New member from EU

Hi, I'm glad there is a place to talk about prepping and the future that is not entirely controlled by big social media companies.

I'm a young adult woman from EU.

I'm interested in prepping with a doomsday orientation.

I expect life to be unrecognizable in about 10-15 years due to the climate (and the agriculture instability it brings), AI developments, geopolitics and war, wealth inequalities and technofeudal dreams, plastics and other pollutants, pandemics, and biosphere impoverishment.

I'm here because I want to get fit and disciplined again and it would be great to do it with a fellow prepper. I will share more details in the fitness area.

 

Welcome from Dixie (aka The South). I'm sure that you can give us some insight into prepping in Europe, as opposed to here.

 

@Wildbilly Prepping in EU isn't a structured subculture and it's a relatively new (and seemingly fast-growing since about 2019) thing, so for example a lot of gear isn't easy to find (a Sawyer water filter costed me 3 times its price in USA a few years ago for example, and I can't find a pressure canner unless I'm willing to pay more than its price just to import it. Don't make me talk about freeze-dried food...).

There is no commonly known stereotype of prepper here (in USA from what I've gathered that seems to be "solitary conservative overweight white man from a rural area that enjoys larping of being a navy seal"), no marketing towards it... Most people haven't heard the word once.

I think part of it is the fact that we don't share the American firearms culture nor your taste for the new, and that while we are still capitalistic and individualistic cultures there is more of a social safety net (for the time being) so people don't feel they need to be as self-reliant and capable of defending themselves as Americans.

My area is a bit too traditional and religious to imagine the future as something fundamentally different from the past. People are also (weirdly) more openly status-conscious than Americans, and if you are worried about having the best car and nailpolish you can't learn to grow potatoes in a container properly. Maybe we don't miss the off-grid life as much because our cities' spaces are less aggressive so to speak in their pursuit of modernity.

The biggest obstacle for a prepper here in my opinion is the population density: we are packed so tight many of us have 100s of people in a 3dimensional 100 metres radius at any given time. People around me are also more reluctant and scared to embrace people who are different, so being openly prepper-adjacent would have a bigger social price here

 

Welcome and don't talk so much, Any around you that don't prep will simply beg, borrow, steal your stuff.
The less they know the better off you are!
My English friends that drop by love a day at the range doing skeet and other stuff, Keep an open mind.

 

@accountability A very warm welcome! We hope you hang around and become more engaged in conversations than most from Europe.

"I expect life to be unrecognizable in about 10-15 years..."
Frankly, I believe you hit the nail right on the head! Sadly, I think especially Europe is coming close to the breaking point, so I certainly understand your position and it makes perfectly good sense. Thankfully, I think America has back away from that breaking point and slowing reversing course...we hope.

We hear are common sense folks, come from all walks of life, all sorts of professions, with a ton of knowledge and experience. We hope you can add to that experience and knowledge.

Lastly, what country in Europe are you? I spent about 20 years in Western Europe...

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the Tree from Coastal North Carolina.

Your population density sounds like the biggest challenge. In your situation I'd concentrate on things that can't be taken away from you, (Fitness, knowledge, practical skills) and quiet networking. Start with people-watching. Are there people who are away often? Where do they go? Might be important to know them. Who digs the graves in town? Who goes fishing? Are there old people who might need assistance? They have knowledge of local things that you may never find in a book.

The Larping sounds silly, but those folks are camping, making cooking fires, sleeping in tents, doing things in ancient ways, and are getting out of crowded urban areas to do it. They also beat on each other and strategize about battle. They make most of their own gear, and there are likely historians and craftsmen scattered among their ranks that you could learn much from.

I don't care for the term Pepper. I grew up like this. Sustainability, canning, gardening, fixing old stuff or making do without the latest gadget was how my parents managed to keep us fed. Living at the beach keeps us in practice for power and water outages, for a day to a week. I use non-electric lighting almost daily, and cook more meals on gasoline and kerosene stoves than on my new electric stovetop.

If there's anything I can't do myself, there's an excellent chance that I know a guy who can. It's like the "I know a guy..." network. Between the bunch of us we always seem to be able to get things done. It's this people power and network of abilities that gives me the most comfort.

There's a couple lifetimes of reading to catch up on here on the SM Forum. From basic fire starting to advanced off-grid solar power, and canning food the old way. Folks here don't just try this stuff on weekends, they live it every day.

Pull up a branch and after you do a couple pull-ups on a higher branch, have a seat and see what you can learn from just searching old posts.

 

Hey, I resemble those remarks!

 

Welcome to the Tree from Coastal PNW of BC Canada