Guilty as charged. It is easy to amass a sizable supply of food in a short period of time. This is especially true if you tend to purchase a little bit extra each time you shop. Before you know it, you have a closet or pantry full of stuff but no clue as to what is inside. In my case, I have some well marked buckets of food but no master list. I know I have 30 pounds of coffee beans – or is it 40? And #10 tins of freeze-dried meats, fruits and veggies? They are packed away in carton boxes and I know I have lots of cartons but just exactly what and how much?
I have been storing food for so long that I can not rely on memory alone to know what I already have and what is still needed. This is my number one mistake and one that I plan to remedy in two ways. First of all, everything new that I purchase will be inventoried right away. This is what I call my going forward plan. Then, as time allows, I will methodically inventory everything else.
The key, of course, is not to co-mingle the old with the new. Sure, I may end up with some duplicates but that is better than being so overwhelmed than to do nothing at all. Your plan may be different given the dynamics of your space and your time. All I can say is that if you are fairly new to prepping, don’t let this one slip by. Keep track of what you have from the get go and save yourself a lot of grief down the road.
2. Identifying the most likely risks and prepping for those first.
When I first started, I went off willy-nilly preparing for all sorts of calamities. Earthquakes, terrorist attacks, pandemics, nuclear melt-downs, civil disobedience – you name it, I tried to prepare for it all. These days, I recommend that one of the very first steps that you take when prepping is to evaluate the most likely risks in your area and within your personal domestic situation.
Most if not all city, county and state governments will have emergency management websites that will help you sort through the most likely disasters to occur in your area. Add to this an assessment of your location. Are you in a city where gangs, mobs or terrorist attacks are likely? Do you live in a remote area where the failure of transportations systems or the lack of fuel will cut off you off from supplies from the rest of the world? Is your employment situation tenuous requiring that you build up some cash reserves to get you by just in case the job goes away?
Clearly, at the beginning, some choices will need to be made regarding the best use of your prepping budget. Just remember that food, water and first aid supplies should be at the top of everyone’s list. After that, assess the most likely risks and plan accordingly. A good place to start is 12 Months of Prepping – The First Year which is a recap of monthly supplies, skills and tasks to get you starting on the road to preparedness.
3. Preparing mostly to bug out rather than bugging in.
We all talk about having a bug-out-bag and without question, having your most basic survival items in a pack that you can grab and go if you need to get out of dodge in a hurry is important. But beyond that, over and over I see people acquire all sorts of gear for surviving on the run – perhaps in the woods or bush in a remote location.
I know that in own case and also with the majority of the readers on Backdoor Survival, hunkering down and bugging in will always be preferred to taking off into the unknown with our stuff. For many, the choice to bug in has to do with family, health concerns or financial considerations. That, plus the availability of stored supplies makes bugging in – or staying at home – the choice when a disaster strikes.
At the end of the day, take care of your bugging in needs first and foremost. Plan for outdoor cooking facilities (perhaps an existing charcoal grill?), supplemental lighting (like this $21 Dorcy Wireless Motion LED Flood Lite), stored water, and a portable generator now. Later, down the road, you can expand your supplies to include the essentials for truly bugging out.
That said, pay attention to mistake number 4.
4. Failure to evacuate at just the right time.
When the storm of the century is heading your way, know that it is time to evacuate. Load up your vehicle and go. As much as you feel that your are better off in your own home, if the authorities tell you to leave – and even if they do not – get out of harms way as a precautionary measure. Do so while you still have the ability to load up your vehicle with supplies and fill the tank with gas.
Sticking around when there is at least a 50% chance of a disaster occurring (hurricane, flood, landslides, tsunami,wildfire) is just plain silly. Remember mistake number 2 – failure to evaluate the risks? Part of your planning should be to determine the trigger point for evacuation as well as identification of an evacuation site and a route to get there. Better yet, plan an alternate route as well.
5. Having the gear but not knowing how to use it.
I am guilty of this one as well. I have a Kaito emergency radio as well as some Midland FRS radios. Sure, I know how basically to use them but what if I needed to use some of the more esoteric features? My bad. I also have a hand held compass – a nice one at that – and yet in these days of GPS navigation, would I know how to use it?
