Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
Most of the time, no one actually expects the S to HTF on that particular day.
Most folks don’t go through their lives expecting one specific disastrous event to occur, and then have it unfold according to a predetermined script.
Several years ago, I didn’t get up in the morning expecting some jerk to get mad at his girlfriend, light a tree in her yard on fire, and set off a 100,000-acre forest fire. But he did.
People don’t go to work, expecting to sit down at their desks and grab another cup of coffee, only to find the company filed bankruptcy at midnight the night before. But it happens.
The folks in West Virginia didn’t expect that a container would leak deadly chemicals into the municipal water supply. But it did.
Residents of Haiti weren’t expecting it the day an earthquake leveled most of the homes on the island. But they still found themselves homeless.
Some disasters we can expect. If we live on the coast and there’s a hurricane warning, we know that we either need to evacuate or batten down the hatches and ride out the storm. We are usually aware if war is brewing. Often, we suspect we’re on thin ice in the workplace long before the pink slip arrives on our desk.
But most disasters are a complete surprise, either in their suddenness or an unexpected intensity. We can’t prep specifically for every single eventuality, but that doesn’t mean we must face challenges unprepared. By combining adaptability with general preparation, we can be ready for whatever life throws our way.
If you’re a fan of shows like Doomsday Preppers, or a reader of some disaster-specific websites, you may feel that to be truly prepared, you must have preparations specific to given disasters. Maybe you live near a nuclear facility, so you worry about a disaster at the plant. Perhaps you live in an area prone to earthquakes. It could be your deepest concern is the economy, a potential catastrophic pole shift, or jihad on our shores. And you get ready with this disaster in mind.
While it’s important to prep for threats specific to your geographical location, if you’re only prepping for one disaster, you’re not truly prepared.
The only way to be ready for anything is to be ready for anything.
A few years ago I was interviewed on the awesome radio show, The Liberty Brothers, regarding my family’s experience during the King Fire. Jim asked me to share what I’d done specifically to prep for forest fires, considering I live on the edge of thousands of acres of national forest. I thought about it for a moment, and then I realized…
I couldn’t actually answer his question.
Nothing in my preps was specific to the threat of wildfire.
At first, in light of that question, I thought, well, duh. I should have been specifically ready for this. Fail!
But then I thought about it a little bit more. We were ready. There are only a couple of minor changes that we’ve made to our preparedness plan in hindsight of this situation.
The key to true preparedness isn’t to be ready for one thing.
It’s to be ready for anything.
How can you be ready for anything?
Teaching someone to be ready for anything would take an entire book. (And there is one, as a matter of fact – it’s called The Prepper’s Blueprint
.)
But here’s the Cliff Notes version. You have to prioritize your most vital needs and prepare accordingly. Here are the most important ways to be ready for anything – everything you do on top of this is just extra protection for your family.
Be prepared to bug out. There is a wide variety of reasons you might need to suddenly leave your home: wildfires, industrial accidents, and hurricanes, to name a few. Many evacuations allow you 5 minutes to gather what you need and go. If you can do it in 3 minutes, you’re that much further ahead of the others in your area. Here are two different takes on the bug out bag: Ready Nutrition and Graywolf Survival.
Be prepared to live without power. After a devastating storm or other natural disaster, it can sometimes take several weeks to restore power to everyone. You should be ready for this by figuring out secondary cooking, heating and light plans ahead of time. Preparations for climate will vary based on your location and the season, but you want to be able to maintain a survivable temperature, at the very least. Much preferable to “survivable” is a plan that keeps you warm and cozy. Here’s a guide to prepping for a two-week power outage.
Be prepared to live without potable running water. The aftermath of many different disasters is made worse by the fact that public utilities are also affected. When we lived in our cabin, our well pump ran on electricity, so any power outage also meant that we had no running water. Not only this, but there have been several examples over the past few years of exactly how vulnerable our water supply is. Residents of West Virginia were without water for weeks after a chemical spill, and more recently, Toledo, Ohio had to ban public water usage when algae bloom occurred in the public water supply. Earlier this year, it was reported that millions of gallons of contaminated water tainted with arsenic, lead, and other toxic metals flow into streams and ponds in certain regions of the US every day. You should have a water plan, including a back-up supply of drinking water, as well as a way to harvest and purify water. As well, you need to have some back-up sanitation solutions.
