A survivalist is someone who believes in preparing themselves both in terms of skills and physical resources so that they are able to survive natural or man made catastrophies. Survivalists work hard to develop the skills they will need to survive when and if the worst happens. This could be any one of a number of disasters - from substantial breakdown in civil authority, to natural catastrophy to nuclear conflict.
Survivalists develop their skills in a range of quite specifice areas and are also likely to develop their survival capacity through a series of quite specific counter measures including:-
- stockpiling food, drink and medical supplies
- outdoor camping, orienteering and using compass and maps effectively
- learning defensive skills including unarmed combat skills and the effective use of guns and ammunition
- self sufficiency skills and skills to live off the land (sometimes known wilderness skills or bushcraft in some parts of the world), which includes hunting skills and the identification of edible plants, fruits and berries
It may also include the identification of one or more defendable areas of land or other defendable retreat to live in until order is restored. Expert survivalists will have made plans for any number of possible disasters. This is likely to include plans for the evacuation of close family, food, equipment and possibly valuables if the worst was to happen.
Survivalists recognize that the possibility of a breakdown in the civilized infrastructure in the US and other developed nations never far away. A great many people believe thet there has never really been a more dangerous time in world history. For example, during the 1950s through to the 1990s nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union was always a possibility. How things have changed! Survivalists have to contend with the possibility of terrorist groups with nuclear capability. Another potential problem is global warming, which might be making weather systems more unpredicatable and preparedness is essential. Natural disasters brought about by extreme weather episodes such as tsunami, hurricanes, rising sea levels or drought could occur at random and in unpredictable ways. The results of such events could be local, regional or nation wide chaos so preparedness is vital.
The sharing of ideas between survivalists is quite common. Survivalist groups are not uncommon in the US. The internet is a great resource for survivalists. Online survival sites and blogs and survivalist forums discuss survival vehicles, survival retreats and emerging threats, and lists survivalist groups.
There are also a wide range of survivalist books offering survival advice for various potential disasters, ranging from an energy shortage and energy crashes to nuclear or biological terrorism.
[This text inspired by Wikipedia.org article: Survivalism ]