Prepping can have a negative stigma attached to it because of the TV shows that portray preppers as crazy doomsday predictors.
But in reality, it’s just common sense to be ready for any emergency that comes your way. You never know when the weather will change for the worst and you’ll be facing the “storm of the century.”
Recent events have shown us that we never know when these events might happen, and the results can be devastating. Just look at the hundreds of videos of natural disasters on YouTube and you’ll see how sudden (and destructive) they can be.
Prepping is NOT a waste of time.
Of course most people don’t expect these things, so when these events happen, many are caught off guard and there is a run on supplies in the stores.
You obviously don’t want to be one of those people who are trying to panic buy stuff.
It can be easy to put off being prepared, but if you take it slow and integrate it into your lifestyle, you might be surprised at what you can achieve in a short period of time.
And it can be fun.
So let’s get into how you can get started right now.
Your well being and the well being of your family depends on it.
The first thing that you have to do is assess your situation and create a plan.
It can be tempting to go all-out and buy all of the latest gear that you see in YouTube videos. But pause, take a deep breath, and create a plan so you don’t waste precious time and money on stuff you’ll never use.
I’ve been there, so I want to prevent you from making the same mistakes.
Here’s what to do first.
The best place to start is with the minimum amount of stuff that you’ll need to get you through an emergency. I believe in being prepared for at least 3 weeks to start.
In my research, I have found that it usually takes about 2 weeks for things to stabilize after a major natural disaster. So being prepared for 3 weeks will make sure that you’re covered.
From there, you can build on your supplies to get you to where you ultimately want to be.
The minimum things that you’ll need are the following:
Now that you have the basic checklist, I’ll get into the details of each item.
The first thing you should take care of is water.
It’s said that you cannot go without water for more than 3 days. This will vary by the individual and environment, but that’s a good rule of thumb to follow when prepping.
The challenge with storing water is that it takes up a lot of space and it can go bad.
Therefore, it’s a good idea to have several options ready in this area.
Begin by calculating how much water each person will need to survive 3 weeks. Again, the amount of water each person will need will vary by the individual.
Also keep in mind that you might want extra water for bathing, brushing your teeth, hydrating freeze dried food and making drinks like coffee or tea.
However, since this is a minimalist checklist, let’s start with just drinking water.
According to Harvard Health, the average person needs about 4-6 cups of water per day. Keep in mind that in an emergency situation, you’ll probably be running around more and you’ll be under stress, so you might need more.
Start by tracking how much water you drink every day. For emergencies, I think it’s a good idea to double that amount.
If the average person needs 6 cups per day, then it’s a good idea to have 12 cups available. Multiply that by 21 days (3 weeks) and that’s 252 cups or 15.75 gallons. I’ll round it down to 15 gallons to make it easier, since water storage containers usually store 5 gallons.
That’s a lot of water to store, especially if you have a big family.
So I feel that it’s a good idea to be able to store water for at least 1 week. Any more than that will be hard to store and maintain, unless you have a big storage area.
The rest of your water can come from other sources. That’s why it’s important to have a gravity water filter and some personal water filters.
When you have a gravity water filter like a Berkey or ProOne, you can put in rain water or dirty pond water and have drinkable water. The water from this filter can be used to refill your storage cans, giving you an almost unlimited supply for water.
If you live in a cold area, snow can be melted and filtered for drinking water.
Also having personal water filters like a Sawyer or LifeStraw can be a great backup in case your primary water filter gets damaged or is lost. These devices are also great for evacuation scenarios.
In addition, you know that a disaster is coming, fill up your bathtub, sinks and any other container you have with water. You can filter it as you need it.
Finally, don’t forget bottled water. Keep a few cases handy and you can even put some bottles in the freezer to help keep your food cold, in case the power goes out.
Not having food for even a day can make everyone grumpy and lead to arguments and bad decisions. Therefore, emergency food should be the next item on your list.
I watched YouTube videos when I first started getting prepared and some of them recommended buying canned food.
So I naturally bought some.
In hindsight, that’s NOT a good idea, in my experience.
We stocked up on several cases of canned food and forgot about them, so they eventually had to be thrown out.
What a waste.
If you want to go the canned food route, it’s best to only buy stuff that you actually eat on a regular basis. This way, you can rotate through the canned food and it won’t go bad.
Even then, you might not eat enough canned food to rotate through a case of Costco beans or canned corn. We certainly don