Morgan Rogue of Rogue Preparedness Interview

Introducing Morgan Rogue of Rogue Preparedness

Morgan Rogue is a prepping and survival expert. She’s been prepping for the past ten years and, in 2015, started sharing her learnings

with the prepper community. Morgan educates her many followers through her website, Rogue Preparedness, as well as her YouTube channel of the same name. Morgan has also distilled some of her knowledge into books like Family Preparedness 101, Preparedness for Busy People, and Prepare & Survive Economic Crisis. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview Morgan about her life as a prepper and survivalist. Below is the transcript:

How Morgan Started Prepping and What Led her to Create Rogue Preparedness

Bob: It seems like people began prepping for a variety of reasons. Some grew up homesteading, while others started prepping in response to a disaster. Your prepping journey started about ten years ago. What motivated you to get started?

Morgan: I think my official journey started when I was a child. I just didn’t know it at the time. My mom dehydrated and canned food, she was always prepared for road trips and she was an amazing seamstress. She also loved to garden, though she was never big into vegetable gardening. I was also an outdoors girl and went camping with my dad every summer. Anyway, it would take me until my early 20s to realize preparedness. It was well over 10 years ago and I was living with a friend in TX. The lights suddenly went out; it was my first blackout. I didn’t know how to charge my phone, as it was almost dead, It got me thinking, there’s gotta be some alternative ways to charge stuff. This got me started down the preparedness path, but I didn’t take it seriously until I met my husband.

Bob: What ultimately inspired you to share your knowledge with the prepper community? With three books, a website, a YouTube channel, and social media accounts to manage, where do you get the motivation to continue producing content?

Morgan: Everyone has a calling, preparedness is mine. I truly love it. Everything about it. It’s led me to a life that I’ve always wanted; homesteading. I’ve always wanted to live on acreage and have a farm and now I’ve accomplishing those dreams. I want to help other people. I love to teach and I make the time because I love it.

Prepping With Family

Bob: I love how your prepping journey includes your entire family. Your husband, two daughters, and two dogs are along for the ride (in the RV) with you. What kind of advice would you offer to other preppers with families? Do you find that prepping with a family is easier, or does it add complications to your life?

Morgan: My best advice is to get everyone involved as much as possible; but don’t call it prepping. Go for a hike, go for a walk, make a fire, make your bug out bags, cook together, learn skills together, run drills together, etc. Make it life, not just a specific ‘hobby’. I think family can add some complications, but I don’t think it’s necessarily difficult. It’s all about mindset, if you see your kids as a hindrance, then they are. They’d be far less of a hindrance if you’d involve them, because ultimately, that’s what they want anyway; to spend time with you!

Bob: You’ve mentioned that in the past, you debated whether or not to homeschool your children. Daisy Luther, owner of The Organic Prepper, also chose to homeschool her oldest daughter. What do you find the benefits of homeschooling to be? Given that during the pandemic, many school children are now learning remotely, do you feel validated in your decision to homeschool?

Morgan: My biggest drawback to homeschooling is the social aspect. I remember that the only way I made friends was through school. However, it’s a different life out here, we’ve met plenty of families with kids and our child has a thriving social life. Homeschooling allows me to teach my child exactly what I want, when I want and in a manner that makes sense for her abilities and mine. Not all children learn the same, also, unfortunately, schools have turned into teaching for tests, instead of just teaching, which I don’t feel is a great way to learn at all. I’m not a fan of the public school system, private isn’t much better.

Pets as Preps

Bob: I’d like to shift from kids to dogs. Dogs are critical members of the family. Interestingly, survivalist Jim Cobb said that owning a dog is among the most important preps for home defense. You’ve written a bit about prepping for pets, which I found helpful since I rescued a dog during the pandemic. What are your thoughts about owning dogs as a means of helping to protect your family? Do you view your dogs simply as loving members of the family, or also as guardians?

Morgan: They’re both. They are our family members and also our first alerts. I take my dogs barking very seriously; they see and hear things that we just don’t. Even if it’s ‘nothing’ I’ll always pay attention to it because it’ll be that ONE time in which it actually is something. But, in the end, they are family and we treat them as such. I want to emphasize, though, that animals are a responsibility and dogs should be well trained and listen to your commands. Well trained dogs are an asset and one less thing to worry about during stressful times.

Living in an RV and on 40 Acres

Bob: Common prepper wisdom suggests that people should have either a boat or an RV (if not both). What led you to purchase the RV? Do you think that an RV is an essential component of truly being prepared for a SHTF event?

Morgan: We purchased the RV to travel full time. In the end, though, having an RV or camper or some off road trailer is a great asset to have. It’s a whole living quarters that you simply drive away in! I highly recommend that if people do get an RV, that they know how to do their own maintenance. I say the same thing about cars. Having that knowledge is part of self-reliance. Having that knowledge saved us on multiple occasions.

Bob: I find prepping so interesting because your preps will be determined by where you live, how much money you have, and the size and age of your family. You live out in the desert on 40 acres. As someone who lives in the city, I imagine we have different priorities when it comes to prepping. What are some of your primary concerns? What do you prepare for?

Morgan: I lived in the city my whole life until this year, so I definitely see the differences in priorities. Out here, I’m more concerned about community, securing water and local food sources (either through local farms or through wild edibles/hunting). I’d beg to say, though, that no matter where you live we all have the same basic priorities; food, water, shelter, security, comfort.

The Prepper Community and How to Prioritize Preps

Bob: The prepper community is an incredible resource to preppers just getting started and to expert survivalists. As someone who has been prepping for over 10 years, who do you look up to int he prepper community? Do you have any mentors or inspirations?

Morgan: Honestly, I have so many. Almost everyone I meet has knowledge that I don’t have and I’m always learning from them. That’s what makes this community great, we all bring different experiences and knowledge to the table.

Bob: With so much prepper gear to choose from and so many potential threats on the horizon, it’s often tough to prioritize spending. On your website and in your videos, you emphasize the importance and feasibility of prepping on a budget. How do you advise people to stay frugal when on their preparedness journey?

Morgan: I feel we need to prioritize our basic needs first: water (storage, purification, procurement), food (storage, cooking, growing, procurement), shelter (making, maintaining, finding), security (home, car, self, blackouts, disaster plan), comfort (heating, cooling). The lists of needed gear and skills for these basic needs will keep you busy for a while. In general, make lists, lots of lists, then prioritize those lists. Then start adding things to wish lists and start dwindling down your wishlists. Do a bunch of research about the type of gear you want. Make budgets for what you want and save the money for what you really want and don’t settle. Also, try to bring in some extra money through side hustles or online work that you can devote to preps. Shop sales, shop at the dollar store and in general, be smart about how and when you spend your time and money. Lastly, don’t go into debt to get prepared! It’s just not worth it. Don’t hope that one day money will be worthless and all your debts will just magically go away…you’ll be free when you’re debt free.