If the phrase “survivalist” brings you ideas of armed extremists and conspiracy theorists living on the edges and in isolated compounds, it’s time to reset your doomsday clock.
A global community of preppers – people who hoard supplies and train for extreme disasters – is preparing less for the end of the world than for a catastrophe that requires taking cover.
A climatic emergency, civil upheaval, and the risk of a dirty bomb, not to mention a global pandemic that abruptly shuts down the world’s infrastructure. COVID was responsible for materializing abstract catastrophic possibilities. Modern preppers approach it from a variety of perspectives and for numerous reasons. We traversed the country in order to speak with a few of the millions of Americans who have joined the cause.
Bradley Garrett: Right now, we are literally heading over the cliff’s edge.
Bradley Garrett took our crew down a tiny path near his Big Bear Lake, California, residence.
Bradley Garrett: When I first arrived here, one of my first off-road experiences was figuring out a non-highway route off this mountain. And that is what we are doing at the moment.
Jon Wertheim: What is our speed, ten miles per hour?
Bradley Garrett: Nine.
Garrett, a former university professor, wrote a book about prepping and then converted himself two years ago.
Bradley Garrett: Our nation no longer has the necessary infrastructure to effectively respond to calamities.
Behind the wheel of his hybrid four-by-four, he off-roads not for fun, but to practice bugging out – getting out of Dodge and away from the throng in the case of a crisis.
Bradley Garrett: We will inspect these roads to ensure that they are not washed out and that we can still use them.
Jon Wertheim: Just perform a dry run?
Bradley Garrett: Sure, give it a trial run (LAUGH). Bradley Garrett
Experimenting with an escape route to the Mojave Desert seems excessive. Until it doesn’t. Prior to our conversation with Garrett, a wildfire caused him to activate his emergency evacuation plan.
Bradley Garrett: It then ascended the ridge.
Jon Wertheim: Literally directly behind us.
Bradley Garrett: Specifically to this location. My neighbor came to my door and knocked. He then stated, “I believe it is time to evacuate.” There were helicopters removing lake water and dumping it on the flames. And we chose to depart. Thus, we loaded up the dogs and guinea pigs and left the house.
Jon Wertheim: How long does packing take you?
Garrett Bradley: Thirty minutes.
The wildfire consumed almost a thousand acres, but did not reach Garrett’s cabin. Nonetheless, he utilized the close call to gauge his readiness.
Jon Wertheim: How do you think you did?
Bradley Garrett: We went short on documentation. Certificates of birth and credit cards. They were everywhere in the house. I also had items stored in filing cabinets. It was chaotic. I wish to reduce it to 15
Jon Wertheim: Fifteen minutes?
Bradley Garrett: I’m leaving in fifteen minutes. Getting the dogs outside is not difficult. The guinea pigs are rather more difficult to control.
Discovering political variety inside prepper communities | 60 Minutes 0:01
The act of gathering animals during a natural calamity is reminiscent of the first prepper. Obviously, Noah loaded them into an Ark. However, in the year 2022 A.D., preppers continue to face calamities of biblical proportions that are as diverse as they are frequent. In the past few months alone, Hurricane Ian demonstrated the fury of nature, while Vladimir Putin demonstrated the fury of man by threatening to use nuclear weapons. FEMA, the overworked federal agency tasked with coordinating disaster response, has cautioned Americans to be prepared to fend for themselves for several days in the event of a natural disaster.
John Ramey is willing to operate independently for two years. Ramey began his career in Silicon Valley and advised the Obama administration on innovation. From his home in Colorado, he publishes a compilation of risks and best practices and checklists for bug-out bags. His website, The Prepared, is a key voice for this community’s measured sector.
John Ramey says: We estimate that approximately 15 million Americans are currently actively preparing. We have reached or will soon surpass 10% of all households in terms of proportion. And only a few years ago, this number was 2% or 3%.
Jon Wertheim: What caused this to occur?
