The Difference Between Survivalists and Preppers

There are two main types of people who are serious about being prepared for crises, disasters, and emergency situations. The first type are called survivalists, and the second type are referred to as preppers.

What is a Survivalist?

The survivalists lean more toward ensuring that they have the knowledge to survive a short-term situation. They know exactly what to do if disaster strikes, and where they need to go in the event that their home becomes inhabitable.

They have prepared for a bad situation by making sure they have backpacks ready and waiting with at least three days of food, water, clothing and the means to provide or make a temporary shelter.  They also have their bugout vehicle ready to get out of Dodge.

In most instances survivalists will believe that the situation is just temporary, and that normalcy will eventually be restored. For this reason, they might only be prepared to go into survival mode for no more than a few days.

What is a Prepper?

Most people who call themselves preppers like to be more prepared, and go beyond just short-term survival in their planning.

Their focus is not necessarily about specific survival situations, but rather on being self-reliant. They strive to reduce their dependence on society and the grid. That way, if a disaster situation does arise then it is just like any other day and life goes on as usual.

Preppers strive to be prepared to survive for any length of time. The idea is that they need to be able to take care of themselves and their families regardless of how long it takes for the world to get back to normal. They believe that the only ones they can rely on for long term survival are themselves, so they prepare to be self-sufficient above all else.

For these reasons, many preppers begin homesteading to make sure that their food supply is sustainable. They might stockpile some prepackaged emergency food supplies, but they also have a garden that will feed their family. They will also be able to collect the seeds they need to be able to continually replenish their garden.  Preppers also save the food they have grown themselves by preserving them.

Preppers also commonly use animals to provide for their needs. For instance, they might get their milk from dairy cows and their eggs and meat from chickens. Homesteading preppers will often also keep goats for making cheese, and even raise sheep for the fleece that they will use to make their own clothing items.

In a lot of ways, preppers strive to live life the way it was lived long ago, and they emulate that. They look at how frontier survival website previous generations managed to live off the land, and not only survive but also thrive.

As you can see survivalists and preppers have some differences, but the primary thing that both of these groups have in common is that they try to be prepared for whatever might happen. In that way they are very much alike. To learn more about preppers and survivalists go to the Frontier Survival website.