Who’s Prepping These Days, And WHY? 

Last month I was startled by someone’s panic-induced rant, “Oh My GOD, There’s a Hurricaaaaaaannnnnne”.  Erin was alive and churning out in the Atlantic, not anywhere near us in NW Florida mind you, but yes, there was a hurricane.

With hurricane season now in it’s more dangerous time, I’m seeing more articles about prepping, some in relation to hurricanes, others just taking advantage of the press.  Articles like, Why I am/am not a Doomsday/Apocalypse/SHTF/Hurricane Prepper, Why I Prep, Why I Don’t Prep, Why You SHOULD Prep, etc etc etc.

Personally, I do prepare for emergencies, especially those generated by Mother Nature, because I live close to the Gulf of America and hurricanes are a way of life.  Also, we had 9 inches of SNOW last January, which I’m sorry to say I missed!  But it’s not just Mother Nature’s wrath; everywhere around the globe, storms are intensifying, resources are shrinking, political climates are changing, and conflict is growing faster and becoming more intense than ever before.

WHAT is a Prepper??  My definition goes something like this:  A Prepper is someone who takes steps to ensure their (them and their family’s), resilience and survival during times of extreme circumstances and environments.  That covers earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, looting, loss of civility etc and it doesn’t limit anyone on HOW they prepare.

Common Myths About Preppers

They’re crazy.  That’s an old and misguided assumption, especially these days.  Being prepared is about planning, not paranoia, if anything, it’s like a retirement account or stocking up on water, some extra food and snacks before a storm.  Preppers believe in self-reliance and resilience, many are homesteaders who grow much of their own food or they are a close neighbor who helps a homesteader.  They tend to be ordinary people who just want to live. Like everyone else.

They want the world to end.  WHAAAAAAT?  Seriously???  Is that why you buy car or life insurance, because you WANT to have to use it?  There are very few people who want a world without Law Enforcement, Medicine, and a consistent food supply, and those people include Preppers.  But like people buy insurance, “just in case”, that’s why people prep.

All Preppers think they will be King of the Wasteland Warriors.  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.  Most Preppers are interested in keeping their food supply going, keeping a high state of situational awareness and understand what they have isn’t conducive to any offensive maneuvers.  Experienced survivalists avoid confrontation at all costs and only as a last resort do they use self defense.

Preppers will save the unprepared.  Buddy, I’m going to be honest with you, if you aren’t family you probably aren’t coming with me.  If you bring nothing to the camp, talent, food, medicines, etc, you are going to be pushed away.  My family knows to bring items that are on a list and most preppers are like that too, they have limited resources centered around a certain number of people.  So if you’re not already prepared, see ya.

Preppers are extremists.  According to a 2025 report from Axios, there’s been a surge in urban prepping driven by inflation and food insecurity.  Prepping is increasingly mainstream and preppers include Doctors, Lawyers, business owners and suburban families.  All are quietly taking part in preparedness and many stay quiet because they want to avoid being judged – or targeted.

I’ve also seen articles that say why it’s unrealistic to be prepared, or at least to be prepared for longer than 3 months at the very most before things got back to normal and we’d all be doing our own thing.  My first thought is, people in the Balkans would disagree with your time assessment.  Also, there are more than a few studies that have shown that in a limited state, where only a country or region of the world is in a loss of civility, generally at the 18 month mark at the most is the time that law and order starts to assert itself again.

For the people that say even if we lost 90% of the population we would be ok, their theory is that would harken us back to a time of approx 1780.  Their theory also states that there were no “Walking Dead” around then so we would be able to tough it out and be back on our feet in no time.  Even if 99% of the population were to be wiped out and we were forced back to a textbook “state of nature” it wouldn’t take long before we would be back doing our thing.

While I understand that point of view, and agree with our limited population from the early 1700’s thru the 1860’s we had transatlantic trade, universities and such I’m not sure those people take into account one very important thing that will drive many people.  FEAR.  Fear of not knowing how to live without electricity, fear of not having enough skills and food, or just to live period in a very unfamiliar environment.

That wasn’t present during those days of yesteryear but they would be if the world decided to end tomorrow.  Fear makes people to irrational things they normally wouldn’t consider doing.  That’s the real reason I prep, so that my family and I will be able to better control our fear.  I hope.

What about you?

Garfield out.