It's Serious Business

So, I'll be starting off my part of this site with a barrage of questions.  Don't worry about having all the answers right now, though; that's what we here at BCP are going to be helping you with.  Now, my point with all these questions will hopefully be obvious, but if not, I'll lay it out here for you to refer back to: Details, regardless of how small, will pile up and regardless how insignificant they might seem, when you're already stressed everything tends to add to misery.  

One of the reasons we prep is to increase the chances of survival for ourselves and members of our family/communities. Another reason is to ensure you've shreds of sanity left when you find yourself on the other side of the situation.

It's going to take determination, a healthy amount of stubbornness, and an unyielding will to become a person who can survive the crap hitting the fan. Both men and women will be facing threats like rape, murdered life partners (both gay and straight), enslavement, miscarriages, suicides, and death from things that once upon a time were innocuous.

If you're cringing right now: Look, honey, I warned you in my first post that words would NOT be minced.  I will NOT sugar coat what you will be facing.   Far too many preppers do that already.

Now, this list might seem overwhelming.  However, consider this your reality check if you think prepping is easy.  Every last question is going to need answers. Fortunately, this leads us to that old saying, "Knowledge is Power."  In this case, it is power to increase your, and your loved ones',  abilities to survive. Learning everything you can now will help you maintain the calm in your home, reduce the stress of the situation and help your group feel more in control of their surroundings during times of crisis.

All right, are you ready? Here we go.

1. Do you know the bugs in your area (spiders, ticks, chiggers, etc)?
2. Do you know how to alleviate discomfort associated with their bites?
3. What works in keeping them away from you both inside and outside?
4. Do you know how to preserve food without electricity?
5. Do you know how to build a dehydrator and how long to keep foods in for?
6. Do you know where you can find a source of salt in your area? Can you extract it?
7. Can you make your own vinegar? (This can be used for things like food preservation and washing your hair.)
8. How about the preps you've done for kids? What are you going to do about orphans you encounter (and you WILL encounter them)?
9. Can you make simple toys for them?
10. What are your daily activities that you can include them in?
11. Do you have books put back for them that can teach them basic math, reading and writing skills?
12. Are you going to teach them how to use weapons? If so, which ones?
13. Back to kids, have you thought up games that they can play even now where they get to learn crucial survival skills and responsibility? (Bless children and the fun they can have in learning.)
14. Do you know the allergies that might possible for your group to develop? The diseases?
15. Have you put back any birth control/condoms or even two types of pain relief (say, naproxium sodium and aspirin)?
16. How are you prepared for the monthly menstruation?
17. Do you know any herbs that are local that help alleviate cramps and PMS?
18. What about pads? (Tampons....feh, we'll go over why those are a bad idea in that post later on.)
19. Have you figured out a reusable replacement for pads, when you run out of the nice store bought ones?
20. How are you going to clean them and also keep yourself clean?
21. Can you identify four animals good for food?
22. Can you build traps to catch them?
23. How about cleaning and preserving their meats?
24. Do you know how to turn part of the animals organs into a liquid that will let you tan their own hides?
25. Do you know the best seasons in your area to trap during and often to trap?
26. Could you capture wild rabbits and ducks and then re-domesticate them?
27. Back to weapons: can you make any?
28. Have you made peace yet with the fact there will come a time where you will have to take someone else's life in defense of yours and your family/friends?
29. Can you stone knapp?
30. Have you given any thought to safe alternatives toilet paper?
31. How are you going to dispose of your human waste?
32. What about your teeth? Do you know which trees are good to make primitive tooth brushes from?
33. How about when it comes to crafting? Like crochet, sewing, knitting, ceramics/pottery, ropemaking, thread making, weaving, woodworking, leather working, making candles, making baskets or even very basic bandages?
34. Can you build a few different basic shelters?
35. Do you know the edible plants in your area (be they wild greens or an ornamental plant in your neighbor's yard)?
36. Can you keep what will then be packs of feral dogs at bay? Do you know how?
37. Do you know the symptoms of rabies and how to treat it?
38. Do you know the symptoms of scurvy?
39. Do you know what foods (both wild and stored) are high in vitamin C in order to prevent scurvy?
40. Do you know nutrition well enough to be able to throw together a well balanced meal from your stores for someone who is weak from disease or injury?
41. Do you know what Pellagra is and how to treat/avoid it?
42. Do you put back foods that are already in your diet?
43. Have you learned how to cook those foods that are going to new additions to your diets in a variety of ways?
44. Have you put back (hidden) a few bags of candy (from which a handful can "magically" appear whenever there's a low in morale)?
45. Are you putting back vegetables and fruits, not just grains, legumes and proteins?
46. Have you put back teas, drink mixes, instant coffee for when just water gets old (which it does rather quickly)?
47. Can you spot the signs of depression in others and work with them to help get through it?
48. Do you understand PTSD? (Despite vain hope, all humans are susceptible to PTSD. Everyone is going to be witnessing and experiencing traumatic things during the collapse. Expect for many people to end up with it in a broad range of varying degrees of severity. Also expect them to be in pain from it for years. Learning how to deal with it NOW could and will end up saving lives.)
49. How about board games? Have any games of strategy (chess, Stratego, Risk), of luck (Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly) or just simple silly fun (Uno, checkers)?
50. What kind of books have you put back and is there a broad range (your favorite science fiction like Star Wars, fiction like that by Stephanie Osborn,  or biographies of people you admire)? How about reference and how-to manuals?
51. Can you raise a duck egg from hatchling to adult and then breed them for more eggs and more ducks?
52. How about milking animals? Helping them give birth or when they have an egg stuck?
53. Can you start plants from seeds?
54. Do you know how long the growing season is in your area?
55. Have you double checked to make sure your seeds will actually grow in your area?
56. Do you know how to turn waste (human and animal) into safe to use compost?
57. Food preparation: What are you going to do when the fuel runs out?
58. Do you know the trees that are most common in your area?
59. Do you know the difference between hard woods and soft woods and how long each takes to dry out before its safe to burn without it giving off smoke?
60. Have you figured out how serious prepping can be and how all-encompassing?

Because we have.