This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since November 2007. It may not present a worldwide view of the subject. Tagged since May 2008. It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.Tagged since April 2008.

Survivalism is a commonly used (and often mis-used) term for the preparedness strategy and subculture of individuals or groups anticipating and making preparations for future possible disruptions in local, regional or worldwide social or political order. Survivalists often prepare for this anticipated disruption by learning skills (e.g., emergency medical training), stockpiling food and water, preparing for self-defense and self-sufficiency, and/or building structures that will help them to survive or "disappear" (e.g., a survival retreat or underground shelter).

The specific preparations made by survivalists depend on the nature of the anticipated disruption(s), some of the most common scenarios being:

1. Natural disaster clusters, and patterns of apocalyptic planetary crises or Earth changes, such as Climate Change bringing on tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, and severe thunderstorms, etc.
2. A disaster brought about by the activities of mankind: chemical spills, release of radioactive materials, war, or an oppressive government.
3. General collapse of society, resulting from the unavailability of electricity, fuel, food, and water.
4. Monetary disruption or Economic collapse, stemming from monetary manipulation, hyper-inflation or world-wide depression.
5. Widespread chaos, or some other unexplained apocalyptic event.