Are you a Prepper?

There are legions of people that consider themselves to be “preppers.” But you can’t consider yourself a prepper if all you do to prep is buy a few cans of vegetables and a gallon or two of water.

Being a prepper isn’t about what you have but instead it’s more about your mindset. It’s about a strong mental and physical fortitude unseen among other denizens of society.

To a prepper, no challenge is insurmountable. A prepper is surprised by nothing and ready for everything. Whether that nuclear fallout, complete and unabridged government breakdown, a third world war, or (probably more relevant) the bread-winner losing their job and undergoing familial economic hardship. If you’d like to continue diving into the mind of a prepper, read on to learn more. 

A prepper is not a survivalist, let’s get that straight right now. A prepper is about being responsible and self-reliant. Is this different from being a survivalist? No, it isn’t. The difference between being a prepper and a survivalist is that a survivalist trains to live off the land in a primitive state.

A survivalist learns to use stone tools and resources found in the wild in order to survive.

On the other hand, a prepper plans to live in a comfortable shelter and live as closely to modern living as possible. A prepper eats canned or prepackaged food, uses firearms and ammunition, and lives at home. Preppers procure supplies now while these items are readily available in an effort to ride these supplies out as long as possible after a catastrophic event occurs. 

There are some terms and acronyms which are iconic to preppers. These terms also provide a framework of the prepper mindset. Here are some of those:

• SHTF – (When the) Sh!* Hits the Fan
• TEOTWAWKI – The End of the World as We Know It 
• Prepper – An expert in the field of preparedness
• Preps – Slang for preparations/supplies for preparation
• KISS – Keep it Simple, Stupid
• Bug-out – To retreat to a safe house/secured area
• Bug-in – Hunkering in and riding out the worst
• Yoyo – You’re on your own
• SOP – Standard operating procedure

You should be able to see that with these terms, it’s every prepper for themselves. You may have your close-knit group of associates (family, contributing friends), but as far as I’m concerned every living, breathing human is a leech ready to suck your resources dry.

Prepping isn’t about saving the world or making the world a better place, it’s about ensuring you will have yours and can survive when SHTF.

Complete independence is one of the chief tenets to being a prepper. So often you hear about government aid or food stamps. This is the last thing you want when society breaks down. Waiting on the government for food, water, or supplies? Yeah, that’s something I’m really interested in.

Being able to live a life completely detached from any governing bodies will give you the upper hand. The only one you can depend on is yourself and the only one who you should depend on is yourself. 

Supply procurement is an obvious must for a prepper. Consider securing supplies like saving for retirement. You won’t have a job after you retire nor will you have the income coming from that job.

When SHTF, the supply lines will be broken and you will not be able to acquire food or other supplies by heading to your local Walmart and checking items off the shopping list.

Assume there will be nothing to buy and for what is available, every other human being (and animal for that matter) will be scrambling to take those supplies for themselves. Preppers differ a bit on how long you should plan to live without supplies, but assume you’ll need to prepare for the foreseeable future. 

People will find out you’ve got a storage of resources at your disposal. They will try to take those resources for themselves.

It is important for you to have layers of security to protect those resources. Now we have home security systems to notify us when someone breaks and enters into our home or throws a rock through the window.

Don’t be surprised to be living a life without electricity or power generation. You’ll need to develop your own home security system that is able to keep valuable resources in your possession.

A security net will also need to protect those you collaborate with, those you love. Barbed wire, stone walls, and booby traps are obvious choices.

Diversified personnel are an additional arm of home security that is often forgotten. Recon and shock troops, resource gatherers, and night watch are critical to securing a home and establishing a base of power within the area. 

Prepping is a complete commitment to survival and being a self-reliant human.

We have the ability to buy whatever we want, when we want. It will not always be this easy and in fact I believe we are on the peak only ready to slide down the mountain slope. Soon it will be a mad dog free for all and the ones you call “friends” today will become the bottom feeders of tomorrow.

A prepper is one that is ahead of the curve, don’t be one to fall behind. 

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