8 Best Survival Forums for Preppers

In an increasingly unpredictable world, survival forums have become essential knowledge hubs for those looking to prepare for everything from natural disasters to wilderness adventures. These online communities offer valuable insights, practical advice, and supportive networks for both novice preppers and seasoned survivalists.

Whether you're interested in bushcraft skills, food storage techniques, or building a comprehensive emergency plan, these forums provide collective wisdom from experienced members who've been honing their preparedness strategies for years. Let's explore the eight best survival forums where you can connect with like-minded individuals and expand your survival knowledge.

1. Reddit r/Survival

Main Focus: Wilderness survival techniques, outdoor skills, and short-term crisis management

Target Audience: Outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, campers, and novice preppers seeking practical advice

Activity Level: Extremely active with 444,000+ members (in the top 1% of Reddit communities) and hundreds of daily posts and comments

Reddit's r/Survival stands out as one of the most accessible and diverse survival communities online. What makes this forum particularly valuable is its crowd-sourced approach to survival knowledge, with members ranging from weekend campers to professional wilderness instructors.

The community organizes content by skill categories and environments (desert/arctic/forest), making it easy to find relevant information for your specific needs. Moderators maintain high-quality discussions by requiring gear reviews to include first-hand experience and encouraging evidence-based advice.

The forum saw a significant 300% traffic increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting its importance as a resource during real-world crises. For beginners, this is an excellent starting point due to its welcoming atmosphere and extensive wiki resources.

2. Survivalist Boards

Main Focus: Comprehensive disaster preparedness, homesteading, and self-sufficiency

Target Audience: Experienced preppers and those serious about long-term survival planning

Activity Level: Highly active with 167,000+ members and over 11.7 million posts across numerous specialized subforums

Survivalist Boards has established itself as one of the most comprehensive and active survival communities online. The forum features dozens of specialized sections covering everything from "Urban Survival" and "Food & Water Storage" to detailed discussions on medical preparedness and communications during emergencies.

What distinguishes this forum is its depth of expertise. Many members have decades of practical experience in areas like off-grid living, tactical skills, and sustainable food production. The community also hosts regular debates on geopolitical risks and their potential impact on resource availability.

The forum maintains a strong focus on practical applications rather than theoretical scenarios, with members often documenting their real-world implementations of survival strategies. For serious preppers looking for detailed, experience-based knowledge, Survivalist Boards offers unparalleled resources.

3. Survival Monkey Forums

Main Focus: Urban preparedness, civil unrest scenarios, and infrastructure failure planning

Target Audience: City dwellers, "stealth preppers," and those focused on navigating societal disruptions

Activity Level: Very active with 67,000+ messages in the "General Survival" section alone and consistent daily engagement

Survival Monkey has cultivated a reputation for its balanced approach to preparedness, focusing on practical solutions for urban dwellers who may have limited space and resources. The forum stands out for its friendly, non-judgmental atmosphere that welcomes preppers of all experience levels.

One of the forum's unique features is its monthly "Survival Topic" deep-dives, where the community collectively explores specific challenges like water purification methods or radiation countermeasures. The moderation team actively works to reduce misinformation and trolling, maintaining a focus on evidence-based discussions.

Survival Monkey excels in addressing the unique challenges faced by urban preppers, including apartment-based food storage solutions, neighborhood emergency networking, and maintaining operational security in densely populated areas. Their "bug-out" planning resources are particularly well-developed, with detailed evacuation strategies for various scenarios.

4. Prepper Forums

Main Focus: Long-term disaster scenarios, food preservation, and family preparedness

Target Audience: Family-oriented preppers planning for extended emergencies and multi-generational resilience

Activity Level: Moderately active with 19,000+ members and approximately 778,000 posts

Prepper Forums distinguishes itself with its strong focus on family-centered preparedness strategies. The community emphasizes sustainable, long-term solutions rather than short-term crisis management, with extensive resources on food preservation, seed banking, and multi-year storage techniques.

What makes this forum particularly valuable is its practical approach to skill-building through "Prepper Challenges" that encourage members to develop and test specific abilities like building solar stills or creating emergency communication plans. These challenges help transform theoretical knowledge into practical skills.

The forum also features detailed archives of food preservation methods, with step-by-step guides for canning, dehydrating, fermenting, and other techniques that can help families maintain nutritional diversity during extended emergencies. For those focusing on long-term family resilience, this forum provides invaluable community support and practical guidance.

5. My Survival Forum

Main Focus: Collaborative problem-solving for grid-down scenarios and technological resilience

Target Audience: Tech-savvy preppers interested in off-grid energy systems and modern survival applications

Activity Level: Growing community with increasing engagement in technological preparedness discussions

My Survival Forum has carved out a niche by focusing on the intersection of modern technology and survival preparedness. The community attracts members with technical backgrounds who are interested in developing resilient systems that can function during infrastructure disruptions.

