Prepping pertains to preparing yourself and your family for natural disasters such as earthquakes, zombie apocalypse (kidding!), typhoons, fires, doomsday, and a lot more. Equipped with the right skills and knowledge of some important tips on how to start prepping, you will be alert and become smarter in handling yourself and family if a disaster comes up.
If you are bothered by the disastrous events in the recent years, or you simply had that gut feeling of protecting your family in case some disaster happens, you’ve come to the right site.
You may think that there are government agencies, police, and professionals tasked to rescue people during natural disasters. However, the truth is, it’s better to rely on your skills to save yourself than wait for them to end your suffering.
In essence, you need to plan your survival before something unfortunate happens and deal with events smartly before help arrives.
Tip #1: Check your area
Check your area to be aware of the common threats before you start prepping. Some areas, especially those near water bodies and active volcanoes, are prone to certain natural disasters such as landslides and flooding.
Do your research, list that information, and use it to your advantage. It’s the first step toward learning survival prepping skills.
Tip #2: Come up with a plan
The most critical step in prepping for disasters is to come up with a plan. Consider the kind of disasters that may strike, activities to do, skills to learn and adapt, and of course, the purchases that need to be crossed off the list.
It’s best to attend to the most pressing things then pass the plan and divide the efforts that need to be met with family members.
Make a checklist of the commodities to buy, drills to practice, and skills to learn. You might even want to learn how to start a fire with wet wood.
Furthermore, you might want plan on the budget too. You can’t just go off storming into the supermarket and buying off everything on the list, can you?
Tip #3: Make a carry kit and a handy prepper manual
A daily carry kit consists of small household items such as band-aids, matches, gauzes, alcohol, safety pins, iodine tablets, swiss army knife, flashlight, etc. will help you to feel more secure and prepared.
These items are probably lying inside your drawers already so why not take advantage of them? Make each family member carry a daily kit too.
Likewise, making a handy prepper manual is critical when prepping. A prepper manual should contain emergency contacts of who to call, etc. in times of need. It should also note the place of where to meet up in case your family isn’t together in the event of a disaster.
Also, you may put instructions regarding certain complex skills such as spring water testing or using iodine tablets to purify water. Make copies of this manual and distribute it to your family members.
Tip #4: Store non-perishable food items
Most prepping guides advise storing non-perishable food items all the time because you wouldn’t’ know how long one disaster can last. These types of foods don’t spoil and are still edible after a long time. Dehydrated and canned foods, as well as biscuits, are some examples of non-perishable foods.
Related article: Establishing How Much Food And Water To Store
Store enough food in your cupboard while waiting for things to cool down and go back to normal. There’s no point in stacking up rows after rows of food items; just purchase enough food for the family that will last for a week or two.
Tip #5: Educate yourself
Learn more about the prepping world by watching shows or documentaries about prepping. There’s no doubt that visuals of these kinds are more easily remembered than wordy texts.
Shows and documentaries will show you step-by-step guides on particular skills and activities such as purifying water, surviving floods and fires, using tactical knives, tying knots, etc. There are also a lot of good survival books that will teach you how to survive during various emergency scenarios.
You may also want to check out the Prepperwebsite.com, Americanpreppersnetwork.com, and Survivalistboards.com for a more in-depth understanding of the prepper world. You can also ask them questions related to prepping.
Tip #6: Prepare a bug out bag
The bug out bag is the bag you’ll rely on until help arrives or the situations go back to normal. It should contain the least amount of necessary things you need for survival because you simply can’t carry a 50L backpack while clutching your kid’s hands.
We always have these things on our bug out bags:
- Map/compass/GPS
- Non-perishable food
- Water (1 gallon/person)
- Clothes for layering
- Survival flashlight
- First aid kit
- Swiss knife
- Medications and basic medical supplies
- Sanitation/hygiene items
- Radio
- Extra phone chargers
- Blanket
- Firestarters (matches, cotton ball with Vaseline, tinder, etc.).
Tip #6: Acquire prepping skills
Gardening, hunting, finding other means of communication, identifying edible from non-edible weeds or plants, fire building, food foraging, etc. are some of the skills every prepper needs to learn or relearn again.
But when it comes to survival, there’s so much more you need to learn. We could fill this page up with bullets but for the mean time, below’s a video clip of the top survival hacks every human needs to know for emergency purposes.
Tip#7: Get in shape!
One of the most important things you can start doing today to prep yourself is to get in shape. Remember, the fitter you are, the more capable you are to survive doomsday.
Let’s face it – it’s hard to move or navigate the body when you’re out of shape. Running away from a tumbling building or swimming away to safety will be tedious when you’re always out of breath.
So, get off your butt and start brisk walking or jogging around the neighborhood. You don’t have to go for miles – you can increase the intensity according to your body’s pace.
When something disastrous finally does arrive, most tasks will require manual labor and the machines you’ll be using will mostly run on the force of your hand or foot.
The best thing is, getting fit won’t break the bank unlike stocking up on supplies and devices. Of course, you can go to the gym, but you can also just hit the streets and start a running regimen.
Final Thoughts
There you have it preppers, our top 7 important tips on how to start prepping! Now, go move and start your way to fitness then make a checklist of everything – from food items and material things to skills you need to learn or relearn again. Follow these tips and thank us later when doomsday comes!
Hey there! Did you find this post useful? Do you want to share other prepping tips? We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments section below. Don’t forget to hit the share button. Thanks for reading!
Article written by Christina Quiroz for Prepper’s Will.
Author Bio:
Christina is a young blogger who is very passionate about her work. Her long experience has a blogger made her an expert on different niches like home, outdoor, lifestyle, leisure, etc. As a blogger, she believes in quality content and backs up all of her posts with relevant research information.
It is her goal to share this quality information in the form of guidelines, reviews, lists, and other types of blog posts to her readers. She believes in constant exploration and evolution as a blogger. You can learn more about Christina at Rainy Adventures.
Other Useful Resources:
Discover the lost ways of living of our ancestors
A DIY Project to Generate Clean Water Anywhere
Learn how to Safeguard your Home for when SHTF