There's Still Time To Prepare

The problem is, you can’t wait forever to get ready, either.

Today, I want to strike a more hopeful, if not optimistic, note. I’ve explained time and again that most of our society’s problems are beyond our ability to correct and that our “job,” if anything, is simply to survive what’s coming. Our ancestors survived quite a bit to bring us to this point and millions of people the world over endure hardship daily, yet they find a reason to keep living. So can we. But it requires something of a mindset shift and many of us still haven’t made it happen, despite everything that’s transpired as of late.

My objective with this blog is to help readers understand events as they unfold and give some useful advice along the way. In this post, I want to focus on the advice-giving. I don’t ever want to cultivate a reputation of being a “doomer” (I think I fight pretty damn hard against that), but I’m also aware I’ve been sounding more like one as of late. If you don’t believe that things are going as badly as I think they are, that’s fine. But at the very least, I want to divest you of the thought that it could never happen here. I don’t care what you believe as long as you don’t believe that. I think we have more than enough evidence proving otherwise and I’d regard it as a failure on my part if any reader here still thinks everything’s normal and we’re just going through a “bad patch.” After all, it’s been a long bad patch, hasn’t it?

Before we talk solutions, let’s come to terms with some truths. First, anyone reading this blog has experienced at least one SHTF in their lives. If not in your personal lives, then you’ve certainly been part of an SHTF on a public scale. Remember 2020? 9/11? What about a natural disaster? Those were all SHTFs. Since we’ve all experienced SHTFs in our lives, you should all have an idea of what it’s really like and, more important, how you and your family reacted to it. From there, you can determine what your needs are, what your strengths and weaknesses are.

Second, it’s never “too late” to prepare. The only time it’s too late is when SHTF is happening, since you can’t prepare for a disaster that’s already unfolding. There’s a reason why batting practice takes place before the game starts. So as long as it hasn’t happened yet, there’s still time to get ready. It’s like the old maxim about there being no stupid questions. However, good questions turn into stupid ones at the wrong time. If you ever think that talking about preparedness makes you look and sound crazy, just remember how silly everyone looks when something major does happen and we’re all running around in a panic to acquire supplies, leave town, etc.

The problem is, you can’t wait forever to get ready, either. Eventually, the day will come, even if it takes years. If you keep putting it off, then someday, it’ll indeed be too late and you’ll be left wondering why you didn’t have preparations in place for the day. Think back to when something bad finally did happen in your life and how overwhelmed, stressed, and isolated you felt. Unless you want to feel that again, quit putting it off and starting getting ready today.

Third, you’re going to see signs of impending SHTF, but you’ll never know when it actually pops off. In fact, it could be popping off right this moment and you might not know it until much later. Part of the reason is normalcy bias - we don’t want to admit that something’s off the baseline because it means inconvenience for ourselves. The reason why some doomers revel in the thought of disaster is because they think it’s not going to affect them. If disaster does arrive at their doorstep, it’s a different story. They’re as susceptible to normalcy bias as the rest of us. Nobody, not even a survivalist, likes having their routine disrupted and that’s what SHTF does.

The other reason it’s tough to see when it’s really hitting the fan is because the distinction between the more “routine” emergencies and the truly society-disrupting emergencies isn’t as obvious as it seems. We don’t live in a perfect world and humans built civilization in part to better deal with the strange bounces life occasionally throws our way. Handling emergencies is a part of life and no reason, on their own, to get out of dodge or retreat to the proverbial bunker and batten down the hatches.

At the same time, any emergency should heighten your alert status. This can be something as simple as consulting various sources and seeing what’s going on. Never assume that things are “under control;” take the time to learn what’s going on and assess the situation for yourself. The idea is to get into the habit of being informed and aware and staying ahead of the curve, not about being paranoid. Most of the time, the situation will be under control or at least contained. But when the SHTF really strikes, having these assessment skills will come in handy and guide your decision-making.

Finally, if you’re still not convinced, remember that an emergency is any situation with the potential to overwhelm your capacities and resources. Selco Begovic, well-known in prepper circles and a survivor of the 1990s Bosnian War, had a great definition the other day on Prepping Academy Radio Show for what an SHTF constitutes: when there are more people than resources.

Tell me: why couldn’t this happen here? Forget civil war, collapse, or any of the more dramatic scenarios. As I’ve reiterated time and again, the system doesn’t run itself and it’s only through hard work around the clock that we Americans have access to everything we need at nearly all hours of the day. The system is resilient, but any system subjected to heavier loads of strain over an extended period will eventually begin to fail.

