CRN Articles
If you are tempted to believe that prepping is not meant for you because you barely have the funds for it, put a stop to that thought. Let us take a walk through some prepping possibilities that your budget might be able to cover, and how to manage your tight budget. While we may want to have everything that is beyond our reach to stay prepped, the truth is this; we need a few necessary things as preppers. Every other word becomes secondary.
So, if you are scared of prepping on a budget, have a rethink and readjust your mindset, because nothing has ever been so easy and yet be of value as much as prepping does. With just about $100 to $200, some survivalist purchases can be made, which will be able to satisfy the basic needs of man for nearly a week. You should note that in the case of natural emergencies such as flooding, National Weather Service advises the public – individuals, groups – to keep enough survival supplies that will meet all basic needs for at least three days. While hoping that whatever emergency that occurs goes away quick, and you can continue with your life.
There are few essentials which are needed by a survivalist in the wake of emergencies, they might include but are not limited to
• Non-perishable foods –To get products that fall on this category in bulk, you will need to be on a constant watch out for when your local supermarket (e.g., Walmart) put them up in the sales section – that is when they are on sale. At such points, most of the items that fall under this category go for less than $5 per pack. Not to get products that are quickly ready for consumption, better still, those you can consume immediately. Also, take note of products with longer shelf life, so that there is a reduced chance of going bad even before an emergency occurs.
• Bottled Water – a need for clean drinking water in the case of emergencies cannot be overemphasized. Various outlets put value packs of bottled water on sales now and then – some value packs with as much as 35 bottles go as low as $3.50, making for an easy buy. Furthermore, you can choose to get by-gallon (1-7 gallons) containers to store purified water.
• Other necessary accessories – a light source, blankets, a medical kit, toiletries, can opener, etc.
It should be noted that the human body can survive without water for only as much as three days, and without food for just about 21 days (let’s not hope for that). So you see, stocking up on food and water is very necessary. These are the primary necessities, as they will help give you a clear mind while waiting out.
Another very pocket-friendly way to prep while on a budget is by forming a coalition with like-minded persons or friends. This way more items are easily covered by the contributions made in the group. You even get to have enough to afford small paddle boats in the case of flooding.
By Austyn Lehman (Justin Miles)
Moving is always a stressful period in your life, but it’s even worse for a prepper. There are multiple aspects that add to this event that I, as a prepper that is moving cross state lines, must handle. In this article, I will address these issues and even offer tips to help you before and during you move.
Issue One- Angry Spouse Syndrome.
If you weren’t upfront about your prepping or they didn’t know the full expanse of your pretty, your about to get an ear full. The easiest way to fix this to at least get them okay with your prepping before this, but during the time of your moving, it is probably too late. All those boxes of freeze-dried food, gallons of emergency water and those not-so-cheap guns are going to come out of the hiding spaces. If you have kids, this will have similar affects. I don’t know about your own personal life, but it is something you will have to cover before the move.
Issue Two-How Are You Going to Move with All Your Supplies?
There are multiple methods to cover this. This first is to pack all your supplies in hardened storage cases, which you can purchase at your local hardware store. These are stackable and do hold up to the abuse that a move will provide. I would pack your more fragile preps with news paper and to zip tie the holes to keep the boxes closed during the move. The next and cheaper method is to use hardened moving boxes. I would not get the bigger ones since even these can’t handle too much weight. Also make sure to label all your boxes with titles like “Christmas Decorations”, “Junk Drawer”, or even “Printer Paper’. You want to do this for obvious reasons.
Issue Three-Which Moving Companies Should I Work With?
There are hundreds of moving companies out there that handle everything from a local move to even companies that handle cross-country moves. I will not go into companies since more pop up by the year and I want to make this relevant for years to come. You want to look for companies that have a pick-up policy that is based on your schedule. Thankfully, with the shipping container craze, this is more possible than ever. Many new moving companies use shipping containers to ship your items to your new house using a combination of unused train cargo space and their trucks. How it works is that a company of your choice will drop a small to medium cargo container in your drive way and you fill it up on your time. They will then pick up your filled container, take it to the nearest train depot, and it will be sent to your new city or state. I believe this is the best way for a prepper to move because the moving company workers never see your items, it is cheaper than a traditional moving company, and you have upwards of a week to fill the container.
As a separate note, I do not recommend shipping your firearms in the container. Instead, follow the laws of the state your moving into and the states your passing when it comes to locking your guns in your vehicle if your driving. If your taking a plane, I recommend looking at shipping your guns and ammo to your new location, but this can be an extremely pricy package.