Get out the gear two or three times a year and put it through its paces. Not only do you need to know how to use it, but you need to make sure your gear is in good working order. Blades need to be sharpened, batteries need to be charged and skills need to be refreshed.
6. Underestimating other humans as a threat.
In a perfect world, we would all get along and go about our business in a mild-mannered way, not bothering anyone or causing others harm. Alas, as humans this has never been the case. From biblical times forward, man has opposed man. There have been and still are warriors, and armies, soldiers and dictators, enemies and foes.
As recent mass shootings have revealed, mental illness or drugs can make good people go bad. Add the uncertainly and chaos created by an unstable society and the potential for human threat because a major cause for concern.
Whether you embrace firearms or shun them, you still need a way to defend yourself, your family and your property. Consider pepper sprays, martial arts, and other defensive mechanisms in addition to traditional firearms. It is foolhardy to believe that having some means of defense is not needed because “there is no one out to get you”. Desperate people are dangerous people. And the lack of food, water and supplies will turn ordinary people into desperate people in a heartbeat.
7. Buying stuff while ignoring the need to develop skills.
Buying stuff is easy. Save up your money, select your merchandise and go to your local outdoor emporium or Amazon and make a purchase. On the other hand, learning new skills (or practicing old ones) takes time, patience and bit of study. Do you know how to start a fire without matches or a butane lighter? Do you know how to take advantage of natures bounty by knowing how to fish or hunt? And what about growing your own food? Could you do it?
Developing skills to become self-sufficient are every bit as important as having a closet full of the best gear money can by.
8. Lacking the knowledge to properly store your food supplies.
Okay, some might say there is a sixth enemy: namely the two legged type that gets into the tastier items (such a cans of brownie mix) and eats them without telling anyone.
Seriously though, storing food for the long term – meaning five years or longer – does take some care. Brush up on the basics of food storage and set up an active rotation program. You don’t necessarily have to store food for 10 years or longer but what you do store – even for a year or two – should be protected to the best of your ability.
One thing to keep in mind that except for the problem with pests, most food will still be edible even if it is not stored at optimal temperatures in a moisture and oxygen-free environment. But why not learn proper storage methods to insure maximum taste and nutrition. Here on Backdoor Survival, the following articles will help educate and there are plenty of others elsewhere on the internet including YouTube. A few hours of your time is all that it will take to make you a food storage expert.
9. Relying only on yourself and ignoring like-minded members of your community.
When I first started prepping, I did not mention my new little “hobby” to anyone. You know, OPSEC and all that. But about a year into it, I realized that I could not do it all on my own. There were things I was having trouble grasping on my own and I needed help. As I tip toed around the edges of my community, I found some like minded people and much to my surprise, I found that I had skills and knowledge that they lacked.
The mutual exchange of skills and knowledge ensued along with some informal agreements to team up if circumstances required us to be on our own for any period of time. This included teaming up for shelter and food as well as defense.
The importance of having a peer group of like minded comrades in my own community was strengthened as I read R. P. Ruggiero’s Brushfire Plague and continues as I explore other truer than life survival stories,. How you decide to expand your community contacts is up to you but be advised that when it comes to survival 1 plus 1 will definitely add up to more than 2.
The Final Word
These days I feel fortunate that I have come so far with my prepping activities. Moving beyond obsession, the prepping way of life is now a part of my core. It is “what I do” as well as being a hobby and a passion.
Indeed, I have made some mistakes along the way and many of them are listed above. There will surely be others down the road but I know that will be okay since they will afford me an opportunity to learn and grow. At the end of the day, life is all about growth, opportunity and the ability to take care of oneself physically, mentally and spiritually. To me, that is what prepping is all about – mistakes and all.
Are you preparing for the collapse of society? If so, the truth is that you are definitely not alone. The number of preppers in the U.S. has absolutely exploded in recent years.
It has been estimated that there are now approximately 3 million preppers in the United States, and “Doomsday Preppers” is currently the highest rated show on the National Geographic channel.
