JT suggested a short time ago that I blog about preparing for the Zombie Apocalypse. Of course he was joking, but he wasn’t joking about planning for contingencies we don’t expect to encounter, but certainly could, in every day life.  No, I’m not talking about the wife being mad at you because you forgot your anniversary—again.  I’m talking about life-altering, even life-ending contingencies we might experience from time to time.

Let’s take someone living in the southeast US. He/she would have to be ready for hurricanes and tornadoes, floods, and the power outages that go along with those events.  Add to that heatwaves, wild fires, and droughts.  They should also be ready for poisonous critters, gators, and plagues of fire ants.

Ask yourself what the most dangerous and likely contingencies are that you might one day face, and how you can better prepare yourself to meet them. I’m going to shock you by not starting the list with home invasions or other dirtbag related scenarios.  Up here in the North Country, we have to contend with blizzards, ice storms, and the accompanying outages, as well as bears, prolonged sub-zero temps, and the onslaught of thousands of tourists who like to drive 20 mph under the speed limit, stopping at every moose, bear, or squirrel they come across to take a photo…  Back in the day, forest fires were a big concern too, and still could be.

How to plan: Well, go back to the “Oh Shit” article, specifically the section on war-gaming. Apply that methodology to what we’re talking about here.  Establish priorities of what is required to live:  water, food, shelter and warmth, and security or the ability to defend oneself, not necessarily in that order continuously.  And Crystal says vodka too.

Assumption:  For any contingency which may result in a power outage, a backup generator is essential, along with a good supply of fuel. The reasons are obvious, and I won’t hit on it any more.  Get a generator.

Here’s how I prepare for these events, and frankly, I’ve been planning for them all 90 years of my married life.

Water and food:  Let’s take the blizzard scenario, along with the power outage. First, we keep containers full of water on hand, which are switched out every year. We are fortunate in that where we live, it’s not hard to get good fresh water from multiple sources nearby. And on that note, we always keep iodine tablets, water purification filters, etc around just in case we question the quality of what we’re drinking. I’ve been through numerous hurricanes. If you think filling up your bath tub before a storm is sufficient, think again.  Keep water on hand, and have a plan to replenish it.

We always keep a reserve of food stored in our pantries, including powdered milk, dehydrated eggs, potatoes, soups, as well as tons of canned goods, rice, pasta, salt, sugar, etc. A lot of it is sealed in Mylar bags, so it will last for years.  It’s always good to keep a couple cases of MREs handy too.  And we live in the North Country, so there’s plenty of wildlife to supplement this if necessary.  You want items that don’t rely on refrigeration, since we’re likely dealing with a prolonged power outage.  Bottom line:  if you don’t have two weeks worth of food and water rations saved up in a closet somewhere, you might consider it.

While you’re at it, you might want to consider keeping a spare bag of pet food around as well.  Hey, worse comes to worse, we can all eat that…  I prefer the Ol Roy bacon flavored dog food.  That takes care of water and food.

 

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Shelter and warmth:  In every house I’ve ever owned or built, I’ve insisted on multiple sources of heat, one of which does not rely on electricity. I don’t care if it’s wood, propane, or whatever, you need something independent of the Grid to provide you with heat. My primary source of heat is wood. I also have propane and pellet stove backups. I can cook on my wood stove (It’s actually an oven, bought from Caron’s Stove Shop, and it’s Crystal’s) and we can bake bread and make just about anything with it while heating the house. Propane is my backup heat, and primary cooking resource.  If we have to, we can do all our cooking on our grill, be it the large deck grill, or the compact Coleman.  I always keep plenty of extra cylinders around just for redundancy. Never hurts…  Additionally, I keep a kerosene heater, which is really quite capable for its size, and is portable.  Although it’s a space heater, it gets hot enough so that I can cook a simple meal on it if necessary.

We also keep spare sleeping bags, one per family member, rated to below zero temps, as well as snow suits, wool blankets, space blankets, etc, in case we can’t keep the heat as high as we’d like to. During the winter, we don’t take road trips without survival kits, including snow suits, gloves, hats, boots, etc.  These are also good to keep around the house for those ‘who would have thought’ moments.  Hey, if we get socked by an epic storm, and a busload of tourists is stranded in your town, they have go somewhere.  OK, some of you would no doubt invite them to your home as supper instead of for supper, but the rest of us might want to help them out with spare food, clothes, and bedding.

A couple other things I like to do is keep 20 or 30 gallons of non-ethynol high octane gasoline and at least 10 gallons of diesel fuel around. Again, sticking with the blizzard scenario, our snowmobiles don’t get put away unless they are tanked up. And we have the gas cans to fall back on in case the local pumps go down or dry up. The machines can be used for travel or work. I can haul wood with them, or take one into town if necessary. Remember the blizzard of ’78?  Every road was blocked and in many places snowmobiles were the only transportation.  Blizzard of ’78  The diesel can also act as a alternate source of fuel for the kerosene heater.

