The WORST episodes of Doomsday Preppers

Every episode of Doomsday Preppers ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Doomsday Preppers!

Doomsday Preppers explores the lives of otherwise ordinary Americans who are preparing for the end of the world as we know it. Unique in their beliefs, motivations, and strategies, preppers will go to whatever lengths they can to make sure they are prepared for any of life’s uncertainties. And with our expert’s assessment, they will find out their chances of survival if their worst fears become a reality.

Last Updated: 1/31/2024Network: National GeographicStatus: Ended
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Lone Wolves and Lovers
star
6.81
74 votes

#1 - Lone Wolves and Lovers

Season 2 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/26/2013

Think you've got what it takes to survive the end of days? NGC will study the full spectrum of prepper types, from lone wolves to full-fledged neighborhood networks. We'll look at a variety of our best preppers from season 2 to see how their prepping styles differ. Join us as we learn about bunker stew, bunker living and prepping as a team. Doomsday preppers come in all shapes and sizes. From freshly initiated spouses to ex-military types to grumpy kids, there's a prepper to be found anywhere.

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Gonna Be a Big Bang
star
6.87
110 votes

#2 - Gonna Be a Big Bang

Season 2 - Episode 17 - Aired 3/19/2013

Brad and Krystal prep hard prepare for an economic collapse. They've stockpiled canned goods, cached weapons and secured bulletproof vests. But their holy grail of prepping is an underground bunker, which they've been struggling to obtain. Kevin and his family live the American Dream, but now they're bugging out to Costa Rica. They believe an economic collapse will make America unlivable. With just weeks until moving day, see how Kevin and his wife prepare their family for a new life.

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You Said It Was Non-Lethal
star
6.96
113 votes

#3 - You Said It Was Non-Lethal

Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/21/2014

On their 53-acre property, Jane and Rick Austin prepare for an electromagnetic pulse disaster by disguising a greenhouse, food forest and gray water recycling system in what appears to be overgrown underbrush. Jim Lebus is prepping for an earthquake that he fears will paralyze the West Coast. In Virginia, a band of teenage boys, led by 16-year-old Jack Houston, join forces to test their wilderness survival skills.

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To Fail Is to Die
star
6.97
112 votes

#4 - To Fail Is to Die

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/24/2014

Meet Jimi Falcon, who is prepping for a potential World War III. Jimi built his home to withstand the extreme climate of Montana. Next, meet Cindy Stewart, who began prepping for a foreign nuclear attack on the U.S. following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Cindy uses her taxidermy skills to create camouflaged IEDs. Lastly, get a close-up look inside Rod Godfrey's military-style command and control center he built in his home to protect himself from apocalyptic superstorms.

Watch Now:Amazon
In the Hurt Locker
star
6.99
137 votes

#5 - In the Hurt Locker

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 1/15/2013

Not all preppers are relying on their nuclear family to survive the end of time; to some, creating a tight-knit community of like-minded individuals is the difference between death and survival. Guided by his intuition and his Apache heritage, a prepper known as “Snake Blocker” is convinced a coming economic collapse will result in social chaos. To protect himself against social unrest, Snake is building a community of people with strong self-defense skills by teaching his own knife-throwing classes

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Americans Not Ameri-cant's
star
7.00
34 votes

#6 - Americans Not Ameri-cant's

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/7/2014

n Georgia, Mark believes that the U.S. is under the threat of foreign occupation, specifically by Russia. He's building a modern Trojan horse in order to infiltrate a potential enemy base undetected. In Texas, Joe is preparing for a cyberattack to take out the country's telecommunications system. His current projects include a post-apocalyptic schoolhouse to be used to educate children if the government collapses after disaster and "gyro-copter" in order to maintain aerial dominance.

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Let Her Rip
star
7.02
50 votes

#7 - Let Her Rip

Season 2 - Episode 16 - Aired 3/12/2013

Meet Mike and his girlfriend Freda, a descendant from “Devil Anse Hatfield,” the leader of the Hatfield Clan. The couple lives in the deep woods of Virginia, and fear that the current political tensions and economic unrest will lead to a world war. Next, we follow Mike Adams, in Oregon, who is anticipating a terrorist attack. Finally, we profile Joe, a nonconformist living in the backwoods of Kansas, who has already given up on modern living.

