28 Benefits To Prepping Even If TEOTWAWKI Doesn’t Come

While most preppers do take the threat of a financial crisis, a solar flare, or even a zombie apocalypse very seriously, there are many benefits to prepping even if these TEOTWAWKI situations never come about in our lifetimes.

Many of the criticisms non-preppers make of preppers have to do with the fact that preppers seem “paranoid” about the future and apocalyptic, end of the world situations that probably won’t even come about in their lifetimes. What these people fail to see is that prepping has a phenomenal number of benefits for preppers even if these apocalyptic situations don’t end up taking place. The vast majority of preps will help in difficult situations that commonly arise in life.

Here are 28 reasons why, even if the end of the world doesn’t come, preppers will still benefit from prepping.

1. Prepping saves money.

If you believe in being frugal in any way, and see it wise to save money for your future or the future of your children, prepping is taking those savings one huge step further. Having a stockpile at home ensure you won’t have to pay full price again for items that go on sale – you’ll be fine holding off until the next time you see a discount. And if you’re into being completely off the grid, you’ll be saving money on groceries, electricity, water bills, and all the rest of your utilities for years to come!

2. Prepping prevents waste.

Hate to see things thrown away just because they’re a little old? Don’t like throwing out items that may be useful in the future, even though you’ll never go so far as to be a hoarder? You’re probably already a prepper at heart. If it’s useful and you might need it, save it!

3. Prepping can help you stay fit.

While not every prepper will get fit working on their preps, if you’re working on specific preps, like gardening, chopping wood, and hunting, you’re much more likely to stay in shape, especially if you work on them on a regular basis.

4. Hedges against inflation.

Whether or not you like it, prices for everyday goods – food, household supplies, toiletries, etc. – will go up over time due to inflation. A stockpile will provide a hedge against this economic inflation.

5. Economic depressions.

Sure, there may not be a worldwide or even national financial crisis that wipes out the economy as we know it in one fell swoop, but that doesn’t mean that another depression won’t do some serious damage to your network of friends and family. Keep the ones you love safe by preparing before things start getting bad.

6. Natural disasters.

From floods to earthquakes to terrible snow storms and more – natural disasters happen and you absolutely cannot do anything to prevent them from taking place. The best thing you can do for yourself and for your family is to prepare for the worst: have a plan and some preps ready in case a natural disaster comes your way.

7. House fires.

It’s a terrible thing to think about, but it certainly could happen. If you’ve prepared in advance, you’ll have copies of your important documents in other locations, and while the loss will still be significant, it won’t be devastating.

8. Power outages.

These are especially bad if you happen to live in a city or town that gets very cold in the winter, and if that’s when the electrical grid happens to go down. This was our situation last year, when the Toronto power grid went down leaving us with no electricity (or heat!) for 5 nights and 4 days. Not pleasant, and any additional preparations go very far in situations like these.

9. Evacuation.

There are times where a town or city needs to be completely evacuated. What happens to you then? Do you have a bug out bag in your car ready in case of an emergency like this? If not, what will you do for food and water?

10. Vehicle problems.

Cars break down. Trucks do, too. What happens if you’re stranded on the side of a pretty deserted highway with no phone reception and no snacks or extra water bottles in the trunk. You’re going to really wish you had some extra food and water packed. And if you live someplace cold and there just happens to be a winter storm, well you’re straight out of luck if you didn’t bring some extra blankets as well.

11. Survival situations.

That car scenario could go from being bad (waiting a number of hours) to worse (waiting a number of days) if no one shows up looking for you because they don’t realize you’re missing, and no cars drive by any time soon. Survival situations don’t just happen to wayward campers who got lost wandering off, away from their base: they can happen to city-dwellers, too. And bug out bag in your vehicle along with some emergency food and water supplies could really go a long way to making sure you stay alive until you’re rescued.

12. Dealing with minor financial emergencies becomes a breeze.

Roof leaking? Got a flat tire? No problem. That emergency cash stockpile will help you get by without even breaking a sweat.

13. Dealing with major financial emergencies is much easier.

Car completely broke down and you need a new one to be able to get to work and pay the bills? Dropping all that cash unexpectedly will likely be a little rough, but it certainly won’t be as bad as if you hadn’t prepared for a financial emergency at all. You can use the emergency funds saved up and live off your food stockpile for a while to cut down on grocery bills.

14. Security against job loss.

Sure your job seems quite stable today, but who knows what could happen down the line? What happens to you if a year or two from now, your company needs to downsize or goes out of business? Prepping allows you to be secure even if you lose that job you’ve held for years.

