So, you’ve decided that it’s finally time to start prepping, just in case something really bad happens.  Now you’re faced with some important decisions and choices.  It’s true that diving headfirst into prepping can be time consuming, life changing and expensive, but if you’re not interested in going all the way down the prepping rabbit hole, there are other ways to ease into it. The first thing to address is “What are you preparing for?”  Is it a hurricane, tornado, pandemic, power outage or some other form of disaster or emergency?  The next question to answer is “For how long do you want to be prepared to be without essential services?”  The answers to these questions can be complex and confusing.  A hurricane, for example, only lasts a couple of days but it’s affects can last for much longer.  If you are forced to evacuate, you will need certain plans and supplies. If you don’t evacuate but the power is out for an extended period, your approach to survival will be completely different. Added to this is the uncertainty about a whole host of other potential disasters.  The recent pandemic demonstrates just how easily our system can be disrupted and how the unprepared are forced to expose themselves just to brave the whole ordeal of food shopping just to find empty shelves and other shortages.  For these reasons, it is highly recommended that you exercise “General Preparedness” with an emphasis on those disasters or event that you feel you are most likely to experience.  You will find detailed information on all of these topics by using the top and side navigation bars.

If you can’t afford the time or expense of getting prepared all at once, you can start by doing just a few things and expand every week so you will steadily increase your state of preparedness, but you must strategically prioritize your efforts to avoid spending money on useless items or items that can wait until you have a better state of general preparedness.  A simple way to do this is by using the rule of threes:

·        You can survive three minutes without breathable air or in icy water.

·         You can survive three hours in a harsh environment (extreme heat or cold).

·         You can survival three days without drinkable water.

·         You can survive three weeks without food.

Breathable Air:

At first thought, it may seem that there is nothing you can do to ensure that you have breathable air.  After some additional thought, you may realize that there are certain conditions that cause an absence of breathable air that can be mitigated. Smoke inhalation is the leading cause of death during a fire, so putting some effort into fire prevention could save the lives of you and your family.  Also, airborne agents, viruses and large amounts of dust, debris and ash can deem air unbreathable so a supply N-95 particle masks should be included in your supplies.  

Drinking Water:

During a power outage, your tap water may stop working.  This scenario can become critical very quickly. Of course, you should store as much water as you are able, but storing water takes up a lot of room that you may not have.  This best strategy for meeting your water needs is to identify renewable water sources and have the ability to purify water.  Your bug out bag should contain a portable water purification device that you can use if you are not at home, but you should have a plan to collect and purify a more substantial amount of water at home.  You can achieve this by setting up a simple water catchment system.  Remember that water you collect from roof runoff or other sources may contain harmful bacteria so you will have to purify it before consumption.  We have found that the Berkey Water System is the most economical and highly efficient.  A Berkey System costs around $300 and will purify 6,000 gallons of water on a single set of filters.  Learn more about meeting your Water Needs.

Exposure:

In extreme conditions, your body will be rapidly affected.  Exposure to intense heat can cause heat exhaustion and rapid dehydration while exposure to rain and/or cold weather can rapidly incapacitate and even cause death within a few hours.  This is why shelter is usually the number one priority in wilderness survival scenarios. 

Along with staying dry and out of the elements, a source of heat ranks high on the priority scale.  Being able to make fire if you are stranded away from home could save your life.  Also, if your home is dependent on electricity for heating, you may need to investigate and provide alternative heating sources in Heating Essentials.

Food and Other Supplies:

Once a disaster occurs, going to the supermarket to stock up on supplies becomes problematic.  Everyone else who wasn’t prepared will be there panic buying anything they can get their hands on.  If the shelves aren’t already empty when you get there, you will be forced to deal with desperate people who are willing to go to extremes to get what they think they need. 

The sad fact is that very few homes have more than a week’s supply of food in their pantry and refrigerator, and many homes depend on daily shopping trips or takeout to put dinner on the table.  So, the first step to food storage should be to fill your pantry, cupboards and freezer with a variety of foods and consistently keep them full.  You don’t have to do this all at once if you can’t afford it.  Just buy a few extra things every time you go to the store and before you know it, you’ll have a pretty good supply.  Although filling your freezer is a good idea, you should not depend too heavily on frozen foods.  Many disaster scenarios include power outages and having nonperishable foods will be a life saver.  Try to buy foods that you would normally eat so you can use and rotate your supply to keep it fresh.  Once you have filled your cupboards, you can start setting aside space to store additional supplies.  If you have a big pantry, great, but if not, you can store supplies in closets, under stairs, under beds or anywhere else you can think of.   Avoid storing canned food in areas that freeze, are damp or get warmer than 85 degrees.  Your canned foods will last much longer under these conditions.  So, what should you store?

Canned Food: Canned food is the best first step towards storing nonperishable foods and they last much longer than you might think.  Bear in mind that the “BEST IF USED BY or SELL BY” date is not an expiration date.  This is simply a quality and freshness date for optimum taste and nutritional value.  With the exception of the “USE BY” date, these dates not for safety and are not required by law.  As long as cans are not rusted, leaking or swollen the food is safe to eat.  Of course, if you open the can and it smells bad or taste bad, throw it out to be safe.  It’s not uncommon for some canned foods to taste a little “tinny” if it has been stored for a long time but it’s still safe to eat.

When storing canned food, make an effort to address as many of the food groups as possible.  Store canned vegetables, fruits and meats as well as prepared foods like chili, tamales, beef stew and others for when a quick meal, without a lot of preparation, is needed.   Don’t buy foods you don’t like just because they’re cheap.  If you don’t like lima beans, don’t buy them.  You’ll never use them unless there’s an emergency and if there is an emergency, you’ll need comfort food not something that will just make you feel worse.

Dry Goods:  You would be surprised how many people think that having some rice and dried beans is all they need for an emergency food supply.  Of course, having an ample supply is good but, trying to survive on just rice and beans without going into depression is challenging at best. We need variety to keep our spirits up so, in addition to rice and beans, you might want to store some other dried goods.  Here’s a good general list:

• White Rice
• Rolled Oats
• Pasta
• Dried Beans, Lentils and Peas
• Pancake Mix
• Cornbread Mix

• Hash Brown Potatoes
• Various Hard Grains
• Flour
• Sugar
• Powdered Milk
• Instant Coffee

Dried goods are easy to store.  You can vacuum seal some of them, like pastas, to increase their storable life but some items, like rice, can be stored in sealable 5-gallon buckets to keep them dry and pest free.  One good method is to save water and soda containers and fill them with dry goods.  You can pack these bottles in small spaces or fill up an action packer for storage.  

Other Concerns:

If there’s a power outage or extended disaster scenario, you will need an alternative method of cooking your food. You will also need alternative sources of light and don’t forget things like toothpaste, soap and shampoo.  You can find detailed information on all of these and other necessities on the left navigation bar and in the “General Preparedness” section of this site.