Preparing for the End— Logistical Insights from the Preppers

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the rise of preppers has revealed a distinctive form of individual mobilization in anticipation of systemic crises—geopolitical, economic, or climatic. Frequently caricatured, preppers construct original and self-reliant supply chains that operate independently of institutional systems. Far from being improvised, their practices are guided by a rigorous logistical rationality: anticipatory stockpiling, discreet sourcing strategies, the pursuit of energy autonomy, and more. This article offers a new interpretation of prepping practices, situating them within a broader genealogy of alternative resistance forms that, while historically recurrent, have been largely overlooked in logistics research. By shifting the analytical lens to the margins, we examine how new relationships to uncertainty are crafted—often in isolation—challenging dominant frameworks. In doing so, we highlight modes of logistics without visible infrastructure, rooted in crisis imaginaries and self-protection strategies. Through the case of preppers, this article invites a reconsideration of the interplay between logistics management, power, and vulnerability, incorporating organizational forms that proactively anticipate collapse rather than merely endure it.

Keywords: Collapse, History, Logistics, Preparedness, Preppers, Resilience, Resistance, Survivalism

DOI: 10.7176/HRL/56-01

Publication date: July 30^th 2025