It’s like your car running out of fuel. It may have never happened to you, but it can easily happen to you if you’re not paying attention or you keep putting off refilling your tank. If you’ve never ran out of fuel for your car, it’s not because you’re a good person and it’s certainly not because “everything works itself out,” but because you were alert to the possibility it could happen to you and you made the effort to prevent it from happening. Preparing for SHTF is the same thing.

Does that make it all make sense now?

Mental Strength

I’m putting this one right at the top not only because I don’t talk about it as much as I should, but because it’s actually the most important. Being a “prepper” is a way of life; for it to serve as a way of life, it needs to be inculcated as a mindset. It’s definitely about being alert and aware, but it’s also about possessing the resolve to overcome whatever life throws your way. Some people have the alertness and awareness, but lack the resolve, while others possess the resolve, but lack the alertness and awareness. When life does throw that strange bounce their way, they’re taken by surprise and their decision-making paralyzed, or they despair because they lack mental toughness.

Like I say routinely, if you have trouble dealing with life’s challenges in general, you’re going to have trouble dealing with SHTFs. This is why you need to adopt a problem-solving mindset, which is what preparedness amounts to: What is the problem? What do I need in order to fix it? You need to be able to confront issues as if it’s just another day in the life of and not operate with a zero-defects mentality where nothing’s supposed to go wrong, ever. You must approach life with the mindset that there’s always a challenge to overcome, a problem to solve. This is how you avoid panic.

Just this morning, as I was leaving for work, I noticed my keys weren’t where I always left them. I thought I’d left them inserted into my front door lock, but they weren’t there, either. They weren’t on my desk, in my bags, anywhere they might reasonably be expected to be. Obviously concerning, but I stopped and reminded myself: if you got into your residence last night and didn’t leave afterwards, then the keys are obviously still inside the residence! Eventually, I found my keys in my laundry, but applying common sense helped me relax and think of all the little spaces my keys could’ve ended up without resorting to tearing the whole place apart.

Central to mental strength is to develop good, organized habits. That includes keeping important items like your keys in the same place every time, paying your bills on time, keeping your gas tank filled, the list goes on. Likewise, if you have medical or dental issues that need to be taken care of, take care of them as soon as possible. Life is unpredictable, so make it predictable whenever and wherever you can. Worry less about what you can’t control and more about what you can, and one way of doing that is to utilize good habits. Then you can preserve your mental bandwidth for the things that are really worth stressing over.

Finally, have fun. Life really is too short to spend all your time thinking of all the terrible outcomes that may befall you. But it’s tough to have fun when you’re not taking care of the things you need to take care of, hence the need for good habits and organization. Once you’ve taken care of your priorities, remember to play as hard as you work. Whether it’s reading a book, watching sports, partaking in outdoor activities, or socializing, don’t spend all your time working or prepping. Remember: SHTFs won’t be a good time. Depending on how long the emergency lasts, it may be many days, weeks, or even months before you can really enjoy life again. Go back to 2020 for a reminder on what life is like during an SHTF and consider that COVID was a pretty minor one.

Even during SHTF and afterwards, people still find ways to enjoy themselves - reading, watching movies, playing games, etc. Have things on you that can occupy downtime and take your mind off more serious matters. Finding joy even in the darkest of times will keep the light of hope burning.

Find Your Tribe

You’re not going to make it on your own. Got it? Now, your “tribe” need not be your friends, per se. One of the more sobering realizations of our moment is that the people we consider our friends today could end up on the other side of that line in the sand once it gets drawn. I don’t want to sow fear and loathing among you and those within your social circles, but this is simply fact. It’s a miracle we’ve managed to live peacefully with those with such wildly divergent views on life and we’re now seeing that miracle unravel before our eyes.

You need people you can trust when the chips are down. These are typically people who share a similar worldview, recognize the importance of preparedness, and broadly share the same ethical values. Remember what I said about high-trust versus low-trust societies? Create your own high-trust society. If you know someone who believes theft isn’t a big deal, that person cannot be a part of your tribe, no matter how friendly you may be with them today. If they think it’s okay to steal in the good times, why would you think they wouldn’t try to steal from you in the bad times?

Likewise, if there’s someone you know who’s offended by the thought of using violence to defend life and property, such a person may be more of a liability than an asset. Hard times call for hard decisions and someone who isn’t prepared to make them or at least bear witness to them will inevitably get in your way. You need to be surrounded by people who still possess their innate survival instinct, not those who try to suppress it in themselves and others.