In fact, you could be living next to a prepper and never even know it.
All over America, families are transforming spare rooms into long-term food storage pantries, planting survival gardens, unplugging from the grid, converting their homes over to alternative sources of energy, taking self-defense courses and stocking up on just about everything that you can imagine.
The re-election of Barack Obama and other recent events seem to have given the prepper movement even more momentum.
For example, in January the U.S. Mint broke all kinds of records and sold nearly half a billion dollars worth of gold and silver coins to the public. Not only that, Americans bought enough guns during the last two months of 2012 alone to supply the entire armies of China and India.
When it comes to prepping, nobody can match the passion that Americans put into it.
So what are all of these people prepping for?
Well, the truth is that no two preppers have the exact same motivation. There is a general consensus among preppers that our world is becoming increasingly unstable, but when you sit down and talk with them you find out that there are a whole host of different civilization-killing events that various preppers are concerned about. Some are preparing for the collapse of the economy.
Others are extremely concerned about the potential for crippling natural disasters and catastrophic earth changes.
Terrorism, killer pandemics, EMP attacks, World War III, martial law, solar megastorms, asteroid strikes and societal chaos are some of the other things that many preppers are worried about.
There are even some preppers that are not worried about any “threats” at all – they just want to get “back to the land” and want to become less dependent on the system.
Whatever the motivation, it is undeniable that the prepper movement has gotten very large and that it continues to grow.
In fact, there was a recent article in the New York Times about preppers that was actually written by a prepper entitled “The Preppers Next Door“…
To the unprepared, the very word “prepper” is likely to summon images of armed zealots hunkered down in bunkers awaiting the End of Days, but the reality, at least here in New York, is less dramatic. Local Preppers are doctors, doormen, charter school executives, subway conductors, advertising writers and happily married couples from the Bronx. They are no doubt people that you know — your acquaintances and neighbors. People, I’ll admit, like myself.
I was absolutely amazed that one of the key mouthpieces of the establishment, the New York Times, would publish an article that was mostly positive about preppers, because the truth is that prepping is essentially a huge expression of a lack of faith in the establishment. Even the article admitted as much…
PREPPING IS THE BIG SHORT: a bet not just against a city, or a country or a government, but against the whole idea of sustainable civilization. For that reason, it chafes against one of polite society’s last remaining taboos — that the way we live is not simply plagued by certain problems, but is itself insolubly problematic.
And that is exactly right. There are millions of us that are entirely convinced that the world around us is becoming increasingly unstable and that “the system” will not be there to take care of us when everything falls to pieces.
With each passing day, even more Americans lose faith in the system and begin prepping. If you are one of those new preppers, there are actually dozens of great websites out there on the Internet where you can get an education about prepping for free. The list of websites and blogs that I have compiled below contains more articles and resources than you could ever possibly need. Hopefully many of you will find this list to be extremely helpful.
The following are 50 of the best prepper websites and blogs on the Internet…
The sad truth is that our world is becoming increasingly unstable in a whole bunch of different ways and we all need to learn how to prepare for the difficult years ahead.
Unfortunately, most Americans simply are not prepared for much of anything.
For example, a large percentage of Americans do not even have enough savings to get them through a single financial emergency. According to one recent report, approximately 44 percent of all households in the United States are just one unexpected event away from financial disaster.
Most American families do not have much food stored up either. One recent survey discovered that 55 percent of all Americans have less than three days supply of food in their homes.
Could that possibly be accurate? Do people really keep that little food in their homes?
Another survey asked Americans how long they think they could survive if the entire electrical grid went down and there was no more power for an extended period of time. Incredibly, 21 percent of those who responded said that they would survive for less than a week, and an additional 28 percent of those who responded said that they would survive for less than two weeks. Close to 75 percent of those who responded said that they would be dead before the two month mark.
So who are the crazy ones?
Are the people trying to become more independent and self-sufficient crazy, or are the people who have complete and total faith that the system will take care of them no matter what happens actually the crazy ones?
I don’t know about you, but I would prefer for myself and my family to at least have a chance to survive if society melts down for some reason.