Be prepared for financial emergencies. In our current economic climate, a personal financial disaster is on the horizon for many families. You need to build an emergency fund to help prepare for life without a steady paycheck or for unexpected, but necessary, expenses that crop up. Build a pantry of food
and supplies that can be relied on during difficult times. This means that you’ll have to spend less on those items, freeing up your savings for things like keeping a roof over your head or keeping the utilities on.
Be prepared to live without going to the store. Many events cause a breakdown in services. Perhaps supplies can’t get through because of a natural disaster. Maybe the power is out for a long period of time and purchases can’t be made electronically. If a pandemic were to break out, you might need to isolate your family to keep them safe from illness. Whatever the reason, you should have enough supplies that you can hunker down in your home for at least a month, if not longer. Stock up on food, first aid supplies, over-the-counter remedies, health and beauty aids, and pet supplies to see you through until business is once again restored.
Be prepared to defend your family and property. Violence and crime often follow in the footsteps of a disaster. Who can forget the photos of looters carrying televisions through the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina? During the civil unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, the only businesses that were not looted were the ones from which the owners stood armed and ready to defend their property. Depending on the situation and the desperation level, property crimes can quickly turn into violent crimes. Make a plan for defending your family. If you’re armed, go to the range and practice, practice, practice. Secure your home and make it less appealing to criminals with layers of protection.
Obviously, this is very general and you’re going to want to go more in-depth with each of these preparations. The list isn’t meant to include every single possibility. It’s important to research your area and identify specific threats. However, by creating a broad base of preparedness, you’ll find that you are well-equipped to handle nearly any trouble that man or Mother Nature sends your way.
Here are some books to get you started:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: The Step-By-Step Guide To Help You Through Any Disaster
The Pantry Primer: How to Build a One Year Food Supply in Three Months
And some disaster specific books:
Prepper’s Home Defense: Security Strategies to Protect Your Family by Any Means Necessary
We took drastic measures to ensure as best we could to prepare as you have described. But I am somewhat of a “just can’t leave things alone type person”. Is there a name for folks like me. At least one you can print. The point is I figured in the long run the best way was to start eleminating things we absolutely didn’t have to have. We had two vehicles…donated the van to an orphange. Instant savings on insurance, maintenance and gas etc. Found good homes for the pets..except one dog…instant savings on grooming and vet bills. Sold the horse…big savings. Had a yard sale and sold everything that we didn’t need…bought a nice shotgun and a case of shells with the money. Sold the bulk of my tools since I’m retired…bought a geiger counter, body armor, and lots of food to be dehydrated with the proceeds.There was enough junk laying around that once it was sold it went a long long way to paying for nearly all the prepper supplies. We need to understand that no matter how much we want to keep something if we are not using it then it is junk, period. The hard part, but not that hard, was getting the junk people out of our lives. We have some very good friends that add a lot to our lives, even if they aren’t preppers. Others are just time wasters. That isn’t to say they are bad people, they just waste our time. I’m not an NFL fan, I don’t hunt or fish, or go to Church, etc. I’m a homebody content to prep and practice for teotwawki. My wife is a Register Nurse and also going to college to finish her Masters degree and time is critical to both of us.People can be good people and still be a burden. Anyway, they didn’t have any trouble adjusting to living without me, so it all worked out. The point is to be ready for anything we have to get everything out of the way that keeps us from being ready for anything. Once I visited the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. Over a thousand men died on that great ship on Dec. 7, 1941. On the roster were two men having the same last name as myself. They crawled into the bunks on the night of the 6th never expecting that the bowels of the Arizona would be their watery grave. They are still there, all of them, no attempt was ever made to recover the bodies. Life is so fragile, everyday is so precious, and life can be snuffed out so quickly. To make matters worse we have to prep for things that didn’t even exist in the last century. Fukushima, jihad, droughts that just won’t end, floods that just won’t end, coldest winters on record, hottest summers on record, forest fires that look like syfy, emp attacks, massive oil spills, resurgence of Russia, China flexing its muscles, open borders, secession movements, sinkholes, terrorism in our own workplaces, and a hundred more that are coming our way. Some of you may charge that I am going overboard, but do you consider that poor soul in Oklahoma that expected to return safely home from work. Can any of us really imagine what it would be like for someone to call and tell us our husband, wife, son, daughter, brother, sister, was beheaded at work. Dwell on that for a moment, because somewhere out there at a certain time on the clock, and a sure date on the calender, you and I will get that call. It is going to happen just as sure as night follows day. Nothing will lessen the blow but at least we can expect it. Unspeakable tragedy is coming straight to our doorsteps, and we had better be ready for anything, make no mistake about that.
