I started "prepping" when I found myself, several times, in normal, every day, American hiccups without whatever I 'needed'/wanted. i.e. desperate for a drink of water or chapstick when away from home, no charge on my phone (😬), power outage (flashlight?), car breakdown (AAA card?), pandemic (why didn't I go to Costco last week like I planned?), hotel fire alarm (where are my shoes, purse?), etc. Since then I've enjoyed and learned from The Urban Prepper's channel (he has vehicle preps, motel room preps, hospital stay preps - all great!). I stay away from the EOTWAWKI formats. I'm old and will plan to go out in the first wave. Speaking of which - we are ALL going to die. So much to learn and prepare for THAT inevitability. 🙂
What I have done recently is have a class for preparing go-bags with some of my friends. I made up little kits of various small things that would be useful--showed what I have in my bag--and talked about ways to personalize the bag to suit their needs. I made a small med kit, sanitation kit, fire/heat kit, and a few other random things. I talked to my students about what sort of threat models they would be facing from "late to work, brought a makeup bag to apply there", to "wildfires causing smoke to blanket the town--wouldn't it be nice to have a N95 mask". Some preparedness is lifesaving, and some is just making problems go away. Obviously, can't be prepared for everything, but sometimes a little planning saves a lot of hassle. I've had 11 people go through my classes so far, and gone home with a bunch of goodies to start their own bags. Next class is filling up too!
I will say that I did more preparedness type gifts for family/friends this year. Books on the topic aimed at areas of interest for the recipient (like Dr. Bone's Survival Medicine book for my friend that's into medical things...the Year Without a Grocery Store for my friend that likes to cook), solar power banks, blankets, etc. All of it was LOVED and very well received. I think I'm going to do a more preparedness bent on gift-giving going forward!
I find it really hard too! One of the things I’ve started doing, is simply saying, “well storms are more intense now so I’d love to help you have a little kit for that.” I think it is less threatening, and it’s very practical, and it can be a great inroad to broader and deeper Prepping. Good luck!
@SustainablePrepping I think that sounds reasonable. Things are more costly as well and jobs are unreliable. My food preps saved my family last year when I was out of work. My trouble is that most people have their heads buried deep in the sand. A lot of people do not value their money, even now with things getting harder. I work at Dollar General and I cannot tell you how many time people say keep the change after a transaction, just because they don't want loose change in their pockets. I grew up having to be very careful with money, even change, so I'm kinda shocked by the complacency.
In December of 2019, I called my mother and told her that I was worried about a "new flu" brewing over in China, that I'd seen a few concerning reports and maybe she might want to stock up on a few things. We discussed things like nitrile gloves, antiseptics, surgical masks, etc. Mom was skeptical, as usual, but something in my voice set off alarm bells, so, for once, she took my advice. What happened next, well, is history, but since then mom has been on-board. For me, the number one improvement is that I can buy mom and dad prepper stuff for christmas and birthdays and such. This year (and I already gave it to them) was a solar generator to run their CPAPS in case power goes out. In her defense, mom was actually better than most. We live in a hurricane-prone region and mom got on board with hurricane preps quickly. But she never went beyond that until recently post pandemic.
I’m glad they listened! It is so hard to help people realize that the security believed isn’t as real as they thought. Glad they are starting to get it.
I started "prepping" when I found myself, several times, in normal, every day, American hiccups without whatever I 'needed'/wanted. i.e. desperate for a drink of water or chapstick when away from home, no charge on my phone (😬), power outage (flashlight?), car breakdown (AAA card?), pandemic (why didn't I go to Costco last week like I planned?), hotel fire alarm (where are my shoes, purse?), etc. Since then I've enjoyed and learned from The Urban Prepper's channel (he has vehicle preps, motel room preps, hospital stay preps - all great!). I stay away from the EOTWAWKI formats. I'm old and will plan to go out in the first wave. Speaking of which - we are ALL going to die. So much to learn and prepare for THAT inevitability. 🙂
What I have done recently is have a class for preparing go-bags with some of my friends. I made up little kits of various small things that would be useful--showed what I have in my bag--and talked about ways to personalize the bag to suit their needs. I made a small med kit, sanitation kit, fire/heat kit, and a few other random things. I talked to my students about what sort of threat models they would be facing from "late to work, brought a makeup bag to apply there", to "wildfires causing smoke to blanket the town--wouldn't it be nice to have a N95 mask". Some preparedness is lifesaving, and some is just making problems go away. Obviously, can't be prepared for everything, but sometimes a little planning saves a lot of hassle. I've had 11 people go through my classes so far, and gone home with a bunch of goodies to start their own bags. Next class is filling up too!
What a great idea!
I will say that I did more preparedness type gifts for family/friends this year. Books on the topic aimed at areas of interest for the recipient (like Dr. Bone's Survival Medicine book for my friend that's into medical things...the Year Without a Grocery Store for my friend that likes to cook), solar power banks, blankets, etc. All of it was LOVED and very well received. I think I'm going to do a more preparedness bent on gift-giving going forward!
Great ideas:)
Thanks! If you have ideas, let me know. I’m really committed to including more people.
One cannot control everything
I have the worst time getting people to talk about it.
I find it really hard too! One of the things I’ve started doing, is simply saying, “well storms are more intense now so I’d love to help you have a little kit for that.”
I think it is less threatening, and it’s very practical, and it can be a great inroad to broader and deeper Prepping. Good luck!
@SustainablePrepping I think that sounds reasonable. Things are more costly as well and jobs are unreliable. My food preps saved my family last year when I was out of work. My trouble is that most people have their heads buried deep in the sand. A lot of people do not value their money, even now with things getting harder. I work at Dollar General and I cannot tell you how many time people say keep the change after a transaction, just because they don't want loose change in their pockets. I grew up having to be very careful with money, even change, so I'm kinda shocked by the complacency.
In December of 2019, I called my mother and told her that I was worried about a "new flu" brewing over in China, that I'd seen a few concerning reports and maybe she might want to stock up on a few things. We discussed things like nitrile gloves, antiseptics, surgical masks, etc. Mom was skeptical, as usual, but something in my voice set off alarm bells, so, for once, she took my advice. What happened next, well, is history, but since then mom has been on-board.
For me, the number one improvement is that I can buy mom and dad prepper stuff for christmas and birthdays and such. This year (and I already gave it to them) was a solar generator to run their CPAPS in case power goes out.
In her defense, mom was actually better than most. We live in a hurricane-prone region and mom got on board with hurricane preps quickly. But she never went beyond that until recently post pandemic.
I’m glad they listened! It is so hard to help people realize that the security believed isn’t as real as they thought. Glad they are starting to get it.