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Pain is Good
star
7.05
77 votes

#8 - Pain is Good

Season 2 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/19/2013

Meet Craig, a proud Alaskan living in the woods of Fairbanks, fearing the collapse of the American economy. He's secretly built a bug-out dome, designed by friend and prepping partner Don. Accessible only by boat, the dome will serve as a refuge for his wife and two daughters. Then we follow David, a new age spiritual prepper from Hawaii, who fears a catastrophic tsunami will strike the island but has prepped with his girlfriend to bug out to the top of a mountain.

Watch Now:Amazon
Whatever it Takes
star
7.06
121 votes

#9 - Whatever it Takes

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/27/2013

Could an explosion on the surface of the sun cause mayhem on Earth? Jason and Jacob are a father-son team from Alabama who are prepping for exactly that: a global solar flare with the potential to wipe out power grids around the world. Jason was almost stranded for good in the wilderness when he was 19, but that will not stop him from prepping in those very same woods by molding his own ammunition and preparing his 20-piece bug-out pack.

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A Fortress at Sea
star
7.08
78 votes

#10 - A Fortress at Sea

Season 2 - Episode 15 - Aired 3/5/2013

Meet the Coy family, who live in the shadow of Mount St. Helens and prep for its eruption. Each member of the family has a specific job and multiple means of escape, including over land and water. Another prepper, Capt. William E. Simpson, has spent six years singlehandedly building his perfect bunker, but it's not underground: it's his sailboat.

Watch Now:Amazon
People Become Animals
star
7.08
110 votes

#11 - People Become Animals

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/3/2013

The possibility of World War III is a major concern for many preppers, including former Marine Alex Dunbar, who is training a private army of German Shepherd attack dogs in San Luis, Colorado. In the woods of East Appalachia, Brenda McSwigan fears that a vicious mutating virus will lead to a pandemic that will overwhelm hospitals and leave the rest of the country in chaos. Another prepper, Grace McLeod, secures her 3,500 square-foot fortress before an economic collapse.

Watch Now:Amazon
Total Destruction
star
7.08
72 votes

#12 - Total Destruction

Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/19/2013

A devastating EF-5 tornado, like the one that struck Oklahoma in May of this year, can throw buildings into the air and hurt hundreds of people. In Tennessee, Tracy is preparing for just that. Tracy has spent six years prepping his farm for a super tornado, but if it does hit, he doesn't plan on hunkering down — he plans on gathering his family and making a getaway in his mobile safe room.

Watch Now:Amazon
Live Bees, Live Ammo
star
7.11
45 votes

#13 - Live Bees, Live Ammo

Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/3/2013

Meet two families who both fear the end of the world is fast approaching. In Texas, John Tucker and his family are preparing for Category 5 hurricanes that they believe will change the landscape forever. After living in a home that was split in two during a hurricane, John vowed he would never again be unprepared. And in Utah, brothers Bret and Shane are preparing for a complete economic collapse. To protect their families, they are building a sniper post complete with the ultimate sniper rifle.

Watch Now:Amazon
Don't Betray the Colony
star
7.12
69 votes

#14 - Don't Betray the Colony

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/13/2013

Some preppers believe in safety in numbers -- as is the case for Jeff Mann, who leads "the Colony," a community of 25 preppers unified with the single purpose of surviving doomsday. Watch as he prepares his son, Colten, to take the reins by having him hunt down live boar in the Florida swamps and builds the Colony's very own gallows -- an important message that there are laws to be upheld, even in times of chaos.

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The Fight Ahead
star
7.12
76 votes

#15 - The Fight Ahead

Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/5/2013

Prepper Chad believes that a nuclear strike resulting in a genocidal siege is a real possibility. At his home in Arizona, he is working on executing the biggest prep of his life — a 140-foot-long escape tunnel from his family's house to a bug-out vehicle. With the help of his wife and daughter, he begins construction — but as the project unfolds, they realize they're in over their heads.

Watch Now:Amazon
Prepared Not Scared
star
7.12
118 votes

#16 - Prepared Not Scared

Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/1/2013

Brian Smith has big plans for the end of the world.The father of 12 is preparing for a total collapse of the U.S. monetary system and fears that the world's food supply will become scarce. He has stockpiled a year's worth of food, in addition to his recently acquired 47 acres of land in an undisclosed bug-out location, where he plans to grow his own tobacco and sugarcane.

