Three years ago, my husband and I had never heard the terms “prepper”, “survivalist” or “bug out”. We were blissfully unaware of our country’s and world’s dire circumstances and didn’t know how to do much of anything truly useful. This is a chronicle of the journey that brought us to where we are today, and I have included some of the specific books, resources and equipment that are the fruit of much research and thought. We didn’t have much to spend on equipment or commercially packed stores of food, but through providence and thrift, we are much better able to weather the storms ahead.
It was during the spring of 2008, just after our graduation from college, that my husband and I tied the knot. We were barely aware of the financial troubles that were creeping in on the country, except to say that we had both applied for any job related to our fields, but there were so few out there and neither of us got hired. My husband took a job for which he was over qualified, but it was enough to pay the rent on our tiny apartment, a converted attic in a very old house. We had no air conditioning, barely any heat except what rose from the apartment below, and the smallest kitchen in the free world. Every ceiling was at an angle, which let to a lot of hunching and head-thumping and our one and only closet housed the miniature bathroom. But we were two of the happiest people alive. We quickly learned how to live on a very tight budget, within our means, and to be content with what we had.
A year later, we had saved and been blessed with enough to put a down payment on a small and comfortable house with a mortgage payment of 5 dollars more than our pittance rent had been. The house had a yard and I discovered flowers. It started with a few sorry petunias and turned into an all-out smorgasbord of flowers as I tried to learn everything there was to know about growing plants. I mowed through stacks of library books on the subject, not knowing where it would take me. At the same time, my husband was developing a keen interest in economics and soon we had competing stacks of books on our chosen topics until it became clear that several bookcases were needed.
It was during the course of my husband’s studies that he came across words like “the gold standard” and “fiat currency.” The more he learned and the more I took an interest in what he was learning, the more alarmed we became about what the government had done and was doing with our currency, legislation, and constitutional rights. It was not a moment of sudden epiphany, but a slow, creeping uneasiness. We were becoming aware of the fragility of things like our food supply and power grid, and came to the unpleasant realization that in 17 years of formal education, we had not learned one skill that would keep us alive. Sure, we could find Uzbekistan on a map, figure out the square root of 64, or explain what Hobbes thought of monarchy, but we didn’t have a clue how to grow and preserve food, hunt, or build a shelter using only hand tools. Like infants, we were utterly dependent on others for the bare essentials. And we were not the only ones. There are millions of Americans depending on tomorrow being exactly like today or the day before. The food trucks must continue showing up at the grocery to restock the shelves, the gas must continue coming out of the pumps at the local station, and the savings in the bank must hold value until they are ready to be spent.
Were we the only ones seeing the problem with this? Was anybody else paying attention? We felt very isolated in our new-found realizations, until we discovered sites like SurvivalBlog.com and LewRockwell.com. Suddenly there was this community of like-minded people who were concerned about the future of the citizens of the country and weren’t waiting on politicians or the government to “bail them out” should there ever be trouble. We were introduced to the concept of food storage and preservation, and realized that if we were to continue eating after grocery stores were cleaned out by the hungry hoards, my gardening skills must be put to use in a large vegetable garden. I bought books like Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners by Suzanne Ashworth and John Seymour’s The New Self-Sufficient Gardener. I learned the difference between heirloom and genetically modified seeds and why heirloom seeds will be what keep us alive. I learned to can and stocked up plenty of canning jars (while they were on sale, reduced in cost further with coupons bought on e-bay), enough for several months worth of food. I bought the All American 921 All-American 21-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner
We also discovered the Mormon teaching that each family should have enough food stored up to live off for a year. We found that the Mormon church has canning facilities across the country where anybody can come and can basic staples like beans, rice, wheat, sugar, flour, oats and more at “at cost” prices. The canning sessions are four hours long and the whole group packages everything that each person has ordered, packing it either in #10 cans or mylar pouches with the appropriate sized oxygen absorber in each for up to 30 year storage life in some foods. Use of the otherwise costly equipment is free, the cans and oxygen absorber prices are “at cost”, making them much less expensive than can be found online or in stores. Only items purchased at the storehouse can be canned during the session, but bags of oxygen absorbers can be purchased (at 10 cents per absorber or $10 for a bag of 100), as well as mylar pouches (for 30 cents each) and #10 cans (for 90 cents per can+lid, although I would not recommend this unless you intend to “check out” the canning equipment for a few days, which is also free). We were able to, in a single session, can enough food for six months or more for hundreds or even thousands less than commercially available food storage packages. While the cannery is a little shy on variety, it is a great start and the rest can be repackaged from items bought at bulk stores like Costco or Sam’s Club. We purchased food items to break up the monotony of eating the same things day in and day out, like chocolate and fruit drink mixes, and sealed them in the mylar bags (using a hair-straightener to seal the bags, which is much easier than using an iron and most households with a female occupant already own one. Incidentally, we were told not to package items that contain sugar with oxygen absorbers, as it compromises the quality of the food). As non-Mormons, it was a little daunting to go to our first canning session, but we quickly realized that most of the people there weren’t even Mormons. There was no pressure to “convert” and we were met with generally very friendly people. These canning sessions could be a wonderful place to build the foundations of friendship with like-minded locals, and share the good news of Jesus in due season.
Just a few months ago we felt very heavy with the prospect of having to learn so much as soon as possible. We were finding out just how much we didn’t know and that was almost paralyzing. Thanks to God’s miraculous guidance, we have become friends with many people who already know life-preserving skills and are willing to teach us. Like children, we must learn to walk before we can run, and have the humility to ask for help when we need it. Surviving the chaos to come depends not just on our own skill set, but on the community of capable people we choose to surround ourselves with.
Both the use of our disposable income and our mindsets have changed drastically over the past year. What seems very clear to us is not always obvious to those we love and care about. We have encountered many reactions to this shift in our lives, ranging from enthusiastic curiosity, to denial that anything could ever go wrong, to belligerent opposition. We have heard from several loved ones, “I will just die and meet Jesus” or “you are worrying and aren’t relying on God to provide for you.” On the surface, these seem like pious responses. We must remind our friends that “just dying” is not an option. Starvation is a slow and painful process, made even more painful by watching loved ones suffer and not being able to help, when with forethought help could have been given. Instead of “worrying” when times are bad, we have the things we need and won’t be in a position of constant worry. To the charge of “not relying on God” we answer that He has given us a sound mind and the conviction that action must be taken before it is too late, thus providing for us in hard times to come. Like the wise ant in Proverbs 6, we are storing up provisions in summer and gathering food at harvest. The changes we have made are not just a way to eliminate needless danger, but a way of life. In good times and in bad, we will grow our own food because it is satisfying. We will live off the land because it is sustainable and there is pride in seeing the work of our hands. Being prepared does not mean unpleasantness, but great fulfillment of life.