It’s been said that no one is an island, and that’s certainly true when times are tough. Having a sense of community during a natural disaster, a pandemic, or a SHTF situation can be critical to your survival. Yet just because someone is your neighbor, doesn’t mean that they should blindly be considered a trusted resource. Ideally, you should watch your neighbors well enough before the world goes sideways before accepting them into your network.
The Benefits of Community
Prepping creates an understandable sense of self-reliance. Yet even the most well-prepared person will inevitably find themselves in a situation where they need the help of others. It’s hard-wired into us by evolution to be a social species.
However, the benefits of this social component go far beyond having someone to chat with when you’re feeling deeply lonely.
Strength in Numbers
Being part of a community of well-prepared people gives you strength in numbers. In a disaster situation, knowing that your friends and neighbors have your back, definitely improves your safety.
A neighborhood watch program today can be reinforced when the world goes sideways. When outsiders come prowling through your neighborhood or community, they’re more likely to behave themselves when you present a unified front.
Related: The Dark Side of Being a Lone Wolf
Easier Bartering
In a disaster situation, “Stranger Danger” is a real thing. Yet there are going to be times when you need something unforeseen, and someone else will have it. If you have to go to a total stranger, even one across the street or down the road, tensions can run high for you both.
When you know your neighbors, and you’ve vetted in advance that they’re reasonably trustworthy, these tensions are diffused. You’re also more likely to negotiate a fair barter price for the things each of you needs.
Shared Labor
Switching over to a 100% sustainable lifestyle is a lot of work, rife with major projects. Trying to put up a new pole barn, or get your field tilled on your own is often too much for one person or family to do alone.
When you are part of a community neighborhood, many hands can make light work on these major projects.
You help them with their barn raising in the spring, they help you cut ice for the icehouse in the winter, and everyone saves time in the long run.
Less Dependence on Your Resources
A neighbor who isn’t informed or well-prepared before a disaster is likely to need more help from you when SHTF. When you know your neighbors in normal times, you can gently help them understand the benefits of being prepared.
Related: Survival Skills You Can Trade After SHTF
When something does go wrong in the world, they’ll be able to stand on their own two feet, without constantly knocking on your door. They might also have the skills and stocks to help you when something unforeseen comes along.
Watch Your Neighbors and Discretely Assess Them
Determining how trustworthy and competent your neighbors are goes beyond the odd conversation over the back fence. Ideally, you should discreetly watch your neighbors for key signs of trustworthiness, or potential danger. There are a few ways to do this up close as well as in person.
Watch Their Recycling Bins
Your neighbors’ open-air recycling bins will tell you more than just how much they reuse, reduce, and recycle. They give you keen insights on how they live, and what their habits are.
Just to be clear here, we’re talking about open-air recycling bins and times when they take the garbage out.
I’m not talking about rutting around in your neighbor’s garbage like a rabid raccoon in the middle of the night.
If you see a lot of liquor bottles and beer cans, it likely means multiple people have a drinking problem. This is a red flag on its own, as alcoholics are prone to rash behavior. It also means that the other family members are enablers, who don’t have the coping skills to correct the behavior.
This is a sign of a family that’s prone to escalation in tense times. They’re also more likely to talk to others about what they know about you. I’m not saying you should cut them out of your neighborhood network, but it’s wise to keep them at arm’s length.
Listen to Their Arguments
In most suburban neighborhoods you know when you’re the families next to you are arguing and they know when your family is arguing.
It’s one thing for a family to have a bunch of disagreements, especially if, unfortunately, money is tight or they have a troublesome teenager.
If you’re in earshot, watch your neighbors closely and pay attention to how the spouses talk to each other. If you’re hearing a lot of abusive statements, threats, and narcissistic comments it’s another red flag.
This is a person who is used to manipulating and taking power over others. If they’re willing to do that to their loved ones on a frequent basis, they might start plying that behavior toward you when SHTF.
The State of Their Lawn
How someone cares for their yard sends a statement about more than just their pride of ownership. It says something about how they care for their things, and how well they manage their time.
A person with an overgrown lawn and scrap trees growing out of their landscaping likely has a mind as sloppy as their lifestyle. They’re prone to procrastinating things, and you usually can’t trust them to pitch in their fair effort during community projects. It’s not that they’ll be useless to you, but they’ll probably need more management. They also might be lacking in certain skills.
