I realize preppers are a very OPSEC group, but would you happen to know any way to get harder numbers on the numbers of homesteaders/preppers/survivalists per capita in any given county/region/state/etc.? Maybe ARRL members, or Meetup members...
I'm guessing, cdevidal, that you would be hard-pressed to gather hard numbers. There are so many different "names" for those who are prepared, that there isn't/can't be a single gathering point for that data.
I agree. There are some that are "preppers" or "survivalists" who buy the dehydrated or the one years supply from Costco or somewhere. But then there also is the farmers and people who just generally have a simpler self-reliant way of life. First rule is don't discuss what you have, what you do; so to have an accurate count or figure would be impossible.
and then there is the basic Utah Resident.... It would surprise you what those folks have squirreled away in their basements
Hahaha... trying to decide where to move. I'm thinking that if I correlate Meetups and forum members and ARRL members and all of the data that I can get a good guesstimate. Any other criteria you might consider if you were looking for a region with like-minded individuals?
Your grandparents were preppers, but they didn't call it that. they just called it life. people use to store food anyway they could, that is why canning, smoked, salted, dried, frozen foods exist at all. We used to all heat with wood, coal, or fuel oil, so wood piles were high, houses had coal bins, and large fuel tanks were a way of life. People have gotten so used to the idea that food now comes from a store, that they have forgotten their roots, their heritage. I have been a hunter my whole life, and I will continue hunting until I can no longer do it. it is a part of my heritage, and a mindset, that people should be as self-sufficient as they can be, so they have the ability to survive, if something goes wrong. My farther taught us to hunt, and what plants could eaten, or used for medicine, so that we had the best chance at survival, if we ever had to live off the land. Even the girls were taught, weather or not they choose to continue hunting, they at least knew how. My Sister, can't pull a trigger on anything with a face (her words) but she is a crack shot with a rifle, and could give lessons. My brother can't seem to hit anything with feathers, but does quite well with deer and small game. I'm the throwback, i would likely have fit in better a couple of hundred years ago. I'm not exactly Politically Correct. My point is prepper, is a new name for a throwback way of life. When men were men, women were women, and life was what you made of it, not what was handed to you. it was your's to make or lose. Self-sufficient. Prepping isn't about how many people are doing it, or how trendy it may be. It's not about the fringe folk like you see on "Doomsday preppers" or the other TV shows, it's about mindset, determination, trust in yourself, and your own abilities. As preppers become self reliant, their numbers basically "disappear" from society's viewpoint, they're not on welfare, or standing in line for free phones, or glasses, they're not raiding stores when the power goes down, or robbing people in the streets for their groceries. They are withdrawn from the maelstrom, so why bother counting them? they are not part of the problem.
You might want to put feelers out on (APN) the American Prepper Network. Lots of people just like you looking for connections.
Homesteading in downtown NYC would be rough. But may be a good amount of preppers there. Mostly it comes down to how much we believe in the system and that it will or won't collapse. The whole rural independence thing is kind of archaic. I'm from a rural area. Most grain farms couldn't support squat. The junk they grow isn't even food. Of course they do have the land to start growing real food...but even in most rural areas now, people aren't self sufficient or close to it. They drive to the cities for everything they need or have it delivered. If you're out there living off the land, terrific. Just saying the ideal of what a farm looks like is some pre 1950s relic that doesn't reflect the factory farms of today. I do like the rural independent spirit, but just like riding a Harley doesn't make you a tough guy, claiming the rural spirit doesn't make you prepared when in some ways you're MORE dependent than people in the cities.
See my previous post, the one above yours, for why. Yeah I would then want to overlay that data over other maps like population density, rainfall, etc.
3% ??? .... you kidding .... more like 1/1000 of 1% .... or even less ..... you look at the membership #s of these larger prepper websites and compare them to the overall population ..... it's so lean that it's barely measurable ....
Illini, I know four preppers personally, who are all solo, never joined any sites, and until recently, leveled with me. That means only %20 of the preppers I know are accounted for. (me) For every prepper you know about, there are likely a dozen, you do not know.
if don't like the prepper internet site membership ratio vs population ..... Chicagoland is roughly 5-6 million people ..... largest prepper group around is around 200 members .... there's several area groups .... let's say 1,000 prepper group members ..... start your math .... you can multiply 1,000 to suit your "hidden association" .... you think there's 12 hidden for every active prepper .... I'll give you 30X - 100X - 1,000X - 10,000X ...... that ratio for 5-6 million people remains so damn minute, it's barely recognizable .... and Chicagoland is A-typical for the majority of the US population ..... people aren't preparing .... preppers are a speck in the population