can you see, we are all bros, my grandfather fought in both arenas, my father a marine, myself navy, we must KEEP our past, for without it, what are we? we are lost without it. I am happy, to see the young, getting in shape.
and if it does, they are out teced, out smarted, and helpless against the war machine of the new coalition. I have limited time, to say my peace. Russia, will NOT attack us, they world is going to change, and its been done already. Deception, is rule one, in any change or conflict, Kimo, U,S.N, semi retired, research of solar anomalies, master of plate tec.15 years, 6 days a week. And, I want to help, perhaps some, as the higher ups think, that should not know, they could not handle it.
I feel you young bucks can. you must, female and male, compliment each other, but both have their place, as a couple. we must prtect our women, and be so smart. love
Very well put. It just makes so much sense to get rid of clutter in every area of our lives to make way for the most important things for survival.i had to move “stuff” out of storage areas to make room for things of true value.
While reading the comment section I was reminded of a definition of sorts that I’ve heard for the word, ‘junk’. It goes something like this: two weeks after you throw it out, sell it, or give it away, you find you need it.
Maybe that definition goes in hand with the saying, “One man’s trash, is another man’s treasure.”?
There was a farmer who used to have a big pile of scrap metal and wire and such in a corner near a barn. The farmer added to it often and every now and then took some out to repair or build something. Once the farmer died the heirs wasted little time removing that scrap heap, they always saw it as nothing more than an annoying eyesore, they were glad to see it go.
It’s kind of funny to me how people see different values in things depending on situations and times. Value truly is subjective.
helot, what you say is true, but after teotwawki who needs it so before shft I sold it all to prepare. But you have a valid point. thx
I admit it, I’m a “saver”. My thinking is – you never know when you might need something. Throwing things out is difficult for me, but that is just what I’ve been doing the past few weeks.
I’ve prepped for just about everything and some of that “junk” was getting in the way of organizing my preps.
I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s. My Dad had a “How to Build a Bomb Shelter” book on the family coffee table. (He never built the shelter.) My mother had a cardboard box with a few cans of food in it. She called it “Preparing for the siege.”
I guess those things shaped my thinking. That – and reading “Alas, Babylon” when I was a teenager.
We used to live on the Gulf Coast and had to prepare for hurricanes. The first one, when my boys were little, was a real eye opener about what was important and what wasn’t.
Now, I think my poor spouse thinks I’ve gone a bit overboard with prepping, but being older and with both of us not as spry as we once were, I want to try to have all the bases covered.
A couple of years ago, we had to evacuate because of a wild fire. Talk about nerve wracking and emotional! Friends came over and helped us carry things out and then let us stay with them. We were lucky and were allowed to go home that night. Having things organized is a good way to prepare to have to leave it all behind.
I try to be prepared for anything but focus on what I believe to be a threat. Here in NW Ohio we do get occasional tornado’s certain times of the year. One blew through here last November and not only did it wipe out my favorite coffee shop, it interrupted the Bears game! Not to worry though, I got the gennie up and running so we could still watch the game. Power was out for only a day but i had plenty of juice.
