Are You A Prepper?

Prepper (prep·per) noun

1. a person who believes a catastrophic disaster or emergency is likely to occur in the future and makes active preparations for it, typically by stockpiling food, ammunition and other supplies.

Many people have a twisted vision of a prepper as a bearded old man in the mountains, preparing for the world to end and armed with everything short of tactical nuclear weapons. Shows like “Doomsday Preppers” have some extreme examples of prepping, with underground bunkers costing hundreds of thousands of dollars or people preparing for some pretty strange scenarios.

Not all preppers are preparing for the world to end -- most just point to recent examples, like the devastating earthquake in Japan or Hurricane Katrina, right here at home. In those events, many people were left stranded with no food, water or protection.

A lot of preppers

About 4 million people in the United States identify with being a prepper, but is that number misleading? I sure hope so because if not, the loss of life when we have another major earthquake, hurricane or other natural disasters will be far higher than it should be. If you live on the West Coast and don’t have food, water, and other supplies set aside for a major earthquake, then you haven’t been paying attention.

If you live somewhere that has tornados or hurricanes and you haven’t prepared for being without services for weeks on end, then you are setting yourself up to fail. And if you haven’t watched recent civil unrest and applied that knowledge to your “prepping,” then you may be making a huge mistake.

The key knowledge here is that during civil unrest, some people will take from others without a second thought about who they are hurting. So having six months of food, water and supplies is great, but it doesn’t mean much if you can’t protect it from others willing to take it from you.

Get out of town

The threat of having supplies taken is why so many who call themselves preppers start off their list of essentials with firearms, ammo, water, and food, before moving on to shelters and other plans. It is a sad fact that those who did not prepare will do anything to survive, and that means taking your stuff and possibly your life, so protection jumps right to the top of the list.

A handgun should be in everyone’s bug-out bag. A handgun is perfect for those up-close confrontations, but it’s not ideal for defending a fixed location.

If you live in or near enough a big city, it is certainly not where you want to stay when things go bad. The plan -- even if it is just a passing thought -- must be to head out to the woods, desert or mountains to escape the craziness. You may not be one of those guys that can spend a fortune on a mountain cabin or bunker buried in the woods or desert, but you should have a location picked out where you and some friends or family can meet up and pool resources.

So now that you are defending a fixed location, your need for a rifle just grew. You may have an AR-15 or even several of them. The AR-15 is a versatile weapon system and can be configured to just about anyone’s liking. It’s a solid choice for defending a fixed location against those who would take what belongs to your family.

A better weapon platform

This is where the Armalite AR-10™ style rifle comes into its own: It’s versatile like the AR-15, but with the takedown power that the .223/5.56 cartridges simply don’t have. Aside from protecting your family, you will have to feed them too and six months’ worth of food often doesn’t last six months, so you will need to hunt.

You may not be a fan of rabbit stew, so some bigger game will be on the menu.

The .308 cartridge will provide that combination of protection and animal takedown that you need. Did you ever hear about the guy who killed an attacking grizzly with an AR-15? I didn’t either. Perhaps no one has lived to tell such a story. The additional power of the .308 cartridge from a rifle like an Armalite AR-10™ or LR308™ could give that story a happy ending.

Build it yourself

An 80% .308 lower receiver and jig can make the process of building your own .308 rifle easier than riding a bike. An 80% lower is not considered a firearm by the BATFE (ATF) until that final 20% of machining is complete, so you can have an 80% lower receiver shipped directly to your home -- no gun stores, no paperwork required. As long as you are legally allowed to own the .308 rifle in your state, you are allowed to build it yourself.

Some preppers like the build-your-own route because there is no paperwork, but the comfort of using something you built yourself and knowing it inside out is far greater. Don’t think that you need to be a machinist to complete a .308 lower receiver, either. Even someone who can barely change a lightbulb can build an AR-style .308 rifle.

An 80% lower jig allows a novice builder to easily turn an 80% lower receiver into complete home-built .308 lower ready to accept a Lower Parts Kit, an Upper Receiver, barrel and the furniture you want to complete your new .308 rifle.

Venezuela

One of the richest countries in South America is now tearing itself apart because of the anticipated collapse of their socialist policies. But this also means no food, no water, and clashes between protestors and the government are not turning out well for the protestors. 

Someone who prepared could hold up and wait for this to pass, sadly the people stuck in the cities are not surviving as the country tries to keep itself from entering a full-blown civil war.

No matter where you live, a certain amount of prepping should be part of any family’s plan. You never know when disaster will strike and you’ll need food, water, and the protection from your .308 rifle to keep your family safe.

So, are you ready to be a prepper now?