WHAT IS A CASUAL PREPPER?

In our world of pandemics, civil unrest, natural disasters and increasing political turmoil, being prepared seems like the pragmatic course of action. Many people understand that having a plan, food, water, and meds at the ready in case of an emergency is the rational thing to do. But some people are fearful to start because they don’t want to travel all the way into “Doomsday Prepper” land. The thought of being branded as a crazy, tinfoil hat wearing survivalist can really push every day, mainstream people away from the prepping lifestyle.

Enter – Casual Prepping.

When we started a podcast in 2016 called “The Casual Preppers Podcast” we were fairly new to the prepping scene and were starving for content that fit our views and thoughts on what prepping could and should be for us. It seemed that the majority of podcasts, YouTube channels and social media sites were run or hosted by either ex-military guys who focused mainly on firearms and tactics for their prepping, or homesteaders who churned their own butter and knitted their own socks.

We desperately needed a happy medium.

When we couldn’t find it, we decided to venture into the world of prepping and podcasting and build it ourselves. Over the years we have done our best to hone what we think Casual Prepping is as well as to educate ourselves as much as possible on all thing’s preparedness and survival. It has been an amazing process, and over time we have built what we think is a new brand of prepping. One for the family man who works 50 hours a week and is struggling to keep up with work, family, friends, and everything around it. One for the single woman who knows she needs to be better prepared but doesn’t want to purchase an AR-15 or build a personal underground bunker. We also wanted a place where beginners and old pro’s could come together and have fun and learn, with no judgement.

Below we will attempt to parse out what we think Casual Prepping is and hopefully give you a better idea where we are coming from.

Casual Prepping is EVERYDAY preparedness

Although we routinely talk about the extremes in prepping on the podcast like – EMP’s, asteroids, total government collapse and alien invasions, our main focus always comes back to – What issues are most likely to arise in your everyday life that you need to prepare for?

We believe everyone should do a basic personal threat analysis to determine where their focus should be, or at least where to start. Some basic questions we ask are –

- Do you have a life-threatening illness or disease? Does that require daily meds to stay alive

- Are you physically fit and can you do basic things like, walk a mile with a pack?

- Are you financially stable? Do you have an emergency fund?

- Do you have a long commute to work?

- Is your employment stable and sufficient?

- Do you live in an area that routinely deals with natural disasters?

With these basic questions, you can do a very quick analysis on where you should begin as a Casual Prepper. If your commute is a long one, make sure your vehicle maintenance is kept up and make sure that you have some additional gear or items in your vehicle in case of emergencies or breakdowns. If you live in an area that deals with hurricanes every year, make a plan and implement it. Make a list and rank each possible issue by which is most likely, then come up with a plan to mitigate each as well as you can.

The Basics are Key

One thing that we have learned over the years is that when it comes to any emergency or survival situation, it all comes back to the basics. FEMA suggests getting a two-week supply of food and water for your family. Now, most seasoned preppers will tell you that this is totally insufficient, but if you can start there, you will be head and shoulders above the majority of the population. It doesn’t matter if your disaster is a short-term power outage or a devastating earthquake, food and water will be high on your list.

Beyond food and water, we would also include anything medical related as the basics – first aid kits, a backup supply of needed medications, or basic first aid knowledge.

The last piece of our basics category is financial preparedness. If you are in major debt, have no savings or are living paycheck to paycheck, we believe your focus should begin here. Finances are so key and so basic that without having this in order, everything else becomes harder.

Skills Can Go a Long Way

Becoming a prepper can be overwhelming when you first start. You have articles, podcasters and Youtubers telling you that this or that gear is completely necessary for you to survive whatever disaster is thrown at you. This can be disheartening at times, especially when money is tight, or if your significant other isn’t on the same preparedness wavelength. But the great thing is, is that learning new skills is just as important, and most of the time completely free.

YouTube is full of amazing information for preppers. You can learn – fire-starting, shelter building, navigation, water treatment, hunting, self-defense, foraging, mechanics, leadership, situational awareness and pretty much any other skill you can think of that would be a benefit to someone trying to become better prepared.

Your local library, podcasts, magazines and blogs are also great resources to learn and sharpen those prepper skills. So, when money is tight, or you’re unsure of where to go next, you can’t go wrong with learning something new.

Consistency is Vital

There is something in the preparedness world that we call “Prepper Burnout”. Some preppers become obsessed, or they get the prepping bug and go hard AF for a short period of time. This can be great but can lead to becoming burned out and falling off the preparedness wagon. You spend a bunch of money, a bunch of time and a bunch of energy quickly, then get to a point when the thought of doing anything else with preparedness becomes daunting, so you put it aside for a while and say, “I’ll come back later”.

This is OK from time-to-time but can be a huge negative if you aren’t careful. You may be so burned out that you completely take your eye off the ball. You don’t do those simple and small things that you need to be doing to stay safe and prepared. Really, the best way to move forward is to make casual prepping part of your lifestyle. Never get too deep. Never get too excited. But always staying consistent and steady.

Keep Within Your Personal Limits

If casual prepping interests you, this one should actually be pretty easy. Part of the appeal of it is that you don’t ever have to go overboard. And overboard is different to everyone. Some may think that a 6-month supply of freeze-dried food is overboard, and some may think that is a prudent and important part of their casual prepping plan.

Continue to evaluate your preparedness needs. Don’t fall into the fear mongering path that some prepper media can lead you down. Make rational decisions, based on real information from reliable sources. Don’t get scared and panic buy 10,000 rounds of ammo. Keep within your personal limits.

Have Fun

The #1 appeal and idea we hope people gather from casual prepping is to have fun! Preparedness can be so enjoyable. The gear is super cool. The skills are a blast to learn and practice. The peace of mind preparedness brings will only improve your quality of life, thus increasing how much fun you have. When its fun, you do it. Keep your level of involvement in that fun-zone, which is different for everyone. Have fun!

There you have it. The basics of casual prepping. This isn’t for everyone, but it should definitely have its place in the prepping world. If it’s for you, great. If it’s not, do your thing.

Either way, have fun and STAY SURVIVED!