We’re supposed to get another super cold and snowy weather according to the Farmer’s Almanac and i’ve been prepping for that miserable scenario. Put new wicks in the kerosene heaters yesterday and have two energy efficient electric heaters. I’m anticipating that I’ll have to use these devices to supplement my nat gas forced air heater.
I’m sure that most of ya’ll are aware that we had a major water crisis this summer in N Ohio. A algea bloom in the Western basin of Lake Erie contaminated our drinking water with cyano bacteria that wouldn’t even die if you boiled the water. In fact, boiling the water made it WORSE! WTH? However, i was in good shape water wise. I have several cases of bottled water, a 35 gallon food grade plastic water can and two 35 gallon cans that catch rain water. We couldn’t drink the tap water ( and almost never do anyway ) for a week. We never suffered although the folks in the urban areas were lining up for blocks for fresh water.
The water situation here just put a exclamation point on my preps.
Another hazard I have to deal with is my inconsitent earnings year in and year out. I’m a complete commission sales guy. Some years are great and others not so much so. There have been times in the past many years where I don’t see a paycheck for 3 or 4 months. The down times is when I’m grateful for my preps.
In those times i eat a lot of food from my stores that have been closing in on their expiration date and use a lot of my canned goods from my garden. I replenish all these items during a next good pay cycle. There is a gratification and peace of mind knowing that all you need from the grocery store is milk, eggs and some bread and nothing else.
I generally pack my lunch for work. I don’t drive brand new cars or in my case, trucks. I have liability on both clunkers and refuse to buy a new car due to the hidden costs like full blown insurance.
You just never know what is going to thrown at you so be prepared in some fashion. Doesn’t have to be a 2 year food supply or 10K rounds of ammo. Just enough to get your family ( or yourself ) through a rough patch.
In closing, I am amused by my Dad and family. They keep telling me that I need to buy a 250K+ home and drive a BMW ( I’ve had three in the last 25 years ) and for some reason the people I work with think I’m wealthy and I’m not. My Dad, sister and brother are certain I’m nuts because I’m frugal ( not cheap, if I need something I’ll pay cash money for it )but they don’t understand that I feel a great sense of satisfaction of not being pressured to drive the latest and bestest or owning that huge home which requires more taxes and time tending to the home.
Funny thing is, if it all goes to hell in a handbasket who do you think will be knocking at my door for a handout?
Best to all,
Snake Plisken
Ps. Re reading my post I’m wondering if I’ve become a kind of hippie? Kind of off the grid in some ways and yet still part of the world at large. However, i do bath on a regular basis and don’t smell of patchoulie!
lol Snake, lol, no bro, u aint no hippie YET.
🙂
snake, kerosene lamps, batteries may not work, if we get an EMP, from a large object, but, I THINK, its passing. Or passed. you do notice your weather has changed eh? when you see the entire sky chemed, and turn red, well, I hope this does not happen, for if it does, we are F ed
Kerosene heaters should be OK Kimo. No electrical parts. Batteries, walkie talkies, kindle, battery chargers and believe or not, a solar powered calculator are safely stashed in a old microwave in my closet. I’m told that the microwave protection will defeat an EMP. As for the gasoline powered vehicles and an EMP I’m hoping to have enough electrical components like capacitors, points and plugs to re vamp the vehicle that used to rely on a computer chip.
I have noticed a different weather pattern in the last few years and this is just an observation and not scientific. WE have had a very mild summer and two wickedly cold winters. Personally, i don’t think that is indicative of a prevailing trend. I’m not a weather scientist.
But……( big caveat here ) I have noticed that the muskrats have been building some bigger than normal houses in the crik and my deer hunter friends have taken a few deer by bow have said that there is more fat on the deer they’ve harvested the prior year. This puzzles me Kimo but ( and this sounds weird ) I do believe that the natural world has many mysteries and I’ll go with it. Maybe the deer and muskrats are having a beer and fun at my expense!
