If you’re new to the prepper world, and keep in mind that at some point everyone is new to the prepper world, you might run across some acronyms or terms that maybe you don’t understand. Hopefully with this little Prepper Glossary we can help define terms that are used across the communities. We’ll start with the common acronyms, and remember that the prepper community is vast so YMMV (Your mileage may vary).
Prepper World Acronyms:
ABAO: All Bets Are Off. It usually means that something out of the ordinary has happened and nobody quite knows what to expect.
ABC: Airway, Breathing, Circulation. An acronym to help you remember the first steps to take when running across an injured person. Usage: Remember your ABCs.
BOB: Bug Out Bag. Other names: go bag, 72 hour kit, evac bag, emergency kit. A portable bag packed with survival supplies and kept ready for use in an emergency that requires evacuation. See also INCH bag and GOOD bag.
BOL: Bug Out Location. The location where you plan on going if you have to evacuate your home.
BOV: Bug Out Vehicle.
BOR: Bug Out Route.
CPR: CardioPulmonary Resuscitation. A procedure you would use on someone if you can’t detect that they are breathing, or they have no pulse. See ABCs.
EDC: Every Day Carry. These are the items that you carry with you every day to be prepared.
ELE: Extinction Level Event. The type of thing you would need a bunker to survive. Think asteroid, super volcano, nuclear winter, etc.
EMP: Electro Magnetic Pulse. A burst of electromagnetic radiation that could come from man made causes or solar flares that would render all electronics useless.
FIFO: First In, First Out. The practice of rotating food, eating the first thing you bought, or what will expire first, and restocking as needed.
GOOD: Get Out Of Dodge. Also used in the contact of a GOOD bag. An emergency bag in case you have to leave your home, potentially for an extended period of time.
INCH: I’m Never Coming Home. Usually used in the context of INCH bag, a bag that you would pack that has more than your typical BOB, as you would not be expecting to go home again.
JIC: Just In Case. Typically used to explain why you might have certain types of items in your preparation stash. You may not need every item you’ve put in your BOB, but some of them are nice JIC.
MAG: Mutual Assistance Group. A group of people who plan on working together in the case of an emergency.
MRE: Meals Ready to Eat. Originally created for the military these are vacuum sealed pouches that contain high calorie foods that can be eaten right out of the storage containers.
OTG: Off The Grid. The meaning varies from a simple level of providing your own electricity, and not being in trouble if the electrical grid goes down, to being completely self sufficient (or community sufficient), or even “non-existent” to the point where nobody could find you.
SIP: Shelter In Place. A BOB suggests you’re leaving your home, where as SIP suggests you plan on just hunkering down and living in your house until the emergency is over.
SHTF: Stuff Hits The Fan. That’s the polite way to say it. You may not bother to say it politely WTSHTF (When The SHTF). Usually used as a generic term to indicate whatever it is that causes you to go into a higher survival level mode. Usage: BOB’s in the trunk for WTSHTF.
TEOTWAWKI: The End Of The World As We Know It. Another generic term used to indicate something a level above SHTF and below an ELE (Extinction Level Event).
WROL: Without Rule of Law. A term meant to describe a scenario of total anarchy, without the ability to enforce laws.
YOYO: You’re On Your Own. A message meant to convey that you aren’t going to receive any help, or aren’t going to be able to meet up with people you were expecting to meet.
Organizational acronyms (United States specific):
CDC: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Provide information and guidance on infectious diseases, and other health related issues.
CERT: Community Emergency Response Team. Locally organized teams that help out in disasters, usually providing some training to civilians to be ready for an emergency.
DOD: Department of Defense. Represents the military. Likely to be called out to assist in extreme emergencies.
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Act. Provide disaster assistance after natural disasters and other emergencies.
NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This is the national weather service, and they operate radio stations across the US providing emergency weather information. Great for getting information about blizzards, fires, heat waves, and more. Find out what radio frequency they broadcast in your state here.
TLA: Three Letter Agencies. FBI, CIA, NSA, DHS, and who knows what else might fall under this category.
TPTB or PTB: The Powers That Be. For the tin foil hat community this represents whoever is actually running things.
Common terms used in the prepper community:
Buddy Burner: Describes a simple stove you can make yourself to cook on or provide heat. Basic examples involve taking an old can (like a tuna can) rolling some cardboard in it, and adding some paraffin wax, or other fuel, and lighting it to provide a few hours of heat.
Genny / Jenny: An generator that will provide electricity when the power goes down.
Faraday Cage / Bag: A shielding device that blocks electromagnetic signals. It would keep your electronics safe in the event of an EMP
Gray Man: Someone who tries to blend in and not make themselves and obvious prepper. The idea is that you may not want to stand out as the person who has supplies WTSHTF, as you would then become an obvious target.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: A fellow by the name of Maslow came up with a hierarchy of needs that suggests that humans have a hierarchy of needs, starting at air, water, food, and moving up to health, property, and on to things like friendship, family, then respect, self-esteem, and finally to self-actualization.
Rule of Threes: An adage that suggests you can survive for three minutes without air, three hours without shelter (in bad conditions), three days without water, and three weeks without food. So plan accordingly.
Two is One, One is None: A term meant to indicate that some things are likely to fail, so have a backup. If you have one plan, and it fails you have no plans, so make two plans.
Deep Pantry: A supply of shelf stable goods that your household consumes that is “deep” enough to last you through most emergencies.
Terms used to describe non preppers:
These are typically derogatory terms used to describe people who aren’t prepared.
Pollyanna: Someone who doesn’t think anything bad will happen. Based on the book of the same title, about a girl who is overly optimistic about everything.
Sheeple: People who blindly follow what the government or PTB say. They won’t be able to take care of themselves in an emergency and someone will need to herd them.
NINJA: No Income, No Job or Assets. Used to describe someone who provides no benefit to society.
NPC: Non Player Character. Taken from the computer gaming world it is used to describe someone who doesn’t take any actions on their own, and lives as though they are following a script.
Zombie: Based off of the popular zombie movies these are people who will come after anybody who appears to be “alive” in the event of a major disaster. Can’t take care of themselves and need to feed off of others.
The Golden Horde: The wave of zombies that will be loosed upon the world in the event of a catastrophe.