It’s human nature to be more comfortable with people like yourself; but if you stay there you lose a lot of opportunity. Various groups outside the prepper community have a lot to offer us as allies in the way of knowledge, ideas, and resources.
We here at 3BY are all about inclusiveness, and this is one piece of the reason. No one set of people has a monopoly on good ideas. All of the people we talk about below have their own unique take on things, but there are gems in there for preppers. Salty and I talk it over here:
Amish and Mennonite Allies
Saying nothing about the religious aspects (since we don’t do that here at 3BY), these folks are extremely capable with many ‘prepping’ skills. Grow and preserve food, and raise animals? They are rock stars. Keep comfortable and safe without electricity? Check. Cook from scratch? Ohhh yah. They’re not reliably great outside their ‘zone’ (as a chocolate lover, I’ve found their chocolate desserts just ok), but the sorts of things they traditionally cook are wonderful.
Moreover, many of the Mennonites (I’ve had less contact with Amish) are very generous of spirit, and so they will share what they know. I’ve gotten loads of good gardening tips from a local woman who comes to our farmer’s market. Never mind her advice will be undermining her sales; she still helps with a smile.
They also make great allies because they know how to build, and to build big structures without heavy equipment. Our local Mennonites have formed a crew that works as a group on big projects like raising barns, and also emergency recovery efforts.
Amish communities often have blacksmiths who know how to make a lot of hand tools, as well. In a more serious and long-term situation, you might like to know a man who knows how to make harness and can shoe a horse.
Of course, they are more likely to cooperate with those they know who have a good reputation with them. Pro tip: If you want anyone in the community to be your ally, deal fairly with all of them. Shorting one person and the word will get around.
Progressive, back to nature type as allies
Politics don’t make the prepper. In our local area, we run the full spectrum from Mennonites and Amish communities (very conservative ideas) through full-blown communes and ‘intentional communities’ that are progressives heavily into sustainable living. They all make good prepping allies.
The nice thing about the sustainable living folks is that they use modern science and knowledge to live well with little in the way of outside resources. Need help with setting up a solar power system or making a good building starting with hay bales and clay? These people have it figured out. Better yet, they often love to share what they know, since helping other people be self-sustainable is also part of their mission.
Re-enactor allies
Anyone from Europe in the medieval era could tell you: When Vikings are about, you really want them to be your allies.
The only full-sized, functional Viking longhouse, and one of the few Viking longboats in the Americas, reside in…Northeast Missouri. Who’d have guessed? But some local people are re-enactors, and they built this spot for their gatherings.
It might sound like something out of prepper fiction to come across a group with their own fortifications, producing medieval weapons and armor by hand, with a group of fighters (sort of) trained in the use of those weapons – but we’ve got it!
Scandinavia? No, north Missouri. Seriously.
Moreover, they know how to make shoes starting with the dead cow, clothes starting with the wooly sheep, good quality pottery starting with a chunk of clay. They have people with skills in blacksmithing, cooking, and herbalism.
Some groups are more ‘prepper-useful’ than others. Civil war people, for example, often concentrate on the uniforms, battles, and weapons. Our Viking re-enactors do that in the afternoons, but spend their mornings demonstrating crafting, so there’s a wider skill set.
Other potentially knowledgeable allies include Old Threshers (for steam power and farm equipment), wind-powered sailors (for those of you near big bodies of water), Mountain Man/Fur Trader/Pioneer re-enactors. Most Ren Fair people seem to concentrate on less practical concerns such as dress, but your mileage may vary.
If we stay inside our own echo chamber, we’ll just keep hearing the same information over and over. Why not reach out in new directions? Hey, maybe we can even cross-pollinate a little and get the allies thinking more about preparedness. Any of the historically-oriented types have reasons to believe than bad things can happen, as they Did happen to the cultures now represented only by re-enactors.
