Are Loved Ones Liabilities?

(ModernSurvival.org) – In the survivalist community, there is a lot of emphasis placed on keeping prepping on the down low. Terms like “OPSEC” and “gray man” get tossed around a lot, leading many to believe that prepping needs to be a top-secret practice hidden from friends and family alike. But is that really the case? Are your loved ones liabilities to survival?

Keep it Secret?

To some preppers, letting family and friends in on their preparation practices is an outrageous thought. After all, they cannot control who those people talk to about their “hobby,” which could compromise their security when it counts.

Why go through the work of learning all of the necessary skills and buying all of the gear and essential supplies to survive, only to have those people (and whoever else they told) show up looking for a handout after a disaster? They will only be deadweight, right?

Worse yet, what if criminals view them as easy marks in a crisis or try to use them as leverage?

While there is some validity to these points, they also create a great argument as to why these people should be let in on the secret. Rather than writing off extended family and friends as liabilities, taking the time to teach them may be a better course of action.

Make an Investment

The very act of prepping is, essentially, a form of insurance — a way to prepare for an unforeseen future emergency. Those who invest in prepping sleep easier knowing they are better prepared to handle the unexpected than the rest of the population. That’s because they have a cushion of knowledge and resources to land on.

By taking the time to extend that investment to include friends and family, a prepper will help those individuals create their own “insurance” to survive a crisis. As the old saying goes, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

In prepper terms, teaching those close to the heart how to prepare for and survive an emergency will ensure they aren’t a liability or an easy mark for two-legged predators. Instead, they will become self-sufficient and able to hold their own when the going gets tough.

One also has to consider the fact that there is strength in numbers. The more people who are skilled in survival practices, the better the chances of making it through a large-scale disaster together.

Sharing the knowledge and skills necessary to become self-sufficient is the ultimate act of love from a prepper. It isn’t always easy to convince others of the benefits of embracing a prepper lifestyle, though. For some talking points to help out with this, check out our article on reasons to prep even if nothing ever happens.

~Here’s to Your Survival!