As I read SurvivalBlog there is much on how to build things and various
preparations. I have gleaned a plethora of information on many subjects.
I have implemented
many into my preparations. There are some modifications to many of these
that I wish to cover in this article. These are basic and simple to achieve
with a little creative thinking on your part and can be done by anyone who
wants to keep it simple. Preparing for any emergency or disaster or even
TEOTWAWKI is a daunting task in and of itself. I wish to pass on a few pieces
of knowledge to help ease the burden of preparing for these scenarios.
1. Don’t believe everything you read at face value.
Check the information that you find on the Internet first. 90% of the information
you read is good but every once in a while you will get an article that is
just
complete
bunk
and
if you
apply
any of the information you could get into serious trouble or worse end up dead.
So do your homework first and double check the information.
2. Be frugal in your spending. If you don’t have
a need for an expensive item or any knowledge on how to use that fancy piece
of survival gear that
looks so cool then you don’t need it. Don’t waste your money on
it. There will always be something better that you could use that will cost
a lot less and may be easier to use.
Shop around and find the best price you can on anything you are looking for
to
add to your preps. Take advantage of those supper sales at the grocery store
and clip coupons. Ten cents may not seem worth the effort but add them up and
you will be shocked at how much you save at the check out. I have been able to
cut $100 off of a good sized grocery bill on a good day.
3. Start small and work up to the big items in your preps. As you gain knowledge
you will know what you need and what you don’t. Once you have a good
foundation you can expand on what you started with. In my Preps I started in
the beginning.
I started with a Bug out Bag. I could outfit it to my needs and the initial
cost to my budget was minimal. I scavenged the entire contents from spare items
in
my home. Once this was done I had the minimum of what was needed in the short
term. It was not until this was done that I started to supplement with purchased
items and gear. Once I finished with that I moved onto Bug out Bags for the
rest of my family members. This may seem silly but it prepared me for the big
picture
and was the first step to building up my preparations. I have only been at
this for a little over a year and I have four complete Bug-Out Bags and just
a little
over two months worth of stored food. I started small and am working up. I
would be farther along but it is slow going and the budget is tight. I am quite
surprised
at how much I have accomplished in the short period that I have been doing
this. I just did my first rotation of supplies in my Bug out bags and used
the food
in a grand dinner for the family. Even the misses was pleasantly surprised
by the meal I had made from the BOB preps.
4. Make all of your preparations work for you and your family.
If your spouse and children are not 100% on board than you may have to think
of their needs
and prepare accordingly. Especially if it involves children under the age of
10. Try to engage them by making preparations fun. For that stubborn spouse
who still has issues with Prepping just be patient. The first time you have
a major
power outage or severe blizzard and is in a panic calmly break out some of
your preps and assure her that it will be ok and to stop worrying. This will
speak
volumes more than anything you will ever say to her. It worked with my other
half. I still have a bit of convincing to do but she is more open to some of
my ideas
now.
5. Make friends and allies. You can’t do it alone no matter how prepared
you think you are. The right friends can save your butt in any emergency. Knowing
who you can count on will be worth their weight in gold. Avoid the type that
will leech from you. If they don’t seem to care about anything other
than how much they can get out of you than they are not worth the effort. Those
would
be the kind of friends who would knock on your door WTSHTF and use up all of
your preps and leave you and your family in a hanging. This is not a friend
that I would want around in the end. Make lasting trusting friendships and
always
be true to your words. NEVER EVER Break your promises to your friends.
Be sure to make friends with your local law enforcement {in a small community}.You
can avoid a lot of trouble that way and if your in good with the police local
chief or sheriff they may even enlist your help. The more help you render in
a crisis the more likely you will not be the target for Johnny Law when TSHTF.
Local businesses are also valuable allies when crunch time comes. This can
make the difference when it comes to getting that needed item that you neglected
to
get when things were good. This will also work in your favor when you are trying
to get this item versus the last minute customer trying to get it. Be generous
with the shop owner and render any help he or she may need. This can be done
during good times or bad times. I once helped a shop owner catch a shoplifter
and we became real good friends as a result. This worked out very well. He
cut me some good deals on his merchandise and I was able to get items weeks
before
they were put on the shelf. I was also able to have him set certain items aside
for me when I was not able to buy them right away. I always made it a point
to thank him and check in on him at least once or twice a week just to shoot
the
breeze. Remember you never know when you will make a good friend just by helping
them out. The simplest help can be of great value to those in need. Never ask
for anything in return for your help. People who are grateful will thank you
and will remember you. A lasting impression goes along way when the time comes
when
you may need the help. If they know you are in trouble they will be falling
all over themselves coming to your aid.
6. Lists, lists, and more lists. I can’t emphasize
this one enough. You will go insane trying to keep track of everything without
a list. I also
keep
a journal to track my progress and to write down any ideas that I have or to
just ramble off some thoughts about the whole prepping idea.
This is also where I draw up some of my more creative designs for improvised
survival gear. Try to avoid using any of the electronic kind of tracking lists
journals etc. In the event of a power failure,all of your efforts to keep track
of everything will
have been a waste of time. You will have no way to get the information that
is so valuable. Good old paper and pencil is your best bet.
7. Assemble a good survival Library. One of he best places
to find what you need is all of those used book stores. There may be a lot
of
old books out
there but
when it comes down to it the information contained within, they are priceless.
Thrift stores and Goodwill stores occasionally have some older how-to books
once in a while. Don’t be turned off by the print date. I have a book
from 1975 that has more valuable information on such things as repairing your
plumbing
to patching drywall than anything that is in current print. At least for the
price. I paid 29 cents for this book. I went to Walden Books and looked in
the do it your self section to see what they had on the subject. I found a
similar
book but it was $25 bucks and the information was virtually the same as my
book. See tip #2 on this. So for the fraction of the cost I had the same information.
8. Check SurvivalBlog, daily. I can’t say enough
about this one. Just trust me on this one, it is a must in my book. Even
missing it a couple
of days
and you will be sitting in front of your computer for a few hours trying to
catch up on your reading. This will cost you time when you could be doing other
prepping.
9. Take each day and read, study and
apply your survival knowledge. Read a book on any subject that can help you
to survive.
Learn a skill and perfect it, so you can use this skill in a TEOTWAWKI scenario.
For those who are disabled such as myself find a Valuable skill that fits your
capabilities. Be it anything from mathematics to drafting or arts crafts. If
you can design a simple machine someone will build it for you. Not all people
have the skill or patients to sit down and design mechanical device. Still
others can’t draw a stick figure to save their life. Sure a lot of contractors
know how to read a blue print but very few know how to actually draw one up.
So if you have a similar skill pursue it. I can’t build anything out
of wood but I can draw up the plans to build a small house with a complete
list
of materials and cost. Ask me to build it and I would fail. I have neither
the strength or the endurance to build it.
10. Learn what you need and use what you learn. Think outside the box
so that your box is always full. Pack smart not hard. If you learn all of
these skills
and never use them than you will never know if skill you read about was worth
learning in the first place. Practice, practice, practice makes perfect.
These are my top ten tips to preparing. I will have more to come as time
goes on. This is not an all inclusive list but these are the things that
I use everyday
to help me and mine to get ready. There is enough information out there on
prepping and making and storing this and that. I hope to cover the how
to get to there
from here as well as doing it in a way that helps everyone, including those
who [, like me,] are disabled.
