I was just thinking to myself. There's alot of people that may be of the "survival" or "prepper" mindset that are essentially lone wolves. They may not have access to friends families or other social groups that they can join or maybe their jobs or whatever don't really lead to that kind of outcome. Is it then, not just futile without any sort of network to even contemplate such "survivalism"? They say no man is an island but in reality, there are plenty of individuals that just don't fit into any group, or I should say, perhaps are not needed in certain groups or are just excess. To put it bluntly- isn't it the case that some individuals are just bloated sacks of excess protoplasm, or redundant useless eaters carrying genetic code? They may be able to contribute to the whole, but then again, there are dozens of others that are already contributing and these excess individuals are just...unnecessary
At the moment, I am pretty much a 'lone wolf', though more doglike. I do have friends, but few prep to any degree. A few do somewhat, and I try to 'ease' them deeper into it. They get that 'deer in the headlights' look if I talk of prepping. So I couch it in terms of 'hurricane prep' (easy in Florida!), or in putting some stuff away like their parents/grandparents - this actually works better with the wives - good farm-bred gals! We are too spread out inthe county to be a 'community', so after an 'event' we'd have to meet somewhere to consolidate our efforts. My neighborhood is too suburban and right on the highway - too easy to be over-run by the Golden Hoard.
I must say, I have trouble understanding your question. Are you asking if there are preppers who "shouldn't" survive? Not sure I know how to make that decision. One thing I have noticed, though...I don't think I have ever met a truly stupid prepper. By traditional definitions of intelligence and methods of measuring it, I'm a pretty smart fellow...not to mention well educated (and modest). However...I am continually amazed at how stupid I sometimes feel among other preppers...and when I read some of the stuff posted here, especially in the "methodology" related sections... I suppose there may be some out there who have nothing to offer and yet profess to be "prepared", but I think Darwin will prevail when it comes to who should survive...if you can, and you wish to...then you should.
No one i know prepps and i have few freinds. Extended family is useless, most are happy if your giving or doing something that benefits them. That being said i take care of my parents, so preppS to me is Takeing care of them and my self. So prepps are basicly food and water On hand or stock which we go threw as normal food supply. I am no where near having a years supply for the 3 of us, i Wish i had more but have to purchase what is possible within my budget. So i guess i am a lonewolf.
That's the way most have to do it, a bit at a time. No matter how much money you have, it can't be done all at once. Just keep going, and before you know it, the pantry will be ready for long term. Keep the focus; use one, buy two, and it gets easy.
Many years ago "we" started having gatherings in April and Oct. The meetings are nothing special in many ways but they are in others. We get together sort of like a big family reunion. We eat well, have "classes" by those attending, do a bit of range time, BS a lot, eat well, talk about surviving in harsh times, learn how to manage w/o utilities, eat well (opps, did I say that), and have fun. There are no leaders, no aggenda, and hopefully nothing the "alphabet boys" will be able to gripe about. We chose our words carefully because we are just friends getting together for a family oriented fun weekend. If you do not have a get together in your area then why not start one? Just pick a weekend, pick a facility, and let folks know via the web sites that you frequent. Most of my friends are "internet" friends. Most are within two hours drive but some from several states away. If things go badly we can rely on each other with confidence--because we know them and they us.
This is similar to the situation I'm in. My family is made up of dummies. A few years ago at a family reunion, after dinner we watched a few episodes of that horrific HBO series about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I did some mentioning to family members about getting some food and water set aside for 'disaster preparedness' (not even mentioning a SHTF scenario) and, like a bunch of sheeple, they all responded with "Oh, the government has learned lessons from Katrina-that FEMA response won't be so sloppy next time." or simply "I'm not worried about it, God will look out for me." These responses made me wonder if I was adopted, to put it lightly. Fortunately, I have made some contacts in my state with good, variety-skilled people who take a more practical view on survivalism and we're getting our act together to move out of the Seattle-Tacoma area (I'm leaving in October for a nice, small rural town with a LOT less people) and get ourselves set up with land and cabins, etc. It does burn my senses though that not a single blood relative can have seen that doc on Katrina and not resist being so complacent, especially since most of them have children. They won't even do so much as set aside a few cans of beans or stew and a few jugs of water! Ugh!
It really is a shame but I guess thats just the way it is. Even with a group or if you have the money for a survival retreat, people are still going to be isolated individuals in sea of unprepared desparate individuals. You see this with all the tornadoes and flooding we've been having. Some people will have a stocked pantry but most will be living in a tent next to their discheveled house. Common sense seems to be that lone wolfs (not because they want to be but those that are isolated by maybe geography if thier families and friends etc maybe live in another state) are vulnerable or will be vulnerable because they are isolated in a bad scenario. I guess this is so but it may not be such an extreme impediment to survival
I'm thinking that being isolated far from the large population centers, keeping an extremely low profile will give rural preppers a better chance than being too close to a town when SHTF and the Golden Horde (or 'locusts') appears. Just a couple hours drive away from me (present location) is Vancouver, BC. The people up there in that liberal bastion lost their minds a couple of days ago over the loss of a hockey game and it was horrific. If people like that form that quickly and go wild over something so insipid as the loss of a game, I sure don't want to be anywhere near them if the power and infrastructure fails even for a couple of days. The farther and more remote I am from them, the less vulnerable I will feel, especially since I'm going to be with a group and am not lone wolfing it.
One thing about being a "Lone Wolf". The wolf knows that he or she is going to have to do it themselves. They are not going to wait for someone to give it to them or do it for them. A small community is better, but there will still be a lot of dead weight to try to drag around with you. I've been working on the neighbors with a moderate amount of success. A couple of them are hard workers, and willing to help on any projects, and because of that, I will help carry them with my stores if it becomes necessary.
