The End of the World as We Know It (TEOTWAWKI): statistically speaking, the odds are that you and your family are going to die. However, because you are reading this, you have decided that you want to die of old age in the event that Schumer hits the fan.
1. Your Level of Preparedness is dependent on where you are living. If you are living in large metro city. Then have about 60 days of supplies. After that time in a true TEOTWAWKI situation living conditions will have deteriorated to the point that it is unlivable and you will die of disease, starvation, gunshot, etc. Any condition less than a true TEOTWAWKI will have had services restored to the level of existing with unpleasant difficulty at least within a few months.
2. Bug out just before TEOTWAWKI: If you haven’t prepared a suitable place with lots of supplies stored or fleeing with a convoy of semi’s filled with supplies. Then you will become either a refugee or looter. Neither status will be welcome in rural America.
3. Urban residents can prepare for limited disasters or a situation where bugging out will be for a limited time where the government will continue to function.
Semi-rural and rural families have the possibility of long term survival with adequate preparedness.
1. Everything starts with planning. The first of every year should be list of what is needed for survival. If you’re just starting. Then a list for three to six months is a good starting place. After that long term projects and items are included in subsequent lists. Every year I make a list of at least twenty-five goals in the area of survival to accomplish. Every hour of actual preparedness should be directly related to an equal time in study and planning. A good survival library is a must.
2. Study and research into the field of Survival will become your second job. This is serious study and not just reading internet blogs. Several months ago I was annoyed by a lady that was asking questions on an internet site that revealed that she had only an elementary school level of knowledge of first aid and was totally clueless about nuclear fallout. Yet she had found time to post over 850 entries over the last six months, but not had bothered to do even the most basic reading.
3. Your bug out bag should be in your car and contain what is needed to get home if the roads are gridlocked and you have to walk. Your home should be your survival outpost. The last thing you should become is a fleeing refugee being herded into a government refugee camp.
4. Develop an operation plan that details what each family member is expected for them to do during the first 72 hours of a situation. Different tasks for different situations. This will keep a focus on accomplishing necessary tasks that will make the difference between a family’s survival or succumbing to the disaster.
5. Prepare for those that are welcome to hunker-down with you. This is the worse part; you must give a warning in uncompromising language that others must come prepared to your gate. Recently my best friend from childhood observe red one of my many storage shelves and exclaimed, “Why should I prepare, I’m coming to stay with you if anything happens”. Sadly I had to inform him if he showed at the gate with nothing but his appetite, he would be turned away. He asked if our lifelong friendship didn’t mean anything. I simply replied, “Which one of my children goes hungry, so that I can feed you?”
6. Do include those that you know well that are willing to make the commitment to actively contribute and not be a burden to your family’s survival. Two other families will join us in their campers and they have already stored their year’s supply of dehydrated food in our basement. Besides, you will always need the additional firepower in an unpleasant situation.
Summary: Preparedness is an ongoing lifestyle. Survivors usually survive by hunkering-down in place, well prepared and mentally conditioned. The secret is to maintain a well prepared and strongly defended low profile habitat and keep your wits while other are losing their’s.