That said, carve out an exception for your family. Blood runs thicker than water, whether that fact troubles you or not. Your family are still the only people who are most invested in your well-being, so remember to put them first when creating your tribe. Keep them in mind any time you want to bring anyone else into the fold. Your family are your people and nothing you do in the interest of preparedness really matters unless you can secure their well-being along with yours.

Of course, if your family or anyone else close to you isn’t down with preparedness, there’s no use in trying to drag them along. People learn best through experience and, unfortunately, that includes your loved ones. If they think they can make it on their own or if they choose to rely on the government, let them. You can only help those who want to be helped by you.

Just don’t slam the door in their faces when they come knocking.

You Know What You Need. Go Get It.

Like I said earlier, we’ve all experienced SHTF, either personally or as a member of society. You should have a good idea what kinds of items and supplies you needed most and what becomes more difficult to acquire in times of crisis. In 2020, bottled water, canned goods, rice, frozen foods, toilet paper, all became scarce. Unless standing in line at the grocery store is a favorite pastime of yours, why not stock up on these items now when demand isn’t outstripping supply?

Food, water, medical supplies and day-to-day consumables are obviously top priority. A society, at any given point in time, is nine missed meals away from anarchy. Thankfully, we’re not close to such a scenario, but the point is to underscore how important nourishment really is. Take a look at your pantry - is what you have in there enough to provide you three days’ worth of meals? If not, you need to stock up. I’ve mentioned food buckets before and, depending on whom you ask, they may or may not be an ideal alternative.

Daisy Luther explains at The Organic Prepper:

Many people will be promoting extremely expensive purchases of long-term food in buckets. While that is certainly one way to do it, it’s not the tastiest, nor is it the most nutritious, nor is it affordable. I do have a number of food buckets, but this is my last-resort food, purchased because it will sit there for a long time without spoiling. We all have different strategies here, and if this makes you feel more secure and you can afford it, here is a better-priced package designed to last one person for six months. Another benefit to this type of supply is that it’s easily portable and takes up less space.

Keep this in mind before you start laying down big bucks for food buckets. That said, if you’re really one away from missing your ninth meal in a row, wouldn’t food buckets be better than nothing? As Luther explains, it’s a last-resort. Stay away from processed foods as much as possible, but also understand that in an SHTF, you may not have much of a choice, either.

Maintain a substantial stockpile of bottled water, but have a means of filtering tap water or even acquiring water from natural sources and filtering that as well. It sounds crazy, but don’t take running water for granted, especially if you live in an area with a history of unreliable clean water access, to say nothing of the fact you shouldn’t be drinking tap water without first filtering it, anyway.

Finally, consider your less-frequently used items that come in handy when you absolutely need them. I’m talking things like medical supplies; you never want to have to scramble for such items when you or a loved one is ill or injured. No, you can’t haul everything around with you, but you shouldn’t be going through life completely empty-handed, either. You’d be amazed at how stressful even a relatively minor problem can become just because you don’t have that one little thing you thought wasn’t important enough to have.

For example, did you ever find yourself in a situation where you were scrambling to find a flashlight? Matches? Bandages? Tools, like a screwdriver? Or how about a pen? These items that seem so common suddenly become so scarce when you really need them. It’s not enough to have them, either. You need to have them in sufficient quantities and in places readily accessible. Consider where you spend most of your day beyond your residence - your workplace, car - and assess whether you have what you need readily accessible wherever you’re at.

Finally, get an Everyday Carry (EDC) bag and take it with you whenever you leave the home. I might do a separate entry on what I carry in my EDC bag, but for now, just get one (I use a well-sized fanny pack I wear across my body) and pack it with items you use on a daily basis, along with a few emergency items - tissues, flashlight, pens, cutting tool, maybe even some cash. Preparedness isn’t just about SHTF, it’s about dealing with all of life’s little problems, too.

Lastly, apply the Two Is One, One Is None rule when it comes to preparedness. Instead of carrying one pen, carry two pens. Have two flashlights in your car instead of one. Have spare batteries available wherever you have equipment that needs them. When you hit the road, take two bottles of water instead of one. Two Is One, One Is None is a foolproof way to ensure you always have what you need. That said, exercise discipline: some things are so expensive and unwieldly, it may not be practical to have two of each. For example, generators are costly. Are you really going to buy two of them? If you can afford it, maybe. But you’ll have to maintain them and test them regularly to ensure they still function. Doubling up on certain items may end up being a waste of money and time, so use your common sense when it comes to these purchases.

