Are You a Closet Prepper? Don’t Be. Let Me Explain Why.

Are you a closet prepper?

If your answer is yes, then read on. I will explain in this article why you should never have to fear being embarrassed or judged by telling a co-worker, family member, or friend that you’re a prepper. Survivalism and the tools for the trade is some cool stuff. Don’t get caught with Prepper stigma!

You see, I used to be a closet prepper. I always kept my prepping to myself. I found that I hardly ever brought it up to family or friends, except for the one or two friends that I knew who were into the same types of preparing that I was. But lately, I’ve been opening up more to people that I know. Actually, it’s been kind of liberating and not as big of a deal as I made it out to be regarding telling others that I want to prepare for unforeseen times or situations.

People that I would have never told about my prepping before have actually become quite open and receptive in our conversations. In fact, some of the people I’ve been more open with about my prepping mindset have even started doing a little prepping themselves. That’s pretty great!

If you’re worried about how to bring up this sometimes socially awkward topic, I’ll explain below a few of the very simple ways to communicate why you prepare for emergency situations.

Discussing Prepping for Short Disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc)

One way to bring up prepping to someone you’ve never told before is to talk about how adding food items, water filtration, and storage, and other prepping items are important, even for short period emergencies. We live in a hurricane, and occasionally tornado, a prone area in NC. If one of the two natural disasters hit this area, we (and our friends) could be without power for many days on end. This has happened several times here in the past 10-15 years. It was not a very pleasant experience without preparations I might add.

Bringing up short period prepping is a great way to make the other person see just how important storing certain items should be — whether it be candles, food, water, gas, money, medicine, etc. Discussing short-term prepping gets even easier if you or the person you’re talking to lives in a flood or earthquake zone too.

For example, I just told a friend for the first time last week that I was a prepper. The conversation started in his garage when we were talking about the current hurricane season. I asked him what, if any, preparations they had for his family in case of loss of power for several days or more. It turns out that he already store some water (enough for about 1 week) and he also has access to several creeks with fast-moving water. He even has a water filtration method that I didn’t even know about. He wasn’t a prepper by definition. But he saw the importance of storing more useful things in case things go wrong. At the end of our conversation, he said he was definitely going to plan some additional items I mentioned for his family. Conversation = win!

Explain How Prepping is Like Any Other Insurance Policy

I have recently explained to several friends how prepping is like any other insurance policy you are paying for already. Most people I know have homeowner’s insurance, auto insurance, life insurance, and other insurance policies under their name. These policies protect their homes, cars, life, accident coverage, and even certain natural disasters, such as floods for example. So, why is having ample supplies stored in your home or other safe location any different than your other insurance policies? The short answer: It isn’t.

Several times recently I have discussed with someone about how prepping items is just like having a homeowners policy. They totally agreed and were not able to provide any real difference between “prepping insurance” or another insurance policy. Insurance is insurance. Right? They are both about protection. An alarm system for your home is about protection. Having food, water, a way to stay warm and dry, and other items to get you and your family by is also peace of mind and protection.

I would further argue that preparing living or “bug out” type survival items is a more necessary type of insurance because it directly impacts you and your family’s life, safety, and future. You can live without your car if it’s damaged, or your home if it burns down (make sure all your preparations are not only in your home!). But without basic necessities like water, food, ways to power some things (solar), and security, you and your family would not last too long.

Use the “insurance” angle in your conversations. It is a win-win from my experience.

Pointing Out the Obvious – Local Services & Government isn’t Going to Help You

Over the past several years the federal government has been steadily increasing their preparedness stockpiles. They have been purchasing large stockpiles of emergency food and medical supplies. There are plenty of articles talking about how the government is massively increasing their stockpiles of emergency food. This was done at such a rate that the major emergency food suppliers had to temporarily stop selling to the general public. Yikes!

It’s not just explaining to your friends or family that the government is only buying food and medical supplies either. The National Emergency Alert System, multi-state earthquake drills, and even very large purchases of ammo from the government is enough to turn some heads when talking about the government preparing for whatever may come. There is a heightened rate of emergency preparedness from the government that leans towards preparing for something big. There’s also a lot of chatter online that indicates the government is preparing certain government agencies for the worst.

If the government has wide-spread efforts to prep for themselves and their own agencies, then why is it crazy to think about doing the same for yourself? This is something I’ve said in a few conversations to friends and family. Explain to others that you care about how the government is not likely to help them if something really big happens. There will be bigger priorities for the government, as their own families, keeping some sense of normalcy or law, or National Security measures to be dealt with. I’d be highly surprised if they would even help the general public in most locations with something as simple as bottles of water and basic MREs or meal handouts.

Use these facts in your conversations with your family and friends. It really tends to open their minds and eyes to the reality of prepping.

Bring Up Items You Think Work for Prepping

And last, once you have opened up about your own preparedness routine, start talking about what items would be good for your family and friends to start purchasing.

Our Top Prepping Items Include (in no particular order):

  1. Salt
  2. Sugar
  3. Raw honey
  4. Alcohol (whiskey, vodka, etc)
  5. Dried corn
  6. Oats
  7. Quinoa
  8. Water filtration and storage
  9. Lentils
  10. Fire starting tools
  11. Beans
  12. White rice
  13. Coconut oil
  14. Canned vegetables & fruit
  15. Tea, coffee
  16. Powdered milk
  17. Dried herbs
  18. Baking soda
  19. Apple cider vinegar
  20. Toilet papers
  21. Medical supplies (longer supplies if possible)
  22. Soaps
  23. Peroxide
  24. Candles
  25. Knives / guns / ammo
  26. First aid books/survival books
  27. Cordage
  28. Multivitamins (for kids or adults)
  29. Power source (solar, generators)
  30. Currency on hand like silver, gold, cash
  31. Heirloom seeds
  32. Hand tools like axes, saws, nails, etc.
  33. Other food storage items

This list is by no means complete. But they are all good items to bring up if you come out of the closet with your family and friends. 🙂

Keep also keep in mind that before going out and telling everyone you know that you’re a prepper, please read some other good points of view about being a closet prepper and only telling close family and friends. In this article about closet prepping, for example, the author explains why speaking to neighbors and close friends can increase your chances of survival or chances to rebuild and keep order, among other great ideas to consider.

Please share your experiences below about being a closet prepper. We’d love to get some additional points of view on the topic. Thanks!