What's a prepper?

Posted by Nate on

If you’ve been paying any attention to the media recently, you may have heard the term ‘prepper’ cropping up here and there.  Even with the increasing popularity of shows such as Doomsday Preppers on National Geographic, many people are still left wondering, ‘just what is a prepper?’  Our nature as human beings means we tend to put definitions on things and people and then group them in convenient mental boxes.  With the information overload we face in our modern society these mental shortcuts, known as heuristics, make it easier to cope with and function in a complex and quickly changing environment.  But before we get too carried away with all this psychobabble, let’s make it clear that there is no quick, cut and dry definition of a prepper.  Ask ten different self-proclaimed preppers what it means to be a prepper and you’ll probably get ten different answers.

If we take a look at the definition of ‘prepare’ which prepper is derived from, Webster’s dictionary states that prepare means: to make ready beforehand for some purpose, use or activity: to work out the details of: to plan in advance.  From that definition we can infer that a prepper is someone who takes action before a particular event, and in our context we can add ‘with the intent to minimize the impact of an adverse event’.  Prepper’s apply common sense and rationality along with forward thinking to determine what scenarios they may be faced with in the future.  Then they make decisions or take actions in the present that will help them handle those scenarios in order to reach a more favorable resolution.

Prepping encompasses everything from mundane activities like making sure one has enough band aids should little Billy skin his knee in soccer practice tomorrow, to stocking up on high quality food storage should economic conditions worsen.  There are even extreme examples like building zombie-proof bunkers to survive attacking swarms of the living dead.  No joke.

A prepper has a forward thinking mindset and a desire to stack the cards in his or her favor should an adverse situation occur.  Although often portrayed in the media to look like a bunch of extreme, isolationist Rambo-philes, the majority of preppers are what most would deem ‘normal’ people, except that think ahead and plan for the future with a heightened sense of urgency and resolve.  It’s something generations before us did on a regular, daily basis, but in our convenience-based society it’s a skill and mindset that atrophied though decades of neglect.

Fortunately, prepping is also an ability that we can reacquaint ourselves with and a habit that will pay dividends in the future should challenging events come our way.  At The Ready Project, our goal is to help you be aware of some of the potential emergency scenarios worth preparing for.  We provide you with the resources and prepper supplies you need to Live Life Ready.  Keep following us for tips, tricks and reviews to help you in your prepping efforts.

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