January 2014 – SurvivalistPrepper

To kick-off 2014, I’m glad to present SurvivalistPrepper as the Featured Website of the Month!  Dale and Lisa are a dynamic duo of prepping.  I have seen their online community grow significantly as they provide many great resources to the Preparedness Community.  This FWOTM is a little different in that Dale and Lisa both take time to answer some of the questions independently.  So, take a moment to read their responses to the Featured Website of the Month questions, then checkout their website for all the content-rich resources they are providing.

Summarize the focus and purpose of your website. – The purpose of Survivalist Prepper is basically the same as most prepper websites, teaching and learning about different prepping and survival techniques and to get the word out about preparedness and self sufficiency.

My main focus for the website is to show that not all preppers are over the top conspiracy theorists, most of us are more aware of the threats we face than the average American and hopefully change a few minds about why preparing is so important.

What made you decide to start a website? – Over the last few years I have been getting more involved in the internet and building websites and it only seemed logical to start a website based around something Lisa and I are passionate about, something we feel could benefit and help people live a better life. Of everything I have done over the last few years Survivalist Prepper is the one I truly enjoy working on.

How long have you run your website? – We began thinking about building a website based around prepping in early 2012, and after a few months of work (behind the scenes) we launched Survivalist Prepper around May of 2012.

We decided on the name Survivalist Prepper because I have been interested in the outdoors since I was a child and my grandmother would take me fishing. The word survivalist also means being prepared to face and disaster that comes your way, so I’m more of a survivalist I suppose.

Lisa is more of the prepper and as I like to say “wears the tinfoil hat in the family.” She is more involved in areas like food storage, canning and other areas of self sufficiency like raising chickens, and saving money by doing things herself rather than having someone else do it for her. And although I do enjoy the building and planning aspect of self sufficiency, she pretty much takes the lead when it comes to these areas of prepping…until she needs me to build something for her that is.

Together I think we make a pretty good team because when she goes off the deep end I can pull her back in, and when I am not giving something the credit it deserves she will make sure I dig into the topic a little deeper.

How much time do you spend dedicated to your website? – Most people would say too much, it’s like a full time job without the paycheck. But like I said it’s something we are passionate about and enjoy doing, so to me it’s different than a “job.”

I also do a podcast (Survivalist Prepper The Podcast) run the Prepper Academy Membership Website and am in the process of building an online store for preppers at SHTFShop.com. On Top of all that I spend a lot of time on the Private Apoco-List Facebook page Lisa and I created that is a great community of like minded preppers just like us.

What is one thing you really like about your website? – I love the fact that it gives me an outlet to voice my opinion, write about what I have learned and teach others about preparedness.

What is one thing that you want to change about your website? – I like to post on the website once or twice a week and because of that some of the good (older) articles tend to get lost or buried. I am looking for a better way for people to access posts that were written in the past but still offer useful information that someone might be looking for.

Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows.

Dale: I listen to loud obnoxious music and play guitar. In my younger years I had gotten into many debates with my pastor about what people would call “satan music” And although that kind of music is out there, not all loud music like Metallica should be put in that category. There are actually songs by Metallica that are stories from the bible…Yes, I was one of those kids 🙂

Lisa: I LOVE my animals, especially my horse, Frisby. I spend a lot of time playing with him, and when I need to take some time for myself, I will go and play in the barn, and ride. I have been horse crazy for as long as I can remember, and if I have any free time, I love spending it with my horse. Even though it may be a pipe dream, I would love to be able to go out on the weekends to local barrel races. I have trained Frisby to be a barrel racer, and look forward to the day when I can go every weekend to the barrel races. I don’t know why I feel so driven about it, but I love it!

Other than your site, what is your favorite non-preparedness websites to visit?

Dale: One website I read quite a bit is LifeHacker. Sometimes this website has some pretty useful articles and “Life Hacks” that give you ideas about making life a little easier.

Lisa: If I am not doing research for an article, or learning a new way to do something in a more self reliant way, I will get online and go to Clinton Anderson’s Downunder Horsemanship. I can always find something on his site that I can really apply to my own training with my horse.

Do you have anything (projects, special posts, redesign) in store for the future of your website?  My plans for this year are to keep building the membership website and online store to offer as much value as I can, I want to make them something that every preparedness minded person can benefit from.

Lisa and I are in the process of putting together the first of many courses on the membership website (members.survivalistprepper.net) for anyone that is interested in preparedness. The course we are working on now is an intro to prepping course that will help anyone who is just becoming interested in preparedness by putting all of the most important information in one place. This course will be free to everyone because we want to give access to anyone who wants it.

Lisa is working on a book called Prepping A to Z which is actually going to be a series of books covering different prepping topics (A to Z) Each shorter book is around 40 pages, so by the time the complete book will be available, it will be over 1000 pages long.

I am working on a book that goes through all the different areas of preparedness and survival, I don’t have a title yet. These books will be available to members of the Prepper Academy as they are written before they go on sale at Amazon.The members also get copies of the books free when they are complete.

What were the three books you last read? (Be honest) 

Dale: The Four Hour Workweek by Timothy Farriss: because I love the idea being my own boss and getting as far away from corporate america as I can.

Just In Case by Kathy Harrison: because Vicky from the Apoco-List Facebook group was kind enough to send me a copy because she had a extra one. A good book about the basics.

And Stephen King’s Gunslinger series: (more than one book) because I love his writing. I have been reading Stephen King since I was a teenager…I’m starting to understand why my pastor was worried about me 🙂

Lisa: The Dome by Stephen King, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and How to Build Your Dream Cabin In The Woods by J. Wayne Fears.

What would you like to say to readers at the Prepper Website?

Dale: I appreciate all the support and how helpful the preparedness community really is. As they say “it takes a village” and I don’t think people realize how much we work together teaching and learning from each other. I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this community so thanks for letting Lisa and I in 🙂

Lisa: Every day I think of ways to be more prepared, and how to rely less on the system, and more on myself. And knowing throughout this community, there are so many others who are doing the same thing, it’s great! Knowing that you are not alone in your thinking, and finding like minded individuals is such a good feeling, knowing you’re not alone is wonderful! Sharing information, and making a difference for someone, and they in turn teaching me something new is awesome!

I think by having so many different places for preppers to interact will help for more of this information to reach more people as they begin to wake up and see that our world isn’t everything that is appears to be. By working together, and helping each other, the preparedness community is really getting the word out to the masses that we are not alone, and by working together, we will all be more prepared for whatever may come our way. So lets all continue to work hard, be more reliant on ourselves, and welcome others as they begin the journey of being prepared.

And both of us would like to thank Todd for putting together such a great website that makes it a little easier to find all the great information out there. With the hundreds of preparedness and self sufficiency websites out there it can be tough to remember them all.