What makes someone a REAL prepper?

[Weedygarden]

I'm curious, because a while back, someone stated that we are not preppers here. So I am curious. Do you consider yourself a REAL prepper, and why do you not consider someone else to not be a REAL prepper?

 

[Magus]

I came in here as a militant survivalist, a Prepper predator if you will.
Old age has a way of waking one up. To me, what makes a prepper is
common sense, awareness, and stubbornness. The two paths are locked
at the hip in many ways. To me, a prepper is someone who realizes that
they're no longer Rambo Lite.

 

[Haertig]

"Prepper status" is in the eye of the beholder. Nothing more. Some present THEIR vision of a prepper as THE correct way to define the term. But they are wrong-headed IMHO.

About the only definition that makes sense TO ME is:

"A prepper is someone who is prepared for one or more scenarios, to a small or large degree."

Therefore, I consider everyone on the planet to be a prepper. It's really a useless word designation IMHO. But some people wield it to elevate their status (in their own mind at least). A prepper (a.k.a. "anyone") can make themselves a better or worse prepper - but that is all relative to their current position on the continuum, and it relates only to them and to no one else.

 

[Amish Heart]

That is a very good question. Looking online tho, it's hard to tell who is really doing the things, and who is just sitting around looking up things on Mr Google, and just spitting that info out as their own fact.
I guess I view a prepper as someone who can take care of themself. Live without the current system. I do think I'm a prepper.

 

[SLADE]

I came in here as a militant survivalist, a Prepper predator if you will.
Old age has a way of waking one up. To me, what makes a prepper is
common sense, awareness, and stubbornness. The two paths are locked
at the hip in many ways. To me, a prepper is someone who realizes that
they're no longer Rambo Lite.

Truth

 

[Sourdough]

Everyone is a Prepper. Everyone gets a participation TROPHY.
Everyone is "FULLY" entitled to feel euphoric about their prepping.

 

[UserNameTaken]

There is no hard and fast rule. To me it means someone who is aware of a need to be ready for things that may affect them, or working toward that goal. It generally means being food sufficent, for realistic needs. Maybe a 3 day storm, maybe for permenant lights out. I see Homesteaders as kind of a pinnacle of being prepared. But it may not be a compatible lifestyle for many. My saying , "If you are not already living on a hard to find, working, self sustaining farm before tshtf, you are probably going to die," is a worst case. But anyone in such a life will be less affected by smaller events.

Like we are prepared (pretty much) for any short term events. But in a year, our food runs out - if we aren't overrun first. Someone in an urban apt has less time, possibly days or weeks, while a homesteader on the farm, or billionaire on their 60,000 acre ranch in MT might hardly know anything is wrong.

 

[Neb]

I am a prepper to a certain extent. Old ages is one threat that I feel is most likely.

And just for fun I will share the GOAT prepper.



Ben

 

[Sourdough]

It the mid 1950's we were so poor: my mother sent myself & slightly younger brother to "Summer Bible Camp" because we would get a lunch.

 

[Supervisor42]

I'm curious, because a while back, someone stated that we are not preppers here. So I am curious. Do you consider yourself a REAL prepper, and why do you not consider someone else to not be a REAL prepper?

According to someone, to qualify as a 'REAL Prepper' you must have everything you need to survive 5-7 years with no contact to the outside world.
...So that makes all the rest of us, 'Pretend-Preppers'.
That's a shame because I have met many people who are completely unprepared for ANYTHING!
They could use the info us 'pretend-preppers' share.
The unprepared are easy to spot, just let a storm blow thru, open your front door, and they are standing on your front porch.

 

[UserNameTaken]

I came in here as a militant survivalist, a Prepper predator if you will.
Old age has a way of waking one up. To me, what makes a prepper is
common sense, awareness, and stubbornness. The two paths are locked
at the hip in many ways. To me, a prepper is someone who realizes that
they're no longer Rambo Lite.

