Why I Decided To Come
Out & So Should You!
In my not so humble opinion it is time for Preppers to “COTB” or Come Out of The Bunker. I’m sure everyone reading this will agree that the impression of Preppers among the general public is less than favorable. We’re considered outliers, the lunatic fringe, kooks, foil hat crazies, and a host of even less polite labels. Fellow Preppers, that will continue for as long as we remain secretive and attempt to hide the fact that we do in fact prepare for disasters and crisis situations. Personally I’m more than a little tired of such animosity and disdain from people who ought to know better.
That is why I decided to Come Out of The Bunker years ago. I made the conscious decision to stop hiding the fact that I was prepared from people. I started with family, and had to endure significant grief and aggravation from people that I love, but I also found myself with more support from some family members and even some interested in learning more about Prepping. Around that time I also started to be more involved in volunteer activities focused on skill sets useful to Preppers, and I made it a point to let folks know that I was Prepared and how my Preps helped me to be more ready to perform my volunteer work.
Finally I began to talk to people about Prepping, concepts for surviving various threats, and similar topics. I knew that many would amplify their negativity, but others might give thought to what I told or showed them and end up better prepared themselves as a result. Winning more people over to the ranks of the Prepared, even if they didn’t consider themselves to be Preppers, was my central goal in all of this. Anything that reduces the number of two-legged locusts I might have to deal with during a disaster is a good thing in my book.
All that said, while I have talked about plans and preps with anyone who would listen for years, that doesn’t mean I’ve shared details or specifics of my plans with anybody or everybody. I’m all about “need to know” and only my Prepper group has any need to know that level of detail. To others I’ll talk about basic Prepping. I’ll talk about the essentials of shelter, water, fire, food, and security. I’ll talk at length about threats and how to prepare for them. And I’ll answer generic questions as they arise.
How To Handle I’ll Just Come To Your House Crowd…
I have, of course, had those who jokingly (or not) say they don’t need to prepare; they’ll just come to me to be taken care of. I chuckle with them and tell them they will be welcome to come to my home. They usually perk up at that point, until I point out that I won’t be there, but perhaps we’ll have missed a box of cereal or something. I then explain that my family and my group will be at our survival retreat location which nobody else knows the location of. This tends to make them sit up and take note as they realize I’m serious about all of this. Some get offended that I won’t take care of them. Some begin their own Prepper activities that day. Some ignore the reality in favor of their recreation and such. But they all understand that it will do them no good to come to me looking for handouts.
My hope is that more Preppers will begin to talk about Prepping with family, friends, co-workers, etc. As I said previously, every person or family that is prepared when a crisis strikes means less people desperate for the basics they need to survive. All too often such desperate people turn to preying on others to acquire said basics. This makes them two-legged locusts (2LL) or worse, people who prey on other people to make up for their own stupidity and short-sightedness. So help as many as possible be as prepared as possible, in order to keep the numbers of 2LL reasonable and more Preppers alive.
Those who have a retreat location outside of their homes are blessed in that they can talk a bit more freely than those who live in their retreat. They can laugh, as I do, when someone says they will come to be taken care of by the Prepper. The person who lives in their retreat must be much more cautious and take such statements much more seriously. If the joker does show up the Prepper must be ready to do whatever is needed to protect themselves, their families, and their Preps. Whatever action the Prepper chooses as their response to such an uninvited intruder it must be done with no hesitation and total confidence.
The Do’s are pretty simple :
- Do talk about Prepping in general terms.
- Do set a good example for other Preppers to emulate.
The don’ts, as I follow them anyway, can be a bit more complex:
- Don’t talk about specifics – Keep everything as generic as possible for your own security.
- Don’t talk about your firearms. The most I’ll tell folks is that I am armed. I leave the question of “with what” up to their imaginations.
- Don’t talk about defenses, especially booby-traps or anything related to explosives. Not only don’t you want to share that with anyone, you also don’t want to attract the attention of Law Enforcement. What you plan to do during a WROL (Without Rule Of Law) situation is your business, during a normal time when the Rule Of Law is in force, such discussion could result in your involuntary stay as a guest of the local cop shop.
- Don’t share information about how you intend to keep your retreat secure. Things like challenges and passwords must be kept secret to only those with a need to know. Same with things like descriptions of your guard setup, rotations, etc.
- Thou shall not brag! Nor launch into a “my retreat is better than yours…” debate. It’s virtually impossible to keep details out of such conversation that would be much better if not shared.
While I truly hope more Preppers will COTB and help swell the numbers of Prepared folks, I fully understand that such is not going to be of interest to all who read this. And that’s OK. You should only do what you feel comfortable doing. Just bear in mind that a fellow Prepper is a potential ally, the unprepared are almost certainly threats.