Hopefully, you won’t experience a devastating survival event that is considered catastrophic. However, as we have seen in recent years, anything can happen that can put you and your family at risk if you are not prepared. Start your survival prepping journey now!
The pandemic taught us a lot about ensuring we have access to supplies and can support ourselves during unexpected moments when we can’t rely on traditional means.
No matter where you live, chances are, you will experience some sort of unforeseen situation. It might be a natural disaster, power outage, or even civil unrest that keeps you in your home or forces you to go elsewhere.
In the past, survival preppers were mocked for their mindset of preparing for the worst. However, in recent years, prepping has become mainstream and even admired. It can deliver you peace of mind when you have the security of knowing your family will have everything they need no matter what happens in the coming months and years.
This is a long-term, ongoing process. Don’t feel like you have to have everything within the first week. You will be taking small steps to achieve all of your prepper goals, even if you are on a strict budget.
Making Room in Your Life for Survival Prepping
Life is busy enough as it is. You don’t want to stress yourself out trying to prepare for something that may happen in the future. However, incrementally, you can get ready by doing certain tasks.
The first is to make sure you have set aside a budget to begin accumulating the supplies you will need, regardless of how small. There are many aspects to survival prepping that don’t require any money.
Instead, it requires you to strategize and learn skills. This information can easily be found online and won’t cost you a penny. When it comes to budgeting for survival purposes, you need to be strategic in buying supplies, such as using coupons, looking for bulk sales, and periodically picking up a couple of extra items whenever you go to the store.
You can also find good deals on some things for survival at garage sales or estate sales. This might be something like a pressure cooker for canning foods, a tent that is in good condition, and so on.
Another thing you want to do to make room in your life for prepping is the literal aspect of clearing out clutter so that you have room for your supplies. You don’t need to have a cellar or basement to have ample room.
For now, you can begin storing things wherever you have cleared away the clutter or have a nice hiding spot. For example, you might be able to turn an extra room into a proper survival storage room.
If you don’t have that kind of room, you might find space underneath a bed or even behind furniture or in a closet. Some people even rent out an inexpensive storage facility. Just be aware that if something happens suddenly, and you’re unable to access the storage unit (or someone else gets into it before you can get to your supplies), you may find yourself in the lurch.
One thing you have to consider is survival in very small spaces. That includes apartments, where you might use your patio to start a garden in containers or a vertical apparatus.
Or, it might mean getting everything ready in each family member’s bug out bags so that you can carry exactly what you need to escape and navigate into the wild if you have to leave your home.
Evaluate the Needs of Your Family
Your family might just be you, or it might be you and a spouse, or you and your children. Whatever form your family takes, get them all involved in survival prepping. You might also have to consider any elderly family members that you bring into the fold during a survival event rather than leave them on their own.
When you are evaluating the needs of each individual, you want to consider that this isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Each person will have different needs when it comes to their food.
Not only do you need to estimate their caloric and water needs, but you have to see if there are any dietary restrictions or allergies to consider. Another thing you want to evaluate is how much each person can carry in case of a bug out situation.
You will be purchasing a bug out bag and packing supplies that each person needs to be able to transport on their own for possibly long periods on foot. If there are any medical needs for any of the individuals, you have to take those into consideration when you are making your prepper plans.
And don’t forget about things like mental health and entertainment. Being in a survival situation can be very stressful, and physically taxing. You want to make sure that your loved ones get the relief they need through relaxation, laughter, and smiles in addition to meeting their other needs in life with food, water, etc.
Part of evaluating your needs for the family is considering both short and long-term preparations. What would your family need in the event of a weather disaster or griddown situation?
That’s going to be very different from what they may need in a large-scale, semi-permanent event that lasts weeks, months, or years. You’ll start off preparing for short-term events, and add on to your supplies and strategies for longer ones.
When you think about your family and their needs, don’t forget your pets. Some people cruelly abandon their pets during survival situations, leaving them to fend for themselves. You can take precautionary measures to plan for their needs and keep them safe, too.
Analyze the Most Pressing Survival Concerns
When starting your survival prepper journey, you want to plan first for the most pressing events – the ones that are most likely to happen to you. This means paying close attention to everything going on locally as well as globally.
Start with natural disasters like floods, weather-related events, wildfires, and more. What is most likely to occur in your area? Do you live in Tornado Alley? Does your area get hit by hurricanes?
