I thought it might be necessary to share some friendly advice that might be helpful as you continue looking for your tribes in your local areas. Obviously take this with a grain of salt as this is just some personal opinions of mine that I’ve found helpful while building my tribe.
1.) Your personal safety
I can’t stress this one enough. While it is essential that you find your tribe (none of us are likely to survive a SHTF situation going it alone), you must remember the fallen world that we live in. Although most, if not all, people on this email chain are likely great and moral people, I’m reminded of Matthew 10:16 to “…be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” That being said, if you are meeting a total stranger for the first time (or even the second time) make sure it is in a public place around a lot of other people. You can’t be sure that the person you are meeting is not an online predator that is taking advantage of this email chain. When meeting a prospective tribe member, I always suggest we go to a coffee shop to chat, my treat. Don’t ever go to someone’s residence, hunting camp, private property, tribe meeting, etc. until you have fully established trust with that individual and you bring someone physically capable to accompany you.
2.) Your “local area” doesn’t have to mean down the street
Mathematically speaking, preparedness-minded people do not embody the majority of the population. That being said, if you are waiting for someone who lives in your zip code or within a 30 min. drive, your expectations are likely too high. My tribe is spread out across almost an entire state! If things get bad in a hurry, we have a plan and travel routes of how to get all of our sub-groups together. Case-in-point, don’t be afraid to drive an hour away if it means connecting with people that will be an asset to you and you to them.
When thinking of people to add to your tribe or which tribe to join, there are some shared perspectives that I find need to exist in order for you to work together effectively. As a Christian, I find it impossible to accept a member into our tribe who is hungry for violence. Although my tribe has no shortage of arms (we’re 2A enthusiasts after all!), we focus on defending our tribe and helping whoever we can. As Proverbs 24:11 says, “rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” Aside from moral perspectives, your tribe members must all be preparing for the same thing in order to be a cohesive tribe. You can’t have half your members preparing for a zombie apocalypse while you’re prepping to survive an economic collapse. My people are preparing for an economic crisis and/or some sort of widespread civil unrest.
4.) A good tribe is a balanced tribe
After considering the previous three points you should give some thought to what skill sets are needed for your tribe. A tribe with a stockpile of weapons but no food and nowhere to go isn’t going to last long. Likewise, a few unarmed gardeners won’t make it either. I’ve divided my tribe up into basically three classes which you’re welcome to copy: tacticians, engineers and medical personnel. In their most basic form, everyone should fall into one of these three categories.
Tacticians are those that are armed and provide for the defense of the tribe at all times. Engineers embody a wide range of people from those that are building your structures, managing your water supply, engineering your food supply (gardeners), etc. Last, medical personnel range from physicians to nurses and EMTs. While we don’t deny anyone entry based on a lack of skill, we do require that once accepted, they take action to learn a useful skill. Everyone should be responsible for doing the best they can to help the tribe.
5.) You need somewhere to go when your “event” happens
Last, all of the best gear and the best people will still only get you so far if you don’t have somewhere to go. Don’t overthink this one- you don’t need 1000 acres in the middle of nowhere to be set up. However, you do need to have an agreed-upon secure and sustainable location where your tribe will go when some trigger event happens as well as a plan of how to get there. This could be land that a tribe member owns, a small rural town where you’re friends with the local sheriff, or maybe even just deep in the woods somewhere.
I hope this gives you some things to think on. Get out there and find your tribe!
God bless you all,
Kurt
Author: Kurt is a member of The Prepper Website Email Group.
Hi Kurt,
I have a question on what this Christian family of preppers think about Catholic, Seven Day Adventist Christians etc?
Is your tribe made up of Protestants, Envangelicals etc?
What’s your opinion on vaccines and medical interventions?
Thanks in advance
Awaiting your advance.
DW I cannot speak for Kurt but from his article the section called “Shared Perspectives” covers all your queries.
Intergroup harmony is critical when things are going ugly outside the group.
My baseline for a tribe is a Good Neighbor. Don’t force your opinions on others and work well together.
Avoid angry people. Many proverbs about that.
Proverbs 15:18
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Proverbs 22:24
Do not make friends with an angry man, and do not associate with a hot-tempered man,
Proverbs 26:21
Like charcoal for embers and wood for fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
Aaahhhh yes “Your ‘local area’ doesn’t have to mean down the street” that is really speaking to me now. Some people locally that I thought would be very good to know because of their skillset turned out to be kind of immature and just takers. They always needed a favor but never really had anything to offer in return. I’ve let that relationship come to a natural close as far as having much interaction or going out of my way but keeping the door open.