Collapse' Preparations Push Skyrocketing Survival Gear Sales

As the U.S. economy tanks and the Mid-East appears poised for war,  a chain of survival gear stores in Missouri has reported a jump in sales due to people getting ready for the possible 'collapse' of society.

Steve Dorsey, a manager at one of the Uncle Sam’s Safari Outfitters stores in Webster Groves told KMOX-Radio that: “We had to order fifty cases of the meals ready to eat to keep up with the demand in the past three months. That’s not normal.  Usually we sell 20 to 30 cases in a whole year.”

When local stores start running out of MREs-- specially packaged meals ready-to-eat, generally for the military-- that seems to be a sign of strong public anxiety.

Steve Dorsey also told reporters that sales has been picking up since the Arab Spring revolts and with the continued specter of a global economic collapse hanging over America.

'Collapse' preparations are apparently not just for the outdoorsman either. Dorsey claimed that wealthy patrons from cities  have been buying up the gear as well, telling KMOX that:

“I’ve had people in here that are very wealthy and they’ve spent thousands of dollars just on backpacks that they fill with survival gear, one for each person of their family and something where they can just grab a bag and get out of Dodge."

The survivalists' plans for a collapse aren't limited to any one route, according to Dorsey. Some are stocking up on freeze-dried meals for home, others are stashing food at remote locations outside of cities they would flee to in the event of  major incident. In other cases, families  are setting up communal safe havens  where 20 or 30 people will gather in the event of a collapse.

Dorsey gave his analysis of the situation as "people are scared. They don’t know where this country is going. They think we’re on a downward spiral with just dramatic, crazy spending.  People just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

That much seems increasingly obvious, whether one is out storing up on MREs or not.