What Is 68%?

68% represents the reality most people face when a crisis hits.

The Meaning of 68%

The 68% represents everyday working people preparing within the limits of real life — balancing jobs, families, and responsibilities while still taking preparedness seriously. It's not about extreme scenarios; it's about practical decisions, realistic expectations, and getting home safely.

Why It Matters

Most emergencies happen without warning

Preparation is often incomplete

The goal is closing the gap between awareness and action

Standing on the Shoulders of Others

Before anything else, it’s important to be clear about where the 68% concept comes from. The idea was articulated and popularized by Mike Tango Whiskey (MTW) and his outstanding YouTube channel. His work resonated with me immediately, and it played a direct role in motivating me to launch Blue Collar Prepper. This is not a borrowed brand or a repackaged idea — it’s a concept I strongly identified with and felt compelled to expand on through my own experience and perspective. Like many others, I found clarity in the idea that preparedness should be built for real people living real lives, not extreme outliers. Credit where it’s due: MTW helped put words to something many of us already felt. Blue Collar Prepper platform builds on that shared perspective through my own background, experience, and testing — with full respect for where the idea originated.

I’ve also drawn inspiration over the years from thoughtful, grounded voices across the preparedness space, including channels such as The Outdoor Gear Review, The Prepared Wanderer, Urban Prepper, Olive Drab Alliance, Goshen Prepping, and Sensible Prepper and so many others. Each contributed, in different ways, to shaping how I think about realistic preparation.

Who the 68% Really Are

We Are:

The Reality:

Some are retired law enforcement or military — Many are not
None of that is a requirement
Most of us are not Tier One operators
Most of us live in the suburbs
Most of us don't have bunkers, compounds, or hundred-acre farms

We have a basement, maybe a garage. Limited time. Limited budgets. Real lives.

And yet, we still want to be prepared — responsibly, realistically, and without turning preparation into fantasy or theater.

A Personal Perspective

I come to this as someone who is retired from both law enforcement and the military. Over the years, I’ve trained and worked in environments where planning, discipline, and decision-making mattered — not in theory, but in consequence.

That background shapes how I view preparedness today. I’ve always felt that much of the preparedness content online drifted too far into scenarios that weren’t realistic for most people, required equipment few could afford, and in some cases would probably get people hurt if they actually tried to use it without proper context or training.

Preparedness shouldn’t require tens of thousands of dollars, unlimited time, or pretending to be something you’re not.

I have no desire to “KIT UP” and storm the FEMA warehouse… Frankly, I’m too old for that and would probably break a hip!

From "Playing Army" to Adult Army

When I was a kid in the early 1970s, I used to watch shows like The Rat Patrol and Combat! On Friday nights, my cousin Johnny and I would load up our backpacks, grab our toy M16s, put on camo bought from Grant’s or Jamesway, and head out into the “field” (my backyard).

We’d pitch a tent a few feet from my mother’s back door, start a small campfire (under mom’s ever watchful supervision), and cook “Army” grilled cheese sandwiches. Saturday morning, we’d pack up and “hike” a few blocks to his house and do it all over again with Aunt Evelyn watching this time!

We called it playing Army — and that’s exactly what it was.
Fun. Imaginative. Safe. Never more than a shout away from mom or Aunt Evelyn.

After watching thousands of preparedness videos over the years, I’ve come to believe that many adults are still doing the same thing — just with bigger budgets, better cameras, and much more expensive gear. Now it’s Adult Army.

How many people have actually walked any meaningful distance with their bug-out, get-home, or INCH bag? Probably not many.

That’s not preparation. That’s imagination with props. “Adult Army”

Why the 68% Matters

Blue Collar Prepper exists for the 68% — those of us who want to be prepared without pretending to be something we’re not.

Preparation here is:

Practical

Affordable

Realistic

Tested under real conditions

It’s about getting home.

It’s about endurance, judgment, and adaptability.

It’s about preparation that fits into real life — not preparation that replaces it.

The Blue Collar Prepper Approach

The Blue Collar Prepper is built around practical preparedness rooted in real-world conditions. We are working for the 68% — regular people balancing families, jobs, and responsibilities, not full-time preppers or extreme scenarios. Preparation here has to fit real life, not replace it.

Gear, planning, and decision-making are evaluated based on what holds up over time and under stress, not what sounds good on paper. The focus remains on realistic situations, honest testing, and adapting when assumptions don’t survive contact with distance, fatigue, or conditions.

Part of the 68%?

You'll see that perspective reflected throughout the site and channel.