The key to material preparedness is to buy often in smaller amounts. I’ve said this before, but you’d be surprised at how much stuff you can rack up over time. Be mindful and don’t be a hoarder - buy only what you can afford, buy only what you’ve assessed to be most practical to have according your specific circumstances.

Know Your Area

No, you don’t need to know the precise topography or anything like that. But you should know where key services - city hall, fire and police stations, hospitals - are located. Depending on the situation, you may need to know how to get to these locations. If you have kids in school, know how to get to them as quickly as possible from any point in your area. Know which streets turn into traffic bottlenecks and during what time of day they do. If you live in an area where floods are danger, know where you need to avoid during rainstorms.

If leaving town becomes a necessity, know different ways of getting out, even if it means taking the long way around. It’s better to use the longer, less congested route than it is to use the shorter, more congested route in the event of emergency. Again, if weather becomes an issue, staying off busy roads might be a good idea. Consider owning map books so you don’t need to rely on GPS navigation in case the cellular network goes down or something like that.

Finally, apply the same principles with respect to material prepping when it comes to identifying key services. Just as you should know where these are closest to home, also know where they’re located close to work, school, or any other place you frequent. If you have car troubles or a flat tire at work, are you really comfortable driving to that place near your home, battling traffic along the way? Better to have identified a car shop close to work. Likewise, you may have a primary care physician, but it’s not a bad idea to have in mind a hospital or urgent care clinic close to work you can go to if going to your primary care physician isn’t practical or if whatever discomfort you’re experiencing is difficult to endure.

Give yourself options and avoid relying on single points of failure when possible. At the very least, it’ll make life a whole lot less stressful for you.

Consider Arming Up

I give this advice cautiously, for the obvious legal strings attached. But if you’ve learned anything from reading my Substack, I’d hope it’s that relying on the government to come to your aid is a fatal error. In an SHTF scenario, calling 911 may not even be an option. Yes, we all come in different shapes and sizes, different levels of physical fitness, and different levels of aggression. Regardless, being defenseless is a choice.

I’ve talked at length about the benefits and pitfalls of gun ownership, so I won’t rehash that here. All I’ll say is, unless you want to be a victim, you need to be willing to use violence to defend your life and loved ones and you’re going to need to have some weapons at your disposal. We’re not talking about your run-of-the-mill squabble with some stranger who bumped into you; you’re not fighting your way out of a life-or-death situation with your bare hands. If owning a gun or any other means of lethal violence is more than you’re mentally and physically capable of handling, get creative. I’m not a big fan of pepper spray, but it’s an option (just don’t bet your life on it). Think of other items you use on a day-to-day basis - is there anything in your kit that could be improvised as a weapon? Pens can do a lot of damage, you know!

If you choose to arm up, spend more on ammo and legal coverage than on buying lots of guns. Sure, an arsenal of a dozen firearms is impressive, but realistically, how many are you going to actually employ in a real-world self-defense situation? If we’re at the point you need to unleash your entire arsenal, things have gone very, very bad for this country. It’s just not something useful to prepare for. Ammo, unlike guns, is an expendable and you may want to own some for training. If things really do get that bad, then you could very well end up burning through your stockpile quicker than anticipated. Not to mention the cost of ammo keeps going up, so like anything else, buy it regularly, albeit in smaller quantities.

If you have to choose between spending more on ammo or legal coverage, I’d spend more on legal coverage. Again, unless the rule of law completely falls apart, you’re going to be held accountable for every round that comes out of that barrel and it only takes a single shot to land you behind bars. Never assume the rule of law is absent, either. It may very well be, but your objective is to survive, not satisfy a blood lust or settle scores. Remember that people are being charged with war crimes years, even decades, after the conflict has ended. If your lawyer manages to survive the SHTF, who knows? Maybe they’ll still represent you in court. Lawyers are probably going to be even more important post-SHTF than before.

Attend Classes And Train

Are you bored? Want to do something fun and learn something useful at the same time? Take courses related to preparedness. The way I see it, everyone should be trained up in CPR and First Aid - neither class requires much in the way of aptitude and can make you an asset or even a hero in a real-life emergency. Of course, don’t take these courses with the intention of becoming a hero, but my point is that you won’t merely be a helpless bystander.

