Is There A Difference Between Survivalists And Preppers?

JCD at Mason Dixon Tactical seems to think so. In his article, "Distractions And The Difference Between Preppers And Survivalists," he writes:

    I’ve always believed that there is a difference between “Survivalists” and “Preppers”. If you’ve seen Episode 3 of “The Last of Us”, you’ll notice when Joel asks Bill, “Were you a “Prepper” before things fell apart?”, he replies with, “Survivalist.“. From what we see in his already stocked preparations at the beginning of the episode, he proves that, while continuously striving to improve his “Position” (his home) after things fell apart.

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    To me, “Preppers” are the guys that want to acknowledge that the world is coming apart, but only in a theoretical/peaceful way. They come across as not having a realistic understanding of what SHTF means as a threat to their physical lives. Those of us that have been overseas, especially in a combat zone, understand what people are willing to do to their fellow man when they don’t get what they want. Imagine what they’d do when they can’t put food in their child’s mouth.

    The last three years have shown the depravities that American society will allow without consequences. When anarchist/terrorist groups (and that’s what they are) have “Mostly peaceful protests”, and burn the towns down that they’re protesting in, where are the Citizens who live there? A few will do the right thing, but a large majority of Citizens won’t step up to stop it, or they’ll say they don’t want to get involved because they’ll be prosecuted (à la Kyle Rittenhouse). Realistic or not, it’s a cop out. The “Prepper” mindset won’t fix that situation, but the “Survivalist” mindset can.

    A “Survivalist” has a more realistic opinion of how to deal with the world in a “Post-Apocalyptic” world (Like it or not, that’s what we’re in now). The “Survivalist” mentality has a militant aspect to it, because those types of skills will be needed during situations like the riots that have already occurred in several areas in the Country.

    The term “Prepper” reminds me of what I read from the Economist, Howard Ruff in the 1980’s (“Prepper” wasn’t a term in popular use back then). If memory serves, he recommended you get a 20 Gauge shotgun for hunting, and that’s it. He wasn’t worried about your neighbors trying to steal your preps, let alone, roving bands of parasitic marauders. ...

Later, he further expounds on his idea:

Although Ragnar Benson and Duncan Long were practitioners and writers of “Survivalism” (As opposed to “Prepping”), I always thought Bruce Clayton was the most down to earth of the three. God knows there were many others, that I won’t list here, but I read Bruce Clayton’s, book, “Life After Doomsday” in 1981, right after reading Cresson Kearny’s seminal work from 1979 titled, “Nuclear War Survival Skills”, (Both were in my public library) and both were a big reason why one of my Military MOS’s (Military Occupational Specialty) was “NBC”-Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Warfare (Which is now called “Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Warfare” -CBRN. 

     I thought Bruce Clayton’s book, gave out the template for what a Survivalist was and does. To begin with, his chapter called, “To Have and to Hold”, had not only recommendations for firearms selection, but it talked about (and briefly showed) the rudimentary skills and set ups needed to mount an adequate defense of a Retreat, and what you might have to defend against.

    He covered all the basic skills a Survivalist needs for surviving SHTF. Included within those pages are Defense, Shelter, Food (to include gardening), Medical, and Commo gear recommendations, and there’s even a chapter on whether to “Bug Out” or not. If you couple the info given in this book with “Nuclear War Survival Skills”, your knowledge on SHTF survival, and specifically, nuclear war survival goes up exponentially, and it could very well be needed shortly. 

In short, then, it appears that JCD distinguishes between the two terms by how serious is the person doing the preparing.

    Other authors have also grappled with the difference between a "prepper" and a "survivalist". I did a quick search online and came across many articles on what is the difference between a prepper versus a survivalist, some of which I've examined below. And I didn't even try to look at any videos on the topic!

    One of the first articles I came across was at Retevis.com that also asserted that "preppers" and "survivalists" were, in fact, different. Unlike JCD, who seems focused on whether someone's attitudes toward defense and defensive preparations, the author of the Retevis article believes that the difference is in the focus on training versus gear or supplies. He writes:

The goal of both survivalists and preppers is to make it through a socio-economic collapse of society. A survivalist hones his or her base survival skills to be ready for such an event. While a prepper stocks up on resources to survive an event like that. 

He continues:

    Preppers are more focused on stockpiling supplies in order to survive through an emergency situation. They’re more focused on survival “stuff.” If a person was to walk into their home, it’d be easier to spot the prepper than a survivalist and the preparations that they’ve made. 

    A prepper is considered more serious as far as preparations go and they will spend more money in the process. 

    Preppers tend to gather enough non-perishable foods, tools, and supplies. This is so that they can continue living comfortably within their homes, even long after the emergency is gone.

    However, there is a degree of difference in how far a prepper is willing to go. There are preppers out there who take it to a whole other level and go to even further lengths by creating bug-out locations far away from their homes to ensure their survival.   

