7 Steps To Start Prepping For Emergencies!

So 2020 was a rough year. 

We saw massive hurricanes, including one spot in the Gulf Coast that was stuck by two different hurricanes mere days from one another. We also witnessed one of the worst fire seasons in history as well, as more acreage was burned in the western United States than in any other year in our history as well. 

We also saw the highest unemployment rate in the history of the United States, hitting nearly 15% and dwarfing what we saw during the 2008 Great Recession. That’s also not to mention the massive rioting, protests, and civil unrest that occurred in major cities all over the country. Never has the country been more politically divided, at least in most of our lifetimes. 

And finally, we witnessed an ongoing global pandemic that claimed the lives of over 200,000 Americans, and which resulted in many economic lockdowns that exacerbated the high unemployment and political divisions as well. Several lockdowns in states such as California are continuing this day. 

Needless to say, 2020 was one of the most crappy years in most of our lifetimes. 

But while 2020 will be remembered as a bad year, it also needs to be remembered as the year that reminded us that our society is a lot more fragile than most people like to believe.

This is also why so many more people have opened their eyes to the concept of preparing for emergencies. Becoming a prepper is no longer something that is thought of as being something that only crazy people do. In other words, it’s no longer a social stigma. 

Now, it’s something that’s viewed as more mainstream and something practical that all Americans should be doing. The very fact that millions of Americans flocked to stores last year to stock up on food, water, household necessities, toilet paper, and ammunition should be a clear indicator of that. 

In fact, FEMA now encourages all Americans to be preppers and has created a checklist of items that they recommend people keep stored in their homes at all times. 

But since some people are just getting into prepping, hopefully this article can serve as a good introduction on what you need to do, specifically in regards to common mistakes, the top scenarios to prepare for, and the different stages of being a prepper. 

Step 1: Avoid The Fantasies 

First and foremost, it’s important to avoid indulging in common prepper fantasies. A lot of preppers have this idea that they need a bug out bag, a machete, and a gun with lots of ammunition to survive the end of the world. 

The reality is these things are unlikely to help you, at least not in the ways you may think.

Where you should start prepping is for the most likely scenarios that are likely to happen to you and your family, which may be dictated based on the region where you live.

Natural disasters (hurricanes, blizzards earthquakes, tornadoes, flooding, etc.)? Extended power outages? Economic disasters? 

Think carefully about what you think is the most likely to happen to you and prepare accordingly. 

Step 2: Get Ready To Shelter In Place

While most preppers want to start by investing in a complete bug out bag, the truth is that you are more likely to shelter in place at your home rather than bug out.

Bugging out is rarely the right course of action to take because it forces you to evacuate your home and your possessions, and it leaves you exposed out in the open. Bugging in at home is almost always safer, and also may be mandated by the authorities. 

Step 3: Prep To Survive For 3 Days

Therefore, prepare for disaster under the assumption that you will be digging in at home rather than bugging out. Focus on stockpiling supplies at your home so you could shelter in place and ride it out for a minimum of three days. Start with FEMA’s three day emergency supply kit.

Step 4: Prep To Survive For 2 Weeks

Once you have acquired enough supplies where you could last for three days, it’s time to bulk up your supply to at least two weeks worth. This is when you would be wise to invest in an emergency supply kit bucket that provides enough servings of food to last you for up to two weeks.

Step 5: Prep To Survive For 1 Month

The next milestone after two weeks will be one month – enough food, water, and supplies that your family could literally shelter in place for one month. One way to do get enough food would be to buy another emergency supply kit bucket (or buckets), but there are additional measures that you must take at this stage. 

One of the most important items to invest in is a water purification system that can take dirty water from outside and make it drinkable. 

Another wise investment to make is in batteries and reusable batteries, as well as a solar charger to charge those batteries, for your electronic items. 

It’s also vital to invest in home defense firearms if you haven’t already, as well as ammunition, magazines, and the time in learning firearms training and maintenance to keep them in good condition.

Step 6: Prep To Survive For 3 Months

At this point, it should be easy to reach having enough supplies for three months if you have enough for one month. All you need to do is invest more in perishable items, such as more food, water, batteries, and so on. Invest in more food buckets, for instance, and add onto your stockpile until you have enough for three months. 

Step 7: Prepping For More Specific Scenarios 

Once you and your family have stockpiled enough items and supplies to last for up to three months while sheltered in place at your home, now you can begin to prepare for more specific situations. 

Think a cyber attack against the country, an EMP attack or a solar flare, the Yellowstone volcano erupting, or even a worse pandemic. And while these situations may sound like fantasies, they’re really not and are each scenarios that could each play out in America (just the chances are less likely than a natural disaster). Prepping is now becoming mainstream if it isn’t already, so hopefully the above situations don’t sound too far fetched to you as they may have once been.