By Karen Parr-Moody
ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. – Based on TV shows such as “Doomsday Preppers,” preppers are crazies who burrow holes into mountains in fear of any number of apocalyptic calamities. So what does one expect a self-described “prepper” to be like? Most likely a fear-mongerer who thinks the riffraff will attack his bunker for his Ready-to-Eat meals and Beanie Weenies, right?
No. It turns out that a real-life prepper is a zebra of an entirely different stripe. James Burnette is one. This self-described “prepper” lives in Ashland City and operates a prepper/survivalist site called www.survivalpunk.com. A handsome 31-year-old with thick brown hair, Burnette is surely an adept prepper and a survivalist. But he’s not a kook. And he takes the “crazy” prejudice in stride, because he knows better.
As he puts it: “One out of 10 preppers is probably crazy. But the general population is probably 10 percent crazy. Most preppers turn out to be the most practical people you would meet. They just realize things can go wrong.”
Like what? For the uninitiated, the prepper movement is fueled by a variety of fears of what could “go wrong.” These range from a nuclear attack to a financial collapse to climate change to the return of Jesus (i.e. Biblical Armageddon, if you are among the unlucky souls not whisked into heaven).
Burnette’s philosophy is like a diamond: Turn it in different directions and it shows different facets. What scared him into action was that last
financial collapse – a.k.a. The Great Recession, bold-faced by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. But how he took action was surely multi-faceted. He takes notes – without saying so – from Henry David Thoreau of “Walden” fame. His next move is in October, when he will occupy six acres, nurture chickens and live off the land. He says he will build a “tiny house,” which is more than a description: it is a movement. The “Tiny House” movement is one of voluntary simplicity.
“There are a lot of different movements,” he says. “ I love the tiny house movement.”
He even throws in a bit of advice – without attributing it – from Dave Ramsey, the frugal financial guru, which advises one should have an “emergency fund” of $1,000.
In other words, Burnette’s take is like a warm, rich tea into which different leaves seep. It’s simplicity blended with self-reliance blended with preparedness.
Before he was a prepper Burnette “ate drive through to drive through.” He had no savings. At one point, in his teens, he was homeless. Back then, he lived with a friend in a car for a couple of months. They sold plasma and ate at all-you-can-eat buffets once a day, then slept at rest stops. He lived off of $100 a month.
“Now I have goods stored, I have savings, I have more skills.”
In fact, Burnette is highly skilled when it comes to adapting to surviving in the woods for a week at a time. Like most preppers, he has the requisite “bug-out bag” – a backpack filled with equipment that will have one get back to basics.
His camouflage backpack includes the following: A metal water bottle, multiple lighters, a ferrocerium rod that shoots sparks (for starting a fire), emergency candles, a cloth bandana (which he says has “a million-and-one uses), an 11-inch knife and a smaller one for fine tasks, a hammock, dehydrated meats and vegetables, almond butter, a blanket, a sleeping bag, a cooking pot, a saw, a waterproof notebook, a Therm-a-Rest sleeping pad, a plastic grocery bag, a paracord, a collapsible shovel, tooth wisps, dental floss, toilet paper, flashlights, a first-aid kit, glow sticks and a solar-powered charger to recharge cell phones and small devices.
One of the many items in Burnette’s bug-out bag./Karen Parr-Moody
It’s kind of like camping. In fact, Burnette can be gone a week or more with just his bug-out bag.
But, naturally, to be a prepper, you have to think long term, as the preppers seen on the TV show “Doomsday Preppers” would have one believe.
Despite its record ratings, Burnette scoffs at the show.
“Most preppers are just really great, down-to-earth people,” he says. “‘Doomsday Preppers’ either finds the crazier people or either brings it out in them.”
To be fair, Burnette tried to watch a few episodes.
“They were so bad I couldn’t finish them,” he says. “It’s not like any of the preppers I’ve ever met in my life.”
In particular, he is baffled by the “me against you” attitude the show portrays.
“No one’s going to survive on their own,” he says flatly. “You have to have a society of friends with different skill sets. I think of it this way: If you were the last person living on earth would you really care to survive? I don’t want to live in a bunker by myself. That’s not fun.”
In the meanwhile, it seems like Burnette is actually having fun. Even if this is the end of the world as we know it – or not.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.