Whereas someone with an immaculately trimmed lawn and a vegetable garden likely takes a proactive approach to life. They might even have some prepped stocks of their own just because it sounds like a wise idea. These are the types of people who can take on a management role in community projects and can teach others how to handle basic maintenance tasks.
The Lights in Their Windows at Night
When I talk about watching the lights in your neighbors’ windows at night, I don’t just mean if they’re night owls who stay up late. Nor should you turn into some sort of peeping Tom!
Related: You Should Never Ask Your Neighbor This
If you get the chance to casually notice what they spend their screentime on, you’ll get a better understanding of their personality. While things like their favorite news agency and TV shows might help you find some common ground, it won’t tell you much else.
It’s other forms of entertainment you want to be mindful of. For instance, someone who plays countless hours of video games into the late hours of the night could be a red flag.
These are often people who are escaping the challenges of their lives and getting their fix by sword-fighting imaginary dragons. Believe me, I’ve been down that road before in my life.
I can tell you that when you’re slaying the proverbial dragons in your real life, the video game dragons become less and less appealing.
A neighbor who plays an unhealthy amount of video games every night isn’t the type of person you can trust to rise to a challenge.
How They Maintain Their Car
You should take note if see your neighbor taking care of the routine maintenance on their car. Simple things like changing their own oil, rotating their tires, and replacing their worn-out serpentine belt tell you more than just that they’re handy.
These are skills you have to learn, and it shows that they have a mind with at least a little mechanical sympathy. In a prolonged SHTF situation, this is the kind of person you can trust to take care of tasks when they say they will.
If you see your neighbor taking on bigger jobs, like replacing their brake pads, or changing their own spark plugs, you should consider bringing them closer in your network. This is someone with valuable mechanical skills and likely tools that will be handy with improvised repairs.
On the flip side of the coin, you also have to watch out for neighbors who are aloof about car care. The person who is always leasing a vehicle because they don’t want to deal with routine maintenance, and the one who drives a beater with a heater, likely doesn’t have a lot of mechanical skills. These tend to be people who need a lot of tending to in disaster situations.
The Hoarder
Hoarding disorder is a very real psychological issue, and many hoarders will come up with creative excuses to keep hoarding. I’ve even met someone with a hoarding disorder who claimed he was a prepper with extensive stocks.
A downstairs bedroom full of packing materials that smelled like a gallon of mouse urine, and a hall closet overflowing with plastic bags were clear signs that something else was afoot.
Yet in this context, it’s not just the unhealthiness of hoarding that’s a problem. Hoarders tend to have a collection of creative, stubborn excuses as big as their physical collections. This will get in the way every time you try to get them to do something outside of their comfort zone.
Pay Attention to Sudden Changes in their Routine
You live by a routine. You leave the house at the same time each morning, maybe walk the dog, or run errands like clockwork. And probably so do your neighbors. But when those familiar patterns suddenly change it could be a warning sign.
Unpredictable movements, especially at odd hours of the night, can signal something suspicious. Is your neighbor hiding something? Are they in trouble—or becoming the kind of trouble you should fear? These sudden changes could point to growing instability, dangerous associations, or even signs of a crisis unraveling behind closed doors. And if you’re not paying attention, you may not realize how close that threat is… until it’s too late.
Don’t Forget to Watch Your Neighbors
No matter how well-stocked and prepared you are, being part of a community or a collective neighborhood improves your chances of surviving in desperate times. Being networked with other people gives you safety in numbers, a mutual defense, the opportunity to work together on big projects, and care for one another.
Yet you can’t welcome every neighbor blindly with open arms. Watch your neighbors for questionable signs, like substance abuse problems, and close mindset comfort zones. This helps you spot the people who might be deadweight in advance.
At the same time, being able to identify people with mechanical skills, physical fitness, and a growth mindset helps you prioritize the neighbors you want to be close to. These are people that are likely to ascend with you and bring something more to the table than you might have on your own.
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This article sounds like WWII Germany Brownshirt stuff, turn in your neighbor, just because. End the sanctuary state mandates to clean house. If you want to turn in your neighbor it should be the illegal freeloaders and gang members like MS13 and the Venezuela armed gang members first.
A new day, a new era is about to come, sending the illegal freeloaders back to where they came from and drill, baby drill will cut down our trillion dollars debt of money given. To everyone, everywhere first then America first.
