http://www.zonnewind.be/economie/crisis/verenigde-staten/preppers.shtml

Soon after the publication of this site, I received several enthusiastic responses. Always nice of course. Some of them refered indirectly to preppers, a recent trend.

A prepper is an individual or group that is preparing to minimize the impact of any change in normal circumstances, society, environment or lifestyle, immediately independently of others (government), to survive as comfortable as possible.
They call themselves sometimes the new survivors.

The movement got a boost after 9/11, and seems to increase with every disaster: Hurricane Katrina, the real estate crisis in which many of their home, job, car and / or reserves (or almost completely) are lost, the tsunami in Fukoshima, the banking crisis...
But also genetically engineered food, environmental pollution, global warming reveals many concerns.
Even fear of an alien invasion of 2012 (end - Mayan calendar) could convince people to become a prepper.

Their slogan is used properly:
Fail to prepare = prepare to fail

Here you see immediately where the term “prepper“ comes from.

Their preparation can consist of several components:

buy gold and silver, rather than to leave money in the bank
purchase generators and fuel (tanks)
campers, navigation, radio and batteries fitted
sometimes: make bunkers, or bury fallout shelters
hoarding food supplies
purchase tent, water pumps and filters, cylinders, sleeping bag
survival kits, medications and first aid kits for home purchased, in-car
storing weapons and ammunition
follow training and survival weekends
sometimes buy land and begin to farmer (even window farming in cities: make small hanging gardens to your window)
but also the exchange of information and techniques over the internet and communities.

When I see ads on some websites I have to conclude that there already a whole commerce is built around. Lifestyle and sustainability are not always the most important concepts that are proposed.

But there are certainly many good ideas and techniques and reading for many long winter evenings.