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Glossary of survivalist terminology

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Survivalists maintain their group identity and subculture by using specialized terminology/slang etc. not generally understood outside their circles. They often use government/military/paramilitary acronyms such as OPSEC and SOP, and terminology common among adherents to gun culture or the peak oil scenario. They also use terms that are unique to their own survivalist groups; common acronyms include:

  • 7 S's: Shape, Skyline, Silhouette, Speed, Shine, Sound, Shade
  • 10 essentials:
  • Ad hoc: A usually improvised/temporary stand-in.
  • Alert state: Level of danger/threat etc.
  • Alpha strategy: The practice of storing extra consumable items, as a hedge against inflation, and for use in barter and charity. Coined by John Pugsley.
  • Ballistic wampum: Ammunition stored for barter purposes. Coined by Jeff Cooper.
  • Blockhouse: A type of fortified house/shelter.
  • BOB: Bug-out bag. A pack containing everything needed to leave your home and get to a safe location until able to return safely to your home or residence. Whether heading to a BOL, Retreat, MAG, MAC or Redoubt.
  • BOL: Bug-out location/bunker/bolt hole/safe house etc.
  • BOV: Bug-out vehicle.
  • Doomer: A peak oil adherent who believes in a Malthusian-scale social collapse.
  • CBRN: Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear.
  • Code name/Handle: For CB radio/Walkie talkie usage. Used with ACP 131/brevity codes and simplex communications.
  • Critical infrastructure:
  • Dead drop: A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items or information between two individuals using a secret location. By avoiding direct meetings, individuals can maintain operational security. This method stands in contrast to the live drop, so-called because two persons meet to exchange items or information.
  • Escape and evasion/SERE: Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape.
  • EDC: Everyday carry. What one carries at all times in case disaster strikes while one is out and about. Also refers to the normal carrying of a pistol for self-defense, or (as a noun) the pistol which is carried.
  • EOTW: End of the world
  • EROL: Excessive rule of law. Describes a situation where a government becomes oppressive and uses its powers and laws to control citizens. Sometimes this is used interchangeably with Martial Law
  • Ersatz: A "better than nothing" substitute.
  • Fieldcraft
  • Front organization: An entity set up by and controlled by another organization.
  • Ganbaru: To slog on tenaciously through hard times
  • Goblin: A criminal miscreant, coined (in the survivalist context) by Jeff Cooper.
  • Golden/Zombie horde: The anticipated large mixed horde of refugees and looters that will pour out of the metropolitan regions when SHTF. Coined (in the survivalist context) by James Wesley, Rawles.
  • G.O.O.D.: Get out of Dodge (city). Fleeing urban areas in the event of a disaster. Coined by James Wesley Rawles.
  • G.O.O.D. kit: Get out of Dodge kit. Synonymous with bug-out bag (BOB). Sometimes referred to as Go Bag.
  • Grey man/woman: A person who blends in with the crowd/surroundings etc. and less likely to draw attention to him/herself.
  • Hidesite: A hidden shelter for concealment used for surveillance etc.
  • INCH pack: I'm Never Coming Home pack (a sub-type of Bug Out Bag, often used by experts in the preparedness field). A pack containing everything needed to walk out into the woods and never return to society. It is an often heavy pack loaded with the gear needed to accomplish any wilderness task, from building shelter to gaining food, designed to allow someone to survive indefinitely in the woods. This requires skills and proper selection of equipment, as one can only carry so much. For example, instead of carrying food, one carries seeds, steel traps, a longbow, reel spinners and other fishing gear. Often INCH bag gear is designed to be more sustainable and durable, and include tools to fix gear. Common examples of this include files and Arkansas stones, or whetstones to sharpen knives, machetes, axes, and other blades. This is due to the idea that when using an INCH bag, materials and resupply will be rare, if not nonexistent, and as such tools need to be durable and self sustainable.
  • MYOG: Make Your Own Gear. An advanced specialist form of Improvising/Manufacturing clothing/kit/equipment etc. from scratch or modify existing examples. MYOG kit/equipment etc. differs from improvising from surrounding leftovers found on spot during a survival operation.
  • Operator: An individual tasked with a survival mission operation.
  • Outpost: A shelter, often used as an observation post/checkpoint on behalf of a larger area used as a substitute in a sparse outback area.
  • PAW: Post-Apocalyptic World
  • Pollyanna or Polly: Someone who is in denial about the disruption that might be caused by the advent of a large-scale disaster.
  • Prepper: A term often used as a synonym for survivalist that came into common usage during the early 2000s. Refers to one who is prepared or making preparations, such as by stockpiling food and ammunition. Can be contrasted slightly with survivalist, which emphasizes outdoor survival skills and self-sufficiency.
  • Recce/Recon: Information gathering and surveillance on behalf of a survivalist group operation.
  • RV point: A rendezvous/meet up point.
  • Situation room: A room containing CB radios, maps/charts etc. for survival planning etc.
  • Sheep: A person who trusts the government, institutions, or popular culture blindly. A similar term to Pollyanna.
  • SHTF: Shit hit/hits/hitting the fan
  • Splinter group: a smaller division, cell, group etc. that (for various reasons) has split off from a larger organization or movement.
  • Staging area: A room/area used for rigging up equipment etc. for a survival operation.
  • Strategic reserve: A reserve of supplies/items/resources etc. that is held back from normal use by governments, organisations, or businesses in pursuance of a particular strategy or to cope with unexpected events.
  • Tradecraft: Refers to the techniques, methods, and technologies used in modern espionage (spying) and generally as part of the activity of intelligence assessment.
  • TEOTWAWKI: The end of the world as we know it. The expression is in use since at least the early 1960s (tagline to television film Threads (1984)). However, others claim the acronym may have been coined in 1987 by REM in their song "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" or 1996, in the Usenet newsgroup misc.survivalism.
  • Uncivilization: A generic term for a great catastrophe.
  • WROL: Without rule of law. Describes a potential lawless state of society.
  • YOYO: You're on your own. Coined (in the survivalist context) by David Weed.
  • Zombie: Unprepared, incidental survivors of a prepped-for disaster, "who feed on the preparations of others”
  • Zombie apocalypse: Used by some preppers as a tongue-in-cheek metaphor for any natural or man-made disaster and "a clever way of drawing people's attention to disaster preparedness". The premise of the Zombie Squad is that "if you are prepared for a scenario where the walking corpses of your family and neighbors are trying to eat you alive, you will be prepared for almost anything." Though "there are some... who are seriously preparing for a zombie attack".

References

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