Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Prudent Prepping: Back to the Basics

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Our wonderful, talented, and all-around amazing Editrix Erin recently sent me a link to the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management prepping page. This lead me, Alice-like, down the Internet Rabbit Hole of related pages -- some of which had useful information, some that should be ignored, and others that should be nuked from orbit. Sorry, no links to those last ones.

While looking at the good, the bad and the truly horrible, it seemed to be the right time to review Basic Prepping, in case there are new readers or if (like me) there are people that are receptive to emergency planning in your circle of friends.

Prepping Basics 
Every one of the authors here have covered Prepping 101. I recommend reading from the start to see what all of us bring to the table. Another good resource are the "Other Blogs We Read" in the sidebar on the right. While these are not the only places to find information, every site in that list is a source we approve, for what is there.

Where To Start
Believe it or not, the San Francisco page has an easy-to-read layout and a simple, inexpensive plan for beginning preppers. Please don't be put off by the talk of earthquakes, since the three most common natural disasters -- tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes -- all do much the same damage and leave the impacted areas looking very similar: smashed or toppled buildings and homes destroyed. Specific planning can be easily tweaked for your area.

Talk to your friends and co-workers
Ask the people you see daily and who talk about camping or hiking what, if anything, they have for disaster preps. Not only may you find a more experienced person than yourself, you may turn out to be the Old Pro and the source of good information.

Where to find good information?

Prepping and Other Books 
One of our original authors, Evelyn Hively, shared this book review of Country Wisdom two years ago, along with this guest series of Electronics For SHTF. Chaplain Tim has suggested several books, and so have I, and Erin has shared a .pdf library of useful information.

What every site, book and author that targets budget preppers says is this: Start with what you have and use right now. One of my friends, who started prepping after finding out I do, inventoried his pantry and was amazed at how well stocked he was to start!

Buy what you use right now. Just get one more can, bag or box this shopping trip and one more of something else next trip. Store your extra items where you can get to them in an emergency AND so you can rotate older things into you day-to-day pantry. As you add to your stored food week by week, in three months you will be well on your way to a 72-Hour supply of food! 

As your friends get more and more serious about prepping, the book options expand very quickly. I wrote about the books I gave as gifts and the reasons for the particular book going to each friend.

Other Websites
During my trip down the Internet Rabbit Hole, I found a site that has a mixed bag of pages on Prepping. This is not an "approved by Blue Collar Prepping site"; it's just another place where some good info can be found. While many other pages have bigger followings than some on our Recommended List, you will have a hard time finding pages that are as down-to-earth as the ones we have endorsed.

I would like suggestions from all of you about other books and places to find prepping on a budget information. And if you can, please write a short article about the reason you like it and submit it to our Editor as a Guest Post!


The Recap
There is no Recap this week, just a reminder to talk to your friends and family about keeping them safe from natural or man-made disasters. You will feel better and it may keep someone safe in an emergency.


Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!


NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

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