I’m often asked: “How do I find people in my area that share my interest in preparedness?”
When recruiting for a retreat group, or if you are considering joining an existing one, proceed with appropriate OPSEC precautions, extensive background/reference checks, and prayer.
To supplement your own extended family, try to find folks with the same religious background and representing a good mix of skills. My novel “Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse” describes some of the specific skills that would be ideal for a group retreat–like a doctor, a mechanic, a machinist/welder, a farmer, a combat veteran, and so on. If you are already living at your intended retreat, it is probably best to recruit locally. If not, then you should probably recruit regionally looking for preparedness-minded people that have the same long-term relocation destination, or at least people with the willingness to be flexible about where they relocate.
I recommend nine web sites (seven free and two paid) for making connections–whether you are looking to join or form a retreat group, or even for someone looking for a “prepper” spouse. They are:
– – Meetup.com
– – ChristianMingle.com (a paid matchmaking service–based on in-depth questionnaires)
– – FarmersOnly.com is an online dating-type site that caters to: “Farmers, Ranchers, Ag Students and all of Agriculture, Horse, Livestock Owners and all Animal Lovers, Cowboys, Cowgirls, Rodeo Fans and Country Wannabes”
Needless to say, use discretion when using these services. As a prepared individual, you have more to lose than most folks. For your safety and security, it is better to go through a long series of correspondence and to do some background and reference checking before revealing your home address or phone number. You might even want to set up a separate Hotmail or Gmail account, just for the purposes of making such contacts. Think OPSEC
Identify Yourself — Discreetly , If You’d Prefer
Another proven method of finding like-minded people has had remarkable success: wearing or carrying the SurvivalBlog logo. We offer a variety of T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, and tote bags with the distinctive SurvivalBlog logo. Many of these items are sold at cost. I have heard from folks throughout the US and Canada, and even from as far away as Iraq that have had people stop dead in their tracks and exclaim with a huge grin: “You read SurvivalBlog?”
If you trust in Divine Providence, make a point of wearing a SurvivalBlog T-shirt when you attend public events such as gun shows, or conservative political events, or when you go to your local shooting range. You will be surprised at who you run into.
I’ve chosen the “76” Battle of Bennington flag as the official “OPSEC-conscious” flag for SurvivalBlog readers. I have Battle of Bennington Flag logo T-shirts, hats, stickers, mugs, and tote bags at my CafePress store. (For those readers that consider it too “high profile” to wear a “SurvivalBlog” hat or T-shirt.) By wearing either a SurvivalBlog logo, or the Bennington Flag, you may providentially meet folks in your town that are fellow SurvivalBlog readers.