Think about industrial accidents that could happen, too. These include things like trains derailing and spilling chemicals that could impact the air or water supply around you. These incidents have been in the news, so it’s wise to pay attention.
What is the power grid like in your area? Texans were shocked to see their grid fail at the height of a winter storm and stay down for several days. Most people were not prepared for that!
Some areas are used to power outages, like rolling blackouts or brownouts, or grid down situations in blizzards. That might be something you can easily prepare for with something like a generator and other winter weather supplies.
You also need to analyze global situations. Is there a threat of war looming, a warning of a terror attack, or other issues like a pandemic spreading that could have a more immediate impact on your lives?
Some areas experienced local civil unrest, where buildings were burned, streets were impassable, and so on. Pay attention to what’s happening not just in the news, but on social media platforms as well.
Another issue that can change your immediate preparations is financial issues. This might be something happening in your country or globally – or even a job loss or personal financial hit that you take.
Survival Prepping Must Include Supplies and Strategy
Your next beginner step in your survival prepping journey is to make a plan for both supplies and strategies. Let’s start with supplies. You’re going to buy based on several factors: the analysis of probably survival scenarios, your family’s needs and preferences, and your budget.
You might start with picking up extra canned goods at the store. If you have the budget, you can pick up survival food that lasts 25 years in big buckets that feed a family of four. Whatever you can do puts you one step closer to a secure future.
Prioritize your needs. Water, not food, is the primary concern because you can survive longer without food than you can water. Don’t just buy extra water bottles. Have methods to purify dirty water, and to collect rainwater on your property.
You want solar gadgets that can help you have power during times when you have no electricity. It’s not just during winter weather. This can be caused by a surge in demand in hotter months, or because of something like a solar flare.
You’ll want lighting options, batteries, and ways to secure your property from intruders. You’ll eventually want to get things for long-term survival preparations, like gardening tools to grow your own food source for canning and preserving.
Anything where you may need extra parts as a backup will be important. This might be for your car, a medical device, etc. Remember, during the pandemic, the supply chain was severely interrupted and it still isn’t fully operational to this day!
It’s not just about your supplies, though. You want to make a plan for the skills and strategies you need to learn and plot for your household. Some will be things each individual needs to master.
These include things like self-defense. You want everyone to know how to protect themselves with and without any type of device. You might choose Krav Maga or Karate, and tailor the selection for each family member’s skills and abilities.
Another individual skill or strategy you need to embrace is learning how to exist as a gray man. Gray man existence means you are basically invisible in your day-to-day living.
Not literally, of course – but you blend in well, don’t dress or act in a way that stands out, and you never draw attention to yourself or your home. This is something kids need to learn, too.
They need to know not to speak to anyone else about the survival prepping your family doing. No bragging or sharing details about supplies and plans – because that puts a target on your back.
Other skills you want to learn for survival include things like gardening, which isn’t mastered overnight. People often experience a learning curve to get their produce to grow and thrive, so start now and have it down before it’s necessary.
Bartering is another skill or strategy to learn. It can be uncomfortable for some people to barter with others, but this is something that comes in handy when citizens are trading for things they need.
The skills you’re learning can serve as something for you to barter with when you need something else you don’t have. They might have a solar-powered generator, and you can offer first aid or car repair in exchange for that gear.
Get Your Family Involved in Survival Prepping
When you get started, have the family involved in your preparations. You never want to be the sole survival prepper in your family. Everyone should know how to use supplies, and find and repair things.
You want to start by teaching them where things are kept. If you’ve hidden survival supplies, let them know where to find them. Show them how to rotate food and keep track of what’s needed for replenishment.
It’s important that in a true survival situation, everyone remains calm. If you’re the only one with any knowledge, you’ll be the only calm one while there’s chaos surrounding you.
Teach them skills as you learn them. These include things you might feel are basic, common-sense tasks like starting a fire or boiling drinking water. Most kids have never done anything like that – and certainly not over an open fire. Heck, most adults have not done this either unless they were in Scouts or Guides as kids.
From time to time, host some practice drills with your family. Don’t let them know ahead of time – but spring it on them like a true emergency. Don’t scold anyone during it, but make note of what needs to be changed or taught for subsequent scenarios.
As time goes on, you’ll discover new things you want to buy or learn for your own survival needs. Keep a survival-prepping journal or notebook that has all of your future tasks written in it. Don’t rely on digital gadgets because you might not be able to access them.
If you want to learn more, check out The Final Survival Plan.