Recently, it has come to my attention that The Prepper’s Blueprint, while a “good” resource, is not probably something you should read because … it is written by a woman.
Regardless of what one man has to say, for those of you who haven’t read The Prepper’s Blueprint, it has helped thousands, both men and women, prepare dynamically for a vast amount of disasters. As well, its predecessor, 52-Weeks to Preparedness demonstrated that practical prepping is achievable, if done in small steps. Alas, I have digressed… how womanly of me.
I’ll leave the final opinion up to you, the reader, on whether or not this book is beneficial. Rather than me writing a long diatribe directed at the male chauvinists of the world, I’d like to dedicate this post to my favorite writers and researchers. Just a head’s up – this entire list is comprised of the hardcore women in the preparedness movement who are paving the way and making it easier for new preppers to find information and success in prepping. These are some of the coolest, hardworking preppers out there. These die-hard ladies regularly put out great information and always put a good spin on prepper content.
In no particular order, allow me to introduce these women and their websites:
10 Hardcore Prepper Chicks Paving The Way in Survival and Preparedness
1. Daisy Luther, The Organic Prepper
Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor who lives in a small village in the Pacific Northwestern area of the United States. She is the author of The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months. On her website, The Organic Prepper, Daisy writes about healthy prepping, homesteading adventures, and the pursuit of liberty and food freedom. Daisy is a co-founder of the website Nutritional Anarchy, which focuses on resistance through food self-sufficiency. Daisy’s articles are widely republished throughout alternative media.
2. Lisa Bedford, The Survival Mom
I’m the original Survival Mom, and have been helping moms worry less and enjoy their homes and families more for 5 years. Come join me on my journey to becoming more prepared to handle everyday emergencies and worst case scenarios.
3. Gaye Levy, Backdoor Survival
Gaye Levy grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area, graduating from the University of Washington. She spent many years as an executive in the telecommunications software industry and later as a CFO to emerging technology and service companies.
Gaye teaches the principles of preparedness and a self-reliant lifestyle through emergency preparation and disaster planning at her website BackdoorSurvival.com. As a blogger, she shares her nuts-and-bolts knowledge and common sense perspective in a way which is non-intimidating, friendly and easy to understand.
Gaye’s emphasis is on prepping for the mainstream while doing so with compassion for others and optimism for a positive outcome, no matter what. In her spare time, Gaye and her husband are avid ballroom dancers and enjoy hiking, kayaking, gardening and living life to the fullest along with their dog, Tucker, in their island home along the shores of San Juan Island in Washington State.
4. Bernie Carr, Apartment Prepper
Bernie Carr became fascinated with survival techniques and self-sufficiency as a child, hearing stories of her father’s adventures in the wilds of Southeast Asia as a land surveyor and avid outdoorsman. As an adult, she developed an interest in emergency preparedness and self-reliance, having survived the 1991 Northridge earthquake in California, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and the evacuation of her home during the Southern California wildfires.
She relocated to Houston, Texas, in an effort to avoid more natural disasters only to arrive in time to encounter the fury of Hurricane Ike in 2008. Bernie has a bachelor of science degree from the University of Southern California and has worked as a technical writer in various fields such as personal finance, insurance, and health care.
She writes The Apartment Prepper’s Blog at http://apartmentprepper.com and resides in Texas with her family, along with her dog, Miller.
5. Nurse Amy, Doom and Bloom
Nurse Amy is a certified nurse midwife as well, and an expert on herbal remedies and essential oils. She has one of the largest medicinal gardens in the state of Florida. She has also written articles on survival gardening and natural remedies for Survivalist and Backwoods Home Magazine.
She co-authored “the Survival Medicine Handbook”. The book has occupied the #1 Amazon Bestseller spot numerous times in the Survival Skills, Disaster Relief, and the Safety and First Aid categories since it was published. According to many survival websites and books, it is recommended reading for the person that is serious about staying healthy in the uncertain future.
6. Jane, Survivor Jane
Jane is city-girl turned prepper. She is the creator and editor of the disaster survival and preparedness website www.SurvivorJane.com . Her mission is to help educate people on how to better prepare by sharing her experiences and research in easy to understand “talk” on various preparedness topics. As an additional outreach, Jane created the hashtag #PrepperTalk the Largest Prepper Community form on Twitter which brings people from all over the world together to discuss preparedness.
After noting what seemed to be a lack of focus on personal hygiene and cleanliness in disaster preparedness, Jane authored the book “Where There is No Cosmetic Counter” and it’s 1st revision, “Emergency/Survival Hygiene – A Prepper Cookbook on Making Survival Hygiene Products.
She is a regular contributor to National Geographic Channel’s Doomsday Preppers; Prepper and Shooter Magazine, Prepare Magazine and many other preparedness periodicals. She was recently featured in Season 4 of Doomsday Preppers where the focus was on back-to-basics. When not on her social media networks you will find Jane speaking at various preparedness conventions and expos; included one she personally hosts, Prepper Camp.