Time to hold the George Soros DA’s accountable for their inaction’s of criminal revolving doors program.
Repair the 50 states voter rolls of illegal voters, dead people and other anomalies that cause voter fraud. One day national voting for at least the presidential election, no electronic voting machines, hand paper ballots at official voter centers.
Make the presidential election a one day voting national holiday so everyone can vote, no excuses. Only vetted mail in ballots to disabled American citizens and military personnel overseas at which secured express mail is used a week in advance.
Pray to God he helps us make America great again, thank you.
Thank you to the illegal gang members for their negative thumbs down, we can’t please you all, please go home now and fix your own countries then bankrupt our country.
No where was turning anyone into authorities mentioned, the entire slant of the story is to know if your neighbors are the sort who will be begging or stealing from you, or sharing garden vegetables or helping you fix your car in exchange for your skills or stocks, if they are an asset or a burden, or a threat or an ally.
B*tch you’re an immigrant what you talking bout? If you ain’t Aztec Incan indigenous native South American or indigenous Native north American then THIS AINT YOUR LAND YOU IMMIGRATED HERE. Sounding like a true nazi descended degenerate go get a REAL education and learn some REAL history ya cointel nutcase
You seem a little unhinged BW.. She mentioned ILLEGAL immigration.
There are pros and cons to both the lone wolf and community safety.
Communities can eventually turn into HOA rules and regulations that only liberals care to to live in.
Preppers should take a middle of the road outlook at both sides to have a compromise. Communities may seem like a safety issue for females more than males. Those hippy communes were ideal until people voiced their opinions and too many cooks spoiled the soup. Little house on the prairie sounds great, freedom, off the grid until the government sees this as missed opportunity to collect taxes. Ruby Ridge come to mind?
The Song: Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) by The Byrds, so we should be flexible in these basic human foundations of society.
One caveat is being total lone wolf could be looking like the modern urban homeless camper we see. We don’t want that situation either, but look at major communities ruled by the few, that are turned into sewer communities of hopelessness.
So do your own research to find where you may fit into that part of society you are prepping for.
God bless America.
Yeah you might say liberal states like the east and west coasts are the biggest form of HOA’s in existence. We see how major cities are run into the ground of liberalism, like New York city and San Fransisco and Los Angeles are today.
The fish rots from the head down, like the corrupt people in charge, time to clean house, it won’t be easy. We can’t keep going on the unsustainable trillions of dollars in national debt, close the open southern border and drill for gas and oil with clean coal.
Two points I disagree with.
State of their lawn – My lawn is a total disaster. I cut it regularly and mulch the leaves a couple times a week when needed. However, I can’t get grass to grow in most of it. I have spent thousands of dollars on it but it just won’t happen. Too much water drainage from uphill neighbors. I don’t have a sloppy lifestyle and I have helped many of my neighbors build and repair things around their homes. I can do plumbing, electrical, building construction and have built two of my own homes from the ground up and did ALL the work myself except for the air conditioning.
How they maintain their car – I totally dislike working on a car. I check the fluids and will change light bulbs or fuse. But that’s about it. Yet. I can repair a lawn mower or just about any electrical appliance. I can weld or braze or solder. I can rig up all sorts of “redneck” items when needed. But if my car needs work, I take it to a professional that enjoys that type of work.
Have some of the posting authors have a little bit of liberal streak in their slanted prepper articles?
Many of us are average Americans wanting the life our parents grew up decades ago.
They didn’t have helicopter parents. Rode a bicycle without a helmet. Today we need them because some politician made a law and some ambulance cashing lawyer wants to make money too.
TV series and movie remakes have to have a rainbow of the LGBT community as what our liberal society dreams of. That is why many people like watching older TV series and movies they didn’t have overt agendas. Many were really well written and funny. Will those days ever come back in today’s world?
Even the liberals didn’t vote for goddess of socialism, many saw the other side as a way out to commonsense basic needs we Americans want.
Pray to God to get us back on track.
I agree – a lot of us who are “self starters” prioritize their time in ways which are unobserves. I for one, keep updated in my field of medicine (including the effects and risks of radiation exposure). The ability to train others (who are willing and ABLE) to understand and apply public health knowledge to their daily routine(s), is more than a basic necessity – it can mean health, sickness or death, not just of one individual, but of a whole community. Remember that adequately functioning “hospitals” may not be a reality. Without enough skilled individuals, they are useless.