    Survivalists may gather supplies, but they’re more interested in living off of their surrounding resources rather than being bunkered down to a particular location. They are more of a minimalist type of individual, while preppers may take on a hoarding approach when it comes to survival items. Take note that survivalists often believe that “less is more,” while a prepper believes that “more is better.”  

The author also contends that preppers, on the whole, are more group and community oriented while survivalists tend to be loners, but also acknowledges that there are exceptions. And he observes that survivalism is a lifestyle while prepping is a lifeline.  Under his criteria, Bill from "The Last Of Us" and Bruce Clayton would probably be considered preppers, not survivalists. 

     Survival Sullivan has also weighed in on this topic, and his take is similar to that of the Retevis author. He describes the survivalist thusly:

    A true survivalist stockpiles far more skills than supplies. If the gear or weapons cannot be carried on their back or in a rucksack, it is not a part of their SHTF plan.

    Instead of stockpiling massive amounts of shelf-stable like preppers, survivalists plan to fish, snare, forage, and hunt for their meals. While rural preppers also grow up learning a lot of these same food acquisition skills that can be employed during a disaster, they are not relying on them either solely or as heavily as a survivalist.

And, he adds:

    Inside the home of a survivalist you would not discover a large pantry lined with long-term food storage buckets, solar generators, a healthy stockpile of fuel, or heavy outdoor cooking supplies. A survivalist is a whole lot more of a minimalist than a prepper.

    Lightweight and dual use items are the primary survival tools for a person who belongs to this type of self-reliant mindset. A survivalist will have guns, make no doubt about that, but he or she will not be packing an arsenal of firearms on their back. Knives, lighters, firestarters, Life Straws, and similar lightweight gear will be in their bugout bag.

Conversely, about the prepper, he writes:

    Preppers stockpile shelf-stable goods, homesteading and off grid style supplies, and often raise livestock to help them live (and thrive) during disasters both large and small.

    Preppers develop skills to help themselves and their families survive a massive natural or man-made disaster and the societal collapse that will surely follow by either bugging in or bugging out to a retreat they have been creating to live in during a SHTF event.

    Unlike survivalists, preppers are primarily focused on supply stockpiling because they know store shelves will empty within hours of a disaster, and relying on help to arrive from the government could quickly turn them into nothing more than part of the death toll tally.

    In addition to stockpiling shelf-stable food, water, and water purification supplies, preppers also “horde’ massive amounts of either store bought powdered milk or dehydrate their own – especially if they live in a rural area and raise their own goats or cows.

    Like homesteaders, preppers spend a significant amount of time putting up food from their gardens and grocery store sales, as well as purchasing copious amount of long-term food storage buckets.

Under his criteria, Bill from "The Last Of Us" and Bruce Clayton would also be considered preppers, not survivalists. 

    This theme of stockpiling versus living in the wilds crops up over and over again. At Top Outdoor Survival, the author similarly states that "[a] survivalist hones his or her base survival skills to be ready for such an event. While a prepper stocks up on resources to survive an event like that."

    At Farm Homestead, the author argues that the difference is a matter of different views and preparations on how long a disaster and recovery will last. In her mind, the survivalist believes that such an event will be temporary and so, while having the knowledge and gear to bug out, doesn't have long term preparations, but "[a] prepper likes to be prepared to go beyond just short-term survival. Their goal isn’t simply survival, but self reliance."

    At Urban Survival Site, the author indicates that "[p]reppers are focused on stockpiling supplies to use when bugging in or at a bugout location – and having the skills to use them," while "[s]urvivalists are more heavily focused on the skills they possess to get them through an SHTF scenario – with usually no more stockpiled preps than can be carried in a rucksack on their back." The author of Survival Cache has a similar view. Ditto the author of Healing Harvest Homestead who defines the prepper as someone who has prepared to survive a disaster, typically through stockpiling supplies, but views the survivalist as someone with the skills to live completely off the land.

    The Atomic Bear also distinguishes between "prepper" and "survivalist" based on the ability to live off the land and amount of supplies. That is, "[a] survivalist is someone who knows how to survive, often in the woods.  However, a survivalist is not limited to a wooded territory. Any environment from the desert to the rainforest to the tundra is survivalist’s terrain." But "a prepper is someone who believes a disaster is forthcoming and prepares themselves for it through the stockpiling of essential items for survival such as food, water, and guns."

However, a prepper is much more than a glorified stockpiler. A prepper is also someone who can survive in the woods, who knows how to make a fire, who can procure food, track and hunt game, find good sources of drinkable water, can build a shelter, and improvise tools. A prepper is someone who if all the conveniences of the 21st century were taken away would still be able to survive. 

