Man Spends More Than $350,000 Prepping for the Apocalypse: What Did He Buy?

Robert Bast of Melbourne, Australia, has a steady job, a wife and three children. He has a 75-acre plot of land and a pickup. With these amenities, it may seem like he's just living out every man's dream, but they were actually strategic purchases.

Bast is prepping for the apocalypse -- or some sort of catastrophe -- which he believes will happen in his lifetime, according to GeekOSystem. With these and other preparatory purchases for a catastrophic event, it is reported that he has spent more than $350,000. GeekOSystem has more on what Bast, 46, purchased for the "strong likelihood that there will be a catastrophe of some kind:"

The majority of the $350,000 cost was put into buying a 75-acre plot of land that is 1,500 feet above sea level (in order to avoid tsunamis and flooding), on which he build a house and bunker. He spent $10,00o on a pickup truck to drive him to the safe spot in case of emergency, and spent $5,000 on stockpiles of food and water, as well as $11,000 on your standard array of survival equipment — batteries, generators, water purifiers, solar power, and gas cookers.

(Related: Check out National Geographic's new series 'Doomsday Preppers')

In addition to his day job in Internet marketing, Bast also runs the website Survive 2012. On the site, Bast mostly goes off of Mayan predictions that the something -- a "great change" -- would happen in the world on Dec. 21, 2012. Bast acknowledges that to some this means "spiritual change," but to him it could mean a catastrophic event or the end of the world. Bast writes that there is "zero scientific evidence that anything will happen" but still goes on to say that a number of things could happen. These include:

[...] a geomagnetic reversal, asteroid strike or supernova. Or something more intimate, like a flu pandemic, or a nuclear war.

While Bast's survival endeavors came at a price, he states on his Facebook page that it can be done cheaply -- even for free.

The Blaze recently reported NASA explaining why we shouldn't worry about the Mayan prediction; that Dec. 21 would be just another day. Bast acknowledges this perspective but alludes to some skepticism himself though, stating on his blog "I feel like running a contest… how many more articles and videos debunking 2012 will NASA release? I’ve lost count of how many they’ve made to date."

CNN reports Patrick Geryl as spending considerably less than Bast on his doomsday preparations -- $130,000. Geryl has also authored several books on potential catastrophes and survival. Should a catastrophic event occur, according to CNN, Geryl has a "small wooden bunker far from the nuclear radiation in South Africa" where he will ride it out.

(Related: Meet the 'Preppers': Americans stockpiling food & water for a possible collapse)

Watch CNN's report of a "survival condo":

CNN reports Phil Burns, subject of Animal Planet's "Meet the Preppers," saying that saving for disasters is a lifestyle and that we shouldn't be running about spending loads of cash at one time. Burns says it's best to start small, putting aside 20 percent of your income for survival goods.

Last week GBTV's For the Record hosted Jack Spirko, who runs The Survival Podcast. Spirko said most people are "survivalists", even if they don't consider themselves one per se given the political connotation the term has earned recently. Watch the clip where Spirko discusses some of the practical aspects of prepping to become "individual libertarians":

GBTV also has its own reality TV show -- Independence USA -- which follows the efforts of one may trying to prepare his family to live "off the grid." Independence USA airs on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.

(Related: Ready for life 'off the grid'?: GBTV launches reality TV show 'Independence USA')