Pretty much like anyone who's been walking the path I've been on for many years will use the term prepper. A lot of times, you've got to use it simply because it's such a common means of identification. And while I use it often, that doesn't mean I particularly like it.
The biggest problem with the words prepper or prepping is that they're so poorly defined. Ask a bunch of people what prepping is and you're likely to get as many answers as the number of people that you ask. Some people (and actually given the times that we live in, that number is decreasing) will use words like: crazy, hoarders, survivalists, and nut jobs to describe preppers. Others, who kind of get the point, will still miss the mark simply because each of them has an end-point with regards to a degree of preparedness. Some might consider a prepper to be someone who has a 72 hour emergency kit while others think in terms of an individual who stocks up for a year's worth of bad times. But no matter who you talk to, those who think prepper's are crazy or those who think preppers are prescient, each and every one of them is thinking in terms of the relationship between a person and the items they possess.
So while I may use the words prepper or prepping, I don't actually think of myself as either a prepper or being involved with prepping. If I forced to define myself at all, I think of myself as being on the never-ending path to self-dependence. "Self-dependence" as a descriptor has a number of benefits. For one thing, while prepper can be used as a pejorative, only an idiot would find the concept of being ever-more capable of taking care of oneself to be a negative. Additionally, I have to admit that I'm not particularly preparing for anything. The Yellowstone caldera might pop tomorrow. Some terrorist organization or tinpot dictator might find a way to set off a nuclear weapon in New York City. Or maybe we'll just experience another 2008 economic kerfuffle. Sure as the rising sun, something damaging or even catastrophic will occur sooner or later because it always does.
But whatever comes my way, and assuming it doesn't send me to God's judgment, my family and I will weather the storm. Not just because we have a boatload of supplies but also because we've spent many years learning how to make our own. Marching toward self-dependence means being in a position to refill those barrels of wheat with grain that you've grown yourself. It means being able to get water out of that deep well when the power is out. It means having some trade or training that will be valuable to the community no matter what the economic conditions become. It means not simply having large amounts of freeze-dried beef stroganoff, but also having and knowing how to care for beef on the hoof.
Now of course I recognize there are some things - some vital things - that require equipment and skills beyond the abilities of most people. But while I can't manufacture a firearm from iron ore, I can make a crossbow. I may not be able to transplant a heart, but I can set a bone. I can't build an internal combustion engine, but I can melt iron and cast it. And it means having the necessary equipment and the training to be able to do all of that
even if the only power that you have is the power of your own muscles.
I don't prep for a day, a month or year. I walk the path of self dependence for life. And every day of my life I become a bit more self-dependent. I hope to see you all on the road.
