There are many times when people wish they were more careful and better prepared for a situation. How many times you said to yourself “Oh! I wish I haven’t done that..” or “Oh well, it’s too late now, let’s check what we can salvage”. Preparing for something means you’ll have the resources available to get you past any difficult situation and you should avoid making mistakes. Some of the prepping mistakes described in this article are being made without even realizing it.

You’ve always wanted to learn more about the prepping world. You are eager to improve your survival skills, but making prepping mistakes is inevitable. It’s not the end of the world and you can always learn from your prepping mistakes.

While you should be concerned about the government, the economy, and natural disasters, you should also be concerned about how you are prepping. If you have everything you need and if it’s possible that you’ve made some prepping mistakes without knowing it.

Here are the prepping mistakes most of us make, without even realizing it.

Prepping mistakes to avoid:

Contents hide

1 Prepping mistakes to avoid:

1.1 Being a loud mouth is not wise

1.2 Stranger Danger

1.3 Store it safe

1.4 Don’t stop prepping

1.5 Worry about the now and face the future later

1.6 Don’t get too paranoid, it’s not good for anyone

1.7 Keep Calm and be rational about it

1.7.1 Highly recommended reading: How to survive martial law

1.8 Learn, learn and learn some more!

1.8.1.1 Other Survival and Preparedness solutions you may like:

Being a loud mouth is not wise

Keep it secret because nobody needs to know about your supplies, your guns, and your prepping methods. Some preppers will not shut about it and I can’t understand them. They will tell their friends, the media and social networks like it’s the biggest achievement of their life.

Some preppers will talk with everyone around them about what they are doing. About what they have stored and what they plan to do if S hits the fan. The problem with this should be obvious. If something will happen, people will be heading to your home. They will start demanding you to give up everything you’ve worked so hard for and bragged so easy about.

Maybe you should keep it safe by not saying a word to anyone and becoming a lone wolf. Even your closest friends can turn on you when the times are harsh. Although I understand the need for acceptance and the need to be part of a community, being a loudmouth is one of the biggest prepping mistakes you can make.

There are other ways to find trust-worthy people that have the same interests as you. You have to play it smart and you have to keep most of it to yourself.

Stranger Danger

You should not trust strangers, especially in an emergency situation. I don’t think I’m the only one that has noticed about our society becoming less and less friendly and about the race war the media is promoting. The harsh reality is that trust-worthy people are very hard to find these days. Unfortunately, it’s a dog eat dog world out there.

During an emergency, there will always be someone that wants to be let in, or ask you to help them. Helping a stranger during an emergency can turn into an ugly situation and this is one of the prepping mistakes you should avoid. You can politely decline or ignore them altogether. During a disaster, you should assume that everyone is out to get you. You have to play it smart and keep it to yourself until the situation passes.

Of course, there will always be those “friendly freeloaders” you know, friends or family, and you won’t be able to look the other way. I’m not going to tell you how to deal with them because I’m in no position of doing that. Only you know what is best for you and for them. Maybe this is one of the prepping mistakes you have to make in the end…

Store it safe

You should think about how you store your supplies. More importantly, where do you store your supplies. One of the most encountered prepping mistakes is to have all your supplies in an area that is easily accessible. The last thing you want is for someone to come over and see what you have. You should always put your supplies in an area where few people will go, such as your basement, attic or any other place known only by you.

However, this is not all and from what I’ve talked with other preppers, most of them don’t have a Plan B for their supplies. Making prepping mistakes is also about not having a safety net when it comes to your supplies.

In my articles, I’ve written about a method I’ve invented, a method that will save your supplies. I’m talking about the “pantry decoy method” or how to have a few items out in the open or “not hidden very well”, while the rest of your supplies are well stashed.

This will trick any home invaders and if you put up a good show, they will be convinced they’ve got all your supplies. Many readers told me about how they started to use this method as a plan B for their supplies. Maybe you should do the same if you want to keep your provisions safe. You should avoid making prepping mistakes when it comes to your supplies.

Don’t stop prepping

You may have a well-equipped pantry and you have enough guns and ammo. And if overall you have enough supplies, you will think that you’re prepared enough. You will stop doing it or pay less attention to it. This is something that happens to all of us and it happens because we get that comfort feeling that we’ve done everything we can and we are good to go. Wrong! There’s always room for improvement and there’s always something you can do.

You can build a generator, buy some more food invest in a piece of land for a bug out location, etc. You can even improve your home so that it can withstand an attack, strengthen your fence or build a panic room. No matter how much you think you’re ready, you’re probably not. There are many prepping mistakes you can do, but becoming numb and comfortable about your prepping actions should be avoided.

Worry about the now and face the future later

Don’t neglect your ongoing problems such as bills or personal projects just because you’re into prepping and the now doesn’t seem a threat to you. Don’t spend all your money on expensive stuff that you will use only for an emergency when your fridge is empty.

You shouldn’t start prepping if you don’t have the resources to do so, it will only affect the quality of your life and prepping will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Everyone should prep at their own reasonable pace so that they can be financially secure and won’t have to worry about selling stuff just to get some extra money.

If you neglect your current problems you will not get to worry about the future ones. Prepping mistakes like this one can even destroy a family.

Don’t get too paranoid, it’s not good for anyone

It’s great to prepare in case of an emergency, but you shouldn’t take it too far. There are some extreme preppers out there that are constantly living on the fringe, believing that the worst is always around the corner and they spend all their free time worrying. Don’t be like that because it will do you more harm than good. Having a healthy dose of paranoia can be good, but don’t let it consume you.

Stay rational about your prepping and don’t be the one who gives preppers a bad name. Paranoid people will be kept at a distance within their community and they will be the first to be reported or blamed when something happens in their area. There will be people saying “I bet that crazy prepper has something to do with it”. Being paranoid is not one of the prepping mistakes you want to try, you will only hurt yourself.

Keep Calm and be rational about it

If something does happen, you have to keep calm and make sure you make the best use of the options you have. Running around in fear will cause you to make stupid choices and it will get you killed. Stay calm and face your situation with dignity, regardless if it’s a natural disaster or if martial law was declared.

Irrational people are the first to die, either by emergency fallout or human actions. You don’t want to be seen as a target when everything around starts to crumble. When it comes to prepping mistakes, losing your cool is the number one factor that will get you killed.

Highly recommended reading: How to survive martial law

Learn, learn and learn some more!

If you’re reading this, odds are you have it pretty good. You have the Internet, running water, snacks, and everything that you need for a comfortable life. We think we are so smart and we trick ourselves into thinking we know how things work when in reality all the technology we have and all the progress we are creating is just making us dumber.

You use your smartphone every day and you know how it functions, but do you really know how it works? Of course not!..and we don’t even care. All this because we are used to having everything given to us and we take it for granted.

The internet will not always be there and there won’t be people to help you when the lights go off. You have to learn how to make it on your own. You need to learn new skills or develop the ones you have.

It all depends on the abilities people have, but one thing is certain, we all need an SHTF library. Having books that can teach you how to preserve food or how to do home repairs should be a must for everyone, not only for preppers. Assuming you are an expert prepper is one of the biggest prepping mistakes you can make.

Prepping Mistakes You Should Avoid