Hello my friend and welcome back! I recently had a dear friend of mine approach me and ask if I knew anything about prepping. No, not everyone knows I’m a Prepper. This is simply because they are not open to the idea. They are still asleep in my eyes and all I can do is watch for signs of them waking up. In today’s post, we are going to look at getting started prepping, once you have woken up. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and have a seat while we visit.
There are a Million reasons why “Sheeple” cling to their ignorance and false hope. The truth is just too awful to face, for most, so they just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist. However, sometimes things happen, which force some to wake up and face reality. If you are one of these, then welcome to the wonderful world of Prepping. Those of us who woke up years ago, are always willing to help those who are just learning. Now granted, there are a few who choose isolation and may not be willing to/ help, but by in large most will.
One of the first things you need to learn about Prepping is that there are tons of so-called experts in the field. Many of these, unfortunately, are business owners, who are looking for a way to add to their bottom line. While they won’t tell you that, it is their sole purpose for what they do. If a Prepper tells you that you absolutely have to buy this product or that, then it should be a red flag to you. Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with making a few bucks, while helping others if you can. Just don’t make it your sole reason for doing it.
Lesson number two is that if you listen to everything that people tell you to put in your bug out bag, you will have a bag that one person will not be able to carry. As with anything on the internet, there are many opinions on the internet and many of them vary wildly. Your best bet is to take them all with a grain of salt and do your own research, before you buy something.
Ok, enough of that, now to the good stuff. You will need to inventory and take stock of what you have to work with. Where will you store a years’ worth of food? What about water? DO you have good producing water well on your property? Do you even own your own property? If not, you are still in good shape, if you have any place at all you can store food and extra water.
Now, before you run out and buy a lot of food to store up, there are a few things you need to consider. Things like never buy a lot of anything you haven’t tasted and like. Assuming you like something because the seller say’s it tastes good could force you to wind up with food you can’t eat. It is of no use to you if you won’t eat it!
Next thing is to pay attention to is the expiration dates on any food you do buy for storage. Eating expired food is a risky proposition at best. Try to buy food with at least 2 years of shelf life left. Many people actually rotated their stock by using the ones that are close to expiring and replacing them with new ones. This is one of the most economical ways to maintain your preps.
If you’re buying bottled water, be sure to check if it has an expiration date on it. Yes, some do have an expiration date on them due to the type of bottles they use. Over time they can leach chemicals into the water and become nasty tasting or undrinkable. This is not a good thing if you are relying on it to survive. Take the time to check just to be sure.
If you are going to rely on a water well on your property, make sure you have several alternative ways to get the water out of the ground. A hand pump, solar power, and a spare pump are just a few of the things you should consider keeping on hand, in case of no electricity.
You will also want to keep a lot of Chlorine on hand, to purify any water before you drink it. You could also boil the water, but in an SHTF situation, building a fire might not be the best idea at that moment. A single drop of Chlorine goes a long ways, just don’t use too much or it will make you sick.
At the bottom left side of this page is a list of Prepper websites, that I can recommend. Go ahead and check them out. There is a lot of good information out there and now that your awake you will need it all.
Well that’s it for today’s post and I hope you have enjoyed it. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared. God Save America!
-The Sargent-
Huggy is right. We are in out 60s with and elderly mother. We have no chose but stay put. So we gave land to our daughter and family to live next door. More hands, more help. We have a garden and have started an orchard, but it will not produce for at least 3+ years. Life will be tough…..however, most folks do not know how to be tough with it. I fear for our younger generations. However, thugs will survive one way or another.
So much emphasis is given to “Bugging Out” that as Michael above points out, unless you are ALREADY living off the land, you will (may?) not survive.
Well stated and accurate to a point, since if the SHTF and you must Bug Out, you will already be behind the power curve WRT growing and putting back (canning?) the fruits of your labor.
One cannot realistically expect that once you reach your planned destination or BOL, you will have all manner of food in the short term. Having seeds and, more importantly, the knowledge and skills to grow crops, will do little to speed up the growing crops to where they become an actual “food” you and yours can count on to feed and nourish your body. Mother Nature and physics cannot be overlooked or discounted.
