Back to basics

Recently I read an article detailing how (especially) beginner preppers tend to go hog wild with their preps.  Stockpiling everything from the kitchen sink up to and including hazmat suits in case of global pandemics.

The author was trying to make the point that mostly a person who wishes to "be prepared" should first take a look at the emergencies most likely to actually impact them and stock up accordingly.

What do we really need in case we can't get to the stores for an extended period of time?

We need water.

We need food.

We need shelter.

We need protection.

In my area of the country are we apt to be inundated with devastating floods such as they are having on the west coast?  Probably not.

Around here do you actually think that the earth is going to shake, rattle and roll so that everything falls down and apart like Humpty Dumpty?  Probably not.

How about that global pandemic?  What good is a hazmat suit going to do in the long run if that far fetched possibility actually comes to fruition?  Probably not much.

We have storms mostly - snow storms, wind storms, rain storms and occasionally brush fires.

So thinking of the potential problems we can encounter what should we address and in what order.

Protection:  do we need to rush out to the local sporting goods store and spring for an AK-47?  Do we even know what the hell an AK-47 is besides looking totally bad ass and us having not the slightest idea how to use it?

Probably not!

So, having not panicked and spent the grocery money at the ammo store, what do we actually need to do.

Water:   we don't need to go all fancy and spend the aforementioned grocery money on a water storage system that could support half our town for a year.  We just need to store some water.  It can be in containers meant to do that or it can be reusing empty containers we are going to have coming along anyway.  A little dab of (unscented) Clorox in a plastic cranberry juice container refilled with water will do just fine.  Several of them will do much better.  And don't forget there is water in the hot water heater that can be used in an emergency.  You are going to need water to drink, to cook with and, unless we're going to dig a hole in the back yard, to flush the toilet with.

Food:  Ideally we will still have power so we can cook our meals.  That being said, in case we do not have power, it would be a good idea to have some things that, if necessary for a short period of time, could be eaten uncooked.  And I'm not talking about rare steak here - I'm thinking canned goods.

Alternate ways to cook are a subject for another riveting post - but there are ways and means to cook if you lose electricity (and aren't lucky enough to have a non-electric gas stove).

Along with a reasonable assortment of staples and canned goods from the grocery store it is not unreasonable to think about investing in some of the long term storage items widely available in today's market.  Not really very expensive if you exercise a little restraint in your buying and some are actually pretty yummy.

Nope, Wise doesn't pay me to advertise.  My real point in showing this is that it's only $19.99 and has 16 servings of food that only require adding hot water.  Actually this company will send you a couple of free samples if you ask them.  So you do not have to buy the $2,000 kit that will feed the neighborhood until 2020, you can just stock a few things at minimal cost and tuck them away.  Good for 25 years - let your kids figure out what to do with them if you never use them!  😊

Shelter:  Here's hoping that your house will provide that.  If not, there is more of a "situation" going on here than we hope to encounter.  So I'll just leave it at that - stay in your house unless told to evacuate (and if they say go, GO!).  Be ready with at least an idea of what you would take if you only had a short time to get out of dodge - my post from February 24, 2016 speaks to that if you'd care to go take a look.

Back to protection:  there is nothing more useless (and dangerous) than a weapon in the hands of someone who has no friggin clue how to use it.  Better they should have a baseball bat!  So if you are inclined to think that you need a firearm do a couple of things first:

Do some research and then take some training classes.  I took a class at the Sig Academy a few years ago to which you could bring your own handgun.  One person showed up with a 50 cal. handgun!  The bore on that thing looked about the size of a garden hose and I suspect the kick back would have broken my wrist if I'd fired it!  Useless in my opinion (and that of the instructor, by the way).

I happen to be a tool junky and I look at guns as just another really cool tool.  Not a lot of people feel that way about them and if you are one of them, don't think you have to force yourself to have one.  Leave that to the "trained professionals" among us!

Hopefully you have made it all the way down to the bottom of the page and are still with me.  My aim with these posts is to remind us all that we do not have to go totally bat crazy buying ridiculous things in order to be reasonably prepared for emergencies.  Even the government is reminding us that we need to help take care of ourselves (that's it for the political segment of my post).

So keep your head screwed on straight - don't panic - don't buy a hazmat suit rather than some canned goods and you will be in great shape.  When the Weather Channel starts yelping about the next storm you can just flip to another channel rather than racing to the grocery store.  Cause you are already ready!

Good job!