Iowa Legislator Wants Semi Auto Weapons Confiscated
Wyoming promotes GUN PROTECTION legislation
John Noveske- Owner of Company That Makes Top Quality Firearms Posted Message on Facebook About Mass Shooters Who Had Taken Psychiatric Drugs| — Killed in Car Accident Days Later
Manager of FPS Russia ‘firearms enthusiast’ channel on Youtube- Killed execution style, surrounded by his own guns
India signs GMO Labeling into LAW – Awesome!
Don’t get caught off-guard: 9 Common Mistakes by Preppers
A speech by 85 year old, Austrian born, American Citizen in South Dakota, Kitty Werthmann.
David Chase Taylor is the author of The Nuclear Bible, a book credited with subverting a nuclear terror attack in America on February 6, 2011. After years of researching nuclear terrorism and the doomsday scenario, Taylor wrote the “The Prepper’s 10 Commandments”.
Bug Food 101: Red, Orange Or Yellow, Pass On This Fellow…Black Green Or Brown, Wolf This One Down
1. Thou Shalt Have Options
Always remember that at the end of the day, it’s all about options. Always. The worst thing you can do is plan for a specific scenario that never transpires in reality and get stuck with all your eggs in one basket. Always diversify in everything; your escape routes, weapons, food, money, housing, friends and energy.
2. Thou Shalt Have A Passport
The #1 item every Prepper should have is a valid passport. If you are not in possession of a valid passport, apply for one ASAP and pay the extra money to expedite it. You will not be allowed to leave the United States under any circumstance unless you have a valid passport. Even if you want to stay in America forever, things can change and you want options! Remember, a driver’s license is not a valid form of international identification.
3. Thou Shalt Live Off The Land
The #2 item every Prepper should have is a book on how to live off the land. Stored food is almost worthless because if and when shit hits the fan, most people will have to vacate their property and abandon their food supply. If you are lucky enough to return to your home in the aftermath, chances are your food supply will have been looted and you may starve. By knowing which plants, trees, berries and bugs are edible, you will never go hungry or thirsty. Always remember to get information specific to the area or region you plan on staying in. Naturally, vegetation, bugs and critters vary in different micro-climates.
4. Thou Shalt Network
The best thing you can do right now with no money is immediately begin networking with like-minded individuals in your town, county , state and internationally. The more critical thinking people you have around you the better your chance of survival. Remember, always remain respectful, flexible, open-minded and helpful to everybody you meet in this journey we call life. When the going gets tough, never abandon each other and don’t sweat the small stuff. Most people have a wealth of knowledge they are willing to share it, so soak it up like a sponge and retain the useful information.
5. Thou Shalt Fight Or Flight
Life is about choices, and the following one may be the toughest one you ever have to make:
A. Stay in America B. Leave America
This really is the biggest decision of your life simply because ALL subsequent decisions will flow from it. Most Americans do not have the ability to live and work in another country, so if you have that option, you may want to seriously consider it. This very simple yet basic decision ends up freezing most people who can’t decide either way so they end up not planning for either. Once this basic decision is made, constructive plans for the future can be made.
Stay & Fight
If you unable or unwilling to leave America for whatever reason, you have no choice but to stay and fight. By fight I mean fight with your mind. Violence only begets violence, and it has never been a viable solution to any problem. You are already equipped with the most powerful weapon known to mankind and it’s sitting right between your ears. Don’t be a reactionary or a revolutionary, become an evolutionary. Necessity is the mother of all inventions, and we as a country are in some serious need of evolutionary change. The more people focused on the cancers of Economic Usury, Zionism and Israeli Terror, the faster America will heal as a Nation.
Flight Abroad
The best option for many Americans is to simply give up the rat race, sell your belongings, and buy a one way ticket to Africa, Asia, South America, Australia or even Europe. You will meet awesome people in your travels, expand your mind, elevate your consciousness and be a living witness to what is currently transpiring in America. Who knows, you may find love, a career, or you way back home, but you will never regret it. In a few years when things have calmed down, you can always come back. Because of the powerful influence of Hollywood on a global scale, most Americans are treated like rock stars in almost every place but the Middle East.
