Prepper Myth #1: You can defend yourself against the horde.

This is one of a series of posts on some commonly held prepping beliefs, and reasons why they may be wrong and possibly dangerous to you and your loved ones.

Their Myth Reasoning (not me talking/writing) – Most of the beginning and intermediate level preppers I’ve met believe that they will be defending their property against a horde of starving or otherwise malicious people, and they prep accordingly. It’s important to note that no one who has actually tried to defend themselves against a large group of determined assailants actually thinks it can be done. The math is pretty simple: the horde has numbers on its side, time on its side, and its determination probably matches, in not exceeds, yours. If a large group of people decide that you’ve have something they want, that’s all there is to it. You can take a stand, but sooner or later, you’re going to run out of manpower, firepower, or sleep (or all three), and it’s all over. These aren’t slow-moving, unarmed, clumsy movie zombies who want to eat your brains – these are determined, smart people who are just trying to preserve their own lives, who can scale fences, create strategies, or simply overwhelm you with sheer numbers. This is why experienced preppers either live in a very remote location and/or conceal that they are preppers.

My Opinion – This could absolutely NOT be a myth if you define “yourself” as a larger, more organized, better armed horde than the one attacking you. Even a decent sized group (6 – 15) would have problems against 30 people of any horde. You can balance the odds a bit by communications (clear & secure), planning (clear mission/goals & planning well in advance), tactics (i.e. rings of defense, Immediate Action Drills), marksmanship, dependable weapons, defensible position, etc. But to think a family (say 4 – 6 members) can defend against a mob/horde, NO WAY! At least not for long. So your horde has to be better prepared, better organized and more determined than the other guy’s horde. It also makes sense to have a Plan B. I would suggest a Plan A finding yourself in a great community where preparedness and patriotism is a way of life.