Where and how to start your journey towards a more prepared house hold
Part 1
To be quite honest, we have been doing this for a while and sometimes I forget that every day new people realize that being prepared for life’s little inconveniences like power outages or other local emergencies just makes common sense. I had a conversation with a new customer who was just getting started in Prepping and he was in overwhelm and asked for some advice on how and where to start. While I’m aware there is thousands of “How To” on this subject available on the internet I’m going to throw the way we did it and continue to add to our preps into the mix into cyberspace.
The problem is when you look the big picture and possible scenarios to consider it can be overwhelming and seem impossibly expensive for an average person or family to accomplish. If you have suddenly awakened and have a personal perception that “Stuff’s Happening and I got to get this done now” time table, then up goes the pressure and difficulty.
First, take a breath and calm down and S.T.O.P….
Stop, stop panicking, it’s useless, a waste of your time, brain power and accomplishes nothing.
Think; think about your current situation and whatever your possession’s are and where you are located at today is your reality so this is your starting point, period.
Observe, observe and take note at your present location, what your current skill sets are, assets, resources and available research sources.
Plan, plan to put a pen to paper and create your task and supplies lists that contain realistic goals and deadlines.
The harsh reality is unless you have an unlimited amount of money, energy and a workforce on the payroll, you are not going to be able to be 100% prepared for every possible calamity that could occur. In fact even if you do have all of the above, it probably still could not be achievable for an end of the world event, TEOTWAWKI. (I guess if Bill Gates is a prepper and wanted too he might to be able to pull it off but we don’t have his check book).
Reminds me of when I bought a 13KW diesel generator off a guy on Craig’s list back in 2007. He actually had two identical ones for sale and they had belonged to his parents. Story was that his parents had recently passed away and he was selling off some of the estate items. His parents were convinced the roll over into the year 2000 and that the Y2K bug was going to bring every computer and our nation to its knees. They had bought two generators, a 500 gallon diesel fuel tank and electrical transfer switches to run their entire home if the power grid went down. They had also bought 2 years supply of freeze dried food, water filters and lots of other preparedness supplies……And never used any of it. The generator only had 8 hours of running time on it when I bought it. When I asked about the freeze dried food, since I knew most manufactures advertise a 25 year shelf life, he told me he had already donated it to the local food bank. I can only hope they put it to good use and did not throw it away not realizing what it was.
The reason I even bring this up is although they had the funds to make this kind of investment, and believed the threat was real, they did not use the assets so other than piece of mind, and what good did it all do them? Maybe that generator gave them power for a couple of hours during a thunderstorm, or maybe that was just monthly exercise time.
In my opinion it’s the best way and smarter for us to becoming more prepared was to do things in such a way that there are benefits to us as a family even if no major event ever occurs. (Unless you’ve got the money and you can afford to invest in Piece of Mind, then more power to you brothers and sisters).
Get started slowly and over time improve your knowledge, tools, supplies and readiness if times get tough. The time you spend learning new skills or spending money to acquire a useful tool should be a positive thing for your life and not just another thing or expense with little real benefit.
I did a series of post a couple of years back, Commonality in Prepping for Disaster Events Part 1, and I have a link to take you there if you want more in depth coverage which covers some different events that are commonly prepared for . In a nut shell many if not all disaster’s share common disruptions of basis services that we should have some preparations set aside to make things more comfortable and survivable.
There are 5 basic categories of scale
Individual – Localized – Large Scale – National Scale – Global
And then there are Events:
Loss of Job, Divorce, Death in the Family, Fire, Flood, Hurricane, Tornado, Pandemic, Famine, Food Shortages, EMP, World Wat III, Nuclear War, Invasion, Financial Collapse, Earth Quake, Riots and so on.
Lots of possibilities and threats out there in our world aren’t there but how many apply to where you live and work?
From my perspective that differs with some experts in the niche are that the basic human needs for survival and preparedness that allow us to have relative comfort and security are as follows.
- Knowledge
- Water
- Shelter
- Food
- Energy
- Security
- Low or No Debt
- Trade Currency
Then if we include the rule of 3’s for survival. Humans can survive for:
- 3 minutes without air to breath
- 3 hours without shelter (in harsh conditions)
- 3 days without water
- 3 weeks without food
Let’s expand on these, first is knowledge. I put it at number one to work on because it can never be taken away from you once you have it and practice using it from time to time. Knowledge, unlike possessions and stuff cannot be stolen or taken away by a flood, fire or authorities.
Knowledge is having the skills and ability to use the things you have to work with. Without knowledge and training (or practice) what good is a chainsaw, a hatchet, a computer or an airplane to you or me?
Most of us have basic cooking skills and know how to fry an egg. But other useful skills in the cooking realm would be how to preserve food by canning. Canning is a valuable skill to know today because it allows you to save money over store bought products, know what kind of additives are in your food and know where your food is coming from. I strongly suggest you buy from local organic producers in your area.
Knowledge to should seek if you do not already have includes the proper use and care of any tools you may own or plan to acquire at some future time. That includes your choice of weapons used for hunting and home defense. If you are lacking in a specific skill for that chainsaw or that Mossberg shotgun, find a mentor or take a class.
Here is a basic knowledge / skills list that I think someone with a Prepper mind set should consider learning some of them. While no one I know possesses all these skills I think it’s a list worth reviewing, consider what interest you and how some would improve your life and add value today for you personally.
| Agriculture, Farming Expertise, Gardening |
| Accountant, Book Keeping |
| Alcohol Production & Distillation |
| Ammo Reloading |
| Architect, Home Reinforcement |
| Baker, Cooking Expertise |
| Bee Keeping |
| Beer and Wine Making |
| Biofuel Production |
| Blacksmithing |
| Chemist |
| Computer Programming |
| Construction |
| Defense Planning |
| Dentist |
| Doctor |
| Doctor’s Medical Assistant |
| Electrician |
| Electronics Repair |
| Engineer, Community Planning, Manufacturing, Electrical |
| Firearms Proficiency |
| Firearms Repair |
| Fishing |
| Food Preservation & Storage |
| HAM Radio Operator |
| Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning, (HVAC) |
| Heavy Equipment Operator |
| Home schooling, Tutoring, Teaching Experience |
| Horse Shoeing, Fairer |
| Hunting & Trapping Skills |
| Knife Making |
| Lawyer, Legal Assistant |
| Lumber Jack / Tree Felling |
| Nurse |
| Nurse’s Aid |
| Martial Arts Training |
| Manager, Planner |
| Mechanic, Automobile |
| Mechanic, Diesel Engines |
| Mechanic, Small Engine Repair |
| Military Training |
| Plumber |
| Ranching, Large & Small Animal Care |
| Security |
| Seed Saving |
| Sewing, Knitting, Weaving, Textiles |
| Small Appliance Repair |
| Soap Making, Candle Making, Hygiene Products |
| Stone Mason, Brick Working |
| Veterinarian |
| Web Site Design |
| Welding, Metal Working |
| Well Construction, Water Table Expertise |
| Wild Foods Expert |
| Wood Working |
| Writer |
To be continued…..