode was Jeff and the Rockman and some really awkward dating action. I am super excited about this episode because it looks like we are finally going to meet the guy who has been jumping his boat over those trees on the river in all of the promos so let’s dive in.
Craig Compeau lives in suburban Alaska with his wife and two teenage daughters. He is your typical Alaskan, who loves to hunt wild game, explore the wilderness, and prep for an uncertain future. Craig has a unique speedboat designed to run in water as shallow as six inches. The boat is his family’s only transportation to his secret bug out location, a 20-foot camouflage dome which he bought from his prepping partner, Don Kubley, hidden just off the river in a remote Alaskan forest. There, Craig has stocked nine months of food, two years of wood and twenty different kinds of weapons. The Dome will be the only protection for his family and friends when martial law has been declared.
PH: Alaska! That is where I want to go hunting. Everyday. For 3 solid months.
CA: Emily has a savings account. Wow!
Craig’s wife and eldest daughter are pursuing medical degrees in other parts of the state – valuable skills in a post-collapse world. He’s ready in the event of an impending economic free-fall, an event he fears will be followed by martial law. Ultimately, Craig must convince his young daughter that one day, all of this won’t be a test.
Craig already sees media influence in the form of censorship so he watches up to 4 hours a day of news.
CA: Is that really dedicated or has he found the perfect excuse to be a couch potato?
Craig has been working on Emily and her prepping skills and has decided to test her with a drill of their bug out plan. Craig is shown going into Emily’s room to wake her up so they can leave in the darkness. He wants to practice getting out of dodge before anyone can see him.
CA: Does she not know a camera crew is already in her room? That should have been her first clue that Craig would be bugging out soon.
PH: I swear she just packed what looks like make-up in her Bug Out Bag.
Craig is vocal about how superior Alaskan preppers are to the lower 48 since they “live” the survival lifestyle already. His plans to leave include a 4 mile hike through the woods of Alaska where they have to be prepared to face large animals or other people fleeing Fairbanks.
CA: I want to prep in Hawaii.
Craig has a special boat designed for navigating the shallow water in the rivers around Fairbanks Alaska. With Emily’s help they launch the boat into the water and head to his bugout location 90 miles away via the river.
PH: Is he really driving a boat in the dark with nothing more than a headlamp? Well, he should have less traffic on the river than the highway in case of a true bugout situation.
CA: I see that lip-gloss application is vital to prepping for Emily.
PH: See! I told you she packed makeup.
Craig’s retreat location is 90 miles up river from Fairbanks and because of OPSEC, he doesn’t want people to know where his bugout location is. The camera crew has promised not to disclose the name of the river or his location.
CA: So he is taking a film crew. Is he going to kill them afterward?
Craig s boat is designed to navigate the shallow waters in the river which can be as low as 6 inches. The bottom is made of high density plastic used in bullet-proof vests. We see Craig also jumping over felled trees and beaver dams. In one spot they hit a sandbar but Craig and Emily are able to get the boat over and continue; no problem.
PH: His boat really is awesome. Once I find out what it is I will post a link.
Craig and Emily finally arrive at his retreat after 4 hours on the water. The shelter is a camouflaged dome and it is called an Intershelter which can “sustain hurricane strength winds or earthquakes and are insulated to stay warm in extreme arctic sub-zero degree weather”. When they first arrive there are signs of recent bear activity.
CA: Craig needs to neaten up around his dome.
One of the aspects of security they have at their remote location is climbing trees to gain a better vantage point on the river and anyone who may be coming toward their location. Craig is teaching Emily how to use a climbing stand to get high up to spot intruders.
PH: You have to hand it to Emily, she climbed right up there. I think these are my favorite preppers so far.
Craig has a friend Don who didn’t get top billing, but is a serious prepper nonetheless. Don Kubley is Craig Compeau’s biggest prepping partner. He lives in Juneau, Alaska with his wife, son, and daughter who are all on board with his prepping. But in a bug out situation, Don will travel over 800 miles to meet Craig at his camouflage survival dome. Together at the dome, Don and Craig are storing nine months of food, two years of wood and twenty different kinds of weapons. Don has taught his family to prep, hunt and survive on their own because if a tsunami hits Alaska, Don wants his family to survive.
Craig is going to practice on Don by surprising him when he approaches the camp. Emily is hiding in a tree stand and throws a camo net over Don while Craig tackles him to the ground. After he realizes what is going on Don says he (Craig) was lucky he didn’t draw his pistol.
PH: Is this a Bromance?
The trio needs meet to store in their freezer so they make plans to go moose hunting.Craig and Emily are hunting from the river and Don sets out on his own.
