Is it possible to be a prepper AND minimalist?

[oremike]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

 

[EHJ]

I have an idea who the Last Man Standing is going to be.

Primitive Technology

Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no modern tools or materials. These are the strict rules: If...

www.youtube.com

 

[Certaindeaf]

Kung Fu Cain got by pretty good with just a haversack and a flute, walking the earth.

 

[Member 52301]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

Outstanding post.

Thank you!

Cate

 

[Certaindeaf]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

Snowflake boxes are a thing so it's no longer the problem it once was.

 

[Medic!]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

You're right.
I judge people.















Mostly for not acting their wage.

 

[Bushman]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

For the same reasons we have names, so you can identify something. Militia, tall, short, minimalist, hoarder, Police, civilian. It has nothing to do with what box you fit in. You are already IN that box based on attributes. The attributes and label help identify it.

Otherwise we can't call a jacket a jacket because then that's labeling it. When it's purpose is to keep you warm and dry. But the label doesn't put it into a box. The nature of the attributes put it into that box, but we assign labels so we can identify and refer to them in conversation and shopping. Otherwise you'd refer to things as thing that keeps me warm and dry, people who have minimal possessions, etc. It makes communication and shopping easier. Try searching for thing that makes me warm and dry vs winter jacket. Pretty basic stuff, kind of like your username...you are labeled so we can identify and refer to you for feedback, threads, posts, PM's.

 

[Kruel J]

So many names and labels, why are they so important? Can't you/me/we just be ok with who and how we are without seeing what little boxes we fit in?.

These days? Nope. But I like the way you think and I agree!

 

[Kruel J]

Otherwise we can't call a jacket a jacket because then that's labeling it. When it's purpose is to keep you warm and dry. But the label doesn't put it into a box. The nature of the attributes put it into that box, but we assign labels so we can identify and refer to them in conversation and shopping. Otherwise you'd refer to things as thing that keeps me warm and dry, people who have minimal possessions, etc. It makes communication and shopping easier. Try searching for thing that makes me warm and dry vs winter jacket. Pretty basic stuff, kind of like your username...you are labeled so we can identify and refer to you for feedback, threads, posts, PM's.

Inanimate objects don't care about identifying as anything. Not a fair comparison.

 

[trevi]

I look at minimalism as a way to say it is expendable. Leave the stuff without a care when needed. I am not too much of a food prepper as I am with guns and ammo but they are contained and are being downsized to what I actually use. I hunt, so if society collapsed, getting food from nature would not be foreign to me. All furniture I own was free from Craigslist, cost me only a little bit of gas. I have a trailer converted to camper now, it is my bug-out thingy and can carry my few or many necessities. I stopped buying new clothes long ago, I have no sense of style, so no attachments to clothes and the likes. I am only 37, not sure if that is the age demographic of the OP but I share the same sentiments. I am more focused on making a movable tiny home for sense of ease.

 

[gmerkt]

If it doesn't have a use, it likely shouldn't be in one's life

Yes, but. A practical person is tempted to think, "I might need this some day." And they will cry if they did let it go, only to have to go to Home Depot and buy a new one like it down the road. That experience can be reinforcing. A person just has to realize that they could keep 1,000 objects on spec, and only ever use one or two of them. Which might, if able to be found, come in handy. But in the meantime, valuable storage space was taken up, the item was moved around several times maybe, and the time involved in hunting it up was expended. There is a balance to be obtained in this matter.

 

[oremike]

For the same reasons we have names, so you can identify something. Militia, tall, short, minimalist, hoarder, Police, civilian. It has nothing to do with what box you fit in. You are already IN that box based on attributes. The attributes and label help identify it.

Trimmed for brevity

OK I'll play, In both my wifes and my cars is a box of survival gear, flairs, blankets, a couple MRE's basiclly enough stuff if stuck in a snow bank for 3 days we'll be ok. One could say that could make us peppers. But only having enough supplies for three days one could say we are minimalists. What box do you want to put us in because we figure we are just people.

 

[Bushman]

Inanimate objects don't care about identifying as anything. Not a fair comparison.

I never said the inanimate objects care about being identified. I specifically noted dozens of examples of why labels matter, in the context of conversation, shopping, etc. I specifically noted this in my post...

How else would we talk about things? Bring your thing that keeps you warm and dry (still a label) or bring your jacket?

Let's talk about people who subscribe to a philosophy of minimal possessions vs let's talk about minimalism. It has to do with language and communication. That's why I refer to my friend as Jake, not bearded person, 6'4", 250 lbs, caucasion, etc. Jake is easier to use in communicate and is still a label. Just like his description is a label (caucasian, tall, heavy, etc.) but Jake is easier to communicate with.

While the "why do we need to label things" sounds great to some and people react emotionally to it, if you think about it logically, it is counter productive to do away with "labels". You're a "moderator" which is a label. This site is a gun site. That's a label. Those put things into a box...but not because of their labels like the guy tried to claim. The site is a gun site regardless of whether you label it or not. It's how you communicate and identify things.