This means you MUST have foodstuffs already put aside for that period between planting and harvest otherwise you could perish for lack of food in the interim. And this doesn’t even take into account the need for water.
So, as Michael correctly points out, unless you already HAVE “food” in the ground, what are your plans for eating until the crops come in?
This is where having a stockpile of food set aside and ready to feed you and yours comes into play and in quantity enough to let you survive until your harvest comes in.
What cannot be ignored is “what if” you plant crops but there isn’t enough water available to make the plants grow or, Heaven Forbid, critters quickly decimate your crops as fast as they sprout?
These are all things that must be anticipated/planned for if you have any reasonable expectation of making a go of it.
Which brings us full circle to the point that PRIOR to any event which would mandate leaving your current abode and spiriting away to your BOL, you MUST have an ESTABLISHED place with crops ALREADY in the ground, viable and nearly ready for consumption.
This brings us to the “established” portion of the equation.
How many of us are proficient at reading the tides of civil and political unrest so that we can reliably KNOW when the proverbial “balloon” is headed up, or the SHTF and it’s time to boogie to your retreat? Not many I’ll wager.
To that end, perhaps one should consider that as part of a Group, you should rotate duties and spend “X” number of weeks, months or seasons at your previously established retreat to actually LIVE there and spend the time, energy and resources to survive on a daily basis and eventually be relieved by the next person, persons or portion of your group. They, then, undertake the same lifestyle and keep an ongoing presence at said location and maintain it until they, too, are relieved or everyone shows up and put into play whatever plans as a whole your group has laid out. This is a good idea but carries with it HUGE managerial and logistic concerns!
But lets face it. Unless you have been fortuitous enough to be able to afford to live full-time at and in your BOL, one person or even small family will be hard pressed to do much more than barely eek out the most rudimentary of “existance” and this doesn’t even address your health issues, need for any education of youngsters or medications (prescribed or OTC), much less potential dental concerns and all the other myriad of issues which we all MUST contend with even in the best of times within our normal lives.
Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll point out that you live in a fantasy or fictitious Utopian dream.
Now please understand that I am most certainly NOT trying to rain on your parade, be argumentative or stomp on your dreams! I merely wish to point out that stopping the clock on your present lifestyle and relocating to another, austere, location and lifestyle will most likely NOT be a “turn key” possibility for the vast majority of people who haven’t had the good fortune to be able to retire in the prime of our lives and with healthy (?) bodies and financial wherewithal to do so in such a superior fashion and would allow such lofty dreams.
More likely is that the average, typical, prepper will be struggling to make ends meet in the present day because “life” gets in the way. And with all the offshoots regarding impediments that life contains, doubling the expenses of trying to singlehhandedly maintain what amounts to a complete SECOND parallel life is a hurdle that shouldn’t be taken likely and why belonging to a “Survival Group” or “Prepper Association” with multiple participants/members makes much more sense.
But even this has many, MANY, factors too numerous to address in such a small discussion venue as this.
Personally, I hope and pray our country never gets to the tipping point where Bugging Out or even Bugging In becomes a necessity, but failing to plan for such an event(s) is/are an imperative in light of todays geopolitical situation. One simply cannot have our head buried in the sand and ignore the potential of such an occurrence. To do so could spell Doom for you and yours.
However, you can only DO what YOU can while keeping an eye open to the REALISTIC expectations YOU can afford and which your personal situation and finances will allow and permit.
That said, everyone should be making whatever plans NOW they can afford NOW, and plan for the worst while hoping for the best.
Time will ultimately tell what will happen and until then you need to keep your wits about you and not go off half-cocked and making foolish or knee-jerk decisions and actions which imperil your present-day situation.
Good Luck and God Speed to ALL!
Bugging out without a place to go just makes you a refugee. Unless you are already serious about living off the land, you will not survive in the wild. Spend your time figuring out how to survive in your house.
Most canned food has a best by date. If the can is not damaged or swollen it is probably OK to consume. If it has an expiration date, maybe not. Smell the food it is usually a good sign if it doesn’t smell bad. I ate a can of spam 2 years past its date. It didn’t have as good flavor as a new can,but still tasted good. Don’t forget rain water catchment,solar stills and your hot water tank and toilet reservoir. Prep on!!!