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Prepping: Where to start?

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mtsfitness

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Interesting in becoming as prepared as possible in case of an emergency. Any suggestions or resources about where to even begin such an endeavor? Budget friendly would be preferred. Also any insight in what some of you might prioritize in doing so?

Any information or insight would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
Other people might have different advice but I will share the following.

The list of priorities to consider in order of importance in my opinion are the following:
- clean water
- warmth
- knowledge and training
- food
- medical supplies
- utility items (like flashlights, small stoves, electrical and other power generation, communication devices, etc.)
- self defense
- have a plan and to have a safe location to meet loved ones somewhere in the case of disaster

Start out with considering these concerns for 72 hours and make them portable so that you can leave the area if you need to. Then spiral out to 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and eventually an indefinite self-sustainable solution for a lack of public services and electricity.

Others will probably be more help with specifics, but these are general ideas that I find helpful.
 
AR-15 , 20 mags , ammo fort , 4 wheel drive , ... Usual suspects ... Apartment dweller , renter , homeowner , suburbia , rural ? ....

Carry a few things all the time. Standard recipe is : gun, knife, flashlight.

Fill your gas tank at half empty , and check your spare tire and jack. Put a bottle of water and a granola bar in the glove box.

Stop buying things on an " as needed " basis. If you wear contacts , get ahead on them , if you drink coffee , have some back up and rotate it. If you need a new lightbulb , but a few extras. Etc.

Start with planning for minor problems that immobilize " normal " people - like a flat tire , dead battery , have the stuff your grandparents had : candles , batteries , a sewing kit , basic QUALITY tools that don't take batteries.

i live in an old house. It was built before plumbing , electricity , oil heat. So I looked around and started thinking what would I need to live that way again. Water , heat , light , a pantry with stuff that doesn't require refridgeration.
 
Good advice above.
If you have sex, get a case of condoms. [smile]


I'm a little bit of a prepper, got fuel, generator, 3 months food, 1000 gals of water tanks......
 
here's a beginner short course:

1. avoid most things marketed as "prepper" or "survivalist" equipment.

2. be able to protect yourself: guns, ammo, and know how to use it

3. stock up on 30 days of necessities like food, meds, paper goods (tp), soap, etc. Take note of what you use on a regular basis and gradually stock up by buying extra until you have a 30 day supply. obviously, you don't want to stock perishables so find substitutes for anything that might not last 30 days on a shelf or be usable without refrigeration. For example, you're not going to stock a month's worth of bananas but if you normally use canned tuna then get extra of that. But don't go out and buy 100 cans of tuna you've never tried only to discover the brand/style makes you gag. Just buy what you would normally use and rotate your stock as you use it, using the oldest purchased items first.

4. Get a first aid kit and have a some drinking water handy

5. bug out plan - if you need to leave your house today, where do you go and how do you get there?

6. cash or cash equivalent - have some handy

once you have this, come back and ask what's next [smile]
 
righteousbarbarian said:
Other people might have different advice but I will share the following.

The list of priorities to consider in order of importance in my opinion are the following:
- clean water
- warmth
- knowledge and training
- food
- medical supplies
- utility items (like flashlights, small stoves, electrical and other power generation, communication devices, etc.)
- self defense
- have a plan and to have a safe location to meet loved ones somewhere in the case of disaster

Start out with considering these concerns for 72 hours and make them portable so that you can leave the area if you need to. Then spiral out to 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year and eventually an indefinite self-sustainable solution for a lack of public services and electricity.

Others will probably be more help with specifics, but these are general ideas that I find helpful.
Click to expand...

This a good way to look at prioritization. It's easy to get overwhelmed because everyone is preparing themselves for different things. The first step is to decide what you're preparing for. Is it a blizzard that knocks out power for a few days or is it a zombie apocalypse that lasts for decades? I was buying all kinds of dumb stuff for a while until I really asked myself what I wanted to be prepared FOR. It's still good stuff, but it doesn't fit an overall game plan so it's really just stuff taking up space.

The 72 hour idea is great to get you jump started and will come in handy for pretty much anything you're likely to experience. After that, what many folks do is just buy more of everything when you shop. Instead of buying a jar of peanut butter when you're out, make sure you have a couple. Do this for a while and suddenly you have a bunch of stuff on hand that you're used to eating. Nowadays it's called "prepping"; it used to be called "buying in bulk" or "stocking up on sale items".

The other benefit of stocking up food this way is you don't end up with a bunch of crap that A) you don't like, B) you don't know how to cook or C) goes bad because you don't really eat it. Before you buy that pallet of flour, ask yourself how often you expect to be baking bread. If the answer is "when SHTF I'll be baking bread all the time", you might not need it.

Disclaimer: I'm no expert.

Oh, and part of being prepared is keeping your body in some kind of shape. You don't need to be ripped, but if you can't walk a mile or shovel your own driveway you might look into getting a little exercise. Most things you really need to "prep" for are (IMO) caused by nature. Being able to cut up downed trees or move a bunch of snow without having a coronary is a good thing.
 
Start by bring prepared for the most likely emergency. I'd say in New England that is a blizzard/ice storm that leaves you without power for a few days. Imagine that scenario, make a list of what you need, start accumulating.

A blizzard list would include water, food, a camp stove, candles, and a means to heat your house. Firewood if you have a stove, or a generator if you need to keep a furnace going.