The forum's standout feature is its virtual "bug-out drills" that simulate communication blackouts and challenge members to implement their emergency plans in controlled exercises. These practical applications help identify weaknesses in preparedness strategies before real emergencies occur.

Discussion topics frequently include alternative energy systems, communications redundancy, and digital security during crises. For preppers interested in maintaining technological capabilities during emergencies, My Survival Forum offers specialized knowledge that bridges traditional survival skills with modern innovations.

6. Northeast Shooters Forum - Survival Section

Main Focus: Firearm-integrated defense strategies and responsible security planning

Target Audience: Tactical preppers concerned with security aspects of survival situations

Activity Level: Active specialized section within a larger firearms community, with threads often receiving 500+ replies

The Survival section of Northeast Shooters Forum provides a unique perspective by integrating responsible firearms knowledge with broader survival strategies. Unlike forums that either avoid security discussions or overemphasize them, this community strikes a balance between practical defense planning and ethical considerations.

What distinguishes this forum is its emphasis on legal and ethical aspects of security during emergencies. Regular contributions from legal experts help debunk myths about post-disaster scenarios and provide realistic guidance on self-defense considerations during crises.

Beyond firearms, discussions cover comprehensive security planning including perimeter awareness, communications security, and non-lethal options. For those who consider security an important component of their preparedness strategy, this forum offers responsible, experience-based guidance.

7. Wilderness-Survival.net Forums

Main Focus: Primitive skills, bushcraft, and minimal-equipment survival techniques

Target Audience: Bushcraft enthusiasts, minimalist outdoor adventurers, and those focused on skill-based rather than gear-based solutions

Activity Level: Smaller but dedicated community with approximately 880 posts on medicinal plant identification alone

Wilderness-Survival.net stands apart from other forums by emphasizing primitive skills and reducing dependence on modern equipment. The community focuses on developing abilities that work regardless of what gear you have available, making it invaluable for those interested in self-reliance.

The forum's "Survival Journals" section contains detailed accounts of multi-week solo expeditions where members test their skills in real wilderness conditions. These first-hand reports provide practical insights into what works and what doesn't when theory meets reality.

Discussion topics include fire-starting without modern tools, wild edible identification, natural shelter construction, and traditional navigation methods. While less active than some larger forums, the quality of information and focus on fundamental skills makes this community a valuable resource for those interested in bushcraft and primitive survival techniques.

8. Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Main Focus: Agricultural self-reliance, livestock management, and sustainable living practices

Target Audience: Rural families, homesteaders, and those building climate-resilient properties

Activity Level: Steady engagement with 35,000+ threads on heritage breed preservation and sustainable agriculture

While not exclusively focused on "survival" in the traditional sense, the Homesteading & Country Living Forum provides essential knowledge for long-term self-sufficiency that complements conventional prepping strategies. The community emphasizes sustainable food production systems that can function independently of commercial supply chains.

What makes this forum particularly valuable is its regional barter network that connects members for trading heirloom seeds and livestock breeding stock, helping to build resilient local food systems. The emphasis on heritage breeds and open-pollinated crops supports genetic diversity that can withstand changing environmental conditions.

Discussions cover practical topics like small-scale animal husbandry, food preservation, natural medicine, and off-grid utilities. For those who view long-term food production as a cornerstone of preparedness, this forum offers generations of collective wisdom on agricultural self-reliance.

Choosing the Right Survival Forum for Your Needs

When selecting a survival forum to join, consider these factors:

• Your specific interests: Different forums specialize in wilderness skills, urban preparedness, homesteading, or tactical considerations
• Experience level: Some communities are more welcoming to beginners, while others assume a baseline of knowledge
• Activity level: More active forums provide faster responses but may move quickly past topics
• Community culture: Forum cultures range from strictly practical to more philosophical or politically oriented
• Moderation quality: Well-moderated forums maintain higher information quality and more respectful discussions

Many experienced preppers participate in multiple communities to gain diverse perspectives and specialized knowledge in different areas. Most forums allow browsing content before registering, giving you the opportunity to assess the community before joining.

Conclusion

Survival forums represent collective wisdom developed through years of practical experience and research. They provide not just information but supportive communities that can help you develop realistic preparedness strategies tailored to your specific situation.

Whether you're just beginning your preparedness journey or have years of experience, these eight forums offer valuable resources to enhance your knowledge and connect with others who share your interests. The diverse perspectives across these communities highlight that there's no single "right way" to prepare—the best approach is one that works for your unique circumstances, resources, and goals.

By participating in these forums, you not only gain knowledge but become part of a tradition of self-reliance and community resilience that has deep historical roots and growing relevance in today's uncertain world.