Survival & Preparedness Glossary

Comprehensive glossary of survival and emergency preparedness terms. Learn the terminology used by preppers and emergency professionals.

• Bleeding Control — The immediate prehospital actions taken to stop life-threatening hemorrhage, including direct pressure, wound packing, and tourniquet application.
• Boil Water Advisory — An official public health notice issued when tap water may be contaminated with harmful microorganisms, instructing residents to boil water before drinking, coo
• Bowline Knot — A rescue knot that forms a fixed loop at the end of a rope that does not tighten under load, making it the most important life-safety knot in wilderness and mar
• Bug-In — The deliberate decision to remain at your home location and hunker down during an emergency, rather than evacuating, when home is the safest option.
• Bug-Out Bag — A pre-packed kit containing essentials to sustain one person for 72 hours during an evacuation.
• Bushcraft — The set of wilderness living skills — fire, shelter, water, navigation, and foraging — that enable a person to survive and thrive using natural materials with m
• Cache — A hidden or pre-positioned supply of gear, food, water, documents, or tools for later emergency use.
• Communications Plan — A pre-arranged agreement among household or group members specifying how to contact each other, where to meet, and what channels to use when normal communicatio
• Dehydration — A condition in which the body loses more fluid than it takes in, impairing physical and mental performance and becoming life-threatening when fluid loss exceeds
• EDC (Everyday Carry) — The small set of tools you carry on your person every day to handle routine problems and emergencies.
• Emergency Radio — A battery, solar, crank, or USB-powered radio used to receive official alerts when phones, internet, or power are unreliable.
• EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) — A brief burst of electromagnetic energy that can permanently destroy unshielded electronics, from a high-altitude nuclear detonation or solar coronal mass eject
• Faraday Bag — A portable shielded pouch that blocks electromagnetic signals, protecting electronics from EMP damage, RFID skimming, and remote surveillance.
• Faraday Cage — An enclosure that blocks electromagnetic fields, used to protect electronics from EMP or surveillance.
• Ferro Rod — A ferrocerium rod that creates hot sparks when scraped with a hard striker, used as a durable backup to ignite prepared tinder.
• Fire Triangle — The three requirements for fire: heat, fuel, and oxygen. Remove one and fire goes out.
• Food Storage — The practice of maintaining a rotating supply of shelf-stable food sufficient to sustain a household for an extended period without resupply.
• Foraging — Foraging is the practice of finding and collecting wild edible or useful natural resources safely and legally.
• Friction Fire — The technique of generating a fire ember by rubbing wood against wood, using a bow-drill, hand-drill, or fire plow, without matches or modern ignition tools.
• Get-Home Bag — A compact kit kept at work or in a vehicle to help you travel home on foot if normal transportation fails during an emergency.
• Grid Down — A scenario in which the electrical power grid has failed over a wide area for an extended period, disrupting most modern infrastructure including water, fuel, c
• Ham Radio — Licensed amateur radio used for local, regional, or long-distance communication when normal networks are down.
• Hypothermia — A medical emergency in which the body's core temperature drops below 95°F (35°C), impairing vital functions and potentially causing death if not treated promptl
• IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) — A compact, standardized trauma kit carried on the body to treat life-threatening bleeding, airway obstruction, and penetrating wounds in the first minutes after
• Iodine Tablets — Chemical disinfectant tablets used to treat small quantities of clear water when boiling is not possible.
• LifeStraw (Personal Water Filter) — A hollow-fiber membrane water filter straw that removes bacteria and protozoa from any freshwater source, enabling direct drinking without boiling or chemicals.
• Mylar Blanket — A compact reflective emergency blanket that reduces radiant heat loss and supports wind or rain protection.
• Normalcy Bias — A cognitive bias causing people to underestimate the likelihood and impact of disasters because their minds default to assuming that things will continue as nor
• Paracord — A lightweight nylon kernmantle rope originally used in parachute rigging, now a standard survival and bushcraft material with a tensile strength of 550 lbs.
• Plantain Weed — Plantain weed is a common edible and medicinal wild plant (Plantago spp.) often used in basic field first aid and foraging.
• Prepper — A prepper is a person who prepares in advance for emergencies through planning, supplies, and practical skills.
• Prepping — Prepping means proactively building supplies, skills, and plans so your household can handle disruptions without panic.
• Rule of Threes — A survival prioritization framework: you can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter in harsh conditions, 3 days without water, and 3 weeks witho
• Shelter-in-Place — Staying where you are and sealing yourself in, usually to avoid an external hazard like chemicals, smoke, or fallout.
• SHTF — Prepper shorthand for a severe societal disruption scenario where normal systems (government, supply chains, law enforcement) have broken down and individuals m
• Signal Mirror — A reflective signaling tool used to flash sunlight toward rescuers, aircraft, vehicles, or distant observers.
• Situational Awareness — The ongoing perception, comprehension, and projection of your surroundings to detect threats, opportunities, and changes before they escalate into emergencies.
• Tinder — Fine, dry material that catches a spark or small flame and starts the first stage of a fire.
• Tourniquet — A device applied tightly around a limb to compress blood vessels and stop life-threatening bleeding from a wound that cannot be controlled by direct pressure al
• Trauma Shears — Blunt-tipped medical scissors used to cut clothing, tape, belts, or light material away from an injury.
• Two Is One, One Is None — A military-origin redundancy principle stating that any single critical item is effectively zero when it fails, so every essential piece of gear should have a b
• Water Filter — A device or medium that removes particles, many microbes, and some contaminants from water before drinking.
• Water Purification — The process of removing contaminants from water to make it safe to drink — usually by filtration, boiling, or chemical treatment.
• Water Storage — The practice of pre-storing safe drinking water in appropriate containers to sustain a household during disruptions to the municipal supply.