'Survivalist' or 'prepper'?

[unregistered168043]

It occurred to me that years ago, before there were 'preppers', people who lived in the woods and practiced 'surviving' were called 'survivalists'. Nowadays, they are 'preppers', what is the difference in your opinion? Why the reason for the change in terms? And, which do you prefer for yourself?

[Sourdough]

Originally Posted by Darntootin

And, which do you prefer for yourself?

I prefer "Outdoorsman" or "Woodsman".

[unregistered168043]

Sourdough, I'm not sure thats quite the same thing. As a 'woodsman' myself my focus is on living off the land from year to year not really preparing for disaster..IDK maybe it's just different types of the same thing.

[Ohio Rusty]

I think a woodsman -- one who practices the art of woodcraft, is probably closer to a survivalist than a prepper. I think preppers are focused on storage using modern materials and modern storage techniques: Fiberglass underground bunkers, modern dehydrated foods in 21st century packaging, depending on your home and apartment for shelter and storage, etc.
A survivalist can have and use these things also, but a survivalist is more oriented to being able to leave the modern, cumbersome prepped items behind and live more on their own hook. Leaving everything behind and living out of a bug out bag is more of a survivalist mindset.

All three, the survivalist, the prepper and the outdoorsman all have many things in common .... the ability or need to harvest food, living out of a base of operations, being able to live decently without modern conveniences like electric lights, etc. The survivalist, and the outdoorsman to some degree, have the focus that they need less of all the modern conveniences compared to preppers to get thru hard times.

Ohio Rusty ><>

Somewhere between culture and agriculture.

[Vickie44]

A lot of what people call prepping I just see as a rural agricultural lifestyle that everyone in my area used to do . I like the idea of putting up enough of what you produce to make it to the next season and I think it makes sense to have adequate supplies to see you thru rough times . I dont understand a lifetime supply of laundry detergent and papertowels in case the TSHTF, however the ability to make your own laundry soap and live without papertowels is worth cultivating.
People with a basement full of Beanie Weenies and the ammo to protect them scare me, although I can certainly learn alot from them

[AngieM2]

Originally Posted by Vickie44

A lot of what people call prepping I just see as a rural agricultural lifestyle that everyone in my area used to do . I like the idea of putting up enough of what you produce to make it to the next season and I think it makes sense to have adequate supplies to see you thru rough times .

this part is what I think of when talking Survival or Prepping or just living the Country Life Style.

All these fancy new terms for labeling folks just get down to (usually) city type folks that run to the store everyday, calling the rural farmer types that lay in supplies and have a stocked pantry, just a name a label - and in some cases a way to look down at the 'scared of their shadow' farm/country folks.

So to me, it's more about just being practical.

[tkrabec]

I'd have to say a prepper is a person who prepares for disasters what ever they may be.
and a survivalist preps, but very heavily on the premise of survival of the fittest, guns, ammo, food, guns, ammo, shelter, guns, ammo, water, ammo, tactical training, etc
IMHO its more along the lines of "FEMA" vs "Military"

[Texasdirtdigger]

When it became more mainstream......it became Preppers.

[Horsefly]

So to me, it's more about just being practical.

Yup, I feel the same way. I'm out in the country & I'm not going to drive to town every time I need something. Beside that, I've been thru 2 layoffs with the same company & I didn't have to set foot in a store except for dairy products. DH was pretty proud of that. We basically lived out of our pantry. And I was able to put every un-employment check into our savings.

[bourbonred]

I consider myself more of a prepper than a survivalist. My goal is to prepare, not to survive at all costs. I'm preparing for a change of our economy. Many people I've talked to see survivalism more as bushcraft--being able to survive in the middle of the forest with nothing but a knife. Others see it more as homesteading self-sufficiency like our great grandparents lived without electricity or comforts. I think the difference for many is whether or not they have the desire to live rural. Many want to prepare without leaving their creature comforts of starbucks down the street, and their job 5 minutes away. That person is going to plan to rush into the closest forest at the first sign of trouble with their bug-out bag in tow. Here on HT, we meet the back-to-the-land folks who want to know how to milk a goat, and learn to can. I personally fall into this group, and can rationalize it easy by remembering the self-sufficient farms of my grandparents. I think self-sufficiency is going to outlast bushcraft, especially in a long-term grid-down situation. Though, admittedly, both have their place.

[whiterock]

Just the kind of living one does when they lost the rat race.

[Becka03]

I prefer Self-Sufficient...I don't have a lot of land- so I am not really a Homesteader- yet
and I save and stock but only to head off things like prices skyrocketing and not having to go to a store more than once a month,,,,

[Sonshine]

I think of myself as a prepper. Maybe it's more being self-sufficient. I would like to be totally off grid some day and be able to protect my family and home. I think of survivorlist as being people who have bunkers and are armed to the gills.

[Sourdough]

Many in Alaska live a "Subsistence" lifestyle. And as I may call myself an Outdoors Man, others would call my lifestyle subsistence.

[babygoats!]

I prefer not to be stuck with any label, actually.

[Wags]

We were striving for self-sufficiency, before we read One Second After. That book made us aware of what could happen in a EOWAWKI situation. Our self-sufficiency goals had not previously taken into account a total break down in society, so now we "prep" for that type of scenario. Of course there is overlap of those goals, but now we have items stored we would not have other wise thought to have extras of before.

[City Bound]

I have no idea. People have always kept stocked pantries, extra materials, and preped for emergencies, hard times, and lean times, so I do not see this as something new. The only thing that makes it new is the people that are doing it for the end of the world....unless they are mormon.

[Farmerwilly2]

That's an easy one, see, a survivalist will tie his left boot laces first, a prepper don't untie them, just slips them off and on.

[OnlyMe]

Personally, I simply think of myself as a Housewife.
I'm not preparing to survive anything. It's simply my responsibility to care for my family & this mindset worked well when we were without power for 9+ days during the October storm.

[CJ]

I think these folk used to just be called farmers. Good grief.