I have been having a conversation with someone from National Geographic television on the differences between Preppers and homesteaders. She believes that we are the same or on the same page. Although I will agree that we have similarities, I also see some stark differences. And have attempted to explain that.
But what do you think on the subject?
I sent her the link to this post, so let's hear it. Even if you think we are the same. I am just as curious.
Anyone that does not know the difference must be a prepper. Homesteaders is just good ole country or transplanted city folk try to make a living on their piece of land. With what ever resources, (except money) that is available. Most preppers that I know just set back and reinvent ways to do the same things us country folk has been doing for generations. They all seem to have more money than anyone needs. For instance they act like they are experts telling me how to raise a garden doing the same thing my Great (4 times) grandparents been doing all this time.
ReplyDeleteHomesteaders generally have an easier time homesteading in rural areas. Preppers are people who get ready for a SHTF scenario. Homesteaders generally try to live off the land and provide for their own with limited outside intervention, preppers are more than happy to buy in bulk and hoard things like ammunition, MREs, water purification systems, dehydrated food, etc.
ReplyDeleteMe? I'm not sure what I am. I live in the middle of the city, but we raise rabbits for meat and chickens for eggs. We have a raised bed garden (just starting) so we have to supplement many staples. We have a stash of MREs and guns and ammo. We save 2 liter pop bottles and gallon size water jugs for storing water in for rationed use.
There is definitely a difference between preppers and homesteaders, but many people breech both lines...
MISSED YOU PHELAN!
Oh, no, they are totally different mindsets!
ReplyDeleteI can see where there might be some overlap, but overall, definitely not the same.
Missed you guys too. I have some big announcements coming up. So stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteThe philopshy is one thing that I attempted to explain.
Sorry, tried to leave a comment but typed over the 4,096 character limit. Instead I've posted a reply up at my blog http://www.deathtozombies.com/2012/08/the-difference-between-homesteaders-and-preppers/
ReplyDeleteI rarely blog anymore so I'm not trying to get people to pay attention to the site, I just didn't want to have to break up the answer into multiple entries.
and of course, then I screw up and don't make the link a linkable link. that's how long it's been since I blogged. bleh. http://www.deathtozombies.com/2012/08/the-difference-between-homesteaders-and-preppers/
ReplyDeleteMy neighbors are homesteaders. They have the chickens, ducks and small garden. They grocery shop weekly and plant alot of flowers in their yard.
ReplyDeleteWe on the other hand are preppers. We don't have flowers in our front yard we grow food in it(as well as the back 40). We spend our weekends working on our M109A3 bug out military truck, canning and processing food and we maybe grocery shop once a month using what we produce and store. We have food stores that can see us through tough times. And when there is a problem, we find a fix for it.
So much more could be said, but it's really a mind set and a state of hyper vigilance.
I am a homesteader NOT a Prepper. I think they do overlap a bit but in my opinion the major difference between the two is fear. Preppers are motivated by the fear of some cataclysmic event large or small. Homesteaders, like myself, may do all the same things preppers do; (ie. Canning, Gardening,storing water, food ammunition and such) but we do it because we love the land and not out of any fear based motivation. Just my opinion, and not true of ALL Preppers but a lot of the ones I have met.
ReplyDeleteBeth, your neighbors are not homesteaders.
ReplyDeletePrepper or homesteader? The two schools of thought often blend together where it is difficult to tell them apart. I am a homesteader but am very conscious that we live in an unstable world where things can fall apart quickly. That can be from weather, natural disaster, or governments and economic crisis. For us the homestead can provide security and shelter regardless of circumstances
ReplyDeletei think that there are many areas where preppers and homesteaders have similarities that overlap.
ReplyDeletei think the big difference between the two is that homesteaders are just that: `homesteaders`. meaning that they have land, animals, farms and homes - `steads`if you will, that they live on in a day to day existence of almost complete self-reliance with little outside help. i agree with Bob from Athens - if you don`t know the difference then you are a prepper. homesteaders are people doing things, in a country environment, that people have been doing there for centuries.
great conversation Phelan. your friend,
kymber
AHH- I don't know if fear based is the right description for preppers at least the ones I know. If I knew for certain, nothing bad was going to happen in my lifetime, I would still do this.
