Look at my new article - The 3 S’s of Prepping

By Christina Moore

It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you first start thinking about getting into prepping. That overwhelmed feeling you get when you start reading articles and how-tos is why so many people eventually give up. The truth is that most of prepping boils down to “The Three S’s”: Stuff, Storage and Safety.  Let’s take them one at a time.

Stuff

This is the easiest thing for people to understand. Preppers stash away what seems like a staggering amount of stuff. A lot of preppers aim to stash away at least a year’s worth of food and other supplies. That’s a lot! What newbies have to remember, though, is that you do not have to buy everything all at once. That would be crazy (and ridiculously expensive)! The better approach is to accumulate over time and to pay attention to sales. It’s also a good idea to start with the most important stuff and then start adding fun or other, less essential supplies as time and your budget allow.

So what does this mean? It means that you should start with food and water. And when you’re starting with food, start with things that (when properly stored) are non-perishable. This means going for beans, rice, flour, canned goods, and bottled water and then when you’ve got your year’s worth on hand, start supplementing with perishables.

NOTE: “Perishables” in this instance doesn’t mean fresh meat or produce that will go bad very quickly. Perishables refers to storables that expire more quickly than the dried goods (canned meats, fruits, etc).

Storage

Obviously, if you’re going to be accumulating all of this stuff, you’re going to need someplace to put it. When you are first starting out, you can probably keep your supplies in your basement or garage or even a small shed on your property. It probably won’t take long, though, to outgrow that space. If you’re raising your eyebrows right now, consider this: the CDC recommends that even a bare-bones, most basic level survival kit have enough bottled water to keep each member of your family hydrated for a minimum of three days. We’re supposed to drink eight, eight ounce glasses of water every day. That’s 64 ounces, or half a gallon of water per person per day. If you have a family of four, that means that to meet the CDC’s standards you’ll need to keep six gallons of bottled water on hand. And that’s before you add in water for bathing and for cooking and cleaning stuff.

Or, to give you a better idea, to keep your family hydrated for a year, you’ll need to store at least 730 gallons of water just for drinking. That much water eats up pretty much all of the space you have, right

This is why it is a good idea to build a bigger storage space for your stuff. The smallest space you will need is a 30×30 space, though if you can build something bigger on your property (or nearby) then you should do that. Trust us: you’ll use the space.

Safety

There are two types of safety that you need to think about: safety for your person (and your family) and safety for your stuff. It makes sense to have some sort of firearm on hand for emergencies and to make sure that every person in your family has been properly trained in its safe handling. It also makes sense to learn some martial arts and wilderness survival skills.

Keeping your stuff safe has more to do with where and how it is stored than anything else. Keep food items up off of the ground and in air-tight containers to keep it off of wildlife and insect radar. It’s also good to keep it in a metal building so that the creatures it does attract will have a harder time accessing it (wood and plastic are easily broken through by animals, bugs and people alike). You can buy metal building kits to set up solid, weatherproof and tamper-proof storage for your stuff.

Remember: start small and grow over time. This way prepping won’t feel nearly as overwhelming. Good luck!

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The 3 S’s of Prepping

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