Start small and work your way up. Attending a wilderness survival course right out the gate might be overwhelming and may not teach you anything relevant to your specific circumstance. This is why CPR and First Aid are perfect “gateway” courses. The skills are applicable in most, if not all, circumstances and require no experience to become proficient in. There’s also Stop the Bleed courses which, unlike First Aid, are free and provide training nearly as useful. Once you’ve got some of these more basic, free courses out of the way, you can start paying to attend more advanced courses. Eventually, filtering water acquired from the creek and starting a fire will all become useful to learn, but start with what’s closest to home, first.

Training is also a great way to meet people, potential candidates for your “tribe.” No, not everyone who attends these courses do so for the right reasons. But most who do think along the same lines as you do. They agree the government isn’t here to help us and that personal safety is first and foremost our responsibility. Best of all, since they’re all there for the same thing as you, you’re in a safe place where nobody’s going to judge you negatively for daring to notice obvious truths about the world we live in. What better place is there for finding allies?

The more you take these classes, the less alone you’ll feel, and there’s a sense of solidarity you’ll leave with knowing that you’re not crazy for trying to be prepared.

Be Mindful Of Your Money

Just as you should avoid needlessly spending money, you should also look for ways to secure your wealth, even if that means establishing a secondary income stream. Consider a side-hustle - what are you skills and interests? Is there something you can do with them to make money? Maybe something you can do from home?

Of course, if you have a family, then you don’t want to be doing nothing but work, either. This is where getting into investments might be worth considering. That said, be careful - investment is just sophisticated gambling. It might be better to consider 401ks, IRAs, or even life insurance policies. No, you can’t have that money today, but it could secure the financial future for both you and your family.

The only problem, of course, is that 401ks, IRAs, and insurance policies rely on the financial system. Who knows how reliable that is? The lesson here isn’t to withdraw from the system completely, but to at least consider alternate sources of wealth security. Precious metals like gold and silver come to mind. I’m not well-versed in precious metals, so I’ll have to defer to those with more insight in this area.

More from Daisy Luther:

What do you need to hang on to your hard-earned savings and get through to the other side with your personal wealth intact? Precious metals have long been the savings accounts of the savvy. I know, I know. You can’t eat gold. But you can put it back, hidden carefully, and use it to re-establish yourself once things have calmed down.

There will be expenses involved after any kind of conflict or collapse. Many people lost their homes in the South after the Civil War when they could not pay the outrageous property taxes demanded by the Union. You can be assured that any government will be eager to refurbish their coffers with property tax dollars after such an expensive undertaking as war. We’ve already talked about how the dollar is losing its power – but gold and silver will not. In fact, central banks all over the world are heavily investing.

I have a company I use for precious metals purchases. ITM Trading is really big on education, which is why I like to work with them. I’ve learned so much in my consultations, and there’s no obligation or pressure. If you’re not sure whether gold is for you, I recommend you call and get your own personal consultation. It will help you to make your decision, and this is a company you can really trust.

Remember, this is not something you will necessarily plan to spend DURING the hard times. It’s a way to protect your savings through the hard times so that you have something of value left after the fact.

In case you missed it, Luther is saying that the utility of precious metals comes after, not during, SHTF. Depending on the state of the economy and financial system post-disaster, having tangible assets like gold or real estate may be your only real source of wealth. Hopefully, it never comes to that, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to have actual things to your name that store value. It might be overstating it to say paper money has no intrinsic value, but if inflation has taught us anything, it’s that its value is fleeting.

How Are You Preparing?

None of us know what’s really up ahead, either for this country or in our personal lives. It could very well be that in 10 years, we’re still arguing over the same things we are today and the system manages to chug along, with a breaking point nowhere in sight.

What I can guarantee is that each of you will endure at least one emergency in your personal lives during that time. It might not be life-threatening (I hope not), but it’ll certainly test your resources, patience, and sanity. It may last for a day, a few days, or maybe weeks and months. How ever long it lasts, you’ll need to focus your time, energy, and resources in order to address and overcome. You can’t control when it happens nor how, so focus instead on the one thing you can control: having plans and things in place to deal with the most likely of emergencies.

How worried are you about current events? Is there anything in your personal life you’re paying particular attention to? What steps are you taking to prepare for them? What do you think everyone should have that not enough of us have?

Let’s talk about our preps in the comments section.

UPDATE: Reader “Brian Villanueva” shared his prepping ideas:

Max, this is a great post. I pulled some ideas from it: paper maps and aa [sic] EDC bag. Thank you. A few things I would add...