He continues:

Both are very, very similar. The main difference is total self-reliance and the length of preparation. You can also think of this in terms of specialist and generalist. A survivalist specializes in the basic needs of humans: food, water, and shelter. A prepper takes the survivalist role and expands it to include long-term survival in terms of a world-wide disaster. A prepper has additional skills beyond the basic “bush-master.” He or she may be able to fly a plane, has martial arts and weapons training, some medical training in order to be able to utilize medicines, and perhaps tactical and leadership training in order to form an ad-hoc militia of some sort. A bunker is also in a prepper’s wheelhouse of tools to employ to better prepare for a cataclysmic disaster. 

    At Always Ready Prepper, the author indicates that the difference is that "Preppers tend to stockpile supplies within a bunker" and "prefer[ ] to stay in a location where they can stay safe from the wilderness," whereas "survivalists train themselves to survive in the wilderness" and "[t]heir goal is to be constantly moving instead of being locked away." 

    At Two Way Radio Community a writer states:

A prepper is prepping for the world, they are prepping for the disasters and some terrible things happened, so they try to stock foods, water, seeds, guns, first aid, and other goods in shelters to save a life. However, the survivalists try to learn some skills and techniques to survive and fit the changes. They always learn how to shoot, how to use tools, and learn more about geography. So, from this point, Preppers and survivalists are different.

The author also considers preppers to be group or community oriented and survivalists to be a "lone wolf".  

    At Modern Survival Online, the author writes:

A prepper seeks to get the tools and supplies needed to react to disasters and emergencies. A survivalist changes their lifestyle according to what response they anticipate would be required to survive the same situation. Preppers are more concerned with accumulating provisions and gear, where survivalists are more concerned with skillsets and lifestyle choices.

So, as you can see, definitions or the terms can vary, but the majority seem to view a prepper as someone who stockpiles supplies and plans on staying at one location (whether their home or retreat) while the survivalist is viewed as someone who, after a disaster, is willing and able to move around, make use of natural resources, and live off the land.

   I'm old enough to remember some of the development and evolution of terms, as well as having read some of the early "survivalist" books. "Survivalist," as a term referring to those preparing for a nuclear war, economic collapse, or, more generally, the end of the world, has been around since at least the early 1980s. I don't remember who popularized the term, but I remember at one time coming across a discussion of the term (I believe it was Mel Tappan) talking about whether to use the term "retreater" or "survivalist" because the distinguishing characteristic was having a survival retreat. However, and this is key, there were many that subscribed to the survivalist philosophies that did not have the means to uproot themselves from the cities or the suburbs and move to a rural retreat.

    The problem that arose is that, over time in the 1980s and 90s, the term "survivalist" started to take on serious negative connotations in the media and among the public at large because of its association with what we would now call domestic terrorists who either used "survivalist" to describe themselves or had the term applied to them by an ignorant (or malicious) media. (See here for a more in-depth discussion on the origins of "survivalism" and some of the groups with which it became associated).

     "Prepper" came into use in response to the negative connotation that became attached to "survivalist" and as an alternative term to "survivalist". Although I'm not sure when I first heard the term "prepper" I'm relatively certain it wasn't until after 2000, but it seemed to follow from the use of the term "preps" and "prepped". Ergo, a "prepper" was a person who had "preps" or had "prepped".  It describes, however, the same philosophy as gave birth to the "survivalist" movement during the Cold War--a desire to be prepared and able to survive a calamitous disaster that will disrupt the normal flow of goods and services, financial services, and utilities, whatever the cause. So, in this sense, the term "survivalist" and "prepper" are synonymous. And if I had to identify a difference, it would be that beside those preparing for a long term WROL and TEOTWAWKI, "preppers" includes people focused on short term disruptions, a few days or weeks. 

    But at the same time as the "survival retreat" movement was growing, there was also an increased interest in the outdoors and being able to survive in the wilderness. I don't know if this was an outgrowth of the hippie movement, the popularity of movies like Jeremiah Johnson and Grizzly Adams, or just a reaction to the general chaos, pollution, and crime of 1970s and 80s urban America, but it was very real. And so the term "survivalist" has also referred to those trained and/or experienced in surviving off the land or living under primitive conditions in austere environments. (See also this article exploring the differences between bushcraft, survivalism, and prepping). 

    I personally wouldn't actually mind having clear terms to distinguish between the wilderness survival expert and the person preparing for a disaster/nuclear war/economic collapse. And that seems to be the trend if the articles I related above are a guide. But while I sympathize with those that don't want to be lumped together with the person that throws a carton of Raman noodles and a case of water bottles in their closet and calls it good,  I don't see any real value in trying to use the two terms "survivalist" and "prepper" to distinguish between groups within the disaster/nuclear war/economic collapse preparing community, and I will probably continue to use both terms when referring to such people.