(Posted in all good humor.)

Survivalists I look at more toward being able to "survive." Live off what is available. Prepping is an aspect of survival. Survival of the fittest will come into play in the long game. I am still a survivalist - not as good as I once was, because I'm old. But I remember when I was 17 I was walking home down a dirt road with my rifle, wearing my six shooter. I realized I could live off the land anywhere I wanted to go. The exhuberance of youth? Maybe, but I've done OK. But in a real world shtf, I'd have died four years later when my appendix burst, had modern medicine and an ICU not been available.

Anyway, there's a reason I'm old.

I forgot what it was, but I'm sure I had a good reason...

 

[Sourdough]

Actually, if there is "catastrophic" SHTF, so-called preppers will have an ever so "slight" survival rate advantage

 

[elkhound]

It the mid 1950's we were so poor: my mother sent myself & slightly younger brother to "Summer Bible Camp" because we would get a lunch.


That is a closer example of prepping then most embrace today.

for a very long time by sharing food with others was a true sign of wealth....it will be that way again in future...for some areas it is now again across the globe.

its one reason i always said always carry a food thermos or pail etc. if you see a food line or soup kitchen get a meal. my grandfather talked about in early 30's they made sauerkraut and folks in neighbor hood brought pails to get some since they had a good harvest of cabbages from their fields.

having access to land kept my family from suffering and the many skills they had...from hunting and fishing ..to farming and ranching to gardening and much more.

 

[SLADE]

It the mid 1950's we were so poor: my mother sent myself & slightly younger brother to "Summer Bible Camp" because we would get a lunch.


That is a closer example of prepping then most embrace today.

n 50s we were so poor we had a few potatoes and fried muskrat, beaver, rabbit and racoon from snaring and trapping.

 

[Steve_In_29]

Actually, if there is "catastrophic" SHTF, so-called preppers will have an ever so "slight" (maybe 5%) survival rate.



Hell......That means only 95% disposable. That will work.

Pulled that number out of thin air or what?

 

[Supervisor42]

its one reason i always said always carry a food thermos or pail etc. if you see a food line or soup kitchen get a meal. my grandfather talked about in early 30's they made sauerkraut and folks in neighbor hood brought pails to get some since they had a good harvest of cabbages from their fields.

...So your idea of prepping is, to always carry an empty pail if you go by a food line or soup kitchen to get a meal?
I don't have an empty pail... guess I need to get one.

 

[Steve_In_29]

That is a very good question. Looking online tho, it's hard to tell who is really doing the things, and who is just sitting around looking up things on Mr Google, and just spitting that info out as their own fact.
I guess I view a prepper as someone who can take care of themself. Live without the current system. I do think I'm a prepper.

You can live absent access to fuel?
Electricity for food storage?
You make your own clothes? From cotton, wool or leather you raise and process yourself?
You find and forge the iron to make your wood stove and cooking pans?
Even many who raise their own chickens, pigs, etc depend on store bought feed for the animals.

Too many people claim to be self sufficient while ignoring the "system" that allows them to pretend.

 

[Pearl]

I'M READY!

 

[zoomzoom]

Why does the definition of a "prepper" have to be such a chest pounding "I can live through anything"?

IMHO and the way I live is "can I get through and beyond what my current situation is throwing at me" and can I be prepared for it.

I do have deep stores. Lifetime supplies of clothing, years worth of fuels... but being reliant on your skillsets and materials for EVERY DAY ISSUES is the most likely situation you have to deal with.

Just this week AND I DIDN'T SHOP AT A STORE OR OR ASK FOR HELP:
1) My utility tractor quit with electrical issues. I had the skillset, tools and parts to resolve the issue.
2) The metal trap under the kitchen sink gave out and due to joint breakage took out several other pipes with it. Again, I had the skillset, tools and parts to replace everything.
3) Due to cold temps and a frozen over creek, I couldn't get to the woodshed. I was prepared and had a cache of wood on trailers to get me through.

