What is Prepping?
Many people have come to know about prepping through the lens of television shows, books, and movies. Oftentimes, we are introduced to these characters well into their prepping journey at the threshold of some impending doom or living in the mountains only to come out of seclusion once a month to buy gold and other supplies in bulk. Yet, how many of us have a fire extinguisher in our kitchen? Doomsday prepping has been sensationalized while Emergency prepping has become marginalized.
If you look at the definition of emergency preparedness it is “The term refers to the steps you take to make sure you are safe before, during and after an emergency or natural disaster.” Now this is a far cry from the sensationalized situations we see on TV and movies, but it is accurate in describing what prepping actually is. Having enough food, water, medication. A safe place to shelter and ways in which to protect yourself if necessary.
I had always thought of prepping of having an underground bunker, and arsenal of defense, and constantly living my life towards what emergency could be lurking around the corner, and having every possible tool I would need to handle each of those emergencies, whether it be a storm, wildfire, military action, pandemic, or a zombie apocalypse. I quickly came to realize that was not logical…at least for me. While I could not devote my whole life to evading the next disaster, I did feel like I wanted to be more prepared, especially for a zombie apocalypse.
What is Passive Prepping?
If you have reached this page and this post then you are at least curious about what passive prepping is all about. Some of you may already know what prepping is or at least heard of it. Maybe the idea of it is overwhelming. You feel like you do not have the time, the financial resources, or the ability to follow through with it all. This is where the passive prepper comes in. You can start your prepping journey without dedicating your life to it.
I know that when I was first introduced to prepping I saw and heard of people with full pantries, great bug-out bag set ups, and I even coveted the simple pair of binoculars that I realized I didn’t even have. As I began to follow these examples and began my prepping, I quickly realized the amount of time and financial resources to get to that level, and knew that there had to be an easier way. One that I could fit into my daily life.
Passive prepping means having a prepping mindset and working towards your goals a little bit at a time as it fits into your daily, weekly or monthly routine. While you still have set goals towards being prepared for an emergency situation, you make progress towards those goals in bite sized pieces. If you make up your mind today that you want to make sure that you and those you love will be prepared when an emergency should strike, then there are steps you can take right away to get you started toward that goal.
Why be a passive prepper?
Preparedness is a mindset and a lifestyle. In order to have accomplishments, you have to form habits that move you toward reaching those goals. If you have ever looked around you and wondered what you would do if there was an emergency, whether it be for yourself, or for a spouse or family, and you realize that you are not prepared the way you want or need to be, then this blog is for you. Think about some of the simpler emergencies, like a drought. Are you prepared for that? Do you have a way to get the water that you and possibly your family may need, just to survive. Nevermind actually bathe or any of those luxuries.
We all saw in real time what the lack of prepping can look like. During the pandemic troves of people flocked to the store to buy every single roll of toilet paper, box of tissues, container of disinfectant wipes, and anything that was the item in demand of the moment. If you are like me, you may have wondered “Do these folks not have toilet paper at home?”. The fact is, the majority of people go to the grocery or other stores on a regular basis and just buy what they need at the time, with no forethought of the future. Now I am not saying go to your nearest wholesale club and buy up all the paper towels, but there are smaller steps you can take to get to the point where you are not one of the people in line when an essential demand or emergency hits again.
I started passive prepper about a year before the pandemic hit, and while there are still goals I have yet to accomplish, like the coveted underground bunker, I know that myself and those I love will be safe if something were to happen. We would not be living any life of luxury, but we would not have to fight for our lives, over things like food and water.
You don’t need to take months off from work to build an underground bunker and store everything you would need to live for months. You can accomplish your prepper goals after work or on the weekends, and you will feel accomplished at how quickly everything starts to come together.
In conclusion, passive prepping doesn’t mean we have a passive mindset about prepping. In fact it’s quite the opposite. By passive prepping, we have a deliberate plan toward specific goals that we can achieve little by little each day, week, and month. This blog will take you on the passive prepping journey, one step at a time.