15. Security against underemployment.

Similarly, just in case you temporarily can’t get enough work hours to be able to put food on the table anymore, those garden and food stockpile preps will really come in handy.

16. Health problems.

If the main earner in the family begins suffering from health issues and can no longer work, your preps will easily be able to hold you over until you can figure out what to do next.

17. Death of a family member.

No one wants to think about it, but if for some absolutely terrible reason, the main earner in your family passes away, what will happen to your family? Prepping can protect you from having an awful situation get even worse.

18. Never need to go to bed hungry.

Grocery store closed early? Left work very late and can’t afford expensive take out? Your food preps will make sure you never go to bed hungry.

19. Never run out of household supplies.

Similarly, if you’ve got a huge stockpile of household supplies ready, you’ll never run out of toilet paper, tissue paper, hygiene products, etc. – not even if there’s a severe snowstorm that could last for days. You’ve got it all at home already, so you’re set.

20. Helps you become independent.

You won’t need government support and you certainly won’t need to run to your family or friends for help if you’re prepping. Hell, if you’ve got your garden and livestock preps set, you won’t even care if the grocery store closes. If the worst happens, you can handle it.

21. Allows you to help family and friends (without going broke).

Just because you won’t need help, doesn’t mean others won’t. Sometimes family and friends will have emergencies that you’ll really want to aid them with. If you’re on solid footing yourself, it will be no problem for you to lend them a hand, whether that’s financially or with some support via gifting them some of your stockpiled supplies and food.

22. Retirement can be easier to come by.

Retirement is something you have to plan ahead for. If you weren’t thinking about it until a few years before you turned 65, chances are, you really aren’t going to get the chance to retire at 65 after all. If you’ve been preparing for retirement for a long time, you’ll get that chance, and maybe even much earlier than you expected. Depends on how self-sufficient you can get yourself to be.

23. Builds self-confidence.

Think about it. Even if the worst happens, you and your family will still be okay. What’s not to be confident about!

24. Gives you peace of mind.

Similarly, if you’re confident you’re able to withstand nearly anything that life can throw your way, you’ll sleep much better at night.

25. Sense of accomplishment.

You’re not wasting your days in front of the TV after work hours. You’re using it to plan ahead and prepare for the future. You’re using your extra time to provide an enormous safety net both for yourself and your family. That’s nothing to take lightly – it’s serious accomplishment.

26. Help bring families closer together.

It’s a pretty obvious observation – families that prep together seems to be a lot more connected than those that do not. And why wouldn’t they be? More time spent together prepping is valuable bonding time, on top of being valuable education for the kids.

27. Passing on the prepper mindset helps generations to come.

Along similar lines, since you’ve benefited so much from prepping if you’re passing on your skills and knowledge to your children, you’re also helping them benefit from prepping in the very same way. Since they’ll likely teach their children how to prep as well, what you’re doing is essentially helping to assure that your children’s children’s children will have the security brought about by the prepper lifestyle. Quite a gift to give your descendants.

28. Ultimately, prepping brings freedom.

With enough preps under your belt, your independence will translate into a great deal of freedom. Hell, with an adequate garden and some livestock, a stockpile of household supplies, as well as a financial emergency fund prepped, you can even quit your day job if you want to.

Can you think of any more?

Experienced benefits to prepping that aren’t listed here? Know a few more perks to being a prepper that happens regardless of the fact that TEOTWAWKI has not yet come around? Let us know in the comments.

By Elise Xavier

www.morethanjustsurviving.com

24 Things Preppers Are Tired Of Hearing

When you first hear the word ‘prepper’ or ‘prepping’, the first thing that comes to mind is crazy, hoarder, nutjob, or those paranoid people who have a LOT of supplies of just about everything. What is a prepper?

When you google prepper, a box appears defining a person who believes that an emergency is likely to occur in the near future and actively prepares for it by stocking food, ammunition, and other supplies. Accordingly, there has been a continuous rise of preppers over the past few years with 3 million in numbers in the United States alone. Most people see them as insane or attention-getters but while preppers may be tired of hearing the same thing over and over again, some of these things may be hurtful or insulting.

1. We are freaks.

Wake up, everyone! Being a prepper means that you are just prepared with enough stuff to help keep you going through a month or a year. Technically, we just don’t want to enter a fight without the necessary ammunition. It does not mean that we are freaks.

2. Preppers have an underground tunnel underneath their homes.

No, preppers may have a basement or a dugout with their stuff, but not everyone has them. Just like prepping for a big event, you have cabinets filled with canned goods and other supplies. Not much is different for preppers; the only difference is that people overstate the term too much, it comes out as exaggerated.

