Favorite Prepper YouTube channels?

más picante - September 8, 2020

Looking for something other than the guys who just review guns and gear.  Anyone have a few favorites to recommend?

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Justin Rhodes and his wife aren’t explicitly preppers–or at least I don’t think they are–but their work on gardening and raising chickens is very helpful and generally aligns with a prepared way of thinking. 

In general, though, I find YouTube to be a very inconsistent place when it comes to serious prepping related content. It’s worth being cautious about the material available. I find that most people can’t escape the economics of YouTube, so very quickly their content veers away from “useful” and into “entertainment.” Goes triple for prepping channels, which very regularly turn into gear nerd channels. (And I can’t blame them–I am definitely a gear nerd myself!–but it’s not the most productive content.)

 

Starting to feel the same way about Youtube. I get the feeling it’s hard to survive there if you don’t make your videos a certain way and that means a lot of fluff and bait

 

I found Survival Lilly earlier this year through another forum post and I love her content

https://www.youtube.com/c/SurvivalLilly/

 

what kind of stuff are you looking for? like survival skills? or more home prepping if you’re bugging in?

 

YouTube can be a great resource, but it is awash in preperation noise. The economics of making a living with YouTube also push content creators towards gear sponsorships and/or “survivaltainment” vidoes. So your skepticism is well-founded.

I use YouTube for two things. First, for general preparation ideas, always remembering that the content creater is operating in a specific context. For example, a former Navy Seal’s med kid probably has items I am not trained to use, and a rural-based primitive survival expert’s plan to start fire will differ significantly from mine.

Second, I use YouTube for demonstrations of specific skills like applying a tourniquet or building a tinder bundle. But, I always look for multiple sources to see if these techniques are legitimate or just YouTuber silliness. Of course, actually practicing the skills is more important than watching 100 video demonstrations.

In terms of recommendations, I find the following to be good sources that avoid foil-hatted craziness: the Gray Bearded Green Beret has a number of useful skills vidoes focused on first aid and wilderness survival; Survival Lilly also has interesting vidoes though she borders on the “survivaltainment” realm – I don’t plan to build a bug-out fort in the woods; finally, The Urban Prepper is a welcome balance to the overwhelming dominance of rural-based creators

 

↑↑↑ This! A thousand times, this!

YouTube is great for ideas and skills learning, but pay attention to the man behind the curtain. 

 

100%. I read that a lot of Youtube videos are 10 minutes on purpose so that they can get more ads. So a lot of what you see is fluff.

Are there any you reco, Matt?

 

Some I like:

Alaska Prepper: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6pJn6lFlHSB2yl49nwGI8w

Canadian Prepper: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfgtuaUadGgOA-91geQ8Qog

David the Good for gardening: https://www.youtube.com/user/davidthegood

Dave Canterbury for bushcraft: https://www.youtube.com/user/wildernessoutfitters

GarandThumb for tactical stuff: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0RBTQIYLEQbcahZWkmzeTQ

OHSTN for ham radio stuff, especially digital modes and low power: https://www.youtube.com/user/SurvivalTechEU

Ham Radio Crash Course for general ham stuff: https://www.youtube.com/user/hoshnasi

KM4ACK also for ham radio stuff: https://www.youtube.com/user/jasonoleham

 

Appreciated!

 

I like quite a few of them.  Used to count ‘Canadian Prepper’ on the short list but had a very poor experience when buying from him… so maybe just watch his videos and take your business elsewhere.