Either the mammals of the wood know something I don’t ( possible ) or we’ve had such a rich abundance of food over the summer that the animals are stuffing themselves for winter and will have enough fat reserves to procreate in spring when food is scarce. That’s normal.
BTW, I’d like to share something with you and other like minded folk……. I bought a MaximalPower Universal Battery charger several months back and the danged thing charges AAA. AA, C, 9 volt and D batteries. I have tested and charged my depleted alkaline AND lithium batteries and am very satisfied. According to my research the Alkies can be recharged 20 times to full voltage. After that they degrade signifacantly. Lithiums I can’t say.
I would also recommend portable solar chargers ( also stored in the old Microwave ) for low powered charging on cell phones, talkies and iPhones. We don’t what we’ll need to communicate with in SHTF. Might be by telegraph, semaphore or smoke signals.
Best to you Kimo, Ride that wave, live large and be well!
Snake Plisken
Hey snake, good to hear you are still out there. I am out the door now headed to the woods. Won’t see me before thanksgiving. Hang in there and hope sales stay good for you. This was a good read. God bless, and thanks for your friendship.
Right back at ya plowboy. I admire the fact you spend so much time in the woods.
May G-d bless you and yours!
Best,
Snake Plisken
Earlier this week, the municipal water system for Mercer Island Wa was found to be contaminated with e-coli, so even in “good” areas to live, nothing can be taken for granted.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2024645491_mercerislandwaterxml.html?syndication=rss
Wow! I lived on Mercer Island for almost a year. One of the few places i lived on the West Coast and enjoyed. Hope their e coli problem gets solved soon. And you are correct Grog, nothing can be taken for granted.
Snake Plisken
also, be very careful right now of mosquitoes, they CARY , the PI is having an outbreak of Dengue, you all know about Ebola, the WORST carrier, right now, is that little bastard mosquito.
Kimo USN, semi retired, research worker
Please CHECK with your local water district, see if they also took chlorine out, if they have, well, your in trouble, use a mixture of bleach and water, when you shower, pour it all over you, women, I don’t know what to say about your hair, yes it will bleach it. So only use it on the body, 10 percent bleach, 90 water.. NO MEDICAL ADVICE MEANT… NO liability. the last time I ‘helped” someone, the authorities did not like it. the AMA does not like anyone thinking…….
All the preps in the world are not going to help if your sick or dying of their patented diseases!
The ultimate best thing to do, is keep one’s immune system as strong as possible, and definitely do not take their vaccines!
Garlic, RAW, daily
I read all of these summaries just to remind myself of things and to learn what is there to be learned. What’s odd – and unnerving – is how it’s starting to feel like it’s last call for preps, or one final rehearsal before the big show. Is chaos that close at hand? I have no idea, but damn if it doesn’t feel like it these days.
Maineuh, please don’t get unnerved. That’s what prepping is all about.
There are wars and rumours of war all about us. Every day and 24/7 on the MSM.
A few good preps to prepare for just a short term event to protect you and your family will provide a sense of peace and contentment until things get better.
We are not at the ‘ end times ‘ yet.
No reason for panic but reason dictates that the prepared mind ( body, spirit and cache ) will survive.
May G-d bless you and yours,
Snake Plisken
Maineuh, sound a bit like minahuni..anyway, it will do no good to be unnerved, it CAN take its tole, when you learn a lot fast, you must not, as Snake said, lose your nerve. You must not believe all you here, for there are many propaganda sites. But you should remember, there are at least 200 million, who are like you. so hook up, make many friends. REAL friends, who you can trust. Who you can discern. The best way is face to face.
Many DO care, pay no attention, to the hate, ,may have deep love inside, but a py op, is causing so many to divert their attention to other things, that pale compared to the big picture, the dangers. Russia, is no danger to us, China, is basically with us. You must separate two things, people, and money, money causes many to commit or do things that they would not normally do. Our enemies, are the ones who are barbarians. When the FBI says keep aware, that is exactly what they mean, when FEMA, says prep for disaster, that is exactly what they mean. many are making money from fear, screw them. If you know snake, talk with him in person. I can see, he has knowledge. Love, from one human being, to another
Kimo, you are too kind by far. I appreciate your comments.