3. We could live off eating bugs.

This is absolutely absurd. Being prepared does not mean being desperate to the point of eating bugs. It just removes the entire point of preparing. The reason why preppers prepare is because they want to have enough food kits, water, and other necessities required for survival as long as it can be. So do not confuse being prepared with total paranoia, this is just absurd.

4. We always wear tactical clothing.

No, being prepared does not necessarily mean being heavily armed and wearing camouflage. When people say prepper, the image that comes to mind is a man armed with a backpack, guns, tactical gear – that sounds reasonable considering that they are preparing for a battle. But, they are not. Preppers simply put the whole plan of surviving and getting ready for catastrophic events into action and that does not necessarily mean tactical clothing is on the list.

Photo by UK Ministry of Defence via Flickr, Creative Commons

5. Our cabinet is filled with guns and crossbows.

If you are part of the military, this is probably true. But if you are part of the bigger group of preppers, their money goes to much of the supplies rather than expensive guns and ammunition.

6. Preppers always have a conspiracy theory about governments.

Have you watched the movie RED (Retired: Extremely Dangerous)? Well, you have probably seen one of his pals as saying the government is trying to kill everyone and that is the system. Yes, it’s crazy but if you come to think of it, everyone is crazy about the government. Preppers may think ill of the government, but they don’t always see the government that way.

7. We hate the government.

Do not generalize. Preppers are normal people and normal people have different views of the government. This thinking is a result of the failed government attempts to make up for the budget supposedly allotted for relief and disaster operations. They give budgets and emergency response in front of the media but when it comes to the real action, the government can’t save every person and ensure each’s safety. Come to think of it, preppers are actually helping the government by being responsible for themselves and not rely too much on the government alone.

8. We think everyone is a threat.

Preparing and paranoia should never be correlated with each other. Preppers are only in it for disaster preparedness among other catastrophes. Don’t be scared of preppers, they don’t kill.

9. Preppers prepare for the Doomsday.

Just because they are preparing for disasters does not mean that it’s the Doomsday that they are preparing for. By the term itself, they are getting ready for any catastrophe or disaster that may come and not just for the Doomsday.

10. Hoarding is our way of life.

Though this is true, preppers don’t just hoard any stuff. They store emergency supplies such as food, first aid, ammunition, and water, among others. This becomes tiring to explain and it may be helpful to use actual words which you really understand.

11. Deep inside, preppers are excited for the end of the world!

Definitely not! Who wants to end the world and end their life? Just because they came prepared does not mean that they actually want to use these skills. Again, I repeat, preppers just want to be ready when a disaster strikes.

12. If anything happens, Preppers are always prepared.

No one is a hundred and ten percent prepared for anything. Preppers are prepared for circumstances such as calamities and emergencies, but when it comes to diseases like cancer, I don’t think anyone could prepare for that.

13. We don’t trust anyone.

Just like in no. 8, preppers may seem weird for most people but preppers are also capable of trusting other people. Because when it all boils down to the end of the world, each one of us is an ally.

14. Facebook, Twitter, or any social media is off limits.

They live normal lives, live in normal houses, and social media is part of living nowadays. Besides, they would also like to keep in touch with the ways of the world as much as they are preparing for disasters.

15. We do not talk and just like to whisper.

This one is just pure crazy! Preppers are capable of speaking up as much as they are capable of living a normal life.

16. Our basement is filled with canned foods.

Yes, survival food kits including canned goods, some ammo, and gallons of water! Water is an essential supply for survival. Even without food, you may live long even with water alone.

Photo by Robert Benner via Flickr, Creative Commons

17. We are neat freaks!

If there’s something preppers are prepared for, it would be living dirty for survival or to get out of a dangerous situation.

18. Preppers spend time in the wilderness.

Preppers train and spend time living in the wild. In case their home gets destroyed. Most preppers actually see living in the wild as a minus since no one will be able to help you in case you ran into some danger. So if you see preppers as living in the wilderness, then you are wrong.

19. Preppers don’t have a life!

According to Scott Hunt who is the advisor for the show Doomsday Preppers and also a professional prepper, “The biggest misconception people have about preppers is that they make up scenarios and they’re just crazy people, but I think preppers have normal families, normal jobs.”

20. They are atheists.

Religion is out of the question. Period.

21. Preppers have plenty to share.

Though preppers have a lot to get when the need arises, preppers don’t have plenty to spare. However, they might share or help others in need and share their supplies. But not to the point of emptying out their sacks.

