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Survival Terms: Survival, Bushcraft, Preparedness, and Prepper Terminology For Beginners

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Are you up-to-speed on prepper vernacular?

Its true preparedness-minded individuals don’t speak the same language that the everyday person does. In the survival world, we have many acronyms for different phrases and sayings. For someone new to the community, it can be daunting. Survivalists and preppers have almost entirely different languages all on their own.

So you can have an easy reference to refer back to when you need it, The Survival Journal’s Survival and Preparedness Glossary lists and explains the most commonly used words you’ll see in Survival guides.

This is the official Survival Dictionary (index or glossary of terms), which includes some popular and some not so popular words, terms, slang, acronyms, abbreviations, phrases, and prepper jargon you’ll hear when talking about survival skills. It’s certainly not the best list is can be but we’re happy to have it here and continue to improve it on a regular basis.

If you want us to explain a term or definition that we missed in this guide, tell us through the suggestion form and we’ll make sure we cover it for you.

 

MISC
A
  • Awareness
B
  • B.O.B.
  • P.B.O.B. – Pets Bug-Out Bag
  • Bug-Out – The term “bug-out” means to leave quickly, leave the area. The term is used primarily by survivalists, preppers, and the military. Other forms of this term include “Bugging Out” and “Bugging-in”.
  • Bug-In
  • B.O.L. – A B.O.L. is an acronym that stands for “Bug-Out Location”. A bug-out location is a predetermined destination that is a safe place to go to when a crisis strikes and you have to bug-out of your current residence or area to stay out of harm’s way. This location is stocked with resources like food and water. Enough for at least 72-hours which is usually enough time for the emergency situation to pass and it’s safe to go back home.
  • B.O.V.
  • Bushcraft – Bushcraft is essentially another word to describe wilderness survival. Bushcraft survival is a term that essentially means Wilderness Survival. Bushcraft is the art of surviving in the wild. Think of it as advanced outdoor survival skills. Bushcraft is the art of living and living well in the natural world. Outside in the forests, in the wild. These wilderness survival skills include:
    • Fire Making
    • Hunting game
    • Fishing for food
    • Foraging
    • Primitive Technology, which is the art of building structures like shelters in the wild with natural materials that are found in nature.

    For further information, see the Bushcraft Survival Skills guide. and also the best bushcraft youtube channels.

C
  • Critical Area
  • CCW
  • Cache
D
  • Dutch Oven
E
  • E.M.P.
  • EDC
  • FIFO
F
  • Faraday Cage
  • FMJ
G
H
  • HAM
I
  • INCH Bag
  • IFAK
  • IWB
J
  • Jump The String
K
L
  • Laissez-Faire
M
  • M.R.E
N
O
  • Off-Grid or Off The Land
  • OWB
P
Q
R
S
T
  • Tactical
  • TEOTWAWKI
U
  • WROL
  • WAPI
V
  • Volcano Cook Stove
  • Vegabond Stove
W
  • WROL
  • WTSHTF
X
Y
  • YOYO
Z
  • Zeer Pot

 

Conclusion

Stick around preppers long enough and you’ll pick up more acronyms. Eventually, you’ll be able to carry on entire conversations without saying an actual word, but in the meantime, this list should help you make some sense of what you may be reading.

Just know that learning the meaning of SHTF or any of these terms isn’t enough. There’s a lot of work to do to get yourself fully prepared.