sticky?

[swisscheesetony]

Oh please can we have a sticky so we don't have to deal with "what's a prepper? Are you all mad? Hahahahah a".

I was thinking this earlier. And then we could all just paste the link in if someone asks it on a regular thread.

Yep, I was pondering on this too. Just a brief explanation pinned to the top would be very helpful.

Suggest the 'Please can someone genuinely explain what a prepper is?' thread, because at least it's fairly civilised.

Hi Everyone

MN has very kindly agreed to put a sticky at the top of these threads explaining that most of the threads in the Prepper section are just normal people chatting about fire safety and the like. They have asked for a short explanation they can post at the top.

How about the following? (happy to incorporate comments). Once agreed I can send it back to MN & I'm hoping that will stop all the weirdo comments.

Title - Explanation of the term Prepper
The Preppers section is for anyone interested in safety, preparing for life's little inconveniences such as car breakdown or power cuts and for discussing longer term events.

And could also link the thread - 'Please can someone genuinely explain what a prepper is?' to the paragraph as suggested above.

I also liked madwomans reply on a thread earlier, though might not be appropriate...

"This is nice middle class British prepping. Stiff upper lip with lentil weaving. No glocks or spare mags required. Not even when the zombies come."

I was broadly OK with that Zetetic - only edginess I felt was with the word 'little' and I don't know why. (Maybe there's some tautology there what with 'inconvenience' being a fairly low key word in its own right.) I'd be happier if it just referred to 'life's inconveniences' I think.

No problem. Will take out word little. Tempted by the lentils and zombies.

Happy to change more if need be as it was just a first attempt.

Any more comments?

Hmm. I do wonder if saying something about the gun control issue is worthwhile.

Not to curtail it in a "free speech" sort of way, more of a "you probably won't find much of an audience who can talk guns with you" sort of way?

But then again, who knows. I'd rather not stop the debates, as they can be quite insightful (in an awful way).

How about asking for the name Preppers to be changed to

Being Prepared or something similar?

Prepared
The Being Prepared section is for anyone interested in safety, preparing for life's inconveniences such as car breakdown or power cuts and for discussing longer term events.*

I like that yes. Again, not to stop people talking about what they want to, but also not to give the wrong idea either about the kind of reception they could have with a regular "preppers" forum...

I hate the idea of "being prepared" and feel it diminishes what we're trying to achieve and simply kow-tows to those calling us loons. :( it's bad enough that we are accused of whipping up terrorism ffs.

Any other ideas? 'Preppers' seems to attract angst.

Had a look and another term is Emergency Preparedness.

How about that?

Emergency Preparedness seems like a good one. Accurately says what it's all about but doesn't have a stigma attached to it that is going to make people think we're total nutters.

Maybe that would be better. Most people here aren't hard core preppers in the traditional online sense. That's why there's some confusion when people say "but I have a cupboard full of food and batteries and I'm not a prepper!"

I said way back when this was first being considered that it should be Emergency Preparedness. "Preppers" calls to mind those Discovery Channel "reality" shows about guys living on a compound in Idaho with their own private arsenal. That is not what this board should be about. People who believe TEOTWAWKI is imminent and plan to go down firing on all cylinders and eating rehydrated food pouches have lots of places to go on the internet. This doesn't need to be one of them.

Emergency Preparedness has connotations of Blitz spirit and victory gardens and all that - much more MN, much more relevant.

OK. So far everyone seems fine with these words and the title Emergency Preparedness so I'll ask for it to be changed / with a sticky thread at the top.

Thanks.

Thanks Zetetik. Given a recent worried post from another poster on another board, I wonder if MN should make their positions on gun posts etc clear as well? Might be worth putting to them as a suggestion, though equally don't think we or they would want to automatically shut off all discussions?

Good idea. I'll suggest it.

Thanks

Isn't Emergency Preparedness the official government term for it?

I also like the 'naice British Prepping' bit!

What happened to changing the name to the bunker, I thought that was agreed previously

I think that might get too easily mixed up with other things, mama.