John Ramey: Over the past decade, an increasing number of individuals have recognized the fact of climate change and how it affects the tragedies and occurrences that we now experience virtually on a daily basis. What has occurred with our economy since the global financial crisis? Political discourse and institutional failings. More and more individuals recognize that they are their own first responder. John Ramey
Part of Ramey’s job is analyzing the surplus of commodities on the multibillion-dollar preparing market: do you have contaminated drinking water? Here’s a $25 filter…
It will filter 100,000 gallons of water, according to John Ramey.
Cellular service lost? No difficulty for that dependable old ham radio.
John Ramey says: You are at least capable of communicating.
According to Ramey, the increase in preparing transcends national divisions of politics, economics, and geography.
Jon Wertheim: Is there a typical survivalist?
John Ramey: No longer, sir. There once was.
John Ramey: In the past, reality television shows that covered preppers would pick someone with the most extreme and implausible issue, such as Nazi alien zombies arriving on an asteroid. That is the polar opposite of where we are currently.
At the Smoky Mountains foothills of Tennessee, we encountered Heidi Keller in her vegetable garden. She works as a restaurant supply company employee by day and identifies as a homestead prepper, ready to hunker down – or bug in – during a disaster.
Heidi Keller: You may store raw meat here…
She recently got a freeze drier, the hottest thing for preppers.
That is a pound of ground beef, according to Heidi Keller.
This is where I store all of my canned foods, says Heidi Keller. Heidi Keller
Keller has canned, freeze-dried, and stockpiled enough food in her pantry to last a whole year without leaving her property.
Jon Wertheim: Poultry, beef, roast beef…
In addition, it serves as a safeguard against rising food prices.
Keller sought a backup after fires broke out in neighboring Gatlinburg during the 2016 drought.
Heidi Keller: When the fires occurred, I rethought, “Oh my god, I can’t have everything in my house because if there is a fire and my house burns, I can’t have everything in one place.” So I keep my long-term storage items elsewhere.
Where is it, asks Jon Wertheim.
Heidi Keller: In a safe place. (LAUGH) Not present here.
Jon Wertheim: Fort Knox.
Heidi Keller: No.
Jon Wertheim: How far away is this?
Heidi Keller: Not far. Inside of five miles.
Jon Wertheim: Give us other hints!
Heidi Keller: Why would I act this way? Obviously, I am not.
In general, preppers prefer not to share too much. You may also say that they lack confidence in the country’s infrastructure and institutions’ ability to respond to a catastrophe.
Jon Wertheim: In the event of a crisis, to what extent do you have faith in the government?
Heidi Keller: I will not criticize the government. I mean, they do their absolute best. However, the government is unlikely to take care of you, not because they don’t want to, but because they have too much on their plate. That makes perfect sense.
Jon Wertheim: You are willing to go it alone?
Heidi Keller: You must be to some extent. For two years, acquiring a wood stove was my primary worry. I did not own that. And I’m all electric. I was therefore unprepared. And when I eventually got it, I thought, “Phew,” because I’m now more comfortable. I’m okay.
Central Kansas is home to the “Survival Condo.”
If all it takes for Heidi Keller to feel comfortable is a wood stove, then when the sun rises on post-apocalyptic America, the wealthy will find solace here. We traveled to central Kansas, which was as flat as a countertop and surrounded by soybean and cornfields, to meet Larry Hall, a former defense contractor turned, shall we say, specialized property developer.
Jon Wertheim: Who did you purchase this item from?
In 2008, he purchased this decommissioned nuclear missile bunker for $300,000. He and partners invested $22 million to transform it into The Survival Condo, a luxury bunker.
Jon Wertheim: Significant thickness for a residential door…
Inside the 16,000-pound doors lies a 15-story apartment structure that is wedged into the ground.
There is space for seventy-five people, and all but three of the fourteen private units have been sold. One three-bedroom residence with televisions posing as windows is available for $2.4 million in cash.
Jon Wertheim: Who are your customers?
Larry Hall: These individuals are all self-made. We have neither lottery winners nor old money. We have retired physicians and other professionals.
Jon Wertheim: Do they have the same ideology?
