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I haven’t always considered myself a “prepper” or “survivalist”. When I was 16 years old, Bill Clinton was elected president and my dad swore he was out to take all our guns away and stick us all in concentration camps. So he bought a room full of cheap camping gear and useless crap that ended up sold in a yard sale for a fraction of what he spent on it. The Y2K scare brought on another spending spree by my dad although by now, I was married and out of the house so I had no idea how much stuff he had bought until he called me over sometime in 2001 to help him take a load of it to Goodwill. About 5 years ago he and my mother divorced and he retired. With nothing else to do with his time or money, he started spending again because he was sure the Obama Administration was Hell bent on declaring martial law and coming for our guns.
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He was always preparing for an all out apocalypse but, when a hurricane would threaten our area, he was always scrambling around to find an extra case of water and a few cans of beans. My dad was a very smart man but, very impulsive and unorganized. When he passed away about 2 years ago and we set about the task of cleaning out his house, my family was overwhelmed at the amount of stuff he had accumulated. What was even more overwhelming was the randomness of the things he had. He had 2 rooms full of survival/prepper gear but, (knowing what I know now) probably did not have enough essential items to last more than a few days off the grid. My brother-in-law and I went through these 2 rooms and kept a few things but most of it was junk. So we took the rest to a gun show and unloaded it.
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A few months later my wife and I were watching The Walking Dead. She commutes about an hour to Tallahassee everyday to work and I commute about 30 minutes. During a commercial break, she asked me what would she do if something bad happened and she was unable to get home. So I started doing a little research on survival kits for our vehicles (what I now call our 72 hour bags). During my research, I came across a review of the (God awful, post-apocalyptic fairy tale) book Patriots. I bought it on Google play and since I had already spent six bucks on it, I suffered through it. When I finished it, I was beginning to form some ideas for long term preparedness. After finishing Patriots, I was looking for similar books and Going Home popped up on my suggested reading list. BAM! I was hooked.
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But along with being hooked on the books, I was also overwhelmed. How could I ever get all the things done that I needed to do to get my family prepared should disaster (big or small) strike. I decided on a “start small” approach. I gathered up all the bare necessities for a 72 hour bag for myself, my wife, and our son. I wouldn’t say they are perfect but, I am always tweaking them. We are currently working on a emergency plan with time frames and rally points to get us home in the event of a disaster. We have started planting fruit trees and have started a garden on our property. Our next project is to gather all the supplies and make all the preparations we would need to survive a regional disaster lasting 1-2 weeks. After that, we will increase the time frame to a month and work up from there.
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What have I learned through all this? Being prepared is an ever-evolving process. Don’t expect to be prepared for the end of the world in a few weeks, 6 months, or even 2 years. Take the time to come up with a plan for your preparations, don’t just haphazardly buy stuff. It all takes time. I have also learned that it doesn’t have to be a gloomy, grim process. It can be fun. My son and I love to put on our packs and take off on a hike, we enjoy planting trees as a family and honing our shooting skills on the range. I have been reading many of the forum posts and I feel like I have found a place of like-minded people!!!!
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He was always preparing for an all out apocalypse but, when a hurricane would threaten our area, he was always scrambling around to find an extra case of water and a few cans of beans. My dad was a very smart man but, very impulsive and unorganized. When he passed away about 2 years ago and we set about the task of cleaning out his house, my family was overwhelmed at the amount of stuff he had accumulated. What was even more overwhelming was the randomness of the things he had. He had 2 rooms full of survival/prepper gear but, (knowing what I know now) probably did not have enough essential items to last more than a few days off the grid. My brother-in-law and I went through these 2 rooms and kept a few things but most of it was junk. So we took the rest to a gun show and unloaded it.
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A few months later my wife and I were watching The Walking Dead. She commutes about an hour to Tallahassee everyday to work and I commute about 30 minutes. During a commercial break, she asked me what would she do if something bad happened and she was unable to get home. So I started doing a little research on survival kits for our vehicles (what I now call our 72 hour bags). During my research, I came across a review of the (God awful, post-apocalyptic fairy tale) book Patriots. I bought it on Google play and since I had already spent six bucks on it, I suffered through it. When I finished it, I was beginning to form some ideas for long term preparedness. After finishing Patriots, I was looking for similar books and Going Home popped up on my suggested reading list. BAM! I was hooked.
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But along with being hooked on the books, I was also overwhelmed. How could I ever get all the things done that I needed to do to get my family prepared should disaster (big or small) strike. I decided on a “start small” approach. I gathered up all the bare necessities for a 72 hour bag for myself, my wife, and our son. I wouldn’t say they are perfect but, I am always tweaking them. We are currently working on a emergency plan with time frames and rally points to get us home in the event of a disaster. We have started planting fruit trees and have started a garden on our property. Our next project is to gather all the supplies and make all the preparations we would need to survive a regional disaster lasting 1-2 weeks. After that, we will increase the time frame to a month and work up from there.
*
What have I learned through all this? Being prepared is an ever-evolving process. Don’t expect to be prepared for the end of the world in a few weeks, 6 months, or even 2 years. Take the time to come up with a plan for your preparations, don’t just haphazardly buy stuff. It all takes time. I have also learned that it doesn’t have to be a gloomy, grim process. It can be fun. My son and I love to put on our packs and take off on a hike, we enjoy planting trees as a family and honing our shooting skills on the range. I have been reading many of the forum posts and I feel like I have found a place of like-minded people!!!!
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