I just read an excellent essay that was one man’s prepping journey from its panicked beginnings to a thoughtfully organized approach. He is not pretending to know it all or be finished with his own preparations for CHANGE. He has, however, brought in some really cool analysis, approaches, and tools for the journey.
I am going to encourage you to read it at backdoorsurvival.com, while I publish a few excerpts to give you a hint of why you should go there.
– Ted
Prepper Goals and Winter Projects
by James Walton
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Theme your Preparedness Future
We all need motivation. While prepping can come on hot and heavy it doesn’t take long for the tentacles of complacency to weave their way into your life. There is just so much to worry about. There are lots of little fires to put out and we can fall victim to that overwhelming feeling.
The winter brings on lots of thinking time. Whether you are faced with feet of snow or just cooler temperatures, things slow down in the winter. It’s a great time for planning. There is something so inviting about hot coffee, a notepad, and a fireplace burning.
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Having a month dedicated to personal financial preparedness really pushes you to dig in. Instead of spending a weekend or a few days, maximum, on things like an emergency fund or preparing for a personal financial crisis, give it a month.
Some of my favorite themes are as follows:
- Workplace Preparedness
- Community Prep
- Fitness Prep
- EDC and Urban Prep
Then I wrap the year up with a December on preparedness review.
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Hard Copy Paper Plans
There may be no other preparedness project on this list more important than creating hard copy paper plans. It’s something that I hear a lot of preppers talk about, but I don’t know how many people really take the time to knock it out.
Of course, I can understand why it doesn’t happen. We are busy people. Time is short and it’s hard to understand the value of these hard copy paper plans until you need them. That means they are often left on the lower part of the to-do list. It’s much more exciting to do things like purchase fancy gear or put away food storage.
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You are going to create documents that are designed to address you and your family’s needs in times of disaster or for drilling disaster recovery or reaction. On Microsoft Word, I have found a format called Polished Resume and it translates very well. The sections can be modified and used to address a number of different subsections in a particular plan.
(Editor’s note: This one and his use of it is a major gold nugget. You gotta see this one in its context. – Ted)
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Create an Evacuation Safe
What if you were faced with a necessary evacuation in the next 5 minutes. Would you be prepared to leave, take the necessary items and move to a safe location until the emergency was over?
Evacuation is a very important part of the prepping process, but it has been overshadowed by the idea of the bugout.
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While I had not thought of it in terms such as James Walton put it in the article quoted above, I have narrowed my focus recently to put my community comms responsibility as a high priority. I have accumulated the gear because I do not see anyone else around me setting up to send and receive information when normal means break down. Unfortunately, my level of competence leaves our community almost as under-served as if I had not even thought of it.
Reading his Prepper Goals and Winter Projects essay validates my focusing on it to the exclusion of other prep or infrastructure projects and encourages me to stay that course.