Oh no! More problems with Prepping!?

The Second problem is the generalization that all preppers and means of prepping are the same. Even within the community you will hear people say that a prepper should have “at least a year's supply of emergency food on hand” and spend all their money and time putting together the perfect bunker for TEOTWAWKI. ...I mean yea, do that if you want, but... no. There are no set rules with these things. Should you have emergency food and water? Of course! A few weeks, maybe months? Yea, if you plan on staying put, but this will all vary greatly depending upon many different factors and your own personal needs. Also, there certainly isn't going to be anyone auditing your supplies and food stores to see if you can be in the club. So take all that talk with a grain of salt.

The third and final problem is mostly semantics. To be a prepper you inherently practice a form of survivalism and a survivalist can be (but does not have to be) a prepper. A prepper, in turn, is not necessarily a survivalist. For example, Have you ever seen the show Naked and Afraid? It's a bit of a gimmick show but those are Survivalists. You drop them in the wilderness with a bowie knife and a bag and they make it work. That's not to say all survivalists have to be this extreme. It's more often closer to a type of post world sense of self reliance but would that person be able to survive the time in between. Would they be prepared for the chaos of war, famine, or social collapse. A pure bred prepper has a higher probability of surviving these events. At least those of a tier 1 or tier 2 (don't worry I’ll explain the tiers soon) but a lower probability of surviving a tier 3. What does this mean? We’ll it means I'm gonna catch a bunch of shit from some hard boiled preppers for implying that they aren't as prepared as they think but really it means what happens when the food stores are depleted? When the gas is gone and the mags are empty? A survivalist will grow crops, hunt, raise livestock, cut firewood, boil water or dig a well, and just generally try to find a way to make use of what tools they have left. A good survivalist, if aslo a prepper, will also be… wait for it... prepared. They may have stocked up on seed banks of heirloom fruits and vegetables, already mastered primitive hunting and gathering methods with a pioneer level of understanding in farming and food preservation. Long story short a prepper will spend hundreds of dollars stocking up on toilet paper. A survivalist... will wipe their ass with a leaf.

Now I stress, It is not my intent to push you to the survivalist lifestyle. This is a prepper blog after all. If you want to be a prepper, tried and true, I think that's just dandy. In fact I think it's down right responsible. It is after all, at its core at least, disaster preparedness. Which is encouraged by almost every local and federal authority you can think of. No, my goal is simple. It is to help you understand your own personal needs and goals, point you in the right direction, answer a few questions, and maybe… just maybe, save your life. Ohhh. Dramatic.