The recent economic and political climate has made more people open to the importance of being better prepared to face life-altering conditions like doomsday preppers. Rushing down to supermarkets to fight for toiletries and food in a global pandemic is not attractive, and may not always be feasible. So, how do you find a doomsday prepper community?
The best way to find a doomsday prepper community is to look online. There are many forums and meet-up websites dedicated to bringing like minded preppers together. For the best results, you should include your city in your search. This will increase your chances of finding a nearby community.
The rest of the article will take a closer look at what you need to know about the doomsday prepper community and how you can find them. You’ll also learn how to become a prepper.
Who Are Doomsday Preppers?
Some people believe that anyone who stocks up food that will last for a year or two and has some flashlights, protective gear and ammunition qualifies as a doomsday prepper. This isn’t the case. That approach is only a start for real doomsday preparations.
True doomsday preppers are people who have obtained (or trying to obtain) a secure, remote, and self-sufficient property that is stocked with enough material and other like minded individuals to create a durable community that can withstand an apocalyptic event.
So, political upheavals and global pandemics don’t rank too highly on events that will concern proper doomsday preppers or deplete their resources.
Bulletin Boards in Busy Locations
Do you have a busy library or coffee shop near you with a bulletin board that is fairly busy? Keep an eye on the materials posted there, and you could run into messages from other doomsday preppers.
However, you won’t see messages that explicitly say “doomsday preppers meeting at 312 ABC Street tomorrow”. Instead, you are more likely to find messages like “join us tomorrow for a discussion on how to prepare for the next hurricane” or something along those lines.
Recommended: What Should I Stock Up For A Hurricane?
Anywhere crowds frequent and there is a board that is accessible to the public can hold directions to a prepper community. This includes churches and academic environments, so keep your eyes peeled.
Search Engines, Social Media and Online Forums
The internet comes in handy in many situations, and finding a prepper community is no different. To find a community, all you need to do is search for “XYZ preppers network.” Replace the placeholder with your state, city, or county, to see all the prepper communities around you. The search result will throw up a handful of suggestions you can work with, including social media communities.
The next step is to search through the list to find communities that offer the most value to you, paying attention to details such as frequency of meetings, the distance you have to drive for meet-ups, etc. As with everything else online, you have to do your due diligence to ensure you are indeed joining a community that is genuinely about doomsday preparations and nothing else.
Where you don’t have a lot of results to work with, you can improvise by looking for similar communities that may not necessarily be labeled as doomsday preppers. These include bushcraft forums, gun forums, and more. By using the private messaging function of these platforms, you can quickly find like-minded individuals.
Sign Up on Meetup.com
This website deserves its own heading because it is a powerful resource that makes it super easy to find any groups you are interested in, including doomsday preppers and other survivalists. You’re almost certain to find individuals and groups close to you.
Start Your Own Community
It is unlikely, but if you don’t find a doomsday prepper community to join around you, you can start yours. All you need to do is come up with a venue and then use the bulletin boards around you to spread your invitations. Are the boards close to the public (like in some churches)? Getting close to whoever is in charge could be all you need to put up your stickers or posters.
You can also create Facebook Groups or a Twitter profile and start publishing relevant content. You don’t need to create your own content as platforms like Prepper Website curate content from dozens of other sources that you can easily share. You can also create your own group on Meetup.com. In a few weeks, you can build your own local community.
You don’t need to worry about the knowledge you’ll have to share in meetings as there is a high chance that you won’t be the most qualified!
Where Do Doomsday Preppers Live?
Doomsday preppers live in normal houses like most people, and will only visit their “sanctuary” a few times a year for maintenance, increasing the stock, construction improvements, etc. They’ll only move to the sanctuary full time when the situation calls for it, such as during a global pandemic. These sanctuaries are sometimes maintained by the entire group or community.
However, there are also some doomsday ranches that are occupied year-round by both preppers and people just seeking a retreat from the bustle of the cities.
How Many Doomsday Preppers Are There?
The number of doomsday preppers around the world is unclear. In America, however, estimates suggest that there are around 3.2 million of them around. This number is the number of core preppers that fit into our definition above.
If the definition is expanded a bit to include people that have purchased some form of survival materials in the last one year, and those that didn’t need to hit the stores to shop for the pandemic because their homes were already stocked with survival items, the number swells to 141 million people.
Recommended: What’s the difference between prepper and survivalist?
However, enthusiasts say that the number of true doomsday preppers is most likely well above 3.2 million, as many of them are less inclined to fully discuss their preparations in public. When the tendency for privacy is juxtaposed with the fact that at least 141 million people in the US understand the importance of being prepared for emergencies, it’s easy to see why they may be right.
It’s also a pointer that finding people for your local doomsday prepper community might be easier than you think.
How Do You Become a Doomsday Prepper?
Here are a few things you need to do to become a doomsday prepper:
- Understand the core concept. You’ve seen the definition of a true doomsday prepper above. You need to be fully committed to creating a truly sustainable sanctuary, either on your own or in collaboration with other like-minded people. It goes beyond stocking up your pantry or basement with some groceries.
- Look for a community. By locating or building a community of like-minded people, you’ll reduce the chances of getting discouraged midway by naysayers. The online community we recommend is the Warrior Tribe from MASK Tactical.
- Learn the skills you need. The best doomsday preppers know how to grow their own food, purify water, hunt and gather food, and defend themselves. This article goes into a bit more detail on these skills and more.
- Start small. You are not going to build a doomsday bunker in a year, except you are super-rich. Even then, you’d still need time to understand what you need. Don’t worry too much about the long-term for a start. Start by preparing for a 7-day emergency, then slowly work up to a year, or more.
Conclusion
Finding a doomsday prepper community often starts with a simple online search if you can’t find any offline. You can also create yours if you have what it takes to lead a group, or at the very least, bring other people together.
Once you find a thriving community, everything else will fall into place, and you’ll meet your goals, whether you are trying to become a more sophisticated prepper or just getting started.