To say to label things is putting things in a box is like saying that having cheese as a label puts the cheese in a box of being cheese. No, it doesn't. The attributes of cheese make it cheese. Not the name of it. The lable merely helps everyone know what you are talking about when talking about cheese, rather than a mass of yellow stuff that could be gold, ear wax, yellow cake uranium or cheese. It's basic common sense.

 

[MTpockets]

Thread, Preparedness & Survival, Post #34, Quantity 1


<—-Member, Minimalistic, Thrifty, Old, Fat, Quantity 1

 

[Andy54Hawken]

For me the answer would be yes.
But I think that the answer would vary according to the mindset or idea of just what a prepper means.

To me being a prepper , means being prepared for various situations , as well as having a varied array of knowledge ...not just having a abundance of stuff.

Take fire starting for instance....
One can have a use a fancy lighter or torch...
But also having matches , flint and steel and the knowledge and experience of using a bow drill , along with the lighter or torch , may also come in handy.

The above will be of far more use , than owning 12 torches and 15 ferro rods , because with the above you have more options....and the more options you have , the better your odds are of surviving.
Andy

 

[Bushman]

OK I'll play, In both my wifes and my cars is a box of survival gear, flairs, blankets, a couple MRE's basiclly enough stuff if stuck in a snow bank for 3 days we'll be ok. One could say that could make us peppers. But only having enough supplies for three days one could say we are minimalists. What box do you want to put us in because we figure we are just people.

A USPS priority mail box

Sounds like you are PREPARED people. Preppers are prepared for emergencies. Your box contains survival gear, flares, blankets, MRE's, etc. That's not something normal people keep in their cars. Those things (survival gear, blankets) made you prepared. You're on a gun site that has a prepping forum. You're clearly a prepper....

Let's take a look at my trunk, as a prepper.

2 fire x's
2 weeks of food.
0 degree sleeping bag.
6 gallons of water.
Tent
Tarp
Sleeping pad
Chairs
4 fix a flats
Bow saw
Hatchet
FAK
Map
Fatwood
Spices
Soap
Waterproof boots
Toolbox with spare tools.
There's more but I think you get the idea.

Is that a normal persons car? No...I'm a prepper. i PREPARED just like you, but to a greater extent because I overdo things. A normal person car looks like my friends car before I turned him into a prepper. Mostly empty. Now he keeps the same gear I keep in his trunk. He also started carrying a gun, pepper spray a knife, flashlight, lighter and other gear I carry. #influencer. Actually every single one of my friends I've turned into a gun owner and prepper. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. They are now PREPARED people, preppers. Prepared for a variety of situations.

But don't listen to me. You go ahead and do away with labels. Enjoy your yellow mass in the thing you store stuff in. Sorry, I can't call it cheese, food or a fridge.

Be nice to the man with a thing on his thing that can cause harm, and powers of life and death. Otherwise known as a COP. See how labels help communicate...

The people who keep MRE's, survival gear and blankets in their vehicles are nothing. They are not preppers, they are not unprepared. We wouldn't want to assign a label to someone who prepared.

Don't call them veterans. Don't call them politicians. Service members, or anything. That's assigning a label and that's bad. Makes ZERO sense...These labels are used to communicate. It's how you REFER to things. It's called LANGUAGE.

 

[albin25]

Good Grief... it's not like choosing to live a more minimal day-to-day, and being properly prepared for the inevitable short/medium/long term disruptions that life presents, are mutually exclusive.

A minimal/empty-nester/downsized lifestyle doesn't mean there's no room for ample food, meds, ammo. Acceptable supplies can be stored/maintained in a space as small as the area under a queen bed. It just means that you don't load your everyday life with excess and complication. A minimalist lifestyle may, if you think about it, actually allow someone to "mentally cope/physically handle" a widescale societal disruption better than some who needs "lotsa stuff".


(this isn't to confuse the 250 sq. ft. "tiny house" idiots with,....Uhhhhh..... with normal people....? )
'

 

[Reacher120]

Yes and yes, but it can require constant evaluation of where we're at and where we're headed. We carry most but not all of what Bushman in the #36 post carries in his vehicle. It varies by season, varies by outing. More for 300 mile hunting trip, less for in town commute.
I like to "collect" certain things. Someone said a collector is a hoarder with "good taste".
The past few years I donated well over 600 paperbacks to a couple of assisted living facilities. They were nice to have, but after I read most several times, what was the point?
The fire evacuations really have me thinking, "go now" even with a one day notice? Uh oh, big trouble.
My solution is a one or two cars full "go now list", and getting ready now to build my man cave.
Now this design will be underground, re-in forced concrete 6 sides with at least a couple feet of dirt on top (or maybe a buried beefed up container) Fire, wind, and earthquake resistant, flooding not a concern here.

I want to read a woman's account of going through here fathers Estate after he passed, (a hoarder).
She found a box of short pieces of string in his attic neatly labeled "Pieces of string too short to save".
I don't want to be "that guy".