I AM a people person. I treat everyone with respect no matter their color or persuasion.
And there in lies my weakness and it’s taken me a long time to to come to grips with my wearing blinders. I used to believe that everyone would treat me with the same respect that I gave them. Not true.
Many see my generosity as something to exploit. I have ( according to one of my favorite rock bands ) have become ‘ see through faded, super jaded and half out of my mind.”
I will help people if they are helping themselves. Won’t help those who are on the hustle.
I’m a firm believer. A believer that with the right amount of common sense and a good amount of humor we can overcome most problems. I don’t have to agree with a person on every belief I have and I’m not going to disparage their thought process. If i’m wrong on an issue then prove me so. I will gladly concede i was mistaken.
However, the cynic in me says otherwise.
You used a great word in ” Discern “. Do you know how rare a commodity that it is in the average person’s toolbox?
Best to you,
Snake Plisken
Ps. I do enjoy our exchanges.
Snake, now I know why my big brother plowboy said he liked you. He learned the hard way too, and now he is as hard as nails to non preppers. That man spends more time in the woods alone than most people can imagine. If anyone can make it he will, but I just don’t have his ability to lay down on the ground in the forest in the middle of the night all alone and go to sleep. That guy eats bark off of trees, digs up roots and gnaws on them all day, eats raw fish, and the bad news is I think he likes it. Since he is not home now let me ask, do you think it will ever get that bad for us to have to live like that. Just asking, thx
I have my longboard ready, if the big tsunami comes, its about my only choice..lol… but true. All the “other things” I’ve had ready for 6 years now, but I do not live in fear, as the military taught me not to.
Glad, we made it though the last 2 weeks, or rather Cali did. and yep, the idiot who set the fire, you know what I think Daisy.
HEY! you are all getting RAIN!! should increase and return to normal slowly. Out here, trade winds are back, FIRST time in 4 years! Cloud formations semi normal, but much better. Let us ALL hope, it keeps getting a bit better. And whatever God, you pray to, might be a dam good idea, to thank him for this day, and our defeat, of isis
Just make sure you have your kit with you during the Tsunami, Kimo. Once the wave drops you and your board at 4K elevation you can bust out an MRE and some coffee and reflect on one hell of a board ride!!!! 🙂
Snake, if TSHTF, with what I know, a wave a mile high will come at us from the Antarctic, with icebergs on the crest of the wave, we will be gone bro, gone, BUT, I can only say, the scientists have succeeded in something GREAT! they have averted some things, and one big thing, got past us, go to ESA, read about Rosetta… they are landing a craft on an asteroid, you have the brain power to figure the rest. It takes many years, and lick, and contacts, to gather a vast amount of info, when you get it all , you can put it together, like a puzzle, also, on esa, notice the capsules, how they are built for a controlled reentry, by the driver, to land in water, or on land, which ever is safer. do I need say more bro ham? remember, in any war, in any large event, the players are the big and wealthy, they are FIRST, what if I told you, over 7 trillion has been spent on science projects, in the past 6 years. Its true. The other things, well, im but a man. IF, we flip, no plane will help, a sub or large ship perhaps get though it, it will come from the Antarctic, if the plates move and we flip, all the pacific ocean, will go north, what was supposed to be north, you following me bro? Not many, can face, the raw brutality, of what may happen, but I can say, NASA, ESA, have done the impossible, more than once. look into the “diversion program “at ESA, and NASA, they are ONE now. All is NOT, what it seems, all sats trained on something. I like ur name young man, tells me much about you, I am on the most remote island, on the planet, imagine, what I see. I set up my refractor, and some are so STUPOID, and afraid, they won’t look, my grandson did, and o lord, what is above, is not as below. But my 12 year old grandson, looked, saw the crafts, and asked me, “what are those papa” I told him, look again, are they under control, he is smart as a whip, he says “yes papa” “what are they” thinking of hid age, and his mind, I told him” its our guys” I’m STILL not sure, what they were. I’m one that studies yes, but also, have telescopes, refractors, and a perfect view. What I have beheld, I know better than to say, Daisy knows. She has been solid, for 5 years to me.So, snake, perhaps, ill put a rocket pack, on my back, and get going 600 miles an hour, to meet the speed of the tsunami, and ride an ice berg, YES, I know ill die, but having a sense of humor, under VERY difficult situations, is a must. and it pisses off, those who don’t know, scares them, they don’t want to know. cowards all. I also understand, as many of you should, we face things that we cannot fight, can an AR, fight an apache? no. do you have night technology? you will need it. love to you all, as I am old, and you guys, that many of us spent millions to educate, as to the meaning of the constitution, have listened, I am thankful, I gave my all, I gave my everything, for those who believe in the constitution. you all remember one thing, night, is not safe, day is……….