Make peanut butter and homemade bread a regular part of your diet. Flour has about 2000 calories / lb (all carbs) and peanut butter has about 2500 cals / lb (all protein and fat). The combination will keep you alive almost indefinitely. Having 300,000 calories in your house is easy to do, and if you make it part of your regular diet, it never goes bad.

I think we all learned as children: Man can’t live without peanut butter and jelly. Okay, maybe you can live without the jelly. But peanut butter? Like Brian says, it’s an unbeatable combination of calories and protein. Stock up on peanut butter.

More:

Which brings me to the second point... PRACTICE! COVID was a real-life practice run for our food supply -- 3 weeks w/o any outside inputs, until it became clear COVID wasn't smallpox. Later on, we actually wired our generator into our panel, shut off the mains for the house, and lived off the generator for a week. It takes about 15 minutes of generator daily to supply my water needs from the well which can overlap with the 45 minutes daily to keep the freezer frozen -- neither of which I would know if I hadn't practiced it. You likely still have to go to work, but forgo the Starbucks trip and the office bagels so that you can retain the simulation. You (not you personally, Max, since I'm sure you've done this) will learn a lot, and you'll be sick of peanut butter when you're done.

This is outstanding advice and you’ll hear other prepper-extraordinaires like Todd Sepulveda of the Ready Your Future podcast say the same thing: run drills. Don’t wait for SHTF to practice your skills and test out your equipment. The same way the military engages in realistic training scenarios, often imitating conditions troops are likely to encounter in a real war, you need to hold training exercises to ensure you and your family know what to do in the event of emergency. It can be as simple as grabbing your go-bags, throwing them into your car, and taking that long road around to grandma’s house. You’ll see just how prepared you really are and whether you actually have everything you need at a moment’s notice to execute your emergency plans.

If nothing else, it’s a fun activity to occupy you and your family’s time with. Some of your family members might not be down with it, so sweeten the deal - at the end of the exercise, go out to a decent restaurant for a meal, get ice cream, beers, anything to get your people out the door.

Finally:

Finally, on the issue of asset diversification, gold is great, and I like Daisy's suggestion that it's most valuable afterward. We put part of our IRAs into foreign currency CD's though, figuring that currency devaluation happens long before you get to to Zimbabwe or Venezuela territory. Everbank is the company we use but there are others, I'm sure. Even better would be an actual foreign bank account, but those are pretty tough for American citizens to open unless you're really rich.

Again, really good article, Max. Thanks.

This is all very interesting, but I’d advise you all to do a lot of research before taking the leap. When it comes to your money, don’t mess around. If you need to risk losses, risk as little as possible to start until you feel more comfortable in the investment. I bought Bitcoin and Dogecoin last year just before it all crashed; because I invested so little, my losses were minimal and I feel perfectly comfortable leaving that money exactly where it’s at.

It’s good to know prepping is more common than it seems. I wrote this thinking it might be one of my less interesting pieces, even as I personally have a passion for prepping. I know some of you look forward to my commentary on current events more than my prepping advice, but I sincerely hope you find my advice useful, also. Always prioritize your personal affairs over current events.

UPDATE #2: Reader “nedweenie” writes:

When the lockdowns occurred I went down into my basement, looked over my Doom stash and said "Bring it". But having stored food is no good if you can't cook it anywhere. A cast iron dutch oven (and a skillet or two) and a basic understanding of how rocket stoves work should be part of everyone's preps.

Cooking has become yet another thing for the “professionals,” but the reality is, we all should know how to cook. It’s literally a survival skill, yet far too many, especially younger folks, have no idea how to do it without burning down the house. And no, microwaving meals isn’t cooking, though it’s incredibly convenient. Everyone should know how to cut fruits and vegetables and prepare ingredients, too.

More:

Advanced prep is having a family meet up destination in case of being apart when TSHTF and/or when everyone needs to get to a different location and might get separated. Designate routes, stops and communication points on the way. Put a pack of chalk, some pencils and/or some Sharpies (to write name & date on road signs) in your BOB.

If you prep to this level of detail and planning, then you definitely need to run drills. Again, sweeten the deal, especially if you have kids. Treat it like a scavenger hunt. Executing these plans require more coordination and, frankly, trust, than you might imagine and the only way to develop that coordination and trust is to practice.

These are great ideas. Keep them coming!

Max Remington writes about armed conflict and prepping. Follow him on Twitter at @AgentMax90.

If you liked this post from We're Not At the End, But You Can See It From Here, why not share? If you’re a first-time visitor, please consider subscribing!