6. Thou Shalt Depend Not
Whether you live in America or abroad, the less dependent you are on the system for survival the better off you will be. If you own a property in the city or the suburbs, you should consider selling it immediately and buy property in the country where you can become self-sustainable and self-sufficient with renewable resources such as food, water and energy. Also important is the capability to defend your property with guns, ammo and dogs. The government hates independent people who grow their own food, hunt, fish, and are capable of escaping their economic grasp, so the less you depend the easier it will be to survive.
7. Thou Shalt Invest Internationally
Depending on your current financial situation, you will want to take your money out of the U.S. dollar and move it to an offshore account or invest in property outside the United States. Staying in the dollar is not loyal or patriotic, it’s just foolish. Money is money and therefore it doesn’t matter where you have it so long as it is safe. Investment in international property is a good option with Switzerland being the best of the best options. It’s time to become and international Prepper with a passport. Globalism is here, embrace it.
8. Thou Shalt Expose False-Prophets
Individuals like radio host Alex Jones of Infowars who is allegedly working for STRATFOR, a private Israeli CIA located in Austin, Texas, and James Wesley Rawles of Survival Blog and Army intelligence, will attempt to bait the American people into fighting their own police and military in the wake of a national tragedy. Trust but verify is always the best motto. Just because everybody is talking about it does not make it true. Always remember, any individual that is allowed to articulate an opinion on national radio and TV is controlled, period. Those that are a real threat to the system will never be allowed to speak to the masses using the very same channels that the system uses. Those who are independent, uncontrollable and can truly sway public opinion are systematically eliminated (e.g., Jesus, Gandhi, Einstein, MLK, JFK, RFK, Marley, Tupac, etc.).
9. Thou Shalt Know Thine Enemy
Most people are so traumatized by the news, propaganda, draconian government legislation and terrorizing events that they spend very little time analyzing the enemy profile. 90% of war is psychological, so the better you are able to sift out fact from fiction the better your overall chance of survival. Obeying the government by taking a vaccine or going to a FEMA Camp in the aftermath of a generated bio-terror pandemic is like getting in the car with a stranger offering you a piece of candy. The government will likely lure people into clinics, hospitals and government camps to receive a scarce vaccine only to cull millions with the very vaccine that’s being sold on TV as the cure. As the motto of the Israeli Mossad states, “By deception, thou shalt do war.” Israel is the only modern nation that has not signed the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (refusal to engage in offensive biological warfare, stockpiling, and use of biological weapons). Should a future biological terror attack hit America or any other nation, Israel will be the prime suspect. Always remember, if it’s being reported on TV, it is there for a reason. Don’t be a sucker, think for yourself.
10. Though Shalt Pray
Whatever you decided to do, pray! Millions of people worldwide are waking up to the reality that the system is rigged and that the governments and corporations are a hazard to the health of the people and the planet as a whole. If this current awakening is sustained for another few years, America and the rest of the World can avert the Doomsday/End of the World scenario that has been planned for humanity. We are winning. Anybody that tells you different is using fear to psychologically disable your confidence and lead you astray. Listen to your instinct; after all it’s Godly and will never lead you astray.
and I know I have lots of cartons but just exactly what and how much?
When the storm of the century is heading your way, know that it is time to evacuate. Load up your vehicle and go. As much as you feel that your are better off in your own home, if the authorities tell you to leave – and even if they do not – get out of harms way as a precautionary measure. Do so while you still have the ability to load up your vehicle with supplies and fill the tank with gas.
as well as some Midland FRS radios. Sure, I know how basically to use them but what if I needed to use some of the more esoteric features? My bad. I also have a hand held compass – a nice one at that – and yet in these days of GPS navigation, would I know how to use it?
In a perfect world, we would all get along and go about our business in a mild-mannered way, not bothering anyone or causing others harm. Alas, as humans this has never been the case. From biblical times forward, man has opposed man. There have been and still are warriors, and armies, soldiers and dictators, enemies and foes.
