How Do You Prep?

There have been some interesting discussions on a few different forum boards this week about how people go about their business of prepping.

Do you make a list and head into it, trying to get everything accomplished as quickly as possible?

Do you pick an area where you feel you are weakest and try to get it up to speed?

Do you pick an area that is your favorite and charge ahead?

Do you have areas that you don't really know much about, so you put them on the back burner?

There is a tendency for most people to pick areas they know and love to work on, because it is comfortable. If you love to collect guns and ammo, for example, it definitely isn't hard for you to concentrate on this area. If you love to cook and can, as I do, then food preps are always on my list of "we can never have enough".

But it pays to take a little time to do an overall assessment of what you have, where you are, where you are headed and where you'd like to end up. For many preppers, prepping is something that is never quite "done", it is an ongoing process.

I think that is how it is for us. We know our major areas of concentration: food, light, heat, shelter, first aid, sanitation, backup power, communications, etc... We have our lists of what we have now, what we need immediately, what we need in the next 3-6 months, what we need long-term (when the budget allows) and what is on our "dream" list. Then we try to keep adding to our lists - usually we try to do something to add to our preparedness activities at least weekly.

We are always on the lookout for something that is on sale or a good deal, even if it isn't on our immediate list, because it might represent a buying opportunity.

And my husband is constantly reading and trying to learn new ways of doing things or adding to our preparedness "skills" in addition to our prep items. Knowing that with a young family it is not possible to budget for "unlimited" preps, it is important for us to know how to "regenerate" some of the items that might get used up in a time of extended emergency.

So while it is good to have a basic level of preparedness "items", it also pays to constantly try to learn preparedness "skills". For example, you can store water but at some point it might be really prudent to know how to make a rain catchment and filtration system. You can store propane for cooking, but at some point it might be nice to know how to make a wood-fired stove or oven, or how to solar cook.

There is a wealth of information across the internet about many different preparedness skills - so don't forget in your efforts to put up preparedness "items" to take some time to learn preparedness "skills" along the way as well.

NOTE: Stay tuned this weekend for a guest post - Everything you want to know about how to build a great Get Home Bag (GHB). Many of us carry these in our vehicles wherever we go, just in case there is an emergency while we are out; these bags have the essentials we need to get us back home.