CA: How do they have a freezer?
Don bags a nice moose and they take it back to camp to butcher it and the segment comes to a close.
PH: These guys are really prepared and I love Craig’s take on the world. It closely mimic’s mine except he has much cooler toys and a bigger backyard.
The Practical Preppers score Craig and Emily very highly in just about every aspect of their survival preps, but the score only nets out to 17 months of survival. At this assessment Craig said an expletive and I can’t really blame him. I don’t think the Practical Preppers expect anyone to live more than 18 months regardless of how well you are prepared. I wonder how long they would score themselves.
The update shows a new “tool” they have that is a fire hose they can hook up to the boat motor to blast a stream of water 50 feet away. This is to keep out intruders and could possibly remove skin… Emily has cut her hair and is still hanging tough with her Dad. Good daughter!
Doomsday preppers in Hawaii
David Lakota is a ‘new age spiritual prepper’ who lives in Hawaii and considers the island his most important prep. But living in Hawaii means living with the constant threat of a tsunami; so David spends his days living off the grid and training. He believes that his powers of intuition and his connection to Mother Nature will warn him when a tsunami is coming. David plans to survive a disaster by relying on his six years as part of an international search and rescue team as well as the Alaska Airborne Rangers. His girlfriend Rachaelle looks to him as her prepping mentor and trains with David to survive the dangerous Hawaiian wilderness. Armed with his extensive training and spiritual beliefs, David and his girlfriend believe they are ready to survive any tsunami.
CA: David is a mystic who sees visions. David just hiked down into crazy-town.
PH: David is prepping for tsunami. You think? In Hawaii. Nah, that could never happen…
David believes that intuition will let him know when a tsunami is about to strike. He feels that he will know by a dream or premonition the day before and at this sign, he will put his bug out plan into action.
CA: Is that a fairy flying around behind David’s head?
David has a partner in his doomsday prepper survival plan, Rachaelle, who seems to have a background in herbal remedies and knowledge of edible plants in nature.
CA: Rachaelle is part of David plan. How convenient.
David’s plan is that when he is first aware of a Tsunami threat, he will collect Rachaelle and head to the shore for a 15 mile kayak paddle to his remote location.
PH: Wait a second, he is worried about a Tsunami and his plans call for getting on the water?
David and Rachaelle do not plan to have any supplies with them because they feel it would slow them down. For water David plans to drink from springs that seem plentiful at the bottom of their hike. When it comes to whether or not the water is safe to drink, David plans to ask Mother Nature or Intuition for permission to drink the water. If he hears approval then the water is safe to drink.
CA: How does nature feel when I pee behind a tree. Should I ask it next time?
PH: Why are they barefoot? I couldn’t walk two feet on rocks without shoes.
When they arrive at their location, David accidentally cuts his foot with the oar from their kayak. Rachaelle finds a local plant with analgesic properties and treats his cut. The plant she says “will taste tingly and strong”.
CA: That means “nasty”.
PH: See! He should have been wearing shoes.
David and Rachaelle’s plan once they have paddled to the remote location is to scale the mountain to safety. They have no equipment and the mountain top is over 4000 above sea level. David feels this will keep him and Rachaelle safe from any Tsunami.
CA: Where did Rachaelle’s pants suddenly come from?
PH: Now they are gone.
CA: Now they are back. I think this show is another excuse for Rachaelle to strip down to her bathing suit.
Since they have no food, they plan to forage along the way. David and Rachaelle find some berries but neither one of them recognize them and do not know if they are safe to eat. David asks “Intuition” if the berries are OK and if he receives the go-ahead they will eat the berries.
CA: David and Rachaelle are gorging themselves on delicious berries. Isn’t there a fairytale about this? Isn’t this where the wicked witch suddenly appears?
PH: Don’t try this at home kids, these people are trained profe… well, lets just wait and see.
Along with no food, they have no water and apparently at the top of the mountain there is no water to drink. David plans to drink his own urine to survive if necessary and he demonstrates this on the show.
CA: How is he forced to drink urine already? Rachaelle is grossed out, clearly.
PH: Rachaelle is passing on the urine. She is smarter than I was giving her credit for.
CA: I think Rachaelle has had work done on her face. What would the universe say about that?
David and Rachaelle climb to the summit of the mountain and have proved that they can make it to the top of their mountain without any supplies. The score from the Practical pPreppers is understandably low. They do not give David high marks on any of the categories and less surprisingly David is not moved by this.
In the update from David, he said that he realizes the true threat is complacency so he has apparently moved full time into the woods. The very cryptic ending to David’s story and he appears to have replaced Rachaelle with a dog. Cute dog.