22. Preppers are Vegan.

If preppers are Vegan, then it defeats the point of keeping canned goods.

23. Why do we prepare so much?

This is tiring. Is there such a thing as preparing too much? Preppers prepare for whatever disaster that is to come. As such, they spend their money on various items which could get them warm, hydrated, and safe. But as much as they store items, they also spend their time learning new skills because in the end, skills are what’s needed.

24. We are preppers.

Preppers know who they really are so there’s no point to shove it up on their faces.

Photo by Patrick Bean via Flickr, Creative Commons

Preppers are not twisted nutjobs. They are people, like every one of us who just chose a life of being prepared for the worst times. Society has tarnished the real meaning of preppers with these stereotypes shown on TV, but maybe we should keep an open mind about accepting preppers and not judging them just because they chose to be prepared. Contrary to what society has shown us, preppers teach us the simple lesson taught to scouts – that is to be prepared at all costs. Get your checklist and preparedness guide ready and learn to survive. Don’t let a bad thing catch you unprepared. Start preparing now.

By Emily

www.prepper-resources.com

How To Create A Safe Room In Your Home – Part Two

How To Create A Safe Room In Your Home – Part Two. Graphic -myfamilysurvivalplan.com

In part 1 we talked about the first steps in building your own safe room. Today I’m going to give you some more advice on the topic of creating an unbreakable safe haven in your own home.

Power

The key principle here is that power needs to be 100% self-contained – so that if for example the power was down or deliberately cut (in a home invasion scenario), you would still have power in your inner sanctum.

An optimal system would be a battery bank with an inverter. That way, no matter what happens to the power outside, you have an uninterruptible power supply inside. These systems range from the cheap to the expensive and note that electrical hardwiring is best performed by someone qualified – for obvious safety and legal reasons.

Inverters come in two basic types – pure sine wave and modified sine wave. Pure sine wave (such as this Xantrex deliver better power quality than modified sine wave; and if you are running computers or other electronic equipment this is regarded as important for the safety of your equipment. Pure sine wave inverters are more expensive but a worthy investment. Note that there are numerous “cheapie” inverters out there that promise big power but don’t deliver. The Amazon reviews are very valuable in this regard – however note also, numerous appliances have a ‘current spike’ when switched on and a weaker inverter may not be able to cope. One sometimes sees reviews from someone stating “this inverter didn’t deliver” when in fact their wiring was too weak to handle the current draw. It’s better to go for a beefier inverter – however note that the cabling from battery to inverter should be substantial. The thicker the better, honestly – and this type of installation should be performed by someone who understands the formulas for calculating cable thickness and voltage drop in DC systems.

If your room has a window or other ventilation system you could potentially use a generator for power. If it doesn’t have a window or any type of ventilation, a generator could be a real danger to you because of the fumes – which can kill in an enclosed space. Not greatly advised.

You can also use battery-powered or hand-cranked lights and phones. This is the quickest and most affordable solution. Given the fact that you won’t spend a lifetime in the safe room, you shouldn’t need anything sophisticated. Just a rudimentary back-up power source to get you through the danger.

Plumbing

You have multiple options here, depending on how much you want to spend. You can settle for a portable toilet or you can choose separate plumbing and a septic tank. That means you’ll need a lot of water supplies in the room. One person needs roughly 1 gallon per day.

Supplies

First of all you need non-perishable food and safe water supplies. Don’t forget to rotate!

Secondly, you should get a first-aid case with basic medication, depending on your family’s needs.

Last, but not least, you need flashlights and extra batteries.

These are the basic items you should always keep in your safe room. But you can also get for example:

• Warm and light clothes
• Basic sanitation supplies
• A radio – to stay informed on what happens outside
• Blanket
• Identification and other important documents
• Duct tape
• An extra pair of glasses – if you wear any
• Cash and credit cards
• Potassium-iodine tablets – in case of radiation sickness

You will likely wish to have some means of self-defense on hand but note that the general idea of a safe room is to keep you safe in an impenetrable space until help arrives. You aren’t going to want to open the door and the idea is to stay put.

In movies, safe rooms can be quite elaborate. In reality, a safe room serves only one purpose: to protect you from different types of dangers. You’re not supposed to spend a lot of time there, but rather have a small, hidden place to hide until it’s safe to go out again.

Remember, you only have to cover the essentials: food, health and protection.

Good luck in building your own safe room. We’ll talk soon about other important survival issues you have to know.

By My Family Survival Plan

Read Part 1 of the Article About Creating a Safe Room

For more in-depth knowledge on protecting your home, check out Bulletproof Home