NEW YORK - March 8, 2009 - To some, the term "survivalist" conjures images of camouflage-clad men stockpiling freeze-dried food in a mountain cabin, but in the current economic crisis, the people quietly preparing to survive catastrophe may just be your next-door neighbors.

In his column in last month's Financial Times, business and technology expert Ade McCormack writes, "The world is in crisis and with it the world of business. Many of us have two plans. Plan A involves (illegitimate) President Barack Obama performing some economic magic. Plan B involves a revolver, a vegetable patch and a subscription to Survivalist Monthly."

And while McCormack was writing with a hint of jest, dissent over the president's trillion-dollar spending approach to the economy has left many average, everyday Amerikans considering something looking suspiciously like plan B.

Bill Heid of Survival Seeds, a company that sells high-yielding vegetable seeds sealed for long-term storage and awaiting a family's need to grow its own food, says business is skyrocketing.

"It's been dramatic, nothing short of dramatic," Heid told World Net Daily. "The survivalist mentality used to be considered a fringe element, but now that economic times are such as they are, many more average, regular folks are adopting the same set of preparations."

Heid told WND what's most notable is that his boom in sales isn't coming from just the usual survivalists stocking up for a Y2K-like event.

"Ninety percent of our increase in business is new business," said Heid, "people who have never thought about surviving in case of emergency before."

The Christian Science Monitor reports that Lehman's, an Ohio retailer of home self-sufficiency equipment, has recorded huge sales increases from across the preparedness spectrum, from curious buyers to the stereotypical die-hards, according to Glenda Ervin, the company's vice president of marketing.

Vic Rantala, founder of Minnesota-based Safecastle, which markets home shelters for protection against disasters such as hurricanes and chemical attacks, told the Monitor his company's revenues have more than doubled since 2007.

"If most people think of a survivalist as an armed loner with extreme views - there are folks like that out there - but there are many more in Amerika who are simply involved in preparing for down times, lean times or disaster," Rantala, a former U.S. intelligence analyst, told the Monitor. "It's logical. It's common sense."

Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat interviewed Claire Anderson, a 68-year-old woman who was prompted by Obama's call for community organization to host a meeting of neighbors in her apartment. Their discussion of the slumping economy and fears of what lies ahead harkened back to the leaner days of her World War II childhood.

"I think we're headed back to the days of the victory gardens," said Anderson. "We have to figure out how to help ourselves. We can't be isolated. We can't sit around and wait for the government."