Prepare to live: Survival Expo draws crowd of preppers, self-defenders

Stun guns, ammunition, body armor, medical kits, backpacks, water purification, freeze-dried food – Every sort of just-in-case survival item you might need could be found at the Greater South Carolina Survival Expo at the State Fairgrounds.

Hundreds of “preppers,” homesteaders and people who were simply interested in protecting and taking care of themselves visited the expo, organized by RK Prepper Shows, on Saturday. The event continues on Sunday.

Many people attended with the mindset of it’s better to have something – knowledge, tools, weapons, food – and not need it than to need it and not have it.

“I want to understand and know how to take care of myself,” said Ashleigh Savage, 32, a homesteader who lives in Aiken. She signed up Saturday for a medical suturing class on Sunday. “We don’t live in the greatest ‘land of the free’ anymore, so I just want to be ready for anything. I’ve got kids. I want to make sure that I can keep them safe no matter what.”

Homesteaders, like Savage, strive to live a self-sufficient lifestyle, depending on themselves and the land for food and clothing and often living off the power grid, which Savage hopes to eventually do. They differ in some ways from preppers, who are survivalists who are actively prepared for emergencies, including natural disasters and possible disruptions in social order.

But the Survival Expo had plenty to offer, too, for those interested in preparing for a more isolated, personal emergency, such as a home invasion or attack by a sexual predator.

Scott and Jamie Ellis represented Damsel in Defense, a self-defense line aimed at women who want to protect themselves. Stun guns, home protection devices and hand-held martial arts tools were among the personal protection items expo-goers perused and purchased.

“Child abuse, attacks, rapes, robberies – some of the crime has gone down, but trying to make sure that it keeps going down, you have to take every avenue possible.” Scott Ellis said. A personal safety device, he said, is “one of those things you pray you will never need, but it gives you that added safety.”

This story was originally published July 30, 2016 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Prepare to live: Survival Expo draws crowd of preppers, self-defenders."