Prepping 101 - by Jerry D Young www.jerrydyoung.com
Our first guest post from Jerry Young tackles some of basics of prepping in non threatening and informative prose.
Forget about Doomsday Preps, Armageddon, or TEOTWAWKI for now. Concentrate on basic human needs first and foremost. The rest can come when you’ve learned more and not only have, but have practiced with, the initial items. Begin to study and learn all you can now, and as you go along. Preps without knowledge aren’t nearly as affective as they are when you know the why-to and when-to in addition to the how-to.
The needs are grouped together in basic order of need. Within the bracket, the items are essentially of equal importance. Having one without the others might or might not do much good or make much difference.
But something has to come first and something last, so they are listed that way, but the order of the groups is more important. Try to get the groups started in order, unless there is a pressing need to jump something ahead of the list. You don’t have to be ‘finished’ with one grouping before you start acquiring the items in the next group, but you should have a good start on them before you move on.
Some assumptions:
The overwhelming majority of preps will be needed for situations that occur at home.
Most disasters will not be Doomsday, The Apocalypse, TEOTWAWKI or WROL situations.
Most disasters will still have police and National Guard units enforcing law & order.
People will still be responsible for their actions legally and morally.
There will looters and violence in some major disasters, but the proportion of life & death incidents will be much smaller than the number of incidents requiring basic human needs.
Most households will have some basic items at home that can be used during a disaster. Not everything has to be purchased for use only during one. You can often incorporate into the preps items you already have. (Basic First Aid kits including some OTC & any needed prescription meds. A flashlight or two & some candles. A knife. Bedding)
The priorities are set follows:
1st Priority group: Items most likely to be needed during any disaster whether stay at home or bug out. People will need water to drink, some food to eat, a place to go to the bathroom, and a way to carry supplies if evacuation is required. This is a good time to set up the budget for preps, too. Won’t be much in it at first, but it needs to be started. It can be added to or changed as needed.
2nd Priority group: Important items, but not needed in many stay at home situations. It is important to have warnings of impending situations, especially weather related. But most homes have regular means to do this, like the Weather Channel or the news. Normally, people will be wearing seasonal clothing. Most homes already have some candles and a flashlight available. And there will have knives to use if staying inside. Protection will not be needed in most disasters that are minor, and most disasters range from minor to moderate. But if it is needed, it will be needed in the worst way.
3rd Priority group: Items that will make life a bit easier. Most people will have a basic first aid kit at home with items for minor injuries and basic meds, along with needed prescription medications. They have bedding that can be used. Most people will have some form of transportation all ready and will not need a specific BOV/PAWV yet. Being able to cook some food will be a comfort, but foods that don’t need to be cooked should be available anyway. Tools and hardware will also be nice to have but usually are not critical.
4th Priority group: Most people will have IDs so some the documentation can wait a little while. Preferably reference books will be purchased as needed, but an extensive library, which will be good to have, can wait since other people will have skills and the library may be intact. Finances are another thing that should be done all along, and are expensive. Like finances, CBNRE/HAZMAT gear is expensive. If it is needed, it will be needed desperately, but the probabilities are lower than for many other disasters.
5th Priority group: These are items that need either much training or are expensive and not necessary in many disasters
(And a disclaimer. Change the level of priority as needed by your situation. I feel that having at least something for the majority of situations is more important than having high dollar items for low probability situations first. You can begin budgeting for them immediately, and should, and then get them as soon as you can, but prioritize. What are your needs in your situation? If you live in a bad neighborhood or will have to travel through one during an evacuation, you might want to consider a firearm closer to the top of the list, if you can legally own one. The same if you live near a nuke plant, you might want HAZMAT/CBNRE gear sooner despite the expense.
This is a suggested list, a guideline for those that are just starting out, not the Ten Commandments etched in stone for everyone to follow blindly. The list isn’t particularly for use by anyone that already knows what they are doing as you’ve probably already set your priorities and are acting on them. I repeat: Change the level of priority as needed by your situation.
1st Priority group:
Water. Store a lot, locate a reliable future source, get water treatment/purification. A few 15-gallon water drums, a couple of stainless steel water bottles with cups for the BOBs, a quality water purifier, either a high cap camping filter or a combination of a drip filter for the BIB and a smaller hikers filter for the BOBs. Scout out locations for long term supplies of water.
Food. No cook, add hot water only, & easy-cook shelf stable foods, heavy on meats, fruits, and comfort foods. For both BOB and BIB. Learn to garden and grow as much as you can as soon as you can. Ditto home canning when you get the garden going. Don't be afraid of the commercially produced crops like wheat and oats. You can grow non-hybrid/organic types in a home garden.
Fire. Several means to start one, and a couple of items to contain fire. Fire steel, Lifeboat matches, lighters with some tinder for the BOBs. To heat one room in the house, an indoor safe propane or kerosene heater with a supply of fuel stored outdoors.
Sanitation/Hygiene. Chemical toilet, TP, hand washing means, bug spray, antiseptic cleaners, shovel to bury wastes. Toiletries. Charmin camper’s toilet paper and cleansing wipes for the BOBs. Infectious diseases protection supplies, face mask, gloves, goggles and hand sanitizer. And the ladies, and especially soon to be ladies, need large supplies of their needs on hand.
LBE. Equipment to carry your equipment when in the field. BOB/BIB/GHB/INCH bag/GOOD bag, etc. Packs, travois, game cart. I am a proponent of taking more than what you can comfortably carry in a back pack. Especially if you have children. Consider having some type of cart to carry heavier weights than you can on your backs, and give the little ones a chance to get off their feet.
Add everything to the budget list, mark down the quantities, purchase date and expire date, with the price per item and subtotal for that item.
Once the very basics of 1st Priority group items are obtained, and as additional items for it are acquired, go ahead and start on 2nd Priority group acquisitions. You do not need a year’s supply of 1st Priority items before you start on 2nd Priority group items. The 1st & 2nd Priority groups could be one huge group, but I feel that there should be some priorities because very few people can do it all at once. Add a few lines to the budget, down a ways, for the long term ideas and expensive ones that you will start seeing a need for someday. |