I can go on...

 

[Neb]

...
2) The metal trap under the kitchen sink gave out and due to joint breakage took out several other pipes with it. Again, I had the skillset, tools and parts to replace everything.
3) Due to cold temps and a frozen over creek, I couldn't get to the woodshed. I was prepared and had a cache of wood on trailers to get me through.

I can go on...

I love it!

The dopamine rush after fixing something without a trip to the hardware store is sweet.

Ben

 

[SLADE]

I'M READY!

Are you ready for no money, no teeth, no food but what you can forage and grow?
No lights, no car, live in a tarpaper shack and heat with an old wood stove for heat, if you have wood.
No jobs for 50 miles and then very few all paying very little money.
I got 50 cents an hour washing dishes at 14 and thought I was rich. many today glamorize the old days and old ways but they mostly sucked.

 

[angie_nrs]

REAL preppers are those that get on shows like Doomsday Preppers. If you're not on that show, you're not a real prepper!

And yet millions (maybe BILLIONS) of preppers will die.

Billions......we are ALL going to die. There is no amount of prepping that will allievate that. We will all stumble upon a situation that we can not be prepared for or live through. For some of us, it will be old age.
That said, maybe it's best to prep for beyond our physical life. Just sayin'....

 

[Morgan101]

Remember the old adage "There is more than one way to skin a cat." To me prepping is no different. There are a lot of ways to do it. Some may be better than others. Some are dependent on your physical and mental skills. IMHO there is no "correct" way. To me it is a lifestyle; not a fad. How many people have BOB's that have been buried in a closet for so long they have hair growing on them? They haven't been touched since the Mayan Apocalypse. IMHO that is not prepping.

Even though I was never a Boy Scout, I firmly believe in their motto "Be Prepared". It is something you live every day, and that is why I consider myself a Real Prepper.

 

[Steve_In_29]

Are you ready for no money, no teeth, no food but what you can forage and grow?
No lights, no car, live in a tarpaper shack and heat with an old wood stove for heat, if you have wood.
No jobs for 50 miles and then very few all paying very little money.
I got 50 cents an hour washing dishes at 14 and thought I was rich. many today glamorize the old days and old ways but they mostly sucked.

How old are you?

I was a dishwasher at 16 in 1975 and was getting $2.10/hr (min wage).

 

[Steve_In_29]

I'M READY!

Well women have an easier road as they can always fall back on the world's oldest profession in times of trouble.

 

[zoomzoom]

Well women have an easier road as they can always fall back on the world's oldest profession in times of trouble.

Really??? You're going there?
I'm betting women bring more to the table/world in SHTF than men do. Men can fight and lift, women can do that and everything else.

 

[Steve_In_29]

Really??? You're going there?
I'm betting women bring more to the table/world in SHTF than men do. Men can fight and lift, women can do that and everything else.

Seems facts hurt your feelings.

 

[Amish Heart]

You can live absent access to fuel?
Electricity for food storage?
You make your own clothes? From cotton, wool or leather you raise and process yourself?
You find and forge the iron to make your wood stove and cooking pans?
Even many who raise their own chickens, pigs, etc depend on store bought feed for the animals.

Too many people claim to be self sufficient while ignoring the "system" that allows them to pretend.

So everybody is wrong, no one is a prepper, and women can fall back on prostitution so they don't starve.
Wow.

 

[Steve_In_29]

So everybody is wrong, no one is a prepper, and women can fall back on prostitution so they don't starve.
Wow.

YOU stated a prepper was someone, "that could live without the current system" and that you considered yourself a prepper.

You do the math.

 

[Amish Heart]

OK. Excuse me. I must be mistaken.
I am not a prepper at all because Steve In 29 says that I cannot live without the current system and women can fall back on prostitution so they don't starve.
Wow.
Better, Steve?