Establish a deep pantry with food you regularly eat. Stock it and use in rotation. Then add long term food storage.

Then work on defense and long term self sufficiency.
 
ToddDubya said:
...Oh, and part of being prepared is keeping your body in some kind of shape. You don't need to be ripped, but if you can't walk a mile or shovel your own driveway you might look into getting a little exercise. Most things you really need to "prep" for are (IMO) caused by nature. Being able to cut up downed trees or move a bunch of snow without having a coronary is a good thing.
Click to expand...

This is good advice that is often overlooked when discussing preps. Get yourself in shape, get any issues you may have now taken care of, get in the habit now of taking care of yourself.
 
Varmint said:
Good point. On my short list is Lasek surgury and getting snipped. :)
Click to expand...


Because you can't see yourself having any more kids? LOL

Seriously, there's some great advice in the above replies. Start with a plan. Buy a little extra every trip to the grocery store. You'll be really surprised in a few months how quickly it adds up. We started with just a cardboard box in the basement. It grew to a large table, then some shelving...now we have 2 walls lined with shelves and are trying to figure out a new layout in the basement to fit all that and more.
 
Defense - A rifle with a sling for each person capable of using one. Preferably AR because it is the most common. Any mag fed gun will do though. Normal capacity (not cripple 10s) mags, at least ten of them for each rifle loaded at all times. ARs are amazingly cheap right now. If you don't own an AR you need to buy one now along with some PMAGs.

I put the rifle on top because frankly, if you know how to use it you can get everything else below and keep yourself alive. If you're dead, having preps is meaningless.

Water - either store it if plausible, or Know where to get it and have a way to make it drinkable. It's hard to beat a gallon of bleach inside a clean food grade bucket on price alone. More expensive, but portable options would be life straws or Katadyn Hiker Pro.

Shelter - a place you can keep dry and warm, normally this would be your house IF you don't live in a metropolitan area or a slum. Have a way to heat it without electricity for a short period without power. Too many ways to list here, best is a wood stove (not pellet).

Food - start by buying a couple extra of anything you usually eat that has a "best by" date of one year or more. Examples of these are spaghetti, tuna, sugar, salt, VITAMINS and honey. If you can save up money on the side, plan a bulk buy for things like rice, sugar, flour and salt and store them in Mylar bags with an O2 absorber inside a 5gal bucket. Don't buy freeze dried foods or MREs unless you can afford it. They do have impressive shelf lives but are expensive per calorie.

Ammo. Lots of it. It will take you 10k rounds to really get comfortable if you're just starting. Notice I didn't say good, I said comfortable. And by comfortable I don't mean slow fire at the square range @ 50yds for 10rds on a quiet Sunday. I mean learn to use it like a soldier.

A pistol for each capable person preferably all the same model and caliber, five mags for each loaded.

A way to carry the pistols, pistol mags and rifle mags once you can afford it.

IMNSHO: it's better to have the guns, ammo and mags without a "nice" way to carry them, than to have a plate carrier or battle belt but only two mags. A pistol will still stay put just fine in your pant waist and mags do in fact fit in pockets just fine. When I see people on a budget I shake my head when they start buying infantry gear before they've bought ammo and learned to shoot the damn gun. If you're not budget this is not an issue, buy the gear. And train with it on!!

If you are already into guns and proficient, and can afford it, take a pistol and a rifle training class with a high end military background trainer. What you will learn from them is worth every pennyard they will break the square range nonsense that many people have no idea how to function outside of. If you can't do this, at least go do some competition shooting that involve running through courses.
 
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Where do you live... an apartment in the city will have different needs than a house in the country. What skills do you have? Can you hunt/fish/garden? What situation do you want to be ready for...something like Hurricane Katrina where you might be without food and electricity for a few weeks or are you getting ready for the zombies? Point is look at your needs, look at your strengths and fill in the gaps between them.
 
 
RLBreton said:
I'm a big fan of Jack Spirko from TSP - I credit him for "saving" me from going off the deep end when it comes to prepping and buying anything and everything. He's got a metric ton of free content to digest via podcast. Here are some good places to start:

http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/episod-1056-part-1-of-zero-to-prepared-fast-simple-and-low-cost
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/zero-to-prepared-part-2
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/episode-626-prepping-from-starting-out-to-advanced-tactics
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/develop-your-personal-survival-plan
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/holy-crap-1
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com/holy-crap-2
Click to expand...


so glad you posted that. I was going to search for these and suggest them as well.

Also, join The Survival Podcast forums. But listen to those podcasts posted above first so you don't get overwhelmed with how to start.
 
PennyPincher said:
so glad you posted that. I was going to search for these and suggest them as well.

Also, join The Survival Podcast forums. But listen to those podcasts posted above first so you don't get overwhelmed with how to start.
Click to expand...

This is some of the best advice.....DON'T get overwhelmed and quit.

If you could outline some parameters of what your goal is, more refined advice can be given, but as stated earlier, water, shelter, food, warmth, defense are a good start. Then you can fill out with extras like TP.
 
To to the gym and work out. When the food and ammo runs out and can chase down the ebt fatties and eat them (might as well as we have been feedin them) or escape from the cannibals
 
Get to know your neighbors, you're gonna need a small community if things get really bad. Otherwise people will take your stuff or worse while you're sleeping.
 

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