Tips While Moving as A Prepper
The first tip I recommend is that you don’t pack all your preps. Most preppers have bug out bags, or any other term you want to call it. I’m personally adding to my bag and keeping it in the vehicle. With this, you would have the bare basics of prepping with you on your long trip.
The second tip is to learn the road ahead of you. You never know when an emergency will happen. As such, it’s best to have multiple routes for the trip ahead. Also have multiple backups for your travel aids. This can be anything from a trusty map to a handheld GPS device.
The last tip involves making contacts in your new location before the move. Resources like Facebook and reddit with their prepping and survival communities can help you understand your new location. Also check out local crime statists, weather, and natural disasters that are common in the area.
I hope these tips and issue topics has helped you on your road to preparedness.
Good luck and long live the Republic.
Children and a SHTF Scenario
It goes without saying that any SHTF event will be stressful and difficult for those involved. Sudden, extreme changes in environment, lifestyle, and outlook would be enough to throw anyone for a loop, and even the best prepared preppers and survivalists might well find themselves battling disbelief, confusion, and even despair as new realities emerge in a post-SHTF world. As difficult as this new reality might be for adults to adapt and adjust to, the situation might well be even more confusing and stressful for children. All situations will vary, as will your responses to each situation. Have you lost power, or is all communication and services out? How long do you think the situation might last? Are you in physical danger? Is it a man-made or natural disaster? Is outside help available, and can you trust it? Will you bug in or bug out? The answers will vary, but the underlying theme of surviving and even prospering remains essentially the same.
Adults, in general accustomed to the responsibilities of earning a living and raising a family, will no doubt feel the additional stress of trying to accomplish these goals in a vastly different environment, with far fewer conveniences and amenities, and considerably less assurance of good outcomes. They will, however, have those familiar type tasks to help reduce anxiety, focus their attention, and keep their minds and hands busy in their determination to provide for those in their care. There will be a certain amount of comfort to be found even in generally mundane tasks such as serving a meal or collecting firewood when working with the knowledge that you are striving for the good of your family. Hard work and the satisfaction of knowing you are doing your best under difficult circumstances is important and rewarding in itself.
Children, on the other hand, thrown into a strange and unsettling situation, with limited ability to fully comprehend the events that occurred or the dangers they now face, may well feel completely adrift with the loss of routines, friends, and school which previously comprised so much of their lives. While adults try to adapt, and scramble to provide food, shelter, and protection, children may be left with overwhelming feelings of loss and emptiness with no sense of how to regain some balance, and too much time to fill.
There are some basic steps which can be taken though, which may help children to adjust to their new reality. The first, and most obvious step is to explain what has occurred, and what might be expected going forward, while at the same time providing as much reassurance and comfort as possible. Keep explanations simple and age appropriate, remembering that in stressful situations all communication must be scaled down and as clear as possible. While adults will want to hash things out and talk over all sorts off possible scenarios and outcomes, this would be too much information for most children to hear, especially younger children, so keep adult talk private, and try not to arouse more fear and anxiety. Children also may not be able to absorb everything at once, so keep it simple, be positive, and repeat as necessary.
Next, establish basic routines. Kids always fare better with structure and boundaries, and in a post-SHTF situation they will need them even more. The closer to their old routines the better, as children will likely be seeking security through familiarity. For example, establish regular times to get up and go to bed; continue before and after meal chores and tasks; and assign age-appropriate daily procedures to be followed or completed. Encourage older children to help younger ones, and emphasize the importance of all members of the family working together to achieve goals. Remember to thank them for tasks and chores well done. The children will need extra reassurance and support, and adults taking the time to recognize effort and skill involved and verbalize praise will go a long way towards restoring confidence.
Since play is an integral part of the learning process for children, they will need time and resources available for both independent and cooperative play. Depending on the nature of the SHTF event, there may need to be big changes in the type of play and toys involved. For example, older children who may be used to TV and video game time after school may now be without electricity to power their electronics. Younger children, used to interactive toys that light up and make sounds or music may also need some encouragement to experiement with alternate toys. Having a box with some basic non-electronic games and toys in your preps will be helpful to keep both young and old from boredom and provide needed distraction from anxiety. A deck of cards, a jump rope, a puzzle, simple board games like chess or checkers, and a set of dice will keep active minds and fingers busy. Outdoor games and sports will help relieve stress as well as promote physical strength and endurance. Enlist the kids help to plan and hold your own olympic-style event or design and set up an obstacle course.
Older children will be especially helpful in a game you might call, "How else can we do this..." Using creativity and logic, and finding teachable moments along the way, challenge teens and older children to find alternate and better ways to accomplish tasks. How many ways can you build a fire? Who can take a tarp and make the best shelter? How can you build a warning signal into your perimeter defense?
