So a lot of people probably got to this page because they really want to skip to the “just tell me what to buy and I’ll buy it and then I’ll be ok” part. Apologies, but I’m not going to do that. The key take away is to figure out the basis of how to prep and then figure out what you need to make that work for the situations that you feel you want to be better prepared for. Be flexible, be adaptable, don’t panic.

A key take away is: You need to have more than one way of doing things. Ideally a single preparation checks off the boxes on a number of things at once, but you need to have a backup way of doing things in case your primary way fails or doesn’t work because of the specific crisis scenario you happen to be facing.

All preparations (preps) are based on the following:

• Shelter

• Safety

• Food/Water

Shelter

Shelter is basically anything, and it may not be your day-to-day comfortable home/apartment/etc…, that supports your ability to stay alive. It keeps you separated from the elements, keeps you warm, dry and able to rest safely.

….more about shelter…

Safety

Safety can take on all manners and shapes and forms. Personal health can include things like medications, personal hygiene, equipment and skills. We’ll break these down further on.

Food/Water

Pretty self explanatory, but it can be incredibly challenging depending on the situation. While you could eat lifeboat rations (essentially dry crackers with amendments) and sterilize water from a puddle…it would be miserable and demoralizing.