Watch Now:Amazon
Nobody Will Be Ready
star
7.12
73 votes

#17 - Nobody Will Be Ready

Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 1/7/2014

Meet two Tennessee families who are both preparing for an earthquake in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. David Mays believes all roads and bridges leading out of his neighborhood will be destroyed, so he's devising the ultimate Doomsday drone fleet. Meanwhile, 100 miles away, do-it-yourselfer David Nash is building a geodesic dome -- considered one of the most stable structures on earth as it eliminates the need for load-bearing walls -- that will house his family during the earthquake's aftermath.

Watch Now:Amazon
Take Our Country Back
star
7.13
86 votes

#18 - Take Our Country Back

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/2013

Deep in Oregon's backcountry sits an 80-acre off-the-grid estate that prepper Curt and his family have designed as a fortress in the event of an economic collapse. Isolation is one of their greatest strengths, but the protective measures are endless: a 3,000-square-foot greenhouse, a lake with 1 million gallons of water, infrared cameras and a high-tech software system — not to mention the children are trained in marksmanship.

Watch Now:Amazon
No Such Thing As a Fair Fight
star
7.13
82 votes

#19 - No Such Thing As a Fair Fight

Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/8/2013

Businessman by day, prepper by night. Brent lives in fear of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that will make the world go dark, leaving his family of 12 with nothing. To prep for life after the EMP, Brent has constructed a medieval-style castle that will serve as the ultimate bug-out fortress. Derek runs a Wild West theme park and fears that a solar flare will hit earth's atmosphere. He and his family use their amusement park as a secret prepping oasis, where they can practice strategic defense.

Watch Now:Amazon
Am I Nuts or Are You?
star
7.14
93 votes

#20 - Am I Nuts or Are You?

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/13/2012

Meet Jason Beacham, a 15-year-old boy from a small town in Missouri who has been prepping since age 11. Jason fears anarchy following economic collapse. Big Al is a musician based in Nashville, Tennessee, who has a secret bug-out location in the mountains of the west. He fears a nuclear attack from Russia. Braxton Southwick is a former professional racer who lives with his wife and their six children in a suburb outside of Salt Lake City. He is prepping for a biological terrorist attack.

Watch Now:Amazon
Shepherds and Wolves
star
7.15
55 votes

#21 - Shepherds and Wolves

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 8/7/2014

Roger Dougan lost his home in a fire seven years ago. He's working to become self-sufficient through prepping, so he never has to feel helpless again. Before the 2000 New Year, Curtis bought a generator and stocked up on food and water, but it occurred to him that if something serious did happen, he wasn't nearly as prepared as he should be — so he became a prepper. Karissa Baca lost her job during the 2008 financial crisis, causing her to realize how fragile the economy is and begin prepping.

Watch Now:Amazon
I Hope I Am Crazy
star
7.18
119 votes

#22 - I Hope I Am Crazy

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/7/2012

David Sarti a Youtube "firearms instructor" and self-taught survivalists is prepared for an electrical grid failure; Kellene Bishop a Utah resident has stored away the finer things in life for a financial collapse; Kathy Harrison, the Doris Day of Doom has prepared her local community for a New Madrid earthquake; Dennis Evers brings the family together to survive global chaos caused by hyperinflation.

Watch Now:Amazon
You've Got Chaos
star
7.18
50 votes

#23 - You've Got Chaos

Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/11/2012

Bob Kay, a nutritional scientist in Southern California, is prepping for environmental destruction due to massive earthquakes; Ryan Croft is prepping for a global financial crisis by cultivating alternative food sources like earthworms; politician Josh Wander is preparing for a terrorist attack, stocking up kosher foods and teaching others about prepping.

Watch Now:Amazon
The Gates of Hell
star
7.20
76 votes

#24 - The Gates of Hell

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/20/2013

An economic collapse could mean total chaos for the U.S. -- looting, riots and civil unrest are top concerns. In Washington state, Steve works with a stern hand to prep his family for the potential threat. South Carolinian David Appleton is a comedian, but the idea of a devastating earthquake is no joke to him. His job doesn't always pay the bills, so David must Dumpster dive to find supplies to make a DIY camouflage net to hide his preps.

Watch Now:Amazon
We are the Marauders
star
7.20
49 votes

#25 - We are the Marauders

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/12/2013

While many preppers believe defense is the best strategy for surviving a Doomsday scenario, one family in Tacoma, Wash., is banking on a good offense. Tyler, his wife and his cousin have assembled a group of like-minded, would-be marauders from their neighborhood in preparation for a catastrophic domestic terrorist attack. They have only six months' worth of food because they plan on taking what they need in order to survive — and to stay safe, they're developing the ultimate suit of armor.

Watch Now:Amazon