I have recently been reading a lot about the “prepping movement”. I’ve known about it for a while and with all the events in the past 10 years plus everything that could easily happen it makes perfect sense. Here’s the thing, I’m a 22 year old single female living in a house with two other roommates (two grad students). I don’t live close to my immediate family nor is that an option. If something were to happen, like a full on SHTF situation, there is a good chance i’d be on my own, or MAYBE with my roommates? Also i’m assuming there are many young people in similar situations who just aren’t thinking about these things? Anyways, I planning on putting together a bug out bag, but all the other prepping seems a little more difficult for people like me.. I am starting to think that when/if this happens, I don’t have much of a chance, but my main concern would be to make it to the nearest family member. Any advice? (p.s. I have no medical training, or really any skills that would be useful in such an event)
Hi Anna!
I wrote about this to some degree when my oldest daughter went away to college. Here’s a link to that article, which may help you get started.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/dorm-room-preppers-the-next-generation-of-survivalism-07022013
Next, you’ve already identified the most important thing – skills. You need to develop them. It can be a lot of fun – go camping and hiking to learn outdoor skills. Take some classes in first aid and first response. Take some classes on bushcraft (outdoor skills), survival, and foraging. They may be difficult to find, but they’re out there. The cool thing is that you may meet some others your age who are likeminded. A group of young libertarians would be politically active and also have less interest in the government coming to save them.
You’ve got your head on straight! I hope these suggestions are helpful.
Daisy
I do want to add, putting together a group of friends peers to plan for this together would be something i’m open to doing but other people my age just really don’t seem to see this subject in a serious light at all. Like everyone just believes that it will be fine and the government will be there to take care of us
Thanks daisy!!
Hey Daisy, I really enjoy your articles. And I do like revisiting the previous ones, but is there anyway to change it up or delete the old comments? I did buy the preppers blueprint, it’s an excellent book. I definitely recommend it.
There’s no way to be prepared for everything. Even so, the more preparations, the better.
One thing that is almost certain in World War III, China and the reborn Soviet Union under Putin against the U.S. and NATO. When dictators become unpopular at home, as are those running China and the Soviet Union, they get involved in foreign wars to distract the masses. They have had massive military drills to get their armies ready to roll as soon as the fields of Europe are dry and hard enough for their tanks. In the meanwhile, they’ll talk nicey nice to keep their enemies (us) lulled to sleep and unprepared. It’s bad enough that much of our military is unprepared, worse that most of NATO is in worse shape.
China has smuggled in weapons to be handed out when ready. A 40 foot shipping container is fairly small, can be hidden in even fairly small warehouses, yet hold 5,000 AK-47s + ammo (as dock workers in Oakland learned some years back). They know they need boots on the ground in order to win—how many of us are ready for an invasion? Especially an invasion timed with nukes taking out several major cities and much of our military installations?
When will the war start? Maybe as early as this summer. Quite likely before the end of next summer. The dictator of China has promised action by 2020. If he doesn’t act by then, he’ll appear weak and the people will see about revolting. So he must act or abdicate.
The big question, what about afterwards? Do we even know what to prepare for? Very likely such a war will be over within a few months, if not weeks. But the aftermath can last years.
And this is just one scenario.