Also, wishful thinking about “stockpiling” antibiotics (especially misuse through ignorance) can easily have the opposite of the desired effect. (Think “superinfections”, where one is worse off than before.)
The “Buck Rogers” (to rescue us) approach to medical emergencies probably will be painfully unavailable; but knowledge of past developments (and failures) in medicine after early 1900s would be wise to remember. That’s how doctors learned what works, and what doesn’t. Some time ago, I made a 2-page basic composite of practical medical pointers to follow “when”.
A skill in tuning an auto engine or wiring a motor may have not been in one’s armamentarium for some time, and more technical skills (ham radio /repair) are best left to those with such experience.
A lawn that looks like a golf course – that person could be using chemicals that make the land, animals, and people sick. My garden didn’t fruit this year, I realized too late I would have had to hand pollinate every blossom to get any harvest. Someone killed the pollinators.
This year we had a lot of rats and mice that got to ripening fruit the garden vegetables.
Have used rat poison in the past but now try other methods as the rat poison ingredients are getting into the predators food chain system getting them sick.
The poisoned rats may end up as food for those predators such as hawks that can also become poisoned.
We need better home gardeners alternatives, the planet is getting sicker with the commercial agricultural pesticides used and synthetic fertilizers also used.
Not an environmentalist just someone trying to keep healthy.
The environmentalist in California divert precious irrigation water from the farmers to run into the ocean for a fake endangered Delta Smelt fish, insane!
There is no real drought in many areas, it is man made by politics.
The California wildfires underline agenda is to wipe out rural areas of homes and farms, send those people to live in high density city housing. So the elite politicians have a permanent voting block. That crapped out so they went to sanctuary status to bring in replacement American voters, Californians are waking up to that fact.
You are right that predators, even cats, can die from eating poisoned bait. Here is one solution that does work. Put out a pan of dry instant mashed potatoes where the rodents roam. Also put out a few pans of water placed strategically around the potatoes, a short distance away.
What happens is the rat eats it’s fill of the instant potatoes, is thirsty and drinks water from the handy pans of water. The water causes the instant potatoes to greatly expand causing the rat to literally burst. If the dead rat is eaten by a predator, no problem, because no poison.
A lawn that looks like a golf course – that person could be using chemicals that make the land, animals, and people sick. My garden didn’t fruit this year, I realized too late I would have had to hand pollinate every blossom to get any harvest. Someone killed the pollinators in the neighborhood with something.
It’s good to know what the people around you are like but you don’t get paranoid about it. And there’s one iron-clad rule you NEVER break unless you find out your neighbours are serial killers or have an affinity for very young children. And that is; you NEVER turn your neighbours in. We all have our warts and blemishes and no one is perfect. How someone keeps their lawn or the upkeep on their house is no one’s business but their own. There’s a huge difference between hoarding and stockpiling. Preppers stockpile long before it’s needed. Desperate people hoard when it’s too late. When the emergency is already upon them. Once we start turning our neighbours in, where does it stop? Are we going to start turning them in for every little infraction? Because we don’t like the car they drive. We don’t like their political views. We don’t like the colour of their skin. And it can go on and on. When it comes down to it and we’re in the middle of a real extended emergency I think we’ll find that people come together to help each other. Those that choose not to participate will be ostracized. After a while they may have an incentive to be of service to others instead of just being of service to themselves. In a true extended grid-dowm situation lasting many months or even years it would be very difficult for a lone-wolf type to prosper and maybe even survive. One last thing. Where I live we don’t recycle liquor bottles or beer cans. We take them back to the beer store to get our deposit back. So no liquor bottles or beer cans or bottles in our blue bins.
you NEVER turn in the serial killer or the ones who have a strange affinity for children, the george soros DA will turn them loose and then dome after you with all the military might they can muster; and they will know exactly where to find you. find some other solution
you NEVER turn in the serial killer or the ones who have a strange affinity for children, the george soros DA will turn them loose and then come after you with all the military might they can muster; and they will know exactly where to find you. find some other solution
How the heck did this article spawn election comments?
Logs of things to consider in the article.
There is difference between a golf course lawn and just bad maintenance. Let’s not go extreme here.
It’s all b.s.
Almost all of the crap your judging on I have and will due again.
I’m probably the best one you could have on your team.
Please cut me out of your private community nonsense.
You will need me later!
Doubt that. You sound narscissict.