No one wants to have to go through a large scale disaster scenario, but with proper prepping and planning you can increase your odds of individual survival and even thrive as a family as you face the challenges and obstacles together.
Anne Schief, 2018
Sister to 4 brothers, mom of three, Nana to 5. Registered Nurse with a background in psychiatric and pediatric nursing.
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In most communities, a fellow that is trying stock up a bunch of things together in expectation of an absolute natural disaster that has not been announced, which might never even get to occur, will be seen as a crazy fellow. For those that are preparing for a zombie apocalypse or doomsday, the look also gets crazier.
In truth, prepping is not meant for a particular group of persons, it is open to all who might care about the situation of things during emergencies. Funny it may be, but one thing that is very certain is that one is getting prepped for the unexpected – expecting the unexpected. Whether or not it is necessary, with regards to the fact that such an unexpected occurrence might never come to pass, is a dilemma inspired question. Because if it finally occurs the question will be thrown out of the window, and everybody will want to give the prepper a bear hug! If we understand the need for a home or auto insurance, then we are little underway in recognizing the importance of getting personally prepared in our way for whatever ill fate might bring our way. Prepping is a way to reinforcing your insurance, in a way that the value of the benefits is not entirely determined by an outside factor, like an insurance agent that comes after a disaster to evaluate and tell you what you will benefit. You insure your cars or your home, not because you wish for something terrible to happen to them, but because you know there is a tendency for something terrible to happen. So, what do you do? You look for the best insurance agency available with the best deals. And for some token, you sign up your properties. Now, you feel a little more secured driving around in your car, or while living your everyday life at home, because you know that if an emergency occurs, there is an agency to cover a more significant percentage of the costs incurred by the crisis. That is how it is with prepping. You spend a few token today so that you can feel more secure today, and in the future when an ill-fated emergency MIGHT occur. Socially, prepping creates a new mindset in the mind of preppers. A view that lets you see everything as is, and to become more willing to help out people. Selflessness, that’s the word. By this, it becomes evident that preppers are the core of the society in times of distress. They are the helpers, who in their absolute readiness unburden their community. Prepping is one of the best services to humanity, that you can personally get involved in. Those who have always stockpiled enough have ever been known to be more receptive, and tend to help out those who were not prepped for emergencies, even in communities that are not theirs – as volunteers 0 Comments
PREPPING – THE BASICS
Hello there, welcome! If you are reading this, it is probably because you want to understand the basics that underlay prepping/survivalism. In a world filled with uncertainty and loss of hope, there is a tendency for the worst to happen at any point in time, a consequence of which we might never be able to recover from in a very long while. If at all. It is at this point that “PREPPING” comes in. The word prepping at a glance can be confirmed as being a derivative of preparation; preparations made in anticipation of emergencies, whether individual or uncertain. The preparations made can include • Stockpiling of non-perishable foodstuffs – a pile that is strong enough to cater for more extra mouths than you budgeted for because emergencies tend to bring those who have not been prepared for the home of the prepped. Creation of survival bunkers, Acquisition of relevant survival skills through seminars and group orientations, to give you a feel of what other preppers are doing, and to learn from professionals who have been on it for a while. • Purchasing of survival kits (medical kit, survival backpacks) – for your cars and home. • Mapping out budget or savings for emergencies. Whether such emergencies ever come or not, we are happy to know that we have prepped! The emergencies one might get prepared for can be • Political or civil disturbance – wars, state of emergencies, terrorist attacks, gang wars, etc. • Complex emergencies – that might have various problems, such as food shortages, a failed economic or social systems, internal conflicts. • Natural disasters – earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc. • Health risks – disease outbreaks. These are likely scenarios that you can get prepared for, but on a scale that is a bit comical; some survivalists prepare for situations that are very unlikely to happen such as a zombie attack, Doomsday preparation, and domination by robots or some beings from other planets. In a more realistic tone, Prepping merely is done to provide a safety ground that gives you support until an unfortunate situation provides room for normalcy to return. On that note, we can include more personal emergencies like • Out of job prep – a prep that will you see through the rough times without a steady income. A prep will allow sanity to prevail in times of such distress, as you have fewer things to worry about. • Accident emergencies – this can include a case of a severe fire outbreak in your home, what do you do? If you lose a limb to an accident, have any preparation been made before the time for just in case? In understanding these basic scenarios, you will be able to tell the sort of prep you have to do, as encountered emergencies – natural disasters, political disorder, etc. – take quite a different route from your more personal emergencies. This will be discussed in another post. |
