In short the face of prepping is changing, people now realize that self sufficiency is all you can rely on if the system breaks down for a while.
Since Covid-19 has hit the scene the face of prepping has been changing back to its roots.
Many think that prepping became a movement in the Cold War with doomsday bunkers but its roots go back many thousands of years. Since the dawn of time seasonal hardship, diseases and raiding parties made it necessary to build granaries, aquaducts and fortififications.
Covid-19 has shown us the weakness in our modern lifestyle, a dependance on both a national and a global supply chain.
Fears over food security and missing out on sanitary products had people wearing undies on their faces as improvised masks and fighting in the shopping aisles over
toilet paper globally.
It seems us preppers aren't crazy folks wearing tin foil hats afterall.
In 2020 many people bought chickens, started a garden and put in a rainwater tank.
Lots of people bought bulk bags of flour and chest freezers, but again if not stored well the flour will go bad and with a reliance on the grid; if the power goes out all of the food in the freezer goes bad too.
Preppers don't like the possibility of preps going bad so we try and store water and have the means of purifying it. The sorts of food we store are a mix of renewable resources such as those we can grow, raise forage and store and those that are store bought which have long shelf lives that require little preparation such as canned and freeze dried food.
Limed eggs, pickled vegetables, jams and waxed cheeses have stood the test of time and no doubt kept many going through the great depression of the 1930's.
In modern times, mylar bagging staples such as flour, beans and rice is a great insurance policy against time extending shelf lives by a number of years.
Thankfully in Australia we have not experienced modern raiding parties in the form of looting rioters such as those seen in America but it is a distant blip on the radar that harks back to the times of old to be mindful of.
Tribal divisions can be as simple as simple as they have always been, race, religion and political persuasion.
America experienced a 40% increase in first time gun ownership in 2020 coinciding with the pandemic taking its toll on unemployment, the death of George Floyd and the looming election.
Not much about human nature has changed over time, essentially we pay our tribute (taxes) for security and essential services, it's keeping our bellies full and ourselves out of harms way when peace and resources are under threat that is the enduring cornerstone of prepping.
By Trevor Andrei.