This morning I got an e-mail from a reader:
Our local club is trying to attract new members, and to that end we’re contemplating a mass-mailing to licensed hams in our area. But my thought is, why not include the preppers as well? Why not reach out to the prepper community to help them learn how to communicate during emergencies? Granted, ham radio may not be the focus of their lives, but, does that matter? Plant the seeds of interest via an outreach and see where it goes from there!
I didn’t want to dissuade him from recruiting preppers, but I don’t think that they’re a fertile ground for recruiting amateur radio club members—at least not the kind he really wants. The reason for this is that their primary concern is prepping and not amateur radio.
Most preppers don’t really care about the technology, per se. If they could use tin cans and string, they’d use tin cans and string. That’s not a knock on preppers, but I think in an amateur radio club, you want people that are truly interested in the technology.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to have preppers in my classes, have them download my study guides, and help them when they have questions. While I don’t have any real numbers, I’d say that my study guides have been used by hundreds, if not thousands of preppers to get their licenses. Many prepper sites link to KB6NU.Com, and when I find those links, I thank them, and in some cases, try to correct some misconceptions that they have about amateur radio. I just don’t think that many preppers are going to go beyond buying an HT and putting it in their “SHTF” kit.
Having said all that, I’d be happy if I was completely off-track here. Has your club had any experience trying to recruit preppers? If so, what’s been your experience?
Walter Underwood K6WRU says
I agree. Go ahead and contact them, but don’t expect everyone to join. Some preppers will be into planned risk management and may be valuable members. We have some of those people in our ARES/RACES group. As a Boy Scout leader, I spend a lot of time thinking about risk management. It’s hard.
Others may be all about personal survival and might not contribute much to the club. I remember a recent QST article about a portable disaster radio kit for a ham and his wife. He seemed uninterested in serving anyone else in the community, just his family. I was personally disgusted by that stance, but I wouldn’t keep him out of our club.
Flora says
I guess I’d be described as a “Prepper” — I’m older ‘n dirt, and a long time ago I grew weary of not being prepared to enjoy life at its fullest. So, I’ve learned the art of keeping what I need on-hand so I can do what I need or want to do when I need or want to do it. The “S” may “HTF” and often does in one way or another. Ham radio, for me, offers a means by which I could continue to communicate with others in an emergency situation in order to seek assistance and provide assistance, so for that purpose alone I would be interested in taking the Technician licensing exam… and so I’ll do that (an exam is scheduled next weekend). However, while studying, my interest has gone way beyond emergency communication. It’s probably getting way out of control, dang it! Now, I wanna know how and why everything works or doesn’t work — so just for the thrill of learning more in-depth technological aspects, I’d go to ANY classes at ANY club, were they offered. No such classes are available in my area (or if they are, I haven’t found ’em yet and I’ve been looking hard for ’em). In order to learn what I want to learn, I buy books and I find internet resources… like this one. Now, here’s my point: Reach out to the “Prepper Community” because some of us actually want to be a part of a well-prepared society of individuals who can assist one another when emergency situations arise as well as enjoy ham radio activities with confidence and competence during normal everyday life. Or, if you wish, don’t reach out because of some misconception of yours (or your club’s) about “preppers” in general. More of us than you may think are more interested in attaining proficiency than you may think.
Dan KB6NU says
Good points, Flora. If you have any questions about any of the material, please feel free to contact me.
Michael Gale says
Not everyone that participates in a local ham radio club need to have ham radio as a focus for their lives. And the prepper that is focused on his family/friends is still serving a part of our community. I’d rather see people who are interested in being prepared learn the proper use of radios and become licensed then have people in our communities using imported radios with too much effective radiated power for the MURS/FRS bands they are using them in. A club should consider achieving these two goals a win: getting people better trained and also contributing to your repeater fund. Much better than ignoring people that “don’t really care about the technology. You’ve demonstrated that yourself Dan by taking time to help some people in correcting their misconceptions. BTW: I got into ham radio because I was interested in prepping myself. I just felt that the best way for me to be prepared was to also be prepared to help my community.
2heavyb says
I don’t think getting preppers into HAM is a zero sum game. Will a majority of them get as deep into the hobby as the club’s would like? Probably not. But, enough of them would gain significant proficiency that they would be an asset to any group. Plus there would be more exposure to a wider audience with their friends and family possibly gaining interest in HAM than the radio community could reach on its own. In my opinion the prepper community is expanding and maturing from a strictly “Survivalist” mindset to a more well rounded and mainstream audience. I want to thank you for the study guides I downloaded today. I am showing my wife the tech guide and selling it to her as a way to keep in touch with me when I am away from the house. I’m trying to get my adult boys interested too. They are both in electronics fields in the Navy and would both be excellent operators I can nudge them into this. Spreading the hobby to people who would not have any exposure otherwise is good for everyone.
Bill says
As the reader that prompted this discussion, I find it interesting to read the various responses Dan’s blog entry solicited. The consensus seems to be what was in my mind, however clumsily I expressed it. Namely, to reach out to preppers, for in so doing we can plant seeds that might never otherwise get planted. Some will yield bountifully, others will never germinate, and others will yield varying amounts.
In short, some will discover a hobby that appeals to them that they didn’t know existed. Others will learn how to properly use their radios they bought. Some will learn how to participate during emergency situations. And so forth.
Thank you, Dan, for having this blog post. I will refer it to our Board for when the discussion of a mass-mailing comes up.
Eric says
I have several friends that are ‘preppers’ I myself might even fall into that category. In my area there is a group of preppers that started up about 3 or 4 years ago… their coms operator is a local Extra Class ham, the group ended up raising on of the largest coverage 440 repeaters in the kansas city area, they hold monthly ham radio license exams as a service to the community, they have several who have become general or extra class… they are even messing around with HF NVIS digital modes… all that came from a prepper group…
that being said, many of them are perfectly happy to stay a handi-talkie hero… and thats ok too
Mike says
As a Prepper and an Amateur radio op, I have to say that I am working on helping tmy community with comms and disaster preparedness. I have a small youtube channel as well as a podcast. My goal it to empower my community to be able to care for themselves and eachother when the S trurly does HTF.