No, Larry Hall, they do not. I am aware that there are Independents, Democrats, and Republicans; you have the entire spectrum represented here. However, they all share the desire to provide a safe environment for their families.
The end of civilization as we know it? They will feel great lounging by the pool, unless they would rather go rock climbing. When we went, there were no permanent residents, but according to Hall, the neighborhood was bustling at the outbreak of the pandemic.
Larry Hall: The owners arrived simultaneously for the first time ever. Each of them. So 19 kids were here. Alan Hall
The essence of Hall’s sales pitch is peace of mind.
And with scores of strangers huddled together during an emergency…
Here’s our pub, Larry Hall…
To prevent a subterranean version of “Lord of the Flies,” he employed a psychologist as a design consultant.
Jon Wertheim: I did observe what appeared to be a prison cell.
Larry Hall: There is a jail cell available. Due to the fact that we also offer a bar and a lounge. And if you have a poor day or drink excessively, you may receive an adult time out.
A room within the “Survival Condo”
Five distinct power sources keep everything functioning. There is a five-year food stockpile as well as hydroponics to grow more. The Survival Condo also hires doormen, who serve as armed gate guards.
Jon Wertheim: How concerned are you that this location could be overrun during a genuine emergency?
This structure was designed to resist a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated within half a mile. You can shout and rage, throw smoke bombs and Molotov cocktails, and you will still scratch my paint, whatever.
Jon Wertheim: Whoa.
Hall is transforming another silo a half-hour away. Globally, the majority of bunkers are not reinforced luxuries. As Ukrainians take cover, their practicality is vividly illustrated. A man made headlines in Australia after he emerged unharmed from his backyard bunker following a catastrophic inferno. One American producer of personal bunkers informed us that he receives a fresh order every other day.
Jon Wertheim: What do you think about the increase in bunker sales?
The great majority of people should never have a bunker, according to John Ramey. In reality, I loathe bunker narratives because they distract from the discourse we ought to be having, which is how to make current homes and communities more robust. Instead of leaving civilization, I will move into a deactivated missile silo.
Jon Wertheim: You assert you would never construct a bunker. Why then?
Bradley Garrett: Your bunker has a limited capacity for storage. I can only spend a certain amount of time there. I’d be desperate to see what’s going on outside (LAUGH).
Bradley Garrett will not hunker down, but he has increased his efforts to escape. He maintains a second vehicle, a 1972 GMC, in his yard in case the power goes out for good, rendering his hybrid escape vehicle into an expensive brick and removing all electronics. As a result of a nuclear assault or a solar storm, the fear of a catastrophic power grid failure preoccupies many preppers.
The government predicts that it would take two years to replace the grid, so Bradley Garrett:
Two years, Mr. Wertheim? When WiFi fails for five minutes, everyone panics.
Indeed, Bradley Garrett agrees. And, according to preppers, it takes 72 hours to animalize.
Jon Wertheim: What do you mean?
Meaning that it takes approximately three days for people to completely lose it.
Preparedness experts refer to this as the S-H-T-F scenario, or the classic “S” hitting the fan. A decline in societal norms. John Ramey says not to panic; instead, prepare.
John Ramey says: If you have enough food and water for two weeks, a radio, and basic supplies, you are prepared for the vast majority of scenarios with minimal effort and expense. That is the minimum standard to which everyone should aspire.
As more Americans prepare for the worst while remaining determined to survive, the term “prepper” may soon lose its negative connotation. Till then…
Jon Wertheim: Exists a favored term currently?
Bradley Garrett: The term “doomer optimist” is the one that I like.
Jon Wertheim: This sounds like a contradiction.
Bradley Garrett: This is a person who realizes that calamity is inevitable but remains hopeful that they will be able to overcome it.
Jon Wertheim: They’ll acknowledge the disaster, but they’ll be all right?
Bradley Garrett: Yeah. You must live with optimism, you know. There is no purpose in preparing for the future if there is no hope for it.
Nathalie Sommer and Jacqueline Williams served as producers. Kaylee Tully, associate producer Associate of broadcasting, Elizabeth Germino. Joe Schanzer edited this work.