Today I’m running a Best of Prepography article on Stealth Prepping that first ran in July of last year.  I’m rerunning this today in response to a request I saw over the weekend at another preparedness site encouraging folks to publicly identify themselves as preppers in an attempt to shatter the Doomsday Prepper narrative that the media usually attaches to those prudent enough to prepare.  I understand the reasoning…it seems that anytime a criminal is found to have more than one firearm or a deep larder they’re labled by the news media as another crazy prepper or wacko survivalist.  I hate that our movement is having it’s reputation tarnished but I’ll bet you got into prepping for your family…don’t risk everything you’ve accomplished (or intend to accomplish) with your preps by ‘going public.’

Being a ‘Stealth Prepper’ means keeping your preparations to yourself and practicing what we call OPSEC (Operational Security) in the military. The journey towards self-reliance and preparedness for life’s unexpected situations is exciting…you will want to celebrate your successes and discuss how to rectify your failures with like-minded people…but don’t do so until you put a lot of thought into who you’re talking with, who they’ll tell and so on. Here are the Top 10 Reasons to be a Stealth Prepper:

1. The words “I won’t tell anyone” are almost always a lie, even if said with proper intentions at the time.  Keep your preparations to yourself.
2. You will be ridiculed in good times by those well meaning people in your life that think nothing bad can ever happen to them… or that the authorities will always protect them from danger…in other words the sheeple.
3. You could be inundated by requests for ‘assistance’ in hard times that will have you weighing the well being of your family against that of strangers, acquaintances and friends.
4. You can’t afford to buy enough for ‘everybody.’
5. You don’t have enough space to store for ‘everybody.’
6. You and your family could be in danger from thieves even in good times if it’s known that you keep cash, precious metals or other items of value including firearms… just in case.
7. You might attract the tinfoil hat wearing crowd. If you want to broach the subject of preparedness with someone you want it to be on your terms with the people you chose.
8. You may find yourself having to take in more extended family than you planned… which could dramatically reduce the amount of time that your preparations will last.
9. You and your family could be targeted in very hard times by desperate strangers, acquaintances, friends and even extended family members.
10. You and your family could be targeted in very hard times by well meaning public servants enforcing ‘anti-hording’ ordinances for the ‘greater good.’

The best time to decide to become a Stealth Prepper is before you get started…the next best time now!