 

[oremike]

I think the deal is I grew up in a different time and place. In Oregon in the 1960's we where outdoorsy people. We camped and rock collected in the way back country sometimes for a couple weeks at a time. We had to take care of ourselves there was no AAA (at least not where we were) no cell service. Heck I doubt anyone even knew where we where. If we got a flat we'd have to change it. Get stuck and have to dig our way out no matter how long it took. Need to make a fire we'd have to gather wood. Fresh Trout cooked over a campfire was a meal fit for a king. I've carrried a pocket knife every day since 3rd grade and still do. So for me and my wife tho she grew up in a logging family all this prepper stuff is just living life. I see you've got a box of fatwood for sale, I heat with wood and just today was trimming some pitchy knots off a load of logs I got delivered and was tossing them aside to use as future fire starter.
A far as minimal, well you can't get much smaller than living out of a seabag. When I got out of the Navy that's all I had while couch surfing the first few months.

 

[Member 52301]

I think that it is easier to live as a prepared for emergencies (Not what some people may consider a super serious - super long term 'prepper'.) Minimalist as a single person than as a married person UNLESS your spouse has the same goals as you do too.

It depends on your spouse and if you are married to a person that does not have your same train of thought when it comes to your chosen 'lifestyle' when it comes to STUFF in general... there WILL, not could, be problems there. My opinion and your mileage may vary. NO problem.

A person (Male or female.) should KNOW this ahead of time about their future partner so that they can make an informed decision about marriage and not just have it all based on 'feelings'. Talk it out and KNOW your future spouse.

If you aren't on the same wavelength when it comes to basic emergency planning, politics, morals, religion or not, life goals, being a fiscal conservative yet generous in some giving habits, etc. - you should not be marrying the person who is against all that you stand for and believe in - in my not so humble opinion.

You do NOT have to agree in every single matter but if You live within your budget and work hard for what you want in life and marry a Shop-o-holic who is INTO every new fad and is LAZY - you may want to wake up and smell the coffee!

I think that people may decide on their own emergency supplies (Little, medium to a large amount.) depending on what part of the country they live in (Weather and year round storms with 4 FULL season changes!) AND how small or large of a home that choose to live in too.

Another thing, when a person decides to deliberately scale down in square footage for their new 'home' with or without a garage and/or barn... they have to be firm in their final decisions in keeping, donating/gifting, and trash pile and not base ALL of those final decisions on 'feelings' or they will end up with another home FULL of STUFF.

Most sane and normal people who are Not even minimalists for lack of a better TERM here (!) do NOT even have large trash piles when they DOWNSIZE because they were not pack rats or down right 'hoarders' which is another entire THING emotionally and physically.

Back east growing up and as an adult:

Books were my thing, many books, for all of my life. Personal ownership and using 1 to 2 libraries in each state that I lived in. East coast and in the Great Lakes region. They were read often, very FEW were only read only once or twice, they were kept clean and neat in beautiful bookcases. Some bookcases had glass fronts and some did not.

Back east:

Once I started to downsize those books about 10 years before my late husband's cancer discovery and death, planning for his future retirement which NEVER happened, I kept going through them, gifting to friends, family and to my local library. It sure made a huge change in my housecleaning routine in my former large brick, custom built house. I had books in my living room, den and in another room on the second floor.

Out West:

I only sold a few books in my lifetime. My beautiful, coffee table gun books were moved to Montana. They were read and looked at often. I enjoyed them.

I brought 2 to 3 (3?) boxes of books with me when I moved out west. Most of them are gone now, gifts and library donations here in MT, and I kept only a FEW final - super special books. Right now, shy of a couple of Bibles, I scaled down in Bibles and religious books, I could put MY books in one book box. My MT husband could put HIS books in 2 to 3 book boxes if you count in only a FEW of his favorite reloading books added to his other favorite books.

Films and shows... all scaled down. I only owned a few movies back east too. My MT husband bought movies/shows over the years at super, super discounted prices for NIB ones at a few stores here in MT, we watched them many times, enjoyed them over the years and donated them to the county library over the years.

Those movies/shows may fill LESS than one box now IF you did not count his Jag - USN show in their plastic cases in a box and my original - ancient (LOL) series of Law and Order with Jerry Orbach and some old actors in those shows.

I have NOT missed one book, one movie/show, one item of ANY type from back east or out here at all. And I still READ a lot and so does my husband.

No cable or dish and, in fact, when I got sick and tired of hearing/seeing some actors that I used to RESPECT, liked and enjoyed their talents on the screen but NO longer do respect go on and on about their 'politics' even though I did NOT support the top two candidates - I said, "Enough is enough!" Sick of it all. Bye, bye!

I do miss not being able to shoot my former, beautiful and classic handguns but I don't miss them 'tons' because I realize that some physical matters (Hand arthritis and not just due to age.) should be addressed honestly and not ignored when it comes to using some things/tools in life safely.

I never owned a super, super large music collection (Records, tapes and cds.) but I did downsize and gift many items there over the years too.

Bushman,

Did you move to a smaller place recently or are you still living in your same home?

Did you only decide to keep one or a couple of basic firearms and far less ammunition too?

I think that you might have been looking for property in another state if my memory serves me right.

I remember that you had rental properties to deal with too. Unless I have you mixed up with another poster here.

Take care.

Old Lady Cate