A blog I found on another site. By M.D. Creekmore
Over the years the term “survivalist” has taken on different meanings depending on the decade and or who you were talking to at that moment in time. However, the official definition given for the term “survivalist” by Merriam-Webster is: A person who advocates or practices survivalism; especially: one who has prepared to survive in the anarchy of an anticipated breakdown of society.And I’d say that is a reasonable but overly simplified definition of a survivalist because after all, we do “prepare to survive in the anarchy of an anticipated breakdown of society” but that’s not the be all and end all of what a survivalist is. Being a modern survivalist is much more than that.
The modern survivalist prepares first for the most likely threats that happen every day somewhere such as violent crime and not just for the total breakdown of society without the rule of law. The modern survivalist sees the big picture and knows that preparing for specific threats like violent crime, sickness, job loss and localized civil unrest are just as important, if not more so than preparing to survive a nuclear world war three in an underground bunker surrounded by cases of MRE’s and weapons.
The modern survivalist may own a 20-acre ranch in Montana, or they might own a 5-acre off the grid cabin in Kentucky or a 3-acre mini-homestead in Tennessee, or they might even live in an apartment in an urban or semi-urban part of the country. The modern survivalist can no longer be seen as some “lone-wolf” who lives alone in a cabin in the forest and living solely off of trapped and shot game and wild plants… although they might.
But when it comes to location the modern survivalist researcher’s different places and will try to relocate to a safer area if possible because they understand that not all areas are equal when it comes to everyday safety and long-term survival. However, most modern survivalists will opt for a modern home on a few acres near or inside an established town with a hospital, emergency services, schools, entertainment and shopping within a 30-minute drive.
The modern survivalist also knows that they are much more likely to need “everyday skills” like cooking from pantry staples, driving in bad weather, home repair, emergency auto repair, extreme weather safety, CPR and First Aid, home security, self-defense, etc. than how to build a fire with a bow and drill.
And, no, I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with learning primitive skills because there isn’t. I’ve studied primitive skills as a hobby for years and love primitive camping but I know that I’m more likely to need to be prepared for an extreme weather event or to defend myself against violent crime than surviving for days or weeks out in the bush with nothing more than a knife and several yards of fishing line – unless that situation is by choice to test my primitive survival skills.
The modern survivalist has a well-rounded skill set that includes all of the above to an extent; however, they also realize what threats they are most likely to face and develop those needed survival skills first to perfection before branching out into other areas of survival training like primitive skills or nuclear survival skills. The modern survivalist is realistic, and so is their training.
For example, the modern survivalist will spend the bulk of their time and training learning (by doing if possible) about unarmed self-defense, armed self-defense, concealed carry, EDC kits, home security, emergency auto repair, driving in bad weather, first-aid, etc. These skills are useful NOW and can save your life TODAY, or even after an EOTWAWKI event. These types of skills are always useful whether the world is even thrown back to a new dark age or not.
Those are the types of skills that a person is most likely to need and the modern survivalist knows this and spends their time learning and perfecting those types of skills instead of wasting time running around patrolling the woods dressed in their military fatigues with several other out of shape people playing army.
Incidentally, a few years ago survivalists came up with a new, and what they thought was a more politically correct term to refer to themselves and the term “prepper” was born. However, after four seasons of the TV show Doomsday Preppers the once more politically correct term “prepper” now has the same stigma attached to it as the original term “survivalist”. I prefer to think of myself as simply as a prepared individual than either of the other two, however, I use both terms survivalist and prepper here for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes.
So what type of survivalist/prepper if you prefer that term are you? Are you a modern survivalist/prepper? Why? What skills do you think are most relevant to actual real-world survival? Have you mastered those skills? Or, are you like many “fiction novel preppers” who run around the woods playing army with a few other delusional folks who base their prepping on the most marketed prepper novel or doomsday movie?