ReplyDeleteI like being self sufficient and having things tucked away for tough times. Let's face it it doesn't take a weather related or man made disaster to bring on tough times. Most americans are feeling tough times financially right now. Those stores (preps) of ours have seen us through times where cash is sparse.
I'd say homesteaders are optimists and preppers are pessimists.
ReplyDeleteBeth, you really aren't sounded like a Prepper. If anything I would say you are on the fence with both
ReplyDeletePhelan maybe I'm one of those that fit the mold for both homesteader and prepper. Do I think something will happen in my lifetime (or much much sooner) yeah..and we are preparing for that.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little I wanted to marry a farmer, cuz I liked garden and I wanted to be poor. (Minds of 8 year olds) Ideally our goal is to tuck into a plot of land and be totally sufficent whether that is in a doomsday scenerio or in a few years when Grey Knight retires.
I always thought that homesteaders liked being as self-sufficient as possible for various reasons (ecology, personal satisfaction, etc.) but didn't assume that things were going to go down the toilet, and preppers thought that things would get bad through some sort of disaster.
ReplyDeleteThere is overlap in many of the lifestyles, but the differences are basic enough to note.
But what do I know? I'm a condo-dwelling homesteader wanna-be. ;)
I think homesteaders make a choice to live the life based on logic - maybe parents/grands/etc. were homesteaders, maybe they want to live a self sustained life style, maybe they want to minimize their carbon footprint. Preppers life the life based on "what ifs". What if SHTF? And everything they do/grow/stockpile/etc. is based on their personal answer to that question.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete... I ditto alot of what has already been commented... I would add though... I think homesteaders are more inclined to be positive, to look at beauty and nature and feel joy at being part of the circle of life...whereas preppers, from what I can see, have a pretty negative mindset, expect the worst, and while I do believe in preparing for hard times, (and have)I choose to focus on the blessings & lessons that homesteading has, for many years brought into my life, rather than living in a perpetual state of doominess... "thought become things, so think good ones!"
ReplyDeleteI'm another one who belong to the camp saying that there is a lot of overlap. But I will add that for me there is a third group: survialists.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be what I'd call the group Bob from Athens refers to in the first comment as preppers. For me (and it could be something of a European/American difference), preppers do think some kind of SHTF (it stands for shit hits the fan, for the commenter who asked) scenario will occur in their lifetime but the preparations they make to deal with any potential breakdown of society mostly involve taking on the lifestyle of a homesteader, even if they're city-based. By that I mean growing and preserving their own food, perhaps raising, slaughtering and preserving their own meat, learning to hunt game and generally adopt the mend and make-do way of living, in addition to having carefully thought about what they might do in a SHTF situation (bug-in, bug-out, defending what they've got and so on). Survialists, from my observations, are a bit more tin-foil-hatty, tend to think they can buy their way out of armageddon, often (or so it seems anyway) tend to be quite fundalmentalist when it come to religious beliefs and are very interested in having a very large stash of guns (I have so problem with people owning guns for hunting but otherwise I'm not much of a fan so there is some bias in that).
As a prepper who is slowly migrating/working my way into homesteading, I can say these are two very different schools of thought and experiences but overlap is not impossible/uncommon.
ReplyDeleteHomesteading is the day-to-day survival that comes from your own resources (growing/raising/hunting you own food, making your own stuff, etc.) Preppers rely on outside resources, being able to purchase what they need most of the time, buying bulk, stocking up, etc.
I'm sort of a hybrid. For example, we heat our home through cold MN winters 100% by or own land and exertion but we buy most of our food (for now) in bulk in a monthly supply run and try to maintain at least three months on hand. We grind wheat and cook everything we eat from scratch. We have lived off of our own meat and hope to get back to that and be able to provide more food for ourselves... I like to think of what we do as frugal/gentle survival. No end of the world crap but do things to try and get by a little easier, be prepared for realistic emergencies like natural disasters, bad weather, illness, market fluctuations, short term shortages, etc.
The easiest way to illustrate the difference is to say a homesteader probably still has a pantry or basement full of canned food. The difference is they grew it and processed it themselves.