In recent weeks a form of hoarding instinct has revealed itself in places where usually campers or trekking holidaymakers shop in Bonn. If you talk to the local business-owners, you’ll learn that some of the new customers are not interested in finding out how to use the equipment they’re purchasing.

In Eifelstraße, Daniel Christmann is noticing that stocks of certain items have dwindled in recent days – for example, equipment for water treatment, cookware or lamps that don’t use electricity. "At the moment we’re selling certain items faster than ever before," says the co-founder of Walk On The Wild Side. The best example is water filters, which are currently sold out both in the low-price version for around 40 euros and in the top category at a price of almost 400 euros. There is hardly any prospect of refilling stocks right now, says Christmann's purchasing manager Jan Bigos. This is mainly due to the generally high demand, but also to increased transport and production costs.

The bulk of the merchandise has always been sold through the in-house online shop, "but lately more and more people have been coming into the store," says Christmann. He does not want to be seen as someone who is making a profit from a crisis: "Obviously, and according to general information, there is no acute threat scenario. It is strange that so many people suddenly want to make provisions for such a case. We like to give our customers, especially the obvious newcomers, detailed instructions on the equipment. But many people don't ask about it at all." With many items, knowledge is a prerequisite "to have the desired result and not endanger yourself and others".

Who are these people who are now buying equipment for a scenario in which there is suddenly no electricity or running water, or where they might have to make their escape "into the woods" in an instant? "Actually, there are people from all walks of life, from the safety-conscious family man to the tough disaster freak," says Bigos. "But at the moment we’re seeing fewer outdoor novices and more people who say they want to be ready in case there’s an emergency."

Christmann is not able to say whether so-called preppers are also currently stocking up their supplies in Eifelstraße: "We can't look into people's heads." Preppers are people who fear a collapse of the general order, including the supply situation, and therefore want to become self-sufficient and take disaster control into their own hands.

The spectrum ranges from people who buy the basics to those who are preparing for an emergency complete with gas masks, shelters or even weapons. At the extreme end are those who have a right-wing extremist and anti-state attitude, are longing for a coup or even promote one. It is not known whether and how many people in the Bonn area cultivate attitudes like these. Both the police and the State Protection Service do not provide any information on suspected cases or cases of surveillance.

The Bonn-based company "Waldhammer", founded in 2018, does not want to directly link increased demand to the current world situation - "but what we have seen is that the need for information about preparing for crisis has fundamentally increased since the disaster at the Ahr river last summer," explains co-founder Yannick Esters when asked by our editorial team. Both personally and through his business, he advocates "a logical and unbiased approach to the topic of exceptional situations".

Storms, floods, snow and cold spells, power outages and other crises are not rare, he says, even in Germany, "even if this is hard or impossible to imagine for a large part of the population." For floods and high water, however, similar preparations might be needed, says Esters, also in light of the Ahr disaster. Overall, in his experience, urban populations make fewer crisis preparations than people from more rural regions.

In the Bonn branch of a nationwide outdoor supplier, some items will soon be sold out. At "Globetrotter" the shelves for water filters are empty, and the shelves for rechargeable lamps or cooking utensils also look understocked at the moment. "The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is worrying many people, and we are no different," explains company spokesperson Miriam Esch-Arnolds. "Accordingly, we can well understand that people want to prepare themselves for crisis situations - for example, within the framework that is also recommended by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance for general crisis preparedness." However, she also qualifies: "We are quite critical of some current trends in the prepper and survival scene or the hoarding of equipment and food."

In front of the shop, Dirk S. is loading cooking utensils, folding canisters and a high-quality battery-powered lamp into his boot. "I am a camper, but I also gave in to my increased need for safety," he says about the purchase when asked. "As long as you don't overdo it, a little precaution is certainly not a bad thing."

Original article: Alexander Barth

Translation: Jean Lennox