Prepping: 10 simple ideas on how to start
So how do you start prepping?
Prepping is getting more mainstream today and there is a lot of information out there now about getting ready for an emergency or in case SHTF, but if you’re new to being a prepper, what should you do first? You need to know how to start prepping. If you’re one of my regular readers, you may be a bit more advanced when it comes to prepping because my typical articles have been for more thorough research. It’s time I start balancing things and have some articles that have a bit more reach and are more useful to the 99% of people out there looking to prepare their families for emergencies or in case SHTF or even prepping for doomsday.
It was a bit difficult to come up with this list due to the wide array of possible readers, possible SHTF scenarios and abundance of things preppers could be learning, stocking or doing but I think I narrowed it down pretty well. You can always use the comments below if you feel differently, or start your own blog.
1) Start collecting some research materials about prepping.
There are a lot of websites and a lot of books and movies that you can start with – kind of like homework. By studying the prepper world, you’ll see things from a different perspective. At first, you don’t know what you don’t know so you don’t even know what to ask (did that even make sense?).
Prepping websites
Prepperwebsite is a great place to get an overall view of current articles in the prepping world. It has some of the best articles, hand-picked by the owner. I’m lucky enough to already have articles that have been chosen on their list.
American Preppers Network is a huge bunch of websites. You could easily get lost there for months. Join the forum there and start using the search form, then start posting your questions.
Survivalist Boards is another place to ask questions. It’s not particularly prepper-centric but most of it will be useful to beginning preppers. My name there is Albus Tigris.
Backdoor Survival has several good articles for new preppers. I’m sure Gaye won’t mind if you contact her with questions either.
Survival Top 50 has a HUGE list of survival blogs. There are some gems in there. Head there and just start clicking away; you’ll find what you’re looking for.
Books on prepping
Here are three books that you probably want to check out:
The Prepper’s Pocket Guide: 101 Easy Things You Can Do to Ready Your Home for a Disaster
Build the Perfect Bug Out Bag: Your 72-Hour Disaster Survival Kit
SAS Survival Handbook, Revised Edition: For Any Climate, in Any Situation
For a much larger group of books, check out this page of prepper and survival books.
Prepper movies
Movies are a great way to learn about prepping and a great way to get your family on board to start preparing for emergencies.
Because of this, I’ve started a page just for movies that preppers and survivalists would like to watch.
2) Study and drill your overall emergency plan
Once you’ve gotten some idea of what you need to do and how to do it, you really need to sit down and make an overall plan. This is kind of like making an outline for a book or story. This is where you’ll list any plans you have or things you still need to do in general terms. You should be continually updating this overall emergency plan. It should be in one place (or exact copies) that anyone in the family will know where it is to grab. I’d keep it in a binder at the house and some kind of copy in your bug out bag. Digital backups are always a good idea but don’t make it your only method.
Whatever lists you’re going to make should go into this plan. You might end up with a bug out bag list (or several), emergency contacts, routes, frequencies; whatever.
You also need to decide under what circumstances you’ll be activating different parts of your plan such as bugging out or locking the place down etc. If SHTF, you may not be able to contact your family members. It would help if there is an understanding of what to do in case of different scenarios.
The point is, have one overall plan that you can grab that will reference everything. This emergency plan should also list not only what you’ve prepared but what you still need to look into or get. Then you need to find the discipline to train and practice your plans until they’re drilled into your family’s heads. Repetition is the key. Rehearse anything that relates to your plan, even if you can’t always do the whole thing. Give assignments to each member in your party to study and teach to the rest.
3) Prepping a bug out bag
There is a LOT of information on the web about what to pack in a bug out bag. You first need to figure out what you’re planning on before you can figure out what to put in your bug out bag. My post on 10 tips how to pack a bug out bag could be one place to start. Also check out this page for some ideas of what to pack that you might not have thought of.
Essentially, get the basics such as medical and survival equipment, some backup communications, spare cash, change of clothes, and copies of documents. Put them into an easy-to-reach place, ready to go. Inventory this bag and put the list into your overall emergency plan. If you don’t know exactly what you want to pack, you can get kits such as this 4 Person Survival Kit, already made up for you to start.
4) Make an emergency contact list
If SHTF or you have a house fire or whatever, your family members may need to reach someone. Does everyone in your family have the phone numbers, full names, addresses and directions to the home and office of all your other family members and people you trust? Do you have all the police, fire and hospital numbers and addresses listed? Make a very thorough list and make sure everyone has a copy of it. This list should go into your overall emergency plan.
5) Decide where you’re going to go if SHTF
It’s all well and good that you’ve finally realized that there may be cases where you’ll have to leave the house if there’s a flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, or laser attack from Mars, but where will you go and how will you get there? When you’re a beginning prepper, you may not need to go to the extent of having a complete bug out route assessment, but you should have the basics of where you’re going to go.
6) Decide who will be a part of your plan and who will not
This may sound like a strange thing to worry about but it may become the biggest mistake you make when a SHTF even really happens. If you don’t watch what you say and do, you could be planning to support 4 people and end up with 12 mouths to feed in an emergency. It would be better to know now that you have to plan for 12 (and hopefully get them on board to help themselves now) or keep the other 8 in the dark about what you’re doing. This is a good time to figure out what you’re going to do with your pets.
7) Start making studying and repetition a part of your life
Skills don’t weigh nuthin. Get it into your head right now that it would be better to know how to make something out of scrap you find than it would to carry it. with enough knowlege, you could get dropped off into the middle of the woods naked and still be able to survive. Sounds kind of fun, actually. Maybe a little painful. Drill, drill, drill. A big part of preparation is rehearsal. Special Forces units practice for months for operations; you should too.
8) Get your family into prepping
Why didn’t I put this at the beginning of the list? What are you going to say when they start asking you questions? You need to start your research and get into things a bit before you start trying to get buy-in from your family. It’s extremely important, but not the first thing you should be doing. There’s no particular order to this list, BTW but I was just making a point. Make sure you read this article before you talk to any senior citizens in your family. You’ll be surprised at the background and experience that your older family members actually have.
9) Start getting your finances in order
You might think this is out of place for a How to be a prepper list but it’s pretty important. Stocking items and taking lessons will take money. If you’re swamped with bills, you won’t be able to pay for things so you’ll have to do everything the hard way and you won’t be as far along as you could be. Take a look at your finances and start living within your means. There’s even a great Rich Dad Cashflow 101 board game that goes along with his book series. I’ve been reading the Rich Dad Poor Dad series for years. Awesome ideas in there.
10) Work out and start eating right
People who are in shape statistically survive emergency situations more often. There are many reasons for this but think about it; if you’re in shape, you won’t require as many medicines, you’ll be able to walk farther with more weight, and you’ll better be able to defend yourself. Start working out, eating right and getting enough sleep. It’s a change that you should be doing even if you’re not new to prepping but could end up being the one thing that saves your life. The INSANITY workout is one that a lot of Soldiers I know are using and they love it. It’s not an easy workout plan, but if losing weight and getting in shape were easy, everyone would be doing it.
The biggest thing is to get out there and start.
About graywolfsurvival.com
I am a former federal agent and military veteran who has deployed to combat theaters in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan and have almost three decades of military and military contracting experience.
My goal is to help families to understand how to intelligently protect their family and their way of life against real threats, without all the end-of-the-world doomsday crap.