Prepping is an essential aspect of life
You may or may not know if you are a prepper or not.
It all depends on how you live your life and if you worry about the future or not.
But whether you prep or just take life as it comes, you should take steps to be ready for any disaster that comes to your region of the country.
Being prepared for these disasters can save your life as well as the lives of your loved ones.
That means you need to know the correct definition of the word prepping.
Knowing that will help you pick out the items you and your family will need when there is environmental trouble.
What does Prepping Mean?
Defining this term is not that difficult.
It simply means that you take the right steps to prepare for a catastrophic emergency in advance.
And by stockpiling the right clothing, food items, water, and other necessities.
Prepping is simply making sure you have everything you need in case of a blackout, devastating earthquake or hurricane, tornado, and other disasters that could hit your area of the country.
Not every natural disaster will hit every region so you need to find out about those that do and make the proper preparations for them.
There are several stages to prepping that you can do.
It is always best to get the low-level items you will need first and then move on to the more high-level items that may cost more to stockpile.
You are in charge of this so you will need to see if you have enough storage space in your home or if you need to add some storage space to hold everything you buy.
There are different types of prepping as well.
There is clothing prep, food prep, essential supplies prep and on it goes.
Make a checklist to make sure you have every prep option covered for your area.
What Are You Prepping For?
The world is not a safe place to be.
There is any number of issues that can arise from natural disasters to man-made catastrophes that upset normal life.
Here are some of those events that you may want to take some time and money to prepare for:
- Natural disasters
- Supply chain problems
- Economic downfalls
- Acts of terrorism
- Loss of income
- Property loss due to things like a house fire
- Epidemics or pandemics
Even if you live in a rich country like the United States, you should take some time to consider prepping.
If Covid-19 has taught us anything at all, it is to be prepared as you never know when the next disaster will strike.
You do not have to do special preparations for every natural disaster or man-made problem.
Some of the prepping for one will overlap with the other.
You just have to know your area and decide what are the most important items to have on hand during any emergency.
Don’t forget to create or buy a good First-Aid kit.
Make sure it is well stocked with emergency medicines, supplies, and so on.
Being prepared for injuries can help save a life.
How do You do Prepping?
This is an important topic as it covers a wide area of prepping action.
There is a lot more to prepping than buying extra food and water.
Here are some guidelines to get you started on the right path:
#1. Learn about survival
There are 2 kinds of survival, one is out in the wilderness and the other is inside your city.
Learn about both as the more you know, the more valuable you are to your family.
Plus, the more you know raises your chances of survival.
Also, learn your weak spots and what can be done to strengthen them.
What’s more, learn about what natural disasters can strike your area and what you should do.
To survive you will need a lot of education as you may not be able to go to the local store to get supplies.
#2. Create a Disaster Plan
This is not writing a complicated blueprint or a book.
Keep it simple and make it more of a guide to help you find the right items to buy and how to store them for the long term.
Your plan can include handing out responsibilities to different family members.
It is a basic guide to make sure you do not panic and that you know what to do when an emergency hits.
#3. Start small
There is no need to go out and buy thousands of dollars worth of food and other items. You may not have the money to do that.
Start building your stockpile slowly and buy just what you will need.
In time, you will have enough supplies and you will need to start rotating them so they do not go bad on you.
#3. Think and act smart
If you need extra storage space and you have to build it outside do not tell anyone.
Nor make it too conspicuous.
Just use some common sense and find the right storage containers and buildings for your needs.
While you have a house, you may want a tent or two just in case your home is unlivable.
#4. Learn new skills
Life is not going to be normal after a disaster and you need to be prepared for the change.
The more you know and the more you know how to do will come in handy at that time.
Here are a few of those skills you should learn:
- Gardening
- Homesteading
- Cooking (particularly from scratch and in the wild/off-grid)
- Foraging
- Hunting
- Navigating and orienteering
- Creating shelters from what’s readily available
- Starting a fire without modern tools
- Self-defense and defending your property
- Maintaining your house and property off the grid
- Car maintenance
- Being familiar with tools and equipment
- How to safely acquire and filter water
- Properly storing foods and supplies
- Rationing
- First aid, CPR, and other life-saving and health-preserving skills
- Communicating (like via radio)
- Fishing
- Trapping
- Food preservation
- Sewing
- Basic gunsmith skills
#5. Practice good mental health
These are going to be trying times so you need to keep yourself in good physical and mental shape.
This will be added security for your family as they will rely and depend on you to help them through this difficult period.
It will also help keep you and everyone else from panicking.
Panicking is a lethal blow that you cannot afford at this time.
There are different levels of prepping
#1. Basic prepping
This is where you are only preparing the basic necessities you and your family will need.
Usually, this includes food, water, and other supplies.
Also, this level of prepping is reserved for short-term disasters where the city can restore water, power, etc., very quickly.
#2. Prepping for longer-term disasters
These will last more than a few days and you may be without access to food, water, and other supplies, for a month or more.
This level has you stocking food, water, fuel, vitamins, clothing, and so on.
Plus, you may buy the following pieces of equipment and supplies:
- A generator.
- Defensive weapons.
- Extensive stock of food and water that is rotated so it is always fresh.
- “Bug out bags” with necessities that can be easily transported in the event one must quickly leave their home.
- Communication devices allow one to contact others without a cell phone grid or internet access.
Tools will come in handy in case anything breaks as well as tape, flashlights, and more.
#3. Long term prepping
This level is for those emergencies that last for more than a few months.
You may see it last one to three years etc., so you will need to be prepared for this level of trouble.
Everything mentioned in the first two levels will need to be in this level of prepping.
You never know what people will do so having self-defense items on hand and in top working order is important.
#4. Off-grid prepping
In this level, as well as level 3 you may have to get along without electricity or running water.
Having solar panels will help keep essential electronic devices running, including lights.
You will also need an alternative water supply and so on.
This is the level you will be leaning on yourself a lot and your survival education.
This is why you learn those different skills.
They will be needed at this level of survival.
Some Final Words
The best way to do prepping is right now.
Food and water are cheap and it is easy to store them as the shelves are full of canned foods, and dry goods.
When an emergency hits, the demand will make those prices skyrocket and you may not have the money to buy anything.
Also, you can get other supplies easily as well.
It just takes some common sense to prep right for any natural disaster, etc.
It is best to have everything on hand and not need it, than to need it and not have it.
Originally posted 2022-10-12 08:05:42.