Security:  Some might argue this requirement for life, so let me put all arguments to rest:  All the food, water, shelter, and Stoli in the world won’t help you if you’re killed by a thug stealing what you have.  Let’s talk self defense.  Were the Grid to go down for any length of time, people would be relying upon themselves and their neighbors for survival.  Other people would no doubt be looking to take what you have.  There are three guns that no home should be without:  a 38/357 magnum revolver, 12/20 gauge shotgun, and a 22LR rifle.  Those are the meat and potatoes of survival weapons.  Anything else is gravy, and personally I’ll take all the gravy I can get on my meat and potatoes.  If you think you’re going to be Daryl and defend you and yours with a crossbow, you’re living in a fantasy world.  Arrows are good when you have stand-off and time, but not when you have six bad guys breaking through your door.

 

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I choose these guns for good reasons.  First, revolvers are easy to use, and go bang when they are supposed to.  They require less training, and are therefore a preferred self defense weapon.  And the 38/357 mag is a good self defense round.  The 12/20 gauge shotgun is more versatile.  It’s a good self defense weapon, although it requires more training.  But it is also is a good hunting weapon which can be loaded with several different types of ammo depending on the game.  You can take anything from squirrels to bears or moose with one.  And the 22LR is arguably the ultimate survival weapon.  There’s tons of good ammo out there for it, and it’s cheap.  In the right hands, no small game animal is safe with one around.  You can also take larger predators with good shot placement.  Many poachers use 22s to take illegal deer.  And if necessary, you can use it in self defense to good effect.

There are other considerations close to the top four. Here are some of them.

Medical:  How about a top-notch first aid kit? If I have an accident with my chainsaw and can’t get to a hospital quickly, a good first aid kit might be the difference between making it, or bleeding out while the dogs argue over which part of me to eat first… A good kit should have pressure dressings, CATs (tourniquets), gauze, QuikClot, band-aids, butterfly stitches, antiseptics, antihistamines, etc. The list is extensive. Get a top-notch kit and don’t skimp on it. It’s a one-time purchase that you can maintain for peanuts.  Add to that aspirin and other meds (prescriptions???) that have a decent shelf life, and store in a cool, stable, environment.

By the way, in case you thought I was joking about the vodka…it’s a medical concern.  Crystal says it’s the most versatile alcohol for making tinctures (pronounced tainc’tures if you lapse into a Southern drawl, like Crystal).  It’s also a superb antiseptic, and at the very least can make the time pass more  pleasantly if you’re with an annoying person.

Lights:  We keep candles a-plenty, both emergency candles, and the smell-good ones that last for a week or so. And we have oil lamps and a crap load of clean-burning oil.  Candles are a great source of light and heat.  Look for ways to make candle stoves on the internet.  Crystal can tell you how to burn a pair of wet socks over a candle.

Want an alternative source of light?  Yes, I know, flashlights.  But those rely on batteries, which won’t last forever, even if you have solar chargers.  How about solar lights?  You can get a Luci solar light on Amazon for under $20, and it’s bright enough to light up a whole room for an entire night.  That’s just one example.  You think lights aren’t important?  You don’t deliver babies in the dark, and in an extreme situation, that could be what you need to do.

So now you say, “Holy crap, Jake, I need to go out and buy two weeks worth of food, water storage tanks, sleeping bags, a first aid kit, gas, batteries, space heater, candles, lamps, three guns and ammo, just so I can be ready for a ‘what if'”?  To which I reply:  Yes!  But not all at once.  If you really think I bought this shit all at once, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

Much of what is listed you probably already have in some way, shape, or form.  If you’re a hunter, which many of my clients and readers are, then you’ve got extra boots and other cold weather gear, as well as sleeping bags and emergency food.  For you guys, it might just be a matter of setting certain items aside, and designating an area for emergency storage.  But for your purchases, here are some ideas.

Prioritize:  Start with clean water and clean containers like two liter soda bottles or whatever reusable container you can come up with.  That’s something you can do right now, and improve upon later.  Every once in a while, pick up a spare case of bottled water, and put it away.  Then move on to food.  Purchase what you need slowly, but steadily.  Look for deals like military surplus sleeping bags or cold weather gear.  Look for used wood stoves.  I have retrieved several perfectly good propane cylinders at the local recycling center.  Pick up a used gun at a yard sale or the used gun counter at your local gun store (VGS).  Every once in a while, put aside a can of gas or diesel, and put some fuel stabilizer in it.  Don’t break your wallet for an emergency that may never come.  But don’t get caught with your pants down if it ever does happen to you.  There are worse things to spend money on, than food, fuel, and emergency items that could one day save your life.

There are tons of items I could have mentioned, but I’d get sick of typing, and you’d get sick of reading, if you’re not already.  Just think about what you might need in austere circumstances, and keep in mind that it should not rely on electrical or gasoline power.  Come-along, handsaw, bicycles, GMRS radios…  etc.  Use your imagination, and don’t get caught unprepared in an emergency, when you could have planned better.

Stay safe.  Stay lethal.

jake