In the comments thread for the post ‘In the real world‘ it was again pointed out that approaching others with the intent of helping them by raising the subject of prepping brings with it certain risks. Like all risks we can minimise them but not always fully mitigate them. Sometimes you just take chances and this is one of those areas. Minimum risk is to just work on your own and not get involved with anyone else and I don’t think that is a good idea so I’m looking at this article to show you how to minimise the risk and still help others although it is not guaranteed.
The main risk is one of labelling yourself as a survivalist nutter. This has two implications; Nobody will want to listen to you talking about anything without rolling their eyes. Everything is a conspiracy to survival nutters. The second is that everyone will know where to come to when TSHTF. After all you have food, water, supplies and know how to build a shelter from the twigs and leaves from a tree. Starting fires with sheer will power and clearly don’t mind sharing with your pals. A more ominous view is that HMG will now where to come to clamp down on hoarding or potential weapons.
So this means you need to be careful with what you let others know about you. The biggest difficulty there is family. They probably already know what you are up to, if they do not share your belief then they may mention it to others. All this is not news though and it has been discussed many times. What can you do to help you approach others?
Well, my head is already well and truly sticking out above the parapet so I’ll tell you what I do when I’m talking to people, family or not, and how I usually get on the subject of survival and prepping. It may be suitable for you as well. Although if you have a different technique let us know.
Intent
What we are doing here is looking at a way to approach people, keeping a low profile and identifying kindred spirits, people who either are prepping in a small way or have not thought about it but could be preppers. Target those that respond positively separately regarding preparing and broach the subject carefully by talking about preparing for a food or power shortage, keeping chickens or growing your own food. Then moving on to other events, they may not agree about what events are going to happen but prepping for most of them are the same. Once you find these you can help each other in several ways by helping each other prepare, share some bulk buying and perhaps, at an extreme, sharing some land. Teach them the basics, including OPSEC.
Your Family
The easy one in one respect, but harder in another. The main reason I prepare to the level I do, and it involves making sacrifices, is that I want my family to survive too. The kids definitely, my parents if they can. This is an easy one for me as I have got the kids involved in prepping without really telling them what is going on. We went shooting, camping and they helped in the garden and with chores. They are unaware really in what was going on and although they have both left home now we are still close both physically and mentally. My parents on the other hand don’t think they will live long if anything happens so they do not prepare much. I have included them in with my plans and, as it was my mother that got me into the prepping mindset originally when I was a child, she has enough put aside for at least six months plus a small vegetable garden anyway. The only one missing is my brother but he lives 250 miles away and in the situation of a sudden event we would be out of touch. He doesn’t think an event will occur so is doing nothing. I’m still working on that one. I prepare for everyone, they don’t actively prepare but I get them involved where I can.
Close family and Friends
An easy one as you usually know how they think about most things. You know what they do and often have been involved with them discussing things. Who already has a massive pantry, a vegetable plot, an allotment and doesn’t spend their day reading the Sun? Approach those that you feel will be receptive and simply bring up the subject of prepping, simply ask if they are putting more away because of the economy and the rising prices or have they changed what they plant in their gardens. Some people love roses and orchids and grow nothing else. See what they say, as them about how they intent to provide water to go with the food or as about how they will cook it if there are power cuts looming. See if that is a concern and if so point out some solutions and point out some other areas they need to think about. You can even point them to website like this. If you find a kindred spirit or someone who is interested in prepping then you can help them prepare.
Distant family and close neighbours
More difficult. There will always be someone you like in this bunch but don’t really know very well. I have a few cousins that fit in this category, I knew them better when we were kids but they are all off with their own families now and I have no real idea what they are like now. These can usually be engaged in conversation in small groups and I find that you can usually steer the conversation to politics, ‘What do you think of the NoTW scandal‘. Then from there you say you are worried where this will lead, economy screwed etc. and then see how people react. Tell them your concerns and why you are concerned. If you find a kindred spirit or someone who is interested in prepping then you can help them start to prepare.
Everyone else
Be very careful here. These are the people that you know little about. Most of them will be OK but the small fraction that are not can ruin your life. Even the slightest hint that you have valuables can make then target your house and you can lose more than just you’re TV, HiFi and jewellery. How I handle this group is with great care. I steer, as usual, on to politics and then discuss the government. Anyone that thinks they are great and there are no issues is straight out. I tend to concentrate on those that are looking for freedom from the state, they don’t have to believe in the right to bear arms, or that there will be a collapse or that the politicians should be strung up. Dissent and agreement that there aren’t enough freedoms shows that the mindset is there to be built on. Build on that foundation and move on to putting things aside for the potential power cuts, self sufficiency and being more self reliant. It is a mindset and the bulk of the general public just do not have it. They now expect the state to resolve all their problems and do not see the point in preparing.
Slow and sure
Slowly, slowly catchee monkey. Don’t rush, be careful what you are saying and unless you have built up a very strong bond over some time do not tell or show anyone all your preps and where they are.
It’s not perfect. There are no guarantees and there are probably better ways with some sort of secret handshake or something.