Define "Prepper"

Yep, when visiting a friend in Tennessee in January, we drove by a house that was flattened by a tornado, killing a woman inside. It would seem to me not a bad investment when living in a twister prone area to have an anty em shelter.

 

Yes, working what what we have, what we have been given, with the cards we have been played in life is without a doubt a fundamental rule in making the most of the life that we have been given.

And it is so true, becoming in many ways crippled because we for example obsessively spend our life focused on building the ultimate hardened bunker that will account for all possible human and naturally created scenarios, there are collateral costs and sacrifices to consider in such extreme pursuit.

 

What an amazing experience and upbringing for you BT and AKCK, to have lived in such a time and to have rubbed elbows with and learned from those who lived in times where the unthinkable and unimaginable tragedy was a reality.

I was raised by depression era people, regular meat and potatoes folk including US military & pow's and as a result I don't take much for granted nor do I feel entitled to anything much. Yes I get tired and sometimes want to just snow shoe or kayak off into the sunset and leave all behind but I always come back around to do what needs doin.

Rock on.

 

Yep O.C., in some ways due to my every day lifestyle I can withstand better than others temporary interruptions to the modern distribution system of goods and services, but I would really rather not be tested!

If you are comfortable with it, name a couple of preps that you would consider, "vastly different', I'm curious?

 

It looks to me from my response and from what I know in my heart to be my reaction, that I am clearly finding components of agreement and understanding in everyone's definition, but for the sake of argument, which is clearly what your bucking for, please, go on, feel free to be specific instead of generalizing and I will do my best to address your concerns.

PS: I haven't finished reading everyone's great thoughts yet and I am hitting the rack, catch you on the other side ok?

 

Nailed it. If you live in the country and you are not prepared for hard times then yer just pretty much screwed. Of course what would be considered hard times by a City Dweller is at best a minor thing for the Rural Dweller. Most of the so called preppers I meet are large of mouth, have lots of stuff and fall very short on common sense and skills. A few actually live the life and they typically don't walk around like they have a AR crammed sideways up their bunghole and do not use lots of military terms. Hehe when the acronyms breakout I typically walk out. Anyway whenever someone calls me a prepper...... I correct that misconception rather quickly with "NO! I am a Small Farmer."

 

Okay, here are a couple of definitions for "prepper" that I found and for what it's worth I think they all apply. I agree, the Boy Scouts "Be Prepared" motto sums it up nicely. Note: As far as I can tell, the Girl Scouts motto is also "Be Prepared".

From "The Free Dictionary" Prepper: One who prepares for possible dangers such as natural disasters, societal collapse, or nuclear war, as by stockpiling necessary supplies or acquiring survival skills.

From "The Urban Dictionary" Prepper:
A person who is prepared, or striving to be prepared for incident, natural disaster, etc
A person actively preparing or being prepared for situations that may affect the stability of home, life, or financial situation.
Also known as survivalists, doomsday preppers (derogatory)
Jim and his wife have canned a lot of food this summer. They will be prepared this winter!
Carrie is a good prepper. She has a 72 hour bag for each of her family members.
#prepper#prepping#survivlists#survivalism#doomsday

Makes perfect sense to me.

Very witty Dr. Prepper ditty!
I am seeing a lot of meat and potatoes definitions for "prepper" here with the main underlying theme being common sense and application based on the situational needs and abilities of the individual.

 

I always liked this one and it's so true. My bucket list includes learning how to preserve the harvest and the actually doing so!

Good point, if you can't maintain healthy mental focus then it's going to be much more difficult to translate that into effective physical preparedness.

Interesting .. explain further if you want to please?

 

I know exactly what you mean about the term "prepper" carrying the rap as an extremest nutcase survivalist, but is it really such a bad idea to try to "Be Prepared" for survival in a *KYAGB situation?
*Note: Look, I just created an acronym!

Yah that's right, DEFINITELY good advice to actively avoid being a victim.

Part of Being Prepared is knowing but not telling everyone where the fish are at!

 

A very practical and effective way of preserving essential nutrition indeed, I sort of do the same thing when I float a bottle of beer in the cool water cistern in the summer time!

Keep your eye on the ball Ghrit, share if you will some of your thoughts, definitions and ideas for Being Prepared?

 

no - you misunderstand my point >>> prepping is everything from a guy that carries a jackknife everyday "because" - another puts a pressure gauge to his car spare once a year - the woman that knows how to change a SUV tire even if she can only help direct a helper guy >>>> prepping goes all the way to the guys with bunkers and huge stores of supplies ...
ALL degrees & levels of prepping starts the exact same way - THE MENTAL SENSE OF THE NEED TO BE READY and THEN DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT ....

 

Oh, okay thank you for clarifying that you meant that all prepping begins with, "THE MENTAL SENSE OF THE NEED TO BE READY and THEN DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT".
Excellent definition by the way.
Peace

 

Depends on geographic area. I don't need snow shoes or a sled in my area. A boat would be more useful. Hurricane shutters for windows are necessary in hurricane prone areas. Who in Nevada needs hurricane shutters? Its like the old adage about real estate, location, location, location.

 

Nevada, never been, most mountainous state in the nation with over thirty peaks exceeding 11,000 feet, that I would truly like to see. Las Vegas, funny thing even though going there would be in many ways a lot more humanoid hospitable than a jagged mountain range, I have zero desire to visit the Mecca! Just like prepping though, to each his or her own! ☮️

 

Been a scout and ham op for there abouts 50 yrs including SAR. I am still learning good ideas on being prepared. Anymore all I can do is try and have plenty on hand of everything of use. Physical work at the moment Has been ruled out by my cardiologist. I go in this Wednesday to see what can be fixed. With luck and a good surgeon should be able to split wood for next year. Luckily our preps make it a small bump that are handled well. Local produce, local fish and crab are available (and we know the people that farm and fish) plus friends willing to help (as we have done for them). Wood stove supplied by a friends deadfalls are backup heat. Prepping is more than just material things... It's attitude, willingness to help your neighbor and a willingness to be helped if needed. There is a certain amount of back and forth required to build that trust and understanding. Those are the people you can count on. All that is good but always have a good ace in the hole, just in case.... as always YMMV. 73's

 

Aesop Wrote the Original Guide to being prepared called **The Ant and the Grasshopper**. That guide pretty much defines and sums it all.