7. Enola Gay, Paratus Familia
Enola Gay is the editor of Paratus Familia Blog, a site dedicated to teaching people about the preparedness lifestyle. She lives with her husband and five children in their solar/generator powered shop/house (affectionately known as a “shouse”) on 30 acres deep in the heart of the American Redoubt. “The Prepared Family Guide to Uncommon Diseases” was born from a desire to equip people with the basic tools they need to fight disease and win. Enola wanted the information to be as easily understood by a 12 year old girl as it was by her grandmother. This book is the result of Enola’s desire to equip herself and her loved ones with the knowledge to care for each other during a medical crisis.
8. Jane, Mom With a PREP
I’m Jane, just a Mom gettin’ her prep on for the sake of her family, and trying to share what I’m learning right along with the rest of you. We’re not trying to get our faces on Doomsday Prepper or build a compound in the hills of Idaho (thought that does sound lovely, doesn’t it?), but we are trying to prepare for our own The End of the World As We Know It situation – whether it be weather, job loss, illness or other circumstances, while still living a life for God in the place He has us planted in now.
While I may not be a perfect prepper…I’m on the road to learning more about it, putting more and more skills towards it, and even bring up two little prepper kids behind me (I pretend they’re still little, but in fact they’re food-eating, video game playing amoebas who roll their eyes at me when I say, “It’s time to go play Zombie Hunter in the backyard again!!” though they secretly love it).
9. Jamie Black Smith, Prepared Housewives
Jamie Black Smith is a mom of 3 little men & 1 princess, living life in Texas. When I’m not blogging you’ll most likely find me stuffing my face with Cheetos, learning how to bow hunt, or attempting to take a nap! Anyways, if you’re serious about being prepared I highly recommend you STOP everything and JOIN US NOW You don’t want to miss out!
10. Angela Paskett, Food Storage and Survival
Angela Paskett writes the popular preparedness blog Food Storage and Survival, http://foodstorageandsurvival.com, and hosts the weekly Food Storage and Survival Radio Show focusing on family preparedness. She has been actively storing and eating food with her family for over fifteen years. She teaches workshops on family preparedness and storing and preserving food to anyone who will listen, including preparedness fairs, civic groups, churches, and online. In her spare time she enjoys camping, hiking, shooting stuff, fishing, sewing, and historical reenactments. Angela is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and lives in rural Utah with her husband, four children, animal menagerie, and garden.
There Are So Many Sites To Acknowledge
There are too many websites to list that are run by women with a preparedness mindset. I invite all of you lovely ladies to post your website in the comment section of this article to get the word out! We all have families, jobs and personal lives and somehow find time to educate the prepper community on our blogs and sites. You deserve the recognition! I hope that you continue to get the word out! Please share your website below.
I would also like to add that there are some very talented male writers who put out amazing preparedness/survival-related content, but we’ll save that for another article.
As well, it should go without saying, but I thought I would add some additional article selections on how women are great survivalists and preppers.
Women can better survive famine:
http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2014/04/feminizing_fami.html
This link explains that “the evidence that females survive famine better than males is by now overwhelming.” This is due to body dimorphism (basically, we have more fat which is advantageous) and there is also a note about how this is true among many other mammal species.
Women naturally live longer:
http://jerrymondo.tripod.com/lgev/id2.html
We learn faster:
http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/why-girls-do-better-in-school-010212/
This study done at the University of Georgia and Columbia University found that women are better learners—basically, we have a better approach to expanding our minds. And, according to researchers, women tend to be more attentive, flexible, and organized.
We have stronger immune systems:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511180740.htm
A study done by McGill University indicated that estrogen gives women an edge when it comes to fighting off infections. That’s because estrogen confronts a certain enzyme that often hinders the body’s first line of defense against bacteria and viruses.
We are better at making calculated decisions:
http://www.nomapnoguidenolimits.com/2009/06/02/do-women-react-differently-to-risk/
Heyyyyyyy You forgot us! The Prepared Page is owned by a woman (Lucy) and the Admin is a woman (Deb) There is also Prepping on a shoestring (Patti)
The review, wouldn’t be the first time a man has missed just how much contribution a woman makes to living. That said, thanks for the list. Will be checking each out.
That critic isn’t the only misogynist amongst preppers . THE Mr Rawles is subtly but decidedly a chauvanist if not abit of a misogynist. You have to read his books to get a understanding of the subtext.
Hi Pam,
I’ve spoken with Mr. Rawles on numerous occasions and have never gotten that impression. He’s always been good about responding to my emails and very kind about offering advice. Honestly, if Rawles was a female, he would have been on this list. 🙂
What about Kellene Bishop at PreparednessPro.com? She was on
the second episode of “Doomsday Preppers” — first season, before the show got weird. She’s the one who
cooks gourmet meals from her preparedness stores and teaches rape prevention and firearm self-defense. And she has nearly 40,000 followers on her Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/preparednesspro). I don’t
know how you missed her.
Great list
This is very cool! When I started my blog I thought I was one of the few women preppers, but the more research I do the more I find there’s tons of us out there. Thanks for sharing the list!