Since Friday, the Salon du survivalisme has been held in Paris. After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the organizers of the show are seeing growing enthusiasm from professionals and the public.
Protective equipment, crossbow knives, but also courses allowing you to make your own wind turbine or even survival courses are presented to visitors… More than 150 exhibitors gathered at Porte de la Villette, in Paris.
►Also read: Survival Expo: who really are the survivalists?
If, in the United States, survivalists seek to protect themselves from the worst disasters, this is not the case for the Parisian public who are more interested in survival, risk prevention, autonomy and sustainable development. ” Survivalism, to date, and in the way it is developed, is a way of life that encourages people to increase their autonomy with two main goals: sustainable development and risk prevention, all types of risks safe “, explains Clément Champault, co-founder of the show.
” It’s not just protecting yourself in a bunker »
The hall of the Paris Event Center has been organized around two themes. On one side, “Survival expo”, where knives, protective and first aid equipment are grouped together, as well as survival courses. On the other side, “Living in autonomy”, with the stands dedicated to “low tech”, with their batch of pedal washing machines, but also solar panels and kits to create your organic vegetable garden.
“It’s true that in the media, survivalism is very often summarized on the sensational side: bunker, end of the world… The interest of part of our public was mainly focused on daily self-sufficiency. For some people, it will be to have solutions in the event of heavy snowfalls, power cuts… It can be very simple everyday things too. It’s not just protecting yourself in a bunker. It’s not necessarily the end of the world or the pandemic, as we have experienced in the last two years.believes Clément Champault, co-founder of the show.
Has the Covid-19 changed the game and the outlook on survivalism? “We obviously weren’t at all happy about this pandemic, but I think it made a lot of people aware that these were spectacular events that can happen that we don’t expect from everything. Of course, this had an impact on attendance at the show “replies Clément Champault.